No description available.

This thesis investigates whether there has been an improvement and convergence of productive efficiency across European banking markets since the creation of the Single Internal Market: it examines the main European banking systems between 1993 and 1997 and estimates the efficiency characteristics of these markets by employing nonparametric estimation techniques, in the form of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the Free Disposal Hull (FDH) approach. In addition, this study also evaluates the productivity change across banking markets employing the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI). Using efficiency measures derived from DEA estimation, it also evaluates the determinants of European bank efficiency using the Tobit regression model approach. Finally, this thesis extends the established literature on modelling the determinants of bank efficiency by recognising the problem of the inherent dependency of DEA efficiency scores when used in regression analysis. To overcome the dependency problem, a bootstrapping technique is applied. Overall, the results suggest that since the EU's Single Market Programme there has been a small improvement in bank efficiency levels, although there is little evidence to suggest that these have converged. The results also suggest that inference on the determinants of bank efficiency drawn from non-bootstrapped regression analysis may be biased and misleading.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:25:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-05-19Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:29:02Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 penalva_d_me_ift.pdf: 1147387 bytes, checksum: 8e6d7c8702b105a6e1f45a6db2ac7b9e (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Em sistemas onde muitos agentes interagem, permitindo obter medidas que podem se apresentar intermitentes, muitas vezes podemos extrair padrões que denotam comportamento de grupo destes agentes, este é o caso do mercado financeiro e sua estrutura de correlações emergentes. Este trabalho visa reproduzir e sintetizar o que é entendido como estrutura de correlações no mercado financeiro. A análise da estrutura consistirá de 2 partes, uma dinâmica, acessando dependências temporais, e outra topológica e economica, acessando a importância das conexões entre ações. Na análise dinâmica são investigadas a correlação instantânea, quanto o comportamento ao longo das escalas de tempo , e a não instantânea, quanto ao decaimento temporal em relação ao máximo de correlação. A topologia é analisada obtendo-se um grafo a partir da matrix de correlação instantânea e analisando a conectividade dos vértices, partindo do mais conectado(chama-se raíz) analisa-se os diversos clusteres de ações obtidos, comparando com a classificação economica conhecida. A analise topológica é feita em várias escalas de correlação instantânea visando a comparação entre elas. Introduzo noções gerais de sistemas complexos no capítulo 1. No capítulo 2 dou uma breve descrição do mercado através das varíaveis mais importantes e seu comportamento, i.e. as escalas de preços e de tempo. O capítulo 3 descreve os métodos utilizados para análise da estrutura de correlação do mercado, é apresentado o estimador de Pearson para correlação linear bem como o método de Kruskal, utilizado para obter o grafo árvore que contém todas ações e minimizar a soma das arestas (ponderadas pela distância definida a partir da correlação). No capítulo 4 apresento os resultados referentes à análise da estrutura de correlações para o mercado Bovespa / In systems where many agents interact, allowing for measures that may be erratic, many times we can extract behavior patterns that denote a group of agents, this is the case of financial market and its emerging structure of correlations. This work aims to reproduce and synthesize what is perceived as a correlation structure in financial markets. Analysis of the structure will consist of 2 parts, one dynamic, accessing temporal dependencies, and other topological and economical by accessing the importance of connections between assets. In analysis of dynamics are investigated instantaneous correlation, it’s behavior across scales of time, and the not instantaneous, it’s decay from the maximum correlation. The topology is analyzed by a graph from the instantaneous correlation matrix and analyzing the connectivity of vertices, starting from the most connected (called root) analyzes the various clusters of shares obtained by comparing with known economic classification. The topological analysis is performed at several scales of correlation in order to instantly compare them. Introduce general notions of complex systems in Chapter 1. In Chapter 2 give a brief description of market through the most important variables and their behavior, ie the ranges of price and time. Chapter 3 describes the methods used for analysis the correlation structure of the market, the estimator is presented by Pearson’s linear correlation and the Kruskal method is used to obtain the graph tree containing all assets and to minimize the sum of edges (weighted by the distance defined from the correlation). In Chapter 4 I present the results of the analysis of correlation structure for the market Bovespa

No description available.

