Abstracts – Browse Results
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Deltas, G M (1996) Essays in auctions and procurement: An analysis of bidding rings, left bids, stochastic properties of winning bids, and two step structural estimators of bidding for contracts, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Yale University.
Kohn, M J (1970) The stock of unfinished construction in the USSR, 1950-1965: An efficiency problem in a centrally planned economy, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Yale University.
- Type: Thesis
- Keywords: construction cost; conflicts; regression analysis; unfinished construction; abandoned projects
- ISBN/ISSN:
- URL: https://www.proquest.com/docview/288323956
- Abstract:
The dissertation seeks to ascertain whether the stock of unfinished construction— defined as construction put into place but not in operation— in the Soviet Union in 1950-1955 was inefficiently large, as copious Soviet writings on this subject maintain. An efficient, or optimal, level of unfinished construction is defined as the amount of unfinished construction associated with maximizing the difference between the discounted value of the profits to be earned from completed construction and the discounted value of construction costs. Models are formulated showing how unfinished construction will vary under normal circumstances with respect to so-called "economic" variables— that is, variables which can be expected to determine or influence the volume of unfinished construction in any economy. Regression analysis is then employed to see whether unfinished construction in the USSR has varied as one would expect with respect to (1) these economic variables and (2) several institutional factors which are likely to push unfinished construction above optimal levels. The rationale behind the use of these regressions is that a close correlation between changes in an independent variable and changes in unfinished construction implies that the independent variable also significantly influences the level of unfinished construction. The results of the regressions imply that unfinished construction has been significantly affected by both economic and institutional factors. The significance of the institutional variables suggests that Soviet authors have been correct in characterizing the stock of unfinished construction as excessively high. The principal general institutional factors which appear to contribute most heavily to elevating unfinished construction above optimal levels are overambitious planning and conflicts of interest between different levels of authority. In addition, the fact that, in general, work by construction organizations is both evaluated (in terms of plan fulfilment) and paid for at closely spaced intervals regardless of whether the work represents completed construction helps cause excess unfinished construction. The dissertation finds that the Soviet authorities have made little progress in reducing unfinished construction to satisfactory levels despite the intense concern which the problem has engendered.
Krasnokutskaya, E (2003) Identification and estimation in highway procurement auctions under unobserved heterogeneity, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Yale University.
Willis, M A (1979) The effects of cyclical demand on industry structure and on the rate of technological change: An international comparison of the housebuilding sectors in the United States, Great Britain and France, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , Yale University.