A participação das empresas brasileiras no comércio internacional vem aumentando nos últimos anos. Neste contexto, pesquisas foram conduzidas visando detectar as dificuldades associadas à atividade exportadora, e a literatura sugere a necessidade de informação para uma atuação bem sucedida no cenário internacional. Esta pesquisa objetiva identificar as informações, utilizadas por empresas exportadoras em sua atividade exportadora, levantadas a partir da revisão bibliográfica. Para tal, desenvolveu-se uma pesquisa de campo com empresas exportadoras da região de Ribeirão Preto. Os resultados mostraram que as empresas utilizam pouco as informações gerais do ambiente de negócios internacionais e com mais freqüência as informações do mercado alvo, ligadas a oferta/demanda do produto. Quanto às fontes de informação, observou-se que grande parte é obtida do próprio cliente. Também foi possível observar que as empresas com maior volume de exportação tendem a desenvolver mais o processo de utilização de informação para a geração de novos negócios, atuam em mercados mais exigentes, diversificam sua forma de atuação e buscam constantemente novos mercados. / The Brazilian companies´ international commerce participation has been increasing in recent years. Within this context, research were carried with objective of identify the difficulties associated to exporting activities, as well the companies which recognize information as a need to a successful international market actuation. This research focused the information used by exporting companies in their export activities, raised from the bibliographic revision. In order to do so, a field survey was developed with Ribeirão Preto Region´s exporting companies. The results showed that the companies use little general international business environment information and, with higher frequency, the target market information, linked to product´s offer/demand. Regarding to information source, was observed that most of it was obtained directly with customer. It was also possible to observe that companies with higher volume of exporting tend to develop better information system in order to generate new business, act in more demanding markets, diversify its form of performance and search new markets constantly.

Yes / Although scholars have recognized that alertness is critical in identifying and exploring opportunities, empirical studies exploring when alertness drives innovation are lacking. Drawing insights from the cognitive and contingency perspectives, the current study addresses this gap in by arguing that variations in firm product innovativeness is a function of degree of entrepreneurial alertness and levels of internal firm capabilities and environmental conditions. Data were collected from from 385 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana. This study used the hierarchical regression estimation technique to analyses the data and found that a significant positive relationship between entrepreneurial alertness and firm product innovativeness. Moreover, the findings showed that entrepreneurial alertness is beneficial for firms to innovate when pressures from customers and competitors are intense. Finally, the results revealed that stronger market information sharing and technological opportunism also amplify the alertness-innovativeness relationship.

The background to this thesis is found in the growing importance of the marketing concept. The concept has been used frequently in articles in the past few years, in spite of lack of consensus about what it is. To make a contribution to the theoretical field the theories about service marketing and market orientation had to be examined and the relevant factors drawn out to construct a model for describing market orientation in service companies. The theoretical examination resulted in the follo­wing three components that together constitutes the foundation of the marketing concept in service companies: market information, the support system and the customer meeting. The main purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze the marke­ting concept in service companies. Within this purpose the study also will identify which driving forces and obstacles affects market orientation. To a certain extent the process towards market orientation also is examined. The first analyses of the two insurance companies showed that the de­gree of activity in working with the factors that constituted the marketing concept varied. In general they had worked with approximately the same factors almost in the same way. In so doing they had worked more with some of the conceptual and behavioral factors than with the others. The cases differed from the theoretical frame of reference, as expected. However, the differences were impossible to explain with the component model. New analyses of the empirical data showed other factors that had influenced the market orientation process in the companies. The new factors could be divided into four groups depending on whether they were considered as internal or external factors and whether they were driving forces or obstacles for the process. One original component that proved to be of great importance in the market orientation process was market information. Neither of the insu­rance companies had worked with that component in a systematic way to find out, for example, the customers needs and wants. The study resulted in a more dynamic model of the market orientation process - the cycle model. It visualize the relation between the compo­nents and it also adds on a time perspective to market orientation, since it is supposed to continue over time. / digitalisering@umu

This thesis is framed within the research area of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D), which is concerned with how ICT can make a difference to the lives of the poor. This study focuses primarily on mobile phones and how they can be used as part of an Agriculture Market Information Service (AMIS) in order to provide crucial information to farmers in Bangladesh. AMIS principally collect, manage and disseminate agricultural market prices and related information through various processes and media. These services are mainly used by farmers. The research question of how mobile phone-based AMIS can be designed and deployed in order to improve opportunities for farmers in Bangladesh is investigated through a design science research approach in four steps; understanding the scope and challenges related to AMIS in least developed countries; diagnosing the situational realities of farmers of Bangladesh; understanding the process of adopting mobile phones and investigating market information practices and preferences in a rural context; and finally designing and implementing a mobile phone based AMIS and evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of it for the farmers of Bangladesh. In this thesis, development is viewed in terms of bringing about an in-crease in farmers’ capability set directed towards the utilization of resources for the purpose of production and trade. Information and knowledge are important drivers of development and poverty reduction: ICT can create new opportunities to expand the availability, exchange, and impact of information and knowledge. This thesis contributes to ICT4D research and practice through empirical findings, the design of an AMIS, test results, and the development of analytical tools. Its major contributions include an increased understanding of farmers’ attitudes and preferences towards the use of technology in general, and mobile phones in particular, and a broader understanding of ICT for human development in the context of poor rural regions. / Informatics or ICT4D

