Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI/Dissertation Abstracts International.

Thesis (M.S.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Industrial Engineering. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-103). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M. S.)--Building Construction, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010. / Committee Chair: Castro-Lacouture, Daniel; Committee Member: McElroy, James H.; Committee Member: Roper, Kathy. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

By 2020, at least 20 percent of the gross final consumption of energy in the European Unionshould be produced from renewable energy sources. The cooperative movement as such is not new, buthas a long history in the agricultural and credit sector. Over the last years, energy cooperatives havebecome an important option for decentralized electricity production. The transaction cost theory has beenapplied numerous times to agricultural cooperatives, but not to energy cooperatives. A number of casestudies and a subsequent survey analyzed the main benefits and challenges associated with energycooperatives as well as their relation to each other.The study revealed that while Denmark and Sweden focus mostly on wind power as a source for theirelectricity generation, German cooperatives use a more diversified portfolio. The differences are due tonational legislation and affect the total installed capacity as well as membership numbers. Although theindividual motives to join a cooperative vary, the reasons to establish a cooperative clearly show adedication to support renewable energies. The most important benefits associated with this organizationalform are the positive environmental impact as well as local value creation, ownership aspects and thelimitation of the individual liability. Contrarily, most of the disadvantages discussed concern factors outsideof the cooperatives such as the change of regulatory frame conditions and the insecurity towards thedevelopment of the electricity price. Transaction costs play a minor role since professional governancestructures are in place and the trust among members prevents opportunistic behavior.

This study is based on the strategic and logistical challenges of having a complex distribution network, which can make it difficult to get a holistic view over the distribution costs. The costs are often aggregated for many products, which makes it challenging to use as decision support on a product level. Many companies lack a tool to handle this complexity, since the costs and profitability varies between the channels and intermediaries used. This makes it problematic to determine the profitability on a product level. In the different parts of the distribution chain, there are elements that drive the costs for each activity, called activity drivers. When these activity drivers have been identified, they can be used to allocate the distribution costs to the different products. The aim of this study is to develop a tool that can be used to categorize distribution costs and to determine which activity drivers that result in the fairest cost allocation. The fairest cost allocation is a complex expression, and is briefly defined as the allocation key that result in a costs allocation that represent each products level of resource consumption. This means that products that have consumed a large amount of resources should carry a larger part of the costs compared to the products that have consumed a smaller amount of resources. Sometimes it is not obvious which allocation key that represents the reality in the fairest way, and in that case, the allocated costs are compared to the products sales values. The sales value often differs between the products. The determined allocation key is the one that result in the most even allocation when comparing the allocated cost to the sales values. The case company Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (Sobi) is located in Stockholm, Sweden. They find it difficult to get a view over the costs for the different parts of the distribution chain, and to allocate the costs fair between the products. This study have investigated the distribution from Sobi’s central warehouse in the Netherlands to the end customers in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom via the local storages in each country, as well as Sweden and Estonia. This was done by categorizing the costs for each activity in the invoices from the local storages, into different cost categories. After this, the costs were allocated with different allocation keys that thereafter were compared, to find the most fair allocation key per category. In the end of this study, the lessons learned and methods used have been written down, and an allocation tool has been developed. Any company that wants to make strategic decisions on a product level can use this tool. Throughout the study, the five steps that make up the allocation tool have been followed. The tool is divided into the following steps; determination of cost categories, choice of activities, selection of activity drivers, categorization of costs and analyzing activity drivers. When choosing allocation key, it is essential to find the balance between an even allocation of the costs between the products, and to make sure that the allocation represent each products level of resource consumption. If the allocation is unfair, it can make products look unprofitable, even though they actually are profitable and necessary in reality. The difficulties to find a balance show the complexity in the determination of the most fair allocation key, since it is not always obvious. If the cost categories had been divided into smaller categories with more similar activity drivers, the dilemma of choosing allocation key might have been solved. However, it is important to bear in mind that when using more cost categories, the categorization and allocation becomes more time consuming. The tool has been created as a result of this study, and is based on a complex situation, which means that assumptions and simplifications have been made to be able to draw general conclusions. It is important to bare these simplifications in mind, when applying the tool to other situations than the one investigated in this study. The allocation tool can be used to draw strategic conclusions on a product level, since it makes it possible to be aware of the profitability of the products and, if necessary, exclude unprofitable products from the product assortment.

