L’objectif de cette étude est d’appréhender, à travers l’exemple du système européen d’échange des quotas d’émission de gaz à effet de serre, les conditions d’efficacité d’un instrument particulier de réalisation du développement durable : la technique de marché. Définie comme un instrument de police consistant en la poursuite d’un objectif de politique publique, préalablement défini par les pouvoirs publics, au moyen de la création volontaire d’un marché, c’est-à-dire l’organisation d’échanges d’« unités » entre opérateurs économiques, la technique de marché est utilisée de manière privilégiée en matière environnementale. La création ex nihilo d’un marché pour protéger l’environnement ne doit pas induire en erreur : la technique de marché ne conduit pas à une substitution de la liberté à la puissance publique. Au contraire, la technique de marché n’est efficace que si elle est sous-tendue par une action publique forte. Une intervention permanente – au stade de l’élaboration et de la mise en oeuvre de cet instrument – et multiforme – au niveau international, régional et national – de la puissance publique est nécessaire. La « main invisible » du marché ne produit ses effets que grâce à la « main visible » de la puissance publique. / By taking the example of the European Union emission trading system, the objective of the present study is to understand the conditions of effectiveness of a specific tool: the market-based instrument. Market-based instrument is defined as a tool of policing aiming at the achievement of a public policy objective (pre-established by public authorities) with the creation of a market, i.e. the organisation of exchanges of “units” between economic operators. This tool is widely used in environmental law. The ex nihilo creation of a market in order to protect the environment must not mislead: the market-based instrument does not lead to a shift from public action to freedom. To the contrary, the effectiveness of the market-based instrument depends on a strong public action. A permanent (i.e. both during the preparation and the implementation of this tool) and multifaceted (i.e. at international, regional and national levels) public intervention is therefore required. The “invisible hand” of the market could only be effective with the “visible hand” of public authorities.

Toute procrastination à lutter contre le changement climatique aura pour conséquence une augmentation croissante des coûts à l'avenir (voir par exemple Stern, 2006). Le manque de changement dans le comportement des individus, indépendamment de l'investissement dans les technologies de réduction des émissions, pourrait entraîner des coûts exorbitants. Ces derniers sont déjà aujourd'hui très élevés en raison du faible nombre d’options disponibles pour réduire les émissions (Abrell, 2007; Bottrill, 2006; Proost, 2008; SDC, 2005). Par conséquent, des efforts sont nécessaires pour introduire des mesures politiques efficaces le plus rapidement possible. Bien que cette question concerne de nombreux secteurs de l’économie, cette thèse se concentre sur le secteur des transports car il s’agit de l'un des plus grands émetteurs de CO2 (CE, 2012). C’est également un secteur, qui se caractérise par des coûts de dépollution élevés. Cela signifie que tout progrès vers une technologie moins carbonée sera coûteuse et prendra du temps (Kesicki, 2012).Ostrom et al. (2012) signalent qu’une solution peut être trouvée en établissant et en appliquant des limites sur les ressources communes. De nombreuses études ont été entreprises à ce sujet (voir par exemple Dudley, 1993; Hackett et al., 1994; Kramer et al, 1986;. Randall, 1975, 1978;. Walker et al, 1991, 1992). Cependant, ce dernier n'a pas encore été épuisé. Au contraire, de nouveaux instruments de politique soulèvent de nouvelles discussions et suscitent le besoin pour de nouvelles recherches. Les « Personal Carbon Allowances » (PCA), aussi dénommés en français par le terme « permis d’émission », sont un de ces instruments. Le PCA est un instrument de politique publique de plafonnement et d’échange (« cap-and-trade ») dans lequel les droits d’émissions de carbone sont attribués à des individus. D'un point de vue néoclassique, les permis d'émission constituent un instrument de politique efficace et efficient dans la lutte contre la pollution (Weitzman, 1974; Montgomery, 1972). Ils entraînent une augmentation des prix qui couvre le montant exact des émissions produites par un individu. Toutefois, des éléments socio-psychologiques compliquent le problème. Cette thèse tente d’apporter un éclaircissement sur la manière dont l'économie comportementale pourrait être utilisée pour lutter contre la pollution de l'environnement du transport personnel. Elle fait des propositions concernant la mise en place des PCA et comment ces derniers pourraient influencer les choix personnels de déplacement. Plusieurs conclusions et recommandations en matière d’économie comportementale sont formulées dans quatre articles. Aux fins de cette thèse, trois des quatre