<p>Abstract</p><p>Sedan den första adoptionslagen stiftades 1917 har synen på adoption och familj kommit att ändras betydligt. Adoptioner har uppfattats på olika sätt beroende av det rådande samhällsklimatet, hur normerna skiftat kring vad som ansetts vara en god familj och vad som ansetts vara bra för barnet. Politiska beslut, vetenskapliga perspektiv och kulturella föreställningar har spelat in och haft stor betydelse för vad som i laga kraft får genomslag. Att bilda familj genom adoption är att bilda familj under statens övervakning och godkännande. När adoptionsverksamheten under 1970-talet i allt större grad kom att handla om utlandsfödda barn, krävdes det nya svar på hur barnen skulle få det bra och vilka egenskaper man betraktade som värdefulla hos adoptivföräldrarna. Jag riktar i denna uppsats min uppmärksamhet mot att studera hur författare från 70-talet och fram till idag konstruerar förståelsen av adoptionsfamiljen och etnicitet i de böcker som vänder sig till nyblivna adoptivföräldrar. Tanken är att söka finna vilka aspekter som i böckerna framställs vara problematiska för det adopterade barnet, både gällande hur man ser på barnets etniska avvikelse och barns förmåga till anpassning. Adoption är, just på grund av sin över tid föränderliga inställning i dessa frågor, intressant att studera ur ett samhällsvetenskapligt perspektiv. Studien har genomförts med kritisk diskursanalys som teori och metod.</p>

The aim of this Thesis is to study the relationship of investment decision with technological progress and the adoption of new technologies. In more specific, the main focus is given to some policy experiment. This dissertation is divided in 4 chapters, including the introduction and the review of the literature: · The Second Chapter deals with the impact of productive public capital on the decision to invest, taking into account irreversibility and uncertainty. Many authors have stressed the importance of the Government as ultimate risk manager. On the one hand, there is an extensive literature on how public expenditure affects growth. The purpose of the chapter is to take another perspective: to study if the productive public capital can reduce the risk faced by the private sector, in the presence of irreversibility and uncertainty. Thereby, we want to emphasize the stabilizing role for the public capital. · The Third Chapter: introduces a theoretical link between embodied technological progress, the irreversibility and uncertainty literature. In this model, Replacement is postponed in the presence irreversibility and uncertainty. The age of the oldest machine evolves stochastically. Firms can invest even if they are not using all the units, getting rid from the perfect procycle models in the irreversible literature. Furthermore, we reproduce the empirical evidence at firm level: investment is lumpy and infrequent. · The Fourth Chapter studies the impact of public policies aiming at the reduction of the adoption cost of new technologies. We assume an economy that presents AK production function with two distinct features: the adoption of new technologies is costly and embodied in new machines, and there is diffusion and learning process. Studying how technological progress, uncertainty and irreversibility affect the decision to undertake new projects and the acquisition of new equipments by private sector, we expect that this Thesis can contribute not only with academic debate but also with the efficiency of public policies.

