In May 2004 there was a shake-up in the private pharmaceutical industry in South Africa. The National Department of Health (DOH) introduced a form of price control which for the first time attempted to regulate prices at every level of the pharmaceutical distribution chain. The price controls was immediately challenged and was not properly implemented until partially upheld by the Constitutional Court at the end of 2005. Throughout 2006 the DOH (through the Pricing Committee) reconsidered parts of the price controls, dealing with an appropriate dispensing fee for retailers, which were struck down by the Constitutional Court. In late 2006, a new dispensing fee was published and then immediately challenged. The DOH claims they had to do this to make sure that medicines remain affordable, and pharmacists at the end of the day get a reasonable income from each price band. The United South African Pharmacies (USAP) and the Pharmacy Stakeholders1 Forum (PSF) claim that implementation of the price controls would have pharmacies not being able to cover their expenses. The objectives of the study are to ascertain whether the price controls forced upon the healthcare industry by the DOH of South Africa is viable in small retail pharmacies and what the impact will be on small retail pharmacies and their communities. The actual annual income statements for 2006 of three typical pharmacies were obtained. The next step was to determine the effect that the price controls would have had on the total sales and key financial factors in the income statement if the price controls was already in force in 2006. A revised experimental income statement was then created for the pharmacies. The experimental statements were then compared to the actual statements to determine the effects of the price controls. The comparison showed that all the pharmacies were following the same trend and had a decrease in net profit. Two of the pharmacies would have had a net loss for the year while the third will continue to show a net profit although much lower. This net profit decreased from 7% to 3% following a decrease in gross profit (GP) from 33% to 30%. The GP of the front sales shop remained unchanged, while the GP percentage for the dispensary decreased by 5% from 30% to 25%. The DuPont model showed that the Return on Equity (ROE) decreased from 83% to 33%. Drug price regulations could force many pharmacies into bankruptcy and ensure that the distribution of drugs to rural and remote areas will be financially impracticable. Once in place, the drug price regulations are likely to become ever more complex and onerous to comply with. The price regulations may end up reducing price competition among manufacturers, and in the long run, will harm the consumer by fixing prices above what would otherwise have been achieved in an open competitive market. The drug price regulations distort the normal market clearing process and effectively increase demand for medicine without providing the economic incentives that serve to match demand with supply. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

In May 2004 there was a shake-up in the private pharmaceutical industry in South Africa. The National Department of Health (DOH) introduced a form of price control which for the first time attempted to regulate prices at every level of the pharmaceutical distribution chain. The price controls was immediately challenged and was not properly implemented until partially upheld by the Constitutional Court at the end of 2005. Throughout 2006 the DOH (through the Pricing Committee) reconsidered parts of the price controls, dealing with an appropriate dispensing fee for retailers, which were struck down by the Constitutional Court. In late 2006, a new dispensing fee was published and then immediately challenged. The DOH claims they had to do this to make sure that medicines remain affordable, and pharmacists at the end of the day get a reasonable income from each price band. The United South African Pharmacies (USAP) and the Pharmacy Stakeholders1 Forum (PSF) claim that implementation of the price controls would have pharmacies not being able to cover their expenses. The objectives of the study are to ascertain whether the price controls forced upon the healthcare industry by the DOH of South Africa is viable in small retail pharmacies and what the impact will be on small retail pharmacies and their communities. The actual annual income statements for 2006 of three typical pharmacies were obtained. The next step was to determine the effect that the price controls would have had on the total sales and key financial factors in the income statement if the price controls was already in force in 2006. A revised experimental income statement was then created for the pharmacies. The experimental statements were then compared to the actual statements to determine the effects of the price controls. The comparison showed that all the pharmacies were following the same trend and had a decrease in net profit. Two of the pharmacies would have had a net loss for the year while the third will continue to show a net profit although much lower. This net profit decreased from 7% to 3% following a decrease in gross profit (GP) from 33% to 30%. The GP of the front sales shop remained unchanged, while the GP percentage for the dispensary decreased by 5% from 30% to 25%. The DuPont model showed that the Return on Equity (ROE) decreased from 83% to 33%. Drug price regulations could force many pharmacies into bankruptcy and ensure that the distribution of drugs to rural and remote areas will be financially impracticable. Once in place, the drug price regulations are likely to become ever more complex and onerous to comply with. The price regulations may end up reducing price competition among manufacturers, and in the long run, will harm the consumer by fixing prices above what would otherwise have been achieved in an open competitive market. The drug price regulations distort the normal market clearing process and effectively increase demand for medicine without providing the economic incentives that serve to match demand with supply. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.

