Thesis advisor: Fabio Schiantarelli / This dissertation comprises three self-contained essays that investigate how micro-level frictions affect firms’ operational decisions and investors’ behavior, evaluating their respective costs or benefits for the overall economy. In the first chapter, “Customer Capital and The Aggregate Effect of Short-Termism", joint work with M. Errico and A. Lavia, we study the impact of short-termism on firms’ pricing decisions and quantify the potential costs for consumers in term of welfare. Managers face continuous pressure to meet short-term forecasts and targets, which can impact their investment in customer capital and pricing decisions. Using data on U.S. public companies together with IBES analysts’ forecasts, we find that firms that just meet analysts’ profit forecasts have average markup growth of 0.8% higher than firms that just miss targets, suggesting opportunistic markup manipulation. To assess the aggregate economic implications of short-termism, we develop and estimate a quantitative heterogeneous firm model that incorporates short-term frictions and endogenous markups resulting from customer accumulation. In the model, short-termism solves an agency conflict between manager and shareholders, resulting in higher markups and lower customer capital stock. We find that, on average, firms increase markups by 8% due to short-termism, generating $38 million of additional annual profits. At the macro level, the distortion reduces consumers’ welfare by 4% and lowers the total market capitalization by $3.1 trillion on average. In the second chapter, “Strategic Investors and Exchange Rate Dynamics", joint work with M. Errico, we study how the exchange rate dynamics are influenced by the presence of heterogeneous investors with varying degrees of price impact. Leveraging data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on investors’ currency positions, we show that foreign exchange rate markets display a significant level of concentration,and investors’ price impact is stronger in more concentrated markets. We develop a monetary model of exchange rate determination that incorporates heterogeneous investors with different degrees of price impact. We show that the presence of price impact amplifies the exchange rate’s response to non-fundamental shocks while dampening its response to fundamental shocks. As a result, investors’ price impact contributes to the disconnect of exchange rates from fundamentals and the excess volatility of exchange rates. We provide empirical evidence in line with our theoretical predictions, using data on trading volume concentration from the US CFTC foreign exchange rate market for 10 currencies spanning from 2006 to 2016. Additionally, we extend our framework to account for information heterogeneity among investors, which presents a competing dimension of heterogeneity with qualitatively similar implications for exchange rate dynamics. Both dimensions of heterogeneity are quantitatively relevant, with the heterogeneity in price impact accounting for 62% of the additional volatility and 35% of the additional disconnect attributed to investors’ heterogeneity. In the third chapter, “Firms’ Investment and Central Bank Communication: The Role of Financial Heterogeneity", I study how financial frictions impact the transmission of monetary policy to investment. Monetary policy affects firms’ capital investment through two distinct channels: the pure monetary channel, which operates through changes in interest rates, and the information channel, which operates through changes in investors’ beliefs about the economic outlook and future policy rates. I show that the role of financial frictions for monetary policy transmission hinges crucially on specific channel. Using Compustat data, I find that firms with high leverage are more sensitive to pure monetary shocks but are less sensitive to Fed information shocks. Finally, I develop a dynamic general equilibrium model with firm idiosyncratic productivity, real and financial frictions to rationalize the empirical findings and study aggregate implications. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

While much of the literature in the field of second language (L2) motivational variance has focused on macro-level or societal variables to account for males’ disinterest to learn French, very few studies consider micro-level factors, that is, those within the language learning classroom. To fill this gap in the literature, this exploratory and descriptive study examines, from both the perspective of male Core French learners and Core French teachers, possible pedagogical elements that boys perceive as contributing factors to their demotivation to learn French. A mixed method design was employed and data were collected from a sample of 75 male Core French students and six Core French teachers on southern Vancouver Island. The quantitative data were collected through the use of modified questionnaires, while the qualitative data were gathered using focus group interviews. There are three major findings in the current study. First, male Core French learners reported being disinterested in the topics of study used in the Core French classroom and demotivated by the Core French textbook. Second, male Core French learners criticized the overdependence of written modality exercises implemented in the language classroom, suggesting that the repetitive nature of the written exercises discourages them to learn French. Third, male Core French learners were shown to strongly disfavour the teacher-centered approach most often described by learners. They reported that a more student-centered approach, which incorporated games and a significant increase in speaking and interactive activities, might encourage them to be more motivated to learn French. Based on these findings, implications and future research directions are discussed. / Graduate / dtrerice@uvic.ca

