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Vigren, Andreas. "Costs in Swedish Public Transport : An analysis of cost drivers and cost efficiency in public transport contracts." Licentiate thesis, Transportekonomi, TEK, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-174378.
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During the last seven years, the total cost for Swedish public transport provision has increased by over 30 percent in real terms according to figures from the government agency Transport Analysis. A similar pattern is found if considering a longer time span. Part of the cost increase can be attributed to an increased supply, and part is due to price increases on input factors that are measured by an industry index produced by the public transport industry. The fact that about half of the costs in Swedish public transport are covered by public funds calls for responsibility in how these funds are used, and this means that information about cost drivers and cost efficiency is necessary. The lack of information about these factors in the Swedish public transport sector is the main motivation for the two papers included in this thesis. In this cover essay, the developments over the last decades in Swedish public transport are described, and there is a focus on the last ten years with the Doubling Project and the market in 2012. As mentioned, the costs as a whole, as well as per unit costs such as cost per vehicle kilometer, have increased in real terms since 2007. Even though parts of the cost increase can be attributed to an increased supply or the price of input factors, this development might be problematic for at least two reasons. First, the ambition of the industry to double the number of travelers by the year 2020 seems to have resulted in a supply increase around year 2010 and a similar increase in the number of boardings. However, the cost per vehicle kilometer and cost per boarding have both increased since then, which can bring into question whether the supply increases have been made at the right places and to the proper extent to have the desired effect on travel. Second, it is not clear whether a price increase for input factors can be viewed as an ``acceptable'' explanation for the cost increase. To the extent that the Public Transport Authority (PTA) or operator can affect the price of input factors such as buses (detailed or environmental requirements, etc.) or labor (demands on take-over of previous staff), an endogenous relationship is possible, which could disguise these potentially cost-driving factors as general price increases. At the end of this essay, a discussion about the lack of publicly available data highlights the non-compliance with EU regulations related to this. More data resources, perhaps with open access, would enable more comparisons between contractual forms, PTAs, and operators, which would provide examples of good and poor solutions and concepts in the industry and would have the potential to ensure better use of public funds. Below is a summary over the two paper included in this licentiate thesis. Papper I - “Costs for Swedish Public Transport Authorities” - uses contract-level data for the year 2012 and econometric methodology to investigate how contract factors affect costs for bus contracts. A theoretical framework is established to show some of the cost mechanisms that are at work in the two most popular contractual forms in Sweden, and the paper provides some insights into what results to expect from the empirical analysis. The most important results from the econometric analysis are that higher population density and a contract being operated by a publicly owned (municipal or county council) operator are both associated with having higher costs. Also, no statistically significant differences could be found when using incentive payments in the contracts. Papper II - “Cost Efficiency in Swedish Public Transport” -has a similar perspective as Paper I, but it uses stochastic frontier analysis to focus on cost efficiency and differences across PTAs. Data for the year 2013 are used, along with other data sources, to derive a cost frontier from which some of the deviations from this can be attributed to cost inefficiencies. The results are similar to those of Paper I, namely that cost efficiency is lower in high-density areas and in contracts that are directly awarded to a publicly owned operator. When comparing the cost efficiency of the PTAs (or counties), most exhibit small differences. The difference between the 1st and 15th-ranked county is only about 8 percent. The difference is somewhat larger when turning to the third and second least efficient counties of Stockholm and Skåne. The least efficient county of Västmanland is about 30 less cost efficient than the 1st-ranked county.De senaste sju åren har de totala kostnaderna för att bedriva kollektivtrafik i Sverige ökat med över 30 procent i reala termer enligt siffror från myndigheten Trafikanalys. Jämförs en längre tidsperiod hittas samma mönster. En del av kostnadsökningen kan förklaras med ett ökat utbud under perioden, och en del med ökade priser på insatsfaktorer vilket kan mätas med ett prisindex sammansatt av kollektivtrafikbranschen. Det faktum att ungefär hälften av kollektivtrafikens kostnader täcks av offentliga medel ställer krav på ett ansvarsfullt utnyttjande, vilket i sin tur kräver information om hur kostnader och kostnadseffektivitet påverkas. Dylik information är begränsad för svensk kollektivtrafik, vilket är den huvudsakliga motiveringen till de två papperen i denna uppsats. I den tillhörande kappan beskrivs de senaste decenniernas utveckling i den svenska kollektivtrafiken, med ett större fokus på de senaste tio åren med branschens fördubblingsprojekt samt marknadsöppningen år 2012. Som nämndes tidigare har kostnaderna som helhet, samt olika typer av styckkostnader såsom kostnad per körd utbudskilometer, ökat i reala termer sedan 2007. Även om delar av kostnadsökningarna kan attribueras till ett ökat utbud eller prisökningar i insatsfaktorer kan utvecklingen ändå vara problematisk av åtminstone två anledningar. För det första verkar branschens ambition att fördubbla resandet till år 2020 ha gett en utbudsökning under åren kring 2010, och en resandeökning något år senare. Vad som är tydligt är dock att både kostnaden per utbudskilometer och passagerare ökat. I ljuset av detta blir det tveksamt om utbudsökningarna skett på rätt ställen. För det andra är det oklart om en prisökning i insatsfaktorerna kan ses som ”acceptabla” anledningar till branschens kostnadsökning. I den mån kollektivtrafikmyndigheter och/eller operatörer kan påverka priset på insatsfaktorer såsom bussar (särkrav, miljökrav etc.) eller personal (personalövertagande etc.) riskerar man ett endogent samband vilket gör att dessa, potentiellt kostnadsdrivande, faktorer lätt kan sorteras bort som allmänna prisökningar. I slutet av kappan förs även en diskussion om den bristande tillgången på offentlig data i svensk kollektivtrafik, och att kollektivtrafikmyndigheterna inte följer uppsatta EU förordningar relaterat till detta. Ett större utbud av data, och helst ett öppet sådant, skulle möjliggöra för mer jämförelser mellan kontrakt, utförare och kollektivtrafikmyndigheter, vilket i förlängningen tydligare skulle kunna påvisa bra och dåliga exempel i branschen och bidra ett bättre resursutnyttjande av skattemedel. Nedan följer en sammanfattning av de två papper som ingår i licentiatuppsatsen. Papper I, “Costs for Swedish Public Transport Authorities”, använder data från år 2012 på kontraktsnivå för att med ekonometriska metoder analysera hur olika kontraktsfaktorer påverkar kostnaderna i busskontrakt. Analysen utgår från en teoretisk modell visar på kostnadsmekanismer i de två vanligaste kontraktstyperna, och som ger några insikter om vilka resultat som kan förväntas från den empiriska analysen. De viktigaste resultaten från den ekonometriska analysen är att kostnaderna är högre om kontraktet körs i ett område med hög befolkningstäthet, eller om operatören av ett kontrakt har en offentlig ägare (kommun eller landsting). Incitamentsersättning till operatören kan inte påvisas ha en statistiskt signifikant påverkan på kostnaderna. Papper II, “Cost Efficiency in Swedish Public Transport” , har en liknande utgångspunkt som Papper I, men använder stokastisk frontanalys för att fokusera på kostnadseffektivitet och skillnader i denna mellan kollektivtrafikmyndigheter. Data från år 2013 används tillsammans med ett antal andra datakällor för att ta fram en kostnadsfront, där vissa avvikelser från denna attribueras som kostnadsineffektivitet. Resultaten påminner om de i Papper I, nämligen att kostnadseffektiviteten är lägre i tätbefolkade områden, samt i kontrakt som direkttilldelas en offentligt ägd operatör. En jämförelse av kollektivtrafikmyndigheternas (länens) kostnadseffektivitet visar att de flesta län inte skiljer sig åt. Skillnaden mellan den mest effektiva och 15e mest effektiva länet är ca 8 procent. Skillnaden är något större till Stockholms och Skåne län, som har tredje respektive näst lägsta kostnadseffektivitet, samt det sist placerade länet, Västmanland, som är cirka 30 procent mer ineffektiv än det bäst placerade.
QC 20151007
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Jacobs, Rowena. "An analysis of cost efficiency in English acute hospitals." Thesis, University of York, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.274505.
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Darovich, Andrew. "Productivity at the Cost of Efficiency: An Analysis of Advanced C# Programming." Cleveland State University / OhioLINK, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1339121003.
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Lee, Jae-Youn. "Ownership, market structure, and efficiency in Korean banks : a cost frontier analysis." The Ohio State University, 1996. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1272391268.
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Leon, Janina V. "Cost frontier analysis of efficiency : an application to the Peruvian Municipal Banks /." The Ohio State University, 2001. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1488204276534176.
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Walheer, Barnabé. "Efficiency analysis: a multi-output nonparametric approach." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/239283.
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Benchmarking is a technique used by Decision Making Units (DMUs) to enable continuous quality improvement. Benchmarking includes almost any activity that compares a DMU's performance with some standard. Benchmarking offers the possibility of optimizing the DMU's processes, services, outcomes and products through those comparisons. Quite often, benchmarking is understood to be an act of imitating or copying but in reality benchmarking proves to be a concept that helps in innovation rather than imitation. Though benchmarking is not new, it has become popular both as an analytical research instrument and a practical decision-support tool. To some, benchmarking is not a choice; it is a necessity. Indeed, the penalty for neglecting proper benchmarking is loss of competitive edge, which is the key to survival and profitability.Usually, benchmarking involves four distinct phases. Phase I: determine the set of comparison partners. There are three types of benchmarking procedure: internal benchmarking (i.e. the benchmark is chosen within the same organization), functional benchmarking (i.e. the benchmark is chosen regardless of which industry they are) and competitive benchmarking (i.e a competitor is used as the benchmark). Phase II: collect the data. Much information is already in the public domain (financial reports, newspaper reports, analysts' reports) but it is unlikely to provide all the information required for a successful benchmarking exercise. Phase III: analyze the collected information which results in the creation of a model and an identification of performance gaps. The model will have huge influence on the results. It is crucial to motivate all assumptions made in that phase. The model could be specific to the benchmarking exercise. Phase IV: the action phase. Analyzing the reasons for the performance differentials and use the findings to redefine goals, redesign processes, and change expectations regarding the evaluated DMU's own functions and activities.Amongst the models chosen in Phase III, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has received more and more attention in the benchmarking literature. The goal of such analysis is to evaluate the efficiency of a DMU by comparing its input-output performance to that of other DMUs operating in a similar technological environment. The increasing attention for DEA could be explained by two main reasons. On the one hand, DEA does not resort to any unverifiable parametric/functional specifications of the production technology but rather lets the data speak for themselves by reconstructing the production possibilities using the observed inputs and outputs and imposing some technology axioms (such as monotonicity, convexity, returns-to-scale). Consequently, DEA is nonparametric in nature. On the other hand, deviation from efficiency, which is measured as the distance to the reconstructed production possibilities, is very easily computed. Indeed, the computation of the efficiency measures merely requires solving simple linear programming problems.Recently, Cherchye et al (2008, 2013) argued that standard DEA models provide a black-box treatment of efficiency production behavior since they ignore the links between inputs and outputs, i.e. they implicitly assume that all the inputs produce all the outputs simultaneously. This assumption is not plausible in several applications (e.g. employees that are allocated to different productions processes, specific capital which is used to produce only one type of goods). These authors suggested a multi-output nonparametric efficiency measurement technique, based on a cost minimization condition, which uses available information on the allocation of inputs to outputs. The new methodology characterizes each output by its own production technology while accounting for interdependencies between the different output-specific technologies giving rise to scope economies. This methodology provides a more realistic modelling of the production process and has a bigger ability to detect inefficient behavior (i.e. has more discriminatory power) than standard DEA techniques.In this thesis, we extend the method suggested by Cherchye et al (2008, 2013) in several directions. Firstly, we incorporate bad outputs (in contrast to good outputs). This extension deals in a natural way with several limitations of existing DEA approaches to treat undesirable outputs. As demonstrated with our application to the electricity sector. Next, we extend the methodology to allow for output-specific returns-to-scale assumptions. This allows for a more flexible model that does not force the practitioners to choose the same returns-to-scale assumption for all the outputs (as it is the case for the standard DEA model). This simultaneous choice could be difficult to defend in several settings but it is surely the case when undesirable outputs are present in the production process, as demonstrated in our application. Next, we extend the methodology for multi-output producers by considering a dynamic context. We suggest a new productivity index which takes the form of a Malmquist Productivity Index. Finally, we also generalize the method of Cherchye et al (2008, 2013), based on a cost minimization condition, to a profit maximization condition. This establishes a novel DEA toolkit for profit efficiency assessments in situations with multiple inputs and multiple outputs. We apply this new model to the case of electricity plants.Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished
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Ojo, Oluwaseun. "Cost efficiency analysis of pesticide use reduction in crop activities on french farms." Thesis, Lille 1, 2013. http://www.theses.fr/2013LIL12006/document.
