In the first chapter, I study a recent and important innovation, the shift towards independent compensation consultants that provide advice only to boards. I construct a theoretical model to conceptualize the potential impact of independent consultants and then develop an empirical strategy to quantify the impact. One contribution of the paper is to provide strong identification of the impact of independent advice, something that has been challenged by the lack of appropriate data. I use a unique sample of Canadian firms which allows me to directly measure the impact of non-compensation related consulting fees on compensation advice. I conduct a number of empirical experiments but the main tests exploit a "quasi-natural experiment" provided by the creation of an independent consultant, Hugessen Consulting, as a spin-off from Mercer. I show that switching from an a ffiliated consultant to an independent consultant is associated with an increase in managerial incentives. Despite the benefits of independent advice, independent consultants may not be hired due to higher fees, the influence of powerful CEOs, or because boards already possess adequate expertise. In the second chapter, using a simple model of incentive contracting as a guide, I examine empirically whether some aspects of executive stock option backdating may be an optimal response of firms to distortions in the institutional environment, in particular tax law and accounting rules. Some of the findings suggest that firms may attempt to effi ciently lower the exercise price of the executive options in order to enhance managerial incentives for risk averse and poorly diversified executives. In the presence of restrictive accounting and tax rules, backdating may be a mechanism by which to achieve this objective of better incentives. Consistent with this explanation I find that backdating is associated with lower CEO pay levels but higher CEO incentives. In the final chapter, I use a dynamic structural model to show that on average firms excessively smooth their payout while maintaining larger than optimal levels of cash (excess cash) on their balance sheets. I provide an agency explanation for the positive correlation between dividend smoothing and cash savings. I show that the dynamic effect of managerial perceived cost to cutting payout results in accumulation of excess cash and distortion of shareholder value.

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Microwave communication devices have become ubiquitous in the past decade. As an increasing number of systems compete for spectrum, guard bands have shrunk to increase bandwidth efficiency. The frequency behaviour of microwave devices is affected by thermal expansion. In order to avoid interference with adjacent bands, microwave components must exhibit high temperature-stability in most communications applications. Thermally stable materials can be used to construct temperature-stable components. However, this approach requires an expensive mass and cost trade-off. Temperature compensated aluminum resonators and filters provide major advantages in cost and mass. This work proposes that a compensating tuning screw with a temperature-dependent effective length be constructed by mounting a bimetallic compensator at the end of a mounting screw. This so-called bimetal tuning-screw can be used to produce temperature-compensated resonators and filters. There are several advantages to this approach. Compensation can be tuned by adjusting the depth of the bimetal, simply by adjusting the mounting screw. Since there are no moving parts inside the cavity or filter, and the bimetal can be plated, there are no additional sources of passive intermodulation. Also, this design is simple to implement for waveguide designs in general. In order to compensate for temperature drift, it is useful to quantify uncompensated drift. Temperature drift for a lossless linearly expanding RF component is derived from Maxwell's equations. For the lossy case, it is demonstrated that the resulting formula is approximately true, and that the quality of this approximation is excellent for practical levels of temperature range and thermal expansion. Experimental results are provided that demonstrate bimetal compensation under uniform-temperature conditions for a single aluminum resonator. Measured drift of the compensated resonator is -0.38 ppm/°C, compared to -23 ppm/°C for an uncompensated resonator. Measured drift for a bimetal-compensated 4-pole filter prototype is 2.35 ppm/°C. A method for adjusting compensation for a filter is also provided. Multiphysics simulations are used to examine power handling for bimetal-compensated filters. It is demonstrated that power-handling can be improved by reducing the effective length of the compensator to improve heat conduction to the cavity or filter.

My study investigates whether the effects of non-cash incentives on employee performance depend on when the incentive is paid and what type of task is being performed. Although firms frequently use non-cash incentives, such as merchandise, travel awards and gift cards, the effects of non-cash incentives, relative to cash incentives, are not well understood by researchers. Drawing on economic and psychology theories, I predict that the effects of incentive type (cash or non-cash) on performance depend on incentive payoff timing (near or distant future) and task type (analytic or creative). Specifically, for an analytic task, I predict and find that a cash incentive paid in the near future is most effective. For a creative task, I predict and find that a cash incentive paid in the near future and a non-cash incentive paid in the distant future are most effective. The results of my study should benefit theory and practice by identifying the most effective combination of incentive type and payoff timing for a given task type.

