Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Joint choice'

When a property is in need to get access to a facility with a certain purpose – e.g. an access road to the property – the Swedish legislation states that it under some certain conditions is possible to establish the facility compulsory on another property. When a compulsory acquisition occur the legislation also states that the owner of the property that surrender land for the facility shall get compensated for the intrusion the facility makes on his or her property. The cardinal rule to determine the compensation level for these cases – when the Swedish Joint Facilities Act applies – is that the compensation level shall be based on the decrease in market value i.e. the damage that the facility causes on the acquired property plus an equitable share of the benefit that the facility causes for the properties that get access to the facility. These situations are in general speaking named profit sharing cases. Further states the travaux préparatoires that the distribution of the profit shall be equitable with guidance of the distribution that had occurred in a “normal” voluntary agreement between the involved parties (prop. 1991/92:127 s. 69). To be able to apply the legislators requirements of equitable and “normal” voluntary agreement in a real situation there are a number of methods that can be used to decide the compensation level. A problem with these methods is that it’s not always obvious a priori which method that should be used for a certain facility. A risk that occurs when it’s not clearly defined which method that shall be used in a certain situation is that substantially different levels of compensation can occur in different cases, even if the purpose with the facility is the same. For these cases when it’s not a priori defined which method that shall be used it’s up to the cadastral surveyor – after his or her preferences regarding what can be seen as equitable – to decide in the particular case which compensation level that best correspond to the legislators requirements of an equitable and “normal” voluntary agreement. With this said, there is an obvious risk that similar situations and cases get treated unequal from a compensation perspective according to which method the cadastral surveyor chose to apply. With respect to the problem description above, the purpose of this thesis have been to investigate how the compensation legislation in the Joint Facilities Act are applied or can be applied by the cadastral authority in joint facility procedures. The investigation was performed through a study of procedure acts from the cadastral authority.
När en fastighet har ett behov av att få tillgång till en viss typ av anläggning – t.ex. en utfartsväg från fastigheten – finns möjligheter att inrätta anläggningen tvångsvis på en annan fastighet. När tvångsvisa ianspråktaganden sker är den fastighetsägare som upplåter mark för anläggningen berättigad till ersättning. Huvudprincipen för att bestämma ersättningen i dessa fall – när anläggningslagen tillämpas – är att ersättningen dels ska bestå av marknadsvärdeminskningen som anläggningen orsakar, dels en skälig del av den värdeökning som sker hos den eller de fastigheter som får tillgång till anläggningen som inrättas. Dessa situationer brukar benämnas vinstfördelningsfall. Vidare har lagstiftaren uttalat att fördelningen av värdeökningen ska ske på ett skäligt sätt med ledning av den fördelning som hade blivit fallet vid en ”normal” frivillig överlåtelse parterna emellan (jmf. prop.1991/92:127 s. 69). För att kunna tillämpa lagstiftarens uppställda krav om skälighet och ”normal” frivillig överlåtelse i en praktisk situation finns ett antal metoder som kan tillämpas för att bestämma den totala ersättningen. Ett problem med dessa metoder är att det på förhand inte sällan är helt självklart vilken metod som har företräde framför en annan. En risk är då att väsentligt olika ersättningsbelopp utgår för anläggningar med liknande ändamål eftersom ersättningsnivåerna metoderna emellan ofta skiljer sig åt relativt mycket. För dessa mer oklara fall är det upp till förrättningslantmätaren – efter dennes preferenser gällande skälighet – att i det enskilda fallet avgöra vilken ersättningsnivå som är skälig och motsvarar en ”normal” frivillig överlåtelse. Det finns därmed en uppenbar risk att likande situationer kan behandlas olika ur ett ersättningsperspektiv beroende av vilken metod förrättningslantmätaren väljer att tillämpa. Förevarande arbete har av denna anledning undersökt hur Lantmäterimyndigheten i praktiken tillämpar ersättningslagstiftningen när anläggningar inrättas enligt anläggningslagen. Huvudsyftet med arbetet har formulerats som att undersöka hur ersättningslagstiftningen i anläggningslagen tillämpas eller kan tillämpas av LM vid anläggningsförrättningar. Undersökningen genomfördes genom att studera förrättningsakter där det fanns ett officialbeslut och/eller en officialutredning i ersättningsfrågan

Due to recent pricing studies that have revealed substantial variability in values of time among decision makers with the same socioeconomic characteristics, there is substantial interest in modeling the observed heterogeneity. This study addresses this problem by revealing a previously overlooked connection between choice set and choice behavior. This study estimates a discrete choice model for mode plus route plus time choice, subdivides the population according to empirically formed choice sets, and finds systematic variations among four choice set groups in user preferences for price managed lanes. Rather than assume the same values of the coefficients for all users, the model is separately estimated for each choice set group, and the null hypothesis of no taste variations among them is rejected, suggesting that choice set is an indicator for choice behavior. In the State Route 91 study corridor, the price-managed lanes compete with at least two other congestion-avoiding alternatives. The principal hypothesis is that a person’s willingness to pay depends on whether or not he perceives as personally feasible the option to bypass some congestion in a traditional carpool lane or by traveling outside the peak period. The procedure for estimating the choice sets empirically is predicated on the notion that individuals operate within a wide array of unobservable constraints that can establish the infeasibility of either alternative. The universal choice set includes eight combinations of mode and time and route, wherein there are exactly two alternatives for each. Choice sets are formed from an assumed minimum set, which is expanded to one of three others whenever a non-zero choice probability for either ridesharing, or shoulder period travel, or both is revealed in a person’s history of choice behavior. Based on the test of taste variations, this author finds different values of time across the four choice set groups in the study sample. If these relationships can be validated in other locations, this would make a strong case for modeling choice behavior in value pricing as a function of choice set.

Recent developments in mobile information and communication technologies (ICT), vehicle automation, and the associated debates on the implications for the operation of transport systems and for the appraisal of investment has heightened the importance of understanding how people spend travel time and how productive they are while travelling. To date, however, no approach has been proposed that incorporates the joint modelling of in-travel activity type, activity duration and productivity behaviour. To address this critical gap, we draw on a recently developed PPS framework (Pawlak et al., 2015) to develop a new joint model of activity type choice, duration and productivity. In our framework, we use copulas to provide a flexible link between a discrete choice model of activity type choice, a hazard-based model for activity duration, and a log-linear model of productivity. Our model is readily amenable to estimation, which we demonstrate using data from the 2008 UK Study of Productive Use of Rail Travel-time. We hence show how journey-, respondent-, attitude-, and ICT-related factors are related to expected in-travel time allocation to work and non-work activities, and the associated productivity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first framework that both captures the effects of different factors on activity choice, duration and productivity, and models links between these aspects of behaviour. Furthermore, the convenient interpretation of the parameters in the form of semi-elasticities enables the comparison of effects associated with the presence of on-board facilities (e.g., workspace, connectivity) or equipment use, facilitating use of the model outputs in applied contexts.

AN INVESTIGATION OF INTRA-HOUSEHOLD INTERACTIONS IN TRAVEL MODE CHOICE This thesis develops a modelling framework to integrate intra-household interactions with tour-based mode choice. The findings provide evidence of intra-household interactions in travel mode choice of each household member and highlight factors associated with joint household activities and shared ride arrangements, with a distinction between weekdays and weekends. The results indicate that household resources, mobility and social constraints, and opportunities to coordinate household members’ activities play an important role in arranging joint household travel. Also, modelling outputs signal the differences that interpersonal interactions make to model elasticities and the implications for transport policy. The originality and the contribution of this research lie in four main areas. First, it tests the relevance of interactions between household members to household mode choice decisions and adds an additional ‘layer of interactions’ to the activity-based modelling framework. The study offers an analysis of household travel decisions embedding context and situation effects, thereby reflecting more realistically the nature of travel decisions. Second, this study offers a typology of joint household tour patterns embedded in a modelling approach which permits a variety of activity-travel patterns amongst all household members together with intra-household interactions. Third, the research provides evidence on the effects of land use factors measured at the micro-level so as to identify which aspects of the built environment are most likely to support policy change for sustainable transport choices. Finally, by separating weekend activity-travel from their weekday counterparts, this study is able to quantify empirically differences which suggest different transport management measures aimed to alleviate traffic congestion and promote public transport use.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Business, 2008.
Title from home page (viewed on May 11, 2009). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-08, Section: A, page: 3198. Adviser: Geoff Sprinkle.

