[pt] Entre 2006 e 2010, os preços de imóveis nos EUA caíram cerca de 30 por cento, fazendo com que o principal de um grande número de contratos de hipoteca ficasse abaixo do valor do imóvel. A teoria de default estratégico prediz que devedores nessa situação - chamada de negative equity value - deveriam entregar o imóvel e abandonar o contrato. Entretanto, a taxa de default em hipotecas com negative equity value, além de ser surpreendentemente baixa. Esta dissertação explica a baixa taxa de default no mercado americano de hipotecas a partir de preocupações dos credores em conseguir crédito imobiliário no futuro. O modelo mostra que tal preocupação é mais grave para devedores de baixa renda que se beneficiaram do crédito facilitado advindo da explosão de preços dos imóveis, mas que estão cientes de que tais facilidades provavelmente não estarão presentes no futuro. Os credores de baixa renda, portanto, têm mais incentivos a evitar default em hipotecas de negative equity value do que credores de mais alta renda, que antecipam facilidades em obter novo crédito imobiliário. Utilizando um painel de estados dos EUA para testar a existência deste efeito, mostramos que a inadimplência é mais sensível à queda no preço dos imóveis em áreas com maior renda per capita. / [en] Between 2006 and 2010, the price of houses in the United States fell by 30 percent, implying that a large number of mortgage contracts had negative equity value, that is, a debt outstanding higher than the house value. In these mortgage contracts, it pays for the borrowers to exchange their homes for the write-off of the debt. And yet, the delinquency rate among negative equity mortgages is surprisingly low. This paper argues that the fear of losing access to the credit markets explains why the delinquency rate remained relatively low in the U.S. after the Subprime crises. Our model shows that, with the end of the bubble in the housing market, low-income families are unlikely to qualify for the mortgage contracts they hold. Hence, fear of losing access to credit market lowers their incentive to walk away from their current mortgage contracts, even if they have negative equity value. Using a panel of US states to test the existence of this effect, we show that delinquency is more sensible to a decrease of house prices in areas with higher per capita income.

Introduction: World Health Organization recommends screening of household contact as a key to improve detection of tuberculosis cases. Ethiopia’s current tuberculosis household contact investigation strategies rely on symptomatic contacts attending health facilities for investigation. This approach has not led to the detection of additional tuberculosis (TB) cases; alternative approaches have to be considered. The purpose of the research was to develop guidelines in endorsing the implementation of a community based household contact investigation program in Addis Ababa. Methods: A mixed method research using sequential exploratory design was conducted in Addis Ababa. In the first phase, qualitative data collection and analysis methods were used to formulate intervention approach and in the second phase, a quantitative random controlled trial was conducted, with the purpose of comparing the proposed intervention measures with routine household contact tuberculosis investigation. Frequencies and logistic regression analyses were used to determine the relative risk and associated factors. Thematic analysis was used for qualitative data analysis. Results: The in-depth interview and focus group discussion findings identified themes namely household contact investigation (HHCI) implementation, misconceptions on HHCI, challenges with HHCI Approaches, opportunities for HHCI provision, contributing factors associated with household involvement, strategies for effective HHCI service and partnerships with health bureau. In phase two, the study reported that the prevalence of TB was 7.1% among the intervention group compared to 1.9% in the control groups at the end of first year follow-up. Nine guidelines were developed to support the household contact investigation system. Conclusion: The passive case detection strategy of contact investigation did not find more cases, and tuberculosis patients and their family contacts were not satisfied with this method. However, the proposed community-based strategy shows that more TB cases can be detected by using existing medical staff. Therefore, an approach that makes the service more accessible is significant and the recommended community based TB household contact tracing approaches needs to be scaled up for its performance towards identified missed cases and enhance patient and their household contacts involvement. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Public Health)

This Master’s thesis deals with the problems of small domestic appliances in solar systems. The theoretical part provides a description of solar thermal systems and solar photovoltaic systems, including the possibility of their combination. It adds options connecting the small household appliances in system of solar technology and economics of the washing process. The practical part evaluates the economy of operation small household appliances connected to the solar system.

