Taiwan is an island, no matter in island or between countries. It is very important for industry in Taiwan to use convenient and quick transportation mode. Especially, as the firm has to deliver cargo in faster transportation mode. The air freight has superiority. It becomes the indispensable transportation mode. Therefore, I want to use this model in the article to explain the realistic economic environment. Downstream firm purchases an input with time restricted, but it will cost a lot for transportation. One of the possible reasons is that the downstream firm wants to force upstream firm to lower its input price. And then I consider under this kind of industry, if upstream firm integrate forward vertically, it may promote the industrial profit.

Cette recherche a pour objet d'identifier les comportements stratégiques des petites entreprises laitières algériennes dans un contexte de transition caractérisé par la concurrence. Elle montre également que les comportements stratégiques des petites entreprises laitières présentent des caractéristiques particulières, et sont susceptibles d'apporter une réponse au besoin de développement de cette petite structure. La méthodologie étant le système stratégique au travers l'étude de cas qualitative, une approche multicritère est adoptée. Permettre de mettre en lumière une série de résultats, d'une part, une typologie de trois types de comportement stratégique des petites entreprises laitières, d'autre part, a montré l'importance des variables environnementales et entrepreneuriales. Néanmoins l'analyse organisationnelle reste un point déterminant dans l'analyse des comportements stratégiques. Cette analyse a montré que la rentabilité des dix petites entreprises laitières est fortement tributaire de la matière première « poudre de lait ». Finalement cette thèse se pose entre autre la question de la spécificité de la petite entreprise en faisant de la variable entrepreneuriale un rôle central dans l'analyse stratégique / This research aims at identifying the strategic behaviours of the Algerian small dairy firms in a transition context. It also shows that the strategic behaviours of the small dairy firms present some specific characteristics and are likely to bring an answer to the need for development of this little structure. As methodology is the strategic system through a qualitative case study, a multi-criteria approach has been adopted. Highlighting a series of results on a one hand, and a typology of three types of strategic behaviours adopted by these small dairy firms on the other hand, has shown the importance of the environmental and entrepreneurial variables. Nevertheless, the organizational analysis is still a determining point in the analysis of strategic behaviours. This analysis has shown that the profitability of ten small dairy firms is largely dependent on the raw material that is dried milk. Finally, in this thesis, we are faced, amongst other things, with the specificity of the small company itself, giving a central role to the entrepreneurial variable in the strategic analysis

Models of strategic behavior are usually too complex to conduct large scale analyses, and frequently rely on accurate descriptions of the strategic environment, or unrealistic assumptions which render empirical studies very sensitive to misspecification. This dissertation relates game-theoretic frameworks to models of causality inference and thus provides a reliable method to identify price leadership. Therefore, causal models can be used to study large sets of data without imposing strategic behavior a priori. A case study is provided by analyzing the supply chain relationship among Dominick's Finer Foods and its suppliers. Although our data required aggregation, this empirical analysis successfully determined causal patterns for 60 percent of our sample. Of these price leaderships, 70 percent elicit Manufacturer Stackelberg relationships which tend to be associated with manufacturers that hold big market shares, 25 percent elicit Retailer Stackelbergs which seem to be associated with the biggest retailer margin profits, and only 5 percent elicit a monopolistic retailer with vertical coordination. These results agree with observations made by other authors and the market structure of the 1990's. Moreover, the strategic relationship among the suppliers is also studied. Interestingly, the dominant firms tend to isolate themselves from the price leadership, whereas the second largest firms seem to become price leaders. Our studies agree with the market literature as well. In particular, we find price leadership in a firm which was identified as a low cost leader. Finally, we discovered that the private label does not lead any firm's price unless this firm is the provider of a generic brand.

Online equity crowdfunding is a way for entrepreneurs to raise capital that has exploded in popularity in recent years. Information asymmetry and poor investor protection are threats for the long-term legitimacy of equity crowdfunding. In this study we examine the quality of the financial information shared on the crowdfunding platforms, since it is what investors have to rely on when making investment decisions. We evaluate the financial information both quantitatively and qualitatively to assess the quality in terms of accuracy and adequacy. More specifically we examine the financial forecasts primarily with quantitative methods and valuation primarily with qualitative. In total, we examine 22 companies on the Swedish equity crowdfunding platform FundedByMe. The financial forecasts are compared with the outcome from the income statements to find out if they are systematically biased. The results show that the financial forecasts are systematically overestimated. Based on previous research we have suggested two explanations for the overestimations; either overconfidence bias and/or strategic behavior. We also find the information regarding assumptions and methods used in the valuation to be inadequate. We perceive that investors needs higher quality financial information in terms of accuracy and adequacy to make well-formed investment decisions. Our recommendations are therefore to regulate equity crowdfunding further and impose higher demands on information quality. Otherwise equity crowdfunding will possibly end up as a market of “lemons”.

