Charles University in Prague Faculty of Social Sciences Institute of Economic Studies DISSERTATION THESIS ABSTRACT Essays on Natural Resource Richness, Economic Growth and Institutional Quality Author: Ayaz Zeynalov Supervisor: Doc. Roman Horvath, Ph.D Academic Year: 2016/2017 Abstract This dissertation consists of three empirical papers on natural resource, economic growth and institutional quality. The first paper analyzes possible publication bias and the reason for contradictory findings in the natural resource literature, the second paper examines the effect of natural resource exports on manufacturing performance in the 15 former Soviet Union countries, and the last addresses whether similarities in country income size and at the institutional level encourage increased amounts of bilateral trade between countries. An introductory chapter puts these three papers into perspective. In the first paper, I analyze 43 studies providing 605 different regression specifica- tions and found that approximately 40% report a negative and statistically significant effect, another 40% report no effect, and the remaining 20% report a positive and statistically significant effect of natural resources on economic growth. The findings show that including interaction between natural resources and institutional quality, controlling...

The purpose of diploma thesis is to provide an overview of biofuels market in Russian Federation, Belarus and Ukraine and estimate prospects of future development. First chapter characterizes biofuels in regard of the feedstock and further utilization. Next part of the thesis describes development of biofuel industry in the key selected countries and analyses current trends on the global market. Next three sections review Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian sectors of biofuels including feedstock potential, supportive policies, strategies, international collaboration and issues in biofuel production, distribution and consumption in each country. Last section of the thesis investigates potential from exported raw materials and its contribution to achievement of established targets with the following outlook for the future development.

L’objectif de cette étude était d'étudier les différences de mortalité régionales en Ukraine, les structures par causes de décès et les tendances à différentes échelles spatiales. Tout d'abord, des contrastes géographiques nets ont été mis en évidence : pour les hommes, entre l'ouest et l'est de l'Ukraine, et pour les femmes - entre l'ouest et le sud-est. L’étude des disparités régionales en fonction de l’âge révèle que les régions les plus avancées sont caractérisées par une diminution de la mortalité chez les personnes les plus âgées. Dans les grandes villes, pour la plupart des causes de décès (à l'exception du cancer et des maladies infectieuses) vivre dans une grande métropole est un avantage pour survivre. Le cas de la ville de Slavoutytch qui avait particulièrement souffert de l'accident de Tchernobyl a fait l’objet d’une analyse spécifique. Deuxièmement, une attention particulière a été portée aux schémas régionaux de mortalité par causes médicales de décès et a montré que les régions ukrainiennes se trouvent à différents stades de la lutte contre les maladies dégénératives. Enfin, les particularités de la dynamique de deux dernières décennies ont été étudiées. Pendant cette période l'espérance de vie a connu une forte baisse, suivie d’une stagnation, puis d’un début de reprise. Ces évolutions se sont accompagnées d’une transformation des schémas régionaux de mortalité par cause. Ces changements, qu’ils soient majeurs ou plus modestes n’ont pas été réellement identifiés par les pouvoirs publics et aucune avancée sanitaire décisive ne s’est produite dans aucune des régions de l'Ukraine. Il n'y a eu ni stratégies, ni mesures ou réformes efficaces mises en œuvre pour permettre une amélioration substantielle de la santé de la population. / The aim of this study was to investigate regional mortality differences in Ukraine, cause-of-death patterns and trends at different spatial scales. First of all, general contrasts were established: for males between the west and east of Ukraine, while for females between the west and south-east. Study of regional disparities in respect of different age groups revealed that regions that succeeded the most are those characterized by decreased mortality at older ages. As for big cities, for the most of cases of death (except cancer and infectious diseases) living in a big metropolis is an advantage to surviving. The special case of the city of Slavutych that suffered the most from Chernobyl accident was studied. Second, special attention was given to regional patterns of mortality for different medical cause of death, and which showed that Ukrainian regions are at different stages in the fight against man-made and degenerative diseases. Lastly, peculiarities of dynamics over last two decades were investigated. During this period life expectancy has experienced a sharp decrease, followed by stagnation, and recovery. This evolution was accompanied by transformation of regional cause-specific mortality patterns. These changes, larger and smaller, were not actually accounted for by public authorities and no important breakthroughs happened in any Ukraine region. There were no efficient strategies, measures or reforms implemented that would allow substantial improvements in the health of the population.