Thesis deals with analysis of payment instruments and systems in Czech republic during online shopping and how czech residents perceive them. In the first part is defined e-commerce and jurisdiction of payment systems. Then e-wallets (Paypal, Skrill and Czech alternative PaySec) are described. After that thesis deals with payment buttons and closely related payment agregators(PayU, Agmo, GoPay). Subsequently aquiring of credit cards is delineated. Last section of theoretical part of thesis deals with new method - payments with mobile phones (Mobito, MasterCard Mobile. In second part of thesis - practical part, there is analysed (with the help of primary survey and other provide surveys) actual situation of relation of czech residents to electronic payment instruments and systems focusing on which method are they using while shopping online and how they perceive security of this systems and instruments.

Les différences constatées entre les droits et obligations financiers, patrimoniaux et politiques d’un salarié actionnaire et ceux des autres actionnaires suscitent un légitime questionnement juridique. Il apparaît nécessaire de les expliquer car elles interrogent sur la cohérence d’ensemble du droit de l’actionnariat salarié. Les justifications classiquement avancées ne paraissant pas pleinement satisfaisantes, il convient donc de les dépasser.Le particularisme du statut du salarié actionnaire est ainsi attribué à l’existence d’un modèle de l’actionnariat salarié, soigneusement élaboré par le législateur et par la pratique, afin de répondre à plusieurs défis contemporains. La vérification de cette hypothèse implique d’identifier ce modèle. Une recherche en ce sens met en évidence la « double instrumentalisation » de ce type d’actionnariat partagé entre mode de rémunération et mode de gouvernance. Il est ensuite démontré que ces deux traits caractéristiques du modèle de l’actionnariat salarié ont influencé, au niveau individuel, le statut du salarié actionnaire. Son statut est alors construit autour de la volonté de transformer le principal intéressé, essentiellement, en bailleur de fonds de la société qui l’emploie et, subsidiairement, en actionnaire de contrôle. Cette conclusion offre une autre grille de lecture éclairant d’un jour nouveau le droit de l’actionnariat salarié. Cette nouvelle approche permet de fonder des propositions visant à limiter les risques financiers supportés par le salarié actionnaire et à rénover sa participation à la démocratie actionnariale. / The noticed differences between the financial, patrimonial and political rights and duties of an employee shareholder and those of the other shareholders arouse a legitimate legal questioning. It seems necessary to explain them because they question about the coherence of the whole salaried shareholding law. The justifications classically advanced don’t seem completely satisfactory, it is thus advisable to exceed them.The sense of identity of the status of the employee shareholder is so awarded to the existence of a model of the salaried shareholding, carefully elaborated by the legislator and by the practice, to answer several contemporary challenges. The check of this hypothesis implies to identify this model. A research in this way brings to light the " double instrumentalization " of this type of shareholding shared between method of payment and mode of governance. It is then demonstrated that these two characteristic features of the model of the salaried shareholding influenced, at the individual level, the status of the employee shareholder. His status is then built around the will to transform the main person interested, essentially, in financier of the company who employs him and, additionally, on shareholder of control. This conclusion offers another railing of reading enlightening in a new way the salaried shareholding law. This new approach allows establishing propositions to limit the financial risks supported by the employee shareholder and to renew its participation in the shareholder democracy.