2010/2011
*Context* There is substantial interest in encouraging changes to travel behaviour with a view to accomplishing more sustainable mobility patterns. The underlying idea is that people respond to incentives and will alter their behaviour according to relative costs and benefits of different behavioural alternatives (e.g. the use of different transport modes for the commute trip). Utility-based discrete-choice models have become central methods to model behaviour with the aim of understanding how changes can be induced. Traditionally such models, however, assume that choices can be represented as a linear compensatory process. This implies that there is trading among attributes, that is, disadvantages in one choice characteristic can be offset by advantages in another. Similarly standard modelling assumptions postulate that group behaviour can be represented through a one-consumer utility function. This implies that the study of essential economic group-based agents take account of only a single representative of the entity, without considering the impact of the presence of different members. *Motivation* Applied studies of real behaviour has generated many findings suggesting that people use non-maximising rules and that multi-person choices are different from individual ones. Failing to account for decisions that do not adhere to these underlying hypotheses, may generate biased descriptions and predictions of behaviour. A poor understanding of real behavioural motivations will potentially lead to misguided policy decisions. This thesis proposes the study of several failures of standard modelling assumptions. Methodological approaches, where standard modelling procedures are adapted, are illustrated in this work. The advantage of the proposed approaches is to gain a deeper understanding of behaviour and begin staking out how people differ not only in their taste structure but also along other behavioural dimensions. *Empirical work* Evidence from four empirical studies are presented. A first case-study looks at the role of reference dependence, focussing on multiple attributes and multiple reference points in a commuting context. This allows in depth study of the usual assumption of reference free, linear and symmetrical sensitivities. The second chapter looks at a modelling structure that can account for different decision-rules, besides utility-maximisation, that can be used to model decision-rules such as lexicography, reference asymmetry, elimination-by-aspects and regret minimisation. This approach offers a way to relax the assumption that all respondents use utility maximising decision protocols. A third section describes a model structure where the level of engagement of respondents is studied using a latent variable structure to see how involvement can be studied from attitudinal questions and other behavioural variables. This is a way to assess the impact of lower involvement in a survey leading to higher error variance in responses rather than assuming all respondents to be equally engaged in experimental tasks. A fourth chapter overlooks a framework of individual versus joint preference formation in a household to understand the potential shortcomings of the representative respondent hypothesis. *Findings* The results show how different behavioural model assumptions can be tested within a discrete choice framework. Each case shows that modelling can be improved upon by allowing people to differ in referencing, behavioural rules, survey engagement and in a joint choice context. Taken together, these findings help us bridge the gap between observed behavioural complexity and the use of formal models of decision-making.
XXIV Ciclo
1982

A substantial proportion of older adults with non-inflammatory joint pain do not consult their general practitioner (GP) despite apparent clinical need. This thesis describes the development, execution, and interpretation of an original study using conjoint analysis – a fairly novel approach with some advantages over conventional observational and qualitative studies - to understand the relative importance of need-related and service-related factors on the decision to consult the GP. Background reading, a systematic review of previously published conjoint analysis studies, and a series of developmental studies involving patients and members of the public informed the design of the main study. A partial-profile choice-based conjoint (PPCBC) questionnaire was chosen, comprising 10 choice tasks using a combination of selected attributes (pain characteristics, pain disruption to everyday life, comorbidity, assessment and investigations available, available treatment options, and perceived GP attitude). The PPCBC questionnaire was postally-administered to 1170 adults aged 50 years and over with hip, knee, or hand pain identified from an existing population cohort study in North Staffordshire. 863 questionnaires were returned (adjusted response rate 74%; mean age: 70 years; 55% female) and well-completed ( < 5% missing data). The extent to which pain disrupted everyday life (1.10 logits) and perceived GP attitude (0.86 logits) were the most important determinants of the decision to consult the GP. Service factors were highly influential with a ‘negative’ GP attitude potentially outweighing the perceived value of optimal assessment and management. Latent class analysis identified possible subgroups with differing strengths of preference. Conjoint analysis is feasible and offers unique insights into the relative importance of actual and hypothetical services. While it presents many challenges - extensive developmental testing, complex design and analysis procedures, ability to integrate findings from a range of different methods – it can provide important information on patients’ preferences for existing and emerging treatments and models of care.

The purpose of this thesis is to rationalise the law on contractual joint ventures, in the sense of rendering it consistent with its own fundamental tenets and declared objectives. The declared objective of contract law is to give effect to the intentions of reasonable persons, whom the law presumes to be self-interested by default. To this end, this thesis argues for a new legal model to govern the contractual (project-specific) joint venture, which centres on the joint venture contract but is fundamentally augmented through the application of default, mutually binding, fiduciary duties. By applying David Gauthier’s take on rational choice theory in the context of cooperation, the thesis demonstrates that submitting to default duties of this type is the long-term utility maximising strategy for self-interested commercial parties who have chosen to cooperate. For this reason, it argues that English law should imply fiduciary duties into the joint venture contract by default on the basis that this is what the co-venturers would have intended had they properly reflected on what their long-term self-interest requires.

Typical accounting studies attempting to explain accounting method choice employ positive theoretical hypotheses and test for association between adoption method or adoption timing and economic measures that focus upon specific firm stakeholders. Such studies addressing the adoption and impact of SFAS 87, "Employer's Accounting for Pensions," yield mixed and contradicting results. Various researchers have suggested that traditional economic analysis often fails to capture important explanatory variables and is far too simplistic. The purpose of this study is to expand analysis by evaluating a particular accounting choice by means of three different characterizations. SFAS 106, "Employers' Accounting for Postretirement Benefits Other than Pensions," allows management to choose between two very different methods of adopting the standard. The principal question explored in this study is: why did managers of firms that employ defined benefit postretirement plans for benefits other than pensions choose to adopt SFAS 106 using a particular method? The research question is explored by means of three different characterizations: 1) a traditional economic characterization; 2) a sociopolitical characterization); and 3) a joint decision characterization. Logit methodology is used with method of SFAS 106 adoption as the binary dependent variable of interest. Results indicate that all three characterizations are important in understanding the SFAS 106 adoption method choice. Further, each characterization adds separate information toward comprehension of the choice, supporting the notion of the complexity of accounting choice issues.

This dissertation is concerned with decision making in retail operations management. Specifically, we focus on pricing, variety, and inventory decisions, which are at the interface of the marketing and operations functions of a retail firm. We consider two problems that relate to two major types of retail goods. First, we study joint pricing, variety, and inventory decisions for a set of substitutable" items that serve the same need for the consumer (commonly referred to as a "retailer's product line"). Second, we present a novel model of a selling strategy for "complementary" items that we refer to as ``convenience tying," and focus on analyzing the effect of this selling strategy on pricing and profitability. We also study inventory decisions under convenience tying and exogenous pricing. For a product line of substitutable items, the retailer's objective is to jointly determine the set of variants to include in her product line ("assortment"), together with their prices and inventory levels, so as to maximize her expected profit. We model the consumer choice process using a multinomial logit choice model and consider a newsvendor type inventory setting. We derive the structure of the optimal assortment for a special case where the non-ascending order of items in mean consumer valuation and the non-descending order of items in unit cost agree. For this special case, we find that an optimal assortment has a limited number of items with the largest values of the mean consumer valuation (equivalently, the items with the smallest values of the unit cost). For the general case, we propose a dominance rule that significantly reduces the number of different subsets to be considered when searching for an optimal assortment. We also present bounds on the optimal prices that can be obtained by solving single variable equations. Finally, we combine several observations from our analytical and numerical study to develop an efficient heuristic procedure, which is shown to perform well on many numerical tests. With the objective of gaining further insights into the structure of the retailer's optimal decisions, we study a special case of the product line problem with "similar items" having equal unit costs and identical reservation price distributions. We also assume that all items in a product line are sold at the same price. We focus on two situations: (i) the assortment size is exogenously fixed, while the retailer jointly determines the pricing and inventory levels of items in her product line; and (ii) the pricing is exogenously set, while the retailer jointly determines the assortment size and inventory levels. We also briefly discuss the joint pricing/variety/inventory problem where the pricing, assortment size, and inventory levels are all decision variables. In the first setting, we characterize the structure of the retailer's optimal pricing and inventory decisions. We then study the effect of limited inventory on the optimal pricing by comparing our results (in the ``risky case" with limited inventory) with the ``riskless case," which assumes infinite inventory levels. In addition, we gain insights on how the optimal price changes with product line variety as well as demand and cost parameters, and show that the behavior of the optimal price in the risky case can be quite different from that in the riskless case. In the second setting, we characterize the retailer's optimal assortment size considering the trade-off between sales revenue and inventory costs. Our stylized model allows us to obtain strong structural and monotonicity results. In particular, we find that the expected profit at optimal inventory levels is unimodal in the assortment size, which implies that the optimal assortment size is finite. By comparison to the riskless case, we find that this finite variety level is due to inventory costs. Finally, for the joint pricing/variety/inventory problem, we find that even when the retailer has control over the price, finite inventories still restrict the variety level. We also propose several bounds that can be useful in solving the joint problem. We then study a convenience tying strategy for two complementary items that we denote by "primary" and "secondary." The retailer sells the primary item in an appropriate department of her store. In addition, to stimulate demand, the secondary item is offered in two locations: its appropriate department and the primary item's department where it is displayed in very close proximity to the primary item. We analyze the profitability of this selling practice by comparing it to the traditional independent components strategy, where the two items are sold independently (each in its own department). We focus on understanding the effect of convenience tying on pricing. We also briefly discuss inventory considerations. First, assuming infinite inventory levels, we show that convenience tying decreases the price of the primary item and adjusts the price of the secondary item up or down depending on its popularity in the primary item's department. We also derive several structural and monotonicity properties of the optimal prices, and provide sufficient conditions for the profitability of convenience tying. Then, under exogenous pricing, we find that convenience tying is profitable only if it generates enough demand to cover the increase in inventory costs due to decentralizing the sales of the secondary item.
Ph. D.

