In the long term the issue of the welfare state is one of the most debated political topics and it concerns almost all members of society. In the last few decades the advanced welfare state has been more frequently perceived as an obstacle for competitiveness in the globalized economy and issues of its economic sustainability and societal impact are widely debated. Sweden is generally considered to be a country with the most advanced model of welfare state, but it is also a country which suffered from a deep economic crisis in the early 1990s. Development of the Swedish model of welfare state in the context of the crisis presents a critical case for assessment of welfare state vitality. In this thesis, welfare state is defined as a multidimensional phenomenon that includes both social expenditures and institutions of social policy and power structures and legitimacy. For analyzing of transformations of the Swedish welfare state in all four dimensions is applied a theoretical perspective based on the power resources theory, the institutional approach, the transnational perspective, the dependency and the world-systems theory which whose complementarity is theoretically substantiated. The thesis with this approach should contribute to better understanding of the development of the welfare state in...

This text was written as a diploma thesis of master's degree study course "Regional and political geography." It focuses on the development between the last two censuses, of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States. The economic crisis of the late 2000s has been a major turning point of the decade. The goal of the research was to create a developmental typology of the fastest growing metros. The text analyzes "classifiers" data in order to decide what developmental types have been among the metros. A major factor contributing to high population gains in the fastest growing metros was the migration induced by the housing bubble.

By using the cross-sectional data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey, this dissertation selects a sample of over 3000 firms from 16 Central and Eastern European countries during the 2008 financial crisis, to assess (1) How effective priori classifications are to identify financially constrained and unconstrained firms in times of economic recession (2) What the main robust determinants are at the firm and country-level that affect SMEs' degree of financing obstacles (3) What experiences and lessons we can learn from 2008 crisis to combat with 2020 and future emerging recession. Our evidence indicates that during the economic crisis happened in 2008, size, industry, ownership and EU dummy are useful priori classifications while distinguishing firms' different degree to financing troubles, although some of other priori classifications appeared on other literature are ineffective. Smaller firms, foreign-owned and firms in manufacturing are more likely to report the financing trouble and have less access to formal sources of finance. However, government-owned firms and firms with adequate educated workers are less likely to be financially constraint. The result confirms that economic freedom, financial market and trade integration all have a significant relationship with SMEs' access to finance. For...

The presented thesis The causes of insufficient use of EU funds in Slovakia during the 2007- 2013 programming period addresses a system of utilisation of the EU funds in Slovakia which were provided by the European Union's Cohesion Policy in 2007-2013 programming period. The period is the first Cohesion Policy's programming period that could be fully benefited by Slovakia, and although Slovakia was economically highly evaluated even with regards to the economic crisis, at the end of the period the exceptional prolongation of the n+2 rule was demanded, and eventually approved. Therefore, the aim of the thesis is to find and explore possible causes of the lack of benefit of the EU funds that lead to obtaining the exception. The first part of the thesis analyses the theory of regional policy which provides multiple possible alternative hypotheses that answers to the research question. These potential answers constitute the chapters in the second part of the thesis: the responsibility of the utilisation on the regional level, the problems in settings and functioning of the bodies on national level, the external factors impact, and finally the rules posed by the EU. All hypotheses are analysed by the process-tracing method tracking the process of using of the funds. The method tests the key moments in...

This diploma thesis deals with the changes in civil engineering that occured as a result of the global pandemic crisis. The theoretical part defines the basic terms and definitions, describes facts from past crises and defines the economic situation before the pandemic. It compares the economic situation before and after the start of the pandemic. This thesis also examines the development of selected macroeconomic indicators during the crisis. The practical part consists of an analysis of the construction market using a questionnaire survey. Based on the data from this survey, it evaluates the view of participants in the construction market on the supply side. The final data obtained from the questionnaire survey are compared with statistical data. Finally, possible predictions about the development of civil engineering are defined.

