論文共一冊，預計約五萬字，內容分為五章，茲扼要說明如下： 第一章：緒論，本章係全論文之引言部份，敘述問題背景，研究動機，研究問題，研 究範圍與限制等項。 第二章：文獻探討。本章在描述現有文獻中關於投資方面的理論模式與實證研究，進 而引申到投類型與策略方面。 第三章：研究方法。本章在說明論文之研究變數、研究假設、研究工具、抽樣設計、 和研究架構等項。 第四章：研究結果與分析，本章在探討台灣不同投資類型廠商（積極群、反應群）的 區別分析結果，並比較解釋台灣企業間不同投資類型和投資策略間的關係。

This dissertation examines the relationship between three sets of variables: corporate governance and monitoring, the quality of disclosure in annual reports and securities class action litigation. In the first section, I present a game-theoretic model in which shareholders select from ex ante monitoring or ex post litigation mechanisms available to them in order to mitigate the agency problem. Firm characteristics determine the choice of which of these two mechanisms is appropriate for a particular company. I then test predictions from this model and find that firms with poor monitoring are much more likely than those with good monitoring to be sued even after controlling for the common determinants of a lawsuit. The second section of the dissertation relates the quality of disclosure in annual reports to litigation. I use a dataset containing annual reports filed electronically with the SEC in the period 1996-2005. Using two content analysis software programs that analyze the categories of words used in these annual reports, I find that firms that use more numbers, past and future words, and other informative words are much less likely to be sued, even after controlling for the common determinants of lawsuits. In order to avoid subjectively choosing categories, I use principal components analysis to identify the major components of annual report disclosure. When these components are used as regressors to identify causative factors of lawsuits, one component named 'informativeness' has significant power to explain subsequent lawsuits. In head-to-head comparisons of the 'informativeness' principal component with Standard & Poor's Transparency and Disclosure score, my informativeness measure is more effective than the S&P score in predicting the likelihood of a lawsuit. Finally, in cross-sectional tests, I find support for the theory that firms with good boards and managers who are not entrenched have better disclosure practices. Further, monitoring by institutional investors, independent boards and analysts appears to induce better corporate disclosure. / text

Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 114-120).

This thesis is concerned with aspects of the model theory of infinite soluble groups. The results proved lie on the border between group theory and model theory: the questions asked are of a model-theoretic nature but the techniques used are mainly group-theoretic in character. We present a characterization of those groups contained in the universal closure of a restricted wreath product U wr G, where U is an abelian group of zero or finite square-free exponent and G is a torsion-free soluble group with a bound on the class of its nilpotent subgroups. For certain choices of G we are able to use this characterization to prove further results about these groups; in particular, results related to the decidability of their universal theories. The latter part of this work consists of a number of independent but related topics. We show that if G is a finitely generated abelian-by-metanilpotent group and H is elementarily equivalent to G then the subgroups gamma_n(G) and gamma_n(H) are elementarily equivalent, as are the quotient groups G/gamma_n(G) and G/gamma_n(H). We go on to consider those groups universally equivalent to F_2(VN_c), where the free groups of the variety V are residually finite p-groups for infinitely many primes p, distinguishing between the cases when c = 1 and when c > 2. Finally, we address some important questions concerning the theories of free groups in product varieties V_k · · ·V_1, where V_i is a nilpotent variety whose free groups are torsion-free; in particular we address questions about the decidability of the elementary and universal theories of such groups. Results mentioned in both of the previous two paragraphs have applications here.

