This thesis uses laboratory experiments to develop a methodology to estimate the expected welfare benefits of insurance for individuals, conditional on their risk preferences. This methodology is then applied to study the welfare effects of issues that impact microinsurance, or insurance for the poor. The first result is that insurance take-up not a good proxy for the expected welfare gain of an individual’s choice to purchase or not to purchase insurance. The second result is that basis risk reduces the welfare obtained from index insurance. This welfare is significantly improved by having greater behavioral consistency with the Reduction of Compound Lotteries axiom. Finally, the risk of contract non-performance from the insurer significantly reduces the welfare obtained from insurance purchase decisions.

A mixed methods approach was applied to investigate horse health and performance in Pony Club horses. The qualitative phase (in-depth interviews) explored owners’ perceptions of horse health and performance, whilst the quantitative phase (prospective longitudinal study) identified key health and performance problems with associated risk factors in a cohort of Pony Club horses. Quantitative analytical methods included descriptive, logistic regression and negative binomial regression analyses. Data quality and therefore internal and external validity were improved by preceding the longitudinal study with the qualitative phase. Horse health was not a well defined concept among participants, preventive health care was rarely practiced and other routine health care were administered on an ad hoc basis. Owners of Pony Club horses were concerned about their horses’ welfare, but resorted to non-veterinary sources for advice on horse health. Farriers, chiropractors and equine dentists performed the majority of health care. This observed absence of veterinary involvement in preventive and routine health care matched owners’ perceptions of veterinarians as disease experts whom they consulted for emergencies or as a last resort. Coupled with the apparent absence of pre-purchase examinations these findings raise serious concerns about the veterinary impact on the health of Pony Club horses. It was concluded that opportunities exist to improve the veterinary involvement with Pony Clubs and facilitate the extension of appropriate horse health type information. The health of Pony Club horses was found to be suboptimal with musculoskeletal and dermatological problems the most common diseases identified. High prevalences of lameness and sore backs were observed, but owner sensitivity of their detection was extremely low. Several of the horse-level risk factors identified, including height and breed for lameness, and height breed and gender for sore backs, were only alterable at the time of purchase. This suggests that owners may be at risk of purchasing horses with existing disease conditions, particularly in the absence of a veterinary examination. Other risk factors for sore backs, including housing, exercise, and body condition score could be reasoned on biomechanical grounds. An important outcome of this study was the following definition of a healthy horse: one free from pain and mentally and physically fit to participate regularly in the full range of required activities. An inextricable link between horse performance, exercise and behaviour was revealed during in-depth interviews. Initial intentions of using misbehaviour as a surrogate measure of poor performance were discarded resulting in an investigation of poor performance associated with misbehaviour, but not poor performance attributable to factors other than misbehaviour. Horses were generally exercised infrequently during each month, and this varied with season, with individual sessions lasting less than one hour. In terms of horse fitness these infrequent riding days suggest lack of strategy towards improving horse and rider skills and fitness. Another key outcome was a universally applicable definition of horse performance for Pony Club horses: good performance is considered to have occurred when the horse meets rider expectations. This is the first time that incidence of misbehaviour and associated risk factors have been described in a population of horses. Misbehaviour was more common during schooling and competing relative to pleasure riding, and more than half of the misbehaviour events were considered dangerous. Horse height, breed, and rider age were identified as risk factors for horse misbehaviour with tall Pony breeds ridden by teenagers the most likely to misbehave. The results highlighted the need to consider non-veterinary stakeholders, such as riders and Pony Club instructors, in programs to reduce misbehaviour in Pony Club horses. The study horses were kept predominantly at pasture in paddocks. The pastures these horses grazed represented an underused nutritional resource. Dietary supplements were commonly fed and often in excess. Involving agronomists to improve these horse pastures and employing simple monitoring tools such as body condition scoring more effectively will reduce reliance on expensive supplemental feeds as well as reduce the risk of obesity related disorders. Furthermore, pasture improvement coupled with strategic pasture rotation of horses and other livestock offers prospects for internal parasite control through less reliance on anthelmintics. The incidence of colic was very low in study horses, possibly due to the predominantly pasture-based diet and lifestyle of study horses. However, this same diet may have contributed to the high frequency of laminitis. Laminitis affected 24% of horses for part or all of the study, with 85 % of affected horses suffering recurring lameness and / or laminitis. Purchase of horses with chronic laminitis must be carefully considered due to this high frequency of recurrence. These findings suggest that more regular veterinary contact with Pony Club horses is desirable and would provide opportunities for owners to obtain veterinary advice on preventive health care. This veterinary contact could commence with a pre-purchase examination, and continue with comprehensive annual health checks. To achieve this, Pony Club veterinarians may have to become pro-active in marketing services beyond the treatment of disease to this sector of the equine industry.

