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This research describes a proposed accelerated testing procedure for evaluating pavement patching materials under the simulation of traffic loading and environmental conditions such as freeze-thaw cycles. Potholes were constructed in concrete blocks with different tilt angles (13¢ª, 17¢ª and 22¢ª) to simulate normal and shear wheel surface stresses. Different patching materials, including hot mix, cold mix and commercial cold patch were tested. Various cyclic loads accompanied with cycles of freezing and thawing were applied to the patch. Patch performance is assessed by visual monitoring of the surface distresses and measuring surface elevation for rutting and shoving determination. Applied vertical loads varied between 2,250 and 4,500 pounds at a frequency of 2 Hz. Patch performance comparisons were made as a function of the patch mix, applied load, number of applied loads, frequency of loading, and applied freeze/thaw cycles. The new method of accelerated testing is successful in differentiating the performance of good and poor quality mixes. The proposed test could be used as a reliable method by state highway agencies for establishing acceptance criteria for selecting pothole patching mixtures.

Since 1993, the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) has been the dominant form of large-scale infrastructure procurement used by National Health Service (NHS) organisations in the United Kingdom. As of April 2011, 123 PFI projects for new hospital facilities had been agreed between NHS organisations and private sector consortia, representing privately financed investment of £15.9 billion (in 2010 prices), and a projected long-term cost to the NHS of £70.5 billion. Eight additional hospital PFI schemes were being procured or prepared for tender as of April 2011, with an estimated capital investment value of £2 billion. Despite the financial significance of PFI projects to the NHS, the literature has not assessed whether, or the extent to which, the returns expected by investors are excessive. This gap in the evidence base is highly problematic. The presence of excess returns to investors will have an impact on the cost efficiency and affordability of PFI projects, and consequently the financial sustainability of the NHS organisations that pay for them. This thesis evaluates the returns that investors in NHS-commissioned PFI projects expect to earn with reference to the scale of risk being borne by these investors, and explores the sources of the identified excess via an examination of the structure and competitiveness of the PFI financing markets. The study therefore comprises two substantial empirical components. The first draws on the financial models of 11 NHS PFI projects to describe and evaluate the return to investors. Cost of capital benchmarks, constructed on the basis of the Capital Asset Pricing Model, are used as comparators to assess the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) for the 11 projects, and as discount rates to calculate Benefit-Cost Ratios. Both measures agree on the presence of significant excess returns for investors on each project – with large “spreads” between the IRRs and the corresponding cost of capital benchmarks, and high Benefit-Cost Ratio scores. The second empirical component provides an analysis of the structure and competitiveness of the market for private finance. Two indicators of this market’s structure – concentration and entry/exit rates – in addition to the dynamics of the procurement process are the focus of measurement and evaluation. It is demonstrated that: (a) the market for private finance in this sector is an oligopoly, (b) market share is highly concentrated when assessed against UK regulatory standards, and (c) churn and market penetration rates are extremely low. Constraints on the competitiveness of the market are identified as: (i) the low number of bidders; and (ii) the extensive period of non-competitive bidding in the final phase of the procurement process, in which the output specifications of projects are materially altered. The thesis concludes that recent reforms to the procurement process have been ineffective, and the problems underpinning a lack of competitive pressure in procurement may be insuperable, given the inherent complexity of this form of investment and the need to secure external financing. For the NHS, this source of cost inefficiency implies substantial opportunity costs (i.e. foregone opportunities for additional capital investment) and excess costs (i.e. a higher than necessary burden on the revenue budget). A stronger regulatory regime, incorporating regulation of the profitability of PFI projects for investors, is required to minimise the threat posed by this policy to the financial sustainability of the NHS.

The Master thesis is valuating advantages of apartment purchase including its financing against living in rental. Theoretical part elaborates individual phases of investment project valuation beginning with the financial plan and initial investment costs determination and proceeding to valuation itself, e.g. using NPV or IRR methods. Practical part valuates advantages of apartment purchase against living in rental on the specific example based on the form of financing. The work also includes sensitivity analysis elaborating sensitivity of financial models on the key input parameters.

