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Africa’s rapid adoption of the mobile phone is quickly closing the digital divide in voice services. But, just as one divide is closing, another one is widening. Consumers almost everywhere are demanding more services and higher Internet access data rates. In the developing world the knowledge gained through access to information is creating unprecedented opportunities and is having a dramatic impact on the way people live and work. Africa, however, has been largely left behind in the shift to broadband. Increasing the availability and affordability of broadband services is thus high on the agenda for policy makers in Africa, though it will require major efforts from both government and the private sector. Fundamental to the all efforts to close the “digital divide” is the need to provide a ubiquitous and affordable access network that will enable distribution of broadband services to anywhere, and anytime throughout Africa. While many kinds of broadband services are being offered to the African population, the currently available services have failed to reach the majority of Africans living in rural areas. This poses a very pertinent question that justifies further investigations: why have the existing broadband services failed to satisfy Africa’s need for a ubiquitous digital communication service. The lack of penetration of the existing services makes it clear that a different technology and service offering is needed, a service offering that is affordable to the large consumer market segment and which can complement the mobile and ADSL broadband networks to provide services to all of Africa on a cost effective basis. This research work investigates the current business and technology domains and develops new knowledge and the insights that are required firstly to understand why existing broadband services are failing to reach rural Africa and secondly to understand what criteria must be satisfied to deliver broadband access services to the mass consumer Africa market. The research work focuses on the interrelationships between markets, technology and business of the consumer broadband market and defines new thinking as reference to provide guidance to the future development of more suitable broadband offerings for the rural African market. The study centres around three principal areas of knowledge contribution. Analysis of the primary factors impacting the delivery of broadband services Firstly the study addresses the current market dynamics and technology realities to determine two critical aspects: 1) Can the mass market afford broadband services or will it remain the privilege of the higher income groups? And, 2) Can existing mobile broadband , ADSL and satellite access services meet the demands to service the mass market or is an alternative technology option required? Through analytical review the study determined that there is a large, and growing, middle class market that can afford broadband access services. This market sector is quantified in terms of consumer income levels and demographic user data. The study formulates the commercial and service criteria applicable to a broadband access service on servicing this target market. The study further investigates the availability, affordability and market penetration of the current mobile and ADSL broadband services and found that the available service options cannot effectively meet the current and future demand. The limitation in meeting the current market demand leads to a large under serviced consumer market in Africa. The study proposes a unique approach to quantify the specific under-serviced gap, which will not be met by currently available broadband technologies. The technology comparative study provides new insight into the limitations of mobile 3G broadband services and why this technology will not be able to meet the future demand for consumer broadband services in Africa. The technology study furthermore quantifies the advantages of using satellite technology to implement a mass consumer broadband service in Africa. The study proves that the ubiquitous nature and rapid deployment capabilities of satellite access networks provides distinct benefits when deploying a mass consumer network which makes satellite the technology of choice for consumer broadband services. We then continue to assess the ability of existing satellite broadband offerings to satisfy the needs of African end-users, and find that those offerings have been optimized for the needs and affordability levels of customers from the develop world. The result is that satellite broadband services aimed at the African end-user is primarily used by corporate and institutional customers, with little penetration of the consumer market. This finding provides the motivation for developing a business model that can leverage available technology to effectively service the African consumer market. Innovation of new concepts to support a viable broadband business strategy The mobile prepay model as well as the DStv pay-TV subscription services have demonstrated the need for a specific business innovation to ensure successful market adoption of new technologies. Both these industries have demonstrated that innovative approaches in the commercialization of technology solutions are critical to ensure the mass adoption thereof. The second section of the study therefore focuses on the innovations that are required to overcome the obstacles as identified in section 1 in order to arrive at a business strategy and business model that will prove to be viable in the delivery of broadband services to the rural African consumer market. The first challenge is the selection of the most appropriate technology platforms and the architectural design of the delivery systems to effectively service the mass consumer market. In order to adapt the business models employed by existing satellite broadband service providers the study defines the following two specific business innovation concepts that contribute to a new business paradigm for mass market broadband access services: 1) Through applied billing model innovation the study defines a new billing structure for broadband services and set a completely new paradigm for users to influence the cost of the service. The new billing model provides end-user the capability to adapt their broadband usage patterns to meet their budget constraints. 