Univ., Diss.--Mannheim, 2007.

In 1995, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) took over the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) on grounds of mismanagement and failure to revitalize a failing housing stock. When the CHA regained independence five years later, in 2000, the agency launched the most extensive redevelopment effort of public housing in the nation’s history. This paper assesses the extent to which the CHA has succeeded in meeting the directive outlined by the Plan for Transformation. It concludes that, despite setbacks in meeting specific goals, the CHA has demonstrated itself to be an effective and accountable housing agency. Nonetheless, the CHA needs to addresses shortcomings in the transparency of management, efficiency of operations, and accessibility of services.

The subject of this thesis is the comparison of the privatization process in the Czech Republic (former Czechoslovakia), Hungary and Poland. The starting point of the thesis represents an initial outline of the situation - for different initial conditions in each country significantly influenced the course and shape of the process. The main part of the thesis is an analysis of privatization processes in compared countries, with emphasis on their specific features and influences that affect the process significantly. At the conclusion there is a comparision of Czech, Hungarian and Polish version of privatization based on several criteria. Although it is difficult to classify the universally best privatization method, main advantages and disadvantages of different methods and serious mistakes committed by economic policy actors can be easily identified.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the transformation and privatization process in the Czech Republic since 1989 to period when Czech Republic is the member of European Union. It also aims to verify the validity of theorems formulated in an introduction and called "First Transformation Law" and "First Privatization Law". The privatization process in the Czech Republic is unique in terms of volume of assets privatized and the privatization methods used. The text is focused on different methods of privatization (small privatization, large privatization, restitution). A separate section is devoted to voucher privatization and the closely related issue of privatization investment funds. The process of privatization of banks carried out in 1999-2001 is also analyzed. Particular attention is paid to less known facts which had a major impact on the transformation and privatization process.

En ny trend inom internethandeln är företeelsen av så kallade rabatt- och upplevelsesajter. På den svenska marknaden är Groupon marknadsledande rabattsajt samtidigt som LiveIt anses störst inom upplevelseförmedling. Affärskonceptet – att marknadsföra priserbjudanden eller upplevelser och sedan hänvisa konsumenter vidare till leverantörer – har tagits efter av en rad aktörer och den nya trenden får antas fortsätta en tid framöver. Det faktum att den aktuella typen av förmedling är relativt ny har lett till en osäkerhet kring vilket ansvar rabatt- och upplevelseföretagen har gentemot konsumenter. Inte sällan använder de sig av varierande affärsupplägg vilket bidragit till ytterligare oklarhet. Det saknas direkt tillämplig tvingande lagstiftning och företagen begränsar ofta, genom mer eller mindre långtgående friskrivningar, sitt civilrättsliga ansvar. Syftet med förevarande uppsats är att undersöka vilket civilrättsligt ansvar som företagen har gentemot konsumenter vid dröjsmål och fel i vara och tjänst. I uppsatsen, som inledningsvis diskuterar innebörden av termerna kollektiv shopping och gruppköp, redogörs för de tre affärsmodeller som det marknadsledande rabattföretaget Groupon använder sig av. Dessa affärsmodeller ligger sedan till grund för de diskussioner som förs i arbetets analysdel. Rabattföretagens ansvar visar sig vara beroende av vilken affärsmodell som tillämpats vid försäljningen. Företagen kan dels betraktas som återförsäljare alternativt kommissionärer vilket leder till ett fullständigt civilrättsligt ansvar, dels som handelsagenter med underliggande fullmakt vars enda ansvar är att ta emot och vidareförmedla reklamationer, dels som en oreglerad typ av mellanman som enligt dagens gällande rätt enbart ansvarar för lämnad information gällande de vouchrar som företagen säljer. Detta sistnämnda ansvar är visserligen dispositivt men förefaller utgöra en allmän rättsgrundsats varför det ligger nära till hands att betrakta friskrivningar från lämnad information som oskäliga. Ett tänkbart sätt att stärka konsumentskyddet inom det aktuella problemområdet är att utvidga den så kallade förmedlingsregeln i konsumentköplagens inledande paragraf samt att eventuellt införa en liknande regel även i konsumenttjänstlagen. / A new trend within e-commerce is the phenomenon of deal-of-the-day and event websites. The market leaders in Sweden are Groupon (deal-of-the-day) and LiveIt (event). Their business concept is to promote price offers or events, and then refer consumers to merchants. This concept has been copied by a number of other e-commerce providers and this trend is likely to continue. The fact that this kind of mediation is relatively new has led to an uncertainty as to what responsibility these companies have in relation to the consumers. Furthermore, the companies use a variety of business models which increases the uncertainty even more. There are no directly applicable mandatory provisions, and the companies often reduce their liability by using more or less extensive disclaimers. This essay aims to investigate which civil liability the companies have in relation to the consumers in post-purchase situations (relating to delays and lack of conformity). In this essay, which initially relates to the meaning of the terms ‘collective shopping’ and ‘group buying’, the three business models that Groupon utilize will be explained. These business models form the basis of the following analysis. The liability of the companies is proven to be dependent on which kind of business model that the purchase was conducted according to. The companies can be considered as retailers or commission agents who both have full liability, or they can be considered as commercial agents with a proxy whose liability is limited to receive and mediate complaints, or they can be considered as some kind of unregulated middleman which, according to existing law, only has a responsibility for information given in the marketing of the sold vouchers. The liability of this unregulated middleman is indeed optional, but still considered a general legal principle. A disclaimer from that liability could be considered unfair. One possible way to enhance consumer protection within this area is to expand the mediation rule in the first section of the Consumer Sales Act. An additional possibility is to introduce a similar rule in the Consumer Services Act.

