Thesis (Ph. D.)--Iowa State University, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 238-244).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-104).

The present thesis provides a definite answer to the question of how comparisons of certain aggregate quantities and price levels should be made across two or more geographic regions. It does so from the viewpoint of both economic theory and the “test” (or “axiomatic”) approach to index-number theory. Chapter 1 gives an overview of the problem of multilateral interspatial comparisons and introduces the rest of the thesis. Chapter 2 focuses on a particular domain of comparison involving consumer goods and services, countries and households in developing a theory of international comparisons in terms of the the (Kontis-type) cost-of-living index. To this end, two new classes of purchasing power parity measures are set out and the relationship between them is explored. The first is the many-household analogue of the (single-household) cost-of-living index and, as such, is rooted in the theory of group cost-of-living indexes. The second Consists of sets of (nominal) expenditure-share deflators, each corresponding to a system of (real) consumption shares for a group of countries. Using this framework, a rigorous exact index- number interpretation for Diewert’s “own-share” system of multilateral quantity indexes is provided. Chapter 3 develops a novel multilateral test approach to the problem at hand by generalizing Eichhorn and Voeller’s bilateral counterpart in a sensible manner. The equivalence of this approach to an extended version of Diewert’s multilateral test approach is exploited in an assessment of the relative merits of several alternative multilateral comparison formulae motivated outside the test-approach framework. Chapter 4 undertakes an empirical comparison of the formulae examined on theoretical grounds in Chapter 3 using an appropriate cross-sectional data set constructed by the Eurostat—OECD Purchasing Power Parity Programme. The principal aim of this comparison is to ascertain the magnitude of the effect of choosing one formula over another. In aid of this, a new indicator is proposed which facilitates the measurement of the difference between two sets of purchasing power parities, each computed using a different multilateral index-number formula. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

The Fisher and Seater [Fisher, M.E. and Seater, J.J., 1993. Long run neutrality and superneutrality in an ARIMA framework. American Economic Review 83, 402-415.] methodology is applied to Taylor's [Taylor, A.T., 2002. A century of purchasing power parity. Review of Economics and Statistics 84, 139-150.] data to test for purchasing power parity. Generally, the evidence is supportive of PPP. Further, FS test statistics have no size distortion problem and test power is improved with longer samples.

This text examines the possible impacts of prior exposure to agriculture, and how this relates to college students’ food purchasing decisions. This study will assess if college students had prior exposure to agriculture before attending college, and what type of exposure this was, as well as assess how this prior exposure may alter purchasing decisions made by students who attend Mississippi State University. To collect this data, this study used a qualitative survey method to question students enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Mississippi State University and determine if there is a significant relationship between prior exposure to agriculture and the purchasing decisions of food products. It was found that a college student’s prior exposure to agriculture does in fact impact their food purchasing decisions. It is recommended that this study be replicated with a larger sample size and further research should be conducted to examine specifically how their purchasing decisions are impacted. This study could also aid in future research to find the best agriculture education methods for this specific demographic of college students ages 18-23 in order to raise agriculture literacy rates and preserve the future of the agriculture industry.

No description available.