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Suite au Grenelle de l’environnement proposant une réduction de 50% des pesticides dans l’agriculture française, l’objet central de cette thèse est d’estimer les potentiels progrès de productivité et de diminution de ces inputs pour les grandes cultures. Dans cette perspective, le recours aux modèles d’analyse d’activités et les estimations de fonction de coût par des approches non paramétriques comme Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) et/ou Free Disposal Hull (FDH) sont mobilisés afin d’évaluer les réductions potentielles de coût global et des dépenses en pesticide pour ce type de cultures. S’appuyant d’une part sur un panel reprenant environ 600 exploitations situées dans le département de la Meuse au cours de la période 1992-2003 et d’autre part sur un échantillon de 700 exploitations de l’Eure & Loir observées en 2008, notre recherche vise à établir une relation de dominance coût entre les technologies utilisant plus ou moins de pesticide à l’hectare. En conséquence deux fonctions de coût caractérisées par des niveaux de dépenses de pesticides à l’hectare différents (haut et faible) sont comparées. La fonction de coût non paramétrique est estimée de manière robuste pour réduire la sensibilité des résultats à l’éventuelle présence d’outliers. Les résultats indiquent que des réductions substantielles de coût sont envisageables si les agriculteurs géraient leurs inputs plus efficacement. De plus, les pratiques culturales utilisant moins de pesticide à l’hectare apparaissent plus compétitives en matière de coût. Cette conclusion indique que l’adoption de ces nouvelles pratiques économes en intrants et donc plus favorables à l’environnement serait bénéfique à la fois pour les agriculteurs et pour l’ensemble de la sociétéIn the context of the agreement of about 50% reduction in pesticide uses according to the accords du “Grenelle de l’environnement” (the Environment Round Table) in France, the central part of this study is to use some efficiency analysis to estimate the substantial productivity improvements and cost reductions on French farms. By employing Activity Analysis Models and estimating cost frontiers with non-parametric approaches such as Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Free Disposal Hull (FDH)], total cost and/or pesticide expense reductions are evaluated on crop farms. Based on this, a sample of 600 and 700 farms in the Meuse and Eure & Loir departments were respectively observed over a 12 year period (1992-2003) and in year 2008. A non parametric cost function is essentially employed to assess the cost efficiency dominance between technologies using either more or less pesticide and a robust approach frontier is introduced in order to reduce the sensitivity of the cost frontier to the influence of potential outliers, thus improving the accuracy of the result. With respect to this, two cost functions characterized by a relatively lower or higher pesticide level per ha are compared. The estimated efficiency scores indicated that substantial efficiency improvements are possible on French crop farms with a strong potential for cost decreases if farmers could manage inputs more efficiently. Therefore, agricultural practices using less pesticide per ha are more cost competitive which does not only benefit the farmers but also the society, thereby promoting new agricultural practices that are more environmentally friendly
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Gqwaka, Aviwe Phelele Sebatian. "Efficiency analysis of electricity distribution by South African Municipalities: a cost frontier approach." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/10299.
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Efficiency analysis in the public sector assesses the performance of municipal and government entities in their provision of services to the public. South Africa, in particular, has experienced a large degree of negative feedback with respect to the ability of the government and its municipal departments to provide basic services to citizens. This has led to a number of service delivery protests throughout the country. To remedy this, the ability of the municipality to provide basic services needs to be assessed in order for improvements to be made. A first step in this process would be to determine the efficiency with which municipalities are providing these services. This study focuses on a particular municipal service, namely electricity distribution. Primarily, the efficiency with which municipalities provide electricity to consumers is determined. This is achieved using the parametric cost frontier approach, which is appropriate since municipalities aim to reduce the costs incurred in distributing electricity. The municipalities are compared to a frontier (theoretical best practice) from which inferences on their performances can be made. Those municipalities whose performances are not optimal, deviate from the frontier. The deviations (errors) are then assumed to be caused by two factors, namely stochastic random noise and inefficiency. This composition accounts for effects for which municipalities cannot control (stochastic random noise) and those for which it can (inefficiency). The parametric nature of the cost frontier approach allows for distributional assumptions to be made on these factors. Stochastic random noise is always assumed to be normally distributed, while inefficiency is assumed to be one-sided and positively skewed.
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Altizer, Clayton Bruce. "Harvesting Cost and Productivity Analysis of Independent Contractors in the Appalachian Region: 1995-1997." Thesis, Virginia Tech, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/31635.
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The study examined contractor demographics, business and technological characteristics, costs, and production information for 15 independent logging firms in the Appalachians. Contractors represented nine states and were studied from 1995 to 1997. Each contractor's cost and production information was used to determine his economic efficiency for the study period.Total annual production for the firms ranged from 2,728.26 tons to 213,194.74 during the three-year period. Four contractors' median weekly production decreased from 1996 to 1997, while three contractors increased their weekly median production. Labor was the largest cost category for the smaller production contractors and contracted services tended to be the largest category for the larger producers. Regression analyses found that the cost of producing an additional ton increased from 1995 to 1996 and decreased from 1996 to 1997. Total cost per ton increased for four contractors from 1995 to 1996, while four showed decreasing cost per ton. For 1996 to 1997, five contractors had a cost per ton increase and seven showed a cost per ton decrease. Some of these shifts can be attributed to the fact that several of the mechanized contractors in the Central-Appalachians were "start-up" contractors when the study began.
West Virginia contractors had the highest workers' compensation premiums per ton and Georgia contractors had the lowest. Labor costs per ton were highest for North-Central Appalachian contractors and lowest for the Southern Appalachian contractors. Contractors who produced predominantly sawlogs tended to have higher efficiency rankings than those who produced primarily pulpwood.
Master of Science
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Dong, Yizhe. "Cost efficiency in the Chinese banking sector : a comparison of parametric and non-parametric methodologies." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2010. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/6099.
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Since the open door policy was embarked upon in 1979, China s banking sector has undergone gradual but notable reforms. A key objective of the reforms implemented by the Chinese government is to build an effective, competitive and stable banking system in order to improve its efficiency and reliability. This study employs both parametric stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and non-parametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) methods to assess and evaluate the cost efficiency of Chinese banks over the period from 1994 until 2007, a period characterised by far-reaching changes brought about by the banking reforms. To this end, we first compare a number of specifications of stochastic cost frontier models to determine the preferred frontier model which are adopted in our efficiency analysis. The preferred model specification for our sample is the one stage SFA model that includes the traditional input prices, the outputs and the control variables (that is, equity, non-performing loans and the time trend) in the cost frontier and the environmental variables (that is, ownership structure, size, deregulation, market structure and market discipline) in the inefficiency term. Moreover, we also employ two cost DEA models (traditional DEA and New DEA) as a complement to the preferred SFA model for methodological cross-checking purposes. Similar to the previous empirical literature, we find that in most cases only moderate consistency across the different techniques. The cost efficiency of Chinese banks is found to be 91% on average, based on our SFA model, over the period from 1994 until 2007. Based on the results of the DEA and New DEA models, the average cost efficiency for Chinese banks over the sample period is about 89% and 87%, respectively. We find that Chinese banking efficiency has deteriorated after China s admission to the WTO, suggesting that the significant external environmental changes which arose from China s WTO entry may have had a negative impact on its banking efficiency. In addition, we find that the majority of Chinese banks reveal scale inefficiencies and as asset size increases, banks tend to pass from increasing, to constant, and then to decreasing returns to scale. Our findings also show that both state-owned banks and foreign banks are more efficient than domestic private banks and larger banks tend to be relatively more efficient than smaller banks. These and other results suggest that in order to enhance Chinese banking efficiency, the government needs to continue with the banking reform process and in particular, to open up banking markets, to improve risk management and corporate governance in Chinese banks and to encourage the expansion of banks.
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Panigrahi, Manaswita. "Energy and cost analysis of household electricity efficiency improvements in a rental apartment building." Thesis, Mittuniversitetet, Institutionen för teknik och hållbar utveckling, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-17151.
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In this thesis potential for (final and primary) energy and CO2 emission reductions and cost effectiveness of replacing existing household electric appliances and light bulbs with most popular or most energy efficient appliances in a multifamily apartment building in Växjö city is studied. The results showed that there is significant potential to reduce electricity demand and thereby to reduce primary energy use and CO2 emissions. The greatest potential lies with replacing existing incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs, while the lowest savings seem to be with replacement of microwave ovens. Assuming that reduced electricity demand reduces electricity generation in coal-based steam turbine (CST) technology, annually about 63 MWh of primary energy and 25 ton CO2 emissions could be reduced from the investigated building if the existing refrigerator/freezer, stove/oven, microwave oven, televisions and light bulbs are replaced with the most energy efficient alternatives available in the market today. Also, the results from ‚discounted payback period‛ and ‚cost of conserved energy‛ analyses also showed that it is cost-effective to install the most energy efficient appliances. This study for a single building is based on limited number of interviews, selected appliance types, and number of assumptions about marginal electricity production systems. To generalize the results more such studies in different conditions with measurement of actual energy use of all the household appliances should be conducted, which would help to fully understand the potential of primary energy savings and CO2 emission reductions in Swedish apartment buildings.
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Shen, Zhi. "Efficiency and productivity analysis in ten Asian banking industries." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2010. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/6110.
