This dissertation attempts to construct a theory which states that forms of enterprise are determined to a large extent by potential market failure. In the four independent, but closely interrelated chapters, I derive this hypothesis through theoretical reasoning, and suppose it by referring to empirical observations. Chapter 1, Forms of enterprise as a response to market failure, proposes the main idea that forms of enterprise are determined by market failure. I take three representative types of firms - capitalist firms, worker owned firms, and consumer cooperatives - and consider their relationship with three major causes for failure of markets: asymmetric information, externalities, and market power. Chapter 2, Firms owned by raw material suppliers: A case of food manufacturing firms run by agriculture cooperatives in Japan, is a case study which complements chapter 1. It deals with food processing farmers' cooperatives. These firms are owned by the suppliers of raw materials, and therefore classified as the fourth type of firms. I consider comparative efficiency of this type of firms from the viewpoint of market power and asymmetric information. Chapter 3, Asymmetric information on production-related risks and the form of enterprise: Capitalist firms versus consumer cooperatives, considers an efficient enterprise form when there is asymmetric information on accident risks in the market. Chapter 4, Market power and the form of enterprise: Capitalist firms, worker owned firms, or consumer cooperatives, considers an efficient enterprise form when there is market power in various markets. / Ph. D.

Given the present situation of environmental problems, clean technologies or cleantech is considered a way of reaching global sustainability and at the same time also seen as an engine of economic growth and fulfilling commitments to social and environmental welfare. Under this background, Swedish cleantech sector have not achieved that much commercial success yet that they are supposed to be while maintaining a reputation of top technological innovative country. The Swedish cleantech sector is dominated by small medium-sized firms (SMEs) and often limited to resources at their disposition. Thus, the Swedish government has designed various policies and export support programs to promote this sector but somehow firms could not reach up to them. Hence, it has become necessary to study the Swedish cleantech firms in order to analyze the existing gap. The purpose of this study is to run an investigation about individual cleantech firms and analyze how they are experiencing Swedish governmental export support programs. On the other hand, this study has also tried to find out what firms really expect from these programs so that it will help to reduce the gap. Based on the study of four cases and one independent interview, the study has shown two different scenarios. In one hand, micro level SMEs specially which are in initial phase of their internationalization process cannot reach up to governmental export support programs due to high acquiring cost and inflexible pre-requirements. On the other hand, small level SMEs which are in mature phase of their internationalization process have faced completely reverse experience than initial phase micro firms but not satisfied with the provided service quality. The study has also revealed that firms with relatively new technology face problems to get support from governmental agencies due to uncertain market performance. The study has further showed, this is not always the high acquiring cost and inflexible conditions, participation in governmental export support programs is also depend on firm’s owns mindset and their business strategy. So, in order to reduce the gap between Swedish governmental export support programs and cleantech firms’ expectations, the studied firms have suggested to implement a proper business model that fits into each type of firms’ needs based on their position in the internationalization process, create a separate institution or agency and Science Park that only deals with cleantech firms issues, and co-operation among the different state cleantech firms and the universities.

Background and Purpose: Governments and policy makers continue to look to entrepreneurship as a vehicle to economic development. This is informed by the perception shared by governments and policy makers that entrepreneurship is a good thing and we ought to have more of it. Thus a wave of policies has emerged in the UK and elsewhere which advocates for an increase in the level of enterprise activity. Our understanding of how and when governments intervene to assist entrepreneurs, and indeed which, if any, specific entrepreneurs should receive assistance in some shape or form, still has substantial knowledge gaps. The review aims to contribute to the building of this knowledge. Methodology: The systematic review methodology was followed to examine the entrepreneurship literature. Quantitatively, the data was examined using basic descriptive statistics and content analysis. Qualitatively, the data was analyzed based on an inductive approach in order to identify emerging, frequent, dominant or significant themes that dominate in understanding entrepreneurship. Findings: This review has identified factors which affect entrepreneurial performance, the market failure that result as well as the policy instruments defined in literature that aim to rectify the perceived market failure. Different typologies were identified which illustrate how the different policy instruments are categorised. Further, this review highlights the complex nature of public policy and entrepreneurship and raises the importance of adopting a more coherent “holistic” approach when advocating for intervention in entrepreneurship and public policy.

Thesis advisor: Joshua Snyder / In my work I seek to define and understand the best consequences approach to correcting market failures that result in negative environmental outcomes. I do this by exploring the relationship between markets and environmental outcomes through the introduction of case studies. Additionally, I outline the policy solutions used to try to correct these failures. These case studies are evaluated using Peter Singer’s ethical framework as a criterion for best consequences. Based on this analysis, I argue for the use of economic policy to achieve policy goals set in accordance with the needs of stakeholders both human and non-human on an intertemporal scale. Economic terms often fail to capture the true value of natural resources, however, making the best consequences unattainable through such policies alone. Considering this, I argue that we must develop a fundamentally different understanding of consumption and commodities if we are to achieve the most beneficial outcome. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Philosophy.

