Magister Economicae - MEcon / The paper is a microeconomic analysis of household saving that specifically looks at whether informal saving should be formalised, the costs and benefits to formalising, what has been done and how this may be improved. A microeconomic study in respect of a developing country like South Africa is crucial, rather than blindly adopting the studies of developed countries. This is necessary for a developing country’s households as they have vastly different demographic structures, where most households are likely to be large and poor (Deaton, 1989: 61) and where money is earned from the sale of agricultural produce or low wages and income generated from informal enterprises and services.The Income and Expenditure Survey data of South African households is used in this paper to analyse the behaviour of poor households. The households are divided into 10 quintiles; each quintile represents 10 percent of all households in terms of per capita income. The poorest household is represented in the first quintile and the richest in the tenth quintile.The results of the Income and Expenditure Survey indicate that the poor are concentrated amongst blacks, females, and those living in rural areas. They also have the lowest educational level whereas the larger households are found here. Furthermore, the poor tend to spend more of their income on health, food, education and cultural activities. However, the savings of the poor is lower than the savings of the higher income categories. What is of concern is that the poor do actually save but their saving methods are less likely to be recorded formally. They often prefer the easy access and convenience of informal savings as compared to deposit and credit facilities of formal financial institutions which are difficult to access (Sukhdeve, 2008: 34). However,informal savings carry significant risk for the poor households and barely contribute to GDP. The paper then looks at initiatives to improve the savings of the poor. Enhanced methods to save,accessibility of savings facilities, the reliability of these facilities and convenience will be investigated. These seem to be essential for the accumulation of cash in the long run.

No / After more than a decade of comprehensive research work in the area of electronic government (e-government), no attempt has yet been made to undertake a systematic literature review on the costs, opportunities, benefits and risks that influence the implementation of e-government. This is particularly significant given the various related challenges that governments have faced over the years when implementing e-government initiatives. Hence, the aim of this paper is to undertake a comprehensive analysis of relevant literature addressing these issues using a systematic review of 132 studies identified from the Scopus online database and Google Scholar together with a manual review of relevant papers from journals dedicated to electronic government research such as Electronic Government, an International Journal (EGIJ), International Journal of Electronic Government Research (IJEGR) and Transforming Government: People, Process, and Policy (TGPPP). The overall review indicated that although a large number of papers discuss costs, opportunities, benefits and risks, treatment of these issues have tended to be superficial. Moreover, there is a lack of empirical studies which can statistically evaluate the performance of these constructs in relation to the various e-government systems. Therefore, this research would help governments to better analyse the impact of costs, opportunities, benefits and risks on the success of e-government systems and its pre-adoption from an implementation perspective.

No / This research seeks to measure citizen satisfaction with the electronic Prescription Prepayment Certificate (PPC) offered by National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom (UK). The paper reports on the findings of a survey of over 500 users of the NHS PPC service. Satisfaction is measured using the four dimensions from the COBRA framework (Osman et al. (2011) [1]) which comprise the cost, opportunity, benefits and risk assessment constructs. This is the first study to measure citizen satisfaction with the electronic PPC in the UK across these constructs. The results show that most citizens using the PPC electronic service are satisfied with this service and that the service meets their essential needs. The paper also presents the results of qualitative feedback obtained from the participants that can be used to determine the areas that need further improvement in the current electronic PPC service and potential influence on user satisfaction.

