`Active Ageing' has been promoted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a strategy for promoting the health and well-being of older people. Keeping active and involved in a range of activities not restricted to those associated with labour market participation may, it has been suggested, be beneficial for older people. In this research three domains of `engagement' were considered: paid work, formal involvement (i. e. activities such as voluntary work, attendance at training courses and participation in political organisations) and informal involvement (i. e. activities such as providing care and help to family, and looking after grandchildren). Using the first two waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), this thesis investigated both the cross-sectional association between socio-economic, demographic and health-related variables and engagement at baseline, and the longitudinal association between engagement at baseline and self-rated health (SRH) and depressive symptoms at follow-up (controlling for baseline measures of health). The analysis was based on sample members aged 50- 69 at baseline in Denmark, France, Italy and England, countries selected to represent different welfare regimes. Cross-sectional findings showed that levels of engagement in paid work and formal activities varied across countries, whereas socio-economic, demographic and healthrelated characteristics were similarly associated with engagement in all countries under study. This suggested that country-specific factors, such as retirement policies, might play an important role in determining older people's level of engagement in paid work. Cross-sectional results also suggested that work and formal engagement were associated with good health, whereas -among certain subpopulations -informal activities were associated with bad health. Longitudinal analyses showed that, in all countries, respondents in paid work at baseline were more likely to improve their SRH and less likely to become depressed than those who were `inactive'. Formal and informal engagement were not significantly associated with health at follow-up. Longitudinal results and associations found, however, might have been biased by the high rates of attrition, as multiple imputation techniques and sensitivity analyses suggested. The current research study confirms that engagement in work is an important pathway to health in late life. More attention, however, should be paid to people's working lives, the quality of work and work conditions as these may influence participation in, and withdrawal from, the labour market.

Die anspruchsvollen Zielsetzungen zum CO2-Ausstoß von Kraftfahrzeugen verlangen immer stärker nach hocheffizienten Fahrzeugkonzepten und werden zukünftig zu deutlich höheren Elektrifizierungsanteilen der Antriebe führen. Die große Herausforderung liegt dabei in der Lösung des Zielkonfliktes zwischen voll elektrischem Fahren und erstfahrzeugtauglicher Reichweite. Im Rahmen eines Forschungsprojektes zur Konzeption von Hybridfahrzeugen hat die BMW Forschung ein Konzeptfahrzeug entwickelt, das im urbanen Bereich emissionsfrei betrieben werden kann und dennoch alltagstauglich für spontane längere Fahrten nutzbar ist (Abbildung 1). Die für dieses Projekt abgeleiteten Ziele waren ein Verbrauch von < 2,5 l im Ladungserhaltungsbetrieb, eine E-Reichweite von 100 km, eine BMW-adäquate Beschleunigung von < 8 sec von 0 auf 100 km/h, eine erstfahrzeugtaugliche Höchstgeschwindigkeit von 180 km/h, ein Raumangebot auf Niveau heutiger viersitziger Coupés im Kompaktsegment und eine Gesamtreichweite von 1.000 km (Eiletz 2015a). Im Rahmen des Beitrags werden sowohl Prozess und Vorgehensweise bei der Gestaltung des Hocheffizienz-Konzeptfahrzeugs als auch die Ergebnisse des Forschungsprojektes dargelegt.

My thesis consists of two main parts. First part deals with major changes introduced by the Company Act 2014 and the New Civil Code 2014 to the regulation of the share in the Limited Liability Company. The aim of the first part is to analyse the most significant changes introduced by the Company Act 2014 and the New Civil Code 2014 and to present various arguments in favour of and against this new regulation. I have decided to compare the Czech regulation with the German regulation which has already introduced similar changes five years ago. The main contribution of this part is therefore not only to provide critical evaluation of the new regulation, but also to point out that in some situations we can draw inspiration from the German regulation. Second part focuses on the transfer of the share, agreement on the transfer of share and special ways in which the share can be transferred. My thesis is divided into four chapters. First (introductory) chapter defined the share generally, using its qualitative and quantitative aspects. Second chapter deals with the abovementioned changes introduced by the Company Act 2014 and the New Civil Code 2014, more specifically it deals with the fact that the New Civil Code 2014 distinguishes the share as a thing in the legal sense, the fact that the Company Act...

