Interviewing of the guests of Druskininkai took place on January 13 – February 4, 2007. Depending on the results of the interview, we can state that one of the key conditions for the development of ecological farming in the country is ecological consciousness of the consumers, as the production and consumption of ecological products establishes preconditions to improve the quality of life. Ecological product demand is increasing, but not enough to forecast the market development. One of the reasons to low increase of the ecological product market is still unformed trading structures of these products. 57 % of the respondents buy ecological products in the supermarkets, 30 % - in the markets, only 4 % - directly from the ecological farms, and 8 % - during the expositions. Realization of ecological products in the supermarkets should speed up the growth of the market of these products. Main problems in selling the ecological products in big supermarkets would be rather high markup as well as the lack of an express ecological product marking. 43 % of the respondents identify ecological products by a special ecological product category (section), i.e. they do not spare time in search of an ecological product. Ecological product demand is increasing; however, the trading infrastructure has not been formed yet. The most popular ecological product trading form is still not clear. Another, the primary, reason to low ecological product demand is low income. Residents and... [to full text]

Disertacijoje pateikiama žemės ūkio paskirties žemės rinkų raidos analizė, pagal apžvelgtą teorinę medžiagą pasiūlant kompleksinę tyrimų schemą ir pritaikant ją Lietuvos žemės rinkos kūrimuisi ir vystymuisi tirti. Rinkų raida nagrinėjama keturiais detalumo lygmenimis: šalies, regioniniu, vietiniu ir specialiuoju (miestų plėtros veikiamų teritorijų) mastu. Pasiūlomi ir pagrindžiami matematiniai sąryšius aprašantys modeliai, pateikiamos darbo išvados ir siūlymai. / Dissertation represents analysis of agricultural land markets development. The analysis was performed by proposing a complex analytical model system and applying it for the investigation of land market development and evolution in Lithuania. Land market development is analysed at 4 levels: state, regional, local and special (in territories affected by urban sprawl). Mathematical models are proposed and validated for the description of relationship and interconnections in land market. From results of the models, conclusions and some suggestions were made.

This is a summary of doctoral dissertation. Dissertation represents analysis of agricultural land markets development. The analysis was performed by proposing a complex analytical model system and applying it for the investigation of land market development and evolution in Lithuania. / Tai yra daktaro disertacijos santrauka. Disertacijoje pateikiama žemės ūkio paskirties žemės rinkų raidos analizė, pagal apžvelgtą teorinę medžiagą pasiūlant kompleksinę tyrimų schemą ir pritaikant ją Lietuvos žemės rinkos kūrimuisi ir vystymuisi tirti.

Bakgrund och problemdiskussion: Mikroföretag och små företag kan tillsammans definieras som mindre företag. Det som kännetecknar ett mindre företag är att ägaren ofta är en individ eller en mindre grupp. Målet i ett mindre företag är ofta att ledaren vill försäkra sig om överlevnad, bra levnadsstandard och god avkastning. Detta kan nås genom tillväxt och den kan ske både organiskt och genom expansion. Hur bra tillväxtmöjligheter ett mindre företag har beror på ett flertal aspekter, t.ex. karaktäristiska drag hos entreprenören, kunskapsnivån i företaget och vilka strategier som appliceras. Mindre företag upplever att det finns ett flertal olika hinder som hämmar deras tillväxt. Höga personalkostnader, begränsningar i företagets lönsamhet, administrationsarbete och begränsningar i marknadens efterfrågan lyfts fram som de hinder företag har svårast att bemästra. Solcellsmarknaden i Sverige är under tillväxt och det råder hög konkurrens på marknaden där ett flertal företag vill åt samma marknadsandelar. Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att utreda vilka tillväxthinder och -möjligheter som finns i en extern mikrokontext utifrån ett mindre företagsperspektiv, på en ny och växande marknad. Syftet är även att ta fram rekommendationer för hur ett mindre företag kan agera på en sådan marknad. Metod: Studien har en deduktiv ansats och utgår ifrån en kvalitativ metod. En flerfallsstudie har genomförts med tre stycken företag för att skapa en god empirisk grund. Det empiriska materialet består av fyra semi-strukturerade intervjuer genomförda med företag verksamma inom installation och försäljning av solceller. Slutsats: De tillväxthinder som finns är låga inträdesbarriärer, många redan etablerade företag och kunder med hög förhandlingsstyrka. Tillväxtmöjligheterna ligger framförallt i de relationer som företagen bygger upp vertikalt bakåt mot leverantörer men även framåt mot montörer och kunder. Företagets interna kontext påverkas av entreprenörens tidigare erfarenheter och förmåga att knyta kontakter, motivationen hos de anställda samt företagets kvalitet i utföranden. En möjlig strategi är fokus på en nischad marknad och ett specifikt kundsegment. / Background and problem discussion: Micro enterprises and small business can be defined together as smaller companies. What characterizes a smaller company is that the owner often is an individual or a smaller group. The goal of a smaller company is often that the leader wants to ensure survival, good living standards and good economic returns. This can be achieved through growth and it can be done both organically and through expansion. How good growth opportunities a smaller company has depends on several aspects such as characteristic features of the entrepreneur, the level of knowledge in the company and the strategies applied. Smaller companies experience that there are many obstacles that inhibit their growth. High personnel costs, limitations in the company's profitability, management work and demand limitations are highlighted as the obstacles companies have the most difficult to master. The solar cell market in Sweden is under growth and there is high competition on the market where a number of companies want the same market share. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the growth potentials and opportunities that exist in an external micro context based on a smaller business perspective, acting on a new and growing market. The aim is also to make recommendations for how a smaller company can act in such a market. Method: This bachelor thesis has a deductive approach based on a qualitative method. A multiple comparative study has been conducted with three different companies to build solid data. The data consists of three different semi-structured interviews with companies acting on the Swedish solar cell market through sales and installation. Conclusion: The threats for growth that exist are low entry barriers, many already established companies and customers with high negotiating power. Growth opportunities lie mainly in the relationships the companies build vertically backwards towards suppliers, but also towards fitters and customers. The company's internal context is influenced by the entrepreneur's previous experience and ability to connect, motivate employees and the company's quality in performance. A possible strategy is to focus on a niche market and a specific customer segment.