People visit protected areas (PAs) for enjoyment and appreciation of nature. However, tourism that is not well planned and managed can significantly degrade the environment, and impact negatively on nearby communities. Of further concern is the distribution of the costs and benefits of nature-based tourism (NBT) in PAs, with some communities experiencing proportionally more benefits, while other communities experience more of the cost. This distribution is complex and differs considerably amongst PAs. This thesis examines the flow and distribution of the costs and benefits of the NBT supply system to conservation and communities in the Serengeti ecosystem, Tanzania. The Serengeti ecosystem, a World Heritage site and a leading global wildlife tourism destination, was selected for this study because of high biodiversity, high poverty, and a high level of NBT activity. The research was guided by four main questions: (1) what is the nature of the supply system of NBT in the Serengeti ecosystem; (2) how do the management plans allow for and guide tourism in the Serengeti ecosystem; (3) what are the impacts of the NBT supply system on conservation; and, (4) what are the impacts of the NBT supply system on communities? A qualitative approach was used, combining document analysis, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions. This involved collecting data from a number of participants: PA agencies; the tourism industry; nearby communities; and non-governmental organizations. Participants were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling techniques. The findings offer an ecosystem-scale perspective rather than the common focus on a single PA. The study uses complex systems theory to help frame the NBT supply system in the Serengeti ecosystem, which is comprised of numerous agents that can be grouped in four major components − PAs, communities, tourism operations, and elements of the wider environment. The agents, such as tour operators, park management, and communities, vary across the ecosystem, and have multiple roles in NBT, including management of attractions, tourism planning and management, and provision of accommodation, transportation, accessibility, information, security, and utilities. There are complex interactions and relationships among these components across the ecosystem, and at local, regional, national, and international scales. PAs interact with tourism operators, PAs interact with communities, tourism operators interact with communities, and the three components are linked to the wider environment. These components of the NBT supply system interact dynamically in a non-linear manner, resulting in mixed outcomes for conservation and communities. The findings indicate the need for an integrated management approach to NBT in the Serengeti ecosystem that is more adaptive and ecosystem-based than currently exists. The wildlife legislation requires all PAs in the Serengeti ecosystem to have management plans, but some do not. The management plans in the ecosystem vary among PAs, with a number of flaws, including inadequate participation of stakeholders, poor use of zoning (design and implementation), and ineffective application of the “Limits of Acceptable Use” (LAU) as a main framework for controlling use. Management can be improved by several measures, including more effective inclusion of stakeholders, and application of the “Limits of Acceptable Change” (LAC) rather than “LAU,” amongst other measures that are outlined in more detail below. NBT in the Serengeti ecosystem is growing, and delivers a range of conservation benefits and costs that vary across the ecosystem. These conservation benefits include: financial support for conservation, improved biodiversity conservation and PA management, raised conservation awareness, and public support for conservation. These benefits can be improved by enhancing the quality of services and tourism experience, charging appropriate fees, PA agencies retaining a portion of tourism revenue, and improving collaboration and participation of stakeholders in NBT and conservation. Conservation costs include financial costs, wildlife disturbance, shifting priorities from conservation to tourism, habitat destruction, and pollution. These costs can be reduced by undertaking thorough investigation of the potential costs and benefits of tourism development, effective management planning, improving provision of information to tourists, and improving NBT management. NBT delivers many benefits to communities, such as income, employment, social services and infrastructure, scholarships, and school fees. These benefits can be improved by participation of local communities in conservation, promoting capacity building in local communities, improving legislation and mechanisms governing delivery of benefits, and encouraging communities to establish Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs). NBT results in many costs to local communities, such as loss of grazing land and farmland, conflict (tourism stakeholders, and human-wildlife conflicts), stress to local residents due to increase of human populations, and unintended consequences such as cultural degradation. These costs can be reduced by involving local communities in tourism development and management and developing codes of conduct for tourism operators and PA agencies. Specific examples of suggested actions include: developing and implementing effective management plans; promoting stakeholder awareness of conservation, NBT, and communities; and establishing a forum for discussing interests and issues of stakeholders in the ecosystem. The flow and distribution of these costs and benefits to conservation and communities also varies across the Serengeti ecosystem. Overall, NBT generates substantial benefits to PAs, although considerably less revenue is allocated to conservation activities than is accrued from NBT. On the other hand, local communities experience considerable costs and receive inadequate benefits that are not sufficient to address poverty. Inadequate mechanisms that govern the flow of the costs and benefits, poor governance, and persistent poverty are some of the main factors contributing to the imbalance of the flow and distribution of the costs and benefits of NBT. Finally, a complex systems perspective was shown to be a useful tool in understanding the NBT system as a whole, the dynamic interaction within the system and beyond, and associated costs and benefits delivered by that system. Overall, this study recommends adaptive management, ecosystem-based management, and an integrated approach that recognizes and accommodates the interests of various NBT stakeholders in the Serengeti ecosystem. Specific actions of high priority include developing and implementing effective management plans, adopting LAC in PA planning, capacity building for communities to participate in the tourism industry, and participation and collaboration of NBT stakeholders in the ecosystem. / Graduate

A key part of the transformation process of the Czechoslovak economy in the post-revolution period was privatization. It was an extraordinary and unique process of transfer of state property to private purchasers, which in terms of its scope and level of difficulty, not only historically unprecedented in the CR. Evaluation of the privatization process is still today the subject of the current discourse of ideas. The aim of this study is to evaluate the success of the privatization process of the Czechoslovak economy in the transition period and comparing this process with similar processes in other transition economies. Evaluated are individual partial privatization methods, as well as the privatization process as a whole. Attention is given to voucher privatization, its importance and status. Evaluated is the financial sector privatization, especially privatization of major banks. At the end is made final conclusion which is accompanied by a self-evaluation.

