This thesis contributes to academic debate about the question: how much substantive protection should investment treaties (IITs) provide to foreign investment? Chapters 5 and 6 argue that arbitral tribunals have interpreted fair and equitable treatment and indirect expropriation provisions of existing IITs in several different ways. Each of these interpretations is sketched as a model level of protection that could be explicitly adopted by states in the future, either through inclusion in new IITs, or through amendment to existing IITs. In this way, the thesis defines a range of prospective options available to states concerning the level of protection to provide to foreign investment through IITs. The thesis evaluates the relative desirability of these different levels of protection. The thesis argues that different levels of protection should be evaluated according to their likely consequences. The thesis develops a framework for inferring and understanding the likely consequences of adopting different levels of protection. The framework proposes that the consequences of a given level of protection can be understood in terms of its likely effect on: economic efficiency; the distribution of economic costs and benefits; flows of foreign direct investment into host states; the realisation of human rights and environmental conservation in host states; and respect for the rule of law in host states. Within this framework, the thesis provides an assessment and synthesis of existing empirical evidence and explanatory theory so far as they relate to the consequences of IIT protections. It also specifies the normative criteria by which these consequences should be evaluated. Through the application of this framework, the thesis concludes that lower levels of protection of foreign investment are, in general, likely to be more desirable than higher levels of protection.

The new accounting standard IFRS 13 had its mandatory implementation January 1 st 2013. The main reason for the implementation was to eliminate inconsistencies and reduce complexities in fair value measurements. The new disclosure would therefore enable public real estate companies to be more transparent towards investors, who base their financial decision on the information that is presented in the financial report. Since the market value of investment properties is important for investors when making their financial decisions, this study focuses on the disclosure requirements of IFRS 13 in Sweden. The aim of this research was to study how well Swedish real estate companies follow the new disclosure requirements and how this may affect the investors’ financial decisions. In order to conduct the study a mixed method approach was undertaken. The study consisted of a sampled of 90 financial reports from 15 public real estate companies in Sweden before and after IFRS 13. The disclosure requirements were later calculated in accordance to an unweighted disclosure index and then tested against a hypothesis with the help of the Wilcoxon matched pair test. The comparison of the financial reports during the period 2010- 2015, that is before and after IFRS 13, enabled us to see how well the new requirements were followed. If a certain disclosure requirement was not followed an analysis of the audit reports was made in order to conclude if a modified opinion had been left by the auditor or not. In order to strengthen this specific part of the study a qualitative method was undertaken to get an expert’s point of view regarding the new requirement as well how the investors may be affected. Four auditors were interviewed in order to acquire this information but also to get a better insight regarding the investors’ point of view. After the data collection and analysis, our findings reveal that the overall compliance of public real estate companies in Sweden was high and that the disclosure quality had increased after the implementation of IFRS 13. However, not all disclosure requirements were fulfilled and none of the company’s auditors chose to give a modified statement. The results from the qualitative part of the study showed that all participants consider auditors to have sufficient knowledge of IFRS 13. Furthermore, the participants’ also claimed that the change of disclosure requirements has little impact on investors’ financial decisions.