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The general objective of this research is to verify which attributes are most relevant to a stock photography agency that represent the purchaser's standards of choice. For this objective to be accomplished, qualitative interviews with the customers of stock photography agencies had been made in order to raise the attributes considered with relevance in the process of choice for the Brazilian stock photography agency market. The levels of each attribute to be tested had arisen through the mapping of the products and services offered by the competition and the relative weight assigned to each one of the attributes related to the research in the choices for a stock photography agency. A transversal study was made with a sample of stock photography agencies customers from Brazil¿s Southeastern region. For the analysis of this data, a survey method was used, that, according to MALHOTRA (2006: 182), involves a structuralized questionnaire to be answered by an interview that elucidates specific information, in which the questions had a predetermined order. This questionnaire was presented through interviews on the Internet. The method adopted for this analysis was a joint analysis. A sampling of 1000 customer stock photography agencies were selected, which were represented by a didactic book editor, advertising agencies, editorial companies, etc., in the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais. They had been obtained by 16 stimulations, or cards, for the application of the companies. Of the sample of 1000 customers of stock photography agencies, 7,8% responded to the research. The attribute most relevant in accordance with the presented results is the availability of images in high resolution for layout. Its relative importance was 40,78%. At the end of the study, the management implications were propitiated to the stock photography agencies managers inabling them to be more competitive.
O objetivo geral desta pesquisa é verificar quais são os atributos mais relevantes de um banco de imagens que representem os padrões de escolha dos compradores deste mercado. Para que tal objetivo fosse alcançado, foram realizadas entrevistas qualitativas com os clientes de banco de imagens a fim de levantar os atributos considerados relevantes no processo de escolha do mesmo dentre os bancos de imagens existentes no mercado brasileiro. Levantaram-se os níveis de cada atributo a ser testado, através do mapeamento dos produtos e serviços ofertados pela concorrência, e estimou-se o peso relativo a cada um dos atributos relacionados na pesquisa na escolha de um banco de imagem. Realizou-se uma pesquisa descritiva, um estudo transversal único de onde foi extraída de uma população de clientes de bancos de imagem no Brasil uma amostra de clientes de banco de imagem da região Sudeste. Para a análise destes dados, utilizou-se o método de levantamento, que, segundo MALHOTRA (2006:182), envolve um questionário estruturado a ser respondido pelos entrevistados que elucida informações específicas, no qual as perguntas possuíam uma ordem predeterminada. Este questionário foi apresentado através de entrevistas pela Internet. O método adotado para a análise dos dados foi análise conjunta. Para este estudo foi selecionada uma amostra de 1000 clientes de bancos de imagens, que são representados por agências de publicidade, editoras de livros didáticos, empresas de editoriais etc, nos estados do Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Espírito Santo e Minas Gerais, e foram obtidos 16 estímulos ou cartões para a aplicação junto às empresas. Da amostra de 1000 clientes de bancos de imagem, 7,8% responderam à pesquisa. Através desta pesquisa verificou-se que o atributo mais relevante foi a disponibilidade de imagens em alta resolução para layout. Sua importância relativa foi de 40,78%. No final do estudo, as implicações gerenciais propiciaram aos tomadores de decisão de bancos de imagens fatores que poderão torná-los mais competitivos.

Is osteoarthritis a fate unconditionally vested in genetic makeup, or are joints aggravated into inflammation by the way they are treated? Humans are a complicated conglomeration of experiences, decisions, and inheritance. Osteoarthritis, likewise, has evaded simplicity in any explanation of its causation, so it necessitates a multi-dimensional perspective. This research considers the relevance of Alexander Technique in filling a void in which treatment and management of osteoarthritis is not equally equipped to answer this multi-dimensional causation. Alexander Technique is classified as a movement therapy, but this does not quite encompass the mindset of it—that it is indeed largely a mindset about movement. More concisely, Alexander Technique emphasizes self-awareness about how a person uses his or her body to perform daily tasks. It is physical minimalism, and involves continual recognition of muscle tension along with the ability to let go of any tension that is burdensome and unnecessary. This technique has diminished pain and increased the ease of movement for those who have experienced it, even people with osteoarthritis. To build the argument that osteoarthritis can be hindered through a heightened consideration of how joints are treated, the initial component of this research investigated the vast amount of information already gleaned about the pathogenesis of this disease. The fields of physiology, genetics, immunology, and clinical practice already have much to share, and this knowledge has been combined with studies about the benefits and goals of Alexander Technique to discover the common ground of osteoarthritis treatment. The experimental component assesses the association of Alexander Technique to the minimization of pain from osteoarthritis. An online survey asks osteoarthritis cohorts about the history of their disease, the effect it has had on their pain levels and activities of daily living, and about the efficacy of their management strategies. Because each participant will be asked if he or she has received Alexander Technique lessons, the survey can be used to analyze each respondent’s experience of osteoarthritis with respect to that. It was found that participants who had received Alexander Technique lessons reported an average of one more pain-free day per week, and experienced diminished pain levels for daily physical activities such as walking. Management strategies also indicated the benefit of Alexander Technique; those who had taken lessons less frequently used pain and anti-inflammatory medications and were able to be more physically active than the unexposed group. No statistical significance was achieved from the data, largely owing to small sample size (Alexander Technique, n=12, no Alexander Technique, n=25). This study is a step in the direction of better osteoarthritis management, promoting prevention-minded awareness of joint use and providing preliminary fuel for more extensive research.

Master thesis is focused to design the timber pedestrian bridge over the track. The load-bearing construction is composed from the truss girder and cross laminated tiber plates. Bridge is coveder. Layout dimensions of the bridge are 49.0 m x 4.8 m