Low back pain (LBP) is regarded as a major health and economic problem in western industrialised countries even at this time in the twenty-first century. Researchers estimate that it has increased to affect about 45% of the population in 2011. This increase creates a major burden on the health care services, social structures and the economy in terms of absenteeism from work. CNSLBP is still poorly understood. Main reasons for the poor understanding of CNSLBP discussed in this study are the limited understanding of the effect of the spine as kinetic chain which includes the head and pelvic girdle and with its attachments to the scapulae . The process of development of ISMS dysfunction are discussed as a combination of abnormal spinal loading, soft and neural tissue plasticity that result in biomechanical malalignment, adaptive and maladaptive movement patterns, pain processing integrated with psychosocial factors that influence the biomechanical, pain processing and psychological responses are discussed as possible mechanisms in the development of CNSLBP. The researcher developed a multidimensional manual therapy model to manage patients with CNSLBP based on metacognitive reflection on her clinical reasoning over a period of 40 years as the research methodology. The metacognitive reflection has been performed within the interpretive paradigm The model that resulted from the metacognitive reflection is dialectic in nature because it entails the understanding of the patient‘s problem from an interpretive as well as from an empirico-analytical perspective. The model is conceptualised in three stages: Firstly the conceptualisation of the integrated spinal movement system (ISMS), to indicate that the spine, head, shoulder and pelvic girdles function as a closed kinematic chain. Secondly the process of the development of ISMS dysfunction as a major concept in the clinical picture of patients with CNSLBP is based on functional anatomy of the ISMS and the researcher‘s clinical observation in clinical practice. The researcher indicates how the development of ISMS dysfunction and characteristic adaptive behaviour are integrated components of the patient‘s complex heterogenic clinical picture. The underlying process for the development of ISMS dysfunction as a possible mechanism for CNSLBP is described as plasticity of soft and neural tissues (including the brain) which result in chronicity over time. Thirdly a multidimensional manual therapy model to manage patients with CNSLBP‘s heterogenic condition is discussed. The model indicates how the mechanisms underlying the development of ISMS dysfunction is addressed in a multidimensional approach to patient management. Finally the multidimensional manual therapy model is discussed in relation to other relevant intervention approaches. The model finally serves as a point of departure for planning and conducting appropriate research in basic and clinical sciences. The multidimensional manual therapy model for the management of patients with CNSLBP has been developed in clinical practice and is presented as a practicetheory in the form of a model. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2013 / Physiotherapy / Unrestricted

Social media sites and platforms have been on the rise for the last decade. Especially sincethe start of the still on-going Covid-19 pandemic it reached an all time high. Over half of theworld’s population is using social media. Everyone knows Facebook, Instagram, YouTube,TikTok, Snapchat, and many more. This fact has not gone unnoticed by companies as theyincreasingly integrate social media into their portfolio. Social media advertising is nowadayseverywhere. There is not a single site without any ads. Regardless the research about it is stillvery scarce. This master thesis will investigate the influence of social media advertising on consumerbehavior. More detailed it will focus on how consumers react to advertisements. For thispurpose, a quantitative survey has been conducted. The base for this survey is a developedconceptual framework based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model and the Value-Belief-Norm theory model. Further factors of the survey include different values and beliefs onwhich the analysis is depending. The main value playing a role in this study is sociallyresponsible consumption behavior. This value tackles how much consumers care about theenvironment and the human society. Simply spoken, how sustainable and how social do theybehave. Furthermore, three beliefs have been chosen in tandem with this value: Self -confidence, impulsiveness, and interpersonal/group influence. All are believed to have animpact on how consumers are perceiving advertisements they see on social media. Eachconnection between the value, the beliefs, and the reaction to advertisements will be tested.Believed connections are between the sustainability value of the consumers and the threebeliefs as well as towards the video. Further, it is believed that the beliefs will have an effecton the reaction to advertisements from consumers. My study will indicate how companies cantake advantage of advertisements to gain more followers on social media and sell moreproducts. The outcome of this study will present a clear picture of the role of sustainable andsocially responsible behavior towards ads on social media as well as the impact of beliefs.

