The purpose of this research is to discuss the "Rational Reform Plan on Public Servant Pension Income", systematic inquiries into the perception and manner of Penghu County public servants towards the reform plan, analyze the perception and manner differences by the public servants with different backgrounds, and propose conclusions and suggestions for a smooth and rational pension reformation. The objectives of this research are as follows: 1. Understand the perception and manner of Penghu County public servants towards the "Rational Reform Plan on Public Servant Pension Income"; 2. Understand the perception and manner differences by current and retired public servants towards the reform plan; 3. Understand if there is a difference in perception and manner by current public servants with different backgrounds; 4. Understand if there is a difference in perception and manner by retired public servants with different backgrounds; 5. Understand the feelings and suggestions of the Penghu County public servants towards the reform plan. This research is conducted with the literature analysis and questionnaire survey methods. Using current and retired public servants of Penghu County Government and respective institutions as the subjects, the number of sampling current public servants is 437 (distributed 437 questionnaire), 416 questionnaire is returned, the number of valid questionnaire is 404 and the ratio of valid questionnaire is 92.45%; the number of sampling retired public servants is 112 (distributed 112 questionnaire), 61 questionnaire is returned, the number of valid questionnaire is 56 and the ratio of valid questionnaire is 50%. This research obtains the below conclusions: 1. Most participants feel the domestic economic planning for senior is insufficient and approve to adopt gradual reduction of retired planning difference; 2. Most participants approve the reform concept but feel the plan content lacks fairness and the plan guidance is insufficient; 3. The participants have different views on whether the plan is helpful to the society, dignity of the public servants and national financial pressure; 4. The reform plan helps in easing early retirement but is afraid on letting unsuitable staff to remain in office and reduction of trust in the government; 5. The current and retired staff have different perceptions to the reform background and strategy planning; there is no perceptive difference in the strategy influence; 6. There is perceptive difference to the strategy background by current public servant of different ages, service seniority, positions, levels and institutions; different genders and education levels do not show any difference. 7. There is perceptive difference to the plan connotation by current public servant of different backgrounds; 8. There is perceptive difference to the strategy influence by current public servant of different genders, service seniority, education levels and positions; different ages, levels and institutions do not show any difference; 9. There is perceptive difference to the strategy background by retired staff of different genders, ages, service seniority, education levels and institutions; different positions and levels do not show any difference. 10. There is perceptive difference to the strategy influence by retired staff of different ages, service seniority, education levels and institutions; different genders, positions and levels do not show any difference. With the above conclusions, this research proposes the below suggestions: 1. More professional and less politics in the civil system reform; 2. Pension income reform is not to be pursued to maintain good faith in the government; 3. The reform plan should be legalized before implementing; 4. Review before revision of irrational reform stipulations; 5. Integrated measures and advance announcement; 6. Early planning of old age economic planning system; 7. Planning of retirement and social welfare system; 8. Public servants should plan lifetime income to safeguard old age.

When foundations are designed on weak clay layers, it is a common practice to modify the subgrade by installing stone columns. Currently used methods for determining the level of ground modification, represented by the percentage of soil replaced (replacement ratio), assume a rigid foundation. These analytical methods provide the designer with the potential settlement reduction based on the compressibility parameters of the subgrade and the replacement ratio. The deficiencies of these methods are the assumption of rigidity of the foundation and the consideration of the settlement reduction as the only design criterion. Furthermore, they do not consider the effects that ground modification has on differential settlement, moments, and shear forces within the slab. In order to determine the effects of ground modification on the overall performance of a flexible foundation, a computer program was formulated which compares a multitude of design parameters of the modified subgrade to those of the unmodified subgrade to determine the impact of ground modification. By performing this investigation, correlations were found between the replacement ratio and the settlement reduction factors. Similarly, correlations were also found between the ratio of the length of the foundation to the radius of relative stiffness, and the moments and shear forces generated within the slab. The use of the findings of this thesis would allow the design to make more informed decisions when designing foundations on modified subgrade resulting in safer and more economical designs.

A reforming trend is captured showing that countries are shifting from defined benefit pension systems towards defined contribution systems. The reforms have been justified through predictions that the defined benefit systems will not manage to provide good enough pensions to members in the future. The newer defined contribution pension plans often include individual financial accounts where individuals have the possibility to choose how a part of their pension savings should be invested. Sweden was early to introduce such a system, which at the moment provides more than 800 funds to choose from. The aim of this thesis is to capture the market risk associated with these individual investments and does so by using Monte Carlo simulations for six selected pension funds. The method produces forecasts of replacement ratios, pension as percentage of pre-retirement income, for two hypothetical individuals: one who starts to work right after elementary school and one individual who starts a five year education and after graduation starts to work. The results show a slightly lower replacement ratio for the educated individual, which also is associated with a higher probability of ending up with a low replacement ratio. The market risk also varies between the funds, which implies that the funds should be chosen with great care. The study ends with arguments for an increasing paternalism with a carefully considered fund offering, providing fewer funds to choose from than today.