This thesis deals with different forms of strategic complementarities in industrial organization problems. Chapter 2 is an attempt to develop a unified approach to endogenous heterogeneity by constructing a general class of two-player symmetric games that possess only asymmetric pure-strategy Nash equilibria. These classes of games are characterized in some abstract sense by two general properties: payoff non-concavities and some form of strategic substitutability. While the second characteristic allows to show the existence of pure strategy Nash equilibria, the second precludes these equilibria to be symmetric. Other two classes of games that always possess asymmetric, but never symmetric, pure-strategy equilibria, although they are not of strategic substitutes are also studied. This chapter also generalizes a number of models dealing with two-stage games, with long term investment decisions in the first stage and product market competition in the second stage. Chapter 3 investigates the effects of forward looking behaviour in technology adoption. The setup is an overlapping generations model where agents choose between two alternative networks taking into consideration both the installed base and the expected base. The latter element is the distinctive feature of the approach. It is shown that a unique equilibrium exists, on which agents coordinate their expectations. While exhibiting hysteresis, the equilibrium adoption path does not comply with technologies locking in. Network choices are characterized both in terms of their long run properties and the expected time of adoption. Chapter 4 studies the problem of a monopolist who produces a good with network externalities and faces the possibility of selling a new higher quality. Within the vertical product differentiation it identifies the necessary and sufficient conditions for quality improvement to take place when a good, produced by a monopolist, exhibits positive network externalities. When network effects are not very strong, the monopolist produces both the high and the low quality and thus quality improvement takes place. In this case, he will use an introductory pricing strategy for the quality that benefits from network externalities, not maximizing however the network size. As the network effect becomes more important, the monopolist will have an incentive to practise introductory pricing and produce both qualities. Finally, if the network externality is higher than the intrinsic quality differential, quality improvement does not take place. Chapter 5 deals with the problem of an incumbent producing a low quality good with network externalities that faces the threat of entry by a higher quality good. In the framework of a vertical product differentiation model, it is identified a necessary and sufficient condition under which quality improvements are spontaneously adopted along, in spite of the existence of network effects. This condition says that the intensity of network effects on consumers' preferences should not exceed twice the differential of intrinsic qualities existing between the two variants. Finally, chapter 6 is concerned with the optimal path of prices of a monopolist who operates in a network industry for a finite horizon. Agents obtain intrinsic utility from the good and from the fact that in the past there have been other consumers using it. It is observed that the monopolist has an incentive to introduce the good at initially low prices and to increase the price as the time goes by. This chapter concludes with a necessary and sufficient condition under which the initial price, and only the initial one is zero. This condition is related both with the intensity of the preferences for the network and with the time horizon of the monopolist.

The increased need for and scarcity of hydrocarbon energy pushes the search and extraction of reserves toward more technically difficult deposits and less efficient forms of hydrocarbon energy. The increased use of hydrocarbons also predicates the increased emission of detrimental chemicals in our surrounding environment. For these reasons, there is a need to find feasible sources of renewable energy that could prove to be more environmentally friendly. One possible source that meets these criteria is biomass, which in the United States is the largest source of renewable energy as it accounts for over 3 percent of the energy consumed domestically and is currently the only source for liquid renewable transportation fuels. Continued development of biomass as a renewable energy source is being driven in large part by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 that mandates that by 2022 at least 36 billion gallons of fuel ethanol be produced, with at least 16 billion gallons being derived from cellulose, hemi-cellulose, or lignin. However, the production of biomass has drawbacks. The market for cellulosic bio-fuel feedstock is still under development, and being an innovative technique, there is a lack of production knowledge on the side of the producer. Some studies have been conducted that determine farmers’ willingness to produce switchgrass, however, they have been limited in geographic scope and additional research is warranted considering a broader area. Also, there have been production decision tools aimed at bio-mass, but these have either not been aimed at switchgrass specifically or have been missing key costs such as those incurred in storage. The overall objectives of this study are: 1.) to analyze the willingness of producers in the southeastern United States to plant switchgrass as a biofuel feedstock, 2.) to estimate the area of switchgrass they would be willing to plant at different switchgrass prices, 3.) to evaluate the factors that influence a producer’s decision to convert acreage to switchgrass, and 4.) to present a spreadsheet-based decision tool for potential switchgrass producers.

Abstract Finding a new fuel to substitute gasoline which reducing rapidly every year, is an urgent problem in the world. In this situation, biofuel is considered to be one kind of new fuel which make no pollution. Nowadays, 1st generation biofuel is familiar with people and adopted by customers, which make it have a stable market share. Since it also brings new problems, 2nd generation biofuel appear and solve all the problems.In the thesis, I compared the pros and cons between the 1st and 2nd generation biofuel in order to find the possibility if the 2nd generation biofuel can substitute the 1st generation biofuel in the petroleum market. And the customer surveys will also show the detail ideas and data about the customers’ options. If people trust the 2nd generation biofuel can substitute the 1st generation one, the new biofuel will have the stable market share in the future . It means 2nd generation biofuel could be easily introduced in the market.This thesis investigate the possibility for introducing 2nd generation biofuels into the petroleum market. The theories based on the market segments, customer buying behavior, customer value, adopt decision making and characteristic of innovations.This study contain data which includes five interviews and one hundred customer surveys. It shows consumers’ personal idea and some managers’ thinking about whether 2nd generation biofuels will be potential in the market.In the thesis, it will indicate whether customers will be easily or difficult to adopt the new product and find the critical issues for the adoption.

