Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Appendices in English and Chinese. Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-118). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (doctoral)--Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, 1990. / Summary in Dutch. Includes bibliographical references (p. 169-177).

Thesis (doctoral) - Universität, Frankfurt. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Appendices in English and Chinese. Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-118). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (doctoral)--Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis consists of three self-contained chapters. Chapter 1 develops a two-sector, bivariate matching model, in which each sector uses a different dimension of skill in the production process. I show there exists a unique assignment of agents to sectors and derive comparative statics. The main result is that if jobs are scarce, both an increase in sector one skills' spread and a technological improvement increase the supply of talent in sector one, but decrease it in sector two. In sector two, this raises wages and wage inequality. In sector one, the effects are ambiguous in general, but wages increase for the most and decrease for the least talented agents. Chapter 2 studies the impact of social status on occupational sorting in a two-sector matching framework. Talent is two-dimensional and thus status is not a zero-sum game; it depends both on occupational prestige and within-sector rank (local status). I show that the weights with which these two components enter - the structure of status - crucially influence the way in which agents self-select into sectors and argue that it is likely that these weights differ across occupations. The more important are the individual components of status in a sector, or the less important the collective component, the better the agents who join that industry, which has important implications for total payoffs, wage levels and inequality, and profits. I also show that the stable assignment is typically inefficient, which is driven by the distortion of relative status rewards, not status concerns per se. Chapter 3 investigates whether directors of companies should have limited liability. I develop a three-player model in which: (a) debtholders and equityholders are defined by their control rights and (b) the project is run by the directors. The main result is that increased liability for directors forces them to internalise more of the downside risk of the project and hence reduces their risk-taking. This is optimal if over-investment was a problem initially. I show that the extent to which over-investment is a problem depends on how well debtholders are protected compared to equityholders. If debtholders are strong, increased liability can cause under-investment.

This dissertation proposal examines empirically the determinants of Olympic performance and the transition and persistence of Major League Soccer (MLS). The first chapter estimates the relationship between the performance by a country at the Olympics, measured by number of medals obtained, and a country's health indicators. We want to examine the relationship that improved sanitation access has on Olympic performance. The data sources are from the Olympic Committee, World Development Indicators and various sources. A panel tobit estimation will be used to examine this relationship. The second chapter deals with the determinants of Major League Soccer teams' performance. We want to examine and estimate variables that improve the performance of MLS teams. The data sources are taken from Major League Soccer teams main pages, Bureau of Economic Analyis, Bureau of Labor Statistics and the United States Census Bureau. We will use a Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation and instrumental variable (IV) estimation which assists us in controlling for observed endogeneity. The third chapter examines the competitive transition and persistence associated with Major League Soccer. A proportional hazard model and a multinomial logit model is used in this estimation to examine the ability of teams to remain competitive, where we explore the factors that assists teams in remaining in specific states of competitiveness.

El sector salud busca llevar calidad en la atención a los pacientes, a través de mecanismos para mejorar la gestión. Se crean nuevas instituciones, se estandariza procedimientos en los establecimientos de salud, médicos y de personal en general, se invierte en tecnologías de información e infraestructura; para el fortalecimiento del sector. En el presente estudio se revisa como está organizado el sector de salud en Perú, objetivos y funcionamiento institucional, se explora algunas estadísticas relevantes, aspectos más resaltantes del marco normativo e institucional, basado en la información pública e histórica del EsSalud y principalmente del Ministerio de Salud de Perú. Se revisa un marco conceptual y se define la gestión y la cadena de suministros, se explora bibliografía de artículos sobre el tema de estudio. Con todo lo antes expuesto, se elabora un análisis preliminar de la evolución de la gestión de la cadena de suministros del sector de salud público del Perú, basándonos en un artículo de USAID, Evolución de la Cadena de Suministro: Introducción a un Marco para el Fortalecimiento de la Cadena de Suministro de Programas de Salud Pública de los Países en Desarrollo. Finalmente, se presentan las conclusiones y recomendaciones. The health sector aims to bring quality care to patients, through different mechanisms to improve management. To this end, new institutions are created, procedures are standardized in health facilities, physicians and staff in general, investing in information technology and infrastructure; in search of strengthening the sector. This study explains the health sector’s organization in Peru, its objectives and institutional performance, explores some relevant statistics, most salient aspects of the regulatory and institutional framework based on public and historical information of EsSalud and mainly MINSA. A conceptual framework is reviewed, regarding the management and supply chain, and the bibliography of articles on the topic of study. With all the above, a preliminary analysis of the evolution of the supply chain management of the public health sector in Peru, based on an article from USAID, Evolution of the Supply Chain: Introduction to a Framework for Strengthening the Supply Chain of Public Health Programs in Developing Countries. Finally, the conclusions and recommendations are presented.

