Submitted by Vanessa Nunes (vnunes) on 2015-07-28T18:25:43Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Lucas Seffrin Zorzo.pdf: 754059 bytes, checksum: 21fd8cbc28ba2bfe27f9ef340c66b198 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-28T18:25:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Lucas Seffrin Zorzo.pdf: 754059 bytes, checksum: 21fd8cbc28ba2bfe27f9ef340c66b198 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-20 / Nenhuma / A lei 9.991/2000 que regulamenta os investimentos em P&D do setor elétrico brasileiro prima pelo desenvolvimento de inovações que propiciem avanços ao setor no país. Restringindo-se ao segmento de distribuição, o foco é melhorar a eficiência das empresas. Portanto, o objetivo desta dissertação é verificar se há correlação entre o foco em inovação e os escores de eficiência econômica relativa. Para tanto, com base na literatura propôs-se uma escala para quantificar o foco em inovação. Já para quantificar os escores de eficiência, a Análise Envoltória de Dados (DEA) foi utilizada por intermédio do software Frontier Analyst. As análises de correlações foram desenvolvidas com o software Eviews. Trata-se de um estudo aplicado, com objetivo descritivo e abordagem quantitativo. Para a coleta de dados, utilizou-se a estratégia documental seguida da técnica de análise de conteúdo, com as quais coletaram-se os dados em documentos disponíveis. A investigação realizou-se ao longo de 2014 e englobou dados de 2010 a 2013 de 20 empresas listadas na BM&FBovespa com operações exclusivas de distribuição de energia elétrica. Os principais resultados indicam baixo nível de foco em inovação por parte das empresas estudadas. Também não se encontrou correlação significativa entre o nível de foco despendido em inovação e os escores de eficiência econômica relativa. Assim, este trabalho contribui para reforçar outros argumentos já existentes de que no Brasil os esforços em inovação são incipientes, sendo que há maior preocupação em atender a legislação do que buscar os benefícios proporcionados por ela. / The Law 9.991/2000 which regulates investments in R&D in the electricity sector aims for the development of innovations that provide advances to the sector in Brazil. Regarding the distribution segment, the focus is to improve the efficiency of companies. Therefore, the goal of this study is to verify the existence of correlation between the focus on innovation and the relative economic efficiency scores. For that purpose, a scale to measure focus on innovation was proposed, based on the literature. To quantify the efficiency scores, Data Envelopment Analysis was used through the Frontier Analyst software. The analysis of correlations were developed with the Eviews software. This is an applied research with descriptive goal and quantitative approach. For data collection, the documental strategy was used, followed by the content analysis technique, under which data was collected in the available in documents. The research took place over 2014 and comprised data from 2010 to 2013 of 20 companies listed on the BM&FBovespa with exclusive operations of electricity distribution. The main results indicate low level of focus on innovation by surveyed companies. Also, no significant correlation between the level of focus on innovation and relative economic efficiency scores was found. Thus, this study contributes to reinforce other existing arguments stating that efforts in innovation are incipient in Brazil, and there is greater concern to meeting the legislation than seeking the benefits provided by it.