This thesis aims to investigate the phenomenon popularly referred to as the pink tax, otherwise known as gender-based price discrimination in the Swedish hygiene product market. The subject is thoroughly researched in markets like the United States and the United Kingdom, where evidence has been found that a pink tax does exist. Thus, women tend to pay more for initially the same product than men, where seemingly, the only difference between the two is packaging and/or fragrance. The sample collection consists of five different product categories: razor blades, razors, shaving cream, deodorant, and soap. The samples have all been collected manually from 16 different locations, distributed at a 38 km radius between the area Skövde to Mariestad in Västra Götaland, Sweden.  Inspired by previous research, this study starts examining the market using a t-test. To further the investigation, two types of regression models are used. The findings support the possibility of a pink tax existing in the Swedish market. Where the largest and most stable regression showed a 4,1% difference in prices for female versus male products. Hence, women tend to pay 4,1% more for hygiene products and the research can conclude that prices are not statistically equal. From this result, we recommend the Swedish customer protection agency- Diskrimineringsombudmannen, to further work on the laws against price discrimination by clarification of guidelines and construction of a stricter legal environment to prevent gender-based price discrimination in the future.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research report presents a framework for designing a procurement strategy using the concept of Power. Companies like Toyota have pioneered the use of the “lean thinking” concept of supply chain management to ensure that the entire supply chain co-operates to build a competitive advantage that saves money and provides a better product to the consumer. The basis of the “lean thinking” concept has been that buyers no longer treat suppliers as adversaries with the sole objective of leveraging the best price but engage with suppliers to develop long-term strategic relationships based on trust and collaboration. Power has always existed in business relationships. Power and the “lean thinking” concept appear to be unable to co-exist in the same supply chain relationships as one deals with trust and collaboration while the other deals with domination. This research reports shows that power and “lean thinking” can co-exist and that power has the potential to play a key role in understand the dynamics present in supply chain relationships both from the perspective of the buyer and the supplier. By mapping the power relationship between parties in the Supply Chain a company can understand the strategic options available to it to increase its impact on the supply chain and to use its position to leverage the best value possible both towards the other parties in the supply chain and to parties operating in competing supply chains. The power relationship between The South African Breweries Ltd and Consol Glass will be mapped to enable SAB to understand its available strategic options for the design of a 3 to 5 year procurement strategy. The strategies that crystallize from the power mapping process will be analysed with a view to selecting a single option that the SAB procurement function could adopt over the next 3 to 5 years. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie navorsingsverslag bied 'n raamwerk vir die ontwerp van 'n verkrygingstrategie met behulp van die konsep van mag. Maatskappye soos Toyota het met die gebruik van die “soepel denke”-konsep met betrekking tot aanvoerkettingbestuur baanbrekerswerk gedoen om te verseker dat die algehele aanvoerketting saamwerk om 'n mededingende voordeel te skep wat geld spaar én 'n beter produk aan die verbruiker bied. Die grondslag van die “soepel denke”-konsep is dat kopers nie meer verskaffers as teenstanders beskou en ten alle koste bloot die beste prys wil bewerkstellig nie, maar dat kopers in der waarheid deesdae nouer by verskaffers betrokke raak om langtermyn- strategiese bande op grond van vertroue en samewerking te smee. Mag was nog altyd deel van sakeverhoudinge. Mag en die “soepel denke”-konsep kon tot op hede skynbaar nie naas mekaar in dieselfde aanvoerkettingverhouding bestaan nie – die een handel op stuk van sake oor vertroue en samewerking, en die ander oor oorheersing. Hierdie navorsingsverslag toon dat mag en “soepel denke” wél gelyktydig kan bestaan en dat mag 'n sleutelrol kan speel om die dinamiek in aanvoerkettingbestuursverhoudinge, uit die koper sowel as die verskaffer se oogpunt, te begryp. Deur die magsverhoudinge tussen verskillende partye in die aanvoerketting af te beeld, kan 'n maatskappy verstaan watter strategiese opsies beskikbaar is om sy impak op die aanvoerketting te vergroot en sy posisie te gebruik om vir die ander partye in die aanvoerketting, sowel as partye in mededingende aanvoerkettings, die beste moontlike waarde te bekom. Vervolgens sal die magsverhouding tussen Suid-Afrikaanse Brouerye (SAB) Bpk. en Consol Glass afgebeeld word sodat SAB sy beskikbare opsies vir die ontwerp van 'n drie- tot vyfjaarverkrygingstrategie kan verstaan. Die strategieë wat uit dié magafbeeldingsproses na vore kom sal ontleed word met die oog daarop om 'n enkele opsie te kies wat SAB oor die volgende drie tot vyf jaar kan aanvaar.

A country’s economy is becoming more and more dynamic and complicated in its scale and mobility. So, the concerns of exchange rate economics have become more popular. My research interest is in international economics with its major factor, exchange rates and other macroeconomic variables. Chapter 1 presents a brief introduction of the three studies. Chapter Two investigate the role of exchange rate changes with particular attention to international capital flows. With liberalization of capital movements, international capital movements became free and unrestricted in many emerging market economies as well as developed countries. Using a Vector Auto-regressive (VAR) model for a small open economy in which the endogeneity of exchange rate changes is fully taken into account, I find that capital movements are more likely to be a cause of output fluctuations and current account deficits in developing countries than a channel of equilibrium changes. I also find that domestic currency depreciation is far more likely to be contractionary on domestic output in developing countries than in developed countries. Interestingly, the trade balance improves after depreciation regardless of its output consequence. These findings suggest that there are important differences between developed and developing economies in the way capital movements and exchange rate changes affect and are affected. Chapter Three demonstrates the dynamic relationship between the current account and the real exchange rate in response to permanent and temporary shocks using structural VAR models for seven developed countries and five developing countries. Special focus is given to the issue of the stationarity of the current account. Capital flows are also included to capture external shocks as well as potential structural breaks due to financial liberalization. I find that the results for unit root tests for the current account are ambiguous. By testing two different VAR models, each taking an opposing stance on the stationarity of the current account, I conclude that responses based on a stationary current account are a better fit to the current theoretical view than those based on a nonstationary current account process. Additionally, the real exchange rate and the current account are positively correlated under a permanent shock while two variables are negatively correlated under a monetary shock. I also find that real exchange rate is an endogenous variable, which is not closely related to the temporary factors that affect the current account in the short run. Chapter Four examines the long-run mean reverting behavior of the real exchange rates with its six different definitions for 27 economies using annual data from 1974 to 2003. I find that Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) holds better, and the half-life of the real exchange rates is shorter when the wholesale price index, rather than consumer price index, is used as price level measure. Somewhat surprisingly, there is no evidence that PPP holds better with trade-weighted real exchange rates than with bilateral ones regardless of the price index used. Strong evidence for PPP emerges only with the use of Im, Pesaran, and Shin (2003) panel tests but not with the Levine, Lin, and Chu (2002).

<p>This paper tested the purchasing power parity hypothesis for Botswana and South Africa using cointegration analysis. The data used are the spot exchange rate between the two countries (rand and pula) and their consumer price indices.</p>