Thesis advisor: Utku Unver / This dissertation consists of two chapters. The first chapter: Dynamic reserves in matching markets with contracts. In this paper we study a matching problem where agents care not only about the institution they are assigned to but also about the contractual terms of their assignment so that they have preferences over institution-contractual term pairs. Each institution has a target distribution of its slots reserved for different contractual terms. If there is less demand for some groups of slots, then the institution is given opportunity to redistribute unassigned slots over other groups. The choice function we construct takes the capacity of each group of seats to be a function of number of vacant seats of groups considered earlier. We advocate the use of a cumulative offer mechanism (COM) with overall choice functions designed for institutions that allow capacity transfer across different groups of seats as an allocation rule. In applications such as engineering school admissions in India, cadet-branch matching problems at the USMA and ROTC where students are ranked according to test scores (and for each group of seats, corresponding choice functions are induced by them), we show that the COM with a monotonic capacity transfer scheme produces stable outcomes, is strategy proof, and respect improvements in test scores. Allowing capacity redistribution increases efficiency. The outcome of the COM with monotone capacity transfer scheme Pareto dominates the outcome of the COM with no capacity transfer. The second chapter: On relationships between substitutes conditions. In the matching with contracts literature, three well-known conditions on choice functions (from stronger to weaker)- substitutability, unilateral substitutability (US) and bilateral substitutability (BS) have proven to be critical. This paper aims to deepen our understanding of them by separately axiomatizing the gap between the BS and the other two. We first introduce a new “doctor separability” (DS) condition and show that BS, DS and irrelevance of rejected contracts (IRC) are equivalent to IRC and US. Due to Hatfield and Kojima (2010) and Aygün and Sönmez (2012), it is known that US, “Pareto separability” (PS), and IRC are equivalent to substitutability and IRC. This, along with our result, implies that BS, DS, PS, and IRC are equivalent to substitutability and IRC. All of these results are given without IRC whenever hospital choices are induced from preferences. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

by Kwok-man Lui. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1989. / Bibliography: leaves 167-172.

The importance of the consumption of a diet rich in fruit and vegetables, for overall health, has been highlighted by the UK government in recent years. Consumption of fruit and vegetables is considerably lower in Scotland than in other parts of the UK. Behavioural change is most likely to come about through a comprehensive understanding of the range of factors influencing fruit and vegetable consumption, and the nature of the interaction of these factors. With variations in fruit and vegetable consumption by place and social class, this study focused on an area of low fruit and vegetable consumption in Scotland, and compared this to an area of high fruit and vegetable consumption in England, with socio-economic profile matched. The determinants of consumption, and their interrelationship, were investigated using qualitative information from focus group discussions, and quantitative data from a structured questionnaire. Multivariate models of fruit and vegetables consumption were developed, using log linear analysis, logistic regression and discriminant analysis. The models developed identified significant differences between fruit and vegetable consumption behaviour. Fruit consumption was mainly influenced by sociodemographic variables,in particulars mokers tatus. The impact of place and social class was substantial, when these variables were considered in interaction with the other socio-demographic variables. In contrast, vegetable consumption was influenced by motivational and attitudinal factors. Of these, the extent to which vegetables satisfied `convenience' expectations, and `hedonic motivations' were the most important influences, critical to vegetable consumption. The findings also suggest that the development of a generic model of food choice may not be an achievable goal, since the models of these two (similar) foodstuffs are so different. Strategies to promote fruit and vegetable consumption, must address the different characteristics, and priorities, of low fruit and vegetable consumers.

As the application for choice architecture grow, our goal is to better understand both the short and long term effects of our interventions. Many of the world’s most pressing and complicated problems require many actions, instead of a single action. Choice architecture has been shown to be effective on one-and-done problems, but what about the more complicated problems? Can the tool we choose to influence behavior have a positive or negative effect on the likelihood of taking up a second or possibly third behavior? In Chapter 1, we explore the mechanism of risky choice framing, isolating the effect of attraction and repulsion on the number of, and the valence of, thoughts supporting either the risky or riskless outcomes. In Chapter 2, we show behavioral spillover in a lab settings, showing the effects of default setting on not only the initial behavior, but also subsequent behaviors. In Chapter 3, we take choice architecture and explore the effects of different messaging on both short and long term behavioral change.

