Sistemas de Bicicletas Compartilhadas (SBCs) têm sido implantados e aprimorados nos últimos anos nas principais cidades do mundo. Neste tipo de sistema, usuários podem retirar e devolver bicicletas em qualquer estação da rede, desde que haja bicicleta e vaga disponível, respectivamente. Porém, devido às características de ocupação do solo em grandes centros urbanos, existe uma tendência natural de desbalanceamento nos fluxos dos usuários, fazendo com que em determinados horários certas estações fiquem lotadas de bicicletas enquanto outras estações estão vazias. Para mitigar este problema, gestores de SBCs utilizam veículos de carga para rebalancear o sistema (reposicionar as bicicletas entre as estações). Entretanto, usualmente, esse processo na prática não é realizado com auxílio de ferramentas quantitativas que tornem o processo racional ou maximizem sua eficácia. Nesse sentido, no presente trabalho é proposto um modelo híbrido de simulação com otimização, aplicado ao rebalanceamento de um SBC brasileiro e com potencial para utilização em sistemas reais com o objetivo de melhorar seus níveis de serviço. Além disso, apresenta-se uma análise de dados e a caracterização de uso deste SBC, um histórico de evolução de SBCs ao redor do mundo e sua bibliografia pertinente, a fim de registrá-los na literatura e de se obter maior compreensão deste tipo de sistema. / Bike Sharing Systems (BSSs) have been implemented and enhanced in several major cities around the world, during the past few years. In such systems, users can take off a bike and return it at any network\'s station, provided that there is a bike and a dock available, respectively. However, these systems face an operational problem, caused by the fact that users\' flows are not balanced, bringing on that, at some point in time, some stations will be completely full while others will be empty. To tackle this issue, cargo vehicles are used by BSS\'s operators to rebalance the system (relocate bicycles through the stations). However, in most cases this process is not supported by quantitative tools that make the process rational or maximize its effectiveness. In this sense, this work proposes a hybrid model of simulation with optimization, applied to the rebalance of a Brazilian BSS and with potential for use in real systems with the aim of improving their service levels. In addition, is presented a data analysis and a usage study of this specific BSS, a BSSs evolutionary study and its relevant literature with the purpose of registering them in the literature and achieving a superior understanding of the problem.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:30:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Anderson Luis Saber Campos.pdf: 1751947 bytes, checksum: 84550d8dd776e4023c630d37d86a64b2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-08-11 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This study proposes to evaluate the role of financial slack in the long-term rebalancing of the capital structure of the firm. For that was developed and tested a new proxy that demonstrated the ability to assess the relative indebtedness of companies. The concept of financial slack appears to influence future borrowing even after controlling for traditional determinants of capital structure. So this study reinforcethe the role of the debt industry, and used the median debt of the sector as the target, and the fact that the further away from this value, the faster firms adjust their capital structure in an attempt to converge to the median sector. / Este trabalho se propôs a avaliar o papel da folga financeira de longo prazo no rebalanceamento da estrutura de capital das empresas. Para tanto foi desenvolvida e testada uma nova proxy que demonstrou capacidade de avaliar o endividamento relativo das empresas. O conceito de folga financeira parece influenciar o endividamento futuro mesmo controlando para os determinantes clássicos de estrutura de capital. Assim este trabalho reforça o papel do endividamento setorial, pois se utilizou a mediana do setor como endividamento-alvo, e o fato que quanto mais distante deste valor, mais rápido as empresas ajustam a sua estrutura de capital na tentativa de convergir para a mediana do setor.

