yes / Small scale farmers in Ethiopia are already operating on their land frontier and the scope for an increase in production and rural income should come, among others, through improvement in technical and allocative efficiency. Although the stake of efficiency improvement is substantial, a number of empirical studies undertaken to identify the determinants of efficiency however are few. Moreover, although road infrastructure is among key public goods that significantly influences the farm level economic efficiency, empirical studies that have considered its role in farm efficiency analysis is scarce. This research investigated the link between the quality of rural road and farm level allocative and technical efficiency as well as the impact of inefficiency on farm income. The result showed that households that have all weather road access are 16% technically and two times allocatively more efficient. Both allocative and technical inefficiencies reduce income; the adverse impact of technical inefficiency on income however is stronger. Although household specific factors have contributed to the observed inefficiencyin most cases it is exogenously driven, namely, it is a rational response to market imperfection and risks. Interventions that reduce market and production risks will increase crop output and farm income.

The diploma thesis deals with the evaluation of the effectiveness and risks of a private construction project. This work is divided into two parts. The first part is a theoretical part, which defines the basic concepts associated with investment as such, but also directly with investment in real estate and construction investment. In the second part, this work deals with risk assessment, determination of their size and finally risk management. The end of the theoretical part is the elaboration of methodology for the practical part. The beginning of the practical part the work is devoted to the description of the construction area and specification of the building itself. In the next part are set investment costs, operating income and expenses. Operating income consists of the lease itself. This was determined on the basis of similar investments in the area. Operating expenses are divided into fixed and variable where only fixed are included in the evaluation. Subsequently, the work establishes the profit and loss statement and therefrom the cash flows. The second part defines the risks associated with the construction of the project. The switching value is then calculated for critical project risks. The end of the practical part is devoted to risk management. The conclusion summarizes the results of individual parts of the thesis and a written recommendation for the investor whether to realize the project or not.

The goal of this paper is to evaluate economic efficiency of a development project, including sensitivity and probability analysis of selected residential development project. In theoretical part, the term "development project" is explained and project lifecycle is described. In this part there is also mentioned, how cash flow is determined, how cash flow report is created, and how economic efficiency indicators are calculated. It also describes specific risks of a development project. In the end of theoretical part, possible risk identification and evaluation methods are described. Practical part is focused on an actual development project. It evaluates the project using economic efficiency indicators, sensitivity analysis and probability analysis.

This diploma thesis deals with the evaluation of the economic efficiency of a development project. The theoretical part of the thesis explains the basic concepts in the field of development activities, defines the phases of the project life cycle and the feasibility study. It describes the creation of cash flows, indicators of economic efficiency and possible ways of financing development projects. Furthermore, an analysis of the current economic situation and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on development companies is performed in this section. The practical part is devoted to the development project, especially the creation of cash flows and the resulting evaluation of the economic efficiency of the project. This is the construction of three apartment buildings in Pardubice.

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) has the stated objective of delivering good status (GS) for Europe’s surface waters and groundwaters. But meeting GS is cost dependent, and in some water bodies pollution abatement costs may be high or judged as disproportionate. The definition and assessment of disproportionate costs is central for the justification of time-frame derogations and/or lowering the environmental objectives (standards) for compliance at a water body. European official guidance is discretionary about the interpretation of disproportionate costs which consequently can be interpreted and applied differently across Member States. The aim of this research is to clarify the definition of disproportionality and to convey a consistent interpretation that is fully compliant with the economic requirements of the Directive, whilst also being mindful of the principles of pollution control and welfare economics theory. On this basis, standard-setting derogations should aim to reach socially optimal decisions and be judged with reference to a combination of explicit cost and benefit curves – an application of Cost-Benefits Analysis - and financial affordability tests. Arguably, these tools should be more influential in the development of derogation decisions across member states, including Scotland. The WFD is expected to have extensive effects on Scottish agriculture, which is faced with the challenge of maintaining its competitiveness, while protecting water resources. Focusing the analysis on the socio-economic impacts of achieving water diffuse pollution targets for the sector, a series of independent tests for the assessment of disproportionate costs are proposed and evaluated. These are: i) development of abatement cost curves for agricultural Phosphorus (P) mitigation options for different farm systems; ii) a financial characterisation of farming in Scotland and impact on profits of achieving different P loads reductions at farm level are investigated in order to explore issues on "affordability" and "ability to pay" by the sector; and iii) an investigation of benefits assessment using discrete choice modelling to explore public preferences for pollution control and measure non-market benefits of WFD water quality improvements in Scotland. Results from these tests provide benchmarks for the definition of disproportionate costs and are relevant to other aspects of the economic analysis of water use in Scotland. This study helps to clarify the nature of agricultural water use and how it leads to social tradeoffs with other non agricultural users. Ultimately, this perspective adds to the debate of how and where water is best employed to maximize its value to society.

