Economic theory suggests that numerous factors are affecting entrepreneurship (demographic, political, cultural, geographical, and economical). There has been a lot of research on this topic, and many factors have been identified as individually related to the level of entrepreneurship in a region or country. However, despite the fact that a large number of factors have been identified as individually related to new firm formation (NFF), no one has been able to give a definitive an-swer as to which factors are the most important for increased NFF and economic growth (Calido-ni et al. 2007). And differences across countries remain unexplored. (Freytag & Thurik 2007). This study takes a stab at both of these largely unexplored areas; trying to ascertain which vari-ables, out of 22 selected, appear to be the most relevant determinants of firm formation across countries today. Data on firm formation across countries from the WB‟s Entrepreneurship Survey was used to construct three measure of entrepreneurship. Stepwise regression was used to esti-mate the most significant variables. Three different measures of “entrepreneurship”, three mod-els, all yielded four significant variables in multivariate regression, some were overlapping be-tween the models for a total of eight variables found especially significant. One finding is particu-larly interesting in relation to Sweden; The cost of enforcing contracts was found to be one of the most important determinants of NFF, and since Sweden has relatively high costs of enforcing contracts; the combination of these two observation leads to a policy suggestion: If Sweden wants to increase NFF it should decrease the costs of enforcing contracts.

<p>Economic theory suggests that numerous factors are affecting entrepreneurship (demographic, political, cultural, geographical, and economical). There has been a lot of research on this topic, and many factors have been identified as individually related to the level of entrepreneurship in a region or country. However, despite the fact that a large number of factors have been identified as individually related to new firm formation (NFF), no one has been able to give a definitive an-swer as to which factors are the most important for increased NFF and economic growth (Calido-ni et al. 2007). And differences across countries remain unexplored. (Freytag & Thurik 2007). This study takes a stab at both of these largely unexplored areas; trying to ascertain which vari-ables, out of 22 selected, appear to be the most relevant determinants of firm formation across countries today. Data on firm formation across countries from the WB‟s Entrepreneurship Survey was used to construct three measure of entrepreneurship. Stepwise regression was used to esti-mate the most significant variables. Three different measures of “entrepreneurship”, three mod-els, all yielded four significant variables in multivariate regression, some were overlapping be-tween the models for a total of eight variables found especially significant. One finding is particu-larly interesting in relation to Sweden; The cost of enforcing contracts was found to be one of the most important determinants of NFF, and since Sweden has relatively high costs of enforcing contracts; the combination of these two observation leads to a policy suggestion: If Sweden wants to increase NFF it should decrease the costs of enforcing contracts.</p>

This paper examines if increased microfinance intensity reduces the income inequality in 11 Latin American countries from 2005 to 2015. Gini coefficient was used as a measure of income inequality, while microfinance intensity was derived by dividing the number of active borrowers by the country's population. A panel data was constructed with 384 microfinance institutes present in the countries studied. To examine the relationship, a pooled OLS and a country clustered fixed-effects model was conducted using the specific-to-general method. Both methods showed a significant negative relationship between the Gini coefficient and microfinance intensity. However, it was a relatively small impact at -0.004% for every percent increase in microfinance, which confirms our hypothesis that a higher MFI participation leads to a decrease in income inequality. These results are in line with previous studies conducted, although, to our knowledge, this is the first macroeconomic framework study conducted on multiple Latin American countries at once.

This dissertation focuses on assessing the sustainability of China’s long-term economic growth. The evaluation is performed, first, by examining economic and social issues from the past thirty years that shape China to where it is now, and second, by taking an empirical approach in understanding what factors are critical to China’s economic growth. The empirical model framework consists of three blocks representing the main areas of development in China: economic growth, health and environmental development, and the model is estimated with two-stage least squares methodology. We identify strong, simultaneous feedback between economic growth and health development. The estimation results show that continued improvements in the health status of Chinese workers are important to support stronger economic growth in China. Environmental stress is detrimental to China’s long-term health status, which indirectly reduces the country’s long-term economic potential. We test the robustness of our model, and confirm that, the proposed model setup produce a set of forecast values that are closer to the actual values than a model without health- and environmental-related variables. / Economics

The thesis investigates the role of structural rigidities in recent labour market performances in Europe through various and complementary angles in five essays. By structural rigidities, we mean a lasting feature caused by a set of institutions, which prevents a market from operating efficiently. The approach is essentially empirical and macro-economic, while the scope of the analysis is definitely European, which is technically reflected in the use of either euro area aggregates or panels and cross-sections of European countries.

