Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Automobile ownership Mathematical models'

The negative consequences (especially urban smog and global warming) of the heavy dependence on motorized vehicles of residents in urban areas across Canada and the United States have rightly motivated a great deal of research into potential policies aimed at reducing car ownership and use. This research focuses on the potential role of neighborhood and regional urban form and land use pattern in reducing car-dependency in cities. The study relies primarily on an origin-destination travel survey collected by the Agence Metropolitaine de Transport (AMT) in 1998, consisting of a 5% representative sample of residents living in the Montreal CMA. The first statistical model of household car-dependency is a multinomial logit model (MNL) of household automobile ownership levels on the Island of Montreal. The results suggest that neighborhood form has only a modest relationship automobile ownership levels. However, the location of a household's neighborhood relative to Montreal's CBD and whether an adult in it is employed there are both strongly associated with the number of vehicles a household owns, especially of multiple vehicles. The results indicate the importance of the spatial distribution and density of employment opportunities to vehicle ownership The second statistical model, an OLS regression of vehicle kilometers driven (VKD) by households for shopping purposes, found that neighborhood population density and proximity to a large retail cluster are both associated with meaningful reductions in motorized travel. Having said that, the results from both models suggest the most important determinants of household car-dependency are its socioeconomic and demographic composition. These findings suggest new suburban developments based on the principles of New Urbanism are unlikely to have any meaningful effect on car-dependency in urban areas.

The phenomenon of organizational growth has traditionally been assumed to be indeterminate largely due to chance or accidents found in organizational worlds. This research takes up the causal processes underlying the growth (and decline) of virtually all world-class manufacturers in the international automobile industry from 1946 to 1989. Two models are developed as alternative explanations for the long-term trends observed in growth rates and their differences across firms. The models are estimated with a nonlinear method and tested through various empirical implications. The model that seems most consistent with the data shows unambiguously that they were not generated by a random or chance process but by underlying processes of collective learning, innovation, and outnovation in technologies and organizational routines. Firms that had generated different rates in these processes differed as hypothesized in their long-term growth performance. The dynamics of collective learning processes, as measured by the parameters of the model, largely explain the dynamics of organizational growth in the world automobile industry, hence, the dynamics of interorganizational competition. The results from tests of ecological hypotheses suggest that organizational ecology might benefit from the application of matrices of collective learning rates generated from interorganizational learning curves, particularly where ecology seeks to explain patterns of competition by organizational size. As shown, this research strategy is general and gauges directly interactions among organizations over long periods. It is also flexible in dealing with various levels of analysis in longitudinal and cross-sectional dimensions. As also shown, the collective learning theory, its model, and the ecology of interorganizational learning curves derived from them can help in evaluating empirically the competitive potential of firms by indicators of innovation and outnovation relative to other firms, patterns of competition (gauged by relative learning rates) among firms, and any changes of those patterns over time. Thus, the research strategy used here provides potentially useful causal analyses as well as meaningful measures on which different organizations can be compared, with each other and with themselves. These measures may also provide important benchmarks and diagnostics for strategic management.

In this global world, many firms present a complex shareholding structure with

indirect participation, such that it may become difficult to assess a firm’s controllers.

Furthermore, if there are numerous dominant shareholders, the control can be shared between

them. Determining who has the most influence is often a difficult task. To measure this

influence, game theory allows the modeling of voting games and the computing of the