近年來隨著台灣人口日漸少子化，「養兒防老」的傳統觀念已不符時勢所趨，面對高齡化社會所帶來龐大的財政負擔及老年人口安養等社會問題。過去研究結果提供了一可能的解決方案－「逆向房屋抵押貸款（Reverse Mortgage, RM）」，然而，對於此種新型貸款在台灣推行之完整可行性分析，相關研究尚付之闕如。是故，本研究從承貸雙方角度出發，旨在深入探討未來逆向房屋抵押貸款在台推行之可行性。 首先，對於申貸者而言，本研究以30至60歲且名下擁有不動產之家戶為研究單位，並用問卷調查台灣中年房屋持有者申請逆向房屋抵押貸款之意願程度。針對調查結果，再以「羅吉斯迴歸（Logistic Regression）」分析影響申請意願之顯著因子，據以探討申請意願與受訪者特性兩者之關係。 其次，從承貸者角度建立一貸款定價模型，模擬分析於損益兩平條件下，貸款機構有無貸款保險，以及於不同貸款給付方案中，其可提供逆向房屋抵押貸款之最高可貸款成數（Loan to Value, LTV）。再者，進一步結合台灣各主要都會區房價資料，研究顯示所得替代率（Income Replacement Ratio, IRR-RM）符合多數申貸者之基本需求。 本研究預期「逆向房屋抵押貸款」除了有效解決人口老化所衍生之社會問題外，亦兼具政府「就地老化（Aging in Place）」政策效益，提升了老年生活品質，維護老年人口的尊嚴。 / With the continuously declining fertility rates and the increasing life expectancy, Taiwan has become one of the aging societies in the world. To release the financial strain of the government, a great number of literature has suggested an alternative option, Reverse Mortgage (RM), to improve the retiring life quality of the elders. However, little attention has been given specifically to the feasibility of the application of RM and the pricing model in individual countries. This study thus conducted the questionnaire and collected the data in Taiwan for analysis in order to show the implementation feasibility of RM in aging society for both the aspects of both lenders and borrowers. First of all, to find out the factors affecting the willingness in applying for RM and the characteristic of the middle-aged homeowners, we designed a survey and a quantitative analysis of the questionnaire through Logistic Regression Analysis. Second, under a break-even hypothesis, we analyzed the ratio of Loan to Value (LTV) a reverse mortgage lender would offer through the simulation model. Furthermore, the housing data from different metropolises of Taiwan is integrated into the study in order to determine whether if the Income Replacement Ratio of RM (IRR-RM) could meet the basic needs of Taiwanese. Results found in this paper suggest that RM could satisfy the general need of people in Taiwan. Procedures conducted in this study may also provide precious insight for other aging countries. This paper suggests that reverse mortgage could not only solve the society issues, but also secure the retiring lives of the elders and preserve their living qualities.

Deep Mixing involves the introduction of cementitious or specially formulated solutions directly into the ground through the use of purpose built blending injection augers. The system is mainly designed to increase strength and reduce compressibility of treated soil. In the first stage of the research effective mixture ratios and mixture types of stabilizing agents were investigated for soft clays (CL form Eymir lake and kaolinite) by means of unconfined compression (UC) tests on stabilized soils. The unconfined compressive strength (UCS) values were obtained for 7,28,90 and 365 days of curing time. The ratio of elastic modulus at 50% failure load (E50) to (UCS) of the stabilizing agents were also investigated. In the second part of the research programme, deep mixed model columns with the three column materials and four different column spacings are formed within the large scale consolidation tanks, and the consolidation characteristics of deep mixed improved clay were investigated. Based on the results of large scale consolidation tests on deep mixed columnar improved soft clay, compressibility characteristics of improved soft clay were determined in relation to spacing of columns namely, effective replacement ratio and binder content. The cement content (also UCS) of the column material was found to be the most important parameter for the improvement effects of DMM applications. Validity of the relations for the estimation of bulk compression modulus of soilcrete were discussed. The use of constrained modulus of the soil and the column material were found to be effective in predicting the compression modulus of the soilcrete. Settlement reduction factor versus replacement ratio and cement content relations were determined which may be used for preliminary design works. The stresses on the soil and the columns were backcalculated from the settlement values. The stress ratios were obtained.