The present Master Thesis tries to summarize and assess individual aspects of a decision-making process connected with a housing purchase. In the theoretical part, ways and methods of market survey, in particular so called mystery shopping, are outlined and explained. Further on, basic concepts connected with the housing market are defined and clarified. The first section of the practical part of the present Master thesis explores opinions of a selected representative group of potencial clients, based on the original author´s questionnaire (with analysis and assessment of answers). In the second section, a client-oriented approach of four selected development companies is explored and analysed in detail, with the evaluation and listing of pros and cons of marketing / business communication of selected developers. Finally, there is a third section of the second part, providing interviews with experts with considerable expertise in the field of (housing) real estate market and banking sector.

Given ongoing advocacy for the institutionalisation of derivatives trading in sub- Saharan Africa (SSA) as a convenient way for enhancing regional countries’ growth prospects, this study examines the impact of derivatives trading on the economy of South Africa, with reference to output growth and growth volatility, in order to illustrate the likely developmental impact that derivatives markets could ensue for SSA countries. The literature of the study essentially explores the possible ways of derivatives markets’ influence on economic growth, alongside the infrastructural requirements for ensuring well-functioning derivatives markets. While accounting for implied capital market development, the GMM estimation could not evidence a significant relationship between the existing derivatives exchange and real GDP growth using South Africa’s data. Similarly, a causal relationship from SAFEX’s trading volumes to GDP growth could not be inferred. However, the study shows evidence of the reducing effect of derivatives trading on growth volatility. / Business Management / M. Com. ( Business Management)

Cette thèse examine (i) l'impact du secteur bancaire et des marchés financiers sur la croissance économique, (ii) l'effet de la qualité institutionnelle sur la détermination du développement financier, (iii) Comment la qualité des institutions affecté la relation entre le développement financier et la croissance économique. A cette fin, nous construisons un indice de qualité institutionnel pour les pays de la région MENA. Appliquant la méthode d'estimation des moindres carrés généralisés (MCG) pour un échantillon de 18 pays de la région MENA pour la période de 1984-2007 nous constatons que ni le secteur bancaire ni les marchés financiers ne contribuent à la croissance économique et qu'ils l'affectent même négativement. Adoptant l'approche d'estimation sur données de panel et celle des variables instrumentales (IV) nos résultats montrent l'importance de l'environnement institutionnel dans la détermination du développement financier de la région MENA. En outre, nos résultats montrent que la qualité des institutions a un important effet dans la relation entre développement financier et croissance économique. Plus précisément, elle permet d'atténuer l'effet négatif du développement financier sur la croissance économique. Par conséquent, nos résultats fournissent une évidence empirique, que pour que le développement financier puisse contribuer à la croissance économique, les pays de la région MENA doivent avoir un certain niveau de développement institutionnel. Examinant l'effet non-linéaire de la qualité des institutions sur la relation entre développement financier et croissance économique nos résultats montrent que la relation entre développement du secteur bancaire et croissance économique présente la forme du "U-inversé", par contre cette forme n'est pas observée lorsque les marchés financiers sont considérés. / This thesis examines (i) the impact of banks and stock markets on economic growth (ii) the effect of institutional quality in determining financial development and (iii) how institutional quality affects the finance-growth nexus in the MENA region. To this end, we construct a yearly institutional index for MENA countries. Applying the generalized method- of-moments (GMM) estimators developed for dynamic panel data for a sample of 18 MENA countries over 1984-2007 period, we find that both bank and stock market development are unimportant or even harmful for economic growth. Considering both a panel data and the instrumental variable (IV) approaches of estimation, our results outline the importance of institutional quality in determining financial development in MENA region. Moreover, our results show that institutional quality affects the finance growth nexus in MENA countries. In fact, it mitigates the negative effect of financial development on economic growth. Therefore, our results provide empirical evidence that in order for financial development to contribute to economic growth, MENA countries must possess certain level of institutional quality. Examining the non-linear effect of institutional quality on the finance-growth nexus, our results show that banking sector development and growth exhibit an inverted-U shaped relationship. However, we do not find the same pattern in the stock market-growth relationship