As biotecnologias reprodutivas têm uma importante relação com os resultados econômicos dos rebanhos leiteiros. Sua adoção implica o investimento de quantidades conhecidas de recursos, porém, há uma clara dificuldade por parte de produtores em avaliarem o retorno desses investimentos. O objetivo deste estudo foi desenvolver um modelo de simulação que permita analisar os impactos do uso de biotecnologias reprodutivas sobre o desempenho econômico de rebanhos leiteiros. Com o auxílio de uma planilha eletrônica do Microsoft® Office Excel®, foi desenvolvido um modelo determinístico, em função de parâmetros produtivos, reprodutivos e econômicos, com o fim de representar a conformação do rebanho em períodos de 21 dias ao longo de 25 anos. Foram realizadas simulações de quatro cenários de aplicação de biotecnologias: inseminação artificial com sêmen convencional (IAC) e com sêmen sexado (IAS), inseminação artificial em tempo fixo com sêmen convencional (IATFC) e com sêmen sexado (IATFS). Finalmente, foram calculados para cada cenário o Payback, o valor presente líquido (VPL) e a taxa interna de retorno (TIR) como indicadores da viabilidade econômica. Sob as condições simuladas, observou-se que o cenário com melhor desempenho econômico foi IATFS (Payback 3 anos; VPL R$ 2.558.490,80; e TIR 42,5% aa), seguido de IATFC (Payback 3 anos; VPL R$ 2.357.639,40; e TIR 42,9% aa). O cenário IAC apresentou valores superiores (Payback 3 anos; VPL de R$ 759.353,90; e TIR 29,3% aa), quando comparado com IAS (Payback 4 anos; VPL R$ 676.870,90; e TIR 23,3% aa). O modelo desenvolvido neste estudo permite auxiliar o processo de tomada de decisão na seleção da estratégia reprodutiva mais adequada com base em parâmetros específicos. / Reproductive biotechnologies have an economic impact on dairy herds. Its implementation requires the investment of known amounts of resources; however, the producers still have a clear difficulty in assessing the profitability of these investments. The aim of this study was to develop a simulation model to analyze how the use of reproductive biotechnologies impact on the economic performance of dairy herds. Using a Microsoft® Office Excel® spreadsheet, a deterministic model was created considering productive, reproductive and economic parameters, in order to represent the herd conformation in 21-day periods over 25 years. Then, four reproductive programs were simulated: artificial insemination using conventional semen (AIC) or sex-sorted semen (AIS) and fixed-time artificial insemination using conventional semen (FTAIC) or sex-sorted semen (FTAIS). Finally, indicators of economic viability: Payback, net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) were calculated for each reproductive program. Under the simulated conditions, it was observed that the program with the best economic performance was FTAIS (Payback 3 years; NPV R$ 2,558,490.80; and IRR 42.5% per annum), followed by FTAIC (Payback 3 years; NPV R$ 2,357,639.40; and IRR 42.9% per annum). The AIC program presented higher economic returns (Payback 3 years, NPV R$ 759,353.90, and IRR 29.3% per annum) when compared with AIS (Payback 4 years; NPV R$ 676,870.90, and IRR 23.3% per annum). The mathematical model developed in this study can assists the decision-making process to select the most appropriate reproductive strategy based on specific parameters.