Välfärd, vård och omsorg var under en lång tid närmast synonymt med Sveriges nationalstatliga universella välfärdsmonopol fram tills slutet av 1980-talet. Välfärdsmonopol ersattes med välfärdspluralism och valfrihet. Genom konkurrens skulle utförare av socialtjänst bli effektiva och kvaliteten skulle öka. Men vad är kvalitet inom vård, omsorg och socialtjänst?   I två olika delstudier har äldreomsorg inom Stockholms stads valfrihetssystem system studerats. De två olika studierna bidrar tillsammans till att problematisera kvalitetsbegreppet utifrån institutionell organisations- och kvasimarknadsteori. Samtidigt ger studien en bild av hur olika regiform kan påverka den uppfattade kvaliteten. / For the majority of the 2000th century welfare and social services in Sweden were almost synonymous with the universalistic welfare-solutions provided by the nation state.  In the late 1980th and the early 1990th a dramatic change occurred through extensive market reforms the monopolistic welfare-solutions were challenged in favor for a pluralistic welfare market. A competitive welfare-market would increase efficiency and quality of services. But what is quality in welfare and social services? Through a two-part study, using in city of Stockholm as a case and institutional organizational theory and theories on quasi-markets this study has investigated and problematized quality in city of Stockholm’s special housing for the elderly voucher system.

This diploma thesis is aimed to map the development of the companies that have passed the first wave of voucher privatization from 1991 until 2013. Development of 988 companies has not been yet comprehensively examined. The aim is to determine the ownership structure, including the ability to find majority shareholders. The second part is focused on how many companies has been closed over the past twenty years and method of liquidation. Another finding is that two-fifths of companies have changed the form of shares to the documentary. Finally, the research focuses on delisting of shares from czech capital market. The last part is based on comparison of results of the two waves of voucher privatization and the main findings are very similar.

This thesis deals with a employee catering system in the Czech Republic. The first part provides a brief history of catering and identify ways to ensure catering for employees in the Czech Republic. The thesis focuses on the use of vouchers. It analyzes the attitude of employees, employers and owners of restaurants on the vouchers. At the end are defined effects on employees, employers and restaurant, in case the tax advantage of meal voucher was cancelled. The thesis includes an illustrative example of the impact of a particular restaurant.

This thesis specializes in the concept of daily deals on the Internet, therefore in relatively new form of sales promotion. Thesis is charting the market on which portals of daily deals operate; to find reasons for quick expansion of this marketing tool in the Czech Republic. The goal of the thesis is to introduce the concept of daily deals through the Internet, to chart the market of daily deals in the Czech Republic and in the whole world and, above all, to create recommendations for people, who are interested in this type of e-commerce. The part of the thesis is research of customers' perception of such portals. The research is the base for examination of the defined hypothesis and simultaneously is the base for identification of the main risks while selling through the portals for daily deals. Findings from the research are used for processing recommendations for companies or entrepreneurs, who are interested in using this marketing tool.

Development of companies from voucher privatization has not been yet comprehensively examined although this information is necessary to evaluation the process of voucher privatization. This thesis is aimed to map the development of the companies that have passed the second wave of voucher privatization from 1993 until 2010. The aim is to determine the ownership structure of the companies, including the determination of how many of them are still under state control. The second area focuses on the economic performance and on finding of how many companies has been closed over the past period, and the comparison of development across industries. The comparison of economic efficiency is based on the information of the ownership structure depending on the size of the share of the largest shareholder. Finally, the research focuses on the marketability of the shares and delisting, changing the form of shares to the documentary, which was used by almost half of the companies.