L’espace de l’Organisation pour l’Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires est un terrain propice à la collaboration entre le juge étatique et l’arbitre. Cependant, si dans l’arbitrage spécifique de la CCJA il revient au juge communautaire la charge d’administrer la procédure et d’assurer le service après-vente durant la phase post-arbitrale, la détermination du juge étatique à l’arbitrage de droit commun est une opération complexe. En effet, le flou lexical entourant l’expression générique désignant le juge national, entraîne un morcellement de son champ de compétence. Selon que l’on se trouve dans la phase préparatoire à l’arbitrage ou durant la phase arbitrale et post-arbitrale, le juge national n’est pas toujours le même. Suivant l’organisation judiciaire propre à chacun des États parties, il pourra s’agir des juridictions d’instances dans le cadre d’une compétence exclusive ou des juridictions d’appels dans le cadre d’une compétence partagée avec les juridictions d’instances avant tout pourvoi en cassation devant la CCJA. Cela dit, qu’il s’agisse de l’arbitrage spécifique de la CCJA ou de l’arbitrage de droit commun, le juge étatique joue d’abord un rôle d’assistance en cas de difficultés. Pour ce faire, il aide les parties et les arbitres lors de la constitution du tribunal arbitral, l’administration des pièces et la prorogation délai de l’arbitrage. De même, si les parties en expriment le besoin, le juge étatique octroie des mesures provisoires ou conservatoires en cas d’urgence. Enfin, lorsque l’arbitre prononce la sentence, il reviendra encore au juge étatique le soin de veiller à son exequatur effectif après l’épuisement des voies de recours devant son office. / The OHADA space is very suitable for the collaboration between the national judge and the arbitrator. However, if in the specific arbitration of the CCJA, it is up to the Court to administer the arbitrations organized within it, the determination of the state judge to traditional arbitration becomes complex. In fact, the lexical vagueness surrounding the generic term designating the national judge leads to a division of its field of jurisdiction according to the different phases of the arbitral proceedings. For example, depending on whether one is in the preparatory stage of arbitration or during the arbitration and post-arbitration phase, the state judge is not always the same. Depending on the judicial organization of the States Parties, it may be jurisdictional courts within the exclusive jurisdiction or courts of appeal in the context of a shared jurisdiction with the courts of first instance prior any appeal in cassation before the CCJA. That being said, whether it is the specific arbitration of the CCJA or the traditional arbitration, the state judge plays first a role of assistance in case of difficulties. To do so, he assists both parties and arbitrators in the constitution of the arbitral tribunal, the administration of the documents and the extension of the arbitration period. Similarly, if the parties express the need, the state judge may grant interim or protective measures in case of urgency. Finally, when the arbitrator pronounces the sentence, it will again be up to the state court to ensure its effective enforcement after the exhaustion of the remedies before its office.

Submitted by Deyse Queiroz (deysequeirozz@hotmail.com) on 2018-05-29T11:46:11Z No. of bitstreams: 1 EDNALDO DA ROCHA ARNAUD - - DISSERTAÇÃO PPGSA PROFISSIONAL 2014..pdf: 1990272 bytes, checksum: b17fb5961aee7de0c8875e63fdd95bba (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-29T11:46:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 EDNALDO DA ROCHA ARNAUD - - DISSERTAÇÃO PPGSA PROFISSIONAL 2014..pdf: 1990272 bytes, checksum: b17fb5961aee7de0c8875e63fdd95bba (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / O uso de espécies espontâneas da caatinga representa uma opção de fertilização orgânica para os agricultores familiares que labutam na produção de hortaliças, sendo a florde-seda, espécie de grande ocorrência na região de estudo, além de ser encontrado em diversas localidades da região nordeste do país em condições edáficas diferentes. Um experimento foi conduzido na Fazenda Experimental Rafael Fernandes, localizada no distrito de Alagoinha, zona rural de Mossoró-RN, no período de outubro de 2010 a fevereiro de 2011, com o objetivo de avaliar a viabilidade agroeconômica da aplicação da flor-de-seda (Calotropis procera) na cultura da beterraba em cultivo solteiro. O delineamento experimental usado foi o de blocos completos casualizados com os tratamentos arranjados em esquema fatorial 5 x 4, com três repetições. Os tratamentos consistiram da combinação de quatro quantidades de flor-de-seda (0; 0,7; 1,4; 2,1 e 2,8 kg m-2 de canteiro em base seca), com quatro períodos de incorporação (0; 14; 28 e 42 dias antes do plantio). A cultivar de beterraba plantada foi a Early Wonder. As características avaliadas foram: altura de plantas, rendimentos de massa fresca e seca da parte aérea, produtividade comercial de raízes e produtividade de massa seca de raízes. Também foram utilizados alguns indicadores econômicos, tais como: renda bruta e custo de produção, renda