This study offers a better understanding of the reasons why parents from six different countries across the Western hemisphere chose private, non-denominational schools for their children’s education. The findings deepen the knowledge in what is currently an underdeveloped field of research in education. The overarching research question was: What are the primary reasons why parents chose a private nondenominational school in Mexico, Spain, Costa Rica, United States, United Kingdom, and South Africa for their children’s education? To explore this question in depth, the researcher considered five sub-questions and employed a grounded theory qualitative research design. Data were collected twofold through focus groups and individual interviews and analyzed iteratively to develop a fresh theoretical perspective on the topic of parent school choice. Extant literature explains that the most frequent reasons to choose a private school include quality of education, location, participation of parents and being able to be heard, financial resources, and parents’ prior educational experiences. Contributing to the literature, this study revealed four major reasons for private school selection: consideration of private education as an investment for the future, smaller class size, the opportunity for students and their families to establish social contacts, and the academic quality of the school. In addition, three reasons specific to certain countries were identified: importance of learning the English language, quality of the facilities, and extended school day. Finally, eight additional secondary reasons were found including: international character of the school, happiness of the students in the school, distance from parents’ home, quality of the environment, prestige or tradition of the school, private management and organization, values and ethos of the school, and the non-denominational nature of the school. These findings can help private—and public—school administrators make better decisions to improve the quality of their educational offerings in knowing what parents most value. Parents may also find value in understanding the factors for consideration when evaluating public versus private school options. Finally, recommendations for practice and research for the field of education are offered. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This study investigated the unidimensional assumption underlying choice behavior by examining the transitivity properties of rats' choice behavior. In Experiment 1, two variables of reinforcement, amount and delay, were manipulated simultaneously in a two lever choice situation. The conditions of strong transitivity were not present in either reponse count or indifference-measured choice behavior, indicating that choice behavior was not distributed along a single dimension with ratio scale characteristics. Moderate transitivity conditions were characteristic of both response and indifference- measured choice which was consistent with a single dimension possessing interval scale characteristics. In Experiment 2, only one reinforcement variable, amount, was manipulated. Strong transitivity was present in both response and indifference measures of choice, indicating that subjects' choice behavior was consistent with a single dimension with ratio scale characteristics. In addition, one of two subjects in Experiment 1 and two of two subjects in Experiment 2 fit Baum's expression of the matching law with response-count measured choice. The indifference measure of choice failed to fit the matching law in either experiment. The measure of choice which fit the matching law also conformed to a single dimension with interval scale characteristics. Since the response-count measure of choice behavior in both Experiments 1 and 2 was moderately transitive, the transitivity properties were consistent with fits to the matching law. The occasional presence of such behaviors as biting the levers, chewing on the cue lights and position bias may have decreased subjects' sensitivity to the amount of reinforcement variable and contributed to undermatching. The indifference measure of choice exhibited moderate transitivity in both experiments but did not fit the matching law. These results show that tests of transitivity are useful in examining the characteristics of the functional relation between behavior and its reinforcing consequences. Further research is required to determine the usefulness and the limitations of the indifference measure of choice behavior. The results were similar to other investigators' in showing that strong transitivity was not an automatic property of choice behavior and must be tested rather than assumed.

The first part of this research was undertaken to assess the impact of documented penicillin allergy on the choice of antibiotics and the clinical and financial consequences of changes in prescribing patterns in an Australian teaching hospital. The medical records of all patients aged >/= 18 years admitted with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (SGGH) over a 15-week period were reviewed prospectively. The severity of patients' penicillin allergies was assessed using a structured questionnaire. The antibiotic cost was calculated using acquisition, delivery (labour and equipment) and laboratory monitoring costs. The appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing was assessed using the Therapeutic Guidelines: Antibiotic (TG:A). The antimicrobial selections and costs were then compared for those patients with (Group A) and without (Group B) penicillin allergy. 155 patients were reviewed (males 71, females 84) with an average age of 68 ± 18 years. Of these, 27 (17.4%) had documented penicillin allergies; of which 12 were classified as Severity I (e.g. anaphylaxis, urticaria), 12 as Severity II (e.g. rash, itch) and three as intolerance (e.g. GI upset). The current TG:A recommends cephalothin or cephazolin as the drugs of choice for mild to moderate CAP patients with a history of penicillin allergy. However, combinations of cephalothin intravenously and azithromycin orally were the most commonly prescribed antimicrobials for such patients. The TG:A recommends erythromycin plus cefotaxime or ceftriaxone as the first-line therapy for severe CAP patients with a documented penicillin allergy. Yet, combinations of intravenous cephalothin, erythromycin and gentamicin were the most frequently prescribed antimicrobials for such patients. / A history of penicillin allergy significantly (p<0.05) increased the cost of antibiotic treatment and total cost of admission. The adherence of antibiotic prescribing to the TG:A for patients with penicillin allergies is variable. Patients with labelled penicillin allergies had greater antibiotic costs and total cost of admission. Identifying patients with intolerance rather than allergies would reduce the total inpatient costs at SCGH by A$ 463.01 a year for mild to moderate CAP patients and A$ 39 614.54 a year for severe CAP patients. The second part of the project was a prospective study of patients admitted to SCGH who had a history of penicillin allergy, but were not suffering from CAP. This study was conducted in order to ensure that the pattern of penicillin allergies of patients admitted to the hospital could be adequately characterised. Over a 5-week period, all adult patients admitted without CAP to SCGH who claimed to have a history of penicillin allergy were interviewed with regard to their penicillin allergies. The standard of allergy documentation was also assessed for each patient. Of the 140 patients assessed (males 63, females 77, average age 61 ± 17 years), 108 (77.1%) were classified as allergic: 61 (56.5%) as Severity I and 47 (43.5%) as Severity 11, 26 (18.6%) as intolerant and the remaining six (4.3%) as not substantiated. / The standard documentation of the patients' penicillin allergies was poor - only 40 (38.6%) of either medical records or drug charts had the type of reaction and only five (3.6%) had the date of reaction. In general, penicillin allergies were poorly documented in both patients' medical records and on drug charts. Inadequate detail of reported reactions often made it difficult to assess their clinical significance. These findings prompted a recommendation that pharmacists should help to ensure accurate allergy documentation by evaluating patients and educating both patients and health care professionals.

