The aim of this thesis is to evaluate public investment projects in water management assets of municipalities and the subsequent recommendation of a variant solution to the final realization. This assessment will be used well-established method and the result will be determined by comparing their outputs.

The focus of the thesis is the issue of the European Union Structural Funds and their application in tourism. Specifically, the application of the Structural Funds is examined by the analysis of the "Regional Operational Programme Střední Čechy 2007-13". The thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter is devoted to regional policy and the Structural Funds as an instrument for its implementation. The following chapters focus on tourism and the implementation of the Structural Funds in the Czech Republic in particular. The core of the thesis consists of chapters four and five. In these chapters "Regional Operational Programme Střední Čechy" is analyzed. The analysis explores the evaluation of the focus of support from the programme, its financial aspects and the categorization of projects supported.

This thesis deals with public procurement law in the Czech Republic. It captures the latest trends in public procurement law, together with the amendment to the Public Procurement Act, which entered into force on 1 April 2012. The opening chapter introduces the concepts that are closely related to the issue of public procurement and corruption. There are explained key institutional control mechanisms in the Czech Republic and criminal liability of corruption. The analytical part of this thesis describes the changes, which the amendment brought into the Public Procurement Law. These changes are mainly assessed in terms of impact on the suppression of corruption. This thesis presents and analyzes the arguments of proponents and opponents of the amendment. The analysis is accompanied by a brief look at the development of legislation on public procurement in the European Union in general and in two selected countries of the European Union. The conclusion contains a summary assessment of the issue along with an outlook for a possible further developments in the legal regulation of public procurement. Based on the analysis, the thesis leads to the conclusion that the amendment of public contracts, despite some shortcomings, is leading to a more transparent procurement environment.

Using public support as the baseline, the aim of the Ph.D. thesis is firstly to assess its effectiveness in alleviating firms’ financing constraints (Chapter 2) and in enhancing the innovation-growth linkage (Chapter 5), in comparison with other financing sources. Secondly, the research undertaken also explores public policy effectiveness in two periods of time: ex-ante and ex-post analysis. In the former, effectiveness is assessed according to whether the characteristics of the project selected for the subsidy are in line with the policy targets (Chapter 3). In turn, the ex-post analysis assesses firms’ effectiveness in achieving the planned goal and the sustainability of the achieved outcomes (Chapter 4). Chapter 2 provides evidence that, in addition to a guarantee for loans, measures to facilitate equity investments and making existing public measures easier to obtain could be considered as the main solutions for future financing. Tax incentives for financially constrained firms are revealed to be the least important factor. Chapter 3 aims to understand which kinds of projects are selected for an innovation subsidy and if the characteristics of the project selected are in line with the policy target. The results show the selection process seems to be particularly effective in meeting the goals as regards the amount of investment, as well as the expected effect on enhanced internationalization and productivity. Nevertheless, the study also reveals some failures in the selection process, namely in terms of the intensity of the project’s contribution to growth. Chapter 4 assess firm performance after project implementation. Results show that subsidized firms reached targets linked with employment level and sales more easily than labour productivity and value creation. Chapter 5 reveals that equity financing has a greater effect on the strategic decision to innovate and the highest output additionality on firm turnover growth. Grants have a more moderate effect on innovation and firm growth (both turnover and employment). / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This thesis is about publicly funded support of technology-based ventures. These ventures are regarded as solutions to create growth and societal development. They are commonly originated from universities, institutes or other firms and their products or techniques are commonly new or at least different from the ordinary. They are therefore considered as being of higher risk than generic new firms, but if successful they may also give higher returns. Hence, a range of efforts has been undertaken to support them. However, concerning the issue of public support, gaps of research have been exposed. This thesis aims to give some answers on the question of what characterizes the public support given to technology-based ventures in Sweden. It elucidates two types of public support, the “configuration-type” and the “process-type” The first is studied by using statistical databases built upon the conditional loans and the innovation subsidies that were offered by Sweden Innovation Centre during the years 1994-2003. The second type concerns incubator support, and investigates how best practise incubators can be evaluated. Among the results, it can be mentioned that different support actors use different selection criteria depending on their goals, however the credibility of the applying venture is crucial for approval. Furthermore, a framework for best practice evaluation is developed. / <p>Report code: LiU-Tek-Lic 2005:72</p>

By now, it is an acknowledged fact that economic growth, social justice, and environmental sustainability are interconnected. Often referred to as the eco-social-growth trilemma, the challenge is to achieve synergy between the objectives and avoid trade-offs. This thesis adds to the field by exploring central themes related to the trilemma in the national media debate on the 2022 Chilean constitutional draft and discussing what they indicate about public opinion on eco-social policies in general in the country. The analysis found that multiple of the theorized tensions affecting public support were central in the debate on a semantic level, including affordability of changes, necessity of changes, effect on job security, political bias, welfare deservingness, effects on existing benefits and state involvement in welfare. Moreover, on a latent level, three overarching themes permeated the debate: uncertainties about the future, lack of representation and limitations of freedom. Overall, results showed that environmental issues took a backseat to social and economic objectives in the debate, which can be connected to what I call the Paradox of Complex Change. The Paradox refers to the notion that eco-social reforms need to encompass multiple parameters and factors to be successful and yield support, but simultaneously the very same maximalism can backfire. With more parameters included, there are more potential sources of disagreement – and chances are focus shifts away from the core issues. This is something for future researchers as well as policymakers to consider.