abstract: Working memory capacity and fluid intelligence are important predictors of performance in educational settings. Thus, understanding the processes underlying the relation between working memory capacity and fluid intelligence is important. Three large scale individual differences experiments were conducted to determine the mechanisms underlying the relation between working memory capacity and fluid intelligence. Experiments 1 and 2 were designed to assess whether individual differences in strategic behavior contribute to the variance shared between working memory capacity and fluid intelligence. In Experiment 3, competing theories for describing the underlying processes (cognitive vs. strategy) were evaluated in a comprehensive examination of potential underlying mechanisms. These data help inform existing theories about the mechanisms underlying the relation between WMC and gF. However, these data also indicate that the current theoretical model of the shared variance between WMC and gF would need to be revised to account for the data in Experiment 3. Possible sources of misfit are considered in the discussion along with a consideration of the theoretical implications of observing those relations in the Experiment 3 data. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Psychology 2018

abstract: Due to the growing popularity of the Internet and smart mobile devices, massive data has been produced every day, particularly, more and more users’ online behavior and activities have been digitalized. Making a better usage of the massive data and a better understanding of the user behavior become at the very heart of industrial firms as well as the academia. However, due to the large size and unstructured format of user behavioral data, as well as the heterogeneous nature of individuals, it leveled up the difficulty to identify the SPECIFIC behavior that researchers are looking at, HOW to distinguish, and WHAT is resulting from the behavior. The difference in user behavior comes from different causes; in my dissertation, I am studying three circumstances of behavior that potentially bring in turbulent or detrimental effects, from precursory culture to preparatory strategy and delusory fraudulence. Meanwhile, I have access to the versatile toolkit of analysis: econometrics, quasi-experiment, together with machine learning techniques such as text mining, sentiment analysis, and predictive analytics etc. This study creatively leverages the power of the combined methodologies, and apply it beyond individual level data and network data. This dissertation makes a first step to discover user behavior in the newly boosting contexts. My study conceptualize theoretically and test empirically the effect of cultural values on rating and I find that an individualist cultural background are more likely to lead to deviation and more expression in review behaviors. I also find evidence of strategic behavior that users tend to leverage the reporting to increase the likelihood to maximize the benefits. Moreover, it proposes the features that moderate the preparation behavior. Finally, it introduces a unified and scalable framework for delusory behavior detection that meets the current needs to fully utilize multiple data sources. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2019

The aim of this paper is to analyze the strategic behavior of the leading firms on the Swedish wholesale electricity market. This thesis wishes to address the competition situation on the market and how the firms can manipulate the price in order to maximize the profits. The Swedish electricity market was deregulated in 1996 and the predicted outcome was that the competition on the market would increase. However, today’s market is highly vertically integrated with three dominating firms; Vattenfall, E.ON, and Fortum. Moreover, the market has similar characteristics of an oligopoly with high entry barriers, limited room for product differentiation, and limited access of information. The Herfindahl-Hirschman Index and the Lerner Index show that the wholesale electricity market is highly concentrated and that market power exists. Besides external factors that affect the electricity price, such as emission trading and the amount of water in the reservoirs, the leading firms can with their market power manipulate the price. This can be done by preventing new entrants to enter the market which has led to underinvestment in new capacity with lower production costs.

This thesis consists of three papers. Industries that motivated this analysis range are exclusive clubs (Chapter 1) and pharmaceuticals (Chapters 2 and 3). A common thread is the study of the strategic behavior of monopoly or monopoly-like firms and the implications of such behavior. Chapter 1 studies an “invitation only” strategy for a durable goods monopolist. “Invitation only” functions as a commitment device, enabling the extraction of more profit than the conventional durable goods setting. In addition, the effectiveness of commitment devices in profit-extraction can be compared: each commitment device is modeled as an extra condition in the profit maximization of the general durable goods monopolist, enabling straightforward comparisons across commitment devices. Chapters 2 and 3 discuss the effect of patent protection on innovation in the pharmaceutical industry, in particular competition to produce drugs that follow-on from pioneer drug discovery, and any feedback effects on pioneer innovation. Despite the conventional notion, I show that longer patent protection may reduce or distort the incentives of innovation: with longer patents, the increased need of pioneer inventors in deterring the production of follow-on drugs may translate to less profitability for the pioneer inventor. Chapter 2 serves as a background and a literature review for Chapter 3. It explains the multi-stage drug discovery process and the phenomenon of follow-on drugs; it reviews strategic entry deterrence theories and summarizes the behavior of brand-name drug firms in deterring generic entry studied in the literature; it also reviews the optimal patent length and breadth literature. Chapter 3 presents several observed puzzles in the pharmaceutical industry and provides a unified explanation for these puzzles within a strategic entry deterrence model. The central conclusion is that under some general conditions, longer patent life distorts incentives for innovation and lowers research productivity: pioneer research is discouraged relative to follow-on research; inexpensive R&D projects are discouraged, and ceteris paribus expensive projects are favored instead, especially those with large clinical trial costs. Other predictions from the model accord with industry observations, including mid-development cancellations of potential drugs for non-medical reasons and early development of follow-on drugs in large markets.

