I denna studie undersöks värdet av diagnostik vid sällsynta sjukdomar hos unga individer. Då området är mångfacetterat studeras två fall med olika karaktär. Det första fallet undersöker värdet av screening för den sällsynta sjukdomen fenylketonuri (PKU) bland nyfödda, denna screening har utförts sedan 1960-talet. Det andra fallet fokuserar på en mer modern teknologisk utveckling och utvärderar värdet av införandet av helgenomsekvensering (WGS) som genetiskt test vid sökandet efter sällsynta sjukdomar.  Båda fallen använder sig av kostnadseffektivitetsanalys som metod där kostnader respektive hälsoeffekter estimeras för de utvärderade insatserna. Fallen skiljer sig åt med avseende på tillgängliga dataunderlag vilket innebär att tillvägagångssättet för att skatta kostnaderna och hälsoeffekterna är olika i de båda fallen. I fallet med PKU-screening används Markovmodellering där data från olika källor syntetiseras i en simuleringsmodell. I fallet med WGS-testning används i större utsträckning ett insamlat empiriskt datamaterial som utgörs av faktiskt uppmätta sjukvårdskostnader.  Resultaten i båda fallen indikerar att de diagnostiska metoderna har en rimlig kostnad i förhållande till hälsoeffekterna. Fall ett åskådliggör att dagens screening för PKU genererar ökade hälsoeffekter till lägre kostnader i jämförelse med att inte screena för PKU. För en kohort på 100 000 nyfödda barn blir den sammanlagda hälsoeffekten en ökning med 73 QALYs och screeningen medför samtidigt en besparing på 53 376 602 kr, sett över ett livstidsperspektiv. Fall två visar att WGS som första genetiskt test i genomsnitt minskar sjukvårdskostnaderna med 15 903 kr per individ jämfört med nuvarande vård och ökar samtidigt chansen till diagnos med 9,5 procentenheter (45,7%). Resultaten bör tolkas med viss försiktighet då de är förknippade med osäkerheter, men kan samtidigt användas som en del av det underlag beslutsfattare behöver för att fatta beslut om hur hälso- och sjukvårdens resurser ska prioriteras. / This study examines the value of diagnostics in rare diseases in young individuals. As the field is varied, two cases with different character are studied. The first case examines the value of screening for the rare disease phenylketonuria (PKU) among newborns, this screening has been performed since the 1960s. The second case focuses on a more modern technological development and evaluates the value of the introduction of whole genome sequencing (WGS) as a genetic test in the search for rare diseases.  Both cases utilize the method of cost-effectiveness analysis where costs and health effects are estimated for the evaluated measures. The cases differ regarding available data, which means that the approach to estimating costs and health effects is different in the two cases. In the case of PKU- screening, Markov modeling is used where data from different sources are synthesized in a simulation model. In the case of WGS-testing, an empirical data material is used to a greater extent, which is based on actually measured healthcare costs.  The results in both cases indicate that the diagnostic methods have a reasonable cost in relation to the health effects. Case one illustrates that today's screening for PKU generates increased health effects at lower costs compared to not screening for PKU. For a cohort of 100 000 newborns, the total health effect will be an increase of 73 QALYs and the screening will also result in cost- savings of SEK 53 376 602, seen from a lifetime perspective. Case two shows that WGS used as an initial genetic test on average reduces healthcare costs by SEK 15 903 per individual compared with current care and at the same time increases the chance of diagnosis by 9.5 percentage points (45.7%). The results should be interpreted with some caution as they are associated with some uncertainties, but can still be used as part of the basis on which decision-makers need to make decisions on how health care resources should be prioritized.

