This dissertation addresses three topics on information economics. Generally, information is not perfect or costless as classical economics assumes. Thus, a consumer searches information at his cost or a seller provides information at his cost. First, chapter 2 presents a theoretical model where a consumer searches for local brand information....
Sustainability has been the focus of intense discussions over the past two decades, with topics around the entire product life cycle. In the manufacturing phase, research has been focused solely on environmental impact assessment or environmental impact and cost analysis in its assessment of sustainability. However, few efforts have investigated...
Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) may provide a way to increase timber value recovery by replacing manual timber cruising with a simple-to-use, cost-effective alternative. TLS has been studied in several trials worldwide. Past studies have not compared TLS based estimates with mill estimates of stem value and volume.
Three differently stocked...
During the last five years, interest in productivity-based group incentive plans for mill operations in the forest products industry has increased. In a 1983 monograph in this series titled "Company /Employee Gainsharing Programs," Michael B. McKay anticipated this trend. In that monograph, he defined "gainsharing" as a "group incentive plan."...
The objective of this monograph is to illustrate how the elements of an investment analysis are brought together to form a basis for sound decisions on new plant investments. These elements include financial analysis, raw material analysis, and market analysis.
The financial analysis consists of determining the initial investment required...
This dissertation investigates the effect of endogenous and exogenous events on firm behavior and performance. These are fundamental questions in economics. The contribution of this study is threefold. First, it provides estimates of the impact of mergers on railroad efficiency, which has important antitrust implications. Second, it provides new estimates...
The wood-based building products industry has experienced significant turbulence over the past several decades as a function of multiple forces including among others globalization, product and process innovation, and shifting customer and consumer interest and demands. Collectively, these changes have challenged the historical tenets which have defined industry strategy and...
Export-oriented illegal logging has been recognized as a major global problem in environmental, social, and economic terms. It has been argued that export-oriented illegal logging does not benefit the community or government that should be benefited by its own natural resources. The emergence of policy initiatives targeting illegal logging could...