Doctrine of essential facilities under Czech and European law "Essential facilities doctrine" is a term used to describe a set of rules concerned with a dominant undertaking refusing to supply a crucial resource, over which it holds an exclusive control, to its competitors who need the resource to remain in business. This thesis focuses on the doctrine's applications in the context of an abuse of a dominant position, but the role the doctrine plays in regulation of network industries is mentioned as well. The main goal of the thesis is to define conditions under which the owner of the crucial resource - described as "an essential facility" in the thesis - abuses his dominant position by refusing to supply a competitor who is willing to pay a reasonable price for such access. The method primarily used to achieve the goal is a careful analysis of primary legal sources accompanied by studies of the relevant literature. The opinions and conclusions expressed in the afore-mentioned sources are critically evaluated by the thesis's author who presents his own opinions and tries to justify them by legal arguments. Chapter One explains some specific terms used in the text. Chapter Two describes a conflict between two core principles that have to be evaluated when the rules of mandatory access are defined or...

Legal rules protecting the economic competition against abusive pricing practices are traditionally part of the public branch of competition law. Sensitive drafting of the law by legislator or the prudence of law interpretation by the competition authority or the court in the specific case predetermines the companies` willingness to develop dynamically on the relevant market. Legislation of the poor quality prospectively misleading decisional practice can lead in two extreme situations; on one side unlimited freedom for the dominant company, on the other side unfounded and excessive sanctions, which distract the companies` ambitions to achieve excellence. The topic - The Protection of Economic Competition with Special Regard to Pricing - is dealt in five chapters of the thesis. The aim of the paper is to analyze substantial components in each price form of abuse, solve the relevant questions of law with regard to case study concerning both the European and the Czech context and consider where the development of this law field currently results in. The methodology is mainly based on the comparative and critical research of the decisional practice. Chapter One surveys predatory pricing. It contains passage on the price-costs test, which is the major issue also for the following chapters of the study....

The aim of this thesis is to analyse how the margin squeeze developed within the reasoning of the European Union. Margin squeeze is a special type of abuse of dominant position. This type of abuse has massively developed in last years. However, we cannot say that it is totally new form of abuse as we can find certain cases that concern margin squeeze already in the 70s. Nevertheless, especially because of the liberalisation of network industries in the 90s, this abuse has substantially spread up and because of that there was a necessity to answer certain questions that were unclear until that time. This thesis is composed of four main chapters that are further composed of particular subchapters for the purpose to analyse this development. Chapter one is dedicated to general characteristic of the margin squeeze. This abuse is first of all classified as a special type of the abuse of dominant position according to article 102 TFEU. Afterwards, the chapter concerns about the definition of this abuse and its particular legal and economical characters. This all from theoretical point of view. Chapter two briefly discuss the most significant cases that concern margin squeeze and that were decided by European institutions. All these cases are ordered chronologically and the main goal is to describe its...

Abuse of Dominant Position in the ICT Sector: A European Perspective Abstract The concept of abuse of dominant position refers to business practices in which a dominant market player may engage in order to maintain or strengthen its position in the market, and are prohibited under Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. This master's thesis provides insight into theory and decisional practice of abuse of dominant position within the EU with particular focus on the area of information and communication technologies (ICT). The ICT industry belongs among the fastest developing, with many new powerful market players emerging, often creating entirely new markets for themselves. This is where a potential risk for an abuse of dominance occurs and why many of the breakthrough cases in the previous years have been related to this sector. Since not only their products but also their business models are innovative, the competition policy must advance accordingly. This thesis firstly introduces the economic background and the policy objectives of contemporary EU competition rules. It is followed by a step-by-step examination of the assessment on the position of the investigated firm in the relevant market and the legality of the practice in question. Highlighted are the aspects which have...