Managers have responsibility for implementing a firm??s executional strategy. An executional strategy is the selection of resources and capabilities and the arrangement of them into a supply chain that puts a firm??s espoused positioning into action (Porter, 1985). Executional strategies are selected to maximize economic rents. Firm resources (Barney, 1991) and the arrangement of supply chains (Chandler, 1962; 1990) are important to rent generation. In turn, the potential arrangement of activities into a supply chain is determined by a firm??s depth of architectural knowledge; this is knowledge of how supply chain elements can be linked (Henderson and Clark, 1990). The study provides a simultaneous test of the impact of resources and supply chain arrangements on the selection of executional strategies. The theoretical model is tested through a discrete choice experiment (Louviere et al., 2000). Findings suggest that resources and cost advantages dominate management decision-making with competition also an influence. Importantly, findings for a sub-sample of subjects whose firms are most impacted by Information technology (IT), confirms that architectural knowledge does play a role in the selection of executional strategies. These ??engaged?? subjects were significantly more experienced with the subject matter and more confident about their responses. These engaged subjects utilized architectural knowledge to select strategies that leveraged their resources more widely and to minimize the influence of transaction costs on their strategic choices.

The aim of this research was to contribute to the growing body of academic literature regarding older women's stories of ageing. The initial impetus for the thesis came out of the disparity I observed between the way old women were often portrayed and the way older ageing was being lived by women I knew. Six women were recruited using an age range of 65 years and over and an association with a particular community organisation as recruitment guides. Two methods of data collection were used: diaries and semi-structured interviews. A qualitative narrative approach was taken to the data collection and analysis. The analysis revealed that the women viewed their ageing in a positive light. They constructed themselves as family orientated, as being and having friends and as active, independent participants within their own lives. Participants had clear ideas and expectations surrounding what they wanted from community participation and life in general. They spoke of the expectations of others and how these expectations sometimes lead to ageism and discrimination. Despite this it was apparent that being older had brought with it, for them, confidence, freedom, self-awareness and assertiveness. In short, these women required, actively sought, and usually accomplished, control of their own lives which involved places to go, people to see, things to do and most importantly the right to make their own choices.

Brand imitation is viewed as an infringement of the imitated original brand. (Zaichkowsky, 1995). Although brand managers and researchers have looked into ways to fight against imitations, these are still prevalent in today's market. Researchers have found that one of the major reasons for the growing volume of imitations has been consumer demand. Thus, rather than studying ways to reduce imitations, it is first important for brand managers and researchers to understand why consumers would knowingly buy imitations. The major issue is to understand how consumers evaluate brand imitations. Several studies have explored factors that might have an influence on consumer evaluations of brand imitations. However these findings are limited. For example, similarity of the imitation to the original brand is an important factor in consumer evaluations. However, very little research has studied this aspect. Thus, this research is motivated to further investigate the influential factors of consumer evaluations of brand imitations. This study replicates d'Astous and Gargouri (2001), a study that examines a comprehensive set of factors that might influence consumer evaluations of brand imitations. The purpose of this study is to re-examine their hypotheses in various product categories, with a focus on luxury brands. Moreover, this study has extended the d'Astous and Gargouri (2001) study by investigating product similarity which had not been previously explored. However, hypothesis testing did not completely support the hypothesized effects. The results indicate that consumers who purchase luxury brand imitations are heavily influenced by the price and store image. The results show also that the factor of product similarity is unimportant to a customer purchasing imitator brands.