The pricing of industrial services

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Variations in weed population densities, rate of change and community diversity in RR-soybeans and RR-maize strip crops under two herbicide strategies

Concerns about the sustainability of large-scale, direct-drilled RR-soybeans (Glycine max), and RR-maize (Zea mays) under monoculture in central Argentina are growing steadily. An experiment was conducted during three consecutive years to determine the effects of crops and systems (monocultures and strips) and herbicide strategy on weed density, population rate of change (l), b community diversity (H´), crop yields and Land Equivalent Ratio (LER). Not only crops but also crop systems differentially influenced weed densities along their growth and development. For crop harvests, weed densities increased in both maize crop systems as compared to in the one for soybeans, but the lowest increase occurred in soybean strips. Differences were leveled by both herbicide strategies, which achieved 73% efficacy during the critical periods in both crops. l of annual monocotyledonous increased, thus shifting the weed community composition. Species richness and H´ were not affected by crop systems, but both herbicide strategies, particularly POST, either in soybeans in monoculture or in maize strips, significantly enhanced H´. Crop yields significantly increased in the maize-strip system with POST (Year 1) or PRE (Years 2 and 3) strategies, thus increasing LER above 1. Herbicide Environmental Load treatments fall within very low or low field use rating.

Transfer pricing documentation differences in Finland and China - Case company study

This Master’s Thesis deals with the topic of transfer pricing documentation in Finland and China. The goal of the research is to find what kind of differences exist in a single case company’s transfer pricing documentation when following Chinese or Finnish transfer pricing regulations. The study is carried out as a case study research. The theoretical framework consists of information from different transfer pricing topics and transfer pricing documentation regulations in China and Finland. The main research material was the case company’s transfer pricing documents with the support of open discus-sion with one of the case company’s employees. The study compared the 2009 and 2010 documents. The 2009 document was done based on the Finnish method while the 2010 document was based on the Chinese documentation principles. The conclusion made is that the content of the documents was heavily similar, while the main differences come in the way the content is presented and the level of detail used in the documents.

Currency Carry Trades – Excess Returns and Performance Optimization of G10 Currency Carry Trade Strategies during the Euro Era

This study examines the excess returns provided by G10 currency carry trading during the Euro era. The currency carry trade has been a popular trade throughout the past decades offering excess returns to investors. The thesis aims to contribute to existing research on the topic by utilizing a new set of data for the Euro era as well as using the Euro as a basis for the study. The focus of the thesis is specifically on different carry trade strategies’ performance, risk and diversification benefits. The study finds proof of the failure of the uncovered interest rate parity theory through multiple regression analyses. Furthermore, the research finds evidence of significant diversification benefits in terms of Sharpe ratio and improved return distributions. The results suggest that currency carry trades have offered excess returns during 1999-2014 and that volatility plays an important role in carry trade returns. The risk, however, is diversifiable and therefore our results support previous quantitative research findings on the topic.

The Effect of Different Weed Management Strategies on the Growth and Yield of Direct-Seeded Dry Rice (Oryza sativa)

Weed management is a primary concern in direct seeded rice (DSR) cropping because weed growth becomes a major constraint on crop yield. A two year field study was set up to evaluate the effect of various weed control measures on crop growth, grain yield and grain quality of DSR. The experiment involved five different weed control measures: hand weeding, hoeing, inter-row tine cultivation, inter-row spike hoeing and herbicide treatment (Nominee 100 SC). The extent of weed control (compared to a non-weeded control) ranged from 50-95%. The highest crop yield was obtained using hand weeding. Hand weeding, tine cultivation and herbicide treatment raised the number of fertile rice tillers formed per unit area and the thousand grain weight. Tine cultivation provided an effective and economical level of weed control in the DSR crop.

