With issues such as energy crises, climate change and environmental degradation becoming evermore prevalent on national and international levels, industrialized societies are beginning to take heed of the impact they are having on the natural environment and we are beginning to see movements towards socially and environmentally responsible decision-making. With the impact that buildings have on the environment, it is important to understand what barriers are preventing or slowing investment in socially and environmentally responsible property. The present study was conducted to determine whether LEED certification has a significant impact on the market value of office buildings in Toronto, Ontario – value determined by the average net asking rent for each building. For some 68 subject and control buildings, we matched information on the net asking rent for 16 LEED certified (subject) buildings to 52 otherwise comparable properties (control buildings). Using ordinary least squares (OLS) analysis, we looked to find what relationship exists between net asking rent and the LEED label. Controlling for other variables historically shown to have an impact on property value, we expected the results of this study to determine whether there is a business case for LEED certification in the downtown Toronto office market. The results of the study have shown that LEED certification has had no impact on the market value of the sample of office buildings in Toronto. This is a surprising result, given the growth in the number of LEED buildings in Canada, but interviews with three senior executives in the industry have helped to provide insight into this trend. It seems that with time LEED will likely have an impact in this market, but it hasn‘t arrived yet.

The organic wheat supply chain in Canada operates in a relatively new sector for which there is very little public information to aid in price discovery. Organic wheat producers must use available information in order to decide when to sell their wheat and whom to sell to. The relatively low degree of market information, especially for producers, suggests a problem of information asymmetry, which may have ramifications for efficiency and the distribution of rents in the organic wheat supply chain. The literature on Transaction Cost Economics, Agency Theory and the Economics of Information is used in the thesis to theorize differences between methods of selling organic wheat that vary in terms of vertical coordination. The analysis involves a comparison of selling to large and small grain companies, selling through Producer-Owned Firms (POFs) and selling directly to processors. The theory predicts that producers gain from using a POF because of savings in transaction costs and higher prices. These theorized differences in transaction costs and price are due to increased sharing of information between the producer and the marketing agent, enhanced producer control over the marketer, and incentive for the marketer to provide producers with a high price. These benefits can also be realized by selling directly to a processor, but only if the producer can effectively and efficiently perform his or her own marketing functions. Average cost, price and profit margins are used as a metric for comparing each of the four governance structures. A survey of organic wheat producers in Saskatchewan was undertaken in order to collect data on organic Hard Red Spring Wheat (HRSW) transactions. The results indicate that governance structure has a statistically significant effect on organic HRSW prices and on producer transaction costs. The analysis concludes that the producer receives the greatest profit margin from selling through the vertically coordinated POF, while a marketer receives the greatest profit margin if it operates as a large grain company and purchases HRSW on the spot market. The results also suggest that organic producers that eliminate the middleman and sell directly to processors cannot market as efficiently and effectively compared with producers that use a POF. The results of this thesis emphasize that increased coordination between producer and marketer through a POF can be advantageous for the producer, but not necessarily for the marketer, due to the difference in the distribution of rents.

With issues such as energy crises, climate change and environmental degradation becoming evermore prevalent on national and international levels, industrialized societies are beginning to take heed of the impact they are having on the natural environment and we are beginning to see movements towards socially and environmentally responsible decision-making. With the impact that buildings have on the environment, it is important to understand what barriers are preventing or slowing investment in socially and environmentally responsible property. The present study was conducted to determine whether LEED certification has a significant impact on the market value of office buildings in Toronto, Ontario – value determined by the average net asking rent for each building. For some 68 subject and control buildings, we matched information on the net asking rent for 16 LEED certified (subject) buildings to 52 otherwise comparable properties (control buildings). Using ordinary least squares (OLS) analysis, we looked to find what relationship exists between net asking rent and the LEED label. Controlling for other variables historically shown to have an impact on property value, we expected the results of this study to determine whether there is a business case for LEED certification in the downtown Toronto office market. The results of the study have shown that LEED certification has had no impact on the market value of the sample of office buildings in Toronto. This is a surprising result, given the growth in the number of LEED buildings in Canada, but interviews with three senior executives in the industry have helped to provide insight into this trend. It seems that with time LEED will likely have an impact in this market, but it hasn‘t arrived yet.