Despite predictions of Internet shopping reaching 6.9 trillion dollars by the end of 2004, research is now suggesting many online consumers are still very reluctant to complete the online shopping process. A number of authors have attributed consumers' reluctance to purchase online to apparent barriers, however, such barriers have not been fully examined within a theoretical context. While most studies of consumers' decision to shop on the Internet have focussed on key shopping determinants, this thesis builds a conceptual model grounded in consumer behaviour theory. In particular, this thesis explores the application of the perceived risk theoretical framework, specifically looking at one dimension of perceived risk theory - performance risk and the influence it has on the phenomenon of Internet Abandoned Cart Syndrome (ACS). To explore this phenomenon, a number of extrinsic cues are identified as playing a major role in the performance evaluation process of online purchases. The combination of these elements enabled the researcher to develop a conceptual model from which a series of propositions were drawn. To acquire pertinent data and investigate each proposition, this study used a combination of indirect and direct techniques, namely projective techniques in the form of a third-person vignette, a structured tick-box questionnaire and finally semi-structured interviews. The results suggest that collectively the extrinsic cues of brand, reputation, design and price have an overall impact on the performance evaluation process just prior to an online purchase. Varying these cues either positively or negatively had a strong impact on performance evaluation. The conclusion of this study suggests consumers are often unable to measure the full extent of risk-taking directly. In the majority of cases, consumers are guided by numerous factors, some intrinsic, others extrinsic. E-tailers with an established reputation, a well designed web site with known brands and a balanced pricing strategy reduce the perceived performance risks associated with purchasing online, thus reducing the occurrence of ACS.

nÃo hà / This work analyzes the performance graph and quantitative metrics under different gain, volatility, skewness, kurtosis and dynamic performance of portfolios composed of 85 investment funds Hedge in Brazil, vis-Ã-vis the major market benchmarks and traditional options investments. In this context, this empirical study is aligned with Matos e Artur (2011) strategies to address dynamic composition during the period 2005 to 2010, annual basis, containing the 10 winners and 10 funds Loosers. In scenarios characterized by economic boom or recovery of financial markets, the adoption of active strategies in funds winners in performance, equal stakes, provides increases in average earnings, risk reduction associated with diversification and thus increase performance in relation the benchmarks. This evidence is robust to the use of different performance metrics for the selection of funds. The strategy proposed activity is such that the investor bets each year in the 10 funds with better performance (winners) in Calmar, in Sharpe, Treynor and Sortino in. Analyses were also the same strategy, but buying the 10 funds with the worst performance (Loosers). According to the results, the annual ranking of Hedge Funds is very robust to changes in the performance metric used. The portfolios consist of the winners have funds throughout the period accumulated higher real earnings, the real gain around 25% higher than that obtained by the Savings and about 16% of funds portfolios Loosers. During the pre-crisis real earnings ranged between winners and Loosers during the period between the different portfolios, while in times of crisis real earnings of the Fund winners were around 35% higher than those obtained by the Funds Loosers. Noteworthy is the high performance, in absolute terms, with funds of winners portfolios compared to the savings, as well as the superiority in relation to portfolios with funds Loosers, a robust evidence consequence of technical expertise winners of funds and high risk exposure funds Loosers. / Este trabalho analisa o desempenho sob as mais diversas mÃtricas de ganho, volatilidade e performance de portfÃlios dinÃmicos compostos por 85 fundos de investimento Multimercado no Brasil, vis-Ã-vis os principais benchmarks de mercado e opÃÃes tradicionais de investimentos. Neste contexto, este estudo empÃrico està alinhado a Matos e Artur (2011), ao abordar estratÃgias de composiÃÃo dinÃmica, durante o perÃodo de 2005 a 2010, com frequÃncia anual, contendo os 10 fundos winners e os 10 fundos Loosers. Em cenÃrios econÃmicos caracterizados por boom ou mesmo recuperaÃÃo dos mercados financeiros, a adoÃÃo de estratÃgias ativa em fundos winners em performance proporciona aumentos de ganhos mÃdios, reduÃÃo de risco associada à diversificaÃÃo e, consequentemente, melhor desempenho em relaÃÃo a benchmarks. Esta evidÃncia à robusta ao uso de diferentes mÃtricas de performance para seleÃÃo dos fundos. A estratÃgia ativa proposta, à tal que, o investidor aposta a cada ano nos 10 fundos com melhor performance (winners) em Calmar, em Sharpe, em Sortino e em Treynor. Analisa-se, tambÃm, a mesma estratÃgia, porÃm comprando os 10 fundos com pior performance (Loosers). Segundo os resultados, o ranking anual dos fundos Multimercados à robusto à mudanÃa na mÃtrica de performance usada. Os portfÃlios compostos pelos fundos winners possuem durante todo o perÃodo ganhos reais acumulados superiores, com o ganho real em torno de 25% superior ao obtido pela PoupanÃa e cerca de 16% das carteiras compostas pelos fundos Loosers. Durante o PerÃodo prÃ-crise os ganhos reais entre winners e Loosers oscilaram durante todo o perÃodo entre as diferentes carteiras, enquanto que no perÃodo de crise os ganhos reais dos Fundos winners ficaram em torno de 35% superiores aos obtidos pelos Fundos Loosers. Destaca-se o alto desempenho, em termos absolutos, dos portfÃlios com fundos winners quando comparados com a poupanÃa, assim como a superioridade com relaÃÃo aos portfÃlios com fundos Loosers, uma evidÃncia robusta consequÃncia da expertise tÃcnica dos fundos winners e da elevada exposiÃÃo ao risco dos fundos Loosers.