2) To successfully deliver a technology service to an emerging market requires a very specific organisational structure that effectively integrates knowledge, capability and funding while minimizing risk and uncertainty. The study proposes a new symbiotic organisational structure that elegantly combines capability and knowledge while minimizing funding requirements to ensure the acceptable market development risk. Development of a business model simulator for satellite broadband service delivery The deployment of a new type of satellite broadband service to rural Africa on an experimental basis is too expensive to be conducted for research purposes. A more practical approach that is also widely used in other domains of engineering is to construct a simulated model of the system being studied. The third knowledge contribution area of the study therefore focuses on constructing a mathematical model of the expected behavior of a business operation that provides satellite based broadband services to the African market. This simulator can be applied to quantitatively analyze various existing or proposed new business strategies. The business model simulation integrates all the business, market, technology and commercial relationships that impacts on the expected behavior of such an operation and provides a quantified model of expected business behavior based on the underlying dynamics of the satellite broadband industry. The development and validation of the business model simulator represents a unique contribution to this industry as no results of a similar model that represents the operations of a satellite broadband access service provider has been published before. The model empowers Service Providers and industry stakeholders to analyze different business strategies and to quantify the impact of various business decisions. In general it can be stated that this research work adds knowledge and insight to the field of applied business strategy as applicable to providing advanced technology-based services for emerging markets. The final outcome of this research study is the business model simulator. It integrates various market and business elements as well as satellite network engineering practises into an integrated financial cost modelling, business scenario planning and engineering network design tool. Through this integration of known disciplines the study provides an additional extension to the field of satellite business engineering. / PhD (Electronic Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Africa’s rapid adoption of the mobile phone is quickly closing the digital divide in voice services. But, just as one divide is closing, another one is widening. Consumers almost everywhere are demanding more services and higher Internet access data rates. In the developing world the knowledge gained through access to information is creating unprecedented opportunities and is having a dramatic impact on the way people live and work. Africa, however, has been largely left behind in the shift to broadband. Increasing the availability and affordability of broadband services is thus high on the agenda for policy makers in Africa, though it will require major efforts from both government and the private sector. Fundamental to the all efforts to close the “digital divide” is the need to provide a ubiquitous and affordable access network that will enable distribution of broadband services to anywhere, and anytime throughout Africa. While many kinds of broadband services are being offered to the African population, the currently available services have failed to reach the majority of Africans living in rural areas. This poses a very pertinent question that justifies further investigations: why have the existing broadband services failed to satisfy Africa’s need for a ubiquitous digital communication service. The lack of penetration of the existing services makes it clear that a different technology and service offering is needed, a service offering that is affordable to the large consumer market segment and which can complement the mobile and ADSL broadband networks to provide services to all of Africa on a cost effective basis. This research work investigates the current business and technology domains and develops new knowledge and the insights that are required firstly to understand why existing broadband services are failing to reach rural Africa and secondly to understand what criteria must be satisfied to deliver broadband access services to the mass consumer Africa market. The research work focuses on the interrelationships between markets, technology and business of the consumer broadband market and defines new thinking as reference to provide guidance to the future development of more suitable broadband offerings for the rural African market. The study centres around three principal areas of knowledge contribution. Analysis of the primary factors impacting the delivery of broadband services Firstly the study addresses the current market dynamics and technology realities to determine two critical aspects: 1) Can the mass market afford broadband services or will it remain the privilege of the higher income groups? And, 2) Can existing mobile broadband , ADSL and satellite access services meet the demands to service the mass market or is an alternative technology option required? Through analytical review the study determined that there is a large, and growing, middle class market that can afford broadband access services. This market sector is quantified in terms of consumer income levels and demographic user data. The study formulates the commercial