Thesis (M.Sc. Agriculture (Agricultural Economics) --University of Limpopo, 2013 / The Limpopo Province is home to South Africa’s major tomato producer, who is also the largest producer of the commodity in the Southern Hemisphere. Regardless of its importance in the tomato industry of the country, there are few studies analysing the mechanism through which prices of tomatoes are determined and transmitted from the farm gate in Limpopo to the various provincial, local and international markets. This study attempts to fill the knowledge gap on the performance of Limpopo Province’s tomato markets by examining vertical price linkages amongst successive marketing levels. With the aid of both surveys and document analysis, daily tomato prices were collected at three levels that reflect the marketing chain of Limpopo produced tomatoes. Through marketing margin analysis, it was established that the farmers’ portion of the consumer’s Rand is low. About 85.1% of the consumer’s Rand goes to pay for marketing margins. Granger causality tests show that both the wholesale and retail prices are caused by farm gate prices, whereas an independent causal relationship was found between wholesale prices and retail prices. The study also found a long run cointegration relationship between farm gate prices and retail level prices, and not the same for the relationship between farm gate and wholesale prices. Furthermore, it was found that retailers are quick to react to increases in farm gate prices and slow in adjusting to price decreases. On the other hand, wholesale prices were found to be symmetrical to farm gate prices. These results suggest that the transmission of price information is more efficient between the farm and wholesale markets than between the farm and retail markets. Nonetheless, there is scope for increasing efficiency of tomato marketing in the province. Key words: Price transmission, marketing margins, vertical price linkage, market dominance, tomato markets, Limpopo Province

This study explores older adolescents’ positive and negative beliefs about illicit drug use from a preventive perspective. By positive beliefs is meant positive expectancies and benefit perceptions. By negative beliefs is meant negative expectancies and risk perceptions. The choice of studying beliefs originates from the assumption that there is much to gain for prevention in considering the target audience’s starting point. An appraisal of the extent to which positive and negative beliefs are held suggests the margins for change. The data used for the study derive from a survey conducted among a sample of third-year students in upper secondary school in the greater Stockholm area (n=2104). Overall, findings demonstrate that high negative beliefs are held and that positive beliefs to some extent are held. While this being the general trend, marked differences emerge between individuals who have used illicit drugs and individuals who have not. By and large, experienced individuals rate the negative sides as lower and the positive sides as higher than the other group. Substantial differences are found among lifetime users of illicit drugs as well. Those who have used illicit drugs more frequently during the last 12 months differ in particular from those who have refrained during this period. The differences are dramatic in some cases. In addition, consistent differences are documented between the sexes. Males are found to hold lower negative beliefs and higher positive beliefs across most measures employed. Few systematic relationships are found between other variables and outcomes. Plausible explanations for the findings are discussed theoretically and potential implications for drug prevention are highlighted. A saturation hypothesis is introduced in order to accentuate that the overall room for change in negative beliefs probably is limited. Conversely, the fact that positive beliefs are held to a certain degree suggests a belief domain with change potential.

La intensificació agrícola a escala de camp i de paisatge ha comportat la disminució de la riquesa de les comunitats vegetals i canvis en la composició florística. Per tal de revertir aquesta pèrdua de diversitat dels sistemes agrícoles i poder desenvolupar programes de gestió eficients, és important entendre l’efecte de la intensificació a ambdues escales sobre la diversitat vegetal i la manera com interactuen. En aquesta tesi s’ha abordat el paper de la intensificació agrícola a diferents escales espacials (paisatge i camp) sobre la diversitat vegetal dels conreus de cereals de secà de Catalunya en diferents posicions del camp (centre, vora i marge) que difereixen en la intensitat de la pertorbació i en la proximitat als hàbitats adjacents. Amb aquesta finalitat, s’ha mostrejat 29 camps de cereals d’hivern amb gestió ecològica i 29 amb gestió convencional situats en un gradient de complexitat del paisatge. A més, s’ha estudiat experimentalment l’efecte de les pràctiques agrícoles (control de la flora arvense i