Orientador: João Eduardo de Morais Pinto Furtado / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Gocências / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-18T20:27:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marques_GuilhermedeOliveira_M.pdf: 1338913 bytes, checksum: 121c420e733e47a50c8f4eb741a8082e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011 / Resumo: O advento da chamada bioeconomia está vinculado a um crescente interesse por processos e produtos ambientalmente mais amigáveis, que sejam capazes de suficientemente preservar as condições de vida em nosso planeta. Este advento implica na necessidade de uma redução quantitativa na utilização dos atuais insumos produtivos e uma alteração qualitativa nesta matriz de insumos. Pela sua grande dotação de insumos produtivos renováveis e pela experiência no uso industrial dos mesmos, o Brasil pode ocupar papel central neste contexto. Na indústria química, é exemplo deste advento a emergência das chamadas novas rotas biotecnológicas, pautadas no uso de recursos renováveis, em especial de biomassa, em contraposição ao modelo pautado no uso de recursos fósseis que, relativamente ao potencial desse método alternativo, é altamente poluente. O modelo capitaneado pelo uso de biotecnologias é representado pelas biorrefinarias, conceito paralelo ao de refinarias tradicionais que operam a base de recursos fósseis. Neste trabalho, é utilizado o termo biotecnologia branca para designar a aplicação deste tipo de tecnologia a produtos químicos, materiais e combustíveis. O advento da biotecnologia, nos termos colocados, por se constituir em um evento de ruptura com relação ao atual modelo produtivo, pode se constituir em uma oportunidade para que firmas que possuam relativamente um menor comprometimento com o modelo tradicional venham a assumir uma posição inovativa e de mercado de maior proeminência. No entanto, a existência de oportunidades desta natureza deve ser vista com ressalvas, já que alguns ativos e competências constituídos no modelo anterior continuam possuem grande valor para realização de atividades inovativas e de produção em biotecnologia branca. Este trabalho buscou analisar, em grande medida apoiado em indicadores derivados de patentes, o posicionamento estratégico de firmas brasileiras - Braskem e Petrobras - para aproveitamento destas oportunidades, frente ao de grandes concorrentes internacionais. A renovação do portfólio de competências e ativos, em consonância com o conceito de estratégias de exploration, é um dos principais meios pelos quais os líderes incumbentes podem consolidar suas posições, mesmo em face de um evento de ruptura que solape algumas de suas vantagens competitivas. Como conclusão, a análise dos indicadores construídos revelou que as firmas brasileiras encontram-se mal posicionadas para aproveitamento das oportunidades derivadas do avento da biotecnologia branca, apesar de que a simples existência de patentes desta natureza de propriedade destas firmas revela a construção, mesmo que incipiente, de capacidades dinâmicas. As firmas brasileiras ocupam uma posição marginal na hierarquia inovativa relacionada a estas tecnologias, de modo que, apesar da existência da janela de oportunidades, o baixo acúmulo de ativos e competências impossibilita que estas firmas a aproveitem de forma mais robusta / Abstract: The advent of so-called bio-economy is linked to a growing interest in processes and products more environmentally friendly, which are able to sufficiently preserve the conditions of life on our planet. This advent implies the need of a quantitative reduction and a qualitative change in the use of production inputs. For its large endowment of renewable productive inputs and its experience in industrial use of them, Brazil may occupy a central role in this context. In the chemical industry, it is example of this advent the emergency of the new biotechnological routes, which are governed by the use of renewable resources, especially biomass, that is less polluting of the model based on the use of fossil resources. The model captained by the use of biotechnology is represented by biorefineries, that is a parallel concept of the traditional refineries that operating based on fossil resources. In this paper, we use the term white biotechnology to describe the application of this technology to chemicals products, materials and fuels. The advent of biotechnology, as it constitutes an event of breaking up with the current production model, can serve as an opportunity for firms that have relatively less commitment to the traditional model to assume an innovative and market position of greater prominence. However, the existence of such opportunities must be look with caution, since some assets and competencies established in the previous model still have great value for development of innovative activity and production in white biotechnology. This study sought to analyze, largely supported by indicators derived from patents, the strategic positioning of firms in Brazil - Braskem and Petrobras - to take advantage of these opportunities, compared to large international competitors. The renewal of the portfolio of skills and assets, in line with the concept of exploration strategies, is a major means by which incumbent leaders can consolidate their positions, even in the face of a rupture event that will possible undermine some of its competitive advantages. In conclusion, the analysis of indicators constructed revealed that Brazilian firms are poorly placed to take advantage of opportunities created by white biotechnology advent, despite the mere existence of such patent ownership by these firms reveals the building, even if incipient, of dynamic capabilities. Brazilian firms occupy a marginal position in the innovative hierarchy with respect to these technologies when measured by the strength of their patent portfolio, so that, despite the existence of a window of opportunity, they seem to be poorly prepared for their catch / Mestrado / Mestre em Política Científica e Tecnológica