本論文共一冊，約五萬字，分為四章十四節。第一章為緒論，第二章為文獻探討，第 三章為模式的建立與分析，第四章為結論與建議。 本模式考慮一個風險中立且追求最大利益的證券發行公司，在資訊不對稱的情況下（ 即投資銀行擁有較發行公司為多的市場資訊），是否應授權給投資銀行進行訂價與配 銷的工作。由於投資銀行擁有較佳的市場資訊，因此本模式假設由投資銀行訂價，但 後續的配銷工作應由發行公司或投資銀行進行，則視訂價與配銷二階段間的關係而定 。若二者為零相關，則無論由誰配銷，發行公司的利益皆不受影響；若為正相關，則 由發行公司配銷較有利；若為負相關且相關係數很小，則由投資銀行配銷較有利。

nÃo hà / Este estudo investiga a hipÃtese de eficiÃncia de mercado, a qual designa que estratÃgias de previsibilidade baseadas no comportamento passado das sÃries de retornos de aÃÃes nÃo implicam a obtenÃÃo de lucros econÃmicos. SÃo analisados dados de 25 mercados, estendendo-se de janeiro de 1990 a janeiro de 2010. A metodologia principal consiste na aplicaÃÃo de cinco testes de raiz unitÃria para painel, entre os quais se destaca o de Pesaran, Smith e Yamagata (2009), o qual assume que existe um determinado nÃmero de variÃveis que sÃo simultaneamente afetadas por um dado conjunto de fatores comuns nÃo observados. Os resultados modificam-se conforme altera-se o poder dos testes. O principal teste aplicado, particularmente, rejeita a hipÃtese em questÃo, sinalizando a possibilidade de exploraÃÃo de certas ineficiÃncias para a obtenÃÃo de lucros adicionais. / This paper investigates the efficient market hypothesis, which indicates a situation where investors are not able to develop a familiarity with past patterns of returns in order to obtain extra profits. It is used a sample containing 25 markets over the period January 1990 to January 2010. Econometric Methodology consists in exploiting five unit root tests, between which Pesaran, Smith e Yamagata (2009) is in relief, which assumes that there exists a number of variables that are simultaneously affected by a given set of unobserved common factors. Main results reject the efficient market hypothesis, indicating possibilities of exploiting inefficiency for obtaining extra profits.

Magister Economicae - MEcon / Pre-democratic South Africa was highly regulated by the apartheid government with the black small-scale farming community actively marginalised. Following the deregulation of the South African agricultural market came the opening up of the market to accommodate these small-scale farmers and also the introduction of South African Futures Exchange. South Africa has done well in terms of development of ICT over the past years, making it a country with characteristics of both first and third world countries. This study aims to assess the agricultural commodity exchange market and how small-scale farmers may participate more actively in the market. This study finds that though South Africa has world class ICT infrastructure this has not made it easier for small-scale farmers to enter the agricultural market and value chain. The study finds that there is little or no participation by small-scale farmers in South African Futures Exchange. It finds that mobile phones and applications may be the way forward in the efforts to ensure their participation in the commodity exchange market through provision of services such as price discovery and price risk management as is the function of South African Futures Exchange. It is also found that there is need to invest in high value agricultural products in order to benefit more from commodity exchanges.

Les marchés financiers évoluent plus ou moins rapidement et fortement au gré des différents types d’information diffusés au cours des périodes d’étude. Dans ce contexte, nous cherchons à mesurer l’influence de tous types d’information sur des portefeuilles d’arbitrage systématique « euro neutres » multi-classes d’actifs, issus soit d’une diversification « naïve » (« 1/N ») soit d’une diversification optimale. Dans le cadre de nos recherches sur l’allocation tactique systématique, ces divers flux informationnels sont regroupés sous le terme de données hétérogènes (données de cotation et « autres informations de marché »). Les données de cotation sont des prix de clôture quotidiens d’actifs tandis que les « autres informations de marché » correspondent à trois types d’indicateurs : de conjoncture, de sentiments et de volatilité. Nous mesurons l’impact d’une combinaison de données hétérogènes sur nos portefeuilles d’arbitrage pour une période de tests incluant la crise des subprimes, à l’aide d’analyses de données (ACP) et de techniques probabilistes de quantification vectorielle. L’influence des données hétérogènes sur les portefeuilles d’arbitrage est mesurée notamment au travers d’une hausse de la rentabilité, d’un accroissement du ratio rentabilité/volatilité post crise des subprimes, d’une baisse de la volatilité ou d’une baisse des corrélations entre classes d’actifs. Ces découvertes empiriques permettent d’envisager la prise en compte des « autres informations de marché » comme élément de diversification du risque d’un portefeuille. Nous formalisons des éléments de réponse au défi posé par l’allocation tactique multi-classes d’actifs (Blitz et Vliet, 2008), en intégrant des variables « prédictives » à un processus systématique de market timing qui incorpore de manière quantitative des données hétérogènes. / Financial markets evolve more or less rapidly and strongly to all kind of information depending on time period of study. In this context, we intend to measure a broad set of information influence on systematic multi-assets classes “euro neutral” arbitrage portfolios either for “naive” diversification and optimal diversification. Our research focuses on systematic tactical asset allocation and we group these information under the name of heterogeneous data (market data and “other market information”). Market data are “end of day” asset closing prices and “other market information” gather economic cycle, sentiment and volatility indicators. We assess the influence of a heterogeneous data combination on our arbitrage portfolios for a time period including the subprimes crisis period and thanks to data analysis and quantization algorithms. The impact of a heterogeneous data combination on our arbitrage portfolio is materialized by increasing return, increasing return/volatility ratio for the post subprimes crisis period, decreasing volatility and asset class correlations. These empirical findings suggest that “other market information” presence could be an element of arbitrage portfolio risk diversification. Furthermore, we investigate and bring empirical results to Blitz and Vliet (2008) issue on global tactical asset allocation (GTAA) by considering “predictive” variables with a systematic market timing process integrating heterogeneous data thanks to a quantitative data processing.

