A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo identificar e analisar os principais Mecanismos de Sinalização utilizados na cadeia da carne bovina brasileira, bem como, verificar o grau de ocorrências dessas sinalizações pela Ciência, pelo Governo e pela Mídia, por meio de processos de mineração de textos e descoberta do conhecimento. Embasando-se na Economia da Informação como teoria-chave dessa análise e concentrando-se nas teorias da Assimetria de Informação, Seleção Adversa e Sinalização e, também, da revisão das interações entre Ciência, Mídia e Governo, foram definidas cinco dimensões, sob as quais os sinais sobre a carne bovina são enquadrados: Econômica, Comunicação e Marketing, Qualidade, Institucional e Sistema de Produção. Para análise, foram coletados documentos textuais em formato eletrônico ao longo de cinco anos. A busca dos documentos deu-se em bases de dados de publicações científicas, em portais do Governo e em arquivos dos jornais e magazines disponíveis na rede mundial de computadores , a partir de palavras-chave relacionadas à cadeia da carne bovina. Foram selecionados 4.281 artigos científicos para compor a base de dados da Ciência, 730 documentos para a base de dados do Governo e 5.439 documentos na base de dados da Mídia, totalizando 10.450 documentos selecionados. Esses documentos foram armazenados e classificados no software QDA Miner segundo as variáveis fonte (Ciência, Governo e Mídia) e ano (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 e 2009). Para extrair o conhecimento das bases textuais, foi elaborada uma estrutura de análise constituída pelas dimensões, códigos (sinais) e palavras -chave. Na sequência foram analisados e codificados os documentos com os respectivos sinalizadores. Aplicando-se a estrutura de análise do software, foram utilizadas representações gráficas elaboradas a partir da frequência relativa das ocorrências de cada código nas três fontes de informação. De acordo com os resultados apresentados foi possível verificar que os termos e dimensões utilizados pela Ciência, Governo e Mídia diferem nas frequências em praticamente todos os códigos , demonstrando pouca sinergia entre as fontes de informação . No decorrer do período analisado, percebeuse maior oscilação na frequência das publicações que incluíam os sinais Sanidade e Sustentabilidade, os quais foram mais enfatizados nos últimos anos da presente análise. Os códigos Certificação e Rastreabilidade que pareciam ter maior destaque para fornecer informações sobre aspectos ligados à carne bovina brasileira, de acordo com estudos existentes, não são os mais emitidos, de acordo com esta pesquisa. A maior identidade da Ciência ao longo do período de anál ise foi para a Dimensão Sistema de Produção, demonstrando que as publicações científicas possuem um caráter mais voltado à melhoria da produção em si, como alimentação, genética, reprodução, idade de abate, dentre outros. Em relação ao Governo, observou-se maior identidade dessa fonte de informação para a Dimensão Institucional, com exceção do ano de 2007, onde se percebe maior es ênfases das publicações do Governo nas Dimensões Qualidade e Sistema de Produção . Já em relação ao que se observa na Mídia, há maior interesse em publicações nas Dimensões Qualidade e Sistema de Produção. Ao analisar os resultados entre as três fontes de informação, verifica-se maior proximidade entre o que se observa na Mídia e no Governo, visto a predominância da Dimensão Sistema de Produção na Ciência. Analisando comparativamente as fontes de informação foi possível observar que o maior grau de similaridade entre os códigos foi observad o nos documentos publicados pelo Governo. Embora os códigos adotados para sinalizar informações sobre a cadeia da carne bovina sejam os mesmos, enquadrados igualmente em cinco Dimensões, determinados sinalizadores são utilizados com maior destaque, similaridades e agrupamentos de códigos e, de acordo com as peculiaridades de cada fonte de informação investigada (Ciência, Governo e Mídia). / The goal of this research is to identify and analyze the main signaling mechanisms utilized in the Brazilian beef chain, as well as to investigate the degree of occurrence of these signalings by science, government, and media, through text mining and knowledge discover processes. Using Information Economy as key theory of this analysis and concentrating on the theories of Information Asymmetry, Adverse Selection and Signaling and, also, through revision of the interactions between science, media and government , five dimensions have been defined which encompass the signals about beef: economic, communication and marketing, quality, institutional and production system. To perform the analysis, electronic text documents over a five-year period have been collected. The documents have been searched in scientific journal databases, government portals, and news paper and magazine files available on the Internet, based on keywords connected to beef chain. The selection included 4.281 scientific articles to compose the science database, 730 documents to the government database, and 5.439 documents to the media database, in a total of 10.450 documents selected. These documents have been stored and classified in the QDA Miner software through the source variables (science, government and media ) and year (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009). To extract the knowledge from the text databases, it has been elaborated an analysis framework composed by dimensions, codes (signals) and keywords. The next step was to analyze and codi fy the documents with the respective signallers. With application of the software analysis framework , it has been used graph representations elaborated from the relative frequency of each code occurrences in the three sources of information. According to the results found, it h as been evidenced that the terms and dimensions used by science, government an d media differ in frequency in practically all codes, demonstrating little synergy between the information sources. Over the period analyzed, a greater oscillation has been perceived in publications that included the sani ty and sustainability signals, which have been more emphasized in certain years. According to this research, the certification and traceability signals which, judging from existing studies, seemed to have the greatest emphasis to supply information on aspects related with Brazilian beef, are not the most issued. Science, over the analysis period, has been more identified with the production system dimension, demonstrating that scientific journals are more focused on the enhancement of production itself, such as feeding, genetics, breeding, slaughter age, among others. With regard to the government, it has been observed that this source of information is more identified with the institutional dimension, with exception of the year 2007, where the greatest emphasis of government publications is perceived in the quality and production syste m dimensions. In the media, quality and production system dimensions are the most emphasized in publications. Analyzing the results between the three sources of information, a closer connection between media and government is perceived, given the predominance of production system dimension in science . Comparative analysis between the sources of information revealed that the greatest degree of similarity between the codes has been found in the documents published by the government. Although the codes adopted to signaling information about beef chain are the same, equally framed in five dimensions, certain signallers are utilized with a greater emphasis, similarities and code groupings, and in accordance with the peculiarities of each source of information investigated (science, government and media).