This project examines how undergraduate and graduate students at a university in the Southern United States utilize and conceptualize volunteering at the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century, a time when volunteerism is on the rise despite a severe economic crisis. I was interested in taking an anthropological approach to explore the reasons that people volunteered as well as how their decisions about volunteering might be impacted by different aspects of their identity, including their ethnicity, gender identity, student status, and affiliation with student groups. Based on in-depth interviews and surveys conducted with five undergraduate and five graduate students, I learned about their motivations for volunteering and their perceptions about participating in volunteer activities.

The 90th years were a period of tranzition of Czech economy, whose a key part was the privatization. Specific initial situation of the Czech / Czechoslovak economy was the decisive point to choose historically quite unique privatization strategy of combining standard and nonstandard methods of privatization. This strategy would imply a number of advantages, but also some concerns. Particularly the use of previously untested voucher privatization brought some concern about potential negative impacts. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the benefits and costs of the transformation privatization. It will be evaluated the privatization process itself as well as its longer impacts. Special attention is paid to the privatization of large state banks. In conclusion, partial results are summarized and it is said an overall assessment of privatization.

The last two decades have seen significant changes in organizational structures within higher education. Counseling centers are no exception and have been the target of reorganizations and mergers that often involve student health services. Outcomes of these efforts have varied; some being quite successful while others have resulted in failures and the re-creation of systems that are remarkably similar to the ones that existed in the first place. An examination of the positive and negative issues relevant to mergers and reorganizations of counseling centers can be helpful in the determination of whether or not to proceed with one. In the event the decision is made to proceed, a systematic process that encourages consideration of essential steps relevant to mergers or reorganizations can promote improved decision-making and outcomes.

The thesis addresses the points of interest related to establishing the euro currency in the Czech Republic by 2020. What are the connected costs and benefits? Is euro going to be a contribution to the Czech economy? The theoretical part describes the creation process of European monetary union. The paper then works with advantages and risks associated with euro. The main cost of membership in the eurozone being the loss of independent monetary policy and the loss of the exchange rate mechanism is estimated in range of 0.59 to 2.34 % of GDP. Comparing the direct costs and benefits then leads to a net loss for the Czech Republic. Mutual comparison is conducted between the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is shown that the difference in economic progress between these two countries is statistically insignificant. Thus the thesis concludes that establishing the euro in the Czech Republic by 2020 would be of no benefit.

Context: Companies adopt many software reuse practices, such as software product line, reuse verbatim, and systematic reuse, to improve their internal software development and maximize the benefits. Contemporary software engineering (SE) practices, such as microservices and InnerSource, influence internal software reuse. Objective: In this thesis, we aim to improve internal software reuse in the context of contemporary SE practices. To do that, we want to 1) understand the state-of-the-art and the state-of-the-practice of software reuse costs and benefits and the challenges that companies are currently facing and 2) identify interventions to improve internal software reuse.  Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review to understand the state-of-the-art of software reuse costs and benefits. We performed two exploratory case studies to understand the state-of-the-practice of software reuse costs and benefits, challenges, and improvement areas in the context of contemporary SE practices.  We performed another follow-up improving case study to investigate the medium-sized case company's readiness of adopting InnerSource for software reuse. Results: Existing literature reported more software reuse benefits than costs. The most reported software reuse benefits are better product quality and improved productivity. Verbatim reuse and systematic reuse result in more reuse benefits. Most of the included primary studies are of moderate quality, with only four having high quality. Practitioners think that software reuse costs in developing reusable assets will be paid off when developers start to reuse them. Challenges in software reuse in the context of contemporary SE practices differ between medium-sized and large-sized companies. Both of the companies perceive that InnerSource can help improve internal software reuse. Asking practitioners about both current and desired InnerSource reuse status helps identify the needed InnerSource improvements, thus helping companies succeed in adopting InnerSource for reuse.   Conclusion: Both existing literature and our two case studies investigating software reuse in the context of contemporary SE practices showed that software reuse improves quality and productivity and has costs in developing and integrating reusable assets. However, the overall benefits outweigh the costs. Both case companies faced challenges in improving their internal reuse, where the most common challenges were about developing and maintaining reusable assets. The results showed that InnerSource helps develop and maintain reusable assets and further improves internal software reuse. / <p>Chapters 2 and 4 are papers submitted to journals and therefore removed from the fulltext file.</p>