Master of Science / Department of Agricultural Economics / Ted C. Schroeder / Risk management decision makers face significant price risk when purchasing or selling wholesale beef. Previous research has identified cross-hedging wholesale beef in Live Cattle futures as a plausible means of reducing this risk. Changes in the way beef is marketed have led to poor performance of cross-hedging programs. Unlike earlier research, more recent studies have shown that Live Cattle futures are a poor venue for effective cross-hedging. This study replicates previous research to evaluate the current state of traditional cross-hedging performance. Focus then shifts to improving cross-hedging methods. Hedge ratios derived from a traditional cross-hedging methodology exhibit a great deal of sensitivity to season, estimation technique, and quality grade. Basis risk is abundant for this type of cross-hedging. To reduce the basis risk inherent with cross-hedging wholesale beef, bundling is proposed. This involves combining two or more cuts together in a single unit to be cross-hedged. Firms merchandising meat from a whole carcass would be able to provide a valuable risk management service if the basis risk faced when hedging a bundled product is less than the basis risk faced when cross-hedging the corresponding products independently. This research found that bundling has neither a positive or negative effect on basis risk. Therefore bundling is a plausible practice, but will not offer reduced basis risk to decision makers.

The aim of this thesis is to search for the best way to allocate revenues gathered from a group of products in a household supplies company. In so doing, it purports to determine the price which brings customer perception and organizational benefit to equilibrium. To compare alternatives of revenue allocation methods, data obtained for a main product and its variants from a household company will be analyzed in an organized manner. Three ways of product bundling (pure bundling, mixed bundling, unbundling) is discussed as a framework for underlying different detailed aspects. In the end, pricing and promotional policies of the company is critically evaluated and simultaneous strategy changes are suggested.

In Chapter 1, I analyze a setting where a pair of retailers which sell unrelated products at the same location (e.g., a strip mall) compete with other retailers located at a different strip mall across town by jointly introducing a bundling discount while independently setting their respective stand-alone prices. Customers who shop from multiple strip malls rather than only one incur additional exogenous shopping costs. I first show that if each retailer chooses a bundling discount non-cooperatively, then the equilibrium bundling discounts will be zero. In contrast, pairs of firms located at the same strip mall always find it profitable to jointly offer positive bundling discounts in order to encourage customer loyalty. Moreover, I demonstrate as a comparative static that as the shopping costs increase, pairs of firms have less incentive to make joint bundling arrangements in equilibrium. If only one pair can introduce a bundling discount, in equilibrium while total industry profit rises, consumer surplus and welfare fall with the increase in shopping costs. When both pairs offer the bundling discounts, all consumers buy a bundle in equilibrium. Thus, the presence of a positive shopping cost does not affect any industry variables in equilibrium except stand-alone equilibrium prices which decrease with the shopping costs so that the standard Hotelling result extends to this case. In Chapter 2, I investigate the effects of shopping costs on the merger incentives of these unrelated retailers in the context of bundling. I demonstrate that contrary to one’s initial conjecture, pairs of firms do not merge to internalize the externalities created by shopping costs and bundling discounts. While consumers are better off with the merger outcome, consumer and total welfare fall significantly when firms stay independent in equilibrium. In Chapter 3, I analyze how legacy carriers and Southwest Airlines respond to the threat of AirTran Airways entry. My estimation results suggest that equilibrium prices of legacy carriers are on average lower in response to the threat of entry by AirTran as expected, whereas those of Southwest are on average higher. This robust result on AirTran and Southwest competition echoes the pricing behavior in the pharmaceutical industry where brand-name prices increase before and after generic entry. The incumbent low cost carrier Southwest, especially with the incapability to further lower its prices significantly, may still find it profitable to capitalize on its loyal price-inelastic (i.e., high-end) customers. Anticipating a definite price cut from AirTran, however, the high-end customers of legacy carriers may be more sensitive to price differentials offered by AirTran relative to the high-end customers of Southwest because of the size of the offer. Hence, legacy carriers, in contrast, simply reduce their prices in response to threat of AirTran entry to keep these valuable customers. / text

