Historians have traditionally emphasized the sharp differences between Herbert Hoover’s vision of an associational state and the activism of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. This dissertation highlights an important area of continuity between the economic policies espoused by Hoover—during his tenures as Secretary of Commerce and President—and Roosevelt, focusing on federal efforts to promote the nascent aviation industry from the end of World War I until the passage of the Civil Aeronautics Act in 1938. These efforts were successful, and offer a unique arena in which to document the concrete gains wrought by Hoover’s associationalist ideology and Roosevelt’s New Deal. Moreover, both Hoover’s corporatist policies and New Deal efforts to create aviation infrastructure—largely through the auspices of public works agencies like the Public Works Administration and Works Progress Administration—form a striking example of the government’s ability to successfully foster the development of a new industry, even in the midst of the Great Depression. Significantly, both men’s efforts represented an alternative to nationalization, the path taken by virtually every European nation during the era. This period thus offers the opportunity to examine how both presidents’ aviation policies cohere with their larger visions of government’s proper relationship to the economy, to compare and contrast associationalism and New Deal, and to elucidate aviation’s role in promoting American economic development. During these years government actions expanded from having literally no engagement with commercial aviation to subsidizing airmail routes, creating a regulatory infrastructure to promote safe operations by licensing pilots, inspecting aircraft, approving manufacturing operations, and aggressively promoting flying to the American people. Contextualized by the American public’s well-documented enthusiasm for flying—particularly after Charles Lindbergh’s famous New York-to-Paris flight in 1927—these federal actions created America’s modern air transport network, culminating in the passage of the seminal Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, the construction and improvement of almost a thousand airports around the country, and the growth of a core group of airlines, including United, Delta, and American, that still dominate commercial flying today.

Many venture capitalists (VCs) use the “VC method” of valuation where they use judgment to estimate a probability of successful exit while determining the ownership share to demand in exchange for investing in a venture. However, prior models are not aligned with the “VC method” because they do not consider private information about entrepreneurial characteristics, the primary drivers of the above probability, and consequently do not model judgment. The three main chapters of this thesis—one theoretical, one simulation, and one empirical study—examine the venture capital deal process in sync with the “VC method.” Chapter 2 is theoretical and develops a principal-agent model of venture capital deal process incorporating double-sided moral hazard and one-sided private information. The VC is never fully informed about the entrepreneur’s disutility of effort in spite of due diligence checks, so takes on a belief about the latter’s performance in the funded venture to determine the offer. This study suggests that there exists a critical point in the VC’s belief—and correspondingly in the VC’s ownership share—that maximizes the total return to the two parties. It also uncovers optimal revision strategies for the VC to adopt if the offer is rejected where it is shown that the VC should develop a strong advisory capacity and minimize time constraints to facilitate investment. Chapter 3 simulates venture capital deals as per the theoretical model and confirms the existence of critical points in the VC’s belief and ownership share that maximize the returns to the two parties and their total return. Particularly, the VC’s return (in excess of his or her return from an alternate investment) peaks for a moderate ownership share for the VC. Since private information with the entrepreneur would preclude the VC from knowing these critical points a priori, the VC should demand a moderate ownership share to stay close to such a peak. Using data from simulations, we also generate predictions about the properties of the venture capital deal space—notably: (a) Teamwork is crucial to financing; and (b) If the VC is highly confident about the entrepreneur’s performance, it would work to the latter’s advantage. Chapter 4 reports the results from our survey of eight seasoned VCs affiliated with seven firms operating in Canada, USA, and UK, where our findings received a high degree of support.

In 1990’s, the circumstances of being a contestant on a popular game show were published in a trendy question and answer column in Parade Magazine. If contestant switched from the initial choice to a second choice offer by the host, would the chances of winning the desired prize be increase? The columnist’s response to the reader sparked a good deal of controversy among mathematicians. Shortly after the publication of this answer, articles appeared in various mathematical publications some supporting and some refuting the columnist’s answer. This document reports the results of research into the controversy generated by some of the probability problems used on Let’s Make a Deal game show. Using a variety of approaches and assumption, the author attempts to formulate mathematical proof to explain the correct answer to the contestant’s question, “Should I switch?” / text

