The thesis deals with banking fees and commissions in the Czech Republic. Its main goal is to identify real and hypothetical effects that are caused by this element of non-interest banking income. Moreover, the thesis shows that the bank fees and commissions play more significant role than just being a source of banks' income -- diversification and structure of bank income crosses the line of banking system. The first hypothesis on the negative correlation between bank fees and commissions and output of the Czech economy has been proved. Although other two hypothesis have not been sufficiently proved but they have confirmed their relevance for further economic research.

Diploma thesis is primarily concentrated on the problem of implementation of the tuition fees at public and state universities. There are solved many issues in the thesis, e.g. evaluation of the positive and negative arguments of tuition fees at public universities, actual problems of the Czech tertiary educational system, student's costs, their opinions about the tuition fees, the connection of education and the question of human capital and its influence on different areas. There is mentioned the view on education as an investment into the human capital in the thesis. It is connected with the topic of costs and benefits that brings the investment. The main goal of the work is to analyze if the implementation of tuition fees at public universities is reasonable.

In the theoretical part will be devoted to banking in the Czech republic and current account as the product and services related. The practical part will focus on selection of several bank institutions and description their range of accounts. Tree segments of client will be selected and determined standardized hypothetical client in selected segments. Aim of the thesis is comparison of fees and charges of the bank institutions and determination of the best option.

The main aim of dissertation thesis is to estimate, how much affects the investment on human capital (tertiary education) economic benefits. Thesis includes results about internal rates of return and also some estimation based on Mincer function. Results are compared with OECD Education at A Glance publication. Thesis works with models of tuition fees and progressive personal income tax.

The purpose of this thesis is to study the relationship of the fee system for certain business subjects in Texas high schools to certain principles of free public school education as provided for Texas public schools.

The Kalplats platinum group metal deposit is located in the Northwestern Province of South Africa, 80 km southwest of Mafikeng, in the Stella Layered Intrusion. The Stella Layered Intrusion intruded into the Kraaipan Greenstone Belt and is dated at 3.03 billion years. The Kraaipan Greenstone Belt is host to the 80 000 ounce per annum Kalgold Gold Mine. Platinum Group Element mineralized layers in the Stella Layered Intrusion are interpreted to occur in the overturned western limb of folds, formed by an eastward vergent compressional event. Three major reefs have been identified, namely the Lower Grade (LG) reef, the Mid Reef and the Main Reef. High grade reefs occur within these three. The average Pt:Pd ratio of the Main Reef is 1:1. Highest total precious metals content is concentrated in the Upper Main and Lower Main Reefs and the average grade for these two reefs is 4g/t. Open pit mining is suggested. The total inferred precious metals resource equates to 84Mt at an average grade of 1.4 g/t Pt+Pd+Au, for 3.9million ounces. Platinum, palladium and gold occur as fine grains. Maximum recoveries of approximately 72% are possible, from sulphide ore, using a twostage mill-float circuit. The estimated reserve (non-JORC compliant) is 26 Mt at an average grade of 2.01g/t Pt+Pd+Au, for 1.68 million ounces. A financial evaluation was done on the viability of the Kalplats deposit, using a discounted cash flow model. Future projections used were a R/$ exchange rate of R6-50 to the dollar and long-term metals prices of US$ 800/oz Pt, US$ 200/oz Pd and US$ 400/oz Au. The result of the discounted cash flow model was negative and indicated no return on capital and a negative Nett Present Value (NPV) of –R206 million at a discount of 13%. Factors impacting negatively on the viability of the project, include grade, metallurgical recovery, smelter fees, government royalties, metals prices and the Rand-US$ exchange rate. / Dissertation (MSc (Geology))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Geology / unrestricted

In my dissertation, I examine factors associated with firms’ submission of auditor selection for shareholder ratification and test if shareholder ratification of auditor selection is associated with the extent of price competition in the audit market (as measured by audit fees) and audit quality (as measured by clients’ earnings management). The dissertation is motivated from the recent recommendation of the U.S. Treasury’s Advisory Committee on Auditing Profession (ACAP) regarding the submission of auditor selection for shareholder ratification votes. The ACAP suggests that this practice may improve the competition in the audit market; yet, there is no empirical evidence supporting the ACAP’s recommendation. My dissertation attempts to fill the gap in the literature on an issue of current interest to the auditing profession. I find that firm size, CEO-Chair duality, insider ownership and institutional ownership are associated with the submission of auditor selection for shareholder ratification vote. However, I do not find an association between audit committee variables and the submission of auditor selection for shareholder ratification vote. The second essay investigates the association between auditor ratification and audit fees. Audit fees are higher in firms that submit auditor selection for shareholder ratification. The finding is not consistent with the increased price competition predicted by the ACAP. The third essay of my dissertation examine whether the submission of auditor selection for shareholder ratification is associated with earnings management. I find that firms that submit auditor selection for shareholder ratification are more likely to have lower level of earnings management. Overall, the results suggest that the same factors that are associated with higher quality monitoring also may be associated with the submission of auditor selection for shareholder ratification vote. The results call into question the one-size-fits-all approach recommended by the ACAP.

