O objetivo deste trabalho é identificar padrões nos desvios da Lei do Preço Único. Utilizando dados desagregados nacionais e internacionais do período 1998-2008, aplicaram-se duas metodologias distintas: i) análise de componentes principais; e ii) estimador group mean Fully Modified OLS para painel proposto por Pedroni (2000). A análise de componentes principais facilita a identificação de padrões na variação de uma quantidade grande de dados e, o estimador group mean FMOLS permite estimar a relação de longo prazo existente entre os preços de um mesmo produto, cotados na mesma moeda, praticados em mercados distintos. Os resultados obtidos indicam que o câmbio é o principal responsável pelos desvios da Lei do Preço Único. Ademais, os resultados sugerem a existência de uma relação fraca entre os preços de um mesmo bem, cotados em Reais, mas comercializados nos mercados brasileiro e americano. / The main goal of this essay is to identify patterns in deviation from the law of one price. Using disaggregated data from Brazil and USA for the period 1998-2008, we applied two different methodologies: i) principal component analysis and ii) panel group mean Fully Modified OLS estimator proposed by Pedroni (2000). The principal component analysis facilitates the identification of patterns in the variation of a large amount of data, while the group mean FMOLS estimates the long run relationship between prices of the same good, quoted in the same currency, charged in separated markets. The results indicate that the exchange rate is the main responsible for deviations from the law of one price. Moreover, the results suggest the existence of a weak relationship between the prices of the same good, quoted in Reais, but sold in the Brazilian and American markets.

O fenômeno da globalização vivido nas últimas décadas acirrou a competitividade no mundo e aumentou a importância do marketing para as empresas. Considerando que as estratégias empresarias precisam estar refletidas na decisão das variáveis ditas controláveis de marketing (Produto, Preço, Promoção e Praça), destaca-se a variável preço por sua relevância como elemento estratégico e por ser a única das variáveis geradora de receita. Independente da abordagem de precificação, sendo as principais voltadas para o cliente, para o mercado e de custos, verificam-se distinções importantes no que se refere à precificação de bens ou serviços. Além das diferenças mais evidentes, como a intangibilidade dos serviços, que dificulta a mensuração do custo, chamam a atenção os fatores que são agregados ao preço durante a etapa de produção. Em especial, destacam-se os impostos, por sua relevância no preço final pago pelo consumidor. Levando em consideração que o Brasil utiliza o método de \"impostos em cascata\" e a Itália, como membro da União Europeia, utiliza o IVA (Imposto sobre valor agregado), é importante saber como isso altera o preço final. Assim, realizou-se uma revisão bibliográfica abordando os conceitos de preço e as diferentes abordagens de precificação no que se refere a serviços ou bens e o impacto dos impostos no preço final ao consumidor no Brasil e na Itália. Após a revisão da literatura, realizou-se um estudo exploratório qualitativo internacional por meio de entrevistas em profundidade que seguiram um protocolo previamente estabelecido. Os entrevistados selecionados são profissionais que atuam ou já atuaram diretamente nas áreas de precificação das empresas pesquisadas. Após análises do que foi coletado nas entrevistas, concluiu-se que apesar das diversas abordagens de precificação que este trabalho apresentou e das interações entre elas, ainda não existe um modelo que seja adequado a todos os casos e todos os cenários, em especial quando se trata de serviços. Além disso, a distinção entre os modelos de tributação brasileiro italiano faz dessa componente mais um fator que torna a precificação no Brasil ainda mais complexa, mostrando que o impacto dos impostos na determinação de preços no Brasil é muito maior do que na Itália. / The globalization phenomenon experienced in recent decades has increased competitiveness and the importance of marketing for companies around the world. Considering that business strategies need to be reflected in the decision of marketing controllable variables (Product, Price, Promotion and Square), the price variable stands out due to relevance as a strategic element and because it is the only variable that generates revenue. Regardless of the pricing approach, either focused on the customer, the market or the cost, there are important distinctions regarding the pricing of goods or services. In addition to the more obvious differences, such as the intangibility of services, which makes it difficult to measure costs, more attention is drawn to the factors that are added to price during the production stages. In particular, taxes stand out because of their relevance in the final price paid by the consumer. Taking into account that Brazil uses a \"cascading taxes\" method and Italy, as a member of the European Union, uses VAT (value added tax), it is important to know how this affects the final price. Thus, a theoretical review addressing the concepts of price and the different pricing approaches regarding services or goodsand the impact of taxes on the final consumer price in Brazil and in Italy was performed. After reviewing the literature, an international qualitative exploratory study through in-depth interviews that follow a previously established protocol was conducted. The selected interviewees are professionals who work or have already worked directly in pricing of the companies participating in the study. After the analysis of the interviews, it is concluded that despite the various pricing approaches that this work presented and the interactions between them, there is still no model that is adequate for all cases and all scenarios, especially when it comes to services. Moreover, the distinction between the Brazilian and Italian taxation models makes this component one more factor that makes pricing even more complex in Brazil, showing that the impact of taxes over pricing in Brazil is much more important than in Italy.

