Introduction – The scene for this thesis is set in the highly regulated automotive industry. Recent scandals in the automotive industry have shown that companies have manipulated their emission results in order to pass regulations. The regulations are from the beginning implemented to protect the environment and encourage companies to develop green innovation but the authors question if regulations puts more pressure on the companies than they can handle. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to investigate how regulations affect green innovation. Method – The authors adopted a pragmatist research philosophy and used an abductive research method. The empirical data has been gathered through a qualitative study, conducting semi structured interviews with companies within the automotive industry. The abductive research approach meant that the frame of reference has been updated and revised when new data, which was previously not covered in the theory, was gained from the interviews. With a five-step process the authors have analyzed the empirical data with the frame of references and from the result drawn conclusion. Conclusion – The conclusions drawn in this thesis is that regulations have a positive impact on companies green incremental innovation and can have both an inhibitory and a positive effect on radical green innovation. However, there are few underlying factors affecting the outcome such as infrastructure, technology neutrality and communication. Contribution – The contribution of this thesis has added new qualitative knowledge to the research field on how regulations affect green innovation. By localizing and highlighting the factors found in the conclusion, companies and policy makers can cooperate to enhance the development of green radical innovations in the future. Future research - Future researcher are encouraged to investigate how infrastructure, technology neutrality and communication each are affecting green radical innovation. Key words: Green innovation, Regulations, Government policy and the Automotive Industry Paper type: Master thesis

Att kollidera är en av riskerna som föreligger då ett fartyg framförs till sjöss trots att det finns internationella regelverk, så som Sjövägsreglerna, enbart utformade för att förhindra detta. I denna kvantitativa litteraturstudie har det undersökts vilka avvikelser från Sjövägsreglerna som bidragit till kollision samt hur regelavvikelserna skiljer sig utifrån fartygstyp, tid på dygnet, sikt och bryggbemanning. Haverirapporter utarbetade från två haverikommissioner har undersökts och utifrån haverikommissionernas egna slutsatser om orsak till kollision har författarna sedan identifierat vilka Sjövägsregler fartygen avvikit från vid kollisionen. Två haverikommissioner valdes för att kunna jämföra om det finns skillnader i resultatet i deras utredningar. I en majoritet av kollisionerna hade fartygen avvikit från någon eller några av Sjövägsreglerna. De regler flest fartyg avvek från och som bidrog till kollision var de regler som behandlar utkik och bedömning av risk för kollision. Undersökningen visar att ombord på fartyg bör vakthavande styrman alltid ha en utkik på bryggan och dessutom nyttja denna på rätt sätt. När det gäller risk för kollision bör styrman använda radar på rätt sätt samt känna sin utrustning och dess begränsningar väl. / Collision is one of the risks that exist for vessels traveling the seas despite the fact that there are international regulations, such as the Collision Regulations, put in place to prevent such occurrences. Through a literature study we have used the collision reports from two maritime investigation bureaus to identify which deviations from the Collision Regulations that contribute to collisions and how the deviations differ between different vessels, time of day, state of visibility and staffing on the bridge. When identifying which deviations from regulations that contributed to the collision we have used the investigation bureaus own conclusions as base. We picked two different bureaus so that we would be able to compare the results and see if there is a difference. In a majority of the collisions the colliding vessels had deviated from one or more of the Collision Regulations. The regulations that most vessels deviated from in situations that led to collisions were the regulations concerning lookout and assessment of the risk of collision. Our study show that onboard vessels the watch keeping officer should always have a lookout on the bridge and use this resource correctly. Concerning the assessment of risk of collision it is important that the watch keeping officer use his radar equipment correctly and know its limitations.

The European Union introduced the concept of global reforms in the 1990s, in order to open markets for competition. The trajectory of reforms in South Africa took the following shape: first, liberalisation of markets in the telecommunications industry. Second, were the privatisation of incumbents, and lastly, the creation of regulatory agencies, which were mandated by the American Telecommunications Act of 1996 (No. 103 of 1996) to promote competition. These changes opened the market for the licensing of cellular network operators, to compete with the dominant fixed line provider on voice and data services. Competition in its nature, aims to improve services, provide affordable prices to consumers and flexible products where consumer can exercise choice. One of the highlights of competition in the telecommunications sector came through the legislative requirement for the industry to introduce number portability. There are different types of number portability but for purposes of this study, focus shall be on mobile number portability (MNP). This study examines the extent to which MNP has benefited consumers who have ported their number in South Africa. The first chapter provides a background on the global reforms in the telecommunication sector, and this is followed by reforms in South Africa. The second chapter provides a literature review on the effects of MNP, and looks at the regulatory framework of MNP, processes of porting, and the results of the introduction of MNP in various countries. The study found that policy and regulations on MNP had both positive and negative effects. Consumers are now able to switch operators whilst keeping their numbers, thus exercising their right to choice. However, prices still remain uncompetitive and quality of service is yet to improve.