nÃo hà / This article aims to measure and analyze potential impacts from the financial crisis of 2007 in the sector of transport and vehicles and in Brazil, whose growth in recent years surpassed many other sectors of the economy and the Brazilian Gross Domestic Product. To this end, it was made use of descriptive statistics associated with various forms of risk, and performance of the distributions of nominal daily return of companies that make up this sector, every six months, from 2005 to 2010 was used as benchmark some market and industry indexes. Due to some factors, among them, heavy subjection on credit for the sale of new vehicles and export profile associated with the most important companies in this sector, it was observed that the daily returns of the shares of individual companies, as well as the return of representative aggregated index of this sector, reacted to the crisis with accumulated expressive losses. Some shares have accumulated losses of more than 80% in value, as occurred with TPIS3, and fairly high standard deviation up to 12.66% for WISA4. Both the direction of change as the value of the shares were provided by outline micro founded given by the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). In the postcrisis period, the industry reacted to a greater extent more than it was expected by fundamentals and the returns of firms and the aggregate index of the sector exceeded all other indexes analyzed in this study. At the same time that the results exceeded the returns of other indices, statistical analyzes were favorable to the sector of transport vehicles and having smaller standard deviation and better indications of Sharpes, Sortino, Treynor and Calmar. / Este artigo visa mensurar e analisar os possÃveis impactos oriundos da crise financeira de 2007 no setor de veÃculos e transportes no Brasil, cujo crescimento nos Ãltimos anos superou o de vÃrios outros setores da economia e do prÃprio Produto Interno Bruto brasileiro. Com este intuito, fez-se uso de estatÃsticas descritivas associadas Ãs diversas formas de risco e de performance das distribuiÃÃes de retorno lÃquido nominal diÃrio das empresas que compÃem este setor, com periodicidade semestral, de 2005 a 2010 e utilizou-se como benchmark alguns Ãndices de mercado e setoriais. Em razÃo de alguns fatores, possivelmente entre eles, forte dependÃncia de crÃdito para a venda de veÃculos novos e do perfil exportador associado Ãs principais empresas deste setor, observou-se que os retornos diÃrios das aÃÃes das empresas individuais, assim como o retorno de um Ãndice agregado representativo desse setor, reagiram à crise com perdas acumuladas expressivas.Algumas aÃÃes sofreram perdas acumuladas de mais de 80% em seu valor, como ocorreu com TPIS3, e desvio padrÃo bastante elevado de atà 12,66% no caso da WISA4. Tanto a direÃÃo da variaÃÃo como o valor das aÃÃes foram previstos pelo arcabouÃo microfundamentado dado pelo Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). No perÃodo pÃs-crise, o setor reagiu em maior intensidade que a prevista pelos fundamentos e os retornos das empresas e do Ãndice agregado do setor superaram o de todos os outros Ãndices analisados neste estudo. Ao mesmo tempo em que os retornos superaram os resultados dos outros Ãndices, as anÃlises estatÃsticas foram favorÃveis ao setor de veÃculos e transportes apresentando menor desvio padrÃo e melhores Ãndices de Sharpe, Sortino, Treynor e Calmar.

La presente investigación tiene como principal objetivo poder analizar los riesgos de la banca por internet y cómo afectan en el uso sobre el usuario del sector bancario peruano. Con la finalidad de determinar la relación de las variables riesgos percibido de seguridad, privacidad y desempeño con las variables confianza y actitud. Esto tiene importancia, ya que, la banca por internet se encuentra en constante crecimiento mundial debido a la pandemia surgida por el Covid-19, otorgándole una mayor importancia por parte del consumidor frecuente de la banca. Por ende, se busca determinar la influencia de los riesgos percibidos y si afecta en el uso de la banca por internet. La población sujeta a estudio fueron los clientes de los bancos mayores a 25 años, residentes de Lima Metropolitana. Para la recolección de datos se utilizó como instrumento la encuesta virtual, se estructuró las preguntas siguiendo las dimensiones identificadas para el tema de investigación las cuales son: riesgos percibidos; riesgo de seguridad, privacidad y desempeño; actitud; confianza y uso de la banca por internet. / The main objective of this research is to be able to analyze the risks of internet banking and how they affect the use of the user in the Peruvian banking sector. In order to determine the relationship of the variables perceived security, privacy and performance risks with the variables of trust and attitude. This is important, since online banking is in constant global growth due to the pandemic that arose from Covid-19, giving it greater importance by the frequent consumer of banking. Therefore, it seeks to determine the influence of perceived risks and whether it affects the use of internet banking. The population subject to study was the clients of banks over 25 years of age, residents of Lima. For data collection, the survey was used as an instrument, the questions were structured following the dimensions identified for the research topic, which are: perceived risks; security, privacy and performance risk; attitude; trust and use of internet banking. / Trabajo de investigación