Banking has a unique role in the well-being of an economy. This role makes banks one of the most heavily regulated and supervised industries. In order to strengthen the soundness and stability of banking systems, regulators require banks to hold adequate capital. While credit risk was the only risk that was covered by the original Basle Accord, with the 1996 amendment, banks have also been required to assign capital for their market risk starting from 1998. In this research, the impact of the market risk capital regulations on bank capital levels and derivative activities is investigated. In addition, this study also evaluates the impact of using different approaches that are allowed to be used while calculating the required market risk capital, as well as the accuracy of VaR models. The implementation of the market risk capital regulations can influence banks either by increasing their capital or by decreasing their trading activities and in particular trading derivative activities. The literature review concerning capital regulations illustrates that in particular the impact of these regulations on bank capital levels and derivative activities is an issue that has not yet been explored. In order to fill this gap, the changes in capital and derivatives usage ratios are modelled by using a partial adjustment framework. The main results of this analysis suggest that the implementation of the market risk capital regulations has a significant and positive impact on the risk-based capital ratios of BHCs. However, the results do not indicate any impact of these regulations on derivative activities. The empirical findings also demonstrate that there is no significant relationship between capital and derivatives. The market risk capital regulations allow the use of either a standardised approach or the VaR methodologies to determine the required capital amounts to cover market risk. In order to evaluate these approaches, firstly differences on bank VaR practices are investigated by employing a documentary analysis. The documentary analysis is conducted to demonstrate the differences in bank VaR practices by comparing the VaR models of 25 international banks. The survey results demonstrate that there, is no industry consensus on the methodology for calculating VaR. This analysis also indicates that the assumptions in estimating VaR models vary considerably among financial institutions. Therefore, it is very difficult for financial market participants to make comparisons across institutions by considering single VaR values. Secondly, the required capital amounts are calculated for two hypothetical foreign exchange portfolios by using both the standardised and three different VaR methodologies, and then these capital amounts are compared. These simulations are conducted to understand to what extent the market risk capital regulations approaches produce different outcomes on the capital levels. The results indicate that the VaR estimates are dependent upon the VaR methodology. Thirdly, three backtesting methodologies are applied to the VaR models. The results indicate that a VaR model that provides accurate estimates for a specific portfolio could fail when the portfolio composition changes. The results of the simulations indicate that the market risk capital regulations do not provide a `level playing field' for banks that are subject to these regulations. In addition, giving an option to banks to determine the VaR methodology could create a moral hazard problem as banks may choose an inaccurate model that provides less required capital amounts.

A margin account is a type of brokerage account that allows investors to buy and sell financial securities using credit. The account’s margin requirement is the amount of collateral required, from the investor, to cover the funds or securities extended by the broker to the investor. In Canada, the primary driver of an account’s margin requirement is the account’s Capital Charge [CC] which is calculated using a set of regulatory rules. The regulations are degenerate in that hundreds of valid CCs often exist for a single account. This work outlines a linear optimization model for selecting the minimal CC out of the set of valid CCs for a given margin account. The method proposed is consistent with all of the regulatory requirements and is guaranteed optimal in most cases. Relative to existing methods, the new method produced an average CC reduction of approximately 2% and displayed qualitatively better run-times.

A margin account is a type of brokerage account that allows investors to buy and sell financial securities using credit. The account’s margin requirement is the amount of collateral required, from the investor, to cover the funds or securities extended by the broker to the investor. In Canada, the primary driver of an account’s margin requirement is the account’s Capital Charge [CC] which is calculated using a set of regulatory rules. The regulations are degenerate in that hundreds of valid CCs often exist for a single account. This work outlines a linear optimization model for selecting the minimal CC out of the set of valid CCs for a given margin account. The method proposed is consistent with all of the regulatory requirements and is guaranteed optimal in most cases. Relative to existing methods, the new method produced an average CC reduction of approximately 2% and displayed qualitatively better run-times.