Thesis (M.Sc. Agriculture (Agricultural Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / The purpose of this study was to analyse socioeconomic factors influencing formal and informal market participation by beef cattle farmers. Cattle production plays an important role in the provision of food worldwide. It important for farmers to participate in the market to improve their income and livelihood. Globally, it was discovered that livestock production contribute value to the economic development of various countries. Ethiopia is one of the countries that generate more income from the livestock production. In the study area farmers participate in the lower level of market participation. They sell at informal market than formal market because of insufficient market channel. The farmers seldom sell since their sale depends on the availability of the market. Hence it was important to analyse socioeconomic factors influencing informal and formal market participation by small-scale beef cattle farmers at Makhado Local Municipality. The aim of the study was to analyse socioeconomic factors influencing informal and formal market participation of small-scale beef cattle farmers in Makhado Local Municipality. The objectives of the study were to identify, describe the socioeconomic characteristic of beef cattle, determine the level of market participation of the beef cattle and analyse the influence of socioeconomic factors in the participation of the beef cattle farmers in both the formal and informal market in Makhado local municipality. Structured questionnaires were used to interview 82 cattle farmers who participate in both informal and formal markets. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse socioeconomic characteristics of the cattle farmers. The logistic regression model was used to analyse factors that influence the participation of small-scale cattle farmers in both formal and informal markets. Lastly, market participation index tool was used to analyse the percentage of each farmer’s participation in different markets. The descriptive statistic results were showing men dominating participation in the market than women. The findings illustrate that farmers participating in the market were mostly pensioners who depend on social grant. Most of them are married and v have low level of education. The study also revealed that most beef cattle farmers are engaged in cattle farming for the purpose of sale instead of consumption. The logistic regression model results shows the coefficients for the independent variables such as gender, family size and farming experience to be significant at 1%. Age, marital status, monthly income, and distance to the market were found to be significant at 5%. Membership association were found to be significant at 10%. Educational level, extension services as well as the market information were found to be insignificant. The market participation index tool results revealed that the participation of beef cattle farmers in level 1 was 74.39%, level 2 18.29%, level 3 3.66% and lastly, in level 4, it was 3.66%. Additionally, the study revealed that only 1 farmer had a minimum score of participation of 3 and another farmer scored the highest participation of 23 out of all 82 farmers who participated in different market channels namely, homestead, village market, auctions, town market and fresh produce market. The study indicated various constraints faced by cattle farmers in both formal and informal markets. However, for a farmer to be a full participant all farmers should be able to participate in all the above-mentioned market channels. Additionally, for a farmer to increase his/her level of market participation, there is a need for each farmer to sell many cattle per year in different marketing channels mentioned above. It is also vital to increase the cattle productivity and to decrease identified constraints that negatively influence market participation of beef cattle farmers. Furthermore, constraints influencing market participation of beef cattle farmers need to be addressed to increase the sale of cattle by farmers. This requires assistance by both government and non-governmental stakeholders. Government stakeholders include extension officers, agricultural experts and veterinaries, while nongovernmental stakeholders include meat quality experts, agricultural cattle commercial farmers, and cattle farm managers. / Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

<p>The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX), like many other data intensive organizations, is having difficulties making full use of the vast amounts of data that it collects. This MSc thesis identifies areas within the organization where concepts from the academic fields of information visualization and visual analytics can be applied to address this issue.Software solutions are designed and implemented in two areas with the purpose of evaluating the approach and to demonstrate to potential users, developers and managers what can be achieved using this method. A number of presentation methods are proposed for the ECX website, which previously contained no graphing functionality for market data, to make it easier for users to find trends, patterns and outliers in prices and trade volumes of commodieties traded at the exchange. A software application is also developed to support the ECX market surveillance team by drastically improving its capabilities of investigating complex trader relationships.Finally, as ECX lacked previous experiences with visualization, one software developer was trained in computer graphics and involved in the work, to enable continued maintenance and future development of new visualization solutions within the organization.</p>