Submitted by Yen-Tsang Chen (yentsang.chen@gmail.com) on 2015-03-24T17:51:58Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Final - Chen - Biblioteca.pdf: 2943345 bytes, checksum: 4c170e7c8b4f9e096626e1777b3f690e (MD5) / Rejected by PAMELA BELTRAN TONSA (pamela.tonsa@fgv.br), reason: Boa tarde Chen, Conforme conversamos estou rejeitando seu trabalho. Favor submeter novamente, Qualquer duvida estamos a disposição. Att, Pâmela Tonsa 3799-7852 on 2015-03-25T20:18:42Z (GMT) / Submitted by Yen-Tsang Chen (yentsang.chen@gmail.com) on 2015-03-26T14:47:27Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Final - Chen - Biblioteca.pdf: 2851494 bytes, checksum: 333f7f24515b050792b3e4eff742b9a3 (MD5) / Rejected by PAMELA BELTRAN TONSA (pamela.tonsa@fgv.br), reason: Chen, Agradecimento só pode em Português. Fazer a alteração e submeter novamente, Att. Pâmela Tonsa on 2015-03-26T14:53:21Z (GMT) / Submitted by Yen-Tsang Chen (yentsang.chen@gmail.com) on 2015-03-26T17:53:18Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Final - Chen - Biblioteca.pdf: 2851494 bytes, checksum: 333f7f24515b050792b3e4eff742b9a3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by PAMELA BELTRAN TONSA (pamela.tonsa@fgv.br) on 2015-03-30T12:15:34Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Final - Chen - Biblioteca.pdf: 2851494 bytes, checksum: 333f7f24515b050792b3e4eff742b9a3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-30T12:27:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Final - Chen - Biblioteca.pdf: 2851494 bytes, checksum: 333f7f24515b050792b3e4eff742b9a3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-25 / Choosing properly and efficiently a supplier has been challenging practitioners and academics since 1960’s. Since then, countless studies had been performed and relevant changes in the business scenario were considered such as global sourcing, quality-orientation, just-in-time practices. It is almost consensus that quality should be the selection driver, however, some polemical findings questioned this general agreement. Therefore, one of the objectives of the study was to identify the supplier selection criteria and bring this discussion back again. Moreover, Dickson (1966) suggested existing business relationship as selection criterion, then it was reviewed the importance of business relationship for the company and noted a set of potential negative effects that could rise from it. By considering these side effects of relationship, this research aimed to investigate how the relationship could influence the supplier selection and how its harmful effects could affect the selection process. The impact of this phenomenon was investigated cross-nationally. The research strategy adopted was a controlled experiment via vignette combined with discrete choice analysis. The data collections were performed in China and Brazil. By examining the results, it could be drawn five major findings. First, when purchasers were asked to declare their supplier selection priorities, quality was stated as the most important independently of country and relationship. This result was consistent with diverse studies since 60’s. However, when purchasers were exposed to a multi-criteria trade-off situation, their actual selection priorities deviate from what they had declared. In the actual decision-making without influence of buyer-supplier relationship, Brazilian purchasers focused on price and Chinese buyers prioritized delivery then price. This observation reinforced some controversial prior studies of Verma & Pullman (1998) and Hirakubo & Kublin (1998). Second, through the introduction of the buyer-supplier relationship (operationalized via relational capital) in the supplier selection process, this research extended the existing studies and found that Brazilian buyers still focused on price. The relationship became just another criterion for supplier selection such as quality and delivery. However, from the Chinese sample, the results suggested that quality was totally discarded and the decision was majorly made through price and relationship. The third finding suggested that relational capital could legitimate the quality and sustainability of the supplier and replaces these selection criteria and made the decisional task less complex. Additionally, with the relational capital, the decision-makings were associated to few biases such as availability