M.Ing. (Engineering Management) / The purpose of this dissertation was to compare the local manufacturing of liquid pumps in South Africa against the importation of pumps manufactured on the international markets as well as also investigate the capacity limitations of the local pump manufacturers; the technologies available on overseas markets (in terms of electric, solar and wind-powered liquid pumps) and comparing the technologies to those available in South Africa. Five of the leading pump manufacturers were researched in this dissertation namely: KSB; Grundfos; Howden Pumps; Sulzer Pumps Africa and Warman Pumps. South African pump manufacturers are importing most of their pumps from international markets with the primary reason being to meet demands. By comparison, South African pump manufacturers are finding it difficult to produce pumps with equivalent or lower costs than the pumps which are produced on the international markets. Pump manufacturers on international markets offer greater cost savings for South African pump manufacturers which ultimately results in financial savings and a higher yield in profits. Many international pump manufacturers use advanced technology which makes the production costs of pump components as much as twenty percent (20%) less as compared to the South African pump industry. The importation of pumps is a method used to increase the local supply of pumps as the cost of the pump, including import costs, are not as costly as actually manufacturing the pumps in South Africa. While South African pump manufacturers manufacture pumps of relatively high energy consumption and monetary costs; they also produce standard conventional pumps which are required to supply the local demand. Local pump manufacturers were approached to find out exactly how they cope with these stringent requirements by the South African markets, yet still achieve the profits in the industry to remain afloat. Various pump forms were researched specifically relating to the pumps used on the South African markets with regards to their production costs, advantages and disadvantages (wind and solar pump technologies). Standard conventional pumps are preferred on local markets by as much as fifteen percent (15%) with newer technologies (solar and wind powered pumps) being preferred on the international markets. South Africa continues to demand standard conventional pumps (electric-driven pump) although demands for newer technology is on the increase. The international market’s production lines are mature and well established which results in a lower cost of production which leads to these pumps being of more demand as compared to newer pumps which are currently the preference. Local pump manufacturers can satisfy the demand and benefit from the lower importation cost of standard conventional pumps. The preliminary results suggest that the importing of pumps from international markets aid local manufacturers in keeping up with the demand and accquiring sufficient profits. Modern technologies such as solar and wind power is a growing maket in South Africa and is becoming increasingly common. The research approach used in this study involved targeting five of the local pump manufacturers in South Africa. Each manufacturer was asked a series of questions relating to the research questions in order to draw up conclusions regarding the problem statement and hypothesis. Findings from the conducted surveys were compared to the literature which is currently published. Findings show that local pump manufacturers are dependent on imports in order to satisfy the demand for standard conventional pumps rather than manufacturing their own and the use of newer technologies are increasing in the local pump industry.

M.Phil. / Coal is today providing more than seventy-five percent of South Africa's energy requirements and will, to a large extent, remain so in the future. It is thus important to evaluate the adequacy of the country's available coal resources against expected future demand. The main objective of this study, which was done under the supervision of Prof. D. J. Kotze, was therefore to analyse the specific consumption of coal in the various consumption sectors in order to establish historical trends. The specific comsumption of coal is defined as the amount of coal used to produce a unit of final product. The factors attributing to these observed trends were determined and their future role evaluated in order to establish whether it was possible to extrapolate historical trends into the future. By means of curve fitting to the observed data and extrapolation it was possible to obtain future values of specific coal consumption for each of the sectors. These values, together with the production output forecasts for the various sectors were then used to calculate the total coal requirements for three reference years, namely, 1990, 1995 and 2000. The role of coal prices in explaining trends in specific coal consumption of various sectors was also analised separately. Information to conduct the study was obtained mainly from the various coal producers' associations as well as from individual producers and other organizations such as Escom, Sasol and Iscor, the Department of Hineral and Energy Affairs and the Hinerals Bureau. In some instances private firms and producers' associations were also consulted as well as a wide variety of literature on the subject. The principal finding of the study was that coal was substituted or was still being substituted by electricity in most final applications because of the convenience of use. Coal, however, still plays and probably will continue to play an important role in future in basic industries such as the metallurgical industry. Coal prices have not up to now played a very important role in the overall specific consumption of coal which can probably be attributed to the relatively low prices of coal on the inland market. It was also found that it was not desirable to do away with the present system of price control entirely as a certain measure of control was still necessary to safeguard the usuage of coal in certain applications for which there were no other substitutes. It was further concluded that South Africa does not have the vast quantities of coal commonly thought and that measures have to be taken in order to ensure that the country's coal resources are conserved and that optimum use is made of available resources.

