During the last few years, market micro-structure research has been active in analysing the dependence of market efficiency on different market character­ istics. Make-take fees are one of those topics as they might modify the incen­ tives for participating agents, e.g. broker-dealers or market-makers. In this thesis, we propose a Hawkes process-based model that captures statistical differences arising from different fee regimes and we estimate the differences on limit order book data. We then use these estimates in an attempt to measure the execution quality from the perspective of a market-maker. We appropriate existing theoretical market frameworks, however, for the pur­ pose of hireling optimal market-making policies we apply a novel method of deep reinforcement learning. Our results suggest, firstly, that maker-taker exchanges provide better liquidity to the markets, and secondly, that deep reinforcement learning methods may be successfully applied to the domain of optimal market-making. JEL Classification Keywords Author's e-mail Supervisor's e-mail C32, C45, C61, C63 make-take fees, Hawkes process, limit order book, market-making, deep reinforcement learn­ ing kiselrastislavSgmail.com barunik@f sv.cuni.cz

Utmaningarna med att befinna sig i en ständigt föränderlig bransch som mode- och textilindustrin har visat sig vara stora. Konkurrensen företag emellan ökar och kunder har därmed blivit allt mindre lojala till enskilda varumärken. För att bibehålla företagets konkurrensfördelar har strategier utvecklats för upprätthålla kundens lojalitet gentemot varumärket, bland annat i form av lojalitetsprogram. Tidigare forskning visar emellertid på inkonsekventa bevis kring hur effektiva dessa program faktiskt är och huruvida de leder till ökad kundlojalitet. Problemet har sin grund i att det finns en utbredd kunskapsbrist bland företag gällande hur man utformar ett väl fungerande lojalitetsprogram. Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur detaljhandelsföretag som säljer textila produkter på den svenska marknaden kan utforma sina lojalitetsprogram för att främja kundlojalitet. Fokus ligger på medelstora till stora företag och hur de arbetar med öppna respektive stängda lojalitetsprogram samt hur de kan använda sig utav monetära och icke-monetära förmåner inom programmet. Vidare avser uppsatsen att få en inblick i de möjligheter och begränsningar dessa företag ser med avgiftsbaserade lojalitetsprogram. För att besvara frågeställningarna tillämpas en kombination av kvalitativ och kvantitativ forskning i form av en innehållsanalys och semistrukturerade intervjuer.   Resultatet visar att en öppen struktur kan vara lätt att implementera vid uppstarten av ett lojalitetsprogram. Men för att främja kundlojalitet och långsiktigt bygga relationer skulle ett stängt lojalitetsprogram kunna uppfattas som ett bättre alternativ. När det kommer till förmåner är icke-monetära förmåner bättre i avseendet att skapa en närmare relation till kunden och monetära förmåner positivt i den bemärkelsen att de resulterar i ett köp. En balans mellan dessa skulle därmed kunna resultera i en sann lojalitet gentemot varumärket. Företag ser flertalet möjligheter och begränsningar med att implementera en medlemsavgift. Till exempel tror de att avgifter skulle generera färre medlemmar. Men samtidigt finns det en tro bland företagen om att dessa medlemmar skulle bli mer lojala om de betalat för sitt medlemskap. / The challenges of operating within a constantly changing sector as the fashion and textile industry have proven to be extensive. Competitiveness between companies are increasing and customers have thus become less loyal to individual brands. In order to maintain the company’s competitive advantage strategies have been developed to keep customers loyal to the specific brand, often in the form of loyalty programs. However, previous research shows inconsistent evidence about the effectiveness of these programs and whether they actually lead to increased customer loyalty. The problem is based on the fact that there is a widespread lack of knowledge among companies regarding how to design a well-functioning loyalty program. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate how retailers selling textile products on the Swedish market can design their loyalty programs to increase customer loyalty. Focus will be on medium to large companies and how they can work with open and closed loyalty programs as well as how they can make use of monetary and non- monetary rewards within the program. Furthermore, the study wishes to gain insight into the opportunities and limitations these companies recognize with fee-based loyalty programs. In order to answer the research questions, a combination of qualitative and quantitative research has been conducted in terms of a content analysis and semi structured interviews.   The study implies that an open structure can be easy to implement when launching a loyalty program. But in order to increase customer loyalty and build long-term relationships, a closed loyalty program could be perceived as a better option. When it comes to rewards, nonmonetary rewards are better in the sense of creating a closer relationship with the customer whilst monetary rewards often results in a completed purchase. A balance between these types of rewards could thus lead to true loyalty towards a brand. The companies acknowledge both possibilities and limitations in terms of implementing a membership fee. For example, they believe that incorporating fees would generate fewer members within the loyalty program. But at the same time there is a belief amongst the companies that the customers would become more loyal if they pay for their membership.