Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Allen M. Featherstone / Cash management practices for corporate treasurers are in a state of instability in recent years. Events during the credit crisis of 2008 have had an impact on how organization’s cash positions are managed. This has led corporate treasurers to juggle unprecedented amounts of cash across multiple bank counterparties and invest these funds based on previous investment policies with potentially inflexible limits. Many regulations have been passed to strengthen domestic and global financial systems, yet the risk of default is not completely removed and there are many uncertain ties that corporates face. To succeed in the uncertain financial environment, counterparty risk tools must be put in place to improve the visibility of potential operational risk, along with a higher frequency of reviewing and updating investment policies. It is crucial for corporates to look beyond the traditional market perceptions and bank credit ratings to evaluate counterparty risk. Although these continue to be a valuable metric, they should be incorporated with other forward looking market risk metrics such as credit default swaps, capital and asset resiliency metrics, and growth and profitability metrics to their current investment guidelines review. By integrating risk metrics to help formulate an investment policy, corporates can adapt to the changing financial environment. This thesis examined methodologies to develop a more accurate and immediate viewpoint of counterparty creditworthiness. This was done through the creation of models using market information to set values to view the strength of counterparties and the likelihood of default. Models were created for both financial institutions and countries where cash or investments are placed. Depending on the models, this restricts the permissible investment options that an institution or country has. This approach allows the company to invest more with higher rated counterparties, and sets a maximum to those who are deemed high risk of default. The findings of this thesis identified that it is crucial to classify the right metrics and look beyond traditional market perceptions and bank credit ratings. By implementing a balanced process that regularly monitors current market indicators of counterparty risk, an organization will be in a stronger position to define and determine the potential risk. This creates a balanced view of both backward looking and forward looking metrics such as long term debt ratings and credit default swaps. These metrics were useful indicators of a counterparty’s strength. Because of the wide range of information available and cost, it went beyond the resources of the company to perform detailed ongoing analysis. It was also identified that a risk-adjusted approach to setting counterparty limits is crucial for managing counterparty exposure and the risk of default. To optimize liquidity, it is in the company’s best interest to place higher balances in institutions with the lowest risk of default. Grouping banks into tiers and assigning a percentage of total balance to each tier allows for financial institutions to have a specific limit capacity. Incorporating these tools on a frequent basis allows for real-time analysis of counterparty exposure and risk.

Total valuation adjustment (XVA) is a new technique which takes multiple material financial factors into consideration when pricing derivatives. This paper explores how funding costs and counterparty credit risk affect pricing the American option based on no-arbitrage analysis. We review previous studies of European option pricing with different funding costs. The conclusions help to compute the no- arbitrage price of the American option in the model with different borrowing and lending rates. Another model with counterparty credit risk is set up, and this pricing approach is referred to as credit valuation adjustment (CVA). A defaultable bond issued by the counterparty is used to hedge the loss from the option's default. We incorporate these two models to assess the XVA of an American option. The collateral, which protects the option investors from default, is considered in our benchmark model. To illustrate our results, numerical experiments are designed to demonstrate the relationship between XVA and parameters, which include the funding rates, bond's rate of return, and number of periods.

The study investigated the experience of language brokering in highly proficient Chinese-English bilinguals where 50% of them were language brokers. Essentially, language brokering as a phenomenon is the activity of informal translation to facilitate communication between persons and languages. Predominantly from first- and second-generation immigrant households, brokers take on many different settings and materials to achieve these informal translation activities and tasks. It has been shown in previous studies, that brokers tend to be more agile and dynamic across languages. The present study used counterpart idioms to test language brokers and non-brokers recording their accuracy. The counterpart idiom judgment task tested idiom type (decomposability and familiarity) in both English and Chinese language directions [e.g., English direction “kill two birds with one stone”, answer “一石二鸟”- pin yin: yī shí èr niǎo (figurative meaning in both English and Chinese – “to succeed in achieving two things in a single action”)]. Findings showed that brokers similarly scored in decomposable idioms (D) and non-decomposable (ND) particularly in Chinese. Non-brokers showed significantly differently in both decomposable (D) and non-decomposable (ND) idioms where decomposable idioms (D) scored greater than non-decomposable (ND) in Chinese. Both groups responded more accurately in D than ND in English. Overall, brokers had a higher accuracy than non-brokers and responded more similarly across languages, idiom types (decomposable and non-decomposable), and familiar and unfamiliar idioms. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

No description available.