líquida, taxa de retorno e índice de lucratividade, as quais foram utilizadas para verificar a viabilidade econômica. Não se observou interação entre os fatores estudados. O melhor desempenho produtivo da beterraba foi observado na quantidade 2,3 kg m-2 de canteiro de flor-de-seda incorporada ao solo, com valor médio de 2,44 kg m-2 de canteiro de beterraba, com rentabilidade de liquida de 4.040,00 R$, taxa de retorno da ordem de 2,65 R$ e índice de lucratividade de 62,3%. Em relação aos períodos de incorporação, 0 dia foi o que promoveu a maior produtividade comercial de beterraba com valor médio de 2,2 kg m-2 de canteiro de beterraba, com rentabilidade liquida de 3.500,00 R$, taxa de retorno da ordem de 2,43 R$ e índice de lucratividade de 58,9%. O cultivo da beterraba adubado com flor-de-seda constitui em uma alternativa viável para o produtor. / - The use of spontaneous species of the caatinga represents an option of organic fertilizer for farmers who labor in the production of vegetables, been the silk flower, species of large occurrence in the study area, and it is found in various locations the northeast region of the country in different soil conditions. An experiment was conducted at the Experimental Farm Rafael Fernandes, located in Alagoinha district, a rural area of Mossoró-RN, from October 2010 to February 2011, in order to evaluate the agricultural economic viability of the application of the silk flower (Calotropis procera) in beet cultivation in monocrop. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with treatments arranged in a factorial 5 x 4 with three replications. The treatments were a combination of four amounts of silk flower (0, 0.7, 1.4, 2.1 and 2.8 kg m-2 site on a dry basis), with four periods of incorporation (0 , 14, 28 and 42 days before planting). The planted cultivar of beet was the Early Wonder. The characteristics evaluated were: plant height, fresh weight yields and shoot dry, commercial root yield and dry matter yield of roots. They were also used some economic indicators such as gross income and cost of production, net income, rate of return and profitability index, which were used to verify the economic viability. There was no interaction between treatments. The best beet production performance was observed in the amount 2.3 kg m-2 site of silk flower incorporated into the soil, with an average value of 2.44 kg m-2 beet site, with net profitability 4040.00 £, rate of return of around £ 2.65 and 62.3% profitability index. For periods of incorporation, 0 days was what promoted the highest commercial yields of beet with a mean value of 2.2 kg m-2 beet site, with net profit of R $ 3,500.00, rate of return order 2.43 R $ and 58.9% profitability index. The cultivation of beet fertilized with silk-flower constitutes a viable alternative to the producer.

The work deals with the critical assessment of the requirement of Council Directive 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste for a gradual reduction in landfilling of biodegradable municipal waste (BMW). The aim of this work was to evaluate this requirement in terms of economic efficiency using the meta-analysis of selected complex studies based on cost-benefit analysis. Studies focused on natural and technical parameters and available specific data for Czech Republic of particular ways of processing BMW were also used for finding of private and social costs and benefits balance. Based on the results of this balance is not possible to decide whether fulfillment of the requirement will increase economic efficiency. Results are calculated from large number of input values, some of which shows significant variability. Oxidation rate of uncaptured CH4 in the process of landfilling BMW is characteristic example. This parameter varies between values 10 % and 90 %. While for value 10 % would separate collection of biowastes and its composting presented option with higher economic efficiency, for value 90 % is the result opposite.

The Reconstruction of the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant in Prague constitutes a fundamental challenge for the Czech capital city of Prague. The existing wastewater treatment plant is obsolete and fails to comply with limits set forth by the Council Directive 91/271/EEC concerning urban waste-water treatment. Thus, it is necessary to build a new waterline and reconstruct the old one. As such a project would be financially demanding, its implementation is dependent upon a subsidy from the EU Operational Programme "Environment". There are also more variants of the reconstruction of the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant in Prague. In the thesis, the author compares the contemplated options of re-building and reconstruction of the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant in Prague. He also examines the influence of negotiations with European Commission representatives and of the amount of the subsidy upon the choice of the final option. A hypothesis of the study is that due to the subsidy policy creates pressure on the final form of the reconstruction of the Prague Central Wastewater Treatment Plant, which directly interact its economic efficiency.