Post-crisis market realities in Greece are expected to lead to increased M&A activity in the coming years, little evidence is provided in the academic literature on Greek M&A post-acquisition performance and its driving factors. The overall aim of this thesis is to complement and enhance the existing M&A literature by examining the impact of two post-acquisition actions, of asset divestiture and resource redeployment on the long-term performance of Greek M&A deals over the period 2005-2009. The conceptual framework of this thesis draws on the strategic management perspective. Using the cost efficiencies argument, the thesis examines how cost savings, due to asset divestiture affect the post-acquisition performance of both the target and the acquiring firm. In addition, by drawing on the resource-based view of the firm and the dynamic capabilities perspective, the thesis explores the effects of post-acquisition resource redeployment from acquirers to targets and vice versa, on revenue-enhancing capabilities. The findings revealed that the divestiture of the acquirers’ assets does not reduce costs. In addition, the importance of revenue-based synergies was shown, through the mediating variables of market coverage and innovation capabilities. Finally, acquirer’s resource redeployment has a positive and significant effect on cost savings and the same holds true for the resource redeployment to the target. These results indicate that resource redeployment contributes in achieving higher cost efficiency. The originality of this study is that it tries to obtain new insights on the subject of the post-acquisition performance using arguments from the cost-based and resourcebased synergies, the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm and the dynamic capabilities perspective. In addition, this is a large-scale empirical study conducted in Greece drawing on detailed primary data on a high range of post-acquisition actions followed by the managers of the acquiring companies rather than secondary data.

Verslas labai svarbus kiekvienos šalies ekonomikai, jo teikiamą naudą gali pajusti tiek verslininkai, verslo atstovai, tiek ir kiti visuomenės nariai. Lietuvoje šiuo metu verslo sektorius yra pažengęs, tačiau jame yra dar daug neišspręstų problemų, neatsakytų klausimų. Šiuo metu Lietuva dar negali pasigirti aukštą pridėtinę vertę kuriančių verslų gausa, ir pati šalies vyriausybė tik po truputį pradeda suprasti pridėtinės vertės kūrimo ir jos generavimo svarbą visai šalies ekonomikai, tad darbe autorė aptarė pridėtinės vertės kaip pagrindinio ekonominio sverto svarbą verslui ir šalies ekonomikai, nustatė kokie ekonominiai svertai, kokios priemonės versle padėtų kurti aukštesnę pridėtinę vertę. Baigiamojo darbo tikslas – išsiaiškinti verslo Lietuvoje plėtros ypatumus, nustatyti, kokie ekonominiai svertai didina verslo kuriamą pridėtinę vertę. Darbo hipotezė – nepakankamas verslo sektoriaus pridėtinės vertės kūrimas ir generavimas Lietuvoje. Baigiamojo darbo pagrindiniai uždaviniai: supažindinti su Lietuvos verslo sektoriumi, atskleisti pagrindinius šio sektoriaus ypatumus, išskirti pagrindines jo problemas; apibūdinti pridėtinę vertę, jos kūrimo procesą bei teikiamą naudą; apibūdinti pagrindinius ekonominius svertus, didinančius verslo Lietuvoje kuriamą pridėtinę vertę, išnagrinėti kur ir kam ši sukurta pridėtinė vertė yra paskirstoma; atlikti pasirinktos verslo sektoriaus šakos Lietuvoje analizę, įvertinti kokią pridėtinę vertę ši šaka sukuria ir kokią naudą ta sukurta vertė... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Business is extremely important for any country's economy; its benefits can be experienced by both the business community, business representatives and also by other members of the public. Lithuanian business sector is currently advanced, however there are still many unsolved problems and open questions. Lithuania cannot yet be proud of plenty businesses, creating high value added, moreover, the government itself is only beginning to gradually realize the importance of value added creation to the national economy, therefore the author of this paper has discussed the importance of value added as a major economic leverage to both business and the national economy, determined the factors and measures are required for creating higher value added. The aim of the paper: to identify business development characteristics in Lithuania; to determine, what economic levers increase the value added of private business. Working hypothesis: lack of value added, generated by Lithuanian business sector. Main tasks: to introduce the theoretical side of the business sector; to identify the main features of the sector; to highlight its major problems; to analyze factors and measures, helping create a higher value added and promoting development of the country's private business; to perform analysis of a selected Lithuanian business sector branch; to assess the value added, created by that branch and the benefits to Lithuanian economy. Research methods: analysis of primary data sources; analysis... [to full text]