A model is developed for the Quanser torsion system available at Control Systems Research Laboratory at Chulalongkorn University. The torsion system is a laboratory equipment that is designed for the study of position control. It consists of a DC motor that drives three inertial loads that are coupled in series with the motor, and where all components are coupled to each other through torsional springs. Several nonlinearities are observed and the most significant one is an offset in the input signal, which is compensated for. Experiments are carried out under feedback as the system is marginally stable. Different input signals are tested and used for system identification. Linear black-box state-space models are then identified using PEM, N4SID and a subspace method made for closed-loop identification, where the last two are the most successful ones. PEM is used in a second step and successfully enhances the parameter estimates from the other algorithms.

Forced resettlement is an issue of great humanitarian concern. The disruption it brings to the lives of the people it affects cannot be fully expressed. Many of such people lose the ability of restoring their lives, never to regain it till they die. What is more alarming is when forced resettlement is not caused by conflict or natural disaster but rather conscious development projects like dams, where it is expected that great energy will be channelled towards reducing and if possible avoid the adverse impacts of such forceful resettlement as a matter of human and citizenship right. Sadly, in many instances this never happen. The aim of this study is to find out how the lessons learnt from the Akosombo forced resettlement in Ghana has been used in planning and implementing the on-going Bui forced resettlement also in Ghana. This study also tries to investigate the impacts of the planning and implementation process of the resettlement on the affected communities and households. In order to achieve the above goals, qualitative research methods were employed. The study used in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, direct and participatory observation techniques in accessing the experiences and feelings of the people involved. The informants include the institutions and professionals which undertook the forced resettlement and the affected people. The modernisation and alternative development theories were reviewed to determine which of these approaches is in practice. However, since Ghana claims it is using the World Bank Operational Policy (4.12), which is following an alternative development approach, concepts such as participation and rights are used. Additionally, concepts such as compensation and forced resettlement are also reviewed. It is discovered that, although many lessons have been learnt from the Akosombo forced resettlement, these lessons have not been effectively translated into action plans in order to undertake successful forced resettlement in Ghana. The challenges and errors in planning the Bui resettlement have therefore marred its successful implementation. This has resulted in more adverse impacts on the affected people than good ones such as infertile lands, low farm yield, poor housing structures and total ban on fishing in the Black Volta without alternative fishing grounds.

Microwave communication devices have become ubiquitous in the past decade. As an increasing number of systems compete for spectrum, guard bands have shrunk to increase bandwidth efficiency. The frequency behaviour of microwave devices is affected by thermal expansion. In order to avoid interference with adjacent bands, microwave components must exhibit high temperature-stability in most communications applications. Thermally stable materials can be used to construct temperature-stable components. However, this approach requires an expensive mass and cost trade-off. Temperature compensated aluminum resonators and filters provide major advantages in cost and mass. This work proposes that a compensating tuning screw with a temperature-dependent effective length be constructed by mounting a bimetallic compensator at the end of a mounting screw. This so-called bimetal tuning-screw can be used to produce temperature-compensated resonators and filters. There are several advantages to this approach. Compensation can be tuned by adjusting the depth of the bimetal, simply by adjusting the mounting screw. Since there are no moving parts inside the cavity or filter, and the bimetal can be plated, there are no additional sources of passive intermodulation. Also, this design is simple to implement for waveguide designs in general. In order to compensate for temperature drift, it is useful to quantify uncompensated drift. Temperature drift for a lossless linearly expanding RF component is derived from Maxwell's equations. For the lossy case, it is demonstrated that the resulting formula is approximately true, and that the quality of this approximation is excellent for practical levels of temperature range and thermal expansion. Experimental results are provided that demonstrate bimetal compensation under uniform-temperature conditions for a single aluminum resonator. Measured drift of the compensated resonator is -0.38 ppm/°C, compared to -23 ppm/°C for an uncompensated resonator. Measured drift for a bimetal-compensated 4-pole filter prototype is 2.35 ppm/°C. A method for adjusting compensation for a filter is also provided. Multiphysics simulations are used to examine power handling for bimetal-compensated filters. It is demonstrated that power-handling can be improved by reducing the effective length of the compensator to improve heat conduction to the cavity or filter.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)/ International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) proposed Conceptual Framework solidifies stewardship as a primary financial reporting objective. Concurrently, fair value (FV) continues to be emphasized in FASB and IASB standards. In this study, using data from real estate firms in the UK, I test whether FVs provide stewardship-relevant information incremental to information provided by historical costs. Measuring stewardship by changes in CEO cash compensation and FVs through revaluations of investment properties, I find FVs provide stewardship information beyond historical costs; however, FVs must be supported by external appraisals to be useful. Further, FVs help to explain the traditional association between stock returns and compensation. The actual realization of FV changes through sale continues to be rewarded through compensation, meaning the full compensation value of FV changes is not given until realized. FV changes provide more useful stewardship information when FV estimates are of higher quality or when the CEO is more strongly governed. I also find that higher sensitivity to management effort, proxied by firm growth opportunities, makes FV changes more stewardship-relevant. Overall, I conclude that for UK real estate firms, FVs are useful for assessing management's stewardship with improvements in estimate quality and sensitivity to management effort increasing stewardship-usefulness; however, historical costs continue to be relevant for stewardship. My thesis provides insight into what information best captures management stewardship.

