Esta dissertação aborda a análise custo-benefício (ACB) em manejo florestal sustentável (MFS) em Roraima, Unidade da Federação pertencente à Amazônia Legal que assim como os outros Estados sofrem com a falta de alternativas econômicas frente à pressão regional e internacional de não uso dos recursos da floresta. Por essa razão, este trabalho, procurou estudar a viabilidade da atividade de manejo florestal sustentável (MFS), a fim de subsidiar futuros empreendimentos que sejam ao mesmo tempo economicamente viável e ambientalmente corretos. Para alcançar tal objetivo foi necessário expor exaustivamente a corrente do desenvolvimento sustentável, tais como, sua origem, o contexto histórico, seus conceitos, tratados e convenções que asseguraram juridicamente o pensamento conservacionista. Além disso, foi preciso embasamento na Ciência Econômica, com o conteúdo transversal sobre a Curva de Kuznets, conceito de bens públicos e as implicâncias das externalidades no custo ambiental, bem como de contribuições de economistas como Pigou, Meadows e Tietenberg. Assim, também, indispensável foi inserir na discussão, dados, conceitos e o histórico da região em discussão qual seja, a Amazônia (especialmente a roraimense) bioma possuidor de apelo internacional haja vista sua indiscutível importância para o equilíbrio ambiental do Brasil e sua contribuição para todo o planeta terra. Por fim, conjugou-se a aplicação da ACB e suas ferramentas (como os método de valoração ambiental) com o manejo florestal sustentável (MFS) objetivando o alcance do desiderato inicial, qual seja, a viabilidade ou não de modelos de extração de madeira na Amazônia de Roraima. O resultado obtido foi de que, dos três modelos estudados apenas o modelo em manejo florestal sustentável (MFS) apresentou viabilidade econômica e ambiental, tendo em vista que nos dois primeiros modelos em sistema e produção convencional (um sem e outro com custo ambiental) não atenderam aos requisitos dos indicadores do estudo: valor presente líquido (VPL), taxa interna de retorno (TIR) e a razão B/C. Aliás, duas das análises que levaram em conta os custos dos impactos ambientais foram denominadas de análise custo-benefício ampliada ou ambiental (ACBA), que são variações ou alternativas ao modelo de ACB convencional ou simples. Desse modo, o benefício do modelo MFS supera seus custos o que torna atrativos para investidores privados e públicos, bem como para financiamento via fundos ambientais nacionais e internacionais ou via financiamento via Banco Mundial, Comunidade Européia, entre outros agentes de fomento. / This study approach the cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in sustainable forest management (SFM) in Roraima, Brazilian State owned by Amazon that just as other states suffer from a lack of economic alternatives facing the regional and international pressure not to use of forest resources. Therefore, this study sought to investigate the feasibility of the activity of sustainable forest management (SFM) in order to support future developments that are both economically viable and environmentally sound. To achieve this it was necessary to thoroughly expose the chain of sustainable development, such as its origin, historical context, its concepts, treaties and conventions which ensure legal thinking conservationist. Moreover, it was necessary grounding in economic science, with the content on the transverse Kuznets Curve, a concept of public goods and the implications of externalities in the environmental cost, as well as contributions from economists like Pigou, Meadows and Tietenberg. So, too, was essential to enter into the discussion, data, concepts and history of the region under discussion which is the Amazon (especially roraimense) biome possessed of international appeal has seen its unquestionable importance to the environmental balance of Brazil and its contribution to all the planet earth. Finally, conjugated to the implementation of the CBA and its tools (such as the valuation method) with sustainable forest management (SFM) in order to reach the first desideratum, namely, the feasibility or otherwise of models of logging on Amazon Roraima. The result was that the three models studied only the model in sustainable forest management (SFM) presented economic and environmental viability, given that the first two models and conventional production system (one without and one with environmental cost) is not met the requirements of the study indicators: net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR) and the ratio B/C. Indeed, two of the analysis that took into account the costs of environmental impacts were identified as extended cost-benefit analysis or environmental (ACBA), which are a variation, or alternatives to the conventional model of CBA or simple. Thus, the benefit of the MFS model exceeds its cost which makes it attractive for private and public investors, as well as financing through national and international environmental funds or by funding through the World Bank, European Community, and other agents of promotion.

