Optimal strategies under worst-case scenarios have been studied in Bernard et al. [2013a]. Bernard et al. utilize copulas to construct cost-efficient strategies with a predefined dependence structure in the tail between the payoff and the market. In their study they show that such strategies with state-dependent copula constraints dominate traditional diversification strategies in terms of the provided protection in the states of market downturns. We derive similar strategies, however using correlation constraints instead of copula constraints in the tail. We found that for an investor seeking negative dependence with the market, it is cheaper to construct a strategy with conditional correlation constraint in the tail. However, the constructed strategies with conditional correlation constraints do not provide sufficient protection in bad states of the economy. Therefore, when analyzing a strategy, negative correlation with the market in the tail is not a sufficient indicator for the protection level in the event of a market crisis.

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This research paper will, based on the frame of references and through a quantitative study, describe how Generation Y prefers to communicate with customer service departments. The purpose is to help companies lower their expenses by focusing on one of the two traditional communication tools, telephone or e-mail. Since more knowledge can arouse new questions this study was executed with an abductive approach. After studying theories regarding Generation Y a hypothesis was created: Customers from Generation Y will choose e-mail rather than telephone, when they are in need of personal customer service from a company. A simulation is used to get a better understanding of social behaviour. In this case two scenarios was simulated to test the research hypothesis. In the first scenario, the customer needs to contact customer service because of an error the company had made. However, in the second scenario is the contact necessary because of a mistake done by the customer. In these scenarios the participants had to make a choice between telephone and e-mail. The reasons for two scenarios are founded on the hypothesis that Generation Y prefers e-mail as communication tool, regardless of the situation. In this quantitative study with Facebook as survey platform, two hundred fifty-nine answers were gathered. Out of these, two hundred twenty-five were respondents belonging to Generation Y. The data collected from this research was analysed and the result showed we could reject our hypothesis in scenario one. In this case it was significantly proved that members from Generation Y prefer telephone instead of e-mail when the company has made an error. In scenario two where the customer had made a mistake there was a slight tendency to choose telephone. However, this could not be significantly proved and therefore we could not reject our hypothesis. To further explore the respondents’ choices a comparison between scenario one and two was made. A cross-tabulation showed that more than fifty per cent of the respondents that chose telephone in scenario one changed their preferred communication tool in scenario two. Our research led to a conclusion that members of Generation Y do not have one communication tool they always prefer to use and their choice of communication tool is not based on the fact that they were brought up during the digital revolution.

Title: Long term cost efficiency through green management control systems.Authors: Nancy Vukania &Xiaochen QinSupervisor: Åsa Karin-EngstrandBackground: The worldwide financial crisis of 2008 has reconfigured the economic turf leading to a more uncertain and turbulent playing field – a greater challenge for business strategy and the quest for optimization- The oil price hike of 2008 (Furlong 2010)1 caused its rippling effect to affect various cost categories including energy, labor and logistics thus causing a roller coaster business decision making process regarding outsourcing, off shoring and internal control and cutting short the decision making term to make room for adjustments. Amidst this high volatility and turbulence of factor markets coupled with fierce competitor activity, organizations are being drawn towards alternative sources of cost advantage which can enable them pursue long-term profitability.Aim: With this research, we intend to introduce an idea of cost efficiency which in the long term has the potential to develop into cost leadership for mature public organizations who are facing uncontrollable instabilities from the external business eco-system as well as international legislation regarding environmental sustainability (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change)2. We aim to do this through studying an Energy performance contracting (EPC) project currently being undertaken by Landstinget I Östergotland (LIO), the county council of the province of Östergotland in Sweden.Results: We aim to prove- based on the results of the studied EPC project and the literature on green technology and management control systems- that the interplay of green technological systems and management control techniques can in the long term achieve substantial cost saving and profit making differentials that are sustainable, eco-friendly and subject to further development.Key Phrases/Words: Cost strategy, Management control, Green technology, Long-term SustainabilityPaper Type: Research Paper

This thesis examines the impact of farm level cost efficiency on quota trading in a supply regulated industry. Comparative statics illustrate the role of cost efficiency in quota transfers. For estimation purposes, the dependent variable; net quota purchases is specified both quantitatively and qualitatively and modelled by a linear regression model and multinomial logit model, respectively. Empirical results indicate that variation in cost efficiency does not have a significant effect on the sample producers’ decision to purchase quota. Meanwhile, quota purchasers are younger producers, with large herds, underutilized barn space, and had purchase quota in the previous year. / OMAFRA funding code: 200222