cognition, commitment, confirmatory and perceived biases. By analyzing the purchasers’ behavior, relational capital inducted buyers of both countries to relax in their purchasing requirements (quality, delivery and sustainability) leading to potential negative effects. In the Brazilian sample, the phenomenon of willing to pay a higher price for a lower quality offer demonstrated to be a potential counterproductive and suboptimal decision. Finally, the last finding was associated to the cultural effect on the buyers’ decisions. From the outcome, it is possible to observe that if a purchaser’s cultural background is more relation-oriented, the more he will tend to use relational capital as a decision heuristic, thus, the purchaser will be more susceptible to the potential relationship’s side effects / Escolher adequadamente e eficientemente um fornecedor tem desafiado gestores e acadêmicos desde 1960. Desde então, inúmeros estudos tem sido realizados e mudanças relevantes do cenário econômico tem sido considerados tais como global sourcing, orientação à qualidade e práticas de just-in-time. É quase consenso que qualidade deveria ser o a diretriz para a seleção, no entanto, alguns resultados polêmicos questionaram esse consenso. Posto isto, um dos objetivos do presente trabalho é identificar os critérios de seleção de fornecedores e trazer de volta esta discussão. Além disso, o presente estudo observou que Dickson (1966) sugeriu a possibilidade de uso da relação comercial como critério de seleção, portanto, uma a importância da relação comercial foi revisada e potenciais efeitos negativos que podem originar da relação debatidos. Ao considerar os efeitos colaterais do relacionamento, este estudo visou investigar como o relacionamento pode influenciar o processo de seleção de fornecedores e como esses potenciais efeitos negativos podem manifestar neste processo. O impacto deste fenômeno foi investigado transnacionalmente. A estratégia de pesquisa adotada é baseada em experimento controlado com analise de escolha discreta. A coleta de dados foi conduzida na China e Brasil. Ao examinar os resultados, foi possível extrair cinco principais achados. Primeiro, quando um comprador é solicitado a declarar suas prioridades de seleção, independentemente do país, a qualidade é declarada como sendo a mais importante e o relacionamento o menos. Este resultado é consistente com diversos estudos desde a década de 60. Entretanto, quando o comprador é submetido a uma situação de multicritério e trade-off, as prioridades reais divergem das declaradas. Na seleção real sem a influência do relacionamento comprador-fornecedor, os compradores brasileiros focaram no preço e os chineses na entrega e preço. Esta observação reforça alguns achados controversos anteriores de Verma & Pullman (1998) e Hirakubo & Kublin (1998). Segundo, ao introduzir o relacionamento comprador-fornecedor no processo de seleção de fornecedores (operacionalizado via capital relacional), esta pesquisa estendeu os estudos anteriores. Os resultados apontaram que os compradores brasileiros ainda focam no preço e a relação é apenas mais um critério de seleção como qualidade e entrega. Entretanto, da amostra chinesa os resultados apontaram que a qualidade foi desconsiderada e a decisão era pautada em preço e relacionamento. O terceiro achado sugere que o capital relacional poderia legitimar a qualidade e práticas de sustentabilidade dos fornecedores e substitui esses critérios, fazendo a decisão menos complexa. Adicionalmente, com o capital relacional, os tomadores de decisão são associados a alguns vieses tais como de disponibilidade cognitiva, de compromisso, de confirmação e de percepção. Analisando o comportamento dos compradores, o capital relacional induziu aos compradores de ambos os países a relaxarem nos requisitos de qualidade, entrega e sustentabilidade, assim, conduzindo a um potencial efeito negativo. Na amostra brasileira foi possível observar também uma predisposição a pagar mais por uma oferta de menor qualidade, o qual demonstra ser contraditório e potencial decisão subotima. Por fim, o ultimo achado está associado ao efeito cultural nas decisões do comprador. Partindo do resultado, pode-se observar que quanto maior é a orientação ao relacionamento do comprador, mais ele tenderá a usar o capital relacional para a heurística de decisão, consequentemente, mais suscetíveis aos potenciais efeitos danosos da relação.