Increasing freight transportation volumes continue to increase problems related to human health, congestion on the transport infrastructure, noise, climate changes, etc. Governments often want to minimize these negative effects, and this wish is expressed in societal goals, e.g., to reach environmental targets. An important instrument for reaching societal goals is governmental control policies, e.g., regulations, taxes and fees, which can influence the behaviour of the actors in a transport chain. Before implementing such control policies, it is crucial to predict their effects in order to make probable that it is a good measure. A review of models that consider the effects of governmental control policies on transportation has been performed which shows that macro-level models are mainly used for this purpose. However, the behaviour of the individual transport chain actors can hardly be captured in such models since the decision making actors are not modelled explicitly. Consequently, the negative effects caused by the decisions taken by the individual transport chain actors are not fully captured in these models. We believe that micro-level models have the potential to bridge the gap between governmental policy-making and the behaviour of transport chain actors. A micro-level model based on agent-technology has been developed which captures the environmental, quality and economical performance in transport chains, given different governmental control policies. The transport chain actors are represented by decision-making agents in the model. Logistical factors for characterizing transport chains have been identified and described according to degree of influence. To illustrate the usage of the micro-level model, simulation experiments based on a real world case have been performed where different levels of governmental control policies are introduced. The simulation results so far have showed that the model seems to simulate the behaviour of the transport chain actors correctly in the studied scenarios. The simulation tool can then be used as a decision support for policy-makers and serve as a complement to existing tools based on macro-level models.

One of the major challenges facing South African IT organisations today is the dramatic shortage of IT professionals. Both literature and business sentiment have indicated that employee turnover within the IT sector is on a continually rising trend. The ramifications of these high turnover rates translate into exorbitant direct and indirect costs to organisations. The purpose of this research was to identify the factors pertaining to the underlying structure of the turnover intention of these employees. A deeper understanding of these drivers may possibly enable management to reduce the turnover intention of employees within their organisations. A quantitative, multi-disciplinary research approach, focussing on the antecedents of turnover intention and the three systemic levels of organisational behaviour (micro, meso and macro) was used to operationalise the main research construct of this study. Data was collected by means of an anonymous self-administered web-based survey. A sample of 188 completed questionnaires was collected using a snowball sampling technique from the population of employees in the IT industry in South Africa. A statistical data reduction method, exploratory factor analysis, was conducted on the dataset to determine the underlying nature of the construct, IT employees’ perceived intention to resign from employment. After an appropriate number of factor analytic rounds, a robust 4-factor model of the data set was established. The results indicated that the factor, Personal Enrichment from Management Support, possibly plays the most significant role in understanding, monitoring, and managing IT employees’ perceived intention to resign from employment. The study provided support that monetary factors had the most significant influence in an employee’s decision to join an organisation; however, nonmonetary benefits, such as job satisfaction and skills development, were found to be more effective in retaining employees. The practical implications uncovered from this study will enable management to gain further insight into understanding the underlying factors and drivers of turnover intention and thereby minimise its impact on the organisation. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / lmgibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

In recent years, there has been a growing need and popularity for sustainable development as well as research within the field. One of the research fields within sustainability is corporate social responsibility (CSR), i.e., how organizations act and commit to sustainable endeavours that benefit the immediate environment. CSR research on the meso- and macro-level has been studied extensively since the last century, but the subfield of micro-level CSR research is quite underdeveloped and has only in the last few years obtained popularity (Aguinis & Glavas, 2012). Micro-level CSR research focuses on stakeholders associated with an organization (customers and employees) and examines how organizations ought to conduct CSR initiatives so that these stakeholders become engaged with them.  Within micro-level CSR research, scholars have examined how to increase employees' engagement with CSR, how employees' perception of CSR could be influenced by different mediators, amongst others. A recent study by Hejjas et al. (2019) examined how organizational culture might influence employees' engagement and perception. Hejjas et al. (2019) concluded that future research ought to examine subcultures' potential influence on employees' perception and engagement with CSR, which this thesis attempts to do. To examine subcultures' potential influence on employees, the thesis makes use of interviews because of the current Covid-19 pandemic, together with prior research advocacy for qualitative research in the field of micro-level CSR research.  The dissertation found elements that have given insight and understanding that would suggest that subcultures do have an influence on employees' perception of CSR as well as their engagement with the concept. The author argues that it is due to factors such as subcultures' decision-making power, their geographical location, the heterogeneity of employees, amongst others. Lastly, the thesis advocates for future research within a similar subject when the pandemic is over and with an observational methodology as prior research recommends it when examining cultures.

Companies that engage in captive offshoring activities as part of their strategic decisions, experience “known and unknown” hidden costs during its implementation influencing a firm’s performance. In this sense, analyzing the hidden costs of the knowledge transfer from different managerial levels and perspectives contributes to conceptualize and enrich the OS literature from the experience of a case study. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the hidden costs in the knowledge transfer as part of the OS implementation from a multi-level managerial perspective. This research has a qualitative methodology and as a research strategy the authors choose interviews that were performed online. The interviews consists of 8 managers from different levels. The findings show that managers from different levels have identified key aspects of the “known and unknown” hidden costs in the knowledge transfer within the micro-level during the OS implementation towards improving outcomes expectations. Communication has been found as a critical factor for the knowledge flow representing the main constraint of an efficient transfer of tacit knowledge in which international projects are influenced by high cultural, language gaps, and geographical distance. Unknown hidden cost was reflected in an unexpected high turnover and limited time frame.