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Over the last few decades, numerous studies have adopted efficiency and productivity techniques to examine and evaluate the overall performance of banking industries to inform policy effect as well as identify the best practice. The majority of banking efficiency and productivity studies focus on the developed US and European countries. There are only limited studies in the Asian banking industries but no cross-country comparison in major Asian economies. To fill this literature gap, this thesis attempts to measure and compare the cost efficiency and total factor productivity change in ten Asian banking sectors using an unbalanced panel data set consisting of 280 commercial banks over the period of 1998 to 2005. It is widely agreed that cross-country differences play an important part in examining banks performance in international comparison. They can influence the frontier technology as additional explanatory variables or they can enter inefficiency directly as a measure of determinants or heteroscedasticity. Both cases are considered in the empirical sections of this thesis. In the former case, the empirical results from systematic comparisons of panel data stochastic frontier models with and without incorporating these cross-country heterogeneities suggests that cross-country differences are important sources to explain banks performances therefore they should not be neglected. The overall cost efficiency in these Asian banking industries is 0.5897 with a decreasing trend, despite positive technical progress and slight economies of scale. The total factor productivity change is measured by using a new cost-based total factor productivity index, an index number counterpart of Bauer's (1990) total differential approach. A five-way decomposition is also provided with the attempt to identify the main contributors to the productivity change. Overall, Asian banking industries have experienced positive but not substantial productivity change from 1998-05. In the latter case, a general model that considers exogenous influences in both inefficiency and random noise error term is constructed and compared against other alternative specifications. The empirical results favour this general model and the overall and country-specific cost efficiency and total factor productivity are then estimated and calculated.
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Penven, James C. "What is a Collegiate Way of Living Worth? Exploring the Costs and Benefits of Residential Colleges as Perceived by Faculty and Chief Housing Officers." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/73608.
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Reducing inefficiencies without compromising quality is a major challenge facing college and university leaders. Measuring efficiency and quality is often addressed through various statistical analyses (Archibald & Feldman, 2008; Flegg, Allen, & Thurlow, 2004). Researchers have also applied cost benefit analysis to measure efficiency. Collaboration is one mechanism used by university personnel to enhance efficiency and quality (Wiley, 2008). The literature on collaboration includes collaboration in research (Rigby & Elder, 2005), teaching (Kezar, 2005; Letterman & Dugan, 2004), and cross-divisional collaboration, learning communities (O’Connor & Associates, 2003). Residential colleges (where faculty live and work in residence halls) are another form of collaboration emerging across college campuses. A thorough review of the literature reveals no studies exploring the costs and benefits of residential colleges.
The purpose of this study was to understand and describe the costs and benefits of residential colleges. The theoretical framework for this study was based on Nas’ (1996) cost benefit analysis framework. Data were collected through 60-90 minute telephone interviews with live-in faculty leaders of residential colleges and chief housing officers on campuses that offer residential colleges. Participants came from 11 different campus and included 12 chief housing officers and 11 faculty members.
There are substantial institutional and individual costs associated with starting and maintaining a residential college. Institutional costs include departmental financial implications for facility renovations, staffing, and faculty incentives. Faculty principals and students bear individual costs. Impact on research, intensive time requirements for the position, and lack of recognition are costs affecting faculty. Residential college (RC) students incur additional fees and non-RC students are impacted by a diminished residential experience (as compared to their RC peers). Conversely, there are significant benefits resulting from residential colleges that may mitigate these costs. Institutions benefit from improved faculty pedagogy, expanded learning opportunities for students, and increased faculty connection to the institution. Individual benefits include positive faculty and student relationships (for faculty and students), increased understanding of students (for faculty), and faculty housing and other related incentives.Ph. D.
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Zhu, Jun. "Energy and Design Cost Efficiency for Streaming Applications on Systems-on-Chip." Licentiate thesis, Stockholm : Skolan för informations- och kommunikationsteknik, Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-10591.
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Gutu, Alexandra. "The cost-efficiency of Japanese banks : comparative analysis with the banks of some European countries." Master's thesis, Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/12987.
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Mestrado em FinançasNos anos anteriores, o Japão era visto como o segundo país mais rico do mundo. O Japão, os Estados Unidos e a Área Euro foram considerados como uma tríade no mundo financeiro. No entanto, o crescimento econômico do Japão terminou abruptamente. No presente trabalho são abordados os problemas relacionados a evolução da eficiência dos bancos japoneses, em comparação com a Alemanha e a Suíça. A análise é desenvolvida com base numa amostra constituída por cinco bancos de grande dimensão do Japão, Alemanha e Suíça, para o período entre 2000 e 2014. A fim de analisar a evolução de custo-eficiência dos bancos foi aplicado o método Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Para além da análise de eficiência, foi realizado um estudo sobre os rácios de desempenho financeiro. Os principais resultados apontam para o facto que a evolução da eficiência dos bancos japoneses é, em grande parte, instável. Além disso, a análise realizada sugere que o sector bancário japonês é mais eficiente que o da Alemanha, mas menos eficiente que o da Suíça.
In previous years, Japan was seen as the second richest large economy in the world. Japan, the United States and the Euro area were considered as a triad in the financial world. However, its economic growth ended abruptly. This paper addresses the issues with the evolution of Japanese banks efficiency, compared to Germany and Switzerland. The analysis is developed by a panel of five of the biggest banks in Japan, Germany and Switzerland, for the time period between 2000 and 2014. In order to investigate the cost-efficiency evolution of banks, this paper employs the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method. In addition to the efficiency analysis, a study on financial performance ratios was performed. The main findings point to the fact that the efficiency evolution of Japanese banks is mostly unstable. Furthermore, the realized analysis alludes that the Japanese banking sector is more efficient than Germany's, but less efficient than Switzerland's.
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Lago, Aresti Manuel. "Investigation of regulatory efficiency with reference to the EU Water Framework Directive : an application to Scottish agriculture." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/3941.
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The Water Framework Directive (WFD) has the stated objective of delivering good status (GS) for Europe’s surface waters and groundwaters. But meeting GS is cost dependent, and in some water bodies pollution abatement costs may be high or judged as disproportionate. The definition and assessment of disproportionate costs is central for the justification of time-frame derogations and/or lowering the environmental objectives (standards) for compliance at a water body. European official guidance is discretionary about the interpretation of disproportionate costs which consequently can be interpreted and applied differently across Member States. The aim of this research is to clarify the definition of disproportionality and to convey a consistent interpretation that is fully compliant with the economic requirements of the Directive, whilst also being mindful of the principles of pollution control and welfare economics theory. On this basis, standard-setting derogations should aim to reach socially optimal decisions and be judged with reference to a combination of explicit cost and benefit curves – an application of Cost-Benefits Analysis - and financial affordability tests. Arguably, these tools should be more influential in the development of derogation decisions across member states, including Scotland. The WFD is expected to have extensive effects on Scottish agriculture, which is faced with the challenge of maintaining its competitiveness, while protecting water resources. Focusing the analysis on the socio-economic impacts of achieving water diffuse pollution targets for the sector, a series of independent tests for the assessment of disproportionate costs are proposed and evaluated. These are: i) development of abatement cost curves for agricultural Phosphorus (P) mitigation options for different farm systems; ii) a financial characterisation of farming in Scotland and impact on profits of achieving different P loads reductions at farm level are investigated in order to explore issues on "affordability" and "ability to pay" by the sector; and iii) an investigation of benefits assessment using discrete choice modelling to explore public preferences for pollution control and measure non-market benefits of WFD water quality improvements in Scotland. Results from these tests provide benchmarks for the definition of disproportionate costs and are relevant to other aspects of the economic analysis of water use in Scotland. This study helps to clarify the nature of agricultural water use and how it leads to social tradeoffs with other non agricultural users. Ultimately, this perspective adds to the debate of how and where water is best employed to maximize its value to society.
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Yu, Zeyi. "Efficiency and competition analysis in nine Asian banking industries." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2017. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/24135.
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This thesis adopts a new operational method to measure and investigate the relationship among cost efficiency, market competition and profitability in major Asian economies by using an unbalanced panel data sample of 278 commercial banks during the financial upheaval period of 2005-2012 before and after the global financial crisis. Firstly, we estimate the cost efficiency by employing different stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) models, which include the equity capital to indicate loss-absorbing capacity and risk preference and cross-country differences to be additional environmental variables. It is generally agreed that cross-country differences influence the frontier technology in the international comparison of banks performance. In this case, we implement the international comparison under SFA models with and without incorporating these cross-country heterogeneities. And the empirical results suggest that cross-country differences are significant sources to measure banks cost efficiency and evaluate banks performance. Secondly, we measure the market competition by investigating a range of approaches: the traditional Structure-Conduct-Performance approach, Lerner index, and new empirical industrial organization Panzar-Rosse approach. And we find that the SCP-Lerner approach may fail to identify the strength of competition and may not always unambiguously distinguish between the market power and the efficiency explanations of market concentration. Finally, following the approach of Boone, we measure the intensity of competition in two ways: the profit elasticity and the relative profit difference (calculated by cost efficiency score and shadow return on equity capital). Then we implement a quadratic quantile regression to compute the integral areas and standard errors for the Boone visual test and Wald test to reflect the relative intensity of competition for different competitive regimes over time. Our findings show that competition of banking industries become more intense in 9 Asian economies in the wake of the financial crisis and that two advanced economies (Singapore and Taiwan Province of China) and two remarkable emerging economies (China and India) play the significantly leading role in this intensifying competition process.
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Leval, Delilah Zoe. "Cost-benefit Analysis of Greening an Older Modest-sized Home." DigitalCommons@CalPoly, 2010. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/393.
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This professional project estimates the upfront costs and utility savings expected from greening an approximately 1,100 square foot home built in the 1950s in the San Francisco Bay Area. Two sets of upgrades (alternative and original) were compared for costs and benefits. The alternative set (which included ceiling insulation and omitted upgrading to dual-pane windows) clearly out performed the original set. The alternative set would be expected to reduce resident utility bills by 28% annually, and to prevent approximately 2,700 lbs of carbon dioxide emissions annually. The water efficiency upgrades were the best performing group of upgrades, as they had the lowest upfront cost and shortest payback period. (These water efficiency upgrades consisted of modifying toilets, faucets, and showerhead, as well as upgrading the dishwasher and clothes washer to efficient models.) Future very low-budget greening programs, in nearly all cases, should include a full-set of water fixture modifications, weatherstripping, and clotheslines. As budgets allow, other upgrades from alternative upgrades list are recommended, such as ceiling fans, programmable thermostats, and ceiling insulation. Whenever possible, workforce development labor should be used to simultaneously reduce labor costs and multiply the social benefit of each project dollar by providing entry-level green collar jobs.
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Boozer, Benjamin Bryan Permaloff Anne. "An analysis of economic efficiency in predicting legislative voting beyond a traditional liberal-conservative spectrum." Auburn, Ala, 2008. http://repo.lib.auburn.edu/EtdRoot/2008/SPRING/Political_Science/Dissertation/Boozer_Benjamin_34.pdf.
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Xylia, Maria. "Cost-effectiveness assessment of energy efficiency obligation schemes - implications for Swedish industries." Thesis, KTH, Energi och klimatstudier, ECS, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-125611.
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This thesis is an investigation of whether an energy efficiency obligation scheme would be cost-effective for the Swedish industrial sector. The basic guidelines of the scheme were constructed based on the characteristics proposed in the Energy Efficiency Directive and the previously implemented schemes in other EU Member States. In order to measure the cost effectiveness of the scheme for the industries, a Cost Benefit Analysis was performed. The results of the study show that the participation of the industries in an energy efficiency obligation scheme seems to be cost effective, and the Benefit to Cost Ratios of the analysis where ranging in numbers higher than one, showing that the benefits outweigh the costs. The scheme is in general more cost effective when scenarios assuming high policy intensity for the whole economy of the country are used as input for the calculation of the BCRs, which are also affected positively when higher fuel prices scenarios are adopted. The obligation should be placed upon the distributors, since the prices of energy distribution are administratively regulated. There is opportunity of financial benefits for the Swedish industries from agreements of energy savings delivery to the distributors in order for them to fulfill their obligation. These benefits will support the cost recovery of the investments for the energy savings measures. The possibility of certificate trading in the context of the scheme is another option that can create opportunities for financial gains and stimulate further the energy market. Basing the costs inputs from other EU Member States offers an insight on how these costs could be formed in the case of Sweden, but they cannot be taken as a complete calculation of the scheme’s financial effects. As a result, this study does not offer a final conclusion on the cost-effectiveness of the scheme; it rather serves as a means of support of the final conclusion regarding the cost-effectiveness of energy efficiency obligation schemes for the Swedish industries.