Neste texto nós discutimos o fluxo de energia em reações hadrônicas e em fotoprodução. Apresentamos um modelo de produção de partículas com o qual é fácil estudar a deposição de energia na região central e o efeito de partícula dominante. Analisamos dados de produção de partículas carregadas e charrnosas em várias energias. Discutimos o papel individual das interações soft e semi-hard. Fazemos, entre outras, a previsão de que a energia mais altas, uma fração maior da energia das colisões será depositada na região central e, como consequência, a assimetria observada na produção de charme vai diminuir. Estudamos e propomos um teste experimental para a produção de mesons pesados a partir da fragmentação de quarks leves. / We present and apply to several situations a model for particle production. With this model it is possible to understand the energy flow in hadronic reactíons, in photoproduction and also ma.ke predictions for the behaviour of some observables at higher energies. It is also possible to study the individual contributions of soft and semíhard interactions and the individual contributions coming from the central and fragmentation regions. We analyse charged and charmed particle production data at several energies. We predíct, among other things, that an increasing fraction of the reaction energy is going to be released in the central region. As a consequence the asymmetry observed in charm production will decrease. We study and propose as experimental test to heavy meson production from light quark fragmentation.

Canadian public life is currently informed by what can be broadly considered an era of reconciliation. While definitions abound, the aim of reconciliation is just relations between Canada and Indigenous nations. Efforts on the parts of federal and provincial governments to apologize and atone for the discriminatory treatment of racialized immigrant groups has also been characterized under the broad banner of reconciliatory politics. While official positions indicate that there is to be a role for schooling in reconciliation efforts, what this means – both in terms of remedies and the nature of the problem they aim to address – remains unclear. At the same time, a new curriculum in British Columbia has been said to contribute toward reconciliation. This dissertation engages contemporary discussion about reconciliation in Canada through a critical examination of the most recent B.C. curriculum, 2015-2018, and asks how dominant national values are making space, or not, for robust and meaningful inclusions of previously marginalized and excluded histories and perspectives. Specifically, in this dissertation I am interested in how the production of national values and priorities in curricula are accommodating of the goals of reconciliation, and revealing of its limits. To do this I compare the national values present in this most recent curriculum to those reported to be present during the late 18th and early 19th centuries in secondary historical literature. Employing a settler colonial theoretical perspective, I assess the ways in which the values produced in the new curriculum continue to center the nation-state and dominant culture values. While nation states like Canada tout progressive mechanisms, such as multicultural policies and multicultural education, to reconcile challenges to state authority, such mechanisms employ and enforce cultural terms that are compatible with Canadian multiculturalism, without attending to less congruent aspects of Indigenous-Canadian relations, like those of land and resources. My findings indicate that while progressive curricular inclusions contribute to increased plurality in educational spaces, there are limits to their efficacy. This is the case primarily because these inclusions are produced through and operate within liberal frameworks that re-center the Canadian nation state. This dissertation contributes to literature that examines the condition of settler colonialism in educational settings in countries like Canada. My conclusions suggest that the efficacy of curricular inclusions that pursue reconciliation will be limited unless teacher education – both pre- and in-service – includes a critical self-analysis of settler colonial privilege and conditionality, and the nation state. / Graduate

Market orientation has been primarily studied as a set of firm-level behaviours linked to the: generation of, dissemination of, and responsiveness to market intelligence (market-oriented behaviours). However, it has rarely been studied under an organisational culture perspective; the investigations that have conceptualised and operationalised market-oriented organisational cultures have overlooked a market-oriented managerial mind-set dimension. A concept to help address this research gap is the firm s dominant logic, which highlights the degree to which managers assumptions are manifested into their corporate cultures. The firm s dominant logic is integrated with the market orientation literature to conceptualise and operationalise the customer value-oriented dominant logic (CVODL) construct. The CVODL construct is defined as the extent to which managers assume that creating customer value should drive performance. The CVODL construct contributes to the marketing literature by extending current conceptualisations and operationalisations of market-oriented organisational cultures through a managerial mind-set viewpoint. This doctoral study examines the link between a CVODL and managers making resource investments into the departments of their corporations that they perceive to create value for their customers (an alternative to market-oriented behaviours). Functional resource investments are studied as an alternative form of implementing the marketing concept than market-oriented behaviours. A conceptual framework was developed to conceptualise the antecedents and consequences of the CVODL under the dynamic managerial capabilities perspective. The conceptual framework was tested using a multi-industry and national-level sample of American corporations, through structural equation modelling (SEM). These results show that a CVODL drives different forms of implementing the marketing concept, namely, intelligence responsiveness and CVO functional resource investments, both of which were positively related to sales performance. The results also highlight a new driver of market-oriented behaviours under the dynamic managerial capabilities perspective. This doctoral thesis helps managers to foster a market-oriented organisational culture, as well as investigating the ways in which such corporate cultures can drive sales performance. Limitations and avenues of future research are also discussed.