Abstract Sedan den första adoptionslagen stiftades 1917 har synen på adoption och familj kommit att ändras betydligt. Adoptioner har uppfattats på olika sätt beroende av det rådande samhällsklimatet, hur normerna skiftat kring vad som ansetts vara en god familj och vad som ansetts vara bra för barnet. Politiska beslut, vetenskapliga perspektiv och kulturella föreställningar har spelat in och haft stor betydelse för vad som i laga kraft får genomslag. Att bilda familj genom adoption är att bilda familj under statens övervakning och godkännande. När adoptionsverksamheten under 1970-talet i allt större grad kom att handla om utlandsfödda barn, krävdes det nya svar på hur barnen skulle få det bra och vilka egenskaper man betraktade som värdefulla hos adoptivföräldrarna. Jag riktar i denna uppsats min uppmärksamhet mot att studera hur författare från 70-talet och fram till idag konstruerar förståelsen av adoptionsfamiljen och etnicitet i de böcker som vänder sig till nyblivna adoptivföräldrar. Tanken är att söka finna vilka aspekter som i böckerna framställs vara problematiska för det adopterade barnet, både gällande hur man ser på barnets etniska avvikelse och barns förmåga till anpassning. Adoption är, just på grund av sin över tid föränderliga inställning i dessa frågor, intressant att studera ur ett samhällsvetenskapligt perspektiv. Studien har genomförts med kritisk diskursanalys som teori och metod.

The aim of my study was to describe and interpretate how an international adopted person look back at and describes her learning process individually and in interaction with others. Data are based on one in-depth interview with a phenomenological inspired approach. The findings showed that the interviewee has repressed a great deal of her former life from her country of origin. According to the interviewee, the process of learning in interaction with other people has worked well. She has furthermore never felt that other students have treated her differently based on her appearance. There is some ambivalence in how the interviewee describes this though, which opens up for other interpretations. / Syftet med framförliggande undersökning har varit att beskriva och tolka på vilket sätt en internationellt adopterad svensk upplever och berättar om sin lärprocess från barn till vuxen. Mitt undersökningsmaterial baseras på en djupintervju med en person. Utgångspunkten för genomförandet och analysen av intervjun har varit en fenomenologiskt inspirerad livsberättelseansats. De mest framträdande resultaten av undersökningen är… • … att den intervjuade förträngt stora delar av den lärprocess som skedde innan hon blev adopterad till Sverige • … att lärprocessen i Sverige fungerat bra i interaktion med andra och att andra inte bemött henne som annorlunda utifrån hur hon ser ut… • … men att det föreligger en ambivalens i den intervjuades beskrivning av det senare som möjliggör andra tolkningar.