Banzhaf index. This thesis develops models to measure the Banzhaf indices in any ownership structure (pyramidal ownership structures and cross-ownership structures). The models are then applied to real cases studies such Colruyt, Elia, Lafarge and Allianz.
Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion
info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The transportation community is exploring how new "big'' databases constructed by companies or public administrative agencies can be used to better understand travelers' behaviors and better predict travelers' responses to various transportation policies. This thesis explores how a large targeted marketing database containing information about individuals’ socio-demographic characteristics, current residence attributes, and previous residential locations can be used to investigate research questions related to individuals' transportation preferences and the built environment. The first study examines how household vehicle ownership may be shaped by, or inferred from, previous behavior. Results show that individuals who have previously lived in dense ZIP codes or ZIP codes with more non-automobile commuting options are more likely to own fewer vehicles, all else equal. The second study uses autoregressive models that control for spatial dependence, correlation, and endogeneity to investigate whether investments in public transit infrastructure are associated with higher home values. Results show that willingness-to-pay estimates obtained from the general spatial Durbin model are less certain than comparable estimates obtained through ordinary least squares. The final study develops an empirical framework to examine a housing market's resilience to price volatility as a function of transportation accessibility. Two key modeling frameworks are considered. The first uses a spatial autoregressive model to investigate the relationship between a home's value, appreciation, and price stability while controlling for endogenous missing regressors. The second uses a latent class model that considers all these attributes simultaneously, but cannot control for endogeneity.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Marketing has long been seen as a qualitative discipline following a rather soft approach. This, in many circumstances, resulted in a loss of marketing's credibility against other more quantitative managerial disciplines. Out of this plight, numerous marketing practitioners and experts during the past two decades have developed ways to prove that marketing can indeed be quantifiable. Born were the theories of marketing metrics as tools to make marketing measurable and, thus, to justify its existence. As can be assumed, in most organisations, the existence of the marketing discipline is not threatened; yet, an increased importance is placed on the fact that marketing expenditure is located wisely and efficiently in order to make a contribution to bottom line. This is particularly significant for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) which typically have only small marketing budgets and dispose of limited marketing expertise. The purpose of this study is to examine whether such a medium sized enterprise, the Tepass + Seiz KG, a German group of car dealerships, shows a marketing behaviour typical for that of an SME and does not use a sophisticated system of marketing metrics to measure the efficiency of its marketing activities. Primarily, a literature review was performed to illustrate the role of marketing metrics within large corporations and smaller enterprises and to shed light to the typical marketing behaviour of SMEs. The subsequent examination of the Tepass + Seiz KG and its marketing performance measurement system was built onto the findings of that review. The study was conducted, following a single case study strategy with the use of in-depth interviews to collect the data. The analysis illustrated that the Tepass + Seiz KG, even though conducting numerous different marketing activities, shows a marketing behaviour typical for a medium sized enterprise and that it does not measure its marketing activities efficiently. Consequently, recommendations on how to improve its measurement systems were made and various marketing metrics were introduced and suggested for implementation. The development of a stringent marketing strategy in addition to the metrics recommended was found to be a necessary further step towards a sophisticated marketing management within this enterprise.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Bemarking word lank reeds beskou as 'n kwalitatiewe dissipline met 'n taamlike sagte aanslag. Dit het onder vele omstandighede gelei tot 'n verlies aan geloofwaardigheid vir bemarking vergeleke met ander meer kwantitatiewe bestuursdissiplines. As gevolg hiervan het baie bemarkingspraktisyns en bemarkingskundiges oor die afgelope twee dekades maniere ontwikkel om te bewys dat bemarking inderdaad kwantifiseerbaar kan wees. Daaruit is die teorieë van bemarkingsmaatstawwe gebore as 'n instrument om bemarking meetbaar te maak en om sodoende die bestaan daarvan te regverdig. Daar kan aanvaar word dat die bestaan van die bemarkingsdissipline in die meeste organisasies nie bedreig word nie; nogtans word al meer klem gelê op die feit dat bemarkingsuitgawes slim en doeltreffend aangewend moet word om 'n bydrae tot winsgewendheid te lewer. Dit is veral belangrik vir klein en mediumgrootte ondernemings (KMO's), wat gewoonlik oor slegs klein bemarkingsbegrotings en beperkte bemarkingskundigheid beskik. Die doel van hierdie navorsingstudie was om te ondersoek of so 'n mediumgrootte onderneming, die Tepass + Seiz KG, 'n Duitse groep van motorhandelaars, bemarkingsgedrag tipies van 'n KMO toon en nie gebruik maak van 'n gesofistikeerde stelsel van bemarkingsmaatstawwe om die doeltreffendheid van sy bemarkingsaktiwiteite te meet nie. Daar is primêr 'n literatuuroorsig uitgevoer om die rol van bemarkingsmaatstawwe binne groot korporasies en kleiner ondernemings te illustreer en om lig te werp op die tipiese bemarkingsgedrag van KMO's. Die daaropvolgende ondersoek van die Tepass + Seiz KG en die metingstelsel vir sy bemarkingsprestasie is gebou op die bevindings van die literatuuroorsig. Die studie is uitgevoer volgens die strategie van 'n enkele gevallestudie met die gebruik van in-diepte onderhoude om die data in te samel. Die ontleding het aangetoon dat die Tepass + Seiz KG, hoewel daar baie verskillende bemarkingsaktiwiteite uitgevoer word, die tipiese bemarkingsgedrag van 'n mediumgrootte onderneming uitvoer en nie sy bemarkingsaktiwiteite doeltreffend meet nie. Gevolglik is aanbevelings gedoen oor hoe metingstelsels verbeter kan word en verskeie tipes bemarkingsmaatstawwe is voorgestel vir implementering. Daar is bevind dat die ontwikkeling van 'n streng bemarkingstrategie bykomend tot die aanbevole maatstaf 'n noodsaaklike verdere stap is vir gesofistikeerde bemarkingsbestuur binne hierdie onderneming.