In England, social choice in education faces trade-offs between equity and efficiency. The scope of these trade-offs ranges from the introduction of choice to correcting 'market failures' to reduce inequalities and restrict social injustices. The article analyses the English school education system and its relationship with social preferences. The authors argue that the moral and legal need for non-discriminatory education supersedes perceptions of cost-effectiveness and utilitarianism. They consider that the current system has failed owing to inappropriate processes within social and public choice and that a reformed system based on a social democratic imperative will allow closer social integration on the basis of ability rather than privilege.

In the extensive literature on price dispersions that exists to date, there is a gap in the analysis of how market structure affects prices as well as the degree of dispersion in prices. Specifically, the literature is deficient in analyzing how price levels and price dispersion are affected by the number of firms operating in a market. I use secondary data to look at the prices of prescription drugs at the retail level in nine hundred and seventy pharmacies across one hundred and sixty five markets in Maryland and compare price dispersion across these brick and mortar pharmacies as well as across a separate set of pharmacies that only operate online. I compare online versus offline price dispersion, as well as price dispersion in purely offline markets from the structure of the market’s context. Stahl’s (1989) theoretical model is used to formulate and test the hypotheses that an increase in the proportion of positive search cost consumers in a market will cause price levels to rise and price dispersion to initially increase and then decrease. Furthermore, in markets with the proportion of positive search cost consumers above a threshold level, an increase in the number of firms will also lead price levels to rise and price dispersion to initially increase and then decrease. Conversely, in markets with positive search cost consumers below the threshold level, an increase in the number of firms will lead to lower price levels, i.e. the competitive outcome. For the analysis, I look at prices at the pharmacy level and price dispersion at the market level and determine the proportion of high search cost consumers for a specific pharmacy or a specific market relative to the other pharmacies and markets in the dataset. I find that a significant part of the differences in prices for a homogeneous prescription drug can be attributed to asymmetric information and that price dispersion is higher in markets with a greater number of firms, and price levels are higher in low income neighborhoods.

Magister Commercii - MCom / In a contemporary local context characterised by significant socio-economic challenges, exacerbated by rising systemic risks, and hampered by capacity constraints of the state, we examine the case for a strategic approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR) as risk management for the public good. In this study, we propose that CSR could offer value as risk management to firm stakeholders and broader society, by aligning state, business, and societal objectives in tackling shared risk and by addressing some of the challenges associated with contemporary CSR practice. The objectives of this thesis were, therefore, twofold. First, to explain the relevance between the concepts of risk management and CSR and how a strategic approach to CSR as risk management may operate as a mechanism influencing practice and impact. Second, to analyse such an approach in practice to interrogate our propositions of CSR as risk management and to identify its key enabling and disabling factors. To achieve the first objective, we developed a theoretical and conceptual framework that positions CSR as a necessary and appropriate strategic risk management response to inefficient and inequitable markets. To achieve our second objective, we undertook an instrumental case study of Santam Limited and its proactive, pro-social risk management initiative, Partners for Risk and Resilience (P4RR). Using a critical realist case study approach, we interviewed 22 participants drawn from the company’s social and organisational contexts. Our findings suggest that the interaction of four principal stakeholder entities gave rise to P4RR: investors, company management, employees, and the state, and we would characterise the primary mechanism driving the Initiative as competitive pressures emanating from the market. Our findings broadly support our propositions that risk management is a useful analytical framework for CSR and, as a strategic approach, may encourage firm-wide integration of CSR practice and cooperation with salient stakeholders, while providing a rubric with which to evaluate its usefulness. Our findings are somewhat supportive of the proposition that such an approach may lead to a response to uncertainty that aligns more closely with economic risk management. Recommendations for future research include multiple case study analyses of different companies that engage in risk management for the public good. Strategically, we recommend the elevation of local government planning processes as a tool with which to align corporate pro-social activities to maximise the contribution to the public good.

