The removal of the transportation subsidy on western Canadian grain has resulted in a relative shift in competitiveness from grain to livestock production in Saskatchewan. Feedlot managers indicated that they fed cattle at a lower cost than their Alberta competitors. They suggested their feeding advantage is in the range of $45 to $75 per animal. Yet this supposed feeding advantage has not resulted in an increase in cattle being finished in the province. In fact statistics show that there has been a decrease in the number of cattle finished in Saskatchewan since the removal of the transportation subsidy. This thesis investigated potential hindrances to developing feedlots in Saskatchewan. Interviews with 17 Saskatchewan feedlot managers were conducted in 2001. These feedlot managers suggested that lack of financing was a hindrance to feedlot development in Saskatchewan. They sited provincial land and labour laws, a grain production bias and feeding risk as potential reasons for lack of investment in the feedlot sector. The interviews with these 17 feedlot managers led to an investigation of transaction costs in buying and selling cattle. A theoretical framework was developed in this thesis to measure transaction costs. Then some empirical evidence was calculated from transaction cost estimates provided by five finishing feedlots that indicated larger feedlots have lower transaction costs in buying and selling cattle than smaller feedlots.

The removal of the transportation subsidy on western Canadian grain has resulted in a relative shift in competitiveness from grain to livestock production in Saskatchewan. Feedlot managers indicated that they fed cattle at a lower cost than their Alberta competitors. They suggested their feeding advantage is in the range of $45 to $75 per animal. Yet this supposed feeding advantage has not resulted in an increase in cattle being finished in the province. In fact statistics show that there has been a decrease in the number of cattle finished in Saskatchewan since the removal of the transportation subsidy. This thesis investigated potential hindrances to developing feedlots in Saskatchewan. Interviews with 17 Saskatchewan feedlot managers were conducted in 2001. These feedlot managers suggested that lack of financing was a hindrance to feedlot development in Saskatchewan. They sited provincial land and labour laws, a grain production bias and feeding risk as potential reasons for lack of investment in the feedlot sector. The interviews with these 17 feedlot managers led to an investigation of transaction costs in buying and selling cattle. A theoretical framework was developed in this thesis to measure transaction costs. Then some empirical evidence was calculated from transaction cost estimates provided by five finishing feedlots that indicated larger feedlots have lower transaction costs in buying and selling cattle than smaller feedlots.

Canada has been recognized as the largest exporter of flax seed in the world. Currently, very little flax straw is further processed, despite its potential as a value added product, with only about 7-10% of Canadian flax seed producers harvesting residual flax straw rather than burning the straw. A traditional use of flax straw has been for the production of fibre for the linen industry. Interest in flax fibre has been rekindled with the impetus to seek out bioproducts that replace non-renewal resources and provide value-added opportunities for agricultural producers. Flax fibre also has a range of potential uses in automotive parts, geotextiles, insulation material, etc. Despite this potential, the Canadian flax fibre sector remains largely underdeveloped, with fledgling supply chains and lack of investment in the necessary processing capacity. This paper develops a framework for analysing the relational exchanges at different stage of the supply chain to determine if the paucity in investment is the result of prohibitively high exchange costs. A number of distinct stages in the flax fibre supply chain can be identified: farmers producing flax seed and/or straw; processors who extract the natural fibre from the straw; and manufacturers who use the fibre in their products. The paper develops a framework that draws together insights from Transaction Cost Economics, Agency Theory and Bargaining Theory. The role of institutions in facilitating quality measurement and providing participants with information is also considered. The theoretical framework identifies asset specificity, agency measurement costs, bargaining power and under-developed institutions as key factors in the development of the flax fibre sector. From the theoretical framework, a set of propositions is developed that examine the anticipated effect of these factors on vertical coordination in the sector. The theoretical propositions are explored through a series of semi-structured interviews with parties at each stage of the supply chain (producers, fibre processors, final manufacturers), as well as with industry experts. Information from the interviews is used to identify the transaction characteristics and the institutional framework characterizing the flax fibre sector in Canada. This is analysed through a comparative case study approach with the flax fibre sector in Europe, and the wool fibre sector in New Zealand as an example of a fully developed and long-standing fibre sector. By also noting the different vertical coordination strategies that are present in these supply chains, a connection is drawn between the presence of certain transaction characteristics and the corresponding cost-minimizing exchange relationships. The case studies are used to investigate the propositions developed from the theoretical framework regarding the impact of transaction characteristics on the optimal vertical coordination strategy and the impediments to development and investment in the sector. The propositions developed in the framework are verified to a great extent by the comparative case study. The uncertainty in the exchange environment regarding the future direction of the flax fibre industry and the high measurement costs due to the absent quality and grading regime in the Canadian flax fibre set the two industries apart from each other. Both of these dimensions impact the exchange costs of a transaction and subsequently, the extent to which the parties are closely coordinated. The case studies verify that using a framework to analyze transactions provides additional insights because of the joint consideration of several features of the transaction.

Régulièrement la presse d'affaires canadienne annonce des cessions-bail se chiffrant en dizaines, voire centaines de millions de dollars. Une cession-bail consiste en la vente d'un bien et sa reprise à bail immédiate par le vendeur; à l'issue de la transaction, les parties sont alors liées par un contrat de location-acquisition ou de location-exploitation. La lecture des annonces de cessions-bail indique un « goût » des dirigeants pour les sources de financement hors bilan, et montre des objectifs économiques tels que réduire certaines formes d'endettement ou réaliser des opportunités de croissance. Par ailleurs, les conclusions de la littérature empirique, relative aux effets des cessions-bail sur la richesse des actionnaires des vendeurs-preneurs offre d'autres perspectives explicatives telles que la réalisation de gains fiscaux ou la réduction de coûts de faillite. Identifier quels sont les déterminants financiers des cessions-bail constitue le propos de cette thèse, l'objectif étant de porter un éclairage sur les motivations financières de ces transactions. Pour atteindre cet objectif, ces transactions sont identifiées comme le choix de recourir à un mode de financement particulier, et un cadre théorique décisionnel du choix d'un mode de financement est défini, en considérant les implications de la théorie statique de la structure de capital, de la théorie de la hiérarchie des modes de financement et de la théorie de l'agence. Il en découle cinq hypothèses explicatives du choix de recourir à une cession-bail, où l'avantage d'une telle transaction serait déterminé par les coûts de détresse financière du vendeur-preneur, ses opportunités de croissance, son insuffisance de liquidités, ses niveaux de risque et d'imposition. Un échantillon de 287 entreprises ouvertes canadiennes a été sélectionné, et a permis d'obtenir un panel complet de données sur six années (2000-2005), représentant 1 722 observations, dont 83 avec cessions-bail. Les hypothèses sont testées avec un modèle probabiliste de type probit, où la variable dépendante prend la valeur « 1 » lorsqu'une ou plusieurs cessions-bail sont observées au cours d'un exercice comptable, et que le vendeur-preneur est susceptible de bénéficier des avantages qui leur sont associés. Conformément à certaines hypothèses, les résultats montrent que la probabilité de réaliser une cession-bail est positivement associée au taux d'endettement et à la valeur absolue du bêta modifié du vendeur-preneur, et négativement associée à son ratio de liquidité. Les cessions-bail semblent donc déterminées par les coûts de détresse financière des vendeurs-preneurs, leur manque de liquidités et leur risque d'exploitation. Par contre, contrairement à la seconde l'hypothèse, ils montrent que la probabilité de réaliser cette transaction est négativement associée au ratio de la valeur marchande des actifs du vendeur-preneur sur leur valeur comptable. Les vendeurs-preneurs apparaissent comme ayant peu d'opportunités de croissance valorisées par les marchés financiers, les cessions-bail ne semblent pas être réalisées pour financer des investissements de croissance. Enfin, contrairement à l'hypothèse fiscale, les résultats ne permettent pas de conclure que le faible niveau d'imposition du vendeur-preneur est associé à la probabilité de faire une cession-bail. Aucune association n'est montrée, entre cette probabilité et le niveau d'imposition du vendeur-preneur qui n'apparaît pas être un déterminant des cessions-bail.

We consider a portfolio selection problem in the presence of transaction costs. Transaction costs on each asset are assumed to be a convex function of the amount sold or bought. This function can be nondifferentiable in a finite number of points. The objective function of this problem is a sum of a convex twice differentiable function and a separable convex nondifferentiable function. We first consider the problem in the presence of linear constraints and later generalize the results to the case when the constraints are given by the convex piece-wise linear functions. <br /><br /> Due to the special structure, this problem can be replaced by an equivalent differentiable problem in a higher dimension. It's main drawback is efficiency since the higher dimensional problem is computationally expensive to solve. <br /><br /> We propose several alternative ways to solve this problem which do not require introducing new variables or constraints. We derive the optimality conditions for this problem using subdifferentials. First, we generalize an active set method to this class of problems. We solve the problem by considering a sequence of equality constrained subproblems, each subproblem having a twice differentiable objective function. Information gathered at each step is used to construct the subproblem for the next step. We also show how the nonsmoothness can be handled efficiently by using spline approximations. The problem is then solved using a primal-dual interior-point method. <br /><br /> If a higher accuracy is needed, we do a crossover to an active set method. Our numerical tests show that we can solve large scale problems efficiently and accurately.

We consider a portfolio selection problem in the presence of transaction costs. Transaction costs on each asset are assumed to be a convex function of the amount sold or bought. This function can be nondifferentiable in a finite number of points. The objective function of this problem is a sum of a convex twice differentiable function and a separable convex nondifferentiable function. We first consider the problem in the presence of linear constraints and later generalize the results to the case when the constraints are given by the convex piece-wise linear functions. <br /><br /> Due to the special structure, this problem can be replaced by an equivalent differentiable problem in a higher dimension. It's main drawback is efficiency since the higher dimensional problem is computationally expensive to solve. <br /><br /> We propose several alternative ways to solve this problem which do not require introducing new variables or constraints. We derive the optimality conditions for this problem using subdifferentials. First, we generalize an active set method to this class of problems. We solve the problem by considering a sequence of equality constrained subproblems, each subproblem having a twice differentiable objective function. Information gathered at each step is used to construct the subproblem for the next step. We also show how the nonsmoothness can be handled efficiently by using spline approximations. The problem is then solved using a primal-dual interior-point method. <br /><br /> If a higher accuracy is needed, we do a crossover to an active set method. Our numerical tests show that we can solve large scale problems efficiently and accurately.

Canada has been recognized as the largest exporter of flax seed in the world. Currently, very little flax straw is further processed, despite its potential as a value added product, with only about 7-10% of Canadian flax seed producers harvesting residual flax straw rather than burning the straw. A traditional use of flax straw has been for the production of fibre for the linen industry. Interest in flax fibre has been rekindled with the impetus to seek out bioproducts that replace non-renewal resources and provide value-added opportunities for agricultural producers. Flax fibre also has a range of potential uses in automotive parts, geotextiles, insulation material, etc. Despite this potential, the Canadian flax fibre sector remains largely underdeveloped, with fledgling supply chains and lack of investment in the necessary processing capacity. This paper develops a framework for analysing the relational exchanges at different stage of the supply chain to determine if the paucity in investment is the result of prohibitively high exchange costs. A number of distinct stages in the flax fibre supply chain can be identified: farmers producing flax seed and/or straw; processors who extract the natural fibre from the straw; and manufacturers who use the fibre in their products. The paper develops a framework that draws together insights from Transaction Cost Economics, Agency Theory and Bargaining Theory. The role of institutions in facilitating quality measurement and providing participants with information is also considered. The theoretical framework identifies asset specificity, agency measurement costs, bargaining power and under-developed institutions as key factors in the development of the flax fibre sector. From the theoretical framework, a set of propositions is developed that examine the anticipated effect of these factors on vertical coordination in the sector. The theoretical propositions are explored through a series of semi-structured interviews with parties at each stage of the supply chain (producers, fibre processors, final manufacturers), as well as with industry experts. Information from the interviews is used to identify the transaction characteristics and the institutional framework characterizing the flax fibre sector in Canada. This is analysed through a comparative case study approach with the flax fibre sector in Europe, and the wool fibre sector in New Zealand as an example of a fully developed and long-standing fibre sector. By also noting the different vertical coordination strategies that are present in these supply chains, a connection is drawn between the presence of certain transaction characteristics and the corresponding cost-minimizing exchange relationships. The case studies are used to investigate the propositions developed from the theoretical framework regarding the impact of transaction characteristics on the optimal vertical coordination strategy and the impediments to development and investment in the sector. The propositions developed in the framework are verified to a great extent by the comparative case study. The uncertainty in the exchange environment regarding the future direction of the flax fibre industry and the high measurement costs due to the absent quality and grading regime in the Canadian flax fibre set the two industries apart from each other. Both of these dimensions impact the exchange costs of a transaction and subsequently, the extent to which the parties are closely coordinated. The case studies verify that using a framework to analyze transactions provides additional insights because of the joint consideration of several features of the transaction.