Institutions are fundamentally sets of rules in a society that help create stability. Organizations are groups of people who may share the same goal. Changes in organizations and institutions will have large effects on the performance of economies. This thesis explores empirical aspects concerning two elements of institutional and organizational design: economic regulations and independent regulatory authorities (IRAs). Essay 1 studies the impact of the 2004 EU merger policy reform on how mergers are reviewed by the European Commission. The EU policy appears to have softened after the reform for unilateral mergers and this may suggest an improvement of merger policy efficiency. Essay 2 compares the merger enforcements in the EU and the US. Our approach is to decompose the differences into policy effects and casemix effects. The EU policy has significantly changed after its 2004 reform. Overall, the results show a convergence between the two policies for dominance mergers after the EU policy reform. Essay 3 constructs an independence index for 109 European IRAs in six different sectors: competition, energy, financial markets, pharmaceuticals, food safety, and telecom. Factor analysis suggests that the heads of the agencies are mostly constrained by four factors: collegial bodies, the judicial system, politics and scope of tasks, and resources. Essay 4 explores a correlation between independence of regulatory authorities and corruption. We find that the authorities in corrupt countries to a large extent rely on collegial bodies but are less tightly controlled by the judicial system, compared with those in “clean” countries. Essay 5 studies the impact of regulation on broadband diffusion speed. The results imply that a strict local loop unbundling policy appears to slow the diffusion speed of fixed broadband. In contrast, a procompetition policy that aims to promote entry has a significant positive impact on the diffusion speed of mobile broadband.

Enterprise architecture is the high-level design of the entire business, facilitated by enterprise architects. "Agile enterprise architecture" is the term used in enterprise architecture to describe an architecture that caters for future unknowns, enabling change to occur rapidly without undue resource utilization, yet in a controlled manner and with minimal adverse impact. Some enterprise architects still use outdated, rigid approaches to enterprise architecture which are incompatible with today‟s business environment. In addition, there is limited research into methods that can be applied to measure the agility of enterprise architecture. The current environment is such that there is a need for a more agile approach to developing and measuring enterprise architecture. This work will lead to the creation of a Framework for The Development and Measurement of Agile Enterprise Architecture. In support of the main goal of the development of the framework, a literature review will be conducted focusing on the necessary sub-goals of the research. The first sub-goal of the literature review is to develop a comprehensive definition for enterprise architecture (referred to as EA), as well as discover how it is currently practiced. Thereafter, the literature review will investigate a comprehensive definition for agility and research why it is emerging as a critical topic. The next chapter of the literature review will research how agility fits within the context of EA, uncovering a comprehensive definition for agile EA and the best practices in agile EA development. The final chapter of the literature review will investigate suitable measurement techniques that can be used to assess the level of agility of EA. On completion of the literature review, a preliminary framework will be created using the most important contributions from the literature. An empirical study will be conducted to explore the definitions for EA, agility, agile EA, the methods to measure the agility of EA and the concepts for the development of agile EA summarised in the preliminary framework. Data analysis follows an interpretive and qualitative approach based on four case studies through interviews with systems experts in four South African organizations in one province. Each interviewee was interviewed once. The initial interview with a Principal Consultant on Enterprise Strategy Consulting at organisation # 1 formed the basis of an exploratory study; the results of which were used to refine the research instrument and preliminary framework. Thereafter, a more rigorous empirical study focused on interviews with the Chief Architect, Senior Manager in Advisory Services and an Enterprise Architect at organizations 2, 3 and 4 respectively was conducted. The research follows an inductive approach to capture the interpretive experiences of participants and develop theoretical propositions from them. Following the exploratory pilot study it became necessary to make changes to the preliminary framework and initial survey instrument created. Thereafter, the empirical study consisting of the remaining three cases was conducted to test the important aspects of the framework and literature definitions. The analysis of the results of the empirical study prompted further changes to the theoretical framework and definitions created. The interviews conducted with each of the organizations confirmed the factors for agile EA development as well as the effectiveness of the definitions created in the literature review. The research uncovered that the need for a more agile approach to developing EA and a way to measure the level of agility of EA has become more and more significant in organizations. This begins with a better understanding of EA, agility, how agility fits within the context of EA, as well as appropriate methods to measure agility.