Raise All Ships: Cooperative Repository Strategies in a Boot-Strap Culture

Presentation at Open Repositories 2014, Helsinki, Finland, June 9-13, 2014

The effect of environmentally differentiated port fees to shipping companies’ environmental investments

The pressure has grown to develop cost-effective emission reduction strategies in the Baltic Sea. The forthcoming stringent regulations of the International Maritime Organization for reducing harmful emissions of shipping in the Baltic Sea are causing increasing expenses for the operators. A market-based attitude towards pricing of economic incentives could be seen as a new approach for a successful application for the additional emission reduction of nitrogen oxides (NOx). In this study the aim is to understand the phenomenon of environmentally differentiated port fees and its effects on shipping companies’ emission reduction investments. The goal is to examine empirically the real-life effects of the possible environmental differentiated port fee system and the effect of environmentally differentiated port fees on NOx reduction investments in the Baltic Sea. The research approach of this study is nomothetical. In this study research questions are answered by analyzing the broad database of the Baltic Sea fleet. Also the framework of theory is confirmed and plays an important role in analyzing the research problem. Existing investment costs of NOx emission reduction technology to ship owners are estimated and compared to investment costs with granted discounts added to the cash flows. The statistical analysis in this study is descriptive. The major statistic examination of this study is the calculation of the net present values of investments with different port fee scenarios. This is done to investigate if the NOx technology investments could be economically reasonable. Based on calculations it is clear that the effect of environmentally differentiated port fees is not adequate to compensate the total investment costs for NOx reduction. If the investment decision is made only with profitability considerations, sources will prefer to emission abatement as long as incomes from the given subsidy exceeds their abatement costs. Despite of the results, evidence was found that shipping companies are nevertheless willing to invest on voluntary emission abatement technology. In that case, investment decision could be made with criteria of, for example, sustainable strategy or brand image. Combined fairway and port fee system or governmental regulations and recommendation could also function as additional incentives to compensate the investment costs. Also, the results imply that the use of NPV is not necessarily the best method to evaluate environmental investments. If the calculations would be done with more environmental methods the results would probably be different.

The impact of long-term brand development strategies on brand value of companies operating in high-technology markets

The objective of the current research is to investigate brand value generation. The study is conducted in the context of high-technology companies. The research aims at finding the impact of long-term brand development strategies, including advertising investments, R&D investments, R&D intensity, new products developed and design. The empirical part of the study incorporated collection of primary and secondary data on 36 companies operating in high-technology sector and being rated as top companies with the most valuable brands by Interbrand consultancy. The data contained information for six consequent years from 2008 to 2013. Obtained data was analyzed using the methods of fixed effect and random effect model (panel data analysis). The analysis showed positive effect of advertising and R&D investments on brand value of high-technology companies in the long run. The impact of remaining three strategies was not approved and further investigation is required.

Foreign Operation Mode Strategies of Finnish Companies in Russia

The object of this study was to examine foreign operation mode strategies used by Finnish companies in Russia. Thus, it was necessary to understand how Finnish companies have used foreign operation modes and which factors have influenced on their foreign operation mode strategies in Russia. Moreover, the purpose was also to find out that have Finnish companies switched, stretched or combined their foreign operation modes. The study's empirical part was conducted as a semi structured qualitative within-case and cross-case analysis of seven case companies that are selected to represent different industries. There are five Finnish LSEs and two Finnish SMEs as case companies. The results of this study indicated that Finnish companies have mainly used exporting as their initial entry mode to the Russian market. After they had gained understanding and experience of the Russian market, they switched from non-equity and simple foreign operation modes to more challenging and equity demanding foreign operation modes, and established wholly owned operations.

Tropical inselbergs: habitat types, adaptive strategies and diversity patterns

Inselbergs are isolated rock outcrops that rise abruptly above the surrounding plains. Granitic and gneissic inselbergs are geologically and geomorphologically old and occur throughout a broad spectrum of climatic zones. They form microclimatically and edaphically dry growth sites that support a highly specialized vegetation. Based on physiognomic criteria a number of habitat types can be distinguished that are widespread on inselbergs (e.g. ephemeral flush vegetation, monocotyledonous mats, rock pools). Three hot spots of global inselberg plant diversity can be identified which are both rich in species and endemics: a) southeastern Brazil, b) Madagascar and c) southwestern Australia.

