M.Phil. (Economics) / The study of certain minerals and their relationship to economic indicators requires not only research to establish the economic significance of these commodities, but also the use of statistical techniques to place the data in context by analogy with cyclical events and changing economic circumstances. It is inevitable that a great deal of information will be generated, and that extensive use must be made of the computer throughout the work. The approach used involves the extensive use of graphical and statistical methods to demonstrate the market relationships with time and with selected economic indicators, of six non-ferrous minerals, lead, nickel, tin, copper, aluminium and zinc. These minerals were selected because they represent a good cross-section of the metals that find wide applications in industry, and are economically important. Comparative analyses are made of South Africa as a major producer and exporter of minerals, and of this country's main trading partners, West Germany, Japan and the USA, the major consumers and importers of minerals in the Western World. The statistical information for this study covers a 30 year period, namely 1953 to 1982, and is examined on the premise that general economic variables are causal factors in determining the cyclical behaviour of the market for minerals. Therefore it is obligatory to first examine and explain the nature of business and market cycles and events in the Republic of South Africa, the USA, West Germany, and Japan, and then to relate these to the supply and consumption of the minerals concerned. The relationships between production of minerals for use as raw materials, the production of refined mineral products and the consumption, prices, and stocks of these commodities are explored, and the behaviour of these parameters is explained by reference to familiar and well-used economic indicators such as the Gross National Product (GNP) and the Consumer Price Index(CPI). Subtleties in the relationships between the selected minerals and economic indicators are presented. Two.. fundamental approaches, graphical and statistical, are used in the formal analysis of the problem of quantifcation of the significance of minerals as economic indicators. Simultaneous enhancement, both graphically and statistically, between the parameters has important implications regarding the conclusions drawn in this thesis. A central issue is the statistical evaluation of all the possible combinations of the selected minerals and economic indicators, based on correlation coefficients. Promising results are classified on the basis of high levels of correlation between the various parameters. The consistency with which a mineral achieves high correlation coefficients is defined by a scoring system, whereby sequences of correlation coefficient values are totalled and averaged. Cause and effect cannot simply be assumed, nor can it be proved by statistics. However, statistical verification procedures provide a great deal of assistance in the interpretation of correlation coefficients. The results obtained from the statistical analysis show that some mineral commodities are more closely linked to overall economic conditions than others. These are aluminium, copper and lead...

by Chow Tin-tai. / Bibliogrpahy : leaves 42-44 / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1984

Xiao, Yao. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 32-33). / Abstract also in Chinese. / Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.Page 5 / Chapter 2. --- Literature Review --- p.Page 8 / Chapter 3. --- Model --- p.Page 12 / Chapter 4. --- Data --- p.Page 15 / Chapter 5. --- Regression results and comparisons --- p.Page 19 / Chapter 6. --- Sub-group tests --- p.Page 26 / Chapter 7. --- Conclusion --- p.Page 30 / Chapter 8. --- References --- p.Page 32 / Chapter 9. --- Appendix --- p.Page 34

For at least a century academics and governmental researchers have been developing measures that would aid them in understanding income distributions, their differences with respect to geographic regions, and changes over time periods. It is a fascinating area due to a number of reasons, one of them being the fact that different measures, or indices, are needed to reveal different features of income distributions. The existing indices, the Gini index, the Bonferroni index and the Zenga index are intrinsically linked each other, whereas their emphasis are laid differently. One of the limitations of the existing indices is that they provide an overall measurement for the whole society and cannot distinguish the distributions with the same index value. This thesis works on the extension of the three indices and proposes a new index which can make comparison between any groups with different income level, for example, the richest group and the poorest group. The new index satisfies the axioms of inequality measures. The statistical inferential results of the new index are derived and their performance are tested by a simulation study and the results are used to analyze the income data of Hong Kong from Census and Statistics Department, HKSAR. / 近一個世紀學術界和政府間的研究人員一直致力於創造和發展可以幫助理解不同國家地區收入分布和差異的測度。很多原因使之成為令人感興趣的研究領域，需要不同測度或指數用以理解收入分布的不同特征便是原因之一。Gini指數，Bonferroni 指數和Zenga指數等現有指數在本質上相互聯系，但側重點各有不同。可以對整個社會有一個整體測度而不能對具有相同指數的收入分布進行區分是現有指數的共同缺陷。本論文基於以上三種指數提出一種新的指數可以在不同收入水平間進行比較，例如，最富有階層和最貧困階層。新指數滿足收入不均測度的相關性質。本論文推導出新指數的相關統計推理結果並用數值模擬實驗進行了測試，最終用其結果對香港政府統計處的人口普查數據進行了分析。 / Chen, Teng. / Thesis M.Phil. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2015. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-61). / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on 05, October, 2016). / Detailed summary in vernacular field only.