This thesis consists of three independent chapters on entry deterrence. The first two chapters consider the use of contracts as a barrier to entry, while the final chapter examines the possibility of firms expanding their product lines to deter entry in a vertical differentiation model. In Chapter 1, the role of exclusive dealing contracts in the liner shipping industry is investigated. It is shown that if the entrant is capacity-constrained, exclusive dealing contracts can be an effective entry barrier, even if the entrant has a lower cost. Chapter 2considers an industry with two stages of production. It is shown that an upstream incumbent is able to deter the entry of a more efficient producer by establishing long-term contractual relations with downstream firms, provided the downstream firms are in direct competition against each other. Chapter 3 considers the question of entry deterrence in a one-dimensional market where goods are differentiated by quality. It is shown that an incumbent firm may decide to produce several products solely for the purpose of deterring entry. Again, it is possible that a lower-cost entrant is deterred. In all three chapters, the welfare consequence is clear: social welfare is lower, since more efficient entrants are excluded from the market. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

Cette thèse est composée de quatre essais relatifs à l'impact des choix organisationnels sur la performance dans les réseaux de franchise. Conçue comme une contribution à l'économie managériale, la thèse est fondée sur les théories de l'organisation industrielle, et met en oeuvre des techniques d'économétrie appliquée pour aborder des problématiques ayant des implications managériales.La première partie de la thèse porte sur les structures organisationnelles des réseaux de franchise, et sur leur impact en termes de perfomance. Plus précisément, le Chapitre 2 étudie l'impact d'une série de choix organisationnels de l'entreprise amont (le franchiseur). Le Chapitre 3 s'intéresse àJ'influence de l'introduction de franchisées multi·unités dans le réseau.La deuxième partie de la thèse porte sur les choix contractuels, plus précisément sur les liens entre le taux de redevance et la perfomance des réseaux de franchise. Ainsi, le Chapitre 4 étudie l'influence des problèmes d'incitation sur la définition du taux de redevance, et les implications sur la performance financière du réseau. Alors que les travaux antérieurs dans la littérature empirique ont révélé l'inadaptation de la théorie du signal pour comprendre les choix contractuels des réseaux de franchise dans les pays développés, le Chapitre 5 porte l'analyse sur un pays émergent, le Brésil, et montre que la déternination du taux de redevance est influencée par une motivation de signal liée à la perfomance future du réseau.L'introduction générale, Chapitre 1, met en évidence l'intérêt de travailler sur les réseaux de franchise et présente les objectifs et les orientations de la thèse. Une conclusion générale est proposée en Chapitre 6. / This dissertation is composed of four essays dealing with the impact of organizational choices on franchised network performance.The dissertation, conceived as a contribution to managerial economics, is based on the theories of industrial organization and implements applied econometric tools to address issues with managerial implications.The first part of the dissertation focuses on the governance structures and their impact on network performance. Chapter 2 studies the influence of the upstream organizational choices on network performance and Chapter 3 deals with the impact of multi-unit franchising on network perfonnance.The second part of the dissertation addresses the relationship between the royalty rate and the franchised network perfonnance. Chapter 4 studies the influence on the royalty rate of incentive motivations and risk issues at the downstream leve!, in addition to the impact of the royalty rate on network perfonnance. Chapter 5 deals with the effect of signaling motivations on the royalty rate regarding new Brazilian franchisors with a high value business concept.As a general introduction, Chapter 1 discusses the interest in studying franchising and outlines the focus of the dissertation.The final chapter, Chapter 6, concludes the dissertation and identifies future research directions.

