Habilitationsschrift--Bergakademie, Clausthal--Zellerfeld, Ger. / Bibliography: p. 305-[330]

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 308-350).

The purpose of this thesis is to test the hypothesis, derived from neo-classical micro-economic theory, that other things being equal the more concentrated an industry becomes, the more likely it is that firms in that industry can pursue monopolistic practices and thereby earn greater profits than would otherwise be possible if there were more firms in that industry. The method of study employed is the application of regression and correlation analysis to a cross-sectional sample of Canadian industry. The results of this study lead one to the conclusion that concentration and profits are positively correlated, thus supporting the hypothesis. However, concentration explains only about 10 per cent of the variation in industry profit rates in the cross-section. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

published_or_final_version / Comparative Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-109).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 103-109). Also available in print.

Large industrial accidents attract attention due to their catastrophic effects on human lives, economic growth, and the environment. Early studies on accident causations have concluded that 98% of all industrial accidents are preventable, and 88% can be prevented through the enforcement of a proper control system. There have been relentless efforts to develop models of accidents to understand this phenomenon and minimise the catastrophic outcomes of mishap events. These efforts have led to the development of systematic models of accident causations; in which accidents causations are viewed as dynamic processes that interact in a non-linear fashion. One of these systematic models is Resilience Engineering (RE), which takes a holistic view of the organisation and its natural abilities to maintain the system in a dynamically stable state under either stresses or normal operations. This research attempts to explore safety of industrial corporations by evaluating resilience in the Saudi Arabian process industry. The Saudi Arabia context is substantially different from the Western cultures where resilience concepts were developed and studied. The rapid expansion of the petroleum industries has had a major impact on the development of the Saudi socio-economic dynamics. The unique national culture dimensions of the Saudi Arabian society (power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and individualism) will help in understanding cultural influences on resilience and safety in general. Therefore, this research is conducted to identify the main contributing factors to resilience in the Saudi Arabian context. The outcomes of the research help engineers and administrators in industrial organisations to engineer resilient systems that minimize the risks of mishaps and recover quickly to a normal state of operations. The findings support the influence of the national culture in different countries on organisational safety culture, which is extended to individuals' behaviour towards safety. Evidence has shown that collectivism, on the contrary to the common belief, has a positive impact on both resilience potential and safety culture in the process industry. In addition, the process industry in Saudi Arabia is characterised by resilience of the second type, where there is good ability to respond and monitor but a low ability to learn or anticipate. The main contributing factors to this resilience are: effective communication, information availability, control over work tasks, and dealing with external pressure. Lastly, the findings suggest an association between management commitment to safety and both resilience optimisation and organisational safety culture.

This dissertation discusses the economic issues surrounding corruption at the firm-level in Nigeria with a specific focus on bribery. This involves an analysis of the paying and reporting of bribes by firm managers in Nigeria. The first chapter uses data from two business surveys to explain the determinants of the incidence of bribery and the magnitude of bribes, respectively. A two-stage analysis is conducted to test for the independence of the processes determining the incidence and the magnitude of bribery. The results show that the propensity to bribe is determined by required meetings with public officials while the size of bribe is driven by firm profitability indicators. The second chapter tests the reliability of methods used to ask individuals sensitive questions on different forms of business malpractice. Indirect methods are tested against the randomised response method. The indirect method protects the managers from stigmatisation by asking them about the behaviour of an agent representative of themselves; the randomised response method asks the interviewee to base their response on the result of a private coin-toss. The results show that the indirect method produces higher and more plausible estimates of wrongdoing than the andomised response method. The third chapter investigates why the randomised response method sometimes fails in eliciting honest responses from sensitive questions despite assuring the managers of anonymity. The roles of trust in the interviewer and the probability of detection are considered along with other potential explanations. Results indicate that lack of trust and the fear of detection are associated with underreporting of sensitive acts. The final chapter examines the relationship between bribery and ethnic networks. The ethnicities of the managers and their local political representatives are used to measure ethnic networks. Results show that co-ethnic firm managers are less likely to pay a bribe than non co-ethnics. Also, there is a positive association between ethno-linguistic fractionalisation and bribery which, in fractionalised areas, eradicates the negative effect of co-ethnicity on bribery.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1983.