A b s tra c t The recent discussion of the European Parliam ent, member states, and citizens triggered the question whether there is s till a need for bi-annual clock shifting from the perspective of energy savings. Employing the difference-in-differences method on hourly data on electricity consumption between 2006 and 2017, the study con­ cludes th a t daylight saving tim e policy reduces aggregate electricity consumption by 0.35 % in the Czech Republic. Moreover, daylight saving tim e leads to 1% savings on domestic residential electricity consumption. Overall, daylight saving tim e increases electricity consumption in the morning, bu t decreases electricity consumption in the evening by greater amount. We have estimated th a t more than 65 % of to ta l electricity savings attributable to daylight saving tim e arose from effect of the daylight saving tim e on residential electricity consumption. 1

Do investors make bad decisions following the clock change? If so, there would be traces of such anomaly in market data. In this thesis, we investigate these traces focusing on the stock markets of the Visegrad Group, known to be pre- vailingly illiquid. We combine the most recent financial data with the ARIMA- GARCH framework while employing brand-new Bayesian techniques. Using several robustness checks, we show that such e ect cannot be traced in these markets. While we do not claim to challenge the seminal works in this field, we do support the evidence that the e ects of daylight saving policy do not pertain to less liquid markets. JEL Classification C11, G12, G14, G41 Keywords daylight saving time, market anomaly, Visegrad Group, Bayesian analysis Title Daylight Saving Time and Stock Market Re- turns: Evidence from the Visegrad Group

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2017-05-16T12:41:19Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) tesefinal-versaodigital+fichacatalografica-folhaaprovacao-18062016.pdf: 1114800 bytes, checksum: b2507a8668fc2d4b3298aac9fd5d6c04 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-16T12:41:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) tesefinal-versaodigital+fichacatalografica-folhaaprovacao-18062016.pdf: 1114800 bytes, checksum: b2507a8668fc2d4b3298aac9fd5d6c04 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-16 / A tese apresenta três ensaios com o objetivo de avaliar políticas públicas e seus efeitos sobre mudanças de lei envolvendo pequenas empresas (Lei JOBS e Simples Nacional) e acidentes em rodovias federais, conectados por meio da abordagem de Desenho de Regressao Descontinua. O primeiro ensaio pretende explorar os efeitos da lei JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups, JOBS), que promoveu o financiamento aos projetos ao aliviar regulamentos de valores mobiliários, sobre a arrecadação e financiadores no mercado de financiamento coletivo. Os resultados, indicam que a lei afetou os níveis de arrecadação em 75% para projetos de start’ups, em especial aos relativos a tecnologia e Design, e, de forma semelhante, em 59% os financiadores dos projetos. O segundo ensaio tem por objetivo avaliar os efeitos da política do horário de verão sobre acidentes nas rodovias federais brasileiras. Os resultados apontam que nos Estados onde a política do horário de verão foi utilizada como tratamento, os acidentes sofreram redução de 14%. O terceiro ensaio busca avaliar os efeitos da desoneração da carga tributária e geração de empregos para as pequenas empresas da indústria brasileira. Através da adoção ao programa Simples Nacional como estratégia de identificação, implementado no Brasil em 2007, aumentou a faixa de faturamento para até R$ 2.400 milhões e a adesão de empresas elegíveis. Ao trazer benefícios de redução do custo operacional industrial e proporcionar folga financeira às empresas, possibilitou a geração de empregos. Os resultados apontam que as empresas que realizaram a adoção ao programa obtiveram benefícios de redução do custo operacional industrial em 23%, o que possibilitou um aumento positivo na geração de emprego de 21.5% a 23.85% para pessoal ocupado total e ligado à produção, respectivamente. De forma semelhante, apresentou evidências de que houve consequente aumento na folha de salários de 25.18% a 26.98%, contribuindo para a manutenção do programa do Simples Nacional. / The thesis has three essays to evaluate public policies and their effects on law changes involving small businesses (JOBS Act and Simples Nacional) and accidents on federal highways connected through Regression discontinuous design approach. The first essay aims to explore the effects of the JOBS Act (Jumpstart Our Business Startups, JOBS), which promoted the funding to projects to alleviate securities regulations on the raised and financiers in the collective crowdfunding market. The results indicate that the law affected the raised levels by 75 % to start’ups projects, especially those relating to technology and design, and, similarly, in 59% funders of projects. The second essay is to evaluate the effects of DST’s policy on accidents in Brazilian federal highways. The results show that in the states where the DST policy has been used as a treatment, accidents were reduced by 14 %. The third essay aims to evaluate the effects of the National Simple Act implemented in Brazil in 2007, by reducing the tax burden, promoted benefits such as job creation and wage increases of small businesses in the Brazilian industry. The results show that companies that have undertaken to adopt the program obtained concessions that enabled positive increase in the generation of employment 21.5 % to 23.85 %. Similarly, it presented evidence that there was a consequent increase in wages of 25.18 % and 26.98 % for staff salaries, contributing to maintenance of the National Simple program.