Thesis advisor: Richard McGowan / The Fair Trade movement is not new. Its roots go all the way back to the 1940s, and since its inception many Fair Trade organizations have arisen to offer this alternative strategy for doing business. Coffee is most commonly associated with Fair Trade, and it is the product this paper seeks to explore. In a broad sense, this investigation will look at how close Fair Trade Coffee certification programs actually come to being fair. The working definition of fairness is the ability to provide economic opportunities to marginalized workers. A fair economy would properly reward hard-working farmers for their intense labors. Many Fair Trade initiatives argue this is not what exists. As a result, they pay a living wage and offer opportunities to coffee farmers—some of the poorest people in the world—with hopes that this will help advance them out of poverty. To see if this successfully promotes fairness in economics, this paper will focus on the benefits of certification to small-scale farmers, mainly regarding income, and on the development of the Fair Trade Coffee market. Ultimately, this research will demonstrate that this movement is at least somewhat successful at improving the economic situation of marginalized workers. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics Honors Program. / Discipline: Economics.

A presente investigação teve como objetivo estudar o comportamento do preço do aço laminado plano não revestido nos mercados internacional e nacional, com ênfase à bobina de aço laminada a quente, produto com maior volume negociado internacionalmente dentre os aços planos. Tendo como premissa que esse produto é uma commodity, e que o seu preço internacional é ditado por um mercado competitivo a partir da relação entre oferta e demanda, o trabalho identifica o grau de influência de algumas variáveis independentes sobre a função demanda do produto, tais como renda, geografia, novos atores internacionais e crises políticas, dentre outras. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que, no mercado nacional, os preços internacionais e o imposto de importação têm grande influência sobre a formação do preço das usinas produtoras. Para possibilitar ao leitor um melhor entendimento sobre o setor siderúrgico, esta dissertação também descreve o setor, contemplando a sua história e evolução, as tecnologias usadas, os produtos gerados, a alocação geográfica dos mercados produtor e consumidor, a organização empresarial desse tipo de negócio, os eixos de comércio e a análise das forças competitivas. / The work study the price behavior of the flat rolled steel not coated, with focus on the hot rolled steel coil, on the international and national market. Starting with the supposition that the studied product is a commodity and that its international price are made in a competitive market, from the offer and demand relationship, the work try to identify de influence degree of some independent variables over the product demand function: Income, geography, international new players, economic e politic crisis, etc. In the national market, the work show the influence of the international prices and the import duty over the steel making price curve. To permit a better understanding about the steel industry, the work describe this industry, showing his history, evolution, used technology, the products, his geography, business organization, trade axis and analise the competitive forces.

O presente trabalho analisa a importância da determinação de preços para a competitividade do varejo supermercadista. Após uma revisão da literatura sobre as diversas definições de preços e as formas de estabelecê-los, são analisadas as seis etapas propostas por especialistas de marketing para o apreçamento estratégico de produtos. Nessas seis etapas são discutidas a influência da demanda e a importância dos custos, os métodos de estabelecimento mais utilizados, descrevendo-se suas características e limitações, as técnicas de adequação à diversas situações, bem como a seleção do preço final. Os passos adotados pelos varejistas são também abordados, assim como outras variáveis que têm impacto na estratégia escolhida para se fixar os preços nos supermercados, além da demanda, dos custos e dos concorrentes. Por fim, as estratégias de apreçamento são estudadas empiricamente, por meio de entrevistas em profundidade com gerentes de três redes de varejo de grande porte que atuam no mercado nacional, onde é verificada a utilização das técnicas de apreçamento, como instrumento de auxílio na tomada de decisões relacionadas aos programas de preço da empresa. Em conclusão, verifica-se que à medida que os especialistas em varejo buscam mais bases científicas e confiáveis para auxiliar na tomada de decisões quanto à definição de políticas de preços, é essencial que possuam uma compreensão clara dos conceitos e das variáveis da que influenciam na determinação dos preços dos produtos que comercializam, assim como o conhecimento das diversas técnicas de apreçamento, além do mark-up. / The present paper analyses the importance of pricing for the competitiveness of the retail sector (supermarkets). After a bibliographic survey on the several definitions concerning price and how it is determinate, six steps, proposed by marketing experts, to products strategic pricing are analyzed. In these steps, the demand influence, the costs importance and the most important pricing methods are discussed, describing their characteristics and limitations, the techniques to adequate it to different situations, as so as the final price selection. The steps that are adopted by supermarket retail are also outlined, thus as the variables that have some influence on its chosen pricing strategy. Demand and competitors costs are also analyzed. Finally, pricing strategies are empirically studied through multicases study on three large retail chains. In this part, the use by these companies of pricing methods as a tool to assist decision making related to the long-run pricing programs is verified. In conclusion, it is seen that, while retail specialists seek more scientific and reliable bases for aiding the decisions regarding the price strategies, it is essential that they posses a clear comprehension of the concepts and the variables that have influence on products price determination that are commercialized by themselves, as well as the technical skills to pricing, besides the mark-up method.