Knie- und Hüftgelenkersatz zählt weltweit zu den erfolgreichsten und häufigsten Operationen, wenngleich 3-24% der Patienten unzufrieden sind. Der OECD-Ländervergleich ergab 2014 für Deutschland die höchste Durchführungsrate an Hüft-TEP und die zweithöchste an Knie-TEP. Erhebungen der Patientenzufriedenheit und Rückkehrbereitschaft können zur Prozessoptimierung und Qualitätsverbesserung genutzt werden und zugleich eine Steigerung der Zufriedenheit und Kundenbindung fördern. Mit der erstmaligen Aufnahme eines P4P-Ansatzes im KHSG, sind zukünftig qualitätsbezogene Zuschlagszahlungen an ein Krankenhaus unter Berücksichtigung der Patientenzufriedenheit denkbar. Damit gewinnen Erwartungen der Patienten an ein Krankenhaus zunehmend an Bedeutung, da deren Erfüllung Einfluss auf die Erlösrechnung haben kann. Parallel kann eine Anpassung der Versorgungsstruktur dazu führen, dass verstärkt Behandlungszentren entstehen und operative Eingriffe bei geringer Fallzahl in abgeschiedenen, ländlichen Regionen nicht mehr erbracht werden. Diese Studie befasste sich mit medizinischen und servicebezogenen Parametern sowie Krankenhausdaten, die signifikant mit der Zufriedenheit bei Patienten nach Knie- und Hüft-TEP assoziiert waren und die Bereitschaft in dasselbe Krankenhaus zurückzukehren beeinflussen. Neben der Frage, ob unterschiedliche Parameter Einfluss auf die Gesamtzufriedenheit und Rückkehrbereitschaft haben, wurde untersucht, inwiefern potentielle Einflussgrößen zwischen Knie- und Hüft-TEP-Patienten variieren. Zudem wurde die Relevanz verschiedener Kriterien erhoben, die aus Patientensicht Einfluss auf die Wahl eines zukünftigen Krankenhausaufenthalts haben kann. Die Daten der Studie wurden über eine schriftliche Befragung von Knie- und Hüft-TEP-Patienten gewonnen, die zwischen 2010 und 2011 in sächsischen Krankenhäusern in den Direktionsbezirken Dresden und Chemnitz behandelt wurden. Zufriedenheit und Rückkehrbereitschaft waren jeweils abhängige Variablen in mehreren logistischen Regressionsanalysen. Gemeinsam mit den unabhängigen Variablen wurden diese über einen validierten, mehrdimensionalen Fragebogen anhand 6-stufiger Skalen abgefragt und zusammen mit Routinedaten der Krankenhäuser bivariat und multivariat ausgewertet. Die Krankenhausdaten wurden den strukturierten Qualitätsberichten der Krankenhäuser entnommen. In die Analyse wurden 856 Fragebögen von Knie-TEP-Patienten und 810 Fragebögen von Hüft-TEP-Patienten eingeschlossen, was einer Rücklaufquote von 12,04% bzw. 11,89% entsprach. Bei beiden Behandlungsgruppen war im Ergebnis der multivariaten Analyse das subjektive Behandlungsergebnis sowohl mit der Gesamtzufriedenheit als auch mit der Rückkehrbereitschaft assoziiert. Postoperative Komplikationen waren jeweils nur mit der Rückkehrbereitschaft verknüpft. Einfluss auf die Rückkehrbereitschaft hatte bei Knie-TEP-Patienten zudem die Freundlichkeit des Pflegepersonals, die Organisation und der Ablauf von Untersuchungen sowie die Zimmerausstattung. Letztere wies zusammen mit der Qualität des Essens einen Zusammenhang zur Gesamtzufriedenheit bei dieser Patientengruppe auf. Bei den Hüft-TEP-Patienten war die Einschätzung der Aufenthaltsdauer, die verständliche Beantwortung von Patientenfragen durch Ärzte, die Sauberkeit und die verständliche Aufklärung über die Operation sowie die Wahrung der Privatsphäre bei Untersuchungen auch mit der Rückkehrbereitschaft assoziiert. Ein weiterer Zusammenhang zur Gesamtzufriedenheit zeigte sich dagegen bei der Einschätzung der ärztlichen Betreuung und der Einschätzung der Aufenthaltsdauer für Hüft-TEP-Patienten. Den Krankenhausparametern Behandlungsfallzahl, postoperative Beweglichkeit und Reoperation lag kein Zusammenhang gegenüber den abhängigen Variablen zugrunde. Die Befragten beider Behandlungsgruppen gaben gleichermaßen an, dass die Qualität der Behandlung bei der zukünftigen Wahl eines Krankenhauses am wichtigsten ist. Demgegenüber waren die Entfernung der Klinik zum Wohnort sowie die Größe des Krankenhauses im unteren Bereich der Bewertung angesiedelt. Es konnten verschiedene Interventionsmaßnahmen aufgezeigt werden, die auf der Makro-, Meso- und Mikroebene einzuordnen waren und in ihren Auswirkungen den einzelnen Patienten ebenso wie Entscheidungsträger im Gesundheitswesen ansprechen. Die relevanten Einflussfaktoren aus Patientensicht zeigten, dass Zufriedenheit und Rückkehrbereitschaft differenziert bewertet werden und auch zwischen Knie- und Hüft-TEP-Patienten variieren. Die Ergebnisse liefern krankenhausübergreifend wertvolle Informationen und unterstützen das medizinische Fachpersonal, Erwartungen von Knie- und Hüft-TEP-Patienten gerecht zu werden, die sich unter anderem auf die Bereiche Personalentwicklung, Patientenaufklärung und Catering erstreckten. Patientenzufriedenheit kann sich auf die Compliance auswirken, womit ein verbessertes Behandlungsergebnis erreicht werden kann. Infolge einer gezielten Steigerung der Patientenzufriedenheit sind Einsparungen durch eine kürzere Krankenhausverweildauer oder seltenere Komplikationen denkbar. Somit konnte die Präsenz der Patientenzufriedenheit im Rahmen aktueller DRG-Abrechnungsverfahren und zukünftig unter Berücksichtigung des P4P-Ansatzes aufgezeigt werden, die neben einer Erlössteigerung für das einzelne Krankenhaus zugleich Einsparungen auf der Gesundheitssystemebene bewirken kann. In Betracht an den im Aufbau befindlichen P4P-Ansatz, können die Ergebnisse als Grundlage dienen, um die Wirksamkeit der Patientenzufriedenheit als einem von vier möglichen Leistungszielen statistisch auf deren Wirksamkeit zu überprüfen. Die Bewertung verschiedener Parameter bei der zukünftigen Wahl eines Krankenhauses deutet darauf hin, dass sich weitere Anfahrtswege infolge der im Wandel befindlichen Versorgungsstruktur aus Patientensicht nicht nachteilig auswirken werden
Knee and hip joint replacements are among the most successful and frequent operations conducted worldwide, with 3-24% of all patients being dissatisfied. In 2014, an OECD country comparison showed that Germany had the highest implementation rate for total hip replacement and the second highest for total knee replacement. Surveys of patient satisfaction and willingness to return can be used to optimize processes and improve quality while at the same time encouraging an increase in satisfaction and customer loyalty. With the first-time inclusion of a P4P approach in the German Hospital Structures Act (Krankenhausstrukturgesetz (KHSG)), quality-related supplementary payments to a hospital may be feasible in the future, taking patient satisfaction into account. In this way, patients' expectations of a hospital increasingly gain in importance, since their fulfilment can have an impact on the revenue calculation. At the same time, an adjustment of the care structure may lead to the increasing emergence of treatment centers and that surgical intervention will no longer be provided in isolated, rural regions with a sparse number of cases. This study looked at medical and services-related parameters as well as hospital data significantly associated with satisfaction in patients after total knee and hip endoprosthesis and affecting their willingness to return to the same hospital. In addition to the question whether different parameters have an influence on the overall satisfaction and willingness to return, the extent was examined to which potential influencing variables vary between the total knee and hip endoprosthesis patients. In addition, the relevance of different criteria was assessed, which from the view of a patient may have an influence on the choice of a future hospital stay. The data of the study were obtained through a written survey of total knee and hip endoprosthesis patients treated between 2010 and 2011 in Saxon hospitals of the directorate districts of Dresden and Chemnitz. In several logistic regression analyses, the dependent variables were satisfaction and returnability, respectively. These were obtained together with the independent variables on the basis of 6-step scales by way of a validated, multidimensional questionnaire and were evaluated in bivariate and multivariate manner together with the routine data of the hospitals. The hospital data were retrieved from the structured quality reports of the hospitals. The analysis included 856 questionnaires of total knee endoprosthesis patients and 810 questionnaires of total hip endoprosthesis patients, which corresponded to a return rate of 12.04% and 11.89%, respectively. In the result of the multivariate analysis, the subjective outcomes of the treatment for both treatment groups were associated with overall satisfaction as well as with the readiness to return. Postoperative complications were in each case only associated with the willingness to return. In the case of total knee endoprosthesis patients, the friendliness of the nurses, the organization, and the course of examinations as well as the room equipment had an influence on the willingness to return. The latter, together with the quality of the food, was related to the overall satisfaction in this patient group. In the total hip endoprosthesis patients, the readiness to return was also associated with assessing the duration of stay, the clarity of the doctors’ answers to patients, the cleanliness, and clear information provided of the operation as well as the maintenance of privacy during examinations. A further link to the overall satisfaction of total hip endoprosthesis patients was found, however, in the assessment of medical care and the assessment of the duration of stay. The hospital parameters of the number of patients treated, postoperative mobility, and reoperation were not related to the dependent variables. Respondents of both treatment groups also stated in equal measure that the quality of treatment is most important in their future choice of a hospital. On the other hand, the distance from the hospital to the place of residence, as well as the size of the hospital, was located in the lower segment of the evaluation. Various interventions could be identified, which could be categorized on the macro, meso, and micro level and of which their impacts are addressed to the individual patient as well as the decision makers in the healthcare system. The relevant influencing factors from the patient's view showed that satisfaction and the willingness to return are assessed differently and also vary between the knee and the hip endoprosthesis patients. The results provide valuable comprehensive information for hospitals and help medical professionals meet the expectations of knee and hip endoprosthesis patients, including personnel development, patient education, and catering. Patient satisfaction can affect compliance, resulting in an improved treatment outcome. As a result of a targeted increase in patient satisfaction, savings are possible due to a shorter hospital stay or more infrequent complications. Thus, the presence of patient satisfaction could be demonstrated within current DRG billing procedures and, in the future, taking into account the P4P approach, which in addition to an increase in revenue for the individual hospital at the same time can bring about savings on the health care system level. Considering the ongoing P4P approach, the results can serve as a basis to statistically assess the efficacy of patient satisfaction as one of four possible performance targets. The assessment of various parameters in the future choice of a hospital suggests that further access routes will not be disadvantageous from the patient's perspective due to the changing care structure

The human brain is highly sensitive to social information and so is our language production system: people adjust not just what they say but also how they say it in response to the social context. For instance, we are sensitive to the presence of others, and our interactional expectations and goals affect how we individually choose to talk about and refer to things. This thesis is an investigation of the social factors that might lead speakers to adapt linguistically to others. The question of linguistic adaptation is conceived and addressed at two levels: as lexical convergence (i.e., interlocutors coordinating their lexical choices with each other), and as spatial perspective taking in language use (i.e., speakers abandoning their self perspective in favour of another's when verbally locating objects in space). What motivated my research was two-fold. First, I aimed to contribute to the understanding of the interplay between the automatic cognitive accounts and the strategic social accounts of linguistic convergence. At the same time, I wanted to explore new analytical tools for the investigation of interpersonal coordination in conversation (cross-recurrence quantification analysis (CRQA)). Second, there are conflicting explanations as to why people often abandon their self spatial perspective when another person is present in the environment. I aimed to clarify this by bringing together insights from different research fields: spatial language production, spatial cognition, joint attention and joint action. A first set of experiments investigated the effects of speakers' deceptive goals on lexical convergence. Given the extensive evidence that one interlocutor's choices of words shapes another's during collaborative interaction, would we still observe this coordination of linguistic behaviour under conditions of no coordination of intents? In two novel interactive priming paradigms, half of the participants deceived their naïve partner in a detective game (Experiment 1) or a picture naming/matching task (Experiment 2-3) in order to jeopardise their partner's performance in resolving the crime or in a related memory task. Crucially, participants were primed by their partner with suitable-yet-unusual names for objects. I did not find any consistent evidence that deceiving led to a different degree of lexical convergence between deceivers and deceived than between truthful interlocutors. I then explored possibilities and challenges of the use of cross-recurrence quantification analysis (CRQA) (a new analytical tool borrowed from dynamical systems) for the study of lexical convergence in conversation. I applied CRQA in Experiment 4, where I focused on the strategic social accounts of linguistic convergence and investigated whether speakers' tendency to match their interlocutors' lexical choices depended on the social impression that they formed of each other in a previous interaction, and whether this tendency was further modulated by the interactional goal. I developed a novel two-stage paradigm: pairs of participants first experienced a collectivist or an individualistic co-player in an economic decision game (in reality, a pre-set computer programme) and then engaged in a discussion of a survival scenario (this time with the real other) divided in an open-ended vs. joint-goal driven part. I found no evidence that the social impression of their interlocutor affected speakers' degree of lexical convergence. Greater convergence was observed in the joint-goal dialogues, replicating previous findings at syntactic level. Experiments 5-7 left the interactive framework of the previous two sets of experiments and explored spatial perspective taking in a non-interactive language task. I investigated why the presence of a person in the environment can induce speakers to abandon their self perspective to locate objects: Do speakers adapt their spatial descriptions to the vantage point of the person out of intentionality-mediated simulation or of general attention-orienting mechanisms? In an online paradigm, participants located objects in photographs that sometimes contained a person or a plant in various positions with respect to the to-be-located object. Findings were consistent with the simulated intentional accounts and linked non-self spatial perspective in language to the apprehension of another person’s visual affordance. Experiments 8-9 investigated the role of shared experience on perspective taking in spatial language. Prior to any communicative and interactional demand, do speakers adapt their spatial descriptions to the presumed perspective of someone who is attending to the same environment at the same time as them? And is this tendency further affected by the number of co-attendees? I expanded the previous online paradigm and induced participants into thinking that someone else was doing the task at the same time as them. I found that shared experience reinforced self perspective (via shared perspective) rather than reinforcing non-self perspective (via unshared perspective). I did not find any crowd effect.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if women from the Western world joined ISIS in search of respectability. Beverly Skegg’s (1997) theory of respectability was used as the theoretical framework and as a lens to shape the result. The study collected information on women from the Western world known to have joined the Islamic State and then analyzed them to see if it was respectability they were searching for. Skeggs theory will be further explained in the theory chapter. This thesis is looking at articles, interviews, and YouTube clips of women who have joined ISIS this thesis will determine if it was because of respectability or not. The findings were relevant and useful because the interviews and articles went into depth on why Western women joined ISIS. The result and conclusion for this study are that Western women join ISIS in search of respectability.

