This thesis looks at the effects of flexible working arrangements on workers' labour market outcomes. The particular type of flexible working arrangement analysed in this thesis is called "flexitime". This is an arrangement which gives workers the freedom to choose when to start and end their work. Flexitime provides workers with a new way to cater to their domestic responsibilities and in turn may reduce the costs of participating in the labour market. Therefore, it is closely connected with workers' compensation structure, human capital accumulation process, labour supply and job mobility. The effects of flexitime on workers' labour market outcomes are analysed from three aspects: wage, labour supply, and job mobility. The first chapter gives an introduction and overview of the thesis. The second chapter is a study on the compensating wage differentials associated with flexitime. In general I do not find convincing evidence showing the existence of compensating wage differentials associated with flexitime. One possible reason might be that flexitime brings additional benefits to firms (such as increased productivity and reduced turnover rate) so that firms may not necessarily need to reduce actual wages in exchange for flexitime provision. In the third chapter, I develop a model describing how flexitime may affect workers' labour supply decisions. The main finding of the model is that flexitime will increase workers' labour supply when the benefit associated with flexitime (increased child care production efficiency) is high relative to the cost of wage reduction (prediction 1). Meanwhile, the model also predicts that flexitime causes high human capital workers to increase their labour supply more than low human capital workers (prediction 2). Empirical findings show that flexitime is positively associated with working mothers' labour market hours, which confirms model prediction 1. However, there is arguably insufficient empirical evidence verifying model prediction 2. The fourth chapter considers the relationship between flexitime and workers' job satisfaction and job mobility. Flexitime is associated with high job satisfaction levels for both male and female workers. It also reduces the probability of quitting for female workers with young children. Male workers' job mobility decisions are not significantly affected by flexitime. The fifth chapter gives the conclusion of the thesis.

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is becoming increasingly important in the modern business world. In order to effectively manage and integrate a supply chain (SC), a deep understanding of overall SC operation dynamics is needed. This involves understanding how the decisions, actions and interactions between SC members affect each other, and how these relate to SC performance and SC disruptions. Achieving such an understanding is not an easy task, given the complex and dynamic nature of supply chains. Existing simulation approaches do not provide an explanation of simulation results, while related work on SC disruption analysis studies SC disruptions separately from SC operation and performance. This thesis presents a logic-based approach for modelling, simulating and explaining SC operation that fills these gaps. SC members are modelled as logicbased intelligent agents consisting of a reasoning layer, represented through business rules, a process layer, represented through business processes and a communication layer, represented through communicative actions. The SC operation model is declaratively formalised, and a rule-based specification is provided for the execution semantics of the formal model, thus driving the simulation of SC operation. The choice of a logic-based approach enables the automated generation of explanations about simulated behaviours. SC disruptions are included in the SC operation model, and a causal model is defined, capturing relationships between different types of SC disruptions and low SC performance. This way, explanations can be generated on causal relationships between occurred SC disruptions and low SC performance. This approach was analytically and empirically evaluated with the participation of SCM and business experts. The results indicate the following: Firstly, the approach is useful, as it allows for higher efficiency, correctness and certainty about explanations of SC operation compared to the case of no automated explanation support. Secondly, it improves the understanding of the domain for non-SCM experts with respect to their correctness and efficiency; the correctness improvement is significantly higher compared to the case of no prior explanation system use, without loss of efficiency. Thirdly, the logic-based approach allows for maintainability and reusability with respect to the specification of SC operation input models, the developed simulation system and the developed explanation system.

This thesis analyses how and why the recurrent costs of water services are shared between different actors in the rural local government areas in Mali which are supported by the international NGO WaterAid. This analysis of the financing arrangements for rural water services is used to critically assess theory, policy and practice in three areas: the community-based management approach to service delivery, the role of decentralised local governments in supporting community management, and the ability of external organisations to influence institutional change. Empirical evidence is presented for the period 2008-2011, drawing on research fieldwork undertaken in collaboration with WaterAid and its partners in 2010 and 2011, as the organisation introduced its own Sustainability Framework to help understand and address the challenges to delivering sustainable rural water services. The thesis argues that approaches to understanding local institutions for natural resource management based on ‘critical institutionalism' (Cleaver 2012), which emphasises the importance of improvisation and adaptation across different scales, should be placed within broader political economy analysis frameworks for assessing challenges in public services delivery from national to local levels. The use of such a framework shows how WaterAid and its partners adopt a ‘critical institutionalist' perspective at community levels to support users in developing ways of raising funds for water services which draw on both traditional practices and NGO influences. However at local government and national levels their approach is based on ideas of ‘best practice' rather than ‘best fit' (Booth 2012): although the costs of local government support to communities under the model promoted by WaterAid lie within international benchmarks, it is unclear over what timescale this approach could be scaled up in Mali without donor support. This demonstrates the limited ability of local governments to ensure the delivery of decentralised public services without additional external resources and support themselves.

