This dissertation consists of two parts with two different topics. In the first part, we investigate ``Load-Share Model" for modeling dependency among components in a multi-component system. Systems, where the components share the total applied load, are often referred to as load sharing systems. Such systems can arise in software reliability models and in multivariate failure-time models in biostatistics, for example (see Kvam and Pena (2002)). When it comes to load-share model, the most interesting component is the underlying principle that dictates how failure rates of surviving components change after some components in the system fail. This kind of principle depends mostly on the reliability application and how the components within the system interact through the reliability structure function. Until now, research involving load-share models have emphasized the characterization of system reliability under a known load-share rule. Methods for reliability analysis based on unknown load-share rules have not been fully developed. So, in the first part of this dissertation, 1) we model the dependence between system components through a load-share framework, with the load-sharing rule containing unknown parameters and 2) we derive methods for statistical inference on unknown load-share parameters based on maximum likelihood estimation. In the second half of this thesis, we extend the existing uncertain supply literature to a case where the supply uncertainty dwells in the logistics operations. Of primary interest in this study is to determine the optimal order amount for the retailer given uncertainty in the supply-chain's logistics network due to unforeseeable disruption or various types of defects (e.g., shipping damage, missing parts and misplaced products). Mixture distribution models characterize problems from solitary failures and contingent events causing network to function ineffectively. The uncertainty in the number of good products successfully reaching the distribution center and retailer poses a challenge in deciding product-order amounts. Because the commonly used ordering plan developed for maximizing expected profits does not allow retailers to address concerns about contingencies, this research proposes two improved procedures with risk-averse characteristics towards low probability and high impact events.

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This study investigates whether the difference in individual shareholder tax rates between dividend income and capital gain (the dividend tax penalty) affects a firm's choice between distributing funds to shareholders through dividends or share repurchases. The results of this study suggest that, in periods in which the dividend tax penalty increases, firms are more likely to distribute funds to shareholders through share repurchases as opposed to dividends. The results also indicate that the relationship between the dividend tax penalty and corporate payout choice is affected by the types of shareholders who own stock in the firm. As managerial share ownership increases and the dividend tax penalty increases firms are more likely to make distributions to shareholders in the form of share repurchases. As aggregate institutional ownership increases and the dividend tax penalty increases, firms are neither more likely to repurchase shares nor more likely to distribute dividends. Division of the institutional ownership category indicates that institutions classified as mutual funds and investment advisors (brokers) have the strongest preference for share repurchases as the dividend tax penalty increases. In contrast, institutions classified as banks, insurance companies and other institutions have the smallest preference for share repurchases as the dividend tax penalty increases. The implication of this study is that individual shareholder taxes affect firms' corporate payout choice.

No description available.

No description available.

The increase in direct personal investment in capital market assets by Australians over the past two decades represents an unprecedented engagement with that sector of Australian economic life. This dissertation critically investigates claims that this engagement heralds a shareholder democracy. Increased economic participation based on private direct ownership of corporate securities could be interpreted as a weak form of democratisation. Using a class-theoretical framework, the dissertation conceptualises the private shareholder phenomenon as a process of embourgeoisement and argues that the development of a macro-level mass consumer financial products market is the result of capitalist class development and expansion. A thesis of strong democratisation proffers the notion that the private shareholder, as an ascendant class of financial actor, engages with real democratic processes in addition to simply owning securities. To test this thesis the dissertation measures the extent to which small shareholders control the objective conditions under which they accumulate greater wealth by seeking evidence of potential or actual engagement with macro-market and meso-corporate level social processes. The dissertation assesses macro-level practice by drawing on the work of Bourdieu and on notions of the social field. It considers the entry of the new class of financial actor to the financial field and analyses their capacity to accumulate and deploy informational capital, and compares their ability to influence a state-sponsored economic reform process (CLERP) with that of other actors. The dissertation analyses longitudinal ownership and shareholder voting data from a set of over 30 major Australian companies. It finds that the new class of economic actor is most prevalent in privatised state-owned enterprises and mutuals. In the context of an ideal Habermasian public sphere, the study considers the potential for small shareholders to participate in meso-level, corporate agenda-setting and deliberation. Using the ideal political space of Arendt, it searches for methods of achieving democratic outcomes. The dissertation finds that while the personal ownership of tradable financial assets may constitute a weak form of economic democratisation, small shareholders?? inability to influence real outcomes, even in companies in which they constitute the majority, places substantial restrictions on the overall strength of the share ownership-as-democracy thesis.

Thesis (M.S.)--Cornell University, August, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-84).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1988. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographies.

