Bonuses serve as a valuable tool in attracting and retaining Naval officers. This thesis analyzes the way officer bonuses are currently distributed in the Navy and provides recommended changes based on analysis of scholarly publications. Combining the information gained from current policies and research already conducted in the academic arena, the author proposes a workable bonus structure to meet the recruitment and retention goals while providing the Navy flexibility, quality personnel, and cost effectiveness. Combining auction theory and signaling theory into a new program has great potential to provide flexibility to the Navy, maintain the appropriate quantity and quality of officers, and provide cost savings to the Navy, while providing continued servicemember satisfaction. By offering bonus programs of different rates and time commitments, effectiveness and personnel quality can be increased by allowing officers to signal their intentions to the Navy. Auctions can be used to determine the appropriate monetary values to offer under each contract. By implementing an auction for bonus amounts, the Navy helps to ensure that bonuses will be competitive with the overall job market. This approach provides the Navy with a flexible, effective officer bonus program that is responsive to existing job market conditions. / US Navy (USN) author.

This thesis analyzed costs and benefits between the recruiting of active duty dentists and the proposed alternative of contracting them instead. Despite aggressive efforts to improve Dental Corps recruitment and retention, the annual loss rate has steadily increased. This has forced the Dental Corps into using alternative programs such as the Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP) and the Financial Assistance Program (FAP) in addition to the accession programs already being funded. Also, there are various recruiting costs along with the accession bonus that costs the Navy over $90,000 per dentist recruited. The scope of this thesis included, but was not be limited to: (1) a review of the current structure of pay for active duty Endodontists by referencing Additional Special Pay (ASP), Variable Special Pay (VSP), Dental Officer Multiyear Retention Bonus (DOMRB) and the Board Certification Pay (BCP) that dentists receive while serving on active duty (2) and a summary of private sector pay and incentives for dentists in private practice. The thesis also analyzed the differences between the two with a Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) model. The completed research found savings in cost for contracting already licensed and trained Endodontists in place of recruiting a general dentist and training them to become an Endodontist over the 10 year period as composed in the analysis. In addition, a steady-state model verified the CBA and showed savings in cost per year as well. Each model shows significant savings when contracting Endodontists in our shore based MTFs. Furthermore, to mitigate shortages, this research proposes to concentrate resources on military essential competencies and contracting workload for nonmilitary essential functions, such as Endodontists. Note that Endodontists were chosen because they are one of the larger nonessential specialties with billet inventories above the Operational Support Algorithm (OSA).

Personal discount rates can be defined as the rate at which Marines trade current dollars for future dollars. This research attempts to fill in the gaps in previous discount rate studies where Marine Corps data were omitted, by determining the personal discount rates for each individual who separated from the Marine Corps under the SSB or VSI voluntary separation payment programs between 1992 and 1997. This study also determined those personal, professional, and economic traits that had a significant influence on Marines during their separation payment option decisions. The findings of this research are similar to previous studies, indicating that the methodology applied in this study is accurate. The implications of this research for the Marine Corps are that manpower planners can use the determined personal discount rates to create policies that can target Marines who possess certain personal or professional characteristics for reduction or retention, thereby assisting the efforts to create a balanced and capable Marine Corps in the future. Planners can also use this research to anticipate the effect of policy changes on Marines with specific professional or personal traits. / US Marine Corps (USMC) author.

Background There is an increasing rate of cesarean section globally. Both low and high cesarean section rates are associated with maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidities. In Nicaragua, the rate of cesarean section is beyond the WHO recommendation of 10% to 15%. Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate the costs-effectiveness of elective caesarean section when compared with vaginal delivery in hospital in Nicaragua, a lower-middle income setting. Methods A 3 months prospective cohort study was conducted in a hospital in León, Nicaragua, from 1st May 2010 to 31st July 2010. Two questionnaires were used to obtain data, one on costs and maternal complications after delivery, and the other on postpartum complications. A descriptive analysis regarding maternal and neonatal outcomes, and a cost-effectiveness analysis were conducted comparing elective cesarean section with vaginal delivery, followed by a sensitivity analysis regarding change on rates of elective cesarean section. Results The cesarean section rate was 37.9%, and the elective cesarean section rate was 21%. The percentage of live births was 99.6% in elective cesarean section group and 98.9% in vaginal delivery group. Cesarean section had both positive and negative influences on maternal complications and postpartum complications. The costs of elective cesarean section was higher than vaginal delivery ($66 compared to $39.36). For one more live birth, 3805.71 US dollars were needed. Conclusion The maternal outcomes of cesarean section need to be improved. With the increasing cesarean section rates, more medical resources are needed in the future.

