The subject of the diploma´s thesis is the comparison of the particular private rail transport policies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. There are specific, both economic and non-economic impacts of a free fare in Slovakia and slightly different policy of fare discounts in the Czech Republic, identified and consequently analyzed in the thesis. Comparative analysis between both policies is conducted right after. All the impacts are measured and evaluated in the context of particular government budgets, both national and private railway transporters and different segments of users, who are mostly affected by the movement. The analysis of these extraordinary government policies is conducted based on selected publicly available indicators and data from several different sources (official statistics, agreements, annual reports, tariffs comparison, financial statements, granted subsidies etc.).

The boundaries between freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems can be areas of important subsidy transfers. These subsidies, such as leaf litter inputs to streams or aquatic emerging insects into riparian zones, link food webs and provide benefits to consumers in the form of nutrients and energy. Subsidies from aquatic systems tend to have high levels of essential long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs), such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5n-3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n-3) that are only produced by certain forms of aquatic algae. These LC-PUFAs are highly important in growth, development, and other metabolic functions across animal groups (Brett and Muller-Navarra 1997, Gladyshev et al. 2009).

More than a billion people lack access to modern electricity and instead rely on kerosene and other dirty lighting sources, grid expansion is not expected to keep pace with population growth, and both contribute to climate change. Moreover, pneumonia is the leading cause of death for under-fives in the world and kerosene smoke is a significant risk factor. For-profit distribution of low-cost solar LEDs has been touted as an answer, but adoption remains low, especially by the poorest. This study estimates demand curves for both the initial price of low-cost solar LEDs as well as the subsequent user fee for repeated purchases, while also estimating the impact of shortrun subsidies, or a free trial period, on long-run demand. We find uptake is highly sensitive to price with most households purchasing at zero price and none at full cost. Furthermore, using unique objective big data on long-term usage we show that households that received lights for free use their lights as much as those that paid a positive price, disproving the notion, in this context, that consumers will not use goods they received for free. Finally, we find short-term subsidies for user fees actually increases long-term demand in the context of repeated purchases.

Aquatic habitats are closely linked to surrounding terrestrial environments via reciprocal subsidies. Much of the research on these subsidies has been focused on streams, while subsidies across aquatic-terrestrial boundaries of other aquatic systems, like temporary ponds, have received little attention. Temporary ponds are seasonally inundated aquatic habitats and patterns of energy transport across transient aquatic-terrestrial boundaries are not well understood. To address the lack of information regarding these cross-habitat subsidies, I quantified: 1) leaf litter inputs, 2) amphibian egg inputs, 3) terrestrial insect inputs, 4) amphibian metamorph emergence, and 5) aquatic insect emergence for eight temporary ponds. Terrestrial insect inputs to ponds represented substantial high-quality subsidies to ponds that are generally unaccounted for in similar studies. While larger ponds produced greater total fluxes to terrestrial habitats, smaller ponds were often more productive per unit area. Therefore, a mosaic of small ponds may produce greater or equivalent subsidies and may be of greater value to terrestrial food webs than a single large pond. Resource subsidies of energy and nutrients can be transported via physical forces or biotic processes, such as animal migration or emigration. I quantified net nutrient fluxes associated with amphibian migrations across aquatic-terrestrial boundaries of eight temporary ponds in Illinois. I measured carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) subsidies from forests to ponds, in the form of eggs, and the reciprocal subsidies from ponds to forests via juvenile emigration. Juvenile emergence biomass did not resemble egg biomass, as not all species bred successfully in each pond, resulting in variability in the magnitude of nutrient fluxes both across ponds and species. The forest was not always the recipient system of net nutrient fluxes. Hydroperiod, trophic interactions, and species composition explained some dynamics of N and P subsidies. Most studies have focused on the magnitude of cross-boundary fluxes, but the impact of a subsidy is mediated by the size of the flux as well as the quality and relative abundance of similar resources in the recipient habitat. Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) are necessary for proper physiological function, are unevenly distributed across the landscape, and animals differ greatly in their ability to synthesize them de novo. This creates the potential for limitation and increases their possible importance as a subsidy. I examined LC-PUFA tissue concentration and export in eight species of emerging amphibian metamorphs across eight temporary ponds in a wetland complex. I found that tissue concentrations and export of LC-PUFAs varied across species, but were generally within the ranges of several freshwater fish and aquatic insects. Anurans exported higher amounts of LC-PUFAs than salamanders, largely due to the higher emergence biomass of anurans. Further, I explored fatty acid profiles and immune function of wolf spiders in wetland and upland habitats. Wetland spiders had higher tissue levels of aquatic-derived LC-PUFAs and elevated immune function compared to upland spiders. These patterns suggest aquatically derived nutrients, such as LC-PUFAs, may benefit organisms exploiting freshwater habitats.