Diplomová práce se zabývá analýzou mezinárodního úspěchu společnosti Starbucks. Příčiny tohoto bezprecedentního úspěchu jsou nejprve detekovány ve vnějších faktorech a v odvětví samotném. Následuje pozorování strategických kroků společnosti od založení až po mezinárodní expanzi a podrobná deskripce interních praktik společnosti. V analytické části je pak vymezen a aplikován model, který byl vyvinut na Bocconské univerzitě v Miláně. Jednotlivé předpoklady modelu jsou porovnávány s postupem společnosti Starbucks. Vyhodnocením shodností a odlišností reality a modelu se pak dochází k závěrům, které vysvětlují příčiny extrémně pozitivních výsledků společnosti Starbucks a její schopnosti přeměnit stagnující neatraktivní odvětví na lukrativní obor s vysokými maržemi.

Submitted by Rosivalda Pereira (mrs.pereira@ufma.br) on 2017-06-26T17:18:17Z No. of bitstreams: 1 HellydaPereira.pdf: 924393 bytes, checksum: d85908be39f7a02e10afd3d2dd03ad43 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-26T17:18:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 HellydaPereira.pdf: 924393 bytes, checksum: d85908be39f7a02e10afd3d2dd03ad43 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-31 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico do Maranhão (FAPEMA) / The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of inhibition of the Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ECA) with enalapril maleate, on blood pressure, follicular growth, ovulation rate, utero-ovarian hemodynamics, P4/E2 concentrations and gene expression of follicular cells. Were used 31 Nelore (Bos indicus) cows. The females were synchronized with progesterone/estradiol-based protocol and then treated with enalapril maleate (0.5 mg/kg/day) or placebo (NaCl 0.9%) throughout the protocol (10 days). A half of the synchronized cows (n=17) were ultrasonographically evaluated for monitoring the follicular dynamics and utero-ovarian dopplerflowmetry. A half of animals (n=14) were submitted to follicular aspiration guided by ultrasound Ovum pick up (OPU) for measurement of the follicular hormonal synthesis and gene expression. There was no effect of enalapril on arterial pressure, in utero-ovarian hemodynamics and follicular and luteal growth. The ovulation rate (%) was significantly higher in the enalapril treated cows. The plasma and intrafollicular concentrations of progesterone and estradiol not differed significantly between treatments. The enalapril altered significantly the gene expression of enzymes P450aromatase, ECA2 and MAS receptor in the granulosa cells of dominant follicles. / O objetivo com este estudo foi avaliar o efeito da inibição da Enzima Conversora de Angiotensina (ECA), utilizando Maleato de Enalapril, na pressão arterial, crescimento folicular, taxa de ovulação, hemodinâmica útero-ovariana, concentrações de P4 e E2 e expressão gênica de células foliculares. Utilizou-se 31 fêmeas bovinas da raça Nelore (Bos indicus), que foram sincronizadas com protocolo à base de progesterona/ estradiol e, em seguida, tratadas com maleato de enalapril (0,5 mg/kg/dia) ou placebo (NaCl 0,9%) durante todo o protocolo (10 dias). Metade das fêmeas sincronizadas (n=17) foram submetidas a avaliações ultrassonográficas para acompanhamento da dinâmica folicular e dopplerfluxometria útero-ovariana. A outra metade (n=14) foi submetida à aspiração folicular guiada por ultrassom (Ovum pick up; OPU) para aferição da síntese hormonal e expressão gênica pelas células foliculares ovarianas. Não houve efeito do enalapril na pressão arterial média, na hemodinâmica útero-ovariana e no crescimento folicular e luteínico, porém a taxa de ovulação (%) foi significativamente maior no grupo Enalapril. As concentrações plasmáticas e intrafoliculares de Progesterona e Estradiol não diferiram significativamente entre tratamentos. O Enalapril alterou significativamente expressão gênica das enzimas P450aromatase, ECA2 e do receptor MAS nas células da granulosa dos folículos dominantes.