articles sont basés sur des expériences. Dans les expériences de laboratoire, les sujets ont géré leurs quotas sous la dénomination française de « permis d'émissions » (et non de PCA) dans la mesure où l'étude a été menée en France. Une des conclusions mise en évidence par les expériences est que l'étiquetage a une influence positive sur les participants. L'effet de l'étiquetage pourrait être introduit dans le système PCA de différentes manières. Par exemple, les quotas de carbone personnels accordés à l’ensemble des activités pourraient être étendus sous forme de quotas pour les transports en commun. Les transports en commun pourraient être étiquetés dans le budget. Il s’agirait d’une alternative moins polluante que les transports privés., Les expériences montrent que les sujets, qui disposent d’un certain nombre de PCA à dépenser exclusivement pour les transports publics sont incités à privilégier ce mode de transport. Une autre leçon qui peut être tirée de cette thèse est l’importance du retour d’informations et d’expérience. Les individus peuvent non seulement s’appuyer sur leurs expériences personnelles passées pour faire des choix (y compris des choix de transport) mais aussi vouloir étendre leurs connaissances grâce au retour d'expérience ... / The excessive anthropogenic activities related to burning of fossil fuels emit around 80 percent of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere per year, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2014). Among the GHG emissions, the anthropogenic CO2 emissions belong to the most dangerous ones. About 40 percent of these CO2 emissions have remained in the atmosphere (880 ± 35 GtCO2) since 1750, contributing to the global warming effect (IPCC, 2014). Since the 1950s, humanity is clearly responsible for more than half of the observed increases in temperatures (IPCC, 2014). The world energy consumption in 2011 tripled when comparing to 1965 and it has increased more rapidly than the world population (BP and UN, 2012). The above problem concerns a number of sectors, but only one of them has become the main subject of this dissertation. More precisely, this dissertation focuses on the transportation sector, which belongs to one of the greatest contributors of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere ((EC, 2012). Researchers warn that if the personal transportation demand continues to augment, which is likely due to the steady increase in population and greater accessibility to transport modes, the levels of congestion could become intolerable and even more costly to mitigate (Stern, 2006; EEA, 2010; Ostrom et al., 2012). Lack of changes in individual’s behavior, irrespectively of investment in abatement technologies, could lead to excessive costs, which already today are estimated to be high due to a very few low-carbon alternatives available (Abrell, 2007; Bottrill, 2006; Proost, 2008; SDC, 2005). The essays presented in this dissertation shed some light on how insights from the behavioral economics could be used to tackle the environmental pollution from personal transportation. At the core, lies the implementation of a market-based policy instrument (i.e., personal carbon allowances) in hypothetical commuting choices. The personal carbon allowances, abbreviated as PCA, constitute “a right to pollute” the atmosphere during personal activities, such as commuting and traveling (Roberts and Thumim, 2006; Howell, 2008; 2012; Parag et al., 2011). This dissertation provides suggestions on how a PCA design could influence personal choices of commuting. On the basis of four essays, a number of conclusions were drawn, and policy recommendations were formulated. For the purposes of this dissertation, PCA was defined to be any ‘cap-and-trade’ public policy instrument in which carbon emission rights are allocated to individuals. Three out of four essays encompassed laboratory experiments. The experimental subjects managed their allowances under a term emission permits (les permis d'émission, in French) because the study was conducted in France. One of the conclusions that should be highlighted is that the labeling effect had a positive influence on the experimental subjects and that it would be beneficial to consider it in the PCA scheme. For example, the personal carbon allowances that are granted for all activities could be extended by allowances that would be valid for public transportation only. The public transportation should be labeled in the budget because it is a less polluting alternative to private transportation. Having a certain number of allowances for public transportation at their disposal, subjects may be more willing to use this transport mode in replacement of commuting by private transportation. Another lesson that can be drawn from this dissertation is that the provision of feedback matters. Moreover, individuals may not only rely on their personal past experiences but also may want to extend their knowledge by the feedback on activities of their peers or neighbours....