Despite the high profile nature of the interventions made by regulators after the global financial crisis, there have been few objective assessments of their success and of the orthodoxy of market failure analysis that underpins the rationale for taking action. This study addresses both literature gaps by developing a distribution landscape segment model to measure the success of an exemplar; the Retail Distribution Review (RDR). It also undertakes exploratory research to establish a basis for a diagnostic paradigm based on customer value rather than well established, but criticised, classical economic indicators. A “stock flow” based model was constructed to assess post-RDR levels of asymmetry, agency and trust. The absence of source data prompted a second exploratory phase of research into Trust as a welfare benefit, using customer focus groups and telephone surveys. An evidential basis for an alternative framework based on what consumers value, rather than how economists think is rational for them to act, was established. The model results indicated a landscape which is more complex than 2013, with competing interests transmuted rather than eradicated and information asymmetry growing rather than shrinking. The results support a view that interventions focussing on narrow “market” definitions do not reflect the complexity of human behaviour and are simply “squeezing the balloon”. The customer value research found that trust is complicated and related to several key “motivators”. These have underlying attributes which differ between socio economic groups, the financial objectives and whether customers have advisers. The conclusion reached is that an evidence based customer perspective should be at the heart of regulatory analysis, if public welfare is to be maximised. The study provides evidence of complexities and connectedness between actors and economic forces in the retail financial services landscape, cautiously supporting the literature on regulatory interventions as socio-technical assemblages. It argues that the customer value framework enriches the regulatory toolkit by forming a guard against intellectual capture and unintended consequences of shaping reality to fit a so-called perfect market model.

In my dissertation I propose three counterintuitive social mechanisms to alleviate the risk that collective production will fail to maintain participant involvement and respond to demand. My first study, based on a panel dataset of edits and views of articles in the English Wikipedia, shows that, although collective production lacks a price-like mechanism to estimate demand for the goods it produces, consumers’ contributions act as such a signal to expert producers. In the second paper I examine the theory that collective production participation is greatest when social norms of collaboration are obeyed. Using a large panel dataset of production networks and normrelated behavior in Wikipedia, I show that social norm infringement is not completely detrimental to participation because norm enforcement increases the likelihood that the beneficiary producer continues participating. In my third paper, I rely on interviews with experienced Wikipedia producers to examine whether producers’ ties to non-participants in collective production increase the likelihood of turnover, and whether producers’ embeddedness in collective production reduces turnover risk. Surprisingly, I find that producers with networks rich in ties to non-producers and with a task-oriented approach to collective production are those least likely to stop participating.

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2014-10-31T12:37:42Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Rodrigo da Silva Souza - 2013.pdf: 1460592 bytes, checksum: 6337a52220d683bacbf82a9d5b81bfaa (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2014-10-31T13:47:20Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Rodrigo da Silva Souza - 2013.pdf: 1460592 bytes, checksum: 6337a52220d683bacbf82a9d5b81bfaa (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-31T13:47:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Rodrigo da Silva Souza - 2013.pdf: 1460592 bytes, checksum: 6337a52220d683bacbf82a9d5b81bfaa (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-08-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Beans are traditional Brazilian staple food, and relatively cheap source of protein, minerals, vitamins and fiber for the low-income population. Production chain has barriers, especially in the marketing system, the lack of price transparency and information asymmetry. Considering the various agents in the bean production chain in the state of Goiás (producers, wholesalers and retailers), this study sought to test whether the adjustment of prices in this chain is asymmetric, i.e., if the price increases are transmitted more quickly and greater magnitude than the decreases. Moreover, as a specific objective, this study sought to examine the relationship between prices along the bean production chain through the autoregressive model and calculating sales margins. The results infer that the price adjustment is asymmetric along the production chain in the state of Goiás, being the main cause of this wholesale market failure. Thus, consumers do not benefit from the decrease in producer prices. These results are relevant to the implementation of sectoral policies related to food security, especially the low-income population, which undertakes a higher percentage of their income on buying food products. / Alimento tradicional dos brasileiros, o feijão é a principal e relativamente mais barata fonte de proteínas, minerais, vitaminas e fibras para a população de baixa renda. Sua cadeia produtiva possui entraves, principalmente no sistema de comercialização, como a falta de transparência dos preços e assimetria de informação. Considerando os diversos agentes da cadeia produtiva do feijão no estado de Goiás (produtor, atacado e varejo) este trabalho buscou testar se o ajustamento de preços nesta cadeia é assimétrico, ou seja, se os acréscimos de preços são transmitidos de forma mais rápida e em maior magnitude do que os decréscimos. Além disso, como objetivo específico, este trabalho buscou analisar a relação entre os preços ao longo da cadeia produtiva do feijão por meio do modelo autorregressivo e do calculo das margens de comercialização. Os resultados inferem que o ajustamento de preços é assimétrico ao longo da cadeia produtiva no estado de Goiás, sendo o atacado o principal causador dessa falha de mercado. Desse modo, os consumidores não se beneficiam dos decréscimos dos preços ao produtor. Esses resultados são relevantes para a implantação de políticas setoriais relacionadas à segurança alimentar, principalmente da população de baixa renda, que compromete maior percentual de sua renda com a compra de produtos alimentícios.