Through the selection of six representative typical Swedish chairs from each era, I present manufacturing techniques and how the craftsmanship has affected the style of the chairs over time. My main source material is the objects themselves. I chose to analyze the constructions and what can distinguish them apart in techniques, material choices, aesthetics and design. The main part of my work has been to find out what are the most occurring damages and its causes. Most damages from renaissance to biedermeier can be linked to the mortise joint. Through interviews with experienced conservators and with my own experiences as a cabinet maker and conservator, I discuss the concept of the ultimate chair design in terms of stability. I have come to the conclusion that the most solid chair is the eight to twelve framed chairs from the Renaissance, but the chair must be adapted to the intended use.

Master´s thesis deals with possibility of choice different legal forms of business in the economic environment of Czech republic and choice of the enterprise which is the most suitable from the sight of income tax. I deal with choice of an appropriate type of partnership and comparison of different legal forms, which are based on the analysis of individual types of partnership by important criteria. Especially I focused on the criterion of the tax burden. Besides of the criterion of the tax burden it´s necessary also mention and judge the proper place - seat of an individual/a legal entity which is connected with taxation to the individual country. And take possibility of international tax planning into consideration. The aim of the thesis is to find and choose the most appropriate legal form of the enterprise to the potential entrepreneur.

A construção civil é o maior consumidor de recursos naturais do planeta, apropriando-se atualmente de mais da metade da massa total dos materiais extraídos. Neste contexto, o desenvolvimento de sistemas construtivos que proporcionem uma redução do consumo de materiais, conhecida como o princípio da desmaterialização dos edifícios, pode ser uma estratégia para a redução do impacto que a construção civil exerce sobre o ambiente, e um passo em direção a uma economia mais sustentável. A utilização de placas cimentícias para a produção de vedações vem crescendo em várias partes do mundo, seja para a produção de vedações verticais externas, seja como revestimento não aderido sobre vedos existentes, destinados tanto a melhoria estética quanto o desempenho destas fachadas. Uma vedação com placas cimentícias possui em torno de 25% da massa de uma alvenaria tradicional constituída por blocos de concreto para a execução de uma mesma área de vedação vertical, o que pode contribuir ainda para uma redução dos materiais empregados nas estruturas e fundações de um edifício. Apesar da utilização destas placas cimentícias estar coerente com a estratégia da desmaterialização, algumas experiências de vedações executadas com estes componentes manifestaram problemas de manutenção de suas características ao longo do tempo, apresentando fissuras geralmente nas juntas entre placas. Verificando-se as propriedades dos materiais que constituem esta placa cimentícia, principalmente a variação dimensional em relação à temperatura e umidade, constatou-se uma incompatibilidade entre a amplitude das variações dimensionais resultantes e os sistemas de fixação e juntas empregados para a sustentação das mesmas. A avaliação experimental de choque térmico comprovou a influência destas variações para a deterioração das juntas entre as placas. Com base nesta constatação, e em análises dos processos de fixação de placas cimentícias adotados por fornecedores em diversas partes do mundo, foi desenvolvido neste trabalho um novo sistema de fixação para placas cimentícias e de juntas entre estas com capacidade de atender a esta variação dimensional. Realizaram-se protótipos destes componentes os quais foram submetidos a uma avaliação experimental de choque térmico, resultando em nenhuma alteração visível nas juntas e nas superfícies destas placas. Como resultado concluiu-se que a criação de mecanismos que possibilitem acomodação às variações dimensionais, tanto nos dispositivos de fixação destas à estrutura, quanto nos acabamentos das juntas, podem contribuir significativamente para a durabilidade do sistema de vedações constituída por placas cimentícias.
The construction industry is the largest consumer of natural resources in the planet, currently appropriating more than half of mass of the total material extracted. In this context, the development of building systems that provide their dematerialization can be considered as a strategy to reduce the environmental construction impact, and a step toward a more sustainable economy. The use of fiber cement boards for the building production is growing in many parts of the world, to produce external vertical building enclosure or building envelopes, to improving the aesthetics and performance of these facades. A fiber cement board walls weigh around 25% of the traditional masonry mass made of concrete blocks for the same area of vertical building enclosure which can further contribute to a reduction of the materials used in building structures and foundations. Although the use of fiber cement boards complies with the dematerialization strategy, some experiments carried out with these cladding showed maintenance problems over time, usually cracks in the joints between panels. Checking the properties of materials constituting fiber cement boards, especially the dimensional variation due to changing temperature and humidity, there was an incompatibility between these dimensional variations amplitude and fixing systems and joints used to support them. The thermal shock experimental evaluation proved the influence of these variations on joints deterioration. Based on this observation, and on analyzes of the fiber cement suppliers recommendations over the world, a new system for fixing fiber cement board and joints between them was developed in this work with capacity to adapt to this dimensional variation. Prototypes of these components were made and submitted the thermal shock evaluation, resulting in no visible changes in the joints and on the surfaces of these panels. As a result, it was concluded that the creation of mechanisms that allow accommodating the dimensional variations, both in fixing these panels to the structure, and in the joints finishing can significantly contribute to the vertical building enclosure system durability.

This master's thesis deals with the designing of the appropriate supporting steel structure footbridge for pedestrians. The footbridge is used to connect two separate buildings (buildings D and Z at the Faculty of Civil Engineering Brno University of Technology). Four variants have been designed about solutions supporting steel structure. The final variant was prepared in detail and was carried out static assessment of the individual elements and selected details. The main supporting structure of this variant are two trusses. Diagonals of these trusses are designed linkage system of Macalloy 460. Bridge deck is designed of composite steel a concrete board with crossbars. The footbridge is designed as simple beam with an overhanging end. Length span is 34.8 m, length overhanging ends is 5.8 meters. The total length of the footbridge is 40.6 meters. Width of footbridge is 2.8 meters. Free width is 2 meters. In the cross point with the axis of local road is height of footbridge above ground 4.43 meters. Next to the building Z, there is a footbridge stored on a concrete support, near the building D, the footbridge is stored on a steel frame of support. The footbridge is deposited on elastomeric bearings. The footbridge is being protected from the weather. The sheating of the building is designed by Wictec 60 system. The master's thesis also contains drawing documentation of the proposed solution.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1992.
Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (129-134).

This thesis jointly models the 24 hour work trip timing and mode choice decisions of commuters in the Greater Toronto Area. A discrete-continuous specification, with a multinomial logit model for mode choice and an accelerated time hazard model for trip timing, is used to allow for unrestricted correlation between these two fundamental decisions. Statistically significant correlations are found between mode choice and trip timing for work journeys with expected differences between modes. Furthermore, the joint models have a wide range of policy sensitive statistically significant parameters of intuitive sign and magnitude, revealing expected differences between workers of different occupation groups. Furthermore, the estimated models have a high degree of fit to observed cumulative departure and arrival time distribution functions and to observed mode choices. Finally, sensitivity tests have demonstrated that the model is capable of capturing peak spreading in response to increasing auto congestion.

碩士
國立成功大學
交通管理(科學)學系
82
In existed research,there is rarely concerned with time choice. In fact,time is a very important factor to behavior. A good model of departure time choice not only can help government to understand the pattern of people departure time,but also to be a important reference for transit scheduling. This research built several joint choice models by using ted multinomial logit model and continuous logit model. It adopt the choice- based sampling and investigate the traveler who take public mode (i.e. airplane,train,bus) from tainan to taipei for siness. The investigative data was used to estimate above models and the fuzzy theory concept was applied to some dummy variables. The emperical result show that the continuous logit models superior than nested ultinomial logit models ,and the models were modified by fuzzy concept are better than the models which not.

