Įvertinti Raudonosios knygos augalų paplitimą, būklę, bei kaitą ir pasiūlyti priemones jų būklei ir paplitimui pagerinti. / To assess the distribution of plants of red list, their condition and changes in Vištytgiris botanical-zoological rezerve; and identify measures to improve their condition and spread.

While few people would say that Canada has done a good job of housing its poor citizens, this discussion goes beyond problems of housing the poor. In this dissertation I draw from government records to uncover how, between the 1930s and 1990s, the Indian Department created and oversaw a failed housing system on reserves across the country - one decision at a time. While housing is usually seen to be a result of poverty I argue that during this time the practices and policies of the Indian Department were active participants in making Indigenous people and First Nations communities poor. As a consequence of the persistent housing crisis on reserves in Canada Indigenous people suffered not only from living in substandard dwellings but also from the indignity and shame that comes from the association Canadians have made between the poor conditions of on-reserve housing and the personal characteristics of its occupants. What most people do not know is how it is that on-reserve housing remained in crisis for so long. On-reserve housing is something we have done not something we have studied. While federal government reports have charted the number of houses on reserves and their physical condition, no one has examined the history of government programs or how they were delivered until now. Recognizing that my study was not designed to recommend solutions, but believing that we cannot fix a problem until we know it, I am convinced that this dissertation provides the background information future academics will need to tell a different story about housing on reserves. And with a different story we will be better prepared to make fundamental changes needed to the way housing is delivered on reserves. / Graduate

M. Com. (Financial Economics) / The success of a monetary policy framework depends mostly on whether economic agents, especially the financial market participants, understand monetary policy decisions and are able to predict them in advance. Academics and practitioners agree that a successful Central Bank should be “boring” such that surprises about monetary policy should not arise in the announcements and the actions of the Bank, but rather in the macroeconomic developments. Thus policies that enhance clarity, transparency and communication between a Central Bank and the market can contribute to strengthening monetary policy predictability and improve the effectiveness of monetary policy itself. This dissertation assesses the predictability of the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) interest rate decisions since the adoption of the inflation targeting monetary policy framework in February 2000. Firstly, in order to evaluate predictability, money market forward rates are used to test whether the financial market is able to forecast the future level of policy rates, using the unbiased forward rate hypothesis. Then, using an event study methodology, changes in the money market forward rates following a monetary policy announcement are used to test whether the financial market participants were surprised by the SARB’s monetary policy decisions. The results of the unbiased forward rate hypothesis (UFRH) and the event study analysis indicate that, at least in the short term, specifically on a one-month-forward period, financial market participants have been able to predict the SARB’s monetary policy decisions with a high degree of accuracy. Moreover, the results of the event study analysis show that the South African financial market is at least semi-strong efficient, in the sense that monetary policy decisions are quickly incorporated in the market interest rates following the announcements. The event study analysis also provided some evidence that volatility in financial markets at the time of interest rate decisions has been declining over time.

South Africa's adherence to the Gold Standard while many other countries abandoned it, placed the country in a difficult position. This was exacerbated by the worldwide economic depression that resulted in the sharp decline of primary commodity prices, a decrease in demand and unemployment. The commercial banks in South Africa were obviously also affected by the prevailing circumstances and the position of one of them, Barclays Bank (Dominion, Colonial and Overseas) will be the focus of this study. One of the most important questions that will receive attention is to what extent the bank was affected by the gold standard crisis. Linked closely to this is the question of the nature of the problems encountered by the bank and the measures, if any, it took to overcome these difficulties. In this regard it will be necessary to investigate the most important areas of the imperial banks' business and the type of customers they served. Another question or issue to be investigated is the relationship between the two British banks on the one hand and the South African Reserve Bank and the government on the other. The establishment of the Reserve Bank was not openly welcomed by the imperial banks as they feared competition from the Bank while, with their considerable balances overseas, they were not convinced that there existed a need for a central bank in South Africa. In this respect, the question of co-operation between the two banks will also receive attention. / Prof. G Verhoef