Submitted by Fábio Tescari (fabio.tescari@gmail.com) on 2015-06-25T19:10:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Texto Tese Fábio Tescari Versão Final.pdf: 1145134 bytes, checksum: 15234a9a464c7600892bd4b921411d2f (MD5) / Rejected by Pamela Beltran Tonsa (pamela.tonsa@fgv.br), reason: Boa Tarde Fábio, Infelizmente seu trabalho não encontra-se correto - Normas APA/ABNT. Por gentileza, para que possamos auxilia-lo favor comparecer a Secretaria de Registro 2º Andar - Atendimento ao Aluno. Procurar a Tereza. Qualquer duvida estamos a disposição, Att, Pâmela Tonsa 3799-7852 on 2015-06-25T19:47:13Z (GMT) / Submitted by Fábio Tescari (fabio.tescari@gmail.com) on 2015-06-25T21:17:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Texto Tese Fábio Tescari Versão Final ABNT.pdf: 1056652 bytes, checksum: ff130f54e4a3d43007ba62d73e7d08ec (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Tereza Fernandes Conselmo (maria.conselmo@fgv.br) on 2015-06-26T13:50:25Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Texto Tese Fábio Tescari Versão Final ABNT.pdf: 1056652 bytes, checksum: ff130f54e4a3d43007ba62d73e7d08ec (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-26T14:35:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Texto Tese Fábio Tescari Versão Final ABNT.pdf: 1056652 bytes, checksum: ff130f54e4a3d43007ba62d73e7d08ec (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-05-20 / Relationships among firms have been studied as a factor that pushes the limits for the value that is created by the firms individually, through the joint construction of benefits that could not occur if the relationship is not established. The total value created in a dyadic relationship, which is captured by the parties, is the relationship value. The benefits transcend the financial characteristics of the transaction. They can be converted into other aspects of the relationship, such as technical learning, service delivery, innovation and reputation. The shared and exchanged resources become sources of value creation. These resources stem from two different perspectives. First, from the resources that belong previously to each party, which I defined as intrinsic value. Second, from the resources that are jointly developed by the parties during the relationship, defined as relational value. In this context, this study aims to investigate the different characteristics of the parties that are sources of value creation in relationships, and to examine the factors influencing its capture by the parties. The study involved three steps. The first, a theoretical essay, aimed to explore the value dimensions in the relationship, regarding their definition and their sources. The following two steps focused on empirically testing the effect of these components of relationship value on value creation and capture. A cross-sectional survey and a multiple case study were performed. The theoretical perspectives that permeates the study is the Resource Based View, since it assumes that the firm resources generate economic value that transcends the limits of the firm and is captured by its customers and suppliers. The ontological approach is the critical realism, which allows a better understanding of empirically observed events. The results contribute to a better theoretical understanding of relationship, since the constructs of intrinsic value and relational value integrate different sources of benefits that may derive from relationships. The relationship between these constructs and their individual influence on value capture also bring a theoretical contribution to the study of buyer-supplier relationships. The main managerial contributions concern the fact that it is possible to capture value even if the relationship is not collaborative. Moreover, the results shed light on the need for firms to explore deeply how to extract more benefits from the other party and from the relationship itself, especially considering non-financial sources. / O relacionamento entre firmas vem sendo estudado como um fator que amplia os limites do valor criado pelas firmas individualmente, por meio da construção conjunta de benefícios que não poderia ocorrer caso o relacionamento não se estabelecesse. O valor total criado no nível da díade, que é capturado pelas partes, é o valor do relacionamento. Os benefícios obtidos transcendem as características financeiras da transação, podendo converter-se em outros aspectos da relação entre as firmas, tais como capacitação técnica, oferta de serviços, capacidade de inovação e reputação. Os recursos compartilhados e trocados entre as partes são fontes de criação de valor no relacionamento, mas originam-se de duas perspectivas diferentes. Eles podem pertencer previamente a uma delas, compondo um valor que é intrínseco, ou desenvolverem-se ao longo do relacionamento em si, resultando numa parcela de valor relacional. Neste contexto, este estudo propõe-se a investigar as diferentes características das partes que são fonte de criação de valor em um relacionamento, bem como analisar os aspectos que influenciam sua captura pelas partes. O estudo envolveu três etapas. A primeira, de cunho teórico, visou a explorar as dimensões do valor do relacionamento, no que se refere à sua definição e suas fontes. As duas etapas seguintes objetivaram testar empiricamente o efeito das fontes do valor do relacionamento na criação e captura de valor, por meio de uma survey transversal e um estudo de casos múltiplos. A perspectiva teórica que permeia o estudo é a Visão Baseada em Recursos, uma vez que ela pressupõe que os recursos das firmas produzem valor econômico que transcende os limites delas e é capturado por seus clientes e fornecedores. A abordagem ontológica é a do realismo crítico, a qual permite um melhor entendimento dos acontecimentos empiricamente observados. Os resultados contribuem para um melhor entendimento teórico sobre valor do relacionamento, uma vez que os construtos de valor intrínseco e valor relacional integram diferentes fontes de benefícios que podem advir de relacionamentos. A relação entre esses construtos e sua influência individual na captura de valor também trazem uma contribuição teórica ao estudo de relacionamentos comprador-fornecedor. As principais contribuições gerenciais dizem respeito ao fato de que é possível capturar valor mesmo que o relacionamento não seja colaborativo. Adicionalmente, os resultados enfatizam que as empresas deveriam explorar mais como fazer para extrair mais benefícios da outra parte e do relacionamento em si, em especial de fontes não-financeiras.