and service criteria applicable to a broadband access service on servicing this target market. The study further investigates the availability, affordability and market penetration of the current mobile and ADSL broadband services and found that the available service options cannot effectively meet the current and future demand. The limitation in meeting the current market demand leads to a large under serviced consumer market in Africa. The study proposes a unique approach to quantify the specific under-serviced gap, which will not be met by currently available broadband technologies. The technology comparative study provides new insight into the limitations of mobile 3G broadband services and why this technology will not be able to meet the future demand for consumer broadband services in Africa. The technology study furthermore quantifies the advantages of using satellite technology to implement a mass consumer broadband service in Africa. The study proves that the ubiquitous nature and rapid deployment capabilities of satellite access networks provides distinct benefits when deploying a mass consumer network which makes satellite the technology of choice for consumer broadband services. We then continue to assess the ability of existing satellite broadband offerings to satisfy the needs of African end-users, and find that those offerings have been optimized for the needs and affordability levels of customers from the develop world. The result is that satellite broadband services aimed at the African end-user is primarily used by corporate and institutional customers, with little penetration of the consumer market. This finding provides the motivation for developing a business model that can leverage available technology to effectively service the African consumer market. Innovation of new concepts to support a viable broadband business strategy The mobile prepay model as well as the DStv pay-TV subscription services have demonstrated the need for a specific business innovation to ensure successful market adoption of new technologies. Both these industries have demonstrated that innovative approaches in the commercialization of technology solutions are critical to ensure the mass adoption thereof. The second section of the study therefore focuses on the innovations that are required to overcome the obstacles as identified in section 1 in order to arrive at a business strategy and business model that will prove to be viable in the delivery of broadband services to the rural African consumer market. The first challenge is the selection of the most appropriate technology platforms and the architectural design of the delivery systems to effectively service the mass consumer market. In order to adapt the business models employed by existing satellite broadband service providers the study defines the following two specific business innovation concepts that contribute to a new business paradigm for mass market broadband access services: 1) Through applied billing model innovation the study defines a new billing structure for broadband services and set a completely new paradigm for users to influence the cost of the service. The new billing model provides end-user the capability to adapt their broadband usage patterns to meet their budget constraints. 2) To successfully deliver a technology service to an emerging market requires a very specific organisational structure that effectively integrates knowledge, capability and funding while minimizing risk and uncertainty. The study proposes a new symbiotic organisational structure that elegantly combines capability and knowledge while minimizing funding requirements to ensure the acceptable market development risk. Development of a business model simulator for satellite broadband service delivery The deployment of a new type of satellite broadband service to rural Africa on an experimental basis is too expensive to be conducted for research purposes. A more practical approach that is also widely used in other domains of engineering is to construct a simulated model of the system being studied. The third knowledge contribution area of the study therefore focuses on constructing a mathematical model of the expected behavior of a business operation that provides satellite based broadband services to the African market. This simulator can be applied to quantitatively analyze various existing or proposed new business strategies. The business model simulation integrates all the business, market, technology and commercial relationships that impacts on the expected behavior of such an operation and provides a quantified model of expected business behavior based on the underlying dynamics of the satellite broadband industry. The development and validation of the business model simulator represents a unique contribution to this industry as no results of a similar model that represents the operations of a satellite broadband access service provider has been published before. The model empowers Service Providers and industry stakeholders to analyze different business strategies and to quantify the impact of various business decisions. In general it can be stated that this research work adds knowledge and insight to the field of applied business strategy as applicable to providing advanced technology-based services for emerging markets. The final outcome of this research study is the business model simulator. It integrates various market and business elements as well as satellite network engineering practises into an integrated financial cost modelling, business scenario planning and engineering network design tool. Through this integration of known disciplines the study provides an additional extension to the field of satellite business engineering. / PhD (Electronic Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