The aim of this study is to discover the board effectiveness through an examination of insider board practices in Chinese State-Owned-Enterprises (SOEs). It is based on twenty one in depth interviews with company executive and non-executive directors and supervisors in three publicly listed companies. It involves the investigation of the variables of board structure, function, processes and effectiveness. Interpretive inquiry is conducted to ascertain whether board directors and supervisors understand the meaning of corporate governance in achieving board effectiveness and to what extent they comprehend their role in implementing the codes and principles of corporate governance in day-to-day business activities. The study assesses qualitative data gathered from the interviews using content analysis and presents a model with propositions for its testing in later research. The results show that the notion of corporate governance has been widely accepted by Chinese boards. Universal principles of corporate governance are applicable in Chinese SOEs but social context prevents companies from implementing effective governance systems. Relative to the assumptions of agency theory, institutional theory and resource dependency theory, the practical challenges associate with the board processes and dynamics are not well recognised both theoretically and practically. Although the boards enact formal structures required for corporate governance, the board members' real behaviour is often far from satisfactory in order to promote shareholder accountability. These findings suggest that it is essential to understand what constitutes a good corporate governance system from the perceptions of board practitioners. The results therefore contribute to theory by highlighting the significance of primary qualitative research upon key governance variables. Extant research focuses too narrowly upon formality and by-passes process related activities, emphasising that there is a disparity between the perceived and real effectiveness of boards. The study addresses the gap between research and practice by providing an opportunity to investigate invisible board behaviours and contributes academic research to the practices of corporate governance reform. Practically, the findings provide a diagnostic framework which would benefit all Chinese companies in making further improvements to corporate governance.

L’estimation structurelle des modèles de demande sur des marchés de produits différenciés joue un rôle important en économie. Elle permet de mieux comprendre les choix des consommateurs et, entre autres, de mesurer les effets d’une fusion d’entreprise, de l’introduction d’un nouveau produit sur le marché ou d’une nouvelle régulation. L’approche traditionnelle consiste à spécifier un modèle d’utilité, typiquement un modèle d’utilité aléatoire additif, à en calculer ses demandes et à inverser ces dernières pour obtenir des équations de demande inverse qui serviront de base pour l’estimation. Toutefois, en général, ces demandes inverses n’ont pas de forme analytique. L'estimation exige donc une inversion numérique et l’emploi de procédures d’estimation non-linéaire, qui peuvent être difficiles à mettre en oeuvre et chronophages.Cette thèse adopte une approche différente, en développant de nouveaux modèles de demande inverse qui sont cohérents avec un modèle d’utilité de consommateurs hétérogènes. Cette approche permet de capter de façon plus flexible les substitutions entre les produits, grâce à de simples régressions linéaires basées sur des données incluant les parts de marché, les prix et les caractéristiques des produits. Le premier chapitre de cette thèse développe le modèle inverse product differentiation logit (IPDL), qui généralise les modèles logit emboîtés, permettant ainsi de capter de façon flexible les substitutions entre les produits, y compris de la complémentarité. Il montre que le modèle IPDL appartient à une classe de modèles de demande inverse, nommée generalized inverse logit (GIL), laquelle inclut une grande majorité de modèles d’utilité aléatoire additifs qui ont été utilisés à des fins d'estimation de la demande. Le second chapitre développe le modèle flexible inverse logit (FIL), un modèle GIL qui utilise une structure de nids flexible avec un nid pour chaque pair de produits. Il montre que le modèle FIL, projeté dans l’espace des caractéristiques des produits, permet d’obtenir des élasticités-prix qui dépendent directement des caractéristiques des produits et, en utilisant des simulations de Monte-Carlo, qu’il est capable de reproduire celles du "flexible" modèle logit à coefficients aléatoires. Le troisième chapitre étudie la micro-fondation du modèle GIL. Il montre que les restrictions que le modèle GIL impose sur la fonction de demande inverse sont des conditions nécessaires et suffisantes de cohérence avec un modèle de consommateurs hétérogènes maximisant leur fonction d’utilité, connu sous le nom de perturbed utility model (PUM). Il montre également que tout modèle GIL génère une fonction de demande qui satisfait une légère variante des conditions de Daly-Zachary, laquelle permet de combiner substituabilité et complémentarité en demande. / Estimation of structural demand models in differentiated product markets plays an important role in economics. It allows to better understand consumers’ choices and, amongst other, to assess the effects of mergers, new products, and changes in regulation. The standard approach consists in specifying a utility model, typically an additive random utility model, computing its demands, and inverting them to obtain inverse demand equations, which will serve as a basis for estimation. However, since these inverse demands have generally no closed form, estimation requires numerical inversion and non-linear optimization, which can be painful and time-consuming. This dissertation adopts a different approach, developing novel inverse demand models, which are consistent with a utility model of heterogeneous consumers. This approach allows to accommodate rich substitution patterns thanks to simple linear regressions with data on market shares, prices and product characteristics. The first chapter of this dissertation develops the inverse product differentiation logit (IPDL) model, which generalizes the nested logit models to allow for richer substitution patterns, including complementarity. It also shows that the IPDL model belongs to the class of generalized inverse logit (GIL) models, which includes a vast majority of additive random utility models that have been used for demand estimation purposes. The second chapter develops the flexible inverse logit (FIL) model, a GIL model that uses a flexible nesting structure with a nest for each pair of products. It shows that the FIL model, projected into product characteristics space, makes the price elasticities depending on product characteristics directly and, using Monte Carlo simulations, that it is able to mimic those from the "flexible" random coefficient logit model. The third chapter studies the micro-foundation of the GIL model. It shows that the restrictions that the GIL model imposes on the inverse demand function are necessary and sufficient for consistency with a model of heterogeneous and utility-maximizing consumers, called perturbed utility model. It also shows that any GIL model yields a demand function that satisfies a slight variant of the Daly-Zachary conditions, which allows to combine substitutability and complementarity in demand.

