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Marketing channels have traditionally been examined as commercial conduits the sale objective of which was to facilitate the flow of goods from producer to consumer. This approach emphasized functional and structural aspects of the channel and was primarily concerned with the efficiency of the distribution system. During the last two decades, marketing channels have increasingly been viewed as social systems affected by the behavioural dimensions of power, conflict, roles and communication. The rapid growth of vertical marketing systems with greater authority and interdependence between channel members, have stimulated interest in this field. Nevertheless, research has been limited and characterized by methodological problems and conceptual differences about the definitions of behavioural variables and their relationships. Some attempts have been made to develop an integrated framework within which to conduct research into channel relationships, but the validity and relaibility of these models has not been tested. This research project examined the relationship between the sources of conflict and stages in the conflict process. The sources of conflict were subdivided into attitudinal and structural categories, the latter being concerned with goal differences, the desire for autonomy in the face of interdependence and competition for scarce resources. The conflict process model adopted by the author assumes the existence of stages of latency, feeling, perception, manifestation and aftermath in each conflict episode. The first four were treated as separate behavioural states for which different levels of conflict intensity were measured. In order to provide greater explanatory power to the results of the analysis, the perceptions of two respondent groups were identified, namely the leader group, consisting of channel members responsible for the overall strategic interests of the channel, and the affected group, consisting of channel members who had been adversly affected by the activities of their partners in the channel dyad. In addition, respondents were asked to identify separately, their perceptions of the macro and micro levels of conflict in the four conflict states. The marketing channel for prescription medicines was selected for the study. The focal dyad consisted of retail pharmacy managers and doctors with single respondent perceptual measures being obtained from the retail pharmacy managers. A mail survey of all the retail pharmacy managers in South Africa, South West Africa/Namibia, and the independent homelands conducted in July 1987 resulted in a 40% response rate (1031 returns). Tests indicated statistically significant differences between the perceptual measures representing the sources and stages of conflict, the macro and micro levels of the stages of conflict and between the leader and the non-leader groups and the affected and non-affected groups. A sequential hierarchy in the level of conflict measured in the behavioural states was indicated, with decreasing levels of conflict being identified in states of latency, perception, feeling and manifestations, respectively. An analysis of the results revealed that attitudinal sources of conflict were more important that structural sources in measures of perceptions, feelings and manifestations of conflict behaviour. In the latent conflict state, structural sources assumed greater importance than attitudinal sources. In most of the measures, the sources of conflict were more correlated with perceptions of conflict at the macro level than the micro level. The exception was manifest conflict for which micro conflict levels were more important. The major sources of conflict were differences in perceptions, differences in goals and the lack of autonomy. The leader group indicated a particular concern for attitudinal factors, particularly communication difficulties. The affected group, whilst identifying attitudinal factors as being the most important, was especially concerned with their lack of autonomy from the doctor, rather than the competition for scarce resources which could have been expected. An overall assessment of the level of conflict between retail pharmacy managers and doctors indicated that the channel dyad was relatively free from conflict. Relationships were characterized by a degree of satisfaction, some degree of harmony and little evidence of conflict behaviour.

The primary purpose of this study is to analyze the formulary status of cephalosporins among a representative sample of hospitals in the United States. In addition, the research design attempts to determine the ranking of cephalsoporins in terms of acceptance to the hospitals' formulary and actual stocking of the cephaosoporin products. The study will attempt to ascertain the reasons for these rankings and the influence of DRG implementation, teaching status and hospital bed size on number of cephalosporins on formulary and in stock. This may yield insight into the strategies that hospitals are currently using to contain a significant proportion of their budget for pharmaceutical products

