This thesis provides more precise characterisation of patterns, causes and consequences of takeover activity in Australia over three decades spanning from 1972 to 2004. The first contribution of the thesis is to characterise the time series behaviour of takeover activity. It is found that linear models do not adequately capture the structure of merger activity; a non-linear two-state Markov switching model works better. A key contribution of the thesis is, therefore, to propose an approach of combining a State-Space model with the Markov switching regime model in describing takeover activity. Experimental results based on our approach show an improvement over other existing approaches. We find four waves, one in the 1980s, two in the 1990s, and one in the 2000s, with an expected duration of each wave state of approximately two years. The second contribution is an investigation of the extent to which financial and macro-economic factors predict takeover activity after controlling for the probability of takeover waves. A main finding is that while stock market boom periods are empirically associated with takeover waves, the underlying driver is interest rate level. A low interest rate environment is associated with higher aggregate takeover activity. This relationship is consistent with Shleifer and Vishny (1992)'s liquidity argument that takeover waves are symptoms of lower cost of capital. Replicating the analysis to the biggest takeover market in the world, the US, reveals a remarkable consistency of results. In short, the Australian findings are not idiosyncratic. Finally, the implications for target and bidder firm shareholders are explored via investigation of takeover bid premiums and long-term abnormal returns separately between the wave and non-wave periods. This represents the third contribution to the literature of takeover waves. Findings reveal that target shareholders earn abnormally positive returns in takeover bids and bid premiums are slightly lower in the wave periods. Analysis of the returns to bidding firm shareholders suggests that the lower premiums earned by target shareholders in the wave periods may simply reflect lower total economic gains, at the margin, to takeovers made in the wave periods. It is found that bidding firms earn normal post-takeover returns (relative to a portfolio of firms matched in size and survival) if their bids are made in the non-wave periods. However, bidders who announce their takeover bids during the wave periods exhibit significant under-performance. For mergers that took place within waves, there is no difference in bid premiums and nor is there a difference in the long-run returns of bidders involved in the first half and second half of the waves. We find that none of theories of merger waves (managerial, mis-valuation and neoclassical) can fully account for the Australian takeover waves and their effects. Instead, our results suggest that a combination of these theories may provide better explanation. Given that normal returns are observed for acquiring firms, taken as a whole, we are more likely to uphold the neoclassical argument for merger activity. However, the evidence is not entirely consistent with neo-classical rational models, the under-performance effect during the wave states is consistent with the herding behaviour by firms.

This thesis investigates policy formulation and implementation processes in Zambia. A number of issues emerge with respect to the weaknesses of the system and how policy decisions worsened Zambia's economic performance instead of improving it. The Kaunda era policies of nationalization had an adverse impact on productivity of industries as well as affecting the resource flow from donors and business houses. On the other hand President Chiluba's reforms in the 1990s have had both positive and negative impacts on the people of Zambia. The rapid privatization and liberalization affected employment levels thereby worsening the poverty levels. Further, the liberalization brought in stiff competition from other countries forcing most manufacturing companies to close down. The policy environment based on the Bretton Woods Institutions seems not to be working as result of not taking into account the local Zambian situation. On the other hand, there were positive macroeconomic developments such as growth in GDP, lowering of inflation and stabilizing of exchange rates as from 1996. This has however not improved the living standards of the people. In Zambia, the shifts back and forth between strong and weak planning institutions have negatively affected policy development and implementation. There has been uncoordinated policy development; as a result, some policies in the major sectors are contradictory while in other cases policies are not linked to the resource envelope, making them un-implementable. Secondly, the institutional framework for policy development is not effective. There is generally lack of coordination among ministries, provinces and other stakeholders in planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of development programmes. This thesis urges that the improving planning capacities at the national, provincial and district levels should improve the processes of policy development and implementation in Zambia, which will in turn help to reduce poverty. Further, the districts should be the centre for the bottom-up process. In order to carryout this responsibility, efforts should be made to improve their capacities. As for the top-down process, the Sector Advisory Groups should continue to participate in the planning, monitoring and evaluation so as to contribute to policy formulation and implementation. These should be coordinated by the National Development Coordinating Committee (NDCC) through a Planning Bureau. / Development Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Development Studies)