Abstract This doctoral thesis aims to contribute to investment behavior research by giving new information on the causes which generate differences in investment behavior. As causes to differences in behavior we focus on the influence of investors’ self-perceived attitudes, evaluations and judgments. We refer to these investor characteristics as subjective attributes. We also test the power of demographic and socio-economic characteristics as causes of differences in investment behavior and refer to these as objective attributes. We approach investment behavior from three dimensions and construct empirical research around each dimension. We find the predictive power of subjective attributes to be strong, which makes it important to take them into account when modeling investment behavior. Our data is collected from two different databases in which subjective and objective attributes are connected with actual investment behavior, i.e. investors’ actual wealth levels and allocations. This is rare because only seldom can researchers link subjective attributes with actual behavior. Our main contributions are the following: 1) Investor-specific risk-standing ability and other subjective attributes have a tight link with investor’s actual risk-standing ability and portfolio choice. This confirms the meaning and importance of European Union regulations which require financial institutions to clarify these issues and in that way betters investor protection. 2) Subjective investor attributes as measures of financial sophistication can be visible as a propensity to withdraw from the stock market during severe market crises. We state that, in addition to its very positive effects, financial sophistication may induce the investor to make mistakes like total withdrawal from the stock market, realization of short- term losses, or exposure to timing problems of stock portfolio rebuilding. 3) Simple questions asked as claims work better as measures of overconfidence than more commonly used calibration-based techniques. Several measures of overconfidence explain trading activity. Trust in one’s own market timing abilities shows as narrower diversification. Our thesis has implications for regulation, financial institutions, financial literacy education and investors themselves. / Tiivistelmä Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on antaa uutta tietoa syistä, jotka aiheuttavat eroja yksityishenkilöiden sijoituskäyttäytymisessä. Käyttäytymiserojen syissä keskitymme sijoittajien itse mieltämiin mielipiteisiin, arviointeihin ja käsityksiin. Nimeämme nämä tekijät sijoittajan subjektiivisiksi ominaisuuksiksi. Lisäksi testaamme demografisten ja sosioekonomisten ominaisuuksien vaikutusta sijoituskäyttäytymisen eroihin. Nimeämme nämä tekijät sijoittajan objektiivisiksi ominaisuuksiksi. Tarkastelemme sijoituskäyttäytymistä kolmesta lähestymiskulmasta rakentamalla empiirisen tutkimuksen jokaisen kulman ympärille. Tulostemme mukaan subjektiivisten ominaisuuksien vaikutus sijoituskäyttäytymiseen on merkittävä, joten ne on syytä ottaa huomioon käyttäytymisen mallintamisessa. Tutkimusaineistomme muodostuu kahdesta erillisestä aineistosta, joissa kummassakin subjektiiviset ja objektiiviset ominaisuudet yhdistyvät todelliseen sijoituskäyttäytymiseen, eli sijoittajien olemassa oleviin varallisuusmääriin ja -jakaumiin. Tämä on poikkeuksellista, sillä subjektiivisia ominaisuuksia harvoin pystytään yhdistämään todelliseen sijoituskäyttäytymiseen. Tutkimuksemme tärkeimmät kontribuutiot ovat seuraavat. 1) Sijoittajakohtaisella riskinsietokyvyllä ja muilla subjektiivisilla ominaisuuksilla on vahva yhteys sijoittajan todelliseen riskinsietokykyyn ja osakeriskin osuuteen. Tämä vahvistaa Euroopan Unionin määräysten merkityksellisyyttä: näiden asioiden selvittäminen on hyödyllistä sijoittajasuojan parantamiseksi. 2) Subjektiiviset ominaisuudet sijoittajien taloudellista oppineisuutta kuvaavina tekijöinä voivat näkyä taipumuksena vetäytyä osakemarkkinoilta voimakkaan kurssilaskun tilanteessa. Taloudellisen oppineisuuden yleisesti havaittujen positiivisten vaikutusten lisäksi oppineisuus voi myös johtaa sijoitusvirheisiin, kuten vetäytymiseen osakemarkkinoilta, lyhyen aikavälin tappioiden realisoimiseen ja salkun uudelleen rakentamisen mukanaan tuomaan ajoitusriskiin. 3) Yksinkertaiset väitemuodossa esitetyt kysymykset toimivat yliluottamuksen mittareina paremmin kuin enemmän käytetyt kalibrointipohjaiset mittarit. Useat yliluottamuksen mittarit selittävät kaupankäynnin aktiivisuutta. Luottamus omiin kykyihin ennustaa markkinaliikkeitä näkyy kapeampana salkun hajautuksena. Tutkimuksellamme on merkitystä lainsäätäjille, finanssialan yrityksille, tahoille, jotka vastaavat sijoittajatietämyksen kouluttamisesta, sekä sijoittajille itselleen.