This thesis aims to analyze the rules of competition of the commercial launch industry between the years 2010-2020 to better understand the market and gain strategic insights for market share captivation or profitability. The industry is analyzed quantitively within the theoretical framework of Porter's five competitive forces. By the means of a Pooled OLS model, we conduct a regression analysis with five industry proxies that closely relate to Porter’s five forces to explain competition in the industry. The results provided us with enough evidence that quantitively applying Porter’s five forces with industry specific proxies leads us to a better understanding of competition in the commercial launch industry. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that the strongest competitive force is the threat of buyers. While the threat of competitive rivalry, power of suppliers and new entrants are relatively weak but highly significant, the threat of substitutes is of very low significance to affect market competition. The result of the analysis is then used as a tool to provide strategic insights for industry actors for optimal positioning in the market. Finally, we present some suggestions for future research on the subject, as well as other industry analysis using the theoretical framework.

Millions of people, young and old, participate in sporting events in the roles of athlete or spectator or both. Sportsmanship affects the experience of both groups of participants. There is an absence of evidence showing that software that is designed using a set of research-based rules, can make a lasting, or even short-term difference in (a) the acquisition of sportsmanship knowledge and attitudes, and (b) the way children respond when placed in sporting situations, either as athletes or as spectators. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, determine whether schoolchildren, grades three through five, who use STAR Sportsmanship, a computer-based software program that was designed using a set of research-based rules and is rich with visual/ auditory examples and nonexamples, will (a) acquire more sportsmanship knowledge and attitudes, and (b) exhibit more sportsmanlike behaviors than those who do not use the software. Second, determine how those two outcomes would be impacted if all visual/ auditory examples (modeling based) were removed and replaced with auditory-only examples (lecture based). Through the use of a pre-post questionnaire of attitudes, and then with observations of behavior while youngsters were engaged in athletic events, changes in sportsmanship knowledge and attitudes were measured. This study compared questionnaire response levels and observation data of participants who either received no treatment or were assigned to use either a modeling-based or a lecture-based version of software that was developed to teach sportsmanship attitudes and behaviors to children. In regards to sportsmanship attitude and understanding, there was no measurable difference when comparing the pooled treatment group scores with the control group. The modeling treatment appeared to have a small effect when compared to both the lecture group and the control group. Furthermore, the findings showed some differences in measured attitudes and understanding between the grades, with the highest levels of sportsmanship understanding in those at the fourth grade. In regards to behavior, placement in either treatment group of the control group did not make a statistically significant impact. Grade placement, however, did however appear to make a significant impact.

Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, the former Crownlands of Austria-Hungary which now make up the western half of Czechoslovakia, had for centuries a population mixture of 40% German, 60% Czech. The national reawakening of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries pitted the majority Czechs against their German minority master. This, coupled with the social upheavals caused by the industrial revolution, brought Czechs and Germans in Bohemia to center stage in the nationality conflict in the multinational Empire.