本文的研究目的為分析台灣菸品消費的特性。本文選擇採取分量迴歸法作為研究方法，探討在0.05、0.2、0.4、0.6、0.8和0.95的菸品消費分量下，吸菸家戶的菸品消費特性效果為何。資料來源為行政院家庭收支調查報告。 研究結果指出，在0.2到0.8分量的菸品消費量下，菸品的價格彈性為-0.161到-0.231之間。然而，在0.05分量的菸品消費量下，菸品的價格彈性為-0.363，而當位於0.95分量的菸品消費量時，菸品的消費彈性大幅的提升至-0.701。這代表著提高菸品稅或是菸品健康福利捐的政策是可以有效減少吸菸行為的。 更近一步探討，在0.95分量的菸品消費下，菸品的消費彈性大幅的提升至-0.701，對於此現象可能的解釋為，對於較高菸品消費量的家戶大部分為吸菸成癮者，當價格上漲時，消費者會選擇改變吸菸習慣例如戒菸或購買較便宜的香菸。 而值得一提的是，對於吸菸成癮的消費者而言，也存在一定機率會選擇購買非法的走私香菸，而走私香菸不但無法增加我國菸品稅收收入，也無法達成抑制我國吸菸率的政策目標。因此，政府在推動菸品控管政策時，須將菸品消費者的消費特性列入考量，同時也必須加強查緝非法菸品走私的行為，才能更有效達成政策目標。 / The research purpose of the paper was to analyze the characteristics of cigarette consumptions in Taiwan. The paper had adopted quantile regression as research method to discuss the effect of smoking households’ consumption characteristics to the cigarette consumptions in Taiwan at 0.05, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 0.95 quantile. Data for the research was sourced from the “Report on the Survey of Family Income & Expenditure”, conducted by the Executive Yuan, R.O.C. The results showed up that the price elasticities of cigarettes were estimated about -0.161 to -0.231 from 0.2 to 0.8 quantile of cigarettes consumption. However, the price elasticity of cigarettes was -0.363 in 0.05 quantile and raised significantly to -0.701 in 0.95 quantile. Indicating the policy of implementing cigarette tax or “Health and Welfare Surcharge on Tobacco Products” would decrease the smoking behavior effectively. Furthermore, the price elasticity changed to -0.701 in 0.95 quantile, a possible explanation for this phenomenon was that households with higher cigarette consumption were highly addicted to smoking, when the cigarette price increased, they would try to change smoking habit such as buying cheaper cigarettes or quit smoking. However, it is worth noticed that there existed risks of price sensitive smokers seek out measures to purchase less expensive cigarettes when they were highly relied on cigarettes, such as smuggled cigarettes, which may decrease future cessation efforts, and also lose the tax revenue from cigarette excise tax. Therefore, government should also take the consumption characteristics of smoking households into account and also enhance the prevention of illegal consumption behaviors when implementing the tobacco control policy.

Objetivo. Analisar a influência da renda e dos preços dos alimentos sobre a participação de frutas, legumes e verduras no consumo alimentar das famílias residentes no município de São Paulo. Métodos. A Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares (POF) da Fundação Instituto de Pesquisas Econômicas (FIPE), realizada entre 1998/1999 no município de São Paulo, serviu de base para este estudo. O padrão alimentar das famílias foi descrito a partir da participação relativa de 18 grupos de alimentos no total mensal de calorias adquirido pela família para consumo no domicilio. A influência da renda familiar e do preço dos alimentos sobre a participação de frutas, legumes e verduras (FLV) no padrão alimentar foi estudada empregando-se técnicas de análise de regressão múltipla (modelo log-log) para estimação de coeficientes de elasticidade-preço e elasticidade-renda. Resultados. Identificou-se efeito estatísticamente significante da renda familiar (efeito positivo), do preço das próprias frutas, legumes e verduras (efeito negativo) e do preço do conjunto dos demais alimentos (efeito positivo). A comparação da magnitude desses efeitos, feita pela comparação dos coeficientes de elasticidade, indica maior efeito do preço das frutas, legumes e verduras (1% de aumento no preço das FLV reduziria em 0,2% a participação desses alimentos no total calórico), efeito intermediário do preço dos demais alimentos (1% de aumento aumentaria em 0,07% a participação de FLV no total calórico) e efeito menor da renda familiar (1% de aumento na renda familiar aumentaria em 0,04% a participação de FLV no total calórico). O efeito da renda familiar e do preço das frutas, legumes e verduras sobre o consumo relativo desses alimentos foi semelhante nos vários estratos de renda enquanto o efeito dos preços dos demais alimentos tendeu a diminuir nos estratos de maior renda. Conclusão. Políticas públicas que levassem à redução do preço de frutas, legumes e verduras seriam as mais recomendadas para aumentar o consumo desses alimentos no município de São Paulo e em realidades urbanas semelhantes. / Objective. Analyze the influence of income and food prices on fruits and vegetables share of household food consumption in São Paulo city. Methods. The data obtained through Family Budget Survey (POF) from Fundacao Instituto de Pesquisas Economicas (FIPE), concerning the population of the city of Sao Paulo during the period of 1998 and 1999, was the base in this study. The household nutritional patterns were described by means of the relative participation of 18 food groups in total calories monthly acquired for home consumption. Income and food prices? influence on fruits and vegetables share was assessed through the use of multiple regression analysis techniques (Log-Log model) in order to estimate income elasticity and price elasticity coefficients. Results. Statistically significant effects of income (positive effect), fruits and vegetables prices (negative effect) and other foods prices (positive effect) were identified. Magnitude comparison among the effects observed, through comparison of elasticity coefficients, indicates a major effect from fruits and vegetables price (1% increase in prices results in a 0.2% reduction in the share of fruits and vegetables), an intermediate effect from other foods prices (1% increase in prices results in a 0.07% increase in the share of fruits and vegetables) and a smaller effect from income (1% raise in household income would achieve a 0.04% increase in the share of fruits and vegetables). The effect of household income and F&V price was similar in different income classes, while the effect of other food prices declined in higher income classes Conclusion. Public policies for reducing fruit and vegetables? prices should be the most recommended line of action in order to obtain an increase in fruit and vegetables? consumption in Sao Paulo city or any other similar urban centers.