Submitted by Jorge Silva (jorgelmsilva@ufrrj.br) on 2017-05-11T18:42:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2014 - Fernanda Gi?como Ragazzi.pdf: 649927 bytes, checksum: 083760648fee0ef57cb383ea4a51d569 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-11T18:42:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2014 - Fernanda Gi?como Ragazzi.pdf: 649927 bytes, checksum: 083760648fee0ef57cb383ea4a51d569 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-07-04 / CAPES / The dairy cattle exploration in Brazil is an important activity in the economic and social development process of the country. The aim of this study was to analyze production indices: birth rate, calving interval, service period and milk production, as well as, indicators of economic efficiency: crude margin, net margin and result (profit or loss) and the composition of production costs of 20 dairy farms in the Norte Fluminense. Were determined the components of the production costs: operating cost, effective operational cost and total cost. The dairy farms obtained the following averages for production indices: birth rate of 57.4 ? 12.18% with a coefficient of variation of 21.22%, calving interval of 13.5 ? 0.68 months with a coefficient of variation 5.05%, period of 116.2 ? 9.23 days service with a coefficient of variation of 7.95% and milk production of 6.1 ? 2.58 liters per day with a coefficient of variation of 41.96 %. Average crude margin of R$ 32,514.51 ? R$ 20,905.58 with a coefficient of variation of 64.30% and an average net margin of R$ 29,239.05? R$ 20,840.88 with a coefficient of variation of 71.28% was found, and producers remain in business in the short term is possible pay the actual operating cost. And result (loss), on average - R$ 124,050.95 ? R$ 27,757.68 with a coefficient of variation of 22.38%. By presenting injury, revenues does not remunerate investment, ie, the financial fixed assets in equity as land, improvements and so on. The low production indicex regarding the birth rate and milk production must be improved to obtain higher revenues in the activity and better milk production. The highest percentage of participation in the composition of revenue and the costs of investment was the asset value when recorded, and the sale of milk and the purchase of animals, respectively, when not accounted for this item. Regarding expenses with funding, the highest percentages were related to labor, grazing, concentrated feed and roughage supplementation. Producers remain analyzed short-term activity, but for improvement in production should be production indices with greater use of technical assistance for the return on economic efficiency. / A explora??o da bovinocultura de leite no Brasil constitui importante atividade no processo de desenvolvimento econ?mico e social do Pa?s. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi analisar os ?ndices zoot?cnicos: taxa de natalidade, intervalo de partos, per?odo de servi?o e produ??o de leite, bem como, os indicadores de efici?ncia econ?mica: margem bruta, margem l?quida e resultado (lucro ou preju?zo) e a composi??o dos custos de produ??o de 20 propriedades leiteiras na regi?o Norte Fluminense. Foram determinados os componentes do custo de produ??o: custo operacional, custo operacional efetivo e custo total. As propriedades leiteiras obtiveram as seguintes m?dias para os ?ndices zoot?cnicos: taxa de natalidade de 57,4 ? 2,18% com coeficiente de varia??o de 21,22%, intervalo de partos de 13,5 ? 0,68 meses com coeficiente de varia??o de 5,05%, per?odo de servi?o de 116,2 ? 9,23 dias com coeficiente de varia??o de 7,95% e produ??o de leite de 6,1?2,58 litros por dia com coeficiente de varia??o de 41,96%. Foi encontrada margem bruta m?dia de R$ 32.514,51 ? R$ 20.905,58 com coeficiente de varia??o de 64,30% e margem l?quida m?dia de R$ 29.239,05 ? R$ 20.840,88 com coeficiente de varia??o de 71,28%, permitindo aos produtores permanecerem na atividade no curto prazo sendo poss?vel o pagamento do custo operacional efetivo. E resultado (preju?zo) na m?dia de - R$ 124.050,95 ? R$ 27.757,68 com coeficiente de varia??o de 22,38%. Por apresentar preju?zo, a receita obtida n?o remunera o investimento realizado, ou seja, o ativo financeiro imobilizado em patrim?nio como terras, benfeitorias e etc. Os baixos ?ndices zoot?cnicos referentes ? taxa de natalidade e produ??o de leite devem ser melhorados para obten??o de maiores receitas na atividade e melhor produ??o de leite. A maior porcentagem de participa??o na composi??o das receitas e nas despesas de investimento foi o valor imobilizado, quando contabilizado, e a venda do leite e a compra de animais, respectivamente, quando n?o contabilizado, o valor imobilizado. Com rela??o ?s despesas com custeio, as maiores porcentagens foram referentes ? m?o de obra, a pastagem, a alimenta??o concentrada e a suplementa??o volumosa. Os produtores analisados permanecem no curto prazo na atividade, por?m para aumentar a produ??o devem ter melhorados os ?ndices zoot?cnicos com maior utiliza??o da assist?ncia t?cnica para obten??o de maior retorno de efici?ncia econ?mica.

