The concept of ecological compensation (EC) assumes that ecological values are substitutable across spatial units. EC is increasingly recognised in Sweden as a novel policy instrument for land-use planning, however, it suffers from inconsistency in application and outcome. For example, there are no legal provisions to require EC for urban development or new roads and railways. This study shows that there are many context dependent variables affecting the performance of EC in Sweden, which can partly be explained by authorities’ lacking experience in administrating these questions, and by the absence of a standardised structure for handling the full EC process. These shortcomings together with an inadequate legislation may cause EC to result in “license-to-trash” and fails to guarantee no net loss of ecological values. The performance of EC in Sweden was assessed through two case studies: the Sigtuna trading estate and the Aitik mine expansions. Implementation procedures and compensation designs were investigated by analysis of written documents and semi-structured interviews. The data was structured in an analytical framework, displaying similarities and context dependent disparities. The results suggest that, for the Aitik-case, licence-to-trash is a risk if compensation schemes are reviewed by the regulatory authorities during the processing of the application. The Sigtuna case suggests, opposed to earlier findings, that the Plan and Building Act can be utilised for EC if the compensation measures are regulated in a development agreement between the municipality and the landowner/developer. Both cases suggest that additionality can be met by appropriate institutional design, whereas no net loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services hardly can be achieved within the existing Swedish legal framework. To improve the performance of EC, structures for handling the process from quantification of social and ecological values, to monitoring of compensation outcomes must be implemented in all development projects affecting nature.

M.Com. (Taxation) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

In the first chapter of this dissertation, I examine the relationship between hedging and diversification effects on CEO compensation in the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) industry. The REIT industry is suitable for this investigation for various reasons; primarily being that the REIT sample represents a relatively clean sample to study the effects of diversification and hedging on compensations. I find a positive and significant relationship between the interaction variable which reflects the effects of both hedging and diversification and CEO pay-for-performance sensitivity. This is consistent with the notion that managers are in a better position to manage firm risk if they use all the available tools and instruments, including hedging and diversification. I also find a positive and significant relationship between hedging and CEO pay-for-performance sensitivity, indicating that CEO compensation is more short term oriented because hedging is a relatively short term risk reduction strategy. The second chapter of this dissertation examines the relative contribution of regular and e-mini futures market to price discovery of EUR/USD futures contracts on the CME, using intraday data in 2010. The relative contribution to price discovery is estimated using the information share approach proposed by Hasbrouck (1995) and Gonzalo and Granger (1995). Empirical findings indicate that regular futures market accounts for approximately 66.5% of price discovery in the EURO/USD market. This study also examines if the regular future’s information share (IS) can be explained by the positioning of commercial and non-commercial traders. The results support the conclusion that the IS of regular futures can be better explained by non-commercial traders (speculators) than commercial traders (hedgers).

Floods in The Czech Republic more often damage private property. Majority of such damages is caused by water stream itself. There are also situations, where damages are caused in case of dereliction, infringement or violation of statutory duty. The Czech legislature defines legal instrument - Compensation for Damage. This work examines how this instrument is used in cases of flood damages, where someone is guilty. We examine legal (court) processes for Compensation for Damage by an application of IAD Framework and Stakeholder Analysis. Results are as follows. The examined legal instrument is seldom used. In the conclusion there are discussed possible grounds of these research results and steps/provision for more frequent application of Compensation for Damage in consequence of floods.

