You searched for subject:(Competition). Showing records 1 – 30 of 4151 total matches.
1. Mayo, Matthew Ryan. Impacts of silvicultural treatments on hardwood development and total stand productivity in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantations in the Upper Coastal Plain and Piedmont.
▼ I examined the impacts of six site preparation and post-planting silvicultural regimes on hardwood species composition, growth and total productivity index (pine plus hardwood biomass) at 19 locations through plantation age 21. Age 21 hardwood basal area was greatest in the Burn Only treatment plots (42.6 ft2/acre), followed by the Herbicide and Burn treatment (11.0 ft2/acre), Chop and Burn (9.3 ft2/acre), Chop, Herbicide, and Burn (8.8 ft2/acre), and Shear, Pile, and Disk (8.1 ft2/acre). Over all treatments, the most common genera present at age 21 was Liquidambar (50.0 % of hardwood basal area, BA), followed by Quercus (27.0 %), Carya (5.0 %), Prunus (4.6 %), and Nyssa (2.9 %). I classified sites into four hardwood abundance classes (Very Low, Low, Moderate, and High). Total productivity index (pine plus hardwood biomass) was greatest on sites classified as Low hardwood abundance for each treatment excluding Burn Only. Stands with greater pine to hardwood ratios tended to contain more total aboveground biomass than stands that contained more hardwoods. Advisors/Committee Members: Michael Kane.
Mayo, Matthew Ryan. "Impacts of silvicultural treatments on hardwood development and total stand productivity in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantations in the Upper Coastal Plain and Piedmont." 2010. Masters Thesis, University of Georgia. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://purl.galileo.usg.edu/uga_etd/mayo_matthew_r_201008_ms.
Mayo, Matthew Ryan. "Impacts of silvicultural treatments on hardwood development and total stand productivity in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantations in the Upper Coastal Plain and Piedmont." 2010. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Mayo MR. Impacts of silvicultural treatments on hardwood development and total stand productivity in loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantations in the Upper Coastal Plain and Piedmont. [Internet] [Masters thesis]. University of Georgia; 2010. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://purl.galileo.usg.edu/uga_etd/mayo_matthew_r_201008_ms.
2. Hu, Lee Y. Essays on market competition.
▼ This dissertation examines various aspects of market competition. The first chapter examines the application process for entry in the U.S. generic prescription medicine market. I use duration analysis to study the effect of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 on the timing of application submission for entry into the generic market. A unique sample of abbreviated new drug applications that included paragraph IV certification submitted to the FDA was collected for this study. The results show that the mean number of days until application submission was not reduced from the median of 2,513.5 days before the enactment of the Medicare Act. The second chapter examines the incentives driving firms to "gun jump," or the act of exchanging information during the pre-merger stages beyond that which is considered to be reasonable and customary. Gun jumping can result in civil penalties and enforcement actions lodged against the merging firms. This chapter examines the effectiveness of the remedial actions that are currently being used to deter it, and argues that enforcement agencies should seek permanent injunctive relief rather than imposing civil penalties on the merging parties. The third chapter uses a unique sample of commercial pharmaceutical claims from 2001 through 2008 to examine the evolution of competition between biosimilars and branded drugs in the U.S. biologic drug market. I find that entry by a biosimilar drug into the human growth hormone market, and entry by branded biologic drugs into the TNF-inhibitor market did not have a statistically significant effect on incumbent drug prices. However, the results suggest that entry by a branded biologic drug into the interferon-beta market decreased incumbent drug prices. When market shares are examined, I find that branded entrants were more successful than their biosimilar counterparts at capturing market share. Advisors/Committee Members: John Turner.
Hu, Lee Y. "Essays on market competition." 2011. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Georgia. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://purl.galileo.usg.edu/uga_etd/hu_lee_y_201105_phd.
Hu, Lee Y. "Essays on market competition." 2011. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Hu LY. Essays on market competition. [Internet] [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Georgia; 2011. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://purl.galileo.usg.edu/uga_etd/hu_lee_y_201105_phd.
3. Zeinalzadeh, Ashkan. Learning in inventory competition games.
In a noncooperative game with rational players, Nash strategies are one of the strategies that players can agree on, because none of the players are willing to impose damage to the competitor by lowering their own expected profit. In this dissertation, we incorporate fixed-ordering costs in an inventory competition game; we study the existence of pure Nash equilibrium and behavior of players at Nash equilibrium in a one-period game. We establish the non-existence of pure Nash equilibrium for a large class of multi-period competition games. In real life, decision-makers are limited in their observations or information about their competitors. In this dissertation, we focus on an imperfect-information competition game in which players do not have any information about their competitors, other than the implicit information encoded in their own observations affected by their competitors' past inventory decisions. We introduce simple learning algorithms which allow players to make their decisions in a repeated inventory competition. We prove that the inventory decisions generated by the learning algorithms converge, with probability one, to certain threshold values that constitute an equilibrium in pure Markov strategies for the inventory competition game.
Zeinalzadeh, Ashkan. "Learning in inventory competition games." 2016. Thesis, University of Hawaii – Manoa. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/102021.
Zeinalzadeh, Ashkan. "Learning in inventory competition games." 2016. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Zeinalzadeh A. Learning in inventory competition games. [Internet] [Thesis]. University of Hawaii – Manoa; 2016. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/10125/102021.
4. Petit, Marine. How could China's competition policy impact negotiations on an international framework for competition rules in the WTO?.
▼ The different elements of the question are first analyzed individually. The role and the functioning of the WTO are explored in the first part. The importance of the organization in our globalized economy is highlighted, but also the crisis it is undergoing. The second part focuses on competition policies. It appears to be an important element to address in the WTO given its link with international trade. However, not much is done currently to address competition issues at international scale. Some developments since the failed negotiations on this matter could trigger new negotiations. Among other things, markets are more and more globalized, knowledge and experience in this field are now stronger, and business practices undermine efforts made to lower barriers to trade and investment. Yet, numerous aspects remain controversial. The objective of the third part is then to present some elements related to the Chinese economy, which need to be considered to understand the Chinese competition policy. Foreign companies complain about interventionist policies and practices and the trade distortions generated by SOEs and national champions. Given China's rise as a leading trading nation, its industrial and trade policies have a significant impact on all WTO members. It raises concerns for its competition policy. This aspect is explored in the fourth part. China's Anti-Monopoly Law (AML), enacted in 2008, represents a major step towards a more competitive economy. Nevertheless, numerous criticisms are still expressed as to the special treatment granted to SOEs and state monopolies in industries deemed nationally important, the lack of transparency and predictability, and the asymmetric enforcement of the AML towards foreign firms compared to domestic firms. The telecommunications industry is analyzed, which indicates that in spite of significant progress, some sectors are still dominated by anticompetitive practices. All the elements gathered in the different parts are then taken into consideration to suggest a personal answer to the initial question. A possible scenario is that China agrees to relaunch negotiations as this would be positive for its image, but that during the negotiations it strives to make the agreement the least obstructionist possible. As for the other members' position regarding the creation of an international framework for competition rules in the WTO, there seem to be strong reasons to support new negotiations. Indeed, China's interventionist industrial policies give rise to a number of anti-competitive practices. The deficiencies in China's competition policy seem however to matter more for developed countries than for developing countries. The topic of international cooperation in competition policy is a long-standing one, so there is clearly a willingness to go further on this topic. Yet, negotiations were previously more dominated by developed countries. In the current circumstances, the resistance from developing countries could prevent other members to bring the topic back to the table of… Advisors/Committee Members: UCL - Louvain School of Management, Defraigne, Jean-Christophe.
Petit, Marine. "How could China's competition policy impact negotiations on an international framework for competition rules in the WTO?." 2017. Thesis, Université Catholique de Louvain. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/thesis:10902.
Petit, Marine. "How could China's competition policy impact negotiations on an international framework for competition rules in the WTO?." 2017. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Petit M. How could China's competition policy impact negotiations on an international framework for competition rules in the WTO?. [Internet] [Thesis]. Université Catholique de Louvain; 2017. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/thesis:10902.
5. Kotzé, Frederik Christoffel. South Africa and international competition : theory and evidence.
The purpose of this study is to: Provide a framework to analyse the key drivers of competitiveness within a cluster2 of industries; Apply the framework to test the ability of the framework to inform policy and strategic choices; Utilise a number of sectoral studies, to draw general conclusions regarding South Africa's national competitive environment; and Highlight some policy recommendations that emerge from the analysis of the national competitive environment. The transformation of political power from the National Party (NP) to the African National Congress (ANC) involved a revision of priorities for the South African economy. Different political parties contributed in various formats to the pre-election economic debate. Among these, the ANC's "Reconstruction and Development Programme" (RDP) and the Government's "Normative Economic Model" initially received most attention. Although both of the above-mentioned policy documents emphasised the importance of higher economic growth, neither of them elaborated on specific action initiatives to attain greater economic prosperity. At that stage, the new Government of National Unity still had to provide the details regarding an economic programme for reconstruction and development. In view of the ANC's pre-election promises, it was expected that the development of the economy, to the benefit of all South Africans, would be one of the new government's highest priorities during the next two to five years. In this regard, it was anticipated that an analysis of the international competitiveness of the South African economy at a macro-economic as well as a more detailed sectoral level, will be of significant value. At the outset of this study, early in 1994, the then National Economic Forum launched the "Global Advantage of South Africa Project" to analyse the competitiveness of the domestic economy. This study was structured to follow the approach that was developed by professor Michael Porter in his competitive analysis of ten nations, as described in his book "The Competitive Advantage of Nations", as well as subsequent work in this field that had been done by "The Monitor Company" in a number of countries 3. The Competitive Advantage of Nations (CAON) approach provides a unique framework to develop a better understanding of the conditions that govern the competitive ability of firms within a nation. This thesis will attempt to explain and apply the CAON-thinking and frameworks in the South African context, in an effort to: provide a reference guide for institutions or individuals that will be involved in the industrial policy research on competitiveness that needs to be undertaken during the next few years; to develop a better understanding of South Africa's competitive platform; and to formulate recommendations to enhance the country's international competitiveness.