This thesis deals with the real estate business, focusing on brownfields and the possibility of its funding from the EU structural funds and national resources. It introduces the reader not only with the theoretical foundations, the clarification of the notions of brownfields and their history, but also with its practical aspects, e.g. which financing options are available and how an entrepreneur can apply for such aid. In these times of financial crisis and lack of access to bank loans this thesis brings comprehensive overview of alternative real estate financing options using public support in order to return the beneficial aspects of brownfield site development and to boost the investment environment, which brings significant benefits to the community. Finally, it gives examples of successful projects recently carried out in Czech Republic.

This work has been written to elucidate the problems of feasibility study, as valuating document of public projects and its creating in practice. In the theoretical part I have explained the public projects, possibility of their financing as well as one of the cost methods of their evaluation, e.g. cost benefit analysis. I have described the application eCBA, which is nowadays compulsory annex to application for subsidies from the structural sources in many cohesion regions. A content of the practical part is creating of the feasibility study for the construction project which has already been done. Not only its traditional forms but its development in application eCBA too. These outputs fully replace feasibility study just in cohesion region Southeast.

The aim of this study is to look further into whether higher levels of EU structural fund payments to European regions come with higher levels of citizen support for European integration. The question is relevant in light of rising levels of Euroscepticism in some areas of Europe along with the momentous approval of subsidy packages following the Covid pandemic, nearly doubling the EU’s expenditures. The research question is examined using a time-series cross-sectional design, combining survey data on individual’s opinions on European integration with data on EU payments to European regions. Using a larger data set on EU payments than previous studies, the results are contrary to some previous studies focusing on the effect of EU funding in less prosperous regions, or studies using Eurosceptic voting as the dependent variable, but corroborate the results of the most recent study with similar design and data. Analyses of how the effect is conditioned on country group or level of affluence show mixed results, indicating a need for further research on the effects of EU spending on citizen support for European integration.

In this study, crisis management has been studied primarily from the perspective of small business owners and lifestyle entrepreneurs. Over time, a need was also discovered to interview and study the relationship of public support organizationswith small businesses in crisis contexts. This is because in the theoretical research framework we experienced a lack of how private small businesses can act in a crisis. This is how our subject has been developed, and curiosity about practical crisis management versus theoretical crisis management has played a central role. Following the work, the niche of small entrepreneurs became in nature tourism, partly due to the fact that Värmland as a county has many entrepreneurs in this category. It is also inevitable that Värmland and the entrepreneurs here have had a strong international market before COVID-19 and therefore the interest has also been to study and analyze how they have acted and proceeded during the crisis. The question of adjustment is therefore very essential to study for future possible crises. To discern these similarities and differences, the private has been set against the regional and public, but also against each other. It has been conducted thanks to semi-structured interviews that highlight the same themes. The themes then follow a consistent structure for both method, empirical data and analysis, where it relates to the study's purpose and issues. Overall, the study has generated striking similarities and differences, but also a dimension in the exclusion of small business owners. The lastpart of the conclusion shows why it is still important to study the subject, as COVID-19 has affected the tourism industry in a very unique and global way, which has not previously been discernible. It highlights the importance of contributing to and continuing research in the future, where both public actors together with regional and private actors can find a way to deal with future crises together. / I denna studie har krishantering studerats utifrån framförallt småföretagares- och livsstilsföretagares perspektiv. Under tidens gång upptäcktes även ett behov av att intervjua och studera offentliga stödorganisationers förhållande till småföretagare i krissammanhang. Det på grund av att det i de teoretiska forskningsramarna upplevdes en brist för hur privata småföretagare kan agera vid kris. Det är genom den vägen ämnet har arbetats fram, och nyfikenheten kring praktisk krishantering versus teoretisk krishantering har spelat en central roll. Utefter arbetets gång kom nischen av småföretagare att bli inom naturturism, bland annat på grund av att Värmland som län innehar många företagare inom den kategorin. Det går heller inte att undkomma att Värmland och företagarna här har haft en stark internationell marknad innan COVID-19 och därför har intresset likaså varit att studera och analysera hur företagarna har agerat och gått tillväga under krisens gång för att ställa om. Omställningsfrågan är därför essentiell att studera för framtida eventuella kriser. För att skönja dessa likheter och skillnader har det privata ställts emot de regionala och offentliga, men även mot varandra. Det har utförts tack vare semistrukturerade intervjuer som lyft samma teman. Temana följer sedan en genomgående struktur för både metod, empiri och analys, där de förhåller sig till studiens syfte och frågeställningar. Studien har totalt sett genererat påvisande likheter och skillnader, men även en dimension i exkludering av småföretagare. I slutsatsens sista del framkommer det varför det är fortsatt viktigt att studera ämnet, eftersom COVID-19 har påverkat besöksnäringen på ett väldigt unikt och globalt sätt, som tidigare inte har kunnat skönjas. Det belyser vikten av att bidra med samt fortsätta forskning framöver där både offentliga aktörer tillsammans med regionala- och privata aktörer kan hitta ett sätt att tillsammans hantera kommande kriser / <p>C-uppsats </p>