Abstract Contactless mobile payments are a payment method done with a mobile phone and a contactless technology. Instead of paying with cash, a payment card or a cheque, a user can tap its mobile phone onto a terminal to pay. Across the globe, several markets have been embracing the need for new payment methods. In Asia, contactless mobile payments have been used since 2004. In some of the African countries, due to an insufficient banking industry, mobile payments have been the only electronic payment method. However, in Europe contactless mobile payments are still in their initial phase. The benefits of contactless mobile payments are that they are easier to use, faster and more secure. However, there are some implications. Firstly, the lack of standardisations regarding how the technology will work has led to an undefined ecosystem consisting of many stakeholders with different motives. Secondly, in order for contactless mobile payments to break significant ground the users need to change their existing payment methods and habits. This is a time consuming process, which will require consistency and patience. The research purpose of this thesis has been to define the contactless mobile payment ecosystem with its future potential on the European market. The research paradigm has been of an interpretive nature where the researchers’ interpretations on the information have been in focus. In order to answer the research purpose, an action research has been conducted, including an analysis the of Porter’s Five Forces model applied on the current contactless mobile payment ecosystem with its various stakeholders, the attendance at the annual NFC Congress in Austria as well as an experimental case study on Google. 3The findings of the action research have resulted in new definition of the current contactless mobile payment stakeholder ecosystem. In this new definition of the ecosystem, the user has been defined as the strongest force, hence has been placed in the centre encircled by mobile network operators, banks, merchants and transit authorities. In the ecosystem handset manufactures, operating system providers, technology vendors, cash handling organisations, card networks, POS terminal manufactures and governmental bodies have also been represented. The vision of the case study on Google has been to present a market entry strategy for how Google could enter the European market of contactless mobile payments. The research resulted in a proposition that Google would enter the market in the following order; the UK, France, Turkey, Russia, Germany, Spain and Italy. The conclusions of the research have been that contactless mobile payments will cut across an entire ecosystem, but that the ecosystem at the moment is not fully defined. To achieve a competitive position, a stakeholder has to deliver an outstanding user experience that is interoperable within the whole European market. Key­words: Contactless mobile payments, near field communication (NFC), mobile payment ecosystem, payment ecosystem, Google, Android

[pt] Tão expressiva quanto a curva de crescimento do número de matrículas nas instituições de ensino superior (IES) privadas nos últimos anos é a respectiva curva da inadimplência, cujo aumento pode ser explicado, principalmente, pelo aprofundamento da crise econômica no país e pela redução do número de vagas ofertadas pelo FIES. A inadimplência apresenta-se como um desafio à gestão financeira das instituições de ensino, uma vez que impacta os seus custos operacionais e acaba sendo repassada aos alunos sob forma de aumento de mensalidade. Além disso, a evasão estudantil é também uma das principais consequências da inadimplência, à medida que alunos com dificuldades financeiras acabam por abandonar seus cursos, representando para as instituições de ensino não só uma perda econômica, como também acadêmica e social. As IES, em sua maioria, não utilizam qualquer tipo de técnica de credit scoring para prever o risco de seus alunos se tornarem inadimplentes. Nesse sentido, este trabalho apresenta uma metodologia quantitativa para previsão de risco de inadimplência de alunos ativos. Baseado em dados históricos de alunos que estavam inadimplentes ou adimplentes, modelos gerados por algoritmos de machine learning foram estimados e comparados. Por fim, os resultados obtidos evidenciaram a relação entre a inadimplência e a variação do valor pago ao longo dos semestres analisados, quantidade média de disciplinas cursadas, natureza empregatícia ao aluno e existência de débitos em semestres anteriores. Com a aplicação dos modelos propostos, as IES seriam capazes de identificar alunos com maior risco de inadimplência e planejar ações preventivas específicas para este grupo. / [en] As impressive as the growth rate in the number of enrollments in private higher education institutions in recent years is the increase in the related default rate, driven by the deepening economic crisis in Brazil and by the reduction of the number of vacancies offered by the FIES. Default presents itself as a challenge to the financial management of educational institutions, since it impacts their operational costs and ends up being passed on to students in the form of an increase in tuition. In addition, student dropout is also one of the main consequences of default, since students with economic difficulties end up abandoning their courses. Most higher education institutions do not use any type of credit scoring analysis to predict the risk of their students becoming defaulters, failing to understand which factors cause it, and, therefore, refraining from planning preventive actions. Therefore, this study presents a quantitative methodology to predict the default risk of active students. Models generated by machine learning algorithms were analyzed based on a historical database of students who were in or not in default. The results showed a relationship between default and economic, academic and social characteristics of students. Thus, by employing models such as the ones proposed, higher education institutions should be able to identify those students who are at higher risk of defaulting and take specific preventive actions to prevent such an outcome.