Kotzé, Frederik Christoffel. "South Africa and international competition : theory and evidence." 2012. Thesis, University of Johannesburg. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10210/5901.
Kotzé, Frederik Christoffel. "South Africa and international competition : theory and evidence." 2012. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Kotzé FC. South Africa and international competition : theory and evidence. [Internet] [Thesis]. University of Johannesburg; 2012. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/5901.
6. Foltz, Britnie Rene. Functional significance of pollen size variation in Ipomoea purpurea, common morning glory.
▼ Variation in pollen size is prevalent among plant species. This variation also occurs within species. This study looks at the functional role of small and large pollen grains in Ipomoea purpurea. We hypothesize that 1) small pollen grains have an advantage during pollen transport, in that pollinators are likely to carry higher numbers of small pollen grains to a recipient stigma and 2) large pollen grains have a competitive edge over small pollen grains during pollen competition on the stigma. We found that similar quantities of both small and large pollen grains are removed from anthers and deposited onto stigmas by pollinators. However, we found that large pollen grains do sire more seeds than small grains when competing on the same stigma, suggesting that large pollen grains are better competitors. Thus, the question still remains regarding the functional role of small pollen in I. purpurea. Advisors/Committee Members: Shu-Mei Chang.
Foltz, Britnie Rene. "Functional significance of pollen size variation in Ipomoea purpurea, common morning glory." 2013. Masters Thesis, University of Georgia. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://purl.galileo.usg.edu/uga_etd/foltz_britnie_r_201312_ms.
Foltz, Britnie Rene. "Functional significance of pollen size variation in Ipomoea purpurea, common morning glory." 2013. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Foltz BR. Functional significance of pollen size variation in Ipomoea purpurea, common morning glory. [Internet] [Masters thesis]. University of Georgia; 2013. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://purl.galileo.usg.edu/uga_etd/foltz_britnie_r_201312_ms.
7. Franks, Steven Joseph. Competition and facilitation among coastal dune plants in the Southeastern United States.
▼ Competition has dominated ecological theory and the design and interpretation of experiments, but there is growing evidence that interactions among organisms can be facilitative, and that interactions range along a spectrum from negative (competitive) to positive (facilitative). One current goal in ecological research is understanding what factors affect the strength and direction of interactions within and among species. Theory suggests that facilitation may be especially important in stressful or frequently disturbed habitats and may particularly benefit individuals at the earliest life stages. The main objective of the research presented in this dissertation was to investigate factors shaping interactions among several coastal dune plant species. Vegetation and environmental sampling as well as several experiments were conducted to meet this objective. Vegetation sampling indicated positive association among several species, which is consistent with possible facilitative interactions. Seed bank sampling and a seed planting experiment in vegetated and open microsites showed that facilitation was important at early life stages, with adult plants increasing seed accumulation and seedling emergence in the field. In an experiment in which dune plant density, species richness, and a burial treatment were varied, burial disturbance shifted interactions from neutral to facilitative, supporting the hypothesis that facilitation increases with increasing stress and disturbance. An experiment examining interactions within and among two dune species showed that the presence of neighbors increased survival but decreased growth, indicating that neighbors may protect each other from sources of mortality, leading to facilitation but still compete for resources, reducing growth. These results emphasize that the outcome of interactions depend on the environmental conditions in which they occur and give further evidence that facilitation is important in communities occurring in stressful and frequently disturbed habitats. Advisors/Committee Members: Chris J. Peterson.
Franks, Steven Joseph. "Competition and facilitation among coastal dune plants in the Southeastern United States." 2002. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Georgia. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://purl.galileo.usg.edu/uga_etd/franks_steven_j_200205_phd.
Franks, Steven Joseph. "Competition and facilitation among coastal dune plants in the Southeastern United States." 2002. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Franks SJ. Competition and facilitation among coastal dune plants in the Southeastern United States. [Internet] [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Georgia; 2002. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://purl.galileo.usg.edu/uga_etd/franks_steven_j_200205_phd.
8. Metsiou, Eleni. Essays in the economics of competition law enforcement.
Τhis dissertation contributes to the literature on Competition Policy Enforcement examining two important dimensions: (i) the substantive standard that should be used by Competition Authorities in order to appraise firms' practices and (ii) the effects of the legal uncertainty on penalties and welfare outcomes. Particularly, the first objective of this dissertation is to build on the literature regarding the optimal substantive standard for Competition Authorities. We distinguish between the two main substantive standards: the Consumer Surplus and the Total Welfare standard. In Chapter 2 we provide a general analysis on the optimal substantive standard when firms can choose between mutually exclusive actions of any type, which will entail both market power raising effects as well as potentially significant efficiency effects. In Chapter 3 we also consider the effects on our analysis when we also take into account changes in other firms' profits. The second objective of the current work, presented in Chapter 4, is to investigate and compare the results in terms of optimal penalties and welfare outcomes under these two different substantive standards in the presence of legal uncertainty.
Η παρούσα διατριβή συμβάλλει στη βιβλιογραφία σε θέματα εφαρμογής της Πολιτικής Ανταγωνισμού εξετάζοντας δύο σημαντικές διαστάσεις: (i) τo κριτήριο ουσιαστικής αξιολόγησης που πρέπει να χρησιμοποιείται από τις Αρχές Ανταγωνισμού προκειμένου να εξεταστούν οι πρακτικές των επιχειρήσεων και (ii) τις επιδράσεις της νομικής αβεβαιότητας στα πρόστιμα και την ευημερία.Συγκεκριμένα, η διατριβή στοχεύει πρωτίστως στη διερεύνηση του άριστου κριτηρίου ουσιαστικής αξιολόγησης για τις Αρχές Ανταγωνισμού. Διακρίνουμε μεταξύ δύο βασικών κριτηρίων: του πλεονάσματος του καταναλωτή και του συνολικού πλεονάσματος. Στο Κεφάλαιο 2 παρουσιάζεται μια γενική ανάλυση σχετικά με το άριστο κριτήριο όταν οι επιχειρήσεις μπορούν να επιλέξουν μεταξύ αμοιβαία αποκλειόμενων πρακτικών διαφόρων τύπων, που θα επιφέρουν αύξηση της μονοπωλιακής τους δύναμης και ταυτόχρονα δυνητικά σημαντικά αποτελέσματα μείωσης του κόστους. Στο Κεφάλαιο 3 εξετάζονται οι επιδράσεις στην ανάλυσή μας όταν λαμβάνονται υπόψη και οι αλλαγές στα κέρδη των άλλων επιχειρήσεων. Ο δεύτερος στόχος της παρούσας εργασίας, που παρουσιάζεται στο Κεφάλαιο 4, αφορά στην εξέταση και σύγκριση των αποτελεσμάτων σε όρους άριστων προστίμων και ευημερίας υπό τα δύο διαφορετικά κριτήρια ουσιαστικής αξιολόγησης και την παρουσία νομικής αβεβαιότητας.
Metsiou, Eleni. "Essays in the economics of competition law enforcement." 2016. Thesis, Athens University Economics and Business (AUEB); Οικονομικό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10442/hedi/37523.
Metsiou, Eleni. "Essays in the economics of competition law enforcement." 2016. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Metsiou E. Essays in the economics of competition law enforcement. [Internet] [Thesis]. Athens University Economics and Business (AUEB); Οικονομικό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών; 2016. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/10442/hedi/37523.
9. Retief, Francois J P. The impact of competition vs cooperation between subsidiaries within a multinational corporation.
Retief, Francois J P. "The impact of competition vs cooperation between subsidiaries within a multinational corporation." 2010. Masters Thesis, University of Pretoria. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/24439.
Retief, Francois J P. "The impact of competition vs cooperation between subsidiaries within a multinational corporation." 2010. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Retief FJP. The impact of competition vs cooperation between subsidiaries within a multinational corporation. [Internet] [Masters thesis]. University of Pretoria; 2010. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/2263/24439.
10. Gaim, Addisalem. The Influence of Competition on the Performance of Microfinance Institutions in Ethiopia .
Gaim, Addisalem. "The Influence of Competition on the Performance of Microfinance Institutions in Ethiopia ." 2015. Thesis, Addis Ababa University. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://etd.aau.edu.et/dspace/handle/123456789/6755.
Gaim, Addisalem. "The Influence of Competition on the Performance of Microfinance Institutions in Ethiopia ." 2015. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Gaim A. The Influence of Competition on the Performance of Microfinance Institutions in Ethiopia . [Internet] [Thesis]. Addis Ababa University; 2015. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://etd.aau.edu.et/dspace/handle/123456789/6755.
11. Bageri, Vasiliki. Essays in competition economics and the enforcement of competition policy.
▼ Economists have been involved a lot in recent years in considering issues of enforcement of Competition law and how enforcement can become more effective, such as legal standards, substantive standards, penalties etc. This dissertation, contributes to the above by examining two important dimensions of the enforcement of Competition law: (i) fines and (ii) the requirement of extant market power in forming a presumption that unilateral firm actions or mergers may lead to social harm. Particularly, we study some key issues concerning the calculation of optimal fines by Competition and Regulatory Authorities (Chapter 2), we introduce a new methodology for setting fines (Chapter 3) and we examine the effects of exclusion in abuse of dominance cases with product differentiation and how they depend on the source of market power (Chapter 4). At the end of each chapter we give the conclusions relating to each of the main essays.
Bageri, Vasiliki. "Essays in competition economics and the enforcement of competition policy." 2015. Thesis, Athens University Economics and Business (AUEB); Οικονομικό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10442/hedi/36366.
Bageri, Vasiliki. "Essays in competition economics and the enforcement of competition policy." 2015. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Bageri V. Essays in competition economics and the enforcement of competition policy. [Internet] [Thesis]. Athens University Economics and Business (AUEB); Οικονομικό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών; 2015. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/10442/hedi/36366.