Finally, this thesis also identifies the antecedents, moderators and mediators that affect the role of anticipated regret on purchase intention. The results of the experimental study indicate the gender effect that female consumers generate more anticipated regret than males when confronting with price discount promotions. The results of comparison analysis demonstrate the sequence effect that, the effect of anticipated regret on purchase intention is larger if consumers are asked to anticipate regret of not purchasing the promotional item before their final purchase decision rather than if they are asked in the reverse sequence. The analysis results on the relationship between perceived value and anticipated regret indicate that anticipated regret is the mediator in the effect of perceived value on purchase intention. / Fourth, this thesis then studies the effect of price discount frequency on consumers' behavioral response with focusing on the affective stage of consumers' response and proposes a model that simultaneously considers consumers' attitude and anticipated regret. The results of an experimental study demonstrate that price promotion frequency negatively affects consumers' anticipated regret and purchase intention, and that the effect of promotion frequency on consumers' purchase intention is fully mediated by consumers' attitude towards the purchasing behavior together with consumers' anticipated regret. / Second, this thesis examines the effect of price discount framing on consumers' response, and proposes a price-value model to account for the effect of price discount framing on consumers' purchase intention. Results of two experiments indicate that price discount framing affects consumers' purchase intention through the full mediation of perceived value. The framing of dollar-based discount leads to higher perceived value and higher purchase intention than the framing of percentage-based discount; however, these effects are moderated by the degree of discount calculation difficulty and the price level of the promotional products. / The findings of this thesis have both potentially important theoretical significance for a better understanding of price discount promotion and practical implications for directing marketers to more effectively design their price discount promotion schemes. The research limitations of this thesis and future research directions are also discussed. / Third, the thesis investigates the effect of price discount depths on consumers' behavioral response. Under the means-end framework, this thesis extends the price-value model by including anticipated regret and proposes an integrated model to account for the mechanism that underlies consumers' behavioral response towards price discount promotion. The results of a survey study indicate that the proposed integrated model fits the data well, and that consumers' purchase intention is better explained and predicted by including consumers' anticipated regret in the model. / This thesis investigates how price discount promotion affects consumers' purchase decision making process with emphasis on the role of consumers' anticipated regret. Specifically, this thesis examines how the three important characteristics of price discount promotion (i.e., discount framing, promotion depth, and promotion frequency) affect consumers' behavioral response. First, this thesis provides a comprehensive review for the research literature regarding how price promotion affects consumers' response, making an in-depth discussion of the concept of anticipated regret, and then empirically identifying the effects of promotion framing, promotion depth, and promotion frequency on consumers' behavioral response. / Hao, Liaogang. / Advisers: Jianmin Jia; Samart Powpaka. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-06, Section: A, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-159). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest dissertations and theses, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.

The activity of translating something into a monetary amount – the price - is central to markets. Yet we know remarkably little about the practice of pricing beyond theories of economic rationale or market positioning and, as a construct, price has remained largely within the economists’ domain. This research pushes for and contributes towards the need for more substantive studies of pricing. With particular emphasis on money-meanings, this research applies prior socio-economic research in an examination of discourses of the pricing process in order to better understand pricing as a social and meaning-full activity. In its focus on pricers this research contributes to the call for more studies of supply-side meaning-making within markets, and addresses the consumer-focussed imbalance in previously published price research

Yang, Haiqin. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-109). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.ii / Acknowledgement --- p.v / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Time Series Prediction and Its Problems --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Major Contributions --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- Thesis Organization --- p.3 / Chapter 1.4 --- Notation --- p.4 / Chapter 2 --- Literature Review --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1 --- Framework --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Data Processing --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Model Building --- p.10 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Forecasting Procedure --- p.12 / Chapter 2.2 --- Model Descriptions --- p.13 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Linear Models --- p.15 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Non-linear Models --- p.17 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- ARMA Models --- p.21 / Chapter 2.2.4 --- Support Vector Machines --- p.23 / Chapter 3 --- Support Vector Regression --- p.27 / Chapter 3.1 --- Regression Problem --- p.27 / Chapter 3.2 --- Loss Function --- p.29 / Chapter 3.3 --- Kernel Function --- p.34 / Chapter 3.4 --- Relation to Other Models --- p.36 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Relation to Support Vector Classification --- p.36 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Relation to Ridge Regression --- p.38 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- Relation to Radial Basis Function --- p.40 / Chapter 3.5 --- Implemented Algorithms --- p.40 / Chapter 4 --- Margins in Support Vector Regression --- p.46 / Chapter 4.1 --- Problem --- p.47 / Chapter 4.2 --- General ε-insensitive Loss Function --- p.48 / Chapter 4.3 --- Accuracy Metrics and Risk Measures --- p.52 / Chapter 5 --- Margin Variation --- p.55 / Chapter 5.1 --- Non-fixed Margin Cases --- p.55 / Chapter 5.1.1 --- Momentum --- p.55 / Chapter 5.1.2 --- GARCH --- p.57 / Chapter 5.2 --- Experiments --- p.58 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Momentum --- p.58 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- GARCH --- p.65 / Chapter 5.3 --- Discussions --- p.72 / Chapter 6 --- Relation between Downside Risk and Asymmetrical Margin Settings --- p.77 / Chapter 6.1 --- Mathematical Derivation --- p.77 / Chapter 6.2 --- Algorithm --- p.81 / Chapter 6.3 --- Experiments --- p.83 / Chapter 6.4 --- Discussions --- p.86 / Chapter 7 --- Conclusion --- p.92 / Chapter A --- Basic Results for Solving SVR --- p.94 / Chapter A.1 --- Dual Theory --- p.94 / Chapter A.2 --- Standard Method to Solve SVR --- p.96 / Bibliography --- p.98