BARBOSA, Janaina Araújo. A competitividade das exportações de castanha de caju e melão no Nordeste brasileiro: 1997-2013. 2016. 63 f. :Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Ceará, Centro de Ciências Agrarias, Departamento de Economia Agrícola, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Economia Rural. Fortaleza-CE, 2016 / Submitted by Mário LIMA (mariolima333@gmail.com) on 2016-09-01T18:07:58Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2016_dis_jabarbosa.pdf: 1031310 bytes, checksum: f42f02eb294f5fecdc0487bd2d5b98b4 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Margareth Mesquita (margaret@ufc.br) on 2016-09-02T19:31:25Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2016_dis_jabarbosa.pdf: 1031310 bytes, checksum: f42f02eb294f5fecdc0487bd2d5b98b4 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-02T19:31:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2016_dis_jabarbosa.pdf: 1031310 bytes, checksum: f42f02eb294f5fecdc0487bd2d5b98b4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016 / The development of fruit production in Northeast Brazil faced some challenges and limits in recent years. However, due to the advancement of new technologies and research, managed to advance in some respects, making favorable growth in production of certain crops, which are benefited by the growing international demand for commodities and the attractive price, providing income and employment for exporters, farmers and workers involved in the activity. Thus, this study is essential to analyze the behavior and the main sources of progress or decline in exports of cashew nuts and melon in the Northeast, through commonly known variables as influencers for exports of these products, which are: price of the product in international currency exchange rates, harvested area, average yield in production and the quantity produced by international competitors. The information used in the research were taken from AliceWeb the Ministry of Development System, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC), the Municipal Agricultural Production of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and IpeaData. To evaluate these influencing factors was made using the Shift Share methodology, using time series covering the period 1997-2013. The methodology that is used in paper proposes innovative in this type of analysis and is the decomposition of the value of exports of both commodities in the effects that hypnotize be definers of progress or setbacks in the value of Northeastern exports of both products. The results in the survey show that the Northeast is losing competitiveness relative to its main competitors (Vietnam and India) in the production and export of cashew nuts, both as regards the expansion area harvested as mainly relative yields, an evidence that the Northeastern production of cashew nuts advances in technological gap in relation to its two main competitors in the international market. Considering the production and export of melon by region, the evidence found in the survey suggest advances Northeastern participation in international melon market, demonstrating greater competitiveness compared to the production of this item in the main international competitors are Spain, Guatemala and the United States of America. / O desenvolvimento da fruticultura no Nordeste brasileiro enfrentou alguns desafios e limites nos últimos anos. Contudo, devido ao avanço de novas tecnologias e pesquisas, conseguiu avançar em alguns aspectos, tornando favorável o crescimento da produção de determinadas culturas, as quais são beneficiadas pela crescente demanda internacional de commodities e pelo preço atrativo, proporcionando renda e emprego para os exportadores, produtores e trabalhadores envolvidos na atividade. Diante disso, este estudo tem como objetivo fundamental analisar o comportamento e as principais fontes de avanço ou retração das exportações da castanha de caju e do melão na região Nordeste, por meio de variáveis comumente conhecidas como influenciadoras para as exportações desses produtos, as quais são: preço do produto em moeda internacional, taxa de câmbio, área colhida, rendimento médio da produção e quantidade produzida pelos concorrentes internacionais. As informações utilizadas na pesquisa foram retiradas do Sistema AliceWeb do Ministério do Desenvolvimento, Indústria e Comércio Exterior (MDIC), da Produção Agrícola Municipal do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (IBGE) e do IpeaData. Para avaliar esses fatores influenciadores fez-se uso da metodologia Shift Share, com o uso de séries temporais cobrindo o período compreendido entre 1997 e 2013. A metodologia utilizada no trabalho é inovadora neste tipo de análise e consiste na decomposição do valor das exportações destas duas commodities nos efeitos tidos como definidores dos avanços ou retrocessos do valor das exportações nordestinas dos dois produtos. Os resultados encontrados na pesquisa mostraram que a região Nordeste está perdendo competitividade em relação aos seus principais concorrentes (Vietnã e Índia) na produção e exportação de castanha de caju, tanto no que concerne à expansão de área colhida como, principalmente, de rendimento relativo, numa evidência de que a produção nordestina de castanha de caju avança em descompasso tecnológico em relação aos seus dois principais concorrentes no mercado internacional. Considerando a produção e exportação de melão pela região, as evidências encontradas na pesquisa sugerem avanços da participação nordestina no mercado internacional de melão, demonstrando uma maior competitividade frente à produção deste item nos principais concorrentes internacionais, que são Espanha, Guatemala e Estados Unidos da América.

M.Comm. / The use of employee share schemes as a talent management strategy and as part of companies’ reward systems has gained impetus. Most employers make use of the share option schemes because they are believed to align the interests of employees with those of the company, offer succession planning opportunities, attract , retain best talent, and motivate employees. What needs to be established is whether employee share schemes do in fact effectively contribute towards talent management strategies and organisational performance. The current prevailing global economic landscape and the effect of globalisation combined with the global framebreaking talent war requires South African companies to attract and keep the best technical, managerial and supervisor skills to remain competitive. Talent management includes components such as skills retention and attract ion, employee motivation, reward systems, employment branding, employee value proposition and other relevant initiatives that instil employee sense of belonging.