12. [No author]. The impact of competition vs cooperation between subsidiaries within a multinational corporation .
author], [No. "The impact of competition vs cooperation between subsidiaries within a multinational corporation ." 2010. Masters Thesis, University of Pretoria. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-05072010-150558/.
author], [No. "The impact of competition vs cooperation between subsidiaries within a multinational corporation ." 2010. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
author] [. The impact of competition vs cooperation between subsidiaries within a multinational corporation . [Internet] [Masters thesis]. University of Pretoria; 2010. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-05072010-150558/.
13. Meyer, Nicholas. Competition law's inclusion of public interest considerations in mergers and beyond: a potential paradox?.
Meyer, Nicholas. "Competition law's inclusion of public interest considerations in mergers and beyond: a potential paradox?." 2017. Thesis, University of Cape Town. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25461.
Meyer, Nicholas. "Competition law's inclusion of public interest considerations in mergers and beyond: a potential paradox?." 2017. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Meyer N. Competition law's inclusion of public interest considerations in mergers and beyond: a potential paradox?. [Internet] [Thesis]. University of Cape Town; 2017. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25461.
14. Garcia, Devin Daniel. Examination of the Relationship Between Competition and Innovation: Toward a Robust Approach.
▼ Interest in the relationship between competition and innovation has seen a resurgence in the last decade. Driven by the theoretical possibility of an inverted-U relationship, current research has focused on non-linear models of competition and innovation. The empirical results that proceed from this research are mixed, including predictions of an inverted-U, a monotonically increasing and a monotonically decreasing relationship. While much attention has been given to the theoretical possibility of a non-linear relationship, relatively little has been given to the subject of measurement. Following Carl Shapiro (2012), I define ``more competitive" as the extent to which a firm stands to lose profitable sales to its rivals should it offer inferior value to consumers. My framework implements this definition in a direct way: two firms must simultaneously choose their innovation strategies under the expectation that, should only one successfully innovate, the unsuccessful firm will have a portion of its sales stolen by its rival. The greater the portion, the more contestable, and therefore competitive, the market. This framework predicts a robust, positive relationship. I apply my model to a sample of U.S. publicly traded manufacturing firms over the period 1962-2009. Innovation is measured via total factor productivity, and competition is measured as the elasticity of firm market value with respect to sales, where sales proxy consumer value. My measure of innovation is consistent with the fact that innovation drives long-run economic growth, and my empirical measure of competition is consistent with ``more competitive" in that it estimates how much market value a firm would have lost if it hypothetically generated less value for consumers. I estimate a dynamic panel model at the firm level with a quadratic specification in competition. My results indicate a positive and monotonically increasing relationship between competition and innovation. Advisors/Committee Members: Sickles, Robin C (advisor).
Garcia, Devin Daniel. "Examination of the Relationship Between Competition and Innovation: Toward a Robust Approach." 2016. Doctoral Dissertation, Rice University. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/1911/96558.
Garcia, Devin Daniel. "Examination of the Relationship Between Competition and Innovation: Toward a Robust Approach." 2016. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Garcia DD. Examination of the Relationship Between Competition and Innovation: Toward a Robust Approach. [Internet] [Doctoral dissertation]. Rice University; 2016. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/1911/96558.
15. Bao, Yong. Supply chain competition.
▼ This thesis studies the influence of horizontal competition on supply chain performance. Unlike most of the existing literature which focuses on horizontal competition between echelon levels, we look at both the supply chain and the individual company's performance with the presence of supply chain to supply chain competition.Specifically, this thesis is composed of three individual research papers.The first paper deals with chain-to-chain horizontal competition and considers price competition among an arbitrary number of supply chains by comparing two cases. In the first case each supply chain is vertically integrated, while in the second, decentralised, case the manufacturers and retailers act independently. We explore the effect of varying the level of price competition on the profitts of the industry participants and demonstrate the important role played by the spread of underlying market shares. The coefficient of variation of these market shares determines whether decentralised supply chains can outperform integrated supply chains with an appropriate level of competition.The second and third papers focus on in-chain horizontal competition with capacity constraints. In the second paper, we look at a supply chain with one manufacturer and two downstream retailers. Based on total capacity available, the manufacturer needs to find ways to best use the capacity by determining whether or not to release the capacity information to retailers.The third paper looks at competition in a more complicated supply chain structure. A retailer buys three brands of products from two manufacturers. One manufacturer produces both branded and private label products, and the other one manufactures a branded product only. With our model, we are able to determine the profits of each supply chain agent. At the end of the paper, we use data from the Australian milk industry and discuss a problem in which a manufacturer needs to decide how to allocate capacity between the national brand and the private label when there is a capacity shortage. Advisors/Committee Members: Anderson, Eddie, The University of Sydney.
Bao, Yong. "Supply chain competition." 2009. Doctoral Dissertation, University of New South Wales. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/43537 ; https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/fapi/datastream/unsworks:4748/SOURCE02?view=true.
Bao, Yong. "Supply chain competition." 2009. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Bao Y. Supply chain competition. [Internet] [Doctoral dissertation]. University of New South Wales; 2009. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/43537 ; https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/fapi/datastream/unsworks:4748/SOURCE02?view=true.
16. Strauss, Alida Cornelia. Competitive intelligence skills needed in South Africa.
South Africa as a country continues to rank low in the world of competitiveness. The research done for this dissertation focused on the need for South African organisations to perceive Competitive Intelligence (CI) as one of the most important tools to improve their competitiveness through a systematic, practical approach to make the CI cycle worth while, especially through skills development. This study intends to identify the skills CI professionals in South Africa need in order to conduct the CI process in organisations effectively, thereby improving the country's competitive position. However, the difficulty of this task lies with organisations in general not acknowledging the necessity of CI in the workplace. Only a limited number of organisations recognise the importance of such a unit. A survey was therefore conducted, by questionnaire, among organisations with existing CI units in which the respondents had to identify the skills they deemed necessary for the CI professional to run the CI process effectively. Findings suggested that the majority of respondents were 40 years and older, in the top structure of larger organisations and had been using CI for longer than five years. The overwhelming result is thus that there are skills inequalities between what skills respondents view as crucial and those that rated highest in their self-evaluation. Skills identified as most important include, among others, networking and research skills analytical abilities. The research also indicated that where CI had been established in certain organisations for at least five years, it did not reflect positively overall on South Africa's current competitive situation. However, where there is a systematic CI approach, problem-solving is easier to address and negatives could be turned around. With this in mind and a proper "buy-in" into skills development, it will have a very positive outcome for all the organisations that wish to improve their competitiveness.
Strauss, Alida Cornelia. "Competitive intelligence skills needed in South Africa." 2010. Thesis, University of Johannesburg. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10210/3469.
Strauss, Alida Cornelia. "Competitive intelligence skills needed in South Africa." 2010. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Strauss AC. Competitive intelligence skills needed in South Africa. [Internet] [Thesis]. University of Johannesburg; 2010. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/3469.
17. Tran, Thi Minh Phuong. Enactment of Vietnam Competition Law 2004: A case study of harmonizing internal and external factors.
Tran, Thi Minh Phuong. "Enactment of Vietnam Competition Law 2004: A case study of harmonizing internal and external factors." 2013. Masters Thesis, Victoria University of Wellington. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10063/3282.
Tran, Thi Minh Phuong. "Enactment of Vietnam Competition Law 2004: A case study of harmonizing internal and external factors." 2013. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Tran TMP. Enactment of Vietnam Competition Law 2004: A case study of harmonizing internal and external factors. [Internet] [Masters thesis]. Victoria University of Wellington; 2013. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/10063/3282.
18. Amod, Ashraf. The effects of regulation on competition in an emerging economy from an energy sector perspective.
▼ The debate of regulation and government involvement in markets has been alive for decades. With the recent economic crisis, the debate has been elevated and most developed economies have had to rely on government involvement for their survival. The most contentious point for many was whether regulation positively or negatively impacts the markets. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of regulation on the energy sector in South Africa and whether regulation attracts new entries into the energy sector, thus creating an environment for competition. The research methodology used was based on exploratory research which comprised of face-to-face in-depth interviews with key informers from each of the stakeholder groups. In-depth interviews provided useful and detailed information from each key informer. The results from thirteen in-depth, face-to-face interviews with the key informers were analysed and presented. It was found that the majority of the key informers believed that regulation impacts competition and profits. Having the entire sector regulated has more of a negative impact. There is a lack of new entries into the energy sector with minimum competition created. There is an urgent need for a constructive pricing structure in the energy sector. Advisors/Committee Members: Mr T Beney (advisor).
Amod, Ashraf. "The effects of regulation on competition in an emerging economy from an energy sector perspective." 2010. Masters Thesis, University of Pretoria. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/23837.
Amod, Ashraf. "The effects of regulation on competition in an emerging economy from an energy sector perspective." 2010. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Amod A. The effects of regulation on competition in an emerging economy from an energy sector perspective. [Internet] [Masters thesis]. University of Pretoria; 2010. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/2263/23837.
19. Wondwosen, Gizaw. Challenge and Practices of School on the Contribution for the Development of Basketball in Addis Ababa City Administrator .
▼ Basketball was first played in Entoto Comprehensive and Kokebe Tsebah Secondary School. Then the Addis Ababa inter-school association included basketball in the inter-school competition which was held every year during that time.The focus of this study was to investigate challenges and practice of school on the contribution for the development of basketball. A concise review of related literature was taken to discuss the different issues which are related with school basketball.To conduct this study, a descriptive survey method was employed to asses' data from targeted sampled groups. The sampled school includes ten government schools. The subject of the study were 102 students 10 principals, 10 teachers and 5 federation members 2 alumni (former student/coach). The data obtained from respondents through questionnaire, interview, focus group discussion and observation presented as supplements to enrich information that was drawn questionnaires. The result of the study revealed that there is lack of qualified basketball coach, material, interest to coach, personal out look of parents and school principals. Moreover, inadequate support given by Addis Ababa basketball federation was very prominent one. The finding in the study points out that most of the player began to play basketball very late in life between 15-17 years due to this and other the problems the Current, status of school basketball is ill with so much complicated problems. Advisors/Committee Members: Tesfay Asgedom (PhD) (advisor).
