Um dos temas mais discutidos na área de finanças é a forma como os mercados se estruturam sob perspectiva informacional, precificando ativos financeiros. Uma das teorias centrais de discussão é a Hipótese de Eficiência dos Mercados (HEM) de Eugene Fama (1970), derivada da teoria de utilidade. Um dos pontos centrais de discussão e critica da HEM são seus pressupostos quanto à modelagem do comportamento humano, totalmente racional e oportunista. Uma segunda linha de estudos apresenta um contraponto a esse modelo de ser humano utilizado nas teorias neoclássicas de finanças, utilizando um modelo de agente que possui falhas no processo de tomada de decisão financeira em função de uma racionalidade limitada e de vieses cognitivos, que impactam sobre o preço dos ativos negociados (Tversky & Kahneman, 1979; Thaler, 1985). A Hipótese de Mercados Adaptativos (HMA), de Andrew Lo (2004, 2005), é uma das teorias que conciliam a estrutura neoclássica da HEM com o comportamento não ótimo do agente, considerando novas estruturas de tomada de decisão financeira pelo investidor, como aprendizado, adaptação e vieses comportamentais, apresentando dinâmicas de mercado semelhantes a características biológicas, com impactos do ambiente e seleção natural como direcionadores da eficiência dos mercados. Desta forma, esse trabalho tem como objetivo verificar se existe aderência do conceito de evolução e do impacto do ambiente macroeconômico sobre a eficiência informacional dos mercados financeiros, verificando a capacidade de adaptação do mercado a mudanças do ambiente, e quais fatores apresentam maior grau de explicação no processo de adaptação e eficiência dos mercados em diferentes países. Para isso foram analisados os índices de preços e retornos de 48 economias, assim como informações econômico-institucionais sobre os países aos quais estavam relacionados, por meio do desenvolvimento de uma métrica de ineficiência informacional relativa dos mercados e posterior análise por meio de modelos descritivos e multinível. Foi identificado que há comportamentos cíclicos de eficiência ao longo do tempo, e os graus de eficiência diferem-se entre as economias estudadas, assim como há evidências de que há variação do comportamento de eficiência quando da mudança do cenário econômico. Adicionalmente foi identificado que características ambientais (como instituições e comportamento geral da economia) também apresentam efeitos sobre o grau de ineficiência relativa de mercados, e sua relação está associada ao comportamento previsto na HMA. / One of the most discussed topics in finance research is the way of markets are structured from an informational perspective, pricing financial assets. One of the central theories of discussion is Eugene Fama\'s Market Efficiency Hypothesis (HEM) (1970), derived from utility theory. One of the central points of discussion and critics of HEM is its assumptions about the modeling of human behavior, totally rational and opportunistic. The second line of studies shows a counterpoint to this model of human behavior used in neoclassical finance theories, by an agent model that has flaws in financial decision-making process due to a bounded rationality and cognitive biases impacting on the price of the traded assets (Tversky & Kahneman, 1979; Thaler, 1985). The Andrew Lo\'s (2004, 2005) Adaptive Market Hypothesis (HMA) is one of the theories that reconcile the neoclassical structure of HEM with the agent\'s non-optimal behavior, considering new structures of financial decision-making by the investor, such as learning, adaptation and behavioral biases, presenting market dynamics like biological characteristics with environmental impacts and natural selection as drivers of market efficiency. In this way, the objective of this work is to verify if there is adherence to the concept of evolution and the impact of the macroeconomic environment on the informational efficiency of the financial markets, observing the adaptability of the market to changes in the environment, and which factors present a greater degree of explanation in the process of adaptation and efficiency of markets in different countries. To do so, we analyzed the price and return indices of 48 economies, as well as economic-institutional information about the related countries, through the development of a metric of relative informational inefficiency and subsequent analysis through descriptive and multilevel models. It has been identified that there are cyclical efficiency behaviors over time, and the efficiency levels differ between the studied economies, and evidence about the changes in the efficiency behavior when the economic scenario changes. Additionally, it was identified that environmental characteristics (such as institutions and general economic behavior) also have effects on the degree of relative market inefficiency, and their relation is associated with the behavior predicted in the HMA