Vegetative propagation strategies of four rupestrian species of Leiothrix (Eriocaulaceae)

Leiothrix is endemic of South America and includes 37 species, 25 of which occur in the state of Minas Gerais. Nineteen of those occur in the "Serra do Cipó", a mountain chain, located in the southern portion of the Espinhaço mountain range. This study examines vegetative propagation strategies of four species of Leiothrix, endemic to the Minas Gerais portion of the Espinhaço mountain range. For each species we established permanent plots, where we marked 30 to 51 rosettes or clones, and then took morphological and phenological measurements. Leiothrix crassifolia (Bong.) Ruhland and L. curvifolia var. lanuginosa (Bong.) Ruhland are rhizomatous, forming compact clones. Leiothrix vivipara (Bong.) Ruhland does not produce rhizomes, but is pseudoviviparous, i.e., produces numerous ramets originating from inflorescences. These ramets are formed precociously, and the flower heads do not touch the ground. In Leiothrix spiralis (Bong.) Ruhland both of these strategies are seen: it is both rhizomatous and pseudoviviparous. In this species, the ramets are formed late, only after the flower head has touched the ground. One of the typical conditions of the rupestrian grasslands is soil water shortage in some periods of the year and nutrient scarcity all year round. These conditions might have created an ideal ecological scenario for the evolution of both pseudovivipary and rhizomatous clonal growth in Leiothrix.

Variation in nitrogen use strategies and photosynthetic pathways among vascular epiphytes in the Brazilian Central Amazon

The variation in nitrogen use strategies and photosynthetic pathways among vascular epiphyte families was addressed in a white-sand vegetation in the Brazilian Central Amazon. Foliar nitrogen and carbon concentrations and their isotopic composition (δ15N and δ13C, respectively) were measured in epiphytes (Araceae, Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae) and their host trees. The host tree Aldina heterophylla had higher foliar N concentration and lower C:N ratio (2.1 ± 0.06% and 23.6 ± 0.8) than its dwellers. Tree foliar δ15N differed only from that of the orchids. Comparing the epiphyte families, the aroids had the highest foliar N concentration and lowest C:N ratios (1.4 ± 0.1% and 34.9 ± 4.2, respectively). The orchids had more negative foliar δ15N values (-3.5 ± 0.2‰) than the aroids (-1.9 ± 0.7‰) and the bromeliads (-1.1 ± 0.6‰). Within each family, aroid and orchid taxa differed in relation to foliar N concentrations and C:N ratios, whereas no internal variation was detected within bromeliads. The differences in foliar δ15N observed herein seem to be related to the differential reliance on the available N sources for epiphytes, as well as to the microhabitat quality within the canopy. In relation to epiphyte foliar δ13C, the majority of epiphytes use the water-conserving CAM-pathway (δ13C values around -17‰), commonly associated with plants that live under limited and intermittent water supply. Only the aroids and one orchid taxon indicated the use of C3-pathway (δ13C values around -30‰).

Liquidity and Asset Pricing in the French Stock Market

This thesis investigates pricing of liquidity in the French stock market. The study covers 835 ordinary shares traded in the period of 1996-2014 on Paris Euronext. The author utilizes the Liquidity-Adjusted Capital Asset Pricing Model (LCAPM) recently developed by Acharya and Pedersen (2005) to test whether liquidity level and risks significantly affect stock returns. Three different liquidity measures – Amihud, FHT, and PQS – are incorporated into the model to find any difference between the results they could provide. It appears that the findings largely depend on the liquidity measure used. In general the results exhibit more evidence for insignificant influence of liquidity level and risks as well as market risk on stock returns. The similar conclusion was reported earlier by Lee (2011) for several regions, including France. This finding of the thesis, however, is not consistent across all the liquidity measures. Nevertheless, the difference in the results between these measures provides new insight to the existing literature on this topic. The Amihud-based findings might indicate that market resiliency is not priced in the French stock market. At the same time the contradicting results from FHT and PQS provide some foundation for the hypothesis that one of two leftover liquidity dimensions – market depth or breadth – could significantly affect stock returns. Therefore, the thesis’ findings suggest a conjecture that different liquidity dimensions have different impacts on stock returns.