Wondwosen, Gizaw. "Challenge and Practices of School on the Contribution for the Development of Basketball in Addis Ababa City Administrator ." 2011. Thesis, Addis Ababa University. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://etd.aau.edu.et/dspace/handle/123456789/5345.
Wondwosen, Gizaw. "Challenge and Practices of School on the Contribution for the Development of Basketball in Addis Ababa City Administrator ." 2011. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Wondwosen G. Challenge and Practices of School on the Contribution for the Development of Basketball in Addis Ababa City Administrator . [Internet] [Thesis]. Addis Ababa University; 2011. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://etd.aau.edu.et/dspace/handle/123456789/5345.
20. Irungu, Danson M. Competitive strategies adopted by Kenya Tea Development Agency Limited .
▼ The study set to determine thefor the firm to remain .competitive both locally and globally. adopted by KTDA and the challenges the company encounters. The managers of KTDA will use the findings of this study to review the strategies adopted and build a more strong competitive position in the tea industry. Researchers and academicians will use this study as referral material for related studies. The literature review section has discussed the generic competitive strategies and the Porter's Five Forces model to shed more light on the subject. The methodology used was a case study research design. The interview method was used to obtain data from the respondents using an interview guide. Data was analyzed using content analysis and presented in accordance with the study objectives. From the findings, it can be concluded that KTDA pursues a combination of cost leadership, differentiation and differentiation focus competitive strategies. However, a number of challenges are encountered which the management should continuously tackle in order for the firm to remain .competitive both locally and globally.
Irungu, Danson M. "Competitive strategies adopted by Kenya Tea Development Agency Limited ." 2012. Thesis, University of Nairobi. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/12808.
Irungu, Danson M. "Competitive strategies adopted by Kenya Tea Development Agency Limited ." 2012. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Irungu DM. Competitive strategies adopted by Kenya Tea Development Agency Limited . [Internet] [Thesis]. University of Nairobi; 2012. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/12808.
21. [No author]. The effects of regulation on competition in an emerging economy from an energy sector perspective .
author], [No. "The effects of regulation on competition in an emerging economy from an energy sector perspective ." 2010. Masters Thesis, University of Pretoria. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-04072010-134051/.
author], [No. "The effects of regulation on competition in an emerging economy from an energy sector perspective ." 2010. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
author] [. The effects of regulation on competition in an emerging economy from an energy sector perspective . [Internet] [Masters thesis]. University of Pretoria; 2010. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-04072010-134051/.
22. Duthie, Catherine. Factors Promoting Coexistence between Endemic Ants and Invasive Wasps.
▼ Invasive animals can alter the community composition of native ecosystems by means of competition and predation. In this study I investigated the factors that may facilitate coexistence between endemic ants and invasive wasps. Previous research has shown that entire communities can be impacted by invasions. Endemic species subject to pressure from invasive species may undergo a niche shift to enable coexistence and minimise the impact of this pressure. The invertebrate community composition of Nothofagus forests in the South Island of New Zealand has been altered by predation from Invasive Vespula wasps. Ants and wasps in this ecosystem coexist on the same trophic level; they simultaneously fill multiple trophic roles as primary predators, secondary predators, and primary consumers. The outcome of competition between species such as ants and wasps is not easy to predict, and may vary in different communities and with different densities of competitors. In this dissertation I aimed to determine the extent to which competition occurs between native ants and invasive Vespula wasps, and to investigate the impacts of invasion on the native invertebrate community. I quantified the invertebrate community composition of Nothofagus forests and then experimentally reduced wasp numbers to investigate any changes as a result of a reduction in predation or competition. The observed changes in community composition were as a result of differing abundances of taxonomic groups within my study sites. In order to more robustly determine the community effects of wasp removal it may be necessary to reduce wasp numbers by up to 90% for many years. Even under these conditions, species that are particularly vulnerable to wasp predation or competition may have already been permanently excluded from this system. I then investigated temporal niche shifts by native ants when faced with reduced competition for food resources from invasive wasps. There was an increase in the numbers of ants foraging on honeydew when I experimentally reduced wasp numbers. This increase may be due to increases in both the quantity and quality of the available honeydew. When densities of wasps were substantially reduced there was a difference in the foraging abundances of ants and wasps; however, there was no change in the overall temporal foraging pattern of ants. Isotope ratios and consequently trophic levels of native competitors may change in response to the removal of an invasive species. To test this I examined changes in isotope ratios as a result of removal of wasps. The observed changes in the trophic levels of both ants and wasps appear to be a result of natural seasonal variation in consumption related to the nutritional requirements of the colony. Finally, I examined behavioral interactions between native ants and invasive wasps during foraging. This study has indicated that wasps may find and access resources more readily when ants are present. Native ants may facilitate foraging by wasps, as demonstrated by the increase in wasp numbers when foraging… Advisors/Committee Members: Lester, Phil, Moles, Angela.
Duthie, Catherine. "Factors Promoting Coexistence between Endemic Ants and Invasive Wasps." 2011. Doctoral Dissertation, Victoria University of Wellington. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10063/1588.
Duthie, Catherine. "Factors Promoting Coexistence between Endemic Ants and Invasive Wasps." 2011. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Duthie C. Factors Promoting Coexistence between Endemic Ants and Invasive Wasps. [Internet] [Doctoral dissertation]. Victoria University of Wellington; 2011. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/10063/1588.
23. 陳林峰; Chen, Linfeng. Three essays on network economics.
陳林峰; Chen, Linfeng. "Three essays on network economics." 2016. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Hong Kong. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10722/236578.
陳林峰; Chen, Linfeng. "Three essays on network economics." 2016. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
陳林峰; Chen L. Three essays on network economics. [Internet] [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Hong Kong; 2016. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/10722/236578.
24. Zheng, Song. Price and service competition with consumer behavior.
Zheng, Song. "Price and service competition with consumer behavior." 2012. Thesis, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Accessed April 18, 2019. https://doi.org/10.14711/thesis-b1165785 ; http://repository.ust.hk/ir/bitstream/1783.1-7485/1/th_redirect.html.
Zheng, Song. "Price and service competition with consumer behavior." 2012. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Zheng S. Price and service competition with consumer behavior. [Internet] [Thesis]. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; 2012. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.14711/thesis-b1165785 ; http://repository.ust.hk/ir/bitstream/1783.1-7485/1/th_redirect.html.
25. Green, Ofer. Integration of Non-Efficiency Objectives in Competition Law.
Green, Ofer. "Integration of Non-Efficiency Objectives in Competition Law." 2008. Masters Thesis, University of Toronto. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/1807/17173.
Green, Ofer. "Integration of Non-Efficiency Objectives in Competition Law." 2008. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Green O. Integration of Non-Efficiency Objectives in Competition Law. [Internet] [Masters thesis]. University of Toronto; 2008. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/17173.
26. Drews, Wayne R. Evolution of United States telecommunications policy, technology, and competition at the Bell Operating Companies 1952-1996.
▼ Attention is focused on the local Bell Operating Companies (BOCs) and to the changes initially driven by competition in Customer Premises Equipment (CPE). The federal court's decision in January 1982 resulted in AT&T's divestiture of the BOCs and permanently changed the landscape. This study begins well before 1982 to consider the AT&T's tradition of control over all telephone services and the significance of losing that control. The terminal, subscriber loop, central office switches, and interoffice trunks had for many years been the exclusive province of the regulated telephone operating companies. Communications lines and terminals were indivisible and installation of any subscriber-owned equipment violated federal and state tariffs and carried the penalty of service disconnection. The demise of that tradition occurred because of technology evolution, initiatives of competitors, changes in customer requirements, AT&T responses, and ultimately the actions of governmental bodies. To fully appreciate impacts of the court-ordered divestiture and the ramifications of various adjustments necessary by the divested BOCs, mandated that this study extends into the years of the mid-nineties. Even though most historical attention rests with AT&T Headquarters. The BOCs were key to the processes. Archives of the BOCs were explored and provided details previously unstudied by historians. Other primary sources were media accounts, proceedings of governmental agencies and industry forums, and interviews of individuals involved in the events. The Bell System attitude of invincibility was a significant factor leading to their loss. In the end, a break-up would be done and open competition delivered significant benefits. Advisors/Committee Members: Usselman, Steven W (advisor), Winders, William P (committee member), Barke, Richard P (committee member), Krige, John J (committee member), Flamming, Douglas (committee member).
Drews, Wayne R. "Evolution of United States telecommunications policy, technology, and competition at the Bell Operating Companies 1952-1996." 2017. Doctoral Dissertation, Georgia Tech. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/59226.
Drews, Wayne R. "Evolution of United States telecommunications policy, technology, and competition at the Bell Operating Companies 1952-1996." 2017. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Drews WR. Evolution of United States telecommunications policy, technology, and competition at the Bell Operating Companies 1952-1996. [Internet] [Doctoral dissertation]. Georgia Tech; 2017. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/1853/59226.
27. Wang, Yongliang. Matching Rules and Market Share in an Electronic Trading Platform.
▼ In this thesis we study the problem of how to effectively manage and operate a market that attracts trading agents to compete for resources in it. In order to attract more agents to the market, the market needs to have incentive policies. We are particularly interested in the research of the incentive matching policy. We propose a new matching policy with loyalty incentive features. In order to cooperate and improve its performance, we also propose a new accepting policy to work with the matching policy. We use the CAT platform as our test-bed. We describe all the policies and techniques used in the CAT competition in detail. In addition we carry out experiments which further support our proposal.