In my dissertation I analyse the issue of the transfer of a share in a limited liability company which is one of the most common legal dispositions with the share. The work is based on the new legal regulation of private law which will come into effect on 1 January 2014 but at the same time it compares the existing and new legislation. Besides the applicable law, the work examines the legal literature, periodicals, as well as the case law of the Czech courts. The main contribution of this work is to provide a possible future interpretation of some institutes associated with the transfer of a share as well as to point out the changes that the new legislation will bring. The work is divided into five chapters whereas each of the chapters focuses on the specific issue of the share transfer. The first chapter defines the share in a limited liability company and introduces it as an eligible subject-matter of the legal relations. The second chapter deals with the various modes of the transfer of a share and certain preconditions of the transfer of a share such as the consents with the transfer and the necessary respect of the duty of loyal behaviour of the company's members. The subject of the third chapter represent the chosen institutes related to the transfer of a share, namely the acquirer's...

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics / Chihyung Ok / This study attempted to investigate antecedents and consequences of consumers’ utilitarian and hedonic attitudes toward restaurant brands and to examine the effects of brand prestige on brand preference and word-of-mouth intention with customer involvement as a moderator. In study 1, to investigate the antecedents and consequences of consumer attitudes toward restaurant brands in the full-service restaurant, this study proposed, based on existing theoretical premises, significant interrelationships among three service qualities (i.e., physical environment quality, interactional quality, and outcome quality). This study also hypothesized that these service qualities predict consumers’ utilitarian and hedonic attitudes toward restaurant brands. Finally, this study examined the effects of consumer attitudes toward restaurant brands in forming brand preference and relative customer share of visits. A theoretical model was proposed and then tested with data collected from 318 casual and 303 fine dining restaurant patrons. The results of data analysis indicated significant interrelationships among three service qualities in both casual and fine dining restaurants. In addition, interactional and outcome qualities had significant effects on utilitarian and hedonic attitudes toward restaurant brands in the casual dining restaurant. In the fine dining segment, interactional quality significantly influenced both utilitarian and hedonic attitudes toward restaurant brands, while physical environment and outcome qualities had positive impacts only on hedonic attitude toward the restaurant’s brand. Finally, utilitarian and hedonic attitudes toward restaurant brands enhanced brand preference, and in turn, brand preference increased relative customer share of visits in both casual and fine dining restaurants. The purpose of study 2 was to examine the effects of brand prestige on brand preference and word-of-mouth with customer involvement as a moderator in the fine dining restaurant segment. Based on a thorough literature review, this study hypothesized that brand prestige would have positive effects on brand preference and word-of-mouth and that brand preference would have a positive relationship with word-of-mouth. Finally, this study examined the moderating role of customer involvement in the relationships between (1) brand prestige and brand preference, (2) brand prestige and word-of-mouth, and (3) brand preference and word-of-mouth. A total of 293 questionnaire responses were used to empirically test the proposed relationships in fine dining restaurants. This study found that brand prestige has significant effects on brand preference and word-of-mouth. In addition, brand preference had a positive relationship with word-of-mouth. However, customer involvement as a moderator was not supported.

As cities worldwide plan for increasing urbanization levels, new challenges in mobility will arise. Any approach taken to address these new issues will need to consider how to move more people with declining resources, thus the need for a sustainable solution arises. This thesis examines the growing trend of cities creating public bicycle systems as a means to add sustainability to a transportation system and identifies what are the criteria and indicators of a sustainable public bicycle. The criteria and indicators are used to examine data collection techniques of three Public Bicycle Systems in the United States: Capital Bikeshare in Washington, D.C., Nice Ride in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Denver B-Cycle in Denver, Colorado.

The first essay examines the impact of investor protection, market monitoring, and liquidity on the firm-level and country-level earnings management using a sample of 432 firms from 34 countries cross-listed in the U.S. The major findings are as follows: First, cross-listed firms from countries with strong legal system, strong outside investor rights, more institutional investors, and higher financial transparency are less likely to engage in earnings management. In addition, in countries with strong investor protection or market monitoring, the level of earnings management is more pronounced for illiquid firms as compared to liquid firms. Second, cross-listed firms following IFRS have lower propensity in earnings management than those following the U.S. GAAP. Third, the degree of earnings management for cross-listed firms is greater in the home country than in the U.S. market. Fourth, cross-listed firms have higher earnings management in the pre-listing period than in the post-listing period. Fifth, foreign firms listed in U.S. major markets have lower propensity to engage in earnings management than those listed in the OTC market. The findings remain robust with the inclusion of industry fixed effects and GMM estimation. All findings are largely consistent with my hypotheses that better investor protection, greater market monitoring, and higher liquidity reduce the extent of earnings management. The second essay examines the relative contribution to price discovery process of EURO/USD currency futures traded on two major exchanges: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), using the intraday data in 2010. The relative contribution to price discovery is estimated using the information share approach of Hasbrouck (1995). Empirical findings indicate that CME accounts for approximately 87% of price discovery in the EURO/USD market and its contribution is substantially larger in the morning than that in the afternoon. This study also examines the effect of trading characteristics, including volume, quoted bid-ask spread, and price volatility, on information share. CME’s price discovery leadership is attributed to its high trading activity, low transaction costs, and lower volatility. The results support the liquidity hypothesis that a market with greater liquidity contributes more to price discovery.