Capital investments in the latest medical equipment and the replacement of aging facilities are important hospital decisions because they may have a significant influence on operating efficiencies and quality of care. However, hospitals experienced a minimal growth rate in capital expenditures which contributed to the aging of the hospital industry's asset base during the late 1990's and early 2000's. One of the underlying reasons behind this lack of growth might be the financial stresses that hospitals were facing after the Balanced Budget Act (BBA) of 1997, which significantly reducedMedicare reimbursement and had an adverse impact on the financial viability of hospitals. The objective of this study is to empirically evaluate how changes in market, operational and financial factors influence changes in hospital capital investment in the post BBA period.The study employs a panel of nonprofit private and public, short-term general hospitals from 1998 to 2001. Six secondary databases were merged and analyzed by first difference transformation and instrumental variable estimation to eliminate unmeasured, time-invariant hospital characteristics, and to address the endogeneity and possible feedback effects of regressors in the model.The results of the study suggest that changes in hospital capital investment appear to be positively associated with changes in the ratio of primary care physicians to all physicians in market, the size of population, and the ratio of population age 65 over to all population in market. Also significant is change in the age of plant for hospitals that exhibits a negative association with change in capital investment. As expected, the study observes a strong positive effect of changes in liquidity and cash flow on changes in capital investment. However, the effect of change in debt ratio on change in capital investment appears to be marginally significant.Estimation of the effects of changes in variety of factors on changes in hospital capital investment especially in the post-Balanced Budget Act period indicates that hospitals appear to increase their capital expenditures to accommodate the increasing market demand for hospital services, and the results also show that availability of resources, especially financial ones, are most likely to influence capital investment during the financially stressed environment.This study contributes to a limited body of research examining factors affecting capital investment at the hospital level and demonstrates the important role of internal funds in predicting future hospital capital investment.

Thesis (M.Sc (Agricultural Economics)) --University of Limpopo, 2015 / Agriculture plays an important role in uplifting the economy of South Africa. Small-scale farmers in rural areas are linked with poverty and operate inefficiently due to over or under utilization of some of the factors of production. This study aimed at analysing the technical and allocative efficiency of small-scale maize farmers in Tzaneen municipality. The objectives of the study were: (i) To assess the level of technical and allocative efficiency of small-scale maize farmers in Tzaneen municipality, (ii) To identify socio-economic factors affecting the efficiency of small-scale maize farmers in Tzaneen municipality and (iii) to investigate the areas of improvement with regard to the operational management of the small-scale maize farmers in Tzaneen municipality. The study employed the Cobb-Douglas production function and the logistic regression model to analyse data. The Cobb-Douglas production function results revealed that small-scale maize farmers in Tzaneen municipality are technically efficient in the production of maize with the highest mean technical efficiency value of 0.71%. The study further revealed that farmers were allocatively inefficient with a mean allocative efficiency value of 0.39%. The logistic regression analysis revealed important variables such as the level of education (1.05), experience in farming (2.74), access to irrigation water (0.59), purchase of hybrid seed (0.74), access to credit (2.13) and extension visits (0.85) were positively significant towards the efficiency of farmers. Variables such as gender of the farmer (-1.79) and off-farm income (-2.72) were found to be negatively significant towards the efficiency of small-scale maize farmers in Tzaneen Municipality. The findings obtained in this study could be quite useful to policy makers. This study recommend that there is a need for more visits from the extension officers as well as training on inputs allocation, since variables like Seed (0.41), fertilizer (0.17), capital (0.71) and expenses (-0.204) were found to be inefficiently allocated in the production of maize. The provision of easy, quick and adequate credit deserves to be a top priority on the agenda of policy makers since most small-scale maize farmers in Tzaneen municipality does not receive off-farm income. Small-scale farmers in Tzaneen municipality also need to have access to enough arable land in order to increase production. Small-scale farmers in South Africa and other developing countries contribute to employment creation and food security in the households, therefore, it is important that government fully support such farmers.

