Table of Contents -- List of Tables 11 -- List of Figures 13 -- Abbreviations 17 -- 1 Introduction and thesis plan 19 -- 1.1 Motivation 19 -- 1.2 Problem to be solved within this thesis 23 -- 1.3 Approach 23 -- 2 Status of research 27 -- 2.1 Theories of Leasing 27 -- 2.1.1 General (non-industry specific) buy or lease theories 27 -- 2.1.2 Theories with a focus on container leasing 35 -- 2.2 Empirical studies 41 -- 2.2.1 General (non-industry specific) empirical studies 41 -- 2.2.2 Empirical studies with a focus on container leasing 46 -- 2.3 Summary of variables affecting the buy or lease decision 47 -- 2.4 Summary of literature gap and lessons learned 51 -- 3 Macroeconomic time series evaluation 55 -- 3.1 Impact on lease share 55 -- 3.1.1 Hypotheses 55 -- 3.1.2 Data and measurement issues 56 -- 3.1.3 Sample statistics and simple correlations 58 -- 3.1.4 Regression model 61 -- 3.1.5 Model estimates 63 -- 3.2 Impact on lease volume 66 -- 3.2.1 Hypotheses 66 -- 3.2.2 Data and measurement issues 67 -- 3.2.3 Sample statistics and simple correlations 67 -- 3.2.4 Regression model 69 -- 3.2.5 Model estimates 70 -- 3.3 Summary of macroeconomic analysis and lessons learned 73 -- 4 Microeconomic panel analysis 75 -- 4.1 Impact on lease share 75 -- 4.1.1 Hypotheses 75 -- 4.1.2 Data and measurement issues 78 -- 4.1.3 Sample statistics and simple correlations 84 -- 4.1.4 Regression model 91 -- 4.1.5 Model estimates 92 -- 4.2 Impact on change in lease share 101 -- 4.2.1 Hypotheses 101 -- 4.2.2 Data and measurement issues 101 -- 4.2.3 Sample statistics and simple correlations 102 -- 4.2.4 Regression model 108 -- 4.2.5 Model estimates 109 -- 4.3 Summary of microeconomic analysis and lessons learned 117 -- 5 Shipping line survey 119 -- 5.1 Survey design 119 -- 5.1.1 Participants 120 -- 5.1.2 Invitation letters and reminders 121 -- 5.1.3 Response rate 121.

5.1.4 Questionnaire and summarized responses 122 -- 5.2 Survey response analysis 122 -- 5.2.1 Decision criteria ranking 122 -- 5.2.2 NPV analysis and cost of leasing 124 -- 5.2.3 Inflation 127 -- 5.2.4 Leasing strategy 128 -- 5.2.5 Establishment date and number of employees 133 -- 5.3 Econometrical analysis of survey responses 134 -- 5.3.1 Hypotheses 134 -- 5.3.2 Data and measurement issues 136 -- 5.3.3 Sample statistics and simple correlations 138 -- 5.3.4 Regression model 144 -- 5.3.5 Model estimates 146 -- 5.3.6 Conclusion of econometrical analysis of survey data 155 -- 5.4 Comparison with past surveys 156 -- 5.4.1 Comparison with Temple's 1987 survey 156 -- 5.4.2 Comparison with Muhherjee's survey in 1991 159 -- 5.5 Summary of survey and lessons learned 160 -- 6 Enhanced theoretical model 163 -- 6.1 General buy or lease evaluation concept 163 -- 6.1.1 General decision criteria 163 -- 6.1.2 Enhanced general buy or lease evaluation model 165 -- 6.2 Container buy or lease evaluation theory 168 -- 6.2.1 Additional container-specific decision criteria 168 -- 6.2.2 Enhanced container buy or lease evaluation model 172 -- 6.2.3 Numerical example 176 -- 6.3 Summary of enhanced theoretical concept and lessons learned 179 -- 7 Overall summary and future research suggestions 181 -- Appendix 1: Survey invitation letters and reminders 185 -- Appendix 2: Survey questionnaire and answers 187 -- References 192.