Portfolio selection theory, developed by Markowitz (1952), is one of the best known and widely applied methods for allocating funds among possible investment choices, where investment decision making is a trade-off between the expected return and risk of the portfolio. Many portfolio selection models have been developed on the basis of Markowitz's theory. Most of them assume that complete investment information is available and that it can be accurately extracted from the historical data. However, this complete information never exists in reality. There are many kinds of ambiguity and vagueness which cannot be dealt with in the historical data but still need to be considered in portfolio selection. For example, to address the issue of uncertainty caused by estimation errors, the robust counterpart approach of Ben-Tal and Nemirovski (1998) has been employed frequently in recent years. Robustification, however, often leads to a more conservative solution. As a consequence, one of the most common critiques against the robust counterpart approach is the excessively pessimistic character of the robust asset allocation. This thesis attempts to develop new approaches to improve on the respective performances of the robust counterpart approach by incorporating additional investment information sources, so that the optimal portfolio can be more reliable and, at the same time, achieve a greater return.

[ES] Ante el desafío que implica la reducción de los efectos del cambio climático, la industria nuclear se ha postulado como una buena alternativa para sustituir la producción de energía eléctrica a partir de combustibles fósiles. No obstante, debe constatar la seguridad de las centrales, para lo que resulta indispensable poder predecir su comportamiento ante escenarios operacionales y accidentales. A tal efecto, y dada la imposibilidad de disponer de datos de planta para analizar estos transitorios, se generan bases de datos en instalaciones a escala reducida a partir de experimentos, siendo necesarios métodos y estrategias de escalado que permitan extrapolar los comportamientos termohidráulicos. Pese a la relevante contribución que suponen los experimentos al campo de la seguridad nuclear, en ocasiones se cuestiona la validez de sus resultados para reproducir el comportamiento de las centrales. Este hecho motiva la ejecución de test counterpart entre distintas instalaciones, que contribuyen a abordar la problemática del escalado, así como a demostrar la adecuación de los códigos termohidráulicos para predecir una respuesta realista de los sistemas. La presente tesis doctoral explora la posibilidad de aumentar el número de experimentos counterpart a partir de la definición de nuevos escenarios y su simulación con el código termohidráulico TRACE5. Con este fin, se han desarrollado modelos de las instalaciones ATLAS y LSTF, y se han estudiado y simulado experimentos counterpart ya existentes entre dichas instalaciones. La identificación de los fenómenos termohidráulicos más significativos, y el análisis de su escalado y distorsión, configuran la base de conocimientos para abordar el diseño de los nuevos test. En la tesis, en particular, se plantea un escenario tipo station blackout para LSTF partiendo de las condiciones iniciales y de contorno de un test previo en ATLAS. La simulación del experimento confirma la idoneidad de ATLAS y LSTF para realizar experimentos counterpart, en los que la fenomenología relevante es similar, y pone de manifiesto algunas limitaciones de estas instalaciones en cuanto a la extrapolabilidad de ciertos fenómenos, debido a las distorsiones originadas por la diferencia de escala y tecnología. / [CA] Davant del desafiament que implica la reducció dels efectes del canvi climàtic, la indústria nuclear s'ha postulat com una bona alternativa per a substituir la producció d'energia elèctrica a partir de combustibles fòssils. No obstant això, ha de constatar la seguretat de les centrals, per al que resulta indispensable poder predir el seu comportament davant d'escenaris operacionals i accidentals. A aquest efecte, i donada la impossibilitat de disposar de dades de planta per a analitzar aquests transitoris, es generen bases de dades en instal·lacions a escala reduïda a partir d'experiments, sent necessaris mètodes i estratègies d'escalat que permeten extrapolar els comportaments termohidràulics. Malgrat la rellevant contribució que suposen els experiments al camp de la seguretat nuclear, de vegades es qüestiona la validesa dels seus resultats per a reproduir el comportament de les centrals. Aquest fet motiva l'execució de test counterpart entre distintes instal·lacions, que contribuïxen a abordar la problemàtica de l'escalat, així com a demostrar l'adequació dels codis termohidràulics per a predir una resposta realista dels sistemes. La present tesi doctoral explora la possibilitat d'augmentar el nombre d'experiments counterpart a partir de la definició de nous escenaris i la seua simulació amb el codi termohidràulic TRACE5. Amb aquest fi, s'han desenvolupat models de les instal·lacions ATLAS i LSTF, i s'han estudiat i simulat experiments counterpart ja existents entre les dites instal·lacions. La identificació dels fenòmens termohidràulics més significatius, i l'anàlisi del seu escalat i distorsió, configuren la base de coneixements per a abordar el disseny dels nous test. En la tesi, en particular, es planteja un escenari tipus station blackout per a LSTF partint de les condicions inicials i de contorn d'un test previ en ATLAS. La simulació de l'experiment confirma la idoneïtat d'ATLAS i LSTF per a realitzar experiments counterpart, en els que la fenomenologia rellevant és semblant, i posa de manifest algunes limitacions d'aquestes instal·lacions quant a l'extrapolabilitat de certs fenòmens, a causa de les distorsions originades per la diferència d'escala i tecnologia. / [EN] Faced with the challenge of reducing the effects of climate change, the nuclear industry has been postulated as a good alternative to replace the production of electricity from fossil fuels. However, it must verify the safety of the plants, for which it is essential to be able to predict their behavior in operational and accidental scenarios. To this end, and given the impossibility of having plant data to analyze these transients, databases are generated in reduced-scale facilities from experiments, being necessary scaling methods and strategies that allow the extrapolation of thermohydraulic behaviors. Despite the relevant contribution that experiments make to the field of nuclear safety, the validity of their results to reproduce the behavior of plants is sometimes questioned. This fact motivates the execution of counterpart tests between different facilities, which contribute to addressing scaling issues, as well as to demonstrate the adequacy of the thermal-hydraulic codes to predict a realistic response of the systems. This Ph.D. Thesis explores the possibility of increasing the number of counterpart experiments based on the definition of new scenarios and their simulation with the TRACE5 thermal-hydraulic code. In order to achieve this goal, models of the ATLAS and LSTF facilities have been developed, and counterpart experiments already existing between these facilities have been studied and simulated. The identification of the most significant thermal-hydraulic phenomena and the analysis of their scaling and distortion, configure the knowledge basis to approach the design of the new tests. In the Thesis, in particular, a station blackout scenario for LSTF based on the initial and boundary conditions of a previous test in ATLAS is proposed. The simulation of the experiment confirms the suitability of ATLAS and LSTF to perform counterpart experiments, in which the relevant phenomenology is similar. Moreover, it reveals some limitations of these facilities in terms of the extrapolability of certain phenomena, due to the distortions caused by the difference in scale and technology. / Lorduy Alós, M. (2022). Análisis termohidráulico de la instalación ATLAS. Aplicaciones de la metodología de escalado [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/181700 / TESIS

