Cette thèse comprend quatre essais en macroéconomie internationale et théorie monétaire. Elle est constituée de deux parties. Les deux premiers chapitres, coécrits avec François Geerolf, étudient les conséquences macroéconomiques des cycles immobiliers sur les comptes courants (chapitre 1) et sur les dynamiques de l'emploi (chapitre 2). La seconde partie de cette thèse s'intéresse aux conséquences des récentes transformations intervenues dans les systèmes bancaires sur les mécanismes de la création monétaire. Ces transformations semblent en effet conduire à une privatisation de la monnaie. Le chapitre 3 étudie empiriquement la réalité d'une telle privatisation. Je développe dans le chapitre 4 un modèle pour analyser les conséquences de ces transformations sur la création monétaire et sur les mécanismes de propagation du risque. / This thesis includes four essays in international macroeconomics and monetary theory. It is divided into two parts. The two first chapters, coauthored with François Geerolf, investigate the macroeconomic consequences of housing cycles on current accounts (chapter 1) and employment dynamics (chapter 2). The second part of this thesis studies the consequences of modern banking features on money creation mechanisms, notably with the development of private payment arrangements and the globalization of banking. Chapter 3 looks at the issue empirically. In chapter 4, I develop a model to investigate the consequences of these modern banking features for the provision of money and for risk propagation mechanisms.

The present paper critically examines the epistemic status of first-person accounts and first-person methods in Francisco Varela’s research program neurophenomenology, which integrates a phenomenological perspective in cognitive science. The paper also questions Varela’s description of neurophenomenology as an ontological recategorization of nature and a solution to the hard problem of consciousness.

[pt] Este trabalho tem como objetivo investigar os significados e funções que vêm assumindo os blogs pessoais para seus autores, como espaços para a escrita de si. Para isso foi realizado primeiramente um levantamento bibliográfico de outras formas de auto-relatos escritos, inaugurados em diferentes períodos da História, desde a Antigüidade. Num segundo momento desenvolveu-se uma pesquisa qualitativa na qual foram analisados os discursos contidos em dez blogs pessoais, de autoria feminina. A partir desta análise chegou-se a algumas categorias para discussão, relacionadas às funções que parecem estar os blogs exercendo para suas autoras, aos destinos das mensagens publicadas e, ainda, aos diferentes níveis de explicitação de si presentes nos mesmos. Os resultados desta pesquisa revelaram serem os blogs um gênero híbrido de escrita de si, que reúnem algumas características dos diários pessoais, outras comumente típicas das correspondências íntimas e, ainda, certas características das formas de escrita de si destinadas à publicação. / [en] The present work aims at investigating meanings and functions personal blogs have been performing; the personal ones, for their own authors - as some space for self- writing. Towards that, a bibliography research of other forms of written self-account was initially carried out, inaugurated in different periods of History, since Antiquity. Subsequently, a qualitative research was developed, in which ten speeches, extracted from blogs written by women, were analized. This analysis led to some categories to be further discussed, related to the functions the blogs in reference apparently perform for their authors, to the destinations of the posted messages and, still, to the different levels of self-expliciting present in them. The results of this research revel the blogs to be an hybrid type of selfwriting, which gathers some characteristics depicted in personal diaries, others, commonly found in intimate correspondence and, finally, some characteristics of self-writing forms, destined to posting.

Magister Legum - LLM

The object of this research was to determine the risks and the rewards of providing reverse factoring as a financing technology for small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa. There have been a number of financing technologies provided to SMEs in South Africa and reverse factoring has not been taken advantage of. The financing technologies that have been offered range from trade credit, to collateralised loans, overdraft facilities, etc. Most if not all of these technologies are based on some form of security which is usually the SME’s immovable assets. This research project contributes to the body of knowledge that deals with SME finance. A survey was done to find out the views of SME owners, procurement managers, finance managers and financiers concerning the risks and rewards of providing reverse factoring to SMEs. Ten propositions were formulated. A qualitative research methodology, using semi-structured interviews was used to rate the risks and rewards associated with providing reverse factoring. The results showed that the rewards far outweigh the risks by a ratio of 1: 0.6. For reverse factoring as a financing technology this is positive and is worth pursuing. The risks of lack of collateral and the risk of fraudulent invoices are the most prevalent. A boost in economic activity in the SME space and the provision of much needed liquidity were the most noted rewards of providing reverse factoring to SMEs in South Africa. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The aim of this diploma work is the examination of using the public financial statements as a basis for extern financial analysis. The work consists of three parts. The first part concerns the final accounts set up according to the Czech accounting rules. It describes the legal regulation of this domain, basic requirements on public information, individual elements of final accounts and further obligations associated with it. Second part of the work is aimed at the financial analysis and gives an overview of information sources and basic techniques of financial analysis. It is mainly focused on the horizontal and vertical analysis of financial statements and analysis of ratio indicators. In the third part, obtained theoretical knowledge in the field of financial analysis is used for examination of financial health of particular company DOPRAVA ZARUBA M&K, s.r.o..

The diploma thesis deals with the system of national account of the Czech Republic with a focus on the development of government debt and deficit. The first chapter explains the nature, the aim and the development of the field of national accounts. The second chapter concentrates on the system of national accounts of the Czech Republic. Special attention is paid to the sector of government institutions, as the national government accounts are the basis for the prediction of the government deficit, debt and the Convergence program for adoption of the common currency Euro. The third chapter defines the terms closely related to the general government sector and financial statistics. The closing chapter analyses the development of government debt and deficit in the period since 1995.

The diploma thesis deals with analysis of selected low-risk investments, with wich we can appreciate our savings. It is building savings, pension insurance, passbooks, time deposits, government bonds and savings accounts, while special emphasis is laid on savings accounts. The main goal of the diploma thesis is to estimate annual revenue of the above mentioned low-risk investments, while taking into account such factors as tax relief or government contribution for some of them. Subsequent survey is focused on knowledge and use of savings accounts.

My diploma thesis focuses on the M&A transaction closing mechanisms. Their function is to reflect the value changes of the target company into the purchase price. Value change occurs during the time lag between the date of the financial statements and the date of the transaction closing. Throughout history, there have been two major approaches developed. The "Completion Accounts Mechanism" uses post-completion price adjustments to reflect the change of the net working capital and net debt during the interim period. The "Locked Box Mechanism", using fixed price, assures non-fluctuation of target value in the interim period by imposing strict restrictions on the seller's activities. In this research, I have analyzed 44 transactions closed in the Czech Republic. I have challenged the theoretical foundations and described the application of the mechanisms in practice. At the end, I have compared the Czech and European practices. Thesis findings: 1. All the theoretical features of the mechanisms were proven by an analyzed sample of closed transactions. The completion accounts mechanism is buyer-friendly, while the locked box is a seller-friendly mechanism. 2. The main driver in mechanism selection is bargaining power. Buyers were in a better negotiating position in 69% of the completion account transactions. On the contrary, the sellers had bargaining power in 100% of the locked box transactions. 3. The Czech Republic is an environment where buyers (big multinational companies) dominate. They have preferred the completion account mechanism that provides them with higher protection from value leakage or other risks associated with small CEE economies. A total of 91% of analyzed transactions were executed by the completion account mechanism in the Czech Republic between 2011 and 2012.

The thesis is dedicated to the issue of receivables. The thesis explains the reasons of creation of receivables and legal context. The accounting part of the thesis deals with accounting practices along with their demonstration on concrete examples. Tax section examines the receivables in terms of income tax and value added tax. The practical part analyzes overdue receivables of eight companies.