長久以來，不動產一直是國人偏好的投資工具之一，但國內房地產市場近20幾年來歷經三次飆漲之後，房價仍然居高不下，造成一般民眾多存有住宅價格「只漲不跌」及「高報酬率」之預期，然此預期是否正確，背後隱含著一般人對投資報酬率之計算方式是否清楚。 本文研究主要目的是希建構一套總體住宅投資報酬率計算模式及報酬率矩陣，藉此分析不同買賣時機、持有期間、類型之報酬率與風險有何差異。由於資料與時間上之限制，我們以台北市中古屋及預售屋為範圍，一般購屋民眾為研究對象，研究時間則涵蓋民國60年~82年。首先探討各種計算住宅投資報酬率方式之合理性，其次建構本研究之計算模式，並利用個案比較各種計算方式之差異性，再以IRR法建立台北市總體住宅投資報酬率矩陣，最後並與其他投資工具作一比較。由於本研究係依齊一之標準住宅屬性透過特徵價格模型重新計算房價，以此為基礎，再計算總體住宅的投資報酬率。故由此計算出來的報酬率，背後隱含著是在一定住宅品質控制下求得，且對於成交住宅具有普通代表性，故有助於不同買賣時機及持有期間報酬率之比較分析，並消弭住宅品質差異對投資報酬率的影響。 本研究實證結果顯示： 一、僅以價差計算年平均投資報酬率，其值高達22.11%，標準差為12.23%；以IRR法計算的報酬率僅有11.37%，標準差則為12.14%，顯示一般人計算報酬率時，確有高估報酬率的傾向。 二、預售屋在預售期間投資買賣，由於不必負擔各種稅費及資金成本，年平均ROE可達74.99%，遠超過中古屋之獲利率。 三、78年實為景氣重要分水點，不論何時買進，只要在78年脫手，皆可得到相當高的利潤。 四、投資住宅最佳持有期間為5年以上，持有5年以後之報酬率已趨於穩定狀態，上漲空間不大，但持有期間越長時，報酬率變動之風險亦趨小。 五、同樣投資一年，住宅年平均投資報酬率遠低於股票、基金及定存利率。

The objective of this thesis is to develop a decision support tool to assess the feasibility of a hydro electrical power plant (HEPP) investment option by estimating its profitability under various scenarios. The decision support tool may help the decision makers to understand critical parameters that affect the internal rate of return (IRR) of a HEPP investment, create realistic scenarios by assigning different values to these parameters and monitor profitability under various scenarios. The information and the assumptions to construct the proposed decision support tool have been collected by conducting interviews with experts and its reliability has been tested by a real case study.

In the master final work problems of real investments validity assessment are formulated, theoretical methods of assessment of investments efficiency of Lithuanian and foreign authors are analyzed and systemized, advantages and disadvantages of separate methods evaluating real investments are presented, the position of the governmental policy concerning investment issues and legal regulation of this sphere are analyzed. Planned investments of “PAJŪRIO ALKA“ JSC were analyzed using the methods of investment payback period, profitability of the total invested capital and share capital, internal rate of return, net present value and employing their modified forms. The analysis of methods confirms the author’s formulated hypothesis of the scientific research that not separate assessed indicators influence decisions made in the company concerning investments validity, but consistency of calculated indicators and their reciprocity. Furthermore, the model of assessment of investment projects inside the company based upon consistency of coordination of the main financial efficiency assessment indicators is proposed.

Determining which countries are the most financially attractive for businesses to build wind projects is a matter of serious discussion that lacks succinct commentary. To fill this void this paper employs an empirical study of the wind subsidy support systems used by Germany, France, Spain and Sweden. This paper is based on the premise that businesses prefer to build where they can find the highest overall remuneration for their production; recognizing also the need for stability in those payments and businesses’ strong preference for larger early returns on their investments. The paper also analyzes the results and gives recommendations on possible improvements to each country’s system and where businesses should invest.In order to reach their 20-20-20 E.U. goals (European Commission, 2010), countries are encouraging the creation of new green energy projects, and this encouragement is frequently in the form of subsidies. The subsidy types used by the countries reviewed are feed-in tariffs, premiums and a certificate quota system. Each country’s support history is detailed along with the criteria of their respective systems.The countries systems are then compared using actual income and production data for four criteria at three different production levels – 100 percent, 75 percent and 150 percent of actual – and at two different lengths of time, 7 and 20 years. The first criteria of the comparison is total income, the second for variability of payments, the third for timing of payments and the final is the stability of the system itself.The results of this research show that the German and French systems are superior at all levels for their low variability in payment prices and in making larger payments to businesses earlier. They are also generally superior at lower and actual production levels for total income amounts. However, the Spanish options are superior at high levels of production for income and have middling variability levels. The Swedish system generally has the highest levels of variability for the lowest levels of income. Only the Spanish system is considered to be unstable in its political support of subsidies. Based upon the preceding findings are given to each country to improve their relative weaknesses. Also recommendations are given to businesses based upon the quality of the locations wind resources.

