This internship academic report is the result of a 480--‐hour internship at New Orleans Auction Galleries completed from February--‐September 2015. New Orleans Auction Galleries is a for--‐profit arts organization located in the Arts District of New Orleans, Louisiana. During my internship, I worked closely with the Art Department and Office Administration, as well as preview receptions andauctions. This experience provided me with a valuable education of the inner workings of New Orleans Auction Galleries from its day--‐to--‐day operations to its vision as an organization. His report begins with the history and goals of New Orleans Auction Galleries and moves forward with discussing the structure of the organization as it stands today, a SWOT analysis, best practices, recommendations, and concludes with my final thoughts.

The author analyses the existing legislation regarding crime related to public procurement, focusing on those that directly relate to public procurement. The primary objective of this thesis is a thorough analysis of sections 248 paragraph 2 alinea 2, section 256 and section 257 of the Czech criminal code. Following a brief historical introduction this thesis describes some of the important legal instruments present in the new law regulating public procurement, emphasising the new ones that may have a strong impact on criminal liability. The main part of the thesis then analyses the three aforementioned crimes, putting emphasis on the recent decisions of the Czech courts in this matter. The author also provides practical examples of criminal conduct related to public procurement. The author also focuses on some other crimes that may not be directly related to public procurement, but are in practice more or less often committed in relation to public procurement or together with the three aforementioned crimes. The author has also carried out a detailed analysis of the available case-law related to the crimes described in sections 248 paragraph 2 alinea 2 and 257 of the Czech criminal code in a time period between its entry into force up to the date of submitting this thesis. The reason for this...

[pt] O trabalho está situado no campo de policy analysis, tendo como principal foco a etapa de implementação do ciclo de políticas públicas, a partir da análise dos subsistemas político-administrativos. O objetivo central desta pesquisa é compreender como os atores nacionais e internacionais afetam o desenvolvimento da política pública na etapa de implementação. A dissertação analisa três Programas de políticas públicas financiados pelo Banco Internacional de Reconstrução e Desenvolvimento (BIRD/Banco Mundial) e pelo Banco Interamericano de Desenvolvimento (BID), junto ao Governo do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, no período entre 2008 e 2014, quando foram contratadas 20 operações de crédito externas, totalizando aproximadamente 9,05 bilhões de reais. Dentre essas operações estão inseridos o Programa de Renovação e Fortalecimento da Gestão Pública (Pro-Gestão I), o Programa de Fortalecimento da Gestão do Setor Público e do Desenvolvimento Territorial Integrado – Rio Metrópole (Pró-Gestão II), e o Programa de Inclusão Social e Oportunidades para os Jovens do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Caminho Melhor Jovem). A metodologia de análise começa pela observação participante da pesquisadora junto aos Programas, dos subsistemas político-administrativos, dos documentos dos Programas e, por fim, das entrevistas com gestores públicos e especialistas dos bancos. A análise dos resultados obtidos ao longo da etapa de implementação dos Programas identifica evidências sobre (i) a influência técnica dos atores internacionais, (ii) a influência política dos atores nacionais, e (iii) os desempenhos distintos dos Programas. / [en] The work is situated in the field of policy analysis, with the main focus being on the implementation phase of the public policy cycle. The research is based on the analysis of the political-administrative subsystems. The central objective of this dissertation is to understand how national and international actors affect the development of public policy in the implementation stage. The dissertation analyzes three Public Policy Programs financed by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD / World Bank) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), with the Government of the State of Rio de Janeiro, between 2008 and 2014, when 20 operations were approved totalizing approximately 9.05 billion. Among these operations are the Programa de Renovação e Fortalecimento da Gestão Pública (Pro-Gestão I), o Programa de Fortalecimento da Gestão do Setor Público e do Desenvolvimento Territorial Integrado – Rio Metrópole (Pró-Gestão II) e o Programa de Inclusão Social e Oportunidades para os Jovens do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Caminho Melhor Jovem), this research s objects of study. The methodology is grounded on the participant s observation of the programs, the political-administrative subsystems, the program documents and, finally, interviews with public managers and bank specialists. The analysis of the results obtained during the implementation stage identifies evidences on (i) the technical influence of international actors, (ii) the political influence of national actors, and (iii) the different performances of the Programs.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:48:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 David Almstadter Mattar de Magalhaes.pdf: 9763441 bytes, checksum: 6d4e066092f56bba7f694e3c36b3e560 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-29 / After the dismantling of the Brazilian defense industry in the 1990s, the governments of Lula and Dilma launched several initiatives to revitalize the military-productive sector. In addition to government procurement programs that aimed to produce a "demand shock", one of the most important initiatives to facilitate the process of revitalization of the Brazilian Defense Industrial Base was the expansion of foreign markets to the arms made in Brazil, ie, the reintegration of Brazilian arms industry in the concentrated global market of defense products. Because of the insufficient and erratic domestic demand, the reorganization of the military industry, therefore, depends on the support provided by the Government for arms exports, which can produce certain consequences in Brazilian foreign policy. The objective of this work is to examine the Brazilian policy on arms exports in the context of the revitalization of the Defense Industrial Base, understanding it both in its dimension of export control system (the National Policy of Arms Sales, PNEMEM) and in government initiatives of trade promotion / Após o desmantelamento da indústria brasileira de defesa nos anos 1990, os Governos de Lula e Dilma lançaram mão de uma série de iniciativas para revitalizar o setor bélico nacional. Além dos programas de compras governamentais que visaram produzir um "choque de demanda", uma das mais importantes iniciativas para viabilizar o processo de revitalização da Base Industrial de Defesa consistiu na ampliação do mercado externo ao setor produtivo de armas, isto é, na reinserção da indústria bélica brasileira no oligopolizado mercado global de produtos de defesa. Em razão da insuficiente e flutuante demanda interna, a reorganização da indústria militar depende, portanto, do apoio prestado pelo Estado às exportações de armas, o qual pode produzir certos desdobramentos nas relações exteriores do Brasil. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho é examinar a política brasileira de exportação de armas no contexto da revitalização da Base Industrial de Defesa, compreendendo-a tanto na sua dimensão do controle das exportações materiais bélicos (a Política Nacional de Exportação de Materiais de Emprego Militar, PNEMEM) quanto nas iniciativas governamentais de promoção e inteligência comercial