No presente estudo, salienta-se a necessidade por um referencial teórico destinado à compreensão de um fenômeno empírico recorrente no mundo real: as formas plurais de governança. Mais especificamente, ressalta-se a incapacidade da ECT em explicá-las. Essa limitação, aliada à ausência de um consenso teórico relativo à opção pelas formas plurais, motivaram o desenvolvimento do presente estudo, cujo principal objetivo consiste da exposição de uma nova abordagem relativa ao estudo das formas plurais de governança. Particularmente, pretende-se determinar a influência dos custos de informação quando da configuração dessas formas organizacionais. A abordagem teórica utilizada no presente estudo baseia-se na hipótese de que as firmas selecionariam simultaneamente duas ou mais das três tipologias organizacionais definidas por Williamson (1985) como um instrumento de monitoramento e incentivo, destinado à redução de assimetrias de informação, tanto no âmbito hierárquico quanto naquele contratual. Assim, desenvolve-se um modelo conceitual de decisão, didaticamente segmentado em duas etapas. Na primeira etapa, propõe-se que as formas plurais sejam motivadas pela existência simultânea de vantagens de custos de produção no mercado e de elevados custos de mensuração (BARZEL, 1982). Já na segunda, propõe-se a ocorrência de um tradeoff entre os custos de mensuração e os de agência, o que determinaria o grau ótimo de integração verical no contexto das formas plurais. Como objeto empírico, apresenta-se o caso da empresa Korin, que é interessante, pois a sua cadeia produtiva é caracterizada pela presença das formas plurais, tanto na produção quanto na distribuição de diversos produtos. Além disso, cada um dos produtos analisados - tomate, ovos e milho verde - apresenta diferentes arranjos organizacionais na governança de sua produção, na medida em que seus processos de produção requerem particularidades distintas. A análise empírica deste caso corrobora a primeira etapa do modelo conceitual apresentado no presente estudo, embora não permita avaliar o tradeoff entre os custos de agência e de mensuração e nem a existência de um grau ótimo de integração vertical. Independentemente das limitações apresentadas pelo presente trabalho, ele certamente constitui mais um avanço das teorias da firma em direção ao campo das formas plurais. / In this paper, it is highlighted the need for a theoretical framework aimed at understanding an empirical phenomenon that is recurrently observed in the real world: the plural forms of governance. More specifically, it is emphasized TCE\'s inability to explain them. This limitation, along with the absence of a theoretical concensous relative to the choice of a plural form, motivated the development of this study, whose main objective is that of exposing a new approach to the study of the plural forms of governance. In particular, it is intenteded to determine the influence of information costs on the configuration of those organizational forms. The thoeretical approach that is used in the present paper is based on the hypothesis that firms would simultaneously select two or more of the organizational forms defined by Williamson (1985) as a monitoring device and to proportion incentives aimed at reducing information asymmetries, both within the hierarchy and in contractual relations. Thus, a conceptual decision model is developed and diditically segmented into two steps. In the first step, it is proposed that plural forms are motivated by the simultaneous existence of production cost advantages at the marketplace and high measurement costs (BARZEL, 1982). Whereas in the second, a tradeoff between measurement and agency costs is proposed, determining the optimal vertical integration degree in the context of plural forms. As empirical object, we present the case of Korin company, which is interesting because its production chain is characterized by the presence of plural forms both when producing and distributing various products. In addition, each of the analysed products- tomato, eggs and corn - presents different organizational arrangements in the governance of its production, to the extent that their production processes require different particularities. The empirical analysis of this case supports the first stage of the conceptual model presented in this study, although ramaining unable to assess the tradeoff between agency and measurement costs, as well as the existence of an optimal vertical integration degree. Regardless of the limitations presented by this work, it certainly constitutes an advance of theories of the firm into the field of plural forms.