Orientador: Carlos Alberto Feliciano / Resumo: Esta tese é sobre os elementos que compõe a reprodução socioterritorial do campesinato. Tem como objetivo analisar as estratégias utilizadas por camponeses assentados para garantir a permanência da família no lote. Constitui-se como elemento basilar as reflexões acerca de conflitos e negociações intergeracionais entre camponeses e mediadores, que em diferentes escalas são elementos fundamentais para dar continuidade ao processo de reprodução socioterritorial nos assentamentos rurais. O recorte empírico da pesquisa é a região do Pontal do Paranapanema localizado no extremo oeste do Estado de São Paulo especificamente os assentamentos Nova Conquista – SP, que possui 104 lotes dentre os quais 77 estão no município de Rancharia – SP e 27 no município de Martinópolis – SP e o Porto Maria – SP que encontrase no município de Rosana – SP e possui 41 lotes. A escolha dos assentamentos deve-se ao fato de que o primeiro apresenta uma quantidade significativa de camponeses agregados em condição de trabalho assalariado e o segundo é fruto da luta de camponeses agregados do assentamento Gleba XV de Novembro. As metodologias utilizadas foram: pesquisa bibliográfica, pesquisa documental, entrevistas, diários de campo e cartografia social. O aporte teórico conta com os conceitos de trabalho, território, gênero, geração, juventude rural e reprodução socioterritorial. / Abstract: This thesis is on the elements which compose the peasants’ socio-territorial reproduction. It aims at analyzing the strategies used by settled peasants to guarantee their families remain in the lot. Its fundamental element were the reflections on the intergenerational conflicts and negotiations between peasants and mediators which are, in different levels, the foundation to allow the process of socio-territorial reproduction in rural settlements to continue. The research was conducted in the area of Pontal do Paranapanema, in the far west of São Paulo State, more specifically in the settlement of Nova Conquista – SP, which has 104 lots, from which 77 are in the city of Rancharia – SP and 27 in the city of Martinópolis – SP and in the settlement of Porto Maria – SP which is situated in the city of Rosana – SP and has 41 lots. The choosing of the settlements is due to the fact that the former present a meaningful amount of household peasants in wage earner position and the later is the result of struggles of household peasants from Gleba XV de Novembro settlement. The methodologies used in this research were bibliographic research, documentary research, interviews, field diaries and social cartography. The theoretical approach is based on the concept of labor, territory gender, rural youth and socio-territorial reproduction. / Doutor

Across deployment cycles, individuals negotiate family roles to accommodate the absence then re-entry of service members. There is scant empirical evidence about the processes through which roles are reorganized. Guided by the family resilience framework (Walsh, 2016) and the model of military marriage (Karney & Crown, 2007), I hypothesized that communication would be a mechanism through which couples negotiated roles during reintegration. Couple communication was conceptualized as occurring over two distinct but related temporal rhythms: established communication patterns and daily communication strategies. I expected that couples’ Time 1 (T1) established communication patterns (problem solving and withdrawal) would predict role negotiations at Time 3 (T3), and that these associations would be mediated by daily communication strategies at Time 2 (T2). 54 heterosexual National Guard couples were interviewed at three times across eight months after service members’ return from deployment. T1 and T3 were in-person interviews and measured participants’ established patterns of family life, including established communication patterns and ease in role negotiations. T2 was a four-day data “burst” and captured couples’ daily behaviors such as competence with daily communication strategies. Path analyses indicated that T1 problem solving (an established pattern) predicted service members’ more competent T2 daily communication and easier T3 role negotiations. While no indirect associations emerged for either partner, significant others’ T2 more competent daily communication strategies predicted easier T3 role negotiations for both partners. Results suggest that problem solving and competent daily communication strategies contribute to resilient family functioning during reintegration. This study highlights the viability and importance of adopting multiple temporal rhythms to examine processes across couple transitions.

The overall aim of this thesis is to examine households´ preferences towards relaxing the time demanding aspects of transporting sorted packaging waste. According to welfare economics, households should be willing to pay an amount equal to their reservation wage to benefit from more leisure time. However, specific types of norms, e.g., personal, self-internalized norms, and warm-glow motives may affect this decision. A theoretical model building on the notion that household members prefer to maintain a positive self-image as a responsible person is therefore used. In total 500 surveys were sent out to villas in the municipality of Skellefteå in order to gather information about recycling motives, socio-economic status and time spent on dropping-off packaging waste. The survey also presented a scenario similar to existing curbside recycling schemes in order to examine households’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) to relax the burden of transporting already sorted packaging waste. The empirical results show how both personal norms (giving rise to a feeling of guilty conscious if not recycling) and the warm-glow of giving affect the WTP for responsibility relief. Stronger personal norms implies a higher likelihood that persons have a positive willingness-to-pay for curbside recycling schemes, while strong warm-glow motives instead lead to a lower likelihood. Overall, the average WTP (per hour saved) tends to be lower than the opportunity cost of time measured through the average wage rate after tax. / Denna rapport behandlar hushålls uppfattning gällande att minska tidskrävande transport av redan källsorterade förpackningar i hemmet. Individen borde enligt ekonomisk teori vara villig att betala motsvarande hans/hennes reservationslön för att frigöra ytterligare fritid. Däremot kan specifika normer, såsom personliga (självpålagda) normer, och så kallade ”warm-glow” motiv påverka beslutet. En teoretisk modell som bygger på idén att individer föredrar att upprätthålla en positiv självbild som en ansvarsfull person utnyttjas. 500 enkäter skickades ut till villor inom Skellefteå kommun med uppgift att samla in data gällande motiv till källsortering, socioekonomisk status och tid nedlagd på att transportera källsorterade förpackningar. Ett scenario likt nuvarande implementering av fastighetsnära insamling lades fram för att undersöka hushållens betalningsvilja (WTP) för inte behöva transportera källsorterade förpackningar till en återvinningsstation. Resultaten visar hur både personlig norm (som bland annat ger individen dåligt samvete av att inte källsortera) och motivet ”warm-glow” påverkar WTP för minskat ansvar. En starkare personlig norm medför en högre sannolikhet för en positiv betalningsvilja, medan ett starkt ”warm-glow” motiv i stället leder till en motsvarande lägre sannolikhet. Slutligen, den genomsnittliga betalningsviljan (per sparad timme) tenderar att vara avsevärt lägre än den genomsnittliga lönenivån (efter skatt).