The identification of factors contributing to the farmers' non-retention of subsidy dollars is key in identifying the impact of the subsidy within and across the sector. Relaxing the assumption of perfect competition, amongst input suppliers, allows for an analysis of two upstream of complementary goods. Because it is the case that the farmers are price takers for some inputs (seed) and may negotiate over the price of others (land), I assume the upstream input providers are more akin to Bertrand competition. General findings, from the theoretical and experimental results, indicate upstream market power as having a significant impact on the economic subsidy incidence; and the complementary between the farmer’s inputs is the main driving force of the results.

Chapter 1 introduces some of the issues which are addressed in the other chapters of this dissertation. These topics include: (1) the general equilibrium incentives in the provision of public education, (2) human capital production functions in economic modeling, (3) how public education spending may impact income inequality -- both positively and negatively, (4) the effect on public education spending of changes in the college wage premium, and (5) the overall efficiency of government-supplied capital. Chapter 2 develops a public education system in which voters face general equilibrium incentives to pay taxes for education. Middle-aged voters can increase their returns to saving by increasing the aggregate amount of human capital in the economy. I find that if students differ by their ability to increase their human capital levels through schooling, then the public education policy will invest more education funds in more productive students; this perpetuates income inequality. Also, the greater the discount rate for consumption and the elasticity of education funds in the human capital production function, the more likely it is that a public system provides greater growth in the steady state than a private system. Chapter 3 studies the allocation of government spending between general tuition subsidies for college students and need-based aid which is directed solely towards students from low-income households. The way to maximize the number of students may be to provide some need-based aid. I find that government provides more aid directed to low-income students if need-based tuition subsidies are provided rather than student loan subsidies. I also look at the effects of changes in parameters, such as the cost of education and the college wage premium, on the policies. Chapter 4 investigates the returns to aggregate factors of production when labor is disaggregated by education level. I find that a model in which the error term is assumed to be state-wise heteroscedastic and autocorrelated does a better job of approximating the pattern of wages for the different education groups than other models (pooled OLS or random and fixed effects). In addition, this model suggests a significant positive elasticity for public capital. / Ph. D.

No description available.

Information subsidies have been used for decades by organizations seeking media coverage. However, over the last decade, organizations are increasingly seeking to earn greater coverage by moving beyond traditional media and attempting to generate social media "buzz" about topics of significance. Agenda building theory has been used by a variety of scholars as a way to understand how sources influence, or build, the media's agenda. Since the media agenda influences the public agenda, influencing the media agenda is important for sources. Existing research and literature has successfully linked the use of information subsidies with agenda building. A separate body of research has established that there is a set of news values that make a story newsworthy. This study attempts to link these bodies of research on agenda building and news values by examining how the presence of news values in information subsidies affects subsequent media coverage. It also extends these concepts and theories beyond traditional media and into social media. Results indicate that agenda building theory also can apply to social media, but more research is needed to understand how organizations help build the agenda on traditional media. News values do affect coverage, but they affect social and traditional media differently. The specific values of conflict and magnitude correlate with greater traditional media coverage, while a higher number of news values overall in a release correlates with greater social media conversation. The presence of conflict also correlates with higher social media conversation. Implications for both public relations theory and practice are discussed. / Master of Arts

No / Purpose ¿ The purpose of this paper is to consider whether successful subsidised arts organisations are more likely to apply a relationship rather than transactional marketing approach to overcome the tendency of not-for-profit organisations generally, and subsidised arts organisations particularly, to use marketing for short-term, tactical purposes. Design/methodology/approach ¿ Research was undertaken to identify whether ¿successful¿ subsidised performing arts organisations were indeed more strategic in their focus, whether they had applied a relationship marketing approach and whether such an approach had been influential in the development of their ¿success¿. Preliminary research led to the production of a conceptual framework that identifies major partnerships and specific stakeholder types that need to be considered by a subsidised performing arts organisation if an effective relationship marketing approach is to be developed. This was used as the basis for subsequent research involving a multiple case study approach studying two ¿successful¿ theatres and one ¿unsuccessful¿ theatre in depth. The strengths of relationship between the various key stakeholder roles and artistic directors within the three theatres were analysed. Findings ¿ Although this research is limited to a case study analysis of three theatres, it does seem to provide evidence to suggest that building strong relationships with stakeholders other than end users can be advantageous to subsidised performing arts organisations. Practical implications ¿ It is likely that this approach could be successful for the subsidised arts generally and indeed for all those organisations in the not-for-profit sector where those who pay do not necessarily receive the service. Originality/value ¿ This article provides a discussion on successful subsidised arts organisations.

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management