This thesis deals with appropriate legislation concerning common utilities, such as infra-structural facilities and natural resources, which can regulate construction, maintenance, use and financing. Appropriate legislation can be viewed in the two main perspectives, effi-ciency and equity, and the thesis concerns primarily on efficiency. The purpose is to develop an analytical model, which can be used to facilitate structured assessments concerning the management of common utilities. The problem field concerned is of great complexity, and the model is therefore to be viewed as a support for decision-making, not as an instrument capable of delivering ready-made solutions. To structure the problem area it’s divided into three parts, the social, physical and institu-tional environments. The social environment is concerned with factors, such as group size and amount of trust and social capital, which can influence the feasibility of co-operation. The analysis leads to a classification of three social groups: Close-knit, loosely-knit and anonymous. The physical environment is concerned with characteristics of utilities, which influences need for, and feasibility of, co-operation. Rivalry of use and excludability are identified as important factors in this aspect. By combining them six types of goods can be identified: Private goods, club goods, common pool resources, toll goods, public goods and local pub-lic goods. The institutional environment is concerned with rules, which can control the use of com-mon utilities. Two concepts are identified as pivotal: property rights regimes and decision-making procedures. There are four property rights regimes: Individual rights, group rights, public rights (limited and unlimited) and no rights. Furthermore there are three decision-making procedures: Market regulation, group decision-making and public decision-making. A fourth possibility is no decision making-forum. By linking together social groups and types of goods a matrix is obtained in which each square represents a unique combination of social and physical environment. In this analyti-cal framework it is analysed which combinations of property rights regimes and decision-making procedures that are best suited to each square. In the end, Swedish legislation on roads, water and sewerage installations and aesthetic design of buildings is analysed with aid of the analytical model. / QC 20100825

A comprehensive model named the Cooperative Water Allocation Model (CWAM) is developed for modeling equitable and efficient water allocation among competing users at the basin scale, based on a multiperiod node-link river basin network. The model integrates water rights allocation, efficient water allocation and equitable income distribution subject to hydrologic constraints comprising both water quantity and quality considerations. CWAM allocates water resources in two steps: initial water rights are firstly allocated to water uses based on legal rights systems or agreements, and then water is reallocated to achieve efficient use of water through water transfers. The associated net benefits of stakeholders participating in a coalition are allocated by using cooperative game theoretical approaches. <br /><br /> The first phase of the CWAM methodology includes three methods for deriving initial water rights allocation among competing water uses, namely the priority-based multiperiod maximal network flow (PMMNF) programming, modified riparian water rights allocation (MRWRA) and lexicographic minimax water shortage ratios (LMWSR) methods. PMMNF is a very flexible approach and is applicable under prior, riparian and public water rights systems with priorities determined by different criteria. MRWRA is essentially a special form of PMMNF adapted for allocation under the riparian regime. LMWSR is designed for application under a public water rights system, which adopts the lexicographic minimax fairness concept. The second step comprises three sub-models: the irrigation water planning model (IWPM) is a model for deriving benefit functions of irrigation water; the hydrologic-economic river basin model (HERBM) is the core component of the coalition analysis, which searches for the values of various coalitions of stakeholders and corresponding optimal water allocation schemes, based on initial water rights, monthly net benefit functions of demand sites and the ownership of water uses; the sub-model cooperative reallocation game (CRG) of the net benefit of the grand coalition adopts cooperative game solution concepts, including the nucleolus, weak nucleolus, proportional nucleolus, normalized nucleolus and Shapley value, to perform equitable reallocation of the net benefits of stakeholders participating in the grand coalition. The economically efficient use of water under the grand coalition is achieved through water transfers based on initial water rights. <br /><br /> Sequential and iterative solution algorithms utilizing the primal simplex method are developed to solve the linear PMMNF and LMWSR problems, respectively, which only include linear water quantity constraints. Algorithms for nonlinear PMMNF and LMWSR problems adopt a two-stage approach, which allow nonlinear reservoir area- and elevation-storage relations, and may include nonlinear water quality constraints. In the first stage, the corresponding linear problems, excluding nonlinear constraints, are solved by a sequential or iterative algorithm. The global optimal solution obtained by the linear programming is then combined together with estimated initial values of pollutant concentrations to be used as the starting point for the sequential or iterative nonlinear programs of the nonlinear PMMNF or LMWSR problem. As HERBM adopts constant price-elasticity water demand functions to derive the net benefit functions of municipal and industrial demand sites and hydropower stations, and quadratic gross benefit functions to find the net benefit functions of agriculture water uses, stream flow demands and reservoir storages, it is a large scale nonlinear optimization problem even when the water quality constraints are not included. An efficient algorithm is built for coalition analysis, utilizing a combination of the multistart global optimization technique and gradient-based nonlinear programming method to solve a HERBM for each possible coalition. <br /><br /> Throughout the study, both the feasibility and the effectiveness of incorporating equity concepts into conventional economic optimal water resources management modeling are addressed. The applications of CWAM to the Amu Darya River Basin in Central Asia and the South Saskatchewan River Basin in western Canada demonstrate the applicability of the model. It is argued that CWAM can be utilized as a tool for promoting the understanding and cooperation of water users to achieve maximum welfare in a river basin and minimize the damage caused by water shortages, through water rights allocation, and water and net benefit transfers among water users under the regulated water market or administrative allocation mechanism.