In recent years, music has become increasingly universal due to technological advances. All kinds of music have become more complex and a large amount around us. How recommending the music that user is interested in from a wide variety of music is the development intentions of the music recommendation system MRS (Music Recommendation System). In the recommending system, the most widely known is Content-based (CB) and Collaborative (COL). Chen et al. have proposed an alternative way that used CB and COL of music recommendation. The purpose of the CB method is to recommend the music objects that belong to the music groups the user is recently interested in. Each transaction is assigned a different weight, where the latest transaction has the highest weight. The preferences of users are derived from the access histories and recorded in profiles. Based on the collaborative approach, the purpose of the COL method is to provide unexpected findings due to the information sharing between relevant users. But in the CB method, the formula of computing music group weight pays much attention to the weight of the transaction. This will lead to the result that the group weight of music group B which appears once in the later transaction is larger than the group weight of the music group A which appears many times in the earlier transaction. In the COL method, they do not care the density of the group, where high density means that the transactions which the music group appears are close in the access history of the user. This will lead to the result that the supports of the groups which have different densities are the same, and then the users may be grouped together. Therefore, in this thesis, we propose the TICI (Transaction-Interest-Count-Interest) method to improve the CB method. Considering the two situations of the music group that user is interested in, the large count of music group and the appearance in the later transaction, we put two parameters: Count-Interest and Transaction-Interest in our TICI method to let users choose which weight they want to emphasize. Sometimes, people not only want the music object from one group. We extend the TICI method to find the group pair that the user is interested in. We use two thresholds: CountT and WeightT to decide which candidates can be in the large itemset. In our propose method, we have two possible ways to find the result. And we propose the DI (Density-Interest) method to improve the COL method. Our DI method calculates the supports of music groups and consider the distributions of appearances of the music group. From our simulation results, we show that our TICI method could provide better performance than the CB method. Moreover, our DI method also could provide better performance than the COL method.

The issue of depositary receipt gets more attention in investors in recent year because of the explosion of Taiwan Depositary Receipt (hereafter, TDR) in Taiwan. The depositary receipts should equal to the value of primary listing stocks because they are represent the same value to a company. Therefore, we would discuss the price relationship between TDR and the primary listing stock it represents at first. In addition, because all the TDRs in Taiwan have the price spread (i.e. the price difference between TDRs and the primary listing stocks) with its original stocks, we discuss what the reasons to cause the price spread from a point of market segment. And we find it is because of liquidity, demand, information asymmetry, and stock price manipulation to lead to the price spread. After we takes market emotion into account, the market index has significant influence on price spread and individual investors also have a large influence on price spread. Finally, we try to find that whether the market has the arbitrage opportunity from the price spread after we consider the transaction cost. And the result shows that when TDR is in discount, it really has the arbitrage opportunity in market after we use the close price as the transaction price. Furthermore, if we use the open price in the next day as the transaction price, it still has excess return in market, but the profit will be lower than the strategy using the close price as the transaction price.

Climate change and its mitigation is rapidly becoming an item of social concern. Climate change mitigation involves reduction of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations through emissions reduction and or sequestration enhancement (collectively called offsets). Many have asked how agriculture and forestry can participate in mitigation efforts. Given that over 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions arise from the energy sector, the role of agriculture and forestry depends critically on the costs of the offsets they can achieve in comparison with offset costs elsewhere in the economy. A number of researchers have examined the relative offset costs but have generally looked only at producer level costs. However there are also costs incurred when implementing, selling and conveying offset credits to a buyer. Also when commodities are involved like bioenergy feedstocks, the costs of readying these for use in implementing an offset strategy need to be reflected. This generally involves the broadly defined category of transaction costs. This dissertation examines the possible effects of transactions costs and storage costs for bioenergy commodities and how they affect the agriculture and forestry portfolio of mitigation strategies across a range of carbon dioxide equivalent prices. The model is used to simulate the effects with and without transactions and storage costs. Using an agriculture and forestry sector model called FASOMGHG, the dissertation finds that consideration of transactions and storage costs reduces the agricultural contribution total mitigation and changes the desirable portfolio of alternatives. In terms of the portfolio, transactions costs inclusion diminishes the desirability of soil sequestration and forest management while increasing the bioenergy and afforestation role. Storage costs diminish the bioenergy role and favor forest and sequestration items. The results of this study illustrate that transactions and storage costs are important considerations in policy and market design when addressing the reduction of greenhouse gas concentrations in climate change related decision making.