This thesis examines the disclosure practices of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and the impact of reform programmes in the SOE sector on such practices. The study stems from evidence of poor performance of SOEs attributed to the dearth of information disclosure, hence, the introduction of reform programmes to address these problems. Based on multiple case design with data gathered from three large SOEs and key policy makers in the SOE sector of Ghana, the findings show that the disclosure relationships, objectives, and media are generally the same across all SOEs. There are however some notable variations from the both within-case and cross-case analyses, with respect to the generic sections, volume and disclosure types in their respective annual reports. There are also differences in relation to the processes of producing their disclosure media. With regards to the impact of reform programmes, the study found both sector-wide and industry specific reform programmes, driven and underpinned by institutional forces and tenets of agency theory. These programmes have among other things, increased the numbers of disclosure media, stakeholders or principals that SOEs must disclose to, expanded the nature of disclosure (managerial, program, procedures, and financial) and types of disclosure relationships (diagonal).

Self assessment system (SAS) has become the key administrative approach for both personal and corporate taxation in developed countries including the USA, UK and Australia. This approach emphasises both the taxpayers’ responsibility to report their income and the need for them to determine their own tax liability. Central to the motivations of self assessment system introduction is an increase in the efficiency of tax collection for the tax authority; however, of more vital importance is the need to enable this without having an unacceptable detrimental effect on the other key characteristics of a well-designed tax system (equity, wider administrative efficiency etc). This requires the development of public awareness of tax laws, and improvements in voluntary compliance. According to prior studies on this topic one of the main facilitating factors in achieving these aims is the development of the level of tax knowledge among taxpayers. The objective of this study is to investigate how facilitating factors interact in the development of a suitable SAS focusing in particular on the role of tax knowledge. To explore the interaction in the real setting the country of Malaysia is used as a case tax system for this study. This country is due to chosen its fairly recent introduction of SAS enabling a specific focus on changes brought about by the move to a SAS with as little time for ‘noise’ creating factors as possible that may result from longer implemented SAS. It also enables a study of this topic in the context of a developing country where many of the prior studies in this area have had in the context of developed countries. This study focuses on the level of individual Malaysian taxpayers’ knowledge and explores how tax knowledge levels influence tax compliance behaviour in a new SAS. Data was collected through a large scale national postal survey resulting in 1,073 responses. Five stages were used to facilitate the analysis. Stage 1, using the t-test and ANOVA, focuses on the characteristics of taxpayers’ knowledge including gender, ethnicity, educational level and income level. Stage 2 attempts to describe the relationship between tax knowledge and tax compliance using multiple regressions. Stage 4 examines taxpayers’ compliance determinants more widely than tax knowledge. Nine variables were tested in Stage 4. Control variables were added in both Stage 3 and Stage 5 in order to assess whether the inclusion of control variables significantly affects tax compliance behaviour. The results suggested that tax knowledge has a significant impact on tax compliance even though the level of tax knowledge varies significantly among respondents. The results also indicate that tax compliance is influenced specifically by probability of being audited, perceptions of government spending, penalties, personal financial constraints, and the influence of referent groups. Results of this study answer such questions as which various taxpayer characteristics of tax knowledge affect compliant behaviour. The results of this study can inform policymakers on the extent to which tax knowledge is important in a self assessment system and in what ways it can affect compliance. It also provides an indicator for tax administrators of the relative importance of tax knowledge in assisting with the design of tax education programmes, simplifying tax systems and developing a iii wider understanding of taxpayers' behaviour. This study contributes to current global literature in this field of the relative importance of tax knowledge in affecting tax compliance, as well as exploring the factors that make people pay taxes in a self assessment system, and discusses methods of increasing voluntary compliance.

