The Master Thesis deals with the investment environment of the Central European countries, familiarizes the reader with the phenomenon of foreign direct investment, and analyzes the macroeconomic environment in relation to the investment inflow and stock. It characterizes foreign direct investment in the global setting and outlines several internalization theories. Covering a wide range of various macroeconomic indicators that influence the investment favorability, the thesis compares Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia along with relevant concise analyses. Moreover, the foreign direct investment inflows and stocks are addressed and the investment inflow influence on national trade, especially export and import flows and trade ties, is presented.

This thesis deals with the analysis of problems of transnational corporations. It is defined which positive and negative effects can transnational corporations have on the host country mainly in economic and political terms and to what extend and in what ways can the national states regulate their activities. This work presents the largest non-financial transnational corporations in the world and in the developing countries and the largest financial transnational corporations in the world. They are weighted by their size, geographical and sectoral distribution. A special attention is paid to the region of Central and Eastern Europe. At first this thesis deals with FDI flows that are associated with the mentioned region. In addition, it focuses on the reasons of entry of corporations from the West to the region and on the effects of their action. Space is also given to the transnational corporations with the headquarters in the monitored region.

This thesis focuses on the topic of foreign direct investments in the Visegrád Group, members of which are the Czech and Slovak Republics, Hungary and Poland. These four countries are involved in strong competition in attracting FDI. The main purpose of this thesis is to review the investment attractiveness of these countries and provide an overview about the available investment incentives. Therefore, the first part of the paper defines the term of "foreign direct investment"including its types. Subsequently the author provides an overview about the most relevant FDI theories and the factors which determine FDI localization. The second part of the thesis analyses the investment environment of each country, for the purpose of which the following factors were taken in consideration: macroeconomic stability, investment incentives available to potential investors, labor market, transportation infrastructure and tax system. Finally, the last part concludes all finding and revises the relevancy of the theories. The methodology of this thesis is based on the traditionally used methods of economic analysis and in particular the methodology of comparison. Expert technique was used in the form of discussions and consultations with investors and investment consultants focusing on FDI in the region.

Master thesis is focused on the agency CzechInvest and its role towards enterprises in the Czech Republic. Their influence on entrepreneurs raises competitiveness of Czech companies and also increases the position of our companies abroad. The first chapter deals with theoretical approaches to international trade. Another chapter focuses on the situation in the Czech economy after the revolution in 1989. Special attention is paid to foreign direct investment as a key factor in the development of the Czech economy in the third chapter. CzechInvest activities are divided into the period before joining the European Union and the activities that the agency performs and after joining Czech republic EU. After joining the EU CzechInvest agenda has expanded and adopts new programs. Those are devoted to the fifth chapter. The last chapter explores the influence of the chosen indicators.

Studien undersöker de huvudsakliga motiven bakom kinesiska företagsförvärv på den svenska marknaden. På senare tid har Kinas direktinvesteringar inom de europeiska länderna ökat, där Sverige har varit en av de huvudsakliga mottagarna. Som följd har det uppstått en oro i såväl Europa som Sverige kring vilka motiv som ligger bakom investeringarna. För att undersöka vilka de huvudsakliga motiven är har en egen analysmodell med fyra propositioner utarbetats. Analysmodellen baseras på Dunnings fyra motiv för utländska direktinvesteringar (FDI), tidigare studier om Kinas investeringsmönster samt fakta om den svenska marknadens egenskaper. För att besvara studiens forskningsfråga genomfördes fyra intervjuer. Resultatet visade att samtliga av Dunnings motiv går att applicera på kinesiska investerare vid val av investeringsmarknad, men där vissa motiv är mer vanligt förekommande. Studien tyder även på den kinesiska statens starka inflytande över kinesiska investerare och hur det kan överträffa individuella motiv.

Předmětem diplomové práce je vyhodnocení investičního návrhu do zahraničí. V teoretické části práce je důraz kladen na analýzy, jež pomáhají popsat okolí a průmysl v zemi investice. Je zde dána definice přímé zahraniční investice a práce se zmiňuje i o historii. Hlavní náplní teoretické části je příprava investice, způsoby vyhodnocení a stavba cash flow. Poslední kapitola se zabývá riskem, který vyplývá ze změn v kurzech měn. V teoretické části je provedena analýza PESTLE a Portrův model pěti sil. Jsou popsány přímé zahraniční investice v Německu a v neposlední řadě je vyhodnocena zamýšlená investice.