M.Com. (Business Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

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Weather has a significant impact on business activities of many kinds. The list of economic activities subjected to the risk of the weather include: the energy producers and consumers, the industry of leisure, the insurance industry, the food industry and the agricultural industries but the primary industry, namely the energy industry, has given rise to the demand for weather derivatives and has caused the weather risk management industry to evolve actively. A derivative is a contract or security, whose payoffs depend upon the price of an underlying asset price, and is used to control the risks of naturally-arising exposures to such an asset price. Therefore weather derivatives are financial contracts with payouts that depend on weather in some form. It is a contract that provides a payoff in response to an index level based on weather phenomena (West, 2002).The underlying variable can be for example humidity, rain, snowfall, temperature, or even sunshine. The main players who take part in the weather derivatives markets industry can be grouped in to five main categories, namely: 1) End users who are also referred to as hedgers 2) Speculators 3) Market makers 4) Brokers 5) Insurance and re-insurance companies. Since the late 90’s when the first weather derivatives transactions were recorded, the underlying market has witnessed the development of a new derivative market in the United States, which is gradually expanding across Europe. However, the newly developed market for weather derivatives is not liquid in Africa and specifically South Africa mainly due to the following factors: 1) Many companies and business organisations have not yet established a hedging policy or even figured out how their businesses or industries are exposed to weather risks. 2 2) “Since many companies and industries depend on insurance companies to cover their risks, it is possible that the solutions suggested by these companies or industries looking for protection from weather risks differ according to the cover provided by these insurance organisations “(Micali, 2008). The main aim of this study is to review available statistical models for pricing derivatives, with temperature as the underlying which could enable industries, businesses and other organisations in South Africa to protect themselves against losses due to fluctuations in the weather and therefore hedge their risks.

