The main aim of this thesis is to present and critically analyse the theory of wasting assets with regard to extractive mineral industries in general and to the pricing and regulation of gold . ii'" particular. Furthermore, to consider the contention that the. price of minerals {such as gold) has been "too low11 in the current generation and that market forces have· led to a 11 too rapid11 depletion of these · resources. The argument that H is the government's duty to intervene and extend the lives of the mines is· also queried •. A detailed examination of the South African· gold mining taxation formula attempts to show how this type of· government intervention (in the for in of .a sliding scale taxation formula) results in uneconomic act ions by mine owners and non-optimal extraction patterns of the resource The contention is put forward that, given certain considerations, market ibrces should lead to the most optimal use of an exhaustible resource where property rights exist and are def inable0 Unlike common property resources, such as the fisheries, where market .forces fail to make the most optimal use of the resource, government intervention is unjustified The scope of the paper is intended to cover both the underlying theory of wasting assets and to relate this theory to gold in part icu1 ar., The determinants of the gold price will be considered as well as the effects of government intervention via· the gold mining taxation formula on the South· African gold mining industry. Hence, the thesis is divided into two sections: "Theoretical 11 and "Gold and Gold Mining". With regard to the method of paper - Literature. from as far back ,· as 1931 regarding .the theory of wasting assets, was collected and .analysed. The information for the section on 11 Gold and Gold Mining" was collected from the various organisations involved in the industry, notably the Chamber of Mines _and the Mineral Engineering Department . . 9f the University of the Witwatersrand. Information regarding the Gold Mining Taxation and Lease Formulae was obtained from the various Government Reports that have been printed since the introduction of the Mining Taxation. Act No. 6 in 1910

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Harberger's methodology for the measurement of deadweight loss is reformulated in a general equilibrium context with adopting the Allais-Debreu-Diewert approach and is applied to various problems with imperfect markets. We also develop second best project evaluation rules for the same class of economies. Chapter 1 is devoted to the survey of various welfare indicators. We especially discuss the two welfare indicators due to Allais, Debreu, Diewert and Hicks, Boiteux in relation to Bergson-Samuelsonian social welfare function. We first show that these two measures generate a Pareto inclusive ordering across various social states, but they are rarely welfarist, so that both are unsatisfactory as Bergson-Samuelsonian social welfare functions. We next show that second order approximations to the Allais-Debreu-Diewert measure of waste can be computed from local information observable at the equilibrium, whereas second order approximations to the Hicks-Boiteux measure of welfare or to the Bergson -Samuelsonian social welfare function require information on the marginal utilities of income of households, which is unavailable with ordinal utility theory. Finally, we give a diagrammatic exposition of the two measures and their approximations to give an intuitive insight into the economic implications of the two measures. Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 study an economy with public goods. In Chapter 2, we compute an approximate deadweight loss measure for the whole economy when the endogenous choice of public goods by the government is nonoptimal and the government revenue is raised by distortionary taxation by extending the Allais-Debreu-Diewert approach discussed in Chapter 1. The resulting measure of waste is related to indirect tax rates, net marginal benefits of public goods, and the derivatives of aggregate demand and supply functions evaluated at an equilibrium. In Chapter 3, cost-benefit rules for the provision of a public good are derived when there exist tax distortions. We derive the rules as giving sufficient conditions for Pareto improvement, but we also discuss when these rules are necessary conditions for an interior social optimum. When indirect taxes are fully flexible but lump-sum transfers are restricted, we recommend a rule which generalized the cost-benefit rule due to Atkinson and Stern (1974) to a many-consumer economy. When both indirect taxes and lump-sum transfers are flexible, we suggest a rule which is based on Diamond and Mirrlees' (1971) productive efficiency principle. When only lump-sum transfers are variable, we obtain a version of the Harberger (1971)-Bruce-Harris (1982) cost-benefit rules. Chapters 4 and 5 study an economy with increasing returns to scale in production and imperfect competition. In Chapter 4, we discuss a methodology for computing an approximate deadweight loss due to imperfect regulation of monopolistic industries by extending the Allais-Debreu-Diewert approach to incorporate the nonconvex technology. With the assumption of the quasi-con-cavity of production functions and fixed number of firms, we can derive an approximate deadweight loss formula which is related to markup rates of firms, and the derivatives of aggregate demand functions, factor supply and demand functions and the derivatives of marginal cost functions. We also discuss various limitations of our approach and the relation between our work and that of Hotelling (1938). In Chapter 5, we consider cost-benefit rules of a large project applicable in the presence of imperfect competition. We show that the index number approach due to Negishi (1962) and Harris (1978) can be extended to handle situations with imperfect competition. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

The purpose of this thesis is to study the writings of two schools of economic thought to bring out the theories of production, resources, and waste of resources involved and compare and contrast them.