Implementing behavioral insights into policy making goes along well with widespread effort for increased efficiency. From the public budget administrator point of view, this efficiency is crucial since it directly affects the current state of the budget. The theoretical part of this thesis consists of description of the most important parts of behavioral economics that can be used during the creation and setting of public policies. It also consists of brief description of current behavioral insights teams that are already using the insights representing more realistic behavior and decision making of individuals. In the analytical part of this thesis, I provide methodology of experiment evaluation as well as result extrapolation facets and risks. Those experiments usually take place before any reasonable extension is made. I also provide financial analysis of several experiments, should they be extended to larger group of individuals. In the last chapter of the analytical part, I discuss the possibilities of implementation of behavioral economics in the Czech Republic. Based on the calculations I ran, even a small change of the environment where people make decisions can significantly improve the results of the intervention, all that with minimal costs. It is however important to point out that not all behavioral insights inspirations end with success. Application of behavioral insights into policy making has got a great potential when it comes to the Czech Republic, as I show Using two examples from Health care and taxes revenues.

The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the risk methodology field by introducing a method that covers both economic and information security aspects. The aim is to provide a way for practitioners to get results that is enough for decision makers to make valid and well-grounded decisions. There are a lot of traditional risk assessment methods that focus on information security. There are also CBA (Cost-Benefit Analysis) methods that are used to make sure investments are cost-effective and provide value for the organization. The aim of this thesis is to combine those and see if they can be merged to one risk assessment method to increase the value of the result. CBA will be added to a more traditional risk assessment method called IRAM2. The thesis will evaluate if they are suited to be used together and if it provides a more valuable result when combining them than only using one of them. The research method that has been used in this study is ADR. It has been used as a way of working when producing a new hybrid method together with some design principles regarding how to combine traditional risk management with economic equations.

This compilation dissertation consists of four essays with the common theme of welfare analysis of long-term public investments. The first two essays focus on analysis of climate change mitigation, i.e., the social cost of carbon dioxide. The third essay focuses on cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of transport investment projects, while the last essay takes a broader perspective on welfare analysis. Essay 1: The Temporal Aspects of the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases. The purpose of Essay 1 is to investigate the temporal aspects of the social cost of greenhouse gases. I find that the calculation period should ultimately be modeled to be consistent with the discount rate and that the “global-warming potential” concept is unsuitable for calculation of the social cost of GHGs other than carbon dioxide. Essay 2: Avoiding path dependence of distributional weights: Lessons from climate change economic assessments. In Essay 2, I explore shortcomings in income weighting in evaluation of climate change policy. In short, in previous versions of two of the most important existing models, regional economic growth is double counted. The proposed alternative approaches yield about 20–40% higher values of SCCO2 than the old approach. Essay 3: Does uncertainty make cost-benefit analyses pointless? In Essay 3, the aim is to investigate to what extent CBA improves the selection decision of projects when uncertainties are taken into account, using a simulation-based approach on real data of infrastructure investments. The results indicate that, in line with previous literature, CBA is a rather robust tool and considerably increases the quality of decision making compared with a random selection mechanism, even when high levels of uncertainty are considered. Essay 4: Household Production and the Elasticity of Marginal Utility of Consumption. In Essay 4, I develop a new model to show that omission of household production in a previous model leads to bias when the elasticity of marginal utility of consumption, EMUC, is estimated. I further offer new, unbiased estimates based on current evidence of the included parameters, suggesting a lower bound of EMUC at about 0.9.