Orientador: Jozué Vieira Filho / Resumo: As técnicas de detecção de danos baseadas na Impedância Eletromecânica (EMI) baseiam-se na capacidade dos materiais piezoeléctricos em atuar como sensores e atuadores e contribuem para o desenvolvimento de sistemas de Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). As técnicas clássicas baseadas na EMI utilizam um transdutor Pb-Lead Zirconate Titanite (PZT ) ligado à estrutura monitorada e medem a assinatura de impedância do PZT. No entanto, as técnicas baseadas na EMI dependem de diferentes fatores, como faixa de frequência, número de PZT, temperatura ambiente, tipo de estrutura, entre outros. Assim, para demonstrar a eficácia dos métodos baseados na EMI, faz-se necessário realizar experimentos práticos, o que não é uma tarefa trivial, considerando tais fatores. Portanto, neste trabalho são estudados e propostos procedimentos para criar modelos numéricos, usando elementos finitos (FE), de técnicas baseadas na EMI usando o software PZFlex®. Além disso, os modelos desenvolvidos são usados para propor uma técnica inovadora de compensação de temperatura em sistemas baseados na EMI. Foram modeladas, simuladas e analisadas algumas estruturas clássicas como placa-de-alumínio/PZT e tubo-de-aço/PZT. Os resultados das simulações foram comparados com os equivalentes obtidos com modelos experimentais reais e mostraram-se fortemente correlacionados, indicando que o modelo proposto pode ser uma ferramenta poderosa para o desenvolvimento de técnicas de SHM baseadas na EMI. Foram realizadas simulações ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The damage detection techniques based on the Electromechanical Impedance (EMI) rely on the ability of piezoelectric materials in acting as sensors and actuators and contribute to the development of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems. The classical EMI-based techniques use a Pb-Lead Zirconate Titanite (PZT) transducer bonded to the monitored structure and measure the impedance signature of the PZT. However, the techniques based on EMI depend on different factors, such as frequency range, number of PZTs, environmental temperature, type of structure, among others. Thus, to demonstrate the effectiveness of EMI-based methods, it is necessary to carry out practical experiments, which is not a trivial task considering such factors. Therefore, in this work, it is studied and proposed procedures to create numerical models of techniques based on the EMI, using finite elements (FE) and the PZFlex® software. In addition, the developed models are used to propose an innovative temperature compensation technique for EMI-based systems. Some classical structures were modelled, simulated and analyzed, such as aluminum plate/PZT and steel pipe/PZT. The results of the simulations were compared with the equivalents obtained by experimental models and showed to be strongly correlated, indicating that the proposed model can be a powerful tool for the development of EMI-based SHM techniques. Simulations were performed to analyze the behavior of the signatures under the effect of temperature,... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Thesis (M.M. (Public and Development Management))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Wits School of Governance, 2016. / The political and constitutional changes in South Africa brought about fundamental features through the transformation agenda in the public service. Of primary importance is that the South African political transformation processes have been characterised by a culture of transparency, participation and accountability. These values are in direct contrast to what presently obtains in the Department of Health’s exmineworker compensation system. Within this context it emerged as a concern that that the system of governance that managed the compensation system was not responsive to the needs of ex-mineworkers. Ex-mineworkers experienced serious delays in time before accessing government compensation. There were claimants that were deceased whilst awaiting an outcome of their applications for compensation. The enormity and complexity of the system was underestimated by government departments. Legal firms and related professionals handling the cases of ex-mineworkers earned more than £1.3-billion in fees for taking up the cases of claimants. The costs of administration in the handling of claims surpassed the actual amounts paid out to claimants eventually. At the centre of the civil service management in South Africa, was the Department of Public Service and Administration. It was here that policies on governance were developed. The Department of Public Service and Administration was responsible for the establishment of norms and standards for the entire Public Service. Under the auspices of this centralised function, service delivery mechanisms were ensured, there was access to integrated systems, the framework for human resources management was developed, and in the development of policies focus was given to the needs of the citizens. ii The purpose of this study was to explore reasons for the low compensation uptake, and to examine systems and inform changes that would allow exmineworkers in the Eastern Cape, Oliver Tambo District to better manage their access to government compensation. The mining industry plays a