No description available.

This study was done against the backdrop that executives should carefully consider all the options to manage difficult periods before letting employees go, especially if they are going to rehire employees shortly after the economic recovery. Therefore, the study investigated whether investing in operational development of a plant can be used to increase feasibility, rather than to make across–the–board labour cuts. Two South African mining companies were chosen for this study. They are two investment centres at AngloGold Ashanti, Mine X Ltd. and Mine Z Ltd. The investigating project was done at Mine X to extract gold from the neighbouring Mine Z. Mine X will have access to the minerals 40 years in advance of Mine Z due to insufficient essential infrastructure at Mine Z. The life–time of the project is 18 years (estimated). The main objective of this study is to investigate the feasibility, from Mine X’s point of view, with a deepening project including Mine Z. The most significant aspect will be to determine which investment timeframe decision will gain Mine X a feasible position in terms of economic growth. This will be achieved by the following secondary objectives in making a capital investment decision: 1. To describe the nature and significance of investment decision making. 2. To recognise appropriate capital investment evaluation techniques in conjunction with sensitivity analysis. 3. To apply the techniques and sensitivity analysis in order to make a decision of a possible, feasible investment opportunity at Mine X. 4. To develop a framework to identify the project’s components and associate and access difficulties for Mine X‘s project lifecycle. The feasibility study undertakes multiple scenarios and provides recommendations and a final report, based on the scenario that is the most viable. The following techniques which were identified were used to analyse the feasibility of the project: Net present value, internal rate of return and payback period. All these above techniques will be analysed in three different scenarios, namely: 1. Mine X will stay with its current operations without any new projects. 2. The development project will begin immediately. 3. A six–month delay in development of the project. The study found that the net present value was positive, the internal rate of return was more than the discount rate and the payback period was shorter than the project’s life–time regarding to all three above–mentioned scenarios. The highest net present value is calculated in case the project starts immediately. Both the internal rate of return and the payback period indicated that a six month delay in the project is the most viable. After considering all the facts, the study concluded due to the highest net present value the best feasible recommendation would be to start the project immediately. The value of this study is that it is the first study to investigate the relationship between the viability to delay or to start the investment project immediately in the South African mining industry. This study is also unique, since it takes into account how mining industries world–wide can achieve long–term success through development projects without losing key players, due to impulsive short–term downsizing decisions. / Thesis (M.Com. (Management Accountancy))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

This study was done against the backdrop that executives should carefully consider all the options to manage difficult periods before letting employees go, especially if they are going to rehire employees shortly after the economic recovery. Therefore, the study investigated whether investing in operational development of a plant can be used to increase feasibility, rather than to make across–the–board labour cuts. Two South African mining companies were chosen for this study. They are two investment centres at AngloGold Ashanti, Mine X Ltd. and Mine Z Ltd. The investigating project was done at Mine X to extract gold from the neighbouring Mine Z. Mine X will have access to the minerals 40 years in advance of Mine Z due to insufficient essential infrastructure at Mine Z. The life–time of the project is 18 years (estimated). The main objective of this study is to investigate the feasibility, from Mine X’s point of view, with a deepening project including Mine Z. The most significant aspect will be to determine which investment timeframe decision will gain Mine X a feasible position in terms of economic growth. This will be achieved by the following secondary objectives in making a capital investment decision: 1. To describe the nature and significance of investment decision making. 2. To recognise appropriate capital investment evaluation techniques in conjunction with sensitivity analysis. 3. To apply the techniques and sensitivity analysis in order to make a decision of a possible, feasible investment opportunity at Mine X. 4. To develop a framework to identify the project’s components and associate and access difficulties for Mine X‘s project lifecycle. The feasibility study undertakes multiple scenarios and provides recommendations and a final report, based on the scenario that is the most viable. The following techniques which were identified were used to analyse the feasibility of the project: Net present value, internal rate of return and payback period. All these above techniques will be analysed in three different scenarios, namely: 1. Mine X will stay with its current operations without any new projects. 2. The development project will begin immediately. 3. A six–month delay in development of the project. The study found that the net present value was positive, the internal rate of return was more than the discount rate and the payback period was shorter than the project’s life–time regarding to all three above–mentioned scenarios. The highest net present value is calculated in case the project starts immediately. Both the internal rate of return and the payback period indicated that a six month delay in the project is the most viable. After considering all the facts, the study concluded due to the highest net present value the best feasible recommendation would be to start the project immediately. The value of this study is that it is the first study to investigate the relationship between the viability to delay or to start the investment project immediately in the South African mining industry. This study is also unique, since it takes into account how mining industries world–wide can achieve long–term success through development projects without losing key players, due to impulsive short–term downsizing decisions. / Thesis (M.Com. (Management Accountancy))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Organic solar cells (OSCs) are of interest because the technology offers a significant opportunity to reduce the overall costs of solar energy. OSCs can be very inexpensive to produce given that they rely on non-commodity materials and can use existing manufacturing techniques that are not labour- and capital-intensive. In this research, a financial model, named TEEOS (Technological and Economic Evaluator for Organic Solar), is developed and is used to determine financial indicators, such as simple payback period. These indicators are used to determine technical objectives for the OSCs. Two sample cells are evaluated in Toronto, Canada using historical data. The results show that the cell with a higher efficiency and wider absorptive wavelength range produces a payback period of approximately nine years, while the other cell has a payback period well over 45 years. Stochastic modeling techniques are also used to better replicate electricity price and weather fluctuations.