The maneuverability and freedom provided by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) make these an interesting choice for transporting objects in settings such as search and rescue operations, construction, and smart factories. A commonly proposed method of transport is by using cables attached between each UAV and the payload. However, the geometrical constraints posed by these attachments typically result in a system with highly complex dynamics. Although not an issue for conventional PID control schemes, these complex dynamics make the direct application of model predictive controllers (MPCs) infeasible for real-time usage. For this reason, much of the previous work has focused on treating the payload as a disturbance, thereby losing the ability to predict its effect on the UAVs. Contrary to this, this thesis presents an MPC that both captures the dynamics of the payload, and is capable of real-time usage. This is made possible by a parametrized linearization of the original system, and results in greatly improved performance compared to the disturbance model approach. The controller is derived for a system with two UAVs that transport a bar-like payload and verified both in simulations and physical experiments. The resulting control system is able track a multitude of setpoints, including rotations of both payload and UAVs, as well as lateral translations. Furthermore, it is able to attenuate external disturbances well, and dampens and prevents oscillations more efficiently when compared to the disturbance based approach. The resulting MPC solving time is on the order of milliseconds. Additionally, an initial attempt to decentralize the system is made, and the resulting controller experimentally tested on the UAV–bar system, resulting in a lower MPC solving time (2:5 times faster on average), but worsened performance in terms of position tracking of the bar. / Den manövrerbarhet och frihet som möjliggörs av användandet utav obemannade luftfarkoster (drönare) gör dessa till tämligen intressanta kandidater för lasttransport inom områden såsom sök- och räddningsuppdrag, byggnadskonstruktion och s.k. smarta fabriker. En vanligen förespråkad transportmetod består utav att förse systemet med kablar som fästs mellan last och drönare. De geometriska restriktioner som denna lastkoppling innebär resulterar emellertid ofta i system med väldigt komplicerad dynamik och interaktionskrafter. Även om detta inte innebär något problem för konventionella PID reglersystem så omöjliggör detta det direkta applicerandet utav modellprediktiv reglering (MPC) för realtidsbruk. Av denna anledning har tidigare verk fokuserat på att behandla lasten och dess inverkan på drönarna som en störning, men med detta därmed förlorat möjligheten att förutspå dess effekt på drönarna. I kontrast till detta, kommer det i detta verk att presenteras en MPC som både fångar lastens dynamik och är snabb nog för realtidsanvändning. Detta görs möjligt utav en parametriserad linjärisering utav originalsystemet och ger märkbart bättre resultat än den störningbaserade modellen. Reglersystemet appliceras på ett system bestående utav två drönare och en stång-liknande last och resultatet verifieras både i form av numeriska simuleringar och fysiska experiment. Det resulterande systemet klarar av både rotationer utav last och drönare samt translationer i alla riktningar. Dessutom är systemet kapabelt att hantera externa störningar och både dämpar och förhindrar oscillationer bättre i jämförelse med reglersystem baserat på störningsmodeller. Lösningstiden för MPC-regulatorn är i storleksordningen millisekunder. Utöver detta görs ett initialt försök i att decentralisera tidigare nämnda MPC och det resulterande reglersystemet utvärderas experimentellt på samma drönarsystem som tidigare. Detta resulterar i en lägre lösningstid (2.5 ggr snabbare i genomsnitt), men även i försämrad prestanda med avseende på reglering av stångens position.

