In this thesis, we develop a SKU level market basket model and apply the model to investigate cross-category reference price effects. This research extends previous work on the category-level multivariate logit model (Russell and Petersen 2000). Our model is a generalization of the multivariate logit model which allows for both complementarity and substitution effects at the brand level. The modeling effort in this thesis allows us to use conditional probability distributions of individual items to construct the final joint-distribution of all possible basket selections. The resulting model is very flexible and accommodates a large variety of market structure patterns. The model structure implies that the changes in brand-level marketing variables directly affect category incidence (by altering category attractiveness) and indirectly determine market basket composition. Because the model can be written in a closed form manner, we can easily study the pattern of brand price competition by computing a matrix of cross-price elasticities. We use scanner panel data for the yogurt category to demonstrate the structural flexibility of the model. The results from this application reveal asymmetric competition consistent with price-tier competition literature. We use this model to investigate how consumers' responses to reference prices within a category spillover into their choices across multiple categories. The notion is that a consumer's subjective judgment of the fairness of the price levels in one category influences the choice decisions of related items in other categories. We begin with building within-category SKU-level model based on previous findings from single category reference price models (i.e., internal versus external reference prices, asymmetric response due to loss aversion, and heterogeneity in response across consumers). We then develop four alternative model specifications for cross-category spillover effects and test competing theories about those effects. Using scanner panel data for detergent and softener categories, we discover valuable implications for reference price effects. First, SKU-level reference price effects exist and improve forecasting ability. Second, those reference price effects influence category attractiveness, but do no spillover across categories. Finally, category-level reference dependent evaluation may exist but not be important in forecasting.

This master thesis investigates and answers three fundamental questions regarding structural changes of a future market. This has been done by analysing and comparing three commodity markets with the Nordic electricity market. Examined commodity markets are LME steel billet, CME lean hogs and WTI & Brent crude oil. The report consists of a literature review with a theoretical background, CATWOE and a case analysis of each commodity market. The markets are thereafter analysed, compared and discussed regarding the research questions. It is concluded that the Nordic electricity market is in many ways comparable to other commodities, although it has some special characteristics. Key factors determining market success have been identified as (1) correlation between perceived risk and derivative risk, (2) trust for and experience of trading institutions and trading environment and (3) expectations. Based on the findings a new conceptual measure for market liquidity, Relative Market Liquidity, is introduced and discussed. The comparison in this thesis is based on the Nordic electricity market, but much of the results are applicable to other commodity markets. The thesis has been written during spring 2013 at the Royal Institute of Technology Department of Energy Technology in co-operation with Vattenfall AB.

[pt] Esse trabalho investiga o comportamento dos investidores na seleção de fundos de investimento em ações. A base analisada é formada pelos fundos de ações disponíveis no mercado brasileiro entre 2005 e 2018. Nesse período, há uma expansão do mercado, medido tanto em termos do patrimônio total sob gestão quanto em termos de fundos disponíveis, acompanhada por uma redução gradual das taxas de administração médias praticadas. Em linha com a literatura existente, os dados sugerem que os fluxos de captação dos fundos são sensíve à performance passada. Os dados sugerem também que a captação dos fundos geridos por empresas que atuam exclusivamente na atividade de gestão de fundos é inferior à de fundos geridos por instituições financeiras que atuam também em outras atividades financeiras. / [en] This dissertation investigates the behavior of investors when selecting equity mutual funds. The database is comprised of available equity mutual funds in the Brazilian market between 2005 and 2018. During this period, there was a market expansion, measured in terms of total assets under management as well as number of available funds, as well as a gradual decrease in average fees. In agreement with existing literature, the data suggests that inflows are correlated with past performance. The data also suggests that inflows into funds managed by firms that offer fund management services only is lower than inflows into funds managed by firms that offer a broader array of financial services.

No description available.

