This cumulative doctoral thesis comprises three essays in which "Data Envelopment Analysis"(DEA), an instructive and flexible analytic tool with origins in operations research, is utilized to help clarify three crucial issues that arise when subjecting network industries to price-cap regulation. These issues are: First, the relationship of price-cap regulation with investment, second, the relationship of price-cap regulation with quality and third, the correct cost of capital within price-cap regulation. Without loss of generality, the investigation is focused on the case of electricity. (author's abstract)

In this work the infrastructure of the Klaipeda port, its basic purposes and opportunities of development is analysed. The main and future projects of development of an infrastructure, problems of their introduction, factors, which influence development of an infrastructure, are considered. Time of feedback of an infrastructure is long and consists of 20 and more years therefore it is important to plan it in right way. Tendencies, ways and opportunities of development of an infrastructure should be based on general country economical development perspectives because infrastructures is quite expensive, and any investments should be proved and have economical benefit. Development of technological elements basically depends on the present and possible cargo streams. Therefore economical and technological aspects constantly should be analyzed and on their basis to be selected optimum of plans for development. Problems of port financing, market liberalization should be solved by perfection of legal acts, which regulate management of port.

Trade agreements play a big part in international trade and have existed for as long as countries have been trading internationally. Countries often agree to sign a trade agreement with their trading partners because trade agreements can stimulate international trade by removing barriers. Trade agreements can also have a negative impact on a country, such as social injustice and economic inequality. South Africa has numerous trade agreements with various countries, one important agreement that South Africa is part of is the regional trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries which originated in 1976. The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) is a preferential trade agreement which evolved from the Cotonou Agreement which came into force in 2000 and envisioned the creation of mutual trade agreements. When this agreement expired in 2007, the (EPA) was created. The main objective of the EPA’s is to integrate the ACP countries into the world economy. The EU aims to combine trade, politics and development and enhance the political dimension of ACP countries by addressing issues such as corruption, poverty and inadequate development policies. The EU is in favour of the EPA because it will reduce the number of negotiations with various countries, which it currently holds simultaneously. South Africa had some reservations regarding the EPA. South Africa is currently governed by the Trade, Development and Co-operation Agreement (TDCA), which was created with specific goals and also acts as a strategic partnership between the EU and South Africa. If the EPA is implemented in South Africa, it will replace certain elements of the TDCA agreement. South Africa has characteristics of both a developed and developing economy and will be excluded from several of the general trade arrangements of the EPA. The EU is offering duty-free and quota-free access for all the countries except for South Africa. This will result in two different SACU tariffs for imports from the EU. South Africa also argues that various discrepancies will arise between the EPA and TDCA which will cause various challenges regarding political, legal and technical aspects between Southern African countries and this will hinder regional integration amongst these countries. There are various opinions as to which agreement will be more beneficial for South Africa. Where the EPA aims to create a single agreement for all ACP countries, the TDCA is an exclusive agreement between South Africa and the EU, and addresses issues specific to South Africa. The underlying problem is that South Africa has qualities of both a developed and a developing nation and is being excluded from some of the benefits that the EU is offering the other members. This rings some alarm bells, as South Africa and its neighbouring countries are working towards better regional integration. The EPA might have a negative influence on this regional integration because various African countries will benefit differently under the EPA. This Study analyses the possible effects the EPA could have on South Africa’s trade with the EU and South Africa’s neighbouring countries by means of a literature study and an empirical analysis. The first part of literature study gives an overview on trade theories and trade agreements, advantages of free trade, trade barriers and the likeliness of countries to trade with each other. The second part provides an in depth overview of regional and preferential trade agreements and economic integration. The Third section of the literature study gives a complete overview of South Africa and the EU’s economic and trade situation. The Fourth and final section of the literature study provides an overview of the TDCA and the EPA and compares the two agreements. The literature study is followed by an empirical analysis and an overview of the gravity model. The empirical analysis studied the impact of trade barriers on the historic trade between South Africa and the EU using a gravity model as a basis. The gravity model was used as a base for the regression models, because it has proven to give accurate estimations in previous studies done with similar trade data. This study used data for each variable for the time period 2000 to 2010 and was sourced from the World Bank and the International Trade Centre but there are data limitations. Separate models were estimated for exports from South Africa to the EU and imports to SA from the EU. From the import regression results, it was clear that the coefficients were very small and should all tariffs be eliminated, there will not be a significant increase in imports to South Africa from the EU. The export regression results were similar to the results of imports and indicated that if all tariffs should be eliminated with the implementation of the EPA, there will not be a significant increase in exports from South Africa to the EU. However the EPA stretches beyond only trade benefits and because the EU remains one of South Africa’s biggest trade and development partners, it is vital to consider the effects of the EPA. It does appear that the EPA’s main motivator is not international trade, but