There is a consensus within the United Nations (UN), as well as various governmental entities, politicians, individuals, scholars, and academic communities, on the need to reform governmental performances. However, there is no unanimity among them pertaining to a specific reforming model that is valid for all contexts worldwide. Accordingly, many performance management processes and practical techniques have been put into practice, which aim at improving governmental institutions' performance. Hence, the purpose of this research is to develop, by studying the public health services that are provided by the government, an effective model, with the aim of improving governmental performance in the context of Bahrain. With regard to originality and values, the research discerns that among the many factors affecting governmental entities' performance, there are two dominant contextual factors, i.e. the sociocultural and political forces, both of which synergise with the so-called United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Good Governance Approach. The study develops a new perspective on the Interactive Complex Intervention Model (ICIM), stemming from the Grounded Theory (GT) and Normalisation Process Theory/Model (NPT/M), as disclosed in practical terms by the outcomes of the data gathered and its analysis. In fact, although those elements influence all other factors, there are interactive correlative impacts among all factors. Despite these outcomes, the data obtained from the research cannot be generalised, as they are derived from the local context of Bahrain; certainly until now, they can allow other similar contexts in particular to implement the insights reported in this study. It is important to note that the most influencing factor enabling this research, which aims to develop the ICIM for reforming governmental entities' performance in Bahrain, is the salient points raised in Imam Ali's famous consultative letter to the Governor of Egypt, Malik Ashtar, which he wrote while he was the Caliph, as scholars regard this letter as a basic guide for the Islamic administration and the UNDP Good Governance Approach. Regarding the practical implications, the research has attempted to empirically understand the role of the aforementioned primary contributing forces, that are regarded as the critical prerequisite - the first step that allows the governments' decision makers, based on the underlying knowledge involved in the work, to forthwith provide them with several contextual practical insights towards adopting the ICIM in order to enhance and reform the government entities' performance.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:31:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ramon Silva Leite.pdf: 1012552 bytes, checksum: b3d09d4e52a7267b02a8d3f6b152290c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-04-27 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / The Vertical Collaborative Relationship has been a way encountered by companies to act cohesively and to get mutual benefits. Accordingly, this study aimed to examine the collaborative relationship and its impact on businesses performance, focusing on the footwear s industry array of production of Nova Serrana (MG) and its suppliers. In order to analyze it, a descriptive research was done about the transaction cost theory and also about the main conceptions and contributions about chain companies, productive arrangements and cooperation. Later this descriptive research, an extensive fieldwork was carried out, divided into two stages. The first one, based on an exploratory character, was composed of 24 interviews: 14 with footwear manufacturers and 10 with their main suppliers. This stage aimed to study the phenomenon in a greater depth, to gain familiarity with the analyzed object and to refine the patterns used in other studies addressed to the reality of the footwear s sector. The obtained data on this stage, concerned by the content analysis' methodology technique, revealed that: a) communication, adaptation, commitment, dependence and trust are important for collaborative relationship; b) small companies remain relations considered relations of market, contributing to higher transaction costs; and c) medium and major companies prefer higher collaborative relationships in order to reduce transaction costs, as well as costs of new products` development. The research s second stage, descriptive in nature, had four main objectives: 1st) to identify the predominant variables in the relationship between manufacturers and suppliers from both perspectives; 2nd) to validate and operationalize the keys identified as their connection s constructs; 3rd) to verify if some firms characteristics are associated to better performances, and 4th) to compare suppliers and manufacturers point of view about their relationship. This stage had two data collections. The first one involved 211 manufacturers, while the second involved a sample of 87 suppliers. The gathered data underwent several tests, including the Structural Equation Modeling and CHAID s (Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detection) technique of segmentation. The results proved that: a) the major variables for the collaborative relationship differ from manufactures to suppliers for the sample of manufactures, communication and commitment influence the relationship significantly, while for the sample of suppliers trust and commitment were considered the most important; b) the patterns that composed the final model, right after some adjusts, reached acceptable values of validity and trustworthiness; c) footwear manufactures with certain characteristics, such as type of shoe produced and capacity, obtain better performance than