This dissertation is an analysis of the relations between reindeer herding Sami and settled non-Sami in Gällivare parish, Swedish Lapland, 1898-1940. The focus of the dissertation is on the system of skötesrenar, the practice of reindeer belonging to non-Sami being herded by Sami and the subsequent contacts between the two groups. The results presented demonstrate the transformation of the relations between the two groups from mutuai interdependence to mutuai self-sufficiency, and the swiftness with which this change took place. In order to analyse the transformation, reciprocity theory is used. Reciprocity theory concerns the Constitution of relations between different groups, and the basis for such relations. In the early 1900's, the practice of skötesrenar was a well-developed system contributing to the good relations between Sami and non-Sami, as well as to the improvement of the material conditions of those involved. The skötesrenar were important both socially and economically for the persons participating in the system. The huge societal changes that took place during the 20th Century resulted in painful consequences for the relations between the groups. Industrialisation multiplied the number and types of jobs available for the settled non-Sami, while the Sami to a large extent were prevented from partaking of the new opportunities. Industrialisation also caused the decline of the subsistence economy and made the market economy dominant in the locai community. The foundation of the system with skötesrenar had been the mutuai need to meet and exchange goods and services not available within each group; the growth of the market economy altered that. The laws concerning skötesrenar were also changed repeatedly - in 1898, 1917, and 1928 - without regard for the fears by the local community concerning the negative consequences for inter-group relations. Significant changes also took place within Sami society affecting the skötesrenar; the transformation of herding from the intensive to extensive type decreased the participation of women and children in herding, and subsequent erection of permanent residences for Sami families, as well as large annual fluctuations in herd sizes. The present dissertation demonstrates from reciprocity theory that a mutual concern - in this case the skötesrenar - can contribute to the maintenance of a low level of conflict between two ethnically and culturally different parties. Mutual interdependence is a significant factor in upholding a feeling of solidarity. The parties were eager to preserve good mutual relations as conflicts could severely hurt their material conditions. The societal changes taking place meant that by the 1930's the old institutionalised interdependency had ceased to exist. Older people continued the exchanges across group boundaries, but for the rising generation mutuai interaction was replaced by alienation. / digitalisering@umu

Baigiamajame magistro darbe remiantis užsienio ir Lietuvos autorių pateikta moksline medžiaga atskleidžiamos probleminės darbo rinkos grupės, kurios ilgiausiai patiria socialines ir ekonomines pasekmes. Teorinė analizė padeda atskleisti veiksnius darančius poveikį darbo rinkos segmentų nedarbo lygiui. Analitinėje-tiriamojoje darbo dalyje siekiama įvertinti ekonominių veiksnių poveikį skirtingiems darbo rinkos segmentams, siekiant sumažinti jų nedarbo lygį. / The thesis of foreign and Lithuanian authors provided scientific material disclosed problematic labor market groups that the longest experience in social and economic consequences. Theoretical analysis helps to reveal the factors affecting the labor market segments unemployment. The analytical part of the study-to assess the economic factors on different segments of the labor market in order to reduce the unemployment rate.

Encouraging good nutrition is particularly important in the early years of life for the development of appropriate food habits and healthy adults in later life. These are governed by many contending and conflicting influences. Objective: This research examines the food choice influences for mothers of young children in Skelmersdale, West Lancashire (UK). Participants were recruited from a large community food intervention (clients) and were compared with those not involved in the initiative (non-clients). This enabled the reflection of the broader socio-cultural experiences of food and the influence of 'structure' and 'agency' on food choices. The research adopted a phenomenological approach using ethnographic recording techniques (interview and observation). The research findings are presented as ethnographic fictions. These short fictional stories provide a 'thick' description of the participant's lifeworld. They locate these choices in the person and the place. A hierarchy of food choice influences emerged from the data, with three main findings. Most prominently, the influence of individual capacity on the food choices made. Secondly, the influence of place, town planning and the geography of an area on food choices. Thirdly, the influence of gender, relationships and social networks. Central to the thesis of this research is the use of ethnographic fiction to enable a better understanding of the complexity involved in food choice and community development approaches to nutritional change. The use of ethnographic fiction conveyed a better understanding of people and of the role and impact of an intervention upon the wider processes involved in food choice. Ethnographic fiction was used here for the first time in public health nutrition to explain the complex picture of food choice for mothers of young children in Skelmersdale, and to convey new insight on food choice and the complexity of food choice influence.

