One of the goals of the economic, social and territorial cohesion is to reduce regional disparities between member states of the European Union. For this purpose the structural funds and the Cohesion Fund were established(among other things). The theoretical part of this thesis presents the issue of regional disparities and ways how to measure them. In view of the lack of consistent definition of this concept, there are number of measurement and evaluation methods. Furthermore, the work focuses on the implementation of cohesion policy and ways of measurement of their impact on development and growth of regions. The practical part of this thesis presents, evaluates and compares the regional disparities between the regions of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic via selected methods and assesses the impact of the financial support provided from the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund in the programming period 2007 - 2013 on economic growth of regions in the Czech and Slovak Republics. Following indicators are included: gross domestic product, unemployment rate, gross fixed capital formation and the rate of economic activity. The influence of the subsidy on the economic growth of regions is validated through the panel data analysis, namely a panel model with fixed effects, and Granger causality test. First, we investigated the impact of this support on the economic performance of regions where it is verified whether there is a relationship between economic performance of NUTS III regions in the Czech and Slovak Republics, characterized by gross domestic product and the unemployment rate, and the amount of the subsidy. Furthermore, it is verified whether the amount of subsidy depends on the level of regional gross domestic product. Dissertation contributes to the discussion about the impact of support from EU funds in the Czech and Slovak Republics, focusing on the regional level, and answers the question of reducing regional disparities using the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund.

The aim of this paper is to analyse and compare inflation and its dynamics between two countries -- the Czech Republic and Germany -- applying a special kind of econometric models. The first part of this paper is dedicated to economic theory of inflation -- fundamental terms, measuring methods and its targeting. The monetary policy in the Czech Republic and Germany is also shortly introduced. Next chapter tries to describe the econometric concept which is used in this paper -- vector autoregression model (VAR model). In connection with the VAR models, Granger causality, impulse response function, cointegration and error correction model are mentioned as well. The empirical part includes application of selected models on real time series of macroeconomic indicators. Next to the interpretation of results, the forecasts are also implemented.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to empirically investigate the explanatory power of Austrian business cycle theory. My dataset consists of US quarterly time series within the period between 1971 and 2009. As regards the NBER classification, this dataset covers six complete business cycles, including the recent global financial crisis. Following Wainhouse (1984), Keeler (2001) and Bjerkenes et al. (2010) I use Granger causality as one of the primary tools of the analysis. Moreover I also add Impulse response functions to discover the direction of observed relationships. As regards my primary group of hypotheses I found significant empirical evidence for the connection between changes in interest rate and structure of production. The secondary group of hypotheses is less successful; however I found the very first empirical illustration of Garrison's version of ABCT.

The dissertation analyzes the impact of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on Economic Growth by extension and economic development of the regions of the Czech Republic (CZ) in 1998 -- 2011. Statistical data empirically study determined motivation of investors to locate in economically strong regions. Following the analysis of statistical data, available resources and a field survey, whose output includes three case studies of specific Foreign Investments in the Czech Republic, the analysis examines whether the arrival of a significant foreign direct investor in the region significantly influenced selected characteristics of economic performance, or other selected areas in region (social, environmental, transport etc.). Moreover, in the context of econometric analysis to test the tightness of the relationship between Foreign Direct Investment and Economic Growth using Pearson's coefficient and characteristics of variability. The causal effect of Foreign Direct Investment on Economic Growth (and vice versa) is analyzed using Granger causality test. The conclusion gives an assessment of the significance of Foreign Direct Investment in the regions of the Czech Republic together with the identification of significant effects brought by investments.

Thesis (M.Com. (Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / The remarkable increase in FDI flows to developing countries over the last decade has focused attention on whether this source of financing enhances overall development and growth in the economy. To attain foreign direct investment and sustainable economic growth of a country, balanced budget is not only important but necessary. The aim of the study was to examine the nexus between foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and budget deficit in a panel of five Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries (Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania, Namibia, and Zambia). The study employed the Panel Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (PARDL) model in examining the relationship between budget deficit and FDI. The panel unit root tests results showed different orders of integration (at levels and first-order) giving way to the use of PARDL. Co-integration test results confirmed a long-run relationship in the budget deficit FDI series. In the long run, there is a significant negative relationship between budget deficit and FDI. The speed of adjustment is 36%, implying that the system would converge faster to equilibrium. Furthermore, Granger causality test results indicated a bi-directional causal link on the interest rate – inflation and interest rate – FDI models. However, there is a unidirectional causality running from budget deficit to FDI; interest rate to the budget deficit and FDI to inflation. It is recommended that government should attract more foreign direct investment so as to minimise budget deficit and this could speed up the development of SADC countries. Key Terms: Foreign direct investment, budget deficit, Autoregressive-Distributed Lag, panel data, Granger causality.