Wang, Yongliang. "Matching Rules and Market Share in an Electronic Trading Platform." 2011. Thesis, University of Waterloo. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10012/5694.
Wang, Yongliang. "Matching Rules and Market Share in an Electronic Trading Platform." 2011. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Wang Y. Matching Rules and Market Share in an Electronic Trading Platform. [Internet] [Thesis]. University of Waterloo; 2011. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/10012/5694.
28. Burne, Allan. The Sub-Lethal and Density-Dependent Effects of an Invasive Wasp on an Endemic Ant.
▼ The detrimental effects of invasive species on recipient taxa are most frequently reported in terms of displacement or extinction. However, there may be other less obvious effects. For example, a reduction in resource availability mediated by a novel competitor may affect growth and development in recipient species. The cost of aggressive competitive interactions with invasives may promote niche shifts or altered spatial distribution to minimise competition, and intense predation by exotic species may result in a reduced effective population size with a concomitant reduction in genetic diversity. In this thesis I examined the sub-lethal effects of varying densities of the invasive competitor and predator Vespula vulgaris on the morphology, behaviour, population genetics and spatial distribution of the New Zealand endemic ant Prolasius advenus. The restriction of food resources can result in reduced worker size and altered scaling relationships of adult body parts in ants. Measurements of nine morphological characters from P. advenus worker ants collected from sites of varying wasp density revealed that workers were significantly smaller where there were more wasps. I also found evidence of allometric scaling relationships among body parts, which varied between areas of high and low wasp density. In particular the scaling relationships between the abdominal segments and overall size were found to be weaker where there were more wasps. This scaling variation resulted in ant workers with proportionally smaller abdomens in areas where wasps were most abundant, which might reduce their resource gathering and defensive efficiency. I tested the hypothesis that tasks performed by workers would be size correlated. In the presence of high densities of wasps, honeydew collection and brood care was undertaken by larger workers, whereas foraging in leaf litter was undertaken by smaller workers. In contrast, no relationship was found between task and worker size where wasp densities were lower. I suggest that in addition to increased efficiency in the collection of liquid carbohydrate resources larger workers may also serve a defensive role. I also tested the hypothesis that where the exclusively diurnal wasps were most abundant P. advenus workers would minimise potential competitive interactions by foraging predominantly at night. However, P. advenus were found to forage as much or more by day in the presence of high densities of wasps and to forage more nocturnally where wasps were sparse. Increasing the number of foragers by day may improve P. advenus' competitive ability with wasps, but has the potential to come at the cost of other nest functions, energetic gains and increased worker mortality. Competitive mechanisms might influence ant population genetics, but wasps have also been shown to prey on dispersing ant queens. Analysis of microsatellite DNA markers revealed evidence of a genetic bottleneck in P. advenus populations where invasive predatory wasps have persisted at high population densities for more than twenty… Advisors/Committee Members: Lester, Phil, Ritchie, Pete.
Burne, Allan. "The Sub-Lethal and Density-Dependent Effects of an Invasive Wasp on an Endemic Ant." 2012. Doctoral Dissertation, Victoria University of Wellington. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/10063/4459.
Burne, Allan. "The Sub-Lethal and Density-Dependent Effects of an Invasive Wasp on an Endemic Ant." 2012. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Burne A. The Sub-Lethal and Density-Dependent Effects of an Invasive Wasp on an Endemic Ant. [Internet] [Doctoral dissertation]. Victoria University of Wellington; 2012. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/10063/4459.
29. Mugaino, Baker. Trade liberalisation in the East African Community: the need for competition law and policy in Uganda.
Mugaino, Baker. "Trade liberalisation in the East African Community: the need for competition law and policy in Uganda." 2012. Thesis, University of Cape Town. Accessed April 18, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/18615.
Mugaino, Baker. "Trade liberalisation in the East African Community: the need for competition law and policy in Uganda." 2012. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
Mugaino B. Trade liberalisation in the East African Community: the need for competition law and policy in Uganda. [Internet] [Thesis]. University of Cape Town; 2012. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/18615.
30. González Sánchez, Juan Manuel. Multimarket Contact And Competitive Aggressiveness At The Marketing Mix Tactical Level.
ABSTRACT Multimarket competition theory centers in interfirm competition, specifically when a set of firms have presence and face each other as competitors in multiple different markets (Baum & Korn, 1996; Bernheim & Whinston, 1990; Gimeno, 1999; Gimeno & Woo, 1994, 1996; Haveman & Nonnemaker, 2000; Jayachandran, Gimeno, & Varadarajan, 1999). In such situation, the chances of knowing, hurting or benefiting each other increase, allowing firms to recognize their interdependence, pressing them to be cautious when deciding which competitive actions to make because the outcome of a move depends heavily on how rivals respond to it (Baum & Korn, 1996; Bernheim & Whinston, 1990; Gimeno, 1999; Haveman & Nonnemaker, 2000; Jayachandran et al., 1999). This situation pushes firms to tacitly collude and mutually forbear (Bernheim & Whinston, 1990; Edwards, 1955; Feinberg, 1985), lowering the intensity of competition understood as the level of aggressiveness and speed of the actions and counteractions firms initiate to compete in the market (Chen, 1996). According to Smith, Ferrier and Ndofor (2001), most competitive actions can be classified as pricing actions, marketing actions, new product actions, capacity and scale-related actions, service and operations actions, and signaling actions. Each one describes a set of similar moves, that are assumed to have similar implications for the intensity of rivalry (Chen, 1996). However, in the field of marketing it is widely argued that many actions across categories are naturally interconnected (Borden, 1984; Constantinides, 2006; Magrath, 1986; McCarthy, 1978), and categorization used in competitive dynamics ignores that fact. Thus, in this dissertation, I propose to categorize all product, pricing, distribution, and promotional actions as marketing actions, and group them in the marketing mix (McCarthy, 1978), which presents marketing tactics as sets of actions that can be categorized as either product, price, promotion, or place. I emphasize in this dissertation that what is broadly accepted by competitive dynamics researchers as different competitive action categories should be considered all marketing actions, and equally important, these actions should be jointly analyzed as tactical competitive moves, rather than analyzed in isolation or as independent strategic action categories. Since tactical marketing actions, those of the marketing mix, are deployed on a day-to-day basis, even under multimarket contact conditions it may seem that competitive aggressiveness and intensity of competition increase, contrary to the tenets of the theory. In this line, I am proposing to analyze the consequences of multimarket contact from a tactical marketing perspective, mainly with the aim of understanding how firms under a multimarket contact setting deploy competitive movements at the marketing mix's tactical level without disrupting mutual forbearance. For this, I will develop some hypotheses and test them using the Colombian car industry as empirical setting.
Advisors/Committee Members: (author), Cannella, Albert A. (Thesis advisor), (Thesis advisor), A.B. Freeman School of Business Management (Degree granting institution).
González Sánchez, Juan Manuel. "Multimarket Contact And Competitive Aggressiveness At The Marketing Mix Tactical Level." 2015. Thesis, Tulane University. Accessed April 18, 2019. https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane:78561.
González Sánchez, Juan Manuel. "Multimarket Contact And Competitive Aggressiveness At The Marketing Mix Tactical Level." 2015. Web. 18 Apr 2019.
González Sánchez JM. Multimarket Contact And Competitive Aggressiveness At The Marketing Mix Tactical Level. [Internet] [Thesis]. Tulane University; 2015. [cited 2019 Apr 18]. Available from: https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane:78561.


Here are several of the inspiring children's books which are donated by Inspire Every Child. A variety of other Illumination Arts titles are also donated.
What child doesn't wonder about being grown up? Follow an imaginative young girl who spends an entire day exploring the possiblitities for her future. This book encourages children of all ages to "try on" dreams of their own.
Am I a Color Too?
As seen through the eyes of young Tyler, this vibrantly illustrated, highly acclaimed book examines the impact of imposing labels based on skin color, rather than celebrating our common values as human beings.
Through the eyes of a young boy, we visit children around the world, finding new paths and making new friends, sharing the same air, water, sun, and moon.
A young girl contemplates all the energy and cooperation it takes to grow the yellow pear tomatoes she loves so much.
© Inspire Every Child, 2014. All rights reserved.


text:
New Cases of Interest - July 22, 2019
Cuevas-Martinez v. Sun Salt Sand, Inc. (2019) 35 Cal.App.5th 1109. A SLAPP case. Defendant filed a SLAPP motion to strike a malicious prosecution claim which the trial court granted but the Court of Appeal reversed, finding that the malicious prosecution claim showed a probability of prevailing by demonstrating a prima facie case of a lack of a probable cause for a prior claim of intentional interference with contractual relationships. This was shown because discovery revealed that there were no contracts to interfere with and the misappropriation of trade secrets claim also lacked evidence, but the case was nonetheless maintained for two years after it was known to be baseless.
In Re Marriage of Benner (2019) 36 Cal.App.5th 177. Another SLAPP case. In this case an expert who had been appointed to prepare a child custody evaluation in a marital dissolution action was subject to a petition seeking joinder of the expert in the dissolution action itself, which the expert then filed a SLAPP motion about. The trial court however denied the SLAPP motion which was affirmed by the Court of Appeal, finding that the petition was not subject to the SLAPP statute because it did not contain a cause of action against the expert. The expert could have attacked the issue another way and the court concluded that the compulsory joinder was not appropriate.
Related Attorney(s):
Gregory L. McCoy
When serious legal issues need to be addressed, our experienced attorneys have the skill to vigorously protect and promote our clients' interests.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Jerusalem Post Middle East
Palestinian prisoners transferred to Red Cross buses
Israeli officials awaiting word that Schalit in Israel before allowing buses carrying prisoners to pass into Gaza, W. Bank.
