Financial intermediaries are paramount for modern society. During the last decade, however, our reliance on these institutions have been meticulously debated, especially in the aftermath of the financial crisis. This thesis contributes to this debate with a novel perspective on loan supply changes in light of the recent events in the Swedish real estate market. More specifically, it investigates what influence housing prices have on the supply of commercial and industrial loans. This is done by estimating dynamic panel data models using a quarterly panel containing balance sheet data for 68 Swedish monetary financial institutions, during the post-financial crisis period of 2009-2017. The results indicate that housing prices do not have a significant effect on commercial and industrial loan supply. However, these loans are to a considerable degree dependent on the institutes’ earlier levels of commercial and industrial loans.

In the past ten years the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has become a phenomenon, which is nowadays considered to be one of the major future perspectives of an economy. For many economists and politicians, the FDI is perceived as a saving instrument, which should help solve problems such as structure, regional discrepancies and most importantly a high unemployment rate especially under the conditions of global economic and financial crisis. The inflow of the FDI to host economy brings many positive effects that cannot be substituted. In fact, it is considered as a positive externality that must be paid. In order to attract the FDI in a country, the investment incentives are proposed and current incentives are being rebuilt. But attracting FDI at all costs can also be counterproductive. The intended aim of this thesis is to analyze positive and negativ effects of the FDI.

After a long-time preparation, CSI 300 index futures has made a milestone in the financial market in China in the 16 of April, 2010. In order to know what kind of impact will bring to stock market after the appearance of stock index future, the study discusses volatility and volume separately. On one hand, the study applies Modified Levene and GJR-GARCH as the empirical model, and the result indicates that stock return fluctuation is a short-term phenomenon. However, the result shows that the stock return volatility has no difference in the long-run. Furthermore, it not only reduces the asymmetric return fluctuation from good and bad news cause but improve the information efficiency in the spot market after the introduction of the stock index futures. On the other hand, the study applies multiple regression model and panel model to examine the crowding-out effect and the volume difference after the stock index futures enters the market. First, there is no crowding-out effect in the stock market. Second, both the trading volume of the constituent and non-constituent stocks increase after the introduction of the stock index futures, whereas the level of increasing trading volume of the constituent stocks is larger than non- constituent stocks are.

The aim of the thesis is to evaluate the economic impact of the Olympic Park Lipno. First of all, it describes the so-called mega sport events and their impacts, especially the economic ones. Furthermore, the ex-ante and ex-post studies and crowding out effect are characterised in the research. In addition, two analyzes which are described in detail in the thesis were prepared by KPMG. The research method is a questionnaire survey with all information gained at the Olympic Park Lipno. The questionnaires and the collection of secondary data allowed us to proceed to comparison of the researched studies and, in particular, to the calculation of the economic impact.

Mit dem in §18 des Tarifvertrags für den öffentlichen Dienst (TVöD) festgeschriebenen Leistungsentgelt soll u.a. die Motivation der Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter im öffentlichen Dienst gesteigert werden. Eine motivationssteigernde Wirkung wird jedoch von Seiten der Motivationsforschung bestritten. Sie geht im Gegenteil davon aus, dass eine leistungsorientierte Bezahlung (LOB) zu einer Verdrängung der intrinsischen Motivation (Crowding-Out Effekt) führen kann. Mithilfe eines empirischen Tests der Motivation Crowding Theorie gelangt diese Arbeit zu einem differenzierteren Urteil. Es wird gezeigt, dass im Beispiel der Kreisverwaltung Potsdam Mittelmark die subjektive Wahrnehmung der LOB durch den einzelnen Beschäftigten darüber entscheidet, ob dessen Motivation verstärkt oder verdrängt wird. Jene Beschäftigten, die sich durch die LOB kontrolliert fühlen, weisen eine signifikant geringere PSM und intrinsische Motivation als diejenigen auf, die die LOB als fördernd wahrnehmen. Als zentraler Faktor für das Urteil der Beschäftigten wird die wahrgenommene Fairness des Systems identifiziert. / By means of performance-related pay (PRP), which is laid down in §18 of the “Public Sector Collective Agreement” (TVöD), the motivation of public employees should be increased. However, motivational research contests the motivation-increasing effect. In contrast, it is assumed that performance-related pay may crowd-out the intrinsic motivation (Crowding-Out Effect). While conducting an empirical test of the Motivation Crowding Theory, this paper offers a more differentiated view. It is shown that, in the case of the local administration of Potsdam-Mittelmark, the subjective perception by the individual worker will decide on whether his or her motivation is crowded-in or crowded-out. Those who feel controlled by the PRP-system show a significant lower PSM and intrinsic motivation than those who perceive it as supportive. The fairness of the system is discovered as being the central factor affecting the judgement by the workers.