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Olsson, Lars-Eric. "Patients with acute hip fractures motivation, effectiveness and costs in two different care systems /." Göteborg : Institute of Health and Care Sciences and The Department of Orthopaedics, Institute of Clinical Sciences, The Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/2077/716.
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Sheridan, Craig. "A critical process analysis of wine production to improve cost efficiency, wine quality and environmental performance." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/53239.
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Thesis (MScAgric)--Stellenbosch University, 2003.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Wine cellars are diverse in terms of equipment types and process configurations. Whilst other food production processes have, in many cases, been properly analysed and modelled, this process diversity has resulted in an absence of process analyses in the wine industry. Each wine cellar is unique and represents a fully integrated agro-business, starting with a raw material (grapes) and extending to marketing and selling of the final product (wine). This makes the wine industry unique in this context. This study is the first attempt to analyse winemaking procedures in the form of a process audit. The study was approached in the following manner: • A questionnaire was developed to assess cellar configurations and conditions. This questionnaire was submitted to a statistically significant number of cellars, and a statistically significant number of questionnaires were returned. • The data collected from the questionnaire were statistically analysed and associations between equipment or procedures and wine faults were identified. • Three cellars were studied in depth. These three cellars had their processes audited and their effluent characterised. Additional data were obtained from current sampling projects and these data were analysed to complement the data obtained from the questionnaire • A preliminary input/output model was developed. The major results of this study are: • It was found that certain faults that appear in wine might be associated with equipment and/or process faults. These associations are statistically significant and they show that cellar hygiene is of critical importance when assessing these wine faults. The most important of these faults are VA, microbial contamination of the wine, sluggish and stuck fermentations. A risk hierarchy was derived to indicate which events are associated with others most strongly. • It was found that few wineries measure water consumption and even fewer wineries measure the quantity of effluent produced. • Correlations have been developed to predict winery parameters in terms of tons of grapes pressed per annum. These parameters include water and electricity consumed, wine produced and the quantity of effluent produced. Effluent characteristics have also been correlated to the tons of grapes pressed per annum. These characteristics include chemical oxygen demand, sodium absorption ratio and total dissolved solids in solution. Chemical oxygen demand was identified as the most important contributing factor in winery effluent. It was shown that all variables rise with an increase in cellar size, but the rise is not linear. This implies that large cellars have greater quantities of effluent of lower quality than small cellars. Most cellars have effluent concentrations that require some form of effluent treatment. The characterisation of effluent shows that the most widely used disposal practice is irrigation, and that the effluent disposed in this manner does not meet legislative requirements. • A preliminary input/output model was developed in order to enable wineries that have not measured the relevant parameters to predict the abovementioned variations. The resolution of these predictions is low but the model serves to provide an initial estimate if there are no data available. The model will give industrial averages for any given cellar size. • An economic balance was performed using this preliminary model. It was shown that if cellars were to lower the consumption of utilities and to reduce the strength of their effluent (using cleaner practices and not dilution) the reduction of operating costs could be reduced by 14% for smaller cellars to 17% for larger cellars. This study has shown that it is possible to make wine in a more environmentally friendly manner, producing better quality wines, without incurring extra costs.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Wynkelders is diverse eenhede ten opsigte van die tipe toerusting en prosesse wat gebruik word. Terwyl ander prosesse rondom voedselproduksie in baie gevalle reeds geanaliseer en gemodelleer is, het die diversiteit in die wynindustrie gelei tot 'n afwesigheid van prosesanalises. Elke wynkelder is uniek en verteenwoordig 'n ten voile geintegreerde agro-besigheid wat begin met die rou materiaal (druiwe) en lei tot die bemarking en verkope van die finale produk (wyn), 'n eienskap wat die wynindustrie uniek maak in hierdie verband. Hierdie studie is die eerste poging om die wynmaakproses in die vorm van ‘n proses-oudit te analiseer. Die studie is soos volg aangepak: • ‘n Vraelys is ontwikkel om kelderkonfigurasies en -toestande te ondersoek. Die vraelys is aan ‘n statisties betekenisvolle aantal kelders voorgele, en ‘n statisties betekenisvolle aantal vraelyste is terugontvang. • Die data wat uit die vraelyste ontvang is, is statisties ontleed en verwantskappe tussen toerusting of prosesse en wyngebreke is geidentifiseer. • Drie kelders is in diepte bestudeer. Hierdie drie kelders se prosesse is geoudit en die afvloeiwater is gekarakteriseer. Addisionele data is verkry van huidige projekte en hierdie data is ge-analiseer om die data van die vraelys aan te vul. • ‘n Voorlopige inset / uitset model is ontwikkel. Die belangrikste resultate van hierdie studie is: • Dit is bevind dat sekere gebreke wat in wyn voorkom geassosieer kan word met tekortkominge in toerusting en/of prosesse in die kelder. Hierdie assosiasies is statisties betekenisvol en toon dat kelderhigtene van kritiese belang is wanneer gebreke in wyn ondersoek word. Die mees belangrike gebreke wat voorkom is vlugtige suur, mikrobiese kontaminasie van wyn, slepende en gestaakte fermentasie. ‘n Risikohierargie is afgelei om die gebeure te toon wat die sterktste met mekaar geassosieer word. • Dit is gevind dat min wynkelders waterverbruik meet. Selfs minder kelders meet die hoeveelheid afvloeiwater wat geproduseer word. • Korrelasies is ontwikkel om kelderparameters te voorspel in terme van ton druiwe gepars per jaar. Hierdie parameters sluit in water- en elektrisiteitsverbruik, wyn geprosuseer en hoeveelheid afvloeiwater geproduseer. Eienskappe van afvloeiwater is ook gekorreleer met die ton druiwe wat per jaar gepars word. Hierdie eienskappe sluit in chemiese suurstofbehoeftes, natrium absorpsieverhoudings en totale opgeloste soliede materiaal in oplossing. Chemiese suurstofbehoeftes is geidentifiseer as die mees belangrike bydraende faktor tot afvloeiwater in kelders. Dit is getoon dat alle veranderlikes verhoog hoe groter die kelder, maar hierdie verhoging is nie lineer nie. Dit impliseer dat groter kelder meer afvloeiwater van ‘n laer kwaliteit produseer. Die meeste kelders produseer afvloeiwater van sodanige konsentrasies dat behandeling daarvan nodig is. Die ondersoek van hierdie afvloeiwater toon dat die mees algemene wyse van wegdoening van afvloeiwater besproeiing is, en dat afvloeiwater wat op hierdie manier weggedoen word, nie voldoen aan die wetgewing se vereistes nie. • 'n Voorlopige inset/uitset model is ontwikkel om kelders wat nie die toepaslike parameters gemeet het nie in staat te stel om hierdie parameters te voorspel. Die akuraatheid van hierdie voorspellings is nie hoog nie, maar die model verskaf ‘n aanvanklike skatting waar daar geen data beskikbaar is nie. Die model verskaf industriele gemiddeldes aan kelders van enige grootte. • ‘n Ekonomiese balans is uitgevoer deur van hierdie model gebruik te maak. Dit is getoon dat indien kelders die gebruik van water en elektrisiteit verminder en die konsentrasie van afvloeiwater verlaag (deur van skoner paktyke gebruik te maak, en nie verdunning nie) die bestuurskoste met 14% vir kleiner kelders tot 17% vir groter kelders verlaag kan word. Die studie het getoon dat dit moontlik is om wyn te maak op ‘n meer omgewingsvriendelike wyse, en sodoende beter kwaliteit wyn te produseer sonder addisionele kostes.
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Silva, Tarcio Lopes da. "Analysis of the Efficiency of the Brazilian Banking Sector: Boarding of the Random Border of Cost." Universidade Federal do CearÃ, 2001. http://www.teses.ufc.br/tde_busca/arquivo.php?codArquivo=1922.
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CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel SuperiorThe purpose for this essay is to look into the Brazilian banking systemâs X-efficiencyâs properties in the post-Real Plan period by investigating its relationship with each bankâs specific financial and organisational aspects. Furthermore, to analyse their average cost reduction possibilities by contrasting scale economy estimates for different sized banking institutions. For that purpose, a stochastic frontier model was adopted so as to devise a translog cost function for a pool of 59 banks all with R$ 1 billion or more in assets. Evidence shows instability in the sectorâs efficiency, stemming mostly from the public state banksâ status, which are the least efficient ones. On the other hand, the two largest federal institutions display efficiency ratings comparable to their private counterparts. However, those controlled by foreign institutions or consortiums boast higher and more stable efficiency rates although when compared to the national private banks only said differences are somewhat reduced. Finally, evidence of unexplored scale economy for companies of all sizes were found, suggesting the possibility of unit cost reductions in the sector.
Este trabalho examina as propriedades da X-eficiÃncia do sistema bancÃrio brasileiro no perÃodo posterior ao Plano Real, investigando sua relaÃÃo com aspectos organizacionais e financeiros especÃficos de cada banco. Adicionalmente, analisa a possibilidade de reduÃÃo de seus custos mÃdios, verificando as estimativas de economias de escala para instituiÃÃes de tamanhos diversos. Com esse objetivo, adotou-se um modelo de fronteira estocÃstica para estimar uma funÃÃo de custo translog para uma amostra de 59 bancos com ativos acima de 1 bilhÃo de Reais. As evidÃncias mostraram uma instabilidade na eficiÃncia do setor decorrente principalmente da situaÃÃo dos bancos pÃblicos estaduais, os mais ineficientes. As duas grandes instituiÃÃes federais, entretanto, apresentaram Ãndices compatÃveis com similares da iniciativa privada. Os bancos de controle estrangeiro, por outro lado, apresentaram Ãndices de eficiÃncia mais estÃveis e maiores em relaÃÃo aos nacionais, embora quando comparado apenas aos nacionais privados essa diferenÃa se reduza um pouco. Finalmente, encontrou-se indÃcios de economias de escala nÃo exploradas para firmas de todos os portes, indicando a possibilidade de reduÃÃo dos custos unitÃrios no setor.
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Terris, Darcey Dickinson. "MAXIMIZING EFFICIENCY IN RISK ADJUSTMENT UNDER CONDITIONS OF UNCERTAINTY AND RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1174432210.
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Friberg, Martin, and Eric Ringtun. "Prefabricerade innerväggar : Kostnad- och tidseffektivitet för lätta prefabricerade innerväggar." Thesis, KTH, Byggvetenskap, 2015. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-174127.