Abstract This thesis explores whether usability cost-benefit analysis is helpful when applied to commercial and open source software (OSS) development contexts. First, the thesis examines the differences and commonalities among the existing usability cost-benefit analysis models. The results indicate that there are considerable variations in the usability cost-benefit analysis literature in how the different categories of usability costs and benefits are identified and documented. Second, the thesis examines how well the existing usability cost-benefit considerations fit into practice in closed source software development. The results indicate that there are considerable risks of failure when using usability cost-benefit considerations in the commercial development context, when the inherent costs of usability activities become apparent, concrete, and measurable. Conversely, the potential benefits of better usability remain vague, uncertain, and unconvincing to the management. In order to build better usability cost-benefit models and minimize the potential that the models have unforeseen inherent risks, as outlined in this thesis, researchers should focus strongly on bringing forward the possible benefits of usability instead of focusing on the costs of designing and implementing user interfaces that would be realized in any case, regardless of the usability activities. Third, the thesis identifies the parallels and differences between open source software development and closed source software development in order to identify how usability costs and benefits fit into OSS development. The usability costs and benefits specific to OSS development are reflected in the experiences of bringing usability into the OSS development context. The results indicate that it is possible to fit usability cost-benefit considerations into the OSS development context, even though there are no apparent financial or resource factors to be considered. Furthermore, to fit usability cost-benefit considerations into the OSS development context, the philosophy, principles, hierarchical structure, community structure, and characteristics of OSS development must be considered. Usability cost-benefit considerations that fit into the OSS development context might help convince core developers that usability activities are important and should be integrated into the project roadmap. / Tiivistelmä Väitöskirjassa tutkitaan käytettävyyden kustannus-hyöty -analyysin soveltamista kaupalliseen ja avoimen lähdekoodin ohjelmistojen (OSS) ohjelmistokehitykseen. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan ensin käytettävyyden kustannus-hyöty -analyysimallien eroja ja yhteisiä piirteitä. Tulokset osoittavat käytettävyyden kustannus-hyöty -analyysimalleissa olevan huomattavia eroja siinä, miten eri käytettävyyden kustannuksia ja hyötyjä on tunnistettu. Toiseksi tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan miten hyvin nykyiset käytettävyyden kustannus-hyöty -analyysimallit sopivat käytännössä kaupallisten ohjelmistojen kehittämisessä. Tulokset osoittavat, että on olemassa huomattavia epäonnistumisen riskejä käytettäessä käytettävyyden kustannus-hyötynäkökohtia käytettävyystoimien oikeuttamiseen. Käytettävyyden kustannukset voivat tulla yrityksen johdon näkökulmasta konkreettisiksi ja mitattaviksi, kun taas mahdolliset paremman käytettävyyden hyödyt voivat jäädä epämääräisiksi, epävarmoiksi ja epäuskottaviksi. Parempien käytettävyyden kustannus-hyöty –mallien kehittämiseksi ja odottamattomien riskien minimoimiseksi mallien suunnittelussa tulisi keskittyä erityisesti paremman käytettävyyden tuomiin mahdollisiin etuihin, koska osa kustannuksista toteutuisi joka tapauksessa käytettävyystoimista riippumatta. Kolmanneksi tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan eroja ja yhtäläisyyksiä avoimen lähdekoodin ohjelmistojen kehittämisessä ja kaupallisessa suljetun lähdekoodin ohjelmistojen kehittämisessä, sekä miten käytettävyyden kustannukset ja hyödyt soveltuvat OSS kehityksessä käytettävyystoimien oikeuttamiseen. Käytettävyyden kustannuksia ja hyötyjä OSS -kehityksessä heijastetaan suhteessa kokemuksiin käytettävyystoimista OSS -projekteissa. Tulokset osoittavat, että on mahdollista soveltaa käytettävyyden kustannus-hyöty -näkökulmia OSS kehityksessä, vaikka OSS kehityksessä ei olekaan ilmeisiä huomioitavia taloudellisia tai resurssitekijöitä. Käytettävyyden kustannus-hyöty -näkökulmien soveltaminen OSS kehityksessä edellyttää OSS kehityksen filosofian, periaatteiden, hierarkkisen rakenteen, yhteisön rakenteen sekä OSS kehityksen ominaispiirteiden ottamista huomioon. OSS -kehitykseen paremmin soveltuvien käytettävyyden kustannus-hyöty –näkökulmien avulla voidaan vakuuttaa OSS -projektin pääkehittäjiä ja yhteisöä käytettävyystoimien tärkeydestä ja nämä toimet voidaan saada osaksi projektin ohjelmistokehitystä.

Abstract Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) has been gaining importance in the treatment of advanced Parkinson's disease. This study was undertaken to evaluate the beneficial effects of bilateral STN stimulation on patient's clinical symptoms and quality of life related to the potential risks and side effects of the treatment. A consecutive series of 42 patients operated on for Parkinson's disease with STN DBS in Oulu University Hospital were included. A subgroup of these patients was evaluated using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), neuropsychological tests, and Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) instruments i.e. the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39) and the Finnish version of the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP). The costs of the treatment were calculated from the perspective of the health care provider. The possible effects of bilateral STN-operation on cardiovascular autonomic function were analyzed by measuring various time- and frequency domain indexes as well as non-linear indexes of heart rate variability (HRV) from 24-hour EKG recording before and 12 months after the operation. This study showed that STN DBS significantly improves the clinical symptoms and HRQoL of parkinsonian patients. The dyskinesia and clinical fluctuation scores were reduced very significantly in the UPDRS IV subscale. The clinical fluctuations were reduced by 53 %. After DBS best motor response (UPDRS III) scores also improved significantly. The HRQoL measured with both instruments improved significantly. Improvement was seen in the PDQ-39 summary index and the subscales of activities of daily living, emotional well-being, stigma and bodily discomfort. Only communication became worse during the follow-up. There was a statistically significant improvement in the score of the subscales of NHP measuring problems with energy, sleep, emotional reactions and social isolation. One patient died from pulmonary embolism and another contracted a late postoperative intracerebral hemorrhage leading to a permanent deterioration of her neurological condition to the bedridden stage. Other complications were much milder. Clinical improvement and improvement in HRQoL were positively correlated. STN DBS does not influence tonic autonomic cardiovascular regulation. The incremental costs of performing bilateral STN DBS in Finland compared to preoperative medical treatment amounted to an average of 25 591 EUR per patient during the first postoperative year. The majority of parkinsonian patients experienced significant and long lasting relief in their motor symptoms and an improvement in HRQoL following STN stimulation.