Thesis Abstract: Chapter I: Regional burden sharing of GHG mitigation policies – A Canadian perspective. The distribution of the burden of cost arising from the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a contentious issue in policy discussions; more so among regional jurisdictions in the federalist countries with decentralized authorities over environmental regulations. In this setting, often the policy discussions are focused on the distribution of regional emission reduction targets that, in turn, entails negotiations over the distribution of the scarcity rents and the regional transfers of wealth. The allocation of regional emission entitlements is thus a key factor that could hinder the political feasibility of a national GHG mitigation policy. In this paper, we build a multi-region computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the Canadian economy to assess the implications of different burden sharing rules governing the national GHG abatement policy with a cap-and-trade system of emission permits. In addition to assessing the impacts of traditional regional emissions allocation rules that involve intra-regional transfers of wealth, we consider a particular emission allocation that avoids such transfers, which may be a more palatable option given the context of likely fierce negotiations over the issue. Our results indicate to differing outcomes depending on the allocation policy in use. The CGE framework is also able to shed light on the transmission mechanisms that drive the results underlying the policy options. Chapter II: Endogenous technological change and emission allowances. Given the imminent threat of global warming due to GHG emissions, a number of emission mitigation policies have been proposed in the literature. However, they generally suffer from the classical equity-efficiency trade-off. High costs from equity concerns often render environmental policies politically unattractive and thus hard to implement. Recent advancement in the climate policy modeling literature that incorporates endogenous technological change (ETC) into the framework can potentially bring new insights into this debate. Using an inter-temporal, multi-sector CGE approach with ETC incorporated into the framework, this paper builds a model that focuses on the equity-efficiency debate for the policymakers. Canada is chosen as the country of investigation for this purpose. The paper provides a new welfare ranking of four permit allocation policies that address the equity-efficiency trade-off. In a second-best setting with pre-existing distortions, output-based allocation (OBA) of emission permits is compared to three other policy options: (i) an emissions trading system with grandfathered allocation (GFA), (ii) an auction permit trading system where permit revenue is recycled to lower payroll taxes (RPT), and (iii) a hybrid of OBA and R&D subsidy (O-R&D). We find that adapting OBA, as well as O-R&D, is welfare improving over GFA. The implicit output subsidy, entailed in the OBA policy, mitigates against the rising cost effect in the GFA policy. This is reinforced through added investment incentive in R&D when ETC in incorporated into the framework. With O-R&D, since the R&D subsidy corrects for market imperfections in the knowledge accumulation process, the effect is further bolstered, culminating into mitigation of uneven distributional outcome for energy-intensive industries as a whole. Contrary to previous results, we also find that, in terms of the welfare metric, OBA unequivocally improves the distributional outcome across sectors as compared to the RPT policy. Inclusion of ETC also unequivocally generates a higher welfare ranking for all permit policy schemes. Chapter III: Emission permit banking and induced technological change. This paper attempts to undertake an exploratory research by integrating two themes in the emission mitigation policy literature, which include: the inter-temporal emission permit banking and borrowing and the role of induced technological change in emission mitigation. Using a simple optimal control approach, we construct a unified framework that evaluates the optimal path of emissions and the optimal trajectory of permit price when both inter-temporal banking and borrowing of permits and the effects of induced technological change (ITC) are present. We find that ITC leads to a declining emission trajectory over time. The effect of ITC on the optimal permit price path, however, is ambiguous and critically depends on the extent of marginal cost saving that emanates from emission-saving technological innovation.