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Kostnad och tid är två parametrar som går hand i hand i näst intill alla sammanhang, inte minst i byggbranschen. Pressade tidsplaner och snäva budgetar kräver noggrannhet och effektivitet genom samtliga skeden i byggprocessen. Framför allt är en kortare byggtid av stor vikt, som ett resultat av det har det industriella byggandet fått en alltmer betydande roll. Syftet med denna rapport är att undersöka lönsamheten vid användandet av prefabricerade element gentemot konventionell platsbyggning. Arbetet har avgränsats till att undersöka ett enskilt område, nämligen lätta innerväggar. Rapporten har gjorts i samarbete med Peab AB och den har utförts på deras pågående projekt, köpcentrumet Mall of Scandinavia i Arenastaden, Solna. De två byggmetoderna har jämförts med avseende på tid och ekonomi. Vidare har de prefabricerade väggelelementens för- och nackdelar samt alternativa användningsområden undersökts. De prefabricerade innerväggarna som används i projektet tillverkas av företaget Elementum Eco AB i Bollebygd. Monteringen av väggelementen sker med hjälp av en modifierad gaffeltruck, vilket är ovanligt. Metoden kräver endast tre arbetare och medför en avsevärt kortare monteringstid jämfört med platsbyggda innerväggar. Metoden är ny för Peab och det är andra gången som de valt att använda sig av den. Det var vid ett tidigare projekt i Tanums kommun, då köpcentrumet Tanum shoppingcenter byggdes, som metoden introducerades för företaget. Efter färdigställandet var erfarenheterna av väggelementen positiva. Man ansåg sig ha vunnit både tids- och kostnadsmässigt och valde därför att bepröva metoden ytterligare en gång. Jämförelsen mellan de båda byggmetoderna har gjorts på två väggar med samma förutsättningar vad gäller dimension och arbetskraft. Fördjupade intervjuer som huvudmetod, egenhändigt utförda inspektioner och litteraturstudie har föranlett resultat i rapport. Resultatet av detta arbete visar att kostnads- och tidseffektiviteten ökar med en faktor på upp till närmare nio gånger, genom val av prefabricering som metod jämfört med konventionell platsbyggning som metod. Flera fördelar påvisas även inom områden som arbetsmiljö och miljöpåverkan.Cost and time are two parameters that affect one another no matter what the context is, not least in the building industry. Both time schedules and budgets are pushed to the limit, therefore accuracy and efficiency needs to be considered through all stages of the building process. A shorter construction time is of vital importance and as a result of that, industrial building methods has taken a more significant part in the business. The purpose of this report was to investigate the profitability by using prefabricated panels instead of conventional building methods. Due to a given timeframe the investigation has been defined to focus on one special field, namely light prefabricated interior walls. The report was developed in collaboration with Peab AB and the work has been done on their ongoing project Mall of Scandinavia in Arenastaden, Solna. The two construction methods have been compared with respect to time and finances. Furthermore, the prefabricated panels advantages and disadvantages as well as alternative uses have been studied. The prefabricated interior walls, used in the project, are produced by Elementum Eco AB in Bollebygd. The walls are mounted by means of a modified forklift truck, which is somewhat unique. The mounting process requires only three workers and results in a considerably shorter assembly time compared to site-built interior walls. It is a new method and it is used by Peab for the second time. The company was introduced to the method at an earlier project in Tanum, when Tanum shopping centre was established. The over all experience turned out positive and once completed, both time and cost was considered to have been saved. Peab therefore chose to use the method once more. The comparison between the two methods of construction has been made on two walls with similar conditions in terms of size and manpower. The result of this report shows that both time and cost efficiency can increase nearly nine times by choosing prefabricated interior walls compared to conventional site-built ones. Furthermore, benefits in areas such as environmental impact and work environment are shown as well.
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Grebner, Donald L. II. "Analysis of Policy Reforms in the New Zealand Forest Manufacturing Sector." Diss., Virginia Tech, 1998. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/30659.
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New Zealand experienced dramatic restructuring programs
after the Labor party won the national elections in 1984.
Deregulation of price controls, removal of the log export
ban, and privatization of public assets were the main
shocks to the forest sector. The purpose of this paper is
to analyze the impacts of these reforms on wood and paper
industry cost, production, and cost efficiency. Unlike
previous work, the effects of privatization and deregulation
are compared to determine which shock had the most
influence on the forest sector. Results show that
production decreased, total cost increased, and cost
efficiency decreased after deregulation for the sector,
and that deregulation was more significant than
privatization for the wood and paper sectors. In
particular, removal of the log export ban had the greatest
impact, while privatization had little effect on industry
production and cost. This suggests that countries with
comparative advantages in wood processing who implement
deregulation or privatization may suffer through a short
term period of lower cost efficiency as the economy
adjusts to higher input costs in those sectors. In
New Zealand's case, the adjustments most likely affecting
efficiency have been investments in new technologies,
which require time to attain maximum efficiency. The
results are contrary to other studies that have predicted
increased efficiency as a result of privatization.Ph. D.
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Silva, Tiago Lopes da. "Cost efficiency in the Portuguese water sector: the case of multimunicipal systems operating at the bulk level." Master's thesis, NSBE - UNL, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10362/11602.
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A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Economics from the NOVA – School of Business and EconomicsThe purpose of this paper is to study the cost efficiency of multimunicipal systems operating at the bulk level in the Portuguese water sector. We will use Pooled OLS, Fixed Effects and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) to study the role of structural variables such as water losses, network density, water sources, quality measures, rainfall and topography in explaining the cost differences among those systems. Moreover, using SFA we determine operators’ efficiency scores. We found that inefficiency of operators remained constant over time. The main source of the distance to the cost frontier is a high degree of inefficiency and not exogenous random shocks.
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Dinwoodie, Robert A., and Dennis R. Herold. "Marines vs. Contractors: an analysis of a supply outsourcing initiative and its impact on cost and efficiency." Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10945/10592.
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Since 2001, the Marine Corps has outsourced the management of all individual issue combat gear. This contracted outsourcing, called the Consolidated Issue Facility (CIF) and then the Individual Issue Facility (IIF) under the direction of local Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters (MEF HQ) and Marine Corps Logistics Command (LOGCOM), are responsible for the distribution, management, and collection of every Marine's individual combat issue of gear; a task previously accomplished by each unit's individual organic supply section. By removing this burden on the supply sections, the Marine Corps was theoretically able to free-up Marines to fill billets in warfighting roles. The Marine Corps has touted the ability to save money and create efficiencies that did not exist previously with organic Marine Corps led supply operations. The Marine Corps is looking to increase the amount of assets managed by an outside vendor, by outsourcing management of unit assets such as Soft Walled Shelters and Camouflage netting to a Unit Issue Facility (UIF) using the same model as the CIF/IIF. This paper will explore if the CIF/IIF program saved the Marine Corps money from 2001 thru 2010, allowed for transfer of personnel to other roles, and if the program is an effective model for future outsourcing endeavors.
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Forsberg, Lucas, and Anders Ström. "An analysis of schedule buffer time for increased robustness and cost efficiency in Scandinavian Airlines´traffic program." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Kommunikations- och transportsystem, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-131768.
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The airline industry has become more competitive since the introduction of low fare airlines in the 1990s. Thus, requirement of optimized planning is nowadays essential in order to obtain high market shares. The planning behind an airworthy traffic program is complex and includes many different resources, as fleet, crew and maintenance, which have to be synchronized. With a constant risk of unforeseen disruptions and variances in the weather conditions, robustness in form of time buffers are necessary in order to give the system a chance of recovery. Generally, one delay often affects several flights due to the lack of time buffers. In order to achieve cost reductions and to maximize profit, airlines tends to create traffic programs maximizing airborne hours. This report culminates in a conclusion of where and when time buffers, in a cost efficient way, can be added in Scandinavian Airline´s traffic program in order to obtain a higher robustness. This is performed by analyzing historical flight data and by implementing a Monte Carlo simulation.
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Yinusa, Olumuyiwa. "Dynamic analysis of the impact of capital structure on firm performance in Nigeria." Thesis, De Montfort University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2086/11389.
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The thesis examines the dynamic impact of capital structure on firm performance in Nigeria. The aims of this thesis are; first, to investigate the impact of capital structure of firms on their performance in a dynamic framework. This is unlike previous studies in the capital structure literature that have used static analysis. Second, to examine the dynamic feedback from performance to capital structure using the two-step system generalized method of moment estimator. Third, to explore the determinants or variables that influence capital structure choice of firms in Nigeria and the rate of adjustment to achieve optimal debt position. Fourth, to assess the possibility of non-monotonicity effect of capital structure on firm performance and non-monotonicity effect of performance on capital structure. The second chapter discusses the theoretical framework and review the empirical literatures on capital structure and firm performance. Also, the chapter review empirical literature on firm performance and capital structure as well as on determinants of capital structure. The study find much evidence in support of the theoretical prediction of the agency cost theory of capital structure. The stuudy observed that there are limited empirical studies on the franchise value and efficiency-risk hypotheses of reverse causality from performance to capital structure. The empirical literatures on determinants of capital structure suggests that both firm specific and country factors are important variables that drive capital structure choice of firms. The thrid chapter examines the methodology of the study. The population, sampling and sampling size, estimation methods were discussed in this chapter. The fourth chapter analysis and described the data employed in the study. Specifically, the results of the dynamic relationship between capital structure and firm performance were presented in this chapter. The results indicate that capital structure has non-monotonic effect on firm performance thereby supports the agency cost theory of capital structure. The fifth chapter provides results on the reverse causality between performance and capital structure. The findings indicate that there is reverse causality between performance and capital structure. This is evidence in the statistically significant negative finding between performance and capital structure. This finding support the franchise value hypothesis. The findings of this study also reveal that non-monotonic relationship exist between performance and capital structure. The sixth chapter provides results on the determinants of capital structure of Nigerian firms. The findings indicate that both firm specific variables (return on equity, risk, profitablity, age, size, tangibility, growth opportunities, dividend, ownership) and country variables (inflation, interest rates, credit to private sector as percentage of gross domestic product, institutional quality) jointly influence capital structure choice of firms in Nigeria. The findings equally indicate that firms in Nigeria adjust to their optimal debt target relatively faster with lower cost of adjustment because of better access to private debt that public debt. Conclusions from the empirical chapters indicate that firm specific and country factors are major determinants of capital structure of firms in Nigeria and that capital structure choice of firms influence their performance. Equally, there is evidence that indicate that there is reverse causality from performance to capital structure of firms. The study therefore contend that the agency cost theory of capital structure and franchise value hypothesis are portable in the Nigerian context. Full portability of these theories in emerging market like Nigeria may require modifications to accommodate specific peculiarities of operating and business environment of Nigeria.
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Tamjis, Azrie. "The impact of financial liberalisation on the efficiency of Malaysian banks : an empirical analysis using frontier measurements." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2014. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/15938.