This thesis consists of four self-contained papers related to the change of market structure and the quality of equity market. In Paper [I] we found, by using of a Flexible Dynamic Component Correlations (FDCC) model, that the creation of a common cross-border stock trading platform has increased the long-run trends in conditional correlations between foreign and domestic stock market returns. In Paper [II] we study whether the creation of a uniform Nordic and Baltic stock trading platform has affected weak-form information efficiency. The results indicate that the stock market consolidations have had a positive effect on the information efficiency and turnover for an average firm. The merger effects are, however, asymmetrically distributed in the sense that relatively large (small) firms located on relatively large (small) markets experience an improved (reduced) information efficiency and turnover. Although the results indicate that changes in the level of investor attention (measured by turnover) may explain part of the changes in information efficiency, they also lend support to the hypothesis that merger effects may partially be driven by changes in the composition of informed versus uninformed investors following a stock. Paper [III] analyzes whether the measured level of trust in different countries can explain bilateral stock market correlations. One finding is that generalized trust among nations is a robust predictor for stock market correlations. Another is that the trust effect is larger for countries which are close to each other. This indicates that distance mitigates the trust effect. Finally, we confirm the effect of trust upon stock market correlations, by using particular trust data (bilateral trust between country A and country B) as an alternative measurement of trust. In Paper [IV] we present the impact of the stock market mergers that took place in the Nordic countries during 2000 – 2007 on the probabilities for stock price jumps, i.e. for relatively extreme price movements. The main finding is that stock market mergers, on average, reduce the likelihood of observing stock price jumps. The effects are asymmetric in the sense that the probability of sudden price jumps is reduced for large and medium size firms whereas the effect is ambiguous for small size firms. The results also indicate that the market risk has been reduced after the stock market consolidations took place.

Les cryptomarchés sont des plateformes virtuelles, similaires à eBay, qui permettent d'échanger de la drogue en ligne en tout anonymat, de manière professionnelle et sécuritaire. Cette étude vise à caractériser la structure du marché de la drogue sur les cryptomarchés, afin de comprendre le contexte économique. La structure du marché est évaluée selon le degré de concurrence ainsi que la portée et l’importance des vendeurs de drogue en termes de visibilité, de diversité et d’expérience. Les résultats de l’étude illustrent que le marché est concurrentiel mais également très inégal. Les vendeurs ont une portée et une importance relativement limitées. Ceci s’explique par le fait que les transactions en ligne, anonymes et illégales imposent d’importantes contraintes aux vendeurs. Le statut d’illégalité oblige les vendeurs à limiter leurs activités hors ligne, diminuant leur potentiel de croissance en ligne. De plus, le contexte en ligne favorise la concurrence, mais les risques qui découlent de l’anonymat des transactions intensifient la tendance des acheteurs à choisir des vendeurs réputés et expérimentés. Les vendeurs font donc face à des « barrières à la vente » et 90% agissent comme des spectateurs dans le marché. En plus, les vendeurs expérimentés utilisent des techniques agressives de publicité, afin d’empêcher leurs compétiteurs d’entrer sur le marché, gardant ainsi leur position avantageuse et contribuant à l’inégalité du marché. Un paradoxe émerge : le marché est compétitif, mais également peuplé de quelques vendeurs « superstars » qui ont une portée et une importance relativement limitées. Suite à cette analyse, il est peu probable que les cryptomarchés représentent l’avenir de l’industrie de la drogue, en raison des difficultés rencontrées par les vendeurs lors de la vente de drogue en ligne. / Since 2011, drug market participants have had the opportunity to trade illegal drugs through online anonymous marketplaces dubbed cryptomarkets. Cryptomarkets offer a user-friendly infrastructure, similar to eBay, where market participants can meet and conduct business together. These well-designed anonymous platforms offer a professional setting for drug sales, but to what extent they are the future of drug dealing is unclear. This study characterizes the structure of the drug market hosted on cryptomarkets in order to better understand the economic setting of cryptomarket drug vendors. Market competition and the size and scope of drug vendor activities are analyzed. We find that the drug market hosted on cryptomarkets is fiercely competitive and deeply unequal. The size and scope of vendors’ activities are limited. Challenges arise due to the online, anonymity and illegality features of cryptomarket drug transactions. The illegality status of drugs forces vendors’ offline activities to stay within a small size and scope, limiting their potential growth online. The online nature of cryptomarkets fosters competition, but the risks that arise from anonymous transactions exacerbate buyers’ tendency to choose well-reputed and experienced vendors. Thus, vendors face strong barriers to sales and 90% of them act as spectators in the market. This inequality is exacerbated by aggressive advertising conducted by established vendors to push out potential competitors. A paradox is found: the market is fiercely competitive, but also populated by market superstars, whom, however, still have limited size and scope. We conclude that cryptomarkets are not likely be the future of drug dealing because of the challenging environment they offer to cryptomarket drug vendors.