What started as a grassroots effort to aid tradespeople in developing nations, Fair Trade and similar certification models have, over the last sixty years, successfully established themselves as a viable alternative to conventional international trade; the ongoing growth of their market share and volume emphasize the increasing market demand for these alternatives. For coffee, Fair Trade's oldest and most established commodity, over two billion pounds was sold as certified in 2012 alone and the percentage of certified coffee continues to grow in share each year (Volcafe, 2012, Fair Trade USA 2012). As Fair Trade continues to grow, so does the variety of participants in the program and with this shift, Fair Trade is challenged to continuously evaluate how it can support both its producer base and the customers driving demand. This is, at its core, a challenge of maintaining its mission while appealing to new customers and channels. Fair Trade's expanding customer base, particularly with larger and more conventional businesses, has driven increased pressure for Fair Trade to prove and improve its impact and value. The research presented in this thesis explores Fair Trade's history, its current state and its future with a focus on impact and value creation. While Fair Trade is ultimately only a third party certification scheme with a mission singularly focused on improving producer livelihoods, its certification has inadvertently developed a global value chain network. This research focuses not on the mission, but on the supply chain of Fair Trade. This thesis reviews two existing bodies of literature; the first, the past and present of Fair Trade and its current challenges, the second sustainable supply chain management and supply chain governance. Following this review, we also explore the work of Keurig Green Mountain, the largest US procurer of Fair Trade coffee (Fair Trade USA, 2013). From here, we develop a conceptual model and framework by which to view the current supply chain actors within Fair Trade. Finally, through our research and a series of semi-structured interviews with key industry players, we explore the future of Fair Trade and the opportunities within the supply chain to optimize operations and explore the potential benefits. Based on the results of our qualitative research, our study seeks to highlight a gap in the existing literature of Fair Trade by exploring its opportunities from a business and supply chain management perspective.

Statistics is a branch of mathematics which is heavily employed in the area of Actuarial Mathematics. This thesis first reviews the importance of statistical distributions in the analysis of insurance problems and the applications of Statistics in the area of risk and insurance. The Normal, Log-normal, Pareto, Gamma, standard Beta, Frechet, Gumbel, Weibull, Poisson, binomial, and negative binomial distributions are looked at and the importance of these distributions in general insurance is also emphasized. A careful review of literature is to provide practitioners in the general insurance industry with statistical tools which are of immediate application in the industry. These tools include estimation methods and fit statistics popular in the insurance industry. Finally this thesis carries out the task of fitting statistical distributions to the flood loss data in the 50 States of the United States.

Prior research has shown that even the most subjective fair value estimates are value-relevant (Song et al. 2010, Kolev 2009, Goh et al. 2009) and that managers appear to use Level 3 valuations opportunistically (Valencia 2011, Fiechter and Meyer 2009). However, the association between “traditional” measures of aggressiveness in financial reporting and biased estimates of fair value has not been previously studied. I test whether aggressiveness, as measured by discretionary accruals, real activities manipulation, and meeting-or-beating analysts’ consensus estimates, is positively associated with realized and unrealized gains and losses on Level instruments. Overall, I find limited support that aggressive firms opportunistically use fair value measurements to overstate earnings. Inferences remain the same whether only the unrealized component of gains/losses are examined and whether firms are classified into “suspect” or “non-suspect” groups.

Culpa in Contrahendo Resumé The aim of this degree work is to introduce the institute of pre-contractual liability and its practical application. The work focuses on the position of this institute in the Czech legislation, its classification in the system of laws before the recodification of civil law, and its express regulation in Act No. 89/2012 Coll., Civil Code. Much attention is devoted to rulings of the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic and its approach to the application of pre-contractual liability in specific cases. The degree work is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter defines the term 'Culpa in contrahendo', describes its origin in the work of a German jurist of genius, Rudolf von Jhering, and outlines the origin of the institute in Roman law. In this chapter is also a description of the first case of pre-contractual liability, 'Linoleumfall', which was resolved by the Imperial Court. The chapter also contains an overview of instances of pre-contractual liability embodied in foreign judicial codes. The second chapter describes the regulation of pre-contractual liability in the Czech body of laws before the recodification of civil law with illustrations of individual facts in issue formerly contained in Act No. 40/1964 Coll., Civil Code, and Act No. 513/1991 Coll., Commercial Code....