The thesis has been devoted to the topic of preparation and evaluation of commercial developer's projects. Theoretic section of the thesis describes all the phases of preparation and realization of projects based on their chronological sequence; special attention is paid to evaluation of economic efficiency of the projects. The topic dealt in the practical section is based on results of survey carried out among relevant entities at the developers' market. Analysis of results of the survey carried out among multiple developer companies has revealed imperfections within their work. This thesis is trying to specify guidelines to eliminate them. Questioning among the other entities was aimed at analysing the view of a bank, a construction company and a facility management regarding the issue of developer projects and at making use of the findings to set some recommendations for the developer. Goal of the thesis is integration of attitudes of all the entities involved aimed at making use of the findings to specify a set of recommendations that should improve developer's work.

The issue of low energy construction is currently actual and often discussed topic. The main reason is continuously increasing consumption and price of energy. Additionally, projections show this trend is not going to rapidly change in the upcoming years. The construction of buildings in low energy standard should become one of the most significant sources in energy savings in European Union for the upcoming period. Low energy constructions in contrast with standard constructions are distinguished not only because of low energy consumption and lower operating expenses but also for its favorable impact on the environment. The main purpose of this thesis will be the assessment of economical effectiveness of current low energy constructions and underline the importance of energy saving constructions by using LCA method as one of the possibilities in increasing the quality of environment.

This master thesis is looking into problems of financing of energy saving arrangements in residential buildings. The paper concentrates on an analysis of all available sources of financing. After a brief characteristic of basic ways of financing, including Czech and foreign models, it introduces closer only a selection of the available programs, grant titles and commercial products. Then the attention is paid to more specific programs and products from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Germany. This paper applies their program parameters to a model object of the residential building and assesses each and every option, using selected economical standards. Based on these parameters, it appraises an economical effectiveness of the investment in individual variations of financing from the point of view of an investor and a state, expressed with the price of a unit saved CO2 emission. By combining both preferential variations of an investor and a state, an optimal variation of financing for the model object is found.