The main objective of the study is to show how the use of tax incentives as means of attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is threatening the realisation of socio-economic rights in Africa. Particular attention is given on how the granting of generous tax incentives can affect the proper and adequate provision of public services and infrastructures by highly reducing government revenue. The research does not intend to analyse the impact of loss of revenue through tax incentives on each and every socio-economic right. Rather the focus is on its general impact on obligations of African states to respect, protect and fulfill socio-economic rights as derived from the major international, regional and national human rights instruments / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2008. / A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Mr Pramod Bissessur, Faculty of Law and Management, University of Mauritius / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Magister Artium - MA / The potential of tourism to contribute to economic growth in terms of increasing foreign exchange, creating employment opportunities, generation of government revenues, creating incomes, contribution to poverty reduction, acting as a catalyst of economic development and stimulation of investments have been advanced as the reasons for government support for tourism. It is against this background that countries in Africa such as Rwanda have implemented economic reforms such as privatisation and liberalisation in order to improve the investment climate. The main purpose of this study was to provide a detailed literature account of the tourism investment environment in developing countries, to examine opportunities, constraints and challenges of the hotel investors in Kigali, examine the role of government in providing a conducive investment climate for hotel investors in Kigali and to investigate the impact of the hotel sector on tourism development in Kigali, Rwanda. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to collect the data. Data were collected through questionnaires to hotel investors and interviews to government policy makers. Findings suggest that tourism can contribute to economic development of developing countries through its benefits. Much as investing in tourism has positive developmental aspects to developing countries, tourism investment environment in developing countries has been constrained by various reasons such as inadequate financial institutions, constant political instabilities, lack of adequate tourism infrastructure, lack of human resource, small market size, poor tourism planning to mention but a few. Various investment opportunities are available in Rwanda. Progress in economic performance, political stability, recognition of tourism as an engine of Rwanda's economic growth, the geographical location (in the centre) and the fact that tourism is still a virgin industry present important opportunities for potential investors in Rwanda's hotel sector. Despite the existence of investment opportunities, investors in Rwanda's hotel sector have faced problems such as the continued poor image of the country, lack of tourism infrastructure, the nature of the position of the country (land locked) lack of skilled personnel and lack of proper tourism information. The challenge for Rwanda is therefore to improve her image abroad that was formerly tarnished by the 1994 war and . genocide. Improvement in infrastructure, human resource and proper methods of tourism information can also lead to improved investments in the tourism sector. Findings have further suggested that hotels in Kigali have indeed contributed to tourism development. Effects of the hotel sector have been noticed in urban tourism development, development of the tourism infrastructure in Kigali, creation of employment opportunities for the communities, generation of government revenues and contribution to poverty alleviation.

This thesis employs a random effects panel estimator to assess the relationship between Swedish outward foreign direct investment (FDI) stock and cultural distance for a panel of 75 countries covering the period 1998–2012. Cultural distance, operationalized by differences in Schwartz cultural orientations and gender equality, adds to the liability of foreignness and is hypothesized to have a negative impact on outward FDI stock. The theoretical underpinning for the hypothesis is based on a gravity model adapted to FDI, which shows that distance between countries reduces the amount of FDI that takes place between them. The results from the analysis provide partial support for the hypothesis as differences in some of Schwartz cultural orientations (harmony, embeddedness and egalitarianism) have a significant and negative effect on Swedish firms´ outward FDI stock. Moreover, differences in women´s economic rights are positively related to FDI, while no significant effects are found for differences in share of women in parliament.

This paper investigates the impact of the increased off-shoring in business and manufacturing to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Since the off-shoring process is a relatively new activity, there is no precise definition of how to measure its direct impact on a country’s economy. Thus the study is dedicated to identify the main economic factors associated with off-shoring and to examine their impact on the economic growth. The study has used a dataset on economic characteristics for 9 CEE countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia) during the time period of 2000 - 2008. After applying fixed and random effects econometric model to the panel data for 9 countries, empirical results showed that FDI inflows that enter the country with offshoring processes have a positive influence on the GDP of those countries. Additionally, exports of manufactured products and ICT services are also shown to have a positive influence on GDP. At the same time, indigenous investments and private consumption do have a stronger impact on economic growth compared to foreign direct investments and exports, respectively.