Submitted by thiago souza cruz amaral (thiagoscamaral@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-01-15T17:58:19Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Thiago Amaral_Versão FINAL (ENTREGUE).pdf: 1827167 bytes, checksum: ccb6a7cdf39460899d9a8a6c84eaf5e5 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Janete de Oliveira Feitosa (janete.feitosa@fgv.br) on 2016-01-19T12:44:28Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Thiago Amaral_Versão FINAL (ENTREGUE).pdf: 1827167 bytes, checksum: ccb6a7cdf39460899d9a8a6c84eaf5e5 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcia Bacha (marcia.bacha@fgv.br) on 2016-01-21T18:08:29Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Thiago Amaral_Versão FINAL (ENTREGUE).pdf: 1827167 bytes, checksum: ccb6a7cdf39460899d9a8a6c84eaf5e5 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-21T18:08:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação Thiago Amaral_Versão FINAL (ENTREGUE).pdf: 1827167 bytes, checksum: ccb6a7cdf39460899d9a8a6c84eaf5e5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-12-16 / This study aims to analyze the interplay between contractual and relational governance mechanisms in buyer-supplier relationships and their impact on complex projects outcomes. Governance of inter-organizational relationships and its strategic importance for firms' performance and to achieve competitive advantages have been the subject of many recent studies in the strategy field, as well as in related areas. More specifically, the importance of such relationships in management literature has been increasing, mainly in contexts involving emerging economies. The literature shows a convergence about two main types of governance in inter-organizational relationships: the contractual governance, related to contracts and rules formally established between firms to generally safeguard against opportunistic behavior, and relational governance, which is based mainly on trust and relational norms to coordinate such relationships. Although many studies have investigated contractual and relational governance in inter-organizational relationships, there is no consensus in the literature about the nature of their interplay. This study aims to investigate the interplay of governance mechanisms through a case study about a complex procurement project in the Brazilian offshore oil and gas industry, involving innovative technology. The findings suggest that contractual and relational governance mechanisms play important roles in the buyer-supplier relationships and their interaction impacts project outcomes, assessed in terms of time, cost and quality. Governance mechanisms play simultaneously and influence each other to a great extent. The case also demonstrates that accents on different mechanisms can change during the run of a project, depending on the context. Finally, it is concluded that project outcomes in the context studied can not be fully explained only by the interplay between governance mechanisms. These outcomes have to be contextualized, since many institutional environment factors act as moderators of the interplay between governances. / Este trabalho buscou investigar a interação entre os mecanismos de governança contratual e relacional na relação comprador-fornecedor e seus impactos sobre os resultados de projetos complexos. A governança dos relacionamentos interorganizacionais e sua importância estratégica para o desempenho das firmas e para a obtenção de vantagens competitivas têm sido tema de muitas pesquisas recentes na área de estratégia, bem como em áreas correlatas. Mais especificamente, é crescente a importância de tais relacionamentos na literatura de gestão, especialmente em contextos envolvendo economias emergentes. A literatura apresenta uma convergência acerca de dois tipos principais de governança nos relacionamentos interorganizacionais: a governança contratual, que se refere aos contratos e regras formalmente estabelecidas entre as firmas para geralmente coibir comportamentos oportunistas, e a governança relacional, que se baseia principalmente na confiança e em normas relacionais para coordenar tais relacionamentos. Embora diversos estudos tenham investigado a interação entre essas governanças, não há um consenso na literatura sobre a natureza dessa interação. Este estudo teve por objetivo investigar a interação dos mecanismos de governança contratual e relacional por meio de um estudo de caso sobre a implantação de um megaprojeto na indústria brasileira do petróleo offshore, envolvendo