This thesis studies fourteen Canadian processed food industries and their pricing behaviour. Pricing models for each industry for the period of 1971-1977 and 1978-1984 have been established. This study also tests wether changes in a pricing behaviour occurred in the middle of 1970s in which shifts in Canada-U.S. exchange rate occured. Food prices change for several reasons. The main reasons for changes in processed food prices are expected to be changes in input costs and demand factors. Input costs consist of material, labour, capital and fuel cost. Changes in demand side - import competition and excess demand - are are important factors. This study attepmts to establish, identify, and analyze pricing models by employing such variables for fourteen Canadian processed food industries at the wholesale level. Karikari (1988) has shown that the Canadian manufacturing industries changed their pricing behaviour as the U.S.-Canada exchange rate shifted in the middle of the 1970s. This study also tests if the changes (shift) in pricing behaviour of the food processing industries took place between two sub-periods: pre-depreciation of U.S.-Canada exchange rate (1971 to 1977), and post-depreciation of U.S.-Canada exchange rate (1977 to 1984). After analyzing the characteristics of the Canadian food processing industries and the distribution channel, three economic theories - which are considered to be appropropriate in reflecting the characteristics and the pricing behsviour - have been discussed. The Mark-up Pricing Theory is employed to explain the food processors' oligopolistic pricing behaviour. From the Mark-up Pricing Theory, relative changes in mark-up, material price, labour price, energy price, capital price, and productivity of each input are derived as independent variables in the pricing model while change in industrial selling price of processed foods is shown as a dependent variable. Excess demand and import competition are the main sources for the fluctuations in the mark-up factor. The Bilateral Monopoly Theory is applied to explain bargaining processes, from which prices of processed foods are determined, between processors and retailers. A shipment variable has been derived from the Bilateral Monopoly Theory as one of the substitutes for the mark-up variable. An International Trade Theory is discussed for the industries that face import competition. From this theory, it is concluded that import price would also influence Canadian food processors' markup. Also discussed is a theory on how the pricing behaviour would change in a situation in which shifts in exchange rates occur. Quarterly data in rate of changes form are used for the estimation of the pricing model. Lags are allowed for independent variables to proferly reflect the characteristics of food processors. First, assuming changes in pricing behaviour, the pricing model is regressed for each industry in each sub-period, respectively. Variables for each industry in each sub-period are selected. It seems that the finalized regression results indicate a possibility of changes in pricing behaviour. A statistical test incorporating dummy variables is used to check if the changes in pricing behaviour which occurred in the middle of 1977 are statistically significant. The results can be summarized as follows. Different variables and different lags fit for each industry in each sub-period. The material prices-in different lag forms - are the main factors that influence changes in the industry selling price. In some industries in a certain period, the material prices are not important at all; only the U.S. prices are shown as important factors. The wage - current or lagged - is an important variable in some industries (at least in one period). The shipment variables are important in most industries with a positive or a negative sign, indicating the food processors' monopolistic pricing behaviour is influenced or interupted by the foods retailers' behaviour. The U.S. price variable(s) is a significant factor in most industries. The statistical test indicates that most of the industries have experienced structural changes and/or model changes between the two periods, except poultry, sugar cane & beet, vegetable oil, brewery, and winery industries. This study, however, does not necessarily conclude that the Canadian processed foods industries' pricing behaviour was changed according to the Karikari's hypothesis. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

This thesis examines the behavior of prices following the unexpected arrival of a large number of immigrants from Syria to Lebanon between 2012 and 2014. Using Lachs model with monthly data about prices, number of immigrants and natives, the total effect of immigration on lebanese prices was estimated. The final estimation that a one-percentage-point increase in the ratio of immigrants to natives decreases prices in Lebanon by 0,21 percentage-point, is consistent with introduced hypothesis and theory. It is argued that the reason for decrease are mainly lower immigrants wages which derive from their lower qualification.

Class of 2006 Abstract / Objectives: To examine the influence stock market crashes have on pharmaceutical security prices. More specifically, the objectives are to quantify the stock market abnormal returns and volatility of domestically listed drug companies during periods of stock market crashes. Methods: An event study methodology was performed to determine the impact of stock market crashes on security prices of pharmaceutical firms. Pharmaceutical security price data was obtained from the Center for Research in Securities Prices (CRSP) database. Stock market crashes were identified and economic considerations regarding the nature of security price returns were reviewed including normality, autocorrelation, heteroscedasticity and cross sectional dependence. Results: The estimation period for the study ranged over a period of thirty-five months (-45 to -5) prior to the stock market crash. Mean estimates of the SIMM mean beta parameter ranged from 0.51-1.18 for all companies analyzed within the period of 1929-2001. Mean monthly abnormal returns ranged from 0.0039-0.0348 during the estimation period. Over a period of one, three, and five months the majority of the pharmaceutical industry failed to consistently produce above average abnormal returns. Conclusions: The purpose of this study was to investigate the performance of the pharmaceutical industry during ten stock market crashes to verify and or quantify current literature statements about the recession proof nature of the drug sector. The current investigation found that during the estimation periods surrounding the stock market crashes, the pharmaceutical industry did not outperform the average market return.