Dividend policy is widely researched in financial management, but determining whether it affects the market price per share is difficult. There has been much published on the subject, which presented theories such as the Modigliani, Miller, Gordon, Lintner, Walter and Richardson propositions and the relevance and irrelevance theories. However, little research has been done on the impact of dividend policy on shareholders’ wealth while considering the short- and long-run effects. The Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) was used to describe the short-run and long-run dynamics or the adjustment of the cointegrated variables towards their equilibrium values in South Africa. This study attempts to explain the effect of dividend policy on the market price per share. A sample of 46 companies listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) was selected for the period 1995-2010. Three variables were used, namely the market price per share, the dividend per share and the earnings per share. The market price per share was used as a proxy in measuring shareholders’ wealth and the dividend per share was used as a proxy in measuring the dividend policy. Fixed and random effects models were applied to panel data to determine the relation between dividend policy and market price per share. The fixed effects method was used to control the stable characteristics of the companies over a fixed period. The random effects model was applied when the companies’ characteristics differed. Results for both models indicated that dividend yield is positively related to market price per share, while earnings per share do not have a significant impact on the market price per share. To test the strength of the long-run relationship, the VECM was applied. The coefficient for dividend per share in the co-integrating equation was positive, while the coefficient for earnings per share was negative. This confirms previous research findings. The results suggest that there is a long-run relationship between dividend per share and market price per share. The Granger causality test indicates there is bi-directional Granger causality between market price per share and dividend per share in South Africa. Therefore dividend policy does have a significant long-run impact on the share price and therefore provides a signal about the company’s financial success. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Financial Management / Unrestricted

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第18506号 / 医博第3926号 / 新制||医||1005(附属図書館) / 31392 / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 河野 憲二, 教授 髙橋 良輔, 教授 福山 秀直 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

Thesis (M.Sc. (Agricultural Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Agricultural production measures the performance and efficiency of a country’s agricultural sector. The state of agricultural production can be assessed through the value of agricultural production, which is a product of agricultural gross production and output prices in monetary terms. The study examines the relationship between the value of agricultural production, government spending on agriculture, and other selected variables. Annual data for the value of agricultural production, government expenditure in agriculture, consumer price index, average annual rainfall, food import value, and population from 1983 to 2019 were collected from different sources and were used in the analysis for this study. The Johansen cointegration test was used to determine the existence of a long-run relationship between the value of agricultural production and selected variables by using both the trace and eigenvalue tests. The results indicated that there is a long run relationship among the variables. The study further used the Granger causality test to check the causality between the value of agricultural production and government expenditure in agriculture. The results show that there is no causal effect between the two variables. Lastly, the study used a Vector autoregressive (VAR) model to determine the relationship between the value of agricultural production and selected variables. The results of the VAR model indicated that government expenditure on agriculture, average annual rainfall, food import value, and population positively affect the value of agricultural production. The study also found that the consumer price index negatively affects the value of agricultural production. The study recommends that the government increase its spending on the agricultural sector, which could be in the form of research investment in technologies such as climate-smart agricultural technologies. Additionally, the study recommends that policymakers should review the monetary policy of South Africa to ensure price stability and prevent inflation. Lastly, the study recommends that the South African government should discourage imports and encourage South African agricultural producers to produce more major imported food products.

This study will be investigating the relationship between short-term and long-term interest rates with the OMX30 stock return expressed in percentage, as well as the effect that the interest rates have on the stock return. The data used in this study has been collected from the dataprogram Datastream with monthly observations from January 2003 until December 2022 resulting in 240 different variables within all three factors over a period of 20 years. While performing OLS estimation, the result estimated by using R-studio shows a negative correlation between the interest rates and the percentage return of OMX30. Furthermore, the Granger causality test shows that the short-term interest rate does have an impact on the market whilst the long-term interest rate does not have any direct effect on the stock market in Sweden.

Thesis (M.Sc. Agriculture (Agricultural Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Beef and chicken meat play a very crucial role in providing food to South African consumers. However, the rise of food prices in South Africa is viewed to curtail progress and drives consumers into debt and forgone opportunity to access food. Hence, it is of importance to understand the consumer price index (CPI) of meat and the disaggregate components of beef and chicken meat producer price indexes (PPI) as they give a clear insight into how individual commodities contribute to the general and food price inflation. The study aimed to comparatively analyse the relationship between PPI beef and CPI meat as well as PPI chicken meat and CPI meat in South Africa from 1991 to 2018. The objectives of the study were to compare the indexes’ variability, correlation, and causality between the different PPI and CPI components. The objectives were analysed using the Coefficient of variation (CV), the Pearson coefficient correlation, the Granger causality test, and the Vector Error Correction model. The CV findings highlight that PPI beef had high variability (65%) compared to CPI meat (56.7%), whereas PPI chicken meat had low variability (49.2%) compared to CPI meat(56.7%). There was evidence of a positive correlation (0.99) between PPI beef and CPI meat as well as PPI chicken meat and CPI meat using Pearson coefficient correlation. In addition, a long-run relationship was found between PPI beef and CPI meat as well as between PPI chicken meat and CPI meat by using the VEC model. Granger causality results indicated that there was a unidirectional relationship from PPI chicken meat to CPI meat, and independent relationships were found from PPI beef to CPI meat, CPI meat to PPI beef as well as CPI meat to PPI chicken meat. Based on the findings, the study recommends that policymakers, through evaluation of monetary policies, should continue maintaining a specific inflation target range as that will assist in stabilising meat prices in the economy. At the same time, protect meat producers against input price inflation using instruments such as input subsidies, grants, and the provision of modern technologies. / National Research Foundation (NRF)