This thesis examines the way the state intervenes in the labour market for youth through an analysis of the implementation of the Youth Training Scheme. It adopts a dynamic model of policy formulation and delivery to explore the extent to which the state is able to compensate for the crises of contemporary capitalism. The first part of this thesis looks at the way in which theories of the state translate into theories of state intervention and the assumptions these make of the ability of the state to intervene. It argues that current theories do not adequately consider the way in which policy is continually renegotiated throughout its delivery. The failure to consider the institutional form of the state has lead to both normative and conspiratorial theories of state intervention. These have commonly considered the outputs of policy rather than its delivery. It is also maintained that policy analysis has not systematically related the evaluation of policy to a theory of the state. The second part analyses the implementation of the Youth Training Scheme as an example of an intervention by the state into the labour market. It shows, through an empirical analysis that policy objectives are renegotiated throughout the delivery of the programme. In particular the research looks at the way in which the Youth Training Scheme emerged in three constrasting labour markets. The research focusses on the recruitment to, and training within, schemes to illustrate the effects of labour market structure on the outcome of the programme. This analysis takes into account the structure into which policy is delivered as well as the institutional constraints on policy implementation. By using the dual focus of the state and the capital/labour relationship a framework for the analysis of policy in the sphere of production is developed.

M.Tech. / Sorghum beer industry faces many challenges due to the nature of the product. As the product has a short life, it has to reach the market and the consumer quickly. It's a low profit, high volume-driven product. Therefore, high sales and prompt distribution systems need to be in place.

M.Comm. (Business Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Whilst these industries are embarking on a revolution, it is important to understand where consumer needs will fit in. Over the last decade, technology has enabled many industries to offer a vast array of new services and opportunities to the consumer using a variety of delivery mechanisms with the Internet being the most predominant. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

South Africa appears to lag behind the international community in transacting online (B2C) e-retailers with only certain industries performing very well online. The evidence of lack of online spending was experienced by the author when creating an online retail travel company www.travesphere.co.za. Initial research conducted indicated that the problem could perhaps lie in the credibility of the website and hence the poor enquiry level and turnover amounts. This forms the basis of the study. An electronic survey was conducted amongst internet users with a sample of 383 respondents who completed the survey in full. The survey was constructed utilising questions adapted from previous studies in international markets and from own questions adapted for a South African Market to test the credibility in an e-retailer from a South African perspective. Regression analysis was utilised to analyse the results. The major findings of the research project were that the South African consumers appear to be very naïve when transacting online and give a lot of credence to content placed on a website by webmasters. Consumers believe that the appearance of a website makes it appear trustworthy. Thus a massive potential fraud threat exists due to consumers’ lack of concern over personal details and protection of credit card details. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Black engineers are a scarce and critical resource in South African industries. The objective of this research was to explore the career cognitions of black engineering in South Africa with a view to understand their decision making patterns in terms of their careers. Understanding these patterns could enhance the success of organizations in recruiting, training and retaining these engineers. Six propositions were developed. Thirty five black engineers were interviewed either face-to-face at various places such as restaurants, their offices, homes, etc or due to distance constraints some were done by telephone. A semi-structured interview guideline was used. Each engineer provided data on all the questions. The data was then mapped to specific propositions. Various descriptive statistical techniques were used to collate and analyze the data. A model, based on the findings, was designed for the purpose of summarizing the findings. The model (Figure 4) illustrates the key findings relating to what factors the organizations should concentrate on when formulating their recruitment and retention strategies. These are factors relating to the questions used to address the 6 propositions. Although the model only highlights the key findings, this research identified additional findings that have improved the understanding of the career cognitions of black engineers in SA. The details are discussed in the research report. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted