No / This paper investigates the equilibrium relationship between taxation, portfolio choice (risk-taking) and capital accumulation. Specifically, it examines how taxes affect risk-taking and capital accumulation. We extend the existing literature by relaxing two crucial assumptions in modelling risk-taking behavior: (i) that the investment opportunity set is fixed and (ii) that there is no distinction between attitudes towards risk and behavior towards intertemporal substitution. We extend the investment opportunity set of individuals through optimally determined human capital; and distinguish intertemporal substitution from attitudes towards risk via a recursive utility function. In the presence of these extensions, the paper successfully derives a closed-form solution to the stochastic growth model with stochastic wage income.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the costs of reducing pesticide, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment losses of a representative risk-neutral and risk-averse peanut-cotton farmer in Southeast Virginia. Five currently popular rotations and eight alternative conservation rotations are evaluated for the representative farm. The Erosion-Productivity Impact Calculator (EPIC) model is used to simulate pesticide, nitrogen, phosphorus, and soil loss from each rotation using actual rainfall and temperature data from the study area. A Target-MOTAD mathematical programming model, REPVAFARM, is developed and solved with GAMS. The objective of the farmer is to maximize expected net return, while meeting a target income with certain allowable expected shortfall from the income target. The farmer is also constrained by land, labor, peanut quota, and levels of pesticide, nitrogen, phosphorus, and soil losses. Major findings of this study are: reducing pesticide, nitrogen, phosphorus, and soil losses imposes costs to the farmer regardless of his risk attitude, with costs ranking from high to low in the order of reducing all pollutant losses, reducing nitrogen losses, reducing phosphorus losses, reducing soil losses, and reducing pesticide losses. Costs of reducing pollutant losses are higher for more risk-averse farmers than for less risk-averse and risk-neutral farmers implying that risk-aversion is an obstacle to the adoption of alternative conservation practices. Reducing pesticide losses has little impact on other pollutants. Reducing pesticide and nitrogen losses simultaneously achieves similar reductions in soil loss and phosphorus loss. / Master of Science

No / We investigate how to provide personalized nudges to aid a user’s exploration of linked data in a way leading to expanding her domain knowledge. This requires a model of the user’s familiarity with domain concepts. The paper examines an approach to detect user domain familiarity by exploiting anchoring concepts which provide a backbone for probing interactions over the linked data graph. Basic level concepts studied in Cognitive Science are adopted. A user study examines how such concepts can be utilized to deal with the cold start user modelling problem, which informs a probing algorithm.

Yes / The recent growth of the Web of Data has brought to the fore the need to develop intelligent means to support user exploration through big data graphs. To be effective, approaches for data graph exploration should take into account the utility from a user’s point of view. We have been investigating knowledge utility – how useful the trajectories in a data graph are for expanding users’ knowledge. Following the theory for meaningful learning, according to which new knowledge is developed starting from familiar entities (anchors) and expanding to new and unfamiliar entities, we propose here an approach to identify knowledge anchors in a data graph. Our approach is underpinned by the Cognitive Science notion of basic level objects in domain taxonomies. Several metrics for extracting knowledge anchors in a data graph, and the corresponding algorithms, are presented. The metrics performance is examined, and a hybridization approach that combines the strengths of each metric is proposed.

The diploma thesis "Selected factors on milk utility of Czech Fleckvieh dairy cows" deals with certains effects on selected cattle herd, which are detected from milk utility control. The author compares dairy cows within first and third lactations in all cases. Overview of used literature is selected into specific chapters, in first part the Czech Fleckvieh is defined with its history, characteristics, related breeds and breed utility. Another comprehensive chapter is devoted to milk utility, lactation and selected factors on animal utility. Last part of literature overview is devoted to reproduction and reproductive indicators. Second main part, which is called material and methodology, author deals with cattle herd in Jasanka s.r.o. company, judging and assessing selected factors with help of milk utility control results. Collective results are assessed through statistics.

This thesis investigates the choices under risk in the framework of non-expected utility theories. One of the key contributions of this thesis is providing an approach that allows for a complete characterisation of Cumulative Prospect Theory (CPT) preferences without prior knowledge of the reference point. The location of the reference point that separates gains from losses is derived endogenously, thus, without any additional assumptions on the decision maker’s risk behaviour. This is different to the convention used in the literature, according to which, the reference point is preselected. The problem arising from imposing the location of the reference point is that the underlying preference conditions might not be alligned with the predictions made by the model. Consequently, it is difficult to verify such a model or to test it empirically. The present contribution offers a set of normatively and descriptively appealing preference conditions, which enable the elicitation of the reference point from the decision maker’s behaviour. Since these conditions are derived using objective probabilities, they can also be applied to settings such as health or insurance, where the continuity of the utility function is not required. As a result, the obtained representation theorem is not only the most general foundation for CPT currently available, but it also provides further support for the use of CPT as a modelling tool in decision theory and fi…nance. Another contribution that this thesis can be credited with is an application of rank-dependent utility theory (RDU) to the problem of insurance demand in the monopoly market affected by adverse selection. The present approach extends the classical model of Stiglitz (1977) by accounting for an additional component of heterogeneity among consumers, the heterogeneity in risk perception. Speci…fically, consumers employ distinctive probability weighting functions to assess the likelihood of risky events. This aspect of consumers’' behaviour highlights the importance that the probabilistic risk attitudes within the RDU framework, such as optimism and pessimism, have for the choice of insurance contract. The analysis yields a separating equilibrium, with full insurance for a sufficiently pessimistic decision maker. An important implication of this result is that any low-risk individual who sufficiently overestimates his probability of loss will induce the uninformed insurer to o¤er him full coverage, thereby, affecting the high-risk type adversely. This outcome is consistent with the recent empirical puzzle regarding the correlation between ex-post risk and insurance coverage, according to which, agents with low exposure to risk receive a larger amount of compensation. By providing an explanation of this pattern of individual behaviour, the current work demonstrates that theory and practice of insurance demand can be reconciled to a greater extent. The paper also provides a behavioural rationale for policy intervention in the market with RDU agents, where the initial distortions in contracts due to unobservable risks are aggravated by the non-linear weighting of probability of a risky event.

Cette thèse, s’intéresse aux pratiques de calcul au sein des PME, aux facteurs pouvant influencer l’utilisation des pratiques de calcul des coûts les plus développées ainsi qu’à la contribution opérationnelle et stratégique de l’utilisation de ces pratiques au sein des PME tout en faisant une comparaison avec les caractéristiques des entreprises de taille intermédiaire. Nous avons fait recours à la théorie de contingence pour fonder notre travail de recherche. Nous avons contacté 8 entreprises par des entretiens en face à face et 70 entreprises par un questionnaire. Nous avons trouvé que les caractéristiques des PME en matière de calcul des coûts sont différentes. Cette différenciation peut être expliquée par trois facteurs: la taille de l’organisation, la diversité des produits et la structure décentralisée de l’entreprise. Également, nous avons trouvé que l’utilité opérationnelle de l’utilisation des instruments de calcul des coûts est perçue comme étant plus élevée par les entreprises qui utilisent les nouvelles méthodes que par les entreprises qui ne les utilisent pas. Cependant, la perception de l’utilité stratégique ne diffère pas entre les utilisateurs et les non-utilisateurs des nouvelles méthodes. / This thesis is interested in accounting practices within SMEs, factors that are able to influence the use of accounting practices, the most developed costs as well as the operational and strategic contribution of these practices within the SMEs while making a comparison with the characteristics of midsize companies. We resorted to the contingency theory to set up our research. We contacted eight companies through several face- to -face interviews, and seventy companies through questioning. We found out that the SMEs characteristics as regards accounting of costs are different. This difference can be explained by three factors: the organization’s size, the product's diversity, and the decentralized structure of the company. Equally, we found out that the operational utility of instruments of accounting costs is looked as the most mannered one by companies that do not use them. However, the perception of the strategic utility do not differ between users and non-users of new methods