The thesis deals with the topic of employee benefits in the Czech Republic. At first, the thesis sets employee benefits to specific area of the company, which is an in-house social policy of the company. Following part deals with the legislative framework, which regulates the providing of these benefits in 2015. The thesis includes a chapter describing the employee benefits, their structure and their various distribution systems. Analysis of the trends in the provision of employee benefits creates another part of the thesis. Three types of employee benefits are analyzed in detail: meal allowances, educational allowances and contributions to employees' pension savings. In the conclusion of thesis is explored the whole system of employee benefits used in the company Siemens Ltd., where are analyzed its individual benefits and includes evaluation of a questionnaire.

The master’s thesis deals with the environmental aspects of combined heat and power station Červený Mlýn (Red Mill). The introductory part of the thesis focuses on the current production technology and the electricity balance of the power station. The heat and power station (also called combined cycle heat and power plant) is scrutinized in terms of emissions sources, focusing on pollutant emissions to air in the following chapter. In this part of the thesis the quantities of the released emissions, namely solid particulate matter (TZL), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon dioxide (CO2) are also calculated. The calculation is worked out according to the valid Czech legislation. Further on, the current production technology of the power station is compared with the best available technologies according to the valid directive 2008/1/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning integrated pollution prevention and control. The last chapter presents the innovative technologies which could possibly be installed to reduce pollution emissions (especially nitrogen oxides - NOx) to air at the heat and power station Červený Mlýn.

MCom (Economics) / Department of Economics / This study assesses the level of financial literacy and its impact on financial decision making exercised by the tertiary students in South Africa, using the University of Venda (Univen) as a case study. The study does this in three steps. First, it provides the financial literacy levels of students at Univen assessed through an evaluation score that the sampled students responded to. Second, it analyses the relationship between the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of students and their financial literacy levels. Third, it assesses the possible effects of financial literacy on financial decision making among students using correlation and regression analysis. The study uses primary data gathered by the author from the University of Venda registered students in the form of questionnaires. A stratified random sampling method was used to identify the students to form the sample of the study, which is 373. Percent slightly above 50 per cent of these students were found to be financially literate and there were more female students who were financially literate compared to male counterparts. Using the odds ratios, the study compared the financial literacy levels of all schools to the school of Management Sciences, respectively. Only students in Environmental Sciences and Law have higher literacy levels, which are statistically significant, compared to the students in the school of Management Sciences. The results also show that the age and the parent’s educational background have a statistically significant relationship with the student being financial literate. Furthermore the results indicate that there is a statistically significant relationship on good financial decision making (that is, budgeting, savings and investments) and being financial literate, compared to being financial illiterate. This result is not true when borrowing is used as a measure of financial decision making. / NRF

The thesis Comparison of maternity and parental benefits in the Czech Republic and selected European countries dealing with the issue of support for families with children through social system. The paper briefly describes the benefits provided by the Czech Republic and other European countries. The other countries are the United Kingdom, Denmark, Italy and Germany. In the analytical part of the work is the concept of single doses compared and consequently are formulated recommendations for the Czech Republic, which should take from other states. At the same time, there are processed example term experience in other countries monitored. In conclusion, it is assessed that the setting of maternity and parental benefits corresponds to the theoretical concept of typology of welfare states. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