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-26T13:28:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 texto completo.pdf: 2223232 bytes, checksum: 5e71f9287558a54d3cece398bab144ec (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-11-05 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Charging for collection, removal, transport and final destination services is not an easy task, since it should be implemented for a divisible service and the issue is how to measure waste generation. The current charging model, which consists of dividing total costs by number of users, taking into account the built area of the residence and IPTU, is considered unconstitutional. Cities, autarchies and companies responsible for waste management have been trying to find ways to solve this problem by modifying ways and equations for charging. However, few studies in this field were able to provide a practical and fair equation that considers waste production in each residence, which would guarantee the divisibility of the service, i.e. the payment for the amount of solid waste generated. By determining the correlation between waste production and water consumption, this study proposes and analyzes models for charging which enable the financial sustainability of collection, removal, transport and final destination services for urban solid waste produced in Viçosa. The relation between water consumption and solid waste production in each building was determined by regression analysis. Solid waste and water consumption data were obtained for each building (distribution meter), except for large waste producers. The equations were obtained from the regression analysis including factors such as the activity performed at each building; socioeconomic zoning of the municipality and unit cost of the kilogram of collected residue. The proposed models for charging proved to be adequate to promote the economic sustainability of the services once the simulation showed an important increase in service tax revenue. / A cobrança pelos serviços de coleta, remoção, transporte e destinação dos resíduos não constitui uma tarefa de fácil execução, pois deve ser realizada por um serviço divisível, e a questão é como mensurar a geração dos resíduos. A cobrança praticada, dividindo-se os custos pelos usuários, com critérios de área construída da habitação e testada do imóvel em conjunto com o IPTU, é considerada inconstitucional. Cada município, autarquia e empresa responsável pelo gerenciamento vêm buscando formas de solucionar essa problemática, modificando as formas e as fórmulas de cobrança. Porém, poucos estudos nesse campo conseguiram evidenciar uma fórmula prática e justa que conseguisse relacionar a geração de resíduos com cada habitação, garantindo a divisibilidade do serviço, ou seja, o pagamento pela quantidade de resíduos gerada. Neste trabalho, por meio da determinação da correlação entre o consumo de água e a geração de resíduos sólidos domiciliares, propõem-se e analisam-se fórmulas de cobrança que possibilitem a autossustentabilidade financeira dos serviços de coleta, remoção, transporte e destinação dos resíduos no município de Viçosa, MG. A relação entre o consumo de água e a geração de resíduos por economia foi determinada por meio de análise de regressão com dados dos resíduos gerados e dos consumos de água hidrometrada, coletados em campo, sem levar em consideração os grandes geradores. As fórmulas foram elaboradas a partir da equação de relação obtida, incluindo fatores como atividade desempenhada pela economia, zoneamento socioeconômico do município e custo unitário por quilograma de resíduo coletado. Os modelos de cobrança propostos se mostraram adequados para promover a sustentabilidade econômica dos serviços, uma vez que a simulação dos mesmos mostrou um importante aumento na arrecadação pela prestação dos serviços.

The aim of my thesis was to examine people{\crq}s and professionals{\crq} opinions on introduction of the regulatory health fees. Within the scope of the two sub-targets, I tried to find out the amounts of the regulatory health fees acceptable for the citizens and something about the possibility to arrange a private health insurance. I briefly described the system of the public health insurance and I mentioned the system of the regulatory health fees and the annual protection limit in more detail in the theoretical part of the diploma thesis. In order to compile the thesis I used the method of questioning which I carried out by collecting data using a questionnaire and the method of the secondary analysis of data. Two statistics groups {--} general public and professionals from the South Bohemian Region - were defined for the research part. Based on the available literature, I established four hypotheses of which the first three were confirmed and the fourth one was disconfirmed by the research. The research revealed differences in opinions and perception of the regulatory health fees between the individuals and general public and professionals. The citizens{\crq} awareness {--} which still has its deficiencies as the questionnaire survey revealed {--} has definitely influence on the opinion on the regulatory health fees. The thesis could be used to increase the awareness of the system of the regulatory health fees and the annual protection limit, for lectures, eventually the respondents{\crq} replies and the research results could be taken into consideration when amending the existing Act No. 48/1997 Coll., on Public Health Insurance.