Markåtkomst för nybebyggelse av allmänna ledningar sker på flera olika sätt. Användning av markområdet kan säkerställs genom ett tvångsvis ägobyte med expropriation enligt expropriationslag. Främst används dock ledningsrätt via en lantmäteriförrättning eller frivilliga överenskommelser som grundas i upplåtelseformerna avtalsservitut eller nyttjanderätt. Markupplåtelse innebär att ledningsägaren har rätt att nyttja marken inom avtalets ramar. Innan byggstart är det nödvändigt att det projekterade underlaget prövas och att tillstånd meddelas av tillsynsansvarig. När de obligatoriska villkoren är uppfyllda är det möjligt att påbörja anordnandet. Arbetet är avgränsat till fyra olika ledningstyper, elektroniska kommunikations-ledningar, elledningar, VA-ledningar och fjärrvärmeledningar. Var och en representerar en av de totalt fyra kategorierna för vilka allmännyttiga ledningar kan upplåts med ledningsrätt (ledningsrättslagen 2 § 1 st.). För att få en uppfattning om förfarandet i praktiken intervjuas åtta personer som har hand om markåtkomsten för olika ledningsägare. Utredningen innehåller en jämförelse av tillvägagångssättet för större ledningar som förstärker nätet med en lång sträckning. Gentemot ledningar inom ett lokalnät, båda i tätorter och utanför, som ansluts direkt till kunden. Jämförelsen utförs med avseende på ledningstyp. Utifrån det samlade underlaget är det tydligt att ledningsägarna vill träffa frivilliga överenskommelse med fastighetsägaren i alla situationer. Ledningstyp har en viss påverkan, i synnerhet gällande ledningar som omfattas av linjekoncession. Fiberbolag (elektronisk kommunikation) använder sig nästintill uteslutet av nyttjanderätt. Markåtkomstprocessen för VA-ledningar, fjärrvärmeledningar och elledningar är slående lika. Bolagen för all tre ledningstyperna använder markavtal på kommunalägd mark. En skillnad är att VA-anläggningar är kommunalägda eller styrda av kommunala bolag. Därför är samarbetet starkare med kommunen. För lokalnät vill ledningsägarna helst använda sig av avtalsservitut (markupplåtelseavtal) för privata fastighetsägare samt standardiserade markavtal för kommun och större fastighetsägare. Gällande större distributionsledningar strävar ledningsägarna efter att träffa frivilliga överenskommelse först som sedan omvandlas till ledningsrätt. Fjärrvärmeledningar och elledningar upprättar sina avtal med hjälp av branchorganisationen Energiföretagen Sveriges standardmallar. / For new construction of public utility lines, land can get claimed in different ways. Use of the land area can be secured through a forced change of ownership with expropriation according to the Expropriation Act. Primarily, utility easements are used with a land surveying procedure or voluntary agreements that are based on the grant forms contractual easements or usufruct. With a land grant, the utility line owner gets the right to use the land according to the agreement. Prior to the construction of the utility line, it is necessary that the projected basis is tested and permission issued. When the mandatory conditions are met, it is possible to start the construction. This paper is limited to four different line types, electricity lines, VA lines, district heating lines and electronic communication lines. Each one represents one of the totals of four categories for which utility lines are granted according to the Utility Easement Act. To get an idea of the procedure in practice, eight people who are in charge of land access for utility line owners are interviewed. The purpose is to investigate the approach when it comes to larger regional lines that reinforce the network and have a long coverage that does not branch out too much. Compared to lines within a local network both in built-up and outside built-up areas, that connect direct to the customers. Based on the collected information, it is clear that the utility line owner wants to reach a voluntary agreement with the property owner. Utility line type has a certain influence, in particular for line concession lines. Fiber lines (electronic communication) are used almost exclusively with usufruct. VA lines, district heating lines and power lines ground access process is strikingly similar. One difference is that VA facilities are municipally owned or managed by municipal companies. Therefore, the collaboration is stronger with the municipality, however, all public utility lines owners strive to form land agreements on municipally owned land. For local networks, the managers prefer to use contractual easement for private property owners and special land agreements (usufruct) for municipalities and larger property owners. Regarding larger distribution lines, they strive to reach voluntary agreements which are then converted into utility easements. District heating lines and power lines companies draw up their agreements with the help of the branch organization Energiföretagen Sverige's standard templates.