Sexual differentiation is a fundamental characteristic of all eukaryotes, dictating sex-specific morphology, physiology and behavior. Diploid organisms with heteromorphic sex chromosomes (XX or XY) require regulatory compensation of the X chromosome to maintain correct levels of genetic expression between the sexes, a process termed sex-specific dosage compensation (SSDC). The fruit fly, <i>Drosophila melanogaster</i> dosage compensates by upregulating transcription of most X-linked genes two-fold. Associated with this two-fold up regulation is the male-specific lethal (MSL) complex, a RNA-protein complex comprised of at least five known proteins; MSL1, MSL2, MSL3, males absent on the first (MOF), and maleless (MLE) and two non-translated RNA molecules; roX1 (RNA on the X chromosome) and roX2. The complex modulates the chromatin structure of the male X chromosome via acetylation of H4K16. MOF and MSL3 both exhibit an N-terminal chromodomain, whose function is unclear. The MSL3 chromodomain has been suggested to bind H3K36Me3. Chromodomains are a paradigm of how a single structural fold has evolved in diverse proteins to bind distinct targets. Chromodomains are common to nuclear regulators, and bind diverse targets including histones, DNA, and RNA. They function as recognition motifs of histone post-translational modifications and facilitate the translation of the histone code into a distinct local chromatin structure via recruiting the appropriate chromatin modulating machinery.<p> The goal of this research is to determine the structure of the <i>D. melanogaster</i> MOF and MSL3 chromodomains by X-ray crystallographic and/or nuclear magnetic resonance techniques, to advance our understanding of the structural characteristics of these diverse domains. Here we report the cloning and reproducible expression and purification of the <i>D. melanogaster</i> MOF and MSL3 chromodomains and their Homo sapiens orthologues. The <i>D. melanogaster</i> MOF chromodomain, whose NMR structure was published during this research, has been crystallized. Attempts to solve the crystal structure by molecular replacement, multiple-wavelength anomalous dispersion, and single-wavelength isomorphous replacement are reported.

This study investigates the relationships among corporate governance mechanism, firm performance, and executive compensation within Chinese publicly listed firms. The corporate governance structure in China is a unique combination of the Anglo-American model and the German system by including a board of director and a supervisory board simultaneously, and has two monitoring organs, independent directors and supervisory board, co-existing. One of the special features of the Chinese publicly listed firms is their close relationship with the government because most of them were converted from state-owned enterprises at the beginning of the market-oriented economic reform in China. Therefore, we attempt to explore the effects of political connections of their ultimate controllers on corporate governance mechanism, on firm performance, and on executive compensation in China. Our findings indicate a dysfunctional corporate governance system in China, which cannot bring improved firm performance but grant executives high compensations. While we take into consideration the political connections, our results show that they deteriorate corporate governance mechanism, but do not result in inferior firm performance. Robustness tests demonstrate a non-linear effect of corporate governance on executive compensation, jointly depending on the status of a firms political connection and its ownership structure.