I detta examensarbete undersökes vilka principer som styr hyresnivån för en grupp äldreboenden i Enköpings kommun, samt hur drift- och underhållskostnadsnivåerna är jämfört med kommunala äldreboenden i resten av Sverige. Bakgrunden ligger i att fastighetsförvaltarna på Enköpings kommun anser sig inte kunna ta ut den hyra de behöver för att underhålla husen i den omfattning som behövs. Fastighetskontorets kostnader för bland annat underhåll, mediaförbrukning, administration jämförs mot statistik. Dessutom granskas internhyressystemet genom att undersöka hur väl kommunen följer sina egna direktiv och styrdokument samt genom att jämföra styrdokumentet mot tillgänglig litteratur.  Enköping har historiskt sett lagt låga summor på både planerat och avhjälpande underhåll av fastigheter. Detta har varit en följd av att kommunen har haft, och fortfarande har, låga hyresintäkter jämfört med många andra kommuner i Sverige. En förändring har skett och på senare år har underhållskostnaderna ökat markant. Kommunens styrdokument för internhyressystemet har i princip inte uppdaterats sedan det skrevs och alla direktiv som står i dokumentet efterlevs tyvärr inte idag. Fastighetskontoret måste börja följa upp utfallet och kontinuerligt granska nyckeltal och mäta effektivitet. Kommunledningen måste uppdatera och förankra riktlinjerna för internhyra som ska gälla idag samt besluta om hur framtiden för husen ska se ut då de idag inte får det underhåll de behöver. Om underhållsnivån ska höjas till en acceptabel nivå behöver dessutom hyresintäkterna till Fastighetskontoret öka. / In this thesis the principles that govern the internal rent for a group of retirement homes in Enköping municipality is examined. Also the operation and maintenance cost levels are compared to other municipal-owned homes for the elderly in the rest of Sweden. Facility managers in Enköping municipality today consider the internal rent to be on a too low level. Therefore they cannot maintain the houses to the extent they consider necessary.  A comparison of the maintenance costs, media consumption, management expenses and several other expenses against the statistics from all of Sweden makes it possible to form an opinion on the current level.  The internal rent has been examined in two ways. First, by examining how well the municipality administration follows its own directives and policy documents and, secondly, by comparing the governing document with the available literature.  Key comparison shows that Enköping historically have had low amounts of both planned and unplanned maintenance expenses. A change has occurred in recent years and maintenance costs have increased significantly when large maintenance needs have arisen. Their written policy on internal rent has basically not been updated since it was written in 1990. This thesis culminates in a recommendation to both the municipal administration and facility management. They must begin to monitor key indicators and measure effectiveness. Municipal leaders need to update and establish guidelines for internal rent. If the amount of maintenance is raised to an acceptable level the rent also needs to be raised to avoid a deficit.

Genom att titta på tre stycken TV-program; Arga Snickaren, Lyxfällan och Rent hus har jag undersökt hur experterna/coacherna i TV-programmen verkar, vad är det för budskap och moral som de förmedlar samt vilken betydelse det kan få. För att förstå och analysera mitt material har jag använt mig av de teoretiska utgångspunkterna; orent och rent, privat och offentlig sfär, experter och coacher samt moral.   Jag har valt att titta på TV-programmen och därefter jämföra materialet för att förstå och utskilja mönster och strukturer, skillnader och likheter. Jag har använt mig av den klassiska dramaturgin som ett slags utgångspunkt för att förstå uppbyggnaden av TV-programmen.   Experterna/coacherna verkar på olika sätt i respektive TV-program. Den gemensamma nämnaren är att experterna/coacherna ska bidra med en kunskapsförmedling kring den problematiska situation som deltagarna befinner sig i. Hur detta sker skiljer sig mellan TV-programmen, allt från renodlad kunskapsförmedling till ett slags moralpredikan där experten fostrar deltagaren i att förändra sitt beteende och bli en god samhällsmedborgare, allt enligt normen. TV som medium har makt att påverka på olika sätt, inte bara de personer som deltar i TV-programmet, utan även de som sitter hemma i soffan och tittar.

A theorem due to Scarf in 1967 is examined in detail. Several versions of this theorem exist, some which appear at first unrelated. Two versions can be shown to be equivalent to a result due to Sperner in 1928: for a proper labelling of the vertices in a simplicial subdivision of an n-simplex, there exists at least one elementary simplex which carries all labels {0,1,..., n}. A third version is more akin to Dantzig's simplex method and is also examined. In recent years many new applications in combinatorics have been found, and we present several of them. Two applications are in the area of fair division: cake cutting and rent partitioning. Two others are graph theoretic: showing the existence of a fractional stable matching in a hypergraph and the existence of a fractional kernel in a directed graph. For these last two, we also show the second implies the first.