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The law of bone remodeling, commonly referred to as Wolff's Law, asserts that the internal trabecular bone adapts to external loadings, reorienting with the principal stress trajectories to maximize mechanical efficiency, thereby creating a naturally optimum structure. The primary objective of the research was to utilize an advanced structural optimization algorithm, called design space optimization (DSO), to create a numerical framework to perform a micro-level three-dimensional finite element bone remodeling simulation on the human proximal femur and analyze the results to determine the validity of Wolff's hypothesis. DSO optimizes the layout of material by iteratively distributing it into the areas of highest loading, while simultaneously changing the design domain to increase computational efficiency. The result is a "fully stressed" structure with minimized compliance and increased stiffness. The large-scale computational simulation utilized a 175µm mesh resolution and the routine daily loading activities of walking and stair climbing. The resulting anisotropic human trabecular architecture was compared to both Wolff's trajectory hypothesis and natural femur data from the literature using a variety of visualization techniques, including radiography and computed tomography (CT). The remodeling predictions qualitatively revealed several anisotropic trabecular regions comparable to the natural human femurs. Quantitatively, the various regional bone volume fractions from the computational results were consistent with CT analyses. The strain energy proceeded to become more uniform during optimization; implying increased mechanical efficiency was achieved. The realistic simulated trabecular geometry suggests that the DSO method can accurately predict three-dimensional bone adaptation due to mechanical loading and that the proximal femur is an optimum structure as Wolff hypothesized. The secondary objective was to revise this computational framework to perform the first in-silico hip replacement considering micro-level bone remodeling. Two different commercially available hip prostheses were quantitatively analyzed using stress, strain energy, and bone mineral density as performance criteria and qualitatively visualized using the techniques above. Several important factors for stable fixation, determined from clinical evaluations, were evident: high levels of proximal bone loss, distal bone growth, and medial densification. The results suggest the DSO method can be utilized for comparative prosthetic implant stem design, uniquely considering post-operation bone remodeling as a design criterion. / Thesis (Master, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2010-08-16 15:30:55.144

Honour-related violence and oppression has been politically prioritised in Sweden during the past two decades. National policies have been formulated, laws adopted, and the school has been identified as a crucial actor for preventing this type of violence at the local level. Yet, the prevalence of the violence still constitutes a threat to the freedom and safety of children and youths in the Swedish society. To gain a deeper understanding about the apparent discrepancy between policy and practice, this study adopts a micro-level perspective and zooms in onto the actors responsible for implementing existing policies. Teachers from four different purposefully selected schools have been interviewed. Drawing on insights from street-level policy implementation theories, the study explores how the teachers work to implement the National Agency for Education’s policy targeting honour-related violence and oppression. Notably, Lipsky’s analytical categories for successful street-level policy implementation, comprehension, capacity and will, function as point of departure. The broad nature of the categories have allowed for contextual insights to be included and a number of constraining and enabling mechanisms for successful micro-level policy implementation to be identified. The findings demonstrate how the teachers’ access to information is contingent upon their personal interest in the topic or on other individuals’ commitment. The large room for manoeuvre permits teachers to use their creativity to include the perspective of honour, but likewise allows for misunderstandings and resistance to influence the policy outcomes. The lack of clear bureaucratic goals, limited resources and a high level of discretion force teachers to find their own strategies to adequately implement the policy. To deal with increased pressure they are however likely to resort to simplifications and familiar routines. In turn these may obstruct at-risk students from receiving appropriate support. Finally, the findings confirm the importance of taking the strategies, decisions and motivations of implementing actors seriously when trying to understand policy success or policy failure.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Inter-domain routing connects individual pieces of Internet topology, creating an integral, global data delivery infrastructure. Currently, this critical function is performed by the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) version 4 [RFC1771]. Like all routing protocols, BGP is vulnerable to instabilities that reduce its effectiveness. Among the causes of these instabilities are those which are maliciously induced. Although there are other causes, e.g., natural events and network anomalies, this thesis will focus exclusively on maliciously induced instabilities. Most current models that attempt to predict a BGP routing instability confine their focus to either macro- or micro-level metrics, but not to both. The inherent limitations of each of these forms of metric gives rise to an excessive rate of spurious alerts, both false positives and false negatives. It is the original intent of this thesis to develop an improved BGP instability prediction model by statistically combining BGP instability metrics with user level performance metrics. The motivation for such a model is twofold. 1) To provide sufficient prior warning of impending failure to facilitate proactive protection measures. 2) To improve warning reliability beyond existing models, by demonstrably reducing both false positives and false negatives. However, our analysis of actual network trace data shows that a widely used BGP instability metric, the total number of update messages received in a time period, is not a good indicator of future user level performance. / Civilian, Department of Defense