Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of New South Wales, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 267-280). Also available online.

No description available.

Capital asset pricing theory assumes a no-tax, after-tax efficiency equivalence; ie., that the efficient information produced in a no-tax analysis is equivalent to that which is produced in an after-tax analysis. However, if the effect of income taxes is not systematic throughout the market, the useful application of the theory may be impaired by this assumption. This research seeks to determine the effect of income tax imposition on the risk-return expectations or individual investors. If the effect of income tax imposition is to produce non-homogeneous after-tax investor risk-return expectations, then the efficiency equivalence hypothesis must be rejected. This efficiency equivalency hypothesis is evaluated by testing two alternative hypotheses, (1) the systematic riskiness of any individual security, both with and without adjustment for the imposition of income tax, is equivalent, and (2) the no-tax and after-tax expected risk-return rank order of each individual security is the same. An after-tax capital asset pricing model is derived. This model is based upon the premise that the current income tax laws, which require investors to share with the taxing government the uncertain returns from risky assets, allow investors to reduce the riskiness of those returns. The returns on investment assets are derived from both capital gains and from ordinary income distributions. However, the tax treatment of capital gains (losses) and ordinary income (dividends/interest) is not the same. This results in an unsystematic effect on the risks and returns of investments, thus, the income tax effect is not likely to be homogeneous as an efficiency equivalence hypothesis would imply. The analysis focuses on the expected risk-return equivalencies for 465 firms, using ex-post data over a 10 year period. The findings of this study imply that income tax effects on the market are not homogeneous. Income tax differentials are apparent in both the observed beta terms and the risk-return rank-ordering of the securities.

Energy used in the operation of the United Kingdom’s non-domestic buildings contributes 18% of national carbon dioxide emissions and reducing these is government policy. The use of electrical equipment in buildings is a major contributor to overall consumption, due to both its intrinsic energy consumption and the effects of incidental internal gains resulting from its operation. Knowledge of how and where consumption and internal gains occur in buildings is important in understanding the consumption characteristics of the building stock. The overall aim of this research was to improve the prediction of energy consumption in the non-domestic stock through the inference of appliance electricity consumption and resultant heat gains, for internal space uses of premises, as identified in UK property taxation data. To achieve this, the objectives were to: 1. Develop a method for inferring space usage in premises. 2. Infer values for the electricity consumption of appliances, and hence internal gains, for space uses within premises. 3. Apply the method to a dataset at the urban scale and use a suitable model to deduce the energy consumption. 4. Compare the results with measured data. Objectives 1 and 2 were achieved through analyses of detailed energy surveys of more than 300 non-domestic premises. By excluding equipment used for heating and cooling, both intrinsic electricity consumption and internal gains from appliances have been characterised for combinations of internal space use and premises activity type. For each combination, the characteristics include the energy intensity (kWh/m2/year) for: • overall appliance use • 14 end uses of appliances (e.g. lighting, catering, computers) • 18 groups of appliance activity descriptions (e.g. sales, office work, process) These characteristics were mapped onto subdivisions of space use, within premises, listed in property taxation data for a test urban area (City of Leicester). Using only 115 descriptions of space use, appliance consumption characteristics have been inferred for 91.5% of the measured internal floor area of the test dataset; this achieved the third objective. More than 80% of the floor area was identified using standard space use descriptions utilised in real estate taxation datasets. The total estimated consumption accounted for 75% of the recorded annual electricity consumption of the test area (the fourth objective). This result is acceptable, given the known limitations of the datasets and suggests that the method constitutes an improvement to stock energy modelling, thus meeting the overall aim. By inferring appliance electricity consumption and internal gains at a finer spatial resolution than previous methods, the diversity of energy consumption characteristics of the non-domestic stock may be represented more faithfully than by values applied to entire homogenised premises or premises types. The method may be used by policy makers as part of an urban energy model and as a means of evaluating potential energy interventions in the non-domestic stock, or parts thereof.

Purpose: Postnatal depression (PND) has significant negative outcomes for both mother and baby. The literature indicates that cognitive behavioural interventions can be effective and efficacious treatments, less is known about what mechanisms underpin change in such interventions. The present study aimed to explore severity of depression as a moderator and Behavioural Activation (BA) as a possible mediator of treatment outcome in an online BA intervention for PND. Methods: Follow-up of postnatal women participating in a feasibility Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) of Netmums, an online BA treatment with telephone support. Results: There was no evidence to support the hypothesis that severity of depression acted as a moderator for treatment outcome. No mediation effects for BA were found. Rumination and avoidance did predict treatment outcome, but this did not differ between the treatment and control group. Post Hoc sudden gains analysis revealed that 48.90% of the treatment group sample experienced a sudden gain. Those who experienced a sudden gain had better post intervention outcomes. Conclusions: The findings have important implications for both theory and the design of future interventions. Future research should consider collecting weekly measures from both treatment and control groups.

