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An integrated approach to the study of the distribution of resources in the clonal grass Agrostis stolonifera L. is described. Paired, connected ramets of A. stolonifera were grown hydroponically with high (+P) or low (-P) phosphate treatments. Ramets in -P had a lower dry weight than +P with fewer leaves, branches and tillers and longer, less-branched roots. The length of the main stolons, the rates of production and elongation of leaves, photosynthesis and stomata! conductance were unaffected. Paired ramets given heterogeneous phosphate environments, with younger ramets given +P, were heavier than those grown in homogeneous +P. Vascular connections, investigated using contrasting dyes, revealed a bidirectional flow between ramets in the xylem of different vascular bundles. The rate of flow was greatest in the direction of the transpiration stream and shading the parent ramet had no effect on this. When Ol!e partner in a pair of ramets was given a P-treatment and the other either high, low or no water, droughted +P ramets showed reduced rate of stomata! conductance whereas droughted -P ramets did not. The uptake of 32P, within paired ramets given contrasting phosphate treatments, was greatest by the roots of high P ramets. Transfer of P was faster towards +P than to -P ramets. P was carried in the xylem, circulated out of the leaves and translocated basipetally in the phloem. Approximately 95% P was in the vacuoles and 5% in the cytoplasm with the ratio of cytoplasmic to vacuolar P higher in the oldest leaves. The allocation of 14C assimilate showed that little was translocated from a fed shoot but more was allocated to -P than to +P roots. The results show that adjacent ramets are physiologically integrated as regards water and phosphate but have independent carbon economies.

The principle aim of this thesis is to construct a consumption function for Turkey for policy analysis using the annual State Planning Organisation (SPO) time-series data. This study commences from 1962 and extends until the end of 1994, when a financial crisis occurred in Turkey. It attempts to analyse not only the decline in the private savings rate during the first half of the 1980s, but also the significant rise from 1986 onwards. The thesis starts with an introduction which explodes the main research objectives, considers the existing consumption theories and extentions, records the main data features to be explained, briefly overviews the modelling strategy and discusses the basic considerations of the research and gives the structure of thesis. A literature survey on the theory of consumption is given in Chapter 2. The LifeCycle/ Permanent-Income hypothesis is considered as central to the two mainstream approach. : the Euler approach and the solved-out approach. These approaches are further extended by considering uncertainty and precautionary saving, credit restrictions, saving and leisure. habit or costs of adjustments and the durability of goods, the role of assets and asset prices. financial liberalisation and demographic factors. Finally, comparisons between the two approaches arc made in the conclusion of that chapter. Theory can deliver concepts with permanent relationships in economics, but it should be supported by empirical findings, since theory alone is insufficient to determine the actual economic relationship. Hence, Chapter 3 focuses on theoretical and appl ied modelling issues to construct a theory-consistent, congruent and encompassing consumption function. Congruency implies that the empirical model matches the available evidence in al l measured attributes (i.e., it is consistent with the theory from which it was derived, has unexplained components that arc innovations against available information, has basic parameters that are constant, is data admissible, and where any conditioning variables are weakly exogenous for the parameters of interest). Encompassing denotes that the model of interest can account for the result of rival models of the same phenomena. I also define structure as the set of invariant features of the economic mechanism. A parameter can be structural only if it is invariant for an extension of the sample period (constant), is invariant with respect to changes elsewhere in the economy (regime shifts), and is invariant over extensions of the information set (adding more variables). Chapter 4 examines the small-sample properties of the statistical methods used by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The informativeness of the data is investigated in an unrestricted Vector Auto-regression (VAR) with small-samples of noisy data combined with a high real growth rate and nominal inflation. This is to see how the relative drift dominates in explaining the informativeness of the data. The Monte results are summarised by using response surfaces to relate the biases to sample size. The ratio of standard deviations to standard errors in each equation is also analysed. The strong impacts of the system error variances in these response surfaces indicate the importance of high variances in VA Rs. Furthermore, I found noise, and a function of the signal to noise ratio. and cross-equation correlation had a large impact, but less effect from the relative drift. Chapter 5 presents an overview of the Turkish Economy, particularly during the sample period. by pointing out the lessons to be drawn from the stabilisation experiments and their effect on the private sector saving decision in Turkey. The aim of Chapter 6 is to get nominal housing wealth and housing price data from the available data, such as the nominal private disposable income. nominal private investment in the housing sector and the consumer price index, since housing wealth is claimed to be a major determinant of private savings in Turkey. Chapter 7 aims to reveal the problems of Turkish data by analysing the history of the Turkish a1ional Accounts to construct a data-base for estimating a consumption function for Turkey. GDP by expenditure is constructed from five different sources. Turkish accounting residuals are allocated by applying the linear regression approach. The results show that GDP-by-output is more reliable than the GDP-by-expenditure measure for Turkey. Chapter 8 is devoted to the time series modelling and evidence. Previous findings on consumption for Turkey have been formulated using conventional econometric techniques with a static estimation methodology within the Permanent Income Hypothesis (PIH). I adopted the equilibrium correction model (ECM) solved-out consumption function approach and tried to incorporate the effects of age. precautionary behaviour in the case of uncertainty, credit constraints, habits or costs of adjustments. and the durability of goods for developing belier understanding of private sector savings behaviour in Turkey. The modelling is based on the dynamic econometric methodology that involves the estimation of a general unrestricted model (GUM). a co-integration and long-run analysis, and the simplification of the GUM to a parsimonious dynamic model that is deduced by applying a sequential testing procedure. The final model is congruent: It matches the available evidence in all measured attributes and forecasts well, has white noise errors and constant parameters, and encompasses the VAR model equation as well as other specifications in previous models. Moreover, the model has a structural interpretation. The results of the final model reveal strong positive effects of the real interest rate. inflation and inflation uncertainty, a strong negative effect of population aged 15-44, a positive effect after one lag period of the change in the average propensity to consume. which represents the effects of expectations, habits or adjustment costs, in addition to the significant effect of the inverse of per capita Private Disposable Income and the change in housing wealth to income ra1io on the private average propensity to consume in Turkey. These findings offer an explana1ion for the salient features of the Turkish consumption pattern observed from 1he lime series data. These results also provide some policy implications such that inOation control should be strengthened and improved for consumption stabilisation. Furthermore. interest rate policy also has an important role to play in the savings process in Turkey. The research on small-sample properties of 1hc statistical methods by means of Monte Carlo Simulations strengthens the results of the empirical model. These. confirm the poor determination of intercepts in I(I) VARs, and the corresponding advantages of an equilibrium correction model formulation. Furthermore. the insignificance the of irrelevant dynamics should encourage model builders to use a dynamic econometric methodology to develop parsimonious models, such as used for building a consumption model for Turkey in this thesis.

