Siu, Tsz Hang. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-61). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgement --- p.iii / Chapter 1 --- Introduction and Literature Review --- p.1 / Chapter 2 --- Data and Methodology --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1 --- Portfolio Formation --- p.8 / Chapter 2.2 --- Delisting --- p.11 / Chapter 2.3 --- Rebalancing --- p.11 / Chapter 2.4 --- Performance Measurement --- p.12 / Chapter 3 --- Results --- p.16 / Chapter 3.1 --- Daily Portfolio Returns --- p.16 / Chapter 3.2 --- CAPM and Fama French Model --- p.18 / Chapter 3.3 --- Cumulative Returns --- p.22 / Chapter 3.4 --- Over Different Time Periods --- p.22 / Chapter 3.5 --- Analysis on Capital Market Theory --- p.24 / Chapter 3.6 --- Explanations --- p.27 / Chapter 3.6.1 --- Overconfidence --- p.27 / Chapter 3.6.2 --- Anchoring --- p.28 / Chapter 3.6.3 --- A Simple Model and Smoothing Effect --- p.29 / Chapter 3.6.4 --- Securities Selection --- p.32 / Chapter 3.6.5 --- Transaction Costs --- p.32 / Chapter 4 --- Conclusions --- p.33 / Chapter A --- Proof --- p.36 / Chapter B --- Tables and Figures --- p.40 / Bibliography --- p.59

Ng, Hon Yip. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-83). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2 --- Basic Concepts in Portfolio Theory --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1 --- Statistical Model --- p.8 / Chapter 2.2 --- Mean-Variance Optimization --- p.9 / Chapter 2.3 --- The Efficient Frontier --- p.11 / Chapter 2.4 --- The Tangency Portfolio and The Capital Market Line --- p.13 / Chapter 2.5 --- Mathematical Formulation of Portfolio Optimization --- p.17 / Chapter 3 --- Derivation of The Improved Estimator --- p.29 / Chapter 4 --- Simulation Study --- p.40 / Chapter 4.1 --- Procedure of Simulation --- p.40 / Chapter 4.2 --- Simulation Results --- p.46 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Zero Correlation --- p.47 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Positive Correlations --- p.50 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Negative Correlations --- p.52 / Chapter 5 --- Conclusion and Future Direction --- p.56 / Chapter A --- Simulation results for p = 200 --- p.58 / Chapter B --- Simulation results for p = 400 --- p.61 / Chapter C --- Simulation results for p = 500 --- p.64 / Chapter D --- Simulation results for p = 200 with negative correlations --- p.67 / Chapter E --- Simulation results for p = 400 with negative correlations --- p.71 / Chapter F --- Simulation results for p = 500 with negative correlations --- p.75 / Bibliography --- p.79

This Paper empirically investigates the behavior of Africa’s stock price volatility over time in ten African equity markets. It also attempts to establish the existence of a relationship between volatility and expected returns in the chosen equity markets. The effect of volatility on the stock prices is also investigated, together with establishing variations in the stock return volatility risk premia. Lastly, an investigation of whether volatility is transmitted from international markets to African markets is also undertaken. The sample period starts from November 1998 until December 2016. The preliminary empirical results show a mixed finding in the mean-variance tradeoff theory. Based on the GARCH-type models, the empirical results show that volatility of stock returns show the characteristics of volatility clustering, leptokurtic distribution and leverage effects over time for all the Africa equity markets. A weak relationship between volatility and expected returns is also found in all the African equity markets studied. The results also showed that as volatility increases, the returns correspondingly decrease by a factor of the coefficient for most of the equity markets. These results negate the theory of a positive risk premium on stock indices. It was also observed that stock return volatility risk premia have variations over time. The study also established that there was volatility transmission from the international markets into Africa equity markets. / MT2017

As funds dwindle and costs rise university advancement staff have been given higher fundraising goals to meet the needs. In addition, university advancement staff have received pressure to review and lower the costs of fundraising to become more efficient (Drezner, 2011). To enable university advancement staff to attain goals, advocate for resources, or enhance processes, university advancement staff are challenged to measure their effectiveness. However, the process of measuring university fundraising success is unclear as there are many variables to consider and several ways to determine success. For this study the Delphi Technique (Hsu & Sanford, 2007) was used with 3 rounds of questionnaires. Seventeen experts of fundraising analytics were asked to identify both quantifiable and nonquantifiable variables that should be included in a comprehensive model to determine success in university fundraising. Findings include quantifiable measures such as return on investment, growth in giving reports, new and recaptured donors, and fundraiser performance and activity metrics. In addition, findings include nonquantifiable measures such as institutional and environmental forces were identified by the participants as critical components to comprise in a comprehensive model. Further findings include a variety of other metrics, both quantifiable and nonquantifiable, that were identified by the participants as critical components to comprise in a comprehensive evaluation model.