Submitted by Bruno César Mariano Resende (bcmresende@gmail.com) on 2018-09-20T17:46:26Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_BrunoResende.pdf: 608696 bytes, checksum: d636a937718a3a2333998aeac725f17c (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Janete de Oliveira Feitosa (janete.feitosa@fgv.br) on 2018-10-11T14:13:10Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_BrunoResende.pdf: 608696 bytes, checksum: d636a937718a3a2333998aeac725f17c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-10-29T12:21:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_BrunoResende.pdf: 608696 bytes, checksum: d636a937718a3a2333998aeac725f17c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-28 / Esta dissertação tem como principal objetivo estudar o impacto da cobrança de taxa de bagagem sobre o nível de preço das passagens aéreas e o comportamento do consumidor. Utilizando dados sobre o preço de passagens aéreas vendidas divulgados nos Microdados da ANAC, estimo regressões sob diferentes especificações de efeitos fixos e variáveis de controle para avaliar o impacto da cobrança da taxa de bagagem sobre tarifas. Na especificação que julgo mais adequada para lidar com possíveis endogeneidades, encontro uma redução média de R$ 14,85 no preço da tarifa. Em seguida, realizo estimativas da demanda por passagens aéreas em um modelo logit e do efeito da taxa de bagagem sobre a valoração do consumidor / The main objective of this dissertation is to study the impact of baggage fees adoption on the level of airline tickets prices and the behavior of consumers. Using microdata on the price of airline tickets published by ANAC (the Brazilian airlines regulator), I estimate regressions under different specifications of fixed effects and covariates to evaluate the impact of baggage fee adoption on prices. In the specification that I argue as the most appropriate to avoid possible endogeneities, I find an average reduction of R$14.85 in the price of airline tickets. Next, I develop estimates of the demand for airline tickets under a logit model and the effect of baggage fee adoption on consumer’s utility.

O peristaltismo constritor é um dos principais componentes da fase faríngea da deglutição. Foram estudados os efeitos das consistências e volumes de alimento ofertado sobre a duração do fechamento faríngeo (white-out) por meio da videoendoscopia da deglutição em 61 indivíduos com deglutição normal. Os resultados foram correlacionados com gênero (24 masculinos e 37 femininos) e idade (20 a 77 anos). Foram ofertadas amostras alimentares de 5 e 10mL, nas consistências liquido, liquido espessado, pastoso e sólido a todos os indivíduos, obtendo-se 394 vídeos do período de fechamento faríngeo nas diversas consistências e volumes. As imagens foram digitalizadas e analisadas quadro-a-quadro no programa Adobe® Premiere® 6.5. Não houve diferença estatisticamente significante no tempo de fechamento faríngeo comparando-se entre as diferentes consistências e volumes. Não houve diferença quando comparados com gênero ou idade dos indivíduos. Conclui-se que o tempo de fechamento faríngeo não sofre impacto das diferentes consistências e volumes, assim como o gênero e idade em indivíduos com deglutição normal / Peristaltic constriction is one of the main components of the pharyngeal phase of swallowing. This study assessed the effects of various food consistencies and volumes on pharyngeal contraction time (as measured by duration of white-out during fiberoptic endoscopy) in 61 subjects with no swallowing problems. Results were correlated with gender (24 male, 37 female) and age (range, 2077 years). Food was provided in 5 and 10mL samples in various consistencies (fluid, thickened fluid, pureed, and solid) to all participants; a total of 394 video recordings of pharyngeal contraction during the passage of these various food consistencies and volumes were obtained. Footage was digitized and frame-by-frame analysis was carried out in the Adobe® Premiere® 6.5 software package. There were no statistically significant differences in pharyngeal contraction time during swallowing of the various food consistencies and volumes provided. Furthermore, there were no statistically significant differences between male and female patients or across different age. We conclude that sample consistency, bolus volume, gender and age have no impact on pharyngeal contraction time among individuals with no pathological changes in swallowing