tecnologia inovadora. Os resultados indicam que os mecanismos de governança contratual e relacional desempenham importantes funções no relacionamento comprador-fornecedor e que a interação entre eles impacta os resultados do projeto em termos de prazo, custo e qualidade. Tais mecanismos atuam de forma simultânea e influenciam uns aos outros em grande medida. Percebe-se ainda que o nível de influência de cada um desses mecanismos varia ao longo do tempo, a depender do contexto. Por fim, conclui-se que os resultados do projeto, no contexto estudado, não podem ser plenamente explicados apenas pela interação entre esses mecanismos. Tais resultados precisam ser contextualizados, uma vez que diversos fatores do ambiente institucional atuam como moderadores da interação entre governanças.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:51:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 61070100621.pdf.jpg: 15663 bytes, checksum: 53ebe3d15df7d725a49176c27b21d888 (MD5) 61070100621.pdf: 497143 bytes, checksum: 79cc2eba783d5b41a183b50b1b727ae9 (MD5) 61070100621.pdf.txt: 160204 bytes, checksum: fb9cfd3157e128cf9156dc6c709e6e16 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-12-11T00:00:00Z / O objetivo geral da dissertação é estudar o código de conduta de uma empresa multinacional, visando conhecer a coerência entre o comportamento ético da empresa na subsidiária no Brasil, em termos da relação fornecedor - profissionais do setor de compras. Através de um estudo exploratório de natureza qualitativa e emprego de entrevistas semi-estruturadas questionário Likert, procurou-se conhecer a percepção do fornecedor com relação ao comportamento ético do comprador da empresa no Brasil, bem como os fatores que influenciam este relacionamento. A análise dos dados mostra que, apesar da reputação negativa percebida pelos brasileiros com relação à ética nos negócios, a empresa estudada apresenta uma boa reputação para o grupo de stakeholders 'fornecedores'. Confidencialidade de informações, respeito, ausência de favorecimentos, confiança, justiça, qualidade do produto, velocidade na resolução de problema, comunicação clara, negociação justa e honesta e vivência e comunicação do código de conduta da empresa pelos seus funcionários, foram identificados como fatores que influenciam o relacionamento fornecedor – comprador, bem como a percepção do fornecedor com relação ao comportamento ético do comprador. A percepção do comportamento ético do departamento de compras de uma empresa faz parte da imagem corporativa, e está intimamente ligada com a reputação da corporação. Comunicação, respeito mútuo e criação e manutenção de uma relação aberta e de confiança com seus stakeholders são componentes importantes no processo gerenciamento da identidade corporativa. Padrões éticos elevados, como os da empresa estudada, contribuem para estabelece a identidade da corporação e um bom relacionamento com seus stakeholders. / This Dissertation aims to studying a multinational company’s code of ethics in order to know the coherence of its Brazilian subsidiary’s ethical behavior. It focuses specifically the relationship between suppliers and the company’s purchasing department employees. By means of qualitative research and Likert questionnaire semi-structured interviews we have tried to understand the supplier’s awareness of the company’s purchaser’s ethical behavior and its influencing factors. Data analysis indicates that despite the fact that Brazilians notice a negative reputation in business ethics, stakeholders – 'suppliers' – have a positive image of the company in this study. Information confidentiality, respect, lack of favoritism, trust, fairness, product quality, promptness in problem-solving, clear communication, fair and honest negotiation and compliance with the company’s code of ethics and communication with staff communication were identified as influencing factors in the relationship between the supplier and the purchaser, as well as the supplier’s awareness of the purchaser’s code of ethics. Ethical behavior awareness in a company’s purchasing department is part of its corporate image, and it is closely liaised to its corporation’s reputation. Communication, mutual respect and fostering an open and reliable relationship with its stakeholders are important aspects of the corporate identity management process. High ethical values, such as those observed in the company in the study, contribute to establishing corporate identity and strengthening the relationship with its stakeholders.