We revisit the optimal investment and consumption model of Davis and Norman (1990) and Shreve and Soner (1994), following a shadow-price approach similar to that of Kallsen and Muhle-Karbe (2010). Making use of the completeness of the model without transaction costs, we reformulate and reduce the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation for this singular stochastic control problem to a non-standard free-boundary problem for a first-order ODE with an integral constraint. Having shown that the free boundary problem has a smooth solution, we use it to construct the solution of the original optimal investment/consumption problem in a self-contained manner and without any recourse to the dynamic programming principle. By analyzing the properties of the free boundary problem, we provide an explicit characterization of model parameters for which the value function is finite. Furthermore, we prove that the value function, as well as the slopes of the lines demarcating the no-trading region, can be expanded as a series of integer powers of [lambda superscript 1/3]. The coefficients of arbitrary order in this expansion can be computed. / text

Vehicle operating costs are an invaluable tool to transportation engineers, who utilize them in applications such as cost-benefit analyses and utilization pricing. Many of the existing models in use, however, are significantly out-of-date with current technology. Research was undertaken in partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to develop a new model of the operating costs associated with Texas vehicle fleets. A vehicle operating cost (Vcost) model was produced which estimates variable and fixed costs associated with both light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles. The model calculates both aggregate fleet costs and costs for individual representative vehicles. An analysis of Texas Vehicles, Titles, and Registration (VTR) records; Weigh-in-Motion data; vehicle counts; and national car sales data was used to generate the breakdown of the Texas fleet of vehicles and to determine representative vehicles. Operational costs for these vehicles fell into two main categories: fixed costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, and other) and variable costs (fuel and maintenance/repair). Relations were determined for each cost category for each representative vehicle over its entire operational age. In the case of heavy-duty vehicles, much of the operational costs information is proprietary and had to be gathered in survey work conducted with other members of a research team. A computer program was written that incorporates the cost relations for the representative vehicles as well as the Texas fleet characteristics in such a way that the user can examine the costs of both an individual vehicle and the aggregate costs associated with a fleet of vehicles. The user can also input a default fleet composition. The model allows users to alter key parameters (such as fuel price, financing rates, insurance costs, or vehicle fuel economies) for future adaptability to a changing economic and technological landscape. The model was developed in parallel with another researcher working on an advanced fuel consumption model, which would later be integrated into to the Vcost model. / text

This thesis follows a neo-institutional economics approach to analyse the economic nature of contractual arrangements in the Hong Kong construction industry. It explains that subcontracting can reduce transaction costs: (1) using piece-rate contracts to replace time-wage contracts to save the high costs of monitoring; and (2) using subcontractors as intermediaries to perform tasks at a lower transaction cost due to their comparative advantages in gathering price information, specific knowledge and resources. The above assertions are evaluated in terms of three refutable hypotheses using statistics published by the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government. Hypothesis I: To be employed with short term contracts is not preferred by the construction workers than to be employed with long term contracts; Hypothesis II: A subcontractor is not more commonly used in construction works of higher values than in those of lower values; Hypothesis III: A subcontractor is not more commonly used in construction works by ordinary trades than in those by special trades. In Table 1 summarizes the test results for each hypothesis and states their wider theoretical implications. The three hypotheses are all refuted. The message is that subcontracting is neither an inefficient contractual arrangement nor a means of exploitation by the upstream contractors. It is rather the result of the free choice of the contracting parties, as a matter of constrained maximization in a private property rights system, seeking to reduce transaction costs. Table 1. Summary of Tests Results for Hypotheses I, II and III Hypotheses Regarding Subcontracting in the Hong Kong Construction Industry Test Results Theoretical Implications Hypothesis I To be employed with short term contracts is not preferred by the construction workers than to be employed with long term contracts. Hypothesis refuted. The construction workers prefer being employed with piece-rate contracts or casual daily wage contracts. Hypothesis II A subcontractor is not more commonly used in construction works of higher values than in those of lower values. Hypothesis refuted. A subcontractor is more commonly used in construction works of higher values and by ordinary trades. Subcontracting is not a matter of random choice but for reducing transaction costs. Subcontracting decision would depend on the characteristics of the construction works. Hypothesis III A subcontractor is not more commonly used in construction works by ordinary trades than in those by special trades. Hypothesis refuted. A subcontractor is more commonly used in construction works of higher values and by ordinary trades. Subcontracting is not a matter of random choice but for reducing transaction costs. Subcontracting decision would depend on the characteristics of the construction works. / published_or_final_version / Real Estate and Construction / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

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