The subject of this thesis is the analysis of English translation equivalents of the French pronoun on. This 'personal indefinite pronoun' is the typical means of expressing the general human agent in the French language. Unlike French, English does not have any special device for this purpose. It must employ linguistic devices which have other primary functions than the expression of the general human agent. These devices are explicit or implicit; they were described, for example, by Dušková (Dušková 1999) and Kratochvílová (Kratochvílová 2007). A short study of English translation equivalents of generic on was part of Tláskal's paper (Tláskal 2004). However, the pronoun on is not always generic; its reference can also be indefinite or definite. Since this thesis studies the English counterparts of all three types of on, translation devices were also collected of uses other than generic. This study analyses 200 sentences including the French on and their translation counterparts. The material was excerpted from 4 French novels and their translations into English. The 200 examples are divided into 4 groups according to the type of reference their on has: generic, indefinite, definite, or ambiguous. For each group, the English counterparts are studied. They are divided into 3 classes:...

This MA thesis aims at describing the Czech counterparts to the English copular verbs of sensory perception, presupposing lexical differences due to the unequeal size of the repertoire available to each of the languages. After discussing the approaches of the major grammars of English to copular verbs, the MA thesis analyses the translation equivalents excerpted from the English-Czech section of the multilingual corpus InterCorp. The final set of translation pairs comprises 217 examples, with 50 examples of copular clauses with look, feel, smell, sound and 17 sentences with the predicate taste. The analysis, divided into sections investigating each copula individually, shows that the prevailing means of translating an English copular predication of perception are lexical verbs (in 78% of occurrences), most frequently followed by an adverbial (in 72% of occurrences). In particular, the most usual translation was an intransitive verb followed by an adverb. Verbs with a complementation comprise a low number of occurrences. Similarly, fusion appeared very rarely (usually with the copula feel). Czech copular verbs as counterparts of the English copulas of perception occurred only in the imperfective aspect (být) comprising 9% of all counterparts. Comparing the languages revealed that Czech copulas are...