Cette thèse examine l'impact de la structure du marché bancaire sur l’activité économique et les contraintes financières des petites et moyennes entreprises (PME) et l'efficacité des banques au niveau local. Il comprend trois chapitres empiriques. Le premier chapitre s’intéresse à l’impact du relationship banking sur les contraintes financières des PME et s'appuie sur deux indicateurs alternatifs pour saisir différentes dimensions de ces contraintes. Les résultats soulignent le rôle ambigu de la proximité bancaire et de la relation client face aux contraintes financières des PME. Sur la période 2005-2013, la présence accrue de banques régionales ou géographiquement concentrées contribue à atténuer les contraintes de crédit à court terme des PME françaises mais accroît leur sensibilité aux flux de trésorerie liés aux investissements. En outre, dans les deux cas, les contraintes financières des PME sont renforcées sur des marchés distants sur le plan fonctionnel. De plus, en période de crise, les avantages de la relation bancaire sur la contrainte de crédit à court terme demeurent et, dans certains cas, sont renforcés. Nous constatons également que la présence accrue des banques régionales facilite l'accès au crédit à court terme pour les entreprises plus rentables avant la crise financière mondiale et particulièrement pour celles qui ont connu une forte baisse de leur rentabilité en période de crise. Le deuxième chapitre analyse l’impact des relations de crédit via une plus grande proximité bancaire sur l’activité économique réelle, en s’appuyant à la fois sur des données individuelles de firmes et sur des données macroénomiques au niveau des départements. Il s’intéresse également à l’impact différencié de cette proximité en fonction du degré de dépendance au financement externe des PME françaises sur la période 2005-2013. Nos résultats révèlent que la relation de crédit via une plus grande proximité bancaire est bénéfique pour l'activité économique des PME en temps normal et en période de crise. De plus, parmi ces PME, les avantages de la proximité bancaire sont les plus importants pour les micro-entreprises. De plus, nos résultats montrent une forte hétérogénéité dans l’impact de la structure du marché bancaire local en fonction du degré de dépendance vis-à-vis du financement extérieur. Notre analyse macroéconomique montre également que une plus forte proximité bancaire a un impact positif sur l’emploi et stimule la croissance de l’activité économique. Le troisième chapitre analyse l’impact l'impact des caractéristiques des banques et des marchés locaux sur l'efficacité des succursales bancaires. Cette analyse s’appuie sur un ensemble données détaillé au niveau des succursales en Chine sur la période 2008-2011. Nos résultats suggèrent que les caractéristiques des marchés tant locaux que bancaires affectent l’efficacité des succursales bancaires. Les succursales de banques appartenant à l'État ont l’efficience-profit la plus forte mais l’efficience-coût la plus faible, tandis que les succursales de banques étrangères ont l’efficience-profit la plus élevée. En outre, la concurrence des banques et le développement économique sur le marché local contribuent à promouvoir l'efficacité des succursales. De plus, l’efficacité des banques et l’efficacité du marché bancaire local peuvent influer sur l’efficacité des succursales, l’impact de l’efficacité des banques étant économiquement plus important. Nos résultats suggèrent que la structure du marché bancaire local a un impact statistiquement et économiquement significatif sur l’activité économique et les contraintes financières des PME, l'activité économique réelle et l'efficacité des banques. Les superviseurs bancaires et les régulateurs doivent veiller à maintenir un environnement bancaire diversifié, garantissant la présence