significant role in the South African economy long after the discovery of gold in 1886. With little evidence of policy and legislative reform, and after 22 years into South Africa’s democracy, the scourge of failing respiratory health amongst ex-mineworkers has not decreased. miners face an epidemic of occupational lung disease. The challenge of tracking and tracing ex-miners to capacitate them on their rights and benefits of compensation, owed and owing to them, forms the basis of this study. The governance of the system of compensation for ex-miners is not bringing the large numbers closer to easy access. Whilst the challenges may well be present, this study is intended to raise awareness of the problem, investigate the cause/s and offer recommendations that will provide relief to a population in South Africa that could be seemingly lost if not told of what benefits are available to themselves (if alive) and nominated beneficiaries (in the case of those who are deceased). This study was concerned with gaining a better understanding of why exmineworkers in the OR Tambo District of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa were not accessing their compensation benefits, rather than to measure certain outputs and outcomes. It was primarily interested in gaining an in-depth understanding of how information is being disseminated and how it is being influenced by different variables. A qualitative approach was chosen in order to portray the detailed understanding and specific dynamics experienced by ex-mineworkers in accessing compensation benefits from the Department of Health. iii The importance of good governance in improving service delivery was explained and spoke to what constituted good governance, the importance of proper planning during periods of transition and why governance should be a continuous activity as well as the importance of planning in public institutions. In this study, the need for good governance to improve service delivery, were identified, with specific reference to those aspects of good governance that could better equip the ex-mineworkers in the Eastern Cape to better understand the compensation and in so doing would guide the research process. / GR2018

O instituto da desapropriação é instrumento urbanístico muito utilizado no Brasil e em muitos outros países. No Brasil, a fundamentação legal da desapropriação decorre do Decreto-lei nº. 3365, de 21 de julho de 1941 e Lei nº. 4132, de 10 de setembro de 1962 que tratam, respectivamente, de desapropriação por utilidade pública e por interesse social. É anterior, portanto, à Constituição Federal, que introduziu uma nova ordem urbanística em que se destacam o princípio da função social da propriedade e o planejamento urbano. A fim de regulamentar o capítulo da política urbana da Constituição Federal foi editado, em 2001, o Estatuto da Cidade que dispõe a desapropriação entre os instrumentos jurídicos da política urbana e a regulamenta como desapropriação-sanção. O trabalho estuda os principais aspectos da propriedade e do instrumento da desapropriação no direito brasileiro e na legislação estrangeira, analisando os modelos e métodos utilizados nos procedimentos de desapropriações por utilidade pública, interesse social, urbanística e ambiental. Também são estudados o conceito de justo preço para fins de indenização e os principais problemas de aplicação do instrumento; são apresentados estudos de casos de desapropriação. O trabalho termina por apontar sugestões que poderiam tornar o instrumento mais eficiente considerando o estágio atual do Estado Brasileiro e de suas Administrações Públicas. / Expropriation is planning tool widely used in Brazil in many other countries. In Brazil, legal fundament of expropriation is given by the Decreto-lei nº. 3365, of 21 of July of 1941 and Lei nº. 4132, of 10 of September of 1962, that have dealt, respectively, with expropriation for public utility and for social interest. It is previous, therefore, to the Federal Constitution of 1988, that has introduced a new urban order in which the principle of the social function of the property and urban planning are emphasized. In order regulate the Federal Constitution´s chapter on urban policy, it was edited, in 2001, the Estatuto da Cidade that includes expropriation among the legal instruments of the urban politics and regulates it as dispossession-sanction. The Dissertation discusses main aspects of property and the instrument of the expropriation in the Brazilian law, and in foreign legislation, analyzing models and methods used in expropriation for public utility, social, planning and environment interests. Also the concept of just price of compensation and the main problems of application of the instrument are studied. Case studies are presented. The work finishes by suggesting measures for making the instrument most efficient considering the current situation of the Brazilian State and its Public Administrations