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The Asian financial crisis in 1997 98 left a severe impact on Malaysia s economy and banking system. This has forced the Malaysian government to undertake financial restructuring initiatives to restore market and public confidence, and to meet the ongoing challenges associated with market structure, financial innovation and globalisation. Therefore, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) introduced a ten-year Financial Sector Master Plan (FSMP) to strengthen domestic banks and the regulatory structure, and to promote the banks efficiency by stimulating a competitive banking industry through financial liberalisation. The crisis for banks in Malaysia and the region has been extensively studied in the past (Sufian, 2010). However, empirical studies of the post-crisis period, and the implementation of the FSMP, remain limited. Hence, a data set of all banks in Malaysia, which covers the period 2000 2011, was employed to examine the effect of the FSMP s initiatives on Malaysian banks efficiency between 2000 and 2011. To measure this efficiency, this study employs both parametric and nonparametric models: namely, stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and data envelopment analysis (DEA). Economic functions such as, cost-, standard profit- and alternative profit-efficiency were used in a 1-stage SFA model, which includes control variables (e.g. capital adequacy, asset quality and liquidity) and environmental variables (e.g. ownership, size, specialisation, deregulation periods and market structure) in the model specifications. In addition, this study employs SFA as the main measurement method, while the DEA model was used to cross-check consistency (Resti, 1997; Bauer et al., 1998). Both SFA and DEA demonstrated that, in most cases, the consistency was moderate. The level of cost efficiency of Malaysian banks worsened over the years 2000 2011, with average cost efficiency during this period was at 76.5%. Despite the various liberalisation measures introduced to the banking industry particularly during the three phases of the FSMP; 2000 2003; 2004 2007; 2008 2011 cost efficiency trended downward, due to the effects of consolidation by domestic banks, deregulation of interest rates, the introduction of foreign Islamic banks, and the global credit crisis. Banks in Malaysia were forced to adjust their inputs and outputs to the rapid changes in the banking industry, which might have made a negative impact on cost efficiency. On the other hand, the banks demonstrated a steadily increasing profit efficiency trend, which fluctuated with the introduction of interest rate liberalisation (early second phase of the FSMP (i.e. 2004)) and during the global credit crisis (early third phase of the FSMP (i.e. 2008)). The average profit efficiency for 2000 2011 was 93.3%. The profit efficiency exhibited an increasing trend in the first (2000-2003) and second (2004-2007) phases of the FSMP, suggesting that the effect of consolidation by domestic banks had resulted in higher market concentration and greater market power among the remaining banks. However, the profit efficiency average scores fell in 2004, 2008 and 2011. This is attributed to the deregulation of interest rates, the deleveraging of the inflow of foreign funds, and the rapid increase in policy interest rates. At a more granular level, domestic banks were found to be more cost efficient, but marginally less profit efficient, when compared to foreign banks. In terms of bank specialisation, conventional banks were more cost- and profit-efficient than Islamic banks. With regard to economies of scale, the majority of Malaysian banks revealed scale economies, illustrated by a U-shape, with medium-sized banks being more scale efficient than small and large banks. These results suggest that, to enhance Malaysian banks efficiency, the government must maintain competitive pressure on the large domestic banks that were consolidated during the first phase of the FSMP (2000-2003). Policymakers may want to further open up banking markets, improve risk management and governance, encourage financial innovation, and support expansion of smaller banks. The implementation of deregulation initiatives during periods of uncertainty (e.g. the global credit crisis) have also resulted in decreasing trend of cost and profit efficiency. Hence, monitoring initiatives, using tools such as frontier measurement is important for regulator s macro- and micro-prudential surveillance.
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Chambers, James D. "Current use and potential value of cost-effectiveness analysis in U.S. health care : the case of Medicare national coverage determinations." Thesis, Brunel University, 2012. http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/6521.
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There is a growing recognition that we cannot afford the provision of all new health care technologies, even those that are proven to be beneficial. This is increasingly true in the US, where health care spending is on an unsustainable upward trajectory. US health care spending is greatly in excess of that of other countries; however, with respect to key health metrics, the US health care system performs relatively poorly. Despite this, unlike many other developed countries economic evaluation, and more specifically cost effectiveness evidence, is used sparingly in the US health care system. Notably, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), administrators of the Medicare programme, state that cost-effectiveness evidence is not relevant to coverage decisions for medical technology and interventions evaluated as part of National Coverage Determinations (NCDs). The empirical aspect of this thesis evaluates the current use and potential value of using cost-effectiveness evidence in CMS NCDs. A database was built using data obtained from NCD decision memoranda, the medical literature, a Medicare claims database, and Medicare reimbursement information. The findings of the empirical work show that, CMS’s stated position notwithstanding, cost-effectiveness evidence has been cited or discussed in a number of coverage decisions, and there is a statistically significant difference between positive and non-coverage decisions with respect to cost effectiveness. When controlling for factors likely to have an effect on coverage decisions, the availability of cost-effectiveness evidence is a statistically significant predictor of coverage. In addition, the quality of the supporting clinical evidence, the availability of alternative interventions, and the recency of the decision are statistically significant variables. Further, when hypothetically reallocating resources in accordance with cost-effectiveness substantial gains in aggregate health are estimated. It is shown that using cost-effectiveness to guide resource allocation has an effect on resource allocation across patient populations and types of technology.
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Lee, Cheewoo. "Analysis and Design of a Novel E-Core Common-Pole Switched Reluctance Machine." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/77319.
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In this dissertation, a novel two-phase switched reluctance machine (SRM) with a stator comprised of E-core structure having minimum stator core iron is presented for low-cost high-performance applications. In addition, three new magnetic structures for the E-core SRM comprising two segmented stator cores or a monolithic stator core are proposed for good manufacturability, mechanically robustness, ease of assembly, and electromagnetic performance improvement. Each E-core stator in the segmented structure has three poles with two small poles at the ends having windings and a large center pole containing no copper windings. The common stator pole at the centers in the segmented E-core is shared by both phases during operation. Other benefits of the common poles contributing to performance enhancement are short flux paths, mostly flux-reversal-free-stator, constant minimum reluctance around air gap, and wide pole arc equal to one rotor pole pitch. Therefore, two additional common poles in the monolithic E-core configuration are able to significantly improve efficiency due to more positive torque and less core loss by the unique design. Using a full MEC analysis, the effect of the common-pole structure on torque enhancement is analytically verified. Efficiency estimated from the dynamic simulation is higher by 7% and 12% at 2000 rpm and by 3% and 7 % at 3000 rpm for the segmented and single-body SRMs, respectively, compared to a conventional SRM with four stator poles and two rotor poles. The new E-core SRMs are suitable for low-cost high-performance applications which are strongly cost competitive since all the new E-core SRMs have 20% cost savings on copper and the segmented E-core SRMs have 20% steel savings as well. Strong correlation between simulated and experimentally measured results validates the feasibility of the E-core common-pole structure and its performance. A simple step-by-step analytical design procedure suited for iterative optimization with small computational effort is developed with the information of the monolithic E-core SRM, and the proposed design approach can be applied for other SRM configurations as well. For investigating thermal characteristics in the two-phase single-body E-core SRM, the machine is modeled by a simplified lumped-parameter thermal network in which there are nine major parts of the motor assembly.Ph. D.
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Westin, Jonas. "Efficiency and acceptability of pricing policies and transport investments in distorted economies." Doctoral thesis, KTH, Transport- och lokaliseringsanalys, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-103231.
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This thesis contains five papers studying the economic efficiency and political acceptability of road pricing policies and transport investments in distorted economies. Interactions between the transport market and other distorted markets, such as the labor market, can have a large impact on the welfare effect of a road pricing policy or a transport investment. Many road pricing studies therefore try to incorporate effects from other distorted markets in the analysis. Paper I analyzes how the economic efficiency of a road toll in a distorted economy depends on assumptions about the initial tax system. In the road pricing literature, the welfare effect of a road toll is often found to depend on revenue use. Using a simple general equilibrium model paper I shows that the relative efficiency of marginal revenue recycling policies depends more on assumptions regarding inefficiencies in the initial tax system than on the road toll per se. Paper II studies the effect on welfare, equity and labor supply from a road toll in a commuting population with heterogeneous value of time and endogenous labor supply. When explicitly taking into account that commuters have different value of time, the road toll can increase total labor supply even when the revenues are not recycled back to the commuters. The analysis stresses the importance of recognizing traveler heterogeneity when analyzing congestion pricing. Road pricing policies are often characterized by conflicting interests between different stakeholders and different geographical areas. Papers III and IV study the economic efficiency and political acceptability of pricing and investment policies in different institutional and geographical settings. The main contribution of the papers is to explain how political constraints can lead to inefficient tolling strategies. The papers contribute to the existing literature on political acceptability of road pricing by analyzing the conflict and potential trade-off between political acceptability and economic efficiency. A difficulty when assessing the welfare effect of a future transport policy is also that many factors and parameters needed for the analysis are uncertain. Paper V studies the climate benefit of an investment in high speed rail by calculating the magnitude of annual traffic emission reduction required to compensate for the annualized embedded emissions from the construction of the line. The paper finds that to be able to balance the annualized emissions from the construction, traffic volumes of more than 10 million annual one-way trips are usually required, and most of the traffic diverted from other transport modes must come from aviation.QC 20121010
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Hackney, Jeremy K. (Jeremy Keith) 1971. "Alternative fuel vehicle policy : a lifecycle analysis tool for emissions, cost and energy efficiency with an application to the U.S." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/43536.
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Mutavchi, Viacheslav. "Solid waste management based on cost-benefit analysis using the WAMED model." Doctoral thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för naturvetenskap, NV, 2012. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-17329.
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Efficient waste management enables the protection of human health, reducing environmental pollution, saving of natural resources, and achieving sustainable and profitable management of energy. In many countries, the general guidelines for waste management are set by national or local waste management plans. Various models provide local authorities with decision-making tools in planning long-term waste management scenarios.This study aims at providing a special model framework for the evaluation of ecological–economic efficiency (ECO-EE) of waste management. This will serve as an information support tool for decision making by actors of a solid waste management (SWM) scheme, primarily at the municipal and regional levels. The objective of this study is to apply the waste management’s efficient decision (WAMED) model along with the company statistical business tool for environmental recovery indicator (COSTBUSTER) model to SWM and municipal solid waste (MSW) schemes in general in order to evaluate and improve their ECO-EE. COSTBUSTER is a mathematical indicator for the size and extent of implementation costs of a certain SWM scheme, compared with the total size of the average financial budget of a SWM actor of a certain kind. In particular, WAMED is proposed for evaluating the suitability to invest in baling technology. Baling of solid waste is an emerging technology which is extensively used worldwide to temporarily store waste for either incineration or recovery of raw materials. The model for efficient use of resources for optimal production economy (the EUROPE model) is for the first time applied to emissions from baling facilities. It has been analysed how cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and full cost accounting (FCA) can facilitate environmental optimisation of SWM schemes. The effort in this work represents a continuation of such ambitions as an enlargement of the research area of CBA based modelling within SWM. In the thesis, certain theoretical and economic aspects of SWM were analysed as case studies. A shift of viewpoints within the field of waste management is presented. This shift is in accordance with the prevailing concept of sustainable development, as commonly understood. It is concluded that in the practical SWM context, the findings of the study point at the possibilities to modify the common CBA- and FCA-based methods by WAMED, COSTBUSTER, and EUROPE. Therefore, it can be said that estimations in a SWM scheme can be carried out by using certain economic model, if properly modified in a logical and plausible way. New principles for cost allocation to SWM residual products are presented in the current work. They imply strong industrial cost saving incentives through promoting the introduction of new and improved processing technologies for rest-waste. Such incentives then strongly promote investments that are likely to improve both the environment and the corporate profitability. Thereby, the occurrence of non-commercialised, and hence not utilized, wastes is reduced. This improves the short term corporate economy through saving raw materials such as solid waste fuel, spending less time for administrating waste flows, and less wear and tear of the plant machinery. Additional environmental advantages which affect the balance sheets in a favourable way are related to the long-term business economy and extended environmental goodwill. This is due to the recently introduced way of considering solid waste as regular goods in financial terms - the equality principle. If waste is seen as goods, and not wasted in landfills, the environment will improve. This, in turn, leads to an improved quality of life. Based on the current study, it is recommended to apply WAMED to SWM schemes in order to evaluate their ECO–EE to justify decision making and investments. Also, it is recommended to apply COSTBUSTER, based on the current WAMED outcome, to SWM schemes to determine their relative size and extent. It is recommended to apply EUROPE to the emissions in case of accidental burning, treatment of leachate, andabatement with odours at any SWM scheme, based on the induced economic incentives, in order to reduce unwanted substances and phenomena.