In this dissertation, we consider scheduling distributed soft real-time tasks in unreliable (e.g., those with arbitrary node and network failures) and untrustworthy systems (e.g., those with Byzantine node behaviors). We present a distributed real-time scheduling algorithm called Gamma. Gamma considers a distributed (i.e., multi-node) task model where tasks are subject to Time/Utility Function (or TUF) end-to-end time constraints, and the scheduling optimality criterion of maximizing the total accrued utility. The algorithm makes three novel contributions. First, Gamma uses gossip for reliably propagating task scheduling parameters and for discovering task execution nodes. Second, Gamma achieves distributed real-time mutual exclusion in unreliable environments. Third, the algorithm guards against potential disruption of message propagation due to Byzantine attacks using a mechanism called Launcher-Attacker-Infective-Susceptible-Immunized-Removed-Consumer (or LAISIRC). By doing so, the algorithm schedules tasks with probabilistic termination-time satisfactions, despite system unreliability and untrustworthiness. We analytically establish several timeliness and non-timeliness properties of the algorithm including probabilistic end-to-end task termination time satisfactions, optimality of message overheads, mutual exclusion guarantees, and the mathematical model of the LAISIRC mechanism. We conducted simulation-based experimental studies and compared Gamma with its competitors. Our experimental studies reveal that Gamma's scheduling algorithm accrues greater utility and satisfies a greater number of deadlines than do competitor algorithms (e.g., HVDF) by as much as 47% and 45%, respectively. LAISIRC is more tolerant to Byzantine attacks than competitor protocols (e.g., Path Verification) by obtaining as much as 28% higher correctness ratio. Gamma's mutual exclusion algorithm accrues greater utility than do competitor algorithms (e.g., EDF-Sigma) by as much as 25%. Further, we implemented the basic Gamma algorithm in the Emulab/ChronOS 250-node testbed, and measured the algorithm's performance. Our implementation measurements validate our theoretical analysis and the algorithm's effectiveness and robustness. / Ph. D.

In this dissertation, we consider timeliness and energy optimization in battery-powered, mobile embedded real-time systems. We focus on real-time systems that operate in environments with dynamically uncertain properties, including context-dependent activity execution times and arbitrary activity arrival patterns. We consider an application model where activities are subject to time/utility function (or TUF) time constraints, mutual exclusion constraints on concurrent sharing of non-CPU resources, timeliness requirements including assurances on individual activity timeliness behavior, and system-level energy consumption requirements including a non-exhaustable energy budget. To account for uncertainties in activity properties in dynamic systems, we stochastically describe activity execution demands, and describe activity arrival behaviors using the unimodal arbitrary arrival model, which allows unbounded arrival frequencies. We consider the scheduling optimality criteria of: (1) probabilistically satisfying lower bounds on individual activities' maximal timeliness utilities, and (2) maximizing system-level energy efficiency, while ensuring that the system's energy consumption never exhausts the energy budget and resource mutual exclusion constraints are satisfied. For this multi-criteria scheduling problem, we present a DVS (dynamic voltage scaling)-based, real-time scheduling algorithm called the Energy-Bounded Utility Accrual Algorithm (or EBUA). Since the scheduling problem is NP-hard, EBUA heuristically (and dynamically) allocates CPU cycles to activities, computes activity schedules, and scales CPU voltage and frequency with a polynomial-time cost. If activities' cumulative execution demands exceed the available CPU time or may exhaust the system's energy budget, the algorithm defers and rejects jobs in a controlled fashion, minimizing system-level energy consumption and maximizing total accrued utility. We analytically establish several properties of EBUA. We prove that the algorithm never exhausts the specified energy budget. Further, we establish EBUA's timeliness optimality during under-loads, freedom from deadlocks, and correctness in mutually exclusive resource sharing. In particular, we prove that the algorithm's timeliness behavior subsumes the optimal timeliness behavior of deadline scheduling as a special case, and identify the conditions under which lower bounds on individual activity utilities are satisfied. In addition, we upper bound the time needed for mutually exclusively accessing shared resources under EBUA. We conduct experimental studies by simulating the algorithm on the DVS-enabled AMD k6 processor model, and by implementing it on QNX Neutrino 6.2.1 RTOS. Our experimental results validate our analytical results. Further, they confirm EBUA's superiority over other energy-efficient real-time scheduling algorithms on timeliness and energy consumption behaviors. / Ph. D.