Analyzing the development of the consequences of voluntary job changes in Germany between 1985 and 2013, the study focuses on income gains and job satisfaction increases. Drawing on arguments of the job-search literature on the one hand and the proliferation of choices on the other we investigate whether the returns of job changes have increased or decreased. Results show that income gains have decreased over time while the job satisfaction surplus has remained stable. We further conclude that in determining the outcomes of job changes over time, structural factors seem to be more important than individual ones.

O presente estudo tem por objetivo demonstrar que, nas hipóteses em que alguém intervém na esfera jurídica alheia e obtém benefícios econômicos sem causar danos ao titular do direito ou, causando danos, o lucro obtido pelo ofensor é superior aos danos causados, as regras da responsabilidade civil, isoladamente, não são suficientes, à luz do ordenamento jurídico brasileiro, enquanto sanção eficaz pela violação de um interesse merecedor de tutela. Isto porque, como a principal função da responsabilidade civil é remover o dano, naquelas hipóteses, não fosse a utilização de um remédio alternativo, o interventor faria seu o lucro da intervenção, no primeiro caso integralmente e, no segundo, no valor equivalente ao saldo entre o lucro obtido e a indenização que tiver que pagar à vítima. A tese pretende demonstrar que o problema do lucro da intervenção não deve ser solucionado por intermédio das regras da responsabilidade civil, devendo, portanto, ser rejeitadas as propostas de solução neste campo, como a interpretação extensiva do parágrafo único, do artigo 944, do Código Civil, as indenizações punitivas e o chamado terceiro método de cálculo da indenização. Como alternativa, propõe-se o enquadramento dogmático do lucro da intervenção no enriquecimento sem causa, outorgando ao titular do direito uma pretensão de restituição do lucro obtido pelo ofensor em razão da indevida ingerência em seus bens ou direitos. Defende-se que a transferência do lucro da intervenção para o titular do direito tem por fundamento a ponderação dos interesses em jogo à luz da Constituição Federal, com especial atenção ao princípio da solidariedade, e da teoria da destinação jurídica dos bens. A tese procura demonstrar, ainda, que o ordenamento jurídico brasileiro não exige um efetivo empobrecimento do titular do direito para a configuração do enriquecimento sem causa e que a regra da subsidiariedade não impede a cumulação de ações, de responsabilidade civil para eliminar o dano (e no limite do dano), e de enriquecimento sem causa, para forçar a restituição do saldo positivo que permanecer no patrimônio do ofensor após o pagamento da indenização, se houver. Finalmente, a tese pretende provocar a discussão acerca da quantificação do objeto da restituição, propondo alguns critérios que deverão orientar o aplicador do direito. / The present study aims to demonstrate that when someone profits by interfering In: another persons rights without causing damage to the victim, or when the act does cause damage but the benefits so obtained are greater than the damage caused, tort rules alone are not enough, under Brazilian Law, as an efficient sanction for violation of an interest or right that deserves protection. Since the maIn: function of civil liability rules is to redress the damage, or make the victim whole, without an alternative remedy the wrongdoer would keep the benefits wrongfully obtained, fully In: the first case and In: the second case to the extent of the difference between the profits obtained and damages paid to the victim. I aim to show that the problem of benefits wrongfully obtained cannot be solved through tort rules alone, and some proposed measures In: this area, such as expansive interpretation of Article 944, sole paragraph, of the Civil Code, punitive damages and the so-called third method of quantifying damages should be rejected. As an alternative, I propose framing the question of benefits wrongfully obtained withIn: the rules on unjust enrichment, granting the victim the right to claim restitution of benefits obtained by the wrongdoer by interference In: the victims assets or rights. I argue that the transfer of the benefits wrongfully obtained to the victim should be based on a balance of conflicting interests In: light of the Federal Constitution, with special attention to the solidarity principle and on the theory of the juridical allocation of assets. Besides this, I argue that Brazilian law does not require the victim to suffer any kind of damage In: order to apply unjust enrichment rules and that the subsidiarity rule does not prohibit the filing of joint claims, a tort one to remedy the damage (limited to the actual damage caused) and an unjust enrichment one to force restitution of any positive balance that remains with the wrongdoer after payment of damages. Finally, I intend to stimulate discussions on how to quantify the amount of restitution In: these cases and offer some criteria that can guide judges.