Na atual indústria de manufatura, destacam-se as empresas que sejam capazes de atender a demanda de produção de forma rápida e com produtos de qualidade. Durante a fabricação existem diversas fontes de erro que interferem na exatidão do processo de usinagem. Deste modo, torna-se importante o conhecimento destes erros para que técnicas de correção possam ser implementadas ao controle numérico da MF (máquina-ferramenta) e assim, melhorar a exatidão do processo. Neste contexto, o objetivo principal do trabalho é desenvolver uma metodologia para corrigir os erros de posicionamento do eixo X levando em consideração a variação de temperatura medida experimentalmente em pontos específicos da MF. Primeiramente foi realizado um levantamento dos erros de posicionamento experimentais ao longo do eixo X da MF em três diferentes condições de trabalho e simultaneamente havia um sistema para medir a variação de temperatura. Os dados foram tratados e em seguida sintetizados utilizando a metodologia das matrizes homogêneas de transformação, onde foi possível armazenar todos os erros de posicionamento referentes à trajetória da mesa da MF ao longo do eixo X. Os elementos da matriz resultante são utilizados como dados de entrada para análise de regressão linear múltipla que através dos métodos dos mínimos quadrados, correlaciona as variáveis de temperatura e erros de posicionamento. Como resultado, as equações lineares obtidas no método de análise de regressão geram valores previstos para os erros de posicionamento que são utilizados para correção destes erros. Estas equações exigem baixo custo computacional e portanto, podem ser futuramente implementadas no controle numérico da MF para corrigir os erros de posicionamento devido às deformações térmicas. Os resultados finais mostraram que erros de 60 µm foram reduzidos à 10 µm. Constatou-se a importância da sintetização dos erros de posicionamento nas matrizes homogêneas de transformação para aplica-los ao método de regressão. / In today\'s manufacturing industry, companies stand out if they\'re able to meet a high production demand efficiently and with quality products. During manufacturing there are several sources of error that can affect the accuracy of the machining process. Thus, it becomes important to better understand these errors to allow correction techniques to be implemented into the numerical control of the machine tool (MT) and thus improve process accuracy. In this context, the main goal of this work is to develop a method for correcting positioning errors along the X axis taking into consideration the variation in temperature, measured experimentally in specific points of the MT. First we conducted a survey of experimental positioning errors along the X axis of the MT in three different working conditions and simultaneously collecting temperature variation data. Data were treated and then synthesized using the methodology of homogeneous transformation matrices, where it was possible to store all positioning errors related to the trajectory of the board of the MT along the X axis. The elements of the matrix resulting from the homogeneous transformation are used as input data for the multiple linear regression analysis by the methods of least squares, which correlates the temperature variables with the positioning errors. As a result, linear equations obtained from the regression analysis method generates predicted values for the positioning errors which are used to correct this errors. These equations require low computer processing and therefore can be further implemented into the numerical control of the MT to correct positioning errors due to thermal deformation. The final results showed that 60 µm errors were reduced to 10 µm. It was noted the importance of synthesizing the positioning errors in homogeneous transformation matrices to apply them to the regression method.

Expostas à concorrência externa intensa com a abertura da economia e a criação do Mercosul, as empresas brasileiras começam a se movimentar mais efetivamente no sentido da internacionalização na década de 1990, culminando, na década seguinte, com uma explosão de iniciativas dessas empresas em busca de novos mercados. Nasce com essa nova realidade, a necessidade de constituir quadros de gestores e especialistas para implantar e gerenciar o empreendimento. É fundamental, portanto, que essas empresas estabeleçam um novo modelo de gestão de pessoas que seja abrangente a esses novos desafios organizacionais. O interesse da pesquisa está no processo que essas empresas empreenderam ou vêm empreendendo, para atingir estágios de satisfação com as políticas de recompensas tanto da empresa como de seus empregados. Conhecer os caminhos percorridos pelas empresas que já consolidaram sua inserção internacional, com seus acertos e erros, significa a possibilidade de pavimentar um terreno para facilitar a adoção de políticas mais adequadas às contingências dos novos empreendimentos. Foi adotado o método de estudo de casos múltiplos, com a participação das empresas Camargo Corrêa e Votorantim, sendo aplicada análise de conteúdo e de acontecimentos cronológicos, coerente com uma concepção longitudinal de estudo. Entre as principais contribuições deste trabalho está a consolidação de uma literatura internacional sobre gestão internacional de recompensas, ressaltada a identificação dos diversos modelos de remuneração adotados e o resgate histórico da sua adoção; a verificação, em uma perspectiva longitudinal, das alterações introduzidas nos modelos de recompensas em designações internacionais pelas empresas brasileiras e a criação de um modelo teórico de referência para gestão das recompensas para expatriados que considera as variáveis interferentes e os