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:23:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Angelica Petian.pdf: 994086 bytes, checksum: c730a841e0f7339da5d5ff0ebb79f91e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-25 / This study aims to further examine the procedure of direct contracting by emergency, widely used by Public Administration, since it frequently results in the application of several kinds of sanctions to public agents. In order to approach this issue, we examined the conditions necessary to perform the contract legally, starting from the definition of the requirements that would characterize an emergency situation. Following, we worked through the procedural prerequisites for formalization of direct contracting. This step comprised the exam of the justification of the contracted price, just as important as controversial in the practice of administrative activity. Finally, we discussed, and proposed the possibility of deferment of emergency contracts. We further laid down solid premises that led us to this conclusion, all of which were grounded in the purpose of the legislation and the satisfaction of the primary public interest / O presente estudo tem por objetivo aprofundar o exame da contratação direta por emergência, procedimento largamente utilizado pela Administração e que, com frequência, enseja a aplicação de sanções de diversas naturezas aos agentes públicos. Para cumprir tal mister, examinamos as condições necessárias para realizar a contratação de forma legal, a partir da definição dos requisitos que caracterizam a situação emergencial que a enseja. Vencida essa etapa, nos debruçamos sobre os requisitos procedimentais para formalizar a contratação direta, oportunidade na qual cuidamos do tema da justificativa dos preços contratados, tão importante quanto controvertido na prática da atividade administrativa. por fim, discutimos e propusemos a possibilidade de prorrogar os prazos dos contratos emergenciais, estabelecendo premissas sólidas que nos conduziram a essa conclusão, todas alicerçadas na finalidade da norma e na satisfação do interesse público primário

由於環境品質改變之成本或效益沒有一個直接的市場可以衡量，為了 克服此一問題，Rosen 於1974年提出特徵價格法完整的理論架構。其利用 差異性財貨之價值受其所具有之不同屬性數量影響，於是可用計量方法將 個別屬性之價值導引出來。本文即是利用Rosen 所提之二階段過程，分別 估計台北、台中、高雄三地區之特徵價格函數，然後利用第一階段所獲得 之價格資料進行第二階段逆需求函數的估計。本研究除了進行上述二階段 之估計，另外以高雄地區為例，計算該地區因水泥廠存在，PM10濃度增加 對當地房地產價格之影響，此一影響也就是水泥廠存在PM10濃度增加所造 成的社會外部成本。 / The measurement of the benefit of environmental improve-ments is difficult because typically there are no markets for environmental guality. However, one can observe behavior in markets that are related to environmental guality , and it is sometimes possible to measure people’s willingness to pay for the environmental goods by using data from these markets. Hedonic methods is one of several techniques for doing this. Hedonic methods are based on the realization that some goods or factors of production are not homogeneous and can differ in numerous characteristics. My study follows the theoretical model that provided by Sherwin Rosen in 1974.According to Rosen’s model, estimation requires a two-step procedure. First, estimate the hedonic price function. Second, estimate the demand function for air guality(PM10’s density). At last , I try to estimate how much the cement plant decreases houses price. In fact , the estima-tion is equal to measure the external cost caused by the ce-ment plant around Kaushang area.

<p>In most electricity markets, producers submit supply functions to a procurement uniform-price auction under uncertainty before demand has been realized. In the Supply Function Equilibrium (SFE), every producer commits to the supply function that maximises his expected profit given the bids of competitors. </p><p>The presence of multiple equilibria is a basic weakness of the SFE framework. Essay I shows that with (i) symmetric producers, (ii) perfectly inelastic demand, (iii) a reservation price (price cap), and (iv) capacity constraints that bind with a positive probability, a unique symmetric SFE exists. The equilibrium price reaches the price cap exactly when capacity constraints bind.</p><p>Another weakness is difficulty finding a valid asymmetric SFE with non-decreasing supply functions. Essay II shows that for firms with asymmetric capacity constraints but identical constant marginal costs there exists a unique and valid SFE. Equilibrium supply functions exhibit kinks as well as vertical and horizontal segments. The price at which the capacity constraint of a firm binds is increasing in the firm’s share of market capacity. The capacity constraint of the second largest firm binds when the market price reaches the price cap. Thereafter, the largest firm supplies its remaining capacity with a perfectly elastic segment at the price cap. Essay III presents a numerical algorithm that calculates a similar SFE for asymmetric firms with increasing marginal costs. </p><p>Essay IV derives the SFE of a pay-as-bid auction such as the balancing market for electric power in Britain. A unique SFE always exists if the demand’s hazard rate is monotonically decreasing, as for a Pareto distribution of the second kind. Assuming this probability distribution, the pay-as-bid procurement auction is compared to the SFE of a uniform-price procurement auction. Two theorems in Essay V prove that the demand-weighted average price is (weakly) lower in the pay-as-bid procurement auction. </p>

This dissertation consists of five separate and self-contained essays. They have been written as distinct papers. Although there is a fair amount of overlap and cross-reference in analysis and discussion, the intention is that potential readers should be able to read them separately. Essay 1: An Empirical Analysis of the Trading Structure at the Stockholm Stock Exchange.This essay describes and analyzes the trading structure at the Stockholm Stock Exchange. In the empirical part, we report stylized facts based on intraday transaction and order book data, focusing on the intraday behavior of returns, trading activity, order placement and bid/ask spread, on the importance of the tick size and finally on some characteristics of the limit order book. Our main empirical conclusions are that a) the intraday U-shape in trading activity found in earlier U.S. studies on the whole also pertains to the Stockholm Stock Exchange, b) the limit order placement also follows an intraday U-shape, c) there is no distinct intraday pattern in returns, d) the volatility and bid/ask spread seems to be higher at the beginning of the trading day, e) the tick size is economically important, and f) the price impact of an order is a nonlinear function of its quantity, implying price inelastic demand and supply. Essay 2: An Empirical Analysis of the Trading Structure at the Stockholm Options and Forwards Exchange, OM.We first describe and analyze the trading structure at the Stockholm Options and Forward Exchange, OM Stockholm. It is characterized by some interesting market microstructure features, such as a high degree of transparency in a fully computerized trading system and a possibility to submit combination orders. We also present empirically results from tests on the intra- and interday trading volume of the OMX index derivatives, both in terms of number of contracts traded and in terms of number of transactions. There is evidence of a high degree of intraday variation in trading volume and some interday variation. The extension of trading hours of the underlying stocks, during the studied period should, according to modern trade concentration models, affect the distribution of trading across the day. Although no formal test of the models is possible with this data set, we are able to shed some supportive additional light on all of these models. Essay 3: Tick Size, Market Liquidity and Trading Volume: Evidence from the Stockholm Stock Exchange. (This essay was co-authored with Patrik Sandås.)The regulated tick size at a securities exchange puts a lower bound on the bid/ask spread. We use cross-sectional and cross-daily data from the Stockholm Stock Exchange to assess if this lower bound is economically important and if it has any direct effect on market depth and traded volume. We find a) strong support that the tick size is positively correlated to market depth and c) some support that it is negatively related to traded volume. We identify different groups of agents to whom a lower tick size would be beneficial and to whom it would be detrimental. Essay 4: An Analysis of the Lead-Lag Relationship between the OMX Index Forwards and the OMX Cash Index.This essay investigates the intraday lead-lag structure in returns between on the one hand the OMX cash index and on the other hand the OMX index forwards and the OMX synthetic index forwards in Sweden. The data set includes 22 months of data, from December 1991, to September 1993. It is divided into three sub-periods. The main conclusion is that there is a high degree of bidirectional interdependence, with both series Granger causing each other. Using a Sims-test, we find that the forwards as well as synthetic forwards lead the cash index with between fifteen and thirty minutes, while the cash index leads the forwards with about ten to fifteen minutes.. This implies a longer lead from the cash index to the forwards than in previous studies. The large interdependence could possibly be due to higher transaction costs, lower liquidity in the forward market and the specific trading environments used for Swedish securities. Essay 5: Order Flow Dynamics: Evidence from the Helsinki Stock Exchange. (This essay was co-authored with Kaj Hedvall.)This essay investigates the dynamics of the order flow in a limit order book. In contrast to previous studies, our data set from the Helsinki Stock Exchange encompasses the entire order book structure, including the dealer identities. This enables us to focus on the order behavior of individual dealers. We classify the events in the order book and study the structure of subsequent events using contingency tables. In specific, the structure of subsequent events initiated by the same dealer is compared to the overall event structure. We find that order splitting is more frequent than order imitation. Furthermore, if the spread increases as a result of a trade, other dealers quickly restore the spread, by submitting new limit orders. One conclusion is therefore that there exists a body of potential limit orders outside the formal limit order book and that there is a high degree of resiliency in our limit order book market. As a logical consequence, a large dealer strategically splits his order, in order for the market to supply additional liquidity. One interpretation of our results is that a limit order book market can accommodate larger orders than is first apparent by the outstanding limit orders. Another interpretation is that a limit order book structure gives room for informed traders to successively trade on their information. A third interpretation is that prices only slowly incorporate new information. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 1994