As biotecnologias reprodutivas têm uma importante relação com os resultados econômicos dos rebanhos leiteiros. Sua adoção implica o investimento de quantidades conhecidas de recursos, porém, há uma clara dificuldade por parte de produtores em avaliarem o retorno desses investimentos. O objetivo deste estudo foi desenvolver um modelo de simulação que permita analisar os impactos do uso de biotecnologias reprodutivas sobre o desempenho econômico de rebanhos leiteiros. Com o auxílio de uma planilha eletrônica do Microsoft® Office Excel®, foi desenvolvido um modelo determinístico, em função de parâmetros produtivos, reprodutivos e econômicos, com o fim de representar a conformação do rebanho em períodos de 21 dias ao longo de 25 anos. Foram realizadas simulações de quatro cenários de aplicação de biotecnologias: inseminação artificial com sêmen convencional (IAC) e com sêmen sexado (IAS), inseminação artificial em tempo fixo com sêmen convencional (IATFC) e com sêmen sexado (IATFS). Finalmente, foram calculados para cada cenário o Payback, o valor presente líquido (VPL) e a taxa interna de retorno (TIR) como indicadores da viabilidade econômica. Sob as condições simuladas, observou-se que o cenário com melhor desempenho econômico foi IATFS (Payback 3 anos; VPL R$ 2.558.490,80; e TIR 42,5% aa), seguido de IATFC (Payback 3 anos; VPL R$ 2.357.639,40; e TIR 42,9% aa). O cenário IAC apresentou valores superiores (Payback 3 anos; VPL de R$ 759.353,90; e TIR 29,3% aa), quando comparado com IAS (Payback 4 anos; VPL R$ 676.870,90; e TIR 23,3% aa). O modelo desenvolvido neste estudo permite auxiliar o processo de tomada de decisão na seleção da estratégia reprodutiva mais adequada com base em parâmetros específicos. / Reproductive biotechnologies have an economic impact on dairy herds. Its implementation requires the investment of known amounts of resources; however, the producers still have a clear difficulty in assessing the profitability of these investments. The aim of this study was to develop a simulation model to analyze how the use of reproductive biotechnologies impact on the economic performance of dairy herds. Using a Microsoft® Office Excel® spreadsheet, a deterministic model was created considering productive, reproductive and economic parameters, in order to represent the herd conformation in 21-day periods over 25 years. Then, four reproductive programs were simulated: artificial insemination using conventional semen (AIC) or sex-sorted semen (AIS) and fixed-time artificial insemination using conventional semen (FTAIC) or sex-sorted semen (FTAIS). Finally, indicators of economic viability: Payback, net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) were calculated for each reproductive program. Under the simulated conditions, it was observed that the program with the best economic performance was FTAIS (Payback 3 years; NPV R$ 2,558,490.80; and IRR 42.5% per annum), followed by FTAIC (Payback 3 years; NPV R$ 2,357,639.40; and IRR 42.9% per annum). The AIC program presented higher economic returns (Payback 3 years, NPV R$ 759,353.90, and IRR 29.3% per annum) when compared with AIS (Payback 4 years; NPV R$ 676,870.90, and IRR 23.3% per annum). The mathematical model developed in this study can assists the decision-making process to select the most appropriate reproductive strategy based on specific parameters.