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Assessment of BEE progress in the petroleum industry and its role in creating value for the players within the industry.

"Natural Gas Consumption and Economic Growth in European Union" by Sergey Balitskiy Abstract: The objective of this Master thesis is an evaluation of relationship between natural gas consumption and economic growth in Europe. The sample includes panel time series data over the period from 1997 to 2011 for 26 EU member states (countries of the Euro zone). Based on neoclassical growth model, a multivariate model including gross fixed capital formation and total labor forces of a country as additional explanatory variables was created. Using recent econometric techniques: panel cointegration tests and error correction modeling, it was found that there existed long-run relationship between economic growth, natural gas consumption, labor and capital. In addition, it was investigated that in the short-run there existed bidirectional causality between natural gas consumption and economic growth. It appears that the causality between economic growth and the natural gas consumption is positive. On the other hand, the reverse causality (a relationship between natural gas consumption and economic growth) appears to be negative.

MASTER THESIS Determinants of Economic Growth: A Bayesian Model Averaging Author: Bc. Nikoloz Kudashvili Abstract The paper estimates the economic growth determinants across 72 countries using a Bayesian Model Averaging. Unlike the other studies we include debt to GDP ratio as an explanatory variable among 29 growth determinants. For given values of the other variables debt to GDP ratio up to the threshold level is positively related with the growth rate. The coefficient on the ratio has nearly 0.8 posterior inclusion probability suggesting that debt to GDP ratio is an important long term growth determinant. We find that the initial level of GDP, life expectancy and equipment investments have a strong effect on the GDP per capita growth rate together with the debt to GDP ratio.

Notre étude a pour objet de déterminer l’impact engendré par les infrastructures technologiques sur l’innovation et la croissance économique dans les pays de l’Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques (OCDE). Nous allons nous inspirer de la théorie « Quadruple Helix of Innovation » (QH) pour construire un modèle théorique de croissance économique afin d’évaluer le rôle joué par un ensemble d’infrastructures technologiques, en présence des systèmes ouverts d’innovation et du « Mode 3 » de production des connaissances. Nous avons choisi la récente théorie QH au sein des Systèmes Nationaux d’Innovation (SNI) car elle décrit une nouvelle réalité économique où l’innovation est considérée comme le résultat de la co-création entre les entreprises, les citoyens, les universités et le gouvernement, dans un contexte caractérisé par l'existence de partenariats, de réseaux de collaboration et de relations symbiotiques. Un modèle théorique de croissance économique axé sur la R&D et avec des dépenses publiques productives sera élaboré afin de démontrer l’importance de l’existence des infrastructures technologiques et il sera possible d’apprécier les effets des dépenses publiques productives à travers une étude de « dynamique transitoire » et une analyse empirique fondée sur la nouvelle base de données CANA (2011). / Our study has the aim of defining the impact generated by the technological infrastructure on innovation and economic growth in the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). We will draw inspiration from the "Quadruple Helix of Innovation" theory (QH) in order to construct a theoretical model of economic growth that will assess the role played by a set of technological infrastructures belonging to different "innovation ecosystems", in the presence of innovation open systems and the "mode 3" of knowledge production. We chose the recent QH theory on National Innovation Systems (NIS) as it describes a new economic reality where innovation is seen as the result of co-creation between businesses, citizens, universities and government, in a context characterized by the existence of partnerships, networks of collaboration and symbiotic relationships. A theoretical model of economic growth based on R & D and on productive public spending will be developed to demonstrate the importance of the existence of technological infrastructure in promoting innovation, and ultimately its contribution to economic growth. This will make it possible to evaluate the effects of productive public spending through a study of "transitional dynamics" and an empirical analysis based on the new database CANA (2011).