Thesis (MPA)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A commitment to the market economy was easily extended to a widespread belief that money is the best motivator for work performance although there is no hard evidence to support that belief as a universal proposition (Armstrong & Murlis, 1994:263). Armstrong & Murlis (1994:263) contend that even if the effectiveness of money as a motivator can be questioned, most organisations strongly feel that it is fair to reward employees according to their contribution. The drive against incremental pay systems has taken place because management do not see why people should be paid for simply being there. Many people explicitly associate incremental pay systems with unmotivated performance. The argument being that if people are paid more flexibly according to their performance, they are more likely to be motivated than if they are sitting around waiting for the next automatic salary increment. Performance-related pay (PRP) schemes became more popular in many organisations in the 1980s as an answer to motivating employees and developing performance-oriented cultures. According to Flannery, Hofrichter & Platter (1996:83), organisations have been slowly coming to the realisation that compensation programmes have in many cases become a barrier to the growth and success of the organisations. Consequently, many employers devised new compensation systems that would likely support their emphasis on values such as quality, customer service, teamwork and productivity. Research shows that PRP systems can work for the organisation, but the first wave of enthusiasm revealed some weaknesses in their application. In this study project, the origins and underlying forces around PRP are discussed. The nature of PRP in the Lesotho Civil Service is addressed. PRP as part of the performance management system (PMS) in the Lesotho Public Service is introduced as a substitute for the current 'automatic' incremental pay system. Lastly, a model for introducing PRP in the Lesotho Civil Service is designed as a step-by-step guide for the people who are working on the PRP scheme. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: 'n Verbintenis tot die markekonomie het maklik aanleiding gegee tot 'n wydverspreide geloof dat geld die beste motiveerder is vir werkprestasie, hoewel daar geen vasstaande bewys is vir ondersteuning van die geloof as 'n universele proposisie nie (Armstrong & Murlis, 1994:263). Armstrong & Murlis (1994:263) beweer dat selfs al kan die effektiwiteit van geld as 'n motiveerder bevraagteken word, die meeste organisasies sterk voel oor die regverdigheid daarvan dat personeel volgens bydrae vergoed word. Die beweegrede vir afsien van die inkrementele vergoedingstelsel is te vinde in die bestuur se siening dat personeel nie noodwendig vir blote teenwoordigheid vergoed hoef te word nie. Baie mense assosieer die inkrementele vergoedingstelsel direk met ongemotiveerde werkverrigting en die argument word dan ook gehuldig dat as personeel met groter buigsaamheid volgens prestasie vergoed word, hulle waarskynlik meer gemotiveerd sal wees as wanneer hulle maar net wag vir die volgende outomatiese salarisverhoging. Prestasie-verwante vergoedingstelsels is gedurende die 1980's toenemend deur organisasies ingevoer as 'n meganisme vir die motivering van personeel en die vestiging van prestasie-georiënteerde kulture. Volgens Flannery, Hofrichter & Platter (1996:83), het organisasies stadigaan begin besef dat vergoedingsprogramme in baie gevalle belemmerend was vir hul groei en sukses. Gevolglik het baie werkgewers nuwe vergoedingstelsels ontwerp met waarskynlike steun vir hul beklemtoning van waardes soos kwaliteit, kliëntediens, spanwerk en produktiwiteit. Navorsing het getoon dat prestasie-verwante vergoedingstelsels gewenste resultate in 'n organisasie kan lewer, maar die aanvanklike geesdrif is gedemp deur swakhede wat in die toepassing daarvan na vore gekom het. In hierdie studie word die oorsprong van en onderliggende stukrag agter prestasieverwante vergoeding bespreek. Die aard van prestasie-verwante vergoeding in die Lesotho Staatsdiens word aangespreek asook hoe dit as deel van die prestasiebestuurstelsel in die Staatsdiens ingevoer kan word as plaasvervanger vir die bestaande outomatiese inkrementele vergoedingstelsel. Ten slotte word daar 'n modelontwerp vir die instelling van prestasie-verwante vergoeding in die Lesotho Staatsdiens as 'n stap-vir-stap gids vir diegene gemoeid daarmee.