Este trabalho teve como objetivo principal desenvolver um modelo para estimar o retorno anual de fundos privados de previdência complementar, PGBL/VGBL, que investiram em ativos de renda variável, entre 2007 e 2015. As variáveis utilizadas para discriminar as estratégias implementadas pelos gestores de fundos foram o beta do portfólio de ações, a taxa de administração cobrada pelo fundo e a porcentagem do patrimônio do fundo aplicada em ativos de renda variável. Os dados de 671 fundos diferentes foram extraídos do banco de dados Economática®. Os fundos estavam associados a 29 administradoras diferentes. Com esses dados, foi possível investigar a composição das carteiras de ações dos fundos administrados pelas principais instituições financeiras que operam no mercado brasileiro. Cada uma das principais administradoras de fundos manteve, no período, um padrão de seleção de portfólio de ativos de renda variável: a composição das carteiras acionárias de boa parte dos fundos pertencentes a uma mesma administradora, quando não idêntica, apresentou alto grau de similaridade. Para verificar se houve alguma diferenciação na estratégia de gerenciamento de fundos entre as principais administradoras, foram aplicados testes multivariados de igualdade de Wald. Foram encontradas diferenças estatisticamente significantes nas médias das variáveis que discriminaram estratégias de gestão dos fundos, dentro de um intervalo de confiança de 95%, em pelo menos uma das cinco principais administradoras de fundos. Os retornos anuais médios dos fundos, obtidos no período, estavam positiva e fortemente correlacionados ao principal índice de mercado de ações do Brasil, o Ibovespa. Esta descoberta indica uma possível passividade no gerenciamento de fundos, conforme encontrado por outros estudos acadêmicos. Especificamente, os fundos PGBL/VGBL com investimentos em ativos de renda variável que foram administrados pela administradora Itaú Unibanco SA obtiveram melhor desempenho médio, quando os retornos foram ajustados aos riscos incorridos. Para ajustar os retornos anuais ao risco, este trabalho apresentou, com base em um conjunto de premissas descritas no capítulo introdutório, uma metodologia que simplifica o cálculo das betas dos fundos, permitindo ordená-los com base em desempenhos ajustados ao risco. O modelo encontrado para estimar os retornos anuais dos fundos foi obtido por meio da técnica de regressão multinível com dados em painel. Tal modelo apontou, dentro do domínio temporal do estudo, que a cada ponto percentual adicional de taxa de administração cobrada pela instituição financeira, a estimativa de retorno ao investidor de determinado fundo era reduzida em um ponto percentual. Esta descoberta é mais uma evidência de passividade na gestão de fundos. Finalmente, a variação dos retornos anuais dos fundos é explicada principalmente pela variação na interação entre a porcentagem do patrimônio do fundo investido em ativos de renda variável e o retorno anual do Ibovespa. / This work aimed to develop a model for estimating the annual return of the most popular private retirement funds in the Brazilian market, PGBL/VGBL funds, that invested in variable-income assets, between 2007 and 2015. The variables used to discriminate the strategies implemented by the fund managers were the beta of the stock portfolio, the management fee charged by the fund, and the percentage of the fund assets applied in variable-income assets. Data from 671 different funds were extracted from the Economática® database. The funds were associated to 29 different financial institutions. With these data, it was possible to investigate the composition of the stock portfolios of the funds held by the main financial institutions that operate in the Brazilian market. Each of the main financial institutions maintained a pattern of portfolio selection for variable-income assets in the period: the composition of the equity portfolios of most of the funds managed by the same financial institution, when not identical, presented a high level of similarity. In order to verify if there was any differentiation in the fund management strategy among the main financial institutions, multivariate Wald equality tests were applied. Statistically significant differences in the average of the variables that discriminated fund strategies were found, within a 95% confidence interval, in at least one of the top fund financial institutions. The average annual returns of the funds obtained in the period were positive and strongly correlated to the main stock market index of Brazil, the Ibovespa. This finding indicates a possible passivity in fund management, as found by other academic studies. Specifically, the PGBL/VGBL funds with investments in variable-income assets that were managed by Itaú Unibanco SA obtained better average performance over the almost whole period, when returns were adjusted to the incurred risks. In order to adjust the annual returns to risk, this work presented, based on a set of assumptions described in the introductory chapter, a methodology that simplifies the calculation of the betas of the funds, allowing to order them based on risk adjusted performances. The model found to estimate the annual returns of the funds was obtained through the multilevel regression technique with data in panel. Such a model pointed out - within the time domain of the study - that at each additional percentage point of management fee charged by the financial institution, the estimated return on the investor of a given fund was reduced by the same one percentage point. This finding is one more evidence of passivity in fund management. Finally, the variation of the annual returns of the funds is mainly explained by the variation in the interaction between the percentage of the fund equity invested in variable-income assets and the annual return of the Ibovespa.