This dissertation explores empirically how external factors can influence the organizational structure of firms and how the structure a firm chooses can affect worker outcomes. The first chapter examines how a policy reform affected the organizational choices of firms. The MINER Act of 2006 resulted in increased scrutiny and penalties for underground coal mining operations relative to surface operations. In turn, this changed the incentives for coal preparation facilities to own these mines. Particularly, markets most affected by the reform saw an increase in ownership along an extensive margin and markets already integrated saw a decrease along an intensive margin. I argue these results reflect the competing incentives created by the policy. The increased riskiness of shut downs and flows in production resulted in preparation plants integrating with at least one mine to assure a basic level of supply. The increased regulatory liability of ownership induced by the new regulatory structure resulted in a countervailing force, reducing the intensity of integration in markets that were integrated prior to the reform. The second chapter (with David Weil) studies the prevalence of contractor utilization in the mining industry. Outsourcing of tasks has increased significantly in the underground coal mining industry over the last two decades. We hypothesize that the market and organizational incentives facing contractors increase the likelihood of injuries and fatalities to their workforce. Our results suggest increased risk exposure for mines with high contractor utilization. These findings have important implications for enforcement and public policies and extend the evidence of the adverse impact of forms of subcontracting on health and safety to the mining sector. Finally, the third chapter provides a case study of two major actors in the industry, Alpha Natural Resources and Massey Energy Company. It looks at the ownership choices the two companies have made in the past decade. Looking at these different decisions allows for the identification of contract operations that are of concern from a regulatory standpoint in this industry. This paper provides a blueprint for future research in determining the prevalence of these particular contracting arrangements in US coal mining.

<div>In this dissertation I present three essays. The overarching theme of these projects is how price-discriminating sellers endogenously modify their pricing schemes in the face of regulatory interventions. The application I have in mind when writing the papers is that of a food retailer deciding menu characteristics, such as price and quantity, in the context of a given food policy environment. The particular policies I consider are portion cap rules and taxes, both designed by the policy-maker to reduce the consumption of certain foods and ingredients. My approach diverges from studies focusing on buyers' reactions to paternalistic food policies by placing the seller at the center of the analysis. I use models of nonlinear pricing to derive hypotheses, which I test in controlled laboratory experiments. In the first two essays I explore the economic impacts of taxes and portion cap rules when single-product sellers serve privately informed buyers. In the third, I examine the economic effects of portion cap rules when two-product sellers serve buyers with private preferences. </div><div><br></div><div>In the first essay, collective work with Dr. Joseph Balagtas and Dr. Steven Wu, I compare the impacts of taxes and portion control rules on profit and consumer surplus. I model the pricing problem of a single-product seller serving two types of privately-informed customers. I aim to answer the following questions: i) what effects do taxes have on portion sizes, buyer surplus, and seller's expected profit; ii) how does the tax affect the seller's ability to screen the market, and iii) how the effects of taxes and portion cap rules compare. I find that under a tax regime, all package sizes are smaller; high willingness to pay buyers see a reduction in their surplus, and the retailer's expected profit is unambiguously diminished. Both policy instruments curb consumption. In contrast with tax regimes, however, cap rules leave buyer surplus unaffected. These outcomes suggest that portion control rules might be a preferred over tax regimes as methods to regulate consumption of calorie-dense and low-nutrient foods traded in settings where retailers engage in second-degree price discrimination.</div><div><br></div><div>In the second paper, also joint work with Dr. Joseph Balagtas and Dr. Steven Wu, I report a controlled laboratory experiment designed to test the results of my first essay. In this project, human subjects take on the role of sellers and are free to decide their pricing strategies, including number of ``packages'', their price and their quantity. We vary the policy environment across treatments,and these include: unregulated baseline, cap rule, and specific tax. My principal goal is to test the theoretical outcomes of the first essay and find which regulation is associated with a smaller negative impact on consumers' economic surplus in the laboratory. My main finding is that the cap does not impact buyers' information rents regardless of the seller's segmentation scheme; while the effect of the tax is contingent on the seller's strategy and is neutral at best.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>In the last essay, I study the economic impacts resulting from enforcing a maximum-quantity limit on one of the two products offered by a seller facing demand from privately-informed heterogeneous buyers. Specifically, I look at impacts on: i) consumption of the regulated component, ii) purchases of the unregulated item, and iii) consumer surplus. Hypotheses derived from a bi-dimensional nonlinear pricing predict reductions in consumption of the target component, changes in consumption of the unregulated product by some buyers, and mixed impacts on consumer surplus. Data from a laboratory experiment corroborates the predictions regarding consumption of the regulated good; however, no significant changes in consumption of the unregulated product are found, surprisingly a subset of buyers are better-off after the cap rule while no buyer type is worse-off. The results have implications for food policy discussions around portion cap rules, where the assumption that these regulations negatively impact consumers' well-being largely drives public debate. </div>