its competitors; and d) there are significant divergences between manufactures and suppliers` views about relationship. Before the obtained results, it follows that there is a significant relation between collaboration and performance. Thus, the way companies deal with their partners leads them to better results. Moreover, the collaborative relationships benefits are greater for the suppliers. For manufacturers, it is interesting to develop collaborative relationships with their most important suppliers, while standard market relations may be more appropriate to the less strategic partners. Finally, it is suggested that future studies concern other variables and include larger samples. / Relacionamentos colaborativos verticais têm sido uma das formas encontradas pelas empresas para atuarem de maneira mais coesa, ao mesmo tempo em que procuram obter benefícios mútuos. Nesse sentido, este estudo procurou analisar o relacionamento colaborativo e suas repercussões no desempenho das empresas, tendo como foco as indústrias de calçados do arranjo produtivo de Nova Serrana (MG) e seus fornecedores. Para esse fim, foi feita uma revisão da literatura a respeito da teoria dos custos de transação, além dos principais conceitos e contribuições sobre redes de empresas, arranjos produtivos e cooperação. Após essa revisão, foi desenvolvido um extenso trabalho de campo, dividido em duas etapas. A primeira, de caráter exploratório, contou com 24 entrevistas, sendo 14 com fabricantes de calçados e 10 com os principais fornecedores desses fabricantes. Essa etapa buscou estudar o fenômeno com maior profundidade e obter familiaridade com o objeto de estudo, além de refinar as escalas utilizadas em outros estudos para a realidade do setor analisado. Os dados coletados nessa etapa, tratados pela técnica da análise de conteúdo, revelaram que: a) a comunicação, a adaptação, o comprometimento, a dependência e a confiança são importantes para o relacionamento colaborativo; b) as empresas menores mantêm relações consideradas de mercado, o que as leva a ter maiores custos de transação; e c) as empresas de médio e grande porte optaram por relacionamentos mais colaborativos como mecanismo para reduzir custos de transação, bem como os custos de desenvolvimento de novos produtos. Já a segunda etapa da pesquisa, de caráter descritivo, teve quatro objetivos principais: 1˚) identificar as variáveis preponderantes no relacionamento, sob o ponto de vista dos fabricantes e fornecedores; 2˚) validar e operacionalizar os construtos identificados como principais no relacionamento; 3˚) averiguar se determinadas características das empresas estão associadas a melhores desempenhos; e 4˚) comparar a visão de fabricantes e fornecedores sobre o relacionamento. Essa etapa contou com duas coletas de dados. A primeira envolveu 211 fabricantes, enquanto a segunda contou com uma amostra de 87 fornecedores. Os dados coletados passaram por diversas análises, dentre elas a Modelagem de Equações Estruturais e a técnica de segmentação CHAID (Chi-Square Automatic Interaction Detection). Os resultados demonstraram que: a) as variáveis preponderantes para o relacionamento colaborativo são diferentes para fabricantes e fornecedores - para a amostra de fabricantes a comunicação e o comprometimento influenciam de forma mais significativa o relacionamento, já para a amostra de fornecedores a confiança e o comprometimento foram preponderantes; b) as escalas que compuserem o modelo final, após alguns ajustes, atingiram valores aceitáveis de validade e confiabilidade; c) fabricantes de calçados com determinadas características, tais como tipo de calçado produzido e porte, obtêm desempenhos superiores aos de seus pares; e d) há divergências significativas entre as visões de fabricantes e fornecedores sobre o relacionamento. Diante dos resultados obtidos, conclui-se que há uma relação significativa entre colaboração e desempenho. Assim, a forma como as empresas lidam com seus parceiros leva-as a ter desempenhos melhores. Além disso, os benefícios do relacionamento colaborativo são maiores para os fornecedores. Já para os fabricantes é interessante que desenvolvam relacionamentos colaborativos com seus fornecedores mais importantes, enquanto que para parceiros menos estratégicos relações do tipo mercado podem ser mais adequadas. Por fim, sugere-se que futuros estudos incluam outras variáveis no modelo, além de contemplar amostras maiores.

Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is an equilibrium model to test relationship between expected return and market risk (Sharpe, 1964). The model research on pricing and return when the securities market reaches equilibrium and investors are rational and investing by diversification based on Markovitz portfolio theory (Markovitz, 1952). Fama and MacBeth (1973) proposed a cross-sectional testing methodology on CAPM and this regression method has been widely used in testing CAPM in developed markets since then. While CAPM is hard to explain more and more market anomalies (excessive return in smaller market value company) in cross section regression, Fama and French (1992) added two more factors (SMB and HML) and proposed three factor model. The empirical results show that three factor model is superior to CAPM in developed markets. Relevant studies have been conducted by Manjuunatha (2006) and Trimech et al. (2015) but show different results. This dissertation will use Fama-MacBeth cross section approach to test CAPM and Fama-French's three factor model in Chinese and Polish stock market respectively. Following Fama and MacBeth (1972) and Shweta and Anil (2015), three sub periods of Polish and Chinese stock market returns ranging from 2007 to 2018 are examined. The empirical results in this thesis...