By YAAKOV LAPPIN, REUTERS
Ketziot Palestinian prisoner convoys_311
Israel transferred all the Palestinian prisoners to be released to Gaza and the West Bank to Red Cross buses on Tuesday as part of the deal to secure the freedom of Gilad Schalit.
The transfer to the Red Cross was made after the IDF received confirmation that Schalit was in Egyptian control on the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing.
Israeli officials were awaiting word that Schalit had entered Israel, after which the prisoners will be transferred to the West Bank and Gaza via Egypt.
High Court decides not to intervene in Schalit swap
Gilad Schalit's release: The stage-by-stage timeline
Egypt's government was stepping up security at Cairo airport as it prepares to fly prisoners out of the country, an Egyptian intelligence source said on Tuesday.
Cairo airport raised security to emergency level as it prepared to transport 40 of the Palestinians to three countries as part of the swap deal, the intelligence source said.
The source said the prisoners were being sent to Turkey, Syria and Qatar and that their travel formalities were being overseen by Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal.
Earlier on Tuesday morning, Israel transferred hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in heavily guarded convoys setting in motion the phased prisoner exchange.
The first convoy of prisoners arrived at Kerem Shalom to be transferred to Egypt where authorities there would monitor their arrival in Gaza. All inmates that were scheduled to be released in the West Bank arrived at the Ofer Prison near Ramallah.
In the deal reached between Israel and Hamas, Schalit will be freed after five years of captivity in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Its implementation is expected to take several hours.
The first vehicles that left a jail in central Israel around 2:30 a.m. were carrying female prisoners, most to be freed in the West Bank. They were accompanied by security personnel from Egypt, who mediated the swap deal, an official said.
All border crossings have become closed military zones in preparation for the transaction.
Throughout Monday night, the Prisons Service finalized preparations to bus the prisoners in heavily-guarded convoys to release points in Rafah and the West Bank. Over 1,000 police were monitoring the transaction.
After receiving the military's green light, the convoys headed out early on Tuesday under guard by the Prison Service's Nachson Unit.
Twenty seven female prisoners held in the Sharon prison will be sent to the Ofer prison, from where they will be released to the West Bank.
Ninety six male prisoners being held in the Ktziot facility in the south will be bused to the Ofer prison in the West Bank. Six male prisoners will be released to their homes in Israel. Three will be released from the Megido prison, two from the Ayalon prison, and one from the Katzrin jail in the Golan.
The remainder of the male and female prisoners will board a southbound bus convoy to the Kerem Hashalom border crossing, where they will be transferred to Egyptian custody.
Later, Schalit is expected to be transferred to the custody of the International Red Cross and will cross into Egypt via the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza. He will then cross into Israel and will be taken to a nearby base for a preliminary medical exam.
Click for full JPost coverage of Gilad Schalit


Mylopotas (or Mylopotamos) is the most popular and the most cosmopolitan beach of Ios, full of young and joyful crowd. It is found south west of Chora and can get really crowded during summer. It is a marvelous long sandy beach, that extends for one km and offers soft golden sand and emerald waters.
Many facilities are also offered, such as a variety of water sports, sunbeds, umbrellas, stylish beach and pool bars, cafes, restaurants, mini markets and hotels.
The bay of Mylopotas is quite well protected from the meltemi wind. Right opposite, one may see the island of Sikinos.
Mylopotas can be reached in a few minutes by the bus departing from Hora every 15 minutes.
A very nice fish tavern is found at the southwestern end of the bay, offering a disembarcation jetty for smaller boats and dinghis.
At the southwestern coasts of the bay there are two simple but impressive whitewashed cycladian houses. The one belonged to the famous Greek artist "Gaitis" and the other to his close friend, the french artist, Jean Marie Drot. Now they belong to their families.
Kolitsani is a small hidden beach at the north of Mylopotas. It has crystaline transparent green-blue waters and soft sand in and out of the sea. It is not organised and not touristic at all. It is frequented by families.
ANCHORAGE INFO: The bay of Mylopotas offers quite good shelter, but not as good as the Port Ios. It is ideal for those who love swimming in crystaline waters. It offers all kinds of facilities, all day and all night long (loud beach bars, restaurants, cafes etc). Moreover, Hora (the center of Ios' night life) is only a few minutes away by bus or taxi. Therefore, it is an ideal anchorage for overnight stay if the weather is convinient. You may use one of the four coves, depending on the winds. There you may find peace and quietness, by being only a few meters away from the crowd.


There were eleven caves above the poppy line—a decent choice for these four visitors. Enough room even for the fifth when he or she arrived. The caves were not hard to see. Their darkly shadowed entrances made a constellation of black stars against the copper of the cliff. There were two easily accessible caves at the cliff foot, partly obscured by salt bushes and fallen debris, and then a further four above, opening on to a sloping terrace. Higher still, and less inviting, were three more caves, set far apart. And then, a hundred paces to the left, a further two, halfway up a seam of darker, stony soil.
The first of the cave-dwellers to arrive and startle Miri had been the oddest of them all. Was that the word? Not odd, perhaps, but out of place. He was a gentile, blond-haired and narrow-faced; quite beautiful, she thought. And a touch sinister. A Roman or a Greek perhaps, a traveller. But there was nothing Greek or Roman in his quality of clothes. He wore a local tunic and a high, woven cap which made his face seem even thinner than it was. His skin was dry from too much sun. But he seemed strong, like leather thongs are strong. Designed to carry loads.
And he was heavily and well equipped—a large goatskin for water, a rush bed-mat, a cloak, a walking staff made from an elongated piece of tarbony with ram-horn curls halfway along its length so that when he rested on its nub his weight had to drop and spiral twice before it reached the ground. He'd taken the smallest and the warmest of the middle rank of the caves.
The third was—surprisingly—a female Jew of Miri's own age, though tall and stout and obviously not used to walking. And obviously not used to cleaning out a cave. She could not bear to touch the bones and carrion inside. She couldn't make a decent broom from any of the bushes. She'd chosen her shelter badly, too—one of the two caves on the lower level of the scarp, the first she'd found, easy to reach, but hard to protect. The bushes at the front, would encourage flies, and worse. The entrance was a little higher than the chamber itself. It wasn't likely there'd be rain—but if there were she'd have to sleep in it.
The fourth? A badu villager from the deserts in the south, with silver bracelets and a hennaed beard and hair. He was more familiar. The caravan had often traded with such men; some silver for a dozen goats, some perfume for a roll of cloth, a tub of dates for unimpeded passage through their land. They'd sell their children too, it was said. And their wives. He stood outside his cave, one of the two set at a distance from the others in the darker seam of rock. He pulled and twisted his hair, so tightly that the skin on his skull came up in peaks, and stared at Miri. Finally she had to reach for her discarded headscarf, cover up her hair, and duck into her grave. Why such a man would choose a cave and not a tent was inexplicable. The badus only went into caves to die, and this man—small and unrelenting—seemed too wild to die.
Miri watched the four of them until she and her bladder were set free by darkness. She did not see the fifth.
The fifth, a male, was far younger than he might have seemed from a distance. Not much more than an adolescent, then. Bare feet make old men of us all, on stony paths at least. But even when he reached the softer and more accommodating track above the landfall, he walked not from the shoulders like a seasoned traveller intent on vanquishing the rocks and rises in his path, but cat-like from the hips, his toes extended, pointing forwards, and put down with caution before his heels were committed to the ground. He'd learnt the single lesson of the thorn. His feet were already torn and bruised. So: long legs, long neck, long hands, short leopard steps. And like a leopard he paused frequently, not to rest but to sniff the air as if he could locate—beyond the sulphur rising on the valley's thermals—that a caravan of camels had passed, that there were gazelles feeding in the thorns, that there was someone dying in the wilderness ahead.
He was open-mouthed. He looped his tongue from side to side, circling his lips, tasting the atmosphere for smells. In fact his sense of smell had been so bludgeoned by the heat and by his thirst that he could not detect the sulphur even. He was parched and faint. His lips were cracked. His legs and back—unused to heat and effort such as this—were aching badly. If he paused to sniff so frequently, that was because he could smell nothing. It worried him. He hoped to clear the blockage in his nose, and shift his headache too.
He was a traveller called Jesus, from the cooler, farming valleys in the north, a Galilean, and not one used to deprivations of this kind. He'd spent the night in straw, a shepherd's paying guest, and had that morning left his bag, his water-skin, his sandals, and his stick where he'd slept. His quarantine would be achieved without the comforts and temptations of clothing, food, and water. He'd put his trust in god, as young men do. He would encounter god or die, that was the nose and tail of it. That's why he'd come. To talk directly to his god. To let his god provide the water and the food. Or let the devil do its work. It would be a test for all three of them.
First he had to find a place where he and god could meet in privacy. He'd say, if asked, that god had told him where to go, the details of this very route. He had been standing at the window of his father's workshop and god had called his name. Every time the mallet hit the wood, his name was called. And every time the mallet hit the wood he took a further step along the road in his mind's eye, down from the living sea in Galilee to the salt-dead waters in the south, and then ascending to the desert hills and caves.
There were nine days of mallet hitting wood before he found the courage to argue with his family, tie his bag, and leave. The hills were beckoning, he'd said. But as he walked up into the wilderness—his nostrils blocked, his feet raw, another mallet striking on his skull relentlessly—he could not find much evidence of god. The Galilee was full of god at that time of the year—new crops, flowers on the apricot, the lambs, the warmer nights … It was not hard to worship god in the Galilee. But here the spring had hardly made its mark. Jesus was an optimist. Look at the uncompleted land, he told himself, dry-tongued, enfeebled by the labours of the walk: the valleys waiting for their rivers, the browns and yellows waiting for their greens. Creation was unfinished here. This was where the world was not complete. What better place to find his god at work?