This dissertation examines musical affective economies surrounding the Wars of Religion in Lyon. Expanding on affect theory that considers how emotions stick to and slide from subjects and objects, this research asks how musical affect also sank into bodies and ontologies, serving to both bond and break the community of Lyon. I consider how the boundaries of community were delimited through musical theatre in the early sixteenth century, demonstrating how techniques of communitas were essential to performing this community. I explore how the principal of Lyon’s Collège de la Trinité made use of these techniques, both in his pedagogical theatre, and in an elite musical print aimed at religious reconciliation. From here, I examine how these techniques began to be used towards divisive ends, as Protestants confronted Catholics with psalms and “spiritual songs.” A group of martyr songs, disseminated amongst both elite and more popular audiences, activated the Protestant habitus through such genres, putting the visceral experiences of five young martyrs of Lyon into oral circulation. The subversiveness of such “spiritual songs” within orthodox martyrological practices underscores the musicality of how the theatre of martyrdom was memorialized. Polemic was especially propagated through the inflamed populace in the guise of “chansons nouvelles,” contrafacta songs that were “sung to the tune of” extant popular tunes. Exploring how this genre engaged with contemporary notions and concerns about anger, I demonstrate how the timbres (song bases) of these “chansons nouvelles” accumulated affect across the Wars of Religion as they were adhered to violent Catholic invective. Finally, I turn to Lyon’s proto-social welfare project, permanently established in 1534, the Aumône Générale. Interrogating how the institution subjected the city’s impoverished residents to a Catholic economy of faith, I focus on how the hyper-marking of the forced musical processions of the poor would serve to facilitate their eventual confinement in the seventeenth century. Positioned within the emergent subfield of music and conflict studies, this dissertation argues that, because of its very ephemeral and emotional qualities, music was a vital force in cultivating both solidarity and animosity during the tumult of the Wars of Religion.