New Zealand has ratified the Kyoto Protocol and agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels in the first commitment period 2008-2012. Energy generated from renewable sources, such as New Zealand plantation forests and wood processing sites, is considered greenhouse gas neutral. But the use of biomass for bioenergy in New Zealand is very small. Some of the reasons for this include a lack of information about the future fuel supply and delivered cost. This thesis aims to provide a methodology to estimate biomass fuel availability and the delivered cost, of a range of forest and wood processing sources within a district, and to analyse the impact of harvest age, harvesting practices, terrain, collection and chipping costs, opportunity cost and transport costs on the availability and delivered cost of biomass for bioenergy. The six biomass streams included were chiplogs, forest landing residues, cutover residues, sawdust, bark and chip. The methodology was developed based on an area in Canterbury, and tested on an area in the Nelson/Marlborough region. It utilises forest growth models, Geographic Information Systems and Microsoft Excel. Growth models allow the analysis to be customised to a particular area or region, while the use of GIS allows the model to take spatial aspects (for example slope and transport distance) into consideration. Developing the overall framework within Excel allows easy analysis of the results and changes to the underlying assumptions. Opportunity costs make up a large proportion of the total cost of delivery for the chiplog, sawdust, bark and chip biomass and need to be included in any estimate of cost for these biomass streams. The logistic system chosen for collecting and chipping the forest residues has a large impact on their delivered cost as do the transport costs. However transport cost is not the most significant influence on the delivered cost of other biomass streams. The use of biomass for electricity generation only is not currently economic in either of the areas analysed. The use of biomass for heat production is currently economic if compared to the electricity purchase price.

Groundwater flow in karst terrains is difficult to map because it can be concentrated through conduits that do not necessarily coincide with the surface features. We applied electrical resistivity (ER) and self-potential (SP) techniques at three sites to locate an inferred trunk conduit feeding a major spring in the Inner Bluegrass region of Kentucky. Royal Spring is the primary water supply for the city of Georgetown; the upper part of its basin coincides with the Cane Run watershed. ER and SP profiles were perpendicular to the inferred trunk conduit orientation. ER profiles (972 m total length) were measured using a dipole–dipole electrode configuration with 2- to 3-m spacing. SP measurements were taken along those ER lines and an additional test profile (230 m) using one stationary reference electrode and another roving electrode at a fixed interval. The low resistivity of water in the conduit, as compared to the high background resistivity of limestone bedrock, is the ER exploration target. A negative SP anomaly corresponds to a low ER anomaly for most of the profiles, but a few are not comparable. Five of seven SP profiles measured over a period of several months were found to be reproducible. Although the overall trends of the final SP profiles for different dates were similar, the SP magnitudes varied with the amount of precipitation and the average soil temperature. The low-resistivity anomalies in the 2D inverted sections and corresponding negative SP anomalies could be water-filled conduits, although mud-filled voids encountered during drilling suggest that these may be tributary conduits rather than the trunk conduit.

There is an increasing importance of sustainability in the development of companies' business strategies. Due to its impact on the environment, this is particularly essential for companies of the transport and logistics sector. The paper explores several factors that influence the environmental behaviour of transport and logistics companies in Austria. It discusses the importance of the economic impact on environmental management decision in detail and analyses the sector's specific characteristics in terms of environmental behaviour. A case-based approach involving multiple field studies with face-to-face expert interviews and secondary data analysis was used to evaluate environmental performance and specific practices. Due to various factors like a lack of end-user contact and high levels of competition, the transport and logistics sector does not show much environmentally friendly behaviour. We can confirm that the economic factor is crucial for companies' decisions on the implementation of environmental practices. Using selected cases, we will demonstrate how environmental measures contribute to overall business performance. Furthermore, suggestions are given as to how the government can further support transport and logistics companies in this regard. Because there is little evidence of tangible environmental practices in the sector of transport and logistics and their impact on the business performance, this study is both exploratory and explanatory in its nature. (authors' abstract)

Examensarbetet Koordinering av materialflöden och verksamhetsflöden vid FUS i Linköping genomfördes för att ge stöd åt beslutsfattande gällande flödet av byggnadsmaterial från den norra godsmottagningen av sjukhuset till den östra utbyggnaden under året 2015.