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L’étude de la protection sociale de l’agriculteur victime d’accidents fait le constatd’inégalités manifestes entre les victimes elles-mêmes et entre le régime des accidents dutravail et celui du droit commun. Ces inégalités sont inhérentes à la qualité d’agriculteur ;qu’il soit salarié ou non, ce dernier ne bénéficie pas des mêmes droits. En outre, l’agriculteurblessé dans le cadre de son activité professionnelle n’aura qu’une réparation forfaitaire. Cettedernière tend à compenser la perte de revenu et l’incidence professionnelle de l’accident.L’indemnisation des préjudices personnels est exclue, sauf dans l’hypothèse d’une fauteinexcusable de l’employeur. Quant aux victimes d’accidents de droit commun, leur protectionsociale n’est optimisée que si elles possèdent une complémentaire prévoyance qui va parfaireles remboursements en espèces et en nature du régime agricole. En dehors de la prise encharge du régime légal de base, la réparation des accidents de droit commun tend à êtreintégrale. Afin que toutes les victimes d’accidents soient traitées de manière égale par le droitet qu’une réparation de tous leurs préjudices puisse être réalisée, nous préconisons dessolutions pour tenter de faire disparaître les inégalités entre les agriculteurs victimesd’accidents. / The study of the social welfare of the farmer victim of accidents reveals theexistence of disparities between the victims themselves and between the industrial accidentsand the common law. These disparities are inherent to farmer’s quality; whether he isemployed or not, the latter does not benefit from the same rights. In addition, the injuredfarmer in the course of his professional activity will have only a fixed compensation. Thelatter tends to compensate the loss of income and the professional incidence of the accident.Compensation for personal injury is excluded except in the hypothesis of unforgivablemisconduct of the employer. As for the victims of accidents of common law, their socialwelfare is only optimized if they possess a top up insurance plan that will completerepayments in cash and in kind of the agricultural system. Except the coverage of the basiclegal system, the compensation of accidents of common law tends to be complete. In order toensure that all accident victims are treated with equal manner by law and that compensationfor all their injuries can be achieved, we recommend solutions so that the disparities betweenthe farmers victims of accidents can disappear.

Le changement climatique est devenu aujourd’hui le fléau environnemental qui préoccupe etmobilise le plus la communauté internationale. L’aboutissement de cette mobilisation générale reste sansdoute la mise en place du régime international de lutte contre le changement climatique dont la Conventioncadredes Nations Unies sur le changement climatique et le Protocole de Kyoto constituent les basesjuridiques. Ce régime innove en ce qu’il fixe des engagements quantifiés de réduction des émissions de gaz àeffet de serre pour les États pollueurs, mais aussi en ce qu’il instaure des mécanismes dits de « flexibilité »dont la mise en oeuvre est assortie d’un contrôle original basé sur un Comité dit de « l’observance ». Mais, endépit de toute cette production normative, il est regrettable de constater aujourd’hui que le régimeinternational du climat est un véritable échec. En effet, si la mobilisation des États ne fait aucun doute, enrevanche, les mêmes États qui ont volontairement accepté de s’engager refusent délibérément d’honorer leursengagements pour des raisons essentiellement politiques, économiques et stratégiques. Ce travail ambitionnedonc de lever le voile sur les causes de cet échec en dressant un bilan mitigé de la première périoded’engagement de Kyoto qui a pris fin en 2012, et propose des perspectives pour un régime juridique duclimat post-Kyoto efficient et efficace, en mesure d’être à la hauteur des enjeux. / Climate change has become the scourge environmental concern and mobilizes more theinternational community. The outcome of this mobilization remains probably the implementation ofinternational climate change regime for which the Climate Convention and the Kyoto Protocol are the legalbases. This system is innovative in that it sets quantified emission reduction commitments for greenhouse gasemissions (GHG) for polluters States, but also in that it establishes mechanisms known as of “flexibility”whose implementation is accompanied by a control based on a Committee known as of “compliance”. Butdespite all this normative production, it is regrettable that today the international climate regime is a realfailure. Indeed, if the mobilization of states is no doubt, however, the same states that have voluntarily agreedto engage deliberately refuse to honour their commitments for essentially political, economic and strategicreasons. This work therefore aims to shed light on the causes of this failure by developing a mixed record ofthe first Kyoto commitment ended period in 2012, and offers prospects for a legal regime of the post-Kyotoclimate and efficient, able to be up to the challenges.