Thesis (M. Hous. M.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 63-68)

Thesis (M. Hous. M.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-110).

Thesis (M.Hous.M.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-110). Also available in print.

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

This thesis is made of two parts. Part I (Chapter 1 to 3) focuses on the ethical aspects of the current challenges in microfinance. Chapter 1 addresses the question of the place and importance of credit in development policies, through the debate on the right to credit. Chapter 2 and 3 then question the fairness of the interest rates charged by the microfinance institutions. Chapter 2 analyzes whether the fairness criteria depend on more basic principles of justice, such as Rawls’ principles described in A Theory of Justice (Rawsl, 1976). Chapter 3 then reviews some of the implicit and explicit definitions of fair interest rates and proposes an original methodology, with David Gauthiers’ contractuarian theory. It determines what a fair interest rate would be when lending to the poor. Based on the results of the two first chapters, Part II (Chapter 4 to 6) focuses on the role of donors in microfinance. Chapters 4 and 5 use two original databases, of 67 and 100 MFIs respectively to study the impact of subsidies on the MFIs’ management, through their rating evaluation (Chapter 4) and MFIs’ performance and management decisions (Chapter 5). Chapter 4 will analyze the relationship between the quality of management, as rated by a specialized agency, and the amount of subsidies. Chapter 5 will study pricing policy, the clientele and the potential moral hazard of subsidized institutions. Concluding this analysis, Chapter 6 gives some guidelines on the use of donor subsidies, especially in their interaction with the new private commercial actors, such as investment funds.

Efficiency of subsidies which aim at improving of environment quality in Czech Republic we evaluate through the use of regressive analysis and we pursue dependence between environmental protection government expenditures in Euro per capita and % of GDP in years 1996 -- 2008 and total greenhouse gas emissions of selected countries of EU in years 1998 -- 2008. The results show us that expenditures of GDP are better index for efficiency evaluation of subsidies, which confirms the importance of economic performance, though I supposed that expenditures in Euro per capita have more significant part.

Industrial policy in the form of direct and indirect government subsidy provision to firms in specific sectors of the economy is a common sight in many countries. Some of the most often quoted examples are East Asian economies such as japan and Taiwan. While industrial policy is touted as a possible engine to generate economic growth, empirical validations on the benefits from subsidy provisions have been mixed. It is often argued that a policy of non-intervention by the government may appear to be the optimal policy to pursue. However, this contrasts with the historical observations of regular government subsidy provisions to firms in many countries. This thesis constructs a two-sector non-monetary macroeconomic model with monopolistic competition to examine welfare and other related effects of a subsidy provision in the form of lump sum transfers or as some proportion of a variable cost component while firms in the perfectly competitive sector do not. This analysis is first carried out in an economy where labour supply is assumed to be exogenous and perfectly inelastic. This serves to provide a simple and clear exposition on the effects of a subsidy provision and to serve as a benchmark analysis to build upon. This is subsequently extended by allowing for labour supply to be endogenously determined to examine labour market effects of subsidy policies. The implications of subsidy provisions in the presence of international trade are studied by constructing a small open economy model where the effects of any policy implementation do not affect world prices or income. The principle findings we obtain are that when monopolistically competitive firms receive a cost-reducing subsidy, welfare improvements are always possible regardless of which cost variable the government subsidises. Furthermore, there is always a positive optimal subsidy which raises social welfare. When the supply of labour is endogenous, the corresponding tax imposed on income will always induce an increase in labour supply. Trade is shown not to affect the principle findings: there remains an optimal level of subsidy which is Pareto-improving. A further implication in the open economy context is that the subsidy acts as a form of import-substitution and export-promotion instrument which potentially alters the domestic economy's trade patterns.

Thesis (M. P. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Child care stability affects child and family outcomes. Stability reflects the time dimension of a child care arrangement. Although stability does not guarantee positive outcomes, instability appears to decrease the likelihood of achieving them. Some level of stability is a necessary, although not sufficient, characteristic of care that meets children's needs. Child care stability is of special concern for children in low income families because child care impacts are greatest for these children, and current welfare policies result in more low-income children in nonparental care. This study increases understanding of child care stability through (a) an analysis of findings from stability studies over 30 years, (b) an examination of relationships of the four major stability measures, and (c) presentation of results from an analysis of the stability of subsidized child care arrangements in Oregon. The analysis of stability studies documented lack of consistency in conceptualization, measures, and methodology. These inconsistencies limit comparisons of reported stability findings and confidence in estimates of child care stability that have been reported. Examination of the four stability measures found that the three child-level measures appear to describe the same construct as they are highly correlated. The fourth stability measure is at the level of the arrangement and captures a distinctly different aspect of stability. Stability levels of subsidized arrangements in Oregon appear lower than those found in nationally representative samples but similar to levels found in populations participating in public assistance programs. About a third of children had very stable care but others had high levels of instability. Fifty percent of arrangement spells ended by 3 months, even when children were observed for 36 months. The study concludes with recommendations for future research. / Graduation date: 2005

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (February 27, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.