In the operations management research, the inconsistent use of the same term for different concepts and the use of the similar concepts for different constructs potentially causes theoretical and statistical problems. This research addresses the importance of construct definitions and specification methodologically within the context of quality and sustainability management. It involves three essays using multiple quantitative methods such as partial least squares structural equation modeling and multiple regression in different consumer decision-making models in the automobile industry. In the first two essays, a comprehensive literature review results in definition and contextualization of the quality and sustainability constructs as applied to operations management and marketing research. The relationships of these constructs with consumer behavior are empirically tested. Building upon the first two essays, the third essay addresses the methodological issues on formative and reflective measurements by summarizing a procedure of validating formative measurements. The quality construct was used to illustrate the methodology. This research contributes to the literature, theory, and practices in the area of quality and sustainability management.

Traffic simulation has become an invaluable part of the traffic engineering toolbox. However, the majority of driver models are designed to recreate traffic performance based on interactions among vehicles. In keeping with this pursuit, most are fundamentally built to avoid collisions. This limits the applicability of using these models for addressing safety concerns, especially those regarding pedestrian safety performance. However, by explicitly including some of the sources of human error, these limitations can, in theory, be overcome. While much work has been done toward including these human factors in simulation platforms, one key aspect of human behavior has been largely ignored: driver distraction.

This work presents a novel approach to inclusion of driver distraction in a microsimulation or agent-based model. Distributions of distraction events and inter-distraction periods are derived from eye-glance data collected during naturalistic driving studies. The developed model of distraction is implemented – along with perception errors, visual obstructions, and driver reaction times – in a simulated mid-block pedestrian crossing.

The results of this simulation demonstrate that excluding any of these human factors from the implemented driver model significantly alters conflict rates observed in the simulation. This finding suggests that inclusion of human factors is important in any microsimulation platforms used to analyze pedestrian safety performance.

Energy and environmental impacts are two factors that will influence urban region composition in the near future. One emerging issue is the effect on water usage resulting from changes in regional or urban transportation trends. With many regions experiencing stresses on water availability, transportation planners and users need to combine information on transportation-related water consumption for any region and assess potential impacts on local water resources from the expansion of alternative transportation modes. This thesis will focus on use-phase water consumption factors for multiple vehicle modes, energy and fuel pathways, roads, and vehicle infrastructure for a given transportation network. While there are studies examining life cycle impacts for energy generation and vehicle usage, few repeatable models exist for assessing overall water consumption across several transportation modes within urban regions. As such, the question is: is it possible to develop a traceable decision support model that combines and assesses water consumption from transportation modes and related mobility infrastructure for a given mobility network? Based on this, an object-oriented system model of transportation elements was developed using the Systems Modeling Language (SysML) and Model-Based Systems Engineering principles to compare water consumption across vehicle modes for assessing the resiliency of existing infrastructure and water resources. To demonstrate the intent of this model, daily network usage water consumption will be analyzed for current and alternative network scenarios projected by policies regarding the expansion of alternative energy. The model is expected to show variations in water consumption due to fluctuations in energy pathways, market shares, and driving conditions, from which the model should help determine the feasibility of expanding alterative vehicles and fuels in these networks. While spatially explicit data is limited compared to the national averages that are used as model inputs, the analytical framework within this model closely follows that of existing assessments and the reusable nature of SysML model elements allows for the future expansion of additional transportation modes and infrastructure as well as other environmental analyses.

