This dissertation consists of three chapters on the implications of the personal default option on the economy. In the first two chapters, I analyze how credit constraints faced by entrepreneurs are shaped by the legal environment for default that they face. In the third chapter, I explore the welfare implications of allowing financial intermediaries to charge different interest rates according to perceived probabilities of consumer bankruptcy. In the first chapter, I build a model where agents can pick a career and decide whether to default on their mortgage. The purpose of this model is to analyze the interaction between these decisions and the existence of different legal environments, regarding the degree of recourse that lenders have over the borrowers’ assets. The model yields three basic predictions. First, as lenders have more recourse, the cost of default for the borrower increases and default becomes less frequent. Second, as lenders have more recourse, the entrepreneurship threshold (i.e. the amount of home equity a homeowner requires to become an entrepreneur) also increases. Third, where lenders have relatively less recourse, the size of the entrepreneurship threshold reduction due to a house price increase is larger. In the second chapter I test the validity of the third prediction of the model, which encompasses the other two. Using U.S. data, I find that the margins of creation for small young firms responded strongly to the increase in house prices between 2000 and 2007. This effect was driven by those areas where mortgage default is relatively less costly (less recourse). This link between house prices and entrepreneurial activity becomes weaker after the Great Recession. The third chapter explores the effects of allowing financial intermediaries to charge different interest rates according to the debt profile of agents. It also studies the welfare implications of different bankruptcy schemes and those associated with removing the default option. My findings indicate that allowing for price discrimination and removing the bankruptcy option are both desirable. However, the welfare gain from a more stringent bankruptcy regulation is negligible compared to those of removing the bankruptcy option and allowing discrimination.

The constellation of the customer base has implications for the company’s future survivability. Within the business-to-business markets, the customer relationships are characterized by technical and organizational interfaces. Understanding the customer relationships and using customer accounting can provide information about how to prioritize among the customers in order to improve short-term and long-term profitability. The framework by Lind and Strömsten (2006) where different customer accounting techniques are related to a typology over customer relationships is evaluated and further elaborated on in this thesis. The empirical findings both confirm the reasoning behind the framework and cause development potential. The relation of customer accounting techniques to different types of customer relationships is mainly confirmed by the study. Regarding the customer typology, the empirical findings bring forth proposed improvements; a grading of the technical and organizational interfaces of the customer relationship types is suggested.

