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The focus of this thesis is the study of the demand side of the shadow economy. To achieve this, the informal consumption of Peruvian families located in urban areas is studied. This is possible thanks to a household survey collecting information on where people acquired their goods. The main contribution of the research is that it identifies an unexplored area in the literature with limited theoretical discussion and few empirical applications. Information about why people purchase from informal markets will supplement wider knowledge of labour allocation on informal opportunities. The thesis uses an Almost Ideal Demand System in order to verify some demand properties of informal consumption: income and price elasticities, the existence of linkages between working and purchasing decisions and explore the effects of bargaining on expenditure allocation. Four robust results are encountered. First, the inferiority of informal consumption is rejected. Formal and informal expenditure are classified as normal, but income responses on the latter (necessity) are lower than on the former (luxury). Second, there are linkage effects between working and purchasing in the informal and formal sectors. These effects are stronger for informal consumption and among the self-employed. Linkages are also not equally applicable across all goods. Better results are found within quasi-substitutes with leisure. Third, formal and informal food consumption reveals elastic demand curves and imperfect substitution between them, with higher compensated own-price and cross-price elasticities for formal markets. Fourth, household members bargain in their allocation decisions across markets, with females' decisions being closer to less-informal purchasing baskets. This result is clearer in the case of food consumption. Public policy recommendations based on these results are derived, where it is found that formalization policies will need to take into account their negative distributional effects.

Globalization and industrialization has allowed designers and artists to visualize and create artifacts and consumer goods at an extremely rapid rate. As a result, the public consumes and disposes of these objects at a rapid rate as well because these objects are readily available and inexpensive. Technological innovation, clever advertising, and fleeting design trends have led people to overconsumption and obsession over ownership of objects. The integration of computer aided design technologies into object making practices has accelerated the rate of production and consumption. Material objects have become disposable which has proven to have a negative impact on the environment. I am employing Computer Numerical Control and Rapid Prototyping technologies to design and produce functional pieces out of wood and metal. Mechanical production enables me to experiment with form and surface texture but also eliminates direct physical contact with the object. This disconnect causes a tension between the method of production and the intended interaction and interpretation between user and object. This tension influences my work and my objective is to reconcile the rather impersonal production techniques by creating functional objects that evoke feelings of slowness, appreciation and physical interaction. My master's research is to create objects that involve the user in a kinesthetic and sensual experience in order to evoke an emotional response and establish an interaction beyond the appreciation of the visual. I am experimenting with the application of surface texture in order to design objects that can engage the user in a more substantial and personal experience through touch. Through this engagement it is my hope that the life cycle of the object can be extended in order to slow down the cycle of production and consumption.

Thesis (Mathematics) -- University of Limpopo, 2010 / Forecasting electricity consumption is a challenge for most power utilities. In South Africa the anxiety posed by electricity supply disruption is a cause for concern in sustainable energy planning. Accurate forecasting of future electricity consumption has been identified as an essential input to this planning process. Forecasting electricity consumption has been widely researched and several methodologies suggested. However, various methods that have been proposed by a number of researchers are dependent on environment and market factors related to the scope of work under study making portability a challenge. The aim of this study is to investigate models to forecast short term electricity consumption for operational use and medium term electricity consumption for tactical use in the Ferrochrome sector in South Africa. An Autoregressive Moving Average method is suggested as an appropriate tool for operational planning. The Holt-Winter Linear seasonal smoothing method is suggested for tactical planning. Keywords: Forecasting, electricity consumption, operational planning, tactical planning, ARIMA, Holt-Winter Linear seasonal smoothing, Ferrochrome sector

In the last decade, children who are in the age range between childhood and adolescence, the so called 'tweens', have captured the attention and a great deal of interest of marketers and many commercial stakeholders in different fields of business due to their significant spending power and specific culture. Tweens are now much more strongly targeted by marketers and businesses than were the previous generation; girls in particularly are targeted more than boys. Within a fashion context, tween girls are expanding their influence and their consumer power in the market. Following the global acknowledgement of tweens, in Australia, and in Melbourne in particular, tween fashion retailers have been emerging and evolving recently in response to the market's interest and demand for tween fashion. The tween girls' fashion consumption has a viability and is seen a major emergent marketing phenomenon one that is predicted to expand. There is currently a debate in Australia whether tween girls dress inappropriately as adults. This may be a result of the absence of a particular tween girls fashion sector in fashion industry in Melbourne. Further development will be significant in providing age-appropriate clothing range for the market. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to investigate the market segment. A case study of a Japanese company is used to gain further understanding of current and future developments within the market. The case study will provide some background information to the situation being presented and assist in the analysis of possible suggestions and recommendations. The tween girls fashion industry incorporates many different factors. There is a specific focus on the opportunities for expansion and adaptation in the market segment. This research investigates the tween girls' fashion segment in Australia to identify and understand its relationship with respect to fashion marketing and consumption. It also identifies the gaps or opportunities in the market and proposes business opportunities to address these gaps. This research demonstrates the possibility for the market development of tween girls in Melbourne.