碩士
國立臺中科技大學
流通管理系碩士班
100
Proceeding from nested multinomial Logit model of stated preference data construction, this research discusses the model of combined selection of airports and airlines. Its experimental subjects are individual tourists departing from Taoyuan or Songshan Airport in Taiwan for Shanghai in the Mainland of China. At first this research makes estimations about the airport and airline respectively from a single dimensionality, and then uses the combined selection model for further discussion. The combined selection model can be separated into two stages: first choosing the departing airport, and then choosing the destination airport. Results of estimation show that tourists with high incomes prefer the rapid custom clearance services of Songshan airport, while business tourists visiting Shanghai frequently favorite airlines that provide more flights. According to the elasticity analysis, improvement of transship time and cost can provide more options for passengers; among factors that may influence passengers’ choices in this research, air fare plays a more important role than does flight time. Exactly because of this reason, the change of Songshan-Hongqiao airline will influence the Taoyuan-Hongqiao airline, though in Taoyuan Airport, the air fare and flight time equally influence each other. The 10% reduction of air fare in policy simulation will most significantly influence Songshan-Hongqiao airline. Final results indicate that the virtual Taoyuan-Hongqiao airline takes the second place among four airlines, which can meet the potential needs of tourists visiting Shanghai frequently.

Two important dimensions of work related choices are work location and working hours. Telecommuting (working from home or any convenient place instead of commuting to the conventional working place) can potentially have a substantial impact on traffic demand distribution on a particular day by means of its replacement and displacement effect. Consequently, it is of interest to analyze the effect and extent of telecommuting adoption across the labor force. This study proposes a copula based joint discrete multinomial-duration model of choice accommodating the two dimensions of work related choices: work arrangement and aggregated duration of telecommuting episodes on a particular day. In the econometric model telecommuting episodes are defined so as the duration is at least 30 minutes and only home-based telecommuting is considered and sample is drawn from the ATUS, 2007 data. The results from the estimated model show that gender, higher-education, responsibility for child-care, family ties act as driving forces for adopting telecommuting. The sign of the Gaussian copula parameter or dependency parameter implies that the unobserved factors act in opposite direction on the two dimensions: work arrangement choice and aggregated telecommuting episode duration.
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碩士
國立成功大學
都市計劃研究所
81
The earlier researches in the area of freight demand were concentrated on the problem of mode competition. Gradually the idea of analyzing the short-run freight demand using inventory theory has been proposed and commonly accepted. Since then, the research in freight demand analysis has extended from only mode choice to the choice of mode as well as shipment size. From the foreign experiences, the choice of the mode and shipment size are decided in the joint manner, where the choice of mode is a discrete choice, and the choice of the shipment size is a continuous one. Therefore, it would be useful to consider the choice of mode and shipment size to be a joint discrete and continuous process. The application of the joint discrete and continuous choice model for the analysis of freight demand is still in initial stage, there are still many problems. Especially, how to derive the freight demand function which is appropriate for empirical analysis is a crucial one. Because the logistics cost function is a complex non-linear function, it would be difficult to derive a linear, additive demand function so that it can''t be apply to empirical analysis. Therefore, most researchers must to simplify the non-linear function, so that a linear model can be developed. However, the resulting model becomes a function of modal attributes and the basic characteristics of the inventory theory has been ignored......

In the area of transportation policy, congestion pricing has been used to alleviate traffic congestion in metropolitan areas. The focus of Chapter 1 is to examine drivers’ perceived risk of traffic delay as one determinant of reactions to congestion pricing. The experiment reported in this essay recruits commuters from the Atlanta and Orlando metropolitan areas to participate in a naturalistic experiment where they are asked to make repeated route decisions in a driving simulator. Chapter 1 examines belief formation and adjustments under an endogenous information environment where information about a route can be obtained only conditional on taking the route. If the subjects arrive to the destination late, i.e. beyond an assigned time threshold, they are faced with a discrete (flat) penalty. In contrast, Chapter 2 examines subjective beliefs in a setting where the penalty for a late arrival is continuous, such that a longer delay incurs additional penalty on the driver. The primary research question is: does belief formation differ when the late penalty is induced as a continuous amount compared to when it is induced as a discrete amount? In particular, will we observe a difference in learning across the range of congestion probabilities under different penalty settings? In the continuous penalty setting, we do not observe a difference in learning across the range of congestion probabilities. In contrast, in the discrete penalty setting we observe significant belief adjustments in the lowest congestion risk scenario. In Chapter 3 the “source method” is used to examine how uncertainty aversion differs across events that have the same underlying objective probabilities but are presented under varying degrees of uncertainty. Subjects are presented with three lottery tasks that rank in order of increasing uncertainty. Given the choices observed in each task a source function is estimated jointly with risk attitudes under different probability weighting specifications of the source function. Results from the Prelec probability weighting suggest that, as the degree of uncertainty increases, subjects display increased pessimism; in contrast, the Tversky-Kahneman (1992) and the Power probability weightings detect no such difference. Thus, the conclusion regarding uncertainty aversion are contingent on which probability weighting specification is assumed for the source function.

碩士
國立成功大學
都市計劃學系碩博士班
97
After Taiwan High Speed Railway operation, changing western corridor model choice. Made western corridor airliner barely closing. Only have Kaohsiung, Pingdong, Hengchun left still in running. Even though Taipei to Kaohsiung airliner , nowadays only had every week for 3 fight. Because THSR join to western corridor, creating the “One Day live area” , must have influence on transportation choosing and traveling type. Each trips, must limit by time and budget,the itinerary at first, confirm and travel the purpose of time, the distribution of the journey on time, and the budget share distribute in the traffic, accommodation, diet, and shopping, the choice behavior will be determined. This research is different from each choosing the behavior to carry on the discussion independently in the course of transporting only to travelling in the past, based on EKB consumer's behavior, travel to transport and choose the behavior to consider with accommodation course of transporting etc., and using RP to analyze after THSR operation, modeling joint choice of accommodation and transportation influence on traveler a case study of Kaoshiung area , while being intercity trips to research. At first , using cluster analyze to the survey data ,then is it jointly choose the way to estimate with accommodation and transportation model. The result revealed , purpose of trip, travel days, education , age, income ,etc., have influence on traveler’s modeling joint choice of accommodation and transportation behavior.

博士
國立中興大學
化學工程學系所
101
The technology of surface finishes for printed circuit boards (PCBs) is seeing a dramatic shift from hot air solder leveling (HASL) towards alternative finishes such as electroless nickel/immersion gold (ENIG), electroless nickel/electroless palladium/immersion gold (ENEPIG), immersion silver, immersion tin and organic solderability preservatives (OSPs). This trend is driven by the worldwide environmental pressure to ban the use of lead for electronic assemblies, as well as the demands of modern assembly technology, which require a higher co-planarity of the surface finish for surface mount assembly. For flexible PCB and optoelectronic packaging, solid-state bonding rather than reflow is commonly used to join the chips to the PCB with Sn-based solders, after which the surface finishes layer remains at the joint interface and participates in the interfacial reactions at the solder joints. Solder joint samples composed of a Sn/surface finishes/Cu trilayer were prepared to study the interfacial reactions. Besides, flexible PCBs are usually bended in order to reduce the packaging volume, making the solder joints subject to strain. Therefore, it is of interest to investigate the Sn/surface finishes/Cu tri-layer interfacial reactions under the influence of strain. In this study, the Sn/surface finishes/Cu trilayer on polymer board was subjected to compressive and tensile strain aged at 150℃ and 200℃ to investigate the formation and morphology of intermetallic compounds. However, the interfacial reactions not only exist at solder/Cu interface, it also effect by the opposite diffusion couple. In modern integrated circuit (IC) packaging, the under bump metallization (UBM) used in flip-chip technologies is often composed of two different types of metal pads. Cu is commonly used as a metallization layer on the printed circuit boards (PCB). Ni has good solderability and is also a good diffusion barrier. Therefore, it is commonly used as a barrier layer on the chip-side metallization. Sn is the primary element of the Pb-containing and Pb-free solders, hence the Ni/Sn/Cu sandwich-type structure is often formed in the flip-chip solder joints. Therefore, morphological evolution, phase formation, and kinetic behavior of the intermetallic compounds formed at the interfaces were investigated to understand the cross-interactions in the Ni/Sn/Cu samples with a surface finish layer. In this dissertation’s conclusions, the Ag surface finish not only could enhance the reliability of solder joint, but also retard the influences of interfacial reactions under strain. On the contrary, the Pd surface finish would react with Sn and Ni to form thick (Pd,Ni)Sn4, it would make the mechanical properties decrease drastically. However, adding some Cu in the solder could retard the (Pd,Ni)Sn4 growth excessively and improve the mechanical strength.