本研究之目的在於瞭解臺灣地區有關醫療需求與利用之行為，並進而藉其 研究結果來推估部分負擔之實施成效。針對「八十年家庭收支記帳調查」 之 1,327戶家庭之資料，本研究分別以多元迴歸之線性模型與指數模型來 從事分析，並獲致下列之重要結果及發現： 1.門診價格偏彈性為 -0.27 至 -0.28 之間；住院價格偏彈性為 -0.06之間。可見兩者均欠缺彈性， 且住院較門診的彈性值更小。 2.門診之住院交叉彈性為 0.0015 至 0.0016 之間，顯示門診與住院之間有些替代效果存在。 3.門診之所得偏 彈性係數為 0.19至 0.22之間，表示門診是種正常品，且其彈性值並不大 。 4.部分負擔在門診上所節省之保險給付，若以負擔率為 10%來看，約 佔保費收入之 6.6%至 10.2%；醫療給付之 8.2%至 24.9%。但若提高部分 負擔至 25%時，則上述各數值約增加為兩倍。可見部分負擔對於保險財務 之補充，實具有相當功效。 5.以 10% 至 25% 的門診部分負擔率來估算 ，一般家庭於一年內須自付之門診費用，約佔家庭消費支出之 0.3%至 1.3%，佔儲蓄金額之0.7%至 3.0%，佔可支配所得之 0.2% 至 0.9%。其比 率並不算高，應不至於對一般家庭形成過重之經濟壓力。但若常使用醫療 資源的話，負擔將會更加提高且不容忽視。 / This research attempts to estimate the financial effects of cost-sharing system in Taiwan's health insurance. According to book-keeping data of 1,327 families, the study uses the linear & exponential model of the multiple regression to analyze the demand of the medical resources in Taiwan. The major results are as following: 1. The partial price elasticity of the outpatient care is esti- mated between -0.27 and -0.28, while the partial price elasti- city of the inpatient care is -0.06. Both are inelastic, but the inpatient care is ever more inelastic than the outpatient care. 2. The cross elasticity of the outpatient visits demanded with respect to inpatient price is between 0.0015 and 0.0016. It shows that there are some substitutions between two kinds of medical care. 3. The partial income elasticity of the outpatient care is esti- mated between 0.19 and 0.22, which reveals that the outpatient care is a normal good though the elasticity is small. 4. As to the potential effect of cost-sharing system on saving outpatient benefit, if the cost-sharing ratio were 10%, the reduced payment as the share of the premium is expected from 6.6% to 10.2% and as the share of the medical benefit from 8.2% to 24.9% depending on varying assumptions. If the ratio were raised to 25% , the reduced payment is projected to be twice as above. It implies that the cost-sharing system could be effective to improve the insurance finance. 5. It is further estimated that, when the cost-sharing ratio of the outpatient care were 25%, the cost-sharing burden for an average family is 1.3% with respect to the consumption expend- iture, 3.0% with respect to the savings and 0.9% with respect to disposable income. These ratios are not too high and an av- erage family can afford it. However, for those using medical services more heavily, their burden could be much higher and should be seriously considered.

摘要 隨著時代變遷，行銷手法愈來愈推陳出新，商品零售市場的競爭也愈來愈激烈，走進零售店會看到二件八折，第二件五折或是買一送一等降價促銷活動；剛開始做第二件五折的時候，業績瞬間成長，但是多做幾次之後，效益可能就開始往下降，因此可能開始加碼做買一送一，或是增加降價促銷的頻率，最後無法抽身，而陷入一個不得不做的僵局。所以，如何訂定適當的行銷策略，在價格促銷深度和頻率間取得平衡點，追求最大的效益，是製造商常常面臨的問題與決策。 本研究使用尼爾森量販店商品掃描資料，以餅乾銷售資料做為研究品類，探討價格促銷深度與頻率的相互關係，如何影響消費者購買趨勢。本研究根據迴歸線性模型，利用銷售資料先了解前期、節慶及競爭者等變數對該品類的影響，再分析不同的促銷折扣下的價格彈跳幅度，最後分別以二個月及三個月為單位搭配促銷的頻率，看前期有無促銷的時候，對最後一個月不同的價格促銷深度時的業績增加幅度影響。 最後以消費者預期下一次促銷時間與預期價格差異的行為理論，針對本研究結果做分析，提供行銷建議。

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T21:00:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 marcionappoturma2004.pdf.jpg: 16064 bytes, checksum: 63bd8903de8fded97b33bd71e456a876 (MD5) marcionappoturma2004.pdf: 541228 bytes, checksum: 4eb48d6772562d8bf4233391e15100f5 (MD5) marcionappoturma2004.pdf.txt: 124264 bytes, checksum: 8b4a2d0be3b8e70952e08462dfaa0e70 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-03-02T00:00:00Z / A questão central que buscou-se responder no presente estudo foi: qual o impacto dos veículos flex-fuel sobre a demanda por gasolina no Brasil? Para tentar responder esta questão foi estimada a função demanda por gasolina no Brasil e suas elasticidades-preço e renda, para o período de agosto de 1994 a julho de 2006 (era pós-Plano Real), utilizando-se técnicas de cointegração para avaliar a existência de uma relação de equilíbrio de longo prazo entre variáveis do modelo. Com a renovação da frota automotiva, centrada cada vez mais nos veículos flex-fuel, cuja participação nas vendas nacionais de veículos novos deve ultrapassar os 70% em 2006, surge a preocupação de que o deslocamento do consumo de gasolina pelo álcool hidratado leve a excedentes crescentes de gasolina no Brasil. Os resultados obtidos neste estudo indicam que a demanda por gasolina no Brasil é inelástica no longo prazo, tanto em relação a variações nos preços deste combustível, quanto a alterações na renda dos consumidores. Os valores estimados para as elasticidades-preço e renda de longo prazo foram de -0,197 e 0,685, respectivamente. Também foi estimado o coeficiente de uma variável binária de inclinação associada ao preço da gasolina, incluída no modelo com o objetivo de capturar os impactos da entrada do flex-fuel sobre a curva de demanda por gasolina a partir de março de 2003. Esta variável binária de inclinação apresentou-se com um coeficiente de aproximadamente -0,137. Isto significa que a partir de março de 2003 há uma significativa mudança na elasticidade-preço da demanda por gasolina, que se torna mais elástica, saindo de -0,197 para -0,334. Este resultado indica que o mercado nacional de combustíveis de ciclo Otto pode estar passando por mudanças estruturais, para as quais a entrada dos veículos flex-fuel é a causa mais provável e que o álcool hidratado tem se tornado um substituto menos imperfeito da gasolina. / The central question that this study seeks to answer is: What is the impact of flex-fuel vehicles on the demand for gasoline in Brazil? To attempt to answer this question, the function demand for gasoline in Brazil was estimated, as were the price and income elasticities, for the period August 1994 through July 2006 (post Plano Real era), using cointegration techniques to evaluate the existence of a long-term balance relationship between the model’s variables. With the renewal of the automotive fleet increasingly centered on flex-fuel vehicles, whose market share in the domestic sales of new vehicles should be over 70% in 2006, there is some concern that the shift from consumption of gasoline to hydrated alcohol may lead to a growing excess of gasoline in Brazil. The results obtained in this study indicate that the demand for gasoline in Brazil is inelastic in the long term, in relation both to the price variations of this fuel and to the alterations in consumer income. The amounts estimated for the price and long-term income elasticities were –0.197 and 0.685, respectively. An estimate was made of the coefficient of a dummy inclination variable, associated with the price of gasoline and included in the model to capture the impact flex-fuel has on the gasoline demand curve, starting in March 2003. This dummy inclination variable had a coefficient of approximately –0.137, meaning that, as of March 2003, there is a significant change in the price elasticity of the demand for gasoline, which becomes more elastic, going from –0.197 to –0.334. This result indicates that the Otto cycle’s national fuel market might be facing structural changes in which the launching of flexfuel vehicles is the most likely cause and that hydrated alcohol has become a less imperfect substitute for gasoline.