This thesis consists of three papers. Industries that motivated this analysis range are exclusive clubs (Chapter 1) and pharmaceuticals (Chapters 2 and 3). A common thread is the study of the strategic behavior of monopoly or monopoly-like firms and the implications of such behavior. Chapter 1 studies an “invitation only” strategy for a durable goods monopolist. “Invitation only” functions as a commitment device, enabling the extraction of more profit than the conventional durable goods setting. In addition, the effectiveness of commitment devices in profit-extraction can be compared: each commitment device is modeled as an extra condition in the profit maximization of the general durable goods monopolist, enabling straightforward comparisons across commitment devices. Chapters 2 and 3 discuss the effect of patent protection on innovation in the pharmaceutical industry, in particular competition to produce drugs that follow-on from pioneer drug discovery, and any feedback effects on pioneer innovation. Despite the conventional notion, I show that longer patent protection may reduce or distort the incentives of innovation: with longer patents, the increased need of pioneer inventors in deterring the production of follow-on drugs may translate to less profitability for the pioneer inventor. Chapter 2 serves as a background and a literature review for Chapter 3. It explains the multi-stage drug discovery process and the phenomenon of follow-on drugs; it reviews strategic entry deterrence theories and summarizes the behavior of brand-name drug firms in deterring generic entry studied in the literature; it also reviews the optimal patent length and breadth literature. Chapter 3 presents several observed puzzles in the pharmaceutical industry and provides a unified explanation for these puzzles within a strategic entry deterrence model. The central conclusion is that under some general conditions, longer patent life distorts incentives for innovation and lowers research productivity: pioneer research is discouraged relative to follow-on research; inexpensive R&D projects are discouraged, and ceteris paribus expensive projects are favored instead, especially those with large clinical trial costs. Other predictions from the model accord with industry observations, including mid-development cancellations of potential drugs for non-medical reasons and early development of follow-on drugs in large markets.

Due to the emerging importance of e-negotiation and women position in business, it is important to understand the gender difference in online negotiation context. We designed four researches to examine the impact of gender difference on e-negotiation from three perspectives: (1) individual perspective; (2) dyadic perspective; and (3) interactive perspective. From the individual perspective, the individual negotiator¡¦s self gender background was taken into consideration. We examined the individual negotiator¡¦s self gender difference in negotiation strategic behavior and final performance (Research 1). From the dyadic perspective, the gender composition of a negotiation dyad was considered. We examined its impact on negotiation strategic behavior and final performance (Research 2). Finally, from the interactive perspective, we examined the impact of gender composition on strategic response (Research 3) and negotiation strategy in different negotiation phases (Research 4). All subjects were collected from Inspire e-negotiation system based on their gender backgrounds. Inspire is a web-based system which has been operated since 1996. From the countless samples, 60 pairs of negotiation (120 subjects) from 4 representative Western countries (American, Austria, Canada and Germany) were selected. All subjects dealt with the same purchasing negotiation scenario in which they have to negotiate four issues. We applied content analysis methodology to the collected complete transcripts of negotiations done by the selected subjects. Content analysis is superior to the questionnaire in terms of qualitative criteria. Totally, the collected 612 messages were divided into 6227 units, which serve as the data source of analysis. Overall, based on the results of this study, females and males still maintain gender stereotypical behavior in virtual environment. Negotiators¡¦ strategic behaviors are influenced by counterparts¡¦ gender backgrounds. In other words, from individual and dyadic perspectives, gender plays an influential factor. However, in investigating the impact of gender, dyadic perspective provides more precise findings. Further, our results also found that genders behaved differently in the strategic response and the strategy performing during different negotiation phases. However, honestly, the overall differences seem to be not as strong as expected since the gender difference might be less salient in the virtual negotiation situation. We hope this series of gender researches could contribute to comprehensive understanding of gender behavior in the online negotiation.