Many Australian grain growers face increasing capital, management and scale constraints that limit their ability to adopt productivity-enhancing technical innovations. Organisational innovations in farm business models, such as joint ventures (JVs) may offer opportunities to overcome these constraints and provide new pathways for owner-operator family farms to boost productivity. JVs retain the strengths of family farm models while capturing some of the benefits offered by largescale corporate farm businesses. Using a mixed-methods approach, this research addresses gaps in current knowledge regarding the potential of organisational innovations for Australian farmers. Data collected from interviews with agribusiness personnel, as well as two surveys of Australian grain growers, are used to investigate interest in and motivations towards adopting organisational innovations. A desktop review of the literature and semi-structured interviews with farm managers identified two broad groups of innovative business models: 1) hub-based models and 2) contracting models. Advantages of these models include: efficient scale of farm operations; better access to financial capital; stronger governance and due diligence processes; and increased human capital through labour specialisation. Analysis of data from a telephone survey of Australian grain growers revealed that 3% of rainfed grain producers were already in a form of JV, and 35% of producers had an interest in hybrid farm structures to help reduce farm costs, increase profitability, improve labour efficiency and capture economies of scale. Adopters of JV structures were significantly more likely to have larger scale operations; higher cropping intensity; less diverse sources of farm income; agronomists assisting with cropping decisions; and were less reliant on contractors for farm operations. Multinomial logit regressions revealed that famers interested in adopting a JV structure were more likely to be younger, hold a university degree, and believe their business is constrained by a lack of skilled labour. The analyses of discrete choice data showed that farmers prefer JV farm structures that offer increased income with minimal loss of decision control and no change to annual leave. Significant unobserved heterogeneity of farmer JV attribute preferences was identified using random parameter logit modelling and latent class analysis. Six classes of farmers, each with distinct preferences for JV structure attributes suggest that, although there is no ‘one size fits all’ model, there are opportunities for compatible JV partnerships. Our findings suggest that there is significant interest in adoption of JV structures, but adoption will require the identification of potential partners based on attitudinal, business and geographical compatibility. Policy interventions to assist in JV development should focus on: a) supporting research and extension to demonstrate the potential financial benefits; b) providing an enabling business, communication and investment environment to attract compatible farmers, investors, and partners; and c) building a network of trusted advisors to advise and support clients on JV formation and performance. By building the awareness and capacity of the advisor network towards organisational innovation, motivated farmers can be supported to find suitable partners and develop successful JV structures.
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Centre for Global Food & Resources, 2017

Thesis (Master, Political Studies) -- Queen's University, 2007-10-25 13:31:32.904
My thesis is an examination of militarized masculinity in Canada’s JTF2 Special Forces and the Private Security Firm Blackwater. I employ a gender analysis to highlight how militarized masculinity impedes women’s participation from Special Forces and private security firms. Feminist scholarship by Cynthia Enloe, Ann Tickner, Sandra Whitworth, and Charlotte Hooper has examined how militarized masculinity is associated within a particular political/situational context and therefore should be understood in its plural—as militarized masculinities. However, there is limited scholarship focusing on how masculinities vary in Special Forces and private security firms. This lack of scholarship results in limited knowledge of the implications militarized masculinity in these units has for women’s security and for women’s participation in these units. The purpose of this thesis is to add to the current literature by exploring, through militarized masculinities, the gender barriers to women’s participation and the consequences of the security produced when these units deploy. To analyze the impact of militarized masculinity in these units I conducted interviews with authorities on these units, applicants interested in participating in these units, and performed a content analysis of Blackwater’s website. I argue based on the information gathered that militarized masculinity, while varied in its application in special units and private security firms, continues to impede women’s participation and in some cases can cause greater insecurity for women where these units are deployed.
Master

My thesis is an examination militarized masculinity in Canada's JTF2 Special Forces and the Private Security Firm Blackwater. I employ a gender analysis to highlight how militarized masculinity impedes women's participation from Special Forces and private security firms. Feminist scholarship by Cynthia Enloe, Ann Tickner, Sandra Whitworth, and Charlotte Hooper has examined how militarized masculinity is associated within a particular political/situational context and therefore should be understood in its plural--as militarized masculinities. However, there is limited scholarship focusing on how masculinities vary in Special Forces and private security firms. This lack of scholarship results in limited knowledge of the implications militarized masculinity in these units has for women's security and for women's participation in these units. The purpose of this thesis is to add to the current literature by exploring, through militarized masculinities, the gender barriers to women's participation and the consequences of the security produced when these units deploy. To analyze the impact of militarized masculinity in these units I conducted interviews with authorities on these units, applicants interested in participating in these units, and performed a content analysis of Blackwater's website. I argue based on the information gathered that militarized masculinity, while varied in its application in special units and private security firms, continues to impede women's participation and in some cases can cause greater insecurity for women where these units are deployed.

碩士
淡江大學
運輸管理學系碩士班
101
Transit joint development buildings’ are differing from community buildings’ since it locate on MRT station. Above all, it shortens walk distance of home among station; it also obviously increases public transportation accessibility. However, it limits in MRT station facility, to bring its underground space has a few different from be required quantity of the sedan cars parking; further, it causes development progress rate that was delayed. It can explain that in the process of city design deliberation, Transit joint development buildings’ sedan cars relevant usages and features are not enough comprehended, this is why the loss is hard to calculate the cost. Base on the study exploit individual choice model to build household transportation choice behavior model through resident survey, it can get actual effective factors between sedan cars and public transportations. It points out Transit joint development buildings’ for society as a whole benefits. On this point, it is able to compile vital data, and then analyze it. The result shows as follows: 1.In term of the Logit model calibrated, floor plan and parking supply rate increased, it illustrate more positive utility for sedan possessions or using. On contrast, it will influence on public transportations obviously. 2.In household traveler economic assess, whether possess sedan cars or not, it utility both present decrease condition after live in; instead, using public transportation present increase condition. 3.In environment assess, carbon emission decrease 29.2%. Compare with before, the carbon decreases 26.9 ton/year. About air pollution, it can found decrease emission approximately 50% up; especially Nitrogen oxides decrease the highest, almost 62.01%. 4.According to flexible analysis, MRT co-house depends upon floor plan and parking supply rate to change. The floor plan and rate increase, the sedan cars possession chance would be raise. Also, the parking supply limit policy was conducted, sedan cars cost will increase. As a result, through analysis data that know sedan cars use rate will decrease. Otherwise, the public transportation will increase. By way of this study analysis result, it can be a plan and promote policy’s reference of Transit joint development buildings.

博士
國立政治大學
國際經營與貿易研究所
96
Corporate acquisitions are classified as part of “the market for corporate control” in which management teams are facing constant competition from other management teams. If the team that currently controls a company is not maximizing the value of the company’s assets, then an acquisition will likely occur and increase the value of the company by replacing its poor managers with good managers. This dissertation focus on two issues on mergers, the first compares the strategy between mergers and joint ventures. The second investigate how much liquidity should the acquirer preserve and what is the equilibrium price of the acquired firm in considering the merger strategy. Drawing upon the incomplete contract theory, I examine the criterion of the strategic choice between joint ventures (JVs) and mergers when two firms contemplate vertical integration. The model reaches the following conclusions: (1) some ownership provision to the acquired company after the mergers may prove to be more lucrative to the acquirer than 100% takeover; (2) given the same equity share arrangement for JVs and mergers I conclude that these two firms should choose to merge or be merged rather than JVs; (3) I derive the optimal equity share arrangement in both JVs and mergers when ownership provision is considered as a strategic means. In addition, I also compare the welfare and effort of both companies in JVs and mergers under symmetric cost structures, and find that mergers would provide greater social efficiency and welfare than 50-50 JVs when the acquirer’s equity share is between 30% and 65%. Firms are concerned that they may in the future be deprived of the funds that would enable them to take advantage of exciting growth prospects, strengthen existing investments or simply stay alive. I specifically examine a firm’s liquidity need in order to grasp any future opportunity of mergers and acquisitions. However, a firm’s manager (borrower) can shed his interim wrongdoings (misbehavior) under the pretext of further financial need for mergers and acquisitions because he knows that he can easily raise sufficient cash from lenders to cover any adverse shock. My study derives the conditions that when this soft-budget-constraint (SBC) problem will occur. It happens when the interim income is small. Moreover, I analyze how the purchase price of acquisition is affected by this soft-budget-constraint syndrome. If there is SBC problem, the acquisition price will be raised by the investors when the interim income is small. Besides, a firm with severe moral hazard problem will be merely able to offer a smaller purchase price for the acquisition. On the contrast, a firm with a stronger balance sheet will be able to secure a greater credit line and offer a more attractive price for the acquisition. The empirical study of U.S. firms during 1988 to 2006 supports my conclusions.