Magister Commercii - MCom / The primary objectives of this research are to determine whether indices constructed from fundamental attributes of ALSI constituents outperform indices weighted by market capitalisations; and whether the performance of fundamental indices could be explained by size and value risk factors. The examination period is 1st January 2000 to 31st December 2009. The JSE ALSI constituent’s fundamental attributes; book values, dividends, earnings and sales together with their market values are extracted from DataStream International. Indices are subsequently constructed according to share’s market values and the four aforementioned fundamental attributes as well as a composite metric. The composite metric is a combination of all four fundamental attributes. Fundamental indices are found to be more mean-variance efficient than cap-weighted indices, whilst displaying moderate value bias and minor size bias. Fundamental indices exhibit lower risk-adjusted returns when rebalanced less frequently, except for sales-weighted indices which justly capture undervalued shares that mean revert throughout the year. Fundamental indexation is therefore, adjudged to be superior to cap-weighted methods and only relatively affected by value effect

This master thesis considers and evaluates a few different risk models for stock portfolios, including an ordinary sample covariance matrix, factor models and an approach inspired from random matrix theory. The risk models are evaluated by simulating minimum variance portfolios and employing a cross-validation. The Bloomberg+ transaction cost model is investigated and used to optimize portfolios of stocks, with respect to a trade off between the active risk of the portfolio and transaction costs. Further a few different simulations are performed while using the optimizer to rebalance long-only portfolios. The optimization problem is solved using an active-set algorithm. A couple of approaches are shown that may be used to visually try to decide a value for the risk aversion parameter λ in the objective function of the optimization problem. The thesis concludes that there is a practical difference between the different risk models that are evaluated. The ordinary sample covariance matrix is shown to not perform as well as the other models. It also shows that more frequent rebalancing is preferable to less frequent. Further the thesis goes on to show a peculiar behavior of the optimization problem, which is that the optimizer does not rebalance all the way to 0 in simulations, even if enough time is provided, unless it is explicitly required by the constraints.

As plastic pollution is considered a potential geological marker of the Anthropocene, some living organisms have evolved and adapted into symbiotic relationships with polymers. The wicked problem of pollution and toxic exposure contributes to waste colonialism, which is inherent to the current state of climate and ecological emergency. From plastics to fungi and back again, this project speculates on the possibilities to decolonise plastic waste with the help of a plastic-decomposing fungus. My research prompts toward anthropo-de-centrism and multispecies storytelling as design methods to develop care for plastic waste. The project draws upon the complexity of fungi-plastics-humans relations and is supported by a transdisciplinary collaborative research focused on fungi cultivation. At the core of this practice, I relate the omnipresence of fungi and plastics to queer ecologies, and as such, I develop my design proposal with generative toxicity as theoretical and creative framework.  To materialise this, I propose a workshop bridging between local communities of designers and self-taught mycologists, in order to change the general opinion on plastic waste by focusing on hosting and care as forms of slow activism. The longer-term aim would be a systemic rebalancing of our permanently polluted world. Queer ecologies could therefore contribute to refine what sustainability means for design today by facilitating multispecies care and decolonising gestures.

