Essays in Vertical Agreements and Consumer Behavior

This thesis collects three independent essays and a literature review. Two of them relate to vertical agreements. The first essay explores a retailer's choice in allocating control rights over the decision of retail prices. Results show that retailers adopt a hybrid configuration as a middle ground between two extremes, where pricing decisions are delegated, for all products, either to retailer or manufacturers. The second essay investigates the make-it-or-license-it choice of a brand owner under the risk of moral hazard when licensing the extension product to a third party. Brand licensing emerges as an equilibrium choice under brand dilution (respectively, enhancement) when the consumer perceives a large (small) distance between the extension product and parent brand. The third essay explores the issue of rating bubbles within online feedback systems by means of a field experiment. The analysis found the presence of positive social influence bias, in that high ratings affect the individual rating behavior in a significant way. The last paper is accompanied by a thorough and deep review of the literature about the consequences of online user ratings on product sales/performance (economic dimension) and product adoption/rating behavior (behavioral dimension). The topic is increasingly investigated by academic researchers and industry professionals alike. This overview presents established results and insights as issues for future research.

Las cláusulas sobre seguro en los contratos de utilización del buque: responsabilidad y subrogación del asegurador

La presente tesis doctoral pretende avanzar en el conocimiento sobre las cláusulas sobre seguro insertas en los contratos de utilización del buque, así como las consecuencias que su inclusión está llamada a tener sobre las relaciones entre las partes de tales contratos, particularmente, en materia de responsabilidad; sobre las que se produzcan entre dichas partes y el o los aseguradores, tanto del casco y la maquinaria como de la responsabilidad civil frente a terceros; y sobre el derecho del asegurador que haya satisfecho una indemnización a subrogarse en las acciones que pudieran asistir a su asegurado frente a las demás partes involucradas en el entramado contractual y frente a terceros ajenos a él.

Ex ante contracts to arbitrate tort claims - A law and economics perspective

This research addresses the use of ex ante contracts to arbitrate tort claims in domestic settings using law and economics research methodologies. Potential economic benefits from using arbitration, particularly between informed and knowledgeable parties and in international business transactions, are not guaranteed in domestic disputes. Arbitration can potentially be used to manipulate the adjudication process. This research has several findings. There is a lack of information available concerning the use of arbitration to adjudicate tort claims. Proxy measurements concerning the demand for third party adjudication and other legal indicators are a poor substitute for the information hidden behind the veil of arbitration. There is the potential for the strategic use of ex ante contracts to arbitrate tort claims by repeat player tortfeasors to domestic tort claims, both individually and in concert with other repeat player firms. These strategic efforts aim to: manipulate enforcement errors for tort claims, avoid procedural rules which have the effect of lowering enforcement errors, enable a unique type of domestic forum arbitrage, shirk from taking due care, capture the economic benefit of using arbitration, manipulate the stock of precedents and production of public goods from courts, collude in these underlying efforts, restrain competition, indirectly fix prices, and other aims which increase the repeat player tortfeasor’s or their industries economic gains related to their underlying contracts and tort disputes. This research also demonstrates how this subject is appropriate for further academic research and why states should be cautious of giving carte blanche to arbitrate all domestic tort claims.

Into a new phase of the research on restructuring of work in the knowledge society: the Third WORKS General Assembly in Sofia (Bulgaria)

The WORKS Project started two years ago (2005), involving the efforts of research institutes of 13 European countries with the main purpose of improving the understanding of the major changes in work in the knowledge-based society, taking account both of global forces and the regional diversity within Europe. This research meeting in Sofia (Bulgaria) aimed to present synthetically the massive amount of data collected in the case studies (occupational and organisational) and with the quantitative research during last year.

Third contribution to the knowledge of the Raviniini (Diptera, Sarcophagidae), based on observations of the larvae, using scanning electron microscope

L1, L2 and L3 of Oxysarcodexia paulistanensis (Mattos), L3 of O. confusa Lopes, L2 of Ravinia belforti (Prado & Fonseca) and L2 of Oxyvinia excisa (Lopes) were described and figured using scanning electron microscope.

Teenagers at Third Avenue block party

Inscriptions: Verso: [stamped] Credit must be given to Freda Leinwand from Monkmeyer Press Photo Service.

Late obstruction of an endoscopic third ventriculostomy stoma by metastatic seeding of a recurrent medulloblastoma Case report

Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) has been established as an effective method in the treatment of tumoral obstructive hydrocephalus. Delayed closure of the ETV stoma has been attributed to scarring involving the third ventricular floor. Secondary obstruction of the stoma due to intraventricular tumor seeding is an extremely rare condition, with only one case described to date. The authors report on a unique case of late closure of the ETV stoma caused by metastatic seeding of a recurrent medulloblastoma 9 years after the initial treatment. The patient was submitted to a second endoscopic procedure in which a reddish mass located just at the third ventricular floor was resected, leading to reopening of the previous ETV stoma. To the best of the authors` knowledge, this case is the first report of an ETV obstruction due to metastatic CSF seeding of a medulloblastoma. In such cases of late failure of the ETV stoma because of tumor obstruction, a second ETV can be safely performed and lead to adequate function of the stoma, even if limited by the aggressive nature of the disease. (DOI: 10.3171/2010.1.PEDS09320)

Extramedullary plasmacytoma of the third eyelid gland in a dog

A case of extramedullary plasmacytoma of the third eyelid gland in a 7-year-old American Cocker Spaniel is reported. An enlargement of the third eyelid gland, abundant mucopurulent discharge, mild hyperemia and corneal pigmentation in the OD was present. Excisional biopsy of the mass revealed the gland was infiltrated and partially destroyed by a uniform population of neoplastic plasma cells. The neoplastic cells were positive for CD138, Ki-67 and lambda light chain. CD20, CD3, kappa light chain and cytokeratin were negative. Twelve months following surgery, no recurrence was observed. To the authors` knowledge, this is the first extramedullary plasmacytoma of the third eyelid gland reported in dogs.

