This dissertation consists of three chapters; each models competition in natural gas markets. These models provide insight into interactions between changes in market conditions/policies and market players’ strategic behavior. In all three chapters, we apply our models to a natural gas trade network formed by using BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy 2010 major trade flows. In the first chapter, we develop a model for the world natural gas market where buyers and sellers are connected by a trading network. Each natural gas producer is a Cournot player with a fixed supply capacity. Each of them is also connected to a unique set of importing markets. We show that this constrained noncooperative Cournot game is a potential game and its potential function has a unique maximizer. In the scenario analysis, we find that any exogenous change affecting Europe also has an effect in the Asia Pacific. The reason is that two big producers, Russia and the Middle East, are connected to both markets. We also find that a collusive agreement between Russia and the Middle East leads them to specialize in supply to markets based on their marginal costs of exporting natural gas. The second chapter is devoted to analyzing the impacts of North American shale gas on the world natural gas market. To better represent the North American natural gas market, this chapter also allows for perfect competition in that market. We find that North America exports natural gas when its supply curve is highly elastic and hence the domestic price impact of its exports is very small. Even so, the price impacts on the importing markets are substantial. We also find that shale gas development in North America decreases dominant producers’ market power elsewhere in the world and hence decreases the incentive of any parties to form a natural gas cartel. In the third chapter, we relax the assumption of fixed supply capacities and allow for natural gas producers to invest in their supply capacities. We assume a two period model with no uncertainty and show that there is a unique Cournot-Nash equilibrium and the open-loop Cournot-Nash equilibrium and closed-loop Cournot-Nash equilibrium investments coincide.

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Drawing insights from liability of foreignness, the punctuated equilibrium model and the resource-based view, this dissertation develops an integrated model to identify the successful strategies and characteristics of both domestic and foreign firms operating in emerging markets, affected by regulatory punctuations. Accordingly, three research questions are addressed: Why are some foreign firms more likely to survive than other foreign firms? Why are some domestic firms more likely to survive than other domestic firms? Are there any similarities between successful foreign firms and successful domestic firms? Using event-history methodologies and the Mexican banking industry as the unit of analysis, this dissertation shows the following results: Foreign firms (banks) from countries with stronger commercial ties to Mexico (the focal emerging market), were less likely to exit the banking industry. Also, the likelihood of exiting the industry, by a foreign firm, was negatively related to domestic firm (bank) acquisitions. For the domestic firms (banks), there was a positive relationship between international diversification and firm survival and a negative relationship between aggressive (loan) growth and firm survival. Also, marginal support was found about the positive relationship between “grupo” affiliation and firm survival. This research contributes to the extant literature by extending current theories when considering the effect of radical change. For instance, while punctuated equilibrium provides a good “environmental” explanation about a firm’s need to adapt to radical change, it does not suggest how firms should adapt to this change. However, by providing an explanation on how firms suppose to adapt to this radical change, this dissertation had expanded the theoretical implication of the punctuated equilibrium model. Similarly, the present dissertation provides a theoretical extension to liability of foreignness by finding that not all foreign firms face the same liability of foreignness. Lastly, the resource-based view is also extended by this dissertation research, as it is found to have implications for emerging markets firms that are different from foreign developed market firms.

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Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and temperature modulated differential scanning calorimeter (TMDSC) were used to study the isothermal crystallization kinetics and the melting behaviors at heating rates of 2, 10, 50, and 80

This dissertation concerns the syntheses and characterization of supramolecules with quadruply bonded Mo2 4+ units, Mo2(DAniF)3 + (DAniF = N,N'-di-p-anisylformamidinate) or cis- Mo2(DAniF)2 2+, and chiral organometallic Rh2 4+ units, including racemic cis-Rh2(C6H4PPh2)2 2+ and pure enantiomers of cis-Rh2(C6H4PPh2)2 2+. Molecular pairs of dimolybdenum units in which Mo2(DAniF)3 + units are linked by cyclic diamidate anions or dioxolene anions have been investigated. Linkers impact the electronic communication between the dimetal units in various ways. The symmetry and the energy of the frontier orbitals of the linker are among the factors which influence significantly the properties of the molecular pairs. Nature has provided us a great opportunity to study quantitatively the equilibrium between neutral supramolecules with cis-Mo2(DAniF)2 2+ units. Studies of the concentrationdependent and temperature-dependent equilibria between a molecular triangle and square as well as a molecular loop and triangle using 1H and 19F NMR spectra provide quantitative values for the thermodynamic equilibrium constant K, as well as ∆Hº, and ∆Sº for the equilibria. The synthesis and characterization supramolecular compounds containing chiral cis- Rh2(C6H4PPh2)2 2+ units, including three racemic triangles and pure enantiomers of three triangles, a carceplex with T symmetry and two loops are also presented.

<p>This thesis highlights the role of phase interfaces on phasetransformations in metallic materials. The deviation from localequilibrium at the moving phase interface has been analysed interms of solute drag theory and finite interface mobility. Inparticular the planar growth of proeutectoid ferrite fromaustenite in steel has been studied. The deviation from localequilibrium is caused by dissipation of Gibbs energy bydiffusion inside the phase interface and interface friction. Inthe analysis the interface is divided into three zones and thethermodynamic and kinetic properties are assumed to varycontinuously across the interface. A new model suitable formulticomponent alloys is developed. The model reduces to thefamiliar solute drag model by Cahn under simplifyingconditions. It was demonstrated how the interface model couldbe combined with a method for calculating the volume diffusionin both the growing and parent phases. With this combination ofprocedures the changes in local conditions at the interface, asthe growth rate changes due to long-range diffusion, could bedemonstrated for the case of continuous cooling in an Fe-Nialloy.</p><p>The critical limit for massive transformation in the Fe-Niand Fe-C systems was calculated and found to lie well below theT0 line for both systems. The calculated limit for Fe-Ni wascompared with a recent experimental study and reasonableagreement was found. For the Fe-C system the limit calculatedwith the present model was compared with a phase-field model.The two approaches showed qualitatively the same behaviour andthe quantitative difference was due to different assumptions onhow properties vary across the interface.</p><p>Finally, an attempt to simulate the partitionless growth offerrite in austenite in the Fe-Ni-C system was performed. Inthe applied model the dissipation of Gibbs energy inside theinterface and in the nickel spike ahead of the migratinginterface were accounted for. The long-range diffusion ofcarbon in austenite was treated with an approximate analyticalgrowth equation. A continuous change from paraequilibriumconditions and quasi-paraconditions could be shown in anisothermal section of the Fe-Ni-C phase diagram. Partitionlessgrowth starts in a parabolic fashion but slows down. For alloysoutside the limit for quasiparaconditions partitionless growthis predicted to stop abruptly while for alloys inside thatlimit growth approaches a second parabolic growth law. However,the latter case should not be expected in practise because ofimpingement effects.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1991. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [117]-123).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-147). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.