Objective: The objective is to examine if long terms of payment are created because of a perceived zero-sum game in the cash-to-cash cycles between companies. The study will also examine if dependence effects the dependent companies Cash-to-Cash-cycle because of long terms of payment. Scientific method: The study uses a qualitative and a quantitative method, where primary data is collected from semi-structured interviews. Additional primary data is collected from an unstructured interview with an expert in the field of which is examined. Additional data has been collected from the studied companies’ annual reports. Theoretical references: The primary theory has been Game theory, where the researchers have used this theory to analyze the behaviors of the companies. This theory has been reinforced by the theory Pareto efficiency to help analyze the strategy which gives the highest net-outcome. The theory Cash-to- Cash has also been a focal point in the study, which has been used in concert with Supply chain finance and Supply chain management. This has been done to be able to further analyze the behaviors of the companies and the cooperation in the “supply chain”. Result: The result shows that there seems to exist a perceived zero-sum game in the cash-to-cash cycles between companies. The consequence of this is that the companies in a dominant position use a strategy that prolongs payables outstanding and shortens accounts receivables. This in turn prolongs the cash-to- cash cycles for the dominant companies suppliers. Focus to improve the Cash-to-Cash-cycles for both companies is very small or non-existent. The authors want to emphasize that additional research is needed within this area, where other contributing factors can be effecting the company’s decisions. / Syfte: Studien syftar till att undersöka om ofördelaktiga betalningsvillkor skapas på grund av ett uppfattat nollsummespel inom Cash-to-Cash-cykler mellan företag. Studien syftar även till att undersöka om beroendeförhållanden påverkar beroende aktörers Cash-to-Cash-cykel på grund av ofördelaktiga betalningsvillkor. Metod: Studien använde en metodtriangulering, där primärdata samlades in via semistrukturerade intervjuer. Ytterligare primärdata samlades in via en ostrukturerad intervju med en expert inom området. Slutligen har data samlats in angående intervjuobjektens årsredovisning. Teoretisk referensram: Den primära teorin har varit Game theory, där forskarna använt teorin för att kunna analysera aktörernas beteenden. Denna teori har förstärkts av ytterligare teorier såsom Paretooptimalitet som hjälper att analysera utfall som ger högst möjlig nytta. Teorier angående Cash-to-Cash har även de varit centrala i arbetet som har kopplats till Supply chain management samt Supply chain finance för att ytterligare kunna analysera beteenden och data angående samarbeten i kedjor av aktörer. Resultat: Resultatet visar att det verkar finnas ett uppfattat nollsummespel inom cash-to-cash-cykeln mellan företagen. Detta leder till att aktörer med maktpositioner utgår från en strategi som innebär att förlänga betaltiderna för leverantörer, som då förlänger leverantörernas Cash-to-Cash-cykel. Fokus på att förbättra Cash-to-Cash-cyklerna mellan företagen är väldigt liten eller obefintlig. Författarna vill dock tydliggöra att ytterligare forskning kring ämnet behövs för att kunna säkerställa resultatet, då andra faktorer kan ha påverkat aktörernas beslut och beteenden.

The power consumption of Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) has become an important issue for modern integrated circuit design, considering the fact that they occupy large area and consume significant portion of power consumption in modern nanometer chips. SRAM operating in low power supply voltages has become an effective approach in reducing power consumption. Therefore, it is essential to experimentally characterize the single event effects (SEE) of hardened and unhardened SRAM cells to determine their appropriate applications, especially when a low supply voltage is preferred. In this thesis, a SRAM test chip was designed and fabricated with four cell arrays sharing the same peripheral circuits, including two types of unhardened cells (standard 6T and sub-threshold 10T) and two types of hardened cells (Quatro and DICE). The systems for functional and radiation tests were built up with power supply voltages that ranged from near threshold 0.4 V to normal supply 1 V. The test chip was irradiated with alpha particles and heavy ions with various linear energy transfers (LETs) at different core supply voltages, ranging from 1 V to 0.4 V. Experimental results of the alpha test and heavy ion test were consistent with the results of the simulation. The cross sections of 6T and 10T cells present much more significant sensitivities than Quatro and DICE cells for all tested supply voltages and LET. The 10T cell demonstrates a more optimal radiation performance than the 6T cell when LET is small (0.44 MeV·cm2/mg), yet no significant advantage is evident when LET is larger than this. In regards to the Quatro and DICE cells, one does not consistently show superior performance over the other in terms of soft error rates (SERs). Multi-bit upsets (MBUs) occupy a larger portion of total SEUs in DICE cell when relatively larger LET and smaller supply voltage are applied. It explains the loss in radiation tolerance competition with Quatro cell when LET is bigger than 9.1 MeV·cm2/mg and supply voltage is smaller than 0.6 V. In addition, the analysis of test results also demonstrated that the error amount distributions follow a Poisson distribution very well for each type of cell array.

The increased use of returnable packaging have given rise to the trend of packaging logistics.The operation of returnable packaging is challenging for global companies due to thecomplexity in the process and information flows. Companies invest in returnable packagingsystems in order to ensure quality throughout the supply chain. Despite the large investments inan returnable packaging fleet, it is often poorly controlled, leading to vast tied-up capital andshrinkage.This thesis proposes how the visibility and control of the system is affected by thecategorization of packaging and the allocation of responsibilities throughout the packaginghandling process. Theoretical and empirical studies were carried out, the theoretical part helpeddefine the problem. A case study were performed at Scania CV AB in Södertälje, Sweden.Results of this study shows that categorization of packaging is not sufficient to attain a suitablelevel of control in an packaging handling process. Although it could be used as a supporting orgoverning documents for standardization in the process. Findings showed that theresponsibilities in the process should be centralized in as large extent as possible. Although ifthe current process is lacking visibility and control, the benefits of centralized control may belost.