Thesis ((LLD (Law))--University of Stellenbosch, 1996. / 424 leaves single sided printed, preliminary pages and numbered pages 1-356. Includes bibliography, digitized at 300 dpi (OCR), used Bizhub 250. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The documentary credit is one of the most important methods of payment utilised in international trade. This versatile instrument is encountered in a variety of forms. In its simplest form it is an undertaking by a bank given on application by a buyer-importer (the bank's client) to pay the seller-exporter (the beneficiary) against delivery of stipulated documents. It has two essential characteristics: (i) the bank's undertaking to pay the beneficiary is independent of the contract of sale and the contract between the bank and its client; and (ii) the bank will pay only against the precise documents stipulated in the credit. In Chapter One the different relationships established between the parties involved are dealt with against this background, and the different types of credits are discussed. Documentary credits are, comparatively speaking, modern instruments. Possible historical origins are explored briefly in Chapter Two. Documentary credits are virtually invariably applied for and issued subject to the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (the UCP). The UCP is a set of rules formulated by the International Chamber of Commerce. The modern history of documentary credits as reflected in the development of the UCP is discussed in Chapter Three. The legal nature of the UCP is analysed from a civilian, common-law and South African perspective in Chapter Four. The legal nature of the relationship between the bank and the beneficiary is the focal point of Chapter Five. The question is approached from a civilian (especially German and Dutch), common-law (especially English and American) and South African point of view. Special attention is devoted to the ability (or inability) of the traditional law of contract of the different jurisdictions to provide a theoretical foundation for (i) the independence of the bank's obligation, and (ii) the irrevocability of the bank's undertaking. The conclusion arrived at is that the South African law of contract is able to provide an adequate basis for this relationship in general and these two matters in particular. In the final chapter the defences available to the bank against the beneficiary's claim are scrutinised, as well as the possibility of the bank being interdicted from paying the beneficiary. Related issues such as anti-dissipation interdicts and attachments in the documentary-credit context are also dealt with. These questions are likewise investigated from a civilian, common-law and South African perspective. This investigation leads to the conclusion that the South African law is essentially in harmony with the law elsewhere and that our courts have been successful to date in protecting the integrity of documentary credits. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die dokumentêre kredietbrief is een van die belangrikste betalingsmetodes wat in die internasionale handel aangewend word. Hierdie buigbare middel kan 'n verskeidenheid van vorms aanneem. In sy eenvoudigste vorm is dit 'n onderneming deur 'n bank wat op aansoek van 'n koper-invoerder (die bank se kliënt) aan die verkoper-uitvoerder (die begunstigde) gegee word. Dit het twee essensiele eienskappe: (i) die onderneming van die bank om die begunstigde te betaal is onafhanklik van die koopkontrak sowel as die kontrak tussen die bank en sy klient; en (ii) die bank sal slegs betaal teen lewering van die presiese dokumente vereis in die kredietbrief. In Hoofstuk Een word die verskillende verhoudinge tussen die partye betrokke teen hierdie agtergrond bespreek asook die verskillende tipes kredietbriewe. Dokumentere kredietbriewe is relatief gesproke moderne instrumente. Moontlike historiese oorspronge word kortliks in Hoofstuk Twee verken. Kredietbriewe word bykans sonder uitsondering aangevra en uitgereik onderworpe aan die Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (die UCP). Die UCP is 'n stel reels wat deur die Internasionale Kamer van Koophandel opgestel is. Die moderne geskiedenis van kredietbriewe soos in die ontwikkeling van die UCP weerspieel, is die hoofonderwerp van Hoofstuk Drie. In Hoofstuk Vier word die regsaard van die UCP vanuit die perspektief van die regstelsels baseer op die ius civile, die common-law stelsels en die Suid-Afrikaanse reg beskou. In Hoofstuk Vyf word op die regsaard van die verhouding tussen die bank en die begunstigde gefokus. Die aangeleentheid word benader vanuit 'n ius civile (veral Duitse en Nederlandse) perspektief, 'n common-law (veral Engelse en Amerikaanse) perspektief, asook 'n Suid-Afrikaanse perspektief. Besondere aandag word verleen aan die vermoe (of onvermoe) van die tradisionele kontraktereg in die verskillende jurisdiksies om 'n teoretiese grondslag daar te stel vir: (i) die onafhanklikheid van die bank se verpligting; en (ii) die onherroepbaarheid van die bank se betalingsonderneming. Daar word tot die gevolgtrekking geraak dat die Suid-Afrikaanse kontraktereg wel in staat is om 'n bevredigende basis vir die verhouding in die algemeen, en hierdie twee aangeleenthede in die besonder, daar te stel. In die laaste hoofstuk word aandag geskenk aan die verwere wat 'n bank teenoor die begunstigde se aanspraak kan opper, asook aan die moontlikheid dat die bank by wyse van interdik belet kan word om die begunstigde te betaal. Verwante aangeleenthede soos interdikte in securitatem debiti en beslagleggings in die konteks van kredietbriewe word ook bygehaal. Hierdie aangeleenthede word eweneens vanuit 'n ius civile, common-law, en Suid-Afrikaanse perspektief benader. Die ondersoek lei tot die gevolgtrekking dat die Suid-Afrikaanse reg breedweg beskou in harmonie is met ander stelsels en dat ons howe die integriteit van kredietbriewe tot dusver suksesvol beskerm het.