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Esta dissertação ilustra como o regime fordista de acumulação brasileiro foi induzido à sua crise na década de oitenta, pelas políticas de ajuste econômico patrocinadas pelo FMI, e como na década seguinte a política de liberalização da economia terminou por reformatá-lo. Destacam-se as alterações estruturais na economia neste novo ambiente pós-fordista, e evidencia-se como este novo regime de acumulação não permitiu uma ampliação do produto e renda / This master dissertation elucidates how the Brazilian accumulation of fordist type was driven into its crisis in the eighties, by the adjustment policies of International Monetary Fund and how, during the nineties, the liberalization of economy put another one in curse, the so called post-fordist regime. The work approaches the structural changes of the Brazilian economy under this new post-fordist regime, and attempts to show how it was not able foster new economic growth, as expected

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 ushered in a new era of globalisation and with it, intensified levels of global migration. The movement of people across increasingly fluid and penetrable boundaries has altered the demographic profile of European states and this cultural diversity has confronted contemporary Western liberal democracies with a unique set of challenges concerning the integration of diverse groups into society for the purpose of fostering cohesion and domestic stability. The effects of cultural diversity are not limited to demographics however, and this thesis focuses predominantly on the political and public responses that this phenomenon has evoked. The context of the Netherlands provides a particularly enlightening example of the way in which attempts to manage cultural diversity have stimulated intensive debate on immigration and integration topics, which have subsequently become firmly ensconced within public and political discourse. This ongoing debate in the Dutch context has brought to the fore wider questions pertaining to citizenship, national identity and culture. More importantly, these issues have exposed the limits of Dutch tolerance: increasingly restrictionist immigration and integration policy over the last two decades, and in the last 10 years in particular, has appeared incongruous with stereotypical perceptions of the Netherlands as an ultra-liberal and progressive paragon of multiculturalism. This thesis therefore seeks to rework this image of the Netherlands by observing possible shifts in public attitudes towards immigrants and immigration in the context of considerably less favourable material circumstances, occasioned by the current global financial crisis. Attitudes towards Muslims in Dutch society are of particular interest to this research given the particular cultural and symbolic threat that Islam is considered to pose to liberal values. Realistic Group Conflict Theory provides a useful framework for analysing inter-group competition and conflict stemming from both material and non-material perceptions of threat. Whilst particular focus is accorded to the specific macro-economic conditions of the ongoing financial crisis for observing potentially shifting sentiments, this discussion is situated within a larger national debate about immigration and integration spanning two decades. Linking public perception data to analyses of Dutch integration and immigration policy, patterns of voting behaviour and the real effects of the financial crisis on the Dutch economy, the ultimate intention of this research, then, is to assess the prospects and overall “health” of liberal democracy in the Netherlands. The country‟s experiences in attempting to deal with cultural pluralism reveal that liberal democratic norms have not simply been entrenched as “givens” and they are subject to contestation and ambiguity. It is in attempts to address difference and “otherness” in society that the shortfalls of Dutch liberal democracy have been laid bare. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Met die val van die Berlynse Muur in 1989 het „n nuwe tydperk van globalisasie aangebreek en daarmee saam, verskerpte vlakke van globale migrasie. Die beweging van mense oor meer toegangklike grense het die demografiese profiel van Europese state verander. Hierdie kulturele diversiteit het huidige Westerse liberale demokrasieë met „n unieke stel uitdagings gekonfronteer, aangaande die integrasie van diverse groepe in die samelewing met die doel om saamhorigheid te bevorder. Die effek van kulturele diversiteit is egter nie beperk tot demografie nie en hierdie tesis fokus hoofsaaklik op die politieke en openbare reaksies wat die verskynsel uitgelok het. Die Nederlandse konteks verskaf „n besondere insiggewende voorbeeld van die manier waarop pogings om kulturele diversiteit te hanteer, intensiewe debat oor immigrasie- en integrasie-onderwerpe gestimuleer het, wat sedertdien stewig in die openbare en politieke diskoers verskans is. Die voortdurende debat in die Nederlandse verband het wyer vrae aangaande burgerskap, nasionale identiteit en kultuur laat ontstaan. Selfs van groter belang is die feit dat hierdie vraagstukke die perke van Nederlandse verdraagsaamheid ontbloot het: toenemende inperkings op immigrasie- en integrasie-beleid oor die afgelope twee dekades en veral in die laaste 10 jaar, het teenstrydig voorgekom met die stereotipiese indruk van Nederland as „n ultra-liberale en progressiewe toonbeeld van multi-kulturalisme. Hierdie tesis be-oog derhalwe om hierdie beeld van Nederland te ondersoek deur moontlike veranderings in openbare houdings teenoor immigrante en immigrasie waar te neem, teen die agtergrond van aansienlik minder gunstige materiële omstandighede, veroorsaak deur die huidige globale finansiële krisis. Houdings teenoor Moslems in die Nederlandse samelewing is van besondere belang in hierdie ondersoek teen die agtergrond van die beweerde kulturele en simboliese bedreiging wat Islam vir liberale waardes inhou. Realistiese Groep-Konflikteorie voorsien „n nuttige raamwerk om inter-groep wedywering en konflik, wat spruit uit beide materiële en nie-materiële perspesies van bedreiging, te analiseer. Alhoewel besondere aandag geskenk word aan die spesifieke makro-ekonomiese omstandighede van die huidige finansiële krisis om moontlike veranderings in houdings waar te neem, is hierdie bespreking deel van „n groter nasionale debat oor immigrasie en integrasie oor die afgelope twee dekades. Deur inligting oor openbare persepsie te verbind met die Nederlandse integrasie-en immigrasie-beleid, stempatrone en die ware uitwerkings van die finansiële krisis op die Nederlandse kultuur, is die uiteindelike doel van hierdie navorsing om die vooruitsigte en algehele “gesondheid” van liberale demokrasie in Nederland te evalueer. Die land se ervaring van kulturele pluralisme bewys dat liberale demokratiese norme nie verskans is nie en dat hulle onderhewig is aan omstredenheid en dubbelsinnigheid. Die pogings om verskille en “andersheid” in die samelewing aan te spreek, het die tekortkominge van die Nederlandse liberale demokrasie ontbloot.