Atsisakymo bendradarbiauti bylose taikytinų sąlygų susisteminimas ir jų ryšio su skirtingomis atsisakymo bendradarbiauti formomis nustatymas, manytina, yra esminė prielaida siekiant nubrėžti pagrįstą ribą tarp dominuojančio ūkio subjekto teisėto atsisakymo bendradarbiauti ir piktnaudžiavimo dominuojančia padėtimi. Atitinkamai magistro baigiamaje darbe, priešingai paplitusiai kazuistinei atsisakymo bendradarbiauti atvejų analizei, apibendrintai įvardijamos ir nagrinėjamos sąlygos, reikšmingos sprendžiant ar atsisakymas bendradarbiauti konkrečiu atveju laikytinas piktnaudžiavimu dominuojančia padėtimi. Magistro baigiamajame darbe patvirtinama hipotezė, kad visose atsisakymo bendradarbiauti bylose, įskaitant esminių išteklių ir atsisakymo suteikti intelektinės nuosavybės teisių licenciją atvejus, išpildytinos dvi kertinės – prašomo tiekti ištekliaus būtinumo ir konkurencijos pašalinimo – sąlygos. Daroma išvada, kad tik patenkinus šias dvi sąlygas galima tolesnė atsisakymo bendradarbiauti situacijos analizė sprendžiant, ar konkrečiu atveju ūkio subjekto atsisakymas bendradarbiauti laikytinas piktnaudžiavimu dominuojančia padėtimi. Darbe taip pat prieinama prie išvados, kad konkurencijos teisėje nėra konceptualaus skirtumo tarp esminių išteklių, atsisakymo suteikti intelektinės nuosavybės teisių licenciją ir kitų atsisakymo bendradarbiauti bylų tiek įvardijant atitinkamas bylas kaip atstovaujančias vienai iš atitinkamų doktrinų, tiek taikomų sąlygų atžvilgiu. Magistro baigiamąjį... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The essential premise when drawing a line between the legitimate refusal to deal by a dominant undertaking and its abuse of a dominant position is to file the conditions to be satisfied in refusal to deal cases and to understand their relations with different forms of refusal to deal. Therefore contrary to the common incidental analysis of refusal to deal cases, in this master thesis the conditions which are significant when deciding if refusal to deal in a specific case is to be considered abuse of a dominant position are identified and analyzed as a whole. In a master thesis the hypothesis is confirmed that in all refusal to deal cases, including essential facilities and refusal to licence intellectual property rights cases, two crucial conditions are to be satisfied – indispensability of an input and elimination of competition. The conclusion is drawn that only after satisfying these two conditions further analysis of a refusal to deal situation shall be carried on in order to decide if a refusal to deal by an undertaking is to be considered an abuse of a dominant position. The conclusion also drawn is that there is no conceptual distinction between essential facilities, refusal to licence intellectual property rights and other refusal to deal cases when attributing them to one of the respective doctrines and when identifying the conditions to be satisfied. Master thesis consists of two parts. First part analyses the concept of refusal to deal cases, different forms which... [to full text]

Many venture capitalists (VCs) use the “VC method” of valuation where they use judgment to estimate a probability of successful exit while determining the ownership share to demand in exchange for investing in a venture. However, prior models are not aligned with the “VC method” because they do not consider private information about entrepreneurial characteristics, the primary drivers of the above probability, and consequently do not model judgment. The three main chapters of this thesis—one theoretical, one simulation, and one empirical study—examine the venture capital deal process in sync with the “VC method.” Chapter 2 is theoretical and develops a principal-agent model of venture capital deal process incorporating double-sided moral hazard and one-sided private information. The VC is never fully informed about the entrepreneur’s disutility of effort in spite of due diligence checks, so takes on a belief about the latter’s performance in the funded venture to determine the offer. This study suggests that there exists a critical point in the VC’s belief—and correspondingly in the VC’s ownership share—that maximizes the total return to the two parties. It also uncovers optimal revision strategies for the VC to adopt if the offer is rejected where it is shown that the VC should develop a strong advisory capacity and minimize time constraints to facilitate investment. Chapter 3 simulates venture capital deals as per the theoretical model and confirms the existence of critical points in the VC’s belief and ownership share that maximize the returns to the two parties and their total return. Particularly, the VC’s return (in excess of his or her return from an alternate investment) peaks for a moderate ownership share for the VC. Since private information with the entrepreneur would preclude the VC from knowing these critical points a priori, the VC should demand a moderate ownership share to stay close to such a peak. Using data from simulations, we also generate predictions about the properties of the venture capital deal space—notably: (a) Teamwork is crucial to financing; and (b) If the VC is highly confident about the entrepreneur’s performance, it would work to the latter’s advantage. Chapter 4 reports the results from our survey of eight seasoned VCs affiliated with seven firms operating in Canada, USA, and UK, where our findings received a high degree of support.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1958. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 1017-1096).

