Pricing strategy plays an important role in retail competitiveness. This research is a systematic enquiry into the choice of pricing strategy by mass merchandisers, reviewing whether everyday low pricing (EDLP) or discounting (known as high low pricing or HLP) is more effective, and making recommendations on how pricing can be used to support competitive advantage within the mass merchandise sector. Through measurement of consumer perceptions and analysis of financial and transactional data, key observations are made about the consumer response to retail pricing strategy. A variety of managerial implications are drawn from the results and suggestions for future research are offered.

Following two decades of under-investment, vital elements of South African water infrastructure is in serious disrepair, if not in a crisis. The government is challenged by the cumulative demands of sustained economic growth; as well as the new trade and investment opportunities in the post-financial crisis period. There is a serious backlog in water infrastructure investment, for the development and management of water resources and water services. This under-investment is estimated at more than R110 billion. The three spheres of government – national, provincial and local– which have served South Africa well in past decades now appear unable and ill-equipped to grapple with the present planning and delivery challenge. This research project identified a number of funding models (14) for the financing of water infrastructure development projects. However, the classic public provision model of government planned, installed and financed infrastructure with pricing at marginal cost or on a loss–making basis – with returns recovered through the taxation system – continues to characterise much of South Africa’s publicly provided water infrastructure. Nowadays, water infrastructure is split between fully public, and mixed ownership (water agencies and/or entities); Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in the water sector is not yet a full reality. Further innovation in water infrastructure investment, including closing the circle between public and private-sector capital, is required. Complex issues of pricing, access, public policy and regulation, risk–sharing, tendering processes, taxation and governance have arisen as key challenges that will influence whether private provision of water infrastructure can grow as a viable new model in South Africa. Sustainability has introduced a further new dimension into the calculus of water infrastructure provision. Thus, a framework that takes account of environmental and social aspects, as well as economic aspects, is now widely accepted as necessary.

In this thesis we study the problem of road taxation. This problem consists in finding the toll on the roads belonging to the government or a private company in order to maximize the revenue. An optimal taxation policy consists in determining level of tolls low enough to favor the use of toll arcs, and high enough to get important revenues. Since there are twolevels of decision, the problem is formulated as a bilevel bilinear program.

This thesis consists of three papers which examine three aspects of Kalecki's method, from differing levels of abstraction. The first is at the level of theory and traces the evolution of Kalecki's pricing equation for the manufacturing sector of modern capitalist economies. It is argued that, although the general determinants of price in the form of a mark-up on unit costs remained constant, nevertheless Kalecki tried many different models in order to obtain microfoundations consistent with his macroanalysis. His original formulation incorporated only considerations specific to the firm, although wider considerations entered into the 'degree of monopoly' which was the main determinant of the mark-up. Later versions explicitly allowed for the role of competitors within the industry by incorporating the industry average price into the pricing equation. The second paper considers the interrelationship of two different types of theory - the microanalysis described in the earlier paper with the Kalecki's macroanalysis. In doing so it attempts to shed some light on the methodological issues associated with microfoundations. In particular, it is shown that, for Kalecki, neither 'macro' nor 'micro' dominate, but that the two jointly determine both the level of output and the level of employment. The final paper is concerned with questions relating to the nature of theorizing, and compares Kalecki's approach to this with Keynes'. It specifically considers the reasons behind Keynes' hostility, as editor of the <i>Economic Journal</i>, to papers submitted by Kalecki. This hostility is traced to important methodological differences which can best be thought of in terms of paradigm (or conceptual framework) clashes. The clashes related to such differences as different starting points for theory, different levels of abstraction and views about generality, and differing views about the relative importance of induction versus deduction.

No description available.

No description available.

6 pp. / The price farmers receive for raw (unprocessed, unpasteurized) milk is largely determined by supply and demand forces that are influenced by federal and state dairy programs. Prior to January 2000, class prices under Federal Orders (FOs) were calculated from competitive pay prices for Grade B milk in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Currently, product price formulas are in place which set the price for milk components under FOs. Milk utilization patterns in the Federal Order market area, in which farm milk is sold, dictates the type of pricing system used to determine the price received for raw milk. The state of Arizona belongs to the Arizona-Las Vegas marketing area. This marketing area encompasses all of the state of Arizona and Clark County, Nevada. This particular Federal order (131, and three others, 5, 6, & 7) use the skim milk/butterfat pricing system. The price to producers is the average of class prices weighted by market wide utilization. Uniform prices are announced at 3.5% butterfat at the base zone, which is Phoenix, for Federal Order marker 131.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.