In today’s competitive market companies aim at increasing revenue to acquire a higher market share. Previous research indicates that this can be achieved with intangible assets. These assets are described as a firm’s dynamic capabilities, which can be attained through knowledge resources, organizational structure, employee skills, customer size, Research and Development (R&D), innovative capability, market share or a recognizable brand. Previous studies have associated intangible assets to be very significant for a company’s success and even associated them with creating GDP growth, specifically in Nordic countries. Studies indicate an increasing gap between a company’s market value and book value, which is related to the constant omission of intangible assets from the balance sheet. As a result, this gap, according to previous research, attests that markets are not fully efficient and stock prices do not reflect all available information. Internally generated brand equity is among the assets omitted from the balance sheet. Brand equity is one of the most powerful intangibles within a company. Therefore, it has been alleged of generating higher returns. Due to current accounting standards, IAS 38, internally generated brands are not disclosed on the balance sheet. Instead, the standard solely permits externally generated brand equity, which arises during business combinations, to be recognized. Consequently, researchers are questioning the value relevance of accounting because the omission of internally generated brands does not provide accurate information about a company’s true value. As a result, this may create information asymmetry between management and investors. Since investors are interested in a company’s value, the omission of intangibles may lead to poor economic decisions. Numerous studies have addressed the relationship between intangibles and stock returns. However, there is little research that explains brand equity’s relationship to stock performance.  Only one study on Turkish brands, by Basgoze et al (2014), managed to address this relationship. However, the authors only concentrated on abnormal returns and not on significant performance ratios like MTBV, ROA, EPS, P/E and ROE. Considering that the study was based on Turkish brands, a research gap was found in addressing the relationship between brand equity and stock performance in Nordic countries. Seeing that these countries highly invest in intangible assets more than any other European country, it further increased curiosity on the relationship between brand equity and stock performance. To address the gap, a quantitative study in the form of Spearman correlations and a linear regression analysis was conducted. The research design of the study placed brands as an independent variable and stock performance variables as dependent variables. As studies have stated that the MTBV-gap disproves claims of markets being fully efficient, theories like EMH and AHM have been used to analyze the relationship between brand equity and stock performance. Other theories used in the analysis was about brand equity and its different sets, a self-constructed definition of stock performance which included MTBV, ROE, ROA, EPS, P/E and stock returns.  The results of the study showed that brand equity had a positive relationship with three out of the six included variables in the study, meaning that there was a positive relation. Furthermore, the study also showed that the market is not fully efficient since the results indicated that, due to brand equity not being included on the balance sheet, not all available information is included in stock prices. Therefore, investors will adapt to the current conditions of the market, which is in accordance to the Adaptive Market Hypothesis.