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: History is often manipulated to achieve contemporary goals. Writing or narrating history is not merely a recoding or a narration of objective facts, but a value-laden process often conforming to the goals of the writer or narrator. This study examines the ways in which the history of the Mabudu chiefdom has been manipulated to achieve political goals. Through an analysis of the history of the Mabudu chiefdom and the manner in which that history has been represented, this study illustrates that history is not merely a collection of verifiable facts, but rather a collection of stories open to interpretation and manipulation. In the middle of the eighteenth century the Mabudu or Mabudu-Tembe was the strongest political and economic unit in south-east Africa. Their authority only declined with state formation amongst the Swazi and Zulu in the early nineteenth century. Although the Zulu never defeated the Mabudu, the Mabudu were forced to pay tribute to the Zulu. In the 1980s the Prime Minister of KwaZulu, Mangusotho Buthelezi, used this fact as proof that the people of Maputaland (Mabudu-land) should be part of the Zulu nation-state. By the latter part of the nineteenth century Britain, Portugal and the South African Republic laid claim to Maputaland. In 1875 the French President arbitrated in the matter and drew a line along the current South Africa/ Mozambique border that would divide the British and French spheres of influence in south-east Africa. The line cut straight through the Mabudu chiefdom. In 1897 Britain formally annexed what was then called AmaThongaland as an area independent of Zululand, which was administered as ‘trust land’ for the Mabudu people. When deciding on a place for the Mabudu in its Grand Apartheid scheme, the South African Government ignored the fact that the Mabudu were never defeated by the Zulu or incorporated into the Zulu Empire. Until the late 1960s the government recognised the people of Maputaland as ethnically Tsonga, but in 1976 Maputaland was incorporated into the KwaZulu Homeland and the people classified as Zulu. In 1982 the issue was raised again when the South African Government planned to cede Maputaland to Swaziland. The government and some independent institutions launched research into the historic and ethnic ties of the people of Maputaland. Based on the same historical facts, contrasting claims were made about the historical and ethnic ties of the people of Maputaland. Maputaland remained part of KwaZulu and is still claimed by the Zulu king as part of his kingdom. The Zulu use the fact that the Mabudu paid tribute in the 1800s as evidence of their dominance. The Mabudu, on the other hand, use the same argument to prove their independence, only stating that tribute never meant subordination, but only the installation of friendly relations. This is a perfect example of how the same facts can be interpreted differently to achieve different goals and illustrates that history cannot be equated with objective fact.

The diploma thesis covers partial area of investment evaluation. It's main objective is to test the possible application of the real options theory on the Reverse Termination Fee valuation. This thesis considers the Reverse Termination Fee as a real option to abandon project and evaluates it using a binomial pricing model based on the volatility of the stock market. The result of this valuation is a price map. The map itself is analyzed together with the market analysis of announced trades using this fee as a deal protection. The conclusion of this thesis is formed based on observed trends and correlation between partial outputs of the binomial pricing model and market analysis.

From 1930 to 1955, Amon Carter, publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, exerted his power to create modern Fort Worth. Carter used his stature as the publisher of the city's major newspaper to build a modern city out of this livestock center. Between 1930 and 1955, Carter lobbied successfully for New Deal funds for Fort Worth, persuaded Consolidated Aircraft to build an airplane plant in the city, and convinced Burlington Railways to stay in the city. He also labored unsuccessfully to have the Trinity River Canal built and to secure a General Motors plant for Fort Worth. These efforts demonstrate that Carter was indeed the founder of modern Fort Worth.

The period of 1936-1964 in the Democratic Party was one of intense factional conflict between the rising Northern liberals, buoyed by FDR’s presidency, and the Southern conservatives who had dominated the party for a half-century. Intertwined prominently with the struggle for civil rights, this period illustrates the complex battles that held the fate of other issues such as labor, foreign policy, and economic ideology in the balance. This thesis aims to explain how and why the Northern liberal faction came to defeat the Southern conservatives in the Democratic Party through a multi-faceted approach examining organizations, strategy, arenas of competition, and political opportunities of each faction. I conclude that an alliance between the labor movement and African-Americans formed the basis on which the liberal faction was able to organize and build its strength, eventually surpassing the Southern Democratic faction by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This passage forced the realignment of Southern states as Southern Democrats sided with Republicans at the national level. However, the party position changes that precipitated liberal Democratic support for the bill began much earlier, starting in the 1930s, another key conclusion of this thesis.