Unlike the four who had preceded him that afternoon and set up home amongst the poppies, Jesus did not follow any of the carvings in the rocks which indicated where hermits would easily find caves. He did not mean to leave his imprint softly in the clay. He was looking for much harder ground. He preferred the pious habitats of lunatics and bats where he could live for 40 days, hanging by his toes if need be, and not have any excuse for shifting his eyes from heaven for an instant. He'd seen that there were caves set in the crumbling precipice which fell away abruptly below the camel trail, beyond the ambition even of goats. He'd choose one which was hard to reach and inhospitable, exposed to the sun and wind and cold. He set his sights on the remotest and the highest of the caves, a key-shaped hole. It had no more than a sloping rock as its yard, hardly bigger than a prayer-mat, the perfect perch for eagles. And for angels. But Jesus hesitated at the point where he should start to climb down. He surely had the right to drink before he embarked on his trials. It was not dusk. There was, as yet, no thin and bending moon to mark the onset of his fast. God would not come before day one. So he could drink. It was not a sin to drink. It would not be a sign of weakness, either, if he prepared for quarantine with, say, a simple meal, a wash, a rest.
He'd seen the batwing outline of Miri's goatskin tent, pitched on the flatland of the valley head. He walked towards it. There was no one to be seen in the open. But there were goats. If there were goats then there was water too. And milk and meat.
A tethered donkey announced his arrival while he was still 50 paces away. Jesus stood, as was the custom, a little distance from the open awning of the tent and waited for the greetings from within, and the invitation to come forward. He could not pay for food and drink. What little money that he had he'd left behind that morning in the keeping of the shepherd. But there are traditions, even in the wilderness. A traveller can wet his face and lips for free.
He coughed. He clapped his hands. He called out greetings of his own. But no one came. That was strange—the tent was unattended, and yet the awnings were still raised. Jesus took a step or two towards the tent, so that he could see inside more clearly. There were the usual signs of domesticity; the rugs and mats, the pots, some bread and dates discarded from a meal and being finished off by ants, the sacks of grain, the remnants of a fire, the skins of water hanging in the shade, the bundled blankets on a bed, the row of shoes. But no one there, as far as he could tell. Jesus looked around for signs of someone approaching, but there were none. He called again, without reply. His patience was not endless. He was keen, he told himself, to reach the cave before darkness and to begin his fast. He was afraid as well. Afraid that he might lose his nerve the moment that he reached the precipice, and go back home at once.
This was not theft. He took a few more steps towards the awning and lifted the nearest and the smallest of the water-skins off its wooden peg. He stooped and picked up the wasted heels of bread, the dates. He rubbed the ants off on his arm. Not killing them. Not trying to, at least. They dropped into the dust and went about their business, unperturbed. He picked some pieces of straw and the small stones from between his toes and off his heels. He squeezed out what thorns he could find. His feet were bruised and sore. His head had not improved. His body ached. Perhaps it would not matter if he went inside, out of the sun, if he sat cross-legged within the tent, those blankets as a seat, and took his final supper in some comfort. Again—with water, bread and dates held in his hands—he took some further steps. He left the sun. His eyes were baffled by the darkness. While he waited to become accustomed to the gloom he heard a whistling throat, as if the bunched-up blankets at his ankles were calling out for drink.
Fevers will allow a period of short lucidity before their victims die. Musa became conscious for long enough to hear that one word sleeping, and then to register the pains throughout his body. His head was spongy like a mushroom. He could feel each vein and pipe, each gut and artery, each bone and nerve, highlighted by his agony. He was a parched and desert landscape, illuminated by lightning. And in that moment when he heard the word he saw the face as well. A Jewish face, young and long and womanly. A Galilean face. A peasant face. A robber's face, for sure, because the man had helped himself to water and was standing with their water-skin held in his hand. Musa would have struck the man if he'd been well enough. It would have been his duty to make it dear that theft, especially of water, deserved some bruises and a bloody nose. It would have been his pleasure, too. But he couldn't even clench his fist. He tried to call out Miri's name. He hadn't got the breath to make a sound.
He put his fingertips on Musa's forehead. He stroked his eyelids with his thumb. 'Are you unwell? I am not well myself.' He laid his hand on Musa's chest and pressed so that the devil's air expressed itself and filled the tent with the odour of his fever and expelled the one word Musa had already formed, 'Mi Ri.' The cloth that Miri had put across his mouth to keep the fever in almost lifted with the power of her name. His tongue was black. Again the Galilean put all his weight—which wasn't much—on Musa's chest and pressed. The sulphur of the hills. The embers of the chesty fire. Even Jesus could smell it. No further calls for Miri though.
'A sip, a sip. And then I'm gone,' Jesus said. 'The merest drop.' He poured a little water on his hands and smeared the dust of his journey across his face. He was immensely cold, but glad to have this respite from the sun. He wet his hair and massaged the water into his scalp so that his headache was somewhat dampened. He resurrected the softness in the bread and dates with water. He ate, hardly touching his lips with those long, craftsman's fingers. He drank some more. Then—an afterthought—he tipped a little water on Musa's cheeks and lips. He felt inspirited, newly released from pain, and powerful. He wet the cloth and put it back in place on Musa's mouth. He shook the water from his hands over Musa's face, a blessing. 'So, here, be well again,' he said, a common greeting for the sick.
What should he do? It didn't matter much. There were no witnesses or anyone to reckon with. There was as yet no thin and bending moon to mark the first night of his rendezvous with god. So he was unobserved. There is no choice, he told himself. He had to leave this sick man on his own to die. Otherwise he'd never reach the cave; he'd miss the start of quarantine.
He would have run away, except his feet would not allow him to. He hobbled out, an old young man, letting go the water-skin and pulling down the open awnings as he passed. He was embarrassed by his selfishness, perhaps? But Musa did not witness it. He did not witness anything. His eyes were closed. He was asleep at last, and dreaming plumply like a child.
—Jim Crace is the author of Continent, The Gift of Stones, Arcadia, and most recently Signals of Distress. He has won the Whitbread First Novel Prize, the E.M. Forster Award, and the GAP International Prize for Literature. He lives in Birmingham, England with his wife and two children. Quarantine will be published in April by Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
Fourteen drawings from Jim Torok's 2013 Jesus series.
He was set to leave that evening on a packet boat that had arrived the night before from Cartagena via Port of Spain. Officially, he'd only been recalled, but a secret letter brought him wind of circulated gossip—they were going to defrock him in New York.
Good old-time religion and edgy, contemporary art make for odd bedfellows, but this unholy alliance thrives in the art and life of Reverend Ethan Acres.


► What is the 21st century Finnish countryside like? Italian photographer Luca Berti (b. 1978) travelled from Ostrobothnia to Lapland and from Karelia to the southern coast, taking black and white images with his film camera. He documented rural scenery and people, focusing particularly on those features that have survived the pressure of urbanisation. The black and white photographs created in the darkroom at his Copenhagen studio have that certain quality, something ancient that reminds us of our centuries-long rural roots.
The classical photographs of the book show the timeless poetry of the contemporary rural landscape and its inhabitants.


text:
Let's go fishing
BY RON PATCH
The photo with this article is in the 2021 Chester Historical Society calendar. It would date to about 1915. Tom Hildreth who scanned the photo and performed his magic in Photoshop commented, "It's very Norman Rockwell-like."
Two young boys sit in a homemade canoe. The boy on the left holds a stick for a fish pole. He has no reel. Line would have been cast and retrieved by hand. The other boy has a store bought fishing creel over his shoulder. An older boy is about to shove them off.
The boys going fishing circa 1915. Photo provided by Chester Historical Society
If you look on the left end of the canoe, you can see a vertical seam where the canvas ends were joined. I don't see any ribs like a commercial canoe. The bottom would have had several wooden slats that made up the deck for your feet. You can see two oars. It must have been a lot of fun for the boys.
The millpond
Down in the Depot was the millpond. This millpond was the water supply for Waterman's gristmill. The dam was just below the concrete bridge we have today. This pond flooded back up the Williams River quite some distance. This is where the boys were when their photo was taken.
In the winter a large section of the pond was shoveled off for skating parties. Danny Clemons remembers clearing snow off the pond with his father Bill. Other adults and kids pitched in. Skaters built fires on the banks to keep warm. Danny says there could be four or five fires and as many as 40 skaters. Entire families showed up to skate. Lighting was provided with lanterns and four tall bridge lights.
I grew up on the Chester village side of the tracks. I did fish here a few times when I was a kid but not often. I called Danny Clemons for his memories. Danny grew up on this side of the tracks and is older than me. Danny can remember further back than I and has a clear memory of those days.
Danny told me a few feet below the dam there was a cable. This cable was overhead and indicated this was as close to the dam as you could fish.
From this cable all the way up to the Church Street Bridge, fishing was restricted. This "no fishing" section produced some giant brown trout. Danny tells about looking off the bridge one day and seeing a huge brown trout swim by with a spinner in its mouth. Danny said it was larger than the brown Jake Howe had mounted in his barbershop. Jake's brown went six pounds so the brown Danny saw was a monster.
Another thing Danny remembered was a red wooden box on a post. As you cross the bridge today, on the left at the end of the bridge was the red box. In the box was a guestbook. Guests would sign the book and walk out onto the concrete bridge. Here they would toss in pieces of stale bread and watch the browns surface to feed. The water would boil as they fed. Danny says people came from far and wide to feed the trout.
I vaguely remember the dam. In my day it was deteriorating. I seem to remember as I looked up the river to the dam that the left side of the dam had given way. Danny told me it was made of logs and was six or eight feet in height.
The purpose of the dam was to hold back water to power the water wheel at the gristmill. Over time, without maintenance, the dam succumbed to the elements.
Waterman's mill
The brothers Charles H. and Roswell W. Waterman ran the gristmill. The Watermans bought the mill from a Mr. Gowing and immediately improved it. The mill had a capacity of up to 400 bushels of grain per day, a storage capacity of six carloads, with a storehouse at the Depot with seven or eight additional carloads. A carload was a railroad boxcar.
They not only ground corn and wheat from local farmers but purchased carloads of grain from the west. In total they handled over 100 boxcar loads a year.