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JÃnior, Raimundo Avilton Meneses. "Analysis of new management model of cost of services public state government cearà - MAPP management." Universidade Federal do CearÃ, 2013. http://www.teses.ufc.br/tde_busca/arquivo.php?codArquivo=9895.
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nÃo hÃThe efficient application of resources is an increasingly discussed theme, especially in Public Administration, as the high and inefficient public spending is considered by many experts as one of the main reasons for imbalances in the economy of the country, such as low growth economic, corruption, overvalued exchange rate against other world economies and interest rates still high. Many experiments are adopted by several public entities in the quest for quality improvement in spending for public services. This work, in addition to presenting some examples of initiatives in implantation of cost systems geared towards efficiency in public spending, presents and analyzes the experience of the State of Cearà in establishing a cost management model that has as main purposes to measure the impact of the operation of equipment in public defrayal and assess the Government's ability to make new investments. This analysis uses the methodology of Data Envelopment Analysis, which compares data from six state hospitals for the periods from January to July of the years 2011 and 2012, and an exploratory quantitative approach with the servers involved in the MAPP GestÃo. In this respect, the results indicate that MAPP GestÃo has contributed to the public expenditure efficiency, requiring, however, adjustment and refinement needed to expand the model. Despite the results, it is recommended to carry out further studies to analyze other aspects not considered in this work, as well as an evaluation of the model as from its consolidation as a government instrument for reducing costs and improving the quality of public services. Finally, it is argued that the results obtained in this study may be used by the Government of the State of CearÃ, because they serve as the analysis of MAPP GestÃo and can assist in decision making to improve the model adopted, and by the academy, since it refers to an issue of paramount importance for the Public Sector Economics.
A eficiÃncia na aplicaÃÃo de recursos à um tema cada vez mais discutido. Especialmente, na AdministraÃÃo PÃblica, visto que o gasto pÃblico elevado e ineficiente à considerado por muitos especialistas como um dos principais motivos de desequilÃbrios na economia do paÃs, por exemplo, o baixo crescimento econÃmico, a corrupÃÃo, o cÃmbio valorizado frente a outras economias mundiais e a taxa de juros ainda alta. Muitas sÃo as experiÃncias adotadas por diversos entes pÃblicos na busca pela melhoria da qualidade no gasto para a oferta de serviÃos pÃblicos. O presente trabalho apresenta alguns exemplos de iniciativas na implantaÃÃo de sistemas de custos voltados para a eficiÃncia no gasto pÃblico. AlÃm disso, pretende-se analisar a experiÃncia do Governo do Estado do Cearà na implantaÃÃo de um modelo de gestÃo de custos que possui como principais finalidades medir o impacto do funcionamento dos equipamentos pÃblicos no custeio para avaliar sua capacidade na realizaÃÃo de novos investimentos. Para esta anÃlise, utiliza-se a metodologia da AnÃlise EnvoltÃria de Dados, que compara os dados de seis hospitais estaduais, nos perÃodos de janeiro a julho dos anos de 2011 e 2012; e uma pesquisa exploratÃria de abordagem quantitativa com os servidores envolvidos com o MAPP GestÃo. Neste aspecto, os resultados indicam que o MAPP GestÃo tem contribuÃdo para a eficiÃncia no gasto pÃblico, necessitando, contudo, de ajustes e aperfeiÃoamento indispensÃveis à expansÃo do modelo. Apesar dos resultados apresentados, recomenda-se a realizaÃÃo de outros estudos para analisar outros aspectos nÃo considerados neste trabalho, bem como uma avaliaÃÃo do modelo a partir de sua consolidaÃÃo como instrumento governamental para reduÃÃo de custos e melhoria da qualidade de serviÃos pÃblicos. Por fim, afirma-se que os resultados obtidos neste trabalho poderÃo ser utilizados pelo Governo do Estado do CearÃ, pois servem como anÃlise do MAPP GestÃo e poderà auxiliar na tomada de decisÃo para melhorar o modelo adotado, e pela academia, visto se referir a um tema de suma relevÃncia para a Economia do Setor PÃblico.
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Xylia, Maria. "Is energy efficiency the forgotten key to successful energy policy? : Investigating the Swedish case." Licentiate thesis, KTH, Energi och klimatstudier, ECS, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-192291.
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Sweden aims to become one of the first fossil-free welfare countries in the world. In 2009, specific energy and climate policy targets were announced for 2020, which exceed the ambition of respective EU targets in some areas. The overarching objective of the thesis is to understand the role of energy efficiency in Swedish energy and climate policy frameworks, and identify the gaps that need to be addressed. In this context, energy efficiency is recognized as a challenge to address. Yet, there are reasons to believe that it is not being pursued with the same dedication as other energy and climate-related targets. This hypothesis is tested using Mixed Methods research, with cases on different sectors of the Swedish economy, namely energy intensive industry and public bus transport, as well as comparisons with energy efficiency within the EU-28. With the help of abductive reasoning, the observations are inferred to an explanation, and common themes for Swedish energy efficiency policies emerge. The evidence indicates that energy efficiency has received lower priority than other energy and climate policies. This is demonstrated by the conflict between energy efficiency, emission reduction and renewable energy targets, for example in the case of public transport. There is generally a mismatch between targets and the instruments in place. Thus more attention should be given to energy efficiency and its potential benefits for the Swedish energy system. Opportunities for energy efficiency improvements are not being fully realized, but new policy initiatives could provide the necessary support to harness the potential. In-depth evaluation of new policy instruments should be integrated in the policy-making process, in order to provide a clear picture of costs versus benefits. An example is given with a Cost-Benefit Analysis for energy efficiency obligations targeting the Swedish energy intensive industry. Simplicity and transparency in the introduction and monitoring of new instruments need to be sought for. Energy efficiency should be given first priority in relation to other energy and climate targets. The basis for future policies should be grounded now in order for energy efficiency to become the key for successful Swedish energy policy.QC 20160914
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Burr, Chrystie T. "Essays on Public and Environmental Economics." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/293611.
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Over the last 10 years, the solar photovoltaic (PV) market has experienced tremendous growth due in part to government incentive programs. However the effect and welfare analysis of these policy instruments remain ambiguous. In the first chapter of my dissertation, we estimate a dynamic model of households investment decisions on rooftop PV systems to understand the impact of these programs on residential solar installations and evaluate the outcome of alternative incentive policies. The model separately evaluates the effect of system prices, up-front subsidies, tax credits and production revenues using a 5-year data set collected by the California Solar Initiative program, which subsidized solar installations in California. The results indicate that capacity-based subsidies are equally effective as production-based subsidies, but that the latter are more efficient. With a $100 social cost of carbon, the total subsidies in California would be welfare neutral. If California were only as sunny as Frankfurt, Germany, this value has to be $200 to be welfare neutral. We find that without subsidies, 85% of the existing installations would not have occurred. The second chapter of my dissertation is on the political economics of corruption. This is a relevant question in the Environmental Economics due to the human factors involved in government regulations. We investigate the effects of unhindered corruption in the entry-certifying process of an industry on market structure and social welfare. To gain entry, a firm must pay a bribe-maximizing official an exogenous percentage of anticipated profit, in addition to the usual set up cost. This would lead to a monopoly, but only in markets without pre-existing firms. A benevolent social planner may use bribery to the benefit of society by either manipulating the number of pre-existing firms in the market, or by setting up independent (corrupt) licensing authorities. A socially optimal number of firms in the market may be reached by choosing the right number of pre-existing firms or by having exactly two licensing authorities. These mechanisms may be seen as restoring second-best efficiency in settings characterized by two major sources of distortion: Imperfect competition and corruption.
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Sarkis, Ziad. "Cost structure analysis under disequilibrium : price, scale, efficiency and capacity utilisation effects with an application to the G-5 banking industries, 1989-1996." Thesis, University of Oxford, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.286675.
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Tombaz, Sibel. "On the Design of Energy Efficient Wireless Access Networks." Doctoral thesis, KTH, Radio Systems Laboratory (RS Lab), 2014. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-144868.
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Wireless access networks today consume 0.5 percent of the global energy. Rapidly growing demand for new services and ubiqutious connectivity, will further increase the energy consumption. This situation imposes a big challenge for mobile operators not only due to soaring cost of energy, but also increasing concern for global warming and sustainable development. This thesis focuses on the energy efficiency issue at the system level and studies how to incorporate energy-awareness into the design of future wireless access networks. The main contributions have been given in the areas of energy efficiency assessment, architectural and operational solutions, and total cost of investment analysis. The precise evaluation of energy efficiency is the first essential step to determine optimized solutions where metrics and models constitute the two key elements.We show that maximizing energy efficiency is not always equivalent to minimizing energy consumption which is one of the main reasons behind the presented contradictory and disputable conclusions in the literature. Further we indicate that in order to avoid the debatable directions, energy efficient network design problems should be formulated with well defined coverage and capacity requirements. Moreover, we propose novel backhaul power consumption models considering various technology and architectural options relevant for urban and rural environments and show that backhaul will potentially become a bottleneck in future ultra-high capacity wireless access networks. Second, we focus on clean-slate network deployment solutions satisfying different quality of service requirements in a more energy efficient manner. We identify that the ratio between idle- and transmit power dependent power consumption of a base station as well as the network capacity requirement are the two key parameters that affect the energy-optimum design.While results show that macro cellular systems are the most energy efficient solution for moderate average traffic density, Hetnet solutions prevail homogeneous deployment due to their ability to increase the capacity with a relatively lower energy consumption and thus enable significant energy savings in medium and high capacity demand regions. Moreover, we investigate the energy saving potential of short-term energy aware management approach, i.e., cell DTX, taking advantage of low resource utilization in the current networks arising from strict QoS requirements. With the help of developed novel quantitative method, we show that Cell DTX brings striking reduction in energy consumption and further savings are achievable if the networks are designed taking into account the fact that network deployment and operation are closely related. Finally, we develop a general framework for investigating the main cost elements and for evaluating the viability of energy efficient solutions.We first reveal the strong positive impact of spectrum on both energy and infrastructure cost and further indicate that applying sustainable solutions might also bring total cost reduction, but the viability highly depends on unit cost values as well as the indirect cost benefits of energy efficiency. Results obtained in this dissertation might provide guidelines for the network designers to achieve future high-capacity and sustainable wireless access networks.QC 20140505
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Núñez, Sánchez Ramón. "Evaluación económica de proyectos públicos y del impacto de la competencia en la industria española." Doctoral thesis, Universidad de Cantabria, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/10631.