To be present online is seen, in recent time, as a necessity for fashion companies in order to sustain on the market. Since online shopping lack the opportunity for customers to try on purchased products it entails a risk of experiencing dissatisfaction when orders are received. Through this, customers demand determinants that ensure safety within the purchase. Different kinds of customers might, however, possess various motivations for purchasing, stressing the requirements for variety in service value deliverance. Therefore, purchase and return policies comprise a significant importance in order to create attractiveness towards customers. The problem, though, consists of the balance between offering lenient purchase and return policies, to create competitiveness, but still considering excessive purchasing and depreciation of product value. There are several determinants affecting the shopping experience online. These were combined, with components of an online purchase, in a theoretical model to empirically test the key conceptual ideas embedded in the consumption system perspective. Further, primary data was conducted through company interviews and focus group interviews, with the aim to explore customer behavior online. Findings, from interviews compared with secondary data, analyzed through the theoretical model, indicates that the right of withdrawal and its additional components such as charges, time and inconvenience is interpreted differently by different customers. Further, it is up to e-tailers to discover the benefits and drawbacks of different policies in order to detect the most suited policy for them and their customers.

Geographic data is a hallowed element within the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) discipline. As geographic data faces increased usage in distributed and mobile environments, the ability to access and maintain that data can become challenging. Traditional methods of data management through the use of file storage, databases, and data catalog software are valuable in their ability to organize data, but provide little information about how the data was collected, how often the data is updated, and what value the data holds for an organization. By defining geographic data as an asset it becomes a valuable resource that requires acquisition, maintenance and sometimes retirement during its lifetime. To further understand why geographic data is different than other types of data, we must look at the many components of geographic data and specifically how that data is gathered and organized. To best align geographic data to the asset management discipline, this thesis will focus on six key dimensions, established through the work of Vanier (2000, 2001), which seek to evaluate asset management systems. Using a conceptual narrative linked to an environmental analysis case study, this research seeks to inform as to the strategies for efficiently managing geospatial data resources. These resources gain value through the context applied by the inclusion of a standard structure and methodologies from the asset management field. The result of this thesis is the determination of the extent to which geographic data can be considered an asset, what asset management strategies are applicable to geographic data, and what are the requirements for geographic data asset management systems.

She inches glass to break: conversations between friends is a project that aims to manifest, through research and practice, my own feminist language within the videos I have produced in my final year of my Masters of Fine Arts. My feminist language is Australian and intersectional, invested in combating sexism, racism and in deepening language and representation around sexuality in relation to Asian women. This project discusses my video She inches glass to break (2018) in length, which created intersectional feminist dialogue in response to feminist filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger’s film Ticket of No Return (1979) and Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). Additionally, given this project’s investment in language, this body of work is influenced both by aspects of psychoanalysis – in which speech is central to a “therapeutic action” – and by feminist linguistics in which linguistic analysis reveals some of the mechanisms through which language constrains, coerces and represents women, men and non-binary people in oppressive ways.

Mothers who leave the workforce to raise children may face personal and professional difficulties when returning. There was a lack of qualitative research on what these women experience in their return to work. The purpose of this study was to discover and describe how a mother in a professional or managerial position experiences a return to the workforce after a hiatus of 2 or more years to raise children. The philosophy of Husserl and the methodology of Moustakas guided this transcendental phenomenological study. Through purposive snowball sampling, 12 women participated in semistructured interviews. Data analysis followed the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method leading to a synthesis of participants' lived experiences. Key findings of the essence of the experience were identified in 6 major themes: deciding to return, changing career path, changes in the workplace, feelings upon return, changes at home, and reflections. Social change implications include heightening awareness among women and their families about the process of returning to work after leaving a professional job to care for children. Policymakers may benefit from the information to support mothers' efforts to return to work after a child-rearing hiatus through programs designed to support the reentry of mothers to the professional workplace. Life and career coaches may use findings to prepare women for the reentry process.