Resource dependencies have increased substantially at colleges and universities over the years due to economic declines, recessionary periods, and decreased funding from state allocations. The purpose of this study was to advance an understanding of private support for higher education as a source of supplementary funding. As the environment continues to become more competitive for outside resources, institutions of higher education can benefit from more substantive and objective research on private voluntary support to better meet their growing needs for additional resources. Effective financial management requires a greater understanding of the expected size of financial contributions to assist with strategic planning and managing expenditure demands. This is especially true during periods of broad economic downturn when many institutions' revenue sources simultaneously suffer economic shocks through reduced endowment earnings; reductions in state appropriations; and external pressures by students, parents, and other stakeholders to keep tuition rates low. The same economic pressures that affect institutional revenue sources also affect the receipt of charitable contributions. Thus, the relationship between charitable donations and the economy is central to understanding whether these contributions help to stabilize the volatility of institutional revenues. This study examined private giving data reported to the Council for Aid to Education's annual Voluntary Support of Education survey from 1987 to 2012. Only gifts contributed by alumni, foundations, corporations, other individuals, and parents to public and private baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral institutions were considered. Giving data were adjusted through the Consumer Price Index, standardized by enrollment, and correlated with three economic indicators: Average Duration of Unemployment, Employees on Nonagricultural Payrolls, and the Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Price Index. The statistical analysis selected to examine each of the four research questions was multiple linear regression used to discover to what relationships exist between economic indicators and private giving to higher education by institutional type, institutional classification, and giving source. This study revealed that differences in private giving exist when correlated to economic indicators. Based on these results, it appears that charitable funding directed to support higher education institutions are based to some extent on resource providers' ability to expend support at particular times in the economic environment. As observed throughout all four research questions, the Average Duration of Unemployment indicator had a larger impact on charitable giving to higher education than did the Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Price Index indicator. The results of the Fisher's r to z transformations indicated that the regression model for alumni giving to public higher education institutions was determined to be the statistically strongest prediction model, followed by the regression model for foundation giving to public institutions. While fundraising continues to be only one source of additional funding, it cannot be ignored that the generosity of private donors since the earliest days of this country has helped to create, support and sustain the vital functions of colleges and universities. While the pursuit of private support may have been left primarily to the private institutions over the years, more recent developments in state and government funding patterns to higher education make the constant search for additional support sources a reality for today's public higher education institutions as well. Academic leadership must be cognizant that fiscal flexibility in times of economic prosperity as well as in times of economic downturns can be supplemented by the philanthropic intent of those interested in not only an institution's presence or prestige but also by its impact on students, families, communities, customers, and the economy. Institutions of higher education and their institutional advancement programs can greatly benefit from research studies that provide additional substantive and objective research.

Background: Economic and Business cycle indicators are used when predicting a country’s Gross Domestic Products, GDP. During recent time, Purchasing Managers Index and its ability to signal changes in the economy have received attention. It provides inconsistent signals since the financial crisis in 2008. Decision makers in the society rely on macroeconomic forecast when implementing strategic decisions. It is therefore necessary for indicators to provide correct signals in relation to GDP. Previous research about indicators’ stability is mostly conducted in the U.S. According to the authors’ knowledge, scarce research has been made in Sweden. The area lacks observations where a wider range of indicators is included to get a broader perspective of the economy. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine Swedish indicators and observe if they are stable and provide accurate, reliable and consistent signals in relation to GDP growth. Furthermore, the financial crisis in 2008 is used as a benchmark when observing stability and indicators’ predictive ability. Method: Ten indicators within the categories financial, survey-based and real economy indicators are selected. Quarterly data with a time period of maximum 1993-2013 are analyzed. The statistical tests conducted include Correlation, Cross-Correlation and Simple Linear Regression, an interaction term is also included to account for the financial crisis. Conclusion: The results show that nine out of ten indicators are unstable. Purchasing Managers Index show largest changes compared to other indicators. Industry Production index is the best performing indicator. When it comes to the categories; survey-based, financial and real-economy indicators, no category overall provide stability.

We attempt to answer the following key questions: What are the revaluation effects and the impacts on the cost of capital, volatility, and correlation with world market returns from stock market liberalization in emerging market countries? These questions have been studied extensively at the market-level, i.e. using country indices, but not at the firm level. In the market-level analysis, there is increasing concern whether the country indices are proper means to answer those questions, for example they may not represent the real holdings of foreign portfolio investors after liberalization. Indeed, foreign portfolio investors are known to prefer investment in large and well-known firms. Hence, the opening of capital markets should have a differential impact across securities depending on foreign investors' demand. In order to take into account the potentially different impacts caused by foreign investors' demand, we use individual firm data as well as market-level indices. Our analysis is based on the cross-sectional and time-series panel regression method. / Our test results using country indices show statistically and economically significant revaluation effects, and increases in the cost of capital. While the stock market volatility increases, its correlation with world market return does not change after stock market liberalization. More important than these market-level findings, we report significantly different impacts of stock market liberalization, based on firm size, which is used as a proxy for foreign investors' demand. Large firms tend to exhibit large revaluation effects, insignificant change in the cost of capital, small increases in volatility, and increases in correlation with the world market from liberalization. Small firms show small revaluation effects, increases in the cost of capital, large increases in volatility and decreases in correlation with world market returns after liberalization. Our results have important implications for international investors seeking to manage their global exposure as well as for policy makers considering capital market liberalization.

Thesis (PhD) -- University of Canberra, 2007. / Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of Canberra, April 2007. Bibliography: leaves 220-253.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Tasmania, 2003. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 11, 2005). Includes bibliographical references (p. 373-393).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-79).