Deposit insurance varies greatly across countries due to each country’s specific environment. The purpose of this study is to find what factors may affect coverage limit in deposit insurance. First, we implement panel data over the period of 1960 to 2008 including 78 countries’ political setting, bank industry’s structural differences and overall economic factors. The empirical results show that countries with lower saving rate, interest spread and government debt tend to have higher coverage. However, coverage tends to be lower in more political open countries. Second, we performed panel data logit model to find that increasing government debt would reduce the probability of increasing coverage limits. Third, the regression of variable changes shows strong negative significance in the relationship of interest spread and coverage over GDP per capita. The main contribution of this thesis is to identify significant influences to the coverage limit. This could provide reference factors when considering the setting of Deposit insurance scheme to insure financial stability.

The research examines the effect between corporate governance and company-specific variables to financial performance among a sample of long-term insurance companies in South Africa from 2011 to 2016. The study employed a panel regression technique using board size, board independence, audit committee size and CEO tenure as proxies for corporate governance while controlling for firm size, reinsurance usage and leverage. The proxies used for financial performance were underwriting profits, return on assets (ROA) and returns on equity (ROE). The findings show that board size is the only corporate governance variable that is statistically significant with financial performance in the sample of South African longterm insurance providers. The remaining corporate governance variables did not have a statistically significant relationship with financial performance because each company in the sample set them in line with the recommendations outlined in the King Report IV on Corporate Governance. The implication of the adherence to the recommendations in the King Report IV on Corporate Governance reduced the variation in corporate governance structures between the companies in the sample. The findings also show leverage as the only control variable that is statistically significant with financial performance in the sample. The dissertation recommends that the corporate governance guidelines outlined in the King Report IV on Corporate Governance be made statutory in the South African longterm insurance sector, because these guidelines do not adversely affect the financial performance in a statistically significant way. Further, the dissertation recommends a board size ceiling be set in the sector to address the observed negative and statistically significant relationship between board size and financial performance. Finally, the dissertation recommends the use of regulation to limit the amount of leverage that companies in the sector can take on to address the observed negative and statistically significant relationship between leverage and financial performance.

At present, digitalization in many industries is changing and gradually permeating in all fields of life, of which the digitalization in healthcare has gradually been recognized and entered on the stage. Covid-19 is the biggest "Black Swan Event" in recent years, disrupting the pattern of China and the world. Impacted by Industrial Digitalization Upgrade and the pandemic, the process of digital reform in the healthcare industry has been further accelerated, represented by AI + pharmaceuticals, telecare, and SaaS systems etc.. All these new digital tools and technologies have successively received large amounts of financing in the primary market, and among them, some high-quality enterprises have had successful IPO. Meanwhile, many traditional medical enterprises are also keeping pace with the times through digital transformation, which all indicate the importance of digitalization of medical enterprises. We hope to explore in this paper the factors behind the digital transformation of medical enterprises that have significantly promote the digital reform of enterprises, and whether the factors such as enterprise R&D, enterprise scale, and enterprise digitalization promotion efforts will accelerate the digitalization process. Based on this background, this paper will conduct in-depth research in this direction. First, in the chapters of Research Background and Research Significance, this paper expounds the issues studied in this paper, and points out the relative economic and social significance; and summarizes previous scholars' research in this field, including the application of digital transformation in other industries, the beneficial efforts on business development and the related factors to accelerate the digital transformation of enterprises. Then, it uses relevant theoretical analysis, such as Solow's Neoclassical Growth Model and other theories to explain the issues studied in this paper. At the same time, based on relevant theories and literature review, relevant hypotheses are being put forward. According to the current literature research, we assume that enterprise scale, enterprise R&D, and enterprise financialization level are crucial factors in promoting the process of enterprise digitization. Therefore, this paper collects relevant Annual Reports of all healthcare enterprises on the listing market which have already completed the digitalization or arecurrently undergoing digital transformation in 2020 and 2021 after this pandemic. In this paper, we use the frequency of the core word "digitalization" in the Annual Report as the Explained Variable to measure the process of digital transformation of the enterprises; concurrently, we use Enterprise R&D Level, Enterprise Scale and Enterprise Product Commercialization Level as Explanatory Variables in this paper, and complements the relevant Control Variables to construct a Panel Regression Model. Besides, the Industry Fixed-Effect and Time Fixed-Effect have been used respectively to control the relevant time trend, and the combination of both was called the "Two-Way Fixed-Effect Model". In addition, the research adopts the method of Cluster Robust Standard Error to adjust in the empirical demonstration to reduce the interference of heteroscedasticity. Finally, according to the conclusions verified by the combination of theory and empirical research in this paper, relevant policies and suggestions are included. / Business Administration/Finance

This thesis focuses on the relationship between trade and FDI in the SADC. While FDI is seen as a stimulus for growth and development, Africa is lagging behind other regions in attracting FDI. Whilst a number of reasons have been explored in the literature, the potential link between trade and FDI has not been explored in the African context. This may be potentially important, since African governments have been engaging in trade liberalisation and trade promotion over the past two decades. In this thesis, gravity modelling is used to investigate the trade-FDI relationship. Two single equation regression models are used in a preliminary investigation to evaluate aggregate trade and FDI. The third model consists of six panel regressions that evaluate the different relationships between the individual SADC countries and their individual major trading partners. A causality test is also carried out to confirm the relevance of trade as a determinant of FDI in the SADC. Overall results indicate that, in the specific case of the SADC, SADC exports significantly cause FDI. Distance from home countries and political instability are the most significant negative forces that affect FDI inflows. Home country exports deliver mixed results and these results suggest that the United States and the United Kingdom have a different FDI-trade relationship with the SADC than continental Europe, whereas Japan's exports prove insignificant. The policy implications are that the SADC will need to focus on attracting investment from countries that provide for complementary FDI and trade as this is optimal for poverty alleviation and job creation. Further research should focus on these policy areas and take into account the relevance of trade as a determinant of FDI. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Economics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Economics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