la fertilització) sobre la diversitat vegetal de les vores dels conreus. L’anàlisi de la diversitat vegetal s’ha realitzat des del punt de vista de l’estructura i la composició de les comunitats vegetals. L’estructura s’ha estimat a partir de la riquesa d’espècies de la vegetació aèria establerta i del banc de llavors del sòl, la biomassa aèria i el nombre de llavors del sòl. La composició s’ha avaluat a partir de les similituds florístiques entre els inventaris i les característiques morfològiques (formes biològiques i de creixement) i funcionals (pol•linització i disseminació pel vent) de les plantes. Els nostres resultats evidencien que la distribució de la vegetació, pel que fa a la riquesa d’espècies, la seva abundància i composició, està fortament influenciada per la posició dins del camp. A més, la complexitat del paisatge també afecta les comunitats vegetals, tot i que la seva influència disminueix a mesura que ens endinsem en el cultiu. També hem constatat que la gestió afecta de forma notòria la diversitat vegetal dels agrosistemes estudiats, però la seva importància es complementària a la del paisatge. Aquests patrons els atribuïm al diferent impacte de las pràctiques agrícoles i del paisatge a cada una de les posicions. La gestió s’intensifica des del marge cap al centre dels cultius, dificultant la viabilitat de moltes espècies, mentre que la importància dels hàbitats adjacents com a font de diàspores disminueix a mesura en endinsar-nos cap a l’interior del camp. Pel que fa a l’efecte de las pràctiques agrícoles sobre las comunitats vegetals dels cultius, hem constatat que els herbicides exerceixen un paper fonamental en el control de la flora arvense i que l’origen de la sembradura es també un determinant principal de la riquesa i abundància d’aquestes comunitats. A més, quan els nivells d’infestació d’arvenses són baixos, ni la grada de pues flexibles ni la fertilització no tenen un efecte significatiu sobre la flora arvense. Finalment ressaltar el paper positiu, tot i que moderat, de les rotacions complexes sobre el banc de llavors, ja que redueixen la densitat de llavors del sòl, i per tant futurs problemes d’infestacions de males herbes, sense afectar la riquesa de espècies. Com a conclusions principals podem destacar la necessitat de minimitzar la intensificació agrícola, tant a escala de camp com de paisatge, per preservar la biodiversitat dels agrosistemes. Tot i així, cal tenir en compte la necessitat de gestionar més adequadament la flora arvense per evitar futures infestacions i els problemes que en deriven. En aquest sentit, cal millorar les tècniques de neteja de llavors quan es reutilitza la pròpia collita i potenciar la rotació de cultius. / Agricultural intensification, at field and landscape scales, has caused a decrease in weed richness and changes in species composition. This study assessed the effects of agricultural intensification at different scales (landscape and field) on plant diversity in Mediterranean dryland cereal fields, to propose management practices that help mitigating the loss of biodiversity in such agroecosystems. To this end, 29 organic and 29 conventional fields distributed along a gradient of landscape complexity were surveyed. We focused on plant assemblages at three contrasted field positions (centre, edge and boundary), analysing species richness, floristic similarities and the relative abundance of various functional attributes (different life forms, growth forms, wind-pollinated species and wind-dispersed species). Seedbank size and species richness at the edges and centres were also assessed. Moreover, we experimentally evaluated the effects of weed control practices and fertilisation on weed flora and on crops at crop edges. Our results show that plant distribution is strongly affected by field position. Moreover, plant communities also respond to landscape complexity and field management, although their importance in different positions changes: landscape effect decreases while entering in the field and management plays a complementary role. These patterns respond to the limited dispersal range of seeds from nearby areas and increasing management intensity from the boundary to the centre of the fields. With regards to the effects of specific management practices on weed flora, our results highlight that the main factor shaping weed communities are herbicides, and that seed origin also strongly affects weed richness and abundance, whereas under low weed levels fertilisation and weed harrowing have little effect on diversity. Moreover, complex rotations are a good tool for seedbank management, because they do not affect species richness while they reduce seed abundance. Our study indicates that if we want to preserve agricultural biodiversity it is equally important to prevent agricultural intensification at landscape and field scale. Besides, more accurate weed management is needed to avoid weed infestations, e.g. improving seed cleaning procedures and performing complex rotations.