It is a common market practice to offer two products in a package, so called bundling. While much research investigate how companies can use bundling to increase sales and profit, less is known about how bundling can be beneficial for consumers. There are many advantages with bundling for consumers, as bundles often are offered at a reduced price and provide convenience and reduced risk. But there are also major drawbacks, for example reduced freedom of choice and increased risk of over-consumption. In the present study, the general aim is to increase the understanding of how consumers’ perceive bundle value. To achieve this, focus is turned to bundle composition, more specifically the complementarity between bundle products, as a source of value for consumers. By exploring what complementarity is, how it influences consumer preferences for and satisfaction with bundles and how it interacts with bundle discount insights about the overall value of bundles for consumers is gained. In five scenario-based experiments, the influence of different kinds and different degrees of complementarity on consumers’ perceptions of bundle value is studied and compared to evaluations of separate products. The results show that bundles generally are not preferred over separate products and that they only exceptionally provide more satisfaction. However, the results also highlight the influence of bundle composition on consumer evaluations. Generally, bundle complementarity has a positive effect on preferences and satisfaction, especially when combined with a discount. The results also illustrates that complementarity is a multifaceted concept. Many kinds of relations between bundle products are considered complementary and the degree of complementarity may vary within and between different types of complementarity. Based on the results it is suggested that the notion of complementarity is closely related to consumers’ everyday practices and the value bundles provides in use. When consumers understand the value that bundle products provide in use, the perceived complementarity increases and preferences and satisfaction is positively influenced. It is suggested that bundling can be used as a strategic tool by companies to increase value for customers. By considering their customers’ needs and practices companies can compose bundles that are perceived as complementary and offer value-in-use.

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

A number of European countries are turning to private finance for public hospitals and other healthcare infrastructure. Public-private partnerships (PPP) are intended to bind private sector efficiencies, secure appropriate risk transfer between hospital operators, infrastructure owners and other partners, and ensure optimum whole-life asset management. This paper discusses the different factors that influence significantly the outcomes of European PPP ventures, the scope of different PPP models, and experience so far in delivering new infrastructure and stimulating innovation and quality improvements. Finally, it draws conclusions, through recent case studies, on the factors that have a significant influence in shaping PPP models and policies. The methods used were extensive literature research and analysis, further supported by case study analysis of the Pembury Hospital, Braga Hospital, Berlin Buch Hospital and De La Ribera Hospital. The outcome of this paper draws upon the concept of "bundling" of services and concludes that this may be seen as a way of providing more appropriate risk allocation that creates incentives for efficient and effective behavior of the private sector.