Illegal logging and timber trade presents a persistent threat to global biodiversity and national security due to its ties with illicit financial flows, and causes revenue loss. The scale of global commerce in timber and associated products, combined with the complexity and geographical spread of the supply chain entities present a non-trivial challenge in detecting such transactions. International shipment records, specifically those containing bill of lading is a key source of data which can be used to detect, investigate and act upon such transactions. The comprehensive problem can be described as building a framework that can perform automated discovery and facilitate actionability on detected transactions. A data driven machine learning based approach is necessitated due to the volume, velocity and complexity of international shipping data. Such an automated framework can immensely benefit our targeted end-users---specifically the enforcement agencies. This overall problem comprises of multiple connected sub-problems with associated research questions. We incorporate crucial domain knowledge---in terms of data as well as modeling---through employing expertise of collaborating domain specialists from ecological conservationist agencies. The collaborators provide formal and informal inputs spanning across the stages---from requirement specification to the design. Following the paradigm of similar problems such as fraud detection explored in prior literature, we formulate the core problem of discovering suspicious transactions as an anomaly detection task. The first sub-problem is to build a system that can be used find suspicious transactions in shipment data pertaining to imports and exports of multiple countries with different country specific schema. We present a novel anomaly detection approach---for multivariate categorical data, following constraints of data characteristics, combined with a data pipeline that incorporates domain knowledge. The focus of the second problem is U.S. specific imports, where data characteristics differ from the prior sub-problem---with heterogeneous attributes present. This problem is important since U.S. is a top consumer and there is scope of actionable enforcement. For this we present a contrastive learning based anomaly detection model for heterogeneous tabular data, with performance and scalability characteristics applicable to real world trade data. While the first two problems address the task of detecting suspicious trades through anomaly detection, a practical challenge with anomaly detection based systems is that of relevancy or scenario specific precision. The third sub-problem addresses this through a human-in-the-loop approach augmented by visual analytics, to re-rank anomalies in terms of relevance---providing explanations for cause of anomalies and soliciting feedback. The last sub-problem pertains to explainability and actionability towards suspicious records, through algorithmic recourse. Algorithmic recourse aims to provides meaningful alternatives towards flagged anomalous records, such that those counterfactual examples are not judged anomalous by the underlying anomaly detection system. This can help enforcement agencies advise verified trading entities in modifying their trading patterns to avoid false detection, thus streamlining the process. We present a novel formulation and metrics for this unexplored problem of algorithmic recourse in anomaly detection. and a deep learning based approach towards explaining anomalies and generating counterfactuals. Thus the overall research contributions presented in this dissertation addresses the requirements of the framework, and has general applicability in similar scenarios beyond the scope of this framework. / Doctor of Philosophy / Illegal timber trade presents multiple global challenges to ecological biodiversity, vulnerable ecosystems, national security and revenue collection. Enforcement agencies---the target end-users of this framework---face a myriad of challenges in discovering and acting upon shipments with illegal timber that violate national and transnational laws due to volume and complexity of shipment data, coupled with logistical hurdles. This necessitates an automated framework based upon shipment data that can address this task---through solving problems of discovery, analysis and actionability. The overall problem is decomposed into self contained sub-problems that address the associated specific research questions. These comprise of anomaly detection in multiple types of high dimensional tabular data, improving precision of anomaly detection through expert feedback and algorithmic recourse for anomaly detection. We present data mining and machine learning solutions to each of the sub-problems that overcome limitations and inapplicability of prior approaches. Further, we address two broader research questions. First is incorporation domain knowledge into the framework, which we accomplish through collaboration with domain experts from environmental conservation organizations. Secondly, we address the issue of explainability in anomaly detection for tabular data in multiple contexts. Such real world data presents with challenges of complexity and scalability, especially given the tabular format of the data that presents it's own set of challenges in terms of machine learning. The solutions presented to these machine learning problems associated with each of components of the framework provide an end-to-end solution to it's requirements. More importantly, the models and approaches presented in this dissertation have applicability beyond the application scenario with similar data and application specific challenges.

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This diploma thesis is concerned with a financial tool called factoring. It involves an assignment of account receivables before their maturity date onto the factoring company and thus taking over their administration while providing immediate cash to the original creditor in order to sustain liquidity. Legislation of this method of financing is not yet fully resolved therefore it is crucial to focus primarily on the ecnomic substance of individual contracts. Basically, there are two major types of factoring: recourse and non-recourse depending on the level of assumed risk, together with transfer of ownerwhip of the account receivable. This fundamental distinction is inevitable for correct financial reporting which should reflect not only the accounting principles but also it should respect other implications, such as taxation.

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship on career self-efficacy and career satisfaction for human resource practitioners in Taiwan. Besides, this research also explores the moderating effects of of mentoring support and interpersonal trust. One hundred and forty three surveys were received by employees of Taiwanese companies. The data was analyzed by factor analysis, reliability analysis, using the SPSS to measure the relationship amongst the constructs, and we draw some research conclusions as follows. 1. The career self-efficacy of human resource practitioners is significant and positive related to career satisfaction. 2. Though hierarchical regression analysis, the results reveal that Mentoring Support is a moderator of career self-efficacy and career satisfaction. 3. Interpersonal trust has significant and positive influence on between career self-efficacy and career satisfaction.