The financial stability of banks is crucial if they are to fulfil their role in facilitating transactions between borrowers and lenders. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of credit risk on the South African banking industry following a movement in credit ratings by rating agencies. Data from a sample of 11 banks were collected from 2006 to 2015. Econometric regression analysis was used to analyse the data. The results show that inflation, credit ratings, exchange rate, gross domestic product, unemployment rate, capital adequacy ratio and size of the bank are significant factors that determine "non-performing loans". Therefore, it is imperative that banks continuously monitor these factors and adapt their credit policies on "non-performing loans". This action would prepare banks for any adverse effects and ensure that the banking industry remains a sound and efficient contributor to the growth of the South African economy. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

This thesis shows how the Process Analysis Method (PAM) can be applied to assess technologies used to mitigate arsenic from drinking water in rural India, using a set of sustainability indicators. Stakeholder perspectives, gathered from a fieldwork survey of 933 households in West Bengal in 2012, played a significant role in this assessment. This research found that the ‘Most Important’ issues as specified by the technology users are cost, trust, distance from their home to the clean water source (an indicator of convenience), and understanding the health effects of arsenic. It was also found that none of the ten technologies evaluated are economically viable, as many do not charge user-fees, which creates reliance upon donations to meet recurring costs. Utilisation of a technology is strongly related to sociocultural capital, but in many cases, features that contribute to sociocultural value, like regular testing of the treated water, are not included in the financial budget. It is suggested that increased awareness might change attitudes to arsenic-rich waste and its disposal protocols. This waste is often currently discarded in an uncontrolled manner in the local environment, giving rise to the possibility of point-source recontamination. All technologies proved to have difficulties in dealing with waste, except the Tipot and Dug wells which produce no waste. Of the methods considered, the BESU technology scored highest, but still only with 47-62% of the maximum scores achievable within each domain. This explains the widespread failure of mitigation projects across the region. The indicators and metrics show where improvements can be made. A model scheme based on these findings is outlined which could be applied with the objective of increasing utilisation and improving sustainability. It can be concluded that a product stewardship approach should be taken in regard to design, implementation and operation of the technologies, including the creation of a regulated toxic waste collection and disposal industry.

This dissertation describes the manner by which a multinational corporation (MNC) enacts a market-based logic with a locally embedded partner in a complex and unfamiliar operating setting to fulfil both business and social objectives. It examines a hybrid partnership between BP, an MNC, and SSP, a rural Indian non-governmental organisation (NGO). Together, the organisations trained rural women, who were affiliated with SSP, as agents to distribute and sell BP’s ‘smokeless’ cookstoves and fuel pellets to households who cook on smoky firewood stoves. The research draws on two theories—neo-institutional organizational theory and real markets theory—to examine the process by which logics are aligned across partners and projected and translated into the rural Indian exchange setting. It constructs a four-actor model (MNC, NGO, agent, customer) to explore the exchange relationships between the actors at the meso- and micro-levels. At the meso-level, it explains how the MNC and NGO’s non-aligned logics, asymmetric power dynamics, and lack of mutual trust contribute to the venture’s failure. In addition, the NGO was so determined to succeed as a professional, market-driven, channel partner that it shed part of its identity as a civil advocacy organisation and adopted mainstream commercial practices that were not sensitive to the needs of its local stakeholders. At the micro-level, the partners did not come to a common understanding with the agents regarding the cultural challenges they faced marketing the stove. Moreover, the marketing strategy glossed over the multi-layered social relationships and culinary, behavioural, and religious practices that needed to be translated for the technology to meet the needs of consumers. Using gritty ethnographic data, the dissertation highlights a challenge that large, foreign companies face when entering ‘Base of the Pyramid’ markets, namely the inconsistency between the MNC’s market logic and the wider associational logics that motivate village agents and customers.