This dissertation comprises three individual chapters. Chapter Two examines how free riding across neighbors influenced the diffusion of color television sets in rural China. Chapter Three tests for asymmetric information between a firm’s management and other investors concerning its patent output. Chapter Four discusses how knowledge stocks influence a patenting firm’s later diversification. Chapter Two documents the existence of a type of network effects - free riding across neighbors - in the consumption of color television sets in rural China, which reduces the propensity of non-owners to purchase. I construct a model of the timing of the purchase of a durable good in the presence of free riding, and test its key implications using household survey data in rural China. Chapter Three tests for asymmetric information between a firm’s management and other investors about its patent output by examining insider trading patterns and stock price changes in R&D intensive firms. It demonstrates that management has considerable information about its patent output beyond what is known to investors. It also shows that the predictive power of insider trading patterns on patent output comes from purchases rather than sales. Chapter Four discusses two sequential channels through which knowledge stocks may influence a firm’s later diversification. One is that firms with more knowledge are more likely to enter a new industry. The other is that firms’ businesses have a better chance of surviving, conditional on being formed. By examining U.S. public patenting firms in manufacturing sectors for 1984-1996, I find that knowledge stocks predict the likelihood of new industry entry when controlling for firm size. However, this predictive power is weakened when diversification effects are included. On the other hand, a survival study of newly established segments shows that initial knowledge stocks have significant positive effects on segment survival, whereas diversification effects are insignificant.

The work deals with the phenomenon of information asymmetry on the insurance markets. The aim of this work is to identify the information asymmetry as such and its specifics on the insurance markets, to describe and evaluate the possible procedures for its reduction and finally to estimate the future developments in this field. We use the study of the scientific literature, analysis of related legislation and insurance conditions of relevant insurance products and last but not least the author's own experience of work in the field of banking. There are described the procedures to reduce the information asymmetry such as the insurance legislation, possible modifications in the insurance conditions, information registers and expert systems.

The advent of the Internet, the influx of technology comparison shopping, and the evolvement of channels have increased the knowledge base of the consumer to the point where some scholars claim the multichannel consumer has more knowledge and control than the salesperson. Selling to a customer who has the control is a challenge for retailers and their sales forces. The purpose of this research is to examine the underlying decision process of the multichannel consumer and the impact of the retail salesperson. This present study tests a conceptual model that suggests multichannel consumers' perceptions of information asymmetry lead to perceived control and purchase intention. Based upon the model, the salesperson's new role is to motivate purchase intention by using adaptive selling to affect the consumer's perception of information asymmetry and perceived control. Using a scenario-based methodology tested with a sample of 307 multichannel consumers, the current investigation examined the impact of: (1) information asymmetry on the consumer's perceived control, (2) perceived control on purchase intention, (3) perceived control as a mediator between information asymmetry and purchase intention, (4) adaptive selling behavior on the consumer's perception of information asymmetry, and (5) adaptive selling behavior on the consumer's purchase intention. The findings revealed that if the multichannel consumer perceives an advantaged information asymmetry then perceived control and purchase intention will be impacted. Adaptive selling behavior affects the consumer's perceptions of information asymmetry but not perceived control. These findings can be used to help managers devise techniques to support the salesperson's ability to secure the sale with the multichannel consumer.

Abstract Business financing is crucial to the development and performance of small and medium enterprises (SME) in developing countries. Obtaining loans by SMEs in Jordan is vital for creating employment, reducing poverty ratio, and augmenting SMEs growth. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to discover strategies SME owners use to access credit. The population comprised of 3 SME owners in Jordan who successfully accessed credit. The conceptual frameworks for this study were the social capital theory and the pecking order theory. Data were gathered using semistructured interviews and companies' archived records. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis; three themes emerged to include sources of finance, education and skills, and social networking. The implications for positive social change include the potential to help SME leaders develop strategies to stabilize and grow their businesses. Business growth can create jobs and decrease poverty in Jordan.