Bakgrund: E-handeln inom modebranschen fortsätter att öka och bidrar till att konkurrensen hårdnar. Även mängden returer ökar och samtidigt ökar kraven på en hög leveransservice hos kunderna, vilket belastar returprocessen samt bidrar till en sämre miljö med ökade transporter och mer materialförbrukning. Det här blir således både en kostnadsfråga och en hållbarhetsfråga som företag verksamma inom e-handeln behöver beakta för att fortsatt profilera sig som hållbara. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att öka förståelsen för hur Corparate Social Responsibility kan användas inom E-handelns frakt- och returneringspolicys inom modebranschen. Genomförande: Den här studie har en kvalitativ forskningsdesign. Genom en flerfallsstudie med fyra fallföretag och en branschorganisation har det empiriska materialet bidragit till uppfyllelse av studiens syfte. Slutsats: För att företagen ska fortsätta vara lönsamma och profilera sig som hållbara behöver dem vägleda konsumenterna till bättre beslut genom att kommunicera returprocessens påverkan. Företagen behöver därmed ta ett ytterligare ansvar för den påverkan som deras verksamhet ger upphov till. På så sätt kan CSR användas inom frakt- och returneringspolicyn, där företagen driver en hållbar utveckling samt visar på deras ansvarstagande. / Background: E-commerce in the fashion industry continues to increase and contributes to a higher degree of competition. The amount of returns is also increasing and at the same time the demands for a high delivery service among customers increases. This is burdening the return process and contributing to a poorer environment with increased transports and more material consumption. Eventually, this becomes both a question about cost issue and a sustainability issue that the companies in E-commerce needs to consider in order to continue profile themselves as sustainable. Aim: The purpose of the study is to increase the understanding of how Corporate Social Responsibility can be used in the E-commerce delivery- and return policies, in the fashion industry. Design: This study has a qualitative research design. Through a multiple case study with four case companies and one organization the empirical material has contributed to fulfilling the purpose of the study. Conclusion: In order for the companies to continue to be profitable and to be able to profile themselves as sustainable they need to communicate the impact of the return process. This in order to guide the consumers to make better decisions. The companies therefore need to take additional responsibility for the impact that their business gives rise to. In this way CSR can be used within the delivery- and return policy, where the companies drive sustainable development and demonstrate their responsibility.

The west coast of Vancouver Island is located at the northern end of the California Current System, one of the world’s Eastern Boundary Current Systems. The region is characterized by wind driven coastal upwelling and high productivity, which supports fisheries and related industries. Climate change poses a challenge to these industries by increasing seawater acidity and decreasing dissolved oxygen levels, which are two of the multi-stressors of marine organisms. This thesis explores the relative importance of different physical and biological mechanisms that affect oxygen and carbon extremes in the region. The relatively weak local wind in the region is not well-correlated with local currents and temperature. Results of coherence analyses between multi-depth current and temperature measured at a single mooring site (48.5 ◦ N, 126 ◦ W) in the west coast of southern Vancouver Island and coincident time series of North America Regional Reanalysis (NARR) 10 m wind stress in the geographic domain 36 – 54 ◦ N, 120 – 132 ◦ W are presented. The two-decade long (1989 – 2008) current records from the three shallowest depths (35, 100 and 175 m) show a remote response to winds from as far south as 36 ◦ N. In contrast, temperature only at the deepest depth (400 m) show strong coherences with remote winds. The frequency window of maximum coherence and the estimated average time-lags are consistent with the frequencies and pole-ward propagating phase speeds of coastal trapped waves. Lack of coherence between remote winds and the 400 m currents suggests that the temperature variations at that depth are driven by vertical motion resulting from poleward travelling coastal trapped waves (CTWs). In order to study the relative roles of physical and biological processes on controlling oxygen and carbon tendencies, oxygen cycle has been successfully added to an existing biogeochemical model of the west coast of Vancouver Island. This idealized model then was forced with a long synthetic record of present-day conditions, specifically 1017 years of stochastically generated daily resolved forcing including local and remote winds. The seasonal cycles of the modelled DIC and O2 compare well with depth averaged observational data. They are also found to be strongly coupled in the lower layers, where biological processes are more important. In the upper layer, physical processes such as the differing gas exchange rates partially decouple DIC and O2 . Robust statistics on DIC and oxygen extreme events were calculated by using the long realizations of the model baseline experiment. In the upper mixed layer, O2 extreme events occur 2–3 times more frequently than DIC extreme events. Both extreme events show a much larger interannual variability in the lower layer. In this layer, oxygen extreme events events occur late in the summer, following intense upwelling events early in the upwelling season. Counter-intuitively, within the summer upwelling season, when sporadic upwelling events are expected to cause extreme conditions, the fraction of days with joint DIC–O2 extreme events is negligible. Sensitivity analysis shows that increased primary production, via increased phytoplankton growth rate, decreases the small fraction of days with joint DIC-O2 extreme events in the upper layers during the summer upwelling season but increases it in the winter downwelling season. Lowering upwelling intensities lowers the fraction of days with joint DIC–O2 extreme events. Increasing the upwelling intensities had the opposite effect on this fraction. Changes in up/downwelling intensity did not change this fraction within the summer upwelling season. A non-monotonic response by oxygen extreme events in the lower layer is observed when phytoplankton growth rate was increased. Generally, a moderate decrease in growth rate increases the chances of model lower layer O2 extreme events, while near-zero growth rate does not. In some cases, the same parameter perturbation results in different responses by the mean and the extreme events of DIC and O2 , suggesting that results of studies focusing on physical and biological forcing of the mean state may not directly translate result to extremes. This thesis has identified relative locations within the study domain of priority for effective monitoring of dissolved oxygen and carbon extremes in the study region. Finally, joint DIC- O2 extreme events are found to be common at the end of the summer. This information can be used to inform adaptation and mitigation plans aimed at protecting the economic and bequest value of the coast from potential hazards associated with oxygen and carbon extremes. / Graduate