Improvements to construction health and safety were driven by primary legislation promulgated in the 1970s and by subsequent regulations, codes and official guidance. In parallel social psychology, management and leadership theories were developing practical means for achieving health and safety objectives and reducing accidents and incidents of ill health. Despite the notable improvements that were achieved in countries with strong legislatives bases, the reduction in the rate of accidents has been significant but at the same time substantially falling short of providing safe and healthy workplaces. Construction sites remain places of high hazard and high risk activities for workers. Acknowledging the gains made by the compliance approach whilst challenging the underpinning assumptions on the causes of accidents and ill health, a critical theory methodology was developed to explore different perceptions and arrive at a new understanding of workplace culture within which safe practices take place. The purpose was to determine the degree of cultural maturity within and readiness of companies for the attainment of preventative workplace safety cultures, and this was achieved through the development of two projects, 1) the development of a cultural maturity index and 2) the development of an ethics reasoning pedagogy for construction professionals. Utilising a set of criteria deemed necessary for achieving success and sustainability the first project is a metric based on behavioural objectives and rational planning was designed and developed to ascertain the intangibles that would be indicative of a company’s culture. This was field tested and substantial revisions made to the original criteria resulting in a shift of focus from Corporate Social Responsibility, innovation and resourcefulness to moral agency, ethics reasoning and leadership, all of which were subject to critical evaluation and redefining on a priori principles. The resulting model, Organisation Cultural Maturing Index, is designed to develop a greater understanding of the social relationships that underpin workplace cultures and explain the many factors that come into play when health and safety programmes and practices are developed and implemented on construction sites. The model allows for the development of and flexibility in company and site specific approaches to achieving safe outcomes through respect for autonomous thought and support for collective action by all workplace employees. The model distinguished between concepts of leadership that are associated with managing operations and originates a new concept of leadership which initiates and supports agency and advocates a restructuring of workplace relationships in order to achieve safe, healthy and sustainable construction projects and contributes to a humanising ethos in work relationships. The second project is the development of under-graduate and post-graduate modules on ethics reasoning designed to facilitate moral agency through the development of critical thinking and reasoning skills and fill a gap in construction professional education. It integrates with the OCMI model through the provision of under-graduate and post-graduate programmes of study which develop the ethics reasoning skills of construction professionals facilitating their abilities to make design and operational judgements based on human and societal benefit. This project further integrates with the ethics standards required by Joint Board of Moderators and Engineering Council in respect of professionalism, and professional code of ethics such as the RICS’s. The review will further identify from both projects those elements of innovation and originality in the methodology adopted and applied to occupational health and safety and the insights and perspectives arrived at as a consequence.

Thesis (MSc (Biomedical Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / Background: Telomeres are DNA-proteins situated at the ends of linear chromosomes, responsible for genome stabilization. A link has been previously described between leucocyte telomere length (LTL) and age-related inflammatory disorders such as atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer. Since diabetes mellitus has been described as a chronic inflammatory condition, it has been hypothesized that there is significant LTL shortening in individuals with dysglycaemia. Aim: To investigate leucocyte telomere length in patients with pre-diabetes, newly diagnosed, known diabetics on treatment and to compare the results to normoglycaemic individuals. Methods: A total of 205 eligible subjects (78% women) median age 56 years, from the Bellville-South community were followed-up between 2008 and 2011. Baseline and follow-up data collections included glucose tolerance status, anthropometric, blood pressure, lipids, insulin, γ-glutamyl transferase, cotinine, and HbA1c. In all participants, telomere length was measured using the absolute telomere q-PCR method performed on a Bio-Rad MiniOpticon Detector. Results: Although there was a change in individuals’ glycaemic status over the 3 years, no significant differences were observed in LTL across glycaemic status: (Baseline p = 0.7618, 3 Year Follow-up p = 0.2204). However, in a multiple regression model, adjusted for age and gender, LTL was negatively associated with age and GGT, and positively associated with high density lipoproteins (HDL) (all p < 0.05). Discussion and conclusion: This research study was the first longitudinal study of LTL in Africans. We show that LTL shortening is not evident within three years, nor is it associated with glycaemia. Our findings also corroborate previous notions associating LTL with age. The lack of association between LTL and glycaemia has been previously reported, however further studies are required using larger sample and broader BMI spread.