pressupostos que fundamentam as decisões. O estudo pode colaborar com as empresas que passam pelo processo de internacionalização na adoção do modelo aplicado mais apropriado ao seu momento. / Exposed to intense external competition, due to the economy opening and the creation of MERCOSUR, the Brazilian companies begun to move more effectively towards internationalization in the 1990s. Therefore, culminating with an explosion of initiatives in the next decade leading businesses to search for new markets. Taking into account this new reality, rises the need to establish frameworks for managers and specialists to deploy and manage the venture. In this regard is crucial that those companies establish a new model of human resources management that is capable to deal with these new organizational challenges. Research interests is based on the process that these companies have undertaken, or comes after, to achieve stages of satisfaction of both, companies and respective employees, related to the policies of rewarding. Knowing the ways the companies went through with has already consolidated its international insertion, considering hits and constraints, means the possibility to pave a plot of land to facilitate the adoption of policies that are more appropriate to the contingencies of new ventures. In this sense, was adopted the method of multiple cases study, with the involvement of companies such as Camargo Corrêa and Votorantim, being applied analyses of content and timing events consistent with a longitudinal study. Among the main contributions of this work is the consolidation of international literature on international management rewards, underlining the identification of various models of compensation adopted as of their history; nonetheless, the verification, in a longitudinal perspective, of changes in models of employees rewards in international assignment and the creation of a theoretical model of management for rewards within expatriates, considering the assumptions and variables interfering and/or underlying such decisions. The study intends to collaborate with companies that pass through these processes of internationalization to adopt more appropriatemodel to their context.

Thesis advisor: Ronnie Sadka / This dissertation is comprised of three essays which examine the ramifications of executive compensation incentive structures on corporate outcomes. In the first essay, I present evidence which suggests that executive compensation convexity, measured as the sensitivity of managerial equity compensation portfolios to stock volatility, predicts firm-specific crashes. I find that a bottom-to-top decile change in compensation convexity results in a 21% increase in a firm's unconditional ex-post idiosyncratic crash risk. In contrast, I do not find robust evidence of a symmetric relation between compensation convexity and a firm's idiosyncratic positive jump risk. Finally, I exploit exogenous variation in compensation convexity, arising from a change in the expensing treatment of executive stock options, in buttressing my interpretations within a natural experiment setting. My results suggest that managerial equity compensation portfolios do not augment a firm's future idiosyncratic crash risk because they link managerial wealth to equity prices, but rather because they tie managerial wealth to the volatility of a firm's equity. In the second essay, I exploit an exogenous negative shock to CEO compensation convexity in examining the differential ramifications of option pay and risk-taking incentives on the systematic and idiosyncratic volatility of the firm. I find new evidence that is largely consistent with the notion that compensation convexity, stemming from option convexity, predominantly incentivizes under-diversified risk-averse CEOs to increase the value of their option portfolios by increasing the systematic volatility of the firms they manage. I hypothesize that this effect manifests as systematic volatility is readily more hedgeable than idiosyncratic volatility from the perspective of risk-averse executives who are overexposed to the idiosyncratic risk of their firms. If managers use options as a conduit through which they can gamble with shareholder wealth by overexposing them to suboptimal systematic volatility, options are not serving their intended contracting function. Instead of decreasing agency costs of risk, by encouraging CEOs to adopt innovative positive NPV projects that may be primarily characterized by idiosyncratic risk, option pay may have contributed to the same frictions it was intended to reduce. In the third essay, I present evidence that is consistent with the notion that certain managerial debt-like remuneration structures decrease the likelihood of firm-specific positive stock-price jumps. Namely, I find that a bottom-to-top decile increase in the present value of CEO pension pay leads to a roughly 25\% decrease in a firm's unconditional ex-post jump probability. However, I do not find that CEO deferred compensation decreases firm jump risk. Finally, I find that information in option-implied volatility smirks does not appear to reflect these dynamics. Together, these results suggest that not all debt-like compensation mechanisms decrease managerial risk-taking equally. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Finance.