To determine whether the three Siegesbeckia plants can all serve as the origins of HS, we compared their fingerprint chromatograms and inhibitory effects on inflammatory mediators. Chemical analyses showed that the three species have different profiles, although they have common peaks in their fingerprint chromatograms. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) of the common peaks demonstrated that all samples of the three species tend to be species-dependently grouped and separated. Ten components contributing to the species discrimination were identified, of which 8 are long-chain fatty acids/esters, and 2 are darutoside and hythiemoside A. Inhibitory effects of the three species on NO production and IL-6 secretion in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages are different, with SG being the most and SP the least potent. These chemical and bioactivity assays support the notion that the three Siegesbeckia species cannot be equally used as the plant origins of HS.;This work provides a chemical and pharmacological basis for determining whether the three Siegesbeckia genus herbs SP, SO and SG can all serve as the origins of HS; and also provides pharmacological justifications for the clinical application of HS in treating inflammatory disorders.

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No description available.

Awareness of anthropogenic climate change has increased drastically in the last decade. With the help of the United Nations and the 17 sustainable development goals, there is now an international consensus that measures must be taken urgently. Actions towards reducing our climate impact have started to take place in various industries and one important sector is the food sector. This thesis is addressed to companies that help consumers make smarter and more climate friendly food decisions with the help of climate data. More specifically the scope of this thesis was to develop and evaluate a climate impact visualization application with consumers as the intended target group. The foundation of the intervention included theories in behaviour change and information visualization design principles. The application was evaluated with 11 participants looking to reduce their climate impact. A user study was conducted where the participants used the developed intervention by completing different tasks and then evaluated the experience and the different components of the application. The purpose of the evaluation was to gain qualitative insights of which components should be considered in the development process of a final product. The results indicate that visualizations of the products carbon dioxide emissions, receipt list and personal progress tracking were the most important components for the application. The result also gave positive indications that a similar application could help change the user’s behaviour when purchasing food to a more climate friendly pattern. / Medvetenheten om antropogena klimatförändringar har ökat drastiskt under det senaste decenniet. Med hjälp av FN och de 17 målen för hållbar utveckling finns det nu en internationell enighet om att åtgärder måste vidtas snarast. Åtgärder för att minska vår klimatpåverkan har börjat äga rum i olika branscher och en viktig sektor är livsmedelssektorn. Denna avhandling riktar sig till företag som hjälper konsumenter att fatta smartare och mer klimatvänliga livsmedelsbeslut med hjälp av klimatdata. Mer specifikt omfattar denna avhandling att utveckla och utvärdera en visualiseringsapplikation för klimatpåverkan med konsumenter som den avsedda målgruppen. Grunden för interventionen inkluderar teorier inom beteendeförändring och design-principer för informationsvisualisering. Applikationen utvärderades med 11 deltagare som ville minska sin klimatpåverkan. En användarstudie genomfördes där deltagarna använde den utvecklade applikationen genom att utföra olika uppgifter för att sedan utvärdera upplevelsen och de olika komponenterna i applikationen. Syftet med utvärderingen var att få kvalitativa insikter om vilka komponenter som bör beaktas i utvecklingsprocessen för en slutprodukt. Resultaten indikerar att visualiseringar av produkternas koldioxidutsläpp, kvittolista och personlig framstegsspårning var de viktigaste komponenterna för applikationen. Resultatet gav också positiva indikationer på att en liknande applikation skulle kunna hjälpa till att ändra användarens beteende när man handlar mat till ett mer klimatvänligt mönster.