Thesis (PhD.(Chemistry)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / On title page: Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Philosophiae Doctor in Chemistry in the faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences of the University of Pretoria. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Duke University, 2008.

Growing awareness of world-wide environmental degradation has prompted the global community to explore alternatives to present human activities, and present economic development models. One concept which has emerged within this exploration is that of Sustainable Development. This thesis specifically uses the concept of Sustainable Development as Rees (1988, 1988a, 1989) and Gardner (1989) define it. Sustainable development will require substantial changes in the productive sphere. An 'energy spiral' is used to depict each stage necessary in the creation, use and disposal of a good. The social and environmental costs of each of these stages of production are explored. The positive impact of integrating re-use, recycling, recovery and replacement strategies into the consumption, production and disposal cycle for goods is described. In this thesis dry-cell batteries are used as an example of products which create problems in their disposal: heavy metals contained in these batteries exist in concentrations which require these spent batteries to be considered hazardous waste. Responses to this problem in other countries are described and critiqued. Present methods and planned strategies for hazardous waste disposal within the GVRD and the city of Vancouver are noted, and analyzed as to the sustainability of these methods and strategies. Specific plans for the disposal of dry-cell batteries are described and critiqued. Using the principles for sustainable development from Gardner (1989) and the 'energy spiral' together provides a synthesis of these two concepts. This framework provides planners and analysts a base from which strategies for sustainable production can be determined. The possibilities for use of this framework are explored, with a specific focus on dry-cell batteries. In considering the whole life-cycle of such a product, and not just focussing on the disposal stage of that cycle, responses that are more useful and pro-active can be devised. Some of the organizations and structures which presently exist and will be useful in establishing a base for the kinds of change that sustainable development will require are mentioned. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Orientador: Paulo Roberto de Aguiar / Banca: Amauri Hassui / Banca: José Alfredo Covolan Ulson / Resumo: O mercado, de maneira geral, vem exigindo níveis de quantidade cada vez maiores e redução de custos operacionais. Dentro desse contexto, as indústrias buscam processos mais automatizados e robustos, visando padronização nas operações e redução dos desperdícios. O controle eficaz o processo de fabricação é chave para atender às crescentes exigências do mercado. A utilização de redes neurais artificiais para o controle de processos complexos, com inúmeras variáveis, é um método que vem ganhando destaque acadêmico ao longo dos anos. O processo de furação para instalação de prendedores em estruturas aeronáuticas é um processo especial, no qual são exigidos controle rigorosos de qualidade devido aos requisitos de projeto, sendo, em muitos casos, mais importante a qualidade da furação, do que a vida útil da ferramenta. Este trabalho tem por objetivo apresentar um método para predição de diâmetros médicos e rugosidade de furos realizados durante o processo de furação de ligas aeronáuticas por meio de brocas helicoidais. Com a utilização de um sistema multi sensores acoplados a uma fresadora extrairam-se sinais, potência do motor elétrico, emissão acústica, vibração e forças de usinagem que alimentaram uma primeira rede neural artificial feedforward que teve a função de estimar a rugosidade e o diâmetro médio do furo. Uma vez de posse do valor estimado, ele servia de entrada em uma segunda rede neural "time delay" - TDNN que atuou na predição da rugosidade e diâmetro médio do próximo furo a ser realizado, mesmo antes de esse ser realizado mecanicamente. Posteriormente, buscou-se o mesmo procedimento previamente descrito, porém utilizando apenas apenas os sinais de potência e força no eixo Z como entrada da rede neural de estimação. Todos os valores preditos apresentaram erros pequenos... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The market, in general, is demanding high levels of quality and reduction of the operational costs. The majority of companies has been searching for processes even more automatic and robust, aiming to standardize operations and reduce wastage. The effective control of the manufacturing process is the key for the growing market demands. The use of artificial neural networks for the control of complex processes, with many variables, has been drawing attention over the last years. The drilling process for fastenes installation in aircraft structures is a special process which requires a rigorous quality control due to the design requirements and, in may cases; the most important characteristic is the quality of hole. This work aims to present a method for prediction of diameter and surface roughness of holes performed in aeronautic alloys with carbide drill bit. Using a multi sensory system connected to a milling machine, signals were extracted (electric power, acoustic emission, vibration, cutting forces) and fed up into artificial neural network "feedforward" that had the function of estimating the surface roughness and the final diameters of the holes. The estimated values were used as inputs to a time delay neural network (TDNN) that acted in the prediction of the surface roughness and the final diameter of the next hole carried through, even before this hole was performed. Also, only the electrical motor power and force in Z axis were used as inputs to the first artificial neural network. All predicted values showed small errors when compared to the actual and the estimated values, the method was able to... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:22:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2012-06-01Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:09:49Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 contrucci_jg_me_bauru.pdf: 2454572 bytes, checksum: 7843bddaf20e07b30304b6613b501c4d (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O mercado, de maneira geral, vem exigindo níveis de quantidade cada vez maiores e redução de custos operacionais. Dentro desse contexto, as indústrias buscam processos mais automatizados e robustos, visando padronização nas operações e redução dos desperdícios. O controle eficaz o processo de fabricação é chave para atender às crescentes exigências do mercado. A utilização de redes neurais artificiais para o controle de processos complexos, com inúmeras variáveis, é um método que vem ganhando destaque acadêmico ao longo dos anos. O processo de furação para instalação de prendedores em estruturas aeronáuticas é um processo especial, no qual são exigidos controle rigorosos de qualidade devido aos requisitos de projeto, sendo, em muitos casos, mais importante a qualidade da furação, do que a vida útil da ferramenta. Este trabalho tem por objetivo apresentar um método para predição de diâmetros médicos e rugosidade de furos realizados durante o processo de furação de ligas aeronáuticas por meio de brocas helicoidais. Com a utilização de um sistema multi sensores acoplados a uma fresadora extrairam-se sinais, potência do motor elétrico, emissão acústica, vibração e forças de usinagem que alimentaram uma primeira rede neural artificial feedforward que teve a função de estimar a rugosidade e o diâmetro médio do furo. Uma vez de posse do valor estimado, ele servia de entrada em uma segunda rede neural time delay - TDNN que atuou na predição da rugosidade e diâmetro médio do próximo furo a ser realizado, mesmo antes de esse ser realizado mecanicamente. Posteriormente, buscou-se o mesmo procedimento previamente descrito, porém utilizando apenas apenas os sinais de potência e força no eixo Z como entrada da rede neural de estimação. Todos os valores preditos apresentaram erros pequenos... / The market, in general, is demanding high levels of quality and reduction of the operational costs. The majority of companies has been searching for processes even more automatic and robust, aiming to standardize operations and reduce wastage. The effective control of the manufacturing process is the key for the growing market demands. The use of artificial neural networks for the control of complex processes, with many variables, has been drawing attention over the last years. The drilling process for fastenes installation in aircraft structures is a special process which requires a rigorous quality control due to the design requirements and, in may cases; the most important characteristic is the quality of hole. This work aims to present a method for prediction of diameter and surface roughness of holes performed in aeronautic alloys with carbide drill bit. Using a multi sensory system connected to a milling machine, signals were extracted (electric power, acoustic emission, vibration, cutting forces) and fed up into artificial neural network feedforward that had the function of estimating the surface roughness and the final diameters of the holes. The estimated values were used as inputs to a time delay neural network (TDNN) that acted in the prediction of the surface roughness and the final diameter of the next hole carried through, even before this hole was performed. Also, only the electrical motor power and force in Z axis were used as inputs to the first artificial neural network. All predicted values showed small errors when compared to the actual and the estimated values, the method was able to... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Sustainable development and the Triple Bottom Line integrated sustainability concept focus on the choices between the imperatives of economic efficiency, social development and environmental sustainability. Corporate governance is being imposed by stakeholders and corporate social responsibility is indicated as being the most important socio-environmental demand being made on contemporary leaders. The influence of idealism and realism on, and the reasons for failure of, solid waste reduction projects in terms of sustainability is the foundation of the theories postulated in this research. It is the objective of this research to identify the motivational factors, with special reference to developing countries, of social capital, including management processes leadership and people management, that will augment solid waste reduction projects that are lethargic at starting, or deteriorating, to achieve sustainability. The methodology is to review the literature available to identify the augmenting (motivational) factors, and use analytical philosophical and empirical research to test formulated constructs using hypotheses. The criterion for the research sample is to obtain the opinions of environmental specialists in South Africa using a questionnaire. The technique employed is multivariate data analysis to identify the type of interdependent relationships, including cluster and multidimensional scaling analyses. Hypothesis testing, in this research, leads to the conclusion that additional motivational factors are needed to support the economic imperatives to make the process sustainable. `Reality' is statistically significantly different to `idealistic'. The inference is that for solid waste reduction projects to succeed leaders from government and the private sector are required, through the use of legislation and taking into consideration the value of waste, to instil economic incentives. According to this research, personal values and belief systems have little to contribute to the process of sustainability. The outcome of this research provides a strategy-benchmarking-model that leaders can use to target and prioritise their efforts in respect of achieving success with waste projects. The contribution it makes to the knowledge base of the subject and responsible leadership is contained in its summation of the augmenting factors required, their relative importance, and the lessening of the complexity of approach to these projects. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / D.B.L.