Esta tese reformula o modelo de teoria de decisão de Savage relaxando a hipótese implícita de que uma conseqüência é uma descrição perfeita de uma determinada situação. Axiomas comportamentais sobre preferências definidas no espaço de atos são introduzidos e uma representação na forma de Utilidade Esperada é derivada. Em particular, como em Savage, há uma única probabilidade subjetiva sobre os estados da natureza. O ganho de flexibilidade da reformulação apresenta uma solução para o paradoxo de Ellsberg que não faz uso de múltiplas probabilidades subjetivas, e uma reinterpretação da aversão ao risco no modelo de Utilidade Esperada convencional. / This thesis reformulates the Savage\'s Decision Theory model relaxing the implicit hypothesis that a consequence must be a perfect description of a situation. We introduce Behavioral axioms on preferences defined over the set of acts and derive a new Expected Utility functional representation. Like on Savage\'s, there is an unique prior over states of world. The flexibility gain of this representation presents a solution for the Ellsberg paradox that does not rely on multiple priors, and allows for a new interpretation of risk aversion on the Expect Utility model.

Este estudo, dividido em três artigos, tem por objetivo analisar as contribuições da demografia, educação e mercado de trabalho no desenvolvimento brasileiro ao longo do século XX. Os três artigos estão encadeados em uma sequência temporal tal que o primeiro artigo concentra-se na transição demográfica brasileira para as coortes nascidas entre 1890 e 1960. O segundo artigo preocupa-se em entender como os efeitos da transição demográfica são absorvidos pelas novas coortes e seu efeito na taxa de matrícula. O terceiro artigo investiga como as coortes mais jovens, com mais capital humano, mudam a oferta relativa da economia e este processo impacta os salários relativos por grupos de qualificação. No primeiro artigo, os microdados dos Censos demográficos foram utilizados na investigação usando variáveis de educação, localidade e coorte de nascimento. Uma vez controlando por coorte e localidade, assumindo a hipótese que na localidade municipal as coortes são mais homogêneas quanto à exposição da oferta escolar, educação explicou aproximadamente 30% da queda da fecundidade. A simulação contrafactual evidenciou que caso não tivesse ocorrido o aumento da escolaridade das coortes, a transição demográfica seria mais lenta e gradual. No segundo artigo, dados da PNAD foram construídos para investigar a probabilidade de matrícula assumindo que a transição demográfica gera uma variação exógena no tamanho absoluto e no tamanho relativo das coortes. Os resultados evidenciaram que para as séries com maiores avanços na taxa de matrícula, diminuição do tamanho da coorte apresentou-se negativamente relacionada com a probabilidade de matrícula. Porém, a magnitude deste efeito não gerou mudanças significativas na simulação contrafactual e, para a primeira série do ensino fundamental, o avanço da escolaridade dos pais mostrou-se significativo. No terceiro artigo, dados da PNAD são utilizados para se investigar mudanças relativas no mercado de trabalho ocasionadas pela entrada de novas coortes com melhores indicadores educacionais. Os resultados apontam que mudanças na oferta relativa de grupos etários mais jovens conduziram a mudanças em seus salários relativos e as mudanças nos salários relativos de grupos etários mais velhos são explicadas por mudanças na oferta relativa agregada da economia. A simulação contrafactual demostrou que, caso não houvesse mudança na oferta relativa da economia, os salários de qualificados em relação a não qualificados apresentaria tendência crescente entre 1981 e 2013. / This study, divided into three articles, aims to analyze the contributions of demography, education and the labor market in Brazilian development throughout the 20th century. The three articles are connected in a temporal sequence such that the first article focuses on the Brazilian demographic transition for the cohorts born between 1890 and 1960. The second article is concerned with understanding how the effects of the demographic transition are absorbed by the new cohorts and affect school attendance. The third article investigates how the younger cohorts, with more human capital, change the relative supply of the economy and this process impacts relative wages by qualification groups. In the first article, the microdata of demographic Census were used in the investigation using variables of education, municipality and birth cohort. Once the cohort and locality control, assuming the hypothesis that in the municipality the cohorts are more homogeneous regarding the exposure of the school supply, education explained approximately 30% of the decrease of the fertility rate. The counterfactual simulation showed that if there had not been an increase in cohort education, the demographic transition would be slower and gradual. In the second article, PNAD data were constructed to investigate the probability of enrollment assuming that the demographic transition generates an exogenous variation in the absolute size and relative size of the cohorts. The results showed that for the series with the greatest advances in enrollment, a decrease in cohort size was negatively related to the probability of enrollment. However, the magnitude of this effect did not generate significant changes in the counterfactual simulation, and for the first grade of elementary school, the progress of parents\' schooling was significant. In the third article, PNAD data are used to investigate relative changes in the labor market caused by the entry of new cohorts with better educational indicators. The results indicate that changes in the relative supply of younger age groups have led to changes in relative wages and changes in the relative wages of older age groups are explained by changes in the aggregate relative supply of the economy. The counterfactual simulation showed that if there were no change in the relative supply of the economy, relative wages from skilled to unskilled workers would show a growing trend between 1981 and 2013.