Online learning in K-12 education is becoming a familiar option for students. By the end of 2011, all 50 states and the District of Columbia offered some form of online learning as an option for some students (Watson, Murin, Vashaw, Gemin, & Rapp, 2011). Online courses are appealing to students for a variety of reasons. The five most common reasons schools are currently offering online courses are for: meeting the needs of specific groups of students; offering courses not otherwise available; offering AP or college level courses; permitting students who failed a course to take it again; and reducing scheduling conflicts for students (Picciano & Seaman, 2010). (P. 9) Schools often implement online programs, choosing from a variety of options, without the research necessary to guide these decisions. The purpose of this research was to conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of two online learning programs, commercially acquired and teacher-developed, used in a school division. The goal was to establish which program was a better choice with consideration to both cost and effectiveness. I used Levin and McEwan’s (2001) cost-effectiveness analysis to find (1) the cost per class taken, (2) the effectiveness, measured by courses passed and Virginia Standards of Learning tests passed, and (3) the cost-effectiveness ratio for both of the online programs. The ingredients method, suggested by Levin and McEwan (2001) was implemented with the use of cost worksheets to gather and itemize the costs associated with the each program. Only three courses were offered in both programs and used for comparison. Effectiveness data was based on students’ grade at the end of the online course and the end of course SOL test if applicable. Each effectiveness measure was used together with the cost total to calculate a cost-effectiveness ratio (CER) for each of the online learning programs. The cost-effectiveness analysis for passing the class revealed no difference between the two programs. The stalemate highlights the important findings of the research as the details in spending and methods of implementation of each program. The school system of interest benefits from the detailed itemization of costs, which identified areas for modification to the programs. The implication for schools looking to initiate an online program is the well-informed leader having detailed information on the costs involved and options for design. The difference in the cost-effectiveness ratio for the measurement of passing the SOL test was dramatically different. The commercially available program’s cost-effectiveness ratio was double that for the teacher-developed program. The implications for the school division in the research were to evaluate the alignment of a commercial program to state standards and to examine the ability of the online program to meet the goals of the school.

Currently, nationwide efforts are being made to help policymakers, construction professionals and consumers become more aware of the benefits of incorporating sustainable energy principles in residential building design and construction (Miller 1996). Any success in applying these principles is the result of effective communication by design professionals to builders and homeowners in understanding cost benefit tradeoffs for using sustainable energies in homes. The Gordon and Janice Plumblee Residence, located on 1742 Routh Road in Burlington, NC, is an example of how passive solar-heating design elements, along with simple conventional construction techniques, have created a comfortable, affordable, and low-energy consumption home. This report evaluates the passive solar and energy conservative elements incorporated in the Plumblee Home and quantifies the significance of each element energy contribution. A model of the thermal performance of the home is compared to the actual performance. The accuracy of the model is verified. The modeling software is used to perform a sensitivity study of the thermal performance. An analysis of the construction methods and materials used is presented.