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Esta tesis se estructura bajo la forma de dos ensayos independientes, aunque en esencia ambos tratan de evaluar lo mismo: la eficiencia económica en estructuras productivas. El primer ensayo titulado 'Análisis Coste-Beneficio para el proyecto de construcción de una terminal de contenedores' trata de determinar la rentabilidad económica global de un proyecto de inversión pública, en concreto, la construcción de una terminal de contenedores dentro de unas instalaciones portuarias en las que existe un problema de congestión. El segundo de los ensayos se titula 'Determinantes de la Eficiencia Técnica e Impacto de la Competencia en las Empresas Manufactureras Españolas' y trata, en primer lugar, de estudiar los determinantes que afectan a la variabilidad de la eficiencia técnica de las empresas manufactureras españolas durante la década de los años 90, a partir de un modelo de fronteras estocásticas. En una segunda parte del trabajo se estudia la relación entre los niveles de eficiencia técnica de las empresas y sus cuotas del mercado, demostrando que en aquellos mercados tradicionalmente concentrados y con comportamientos más cooperativos, el efecto de la eficiencia técnica sobre las cuotas de mercado de las empresas es más débil que en aquellos sectores más atomizados y con comportamientos más competitivos.
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Nóbrega, João Pedro Machado. "OTC markets – clearing, settlement & custody analysis : a cost function estimation of central securities depositories (CSDs)." Master's thesis, Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/15148.
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Mestrado em FinançasEste trabalho analisa a eficiência dos Sistemas Centralizados de Valores Mobiliários (Central Securities Depositories (CSDs)) em relação aos custos, na Europa. As CSDs são organizações financeiras especializadas na guarda de títulos até à sua data de liquidação. A abordagem adotada assenta na estimação de custos que permita comparar a eficiência das instituições em análise. Também é analisado o impacto do programa Target2 - Securities (estabelecido pelo BCE) e do regulamento CSDR concebido para estas instituições. O primeiro tem como objetivo contribuir para remoção de barreiras à eficiência de custos na liquidação entre mercados financeiros, e o último a promoção da segurança, eficácia e competitividade dos mercados financeiros da UE. Por último, procura-se saber se existem economias de escala para cada CSD, dependendo do seu tamanho e país.
This work is based on the analysis of cost efficiency on European Central Securities Depositories (CSD's). These financial institutions are experts on holding securities and clearing them until its settlement date. Our approach is focused on cost estimation, in order to compare the efficiency of each institutions analyzed. In addition, we examine the impact of ongoing Target2 - Securities program (by the ECB) as well as the impact of the CSDR regulation made for these institutions. The first is a new European securities settlement engine that aims to contribute for removing the barriers for poor cost efficiency on cross-border settlement between financial markets, and the latter aims to promote the safety, effectiveness and competitiveness of the EU financial markets. Furthermore, the main objective is to find out if economies of scale exists for each CSD, depending on its size and country.
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
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Runheim, Hannes, and Kajsa Appelberg. "Värdet av diagnostik vid sällsynta sjukdomar : En hälsoekonomisk undersökning med två fall." Thesis, Linköpings universitet, Nationalekonomi, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-177270.
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I denna studie undersöks värdet av diagnostik vid sällsynta sjukdomar hos unga individer. Då området är mångfacetterat studeras två fall med olika karaktär. Det första fallet undersöker värdet av screening för den sällsynta sjukdomen fenylketonuri (PKU) bland nyfödda, denna screening har utförts sedan 1960-talet. Det andra fallet fokuserar på en mer modern teknologisk utveckling och utvärderar värdet av införandet av helgenomsekvensering (WGS) som genetiskt test vid sökandet efter sällsynta sjukdomar. Båda fallen använder sig av kostnadseffektivitetsanalys som metod där kostnader respektive hälsoeffekter estimeras för de utvärderade insatserna. Fallen skiljer sig åt med avseende på tillgängliga dataunderlag vilket innebär att tillvägagångssättet för att skatta kostnaderna och hälsoeffekterna är olika i de båda fallen. I fallet med PKU-screening används Markovmodellering där data från olika källor syntetiseras i en simuleringsmodell. I fallet med WGS-testning används i större utsträckning ett insamlat empiriskt datamaterial som utgörs av faktiskt uppmätta sjukvårdskostnader. Resultaten i båda fallen indikerar att de diagnostiska metoderna har en rimlig kostnad i förhållande till hälsoeffekterna. Fall ett åskådliggör att dagens screening för PKU genererar ökade hälsoeffekter till lägre kostnader i jämförelse med att inte screena för PKU. För en kohort på 100 000 nyfödda barn blir den sammanlagda hälsoeffekten en ökning med 73 QALYs och screeningen medför samtidigt en besparing på 53 376 602 kr, sett över ett livstidsperspektiv. Fall två visar att WGS som första genetiskt test i genomsnitt minskar sjukvårdskostnaderna med 15 903 kr per individ jämfört med nuvarande vård och ökar samtidigt chansen till diagnos med 9,5 procentenheter (45,7%). Resultaten bör tolkas med viss försiktighet då de är förknippade med osäkerheter, men kan samtidigt användas som en del av det underlag beslutsfattare behöver för att fatta beslut om hur hälso- och sjukvårdens resurser ska prioriteras.This study examines the value of diagnostics in rare diseases in young individuals. As the field is varied, two cases with different character are studied. The first case examines the value of screening for the rare disease phenylketonuria (PKU) among newborns, this screening has been performed since the 1960s. The second case focuses on a more modern technological development and evaluates the value of the introduction of whole genome sequencing (WGS) as a genetic test in the search for rare diseases. Both cases utilize the method of cost-effectiveness analysis where costs and health effects are estimated for the evaluated measures. The cases differ regarding available data, which means that the approach to estimating costs and health effects is different in the two cases. In the case of PKU- screening, Markov modeling is used where data from different sources are synthesized in a simulation model. In the case of WGS-testing, an empirical data material is used to a greater extent, which is based on actually measured healthcare costs. The results in both cases indicate that the diagnostic methods have a reasonable cost in relation to the health effects. Case one illustrates that today's screening for PKU generates increased health effects at lower costs compared to not screening for PKU. For a cohort of 100 000 newborns, the total health effect will be an increase of 73 QALYs and the screening will also result in cost- savings of SEK 53 376 602, seen from a lifetime perspective. Case two shows that WGS used as an initial genetic test on average reduces healthcare costs by SEK 15 903 per individual compared with current care and at the same time increases the chance of diagnosis by 9.5 percentage points (45.7%). The results should be interpreted with some caution as they are associated with some uncertainties, but can still be used as part of the basis on which decision-makers need to make decisions on how health care resources should be prioritized.
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Forsberg, Ewa. "Do Financial Incentives Make a Difference? : A Comparative Study of the Effects of Performance-Based Reimbursement in Swedish Health Care." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala : Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis : Univ.-bibl. [distributör], 2001. http://publications.uu.se/theses/91-554-5123-3/.
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Van, Heerden Petrus Marthinus Stephanus. "Estimating efficiency of a South African bank using data envelopment analysis / by P.M.S. van Heerden." Thesis, North-West University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/1854.
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The greater competition and concentration in South Africa's financial sector has put South African banks under more constraints and led to questioning of their present performance. With a greater demand for financial services and more complains about the low quality of financial services and charges being too high, there has been increasing debate about how efficient South African banks really are.
This study discusses performance evaluation, the traditional financial and non-financial measures used, and their limitations. The concept of bank efficiency is also briefly discussed, including scale efficiency, scope efficiency, X-efficiency, cost efficiency, standard profit efficiency, alternative profit efficiency and the risk component of bank efficiency.
Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was chosen as the most appropriate method to estimate the scale efficiency and technical efficiency of 37 districts (and 10 provinces) of one of the largest banks in South Africa. 'DEA involves solving linear programming problems that generate a non-parametric, piecewise linear convex frontier that envelops the input and output data relative to which cost is minimized' (Fare et al., 1985b:193). The intermediation approach was used incorporating both the input- and output-orientated approach under variable returns to scale.
The analyses indicated that 19 districts out of the 37 districts were not at least once fully technically efficient during the 22 months (input- and output-orientated). The same results were found with regard to scale efficiency: 17 districts out of the 37 districts were not at least once fully scale efficient (input-orientated) and 19 districts out of the 37 districts were not at least once fully scale efficient (output-orientated), during the 22 months. Synergy was found in 6 provinces out of the 10 provinces (input- and output-orientated).Thesis (M.Com. (Risk Management))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2008.
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Nwankwo, Jonathan Emeka. "Gas utilization in Nigeria : an economic comparison of gas-to-liquid and liquefied natural gas technologies / J.E. Nwankwo." Thesis, North-West University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/2056.
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Márová, Adéla. "Strategie výkonnosti Nemocnice, a. s." Master's thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2016. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-262044.
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This master's thesis called Hospital strategy performance deals with the strategic analysis of České Budějovice Hospital in relation to cost efficiency in this company. Information were provided during the interview with the company CEO, MUDr. Břetislav Shon. Primary input for financial analysis purpose were taken from the annual reports of 2011-2015. The introduction defines strategy and strategic analysis and the master's thesis' aims are specified. The theoretical part is based on theoretical definition and methodology of strategic analysis, the analytical process is introduced, as well as results evaluation based on specialized publication. The practical part consists of the description of the current situation in Czech health care, company introduction and the strategic analysis of the company. The conclusion includes the strategic analysis evaluation and recommendation for next steps.
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Lundin, Rasmus, and Benjamin Beitler-Dorch. "Modelling and Analysis of Mobile Energy Transmission for Offshore Wind Power : An analysis of flow batteries as an energy transmission system for offshore wind power." Thesis, Mälardalens högskola, Akademin för ekonomi, samhälle och teknik, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-40082.
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A comparison between a traditional fixed high voltage direct current energy transmission system and a mobile transmission system utilizing vanadium redox flow batteries has been conducted in this degree work. The purpose of this comparison was to evaluate if a mobile energy transmission system could be competitive in terms of energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness for use in offshore wind power applications. A literary study was made to fully grasp the various technologies and to create empirical ground of which cost estimation methods and energy calculations could be derived. A specific scenario was designed to compare the two transmission systems with the same conditions. To perform the comparison, a model was designed and simulated in MATLAB. The results from the model showed that the flow battery system fell behind in energy efficiency with a total energy loss of 33.3 % compared to the 11.7 % of the traditional system, future efficiency estimations landed it at a more competitive 17.5 %. The techno-economic results proved that a mobile flow battery system would be up to nine times more expensive in comparison to a traditional transmission system, with the best-case scenario resulting in it being roughly two times more expensive. The main cause of this was found out to be the expensive energy subsystem, specifically the electrolyte, used in the flow battery system. Several environmental risks arise when using a flow battery system with this electrolyte as well which could harm marine life severely. In conclusion; with further development and cost reductions, a case could be made for the advantages of a truly mobile energy transmission system. Specifically, in terms of the pure flexibility and mobility of the system, allowing it to circumvent certain complications. The mobility of the system gives the possibility of selling energy where the spot prices are at their highest, providing a higher revenue potential compared to a traditional fixed system. As for now though, it is simply too expensive to be a viable solution.
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Pavelek, Jan. "Posouzení efektivnosti vybrané veřejné stavební zakázky." Master's thesis, Vysoké učení technické v Brně. Fakulta stavební, 2017. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-265457.
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This thesis is focused on the revitalization of brownfield implemented through public producrement and selected in the city of Brno. The theoretical part includes basic concepts that explain the issue of brownfields, public procurement, and more specifically the assessment of their economic efficiency. The practical part is focused on the specific case of brownfield revitalization through public procurement including its economic assessment. The use of econimic analysis, namely Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA), will be utilized to assess the effectiveness, and socio-economic impacts will also be determined. The purpose of the second part is to determine whether the revitalization thus made more economically advantageous for the city of Brno.