A preliminary purpose of this study in the area of business communications was that of determining the status of correspondence improvement in stock life insurance companies in Dallas. However, the major purpose, which stemmed from the preliminary one, was to study intensively the approach used in Great American.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether oil and gas producing companies smooth their ending reserve quantities. Smoothing is defined as a reduction in variance in the trend of ending reserve quantities over time compared to the trend of ending reserve quantities less the hypothesized smoothing variable over time. This study focuses on two variables that are most susceptible to manipulation—revisions of previous estimates and additions. This study also examines whether revisions are positively or negatively biased and the variability of the revisions. The sample consists of 70 companies chosen from oil & Gas Reserve Disclosures: 1980-1984 Survey of 400 Public Companies by Arthur Andersen and Company. For each company, ending reserve quantities for the years 1978-1984 were regressed over time, and the standard deviation of the estimate (SDE) was calculated. Then the ending reserve quantities less the hypothesized smoothing variable were regressed over time, and the SDE was calculated. A linear model and a semi-logarithmic model were used. A smoothing ratio (SR) was determined by dividing the SDE of reserves less the hypothesized smoothing variable by the SDE of ending reserve quantities. An SR greater than one indicates smoothing, and an SR less than one indicates that smoothing did not occur. The mean percentage revision and a t-test were used to test for positive or negative bias in the revisions. The mean absolute percentage revision was used to assess the relative variability of revisions. The number of companies classified as smoothers of oil reserves was statistically significant for the semi-logarithmic model but not for the linear model. Under both models the number of companies classified as smoothers of gas reserves was statistically significant. Few companies had mean percentage revisions that were significantly different from zero. The majority of companies had mean absolute revisions of under ten percent.

Title: Munich chain ladder method Author: Bc. Veronika Janáková Department: Department of probability and mathematical statistic Supervisor: Mgr. Martin Pleška Supervisor's e-mail address: martin.pleska@cz.pwc.com Abstract: The insurance company is obliged to create technical reserves to cover the risk from insurance activities. One of the main reserves in non-life insurance is the IBNR reserve - the reserve to cover the damages that already exist, but that have not been reported to the insurance company yet. The content and the general aim of this thesis is to provide a better orientation in the method used in the estimation of the reserve IBNR - the Munich Chain Ladder Method. Munich Chain Ladder Method was created as a modification of the standard Chain Ladder calculation - one of the most used methods in the estimation of the IBNR reserve. The thesis focuses on the reasons that led to the modification of standard Chain Ladder calculation and explains the calculation of the modified method. It presents the application ot the method on the real data as well as the comparison with the results of the classical and less complicated Chain Ladder method. Keywords: IBNR reserve, chain ladder, Munich chain ladder 1

This text describes wide variety of models for IBNR reserve estimation, among them we can find chain ladder, Munich chain ladder, Cape Cod or regression methods. Especially, it aims at identification of model assumptions, its verification, impacts of their non-fulfillment and resulting model modification. Moreover, this work deals with anomalies and specificity of historical data and tries to suggest solutions for this problems. The last part of the thesis is dedicated to real analysis of motor third party liability.

Financial markets are nowadays more important than ever. Financial crisis of the previous decade demonstrated their power to influence stability of the whole economy. Since the consensus blames weak regulation and considers the only solution to be its extension, this thesis tries to provide the proof of existence of other options. The focus is firstly aimed at the weaknesses of the fractional reserve banking, which does not follow the basic legal principles of a deposit contract. This practice results in price fluctuations and favoritism of first takers of newly created money. Moreover, the thesis develops a new method of analysis, which emphasizes the application of preferences in exchanges. Important outcome of this method is the demonstration that the public does not have to always prefer the most evolved form of institution. All institutions within commercial banks are then analyzed with the use of this method and the thesis shows where preference channels are being interfered with. This analysis also reveals another outcome of fractional reserve banking, which is that the newly created money is only used according to the preferences of commercial bankers. We suggest that circumvention of the true nature of a deposit contract leads to a similar outcome in loan banking, where funds gathered by loan...

Tourism is one of the progressively evolving fields and due to the influence of globalization has become attractive and easily accessible matter for a broad group of people across the continents. Economical aspects of this perspective branch supported generally uncritical perception of phenomena called tourism. In recent years, however the negative impact of mass tourism became the subject of discussion and efforts are being made to find alternative forms which respect the environment and contribute to the development of the visited regions. The aim of thesis is study of ecotourism and biospheres reserves. Both concepts contribute to the achievement of sustainable development in Latin America. Biosphere Reserves based on the effort of harmonious coexistence between man and nature are the ideal environment for the application of the principles of sustainability. Ecotourism in Latin American practice is analyzed on the basis of case studies from Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands. Operation, management and benefits of biosphere reserves for the region demonstrate examples of Guatemala and Costa Rica. Keywords: biosphere reserve; ecotourism; Latin America; sustainable development