Since the open door policy was embarked upon in 1979, China s banking sector has undergone gradual but notable reforms. A key objective of the reforms implemented by the Chinese government is to build an effective, competitive and stable banking system in order to improve its efficiency and reliability. This study employs both parametric stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and non-parametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) methods to assess and evaluate the cost efficiency of Chinese banks over the period from 1994 until 2007, a period characterised by far-reaching changes brought about by the banking reforms. To this end, we first compare a number of specifications of stochastic cost frontier models to determine the preferred frontier model which are adopted in our efficiency analysis. The preferred model specification for our sample is the one stage SFA model that includes the traditional input prices, the outputs and the control variables (that is, equity, non-performing loans and the time trend) in the cost frontier and the environmental variables (that is, ownership structure, size, deregulation, market structure and market discipline) in the inefficiency term. Moreover, we also employ two cost DEA models (traditional DEA and New DEA) as a complement to the preferred SFA model for methodological cross-checking purposes. Similar to the previous empirical literature, we find that in most cases only moderate consistency across the different techniques. The cost efficiency of Chinese banks is found to be 91% on average, based on our SFA model, over the period from 1994 until 2007. Based on the results of the DEA and New DEA models, the average cost efficiency for Chinese banks over the sample period is about 89% and 87%, respectively. We find that Chinese banking efficiency has deteriorated after China s admission to the WTO, suggesting that the significant external environmental changes which arose from China s WTO entry may have had a negative impact on its banking efficiency. In addition, we find that the majority of Chinese banks reveal scale inefficiencies and as asset size increases, banks tend to pass from increasing, to constant, and then to decreasing returns to scale. Our findings also show that both state-owned banks and foreign banks are more efficient than domestic private banks and larger banks tend to be relatively more efficient than smaller banks. These and other results suggest that in order to enhance Chinese banking efficiency, the government needs to continue with the banking reform process and in particular, to open up banking markets, to improve risk management and corporate governance in Chinese banks and to encourage the expansion of banks.

Over the last few decades, numerous studies have adopted efficiency and productivity techniques to examine and evaluate the overall performance of banking industries to inform policy effect as well as identify the best practice. The majority of banking efficiency and productivity studies focus on the developed US and European countries. There are only limited studies in the Asian banking industries but no cross-country comparison in major Asian economies. To fill this literature gap, this thesis attempts to measure and compare the cost efficiency and total factor productivity change in ten Asian banking sectors using an unbalanced panel data set consisting of 280 commercial banks over the period of 1998 to 2005. It is widely agreed that cross-country differences play an important part in examining banks performance in international comparison. They can influence the frontier technology as additional explanatory variables or they can enter inefficiency directly as a measure of determinants or heteroscedasticity. Both cases are considered in the empirical sections of this thesis. In the former case, the empirical results from systematic comparisons of panel data stochastic frontier models with and without incorporating these cross-country heterogeneities suggests that cross-country differences are important sources to explain banks performances therefore they should not be neglected. The overall cost efficiency in these Asian banking industries is 0.5897 with a decreasing trend, despite positive technical progress and slight economies of scale. The total factor productivity change is measured by using a new cost-based total factor productivity index, an index number counterpart of Bauer's (1990) total differential approach. A five-way decomposition is also provided with the attempt to identify the main contributors to the productivity change. Overall, Asian banking industries have experienced positive but not substantial productivity change from 1998-05. In the latter case, a general model that considers exogenous influences in both inefficiency and random noise error term is constructed and compared against other alternative specifications. The empirical results favour this general model and the overall and country-specific cost efficiency and total factor productivity are then estimated and calculated.