La tarification des services publics mis en œuvre par les communes et leurs intercommunalités s’est développée ces dernières années et devrait encore se développer, sous l’effet d’évolutions touchant la matière tarifaire elle-même mais aussi la matière fiscale. Les atouts que présente la redevance se sont considérablement renforcés. Son périmètre théorique n’a cessé de s’élargir, avec d’une part l’essor des services publics locaux rendus et d’autre part l’essor de ce qui peut être économiquement, politiquement et juridiquement tarifé. Par ailleurs, les handicaps peu objectifs ayant longtemps grippé la mobilisation du levier tarifaire sont pour l’essentiel en voie d’être levés. Le nouvel essor de la redevance se fonde aussi sur ses relations avec les deux principaux avatars de l’imposition locale : l’« impôt général », affecté au financement des services publics, et l’« impôt spécial », affecté au financement d’un service public. Comparée à l’impôt général, la redevance fait aujourd’hui preuve d’une plus grande marge de manœuvre mais surtout d’une meilleure prise en compte des capacités contributives. Par ailleurs, la redevance semble bénéficier de l’engouement actuel des décideurs nationaux et locaux pour l’impôt spécial, principale réponse apportée à la critique de l’impôt et au délitement incident du consentement des citoyens. Parce qu’elle en partage la philosophie, à savoir la mise en contribution des usagers potentiels ou effectifs d’un service public, la redevance semble bénéficier d’un réel effet d’entraînement. Si l’essor de la taxation pourrait à long terme être problématique pour la tarification, il en est bien un formidable catalyseur à court terme / Public service pricing grids implemented by the cities and intercommunalities will continue to soar as tax and tariff systems are changing.As far as charging fees are concerned, both utility and current, their merits according to the local deciders are greater than ever. Its scope broadened along with the development of local public services and the evolution of what may be economically, politically and legally charged. Meanwhile, what arbitrary resistances might have slowed down the implementation of pricing grids are starting to fade away.The regained interest in charging fees is also based on complex interactions with both pillars of the local tax system: the “general tax”, financing all the public services, and the “special tax”, financing a specific public service.Compared to the “general tax”, the charging system allows for more leeway and takes better into account contributory capacities.Due to the global defiance of the public towards the legitimacy of the tax system (almost to the point of challenging the consent principle behind it), both national and local deciders tend to lean for more use of “special tax”. The charging fee system is therefore more likely to be accepted as the core ideology behind it is the same: the contribution of citizens who are to benefit (even potentially) from a specific public service. If in the short term the rise of special taxes is a catalyzer for the rise of charging fees, in the long term it could nevertheless become a potential hazard

Magister Legum - LLM / The financing of public schools in South Africa is dependent on school fees to a great extent. However, the legislative process governing the charging of school fees perpetuates the entrenched inequality in the education system and violates the constitutional rights of those learners who are unable to afford school fees and other educational costs. This study examines the impact of the school funding system on the right to basic education of these learners, who are in most instances black and/or poor. / South Africa

Studiens syfte är att se hur sociala rörelser och stater interagerar, samt hur dialogen ser ut inom respektive part. Frågeställningarna som syftar till att fånga det är således; Hur ser relationen mellan sociala rörelser och stater ut, och hur påverkar var sidas val av strategier motpartens handlingsmönster? Samt; Vilka interna strategier inom kampanj respektive stat är mest framträdande? För att undersöka det har två kampanjer valts ut, Fees Must Fall i Sydafrika och Fund Our Future i Storbritannien. Vidare har nyhetsartiklar valts från sammanlagt nio av ländernas mest lästa nyhetstidningar. Fyra teoretiska ingångar fått vägleda analysarbetet; radical flank effect, symbolic damage, protest policing och eventful protest. Dessa är alla analytiska verktyg som hjälper oss förstå de mångfacetterade dimensionerna som existerar parallellt inom sociala rörelser och statens arbete. Den samlade tidigare forskningen har utforskat specifika delar av de nämnda begreppen, men däremot har aspekternas samverkande förmåga inte tidigare studerats. Studiens resultat visar att våldsamma aktioner ofta leds av radikala demonstranter. Dessa leder ofta inte enbart till stor medial uppmärksamhet, utan kan beroende på kontext förändra sociala rörelser och statens interna strategiska struktur. Det innebär även att fredliga aktioner ofta hamnar i skymundan, vilket bidrar till att befästa uppfattningen om att våld krävs för att sociala rörelsers syfte ska synas. Även stater kan uppleva sig nödgade att använda våldsamma strategier i mötet med demonstranter. Vidare visar resultaten på att det finns en interaktiv dynamik mellan kampanjer och stater, som även visar på aktörskap inom respektive part.