This dissertation investigates how collectibles are made meaningful within collecting communities in order to better understand the intricate processes by which lead soldiers, toy trains, dolls, Dinkie cars, Star Wars figurines, and teddy bears come to be so enchanting for their collectors. An ethnography of toy collecting, including interviews with toy collectors, and observations at toy fairs and gatherings, this project contributes to debates on the use and role of material goods in practices of meaning making and social reproduction. In contrast to theories of material culture, this project aligns itself with consumer theories of the cultural constitution of objects. Emphasizing that object-centered analyses provide little insight on the value of collectibles, it advocates, instead, the centrality of perception and imaginative practice in the hold collectibles come to have over collectors. Drawing from consumer culturalists work on processes of identification; Bourdieus theory of consumption; Foucault on the archive; as well as Marxist inspired theories of the fetish, this project engages with nostalgic practice, the collectible market, judgments of authenticity, practices of ordering, as well as the complicated rules governing collecting. Working from collectors own stories, debates, contradictions, discussions and imaginative engagements this study uncovers that the mutability of the meanings assigned to collectibles is at the heart of collectors enchantment with their collectibles, and a central factor in how collecting becomes an eminently political activity. Collectors are not free to construct meanings for their collectibles at will but subject to community constraints, markets and battles of legitimacy. The various mystifications and social maneuverings present in their collecting practices imply that an objects value is the outcome of a careful mediation of both personal and wider cultural meanings. Mobilized to particular ends however tenuously held their meanings may be, material goods become powerful components to the wider cultural, social and economic fields in which they circulate. / Sociology

The Energy Policy Act of 1992 mandated that bathroom plumbing fixtures manufactured in the United States after January 1, 1994 meet standards for maximum water consumption. Manufacturers have developed low-consumption valves to meet these standards. The performance of low-consumption fixtures has become an important issue for facilities managers because the water saving by retrofitting low-consumption fixtures is significant. The fixtures in the Langford Architecture Building A, Texas A&M University were used to conduct this study. An acoustic information retrieval system was utilized to collect the sound signals of each fixture and a speech recognition system was utilized to identify which fixture was in use. The data from this study were analyzed to determine whether location of fixture and type of fixture—manual or automatic—caused a significant difference in frequency of use.

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The purpose of this study was to compare physiological variables (i.e. oxygen consumption, blood lactate, heart rate, respiratory exchange ratio) during exercise on a double poling ergometer modified for sit skiers to a field test for the same skiers. Three male and four female athletes from the Canadian National / Developmental team (17-54 years of age, ranging in ability from a complete T7 spinal injury to cerebral palsy) completed a field test and a double poling ergometer protocol separated by at least 24 hours. Both protocols consisted of three maximal sets of skiing of three minutes duration per set separated by approximately one and a half minutes rest. A wireless metabolic system (Sensormedics, VmaxST or Cosmed, K4b2) and heart rate monitor were used to measure physiological responses during each test. Arterialized blood lactate was measured before and after each set and for 15 minutes post exercise. There were no significant differences between the field and ergometer tests for peak oxygen consumption (VO2 peak) (field=35±6 mL/kg/min vs. ergometer=33±7 mL/kg/min; p=0.491). However, significantly higher peak heart rate (field=173±5 bpm vs. ergometer=178±4 bpm; p=0.046) and respiratory exchange ratio (RER) (field=1.2±0.1 vs. ergometer=1.4±0.1; p=0.022) were found during the double poling ergometer protocol. There were no significant differences in blood lactate at baseline and after set one between protocols. However, a significantly higher lactate was found after set two (field=7±4 mmol/L vs. ergometer=12±5 mmol/L; p<0.001) and set three (field=8±3 mmol/L vs. ergometer=13±4 mmol/L; p=0.001) during the ergometer protocol compared to the field test. There were moderate correlations between the field and double poling ergometer for VO2 peak (r=0.79; p=0.035), and peak blood lactate (r=0.83; p=0.02). However, no correlations were found between protocols for peak heart rate (r=0.37; p=0.491) and RER (r=0.54; p=0.207). Results of this study suggest that the double poling ergometer is similar to a field test for evaluating VO2 peak in elite cross country sit skiing athletes; however, the ergometer test involves a higher heart rate and anaerobic component.

The purpose of this study was to compare physiological variables (i.e. oxygen consumption, blood lactate, heart rate, respiratory exchange ratio) during exercise on a double poling ergometer modified for sit skiers to a field test for the same skiers. Three male and four female athletes from the Canadian National / Developmental team (17-54 years of age, ranging in ability from a complete T7 spinal injury to cerebral palsy) completed a field test and a double poling ergometer protocol separated by at least 24 hours. Both protocols consisted of three maximal sets of skiing of three minutes duration per set separated by approximately one and a half minutes rest. A wireless metabolic system (Sensormedics, VmaxST or Cosmed, K4b2) and heart rate monitor were used to measure physiological responses during each test. Arterialized blood lactate was measured before and after each set and for 15 minutes post exercise. There were no significant differences between the field and ergometer tests for peak oxygen consumption (VO2 peak) (field=35±6 mL/kg/min vs. ergometer=33±7 mL/kg/min; p=0.491). However, significantly higher peak heart rate (field=173±5 bpm vs. ergometer=178±4 bpm; p=0.046) and respiratory exchange ratio (RER) (field=1.2±0.1 vs. ergometer=1.4±0.1; p=0.022) were found during the double poling ergometer protocol. There were no significant differences in blood lactate at baseline and after set one between protocols. However, a significantly higher lactate was found after set two (field=7±4 mmol/L vs. ergometer=12±5 mmol/L; p<0.001) and set three (field=8±3 mmol/L vs. ergometer=13±4 mmol/L; p=0.001) during the ergometer protocol compared to the field test. There were moderate correlations between the field and double poling ergometer for VO2 peak (r=0.79; p=0.035), and peak blood lactate (r=0.83; p=0.02). However, no correlations were found between protocols for peak heart rate (r=0.37; p=0.491) and RER (r=0.54; p=0.207). Results of this study suggest that the double poling ergometer is similar to a field test for evaluating VO2 peak in elite cross country sit skiing athletes; however, the ergometer test involves a higher heart rate and anaerobic component.