There is an ongoing debate whether the impact of competition on bank soundness is positive or negative. Traditionally, it was assumed that there is a trade-off between competition and bank soundness. On the other hand, some recent studies suggest that competition has a positive effect on bank soundness. In this thesis, we will focus on the concept of efficiency as a possible link between competition and bank soundness. Firstly, we will summarize different approaches to measure competition, efficiency and soundness in banking sector. Subsequently, we will focus on hypotheses formulated to describe the link between competition in financial sector and bank soundness, between efficiency and bank soundness and between bank competition and efficiency. The empirical part, we will examine whether there is a link between competition and soundness via efficiency channel. Our analysis is based on dataset contains commercial banks from Visegrad group during period 2008 - 2012. We will exploit the Boone indicator as a measure of competition, the SFA approach to obtain efficiency score and soundness will be derived from z-score. The empirical evidence confirmed the positive link between competition and bank soundness via efficiency channel.

Syfte – Syftet med studien är att identifiera förbättringsförslag relaterade till produktionsplanering för att bidra till leveranssäkerhet och kostnadseffektivitet i producerande företag. För att besvara syftet har tre frågeställningar formulerats: 1. Vilka faktorer är kritiska inom produktionsplanering?2. Hur säkerställs att produktionsplanering bidrar till leveranssäkerhet respektive kostnadseffektivitet?3. Hur kan leveranssäkerhet och kostnadseffektivitet balanseras? Metod – En förstudie genomfördes för att definiera problemområdet och formulera ett syfte med undersökningen. Därefter utfördes en fallstudie och litteratursökning för att samla in empiri och teori. Fallstudien genomfördes på ett massproducerande MTO-företag och bestod av intervjuer samt dokumentstudier. Litteraturstudien skapade ett teoretiskt ramverk kring produktionsplanering, leveranssäkerhet och kostnadseffektivitet. Slutligen analyserades empirin och teorin för att generera förbättringsförslag. Resultat – I studien identifierades kritiska faktorer i teorin och empirin med koppling till produktionsplanering. Analysen visade att massproducerande MTO-företag bör säkerställa kvalitet och leveranssäkerhet innan flexibilitet och till sist kostnadseffektivitet. För att hantera de här faktorerna presenterades förbättringsförslag vilka kan påverka företags leveranssäkerhet och kostnadseffektivitet. Teoretiskt och Empiriskt bidrag – Studiens teoretiska bidrag består av ett underlag för hur kritiska faktorer inom massproducerande MTO-företags produktionsplanering kan hanteras. Studien bidrar med förståelse för produktionsplaneringens inverkan på ett företags leveranssäkerhet och kostnadseffektivitet. Det empiriska bidraget utgörs av förbättringsförslag inom produktionsplaneringen för massproducerande MTO-företag. Begränsningar – Studien är en fallstudie med enfallsdesign vilket begränsar generaliserbarheten. Resultat kan endast generaliseras till andra massproducerande MTOföretag och till viss del MTS-företag. Trovärdigheten i studien har stärkts genom många intervjurespondenter samt genom dokumentstudier. / Purpose – The purpose with the study is to identify improvements within production plans to ensure that they contribute to delivery dependability and cost efficiency in manufacturing companies. To be able to answer the purpose three research questions have been formulated. 1. What factors are critical within production planning? 2. How to ensure that production plans contribute to delivery dependability respective cost efficiency? 3. How can delivery dependability and cost efficiency be balanced? Method – A pilot study was conducted in order to define the problem area and formulate a purpose for the study. Then a case study and a literature review were performed to provide empirical and theoretical data. The case study was conducted at a manufacturing company with a mass production and a MTO strategy. The data was collected through interviews and document studies. The literature study created a theoretical framework regarding production planning, delivery dependability and cost efficiency. Finally, the empirical and theoretical data were analysed to generate improvements. Findings – In the study critical factors were identified within production planning. The analysis indicated that manufacturing companies with a mass production and a MTO strategy should ensure quality and delivery dependability before flexibility and at last, cost efficiency. To manage these factors improvements were presented that can improve delivery dependability and cost efficiency at a company. Implications – The theoretical contribution consists of a support system how to handle critical factors within a manufacturing company with a mass production and a MTO strategy. The study contributes with an insight on how the production planning effects delivery dependability and cost efficiency in a company. The empirical contribution consists of improvements within production planning for manufacturing companies with a mass production and a MTO strategy. Limitations – The study is a single case study which delimitate the generalizability. The result of the study can only be generalized to other companies with a mass production and a MTO strategy and partially to companies with a mass production and a MTS strategy. The reliability of the study has been strengthened through several interview respondents together with document studies.