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

Bakgrund: Riksbanken har haft sedelmonopol sedan 1897, vilket har inneburit att de sedan dess har haft ensamrätt att ge ut pengar. Den teknologiska utvecklingen och den ökade användningen av internet har lett till att virtuella samfund har utvecklats och i vissa fall har dessa samhällen skapat sin egen valuta. Bitcoin är världens första helt decentraliserade valuta och baserades i början av sin existens på teknisk nyfikenhet för en handfull hobbyister. Under de senaste åren har efterfrågan på bitcoins ökat vilket i sin tur har lett till att kursen stigit explosivartat.Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att kartlägga och analysera de transaktionskostnader som kan uppstå när Bitcoin används som betalningsmedel, samt jämföra dessa kostnader med de transaktionskostnader som är förenade med användandet av traditionella betalningsmedel. Genomförande: Studien har genomförts genom en blandning av ett kvalitativt och ett kvantitativt tillvägagångssätt samt genom en bearbetning av transaktionskostnadsteorin inom ramen för ny institutionell teori. Empirin består av tre delar där studien inleds med en litteraturstudie för att läsaren ska få en inblick i vad Bitcoin är och hur valutan fungerar. Därefter presenteras det kvalitativa angreppssättet i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer och avslutningsvis presenteras studiens kvantitativa angreppsätt i form av en enkätstudie för att kartlägga användandet av bitcoin.Slutsats: Studien visar att transaktionskostnaderna för Bitcoin är högre än för traditionella betalningsmedel i och med att valutan i dagsläget är beroende av den traditionella infrastrukturen för betalningar samt att dess användare därutöver frånsäger sig det skyddsnät som traditionella betalningsmedel omfattas av. För att Bitcoin ska bli ett etablerat betalningsmedel krävs det att de grundläggande funktionerna för pengar uppfylls. Något som studien visar är bristfälligt i nuläge / Background: The Swedish central bank has had a currency monopoly since 1897, which has meant that they since then have had exclusive right to issue money. Technological advances and the increasing use of the Internet has led to an evolvement of virtual communities and in some cases these communities created their own currency. Bitcoin is the worlds first fully decentralized currency. In the beginning the currency was based on technological curiosity to a handful of hobbyists. In recent years demand for bitcoins has increased, which has led to a dramatic price increase.Aim: The purpose of this thesis is to identify and analyze the transaction costs that may arise when Bitcoin is used as means of payment, and to compare these costs with the transaction costs associated with the use of traditional means of payment. Completion: The study was conducted through a mixture of qualitative and quantitative approaches as well as a processing of the transaction cost theory in the context of new institutional theory. The empirical material consists of three parts in which the study begins with a literature review for the reader to get a glimpse of what Bitcoin is and how the currency works. The qualitative approach is in the form of semi-structured interviews and finally the study's quantitative approach is presented in the form of a questionnaire to survey the use of bitcoin.Conclusion: The study shows that Bitcoins transaction costs are higher than conventional means of payments when account is taken to the fact that the currency is dependent on the current financial structure. The user furthermore disclaims the safety net that traditional means of payments offer. For Bitcoin to become an established means of payment it requires that the basic functions of money are fulfilled which the study shows is inadequate.

Internet commerce continues to grow rapidly. Over 60% of US households use the internet to shop online. A secure payment protocol is required to support this rapid growth. A new payment protocol was recently invented at IBM. We refer to the protocol as SPP or Secure Payment Protocol. This thesis presents a protocol analysis of SPP. It is essential that a thorough security analysis be done on any new payment protocol so that we can better understand its security properties. We first develop a method for analyzing payment protocols. This method includes a list of desirable security features and a list of proofs that should be satisfied. We then present the results of the analysis. These results validate that the protocol does contain many security features and properties. They also help understand the security properties and identify areas where the protocol can be further secured. This led us to extend the design of the protocol to enhance its security. This thesis also presents a prototype implementation of SPP. Three software components were implemented. They are the Electronic Wallet component, the merchant software component and the Trusted Third Party component. The architecture and technologies that are required for implementation are discussed. The prototype is then used in performance measurement experiments. Results on system performance as a function of key size are presented. Finally, this thesis presents an extension of SPP to support a two buyer scenario. In this scenario one buyer makes an order while another buyer makes the payment. This scenario enables additional commerce services.