A comprehensive model named the Cooperative Water Allocation Model (CWAM) is developed for modeling equitable and efficient water allocation among competing users at the basin scale, based on a multiperiod node-link river basin network. The model integrates water rights allocation, efficient water allocation and equitable income distribution subject to hydrologic constraints comprising both water quantity and quality considerations. CWAM allocates water resources in two steps: initial water rights are firstly allocated to water uses based on legal rights systems or agreements, and then water is reallocated to achieve efficient use of water through water transfers. The associated net benefits of stakeholders participating in a coalition are allocated by using cooperative game theoretical approaches. <br /><br /> The first phase of the CWAM methodology includes three methods for deriving initial water rights allocation among competing water uses, namely the priority-based multiperiod maximal network flow (PMMNF) programming, modified riparian water rights allocation (MRWRA) and lexicographic minimax water shortage ratios (LMWSR) methods. PMMNF is a very flexible approach and is applicable under prior, riparian and public water rights systems with priorities determined by different criteria. MRWRA is essentially a special form of PMMNF adapted for allocation under the riparian regime. LMWSR is designed for application under a public water rights system, which adopts the lexicographic minimax fairness concept. The second step comprises three sub-models: the irrigation water planning model (IWPM) is a model for deriving benefit functions of irrigation water; the hydrologic-economic river basin model (HERBM) is the core component of the coalition analysis, which searches for the values of various coalitions of stakeholders and corresponding optimal water allocation schemes, based on initial water rights, monthly net benefit functions of demand sites and the ownership of water uses; the sub-model cooperative reallocation game (CRG) of the net benefit of the grand coalition adopts cooperative game solution concepts, including the nucleolus, weak nucleolus, proportional nucleolus, normalized nucleolus and Shapley value, to perform equitable reallocation of the net benefits of stakeholders participating in the grand coalition. The economically efficient use of water under the grand coalition is achieved through water transfers based on initial water rights. <br /><br /> Sequential and iterative solution algorithms utilizing the primal simplex method are developed to solve the linear PMMNF and LMWSR problems, respectively, which only include linear water quantity constraints. Algorithms for nonlinear PMMNF and LMWSR problems adopt a two-stage approach, which allow nonlinear reservoir area- and elevation-storage relations, and may include nonlinear water quality constraints. In the first stage, the corresponding linear problems, excluding nonlinear constraints, are solved by a sequential or iterative algorithm. The global optimal solution obtained by the linear programming is then combined together with estimated initial values of pollutant concentrations to be used as the starting point for the sequential or iterative nonlinear programs of the nonlinear PMMNF or LMWSR problem. As HERBM adopts constant price-elasticity water demand functions to derive the net benefit functions of municipal and industrial demand sites and hydropower stations, and quadratic gross benefit functions to find the net benefit functions of agriculture water uses, stream flow demands and reservoir storages, it is a large scale nonlinear optimization problem even when the water quality constraints are not included. An efficient algorithm is built for coalition analysis, utilizing a combination of the multistart global optimization technique and gradient-based nonlinear programming method to solve a HERBM for each possible coalition. <br /><br /> Throughout the study, both the feasibility and the effectiveness of incorporating equity concepts into conventional economic optimal water resources management modeling are addressed. The applications of CWAM to the Amu Darya River Basin in Central Asia and the South Saskatchewan River Basin in western Canada demonstrate the applicability of the model. It is argued that CWAM can be utilized as a tool for promoting the understanding and cooperation of water users to achieve maximum welfare in a river basin and minimize the damage caused by water shortages, through water rights allocation, and water and net benefit transfers among water users under the regulated water market or administrative allocation mechanism.