Freedom of religion or belief is indisputable in Human rights discourse, more discussed is exactly what it is that is included in the concept of freedom of religion or belief (in Swedish: religionsfrihet). This thesis focuses on the freedom of religion or belief in a European context, in particular on the European court of human rights and article 9 in the European convention for human rights. Some criticism has been directed against the Court to the effect that its practice and verdicts don't answer to the pronounced desire to develop a pluralistic and inclusive form of freedom of religion or belief. My aim is to examine, analyse and test three different theories, which all try to develop alternatives to the expression freedom of religion or belief, in relation to six verdicts from article 9 in Europe convention. My basic purpose is to try to find new ways of talking about freedom of religion or belief that might lead to a more inclusive, pluralistic and equal interpretation of that concept. The three theories wich I use are elaborated by Richard Amesbury (associate professor at Claremont school of Theology); Hugo Strandberg (TD at Åbo Akademi) and Eberhard Herrmann (professor in philosophy of religion at Uppsala University); and Martha Nussbaum (professor of law and ethics at the University of Chicago). The six cases from the European court are: X v. Federal Republic of Germany, X v. United Kingdom, Chappell v. United Kingdom, Dahlab v. Switzerland, Leyla Sahin v. Turkey, Dogru v. France. The results of this thesis suggest that the use of alternative expression to the Swedish term religionsfrihet might to a great extent lead to a more inclusive, pluralistic and equal form of freedom of religion or belief – for example in such areas as: individuality, minorities and frames of reference in society as such.

This study explores two issues, one is to investigate the determinants of net interest margins and bank risk-taking from 1993 to 2001 in a partial universal banking system, taking Taiwan as our example, and the other is to provide some empirical evidences of exchange ratio determination of bank mergers in Taiwan. In the first topic, the partial universal banking system here is a mix of the conventional commercial banking system (whose activity is mainly loan-deposit taking) and the universal banking system (engaging in both loan-deposit and investment activities). We employ the recently developed method of the panel data threshold regression method to estimate the determinant function of the net interest margin and bank risk-taking model. It is found that the corporate governance plays an important role in explaining the recent behavior of the banking industry. The empirical results show that the net interest margins in the commercial banking system are affected by credit risk, interest rate risk, the degree of leverage and management quality, unlike the net interest margins in the universal banking system which are more sensitive to only-credit risk and the degree of leverage. Moreover, the relationship between managerial ownership and credit risk taking behavior is inverse U-shape in the commercial banking system, consistent with the corporate control hypothesis, unlike U-shape relation in the universal banking system that supports moral-hazard hypothesis. In the second topic, we not only extend Larson and Gonedes (1969) merger exchange ratio model to taking account of market risk and more participants but also apply Marsh-Merton dividend behavior reduced form (1987) to estimate the expected post-merger price-earnings ratio. Taking the first case of the bank merger according to the Financial Institution Merger Law as our sample, we find that the L-G model indicates the interval of exchange ratios that enhance, or at least not cause any diminution in the wealth positions of all parties to a proposed bank merger. Also, the bargaining area offers some information to help merger candidates to negotiate final actual exchange ratio.

Thesis (doctoral)--Freie Universität Berlin, 2002. / "January 2003"--P. [2] of cover. Lebenslauf. Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-142). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Author: Martin Karlsson & Sebastian Dahlén, students at Karlstad Business School. Keywords: Bank, repo rate, changes, variable mortgage rate, margins, relationship, competition. Problem formulation: How do banks differ in behavior for increases and decreases of the repo rate. Purpose: The paper aims to examine how banks differ in their response to a decrease and increase in the repo rate. Two periods between 2002-2006 and 2010-2014 were studied to compare the competition on the bank market historically. Background: This segment gives a basic understanding on the bank market, interest rates and loans. Method: The study is a quantitative study of data for the floating mortgage rate over two time periods using regressions models. Articles, literature and reports form the basis of the theory segment. Theory: The paper gives a theoretical understanding on how pricing works on the banking market focusing on oligopoly theory. Empirical data: The data sample is based on secondary data retrieved from the banks’ official web sites. Analysis: The results are analyzed in a separate segment to give a better overview. iv Conclusion: The results show a correlation between the banks mortgage rate and the repo rate. The banks responses to decrease and increases of the repo rate differed for the years 2002-2006 and 2010-2014. For the first period banks were keener on decreasing their mortgage rates than increasing. The opposite relationship was found in the second period.