East-Central Europe has experienced dramatic changes as the early 1990s brought an end to the socialist regimes of the former Soviet Union satellites. In understanding the transition those countries have undergone from socialist to capitalist arrangements, it is necessary to appreciate the essential differences between the two systems. This thesis starts with a presentation of the basic characterizing features of socialism and capitalism as they have been manifested in practical application. The description of the fundamentals of the opposing ideologies is followed up by a discussion of the transition from one to the other, with a particular emphasis on the problem of soft budget constraints. Although the transformation of the former socialist regimes of East-Central Europe was not pursued through identical approaches, it can be described by a number of common phenomena including instability, high inflation, and significant declines in output. Romania is observed as a case study of transition, having displayed a more reluctant commitment to change. The gradualist attitude of the first years of transition brought modest growth and restructuring. A switch to more radical reforms in the late 1990s and dedication to the goal of EU integration resulted in significant improvements and led to Romania’s acceptance as an EU member nation. This paper offers an overview of its transition and economic performance during the almost two decades since the country’s 1989 revolution.

The worldwide trade is growing quickly, and manufacturers are producing and selling in many countries. The logistics industry is one of the critical elements of these international exchanges, because its efficiency can influence dramatically the performances of the buying/selling of goods. Indeed, to successfully run their business at an international level, shippers need a strong help from their Third Party Logistics providers. To answer to those needs, most of the logistics services providers have pursued mergers and acquisitions to build rapidly global and integrated networks. The author's assumption is that shippers do not necessarily want to deal with the very large firms which have resulted from several Mergers and Acquisitions. Therefore, this dissertation investigates the pertinence of the increasing use of this strategy, suggesting the partnerships between Small and Mid-Sized Third Party Logistics as an alternative. The results of this research have demonstrated that shippers use the services of large logistics services providers, because a bigger scale gives to these logistics' multinationals some advantages compare to smaller logistics services provider. However, shippers are not necessarily using these large players as a single supplier despite the promises of the logistics firms which propose this solution. Indeed, the small and mid-sized players remain attractive thanks to some features generalists cannot meet. Therefore, the common Shippers Logistics' Mix (SLM) includes several categories of Third Party Logistics to cover different areas, and to meet different needs.

Research in multiagent systems and electronic commerce applications often involves the task of designing a mechanism to allocate scarce resources among self-interested agents. Microeconomics has developed an extensive theory on the use of markets and auctions to solve such resource allocation problems. However, in many of the problems that arise in computer science applications, resources are discrete and the agents often realize positive synergies, or complementarities, between resource types. These problem features pose particular challenges to mechanism designers. This thesis supports the application of microeconomic theory to multiagent systems and electronic commerce problems in three ways. First, it defines a structural view of markets that allows clustering of resources into multidimensional auctions. This structural view facilitates the exploration of tradeoffs between communication, computation, and convergence properties when only a subset of resources exhibit complementarities. Second, this thesis provides a parametrized view of the space of auction designs. This parametrization adds considerable structure to the design problem, and provides a concise and consistent language with which to communicate the rules to participating agents. Finally, this thesis extends the state of the art in multidimensional auctions for both discrete and continuous resources. Perhaps most significantly, this dissertation introduces the Ascending k-Bundle Auctions, a family of single-sided auctions for discrete resources that associate payments with bundles. These auctions have a desirable equilibrium property---no agent prefers some other bundle at the posted payments to the one it is allocated by the mechanism.

The selective application of modern economic models to the ancient economy enables the reconstruction of trade activities prior to the advent of the modern nation-state, though it is clear that ancient trade flourished despite the lack of economic infrastructure now provided by central governments such as communication facilities, transport routes, and political stability in the countryside. This research examines the motivations and mechanisms for exchange activities in the central Indian subcontinent from the early centuries B.C. to the early centuries A.D., a period when the political landscape was composed of a number of competing dynasties and short-lived political alliances. Field research was conducted at the site of Kaundinyapura and its environs, where a series of systematic surface collections was undertaken in 1994 and 1995 to document the artifacts of local trade in the Early Historic period. Analysis of these collections demonstrates that items of common use during the Early Historic period, such as sandstone implements and micaceous vessels, were widespread at the site even though the natural source areas for these materials is at least 75 kilometers away. The archaeological record thus supports a model of a thriving trade network in utilitarian and domestic-use goods even during periods of political instability. It is proposed that trade activities flourished in this period because of a widespread need for objects which served multiple roles: objects were the visible manifestation of kinship, religious and social ties across an economically-diverse landscape, as well as being symbols expressive of hierarchical social structures within towns and villages.