de banques locales et géographiquement concentrées, et à renforcer la concurrence des banques afin de stimuler la croissance économique. / This dissertation examines the impact of banking mar ket structure on SMEs financial constraints, real economic activity and bank efficiency at a local level. It comprises three empirical essays as three chapters, the first two chapters are on French banking market and the third one is on Chinese banking mar ket. The first chapter investigates the relevance of relationship lending for SMEs and continuation lending during crisisrelying on two alternative indicators to capture different dimensions of SMEs financial constraints. The findings emphasize the ambiguous role of banking proximity and of relationship banking on SMEs financial constraints. Over the 2005-2013 period, for French manufacturing SME s, higher presence of regional banks or of geographically-focused banks help to alle viate their short-term credit constraint, while lar germarket share of national banks or stronger presence of geographically-diversified banks is beneficial to reduce their investment cash-flow sensitivity. Moreover, in both cases, SMEs’ financial constraints are strengthened in functionally-distant mar kets. In addition, during crisis times, the benefits of relationship banking on short-term credit constraint remains and, insome cases, are reinforced. We also find that these benefits differ according to SMEs pre-crisis financial health, in line with pre vious findings of continuation lending during crisis.The second chapter analyzes the impact of relationship lending through a stronger banking proximity on real economic activity at both firm le vel and county (department) level and the heterogeneity of this impact based on SMEs external financial dependence in France over the 2005-2013 period. Our results confirm the benefits of elationship banking for SMEs as highlighted in the pre vious chapter. A stronger banking proximity is beneficial to SMEs’ economic activity in both ormal and crisis times, even after controlling for times, county, industry and firm level characteristics, and these benefits are stronger for micro firms, the smallest and more informationally-opaque SMEs. In addition, our results show a significant heterogeneity in the impact of local banking market structure among small firms depending on the le vel of dependence on external finance. Further, our macroeconomic analysis also provide evidence that local banking market structure has statistically and economically significant impact on economic activity. The third chapter analyzes the finance-growth nexus from a different perspective by investigating what drives bank branch efficiency. Three efficiency measures are adopted to estimate the impact of bank and local market characteristics on bank branch efficiency using a detailed branch-level dataset in China over the 2008-2011 period. Our findings suggest that both bank and local market characteristics affect bank branch efficiency. Branches of state-own banks are the most profit efficient and least cost efficient, while branches of foreign banks are the most cost efficient. In addition, bank competition and economic development in local market help promote branch efficiency. In addition, both bank efficiency and local banking market efficiency can affect branch efficiency, and the impact of bank efficiency is econ omically more significant. Our findings suggest that local banking market structure has a statistically and economically significant impact on small business lending, real economic activity and bank efficiency, bank supervisors and regulators should pay at tention to maintain a diversified banking environment, guaranty the presence of local and geographically-focused banks, and enhance bank competition to stimulate growth.

Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IKT) sind der Antrieb des modernen Innovationsprozesses. Für besseres Verständnis dieser Dynamik, analysiert diese Dissertation die Wechselwirkungen zwischen Innovation und Wettbewerb. Die Arbeit umfasst zwei Teile: Erstens wird die Frage behandelt, wie die Märkte organisiert werden können, um das optimale Marktergebnis zu erreichen. Zweitens werden die Rückwirkungen der innovativen Tätigkeit auf Wettbewerb und auf Organisation der wirtschaftlichen Tätigkeit analysiert. Betrachtet man den Einfluss von Wettbewerb auf Innovation, zeigt eine empirische Analyse, dass IKT-getriebene Innovationen in konzentrierten Industrien vorherrschen. Im Gegensatz dazu gedeihen Innovationen, die auf anderen Technologien basieren, in eher vollkommenen Märkten. Der Vergleich suggeriert, dass die IKT-getriebene Innovationen andere Charakteristika aufweisen als Innovationen, die auf anderen Technologien basieren. Betrachtet man die Rückwirkung von Innovation auf Wettbewerb, sind zwei Ergebnisse wert genannt zu werden. Erstens, obwohl profitabel von der Perspektive einzelner Unternehmen aus, sinkt der Industrieprofit, wenn eine produktvielfalt-steigernde Technologie durch alle Firmen übernommen wird. Des Weiteren sind die Entscheidungen der Unternehmen in Bezug auf die Technologieadoption nicht immer optimal aus Sicht der sozialen Wohlstandsmaximierung. Zweitens in Bezug auf Organisation der wirtschaftlichen Tätigkeit wird gezeigt, dass IKT sowohl zu mehr Wettbewerb als auch zu der Entstehung von hybriden Organisationsformen führen kann, was von den jeweiligen Charakteristika der Unternehmen abhängt. Obwohl diese Dissertation nur ein kleines Stück der Komplexität analysiert, wirft sie ein neues Licht auf die Zusammenhänge von Marktesstruktur und Innovation und ihre gegenseitigen Rückwirkungen. Interessanterweise sind die Ergebnisse weit entfernt von gewohnten Sichtweisen und in vielen Fällen entgegen der intuitiven Ausgangserwartung. / Information and communication technologies (ICT) are driving the modern innovation process. To better understand these dynamics, the current dissertation analyses the interactions between innovation and competition. The scope of this work can be divided into two areas: The first one deals with a question of how markets could be organized to produce the most optimal outcome. The second one analyses the feedback effects of innovative activity on competition and the organisation of economic activity. Regarding the impact of competition on innovation, an empirical analysis reveals that ICT- driven innovations dominate in concentrated industries, whereas innovations based on other technologies flourish in moderately competitive markets. This suggests that there are some features that make ICT-enabled innovations exceptional, compared to innovations based on other technologies. Concerning the impact of innovation, two findings are worth emphasising. First, as shown in a theoretical analysis, although profitable from an individual producer’s perspective, the adoption of a technology increasing product variety across the entire industry erodes firms’ payoffs. In addition, firms'' decisions with respect to the technology adoption are not always efficient from the social welfare point of view. Second, another empirical analysis included in this work reveals that ICT leads to more competition and facilitates the emergence of hybrid organization forms, subject to firm''s and industry''s characteristics. Although this dissertation reveals only a small piece of the complexity of the ICT-driven innovation process, it casts some new light on the importance of market structure for ICT- enabled innovation and the feedback effect of the technology on firms’ environment. Interestingly, the outcomes of this thesis show that these interactions are often far from straightforward and in many cases counterintuitive.

This dissertation investigates the process of economic growth with heterogeneous agents from a multi-level perspective. Building upon Kaldorian and Evolutionary principles, growth is defined as a path-dependent and complex phenomenon, which requires structural variation and the interplay between demand and supply at distinct analytical levels. Two concomitant and dependent 'layers' of this process are emphasised: the supply-led 'intra-sectoral development trajectory' and the demand-led 'inter-sectoral development trajectory'. The key element in the first is the firm size, which is shown to have a non-linear influence on the process of technological change. The second layer is shown to depend on the growth of income and patterns of production and consumption reflected on the inter-sectoral composition and level of 'sophistication' of the productive structure. The key to understand divergent growth trajectories lies in the interaction between these layers and the contradictory effects imposed at each analytical level both by demand (top-down) and supply (bottom-up). The approach is both theoretical and empirical and the analysis reveals important stylised facts of growth at the firm, sector and country levels. The text is structured in four sections comprising 9 chapters. Section I introduces the theoretical foundations of the work and the limitations of Evolutionary and Kaldorian schools to explain the multi-level 'allocation problem'. Section II presents the databases and empirically assesses the influence of the (re)allocation of labour on growth at each analytical level. Section III investigates the foundations of the process of micro-meso and macro process of development. The final section proposes a unified theoretical framework to connect the multi-level evidence. The analysis reinforces the interplay between demand and supply in growth trajectories, prompting a number of original policy implications.