Ingeniero Civil Industrial / Las promociones de venta son fundamentales dentro de los esfuerzos de Marketing, por ejemplo, en E.E.U.U. el año 2004 las promociones de venta al canal en CPG (consumer packaged goods) representaron el 70% del presupuesto del área. En Chile el año 2002 representaron el 50,1% del presupuesto de Marketing. Una de las promociones de venta más importantes es el bundling, que es utilizado por muchas empresas y se encuentra entre las promociones preferidas por los consumidores. Un bundle es un paquete de dos o más productos que tienen mercado por sí solos, pero que se deciden vender conjuntamente. En general los consumidores asumen que los bundles incluyen un descuento en precio, lo que no es siempre cierto. De aquí nace el objetivo general de este trabajo: Analizar el ahorro presente en bundles y determinar el ahorro percibido por consumidores. Para cumplir este objetivo se realizaron mediciones de precio en tres supermercados y cinco locales de comida rápida. Se desarrolló una encuesta para medir la diferencia entre la percepción de ahorro en bundles y el ahorro real. Adicionalmente, se efectuó una encuesta para estudiar el efecto del ahorro de tiempo sobre la compra de bundles. Usualmente comprar bundles en las categorías de comida rápida y en las categorías de supermercados; aseo casa; aseo personal; y comida, implica ahorro en precio. Para todas las categorías el ahorro en promedio, es significativo y superior a 10%. No obstante, la compra de un bundle, no siempre se traduce en ahorro de dinero, se encontraron bundles con ahorros negativos o nulos en comida y en comida rápida. En general los consumidores perciben que los ahorros en bundles son positivos (inclusive en bundles con ahorros negativos), además considerando productos con precios similares, consideran que el ahorro en precio es relativamente constante. Esto independientemente de la cantidad de productos que incluye el bundle o de la categoría a la que los productos pertenecen. Sin embargo, si tiene influencia la cantidad total de productos que son una alternativa al bundle. Por ejemplo, un combo dentro de un menú de comida rápida es percibido con mayor ahorro si el menú tiene más productos. Por último, un bundle dentro de una lista amplia de productos es considerado como una alternativa que reduce el tiempo de decisión de compra. Cabe destacar que este efecto sólo se presenta entre los consumidores que efectivamente seleccionan el bundle. Se propone considerar para estudios futuros como afecta la manera de publicitar los descuentos sobre el ahorro percibido. Por ejemplo, comparando el caso en que se agrega un cartel que indica explícitamente cuanto es el ahorro que se recibe, versus el caso en que no se informa y el consumidor debe inferirlo. También se propone realizar un análisis de sensibilidad para estudiar para qué rangos de variaciones de precio los consumidores dejan de percibir que el ahorro en precio es constante y consideran que es mayor (o menor).

The treatment of financial services under the VAT has been one of the most contentious VAT issues since the origin of the VAT. Due to theoretical and measurement complexities, most countries opt to exempt financial services under the VAT. Exemption is the cause of all the controversy. Exempting supplies under the VAT compromises one of the corner-stones of the VAT – neutrality. South Africa is one of many countries that exempts most financial services under VAT. Credit card suppliers in South Africa offer a bundle of financial services comprising fee-based-charges and interest earned. The credit card user is usually only charged for the interest. Interest is an exempt supply under VAT. This gives rise to many distortions for South African credit card users and financial intermediaries. Exhaustive research has been conducted on the treatment of financial services under the VAT around the world. This study only focusses on the VAT treatment of interest margins of credit cards in South Africa. Firstly, it was determined that credit card offerings in South Africa include bundled offerings which is impractical to separate on a transaction-for-for transaction-basis due to valuation complexities and market conditions. Secondly, it was determined that VAT doesn’t play a major role in credit card suppliers’ decision on how offerings are structured. It is mostly guided by the competition and legislation. Thirdly, it was determined that administrative burden and compliance cost caused by apportionment in South Africa is highly underplayed in the literature. Lastly, it was proposed that full taxation of all financial services with implicit charges at a lower rate or full taxation of fee-based charges with exemption of financial services with a partial input recovery, to be the best alternatives for South Africa to consider to tax financial services under VAT. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / am2014 / Taxation / unrestricted

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(生命科学) / 甲第23551号 / 生博第462号 / 新制||生||62(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院生命科学研究科統合生命科学専攻 / (主査)教授 中野 雄司, 教授 見学 美根子, 教授 千坂 修 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy in Life Sciences / Kyoto University / DFAM

Analytic and computational micromechanics techniques based on the composite cylinders method and the finite element method, respectively, have been used to determine the effective coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of carbon nanotube-epoxy nanocomposites containing aligned nanotubes. Both techniques have been used in a parametric study of the influence of interphase stiffness and interphase CTE on the effective CTE of the nanocomposites.  For both the axial and transverse CTE of aligned nanotube nanocomposites with and without interphase regions, the computational and analytic micromechanics techniques were shown to give similar results.  The Mori-Tanka method has been used to account for the effect of randomly oriented fibers.   Analytic and computational micromechanics techniques have also been used to assess the effects of clustering and clustering with interphase on the effective CTE components.  Clustering is observed to have a minimal impact on the effective axial CTE of the nanocomposite and a 3-10%.  However, there is a combined effect with clustering and one of the interphase layers. / Master of Science