<p>This thesis seeks to provide an extensive theoretical framework for the potential incentive</p><p>effects from debt relief. The objective is achieved by integrating the positive incentive</p><p>model by Krugman with a negative incentive framework developed by drawing on the</p><p>theories of a soft budget constraint. The analysis shows that the existence of bailouts</p><p>offers the possibility that debt relief can produce negative incentives for the debtor</p><p>instead of positive incentives for improved performance. Taking on a game theoretical</p><p>perspective suggests that strategic behavior in the interaction between the debtor and the</p><p>creditor can increase the likelihood of a specific incentive effect to prevail. Such an</p><p>interactive game also highlights the importance for the creditor to obtain reliable</p><p>information about the behavior of the debtor.</p>

This thesis seeks to provide an extensive theoretical framework for the potential incentive effects from debt relief. The objective is achieved by integrating the positive incentive model by Krugman with a negative incentive framework developed by drawing on the theories of a soft budget constraint. The analysis shows that the existence of bailouts offers the possibility that debt relief can produce negative incentives for the debtor instead of positive incentives for improved performance. Taking on a game theoretical perspective suggests that strategic behavior in the interaction between the debtor and the creditor can increase the likelihood of a specific incentive effect to prevail. Such an interactive game also highlights the importance for the creditor to obtain reliable information about the behavior of the debtor.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Northeastern University, 2008. / Title from title page (viewed April 1, 2009). Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Law, Policy & Society Program. Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-232).

Thesis--Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität, Frankfurt, 2007. / "Max-Planck-Institut für Ausländisches Öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht"--Cover. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. [309]-348) and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of South Carolina, 1990. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation examines three health and development issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. It analyzes the impact of policy changes and interventions on child mortality, household food consumption and cesarean section births. The study is motivated by the Millennium Development Goals and policies which could affect their achievement. In the first essay, I investigate the impact of debt relief on under-five mortality rate. A dynamic panel data estimator is employed in the analysis. The result shows that debt relief is associated with a statistically significant reduction in under-five mortality rate. I conclude that conditionality of debt relief or development aid can yield positive outcomes. The second essay examines the impact of private hospitals on the likelihood of cesarean section births in Uganda. The study is motivated by the increase in cesarean section births following the proliferation of private hospitals. The main method of estimation is a bivariate probit model. The results show that delivery at private hospitals increases the probability of cesarean section births, thus there is need to monitor private hospitals so that expectant mothers are protected from physician induced demand for avoidable cesarean section births. The final essay studies the impact of agricultural extension services on household food consumption in Uganda. The study exploits the variation in participation in the NAADS to estimate the impact of the program on household food consumption. I find that NAADS membership and training are associated with an increase in household food consumption, hence agricultural extension services can be used to reduce food insecurity. Policy recommendations and future studies are explored.

Consumer credit is seen as a matter of course and an essential precondition enabling the individual consumer to allocate in a smooth manner his or her income to varying expenses, and allowing the growth-rate to increase in society. The consumer community using different forms of credit has increased and includes today a diversity of social groups such as the elderly, children, the rich and the poor. Credit is not just a good thing, however, as it involves risks of failing to fulfill the credit contract obligations. The point of departure for the thesis is that over-indebtedness constitutes a problem which society wishes to solve because it causes considerable difficulties for both individuals and society as a whole. Numerous rules govern loans in Sweden, from the moment the consumer contemplates entering into a credit contract to the moment when the consumer is too indebted to repay the debt when due and must seek debt-repayment-plan modification. The thesis examines and analyses which consumer protections against overindebtedness emerge from these rules. The study shows that the regulatory measures adopted in recent years are similar to each other and mostly consist of rules protecting the consumer before a credit contract is concluded. Although the purpose of other existing rules addressing the last phase of the credit process is to protect the consumer who miscalculated his or her future economic circumstances, the protection is overall weak. In fact some of the rules in the last phase of the credit process can contribute to aggravating the consumer’s economic situation.

Thesis (MPhil (Ancient Studies)--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / Ammißaduqa, penultimate king of the Ôammurabi dynasty in the Old Babylonian period, reigned from 1646-1626 BCE, and issued a mēšarum edict which Finkelstein described as “a single tablet, inscribed with a most unique text of an importance for the socio-economic life of Babylonia second to no other.” It is essential to define ancient royal edicts within their cultural context. This thesis examines, within the broad legal, religious, political and social background of the Ancient Near East, the design of royal edicts, their aims, beneficiaries and legal implications. The primary goal of this thesis is to improve our understanding of the motives for the promulgation of mēšarum decrees within the ancient cultures, and in particular, the motives for Ammißaduqa’s first edict. There is a strong scholarly tendency to seek the motives in the economic faction, even likening this decree to a “modern-day economic stimulus package,” a type of “RDP”. Kraus noted that the first promulgation was designed and executed for ideological purposes, subsequent mēšarum edicts were economic emergency measures. Nel agreed that the proclamation of a mēšarum was part of the propaganda strategy to strengthen the royal administration and to legitimize its power. The mēšarum was not designed to bring prosperity, but to stimulate agricultural production and prevent uncontrolled urbanization. Olivier noted that the mēšarum was intended, not to reform the economic system, but to remedy the unbearable economic situation. The economic motive is therefore of prime importance for all subsequent edicts, although an overlapping of all three motives – ethics, ego and economy – is highly likely. The base-line conclusion is that the motive and the occasion are inseparable. The aim of this thesis was to produce sufficient evidence that king Ammißaduqa was primarily inspired by ethics and ego, and not economics, when declaring his first mēšarum edict.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2000. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 209-222). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität der Bundeswehr, München, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references and index.