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital (RCWMCH), located in Cape Town, South Africa, is the only hospital in sub-Saharan Africa dedicated to children. It renders world–class public health-care services to sick children; 95% of which come from the poor, local and distant communities and require specialised treatment to recover. This case study aims to explore the factors associated with debt management and revenue-enhancing strategies in the Hospital Fees Department (HFD). The primary objective of the study is to examine the way in which the hospital manages outstanding debt and identify different empirical methods to improve revenue collection. In order to ensure the cost recovery of services, members of the public are billed and the expectation is, of course, for the bills to be paid. The hospital has a Hospital Information System (HIS) in place that consists of Clinicom and the Accounts Receivable System (ARS). The business design of Clinicom ensures that patient information is recorded and billed correctly. The ARS, on the other hand, ensures the collection of debt and reconciliation of state funds. The reason for choosing the HFD is that this component influences service delivery and funding. The importance of cost recovery to improve service delivery coincides with the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa and it is for this reason that people have the right to basic services. By making for sure revenues are collected, it ensures that the improved health-care services, to which they are entitled, are delivered to members of the public at the RCWMCH. The primary approach employed to collect information is made using structured questions and interviews with the members of the public and the RCWMCH management. The secondary approach is through the use of books in the field of finance, the HFD annual reports and policies. The study concludes with findings and makes recommendations to the RCWMCH management, the South African government and the academic arena at large. The researched information can be used as a tool to manage outstanding debt and improve revenue collection for the RCWMCH and other hospitals that face similar circumstances.

The beginning of the 21st century was plagued with unprecedented instances of corporate fraud. In an attempt to address apparent non-existent or “broken” corporate governance policies, sweeping measures of financial reporting reform ensued, having specific requirements relating to the composition of audit committees, the interaction between audit committees and external auditors, and procedures concerning auditors’ assessment of client risk. The purpose of my dissertation is to advance knowledge about “good” corporate governance by examining the association between meeting-or-beating analyst forecasts and audit fees, audit committee compensation, and audit committee tenure and “busyness”. Using regression analysis, I found the following: 1) the frequency of meeting-or-just beating (just missing) analyst forecasts is negatively (positively) associated with audit fees, 2) the extent by which a firm exceeds analysts’ forecasts is positively (negatively) associated with audit committee compensation that is predominately equity-based (cash-based), and 3) the likelihood of repeatedly meeting-or-just beating analyst forecasts is positively associated with audit committee tenure and “busyness”. These results suggest that auditors consider clients who frequently meet-or-just beat forecasts as being less “risky”, and clients that frequently just miss as being more “risky”. The results also imply that cash-based director compensation is more successful in preserving the effectiveness of the audit committee’s financial reporting oversight role, that equity-based compensation motivates independent audit committee directors to focus on short-term performance thereby aligning their interests with management, and that audit committee director tenure and the degree of director “busyness” can affect an audit committee member’s effectiveness in providing financial reporting oversight. Collectively, my dissertation provides additional insights regarding corporate governance practices and informs policy-makers for future relevant decisions.

Approximately 80% of all patients with ALS suffer from dysphagia sooner or later during the course of the disease. It is important to find patients with dysphagia in an early stage since weight loss and malnutrition, which dysphagia contributes to, are negative prognostic factors. The main purpose of this study was to identify early signs of dysphagia in patients with ALS, by investigating which clinical evaluation tools that discovers dysphagia in an early stage and see how the swallowing difficulties progress over time. Another purpose of the study was to evaluate the participants’ responses in a self-evaluation questionnaire (EAT-10) and how they correlate with findings on fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES). Eleven participants with ALS were examined with FEES and non-instrumental tests one to four times over the course of one year. Only five participants were examined three or more times and because of that it is not possible to draw conclusions about the progression of dysphagia. Nine of 11 participants showed signs of dysphagia at the first examination. Test of lip strength was the clinical evaluation tool that identified most patients with dysphagia, followed by swallow capacity test. In an exploratory analysis, both of these tests showed good correlation with results on FEES. Patient responses on EAT-10 were also strongly correlated with the results on FEES.