This thesis focuses on the relationship between trade and FDI in the SADC. While FDI is seen as a stimulus for growth and development, Africa is lagging behind other regions in attracting FDI. Whilst a number of reasons have been explored in the literature, the potential link between trade and FDI has not been explored in the African context. This may be potentially important, since African governments have been engaging in trade liberalisation and trade promotion over the past two decades. In this thesis, gravity modelling is used to investigate the trade-FDI relationship. Two single equation regression models are used in a preliminary investigation to evaluate aggregate trade and FDI. The third model consists of six panel regressions that evaluate the different relationships between the individual SADC countries and their individual major trading partners. A causality test is also carried out to confirm the relevance of trade as a determinant of FDI in the SADC. Overall results indicate that, in the specific case of the SADC, SADC exports significantly cause FDI. Distance from home countries and political instability are the most significant negative forces that affect FDI inflows. Home country exports deliver mixed results and these results suggest that the United States and the United Kingdom have a different FDI-trade relationship with the SADC than continental Europe, whereas Japan's exports prove insignificant. The policy implications are that the SADC will need to focus on attracting investment from countries that provide for complementary FDI and trade as this is optimal for poverty alleviation and job creation. Further research should focus on these policy areas and take into account the relevance of trade as a determinant of FDI. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Economics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

The aim of this diploma thesis was to evaluate aggregate data on municipal grants revenue, to assess their variability in time and cross-sectional comparisons and to find factors that influence their size and dynamics. For the analysis, the data of 1 000 municipalities in the time period from 2001 to 2016 were used. Fourteen factors were identified that could influence municipal grants. Grants were grouped into items, and factor influence was monitored separately for non-investment and investment grants. A panel regression analysis was used to assess the influence of determinants, examining the dependency between the explained variables (non-investment and investment grants) and the clarification variables (individual factors). The performed analysis has shown that the non-investment grants are influenced especially by the following factors: the jurisdiction of the municipality to a particular region, the scope of delegated competences, the establishment of a school, the population of the municipality, the population aged 0-14 and 65 years or more, elections to House of Commons, built gasification and sewerage. In the case of investment grants, the following variables have been identified as statistically significant: the scope of delegated competence, the existence of a school, the municipality's area, the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union and elections to the regional councils.

The housing prices in Prague had risen by more than 63% between 2002 and 2008. However since August 2008, when they reached their peak, they have been almost constantly falling. Most of the publications regarding housing prices are taking into account Prague as one of the Czech regions. On the contrary, this work analyzes housing prices in Prague and its 22 districts. In first part of this work the indicators of rent-to-price ratio, price-to-income ratio and new building development factors are considered to explain possible future development of housing prices. This is seemed to continue falling during the year 2011. The second analytical part tries to explain the housing prices according to specific locality features and macroeconomic aspects. The panel regression is used and it reveals that the most significant attributes are the macroeconomic features.

The aim of the thesis is to identify the determiants of social expenditure levels in EU member states and estimate the sensitivities. The analysis is based on the fixed effects model with robust standard errors. Seven out of the 24 variables, that have been tested, are statistically significant. Social expenditure levels are positively dependent on population ageing, unemployment rate and economic level, and negatively on economic growth. The openness of economy and public debt ratio are also robust. The presence of a christian party in government is also statistically significant, however, the coefficient is not theoretically consistent. The sensitivity of social expenditure level to the share of population aged 65 years and over on the total population, is about 0,30. It means, that on average, the rise in the share of the old by 1 percentage point, is followed by the rise of social expenditure level by 0,3% of the GDP. In case of unemployment rate, economic growth and the openness of economy, the sensitivity estimates are 0,3, -0,1 and -0,03. The sensitivities to the other three robust variables cannot be quantified due to a strong dependence on the exact model specification or a bias, caused by extreme values. The expenditure on pensions are relatively more dependent on population ageing, whereas other social expenditure are more sensitive to current position in economic cycle. The determinants in the old and the new EU member states are similar, with only one exception, as the expenditure levels in the new member states are less dependent on demographic structure. The model explains international differences and the changes during the period between 1990 and 2010.

In today’s fast-changing markets, many international firms invest a significant amount of money in terms of marketing and technology to launch their products globally. To reduce such costs, a better understanding of the factors that affect the performance of global products launch is needed. However, little is known about how institutional factors of the type social, legal and political could influence the performance of global products launch. Accordingly, this thesis aims to investigate whether the simultaneous action of institutional factors of the type social, legal and political influence the performance of a new global product launch. Considering a single case study of Tesla’s products in 21 European countries between 2014 and 2019, a quantitative approach was followed using panel regression analysis. The sales of Tesla’s were used as dependent variable to represent the market performance of Tesla. For independent variables, data was collected for institutional factors including social indicators based on Hofstede framework (i.e., Uncertainty avoidance, Power distance, Individualism), political (i.e., Government Effectiveness, Voice and Accountability) and legal indicators (i.e., Rule of Law, Strength of legal rights) based on the World Bank indices. Seven hypotheses were formulated and tested. The results indicated that the market performance of Tesla’s products is positively associated with political factors in terms of voice and accountability. Moreover, the establishment of supercharger network from Tesla was found to have a significant positive impact on its products’ sales. Due to multicollinearity, some of the independent variables were removed and hence their respective hypotheses were not tested. For future research, it is recommended to use more data which incorporate a wide variety of countries including non-European countries as well as other companies offering electric cars.