In most electricity markets, producers submit supply functions to a procurement uniform-price auction under uncertainty before demand has been realized. In the Supply Function Equilibrium (SFE), every producer commits to the supply function that maximises his expected profit given the bids of competitors. The presence of multiple equilibria is a basic weakness of the SFE framework. Essay I shows that with (i) symmetric producers, (ii) perfectly inelastic demand, (iii) a reservation price (price cap), and (iv) capacity constraints that bind with a positive probability, a unique symmetric SFE exists. The equilibrium price reaches the price cap exactly when capacity constraints bind. Another weakness is difficulty finding a valid asymmetric SFE with non-decreasing supply functions. Essay II shows that for firms with asymmetric capacity constraints but identical constant marginal costs there exists a unique and valid SFE. Equilibrium supply functions exhibit kinks as well as vertical and horizontal segments. The price at which the capacity constraint of a firm binds is increasing in the firm’s share of market capacity. The capacity constraint of the second largest firm binds when the market price reaches the price cap. Thereafter, the largest firm supplies its remaining capacity with a perfectly elastic segment at the price cap. Essay III presents a numerical algorithm that calculates a similar SFE for asymmetric firms with increasing marginal costs. Essay IV derives the SFE of a pay-as-bid auction such as the balancing market for electric power in Britain. A unique SFE always exists if the demand’s hazard rate is monotonically decreasing, as for a Pareto distribution of the second kind. Assuming this probability distribution, the pay-as-bid procurement auction is compared to the SFE of a uniform-price procurement auction. Two theorems in Essay V prove that the demand-weighted average price is (weakly) lower in the pay-as-bid procurement auction.

This thesis concerns the interdisciplinary field of combinatorial auctions, combining the fields of computer science, optimization and economics. A combinatorial auction is an auction where many items are sold simultaneously and where bidders may submit indivisible combinatorial bids on groups of items. It is commonly believed that good solutions to the allocation problem can be achieved by allowing combinatorial bidding. Determining who wins in a combinatorial auction is fundamentally different from a traditional single-item auction because we are faced with a hard and potentially intractable optimization problem. Also, unless we are limited to truthful mechanisms, game theoretic analysis of the strategic behavior of bidders is still an open problem. We have chosen primarily to study the first-price combinatorial auction, a natural auction widely used in practice. Theoretical analysis of this type of auction is difficult and little has been done previously. In this thesis we investigate and discuss three fundamental questions with significant practical implications for combinatorial auctions. First, because the number of possible bids grows exponentially with the number of items, limitations on the number of bids are typically required. This gives rise to a problem since bidders are unlikely to choose the "correct" bids that make up the globally optimal solution. We provide evidence that an expressive and compact bidding language can be more important than finding the optimal solution. Second, given a first-price (sealed-bid) combinatorial auction, the question of equilibrium bidding strategies remains an open problem. We propose a heuristic for finding such strategies and also present feasible strategies. And finally, is a first-price combinatorial auction worth pursuing compared to the simpler simultaneous (single-item) auction? We prove, through a model capturing many fundamental properties of multiple items scenarios with synergies, that the first-price combinatorial auction produces higher revenue than simultaneous single-item auctions. We provide bounds on revenue, given a significantly more general model, in contrast to previous work.