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在互聯網上的主機(或節點)經常面對比如病毒和蠕蟲攻擊這一類能夠傳播的風險。儘管對這種風險的已經知曉，並且網絡/系統的安全非常重要，對於安全防護的投入依然很少，因此這種傳播式風險依然非常普遍。決定是否對安全保護進行投入是一個相互影響的過程:一個節點關於安全保護的投入會影響到其他節點所遭受的安全風險，因此也會影響它們關於安全保護投入的決定。我們的第一個目標是要了解“網絡外部性"和“節點異質性"如何影響安全投入。每個節點通過評估所受到的安全威脅和預期損失來做出決定。我們把它刻畫成一個貝葉斯博弈，在這個博弈裡面，每個節點只知道局部的信息，例如，自身有多少個鄰節點，和一些很少的全局信息，比如網絡中節點的度分佈。我們的第二個目標是研究一種叫做網絡保險的新的風險管理方式。我們探討競爭的網絡保險市場存在對於安全投入有什麼影響。通過分析，我們發現如果網絡保險提供商能夠觀察到節點的安全狀況，當節點所採取的保護措施質量不是很高時，網絡保險市場對於促進安全保護投入有積極的作用。我們還發現網絡保險對於度數高的節點的激勵程度更好。相反，如果網絡保險提供商不能觀察到節點的安全保護狀況，我們驗證了部分保險可以起到一個非負的激勵效用，雖然不是一種激勵，但是能夠提高節點的效用。 / Hosts (or nodes) in the Internet often face epidemic risks such as virus and worms attack. Despite the awareness of these risks and the importance of network/system security, investment in security protection is still scare, and hence epidemic risk is still prevalent. Deciding whether to invest in security protection is an interdependent process: security investment decision made by one node can affect the security risk of others, and therefore affect their decisions also. Our first goal is to understand how "network externality" and "nodes heterogeneity" may affect security adoption. Nodes make decisions on security investment by evaluating the epidemic risk and the expected loss. We characterize it as a Bayesian network game in which nodes only have the local information, e.g., the number of neighbors, and minimum common information, e.g., degree distribution of the network. Our second goal is to study a new form of risk management, called cyber-insurance. We investigate how the presence of competitive insurance market can affect the security adoption and show that if the insurance provider can observe the protection level of nodes, the insurance market is a positive incentive for security adoption if the protection quality is not very high. We also find that cyber-insurance is more likely to be a good incentive for nodes with higher degree. Conversely, if the insurance provider cannot observe the protection level of nodes, we verify that partial insurance can be a non-negative incentive, improving node’s utility though not being an incentive. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Yang, Zichao. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-65). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgement --- p.iv / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2 --- Mathematical Models --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1 --- Epidemic Model --- p.6 / Chapter 2.2 --- InvestmentModel --- p.8 / Chapter 2.3 --- Bayesian Network Game --- p.11 / Chapter 3 --- Analysis for Strategic Security Adoption --- p.13 / Chapter 3.1 --- General Case --- p.13 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Estimating the Probability --- p.14 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- Security Adoption. --- p.17 / Chapter 3.2 --- Analysis of Node Heterogeneity: Two Types Case --- p.25 / Chapter 4 --- Analysis for Cyber-insurance Market --- p.30 / Chapter 4.1 --- Supply of Insurance --- p.30 / Chapter 4.2 --- Cyber-insuranceWithoutMoral Hazard --- p.34 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Security Adoption with Cyber-insurance Market --- p.34 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Incentive Analysis --- p.37 / Chapter 4.3 --- Cyber-insurance withMoral Hazard --- p.41 / Chapter 5 --- Simulation & Numerical Results --- p.46 / Chapter 5.1 --- Validating Final Infection Probability --- p.46 / Chapter 5.2 --- Security Adoption with Externality Effect --- p.49 / Chapter 5.3 --- Influence of Cyber-insurance --- p.52 / Chapter 6 --- Related Work --- p.53 / Chapter 7 --- Conclusion --- p.57 / Bibliography --- p.59

En el presente trabajo se abordan temas enfocados al estudio de la prima de riesgo de mercado considerando la siguiente estructura: En primera instancia desarrollaremos los antecedentes vinculados a la prima de Riesgo de Mercado y los modelos que utilizan esta variable para el cálculo de rendimientos futuros. En el segundo lugar, abordaremos los enfoques relacionados a la Prima de Riesgo de Mercado, donde detallaremos en orden cronológico las diferentes teorías que han ido emergiendo a lo largo del tiempo tales como el teorema de portafolios de Markowitz, el modelo CAPM de Sharpe, entre otros. Seguidamente estudiaremos los métodos aplicados para el cálculo de la Prima de Riesgo de Mercado y las variables que se utilizan. Ahondaremos en los criterios de autores que están a favor del cálculo de la prima de riesgo de mercado tales como Ibbotson y Goetzmann (2005), Gordon y Shapiro (1956), Damodaran (2015) y posteriormente analizamos la elección del aspecto de la prima de riesgo de mercado basado en mercados futuros. Asimismo, presentamos la controversia, en la cual hacemos mención al enfoque de Pablo Fernández, quien tiene una opinión distinta sobre el tema principal. Finalmente, precisamos nuestras conclusiones respecto del método que se debe utilizar para estimar la prima de riesgo de mercado. / In this paper, we will address issues focused on the study of the market risk premium considering the following structure: In the first instance, we will develop the antecedents linked to the Market Risk premium and the models that use this variable to calculate future returns. In the second we will detail the approaches related to the Market Risk Premium, where we will detail in chronological order the different theories that have been emerging over time such as the Markowitz portfolio theorem, the Sharpe CAPM model among others. Next, we will study the methods applied to calculate the Market Risk Premium and the variables that are used. We will delve into the criteria of authors who are in favor of calculating the market risk premium such as Ibbotsson, Gordon and Shapiro, Damodaran and then analyze the choice of the aspect of the market risk premium based on future markets. Likewise, we present the controversy where we mention the approach of Pablo Fernández who has a different opinion on the main topic. Finally, we need our conclusions regarding the method that should be used to estimate the market risk premium. / Trabajo de Suficiencia Profesional

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