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The thesis focuses attention on the unbalanced demand and supply of activity spaces in urban market places, resulting in the congestion of people and vehicles in selected Nigerian market places. A review of existing approaches to retail analyses shows that none offer a sufficient explanation of this phenomenon in a manner that can be useful for planning purposes. This is because, (i) None of these approaches contains explicit inclusion of time in its structure, and (ii) They are designed to predict what is likely to happen as a result of some assumptions, and not the possible range of performance in relation to defined locational and structural potential of the urban market places. A new approach to retail study, which includes the above two factors, is then proposed on these assumptions: (1) That there is strong hierarchical relationship between any pair of demand and supply of activity spaces, (a) for food shopping; (b) for non-food shopping, in an urban market place; (2) That there is strong multiple causal relationship between the growth rate of any demand or supply of activity space, and the locational and structural potential in the urban market place. Case study materials from Kaduna city market places are used to calibrate the equations arising from the propositions 1 (a & b), and 2. The relationships were found to be strong. Examination of the calibrated hierarchical and causal relationships revealed unbalanced distribution, and disproportionate growth rates, of the demand and supply of activity spaces in Kaduna city market places. Four alternative planning strategies were generated. The performance of each over and above the trend strategy, in achieving balanced demand and supply of activity spaces, and in optimising the locational and structural potential in the market places, was evaluated with equations 2 and 1(a & b). The strategy that achieved the best performance, together with the plan management requirements, was recommended as the adopted plan for the market places in the city.

This thesis concerns an investigation of the nature and meaning of speciality regional foods in the UK, by examining the products themselves as well as the producers who bring them to the marketplace. Speciality regional food production is making an increasingly important contribution to the economy and is pertinent to newly evolving policy objectives in the agrifood and rural sectors at both national and European Union levels. In spite of this, many uncertainties exist with respect to the properties of speciality regional foods and the characteristics and behaviour of the producers of these foods. In the literature review, territorial distinctiveness in foods is identified as comprising geophysical and human facets, these being influenced over time by macro-environmental forces such as trade and industrialisation. Territorial distinctiveness is also identified as comprising a range of end product qualities perceived by consumers. In terms of speciality regional food producers, the literature review identifies that such producers tend to be small or micro-sized firms incorporating some level of hand-crafted methods in their production processes. These characteristics imply complex behavioural tendencies, particularly in relation to the propensity of these producers to be market oriented. The weight of evidence suggests that small craft-based producers have characteristics and tendencies not conducive to market oriented behaviour. In the empirical study, in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 speciality regional food producers based in the north of England, with data analysis following a grounded theory approach. In terms of the nature and meaning of speciality regional foods, it was found that interviewees expressed varying levels of conviction regarding the existence of geophysical and human facets of territorial distinctiveness in their products. Furthermore, a variety of contrasting end product qualities were described. These variations and contrasts were explained with reference to the competitive contexts of the interviewees and the social history of the products respectively. In terms of speciality regional food producers it was found that contrary to expectations, these producers displayed a combination of highly market oriented, entrepreneurial and 'craft' dispositions, with a particular tendency emerging whereby strong evidence of marketorientation and entrepreneurship was partnered with a keen-ness amongst the interviewees to portray themselves as 'craftspersons'. This tendency was explained with reference to the competitive circumstances and prevailing market conditions in which interviewees found themselves. Overall, it is concluded that speciality regional foods have meaning .at an 'essential' as well as a 'projected' level, and that both need be taken into account for regional food policy initiatives to be effective. For speciality regional food producers, it is concluded that multiple tendencies and behaviours co-exist within these producers, and that it is the producers' prioritisation between these which determines the appropriateness of current policy support mechanisms.

This study investigates stock market anomalies in the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE), Malaysia, with some comparisons with three other Far-Eastern markets, namely the Stock Exchange of Singapore (SES), the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK). The main anomaly investigated is overreaction in the KLSE. Seasonality and firm size effects, which are usually associated with the overreaction effect, are also examined individually, and in the context of the overreaction effect. The impact of time-varying risk on overreaction is also investigated. First, stock market seasonality across four markets - KLSE, SES, SET and SEHK- is examined. The evidence suggests the existence of December and January effects in Singapore and Hong Kong respectively. A Chinese New Year effect is observed in all countries except Thailand. Next, stock market overreaction in the KLSE is investigated. Two portfolios of extreme stocks (based on their past 3-year excess returns) are formed, and their performance is measured in the next three years for evidence of overreaction. The initial results are consistent with overreaction; winner (loser) portfolios, which outperform (underperform) the market in the prior period, underperform (outperform) the market in the next period. The reversal in performance is more dramatic for losers. Further analyses show that risk and size factors cannot explain fully the observed phenomenon. A seasonal pattern is revealed in the excess returns of winners and losers; there is a pronounced February effect in both. Moreover, the February effect is observed to be greater for smaller firms. Lastly, a post-script chapter is included whereby the effect of the recent Asian economic turmoil on the markets, and on KLSE overreaction, is looked at. It is found that several months into the crisis, both winners and losers underperform the market.

In this thesis we study the problem of how to effectively manage and operate a market that attracts trading agents to compete for resources in it. In order to attract more agents to the market, the market needs to have incentive policies. We are particularly interested in the research of the incentive matching policy. We propose a new matching policy with loyalty incentive features. In order to cooperate and improve its performance, we also propose a new accepting policy to work with the matching policy. We use the CAT platform as our test-bed. We describe all the policies and techniques used in the CAT competition in detail. In addition we carry out experiments which further support our proposal.

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-153). / Microfiche. / xii, 153 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-135) / Microfiche. / x, 135 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Aging is an inevitable trend for most of the countries. Compared to developed countries, China lacks a comprehensive social security system that provides a safety net for the welfare of the elderly in their retirement. Even more, Chinese seniors are about to suffer insufficient support from traditional means ??? family and government support. As a last resort, reverse mortgages are a good financial tool to unlock home equity and improve the living standard for elderly without them moving out. This thesis aims to assess the Chinese reverse mortgage market from different perspectives to determine whether reverse mortgages will work in Chinese market. From the demand side, the analysis shows that China???s aged population, identified as the potential consumers of reverse mortgages, has a large fraction of wealth tied up in the form of housing and is in need of a method to release their home equity to finance life after retirement. From the supply side, potential providers could also benefit from reverse mortgages despite the exposure to various risks, e.g. cross over risks. Further examination of the Chinese financial and housing markets, and mortality rate helps to build the Chinese context based on which cash flows of reverse mortgage transactions are simulated. Simulation results show that reverse mortgages are beneficial to the Chinese elderly as accessing home equity allows them to double their consumption. Based on this analysis from different angles, we conclude that reverse mortgages will work in the Chinese market.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of New South Wales, 2000. / Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Economics, August 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available of the Internet.