MSCAEC / Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness

No description available.

”Nu är goda råd dyra”, heter det sedan gammalt i en svensk krissituation. I denna licentiatavhandling, vars rubrik kopplar till talesättet, behandlas svensk energirådgivnings utveckling och framtid. Forskning visar att i ett alltmer digitaliserat samhälle behöver energirådgivningen utvecklas för att bättre nå målgrupperna - hushåll, småföretag och organisationer. Digitala tjänster ger många möjligheter, men den viktiga personliga kontakten med energirådgivaren går inte att ersätta fullt ut. Med hjälp av fokusgrupper, intervjuer och samtal med energirådgivare, villaägare och enskilda experter har kunnat konstateras att den personligt genomförda rådgivningstjänsten är efterfrågad, angelägen och framgångsrik när byte av värmesystem, större ombyggnationer eller nybyggnationer är aktuellt. Att pröva idéer och lösningar, helst i hemmamiljön inför en ombyggnad, är uppskattad rådgivning. I samtalet, där inte enbart tekniska detaljer och lönsamhet diskuteras, kan alla i hushållet engageras. Energirådgivningen kan bli mer framgångsrik, men då krävs ett större kommunalt engagemang och en tydligare samverkan med andra statliga styrmedel. Hållbara råd kan alla få i Sverige idag och de goda råden är gratis! Med hjälp av dessa kan kanske kriser undvikas… / Att använda energin effektivare än vad som görs idag inom både industri, transporter och byggnader är en väg till ett mer hållbart samhälle. Den rika delen av världen har här ett speciellt ansvar. I Sverige har den kommunala energirådgivningen under närmare fyrtio år varit ett av statens styrmedel för att på olika sätt bistå lokala beslutsfattare att effektivisera energianvändningen, men också öka andelen förnybar energi i systemet. Denna licentiatavhandling har studerat energirådgivningen under tidsperioden, men också dokumenterat och analyserat rådgivningen ur ett samhällsperspektiv. Forskning visar att i ett alltmer digitaliserat samhälle behöver energirådgivningen utvecklas för att bättre nå målgrupperna - hushåll, småföretag och organisationer. Internet är idag den vanligaste sökvägen för de som önskar information kring energirelaterade frågor. Digitala tjänster ger många möjligheter, men den viktiga personliga kontakten med energirådgivare går inte att ersätta fullt ut. I studien har fokusgrupper, intervjuer och samtal med energirådgivare, villaägare och enskilda experter genomförts och analyserats. Resultat visar att den personligt genomförda rådgivningstjänsten är efterfrågad, angelägen och framgångsrik när byte av värmesystem, större ombyggnationer eller nybyggnationer är aktuellt. Studien visar också att personliga samtal med energirådgivare är värdefullt för att pröva idéer och lösningar som är hämtade från internet samt att hemmet är den lämpligaste platsen för framgångsrik rådgivning. I denna situation är rådgivarens sociala kompetens central. Kvinnors synpunkter och erfarenheter har ofta gått förlorade. Vidare har ett för stort fokus lagts på tekniska detaljer och lönsamhet, medan många beslut tas av miljöskäl eller sociala orsaker som upplevd ökad komfort. Energirådgivningen kan bli mer framgångsrik, men då krävs ett större kommunalt engagemang och en tydligare samverkan med andra statliga styrmedel. / Improving the efficiency of energy use across all the sectors – industrial, transport and households – is one of the many necessary approaches to be adopted to ensure sustainable development. The countries of the developing world have to play a key role in such a transition. In Sweden, for close to half a century now, the municipal energy-advising function has been a governmental instrument to support decision-makers in bringing about systemic changes to improve energy efficiency on the one hand and the share of renewable energy in the mix, on the other.  This licentiate thesis has its focus on this function over the said time-period. It has also documented and analysed the energy-advising function from a social perspective. The research shows that in an increasingly-digitalised society, energy-advising must be developed further to be able to reach and impact different categories of energy users – households, small and medium scale enterprises and organisations – more effectively. The Internet happens to be the first resort of most people seeking information on energy-related issues, these days. Digital services do offer a range of possibilities but cannot substitute for the much-needed personal contact, which is provided by the energy-advising function. In this thesis, focus groups, interviews and conversations with energy advisers, homeowners and experts have been availed of, and subsequently analysed. The results also show that personal energy advice is actually popular, indispensable and effective, where replacement of interior heating systems, refurbishment or new building constructions are concerned. This research also shows that interactions with energy advisers are useful to test and verify the suitability of ideas and solutions obtained from the Internet. Besides, the home in which these solutions may eventually be tried out, is the perfect place for having such conversations. In this context, the social skills of the energy adviser assume paramount importance. It has been noticed that the viewpoints and experiences of women in households have often been ignored.  Further, the focus on finding solutions has sometimes been narrowed down to the technical and economic aspects, while at other times, decisions have been based on environmental or social factors like maintenance of comfort levels. In order to make the energy advising function more effective and avail of what it has to offer for the journey towards greater sustainability, it needs to be given the importance it deserves by the municipalities and there is also a need of stronger interplay among the other governmental instruments. / Bo och leva energieffektivt. Kommunal energirådgivning som medspelare i människors vardag