Este trabalho utiliza a Programação Linear Inteira Mista (MILP) para investigar as diferenças de produtividade encontradas em uma Linha de Montagem de Modelo Misto. A abordagem de solução foi através da construção e resolução de modelos matemáticos do problema de balanceamento de linhas de montagem de modelo misto (MALBP – Mixed-Model Assembly Line Balancing Problem), seguido do problema de sequenciamento de carros (PSC – Car Sequencing Problem). Uma simulação discreta foi utilizada para verificar os resultados dos modelos matemáticos. O estudo relata o caso real de uma linha de montagem da indústria automotiva das partes móveis das carrocerias de três diferentes veículos compartilhando a mesma linha de produção. A linha de produção é caracterizada como baixa cadência (de até 15 veículos/hora) e totalmente manual. A linha é constituída por mesas de rolos em série onde o acionamento é do tipo de passo não sincronizado. O objetivo é investigar como manter o melhor nível de produtividade da linha de produção e, ao mesmo tempo, manter a característica de flexibilidade para atender a uma demanda variável em volume e diversidade de produto. São apresentados resultados desse trabalho que indicam que é possível a obtenção de alguns balanceamentos flexíveis para alguns mixes de produtos, o que permite manter a diferença nos tempos de produção no limite de 6%, para esta correta combinação de balanceamento-sequenciamento. No entanto, verificando as demais combinações possíveis para os seis mixes de produtos avaliados, o tempo de produção apresentou diferenças de até 19%, dependendo da sequência de entrada dos produtos para um certo mix. Outro fator que também ocasionou diferenças dos tempos produtivos, de 20% em média, foi em relação a alocação/ausência de postos pulmões (buffers). O horizonte da análise, a priori, foi de um lote de produção de uma hora para o modelo matemático e de uma semana de produção para o modelo de simulação discreta. Os resultados obtidos no estudo indicam que é possível operar uma linha de montagem flexível com uma produtividade equiparável a linhas de montagem de único modelo, se cuidados relativos ao balanceamento e sequenciamento produtivos forem observados. Por outro lado, se as condições operacionais de balanceamento e sequenciamento para as linhas de montagem de modelos/produtos mistos não forem consideradas, as perdas acumuladas na taxa de produção podem ser significativas (por exemplo, tempos de produção para algumas condições de teste ultrapassaram em 30% o valor teórico estimado).
This work uses Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) to investigate productivity differences found in a Mixed-Model Assembly Line. The solution approach was based on construction and resolution of mathematical models for the Mixed-Model Assembly Line Balancing Problem (MALBP), followed by the Car Sequencing Problem (CSP). A discrete simulation was used to check the results obtained by the mathematical models. The study reports the real case of an automotive metal line that assemblies the closures of three different vehicles, sharing the same production line. The production line is characterized as low cadence (e.g., up to 15 vehicles/hour) and fully manual. The line is formed by roller tables in series with unpaced devices. The main objective is to investigate how to maintain productivity, while maintaining the flexibility characteristic to meet a variable demand in volume and product diversity. Results of this study are presented and indicate that some flexible balancing mixes are viable. Production time differences of no more than 6% were observed in such flexible choices. However, the checking of some possible combinations for the six mixes of evaluated products showed a production time difference up to 19%, depending on the sequence of products for a certain mix. Another factor that also influenced production time differences, 20% on average, was the allocation of buffers. The horizon of analysis encompasses a lot of production of one hour, to the mathematical model, and a week for discrete simulation. The obtained results indicate that it is possible to operate a flexible assembly line with a level of productivity similar to a single product line, in case of careful choices in balancing/sequencing. On the other hand, if the operating conditions of balancing and sequencing were not taken into account the cumulative loss in throughput may be significant (e.g., for some studied cases, production time exceed 30% the theoretical value).

Hu Bingbing.
"July 2004."
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2004.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-73).
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Abstracts in English and Chinese.

Leung Shek Ling Olivia.
"August 2004."
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2004.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 62-64).
Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Abstracts in English and Chinese.

This dissertation is an extension of Leland and Pyle's (1977) signaling model. It introduces the length of the retention period to which the entrepreneur commits in the prospectus as a signal of firm value, in addition to the retention level. The analysis uses concepts of game theory to examine a two-period model where an entrepreneur seeks to issue shares on the market and invest in a productive project that generates outcomes which are publicly announced at the end of the next two periods. The entrepreneur can retain some of her firm's shares and trade them later on the secondary market, after information has been released about the outcomes. The length of the retention period is found to be a signaling mechanism that complements ownership retention. Depending on the information structure of the firm, a longer retention period may reduce or increase the retention level necessary for separation. The model also shows that there are realistic situations in which entrepreneurs prefer to retain a portion of their firm's shares for longer than the minimum retention period imposed by regulations, and others in which she prefers the shortest period possible. The optimal combination of under-diversification and commitment is shown to depend on the information structure and the probability distribution of outcomes of the firm. The empirical implications of the model are tested on the set of firms that made an initial public offering in 1981. Although the results of the tests are generally consistent with the predictions of the model, they are not strong enough to reject the null hypotheses.