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O presente trabalho analisa a importância da determinação de preços para a competitividade do varejo supermercadista. Após uma revisão da literatura sobre as diversas definições de preços e as formas de estabelecê-los, são analisadas as seis etapas propostas por especialistas de marketing para o apreçamento estratégico de produtos. Nessas seis etapas são discutidas a influência da demanda e a importância dos custos, os métodos de estabelecimento mais utilizados, descrevendo-se suas características e limitações, as técnicas de adequação à diversas situações, bem como a seleção do preço final. Os passos adotados pelos varejistas são também abordados, assim como outras variáveis que têm impacto na estratégia escolhida para se fixar os preços nos supermercados, além da demanda, dos custos e dos concorrentes. Por fim, as estratégias de apreçamento são estudadas empiricamente, por meio de entrevistas em profundidade com gerentes de três redes de varejo de grande porte que atuam no mercado nacional, onde é verificada a utilização das técnicas de apreçamento, como instrumento de auxílio na tomada de decisões relacionadas aos programas de preço da empresa. Em conclusão, verifica-se que à medida que os especialistas em varejo buscam mais bases científicas e confiáveis para auxiliar na tomada de decisões quanto à definição de políticas de preços, é essencial que possuam uma compreensão clara dos conceitos e das variáveis da que influenciam na determinação dos preços dos produtos que comercializam, assim como o conhecimento das diversas técnicas de apreçamento, além do mark-up. / The present paper analyses the importance of pricing for the competitiveness of the retail sector (supermarkets). After a bibliographic survey on the several definitions concerning price and how it is determinate, six steps, proposed by marketing experts, to products strategic pricing are analyzed. In these steps, the demand influence, the costs importance and the most important pricing methods are discussed, describing their characteristics and limitations, the techniques to adequate it to different situations, as so as the final price selection. The steps that are adopted by supermarket retail are also outlined, thus as the variables that have some influence on its chosen pricing strategy. Demand and competitors costs are also analyzed. Finally, pricing strategies are empirically studied through multicases study on three large retail chains. In this part, the use by these companies of pricing methods as a tool to assist decision making related to the long-run pricing programs is verified. In conclusion, it is seen that, while retail specialists seek more scientific and reliable bases for aiding the decisions regarding the price strategies, it is essential that they posses a clear comprehension of the concepts and the variables that have influence on products price determination that are commercialized by themselves, as well as the technical skills to pricing, besides the mark-up method.

Regarding most law cases of resale price maintenance (RPM), non-pricing strategies (mostly termed ”services”) that were first brought by Tesler (1960) are usually applied to justify RPM. However, if cases are rarely involved with non-pricing strategies or the significance of services is hard to judge, it would be difficult for lawyers to defend for RPM under the traditional services framework. This paper addresses this problem using a model with one manufacturer and two retailers. The retailers choose their own prices but nothing else. If retailers differ, the model can generate equilibria– only with a uniform wholesale price, the retailers will choose the prices lower than those that would maximize the profit of the supply chain. By imposing minimum RPM, this underpricing problem could be resolved without requiring services to be any significant determinants of the demands faced by retailers. Under certain conditions, the use of RPM could even increase the welfare of both the supply chain and consumer. / 在大部分关于涉及到转售价格维持协议（简称RPM）的法律案件中，我们通常会使用非价格策略（大部分称为“服务”因素）来证明RPM是合法的。非价格策略是Telsor（1960）第一个提出的。然而，如果案件很少涉及非价格策略或者服务的显著性难以衡量，律师在传统的服务因素框架下为RPM辩护会变得很难。本文通过构建一个包含一个厂商和两个零售商的模型来解决这个问题。在模型中，零售商只能选择定产品的价格。如果两个零售商是不相同的，本文模型会得到一个均衡——在只有一个批发价的情况下，零售商选择的售价会低于使得整个供应链获利最多的价格。通过RPM的设置，这个定价过低的问题可以得到解决，而且不需要服务成为零售商需求函数的显著决定因素。在某一些条件下，使用RPM甚至可以增加供应链和消费者的福利。 / Mao, Wenzheng. / Thesis M.Phil. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 36-37). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on 24, October, 2016). / Detailed summary in vernacular field only.

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