Thesis is focused on effectivity assessment of the reporting system of the selected company and the comparison of the former and current reporting solution. This is achieved by the appropriate literature research, creation of the individual assessment model based on the methodology of the analogy from the information systems assessment and based on the experience of the selected company's employees and the experience of the experts in the field of corporate financial management with the focus on the reporting systems. Model is defined by the set of criteria structured into the groups and by the weights assigned to criteria along with the value for each of them. The last phase consists of stepping out of the individual assessment and defines the generally applicable model, usable on the wide range of different reporting systems.

The erection of tollgates along the N1 freeway has triggered a great deal of interest. As a result of the toll fees, traffic has been diverted to alternative roads. This study investigates how traffic diverted from the toll road affect the welfare of users of the alternative road. The literature review provides a theoretical framework of economic impact assessment and road pricing. Furthermore, the literature study reviews previous studies of a similar nature and compare them with the findings of this study. There is no conclusive evidence that diversion of traffic from the N1 causes congestion on the R101 and has a negative impact on the economy of the region. On the contrary, evidence suggests that there was an initial diversion of traffic when the toll came into operation but that is slowly filtered back after six months. In the application of the RED model, economic benefits are derived from user benefits, which is a function of savings in VOC’s and time of normal and generated traffic on a road or saving due to an improvement in road safety, resulting from improved roads. A decrease in traffic has a measurable effect on vehicle travel speeds and travel time only when the roads are significantly congested. In the case of scenario 1 (including diversion), frequent maintenance needs to be performed under increased traffic. Increased traffic due to “diverted traffic” causes congestion in accidents and travelling time, which is a cost to the economy. Under scenario 2 (excluding diversion), it is assumed that ADT will return to normal. Due to lower levels of congestion and travelling times would be faster, while maintenance costs and accident rates would decrease. Scenario 2 is selected as being economically the most feasible option. It is clear that the R101 cannot cope with the current levels of traffic and congestion. One can speculate about the causes of the congestion but in order to derive at a solution to the problem more research needs to be done on the cause of the congestion in order to resolve the problem. / Dissertation (Magister Commercii)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Economics / unrestricted

The aim of the final thesis Methods for IT investment evaluation and decision making is to verify relationship between strategy of the company its Enterprise Architecture and IT investments evaluation. To achieve the aim of the thesis is necessary to define the term of Enterprise Architecture and its relationship with IT Project Portfolio Management. The literature retrieval which follows after is focused on calculation of IT investment profitability and return. The calculation is very difficult due to intangible benefits which are one of the common goals of IT investments. The customer satisfaction, improve of the current business process or employees satisfaction are one of the examples of the intangible benefits. Cost/Benefit analysis is one of the methods depicted for calculation of the intangible benefits. Methods for decision support as Analytic Hierarchy Process are highlighted as the significant instrument. The risk analysis and simulation of the risk in IT investments decision making are also mentioned but according to the scope of thesis just very briefly. Major methods are used on the model example of the evaluation and decision making process to demonstrate the whole theoretical part of the thesis. The biggest added value of the final thesis is the deep analysis of the relationship between strategy of the company its Enterprise Architecture and IT investment evaluation. Entire final thesis should be used as the fundament for IT investment evaluation and decision making framework.

This thesis covers the implementation of ex post cost-benefit analysis (CBA) applied to specific sport event in the Czech Republic, specifically Biathlon World Championships, which was held in Nové Město na Moravě in 2013. The results of determinative criterion indicators reliably exceeded the required values, investment project can be considered as economically feasible. Concurrently the event has generated positive cash flow therefore we can talk about the feasibility of the project. Overall, the project can be recommended for realization, because brings more benefits than costs to interested parties.