Cell phones are the most prevalent computing devices. They come pre-loaded with many different functions such as a digital camera, a mobile web browser, a streaming media player, games, GPS navigation, and more. However, if the banks have their way, the cell phone may become the preferred method of payment for everyday purchases. When that happens, there will be a need to securely send and store the receipt information so that they can be quickly analyzed. This thesis will demonstrate the use of a Digital Receipt system to manage transactions using Bluetooth technology to communicate between mobile devices. This expands on a previous thesis titled "Bi-Directional Information Exchange with Handheld Computing Devices." (Qaddoura, 2006) Cell phones have now been added into the setup. Thereby, expanding the Digital Receipt concept to include many more affordable computing devices, thus, increasing the likelihood that this application will be accepted by the general public.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2007. / Principal faculty advisors: James L. Butkiewicz, Dept. of Economics; Jeffrey H. Harris, Dept. of Finance. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Marburg.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Breslau, 1912. / Includes bibliographical references (p. i-iv).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Cornell University, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 210-221).

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Vincent Amanor-Boadu / Generally, commodity prices immediately after harvest tend to be low because of supply glut and rise over time away from harvest as supply shrinks and demand remains virtually unchanged. Unfortunately, because many Malawian farmers do not have effective storage, they do not have any commodity for sale when prices are high. To help improve the income Malawian farmers may generate from their activities, this thesis explored the feasibility of hybridizing the two forms of price risk management systems in Malawi to minimize their individual weaknesses and enhance their collective benefits. The two risk management systems are forward contracts and warehouse receipt systems. Forward contracts allow farmers and their buyers to agree on a future delivery date and commodity price. On the agreed date, the farmer delivers the commodity and receives the agreed price. It allows farmers to pass downward price risk to buyers and guarantees a fixed price. As private transactions, forward contracts are not regulated by the Government, and present opportunism and enforcement challenges. Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) enables farmers to deposit their crop in the care of a warehouse operator and sell the crop when and where they choose. Farmers, therefore, incur both upside and downside price movement but avoid some of the opportunism and enforcement challenges presented by forward contracts. The thesis explored the net benefits of developing a hybrid system that allow forward contracts with warehouse receipt enforcement mechanisms. Thus, farmers are guaranteed a minimum price at some future date and the deposited commodity is used as the security supporting the guaranteed minimum price. The buyer also deposits a performance bond as commitment to purchase the commodity. The costs associated with these transactions are real and could affect participation. The thesis provides a process for assessing these transaction costs and incorporating them into the effectiveness of forward contracts, warehouse receipt systems and the hybrid program. The mathematical model example has proved that the hybrid system guarantees a fixed margin to the farmer over and above the harvest price and WRS cost as opposed to fluctuating margins under WRS alone. The thesis has identified three factors that can lead to the successful implementation of this hybrid system in Malawi and they include: the availability of the warehouse receipt bill, reliable warehouse certification which is done by AHCX and ACE on third party warehouse operators; and the availability of performance guarantee assuring that the quantities and quality of goods match those specified by the warehouse receipt. The thesis has also identified two factors that could hinder a successful implementation of this hybrid program and they include: first, low scale of warehousing operations under WRS which could deny most farmers a chance to access and benefit from this hybrid sytem and the commodity exchanges may not benefit from the economies of scale provided by large volumes of commodities produced in rural areas. Second, the absence of a harmonized national grading standard which possess a challenge when engaging in international trade. Finally, the thesis has made three recommendations for the successful implementation of the hybrid program as follows: Taking the system close to the producers to mitigate potentially high transportation costs; educating and selling the system to the stakeholders to increase adoption rate; and push for the implementation of national standardized grading regulations.

The marketing of infant feeding products is almost impossible as the infant nutrition industry is highly regulated. Despite operating under strict regulations, the infant formula manufacturing companies still generate high revenues on an annual basis. The infant formula manufacturing industry operates under a value chain which can be broken down into six sequential steps. These steps are: (1) Translational science; (2) Product development; (3) Clinical research; (4) Product notification; (5) Reimbursement granting and (6) Product marketing. Medical nutrition companies aspire to understand product requirements of healthcare professionals and medical representatives. This is to enable direct investment to acquire market share without wasting resources. The medical nutrition industry currently makes use of medical representatives to execute product marketing. Manufacturing companies invest a lot of money into developing their products, employing and training medical representatives and trust that this will be enough to persuade healthcare professionals to recommend their products to parents. This study analyses the main contributing factors that enhance prescription of specialised infant formula by healthcare professionals. This study was conducted in a positivistic paradigm by making use of a quantitative approach. Healthcare professionals from Port Elizabeth, working with paediatric patients were included in this study. The healthcare professionals were chosen by a convenience sampling method and were then interviewed. The empirical interview results were substantiated with the interpretive findings which were in the form of verbatim statements extracted directly from the research questionnaire. Linkage between the dependable variable (prescription) and independent variables (manufacturing company; product composition; cost of product; medical representative and peers) were established and analysed. The research revealed that prescription behaviour is an important construct which can be measured in medical practices. Prescription behaviour is correlated with positive business and medical outcomes and manufacturing companies are able to exert influence over it through the identified variables. Of these variables, efficacy of vii a product, trusted manufacturing company and the medical representatives were found to have direct and significant effects. Healthcare professionals tend to prescribe a specialised infant formula if they have seen results and trust the outcome of the product. It is advisable for manufacturing companies to exert great effort before appointing a medical representative, to make sure that the right candidate represents the face of the company.

In the course of eurozone exit, the underlying stocks of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) would be redenominated from euros into the new national currency. We exploit ADR investors’ exposure to currency redenomination losses to derive a novel measure of eurozone exit risk. We find that while domestic bank stocks are not significantly affected by domestic exit risk, there is a negative exposure to exit risk of other countries that is channeled through bilateral credit risk. For the real sector, exposure to eurozone exit risk is heterogeneous among industries and is less negative for more indebted companies.

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This report researches and analyses the sustainability perspectives of paper receipts, focusing on the economical, environmental and social aspects using a qualitative research method and by simultaneously drawing inspiration from the Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) model. The result section is conducted by using a literature review where a combination of previously used sources within my masters program is analysed and by reviewing articles and statistics in the search engine at the Uppsala University e-library database. The overall research purpose, to assess the sustainability of consumer receipts, is achieved by using the concept of sustainable development as the theoretical framework. This report suggests that there are some sustainability concerns with the current consumption of the traditional paper receipt, mainly in the context of environmental and social considerations. Three different alternatives to the traditional paper receipt are furthermore discussed as examples of potential routes forward. Two of the alternatives, electronic receipts and introducing a charge on paper receipts, are arguably the two most sustainable alternatives to regular paper receipts. The third alternative cannot be perceived as equally sustainable since “BPA/Bisphenol-free” receipts contain other chemicals equivalently hazardous to humans and the environment.