本文主要目的係探討過度自信之管理者，是否傾向發行美國存託憑證，以及發行美國存託憑證之公司，是否會進行盈餘管理。本文衡量過度自信的方法，為公司之資產成長率；衡量盈餘管理的方法，則參照Zang (2012) 之研究，分為應計項目盈餘管理與實質盈餘管理；在實質盈餘管理方面，分別測試單一變數及合併變數。本研究之對象為1993年至2015年，中國在美國發行存託憑證之公司。實證結果發現，具過度自信管理者之中國公司，較願意赴美發行存託憑證，進入此較具競爭力之市場；除此之外，中國在美國發行存託憑證之公司，不管在應計項目，或實質項目方面，皆較不傾向進行盈餘管理。 / The main purpose of this study is to examine whether the overconfident managers tend to issue American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), and whether the firms issuing ADRs tend to conduct earnings management. In this paper, I employ the rate of asset growth as the proxy to measure overconfidence of managers, and follow the methods by Zang (2012) to measure earnings management including real earnings management and accrual earnings management. In addition, single variables and combined variables are used to test real earnings management. The research samples consist of Chinese firms which released ADRs for the period 1993 - 2015. The empirical results show that Chinese firms with overconfident managers tend to issue ADRs, indicating they are willing to enter the competitive market. The results also show that Chinese firms which issue ADRs are less likely to conduct real earnings management and accrual earnings management.

The dissertation focuses on the incentives and economic effects of gross receipts taxes (GRTs) versus corporate income taxes (CITs). Conventional wisdom holds that GRTs are very poor tax instruments; however, several states have shown renewed interest in GRTs since 2002. An interesting question to ask is why states are reconsidering GRTs in spite of all criticisms. Are GRTs really as bad as what conventional wisdom says? There is little rigorous theoretical or empirical work on GRTs. My dissertation aims to help fill this gap by providing both theoretical and empirical analysis on the comparative advantages and disadvantages of GRTs versus CITs. Essay one provides the first systematic theoretical analysis to compare and contrast the incentives and economic effects of gross receipts taxes versus corporate income taxes. Specifically, it focuses on the incentives for vertical integration in the sense of make-or-buy decisions, the effects on profit shifting between out-of-state and in-state firms, the incentives to change organizational form for tax purposes, and the incentives for cost-saving innovation under each tax system. Several results contradict conventional wisdom and deepen our understanding of GRTs. Based on Essay one, Essay two empirically tests the theoretical prediction that GRTs eliminate the distortion on organizational form choice, increasing the chance for a firm to incorporate. The analysis uses state-industry panel data from Nonemployer Statistics during the period 2002- 2008. The results show that states with a GRT have a higher share of corporate firms. Further, by replacing the CIT with a GRT, states may promote the real activity of C corporations.

In this thesis, we analyze premium relationship of American depositary receipts (ADR) and their underlying shares. Several researchers have previously identified the main variables influencing the construction of ADR premium of cross-listed companies. The aim of this study is to investigate to what extent the main variables affect differently the construction of ADR premium in crisis period. For the purpose of the study, two periods are defined. The period from June 2006 to October 2007 represents the non-crisis period whereas the period from October 2007 to March 2009 represents the crisis period. Our cross-listing sample consists of companies that have level II and level III ADR listed on the NYSE and the NASDAQ over the two periods. The tested variables influencing the premium are the liquidity, the currency exchange rate, the home and US market and the volatility. The liquidity is measured according to two ratios, the Amihud ratio and the turnover ratio. The currency exchange rate is the current exchange rate denominated in US dollar. The home markets are the reference indexes of the home country to which the underlying share of the ADR belong. The S&P 500 Index is used as a proxy for the US market. Finally, the US market volatility is analyzed with the CBOE VIX volatility Index. Multiple and simple OLS regressions are used to analyze the impacts of variables on ADR premium. The T-statistic is chosen to test the explanatory power of variables. The regressions are divided in three main parts. The first one is dedicated to the liquidity variables, then the second one to the home and US market, currency exchange rate and CBOE VIX volatility Index. Finally the last part keeps only the variables with the stronger explanatory power in order to define two equations of the factor influencing mostly the premium. We have found that crisis strongly modifies the relationship between ADR premium and the main variables. In crisis period, the regressions show that liquidity becomes a factor with a greater explanatory power of ADR premium. However the other main variables experience the opposite effect with a much lower T-test in times of crisis. It seems that the currency exchange rate, the home and US market as well as the volatility lose their explanatory power in times of crisis to the benefit of liquidity variables.