This thesis is composed of two essays that study behavioral economics to motivate health-promoting behaviors. The first paper, "Does Nutrition Education Reduce Delay Discounting?," studies delay discounting, or delayed gratification, which is an important research topic because it plays a role in producing numerous health outcomes, such as obesity. It is important to understand how the delay discounting process relates to unhealthy diets. People who discount the value of future outcomes prefer immediate rewards (e.g., enjoyment/taste) even though a larger reward from delaying exists (e.g., good health status). In this paper, we aim to provide evidence over whether nutrition education reduces delay discounting. Our analysis, therefore, provides guidance for designing more effective interventions to help increase overall health. The second paper, "Are We Reaching Those Most In Need?: Motivation Profiles and Willingness-to-Participate," explores the potentially negative psychological spillover effects (i.e., "crowding out" effects), which can complicate incentives' effectiveness because it can make targeted behavior (i.e., the aim to improve one's health) less desirable. To understand this "crowding out" effect, our paper examines how different types of motivations (i.e., intrinsic and extrinsic motivations) influence people's willingness-to-participate in a weight control program with and without incentives. This analysis provides further guidance for designing more effective interventions by considering different recruitment strategies to target different individuals, which can minimize the negative spillover of incentives. / Master of Science / This thesis is composed of two essays that study the behavioral economics to motivate health-promoting behaviors. The first paper, “Does Nutrition Education Reduce Delay Discounting?,” studies delay discounting, or delayed gratification, which is an important research topic because it plays a role in producing numerous health outcomes, such as obesity. It is important to understand how the delay discounting process relates to unhealthy diets. People who discount the value of future outcomes prefer immediate rewards (e.g., enjoyment/taste) even though a larger reward from delaying exists (e.g., good health status). In this paper, we aim to provide evidence over whether nutrition education reduces delay discounting. Our analysis, therefore, provides guidance for designing more effective interventions to help increase overall health. The second paper, “Are We Reaching Those Most In Need?: Motivation Profiles and Willingness-to-Participate,” explores the potentially negative psychological spillover effects (i.e., ‘crowding out’ effects), which can complicate incentives’ effectiveness because it can make targeted behavior (i.e., the aim to improve one’s health) less desirable. To understand this ‘crowding out’ effect, our paper examines how different types of motivations (i.e., intrinsic and extrinsic motivations) influence people’s willingness-to-participate in a weight control program with and without incentives. This analysis provides further guidance for designing more effective interventions by considering different recruitment strategies to target different individuals, which can minimize the negative spillover of incentives.