Uppsatsen besvarar frågeställningen "hur påverkas svenska hushåll av negativ ränta?" i fyra olika teman: sparande, bostadsmarknad & skuldsättning, inkomst och konsumtion. Frågeställningen besvarades tematiskt med hjälp av intervjuer, statistik och olika teoretiska byggstenar. Sparkonton förblev hushållens vanligaste sparform trots införandet av negativ reporänta. Dock ser vi en förskjutning mot högre riskbenägenhet hos en del hushåll, den kan riskera att bli "den nya normala" om negativa räntor blir bestående. Negativa bankinsättningsräntor kommer sannolikt inte orsaka massiva uttag, eftersom kostnad för kontanthantering är betydligt högre i takt med att Sverige rör sig mot ett kontantlöst samhälle, samt att sparkonton har en fördel att den tillhandahåller likviditet. Bostadsmarknadspriser påverkas främst av demografiska aspekter som urbanisering och bostadsbrist, samtidigt som skuldsättning ökat. Hushållen erfar först en sänkt bostadslåneränta ifall de har ett bostadslån, men korrelationen mellan reporäntesänkningar och bolånesänkningar har minskat. Teoretiskt bör hushållens inkomst påverkas positivt av negativ ränta, men lönebilden verkar påverkas av fler faktorer, bland annat yrkesefterfrågan och ekonomiska cykler. En viss förskjutning mellan inflation och löneutvecklingen finns, då lön stiger först efter att inflationsökningar redan skett. Hushållen har upplevt räntesänkningar som direkt gett effekten att konsumtion sjunkit, men inte ökat nämndevärt till följd av högre disponibel inkomst genom negativ ränta. Negativ ränta påverkar hushåll, men inte till stor skillnad från väldigt låg ränta, varav räntans passage ner i negativt territorium skapar rädsla, men få hushåll har agerat aktivt inom alla berörda områden som följd. Riksbankens förtroende gällande räntans effektivitet för att pådriva inflation ses även som överdriven. / Through the work of this Bachelor Thesis we examine "How Swedish households are affected by negative interest?" in four different themes: savings, housing & debt, income and consumption. The question was answered thematically through interviews, statistics and various theoretical building blocks. Despite the introduction of negative repo rate, saving deposits remained the most common form of savings of households. However, we see a shift toward higher risk appetite among some households, and there is a risk that it becomes "the new normal" if negative interest rates become permanent. Negative bank deposit rates will most likely not cause massive withdrawals, because the cost of handling cash is considerably higher in line with Sweden is moving toward a cashless society, and also because saving accounts provide liquidity. Housing market prices are mostly affected by demographic aspects such as urbanization and housing shortage, which increases indebtedness. Mortgages and loans receive a lower interest rate, but the correlation between repo interest rates and mortgage interest rates are becoming weaker. Theoretically household income should be positively affected by negative interest, but wages are dependent of several factors, such as specific profession demand and economic cycles, and a certain offset between inflation and wage growth exists, as wages first rise after inflation growth occurred. Lower interest rates directly cause consumption to decline, as the costs fall, but higher disposable income hasn’t caused consumption to rise notably as of yet. Negative interest rates have effects on the households, but do not give a vast difference from low interest rates. It has caused worries, but few households have reacted actively in all areas concerning households. The Riksbank’s trust in the interest rates efficiency to raise inflation is also seen as exaggerate