The principal aim of this thesis is to examine the validity of the claim that low productivity led to a decline in Thailand’s competitiveness, and hence, to the 1997 economic crisis. For a decade from 1985 to 1995, Thailand was one of the world’s fastest-growing economies with an average real annual GDP growth of 8.4 percent. However, such growth was criticized as being simply the result of large inward investment and rapid accumulation of capital, leading to very little productivity growth, and therefore, being unsustainable in the long run. Worse still, the later surges of capital inflows came in mainly as speculative stashes, instead of as foreign direct investments in production and businesses. Hence, as predicted, the boom finally came to a sudden end in 1997. The economic growth statistics recorded severe contraction, financial market collapsed, the currency was battered, domestic demand slumped, severe excess capacity was experienced, employment deteriorated, personal and corporate income diminished, inflation and the cost of living mounted, and finally, poverty surged. This thesis utilizes a stochastic production frontier approach to verify the claim that low productivity lessened Thailand’s competitiveness. This approach, unlike the standard econometric approach, allows the existence of technical inefficiency in the production process. It also, unlike other non-parametric approaches, recognizes that such inefficiency can sometimes occur as a result of external factors that are out of the firms’ direct control, such as statistical errors and random shocks. The period covered in this thesis is from 1990 to 2002. This is divided into 2 sub-periods, i.e. the pre-crisis period (1990 – 1996) and the post-crisis period (1997 – 2002). The estimation results indicate a structural shift in the Thai manufacturing sector, from being labour intensive in the pre-crisis period to being capital intensive in the post-crisis period. The productivity level also improved post-crisis, as compared to the pre-crisis level, and is shown to follow an increasing trend. The low productive investment level in the pre-crisis period is identified as having led to the decline in the manufacturing sector’s efficiency. The thesis concludes that this low productivity level did indeed lead to the decline in Thailand’s competitiveness, and hence, to the decline of export growth, which was at that time the main source of Thailand’s economic growth; in turn, playing an important role in precipitating the 1997 economic crisis.

The thesis deals with discourse surrounding the topic of the Greek debt crisis (GDC) in the online version of the British daily newspaper the Guardian (www.theguardian.com). The study builds on a bilateral division of the EU public discourse on the economic crisis, distinguishing between two opposing perspectives: "the Northern diagnosis" (DeGrauwe 2011: 5) prevailing in Germany and other creditor states, and 'the Southern opinion' on the situation held mainly by the debtor countries. The thesis examines the position of the Guardian in relation to this bilateral discourse framework. The Guardian represents a liberal, socially aware and traditionally EU-supportive newspaper that is published in a country which counts among the Europe's leading economic and political powers, a country that is also characterized by strong Eurosceptic tendencies. These aspects form a complex background with regard to the EEC/GDC discourse framework. There are factors supporting both "the Northern diagnosis" of the GDC and those suggesting inclination to 'the Southern opinion'. The analysis, dealing with a self-collected corpus (altogether 349 texts, 277 973 words) consisting of the Guardian online news on the GDC is situated - both theoretically and methodologically - in the field of Corpus- assisted discourse studies...