為解決經濟發展過程伴隨的污染問題，常可見到政府和私部門一同投入防治工作，Pearce and Palmer (2001) 發現OECD國家隨著經濟成長，政府逐步提高公共防治支出，而且各個國家私部門的防治投入仍然佔有相當比重。Seldon and Song (1994)、Antle and Heidebrink (1995) 和Komen et al. (1997) 等實證文獻曾提出「倒U字型」EKC成立的原因可能來自環境財為奢侈財，使得經濟成長過程中公共防治投入快速增加，污染才會逐步減少。雖然Pearce and Palmer (2001) 實證OECD國家公共防治投入的所得彈性確實大於1，可是Kriström and Riera (1996) 發現許多國家對環境品質改善之願付價值的所得需求彈性值介於0到1之間，環境品質實為正常財而非奢侈財。鑒於相關實證資料的矛盾，本文從政府公共防治決策過程，了解環境品質所得需求彈性與公共防治投入所得彈性大於1的關聯，以連結環境品質所得需求彈性與EKC成立的關聯。本文證明無需奢侈財的偏好條件，而僅需環境品質偏好為正常財，以及防治技術滿足規模報酬遞增或固定，平均所得提高，消費者對環境品質的主觀願付價格高於客觀代價，模型預期政府將不斷提高防治費率，平均所得水準和防治費率同步增加，公共防治投入的所得彈性必定大於1，污染量終會減少並趨向於零。 實證研究指出並非所有種類污染物的污染水準與平均所得關係，一定呈現「倒U字型」關係，而過去理論模型單從消費者對於環境品質偏好條件，或是單從污染物防治技術是否具備規模報酬遞增，仍不能完全解釋不同污染物與所得關係的差異性。本文強調必須將經濟成長帶動所得分配變化對污染的間接效果納入，有助於釐清不同種類污染物與所得關係的差異性。首先，所得分配固定不變而平均所得提高，只要滿足環境品質偏好為正常財，以及防治技術滿足規模報酬遞增或固定，平均所得對污染的直接效果為「倒U字型」。再則平均所得固定不變時，只要消費者對環境品質的偏好為正常財(而非奢侈財)，所得分配改善，經由多數決投票決定均衡費率反而調降，污染隨之增加。考量高所得國家經濟成長帶動所得分配改善 (即顧志耐曲線存在) 的間接效果，不同污染物面對相同的所得分配變化，唯一的差異僅是防治技術的不同。防治技術之規模報酬遞增並不保證平均所得對污染的淨效果為「倒U字型」，而必須該污染物防治技術之規模報酬指數很高，直接效果大到足以抵銷間接效果，淨效果才可能為「倒U字型」。 另外，本文探討為何世界各國普遍有公私部門同時投入防治的現象，以及研究公共防治支出對私人防治投入產生排擠或排入效果的機制。模型發現無論政府和私部門的防治要素是否為互補要素 (complementary inputs) ，政府和私部門的最適防治投資都不為零。假若私部門增加設備無關乎提升公共防治設備之效能，公共防治增加，將對私人投資產生排擠效果。假若私部門增加設備可以提升公共防治設備之效能，公共防治對私部門防治投資可能產生排擠效果或排入效果，端看該國對於環境品質的重視程度。 政府環境政策制定與私部門防治投資決策的互動息息相關，環境政策的成效實有賴私部門是否願意配合投入防治設備。一旦公共支出對私人投資具排入效果，政府傾向事前宣布較高費率，期望刺激私人投入防治，待事後私人已經投入防治設備，政府則有誘因調降費率。反之，假若公共支出對私人投資具排擠效果，則政府傾向事後再調高費率。只要政府落實事前宣布政策，在符合實證支持的技術條件，污染與平均所得的關係為「倒U字型」的環境顧志耐曲線 (Environmental Kuznets Curve, 以下簡稱EKC) ，若缺乏機制督促政府落實事前宣布政策，且消費者理性預期政府背離意向，當動態一致性 (dynamically consistent) 費率低於事前宣布政策的費率，則執行動態一致性費率所對應的EKC將高於政府確實執行事前政策之EKC；若動態一致性費率高於事前宣布的費率，環境政策的動態不一致反而使得EKC降低。

The study has empirically examined the relative impact of public and private investment on economic growth and has also tested the crowding in or crowding out effect of public investment on private investment in four Southern African economies – Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The analysis used annual time-series data covering the period from 1970 to 2014. The study provides new evidence to contribute firstly to the current debate regarding the relative importance of public and private investment in economic growth processes and secondly, on whether public investment crowds in or crowds out private investment in the selected countries. For this purpose, the study employed two empirical models using the recently developed Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL)-bounds testing approach to cointegration. Model 1 examines the relative impact of public and private investment on economic growth while Model 2 investigates the crowding in or crowding out effect of gross public investment and its subcomponents (infrastructural and non-infrastructural) on private investment. The results of Model 1 largely supported the private investment-led economic growth strategy. In all the study countries, private investment had a positive impact on economic growth. Also, public investment positively contributed to economic growth in Zimbabwe, but in the remaining study countries, public investment had a negative relationship with economic growth. Results from Model 2 reveal that: (i) the crowding out effect of gross public investment on private investment predominates in the study countries; (ii) infrastructural public investment crowds in private investment in South Africa and Zimbabwe in the long run while it crowds out private investment in Malawi and Zambia in the short run; and (iii) non-infrastructural public investment crowds out private investment in South Africa and Zambia. On balance, the results from Model 2 show that public investment tends to crowd out private investment in the selected countries and this further underscore the importance of the private sector-led economic growth processes in the study countries. / Economics / D. Phil. (Economics)