The objective of this action research project was to discover how to engage students more in the primary English foreign language classroom by including them in decision-making processes. Therefore, the research question was, “How does joint decision-making affect student engagement in the primary foreign language classroom?” In order to determine the answer, I performed a small-scale action research project as a teacher trainee, where students were allowed to choose what type of activity we did to learn a certain topic in class once every week, using a questionnaire, observation grid and teacher’s journal to collect data on their emotional and behavioural engagement. I chose to focus on emotional and behavioural engagement because in my teaching experience, I have observed first hand when a student is emotionally and behaviourally engaged, it reduces the amount of undesirable behaviour that would normally lead to disruption in the classroom and negatively impact students’ academic achievement and mental well-being. Thus, the possibility of student choice increasing emotional and behavioural student engagement would be a positive outcome of the action research for both the students and the teacher. Although there were not many notable contrasts in the data collected using all three research instruments, possibly due to the initial high engagement of the students, higher levels of participation were evident after or while student choice was taking place. The results revealed that there were more differences in behavioural engagement than students’ emotional engagement, which allowed a conclusion to be formed that involving the students in decisionmaking in the classroom may have been a reason for the increase in their engaged behaviour. A possible explanation for the increase in behavioural engagement rather than emotional engagement may be that behavioural engagement was more observable than emotional engagement, and the fact that the students were initially more highly emotionally engaged than behaviourally engaged, thus not demonstrating great changes. Overall, as an outcome of this research, I discovered that the more open and inclusive I was with my students, the more they also opened up to me, which made them more engaged. Therefore, not only did this research encourage me to gain more knowledge about the topic, but as a teacher trainee it also motivated me to develop my classroom into an increasingly engaging and student-centred environment
O objetivo desta ação de pesquisa foi descobrir como envolver mais os alunos do ensino primário de Inglês como língua estrangeira, incluindo-os nos processos de decisão. Assim sendo, a questão da pesquisa foi: “Como é que o processo de tomada de decisões conjunta afeta o empenho dos alunos na sala de aula primária do ensino de Inglês como língua estrangeira?” De modo a determinar a resposta, fiz uma ação de pesquisa de pequena escala. Trabalhei como professora estagiária, num ambiente onde foi permitido aos alunos escolher que tipo de atividade se fazia para aprender um determinado tópico em aula, uma vez por semana. Os dados da pesquisa acerca do envolvimento emocional e comportamental dos alunos foram recolhidos sob a forma de questionários, tabelas de observação e um diário de professor. Escolhi focar-me no envolvimento emocional e comportamental porque, na minha experiência enquanto professora, observei em primeira mão que quando um estudante está emocionalmente e comportamentalmente envolvido, isso reduz a quantidade de comportamentos indesejáveis que normalmente levariam a perturbações na sala de aula e afetariam negativamente o desempenho académico e bem-estar mental dos outros alunos. Assim, a possibilidade de escolhas dos alunos aumentarem o seu envolvimento emocional e comportamental, seria um resultado positivo da ação de pesquisa para os alunos e para o professor. Embora não sejam apresentados muitos contrastes notáveis nos dados recolhidos usando os três instrumentos de pesquisa, possivelmente devido ao elevado empenho inicial dos alunos, níveis mais altos de participação eram evidentes após ou enquanto a escolha dos estudantes ocorria. Os resultados revelaram que havia mais diferenças no envolvimento comportamental do que o envolvimento emocional dos alunos, o que permitiu concluir que a inclusão dos alunos na tomada de decisões em sala de aula pode ter sido uma razão para o aumento de um comportamento mais envolvido. Uma possível explicação para o aumento do envolvimento comportamental em vez de emocional, poderá ser o facto do primeiro ser mais observável que o envolvimento emocional e o facto dos estudantes terem estado logo desde o início mais envolvidos emocionalmente do que comportamentalmente, não mostrando assim grandes mudanças a nível emocional. No geral, como resultado desta pesquisa, descobri que quanto mais aberta e inclusiva eu era com meus alunos, mais eles também se abriam para mim, o que os tornava mais envolvidos. Portanto, esta pesquisa não só me incentivou a adquirir mais conhecimento sobre o tema, como também me motivou enquanto estagiária a transformar a minha sala de aula num ambiente cada vez mais envolvente e centrado no aluno

碩士
國立中山大學
企業管理學系研究所
98
Since “Doi Moi” (renovation) begun in 1986, Vietnam has engaged in economic reform on an on-going basis in order to create a fruitful investment environment and attract foreign investors to engage in its market. As the total investment amount is over 19 billion US dollars, the role of Taiwanese investors played is more important than before. Notwithstanding that the investment environment in Vietnam has improved more significantly than ever, the enterprises’ operation still has to bear considerable risk. Due to Vietnam’s special single-party state constitution, for foreign investors, it is expected that the political risk is existed with the high feasibility of government change policies and ignore investors’ benefits. According to this, the purpose of this research is to realize how the host’s political risk influences Taiwanese MNEs’ entry mode choice. As previous studies generally focused on the discussion of the relationship between political risk and entry mode choice, however, the moderating effects of firms’ own resource and advantages are less mentioned. Therefore, this thesis tries to provide a theoretical framework based on resource-based view, eclectic theory and other related theories that includes profitability, financial structure, and R&D capability as the contingency factors to examine how these factors moderate the relationship between political risk and entry mode choice. The findings of this study reveal that when the political risk in Vietnam getting higher, Taiwanese MNEs are more likely to engage in Vietnam through JVs. Besides, the positive moderating effect of profitability is also existed. It shows when a firm with higher profitability, it will more tend to choose JVs as the political risk in Vietnam rising.

碩士
淡江大學
土木工程學系
84
Since the demand for travel are derived from the needs for activities, some studies in 1970s had adopted activity-based analysis approach to explore the course of travel-activity behavior. Motivated by the need of having more understanding to complex travel-activity behavior, this study incorporates with activity characteristics to construct travel travel demand models. Activity pattern groups can be defined as a set of individuals with the similar travel-activity pattern characterized by activity type, length of activity time, travel time, modal choices and destination. The purpose of clustering activity pattern groups, similar to market segmentation, is to improve performance of trip prediction. In this study, the activity patterns is classified into distinct groups by the application of clustering techniques.According to the survey from individuals in Taipei metropolitan area, the activity pattern groups can be clustered into 3 groups. In addition, discriminant analysis is applied to find discriminant functions for the prediction of group membership for new samples. In most of the previous studies, predictions of trip generation and the modal choice were separately formulated in urban transportation modeling system. However, the choice of transportaton modes is also influenced by the choices of activity types and activity location, this study seeks to explore the interaction among the choices of activities, destinations and transportation modes by conducting a comprehensive survey on alternative activity, destination, and mode is included in the formulation of utility functions to capture the joint nature of choices. Finally, the demand models are estimated by the method of nested Logit. Three different multidimensional choices nested Logit models are established in this study. The result of paramemter estimation shows that nested Logit model with 3-dimensional choices represents a better performance for individual''s travel-activity behavior, that is, individual''s activity, destination and modal choice behavior can be formulated as a sequential decision process.

碩士
國立中山大學
高階公共政策碩士班
99
President Ma Ying-jeou proclaimed the 12-year compulsory education plan on January 1st, 2011 (the 100th Year of Republic of China). From 2014 onward, both senior high and vocational schools will require no tuition, and most of them can be attended without the requirement of students passing an entrance exam. This policy marks a milestone in Taiwan’s high school admission system. In the future, students graduating from junior high schools may choose a school they favor, rather than having no choice but to attend the one according to their exam results, as was the practice in the past. Purposive sampling was adopted with the freshmen in eight public senior high schools in Kaohsiung as the subjects; two classes in each school were sampled with the questionnaire based on four dimensions: “background of the senior high schools”, “influencing factors occurring during the process of choosing a school”, “main information channels to better understand the senior high schools”, and “related consultations on how to choose a senior high school.” The aim was to compare the behaviors in choosing a senior high school among the students who do not follow the conventional school ranking as determined by the entrance exam and those who do, in order to explore the factors that affect the process of choosing a senior high school by those who do not follow the practice. The study results show that: 1. Both the students who follow the practice and those who do not, value the dimensions: “background of the senior high schools” the most, such as “ratio of students entering a university”, “school image (reputation)”, and “school ranking in accordance with the entrance exam result”, etc. 2. Those who do and do not follow the practice differ in choosing a school in terms of four aspects: “whether there is a classmate attending the same senior high school”, “whether background information on the senior high school is available”, “whether the senior high schools hold recruitment activities on the students’ campus”, and “whether related consultation data is issued by the junior high schools they are attending.” Through a logistic regression analysis, it was found that the three aspects “classmate”, “background information”, and “consultation data” are significantly predictive regarding the behavior of choosing a senior high school by both groups of students. According to the study results, suggestions are proposed regarding senior high and vocational schools’ planning of future marketing strategies and junior high schools’ provision of consultations about choosing a senior high school. In addition, suggestions are advanced to education administrative organizations for the implementation of the 12-year compulsory education. Finally, suggestions for follow-up studies are also listed.

碩士
銘傳大學
國際企業學系碩士班
101
This study aims the effects of political risk, cultural distance and language diversity on choices between international joint-ventures and cross-border acquisitions. This research collects the data of enterprises from Greater China (China, Hong-Kong, Singapore and Taiwan) and discusses their preferences of entry mode choice between international joint-ventures and cross-border acquisitions. Our results show that: (1) when the cultural distance are large, firms prefer to enter a foreign market through international joint-venture; (2) when the political risk is high, firms prefer to enter a foreign market through international joint-venture; (3) firms prefer to enter a foreign market through international joint-venture if language diversity exists. This study also evaluates the interaction effect between the six dimensions of political risk with cultural distance and language diversity. We found that cultural distance will strengthen the influence of four dimensions in political risk on entry mode choice. This research found that the dimension of Political Stability & Absence of Violence (PRPV) and the dimension of Rule of Law (PRRL) are key factors in political risk that influence entry mode choice the most.

碩士
中華大學
營建管理研究所
97
When designing the highway bridge expansion joints, a designer usually will review domestic and international bridge design examples to assess his/her design and determine the expansion joint type. This design process is empirical. However, when a design is based on or guided by subjective experience, it might happen that a lot of expansion joints to be repaied and, even more, removed and replaced. The expansion joint type used in a bridge has to be compatible with the bridge structure used. In recent years, the viaducts have been used very often in most highway and freeway constructions. The newly built bridges are designed as long-span or continuous structures. As the expansion size is increasing and the number of expansion joints is increased, the expansion joint damaged situations happen frequently. If the bridge expansion joint adopted is solely based on past experience, a lot of troublesome situations may occur and it is time consuming to correct them. This study first investigates the expansion joint types to be considered and determines the evaluation factors to be used in choosing a joint, and then established an evaluation framework. Furthermore, the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchical Process is used to determine the weighted value for each factor. Finally, the selection of a proper expansion joint is verified by using two bridge study cases. The selection process presented provides an objective procedure to choose a proper expansion joint type.