Miljön har kommit allt mer i fokus de senaste åren och en bransch som är särskilt viktig är bilbranschen vilken påverkar miljön i stor utsträckning. Exempelvis den svenska regeringen har framfört en önskan om att vara helt oberoende av olja år 2020 och detta är något som uppenbarligen skulle påverka bilbranschen och tydliggör behövet av miljövänliga fordon. Dessa så kallade miljöfordon lanserades i större omfattning redan på 1990-talet men har ännu inte nått kommersiell framgång. Anledningen till detta har sannolikt att göra med olika faktorer förknippade med produkten vilka påverkar konsumenters adoption negativt. Med adoption menas den process i fem steg av Rogers (1995) som förklarar hur en konsument blir först medveten om en produkt och fram tills det att personen ifråga blir en regelbunden användare. Ett antal teorier identifierar dessa påverkande faktorer men behovet av studier som undersöker hur den enskilda konsumentens adoptionsprocess påverkas är tydligt. Detta leder till denna studies syften vilka ämnar att identifiera dessa påverkande faktorer och hur dessa faktorer i sin tur påverkar adoptionsprocessen. Den ökade förståelsen för dessa faktorer leder även till praktiska implikationer som bilföretagen kan ha användning för.   De olika faktorerna har identifierats i denna kvalitativa studie med hjälp av strukturerade intervjuer till nio olika respondenter. Studiens kunskapssyn är hermeneutisk. Den teoretiska referensramen är först uppbyggd kring adoptionsprocessen för att sedan bli mer specifikt kopplad till miljöfordon och de olika faktorer som påverkar processen. Denna referensram leder fram till en modell vilken sammanfattar ämnet.   Studien lyckas identifiera ett mängd olika faktorer vilka har påverkat konsumenters adoption av miljöfordon antingen negativt eller positivt. Dessa faktorers påverkan på adoptionsprocessens specifika delar skiljer sig nämnvärt då vissa faktorer kan få konsumenter att gå till nästa steg varav andra faktorer inte har samma stora betydelse. Med hjälp av dessa faktorer ger studien ett antal praktiska implikationer vilka kan användas av bilföretagen för att underlätta adoptionsprocessen för konsumenter.

This dissertation examines the representation of adoption in early modern English drama in order to analyze the language of social and familial relations in early modern culture. I propose that although these plays often ultimately support the traditional idea of a birth family, adoption challenges conventional notions of the family by making artificial, non-consanguine relations appear natural, thereby exposing the family unit as a social construction. I suggest further that adopted characters complicate notions of biological inheritance through their negotiations of language, place, and power. My dissertation thus explores the connections between historical language use and social status in early modern England; it couples early modern rhetorical theories and treatises with modern linguistic theory, drawing upon recent sociolinguistic scholarship. The result is to show that understanding how language demarcates social position is essential to illuminating the cultural intricacies of the plays of the period. In Chapters 1 and 2, I investigate the social and economic repercussions of adoption. Chapter 1 discusses the previously overlooked cultural importance of horticultural metaphors of adoption in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, Cymbeline, and All’s Well That Ends Well. In this chapter, I explore the ways in which early modern culture explained adoption by depicting it in a particular kind of figurative language. Chapter 2 focuses on the economic consequences of, and motivations for, adoption in Middleton’s A Chaste Maid in Cheapside. In my final two chapters, I scrutinize the relations between the early modern family and linguistic practice. Chapter 3 explores the connections between genetics, physical likeness, and language in Lyly’s Mother Bombie and Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors. Finally, in Chapter 4 I investigate familial relation as a source of linguistic and social power. Middleton’s Women Beware Women, I argue, suggests that kinship exists within language and grants particular speakers linguistic and social authority.

The objective of this study was to assess Primary Care Physicians’ attitudes towards adoption of the Diagnostic Assessment Program-Electronic Pathway Solution (DAP-EPS), an electronic tool for improving cancer diagnostic processes. The implementation of DAP-EPS is a provincial activity supported by Cancer Care Ontario in collaboration with the Canadian Cancer Society. We conducted an online survey of Ontario PCPs. To guide our study, we used an integrated theoretical framework combining the Technology Acceptance Model and Diffusion of Innovation. Study results suggested a strong influence of perceived usefulness of the DAP-EPS tool on physicians’ attitudes towards adoption of the tool. The results also found that perceived usefulness was more important than perceived ease-of-use within the PCP context. The study revealed that perceived usefulness is the main predictor of physicians’ attitudes. The findings also suggested that the management and implementation team should emphasize the usefulness of the DAP-EPS to increase adoption among PCPs.