This dissertation studies the diplomatic and political communication between Florence, the Byzantine and the Ottoman empires in the fifteenth century (1439-1481). The first chapter is introductory to the thesis and reconstructs the contacts between Florence and Byzantium. The second chapter and the third chapter examine the privileges granted by John VIII to Florence; the chapters present the contents and contextualise the privileges within the humanist environment. The fourth chapter studies the Florentine-Byzantine contacts after the Council (1439-1453), focusing on why Florence abandoned Byzantium. The fifth chapter analyses the beginning of Florentine-Ottoman relations and reconstructs the commercial privileges given by the sultan to Florence. The sixth and seventh chapters investigate Florence’s diplomacy during the Ottoman-Venetian war (1463-1479) and Otranto (1480-1481) until Mehmet II’s death. The thesis is accompanied by three appendices including a number of unpublished documents, a prosopography of the Florentines involved in the Levant, and selected Byzantine charters used for the analysis in chapter two. I aim to demonstrate that the relations between the eastern and the western part of the Mediterranean in the fifteenth century were determined by political and economic considerations rather than faith. These considerations guided Florence’s diplomacy to achieve commercial superiority in Constantinople.

The dissertation investigates the development and evolution of the investment patterns of the two Chinese Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs)--China Investment Corporation (CIC) and State Administration of Foreign Exchange Investment Company (SIC). The dissertation demonstrates that the IPE literature on SWF is divided between realists, mercantilists and financial economists. Through my research, I advance three related set of propositions. First, I argue that because China opted to develop two SWFs, each with its own distinct institutional and operational background, one drawing on Central bank reserves (SIC), the other evolved as a swap arrangement from foreign reserve (CIC), the two funds saw each other as competitors. Second, the dissertation shows that competition over rate of return ensured that the funds would prioritize commercial interests over the political goals to the Chinese state. Third, and irrespective of the above, I show that paradoxically, political and economic controls proved useful for the Chinese state to support China’s fledgling SOEs and SOCBs in order to sustain fast economic growth. With regard to CIC’s global operations, the State Council cleverly used the fund’s connection and capital capacity to access wider range of international business opportunities, gain management knowhow, technology transfers, raw materials and energy resources.

The thesis examines the extent to which Mercosur member states can establish a common approach to regional development, and what Mercosur can learn from the European Union experience of regional development funds. Through an extensive statistical analysis this thesis maps and profiles regional disparities in Mercosur in order to expose the nature and scale of the regional development challenge faced by the region. It argues that the creation of a Mercosur Regional Development Fund (MRDF), although not the sole solution, is one way forward towards the reduction of regional disparities. The thesis then proposes a theoretical framework which can be employed to account for prospective policy transfers between two supranational associations such as the EU and Mercosur. A critical analysis of the EU regional development fund experience leads the thesis to propose that there are some key EU principles which Mercosur can apply. Finally, the thesis discusses the objectives and main characteristics of a MRDF in terms of how it might best address the needs of the Mercosur less developed regions.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the impacts of Climate Change policies on the Korean economy. Chapter two assesses initial emission allowance allocation methods in the Korean electricity market with a Mixed Complementarity Problem (MCP) model. Giving away free permits makes the emission reduction more expensive, but the extra capacity triggered by the free allowances to new entrants based on the fuel-specific benchmark raises social welfare when the industry is not competitive. Chapter three provides an integrated model that combines a macro-econometric model and a MCP electricity model. Dynamic linear logit model is employed to capture fuel substitution behaviours in the macro-econometric model. Chapter four analyses the effects of restructuring the energy tax and electricity pricing system when a carbon tax is introduced using the integrated model. Simulation results show that restructuring pre-existing energy taxes and the electricity pricing system can lessen the economic costs of CO2 emissions reduction, which implies that adjusting the energy pricing system to reflect social costs accurately is the way to reduce emissions more efficiently. However, gradual restructuring of the current electricity pricing system would be recommended in order to minimize the negative effect on the industrial competiveness in the Korean economy.