This doctoral thesis contains three essays on the economics of climate change and the electricity sector. The first essay deals with the subject of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and economic growth. The second essay addresses the issues of climate change policies, especially the role of the emergent innovative technologies, and the restructuring of the electricity sector. The third essay presents a model of transmission investments in electric power networks. Chapter One studies the impacts of climate change on economic growth in the world economies. The paper contains explicit formalization of the depletion process of exhaustible fossil fuels and the phase of technology substitution. The impacts of climate change on capital flows and welfare across countries are also investigated. The restructuring of the electricity sector is studied in Chapter Two. It also analyzes how climate change policies can benefit from emergent innovative technologies and how emergent innovative technologies can lower GHG emissions. It is shown that the price of electricity is strictly rising before emergent innovative firms with zero GHG emissions enter the market, but strictly declining as the entry begins. In Chapter Three, a model of electricity transmission investments from the perspective of the regulatory approach is formulated. The Mid-West region of Western Australia, a sub-system of the South West Interconnected System is considered. In contrast with most models in the literature that deal only with network deepening, this model deals with both network deepening and network widening. Moreover, unlike the conventional investment models which are static and deal only with the long run, this model is dynamic and focuses on the timing of the infrastructure investments. The paper is a study of an optimal transmission investment program which is part of the optimal investment program for an integrated model in which investments in transmission and investments in generation are made at the same time.

Economic instabilities in our country over the past few decades and improvement in communication technologies, have encouraged Turkish construction firms to utilize business opportunities in foreign countries. However, working abroad brings with it certain risks and problems. The aim of this thesis were to define and clarify problematic factors during the design stages in international design projects (IDP), to collect relevant suggested solutions and to try and determine the sources of these factors. The survey starts with general problems and/or factors which affect international projects and continues to examine whether these problems are the same as those faced in the architectural field. Also, the place of the Turkish construction industry in the world market, the reasons for the increase in international projects and the problems which might be faced while executing IDP have formed the scope of this thesis. To this end informal interviews were carried out with managers and design professionals of architectural firms, based in Ankara, which were involved in international projects, in order to determine types of problems encountered in execution of IDPs. The first questionnaire was based on insight gained from these interviews. Thereafter, the results of the first questionnaire formed the basis of the second questionnaire, which was delivered more extensively. According to the research carried out in this study, the major effective factors in execution of IDPs could be listed as, cultural differences, communication within the project team, information technologies, standards and regulations, client and local authorities and economical situation of target country.

This study examines voluntary intellectual capital reporting (ICR) in New Zealand firms' annual reports, with a view to contributing to understanding ICR practice. This study also reflects on content analysis with a view to refining the methodology when applied to investigating ICR.The literature includes widespread claims that intellectual capital (IC) resources are important value drivers and assets, and that IC information should be reported externally. However, complexities relating to identifying IC prevent it from being recognised as an asset under current accounting regulations. Consequently, the traditional financial reporting system is being criticised as out-of-date, giving deficient and irrelevant information, and having lost its value relevance. Numerous scholars have investigated voluntary ICR in several countries, but have presented different results and findings. The literature argues that the results of many ICR studies cannot be meaningfully compared because inconsistent data collection instruments have been applied. To advance ICR research, further refining and developing of the methodology is advocated; problems relating to applying methodological issues need to be resolved. Moreover, to establish consensus about ICR, more research and evidence is needed concerning exactly what and how IC is reported.The 2004 annual reports of the 30 largest (by market capitalisation) New Zealand firms listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange were analysed. Content analysis was applied to determine what and how IC is reported. Inferences about what IC is communicated were made based on an analysis of the content of texts and visual representations. To determine how IC is reported, voluntary reporting was categorised according to the form, nature and location of the disclosure. Frequencies of mention were recorded. Hence, each incidence of occurrence was coded and counted.This study reflected on content analysis methodology by searching the literature for guidance on how to apply this approach and how to deal with the challenges and problems it poses. The thesis discusses methodological issues that could be applied differently, and hence hinder the replicability and comparability of ICR studies. Moreover, the ICR literature provided limited guidance about how to deal with methodological challenges and problems, and revealed an absence of explicit recording instructions. Therefore, explicating this study's recording instructions should enhance replicability and comparability of future ICR research and hence further refine the methodology.Some results of this content analysis study disconfirm those of prior research: New Zealand firms show high levels of ICR, the most reported IC category is human capital, and the most reported IC item is employees. In line with prior research, this study showed that most ICR is presented in declarative terms. Moreover, more than one-third of New Zealand firms' ICR is disclosed as pictures. This indicates the importance of pictorial information as a means of reporting IC and the need to include graphics when conducting ICR research. This study's findings also indicate a narrative approach, similar to the European notion of story telling, to voluntarily report IC information. This approach suggests that narratives have possible potential for voluntary ICR, as an approach that departs from a measurement and quantification approach.

Diss. Stockholm : Univ., 2004.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2008. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.