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:25:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tiago de Aguiar Pereira.pdf: 2374069 bytes, checksum: b56c24a2a2296b3dfb387d452bd95a00 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-08-31 / Verifying that the volume of international investments and the roll of the new social players of international law, that is, the private corporations which invest in several different countries of the world, and, analyzing that the State can no longer by itself protect and achieve the fundamental human rights, more so in the new world context, where new rights become part of the fundamental rights, such as the right to development and the right to technology, it is now clear the necessity to engage the private sector into the search and promotion of human rights. This work will disclose the reasons, how and in what sense the private sector may be obliged to positive participate in this new journey / Verificando-se o volume dos investimentos internacionais e a atuação dos novos atores sociais do direito internacional, ou seja, as empresas privadas que possuem investimentos em diversos países do mundo, e analisando-se que o Estado não mais poderá, sozinho, garantir os direitos humanos fundamentais, ainda mais no novo contexto mundial, em que novos direitos humanos são alçados à categoria de fundamentais, como o direito ao desenvolvimento e o acesso à tecnologia, constata-se a necessidade de o setor privado engajar-se na busca e na promoção dos direitos humanos. Este trabalho desvendará por que, como e em que medida o setor privado pode ser obrigado a participar positivamente dessa nova jornada

Submitted by Joana Azevedo (joanad@id.uff.br) on 2017-08-19T19:22:23Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissert Sabrina Sossai Fernandes.pdf: 1451929 bytes, checksum: 06f57c4e033853834d18e3f51d792641 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Biblioteca da Escola de Engenharia (bee@ndc.uff.br) on 2017-08-22T16:43:48Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissert Sabrina Sossai Fernandes.pdf: 1451929 bytes, checksum: 06f57c4e033853834d18e3f51d792641 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-22T16:43:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissert Sabrina Sossai Fernandes.pdf: 1451929 bytes, checksum: 06f57c4e033853834d18e3f51d792641 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-22 / No Brasil, a década de 80 é marcada pela intensificação do processo de terceirização fazendo com que as empresas, a partir de então, passassem a dar maior importância à gestão de contratos. A atuação do fiscal de contrato torna-se essencial para que as organizações permaneçam competitivas através da contratação de empresas para implementar projetos nas mais diversas áreas. Para tanto, faz-se necessário que o fiscal de contrato esteja inserido em uma organização do trabalho flexível, permitindo ao mesmo adaptá-la a seus desejos e necessidades, conferindo-lhe autonomia a ponto de permitir realizar modificações no modo operatório e nas formas de gestão da atividade de fiscalização. Assim, o presente estudo tem por objetivo analisar a influência da organização do trabalho do fiscal de contrato de uma empresa de energia nos processos de construção de saúde e formação de competências. A metodologia foi adaptada a partir do modelo de instrução ao sósia, aplicada em dois profissionais que atuam como fiscais de contrato de uma empresa de energia. A análise dos dados consistiu na confrontação dos relatos oriundos das instruções ao sósia com a base teórica levantada e com as prescrições inerentes a essa atividade. Os resultados apontam que a atividade de fiscalização de contratos é extremamente prescritiva e o fiscal de contrato se utiliza dessa característica como mecanismo para evitar o processo de adoecimento. Além disso, o fiscal de contrato precisa de um coletivo de trabalho para compartilhar as responsabilidades e atribuições entre o coletivo de trabalho. Esse compartilhamento cria estratégias para a construção da saúde e proteção contra o adoecimento, assim como permite diluir um pouco sua carga de trabalho. / The 1980s in Brazil are marked by the intensified outsourcing, making corporations pay more attention to contracts management. The contract inspector’s work became essential for the organization to remain competitive by hiring firms to implement projects in several areas. To that, the contract inspector’s work organization must be flexible, adjusting it to his/her desires and needs and granting him/her autonomy enough to change the operations and ways of managing the activity of oversight. This paper aims to analyze the influence of the contract inspector’s work organization of an electric power company on the processes of health construction and competence building. The methodology was adapted from a model of instruction to the counterpart applied on two professionals that work as contract inspectors in an electric power company. Data analysis consisted in comparing the reports from the instructions to the counterpart with the theoretical grounds surveyed and the prescriptions inherent to this activity. Results suggest that the contracts oversight activity is extremely prescriptive, and the contract inspector uses this trait as a mechanism to prevent the diseasing process. Moreover, the contract inspector needs a work collective to share responsibilities and duties. This sharing entails strategies to build health and protect against diseasing, and also allows the inspectors to dilute their workload to some extent.