美國總統歐巴馬自2009年上任後，立即著手將美國的全球戰略重心向亞太地區轉移，同時提出「亞太再平衡」政策指導方針，逐步實現以美國利益為依歸的全球戰略重新布局。2012年美國公布國防戰略指導原則《維持美國的全球領導地位：21世紀國防優先任務》，列出21世紀的國防任務優先順序，文件中提及「戰略再平衡」亦即要發展「空海整體戰」，以反制中共的「反介入／區域拒止」（A2AD)為主要關鍵任務之一，由此可見，美國仍將中共視為亞太地區的重要競爭對手。 回顧美國公開宣稱重返亞洲的戰略布局以來，先後於2010年1月、2011年9月及2015年12月三次對臺軍售，總價值高達140.75億美元。臺灣是美國在亞太地區防衛中共所建構反介入的第一道防線，對美國當然存在重要的軍事意義。就美國「亞太再平衡」與戰略替代方案中，華美共同利益或美方缺漏不足之處，應積極尋求雙方更緊密之軍事合作，以因應共軍「反介入/區域拒止」(A2/AD)能力對其亞太利益威脅，同時兼顧減輕美軍的防衛負擔及信守對盟邦的安全承諾。 在傳統戰爭中，臺灣面對中共之勝算極低，但我國絕無鬆懈建軍備戰之理由，而建構一個「財力可負擔、戰力可信賴」的國防，亦是國軍當前的重大挑戰。研究發現，在結合美國「亞太再平衡」策略中，我國應朝1.強化國家利益經營對美關係；2.結合區域安全發展國防武力；3.加強整合國防資源及推動國防自主等面向努力。在無立即危安的情況下，國防建設宜結合國家經濟發展需要，即「以經濟建構國防、以國防支援經濟」，把軍事投資轉型為具附加價值的產業發展策略，並著重在前瞻先進與軍民兩用的科研上，促進武器更新，減少偏重消費性質的武器彈藥採購，以提升國防自主能力，帶動國內產業發展，創造國防的多元價值。 / Since President Obama took over the oval office in 2009, immediate actions are taken to pivot U.S. global strategy emphasis to Asia Pacific area and “Rebalancing” policy was introduced. The idea was to realize the re-plotting of global strategy which is centered on U.S. interest. The priorities of defense mission for U.S. in 21st century was clearly listed in 2012 defense strategy guidance “Sustaining U.S. Global leadership: Priorities for 21st century defense.” When the document talked about “Strategy rebalancing”, it actually talked about Air-Sea battle(ASB), which is one of the critical mission in countering China’s A2AD measures. Hence we can see that U.S. still sees China as her primary competition in Asia Pacific area. Since the proclamation of “Pivot to Asia” strategy, U.S. has granted Taiwan’s arms sales requests in Jan 2010, Sept 2011, and Dec 2015 for a total worth of 14.075 B USD. Taiwan no doubt has great military meaning to U.S. for which is considered as U.S.’s first line of defense in Asia Pacific area when dealing with China. As for the strategic alternative and U.S.’s “Rebalancing” policy, closer military cooperation should be conducted to fulfill the mutual interest of Taiwan and U.S. or the missing link in U.S. strategy. So is to cope with the threat that inflicted by China’s anti-access / area denial" (A2 / AD), ease U.S. defense burden, and comply the security promise to allies. In conventional warfare, the odd is against Taiwan greatly when confronting China. However, that is not the reason to go easy on force building and enhancing combat readiness. Certainly, it is a big challenge to Taiwan’s arms forces when comes to constructing “financial affordable, force creditable” national defense. The study has shown, when integrate with U.S. “Rebalancing” policy, Taiwan should work toward 1. emphasize national interest and nourish the relationship with U.S.; 2. develop defense capability to cope with regional security situation; 3. increase defense resources integration and promote “self-reliant defense”. Under the condition of without immediate danger, national defense construction should combine with the need of national economy development. That means “use economy to build national defense, and use national defense to support economy development”. Military investment can be transformed into industry development strategy added value. The focus should be fore sighting and advance science research that can be applied on both military and civilian domain. We should stimulate weapon innovation instead of weapon or munitions procurement which is plain consuming nature. Hence, self-reliant defense capability can be improved, domestic industries development can be driven, and multiple values of national defense can be created.