Dans cette thèse, nous démontrons la nécessité de l’appropriation de l’Intelligence Economique (IE) en tant que culture et mode de gouvernance alternatif capable d’aider un pays en développement à affronter les défis et enjeux triple. Ceux relatifs au sous-développement, au développement alternatif et à la mondialisation. S’approprier l’IE dans le contexte particulier de l’économie Congolaise pour en faire un mode de gouvernance au service du développement et de la coopétitivité renvoie ainsi à deux exigences. La première, consiste à revisiter l’IE afin de mettre en valeur ses avancées, révéler ses limites et l’enrichir d’une capacité de réponse adaptée aux besoins d’un pays en développement. La deuxième exigence consiste à analyser le champ d’appropriation de l’IE afin d’en identifier la nature, d’en dresser le profil et d’articuler ces éléments à ceux des moyens de l’IE dont la plasticité acquise permet désormais d’être adaptés à la contingence en examen. L’objectif est de proposer des moyens pertinents à la mise en œuvre efficiente de l’IE. La conceptualisation des modes opératoires d’intelligence et de sécurité économique (2S-MOISE) chevillé au dispositif stratégique et opératoire du développement (DS-OD), au « M’BONGUI » ainsi qu’au schéma d’analyse de dominance systémique nous permet de répondre à cette double exigence. L’usage de la démarche incrémentale via la transculturation nous permet par ailleurs de présenter les modalités concrètes du processus d’appropriation de l’IE grâce à l’action de la direction générale de l’économie (DGE), vectrice dudit processus tant au sein des instances nationales, qu’au niveau du système éducatif et dans la sphère entrepreneuriale. Une série de préconisations dont la définition d’éléments d’une politique publique d’IE, la mise en place d’un dispositif d’IE et d’un système d’information qui réponde aux besoins de gouvernance fonctionnelle, opérationnelle et stratégique ont été proposés. / In this thesis, we demonstrate the need for ownership of Competitive Intelligence (CI) as a culture and way of governance alternative that can help a developing country to face the triple challenges and issues. Those related to underdevelopment, alternative development and globalization. EI ownership in the particular context of the Congolese economy into a mode of governance for development and coopétitivité thus refers to two requirements. The first is to revisit the IE to showcase its advances, revealing its limitations and to enhance response capability tailored to the needs of a developing country. The second requirement is to analyze the scope of appropriation of IE in order to identify the nature, to raise the profile and articulate its elements to those means which the IE can now acquired plasticity of be adapted to contingency under consideration. The objective is to propose ways relevant to the efficient implementation of EI. The conceptualization of intelligence procedures and economic security (2S-MOSES) pegged to device strategic and operational development (OD-DS), the "M'BONGUI" and the pattern of systemic dominance analysis allows us to meet both requirements. The use of the incremental approach through transculturation also allows us to present the actual procedures of appropriation of the IE through the action of the General Directorate of the Economy (DGE) vector process that bothnational fora, that the education system and in the entrepreneurial sphere. A series of recommendations which define elements of a public policy of IE, the setting up of an IE and an information system that meets the needs of functional governance, operational and strategic are been proposed.