This thesis presents three empirical studies on household finance. The thesis is inspired by the following phenomena: (1) the development of household finance; (2) the importance of enhancing financial inclusion; (3) the rising prevalence of obesity in western countries; (4) the global ageing challenge. Using the China Household Finance Survey, I investigate the determinants of financial inclusion, focusing on the role played by informal finance. I test the extent to which financial inclusion affects households' consumption. My findings suggest that enhancing financial inclusion in China may play an important role in rebalancing the economy towards domestic consumption. Using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, I investigate the extent to which households' consumption profile changes after health shocks. My findings suggest that non-medical consumption is generally insured against health shocks in China. Using the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, I find a positive association between financial stress and bodyweight in Europe. I find that individuals are more likely to respond to self-perceived financial stress than to objective levels of debt. Thus, policies aimed at improving citizens' ability to cope with financial stress may play a role in tackling the obesity epidemic in Europe.

This thesis focuses on local water institutions and practical management arrangements in North West Thailand through the lens of governance in order to begin to establish how the transition to more sustainable water management might be undertaken. Adaptive governance is advanced as a potent means of delivering more sustainable management by providing the flexibility and adaptability to respond to abrupt environmental change, while enhancing participatory and learning opportunities for stakeholders. Insights from the literature on socio-spatial relations are employed to compliment the use of governance concepts by providing insight into the territorial organization of water supply and delivery within the study area, specifically the all-important role of space and socio-spatial relations on day-to-day water management. Data collection methods comprised: (i) 192 face-to-face in-depth semi-structured interviews with key actors; (ii) 20 questionnaires distributed to actors from Joint Management Committee for Irrigation (JMC); (iii) four group discussions with actors from a state-led irrigation project; and (iv) 20 remote interviews with four administrator groups. The analysis identifies the importance of ‘middle ground’ organization as a strategic policy goal to encourage more sustainable water management, set against the pragmatic reality of escalating future demand for water from multiple users at different levels and scales.

This thesis deals with Taiwan as a post-colonial nation, with an identity that remains somewhat ambiguous, from both internal and external perspectives. Specifically, in this thesis, the complexities of its Taiwan’s multicultural legacies are explored through the presentation in industrial heritage sites. Industrial heritage in Taiwan is mainly the product of the Japanese colonial period between 1895 and 1945, which spans the first half of the twentieth century. This fifty-year colonial industrialisation is arguably Taiwan’s most influential industrial heritage because it began a rapid process of modernisation that is continuing today. The key to this process is the industrialisation that led to the development of main parts of the island, catalysed new communities and social patterns and structured daily life. These industrial locations have now become heritage sites for tourism and creative development, Moreover, the interpretation of these sites highlights the re-contextualisation of the Taiwanese legacy from both political and economic perspectives. However, these sites also reveal some highly problematic place-related aspects of the colonial narrative. This thesis examines how this heritage is produced in a society that remains connected to Japanese culture, a society in which industrial heritage is influenced by the increasing convergence between cultural tourism, museumification and commercialisation Furthermore, new relationships are identified, which reflect the patterns and trends of wider economic, social and cultural changes. The thesis concludes by offering a deeper understanding of the valorisation of industrial heritage in Taiwan and its influence on broader Taiwanese narratives of geopolitics and global heritage agenda.

This thesis explores the factors associated with eastern European entrepreneurship in the UK. Stanworth and Curran (1976) presented the concept of social marginality which describes perceived incongruity between individual personality attributes and the role they hold in society or organisations. Their hypothesis suggests that individuals may respond to social marginality by a determination to succeed. Our hypothesis is that the eastern European entrepreneurs engage in entrepreneurial activity as a result of failure to gain employment that meet their expected earnings. In this research a questionnaire is utilised to collect research data from a sample size of one hundred and five east European entrepreneurship in England. Evidence from this research sufficiently address three fundamental questions about the research population, which are: what are the drivers of engaging in entrepreneurial activity; what are the personal characteristics that define these entrepreneurs; and what sources of business finance does entrepreneurs have access to. It is essential to note that this research was carried out prior to the in/out referendum held on the 23rd June 2016 which resulted in a vote for UK to leave the EU in what has become commonly known as ‘Brexit’.