設立防空識別區的根本目的是為了維護國家空防安全，基本理念是｢禦敵於國門之外｣，是國家行使自保權的需要，是一個主權國家的重要防禦手段。空軍軍事法院院長刑洪波曾說：作為一個預警概念，防空識別區制度具有國家性、單方性、穩定性、防禦性、強制性五個方面的特性。防空識別區的劃設與國家安全的關係是緊密不分的，雖然防空識別區是由自身國家所劃設，在國際上是不具有國際法效力，但是此區可以說是一個國家空防能夠及早預警的延伸範圍，所以它的劃設是具有其必要性的。而如何劃設本身國家的防空識別區便與國際政治上國家與國家之間的影響力有密切關係。 近年來中共經濟發展迅速，在國際事務上已成關鍵，有發展成強權國家之勢，在2012年發生了日本收購釣魚島事件，對於東海戰略平衡上，破壞了中、日、台在東海上的平衡，也影響了中共防空識別區的劃定及周邊航道安全的維護。而2013年中共設立東海防空識別區，對於國際造成嚴重影響，尤其是東海地區局勢更加動盪。中共在2015年1月15日發布飛航公告，擬在台灣海峽劃設一條南北向新航路，與東西向三條新航路，此舉動造成台灣海峽及附近區域安全上的強烈衝擊。而美國為了圍堵、威攝和遏制中國大陸的崛起，近年來不斷的和日、韓等國家在黃海、東海、南海地區頻繁進行大規模軍演，並決定｢亞太再平衡政策｣，推動戰略東移目標，要在2020年內將60%的軍事力量轉移至亞太地區，擴大其在該地區的軍事基地建設，進駐先進武器在關島及其他基地。而對中華民國而言，中共劃設東海防空識別區對東海地區安全的衝擊，是非常重要的，中華民國應強化在東海的話語權，並從多邊面向思考對外發展戰略思維的調整。 / Established air defense identification zone's fundamental purpose is to safeguard national aviation security, the basic idea is the "enemy out," is the need to exercise the right of national self-protection is an important means of defense of a sovereign state. President of the Air Force Military Court Criminal Hongbo said: As an early warning concept, air defense identification zone system has national characteristics unilateral, stability, defense, mandatory five aspects. Designation of the relationship between national security and air defense identification zone are closely regardless, although the air defense identification zone is the designation of the country itself, it is in the international community does not have the force of international law, but this area can be said to be a country capable of air defense extending the scope of immediate early warning, so it is a designation of its necessity. And how the designation of their national air defense identification zone will be closely related to the international political influence on the state and between countries. In recent years, the CCP's rapid economic development, has become critical in international affairs, has developed into a potential power countries, Japan, the acquisition of the Diaoyu Island incident occurred in 2012, the strategic balance on the East China Sea, destroyed, Japan and Taiwan in the East China Sea balance, also affected the delineation and the surrounding seaways CCP air defense identification zone maintenance. And in 2013 the CPC established the East China Sea air defense identification zone for international severely affected, especially the situation in the East China Sea region more volatile. CCP released January 15, 2015 flight announcement, to be in the Taiwan Strait designation of a new north-south route, with three new east-west route, this move will have a strong impact on the vicinity of the Taiwan Strait and regional security. And the United States to containment, deterrence and curb the rise of mainland China, in recent years, and Japan, Korea and other countries frequently conduct large-scale military exercises in the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea, and decided to "rebalance Asia policy" to promote the strategic eastward target to 60% in 2020 year will be transferred to the Asia-Pacific region's military to expand its construction of military bases in the region, advanced weapons stationed in Guam and other bases. The Republic of China, the CPC designation of the impact of the East China Sea air defense identification zone of the East China Sea regional security, it is very important to the Republic of China should strengthen the right to speak in the East China Sea, and think to adjust its foreign strategic thinking from multilateral development-oriented.

美國可稱為新現實主義的實踐者。在1970年代美國藉由透過拉攏中華人民共和國(中共)形成戰略三角來維持國家安全的最佳位置。蘇聯解體後，中共成為威脅美國的新興強權。約翰•米爾斯海默(John J. Mearsheimer)於1990年代提出了攻勢現實主義(Offensive Realism)，米氏認為在無政府的國際體制下，權力極大化才能確保國家安全，中共勢必也將會為了國家安全，擴張其軍事實力，成為具區域影響力的強權，掌握亞太區域事務的主導權。 歐巴馬(Barack Obama)政府在2009年順利執政後，其任命的國務卿希拉蕊•柯林頓(Hillary Clinton)於Foreign Policy發表了一篇《America’s Pacific Century》，文中定調亞太地區為未來美國政府在外交政策、國際政治經營以及全球戰略的核心，為歐巴馬的亞太政策鋪路，隨後歐巴馬在2012年公佈《維繫美國全球領導地位：21 世紀國防優先事項》(Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century)的戰略報告，正式宣告將全球戰略佈局重心移至亞太地區，即是現今國際間熟知的亞太再平衡(Asia Pacific Rebalancing)戰略，而此一戰略的目標就是對中共在亞太地區進行新世紀的區域圍堵。中共與美國競合的過程中，中華民國(臺灣)扮演著關鍵第三者，臺灣執政當局在歐巴馬推動「亞太再平衡」戰略期間所扮演的角色與立場，也將會影響兩岸關係的現狀與未來發展。 / The United States can be called Neo-Realism practitioners, and in the 1970s the United States was the best place to maintain national security by forming a strategic triangle with the People's Republic of China (PRC). After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the PRC became an emerging power threatening the United States. John J. Mearsheimer, who introduced Offensive Realism in the 1990s, argues that state’s power should be maximized, in order to ensure national security in the anarchistic international relationship. PRC is also seeking its own safety position at the national security level. Therefore, PRC has to expand its military strength and have the capability to influence regional affairs. The end state of PRC, is to master the Asia-Pacific regional affairs of the initiative. After the Barack Obama administration took office in 2009, his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, published an article “America’s Pacific Century” on Foreign Policy website. This article elaborates center of gravity of U.S.’s foreign policy, management of international politics and global strategy in the near future. Obama administration had an announcement “Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century” in 2012. And it became a well-known strategy “Asia-Pacific Rebalance”, and the goal of this strategy is to create a strategic containment for PRC in a new era of global competition. The Republic of China (Taiwan) plays a key role during Sino-American competition. Roles and behaviors of Taiwan's administration will affect Cross-Strait relationship when Obama’s administration execute the strategy of “Asia-Pacific Rebalancing”

Si le problème d'équilibrage lors de la conception de lignes d'assemblage est largement étudié dans la littérature sous le nom d’ALBP (Assembly Line Balancing Problems), peu de travaux concernent leur rééquilibrage dans un horizon court terme et en-ligne. Les travaux présentés dans ce mémoire portent donc sur le rééquilibrage dynamique des lignes d’assemblage en réaction aux événements court terme perturbants la production. L’objectif étant de changer l’allocation des taches sur les postes de travail afin de lisser la charge induite par la perturbation. Le délai court sans arrêt de production étant plus important que l'optimalité de la solution, le temps de résolution rapide des méthodes de résolution approchées nous a intéressé. Deux approches ont été étudiées pour leur simplicité et leur nouveauté dans le domaine du ALBP : la méthode ILS (Iterated Local Search) et la recherche d’atteignabilité sur un réseau d’automates communicants. Cela nous a montré qu'elles peuvent répondre au besoin de réactivité imposé par notre problème mais qu’elles sont difficilement adaptables lorsque les leviers d’action pour rééquilibrer la ligne sont modifiés. Notre proposition pour répondre à ce besoin d’adaptabilité est une méthodologie de modélisation et de résolution des problèmes de rééquilibrage des lignes d’assemblage s’appuyant sur un réseau d’automates communicants et une recherche d’atteignabilité sur celui-ci. Pour assurer la généricité, la méthodologie est décomposée en deux niveaux d’abstraction : l'étude de la classe du problème ALBP considéré et al résolution du problème spécifique. Les travaux ont été validés sur des exemples industriels issus de la société Trane. / Assembly lines are flow-oriented production systems. They are still typical in industrial production systems despite the evolution from mass-production to more personalized and fluctuating production. In order to meet customer demand (quantity, time, etc.) and to reduce manufacturing costs, the lines must be well balanced. In other words, the products need to move from one workstation to another with the same pace, usually called takt time. This assembly line design problem is widely studied in the literature under the name of ALBP (Assembly Line Balancing Problems). Nonetheless, few studies concern the on-line reconfiguration and in particular, the dynamic rebalancing. The work presented in this thesis focuses on the dynamic rebalancing of assembly lines in response to short-term events disturbing production. Two approaches have been studied for their simplicity, speed of implementation and innovation in the field of ALBP: the ILS approach (Iterated Local Search) and the reachability analysis approach based on a network of communicating automata. This study showed that both approaches can address the need for a quick resolution required by dynamic rebalancing problem but lacked for adaptation when model constraints or objectives are changed. A methodological approach for assembly line balancing problems modeling and resolution is proposed to bridge the gap of adaptability. To ensure the genericity of obtained models., the methodology is composed of two levels of abstraction: a study of the class of the considered problem and a focus on the specific problem to solve. Studies have been validated on industrial examples from Trane factories.