Titel: Relationen mellan chefer och medarbetare - Ett principal-agent-perspektiv Universitet: Malmö Universitet Kurs: TR128C – Företagsekonomi: Examensarbete i Transport Management Författare: Jens Andersson, Olle Karlsson & Mattias Pettersson Handledare: Benedikte Borgström Nyckelord: Agentteori, agentproblem, måldivergens, informationsasymmetri, moral hazard, adverse selection, programmerbarhet Syfte: Att utifrån ett principal-agent-perspektiv studera hur relationen mellan chefer och medarbetare i den studerade miljön påverkas av förekomsten av informationsasymmetri och skilda målbilder, samt hur motivationen att prestera på arbetsplatsen kan påverkas av incitamentsstrukturer kopplade till kontraktsupplägget och olika nivåer av övervakning. Metod: Studien har genomförts via en kvalitativ ansats där data insamlats genom intervjuer, observationer och textanalys. Teori: Studiens teoretiska ramverk bygger på principal-agent-teorin och dess komponenter med fokus på informationsasymmetri och skilda målbilder. Slutsatser: I den studerade miljön där relationen mellan principal och agent kännetecknas av hög informationsasymmetri, hög programmerbarhet och parterna motiveras av olika målbilder står principalen inför valet att antingen komplettera ett beteendebaserat kontrakt med tillräckliga övervakningsmekanismer för att utröna agentens beteende, eller försöka upprätta ett resultatbaserat kontrakt. Hög informationsasymmetri kopplat till ett beteendebaserat kontrakt riskerar att lägga grunden för problem kopplade till moral hazard då agenterna blir helt fria att agera efter sina egna målbilder. / Title: The relationship between managers and workers - An agency perspective University: Malmö Universitet Course: TR128C – Business Administration: Bachelor thesis in Transport Management Writers: Jens Andersson, Olle Karlsson & Mattias Pettersson Mentor: Benedikte Borgström Keywords: Agency theory, agency problem, goal divergence, information asymmetry, moral hazard, adverse selection, programmability Purpose: From an agency perspective study how the relationship between managers and workers in the studied environment is affected by the existence of information asymmetry and diverging goals, and also how the motivation to perform at the workplace can be affected by different incentive structures related to the contract form and different levels of surveillance. Methods: The study has been conducted via a qualitative approach and the data has been collected through interviews, observations and text analysis. Theories: The studies theoretical framework is based on the agency theory and its components with a focus on information asymmetry and diverging goals. Conclusion: In the studied environment the relationship between principal and agent is characterized by asymmetrical information flows, high programmability, and diverging goals. This leaves the principal to either reinforce a behavioral based contract with sufficient surveillance to uncover the agent’s behavior, or to try and establish a contract based on results. A high degree of information asymmetry in combination with a behavioral based contract runs the risk of laying the foundation for problems related to moral hazard as the agents are free to act according to their own personal goals.

Data collection and online personalization has become essential part of modern marketing, and thus, embedded into consumer’s everyday life. This has emerged a lot of negative attention in the media and privacy concerns among consumers – however, their attitudes towards privacy seems to be controversial with lack of privacy enhancing behavior. The purpose of this study was to find out what is consumers take on online personalization, data collection and GDPR. In order to the tackle the causing reasons of such perceptions, focus group discussions were performed. The emerging thoughts were analyzed with the concepts of privacy paradox and information asymmetry – how structural imbalance between the advertisement network, companies and consumers impacted to their thinking about personalization and which factors caused the unwillingness to enhance one’s privacy, despite the attitudes that would predict different behavior. The results showed, that many respondents do not mind personalization if they perceive it relevant. However, the intrusive nature of its practices made the participants, directly or indirectly, reluctant towards it, as it was highlighted that it is not personalization per se that made the respondents uncomfortable, but how it was done. Due to the advertisement networks’ opaque nature, the participants founded challenging to comprehend how personalization was performed. Thus, conspiracy theories about surveillance, such as tapping via smartphone, were broad up to explain companies’ ability to know and target them so well. The main channel for companies to inform consumers about their privacy policy is terms and conditions. However, due to several reasons, the decision making for one’s privacy face many hinders, that may influence in how consumers perceive their privacy and how their personal data is collected and used. A controversiality between GDPR’s, companies’ and consumers’ view on privacy self-management is evident, as the regulation and companies rely too much on consumer’s own responsibility.

This study examines whether financial analysts produce larger amounts of research output and whether their research is more valuable for investors following a debt covenant violation (DCV, hereafter). After a DCV, investor uncertainty about firm value and information asymmetry among stakeholders likely increases. It is therefore difficult for investors to assess firm prospects, resulting in increased demand for firm-specific information. Sell-side analysts, as sophisticated information intermediaries, are skilled at gathering and processing information; thus they are well-suited to provide more research output in response to increased investor demand. I predict and find that equity analysts provide a larger amount of research, proxied by recommendation revisions and earnings forecast revisions, after a DCV. I also document an incremental association between a DCV and analyst research production for firms with less financial flexibility, firms with low institutional ownership, and firms covered by more experienced analysts. In addition, I find evidence that analyst research becomes more valuable and that uncertainty-adjusted analyst forecast errors decrease following a DCV. These results suggest that a change in a firm’s information environment associated with a DCV has significant influence on investors and equity analysts besides the economic consequences documented in prior literature.