The organic wheat supply chain in Canada operates in a relatively new sector for which there is very little public information to aid in price discovery. Organic wheat producers must use available information in order to decide when to sell their wheat and whom to sell to. The relatively low degree of market information, especially for producers, suggests a problem of information asymmetry, which may have ramifications for efficiency and the distribution of rents in the organic wheat supply chain. The literature on Transaction Cost Economics, Agency Theory and the Economics of Information is used in the thesis to theorize differences between methods of selling organic wheat that vary in terms of vertical coordination. The analysis involves a comparison of selling to large and small grain companies, selling through Producer-Owned Firms (POFs) and selling directly to processors. The theory predicts that producers gain from using a POF because of savings in transaction costs and higher prices. These theorized differences in transaction costs and price are due to increased sharing of information between the producer and the marketing agent, enhanced producer control over the marketer, and incentive for the marketer to provide producers with a high price. These benefits can also be realized by selling directly to a processor, but only if the producer can effectively and efficiently perform his or her own marketing functions. Average cost, price and profit margins are used as a metric for comparing each of the four governance structures. A survey of organic wheat producers in Saskatchewan was undertaken in order to collect data on organic Hard Red Spring Wheat (HRSW) transactions. The results indicate that governance structure has a statistically significant effect on organic HRSW prices and on producer transaction costs. The analysis concludes that the producer receives the greatest profit margin from selling through the vertically coordinated POF, while a marketer receives the greatest profit margin if it operates as a large grain company and purchases HRSW on the spot market. The results also suggest that organic producers that eliminate the middleman and sell directly to processors cannot market as efficiently and effectively compared with producers that use a POF. The results of this thesis emphasize that increased coordination between producer and marketer through a POF can be advantageous for the producer, but not necessarily for the marketer, due to the difference in the distribution of rents.

Under the idea of ¡§Land ownership means wealth ownership¡¨, people believe that owning land is the ultimate symbol of wealth. Area of Taiwan¡¦s state-owned land goes up to 3.6 million hectares. Government agencies at all levels that require official or public use of land must apply for appropriation of the public land, which creates fewer disputes. This is not within the scope of this study. The rest of the non-public land would be treated in accordance with the provisions of Article 53 of the State-Owned Property Law, whereby ¡§The vacant house and land belonging to non-public use property shall be sold by tendering, if no predeterminated purpose.¡¨ However, after the land value skyrocketed due to cases of land auction, the public gradually became concerned with whether the state-owned land auctions are driving up the land prices. According to the principle of public land management and process, it expressly states that state-owned land is ¡§for rent only and not for sale¡¨. However, there are many exceptions, causing the current state-owned land policy to be still primarily auction-based. Therefore, there is still room for discussion regarding the impact of the ¡§for rent only and not for sale¡¨ policy on the development of the state-owned land. ¡@¡@ However, we are currently faced with limited resources and infinite demands, while the government regards land tendering as one of the optimal operating methods. Strengthened management for issues such as illegal occupation and idleness of state-owned land should thus be simultaneously implemented considering the rare and irreplaceable nature of state-owned land resources. As a result, in conforming to the principles of making reasonable and optimal adjustments in the utilization of land resources, this study explored the domestic state-owned land management system within the administrative law frameworks and examined whether any amendment is required. The ultimate aim of this paper is to examine the problems one by one under the five major frameworks: basic principles of the administrative law, administrative organization, administrative authority, administrative relief, and administrative supervision, while providing a discourse and analysis of the existing system. Concrete suggestions were then given to correct the existing state-owned land management system in Taiwan, in an attempt to provide a standard for policy makers or for administrative agencies when setting administrative rules.

As the price level soars up, it become more important to study the dynamic relation between stock prices, price indices. In this paper we suspect that property stocks serve as tools of anti-inflation and examine whether there exists a positive correlation between the prices of property stocks and price indices, such as the Rent Index, CPI, and WPI. Our results confirm the positive correlation between the prices of property stocks and the price indices. More precisely, it is revealed by applying VAR and the impulse response analysis that the positive correlation between the prices of property stocks and CPI/WPI in the short run. Using the cointegration analysis, we detect the long-run relation between the prices of property stocks and the Rent Index.

Summary Taiwan¡¦s petroleum market has been deregulated in the wake of the passing of the Petroleum Administration Law. The market structure should have been shifted to monopolistic competition from the monopoly and the price backed to the so-called equilibrium one. Observing its historical data, we can find the effect of the price decrease is not obvious. In this article, we try to explore the reasons for that using the interest group theory in the public choice school. Every interest group demanding regulation decides how much political resource they would provide in light of their own cost benefit analysis. On the other hand, the administration department supplying regulation will be influenced by some variables such as ideology, institutional constraint, and political variance. Finally the political equilibrium price, i.e. output of regulation, will be reached through adjusting both sides each other.