The current study uses a lottery-based paradigm to examine how risk taking is affected by two specific types of good and bad experiences, luck and fortune. Though the terms are often used interchangeably, we suggest that they refer to two separate aspects of risk. Fortune refers to the overall positivity or negativity of the overall context, whereas luck refers to the probability of a better or worse outcome. To make the lottery context fortunate or unfortunate, a set of mixed-valence control lotteries were surrounded by all gain (good fortune) or all loss lotteries (bad fortune). To make the lotteries lucky or unlucky, the proportion of better outcomes received was fixed to be well above (good luck) or well below (bad luck) 50%. Results of the study suggest that, fortune, but not luck, had a significant influence on risk taking behaviors. Participants who experienced good fortune decreased risk taking, and those who experienced bad fortune increased risk taking. When asked, however, participants were unable to differentiate between the luck and fortune manipulations. Gains and losses due to fortune were undifferentiated from gains and losses due to luck. Yet, it was found that the number of gain outcomes received, which was determined by the luck-fortune combination, largely determined subjective experiences of luck and fortune. Consistent with the somatic marker and hedonic editing hypotheses, more gain outcomes led to a heightened sense of good luck and good fortune. Following on SPA (security/ potential aspiration) theory, we suggest that these differences in risk taking behavior in response to fortune may be due to increased attention to goals emphasizing security versus potential.

<p>The main aim of this study was to test and ascertain, objectively, theexistence/occurrence of the phenomenon of Synergy in teams. To do this, the results of anonline course in Umea University, where students are invariably required to do a bunch ofindividual as well as team assignments, were analysed: the idea was to compare the marksobtained by the students in their team assignments with their marks in their individualassignments and to check if there was a reasonably good number of instances where the teammark was higher than the highest individual mark in that particular team. The basicassumption was that in case the team mark of a team was higher than the highest individualmark in that team, then, it can be presumed that synergy has taken place in that team for thatparticular team assignment. And, given a reasonably large sample of teams, it would beinstructive to see what percentage of groups/teams actually show synergy. In case a goodnumber of teams show such results then we could conclude that there was objective evidencein favour of the synergy. In case our analysis brought to fore such results then it would benatural to take the study one step ahead and test a broad causal relationship of synergy withthe complexity/difficulty of task at hand.After analysing the results of about 387 students, who worked in about 104 teams, itwas found that about 69.23% teams scored higher than the highest scoring individual; 93.26%teams faired better than the average score of team members; and, 98.07% teams can be said tohave performed better if compared to the lowest individual score.Further, one level below, when team-score and individual-score were compared acrossdifferent team and individual tasks (Case Studies), it still came to fore that teams hadoutperformed the individuals. And, when a single student’s marks in his team assignmentswere compared with his marks in his individual assignments, in five out of six comparisons itwas found that the team mark was convincingly higher than the individual mark.All these results strongly indicated the existence/occurrence of synergy in teams.In addition to this, an experiment on two teams of students was also performed toshow that synergy was more likely to happen if the task at hand was complex/ difficult. Theresults of this experiment seemed to corroborate the contention of the researchers.Keywords: Project Management, Team, Team Work, Individual work, Synergy</p>

The main aim of this study was to test and ascertain, objectively, theexistence/occurrence of the phenomenon of Synergy in teams. To do this, the results of anonline course in Umea University, where students are invariably required to do a bunch ofindividual as well as team assignments, were analysed: the idea was to compare the marksobtained by the students in their team assignments with their marks in their individualassignments and to check if there was a reasonably good number of instances where the teammark was higher than the highest individual mark in that particular team. The basicassumption was that in case the team mark of a team was higher than the highest individualmark in that team, then, it can be presumed that synergy has taken place in that team for thatparticular team assignment. And, given a reasonably large sample of teams, it would beinstructive to see what percentage of groups/teams actually show synergy. In case a goodnumber of teams show such results then we could conclude that there was objective evidencein favour of the synergy. In case our analysis brought to fore such results then it would benatural to take the study one step ahead and test a broad causal relationship of synergy withthe complexity/difficulty of task at hand.After analysing the results of about 387 students, who worked in about 104 teams, itwas found that about 69.23% teams scored higher than the highest scoring individual; 93.26%teams faired better than the average score of team members; and, 98.07% teams can be said tohave performed better if compared to the lowest individual score.Further, one level below, when team-score and individual-score were compared acrossdifferent team and individual tasks (Case Studies), it still came to fore that teams hadoutperformed the individuals. And, when a single student’s marks in his team assignmentswere compared with his marks in his individual assignments, in five out of six comparisons itwas found that the team mark was convincingly higher than the individual mark.All these results strongly indicated the existence/occurrence of synergy in teams.In addition to this, an experiment on two teams of students was also performed toshow that synergy was more likely to happen if the task at hand was complex/ difficult. Theresults of this experiment seemed to corroborate the contention of the researchers.Keywords: Project Management, Team, Team Work, Individual work, Synergy