This dissertation consists of 2 essays in the area of corporate finance. The title of my first essay is “Impact of Institutional Investors on Firms’ Financial Constraint and Liquidity”. We can find ample evidences in existing literature which show that institutional investors play a vital role in the corporate world. Many researchers have linked institutional investors to activism, monitoring benefits, mitigating the cost of debt using government bond, spin off activities and improving information asymmetry problem. In the first essay, I would like to add another dimension to institutional investors’ literature by examining institutional investors’ role in mitigating financial constraint problem in the firm. Institutional investors have large financial networks and make large financial investment in firms. Their presence might help firms attract external capital. I am using 2 financial constraint measurements; KZ index (Lamont, Polk, Saa-Requejo, 2001) and bank line of credit (Sufi, 2009). I am also adding additional measurement for financial constraint using notes payable. I find evidences to support the hypotheses that institutional investors’ presence and ownership mitigate financial constraints. The title of my second essay is “Long- and Short-Term Institutional Investors and Payout Policy”. In the second essay, I examine the relationship between the firms’ payout policy and the presence/ownership of certain type of institutional investors. I classify the types of institutional investors using Bushee’s (1998, 2001) classification of institutional investors. I find that the presence and the magnitude of long term institutional investors positively affect the likelihood and the magnitude of dividend. I also find that the presence and the magnitude of short term institutional investors positively affect the likelihood and the magnitude of share repurchases. This study suggests that the presence of different types of institutional investors can affect certain type of payout policy. Keywords: Transient; dedicated; monitoring; trading

Le droit préférentiel de souscription est un droit individuel de l'actionnaire dont le régime d'exercice a été souligné par une actualité récente. Ce droit a été évoqué à propos des actions de préférence, des abus de majorité et des avantages particuliers. Il est expressément consacré par la loi. La comparaison du droit préférentiel de souscription dans les systèmes juridiques libanais et français a dévoilé la parenté d'origine des deux systèmes, ainsi que des failles dans le premier. Des projets de réformes sont proposés pour placer les sociétés libanaises à égalité avec leurs concurrentes étrangères qui bénéficient d'un règlement mieux adaptées à leurs exigences. Le droit préférentiel de souscription n'est pas reconnu comme un droit intangible. Notre thèse démontre, d'une part, que ce droit constitue la meilleure protection pour les actionnaires. D'autre part, elle montre que la suppression du droit préférentiel de souscription ne peut intervenir que sous la double condition d'une information suffisante des actionnaires et d'un prix d'émission d'actions nouvelles minimum. / The preferential subscription right is an individual right of shareholders which the regime of exercise has been highlighted by recent events. This right has been mentioned regarding preference shares, majority abuse and special advantages. This right is expressly dedicated by the law. The comparison of preferential subscription right in the Lebanese and French legal systems points out the historical relation between the two systems, as well as presence of faults in the first. Reform projects are suggested in order to put the Lebanese companies at the same level with her competing companies. The preferential subscription right is not recognized as an intangible right. Our thesis reveals, firstly, that this right constitutes a perfect protection for the shareholders. Secondly, it indicates that the suppression of the preferential subscription right can only occur under the double condition of sufficient information of the shareholders and an issue price of new shares.

This Master thesis deals with corporations in americam legal system. The theme is described from RMBCA point of view and then there is compared the law of state Delaware with the law of state New York. Preliminary there are described american legal business entities and their czech equivalent structure. The main part of the thesis is attened to the legal form of the corporation, the formation and incorporation, the corporate governance and the financial structure od the corporation. In each section there are relevant precedents of Delaware and New York. Conclusion of the thesis describes the New York courts system, especially explains the function of Court of Chancery.