We empirically investigate the importance of centrality (holding a central position in a spatial network) for strategic interaction in pricing for the Austrian retail gasoline market. Results from spatial autoregressive models suggest that the gasoline station located most closely to the market center - defined as the 1-median location - exerts the strongest effect on pricing decisions of other stations. We conclude that centrality influences firms' pricing behavior and further find that the importance of centrality increases with market size.

Much has been written during the past decade to explain the relationship between financial and operating leverage and stock-price volatility. However, the relationship between combined leverage and stock-price volatility has yet to be fully explored. Mandelker and Rhee's (MR) recent study uses both operating and financial leverage in a regression (equivalent to the traditional total leverage—DTL) and shows that both types of leverage are positively associated with common stock betas. Huffman recently demonstrated that there are interactions between operating leverage and financial leverage. Therefore, MR's model could be oversimplified. This study examines the relationship between firms' combined leverage and their stock-price volatility. The study also examines industry and industry growth to see if the relationship is influenced by these factors. The question is whether DOCL is a better risk measure than DTL and whether there is an interaction between operating and financial leverage. The inferences that can be drawn from the study's results are as follows: (a) Stock risk is a function of combined leverage; (b) Industry significantly influences the relationship between stock risk and DOCL; (c) High growth increases the relationship between stock risk and DOCL; (d) Combined leverage (DOCL) is a better risk measure than total leverage (DTL). Further, the problem with the traditional total leverage measure is the omission of the interaction between DOL and DFL. This is consistent with Huffman's theory and suggests Mandelker and Rhee's model is oversimplified.

Cette thèse comprend quatre essais en macroéconomie internationale et théorie monétaire. Elle est constituée de deux parties. Les deux premiers chapitres, coécrits avec François Geerolf, étudient les conséquences macroéconomiques des cycles immobiliers sur les comptes courants (chapitre 1) et sur les dynamiques de l'emploi (chapitre 2). La seconde partie de cette thèse s'intéresse aux conséquences des récentes transformations intervenues dans les systèmes bancaires sur les mécanismes de la création monétaire. Ces transformations semblent en effet conduire à une privatisation de la monnaie. Le chapitre 3 étudie empiriquement la réalité d'une telle privatisation. Je développe dans le chapitre 4 un modèle pour analyser les conséquences de ces transformations sur la création monétaire et sur les mécanismes de propagation du risque. / This thesis includes four essays in international macroeconomics and monetary theory. It is divided into two parts. The two first chapters, coauthored with François Geerolf, investigate the macroeconomic consequences of housing cycles on current accounts (chapter 1) and employment dynamics (chapter 2). The second part of this thesis studies the consequences of modern banking features on money creation mechanisms, notably with the development of private payment arrangements and the globalization of banking. Chapter 3 looks at the issue empirically. In chapter 4, I develop a model to investigate the consequences of these modern banking features for the provision of money and for risk propagation mechanisms.

