The entertainment industry is an impactful part of the U.S. economy. My thesis explores the way Americans consume popular music and how the U.S. economic environment affects the permeability of the music industry to new artists. I use discrete-choice probit models to examine the top 10 weekly singles from the Billboard Hot 100 between 2006 and 2013. I analyze the economic factors and artist characteristics that affect an unestablished artist’s entry into the top 10 of the chart and achievement of the number one chart spot. I also use a Cox proportional hazard model to examine the effects of economic factors and artist characteristics on the number of weeks an artist’s single stays in the top 10 of the Hot 100 chart. I find that having a previous single in the top 100 decreases the predicted probability of a new artist’s song being in the top 10, and having previous singles in the top 10 or top 100 decreases number of weeks an artist’s subsequent single spends in the top 10 of the chart. Additionally, level of GDP per capita increases the number of weeks an artist’s single stays in the top 10 of the chart. Economic well-being perpetuates stability in the consumption of music, and modern culture consumers demonstrate a preference for newness in their endorsement of unestablished artists. As demonstrated by the use of singles between 2006 and 2013, new technologies decrease the costs of engaging with new artists for consumers and allow an artist to achieve success regardless of the artist’s previous success.

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This thesis presents an analysis of finished beef marketing in the UK using Transaction Cost Economics (TCE). Transaction costs fall into three broad categories: information costs, negotiation costs and monitoring or enforcement costs. The key insight provided by TCE is that economic activity will be organised, <I>ceteris paribus</I>, so as to minimise the costs of carrying out transactions. Empirical applications of TCE have not kept pace with theoretical developments partly due to data limitations; in particular, there have been few applications of TCE by agricultural economists. Data on the transaction costs which farmers face when marketing finished beef cattle are collected through a survey of beef producers in N.E. Scotland. These data are analysed using Tobit analysis - a limited dependent variable econometric technique. A number of transaction cost and farm characteristic variables are found to be significant in influencing a farmer's decision whether to sell cattle through the live-ring auction or direct to abattoirs. The influence of transaction costs on abattoirs' cattle procurement preferences are then examined using conjoint analysis. This technique allows the joint effect of two variables on a dependent variable to be measured. Procurement channels are described in terms of four key transaction cost attributes. Data from a survey of UK abattoirs allows the extent to which respondents are willing to trade-off attribute levels, and therefore, the relative importance of the transaction cost attributes, to be determined. Conjoint analysis is also used to measure the relative importance of transaction costs in the procurement decisions of retailers, through a small-scale survey of UK supermarket meat buyers. The main contribution of this study is to demonstrate that measuring the importance of transaction costs to the parties to an exchange is a fruitful avenue of research.

This study aims to examine the characteristics of activity-based costing (ABC) in Thailand and to compere the important aspects of ABC in Thailand, as a developing country, to those in the UK, the US and Australia, as developed countries. / Thesis (PhDBusinessAdministration)--University of South Australia, 2007.

Background: Access to &quot high-cost medicines&quot under Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is characterised by strict eligibility criteria. The PBS access scheme for the anti-rheumatic biologicals (etanercept, infliximab, and adalimumab) was examined for concordance with Australia?s National Medicines Policy. Methods: Semi-structured interviews with a range of stakeholders were conducted. National, aggregated prescription and expenditure data from Medicare Australia and dispensing data from the Drug Utilisation Sub-Committee were analysed. Access to biologicals was also examined from an ethical perspective. Results: Interviewees agreed that controlled access to high-cost medicines was broadly equitable and practical but specific concerns included: timeliness of access; bureaucracy of the process; contentious cases of individual patients being denied access; insufficient patient information; the quantum of resources required to administer the access scheme; inadequate stakeholder consultation. The access requirement of a history of failure of conventional anti-rheumatic drugs was supported. Recommendations included proactive review of the access criteria and outcomes; greater transparency and formal stakeholder involvement to increase public confidence in the definition of &quot target patient population" and a formal appeal mechanism to increase the fairness and accountability of the PBS. Establishment of an appeal mechanism is supported by &quot accountability for reasonableness&quot framework grounded in procedural justice. Data needed to examine the health outcomes associated with the use of biologicals on a national level was not easily available. This shortcoming is discordant with National Medicines Policy. Utilisation of biologicals over the first two years of PBS-subsidy was conservative but with considerable variability across States and Territories (an 8-fold difference between the jurisdictions), usage roughly correlating with access to rheumatologists. Introduction of PBS-subsidised biologicals did not alter the trends in utilisation of non-biological anti-rheumatic drugs. Conclusions: This research suggests that policy-makers focus upon: explicitly considering ethical principles and formally involving stakeholders when developing policies on access to high-cost medicines; improving communication and providing information based on increased transparency; and establishing formal mechanisms for review of and appeals against PBS decisions. The comprehensive evaluation of medicine use and outcomes post-subsidy is critical for the future of the PBS. The National Medicines Policy has proved a useful framework for evaluating this access scheme.