<p>Financial crises, liberalization of financial markets, globalization and more and more sophisticated financial products necessitate appropriate regulations within the financial industry. Nowadays, ever-growing international trading is all the more linked to financial</p><p>institutions such as banks and insurance companies. But simultaneously, with the international operations, the range of relevant risks has increased enormously and the implementation of</p><p>new efficient regulations has become necessary. These regulations aim at improving risk management, in order to assure the solvability of these companies and therewith the financial stability of the whole economy. This should be achieved by the supervision models: BASEL II for banks and SOLVENCY II for insurances.</p><p>How far do these two supervision models influence the financial institutions and to what extent do they achieve to realize a more adequate risk management? These issues are to be discussed in our thesis.</p><p>The relevant risks for industries become conceptualized and both supervision models are presented. The presentation covers a development, objectives and a constitution of both models. Based on this, an analytical review of the models is performed to derive potential impacts and consequences for implementing companies and the financial sector, respectively.</p><p>A comparison of the respective objectives, developments, constitutions and impacts of BASEL II and SOLVENCY II provides an insight into potential future consequences of both models on financial institutions. The impacts of BASEL II will further be used to anticipate a few SOLVENCY II developments.</p><p>Concluding, it can be stated that both BASEL II and SOLVENCY II are able to handle the new complex risk environment with interconnections and overlappings of risks, if implemented internationally. However, this will be achieved only due to more complex,expensive, and time consuming risk valuation approaches. However, this will also more</p><p>adequately take into account the individual risk situation of the companies. Therefore, the Minimum Capital Requirements for both banks and insurances are most likely to decrease.</p><p>Both supervision models are also in line with the developments of IAS/IFRS.</p><p>A final consideration of impacts and developments provides a few recommendations and suggestions for regulators, banks and insurances.</p>

Financial crises, liberalization of financial markets, globalization and more and more sophisticated financial products necessitate appropriate regulations within the financial industry. Nowadays, ever-growing international trading is all the more linked to financial institutions such as banks and insurance companies. But simultaneously, with the international operations, the range of relevant risks has increased enormously and the implementation of new efficient regulations has become necessary. These regulations aim at improving risk management, in order to assure the solvability of these companies and therewith the financial stability of the whole economy. This should be achieved by the supervision models: BASEL II for banks and SOLVENCY II for insurances. How far do these two supervision models influence the financial institutions and to what extent do they achieve to realize a more adequate risk management? These issues are to be discussed in our thesis. The relevant risks for industries become conceptualized and both supervision models are presented. The presentation covers a development, objectives and a constitution of both models. Based on this, an analytical review of the models is performed to derive potential impacts and consequences for implementing companies and the financial sector, respectively. A comparison of the respective objectives, developments, constitutions and impacts of BASEL II and SOLVENCY II provides an insight into potential future consequences of both models on financial institutions. The impacts of BASEL II will further be used to anticipate a few SOLVENCY II developments. Concluding, it can be stated that both BASEL II and SOLVENCY II are able to handle the new complex risk environment with interconnections and overlappings of risks, if implemented internationally. However, this will be achieved only due to more complex,expensive, and time consuming risk valuation approaches. However, this will also more adequately take into account the individual risk situation of the companies. Therefore, the Minimum Capital Requirements for both banks and insurances are most likely to decrease. Both supervision models are also in line with the developments of IAS/IFRS. A final consideration of impacts and developments provides a few recommendations and suggestions for regulators, banks and insurances.

Affordability continues to be a major challenge for housing in America. According to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (JCHS), in 2006, 57 million households were moderately and severely cost burdened in America. Although high housing prices and the lack of real income growth are cited as the main factors behind the housing affordability problem, it has been proven that land use regulations have some responsibility in this matter as well. Data from the JCHS suggests that between 2002 and 2005, the average appreciation percentage in housing prices was greater in most stringent regulatory environments when compared to less restrictive environments. Despite this fact, and compared to analyses performed in other states, the relationship between the stringency of local land use regulatory environments and housing has not been fully addressed in Texas. The methodological approach used to characterize this relationship has been by means of the creation of a composite index measuring the stringency of local regulatory environments. In response to this lack of evidence of the characteristics of local land use regulatory environments in Texas, this research created the first city-level index characterizing local regulatory environments for housing markets in the Houston-Galveston Area. The index was created taking into account both the different and the most recent practices for the creation of indices. The index created proved to be a valid and reliable measure capable of taking into account the different aspects of the relationship between land use regulations and housing markets. Correlation procedures allowed the detection of a significant relationship between the stringency of local land use regulatory environments and local traits such as median family income, race distribution, poverty, and median housing values. After alternative indices were developed for a sensitivity and uncertainty analysis, the index proved to be a statistically robust measure against modifications on the different assumptions used for its creation. Further research could use this new composite index in empirical analysis to look at the statistical effect of regulatory environments on variables such as housing values and rent prices.