The purpose of my thesis is to provide an analysis of the principle of contradictority and its application in criminal proceedings. I have decided to use the term "contradictory proceedings" even though The European Court of Human Rights that developed the concept usually uses the term "adversarial proceedings". The reason consists in the difference between adversarial proceedings as a special kind of criminal proceedings which is typical for countries within the Anglo-American legal culture and adversarial/contradictory proceedings as a wider concept of proceedings which is based on a respect for the rights of people charged with criminal offences and which can be (and actually is) used both within the Anglo-American legal system and the legal system of the countries in the continental Europe. In this sense, the correct translation into Czech language is "kontradiktorní řízení". The thesis is composed of six basic chapters. Chapters One and Two provide introduction, presenting some theoretical approaches to what contradictory proceedings could or should be. Chapter Three is subdivided into three subchapters. First two of them examine the evolution of adversarial and inquisitorial models of criminal proceedings, dealing with their similarities and differences. The third one summarizes why both of...

Pre-Contractual Liability (Culpa in Contrahendo) Summary The purpose of my thesis is to analyse the issue of pre-contractual liability from the microcomparative perspective which subsequently serves as the tool to characterise the main features of pre-contractual liability in the realm of Czech Civil and Commercial Codes. The reason for my research is to prove the existence and importance of pre-contractual liability in the Czech legal order as well as in the sphere of the European Union in the light of its respective case laws. The thesis is composed of five chapters, each of them dealing with different aspects of negotiation stage and pre-contractual liability. Chapter One is introductory and defines basic terminology, methodology used in the thesis, scope, and aims. Chapter Two examines chosen foreign legal regulations of pre-contractual liability. The essential attention is given to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland as those legal systems are very close to the Czech one (historically and geographically). The French view is also considered because legislators seek to prepare the reform of obligation laws. Finally, common law of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America is discussed and challenged because of its adverse approach to pre-contractual liability....

Title: Fulfilling the principles of fair play tennis with players from age categories under 12 and 14 Objectives: The goal was to implement and evaluate the interview focused on compliance with the principles of fair play among tennis players in the age categories under 12 and 14. The research was based on the findings of randomly selected match participants made in the context of competition mixed tennis teams to provide insight into the present situation of fair play in these age categories, to identify problematic issues and provide recommendations for practice. Methods: The research method was a structured interview containing questions enclosed or semi-enclosed. Results: The object of the research were players of tennis in ages under 12 and under 14 born in 2003 - 2005, respectively 2001 - 2002. The results of the two-month research showed that the most serious transgressions, which are contrary to the principles of fair play, include break of game rules and inappropriate behavior. Failure to shake hand with an opponent and expressions of superiority over weaker opponents occurred to a lesser extent. Apart from view of one player under 12 allowing the use of doping substances in certain circumstances none mentioned that the use of these means is generally approved. Tennis environment and...

Sverige är idag part i ett flertal bilaterala investeringsskyddsavtal med länder världen över. Dessa avtal skyddar investerare som placerar kapital över landsgränserna. Avtalen ger ett långtgående skydd på så sätt att investerare ges rätt att vid tvist föra värdstaten inför internationell skiljenämnd. I tidigare investeringsrättsliga tvister har värdstaternas lagstiftning i vissa fall ansetts strida mot investerarens rätt till rättvis och skälig behandling. Rätten till rättvis och skälig behandling är en vanligt förekommande skyddsklausul i de bilaterala investeringsskyddsavtalen och uppsatsen avser därför utreda på vilket sätt denna rättighet skulle kunna påverka Sveriges möjlighet att lagstifta i allmänhetens intresse.   Uppsatsen utreder dels innebörden av rättvis och skälig behandling genom att undersöka hur tidigare skiljenämnder har tolkat skyddet, dels hur rätten till rättvis och skälig behandling skulle kunna tolkas i förhållande till tre hypotetiska svenska lagförslag. Utredningen tyder på att rätten till rättvis och skälig behandling ger ett långtgående skydd för utländska investerare. Uppsatsen ger avslutningsvis förslag på hur lagstiftning skulle kunna ske i enlighet med tidigare tolkning och tillämpning av skyddet för rättvis och skälig behandling.