Our 2021 calendars are available at Stone House Antiques Center, Chester Hardware, Town Hall, Smitty's Chester Market, and Framery of Vermont.
This week's old saying an old-timer told me describing his neighbor: "He's so cheap he wouldn't pay $5 for a $10 bill."


text:
GM, Toyota seen bringing an era of recalls as scrutiny rises
Lightweights: The 10 lightest cars are also super efficient
Ruined Mallett Hammer Corvette pulled from sinkhole
After intense PR blunders, automakers turn to "recall first, ask question later" strategy
by Craig Trudell, Yuki Hagiwara and Ma Jie	 | April 10, 2014
Toyota shares fell the most since the 2011 Japan tsunami.Itsuo Inouve
Recall first, ask questions later.
After Toyota and General Motors — two of the world's largest carmakers — were criticized for dragging their feet before calling back defective models in recent years, automakers are accelerating safety actions. Recalls recently climbed to records in Japan and China, while in the U.S., the 2014 pace is well ahead of last year's, when the tally rose to the highest since 2004.
Toyota, roiled by a crisis over unintended acceleration in 2009 and 2010, yesterday issued its second-biggest recall announcement ever at a time when GM is facing condemnation for its handling of faulty ignition switches tied to at least 13 deaths. U.S. regulators are probing GM over the way it dealt with flaws it first saw as far back as 2001, a sign of intensifying scrutiny of safety practices in the auto industry.
"Since the Toyota fiasco in 2009 and 2010, there's already been a tendency for automakers to be more cautious," Ashvin Chotai, managing director of Intelligence Automotive Asia, said by telephone. "They are recalling when they previously wouldn't have — that's already occurring."
Regulators have drawn parallels between GM's long-delayed actions and Toyota's recall of 10 million vehicles for unintended acceleration more than four years ago. The Toyota City, Japan-based company admitted last month as part of a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department that it had concealed information about those defects.
Toyota, the world's largest automaker, recalled more than 6 million vehicles yesterday for five potential safety hazards. The problems involved almost 30 models and included cables that could prevent airbags from deploying and windshield-wiper motors that may break down and cause brake lamps to stop working.
"We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and concern brought by this recall announcement," the company said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. "Toyota has rededicated itself to strengthening its commitment to safety and quality. In part, that means refocusing on putting customers and people first, by listening better and taking appropriate action."
Some of the 6.39 million vehicles Toyota recalled yesterday are being called back for more than one fault, pushing the tally to 6.76 million. Several of Toyota's top sellers — such as its Camry and Corolla sedans and RAV4 sport utility vehicles — were included in the recalls.
Total recalls in the U.S. this year through yesterday have already exceeded 12 million vehicles — more than half of last year's 22 million — according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.
Toyota surpassed 1 million recalled models in the U.S. this year even before yesterday's announcement, as had Nissan. Honda is at about 900,000, and Chrysler, after an April 2 recall of sport-utility vehicles, is about 738,000, according to the data.
The latest Toyota recall included 2.3 million in North America, 1.77 million of which were in the U.S., according to the company.
Last year's U.S. recall tally was the most since 2004's 30.8 million, according to NHTSA. In that year, GM recalled 10.7 million vehicles, including 3.66 million pickups for faulty tailgate support cables, according to the Center for Auto Safety.
This year, GM has already recalled more vehicles — 6.07 million — than any other automaker did in the U.S. in all of 2013 or 2012. Toyota recalled the most U.S. vehicles in each of the last two years — 5.29 million in 2013 and 5.33 million in 2012.
"It's always better to err on the side of caution," Jessica Caldwell, an analyst with car-shopping site Edmunds.com, said in an e-mailed statement. "Given the sensitivity around auto safety in the last five years, it should be no surprise that we see as many recalls as we do today."
Yesterday's recall by Toyota was smaller than the 7.43 million vehicles it called back in October 2012 to fix power- window switches. Ford called back more than 14 million vehicles in 2009 for a faulty cruise-control switch that could cause a fire, according to the U.S. Transportation Department's website.
Carmakers often take years to recall vehicles. Toyota said it first identified one of the five problems in yesterday's recall back in 2007. The one that came to light most recently emerged last year, it said.
Toyota last month admitted wrongdoing and agreed to an independent monitor who will assess its safety reporting practices as part of a $1.2 billion settlement related to its handling of unintended-acceleration problems. Attorney General Eric Holder said it was the largest criminal penalty ever imposed in the U.S. on an automaker.
For Akio Toyoda, president of the company and grandson of its founder, persistent recalls are a setback to his efforts to restore the company's once-sterling reputation for quality. He's pledged to improve and speed up the company's processes, forming a global quality group that he chairs. The automaker said previous decision-making related to safety was too dependent on executives in Japan and that it has given regional operations more autonomy to make fixes.
Lawmakers last week brought up Toyota's shortcomings during its unintended-acceleration crisis as they pressed GM chief executive Mary Barra on the company's handling of flawed ignition switches. The largest U.S. automaker is being fined $7,000 a day for failing to fully answer NHTSA's questions about the flawed part in cars including the Chevrolet Cobalt.
"If this is the new GM leadership, it's pretty lacking," Senator Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, told Barra during one of two days of hearings last week. "I am very disappointed, really as a woman to woman, because the culture you're representing here today is the culture of the status quo."
Toyota and GM aren't alone in facing challenges with cars in need of fixes. A surge in new models, increasingly complex technology and heightened regulatory scrutiny are behind the increase, according to a study released last month by financial advisory firm Stout Risius Ross Inc.
Automakers' issues extend beyond the U.S. market. In Japan, auto recalls reached a record of almost 8 million vehicles in the fiscal year that ended March, the nation's Transport Ministry said yesterday. They climbed to a record in China after the country introduced recall laws.
The increasing use of standardized parts across vehicle lineups also raises the risk of larger recalls. Carmakers including Toyota also are pressing suppliers to make common components that they can put into various models.
In yesterday's Toyota recall, about 3.5 million of the vehicles — more than half in North America — were called back to replace spiral cables that may prevent driver's-side airbags from deploying. Models involved include RAV4, Corolla, Yaris, Highlander, Tacoma and Camry that were produced from April 2004 to December 2010.
Toyota is also recalling 2.32 million vehicles to inspect and, if needed, replace the front seat rails on three-door models. Toyota will also fix noisy and potentially unstable steering column brackets, replace windshield wiper motors and engine starters.
Takaki Nakanishi, a Tokyo-based analyst for Jefferies Group LLC, lauded Toyota for getting ahead of its problems.
"This is Toyota being more active in calling back vehicles to ensure quality," said Nakanishi, who has a hold rating on the company's shares. "The number is big, but the faults are minor and not critical."
Akio Toyoda
Alan Ohnsman
Ashvin Chotai
Automotive Recalls
Bank of America Corporation
Chrysler Group LLC
Chua Kong Ho
Consumer Cyclicals
Craig Trudell
DENSO Corporation
Edmunds.com Inc.
Jeff Plungis
Jefferies Group LLC
Jessica Caldwell
Masahiro Akita
Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.
Motor Vehicle Manufacturing
Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.
Southfield (Michigan)
Stout Risius Ross Inc.
Takaki Nakanishi
The Center for Auto Safety
TOPIX Index
Young-Sam Cho
Yuki Hagiwara
GM suspends 2 engineers in ignition switch recall case
Lexus to show NX crossover in Beijing in pursuit of Audi, BMW buyers
Recalls expected to cost GM US$1.3 billion
Ford recalls nearly 700,000 Escape SUVs and C-MAX hybrids over airbag risk
Toyota optimistic about delivering fuel-cell car in 2015
Canada's 5 best-selling auto brands in the first half of 2019


The followers of Jesus were still in the thick of grieving. To find the tomb empty was just way too much for the women who came with spices, expecting to find Jesus still lying in the tomb as dead as when they left him after his burial. How can one think rightly in such a situation? Grief and shock still overwhelming them, only their devotion to Jesus moved them to action to complete the customary care for the dead. So, God's messengers intervene to proclaim the fulfillment of Jesus's own words to the women so that they would understand the import of what they found out - the stone rolled away from the tomb, and the tomb itself, empty. "... He is not here, but he has been raised" (v. 6a). But when the women, in turn, became the messengers to the Apostles, they were met with incredulity.
Peter had the presence of mind to see the tomb for himself. Yet, we are not told if he believed right away. We are only informed that he was amazed! Amazed that what the women told him about the tomb were right? Amazed that Jesus may indeed have been resurrected if not taken away? Amazed that there is something going on that he does not yet understand? The Gospel takes us to the starting point of the Apostles' process of owning their faith in Jesus Christ, cultivated by the Resurrection-event. Therefore, it tells us about our own faith as well. It evolves from (1) mere acceptance (hook, line and sinker) of what is "imposed" upon us, (2) to doubts, disbelief and denial, and finally, into (3) ownership of one's own belief system. It goes without saying that incredulity is a phase in the growth and maturity in faith. Such state, when taken seriously and honestly will eventually graduate to embracing and living one's faith at a deeper level.
That happened to many followers of Christ, including Peter. The faith of the Apostles that we received through the Church was planted by Jesus himself through his words and works, forged in the crucible of suffering, betrayal, and questionings, and nourished by the Resurrection-event. Indeed, the very Gospels we have now were written after a crucial soul-searching, enlightened by their experience of Jesus after his passion and death. The very first Easter was like a lamp shining brightly that illuminated understanding of the many first-hand encounters they had of Jesus. The Scripture and faith we received therefore were products of that gradual faith development. We, therefore, await with great enthusiasm and expectation our own growth in faith, and the explosion of possibilities it can produce in our own generation.
Jesus, our friend and brother, may our own experience of your resurrection bring us to an ever growing faith and love in you. May our growth in faith and love move us to a devoted service of your people. For you, our Lord, are alive in hearts. Amen.