<p>A payment scheme specifies when payments are made between firms in a supply chain. It has direct implications on how supply chain inventory is financed and managed. Longer supply chains due to globalization and the recent credit crisis have increased the pressure to make financing the supply chain more efficient. It was recently reported that 81% of UK firms say that market conditions have brought procurement and finance strategies in closer alignment. Meanwhile, information technology platform advancements provide opportunity for increased variety of payment schemes. It is therefore important to understand how different payment schemes should be captured in inventory decisions. This dissertation examines the impact of supply chain finance (the set of financial payment transactions that are triggered by supply chain events) on inventory management from both normative and behavioral perspectives. </p><p>We seek to address the following questions. From a normative perspective: How does the optimal inventory policy depend on the supply chain financing structure? What is the right inventory financing scheme for a supply chain? From a behavioral perspective: How do real managers psychologically process payments when making inventory decisions, and how are they affected by the supply chain financing scheme? The results are reported in three chapters, described below.</p><p>In the first chapter, "Payment schemes and the financed inventory," we present a model of payment schemes in an echelon supply chain. A payment scheme specifies when payments are made between firms. Standard inventory decision models make strict assumptions about the payment scheme in order to avoid explicitly tracking financial flows. These assumptions, however, often do not hold in practice. We show that these assumptions can be relaxed. In particular, we introduce a model that allows us to track the financial flow of inventory models depending on the inventory policy and the payment scheme. We also define two new measures - financed inventory and margin backorders. These new measures allow us to leverage the structure of the payment scheme to define an equivalent problem that does not have to explicitly track financial flows. We apply this method to the base stock model and economic order quantity model to demonstrate the sensitivity of the optimal inventory policy to the payment scheme. Our results provide simple closed-form formulas for inventory managers and also sheds light on what is the right payment scheme for a supply chain.</p><p>The second chapter, "The effect of payment schemes on inventory decisions: The role of mental accounting," focuses on managerial behavior: how do manager's mentally process and evaluate payments when making an inventory decision? Keeping the net profit structure constant, we study how the payment scheme affects inventory decisions in the newsvendor problem. Specifically, we examine three payment schemes which can be interpreted as the inventory order being financed 1) by the newsvendor herself, 2) by the supplier, and 3) by the customer. We find in laboratory experiments that the order quantities may be higher or lower than the expected profit-maximizing solution depending on the payment scheme. Specifically, the order quantity under newsvendor own financing is greater than that under supplier financing, which is, in turn, greater than the order quantity under customer financing. This observed behavior biases orders in the opposite direction as what a regular or hyperbolic time-discounted utility model would predict, and cannot be explained by loss aversion models. Instead, the findings are consistent with a model that underweights the order-time payments, which is consistent with the "prospective accounting" assumption in the mental accounting literature. A second study shows the results hold even if all actual payments are conducted at the same time, suggesting that the framing of the payment scheme is sufficient to induce mental accounting of payments at different times. We further validate the robustness of our model under different profit-margin conditions. Our findings contribute to the understanding of the psychological processes involved in newsvendor decisions and have implications for supply chain financing practices and supply chain contract design.</p><p>The third chapter, "Reference prices and transaction utility in inventory decisions," studies another aspect of mental accounting in inventory decisions - the phenomenon that individuals often view a price as relative to other prices when making an evaluation. We present a descriptive model of the effects of reference prices and transaction utility in a newsvendor setting. The model predicts that an individual's order is irrationally increasing in past purchasing costs, decreasing in past selling prices, and decreasing in the proportion of high profit margin to low profit margin products in the decision portfolio. Three laboratory experiments support the model's predictions. These results suggest that managerial supervision and/or intervention are most valuable after a sudden increase or decrease in the cost or price of a product, or for a product that differs significantly in profit margin from other products in the category. We further extend the study to a supply chain setting. We show analytically that the supplier's optimal wholesale price is lower when the newsvendor is subject to reference effects compared to when the newsvendor is rational, and that the supplier's optimal retail price may be higher or lower depending on whether the reference effect is stronger for the newsvendor or for customers. Finally, we show that supply chains may suffer from a behavioral inefficiency we call a behavioral price whip: an increase in the transfer price between two nodes may influence the upstream node to order more than is rational while the downstream node demands less than is rational. These results suggest that suppliers should carefully evaluate the reference effect on both customers and retailers, and that everyday low pricing has a behavioral benefit over high-low pricing.</p> / Dissertation