In relation to the development of IT-products it is very important that the software supplier is aware not only of the target group but also the field of application. Usability should characterize the whole IT-design process as, in relation to this context, design includes more than merely those aspects which are visible to and thus can be interpreted by the naked eye. The study examines the specific qualities and properties that substantiate the usability and the demands that a customer rightfully expects from an IT-product. The user and the customer are highlighted in the same context in order to demonstrate that it is through the customer that an IT-product is defined as being useful. Thus, from this perspective, the user and customer can be considered as being the same person. The empirical survey was based on those factors that were considered to constitute usability and each interview was conducted using these usability factors together with the intended IT-product. The survey has been carried out using analysis models in order to enable the assertions to be both validated and tested and to ensure the appropriateness of the model’s system and also the independence of the method. This qualitative study has been carried out using randomly chosen respondents and IT-products and the perceptions of these respondents in relation to what they felt were the properties that represented a usable IT-product have been noted. The analysis section deals with the usability properties which have been assumed to further substantiate the five usability factors utilized in the survey.  It is apparent from the analysis that is it quite possible to determine a minimum level of what constitutes usability and that this can be applied regardless of what IT-product is being described. The conclusion to be drawn from this is that the opinions and experiences of both user and customer should be considered in order to provide guidance in relation to satisfying the requirements with regards to the design of IT-products.

Many people still confused and misunderstand the differences between auction types: In fact, we have only two major types of auctions which are the forward auction and Reverse auction[22]. In a forward auction a single seller offers an item for sale with many competitive buyers driving the price upward: In a Reverse Auction, a single buyer wants to purchase a service or an item from many sellers, they drive the price downward: There are many differences between these type of auction: Including the progress of the auctions; winner selection criterion and other factors: The Reverse Auction nowadays is one of the most preferred types of online auctions: It gains popularity rapidly because of representing the buyers' side and helps him to drive prices down in contrary with the forward auction or traditional auction. The aim of this study is to identify the most common types of the Reverse auctions and compare them to one another to determine when should be used by a buyer and propose the most efficient implementation model for some types: The results of this study are: achieve a written report and a small demonstrator model on how to implement English Auction and Second-Sealed bid Auction.

Magister Legum - LLM / South Africa

This thesis is focused on tax field concerning real property trading. Firstly basic terms and tax breakdown are described. Within the thesis tax impact will be comared by simulating different situations which may happen when buying, selling, rating or donation and inheritance of real estate brood over individuals and last but not leaf legal entities point of view.

Dans un environnement économique toujours plus compétitif, tendu et incertain, les entreprises doivent faire preuve d’adaptabilité, de précaution et d’anticipation. Ce manuscrit aborde ainsi plusieurs thématiques liées à ce constat, qui touchent de près la notion de gestion de trésorerie. Le premier essai de cette thèse montre que la distribution d’un dividende en actions permet aux entreprises de temporairement réduire la rémunération de leurs actionnaires, sans être sanctionnées par ces derniers. Ce mécanisme permet aux entreprises de conserver liquidités et flexibilité en période de contraction de l’économie. Le second essai traite du lien entre risque client et politique de gestion des liquidités. Un risque client accru semble alors pousser les entreprises à détenir plus de trésorerie et à moins recourir aux lignes de crédit. Enfin, le troisième essai justifie de l’intérêt d’établir des relations clients-fournisseurs de long terme. Ces partenariats apparaissent alors comme une source d’efficience et de profitabilité accrues du cycle opérationnel des entreprises. / The increasingly competitive and uncertain economic environment requires firms to show caution and to anticipate their needs. Based on this observation, this thesis discusses several topics that are closely related to corporate cash management choices. The first chapter of this thesis show that offering an optional stock dividend enables firms to temporarily reduce cash outflows to shareholders without being penalized by the market. This peculiar type of payout then allows firms to maintain their levels of liquidity and flexibility during economic downturns. The second chapter focuses on the link between customer risk and corporate liquidity management choices. High customer risk then appears to firms holding higher cash reserves compared to credit lines. Finally, the third chapter highlights the benefits of maintaining long-term buyer-supplier relationships. These partnerships then arises as sources of increased operating efficiency and profitability for firms.