Investigating how lending programs of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) affect poverty and inequality, we explicitly address model uncertainty. We control for endogenous selection into IMF programs using data on 86 low- and middle income countries for the 1982-2009 period and analyze program effects on various poverty and inequality measures. The results rely on averaging over 90 specifications of treatment effect models and indicate adverse short-run effects of IMF agreements on poverty and inequality for the whole sample, while for a 2000-2009 subsample the results are reversed. There is evidence that significant short-run effects might disappear in the long-run. (author's abstract)

本論文範圍為台灣供電系統可靠分析而審查長期電力消費發展，發展新供電可靠指標，而拿新指標來跟北美洲供電系統做比較。本論文以現有的台電公司電力調度處建立新分析架構來做跨國分析。然而本分析用新架構來審查現有的台灣各政府單位預期電力消費發展計劃。 / This thesis examines reliability and long term planning in Taiwan’s power system by developing new metrics to evaluate existing systems, and then comparing them with comparable data from North America. The study involved series of spreadsheets retrieved from Taipower’s Power Dispatch Office to determine historical reliability for all generation in Taiwan, deriving a new metric to analyze that data, and then comparing it to North America Generating Availability Data System figures. The study then uses those figures to evaluate existing long term electrical usage projections from different Taiwanese government bodies. The study concludes that while Taiwan’s existing power systems have comparably high reliability, excessive politicization of electricity and lack of political autonomy in energy administration hinder Taiwan’s long term electrical prospects. Additionally, existing evaluations of long-term needs are overly optimistic and do not account for political changes.

This thesis investigates the effects of fiscal consolidations on income inequality. Although fiscal consolidations have become a popular economic research topic, their effects on income inequality, which itself has gained broad popularity lately, are relatively unexplored. Therefore, this thesis econometrically assesses the development of Gini coefficients during and after austerity measures. The paper applies regression analysis with panel data techniques using a sample of 17 high-income countries during the period of 1978 - 2009. It finds that a consolidation, measured by a deliberate improvement of the primary budget balance significantly increases income inequality of the referring country. In detail, an improvement of the primary budget balance about one percent of GDP is associated with an increase in market income inequality of 0.6% and a smaller increase in net income inequality in the year after. Moreover, this thesis explores the discretionary effect of different consolidation compositions. To do so, it introduces a novel approach to differentiate between consolidations that are either exclusively undertaken through spending cuts, tax increases or a combination of both. Thereby, it is found that especially tax-only consolidations tend to be equality-friendly but also rather small in size...

Investigating how lending programs of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) affect poverty and inequality, we explicitly address model uncertainty. We control for endogenous selection into IMF programs using data on 86 low- and middle income countries for the 1982-2009 period and analyze program effects on various poverty and inequality measures. The results rely on averaging over 90 specifications of treatment effect models and indicate adverse short-run effects of IMF agreements on poverty and inequality for the whole sample, while for a 2000-2009 subsample the results are reversed. There is evidence that significant short-run effects might disappear in the long-run. (author's abstract) / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

The thesis investigates the role of structural rigidities in recent labour market performances in Europe through various and complementary angles in five essays. By structural rigidities, we mean a lasting feature caused by a set of institutions, which prevents a market from operating efficiently. The approach is essentially empirical and macro-economic, while the scope of the analysis is definitely European, which is technically reflected in the use of either euro area aggregates or panels and cross-sections of European countries. / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished