This article investigates the influence of competition on price and product quality among Austrian camping sites, a market characterized by both horizontal (spatial) and vertical product differentiation. Theoretically, the effect of competition on quality is ambiguous and depends on the degree of cost substitutability between output and quality. Estimating a system of equations shows that intense competition has a positive impact on product quality and a negative effect on prices (conditional on quality). As high quality is associated with high prices, the total effect of competition on prices is rather small.

Mak Wing Hei. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 50-52). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.1 / 摘要 --- p.2 / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.3 / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.4 / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION & LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.6 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- DATA DESCRIPTION --- p.12 / Chapter 2.1 - --- Coverage and Sources --- p.12 / Chapter 2.2 - --- Match Accounting Data with Stock Returns --- p.12 / Chapter 2.3 - --- Selection Rule --- p.13 / Chapter 2.4 - --- Choice of the Threshold Variables Z --- p.14 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- THE MODEL --- p.15 / Chapter 3.1 - --- Estimating excess returns & Betas --- p.15 / Chapter 3.2- --- Estimating Threshold Effects --- p.17 / Chapter 3.3 - --- Testing the Number of Threshold Variables --- p.19 / Chapter 3.4 - --- Estimating Threshold values --- p.21 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS --- p.21 / Chapter 4.1 - --- Excess Returns --- p.21 / Chapter 4.2 - --- "Relationship between Beta, Market Size and Book-to-Market Equity" --- p.24 / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- ESTIMATION RESULTS OF THE THRESHOLD MODEL --- p.35 / Chapter 5.1 - --- Number of Threshold Variables --- p.35 / Chapter 5.2- --- Threshold Value Estimates --- p.39 / Chapter 5.3- --- The “and´ح case and “or´حcase --- p.40 / Chapter 5.4 - --- Comparison with OLS --- p.45 / Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- CONCLUSION --- p.48 / REFERENCES --- p.50

Lam Kong. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-85). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2 --- Related Work and Background --- p.7 / Chapter 2.1 --- Competition-free Unlimited Capacity Model´ؤOne-hop Case --- p.9 / Chapter 2.2 --- Competition-free Unlimited Capacity Model一Two-hop Case --- p.11 / Chapter 3 --- Extensions to Competition-free Unlimited Capacity Model --- p.13 / Chapter 3.1 --- Optimal Pricing for the One-hop Case under Various Utility Distributions --- p.13 / Chapter 3.2 --- Optimal Pricing for Competition-free Multi-hop Wireless Mesh Networks --- p.16 / Chapter 3.3 --- The Issue on Network Scaling --- p.22 / Chapter 4 --- Competition-free Limited Capacity Model --- p.28 / Chapter 4.1 --- One-hop Case --- p.28 / Chapter 4.2 --- Multi-hop Case --- p.36 / Chapter 5 --- Unlimited Capacity Model with Price Competition --- p.42 / Chapter 5.1 --- Renewed Game Model for Networks with Price Competition --- p.43 / Chapter 5.2 --- Pricing Equilibriums in Different Network Topologies --- p.46 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Case A: Two Access Points Competing in a One-hop Network --- p.47 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Case B: Two Access Points Competing in a Two-hop Network --- p.51 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- Case C: Two Resellers Competing in a Two-hop Network --- p.54 / Chapter 5.2.4 --- Case D: Extending Case A into a Multi-hop Network --- p.60 / Chapter 5.2.5 --- Case E: Extending Case C into a Multi-hop Network. --- p.66 / Chapter 5.2.6 --- The Unified Pricing Equilibrium --- p.68 / Chapter 5.2.7 --- Case F: The Characterizing Multi-hop Network --- p.75 / Chapter 5.3 --- Revisiting the Network Scaling Issue --- p.80 / Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.82 / Bibliography --- p.84 / Chapter A --- Proof of the PBE for Competition-free Multi-hop Wireless Mesh Networks --- p.86 / Chapter B --- Proof of the Unified Pricing Equilibrium --- p.92

Factor models are very useful and popular models in finance. In this project, factor models are used to examine hidden patterns of relationships for a set of stocks. We calculate the weekly rates of return and analyze the correlation among those variables. We propose to use Principal Factor Analysis (PFA) and Maximum-likelihood Factor Analysis (MLFA) as a data mining tool to recover the hidden factors and the corresponding sensitivities. Prior to applying PFA and MLFA, we use the Scree Test and the Proportion of Variance Method for determining the optimal number of common factors. Then, rotation for PFA and MLFA were performed to improve the first order approximations. PFA and MLFA were used to extract three underlying factors. It was determined that the MLFA provided a more accurate estimation for weekly rates of return

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Concerns over both environmental issues and about the depletion of fossil fuels have acted as twin driving forces to the development of renewable energy and its integration into existing electricity grids. The variable nature of RE generators assessment affects the ability to balance supply and demand across electricity networks; however, the use of energy storage and demand-side response techniques is expected to help relieve this situation. One possibility in this regard might be the use of water electrolysis to produce hydrogen while producing industrial-scale DSR services. This would be facilitated by the use of tariff structures that incentive the operation of electrolysers as dispatchable loads. This research has been carried out to answer the following question: What is the feasibility of using electrolysers to provide industrial-scale of Demand-side Response for grid balancing while producing hydrogen at a competitive price? The hydrogen thus produced can then be used, and indeed sold, as a clean automotive fuel. To these ends, two common types of electrolyser, alkaline and PEM, are examined in considerable detail. In particular, two cost scenarios for system components are considered, namely those for 2015 and 2030. The coastal city of Darnah in Libya was chosen as the basis for this case study, where renewable energy can be produced via wind turbines and photovoltaics (PVs), and where there are currently six petrol stations serving the city that can be converted to hydrogen refuelling stations (HRSs). In 2015 all scenarios for both PEM and alkaline electrolysers were considered and were found to be able to partly meet the project aims but with high cost of hydrogen due to the high cost of system capital costs, low price of social carbon cost and less government support. However, by 2030 the price of hydrogen price will make it a good option as energy storage and clean fuel for many reasons such as the expected drop in capital cost, improvement in the efficiency of the equipment, and the expectation of high price of social carbon cost. Penetration of hydrogen into the energy sector requires strong governmental support by either establishing or modifying policies and energy laws to increasingly support renewable energy usage. Government support could effectively bring forward the date at which hydrogen becomes techno-economically viable (i.e. sooner than 2030).

Submitted by Sara Ribeiro (sara.ribeiro@ucb.br) on 2018-09-17T19:33:31Z No. of bitstreams: 1 AndreyRibeiroPerezNunesDissertacao2018.pdf: 2577096 bytes, checksum: eaed6d2ab0b80f71106fbc19b427ea06 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Sara Ribeiro (sara.ribeiro@ucb.br) on 2018-09-17T19:34:06Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 AndreyRibeiroPerezNunesDissertacao2018.pdf: 2577096 bytes, checksum: eaed6d2ab0b80f71106fbc19b427ea06 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-17T19:34:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 AndreyRibeiroPerezNunesDissertacao2018.pdf: 2577096 bytes, checksum: eaed6d2ab0b80f71106fbc19b427ea06 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-07-31 / This work applies hedonic methodology in the analysis of prices of the main Brazilian retail telecommunication markets: mobile telephony, fixed broadband and pay TV. From the collection of the attributes of the available offers in December 2017, this study maps the properties of the telecommunication offers that significantly drive consumers’ purchasing decisions, also measuring the marginal contribution of these items to final prices. In mobile telephony, the attributes associated with data traffic - such as volume and franchise expiration period - were the main drivers identified. In the context of fixed broadband, the traffic speeds, both upload and download, showed prevalence. For pay TV, content related aspects were found more relevant, like the number of high-definition channels, on-demand programming and the inclusion of premium sports and film channels. In addition, this study identified that brand premiums variables were significant only in the context of fixed broadband, associating such finding with the structural peculiarities of that market. / O trabalho aplica a metodologia hedônica na análise dos preços dos principais mercados de varejo de telecomunicação brasileiros, quais sejam a telefonia móvel, a banda larga fixa e a TV por assinatura. A partir da coleta estruturada dos atributos das ofertas disponíveis para contratação em dezembro de 2017, o estudo mapeia as propriedades de planos e promoções que de fato influenciam a decisão de compra do consumidor, mensurando a contribuição marginal desses quesitos ao preço final. Na telefonia móvel, as condições associadas ao tráfego de dados – como volume e validade da franquia – foram os principais drivers identificados. No contexto da banda larga fixa, a vazão do tráfego, representada nas velocidades de transmissão de upload e download, mostrou-se mais preponderante. No âmbito da TV por Assinatura, aspectos relacionados ao conteúdo sobressaíram-se, tais como a quantidade de canais em alta definição, a oferta sob demanda de programação e a inclusão de canais premium de esportes e filmes no pacote inicial. Complementarmente, o estudo verificou a existência de prêmios de marca significativos somente no contexto da banda larga fixa, buscando associar tal achado às peculiaridades estruturais desse mercado.

Esta dissertação apresenta um estudo sobre o mercado imobiliário de Porto Alegre que tem como objetivo verificar a formação de preços dos mercados de venda e de locação. Este objetivo é cumprido de duas formas: a) analisando como o tempo que um imóvel está no mercado afeta seu preço e b) comparando como diferentes modelos econométricos preveem os preços de imóveis da capital gaúcha. Para o primeiro tópico, encontram-se evidências de que os proprietários reduzem, em média, 9% o valor de locação para atrair clientes à medida que o tempo passa. Isto não se concretiza da mesma forma no mercado de venda, uma vez que há uma valorização à medida que o imóvel está no mercado. Para o segundo tópico, foram estimados cinco modelos (ingênuo, MQO, SAR, SEM e combinação) para averiguar a performance de previsão fora da amostra dos preços de imóveis. Embora as estatísticas descritivas dos erros não permitam análises conclusivas a respeito dos modelos, a estimação do model confidence set de Hansen et al. (2011) mostra o modelo ingênuo como a melhor série de previsões para os mercados de venda e de locação. / This thesis presents a study on the real estate market of Porto Alegre in order to verify the price formation in both sales and rental markets. This objective is accomplished in two ways: a) analyzing how time on market of a property impacts its price and b) comparing how different econometric models predict real estate prices. For the first topic, I show evidence that owners reduce on average 9% of rental value of available homes in order to attract customers as time on market goes by. This pattern is not present in the sales market, in which an appreciation occurs as time passes, indicating an inflation compensation. For the second topic, five models (naive, OLS, SAR, SEM and a combination) were estimated to determine out-of-sample forecasting accuracy. Although traditional error measures do not allow to choose the best forecasting series, the model confidence set procedure of Hansen et al. (2011) shows the naïve model as being the best forecasting model.

常方差彈性(CEV) 模型能夠刻畫波動率微笑的優點使之成為期權定價中的實用工具，然而它在應用到美式衍生工具時面臨分析上及計算上的挑戰。現行的解析方法是對代表著期權價格函數和其最佳履約曲線的自由邊界問題進行拉普拉斯卡森變換(LCT) ，繼而獲得在此變換下的解析解，可是此解含有合流超線幾何函數，使得它的數值計算在某些參數下顯得不穩定及低效。本文運用漸近法徹底解決美式期權在常方差彈性模型下的定價問題，並用永久性和限時性的美式看跌期權作為例子闡述所提出的方法。 / The constant elasticity of variance (CEV) model is a practical approach to option pricing by fitting to the implied volatility skew. Its application to American-style derivatives, however, poses analytical and numerical challenges. By taking the Laplace Carson transform (LCT) to the free-boundary value problem characterizing the option value function and the early exercise boundary, the analytical result involves confluent hyper-geometric functions. Thus, the numerical computation could be unstable and inefficient for certain set of parameter values. We solve this problem by an asymptotic approach to the American option pricing problem under the CEV model. We demonstrate the use of the proposed approach using perpetual and finite-time American puts. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Pun, Chi Seng. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-40). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2 --- Problem Formulation --- p.4 / Chapter 2.1 --- The CEV model --- p.4 / Chapter 2.2 --- The free-boundary value problem --- p.5 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Perpetual American put --- p.5 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Finite-time American put --- p.6 / Chapter 3 --- Asymptotic expansion of American put --- p.8 / Chapter 3.1 --- Perpetual American put --- p.8 / Chapter 3.2 --- Finite-time American put --- p.16 / Chapter 4 --- Numerical examples --- p.24 / Chapter 4.1 --- Perpetual American put --- p.24 / Chapter 4.2 --- Finite-time American put --- p.26 / Chapter 5 --- Conclusion --- p.29 / Chapter A --- Proof of Lemma 3.1 --- p.30 / Chapter B --- Property of ak --- p.32 / Chapter C --- Explicit formulas for u₂(S) --- p.34 / Chapter D --- Closed-form solutions --- p.37 / Bibliography --- p.40

Pricing practices of firms are an important yet little studied aspect of the price phenomenon in sociology. This study asks the question: Why do different firms, even in the same market, tend to use different pricing practices--value-informed, competition-informed, or cost-informed pricing--to set prices? To answer this question, this study builds a dynamic flocking model of pricing to investigate the inter-dynamics among pricing practices and various market uncertainties. The model shows that each pricing practice is only viable under certain combinations of levels of different market uncertainties. Supporting evidence, theoretical innovations, and practical implications of the model are discussed. Contrary to common intuition, uncertainty, conceptualized as some cognitive tolerance interval, is akin to lubricant, making the otherwise rigid, brittle, and friction-fraught system more smooth, robust, and error-tolerant under certain circumstances. Therefore, uncertainties, and the inter-dynamics among them, should be treated as an endogenous and integral part of the social mechanism at issue, rather than some amorphous “other” external to it.