Orientador: Renato de Campos / Banca: Rodolfo Florence Teixeira Junior / Banca: Marcius Fabius Henriques de Carvalho / Resumo: Para o aumento da capacidade gerencial e competitiva das empresas um dos principais recursos é o uso dos sistemas integrados de gestão ou Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Os ERPs livres de código aberto têm ganhado uma aceitação cada vez maior, oferecendo vantagens como diminuição dos custos e o acesso ao código. Para usufruir destas vantagens são necessários métodos e ferramentas adequadas para o levantamento do modelo de requisitos de negócios, visando facilitar o desenvolvimento ou implantação do software. Linguagens de modelagem de empresas contribuem para a definição de requisitos de empresas por possuir sintaxe e semântica mais adequada para este fim. Atualmente várias linguagens de modelagem de empresas são propostas, como por exemplo, a linguagem CIMOSA. Pretende-se nesta pesquisa estudar e comparar linguagens de modelagem de empresas, visando definir um conjunto de construtores de linguagem que mais se adéqüe ao desenvolvimento e adaptação de ERPs, em específicos para ERPs livres de código aberto. Também, são propostos uma estrutura conceitual e diretrizes para a passagem de modelos de empresa para o modelo de sistema ERP5. / Abstract: In order to improve the competitive and management capacity of a company, one of the main resources is the use of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). The ERPs free of open code have gained an increasing acceptance, offering advantages such as lower costs and access to the codes. To enjoy these benefits, appropriate methods and tools are necessary in order to set up the model of business requirements, to facilitate the development or customization of software codes. Business modeling languages contribute for the definition of companies requirements because they have syntax and semantics more appropriate for this purpose. Nowadays, several languages are proposed for business modeling, for example CIMOSA. The main objective of this work is to study business modeling languages, comparing them and mapping the builder of CIMOSA language. Based on the definition of a more complete group of business modeling languages builders, and consistent with ERP5 classes, it is proposed guidelines for the implementation or customization of the ERP5, through the passage of a business model to the information system model, in a more systematic and appropriate way. / Mestre

abstract: Wage theft is a national epidemic that only recently became the focus of increasing research, critical public questioning, and activism. Given the socio- political climate in Maricopa County, Arizona and the heightened national attention on the state, this study answers important questions about the work experiences of immigrant workers in the region. Through an analysis of interviews with 14 low-wage Mexican workers from a local worker rights center, I explore workers' access to traditional recourse, the effects of wage theft on workers and families, and the survival strategies they utilize to mitigate the effects of sudden income loss. By providing an historical overview of immigration and employment law, I show how a dehumanized and racialized labor force has been structurally maintained and exploited. Furthermore, I describe the implications of two simultaneous cultures on the state of labor: the culture of fear among immigrants to assert their rights and utilize recourse, and the culture of criminality and impunity among employers who face virtually no sanctions when they are non-compliant with labor law. The results indicate that unless the rights of immigrant workers are equally enforced and recourse is made equally accessible, not only will the standards for pay and working conditions continue to collapse, but the health of Latino communities will also deteriorate. I assert that in addition to structural change, a shift in national public discourse and ideology is critical to substantive socio-political transformation. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Social Justice and Human Rights 2011

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-07-16Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:27:00Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 rochetti_at_me_bauru.pdf: 1501607 bytes, checksum: 61def01439b574afddb60f9158749ba5 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Para o aumento da capacidade gerencial e competitiva das empresas um dos principais recursos é o uso dos sistemas integrados de gestão ou Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). Os ERPs livres de código aberto têm ganhado uma aceitação cada vez maior, oferecendo vantagens como diminuição dos custos e o acesso ao código. Para usufruir destas vantagens são necessários métodos e ferramentas adequadas para o levantamento do modelo de requisitos de negócios, visando facilitar o desenvolvimento ou implantação do software. Linguagens de modelagem de empresas contribuem para a definição de requisitos de empresas por possuir sintaxe e semântica mais adequada para este fim. Atualmente várias linguagens de modelagem de empresas são propostas, como por exemplo, a linguagem CIMOSA. Pretende-se nesta pesquisa estudar e comparar linguagens de modelagem de empresas, visando definir um conjunto de construtores de linguagem que mais se adéqüe ao desenvolvimento e adaptação de ERPs, em específicos para ERPs livres de código aberto. Também, são propostos uma estrutura conceitual e diretrizes para a passagem de modelos de empresa para o modelo de sistema ERP5. / In order to improve the competitive and management capacity of a company, one of the main resources is the use of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). The ERPs free of open code have gained an increasing acceptance, offering advantages such as lower costs and access to the codes. To enjoy these benefits, appropriate methods and tools are necessary in order to set up the model of business requirements, to facilitate the development or customization of software codes. Business modeling languages contribute for the definition of companies requirements because they have syntax and semantics more appropriate for this purpose. Nowadays, several languages are proposed for business modeling, for example CIMOSA. The main objective of this work is to study business modeling languages, comparing them and mapping the builder of CIMOSA language. Based on the definition of a more complete group of business modeling languages builders, and consistent with ERP5 classes, it is proposed guidelines for the implementation or customization of the ERP5, through the passage of a business model to the information system model, in a more systematic and appropriate way.