Research on smoking has to a great deal been conducted within a public health or a medical context, or focused on policy making. Fewer studies have taken their point of departure in a social sciences context, and still fewer have analysed why individuals start and cease to smoke, and how and why smoking patterns on an aggregate level change over time and vary between different population groups. The aim of this dissertation is to analyse changes in the Swedish tobacco consumption with special emphasis at elucidating the decrease in smoking during the past half-century from different angels. Thus, the first paper explore if and how changes in smoking patterns can be understood and explained with reference to Sweden’s development as a welfare state, and in relation to socio-demographic and socio-economic circumstances. The second paper focuses on the long-term pathways to smoking cessation, by discerning several distinct trajectories from smoker to non-smoker. The third paper analyses gender differences with regard to reasons to smoke, experiences of smoking, and central elements in the cessation process. Finally, in the fourth paper, the issue of to what extent smoking cessation can be described as a process of identity change is explored.   Smoking initiation and cessation vary by socio-demographic and socio-economic factors, and the rapid decrease in smoking has resulted in a rather vulnerable group of smokers in these aspects. The results also indicate that the cessation process is complex, with personal and structural factors interacting in the long-term process, leading to multiple pathways to a smoke-free life. Moreover, they point to gender differences in reasons to smoke and to quit, and in strategies to quit smoking. In addition, identity change seems to be important in remaining smoke-free. The stated inequality in gender and class points in the direction that structural changes and social policies might be of need to decrease smoking even further. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Submitted. Paper 3: Accepted. Paper 4: Manuscript.</p> / Women, Health and Substance use

Bakalauro baigiamajame darbe nagrinėjama viešųjų finansų tema apie valstybinio socialinio draudimo biudžeto subalansavimo problemą. Valstybinis socialinis draudimas – viena iš svarbiausių socialinės apsaugos sistemos dalių, kuri apima beveik visus šalies gyventojus. Per šia sistemą valstybė vykdo svarbią savo funkciją – užtikrina gyventojų materialinę gerovę bei stengiasi mažinti socialinę atskirtį bei vadovaujasi solidarumo principu. Empirinėje dalyje išanalizuota, kad dėl kilusios ekonominės krizės 2008 metais, valstybinis socialinis draudimas stipriai nukentėjo, jo biudžetas tapo deficitinis – finansinis stabilumas pažeistas. „Sodra“ dėl įvairių ekonominių ir demografinių veiksnių įtakos nebepajėgia surinkti pakankamai įmokų į biudžetą. Darbo tikslas: Lietuvos valstybinio socialinio draudimo biudžeto subalansavimo analizė 2003-2014 metais. / Bachelor's thesis examines the topic of public finances of the state social insurance budget balancing problem. State social insurance - one of the most important parts of the social security system, which includes almost all of the country's population. Through this system, the State has an important function - ensuring the population's material wealth and trying to reduce social exclusion. Empirical part of the analysis, that originated the economic crisis in 2008, the state social insurance strongly affected by his budget went into deficit - the financial stability of the damage. "Social Insurance" for a variety of economic and demographic factors influence can no longer collect enough contributions to the budget. The aim of the Lithuanian state social insurance budget balancing analysis in 2003-2014.

The growing consensus among scientists and governments on the need for immediate action to avoid the dangerous impacts of climate change has resulted in many industries starting to prepare for a carbon-constrained world, in order to analyse the effectiveness of industry response, this research has developed a theoretical framework to categorise corporate strategies on climate change in developing and industrialized countries. The framework classifies the corporate response into four sets of strategies based on their operational and management activities. The empirical data was collected from 180 companies trough a questionnaire survey in Pakistan and the UK. Twenty-four interviews with representatives from industries and other stakeholder groups were also conducted to triangulate and complement the survey results. An analysis of the empirical data indicates that corporate responses towards climate change can be characterized in four categories: indifferent, beginner, emerging and active which validates the theoretical framework. The research found that business responses to this international challenge depend on national policies, economic, social, and technological related factors. However, the strength and content of these factors varies between industrialized and developing countries, where corporate environmentalism is a relatively new phenomenon. For Pakistan, the findings suggest that, in the absence of regulatory and societal pressure, the only effective incentive for organizations is cost-savings tlirough energy efficiency projects. However, their response is shaped by the prevalence of obstacles and a lack of external pressure that prevent a different picture to emerge. The situation is different for the UK. Due to regulatory pressure, UK firms are actively involved in GHG management activities. However, climate policies concerning industries for instance, EU ETS, do not provide sufficient incentives to companies to change from 'business as usual' because of its short-term outlook, uncertainty, complexity and the generous allocation of allowances, hence very low carbon price.

Land adjustment represents an important branch, which mainly deals with the arrangement of land, the separation or unification and also addresses the regulation of property relations. This is a complicated process that is a certain way influenced by socio-economic factors. This diploma thesis mainly deals with the process of chosen landscaping and also socio-economic factors that directly influence this process.