Social network analysis applied to knowledge creation and transfer in the portuguese agricultural R&D field: an exploratory study

Paper presented at the 9th European Conference on Knowledge Management, Southampton Solent University, Southampton, UK, 4-5 Sep. 2008. URL: http://academic-conferences.org/eckm/eckm2008/eckm08-home.htm

The Irish pub as a third place : a sociological exploration of people, place and identity

There is considerable interest in alcohol in Irish society, yet minimal sociologcial understanding of its consumption, particularly of the sites where most drinking occurs: the country's 8750 pubs. Despite widespread public discussions on the role of the pub, there is scant social science evidence to better inform debate. Pubs are central to Irish community and are key sites of social interaction. American sociologist Ray Oldenburg has argued that "third places" (neither workplace nor home) are crucial to the maintenance of the community and the enhancement of social capital. According to Oldenburg, the role of the third place in the community is to provide continuity, regularity, a sense of place - all of which conceptually contribute to the construction of the self, the projection of the self within the public sphere, the distribution of social capital and the generation of a collective identity. The pub is the archetypal third place, but Oldenburg is concerned that modern pubs are less able to provide this vital function. Social scientists have suggested that community is in a state of fragmentation and decline due to changes in modes of social interaction and a decrease in shared spaces, resulting in a weakened connection to place. Community without propinquity has been characterised by social alienation, fragmentation and what Oldenburg refers to as the "problem of place" (13). Third places, and thus the Irish pub, have been particularly affected. In order to increase the sociological knowledge of the pub in Ireland, this project critically engages with the pub to assess the importance that public drinking houses have in the everyday. Moreover, this research sets out to investigate the people/place relationship using the pub as an investigative lens and examine the ways in which people shape place, place shapes people and how that relationship is implicated in the construction of irish identities. Furthermore, this is also an articulation of a cultural shift within Ireland and Irish places whose effects are deep and multi-layered. This project aims to explore the development of the contemporary geography of identity as the irish pub as a third place is transformed or disappears from the social landscape.

Knowledge, networks of cities and growth in regional urban systems

The objective of this paper is to measure the impact of different kinds of knowledge and external economies on urban growth in an intraregional context. The main hypothesis is that knowledge leads to growth, and that this knowledge is related to the existence of agglomeration and network externalities in cities. We develop a three-tage methodology: first, we measure the amount and growth of knowledge in cities using the OCDE (2003) classification and employment data; second, we identify the spatial structure of the area of analysis (networks of cities); third, we combine the Glaeser - Henderson - De Lucio models with spatial econometric specifications in order to contrast the existence of spatially static (agglomeration) and spatially dynamic (network) external economies in an urban growth model. Results suggest that higher growth rates are associated to higher levels of technology and knowledge. The growth of the different kinds of knowledge is related to local and spatial factors (agglomeration and network externalities) and each knowledge intensity shows a particular response to these factors. These results have implications for policy design, since we can forecast and intervene on local knowledge development paths.

Trials, tricks and transparency: how disclosure rules affect clinical knowledge

Scandals of selective reporting of clinical trial results by pharmaceutical firms have underlined the need for more transparency in clinical trials. We provide a theoretical framework which reproduces incentives for selective reporting and yields three key implications concerning regulation. First, a compulsory clinical trial registry complemented through a voluntary clinical trial results database can implement full transparency (the existence of all trials as well as their results is known). Second, full transparency comes at a price. It has a deterrence effect on the incentives to conduct clinical trials, as it reduces the firms'gains from trials. Third, in principle, a voluntary clinical trial results database without a compulsory registry is a superior regulatory tool; but we provide some qualified support for additional compulsory registries when medical decision-makers cannot anticipate correctly the drug companies' decisions whether to conduct trials. Keywords: pharmaceutical firms, strategic information transmission, clinical trials, registries, results databases, scientific knowledge JEL classification: D72, I18, L15

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors beta/delta: emerging roles for a previously neglected third family member.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors alpha, beta/delta and gamma are members of the nuclear receptor superfamily. They mediate the effects of fatty acids and their derivatives at the transcriptional level, and are considered to be lipid sensors that participate in the regulation of energy homeostasis. Compared with the alpha and gamma peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor isotypes, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor beta functions have long remained an enigma. In this review, we focus on emerging knowledge about peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor beta activation and roles. RECENT FINDINGS: We review recent data that suggest key roles in basic cell functions, such as proliferation, differentiation and survival, and in embryonic development and lipid metabolism in peripheral tissues. SUMMARY: The newly unveiled roles of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor beta in important basic cell functions certainly justify a further exploration of its potential as a therapeutic target in pathologies such as metabolic syndrome X or skin diseases.