This dissertation thesis consists of six papers on macroeconomics, international economics, and energy economics. All the papers are tied together by the use of meta-regression analysis, which is essential for the derivation of robust policy-relevant conclusions from often conflicting results presented in the empirical literature. I use meta-analysis to quantitatively synthesize the reported research results on a given topic, correct the literature for publication selection bias, and filter out the effect of various misspecifications present in some primary studies. My results can be summarized as follows: 1) The elasticity of intertemporal substitution in consumption, a key input to all dynamic models in finance and macroeconomics, varies significantly across countries. The differences can be explained by the level of stock market participation, when countries with higher participation exhibit larger values of the elasticity; the mean reported elasticity is 0.5. 2) The effect of borders on international trade, which most authors find to be surprisingly large, can be explained away by innovations in methodology introduced in the last decade. When these innovations are taken into account jointly, the border effect disappears for developed countries, and is relatively small for developing countries. 3) When...

Objetivo. Analisar a influência da renda e dos preços dos alimentos sobre a participação de frutas, legumes e verduras no consumo alimentar das famílias residentes no município de São Paulo. Métodos. A Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares (POF) da Fundação Instituto de Pesquisas Econômicas (FIPE), realizada entre 1998/1999 no município de São Paulo, serviu de base para este estudo. O padrão alimentar das famílias foi descrito a partir da participação relativa de 18 grupos de alimentos no total mensal de calorias adquirido pela família para consumo no domicilio. A influência da renda familiar e do preço dos alimentos sobre a participação de frutas, legumes e verduras (FLV) no padrão alimentar foi estudada empregando-se técnicas de análise de regressão múltipla (modelo log-log) para estimação de coeficientes de elasticidade-preço e elasticidade-renda. Resultados. Identificou-se efeito estatísticamente significante da renda familiar (efeito positivo), do preço das próprias frutas, legumes e verduras (efeito negativo) e do preço do conjunto dos demais alimentos (efeito positivo). A comparação da magnitude desses efeitos, feita pela comparação dos coeficientes de elasticidade, indica maior efeito do preço das frutas, legumes e verduras (1% de aumento no preço das FLV reduziria em 0,2% a participação desses alimentos no total calórico), efeito intermediário do preço dos demais alimentos (1% de aumento aumentaria em 0,07% a participação de FLV no total calórico) e efeito menor da renda familiar (1% de aumento na renda familiar aumentaria em 0,04% a participação de FLV no total calórico). O efeito da renda familiar e do preço das frutas, legumes e verduras sobre o consumo relativo desses alimentos foi semelhante nos vários estratos de renda enquanto o efeito dos preços dos demais alimentos tendeu a diminuir nos estratos de maior renda. Conclusão. Políticas públicas que levassem à redução do preço de frutas, legumes e verduras seriam as mais recomendadas para aumentar o consumo desses alimentos no município de São Paulo e em realidades urbanas semelhantes. / Objective. Analyze the influence of income and food prices on fruits and vegetables share of household food consumption in São Paulo city. Methods. The data obtained through Family Budget Survey (POF) from Fundacao Instituto de Pesquisas Economicas (FIPE), concerning the population of the city of Sao Paulo during the period of 1998 and 1999, was the base in this study. The household nutritional patterns were described by means of the relative participation of 18 food groups in total calories monthly acquired for home consumption. Income and food prices? influence on fruits and vegetables share was assessed through the use of multiple regression analysis techniques (Log-Log model) in order to estimate income elasticity and price elasticity coefficients. Results. Statistically significant effects of income (positive effect), fruits and vegetables prices (negative effect) and other foods prices (positive effect) were identified. Magnitude comparison among the effects observed, through comparison of elasticity coefficients, indicates a major effect from fruits and vegetables price (1% increase in prices results in a 0.2% reduction in the share of fruits and vegetables), an intermediate effect from other foods prices (1% increase in prices results in a 0.07% increase in the share of fruits and vegetables) and a smaller effect from income (1% raise in household income would achieve a 0.04% increase in the share of fruits and vegetables). The effect of household income and F&V price was similar in different income classes, while the effect of other food prices declined in higher income classes Conclusion. Public policies for reducing fruit and vegetables? prices should be the most recommended line of action in order to obtain an increase in fruit and vegetables? consumption in Sao Paulo city or any other similar urban centers.