A otimização do uso da água é um desafio para os gerenciadores, pois o planejamento da irrigação requer cuidados especiais, a fim de compatibilizar o balanço hídrico com a demanda, tanto no que se refere à quantidade como a sua repartição espacial e temporal. Técnicas de otimização têm sido empregadas nas recentes décadas para tratar problemas de planejamento e manejo de sistemas de recursos hídricos. O objetivo do presente trabalho consistiu em propor planos ótimos de cultivos, utilizando modelos de programação linear que proporcionem a maximização do retorno líquido do Perímetro de Irrigação Formoso, especificamente quanto a área de lotes familiares. Os modelos utilizados neste estudo foram baseados nos dados que compõem os Relatórios de Monitoria Ano Agrícola de 2008 e 2009 da 2ª Superintendência Regional da CODEVASF, Relatório do Distrito de Irrigação do Projeto Formoso e em informações adicionais fornecidas pela referida empresa pública. O modelo estudado é uma formulação-padrão de programação linear, cuja função-objetivo consistiu em maximizar a receita líquida do projeto, utilizando-se as culturas mais cultivadas nessa área, sob regime de irrigação. Com base nas culturas consideradas e suas respectivas funções de resposta à água, nas restrições de área cultivada, nos preços e nos custos de produção, os resultados permitem as seguintes conclusões: A maximização da receita líquida no Perímetro Irrigado Formoso foi obtida com o modelo de lâminas alternativas, com um retorno financeiro de R$ 68.384.956,53, utilizando o seguinte padrão de cultivo: 30 ha de abóbora, 30 ha de feijão Phaseolus, 977 ha de melancia, 1868 ha de banana, 1200 ha de mamão e 300 ha de limão Tahiti, para o volume anual de 79.649.300 m3. Em qualquer nível de volume de água disponível os valores das lâminas de água foram maiores no modelo lâminas fixas do que no modelo lâminas alternativas. / The optimization of water use is a challenge for managers, because the planning of irrigation requires special care to reconcile the water balance with demand, both in terms of quantity as spatial and temporal distribution. Optimization technique have been employed in recent decades to address problems of planning and management of water resources systems. The aim of this study was to propose optimal crop plans, using linear programming models, providing the maximization of net return on Formoso Irrigation District, regarding the area of farming family. The models used in this study were based on data of the Reports Agricultural year 2008 and 2009 of the 2th Regional Superintendent of CODEVASF and additional information submitted by that government department. The studied model is a traditional linear programming formulation, in which the objective function consisted into maximizing the net income of the project using the most cultivated crops in the area, under irrigation conditions. Based on the crops considered and their response functions to water restrictions on acreage, prices and production costs, the results allow the following conclusions: the maximization of net revenue in Formoso Irrigation District was obtained with the model of alternative irrigation depths, with a payback of R $ 68,384,956.53, using the following crop pattern: 30 ha of squash, 30 ha of Phaseolus beans. 977 ha of watermelon, 1868 ha of banana, 1200 ha of papaya and 300 ha of Tahiti lime, for the annual volume of 79,649,300 m3. At any level of available water the irrigation depths in the model fixed was higher than the irrigation depths in the model alternatives.

This thesis deals with the legal procedures indicated forchanges in land-related rights, i.e. land use planning andproperty acquisitions. The rules of procedure in this field oflaw are extensive and complicated. As a first step, the rules of procedure are structured intoa number of procedural types: administrative, cadastral andjudicial. The procedural characteristics and the substantivelegal character of the decisions are clarified andcompared. In a second step an institutional perspective is adopted,based on economic theory. The different types of procedure areperceived as alternative institutional solutions to the problemof transaction costs in transformations of land-related rightstructures. An economic analysis is made of the transactioncosts arising in the different types of procedure in connectionwith, respectively, permissibility assessment and propertyacquisition assessment. The administrative procedures present distinct comparativeadvantages in the assessment of permissibility questions, e.g.utility concessions or permits for environmentally hazardousactivity. In these questions, an extensive, heterogeneouscollective of individuals is made subject to external effects.Those effects are divided into smaller value fragments. Throughthe publicity and ready availability of the administrativeprocedures, coupled with the system of politicalaccountability, important information about the preferences ofthe collective concerned can be produced and made to form thebasis of the decision. The cadastral and judicial procedures present comparativeadvantages in connection with property acquisition assessments,such as compulsory purchase of land or exaction of utilityeasements. For the limited collective of individuals involved,the right of negotiating and concluding agreements willeffectively utilise the high degree of information and thestronger economic incentives for action. The negotiation phasebecomes a low-cost procedure which at the same time acts as aselective mechanism for transactions not requiring the coerciveand more expensive procedure of official assessment. Theself-containment of cadastral and judicial procedures and theirisolation from political influences benefit the quality andcontrol of the documentation on which decisions arefounded. / QC 20100528