that it is rather political and development orientated. / Thesis (MCom (International Trade))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Trade agreements play a big part in international trade and have existed for as long as countries have been trading internationally. Countries often agree to sign a trade agreement with their trading partners because trade agreements can stimulate international trade by removing barriers. Trade agreements can also have a negative impact on a country, such as social injustice and economic inequality. South Africa has numerous trade agreements with various countries, one important agreement that South Africa is part of is the regional trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries which originated in 1976. The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) is a preferential trade agreement which evolved from the Cotonou Agreement which came into force in 2000 and envisioned the creation of mutual trade agreements. When this agreement expired in 2007, the (EPA) was created. The main objective of the EPA’s is to integrate the ACP countries into the world economy. The EU aims to combine trade, politics and development and enhance the political dimension of ACP countries by addressing issues such as corruption, poverty and inadequate development policies. The EU is in favour of the EPA because it will reduce the number of negotiations with various countries, which it currently holds simultaneously. South Africa had some reservations regarding the EPA. South Africa is currently governed by the Trade, Development and Co-operation Agreement (TDCA), which was created with specific goals and also acts as a strategic partnership between the EU and South Africa. If the EPA is implemented in South Africa, it will replace certain elements of the TDCA agreement. South Africa has characteristics of both a developed and developing economy and will be excluded from several of the general trade arrangements of the EPA. The EU is offering duty-free and quota-free access for all the countries except for South Africa. This will result in two different SACU tariffs for imports from the EU. South Africa also argues that various discrepancies will arise between the EPA and TDCA which will cause various challenges regarding political, legal and technical aspects between Southern African countries and this will hinder regional integration amongst these countries. There are various opinions as to which agreement will be more beneficial for South Africa. Where the EPA aims to create a single agreement for all ACP countries, the TDCA is an exclusive agreement between South Africa and the EU, and addresses issues specific to South Africa. The underlying problem is that South Africa has qualities of both a developed and a developing nation and is being excluded from some of the benefits that the EU is offering the other members. This rings some alarm bells, as South Africa and its neighbouring countries are working towards better regional integration. The EPA might have a negative influence on this regional integration because various African countries will benefit differently under the EPA. This Study analyses the possible effects the EPA could have on South Africa’s trade with the EU and South Africa’s neighbouring countries by means of a literature study and an empirical analysis. The first part of literature study gives an overview on trade theories and trade agreements, advantages of free trade, trade barriers and the likeliness of countries to trade with each other. The second part provides an in depth overview of regional and preferential trade agreements and economic integration. The Third section of the literature study gives a complete overview of South Africa and the EU’s economic and trade situation. The Fourth and final section of the literature study provides an overview of the TDCA and the EPA and compares the two agreements. The literature study is followed by an empirical analysis and an overview of the gravity model. The empirical analysis studied the impact of trade barriers on the historic trade between South Africa and the EU using a gravity model as a basis. The gravity model was used as a base for the regression models, because it has proven to give accurate estimations in previous studies done with similar trade data. This study used data for each variable for the time period 2000 to 2010 and was sourced from the World Bank and the International Trade Centre but there are data limitations. Separate models were estimated for exports from South Africa to the EU and imports to SA from the EU. From the import regression results, it was clear that the coefficients were very small and should all tariffs be eliminated, there will not be a significant increase in imports to South Africa from the EU. The export regression results were similar to the results of imports and indicated that if all tariffs should be eliminated with the implementation of the EPA, there will not be a significant increase in exports from South Africa to the EU. However the EPA stretches beyond only trade benefits and because the EU remains one of South Africa’s biggest trade and development partners, it is vital to consider the effects of the EPA. It does appear that the EPA’s main motivator is not international trade, but that it is rather political and development orientated. / Thesis (MCom (International Trade))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Measuring the progress of the Member States of the European Union in liberalising their electricity markets has received considerable importance since the Electricity Directive 96/92/EC is introduced. In this thesis, first, a model based on the indicators-approach proposed by OXERA is developed to measure the degree of liberalisation in electricity markets. Then, the degree of electricity market liberalisation in the European Union-15, the New Entrants and Candidate Countries is measured in the years 1999, 2000 and 2001. Measurement of electricity market liberalisation in the European Union-15 and the New Entrants and Candidate Countries brings about several important findings. It is seen that there is a progress in the degree of electricity market liberalisation in the European Union-15 between 1999 and 2001. Similarly, the New Entrants and Candidate Countries are, also, found to increase the degree of liberalisation in their national electricity markets between 1999 and 2001 and to converge to the European Union&#039 / s level of electricity market liberalisation. Furthermore, comparison of the state of liberalisation in electricity generation and supply markets in the European Union -15 Member States and the New Entrants and Candidate Countries suggests that their electricity generation market is not as liberalised as their supply market.