This study presents the interpretation of Edo-Western and Sparker seismic geophysical data acquired on the northern KwaZulu-Natal upper continental margin by various organisations since 1981. Five seismic sequences are recognised and these are traceable across the entire length of the study area. The oldest is interpreted as a late Cretaceous marine sequence (Sequence A), probably the offshore equivalent of the St. Lucia Formation exposed onshore. This sequence is overlain by a progradational, probable late Tertiary shelf sequence (Sequence B) onlapping in places against the underlying marine sequence. The outer portion of this sequence on the upper continental slope is characterised by complicated reflection termination patterns indicating the possible presence of discreet sequences within this shelf and slope unit. These shelf and slope sediments are overlain by a thin (less than 20m) reworked and eroded Pleistocene shelf unit (Sequence C), itself overlain by linear Pleistocene aeolianites (Sequence D) in places. The youngest sequence observed is the Holocene unconsolidated sediment wedge (Sequence E) on the inner shelf, attaining thicknesses of greater than 20m in places. The various sequences were mapped out and sediment isopach maps were produced (wherever possible) as well as an overall geological subcrop map of the study area. 150 kilometres of shallow penetration Edo Western seismic records acquired off the Sodwana Bay continental shelf were interpreted. Two sediment types are recognised, namely consolidated beach rock/aeolianite and unconsolidated Quaternary shelf sand/bioclastic reef derived sediment. In places, accumulations of bioclastic sediment in subaqueous dune troughs which have been subsequently buried by migrating bedforms manifest themselves on seismic records as dark semi-continuous reflectors beneath the migrating bedform. Close inshore, seismic records show prominent reflectors interpreted as consolidated sediment beneath varying thicknesses of unconsolidated sediment. Close to the shelf break (occurring at approximately -60m), seismic interpretation indicates that thin beach rock developments perch directly upon unconsolidated shelf sand, with the beach rock having been eroded through in places to expose unconsolidated sediment beneath. A sediment thickness map for this area was compiled from the seismic data. The limited penetration of the Pinger system necessitated "greater-than" values being used in many areas. Greatest sediment thicknesses occur in subaqueous dune fields where unconsolidated sediment thickness is at least 11 m. In inshore areas absent of subaqueous dune fields, sediment thicknesses are typically low, varying between 1 and 3m. A prominent submerged dune ridge close inshore limits substantial unconsolidated sediment build-up to landward of this feature. On the seaward side substantial build-up is limited by the action of the Agulhas Current which is actively transporting sediment into the head of submarine canyons which incise the continental shelf at Sodwana Bay. This study shows that on the northern KwaZulu-Natal continental shelf where there is a dearth of unconsolidated Quaternary sediment, the Edo Western seismic system is a useful tool for discerning thin veneers of unconsolidated sediment less than 4m thick. When considering the overall low volumes of unconsolidated sediment present on the shelf, this hitherto unconsidered volume of sediment constitutes an important part of the shelf sediment budget. Submarine landslide features observed on sparker seismic records are described and discussed. Submarine landslides are present which affect a) Sequences A and B, b) Sequence B only and c) Sequence A only, ages of these sediment failures can thus be inferred as being either post- Late Cretaceous or post- Late Tertiary. Offshore Kosi Bay, submarine landslide features affecting Sequence A are buried by unaffected Sequence B sediments, indicating a post- Late Cretaceous to pre- Late Tertiary age of occurrence. Style of failure tends towards mass flow in those submarine landslides in which Sequence B only sediments are affected, while those in which Sequence A is affected exhibit some slide features indicating a greater degree of internal coherency of these sediments compared to Sequence B. Slope stability analysis of a submarine landslide feature offshore St. Lucia Estuary Mouth indicates the failed sediment mass would have been stable under static conditions and that external dynamic forces such as storm waves or seismic activity would have been necessary to induce failure. It is demonstrated that the Zululand earthquake of 1932 would have exceeded the intensity necessary to induce sediment failure and this event should therefore be considered as a possible cause. Seismic evidence of fluvial incision/subaerial exposure at the boundaries between Sequences A and B and C and E are further evidence of lowered sea-levels probably during the Oligocene and Late Pleistocene. The position of the incision into Sequence C relative the present course of the Mkuze River indicates the possibility that this incision could represent the palaeo-outlet of this river. Seismic expression of 3 submarine canyons in the study area indicate that they are currently undergoing active headward erosion, independent of any direct modern fluvial influence. In the case of Ntabende Canyon, a nearby continental shelf incision postulated to be the palaeo-Mkuze outlet indicates that provision of terrigenous material to this portion of the continental shelf could well have accelerated mass wasting processes within the canyon itself. This submarine canyon could therefore have progressed more rapidly to a relatively mature phase of development. Subsurface structure indicates the lack of any post- Late Tertiary fault features beneath the canyons, thus excluding faults active in post- Late Tertiary times as a developmental factor. It is shown that the overall, external morphology of the KwaZulu-Natal upper continental margin is strongly influenced by seismic stratigraphic relationships, with the main influencing factors being outcrop position of the various sequences and depositional angle of sediments of which a sequence is comprised. External morphology has also been greatly modified in places by mass-wasting processes. It is demonstrated also that relating the observed seismic stratigraphy to onshore geological cross sections is problematic due to the distances involved and lack of confident offshore dates for the seismic sequences observed. Seismic relationships observed contribute to an understanding of relative sea-level movements since the Late Cretaceous and the overall geological evolution of the northern KwaZulu-Natal upper continental margin, details of which are discussed. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1998.