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Agricultural Economics / Michael Langemeier / This study focused on the inclusion of risk in efficiency measures to determine its impact on traditional efficiency scores. Previous research and theory suggests efficiency scores will be lower under risk and for risk averse individuals. Risk aversion may deter use of new production technologies and production levels may not be as high as under other risk preferences. Two data sets were used in the analysis. A panel data set of 256 farms from 1993-2010 was used to address the impact of risk measured as variability in outputs and downside risk on efficiency. A separate data set of 258 farms for 2008 was used with a corresponding risk preference score to determine the impact of risk preference on efficiency. The risk preference scores in the sample ranged from 5 to 86 where a smaller value represents stronger risk aversion. Data envelopment analysis was used to construct a nonparametric efficiency frontier and calculate cost- and revenue-based economic, overall, technical, allocative, and scale efficiency measures. Five inputs: labor, crop input, fuel, livestock input, and capital; and two outputs: crops and livestock were used in the analysis. The results focused on cost- and revenue-based economic efficiency. They showed that risk did affect average efficiency scores and is necessary to include in efficiency analysis. The average cost efficiency without risk was 0.6763. It increased to 0.7200 and 0.7018 respectively when cost efficiency was adjusted to recognize variability in outputs and downside risk. The average portion of cost inefficiency explained by variability in outputs was 28.06 percent. Downside risk explained 22.66 percent of cost inefficiency. The average revenue efficiency without risk was 0.7611 and increased to 0.8372 and 0.7811 when revenue efficiency was adjusted for variability in outputs and downside risk, respectively. Variability in outputs explained 42.53 percent and downside risk explained 30.58 percent of revenue inefficiency. The average cost efficiency for the 258 farms was 0.5691 and increased to 0.6043 with the consideration of risk preference scores. The average revenue efficiency was 0.6735 and increased to 0.6987 with risk preference scores. The efficient farms varied across cost and revenue efficiency, and the risk measures used. This lends support to the use of both input-oriented (cost) and output-oriented (revenue) efficiency measures as well as the use of multiple measures of risk.

One of the most important practical problems in conducting sample surveys is the list that can be used for selecting the sample is generally incomplete or out of date. Therefore, sample surveys can produce seriously biased estimates of the population parameters. On the other hand updating a list is a difficult and very expensive operation. Multiple-frame sampling refers to surveys where two or more frames are used and independent samples are taken respectively from each of the frames. It is assumed that the union of the different frames covers the whole population. There are two major reasons for the use of multiple-frame sampling method. One is that, using two or more frames can cover most of the target population and therefore reduces biases due to coverage error. The second is that multipleframe sampling design may result in considerable cost savings over a single frame design.

This dissertation first develops a theoretical framework to enable the estimation of cost efficiency and conduct parameter without total cost data. By validating this framework using U.S. airline data, this dissertation shows the feasibility of the theoretical framework. Based on the estimates of marginal cost efficiency and conduct parameter, this dissertation also finds some support for the Quiet Life Hypothesis. In Chapter III, this dissertation analyzes the determinants for price dispersion, especially conduct parameter and cost efficiency. Generally speaking, we find negative relationship between conduct parameter and price dispersion and negative relationship between marginal cost efficiency and price dispersion. In Chapter IV, this thesis examines the dynamics that lead to high price dispersion. To be more specific, this thesis concentrates on advanced days purchased and load factor.

The railway system is often considered to be an industry where a monopoly occurs “naturally”, which can explain the public ownership and the use of regulations. However, railways in Europe have been subject to reforms during the last three decades. The use of tendering has increased, which is a way of introducing competition for the market in absence of competition within the market. Still, contracting out services previously produced in-house places a heavy burden on the client, where contract design and its incentive structures can be decisive for the outcome of the reform. This dissertation provides empirical evidence on costs and incentives in a publicly owned monopoly that is subject to reforms, namely the provision of railway maintenance in Sweden. Essay 1 estimates the effect of exposing rail infrastructure maintenance to competitive tendering. The results show that this reform reduced maintenance costs in Sweden by around 11 per cent over the period 1999-2011, without any associated fall in the available measures of quality. Essay 2 estimates the relative cost efficiency between and within maintenance regions in Sweden. The results indicate considerable efficiency gaps together with economies of scale not being fully exploited. Essay 3 analyses the effect of incentive structures in railway maintenance contracts. An increase in the power of the incentive scheme reduces the number of infrastructure failures according to the results. In addition, the estimated effect of the performance incentive schemes suggests that more effort towards preventing train delays is made at the expense of preventing other failures. Essay 4 comprises an estimation of marginal costs of rail maintenance. The static model produces slightly lower marginal costs compared to previous estimates on Swedish data. The results from the dynamic model show that an increase in maintenance costs in year t - 1 predicts an increase in maintenance costs in year t. Indeed, there is an intertemporal effect that depends on the performed maintenance activities (governed by the contract design).

New Zealand experienced dramatic restructuring programs after the Labor party won the national elections in 1984. Deregulation of price controls, removal of the log export ban, and privatization of public assets were the main shocks to the forest sector. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impacts of these reforms on wood and paper industry cost, production, and cost efficiency. Unlike previous work, the effects of privatization and deregulation are compared to determine which shock had the most influence on the forest sector. Results show that production decreased, total cost increased, and cost efficiency decreased after deregulation for the sector, and that deregulation was more significant than privatization for the wood and paper sectors. In particular, removal of the log export ban had the greatest impact, while privatization had little effect on industry production and cost. This suggests that countries with comparative advantages in wood processing who implement deregulation or privatization may suffer through a short term period of lower cost efficiency as the economy adjusts to higher input costs in those sectors. In New Zealand's case, the adjustments most likely affecting efficiency have been investments in new technologies, which require time to attain maximum efficiency. The results are contrary to other studies that have predicted increased efficiency as a result of privatization. / Ph. D.