This study examined the relationship between a set of macroeconomic variables and stock market development in Hong Kong and the Philippines for the periods of 1992Q4-2016Q3 and 2001Q4-2016Q4 respectively. In recent decades, the stock markets in Hong Kong and the Philippines have experienced remarkable growth. While the literature has produced diverse views on the relationship between each determinant and the stock market, there are no relevant studies on the determinants of stock market development on these two countries. Against this background, this study enriched the literature by investigating the macroeconomic determinants of stock market development in these two countries using the autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing approach. The empirical results of this study revealed a number of interesting findings. In the case of Hong Kong, the results showed that banking sector development and economic growth exerted positive impacts, whereas the inflation rate and exchange rate exerted negative impacts on stock market development both in the long and short run. In addition, the results showed that trade openness had a positive long-run impact, but a negative short-run impact on stock market development. Therefore, policymakers should pursue policies that foster banking sector development, enhance economic growth and maintain trade openness in order to foster the development of the stock market. In addition, monetary authority should strive to maintain a low level of inflation rate and the value of the domestic currency so as to further promote stock market development. In the case of the Philippines, the study found that trade openness had a negative impact on the development of the stock market in the long run, whereas banking sector development, and the exchange rate had positive impacts in the short run. Based on these findings, policymakers should consider policies that promote the use of equity financing in the production of main exports, enhance banking sector development, and maintain the stability of the domestic currency in order to promote the development of the stock market. / Economics / D. Phil. (Economics)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:26:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcia Aparecida Vieira Silva.pdf: 1254359 bytes, checksum: e47a97134e538c23ee396e5369df41b5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-09-26 / This dissertation sought to identify the results from the innovation open process and its contribution to the development of new markets, considering the achievement of competitive advantage. The study reviews the concepts of competitive advantage, business strategies, market development, information technology, innovation and open innovation. The research was qualitative exploratory. The key element information was obtained by semi-structured interviews. Six managers from software producer companies were interviewed and also a consulting firm in the field of information technology that have adopted the model of open innovation. The technique of content analysis was used for the processing and interpretation of the collected data, according to the procedures recommended by Bardin (2007). As a result the survey showed that the benefits, among others, are related to increased productivity, reduced risks, cost sharing, responsiveness, product development, compliance to the deadline. The delta model was utilized to identify the software producer companies and consulting firm that has a focus on relationship customer, that offers differentiated solutions. As the contribution of the open innovation process, the model facilitates the penetration and market development. / Esta dissertação procurou identificar os resultados obtidos pelo processo de inovação aberta e sua contribuição para o desenvolvimento de novos mercados, levando em consideração a obtenção de vantagem competitiva. O estudo faz um resgate sobre os conceitos de vantagem competitiva, estratégias empresariais, desenvolvimento de mercados, tecnologia de informação, inovação e inovação aberta. A pesquisa realizada teve cunho qualitativo exploratório. As informações dos elementos-chave foram extraídas por meio de entrevistas, com roteiro semiestruturado. Foram entrevistados seis gestores de empresas elaboradoras de software e consultoria no setor de tecnologia da informação que adotaram o modelo de inovação de aberta. Para o tratamento e interpretação dos dados coletados, utilizou-se a técnica de análise de conteúdo, seguindo os procedimentos recomendados por Bardin (2007). Como resultado, a pesquisa revelou que os benefícios estão relacionados ao aumento de produtividade, diminuição de riscos, compartilhamento de custos, agilidade no desenvolvimento de produtos e cumprimento no prazo de entrega. Por meio do modelo delta foi identificado que as empresas elaboradoras de software e consultoria focam o relacionamento com o cliente, oferecendo soluções diferenciadas. Quanto à contribuição do processo de inovação aberta, o modelo facilita a penetração e desenvolvimento de mercados.

Given ongoing advocacy for the institutionalisation of derivatives trading in sub- Saharan Africa (SSA) as a convenient way for enhancing regional countries’ growth prospects, this study examines the impact of derivatives trading on the economy of South Africa, with reference to output growth and growth volatility, in order to illustrate the likely developmental impact that derivatives markets could ensue for SSA countries. The literature of the study essentially explores the possible ways of derivatives markets’ influence on economic growth, alongside the infrastructural requirements for ensuring well-functioning derivatives markets. While accounting for implied capital market development, the GMM estimation could not evidence a significant relationship between the existing derivatives exchange and real GDP growth using South Africa’s data. Similarly, a causal relationship from SAFEX’s trading volumes to GDP growth could not be inferred. However, the study shows evidence of the reducing effect of derivatives trading on growth volatility. / Business Management / M. Com. ( Business Management)