L’ethnographie, dans la première moitié du XXe siècle, a influencé l’écriture des poètes surréalistes, ou proches du mouvement de Breton, et ceux de la Beat Generation. Comme les ethnographes, Michaux, Césaire et Ginsberg ont rejeté la tentation de l’exotisme, et ont tenté, chacun à leur façon, de décrire des phénomènes culturels, de chercher “l’âme” d’un peuple, et de “traduire le monde” par la poésie. Nourris de lectures ethnographiques, ils ont voyagé, utilisé des documents dans leurs journaux et leurs poèmes, et ils ont exploré des cultures différentes à partir des marges sociales. Inspirés par l’ethnographie, ils l’ont aussi parodiée, en montrant ses limites, ses ambitions et ses ambiguïtés, en proposant aussi des ethnographies imaginaires, satiriques, pour inventer d’autres mœurs, d’autres logiques, d’autres possibilités de vivre ensemble. En interrogeant les méthodes et les enjeux éthiques et politiques de l’ethnographie dans l’écriture des poètes, nous posons aussi la question de l’existence d’un genre littéraire : peut-on parler de “poésie ethnographique” ? / That thesis examines the influence of anthropology on the poetics of Henri Michaux, Aimé Césaire and Allen Ginsberg. In studying their writing methods, I question their poetic insights and the limits of their observations to “translate a world” so far and different from “ours.” Surrealist and Beat poets shared common ethical and political views with many ethnographers, placing value on cultures (and cultural margins) often denigrated by industrialized western countries. Like ethnographers, poets work with metaphors and documents to interpret their experience and understanding of the world. Their interest in (and parodies of) ethnography not only propose a healthy way to criticize ethnographers’ ambitions, but also can help us understand each other’s cultures: poetic license and relative brevity of form sometimes reveal accurately or more vividly a cultural pattern that researchers struggle to explain. In the midst of an interconnected world where cultural misunderstandings escalate frequently and sometimes violently, poetry can help us gain or cultivate an awareness of social and cultural prejudice, and at the same time reveal the beauty in things once thought to be irrelevant, ignoble, or even despicable

The following thesis explores the racialisation of second generation sweden finns in contemporary Sweden. This is done by applying a theoretical framework from critical race and whiteness studies on 8 interviews with second generation sweden finns. Especially the concept of the margins of whiteness has been of importance for the following study, which allows the analysis to consider both marginality and privilege.     The analysis focus on the intersection of the variables of ethnicity, class and race, which allows the racialised position of the 8 informants in the study to be outlined. While the themes of ethnicity and class have ocurred in previous research, the study of race and in particular whiteness, have yet to be applied on sweden finns.     As will be revealed through the analysis, there are good reasons to consider Sweden finns as belonging within the margin of swedish whiteness. While there are signs that sweden finns have a position of marginality within swedish society the informants in this study can pass for swedes thanks to being racialised as white in everyday contexts. / Följande masteruppsats undersöker andra generationens sverigefinnars rasifierade position i den svenska vitheten. Detta görs genom att applicera ett teoretiskt ramverk grundat i kritiska ras och vithetsstudier på 8 intervjuer med andra generationens sverigefinnar. Särskilt begreppet vithetens marginal är av betydelse för studiens analys eftersom det har gett analysen möjlighet att analysera privilegier och marginalitet samtidigt.   I analysen ligger främst fokus på tre variabler i form av etnicitet, klass och ras, vilket gör det möjligt att måla ut den rasifierade position som studiens 8 informanter har i den svenska vitheten. Emedan teman kring etnicitet och klass varit vanliga inom tidigare forskning kring sverigefinnar, har studiet av ras och med detta vithet, varit frånvarande inom forskningsfältet kring sverigefinnar.      Som vi kommer att se i analysen finns det mycket som talar för att sverigefinnar befinner sig i den svenska vithetens marginal. Även om sverigefinnar kan sägas ha en marginell position i det svenska samhället, har de informanter som återfinns i följande studie möjlighet att passera som svenskar eftersom de rasifieras som vita i vardagssammanhang.