This thesis investigates key issues concerning how active equity fund managers add value: measuring alpha (Chapter 3), generating alpha (Chapters 4, 5 and 6) and transaction cost minimisation (Chapter 7). Chapter 3 proposes important methodological adjustments to the widely adopted benchmarking methodology of Daniel, Grinblatt, Titman and Wermers (1997). Applying this modified benchmark to a sample of active funds and simulated passive portfolios that mimic fund manager style characteristics, statistically lower tracking error is documented, compared with using the standard methodology. These findings suggest that improved specifications of characteristic benchmarks represent better methods in accurately quantifying fund manager skill. Chapter 4 examines a portfolio strategy which selects stocks using the undisclosed monthly holdings of Australian active funds. When considering a large range of strategies incorporating portfolio holdings information, the top performing strategies are robust to data-snooping and are economically and statistically significant when incorporating transaction costs. Accounting for look-ahead bias in the formation of a strategy, statistically significant alpha of at least 6.88 percent per year is found when following the best performing strategy holding 20 stocks or more in the previous month. Chapter 5 examines the relation of active equity fund managers location proximity to a stock??s corporate headquarter using portfolio holdings data. Contrary to much international research, this study reveals evidence inconsistent with a location advantage for Melbourne and Sydney-based funds. Chapter 6 examines retail investor trading on the Australian Stock Exchange. The performance of retail investors is highly heterogeneous: discount (non-discount) retail brokerage investors lose -0.59 (-0.05) percent intraday and experience negative (positive) returns over the subsequent year. These findings are inconsistent with retail investors exerting price pressure or providing liquidity to institutions. Chapter 7 examines whether equity fund managers use multiple brokers in a trade package in order to lower their price impact and brokerage costs. Using the daily trades of funds, multiple broker trades are not found to have lower costs compared to a single broker, even when controlling for the informativeness of the trade package and potential endogeneity. These findings suggest that fund managers do not lower their costs when using multiple brokers.

This study examines the operating costs of, and intentional compliance with, the value added tax (VAT) in Ethiopia. The study focuses on assessing the magnitude and nature of operating costs, identifying areas in the design and administration of the tax that contribute to the operating costs and the problems in the operation of the tax at large, and also on the link between VAT compliance costs and intentional output VAT reporting compliance decisions. The study adopts a mixed methods research approach to test a series of hypotheses and answer research questions that emerge through the review of existing literature and the experiences of the researcher in respect of the Ethiopian tax system. Specifically, the study uses surveys of taxpayers and tax practitioners, experimental design, interviews with tax officials and documentary analysis. The study statistically analyses the data elicited from the surveys and experimental design. It also analyses the results of in-depth interviews with tax officials and examination of documents held by tax authorities and other institutions. The results of this combined research methodology reveal that VAT operating costs in Ethiopia in the fiscal year 2005/06 appear to be relatively low. However, this low level of operating costs may not imply that the VAT system in Ethiopia is simple. In particular, in the case of administrative costs it is argued that it may indicate that the tax authorities are under-resourced which in turn may have affected their ability to accomplish the responsibilities entrusted to them. In respect of compliance costs, although the total costs seem to be low, it is contended that their regressiveness is likely to impact on the equity of the tax system as a whole. Further, the results show that VAT compliance costs and intentional VAT reporting compliance decisions are inversely correlated; but this correlation is statistically weak. The results also identify several concerns in the design and administration of the tax that have bearing on the operating costs and the operation of the tax. Specifically, the existence of the relatively high registration threshold, the high frequency of VAT reporting, the use of the invoice method of accounting (the latter two pertain mainly to small businesses) and weak administration are noted. iv The thesis suggests a series of measures which could be taken by the government and by the tax authorities in particular, to address the various problems identified in the study. These measures include strengthening the administration; allowing small businesses to adopt the cash basis of accounting and report less frequently; and reducing the registration threshold. The use of tax education is also emphasised as a strategy to improve compliance.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Aug., 2007. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Kiel, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. xv-xix).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of New South Wales, 2002. / Also available online.