Dans cette thèse, nous démontrons la nécessité de l’appropriation de l’Intelligence Economique (IE) en tant que culture et mode de gouvernance alternatif capable d’aider un pays en développement à affronter les défis et enjeux triple. Ceux relatifs au sous-développement, au développement alternatif et à la mondialisation. S’approprier l’IE dans le contexte particulier de l’économie Congolaise pour en faire un mode de gouvernance au service du développement et de la coopétitivité renvoie ainsi à deux exigences. La première, consiste à revisiter l’IE afin de mettre en valeur ses avancées, révéler ses limites et l’enrichir d’une capacité de réponse adaptée aux besoins d’un pays en développement. La deuxième exigence consiste à analyser le champ d’appropriation de l’IE afin d’en identifier la nature, d’en dresser le profil et d’articuler ces éléments à ceux des moyens de l’IE dont la plasticité acquise permet désormais d’être adaptés à la contingence en examen. L’objectif est de proposer des moyens pertinents à la mise en œuvre efficiente de l’IE. La conceptualisation des modes opératoires d’intelligence et de sécurité économique (2S-MOISE) chevillé au dispositif stratégique et opératoire du développement (DS-OD), au « M’BONGUI » ainsi qu’au schéma d’analyse de dominance systémique nous permet de répondre à cette double exigence. L’usage de la démarche incrémentale via la transculturation nous permet par ailleurs de présenter les modalités concrètes du processus d’appropriation de l’IE grâce à l’action de la direction générale de l’économie (DGE), vectrice dudit processus tant au sein des instances nationales, qu’au niveau du système éducatif et dans la sphère entrepreneuriale. Une série de préconisations dont la définition d’éléments d’une politique publique d’IE, la mise en place d’un dispositif d’IE et d’un système d’information qui réponde aux besoins de gouvernance fonctionnelle, opérationnelle et stratégique ont été proposés. / In this thesis, we demonstrate the need for ownership of Competitive Intelligence (CI) as a culture and way of governance alternative that can help a developing country to face the triple challenges and issues. Those related to underdevelopment, alternative development and globalization. EI ownership in the particular context of the Congolese economy into a mode of governance for development and coopétitivité thus refers to two requirements. The first is to revisit the IE to showcase its advances, revealing its limitations and to enhance response capability tailored to the needs of a developing country. The second requirement is to analyze the scope of appropriation of IE in order to identify the nature, to raise the profile and articulate its elements to those means which the IE can now acquired plasticity of be adapted to contingency under consideration. The objective is to propose ways relevant to the efficient implementation of EI. The conceptualization of intelligence procedures and economic security (2S-MOSES) pegged to device strategic and operational development (OD-DS), the "M'BONGUI" and the pattern of systemic dominance analysis allows us to meet both requirements. The use of the incremental approach through transculturation also allows us to present the actual procedures of appropriation of the IE through the action of the General Directorate of the Economy (DGE) vector process that bothnational fora, that the education system and in the entrepreneurial sphere. A series of recommendations which define elements of a public policy of IE, the setting up of an IE and an information system that meets the needs of functional governance, operational and strategic are been proposed.

Treemaps are a popular space-filling visualization of hierarchical data that maps an attribute of a datum, or a data aggregate, to a proportional amount of area. Assuming a rectangular treemap consisting of nested rectangles (also called tiles), there are multiple possible valid tiling arrangements. A common criterion for optimization is aspect ratio. Nevertheless, treemaps usually consist of multiple rectangles, so the aspect ratios need be aggregated. The basic definition of aspect ratio (width divided by height) cannot be meaningfully aggregated. Given this, a definition of aspect ratio that does not differentiate height from width was suggested. This definition allows for meaningful aggregation, but only as long as there are no large differences in the data distribution, and the target aspect ratio is 1:1. Originally, a target aspect ratio of 1:1 was deemed to be axiomatically ideal. Currently, perceptual studies have found an aspect ratio of 1:1 to lead to the largest area estimation error. However, with any other target this definition of aspect ratio cannot be meaningfully aggregated. This thesis suggests a correction that can be applied to the current metric and would allow it to be meaningfully aggregated even when there are large value differences in the data. Furthermore, both the uncorrected and corrected metrics can be generalized for any target (i.e. targets other than 1:1). Another issue with current evaluation techniques is that algorithm fitness is evaluated through Monte Carlo trials. In this method, synthetic data is generated and then aggregated to generate a single final result. However, tiling algorithm performance is dependant on data distribution, so a single aggregateresult cannot generalize overall performance. The alternative suggested in this thesis is visual cluster analysis, which should hold more general predictive power.All of the above is put into practice with an experiment. In the experiment, a new family of tiling algorithms, based on criteria derived from the results of the perceptual tests in literature,is compared to the most popular tiling algorithm, Squarify. The results confirm that there are indeed vast but consistent value fluctuations for different normal distributions. At least for a target aspect ratio of 1.5, the new proposed algorithms are shown to perform better than Squarify for most use cases in terms of aspect ratio.