O Direito Internacional da Concorrência é o ramo do direito que protege o exercício da liberdade de concorrência. Liberdade esta que, com o desenvolvimento do mundo globalizado, vem sendo atacada pelas multinacionais, causando prejuízo às economias tanto locais quanto internacionais, assim como aos consumidores, se fazendo necessária a intervenção estatal para regulação desses conflitos. Entretanto, emerge um novo conflito quando o Estado detém o controle acionário de uma empresa, como é o caso das empresas estatais. Tal panorama vem se agravando e causando conflitos concorrenciais no cenário global. A China, país em que tradicionalmente o governo detinha controle de todas as empresas nele constituídas, após a abertura de mercado, vem adotando constantes reformas de políticas de mercado com o viés de introduzir a alta tecnologia e expandir as relações comerciais com os demais países do mundo. Hodiernamente, após as reformas comerciais e estruturais das empresas estatais, a China determinou que setores-chave considerados importantes para segurança econômica chinesa serão de controle estatal, isto é, com monopólio estatal. Isto posto, a presente investigação procurou verificar se as empresas estatais chinesas estariam abusando de sua posição dominante para além das fronteiras e infringindo, sobretudo, a própria legislação concorrencial da China, cuja promulgação fora exigida pelos demais membros da Organização Mundial do Comércio. A investigação se dividiu em três partes essenciais: primeiro sobre as transformações econômicas, mercantis, sociais e jurídicas chinesas, principalmente no período posterior ao século XX; na segunda parte, se tratou do direito concorrencial na China, confrontando-o com as empresas estatais; e no último capítulo, foram verificados casos administrativos e judiciais perante os órgãos de regulamentação concorrencial. Pretendeu-se, pelo método dedutivo de pesquisa, verificar se a dicotomia formada entre a proteção governamental às empresas estatais fere a liberdade de um mercado competitivo. Buscou-se, assim, verificar se a atividade das empresas estatais chinesas ocupou fatia relevante de mercado a ponto de abusar da sua posição dominante e se é a China um palco para a aplicação de penalidades, visando à ordem e à liberdade concorrencial. Conclui-se que ocorre tratamento desigual na imposição de penalidades por práticas de abuso de posição dominante quando se tratam de empresas estrangeiras e empresas estatais chinesas. Denotou-se por meio da análise casuística que os esforços dos órgãos de fiscalização concorrencial chineses no combate a práticas anticoncorrenciais são alcançados, até o presente momento, quando versam sobre empresas estrangeiras, enquanto que as empresas estatais recebem tratamento dessemelhante e permissivo às práticas monopolistas. / The International Competition Law is the law that protects the freedom of competition. Freedom of which, with the development of the globalized world, comes under attack by multinationals, causing damage to the economies both local and international, as well as consumers, making it necessary the state intervention to regulate these conflicts. However, emerges into a new conflict when the state holds a controlling stake of the company, such as state-owned enterprises. This scenario has been growing worse and causing conflicts competitive on the global stage. China, which traditionally held control of all companies set up in it, after the opening of the market, has been adopting constant market policy reforms with the bias to introduce high technology and expanding trade relations with other countries worldwide. In our times, after trade and structural reforms of state-owned enterprises, China has determined that key sectors of the economy considered important to China's economic security will be of state control. Accordingly, the present investigation sought to ascertain whether chinese state-owned enterprises were abusing their dominant position beyond the borders and in particular violating China's own competition law, which was demanded by the other members of the World Trade Organization The investigation was divided into three essential parts: first on the chinese economic, mercantile, social and legal transformations, mainly in the period after the twentieth century; on the second part, it dealt with competition law in China, confronting it with state enterprises; and in the last chapter, administrative and judicial cases were verified before the regulatory bodies of competition. It was intended, by the deductive method of research, to verify if the dichotomy formed between governmental protection of state-owned enterprises hurts the freedom of a competitive market. It was therefore sought to ascertain whether the activity of Chinese state-owned enterprises occupied a relevant market share to the extent of abusing its dominant position and whether China is a stage for the application of penalties for order and competitive freedom. It is concluded that there is unequal treatment in the imposition of consequences for abuse of dominant positions when dealing with foreign companies and chinese state-owned enterprises. The case-by-case analysis has shown that the efforts of Chinese competition authorities in the fight against anticompetitive practices have so far been reached when dealing with foreign companies, while state-owned enterprises are treated differently and permissively from monopoly practices.