O presente trabalho teve, por objetivo, caracterizar a indústria de refino de açúcar no Brasil e identificar o modelo de comportamento da concentração de mercado da referida indústria para a região Centro-Sul do Brasil. Procurou-se analisar a influência dos distintos níveis de competição via preço e barreiras à entrada sobre a sua estrutura de mercado. Também foram analisadas a influência de fatores exógenos, como intervenção do governo, organização setorial e estratégias empresariais, na determinação da concentração de mercado do setor; o valor das barreiras à entrada para uma indústria média, baseada na análise da escala mínima eficiente de produção. Para tanto, utilizou-se o modelo teórico desenvolvido por Sutton (1991), que é o modelo do jogo de dois estágios para indústrias intensivas em sunk cost exógenos. Compararamse os resultados com os encontrados pelo autor para a Europa, o Japão, os Estados Unidos e Taiwan. Para tanto, definiu-se o mercado relevante como a região Centro-Sul do Brasil e calcularam-se a razão de concentração da referida indústria e a razão entre tamanho de mercado e nível de sunk cost exógeno. O valor encontrado para 2001 (σ/S igual a 0,8407%) é condizente com os dos países analisados por Sutton, que evidenciam o alto índice de custos irrecuperáveis e a existência de barreiras à entrada e explicam a estrutura de mercado encontrada. Verificou-se que a indústria de refino de açúcar no Brasil, inicialmente, foi construída por pequenos e médios grupos comerciais, com intensa atividade regional, sendo o setor regionalmente concentrado. Durante a fase de intervenção, destaca-se o forte caráter concentrado da indústria, apresentando na década de 1980, o CR4 da indústria de cerca de 80%. Nas décadas de 1990 e 2000, houve o crescimento e o surgimento de marcas menores, ao mesmo tempo em que a marca líder (União) teve reduzida sua importância no total das vendas do setor. Um dos elementos que explicam o forte caráter concentrado da indústria são as barreiras à entrada no setor: assim como as indústrias de açúcar refinado dos países analisados, a indústria de açúcar refinado do Brasil apresenta, de acordo com dados calculados para o ano 2003, alta barreira à entrada, em relação ao tamanho do mercado. No entanto, se, por um lado, a indústria apresenta elevados índices de concentração, por outro, acredita-se que os produtores de açúcar refinado não possam se utilizar desse poder de mercado junto aos consumidores. Os preços internos sofrem grande influência do mercado internacional, além da forte pressão do varejo supermercadista, também concentrado. Verificou-se que os preços descendentes ao longo do tempo são positivamente relacionados com a evolução da estrutura de mercado do período analisado. / The aim of the present work was to evaluate the refined sugar industryin Brazil and to identify its market behavior in the central region in Southern Brazil Accordingly, this study analyzed the influence of distinct levels of competition concerning price and entrance barriers on the market structure. Some exogenous factors, such as public regulation, sectorial organization, and strategies to set up costs, were also verified to determine the market sector’s concentration. the theoretical model of two-stage game for industries intensive in exogenous sunk cost described by Sutton (1991) was used to determine the value of the set up costs for a single plant of minimum efficient scale (m.e.s). Data of the present study were compared to those reported by Sutton (1991), whose study focused on Europe, Japan, United States and Taiwan. The present work, however, focused on the central region in Southern Brazil. The ratio of the market concentration of the sugar-refining industry, as well as the ratio of its market size and exogenous sunk cost was calculated. The value of σ/S found for 2001 was 0.8407%, consistent with the values found for the countries analyzed by Sutton; furthermore, this result evidences the high index of set up costs and existence of barriers of entrance, suggesting that that the industry of refining sugar in Brazil was initiated with small and average commercial groups, with a regionally-concentrated sector. During the regulated period the industry was highly concentrated (by the 1980s the CR4 was about 80%). In the 1990s, there was a great entrance of new brands and consequently a decline in the leader brand (União). One of the reasons that such industry is highly concentrated is the huge sunk cost. Like the refined sugar industry analyzed in other countries, the Brazilian refined sugar industry presented, in 2003, high exogenous sunk cost in relation to the size market.