Etroitement liée aux droits du détenu, la question des décisions disciplinaires au sein des prisons occupe aujourd’hui une place prééminente dans le débat sur les réformes des politiques pénitentiaires en France et dans d’autres États européens. Le droit au recours est un droit capital, aussi important que les droits garantis dans les textes et conventions relatifs aux droits fondamentaux. Sa valeur n’a d’existence que si sa mise en oeuvre pratique est réelle, en d’autres termes qu’il puisse s’exercer sans réserve tout en réprimant sa violation. Ce droit n’a de cesse, jusqu'à récemment encore, de faire les frais d’une jurisprudence européenne dense, du fait des violations répétées dont il fait l’objet. Ceci est particulièrement le cas concernant les décisions disciplinaires carcérales, lesquelles peuvent produire d’importantes conséquences sur la durée et la qualité de vie du détenu. Réformer le régime juridique des décisions disciplinaires carcérales et sa procédure de manière à ce qu’elle s’applique en accord avec les principes fondamentaux des droits de l’Homme et en harmonie avec les principes de sécurité publique, est progressivement devenu une préoccupation majeure en matière de politique pénitentiaire pour le législateur. Aussi, rechercher le juste équilibre entre les missions de sécurité publique et de maintien de l’ordre d’une population dite « sensible et vulnérable », et cela dans le respect des droits fondamentaux, constitue l’un des objectifs premiers de cette étude. Il s’agit donc de réfléchir à une nouvelle conception de l’application du droit dans les prisons, notamment du droit au recours effectif, au moyen d’une approche comparative portant sur le cas de la France et du Canada. Ce choix est principalement motivé par la dualité des systèmes juridiques en présence, leur considération universaliste des droits de l’Homme, et leur conception différenciée du système pénitentiaire / Closely intertwined with the rights of detainees, the issue surrounding penitentiary disciplinary sanctions has taken a prominent place in today’s debate on penitentiary policy reforms in France and other European states. Detainees’ right to effective remedy is as important as all other rights guaranteed by regional and international conventions on fundamental human rights. The very existence of such right only has value its implementation is real, executed without reserved and any violation suppressed. This right incessantly continues to suffer at the hands of an increasingly growing body of European case law due to the recurrent violations it is subjected to. This particularly concerns penitentiary disciplinary sanctions, which can have significant consequences on the length of detention and the detainee’s quality of life. Reforming the legal system as it pertains to penitentiary disciplinary decisions and procedures in order to ensure that they comply with principles of fundamental human rights and public safety has progressively become a major governmental preoccupation. Hence, casting the right balance between the need to ensure public safety and maintaining order within a segment of the population referred to as “susceptible and vulnerable” in relation to compliance with fundamental human rights constitute one of the most prominent objectives of the present study. This investigation is concerned with a novel conception of the application of detainees’ rights within the prison system, more specifically detainees’ rights to an effective remedy, through a comparative analysis between the existing recourses in France and Canada. These jurisdictions were selected due to the duality they represent, their universalist consideration of human rights, and their differentiated conception of the prison system.