Ho Wing-Kee.
Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-66).
Abstracts in English and Chinese.
Abstract --- p.i
Acknowledgement --- p.iii
Table of Content --- p.v
List of Table --- p.vi
List of Appendices --- p.vii
Chapter Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1
Chapter Chapter 2. --- Literature Review --- p.5
Chapter Chapter 3. --- Theoretical Framework --- p.8
Chapter 3.1 --- Regime 1 ( Social Planner Model) --- p.10
Chapter 3.2 --- Regime 2 ( Provision of Indivisible Public Capital by the Government Model ) --- p.14
Chapter 3.3 --- Regime 3 ( Provision of Indivisible Public Capital by the Public Monopoly Model) --- p.19
Chapter Chapter 4. --- Quantitative Comparison --- p.27
Chapter 4.1 --- Calibration --- p.27
Chapter 4.2 --- Numerical Results --- p.29
Chapter Chapter 5. --- Conclusion --- p.31
Appendices --- p.42
References --- p.60

This thesis presents the results of an investigation into traffic operations and driver behaviour at traffic circles under South African conditions. The scarcity of local traffic circles necessitated the development of a simulation program (TRACSIM) to assist in the research process. This microscopic program for single lane circles is based on event updates and was calibrated and validated based on local data. Because the acceptance of gaps is such a vital part of the operation of a traffic circle, it was examined in detail. Specific attention was given to the possible use of a gap acceptance model based on variables other than time. Since the gap acceptance process also depends on the gap distribution in the circulating stream, the effect of the origin-destination pattern was also investigated. Two existing analysis techniques are evaluated and verified for local conditions, improving them where possible. Generally these techniques under-estimate traffic delay at local circles. Observations indicate a difference between the acceptance of gaps/lags in the entering and circulating stream of conflicting traffic as well as a difference between critical gaps and critical lags. The mean observed critical gaps/lags are larger than in other countries, which indicates that delays at local circles will be greater. Gap/lag acceptance based on critical distances rather than critical times was applied successfully in the simulation program TRACSIM. A method is proposed to estimate critical distances from the geometric layout of the circle. Critical gaps are not fixed, but should vary with at least the conflicting flows. The investigation of the effect of unbalanced flows on delay, showed that the variability in drivers' critical gaps is more a function of delay than of conflicting flow. Entry delays increase because of an increase in conflicting flows or because of an unfavourable imbalance of conflicting flows. In both instances the drivers' critical gaps will decrease. A variable critical gap model only based on conflicting flows will show no change in the drivers' critical gaps if the conflicting volumes remain constant, even though the actual average delay might increase because of an unfavourable imbalance in conflicting flows.
Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1997.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)
In recent years, there have been a lot of technology innovations to automate the day to day processes done by every person. These days the automobile manufacturers introduce new features in their cars, in order to improve customer experience, like Adaptive cruise control, Parallel park assist, etc. The objective of this thesis is to model an automated parallel parking system and to simulate the system behavior, by taking into account the high level events which happen when a car is parallel parked. The tool used in this thesis to model and simulate the system is Hybrid Petri net (HPN), which is versatile to model the real life systems. Chapter 1 deals with a brief introduction of the related work in Hybrid Petri net modeling of real life systems, automatic parallel parking systems and how the concept for modeling the parallel parking system was developed. Chapter 2 deals with the general introduction about Discrete, Continuous and Hybrid Petri nets and their dynamics which are essential for understanding this thesis. Chapter 3 deals with the development of the model and the various stages in the model development. Errors encountered in each stage is briefly discussed and the improvements are discussed in the next stage of development. This chapter concludes with the final integrated model and operation of the model. Chapter 4 deals with the discussion of results obtained when the model is tested in MATLAB and SIMHPN (which is a Matlab embedded simulation program). The results are compared, the system behavior is observed and the purpose of the thesis is justified. In Chapter 5, a conclusion is provided to summarize the entire thesis.