This paper seeks to compare production costs of similar farms to determine competitiveness across countries. A data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach was used to calculate efficiency indices for farms producing corn, soybeans, wheat, both corn and soybeans, and both corn and wheat. Technical efficiency, allocative efficiency, and cost efficiency were compared for all farms. The data consisted of a five-year (2013-2017) panel of 24 corn-producing farms, 15 soybean-producing farms, 38 wheat-producing farms, 13 farms producing both corn and soybeans, and 17 farms producing both corn and wheat. The <i>agri benchmark</i> network at the Thünen Institute (TI) of Farm Economics manages the dataset that was used in this analysis. Outputs were measured using revenue. Input costs included direct costs, operating costs, and overhead costs.<br>

Scientific workflows are used in many scientific fields to abstract complex computations (tasks) and data or flow dependencies between them. High performance computing (HPC) systems have been widely used for the execution of scientific workflows. Cloud computing has gained popularity by offering users on-demand provisioning of resources and providing the ability to choose from a wide range of possible configurations. To do so, resources are made available in the form of virtual machines (VMs), described as a set of resource characteristics, e.g. amount of CPU and memory. The notion of VMs enables the use of different resource combinations which facilitates the deployment of the applications and the management of the resources. A problem that arises is determining the configuration, such as the number and type of resources, that leads to efficient resource provisioning. For example, allocating a large amount of resources may reduce application execution time however at the expense of increased costs. This thesis investigates the challenges that arise on resource provisioning and task scheduling of scientific workflows and explores ways to address them, developing approaches to improve energy efficiency for scientific workflows and meet the user's objectives, e.g. makespan and monetary cost. The motivation stems from the wide range of options that enable to select cost-efficient configurations and improve resource utilisation. The contributions of this thesis are the following. (i) A survey of the issues arising in resource management in cloud computing; The survey focuses on VM management, cost efficiency and the deployment of scientific workflows. (ii) A performance model to estimate the workflow execution time for a different number of resources based on the workflow structure; The model can be used to estimate the respective user and energy costs in order to determine configurations that lead to efficient resource provisioning and achieve a balance between various conflicting goals. (iii) Two energy-aware scheduling algorithms that maximise the number of completed workflows from an ensemble under energy and budget or deadline constraints; The algorithms address the problem of energy-aware resource provisioning and scheduling for scientific workflow ensembles. (iv) An energy-aware algorithm that selects the frequency to be used for each workflow task in order to achieve energy savings without exceeding the workflow deadline; The algorithm takes into account the different requirements and constraints that arise depending on the workflow and system characteristics. (v) Two cost-based frequency selection algorithms that choose the CPU frequency for each provisioned resource in order to achieve cost-efficient resource configurations for the user and complete the workflow within the deadline; Decision making is based on both the workflow characteristics and the pricing model of the provider.

Since 1985, there have been major fundamental policy changes in the governance and funding of higher education in China - general devolution ( decentralisation) in resource allocation and utilisation, diversification of the funding base, and imposition of fee charges on most higher education students. This thesis examines the impact of the changes on the function of higher education, and on quality, efficiency and effectiveness of the system. This thesis formulated some overall conclusions, extrapolated from current trends in China and in other countries of the world, on the prospects of higher education governance and funding in a global perspective. This country study has identified current patterns in China strikingly similar to those found globally despite great diversity in international experience. Based on this material, the researcher predicts that the future directions of higher education governance and funding will be characterised by counter-balance of government regulation by market forces; greater efforts for cost-efficiency and funding linked to performance; further diversion of government financial priority from higher education to other sectors and greater reliance on private and more diversified funding / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)