Alors qu’il semble acquis par la plupart des acteurs de la construction et du logement que l’évolution de la réglementation a joué un rôle non négligeable dans la hausse des prix des logements neufs au cours des années 2000 en France, cette thèse se propose d’interroger le lien entre accroissement des prix, renforcement normatif et accessibilité économique des logements neufs pour les ménages modestes. Autrement dit, ces logements à haute valeur réglementaire sont-ils devenus trop chers pour accueillir les plus modestes d’entre nous ? Dans une démarche plus empirique que théorique, notre recherche consiste en la construction d’un faisceau d’indices permettant d’éclairer cette question à partir d’exploitations statistiques, de monographies et d’entretiens avec les acteurs de la construction.Nous nous attachons à étudier les mécanismes de fixation des prix des logements neufs à la vente et à la location, leur évolution brute et en lien avec les revenus des ménages, ainsi que la comparaison avec le prix des logements anciens. Après avoir retracé l’évolution de la réglementation dans le logement, un recensement des surcoûts évalués dans la littérature fait le jour sur la faiblesse des arguments appuyant la thèse d’une hausse des prix induite par le renforcement réglementaire au cours des années 2000. C’est pourquoi nous tentons de mesurer scientifiquement l’impact de la réglementation sur les prix de revient et les prix de vente des logements en faisant notamment appel à la modélisation hédonique et à des monographies. Bien que, finalement, la réglementation ne semble pas avoir été l’un des déterminants majeurs de l’accroissement des prix des logements neufs, la question de leur accessibilité économique continue à se poser. L’étude du peuplement des logements neufs, de son évolution et du cas particulier de la représentation des ménages modestes au sein de ce parc éclaire cette question / While it appears to be common knowledge that regulatory developments in the construction sector contributed to increase prices for new housing in the 2000s in France, this thesis questions the seemingly causal link between construction regulation and housing prices, and explores its impact for low-income households. Using a more empirical than theoretical methodology, our research consists of building a body of evidence to clarify this question on the basis of statistical evaluation, monographs and interviews with stakeholders in the construction sector.In this perspective we intend to determine the pricing mechanism for new housing, whether for rent or for sale, and explore the price development against households incomes and compare their value with old housing. After setting out the successive evolutions of housing regulation, our literature review, which in particular highlights evaluated additional costs, proves that increase in housing prices is not directly related to regulation. Our research will try to scientifically measure the impact of these new regulations on prediction and purchase prices through the use of hedonic regressions. Although we argue regulation has not been one of the principal determinants of the price increases of new housing, factors affecting their affordability remains an open question. We propose to study the evolution of the new housing population, with particular attention to the low income households

Using static and dynamic panel data analysis, we examine how interest rates influenced equity prices of European banks and insurance companies between 2006 and 2015. Identification and quantification of effects of the low yield environment, which is a consequence of decreasing interest rates, are crucial for regulators and policy makers. Our static and dynamic models show that decreasing short-term interest rates had a negative impact both on banks and insurers. In this thesis, dynamic models are estimated by means of the Blundell- Bond system GMM estimator and we consider their results superior to the results of static models because all underlying assumptions of the dynamic models are met here. Results obtained by employing the Blundell-Bond system GMM estimator suggest that life insurers were effected more than banks, while banks were effected more than non-life insurers. In case of a 1 percentage point decrease in short-term interest rates, equity prices of life insurers are estimated to decrease on average by 18 %, equity prices of banks by 8 %, and equity prices of non-life insurers by 3 %. JEL Classification C33, C36, C61, E44, G21, G22 Keywords interest rates, equity prices, static panel analy­ sis, dynamic panel analysis, system GMM esti­ mator Author's e-mail jurena.filip.l@ gm ail.com...

An increased mortgage cap was introduced in 2010, and as of May 1st 2016 an amortization requirement was introduced in an attempt to slow down house price development in Sweden. Fluctuations in the house prices can significantly influence macroeconomic stability, and with house prices in Stockholm rising even more rapidly than Sweden as a whole makes the understanding of Stockholm’s dynamics very important, especially for policy implications. Stockholm house prices between the first quarter of 1996 and the fourth quarter of 2015 is therefore investigated using a Vector Error Correction framework. This approach allows a separation between the long run equilibrium price and short run dynamics. Decreases in the real mortgage rate and increased real financial wealth seem to be most important in explaining rising house prices. Increased real construction costs and increased real disposable income also seem to have an effect. The estimated models suggest that around 40-50 percent, on average, of a short-term deviation from the long-run equilibrium price is closed within a year. As of the last quarter 2015, real house prices are significantly higher compared to the long run equilibrium price modeled. The deviation is found to be around 6-7 percent.

The housing prices in Prague had risen by more than 63% between 2002 and 2008. However since August 2008, when they reached their peak, they have been almost constantly falling. Most of the publications regarding housing prices are taking into account Prague as one of the Czech regions. On the contrary, this work analyzes housing prices in Prague and its 22 districts. In first part of this work the indicators of rent-to-price ratio, price-to-income ratio and new building development factors are considered to explain possible future development of housing prices. This is seemed to continue falling during the year 2011. The second analytical part tries to explain the housing prices according to specific locality features and macroeconomic aspects. The panel regression is used and it reveals that the most significant attributes are the macroeconomic features.

M.Sc.