Doctor of Philosophy(PhD) / Globalisation in general and trade liberalisation in particular have impacted on many areas of industrialised governments’ foreign economic policy. Export support is an area which is inevitably affected by trade liberalisation, as governments are expected to decrease their intervention into exports in the name of barrier-free(er) trade. However, if one considers that the 1990s and 2000s have seen governments expanding their trade promotion agencies, increasing funding for export support provision and developing a range of new export support programmes, it is easy to recognise that government export support seems to have grown, rather than diminished over the past decade. This thesis investigates the complex influences of the world trade regime, to create a nuanced picture within globalisation theories - which ultimately explains the paradox of growing government support in the era of deepening trade liberalisation.

This thesis is concerned with the implications of the financial liberalisation of the Chinese economy for savings, investment, monetary policy and the exchange rate, in China. In the first part, the financial repression hypothesis is tested on savings and investment, with the result that there is some evidence to support the complementarity between money and physical capital in China since 1987, although this effect is shown to have become weaker over the sample period as liberalisation has taken place. The second issue is to investigate the consequences of interest rate liberalisation in China, using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model. There are two main findings. First, raising deposit rates serves to alter the division of production between consumption and investment and to improve the efficiency of the monetary policy transmission mechanism through interest rates. Second, the deregulation of deposit and loan rates leads to less volatility in inflation as interest rates are allowed to partly absorb shocks to the economy. Other monetary policies under financial repression in China are examined as well. The results based on the DSGE model suggest that the interest rate rule is more effective and powerful than the conventional money growth rule and the adjustment of the required reserve ratio helps little to contain inflation. In addition, the administrative window guidance on bank loans contributes to less volatility of inflation and stabilises the deregulation process of deposit and loan rates. The final part of the thesis examines the sources of the volatility in real exchange rate, which are shown to stem essentially from demand shocks, although up to a quarter of the volatility comes from relative supply disturbances, perhaps reflecting the importance of supply-side reform in China since the early 1990s.

Magister Legum - LLM

Magister Legum - LLM / The aim of the research is to establish how trade distorting agricultural subsidies have impacted South Africa’s agricultural exports. The research will explore trade distorting subsidies and how South Africa’s trade liberalisation approach relative to its trading partners have impacted South Africa’s trade output, as well as suggesting effective policy recommendations for South Africa’s agricultural trade going forward.

India, China and Indonesia are among the six largest and fastest growing economies in the world (BRIICS). Rich countries are still reluctant to accept the fact that developing countries are becoming stronger and that the balance of economic power is shifting. The international community therefore seeks to find the way how to deal with this situation and the answer is to involve developing countries in the international trade. The main objective of the WTO is to involve developing countries in world trade and to create better conditions for them. Therefore, in 2001, the Doha Development Agenda has commenced and its aim is to achieve the goals of the WTO. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the success of the Doha round and its prospects with the focus on the attitudes and interests of the major Asian economies, namely China, India and Indonesia.