<div> <p>First Essay: We study the effect of entry of ethanol plants on the spatial pattern of corn prices. We use pre- and post-entry data from corn elevators to implement a clean identification strategy that allows us to quantify how price effects vary with the size of the entrant (relative to local corn production) and with distance from the elevator to the entrant. We estimate Difference-In-Difference (DID) and DID-matching models with linear and non-linear distance specifications. We find that the average-sized entrant causes an increase in corn price that ranges from 10 to 15 cents per bushel at the plant’s location, depending on the model specification. We also find that, on average, the price effect dissipates 60 miles away from the plant. Our results indicate that the magnitude of the price effect as well as its spatial pattern vary substantially with the size of the entrant relative to local corn supply. Under our preferred model, the largest entrant in our sample causes an estimated price increase of 15 cents per bushel at the plant’s site and the price effect propagates over 100 miles away. In contrast, the smallest entrant causes a price increase of only 2 cents per bushel at the plant’s site and the price effect dissipates within 15 miles of the plant. Our results are qualitatively robust to the pre-treatment matching strategy, to whether spatial effects are assumed to be linear or nonlinear, and to placebo tests that falsify alternative explanations.</p><p><br></p></div> <p>Second Essay: We estimate the cost of transporting corn and the resulting degree of spatial differentiation among downstream firms that buy corn from upstream farmers and examine whether such differentiation softens competition enabling buyers to exert market power (defined as the ability to pay a price for corn that is below its marginal value product net of processing cost). We estimate a structural model of spatial competition using corn procurement data from the US state of Indiana from 2004 to 2014. We adopt a strategy that allows us to estimate firm-level structural parameters while using aggregate data. Our results return a transportation cost of 0.12 cents per bushel per mile (3% of the corn price under average conditions), which provides evidence of spatial differentiation among buyers. The estimated average markdown is $0.80 per bushel (16% of the average corn price in the sample), of which $0.34 is explained by spatial differentiation and the rest by the fact that firms operated under binding capacity constraints. We also find that corn prices paid to farmers at the mill gate are independent of distance between the plant and the farm, providing evidence that firms do not engage in spatial price discrimination. Finally, we evaluate the effect of hypothetical mergers on input markets and farm surplus. A merger between nearby ethanol producers eases competition, increases markdowns by 20%, and triggers a sizable reduction in farm surplus. In contrast, a merger between distant buyers has little effect on competition and markdowns.</p><p><br></p> Third Essay: We study the dynamic response of local corn prices to entry of ethanol plants. We use spatially explicit panel data on elevator-level corn prices and ethanol plant entry and capacity to estimate an autoregressive distributed lag model with instrumental variables. We find that the average-sized entrant has no impact on local corn prices the year of entry. However, the price subsequently rises and stabilizes after two years at a level that is about 10 cents per bushel higher than the pre-entry level. This price effect dissipates as the distance between elevators and plants increase. Our results imply that long-run (2 years) supply elasticity is smaller than short-run (year of entry) supply elasticity. This may be due to rotation benefits that induce farmers to revert back to soybeans, after switching to corn due to price signals the year the plant enters. Furthermore, our results, in combination with findings in essay 2 of this dissertation, indicate that ethanol plants are likely to use pricing strategies consistent with a static rather than dynamic oligopsony competition.