Les contrats de distribution exclusive sont couramment utilisés dans la mise en marché des produits. Des doutes et des critiques ont été, pourtant, soulevés relativement à leur validité au regard du droit de la concurrence. Ces ententes et les pratiques qui en découlent paraissent, à première vue, anticoncurrentielles. Le propos de ce mémoire est d’examiner dans quelle mesure les contrats de distribution exclusive peuvent, en fait, stimuler la concurrence et de montrer, en conséquence, qu’ils devraient être considérés licites eu égard au droit de la concurrence. Nous trouvons, d’une part, que les pratiques exclusives sont suspectes vu qu’elles réduisent la liberté contractuelle du producteur et du distributeur. Cette restriction est susceptible d’entraver la concurrence à cause du pouvoir de marché qu’elle crée et elle peut, de ce fait, engendrer le monopole. La Loi sur la concurrence interdit de tels agissements. Les contrats de distribution exclusive peuvent, d’autre part, favoriser réellement la concurrence. Ils constituent un instrument stratégique utilisé par les entrepreneurs dans leur lutte pour accroître leur part de marché. La distribution exclusive, en portant les acteurs commerciaux à chercher les meilleures stratégies, renforce la concurrence. Celle-ci doit être entendue non seulement comme une constante rivalité entre toutes les entreprises, mais elle doit aussi inclure la coopération entre certaines entreprises en vue de mieux concurrencer d’autres à un niveau plus général. Une juste appréciation de la concurrence dans les contrats de distribution exclusive requiert le recours à l’analyse économique du droit. Cette analyse permet une évaluation de la concurrence basée sur le critère de l’efficience économique. En vue de déterminer si une pratique donnée augmente ou non le bien-être général (sur quoi l’analyse de l’efficience met l’accent), les effets négatifs de cette pratique devraient être mis en balance avec ses effets positifs résultant des gains en efficience. C’est dans ce sens que le droit de la concurrence a évolué tant dans l’Union européenne qu’aux États-Unis et au Canada pour permettre les ententes qui entraînent des gains nets d’efficience. Ce qu’on aurait pu condamner autrefois pour entrave à la concurrence, peut maintenant paraître comme une stratégie commerciale licite et saine. Compte tenu de ce récent développement, notre analyse nous conduit à la conclusion que les accords de distribution exclusive devraient être considérés licites dans la mesure où ils améliorent le bien-être du consommateur. / Exclusive distribution agreements are commonly used in the marketing of products. However, doubts and criticisms have been expressed concerning their validity as regards competition law: these agreements and the resulting practices appear at first blush to be anticompetitive. In this thesis we propose to examine to what extent exclusive distribution agreements can in fact foster competition and hence should be considered lawful as regards competition law. On one hand, we find that exclusive distribution practices are suspect, because the contractual freedom of the producer and of the distributor is restricted. This restriction may hinder interbrand competition due to market power and can potentially create a monopoly. Such actions are not permissible under the Competition Act. On the other hand, some aspects of exclusive distribution arrangements can actually promote competition. They constitute a strategic tool used by suppliers seeking to increase their market shares. This can reinforce competition by encouraging competitors to try out better strategies. Competition must be understood not merely as the constant rivalry amongst all enterprises, but must also encompass cooperation between certain enterprises in order to better compete with others at a more general level. A fair appreciation of competition in exclusive distribution arrangements requires one to have recourse to the economic analysis of law. The economic analysis of law allows one to assess competition based on the criterion of economic efficiency. In order to determine whether or not a particular practice increases the general welfare ( on which efficiency analysis focuses), the negative effects of that practice should be weighed against its positive effects resulting from efficiency gains. In this sense, competition law has evolved, as much in the European Union, as in the United States and Canada, to allow arrangements that lead to net welfare gains. What might have been previously condemned as an obstacle to competition may now appear as a legitimate and healthy commercial strategy. Taking into account this recent development, our analysis leads us to the conclusion that exclusive distribution agreements should be lawful in so far as they improve consumer welfare.