JEL Classification B22, C11, C23, D92, E22, O52 Keywords FDI, Financial crisis, EU, integration Author's e-mail v.korbelius@gmail.com Supervisor's e-mail jaromir.baxa@fsv.cuni.cz Our work analyses the determinants of FDI in Europe, at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century. It finds out that the FDI is positively and significantly influenced by the size of the economy (GDP, growth of GDP), total size of the labor force, openness of the economy and institutional framework. The findings show the EU accession does not have an immediate effect. However, long term membership might positively affect the FDI inflow. According to our analysis the recent financial crisis has changed the main determinants of the FDI inflows. It has warned the investors it is important not to consider only immediate profits but also future prospects. Generally the investment nowadays is below its potential level and the governments should take action to change it, if the FDI is their priority.

The thesis examines the relationship between free trade and the economic growth in developing countries. The developments of a more integrated and globalized world challenges countries in new ways by easier access to information and technology, intensified competition and larger requirements on economic efficiency and increased productivity. It is important to examine if trade can induce economic growth, since long-run economic growth determine how living standards change, and provides an opportunity to improve the welfare and reduce the worlds poverty rates. Trade affects countries in different ways and developing countries have diverse growth experiences, where some countries have managed to increase their economic growth compared to others. The thesis presents trade policies and theories, and a brief overview of the controversies regarding trade. The relationship between economic growth and trade is dynamic and complex and trade can be used as a mean to benefit from technological transfers and knowledge spillovers, factors that have a substantial influence on economic growth, along with investments. A cross-section regression analysis is conducted to examine the relationship between trade openness and economic growth. The empirical results show a positive correlation between trade openness and economic growth in developing countries. High initial GDP and population growth are negatively correlated with GDP per Capita growth, while Rule of Law has a positive impact on GDP per Capita growth.

This paper investigates the relationship between the level and the distribution of education and economic development. We contribute to the literature by introducing an interaction term between the education Gini coefficient and average years of schooling. In a dynamic panel over 55 years and 134 countries we provide, on the one hand, strong evidence that more schooling is good for growth, but the coefficient is variable and substantially declining in the degree of inequality. The aggregate benefit to education thus depends on a country's position in the education distribution. On the other hand, we find a slight transitional increase in education inequality to be beneficial at a very low average level of schooling, but detrimental for growth at a relatively high average level. Allowing for the macroeconomic return to education to be heterogeneous with respect to the degree of inequality is therefore paramount in understanding the relationship between education and development. (authors' abstract)

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the causal relationship between GDP and renewable energy. In order to find a significant relationship, a literature review is first analyzed in order to select the right methods for analysis. A simple model of GDP determination is chosen to inspect the relationship of society and sustainable energy production, as well as account for externalities on the environment by including emissions as an explanatory variable. The UN framework of sustainable development is used to highlight the need for action in the renewables energy sector. Concepts of emergy and transformity are employed to give a better understanding on the nature of energy and its crucial importance to economic development. The validity of these affirmations in terms of the nexus of causality will be done through economic methods: critical tests such as Pedroni cointegration, Granger causality and others will be used. These findings lead to useful policy implications for countries attempting to promote renewable energy and energy development. Unidirectional causality running from GDP growth to growth in the percentage of renewable energy consumption is found.

In the ongoing debates about the reasons and impacts of the financial crisis 2008, trust is supposed to play a relevant role. Unaware of this future happening the economic researchers Paul J. Zak and Stephen Knack published a paper in the late 90's, where they tried to find a correlation between economic growth and trust. Their applied model proved that there is a connection between the level of confidence and the economic wellbeing, represented by GDP growth. If this is still the case, after the dramatic damages of the worlds financial systems, and if the model is adoptable to prove again the correlation with today's data, is the content of this thesis. With the help of a regression calculation not all the findings of Zak and Knack could be confirmed. Some show an opposite development, some have still the same impact and others are not statistical significant. But nevertheless it demonstrates that trust, and its determinants, are correlated to the economic progress of a country. Moreover is proved that trust can be influenced - negatively, by high degree of inequality, and positively, with a low degree of bribery and economic discrimination.