Organic solar cells (OSCs) are of interest because the technology offers a significant opportunity to reduce the overall costs of solar energy. OSCs can be very inexpensive to produce given that they rely on non-commodity materials and can use existing manufacturing techniques that are not labour- and capital-intensive. In this research, a financial model, named TEEOS (Technological and Economic Evaluator for Organic Solar), is developed and is used to determine financial indicators, such as simple payback period. These indicators are used to determine technical objectives for the OSCs. Two sample cells are evaluated in Toronto, Canada using historical data. The results show that the cell with a higher efficiency and wider absorptive wavelength range produces a payback period of approximately nine years, while the other cell has a payback period well over 45 years. Stochastic modeling techniques are also used to better replicate electricity price and weather fluctuations.

This research project estimated economic costs and benefits of winter wheat production in the Canadian Prairies at a farm level. A combination of Net Present Value analysis and Monte Carlo simulation was used to build cash flow farm models by province and soil zone. The objective of this study was to examine the economic feasibility of winter wheat production on the Prairies. Results show that Prairie farmers will benefit from growing winter wheat if crop research further improves cold tolerance, yield, or quality of winter wheat. Incorporating winter wheat into crop rotations has potential to increase farmers’ wealth in the Canadian Prairies. / Agricultural and Resource Economics

Submitted by Diogo Saraiva (diogosaraivarj@gmail.com) on 2016-06-21T18:22:50Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_Diogo_Saraiva.pdf: 1438960 bytes, checksum: 75bf0c000613e5b32c7480ba2c0a1f9b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by GILSON ROCHA MIRANDA (gilson.miranda@fgv.br) on 2016-06-30T14:47:59Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_Diogo_Saraiva.pdf: 1438960 bytes, checksum: 75bf0c000613e5b32c7480ba2c0a1f9b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Almeida (maria.socorro@fgv.br) on 2016-07-13T12:51:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_Diogo_Saraiva.pdf: 1438960 bytes, checksum: 75bf0c000613e5b32c7480ba2c0a1f9b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-13T12:51:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_Diogo_Saraiva.pdf: 1438960 bytes, checksum: 75bf0c000613e5b32c7480ba2c0a1f9b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-11-27 / The knowledge of the current state of the economy is crucial for policy makers, economists and analysts. However, a key economic variable, the gross domestic product (GDP), are typically colected on a quartely basis and released with substancial delays by the national statistical agencies. The first aim of this paper is to use a dynamic factor model to forecast the current russian GDP, using a set of timely monthly information. This approach can cope with the typical data flow problems of non-synchronous releases, mixed frequency and the curse of dimensionality. Given that Russian economy is largely dependent on the commodity market, our second motivation relates to study the effects of innovations in the russian macroeconomic fundamentals on commodity price predictability. We identify these innovations through a news index which summarizes deviations of offical data releases from the expectations generated by the DFM and perform a forecasting exercise comparing the performance of different models.

This thesis contains the business plan of the reconstruction of a weekend house to an apartment house. The theoretical part contains the needed resources for the correct design of a business plan, including both its shape and content. Those principles are applied to the project in the practical part. A part of the work is the financial analysis of this investment through the methods of the Net Present Value, the Internal Rate of Return and the Payback Period.

The main objective of this thesis is to provide management of specific company with valid information concerning intended investment in construction of a small photovoltaic power plant. Valuation of the investment is done using methods: payback period, discounted payback period, net present value, internal rate of return and profitability index. There is a comlete sensitivity analysis included in the thesis. Besides the valuation itself, the thesis provide also relevant information about the company, legal environment, czech and european renewable energy market and current state of the project.

Thesis and feasibility study that addresses the viability of a construction project to build housing for the care of the elderly and senior citizens of Usti nad Orlici. The study examines all the necessary aspects surrounding feasibility of the project and in particular, the results of market and economic analysis including personnel and staffing. The thesis concludes with a summary indicating feasibility or non feasibility of the project.