This graduation thesis compares agricultural sector of four countries - Czech republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary from the beggining of transformation period to the impacts of integration to the CAP.It concerns measures of agricultural policies and also of Common Agricultural Policy.

This diploma thesis discuss the influence of the euro currency on economical situation and its development in Italy, Portugal, Greece and Spain. It is also concerned with the debt crisis which these countries are passing through. First, I analyze development of these countries in the last 20 years prior to entering the eurozone. After that, I focus on the fulfiling of Maastricht criterias and Optimal currency area theory, mainly the convergence of business cycles. Next chapter puts in place the questions of positive expectations, which should have be brought be the euro. In the fourth chapter the work shifts in time to the period after adopting the euro and it analyses the development of several macroeconomic values in the years 2001 - 2010 in southern countries. The results of these research are explained with focus on the influence of the euro. Last chapter concerns about the path of Italy, Portugal, Greece and Spain to the debt crisis, which peaked by the incapability of further finacing some of these countries. It research the possible effects of euro as well.

In a time of decreasing participation in party politics across Europe, both protests and deliberation can be studied as means of expressing political opinion that have not seen the same decline. Traditionally, protests and deliberation have been considered mutually exclusive. This notion has later been challenged, indicating that these factors coexist in democratic societies.The aim of this thesis is to get a better understanding of the complex causal relationship between protests and deliberative democracy in 30 European countries. This is investigated through the following research question: Do countries with high levels of protest activity also have high levels of deliberative democracy? Two contradicting hypotheses are established, where one considers protests and deliberation to be mutually exclusive while the second hypothesisconsiders them to be coexisting factors in democratic countries. To test the hypotheses, correlation matrices and regression analysis are used, adding relevant control variables (GDP per capita, population and income distribution) to the model. The results imply that protests and deliberation are not mutually exclusive, instead countries with higher levels of protest activity also have higher deliberation. However, this does not appear to be because protests itself drive deliberation, but rather that a confounding variable, measuring the percentage of national income that the bottom 40% holds, drives both protests and deliberation positively. The implications underline the importance of a more even income distribution to foster both more protests and higher deliberation. Further research to continue investigating these findings is encouraged.

Background: Despite the societal progress made in recent decades, a gender gap in entrepreneurship persists. In Europe, there are fewer female entrepreneurs than male entrepreneurs. This issue is significant as female entrepreneurship substantially impacts economic development and social well-being. In this paper, we will investigate how different socioeconomic and individual factors affect female total entrepreneurial activity in European countries. Through our research, we aim to provide recommendations to increase the number of female entrepreneurs, remove gender-based barriers, and foster societal progress and economic growth in Europe. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of socioeconomic and individual factors on total entrepreneurial activity for women in European countries. We will specifically analyze the impacts of government support, cultural approval, insufficient access to finance, networking, training & education, and fear of failure on female entrepreneurship. Method: Using publicly available GEM data, we use a panel data study of 31 European countries and seven years, from 2013 to 2019, to investigate how socioeconomic and individual factors influence female total entrepreneurial activity. By utilizing the Hausman test and LM test, we statistically determine that the Random Effects Model (REM) is the most appropriate model to predict our data. Conclusion: The results of the REM show that both Networking and Training & Education have significant positive effects on female total entrepreneurial activity in European countries. We recommend implementing entrepreneurship education in middle or high school curricula to expose students to entrepreneurship experiences and encourage young women to pursue entrepreneurship as a career. Additionally, we recommend tailoring government policies and programs specifically to women to support female entrepreneurial activities.

Background: Steffen et al. (2015) introduced the concept of planetary boundaries, which consist of nine critical processes required to stabilize the Earth. Recent evaluations, however, show that human actions have already pushed the Earth system beyond these safe limits. This study focuses on how the sustainability practices of companies in the textile industry, which significantly impact the environment, can be mapped and linked to planetary boundaries to help companies operate within safe environmental limits. Purpose: This research aims to explore the interconnectedness of sustainability practices in the European textile industry with the planetary boundaries. The study includes the examination and analysis of textile industry sustainability practices within the scope of planetary boundaries.“How can sustainability practices within the textile industry in European countries be mapped and connected to planetary boundaries to aid companies in operating within safe environmental limits?” Method: This study employed a qualitative research design, utilizing secondary data through archival research. Sustainability reports from Europe's largest textile companies, known for their significant global operations, were collected and analyzed to examine their alignment with planetary boundaries. A sampling technique was used to select relevant reports from these leading companies. The collected data were analyzed to identify patterns and themes related to sustainability practices within the context of planetary boundaries. Conclusion: This study examined how major European textile companies with global operations manage sustainability practices with planetary boundaries by analyzing their sustainability reports. The reports were analyzed to identify and evaluate the sustainability practices that these companies have implemented and their targets. These practices were then matched and tabulated against the planetary boundaries framework. The results indicate a strong general commitment to sustainability, although the extent and focus of practices vary across companies. Common initiatives include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, optimizing water usage, and sourcing sustainable materials.

This thesis investigates the impact that changing age demographics have on household debt-to-income ratios across 16 European countries using fixed effect panel data regression analysis. This study is conducted for the period between 2000 and 2021, and investigates how different age groups contribute to variations in household debt-to-income ratios, based on the life cycle hypothesis. Major findings point to a negative relationship in regards to the presence of older population, particularly older workers in the labor force, on debt-to-income ratios. On the other hand, the young adults, majorly those aged 30-39 years, present a correlation that is positive. The paper gives insight into how changing age structures may impact household debt at the macro level, offering considerations for policymakers.

Since 1990s, there was increasing evidence that pension systems have been restructured across Europe and in Turkey. This thesis aims to analyse the outcomes of the pension reform in Turkey in the light of the pension reforms, realized in the European countries. Theoretically, the thesis also attempts to reevaluate institutionalist approach that is dominant approach within the study of pension systems. The main argument of the thesis is that pension systems both across Europe and in Turkey have been restructured since 1990s in accordance with the neo-liberal policies. In both contexts, it is underlined that the target of the reform is to privatize and individualize the pension systems. Change from PAYGO to funded scheme, shift towards multi-tiered model, reduction of the scope and coverage of public pension scheme and shifting of risks from public to individuals form the common characteristics of pension reforms across Europe and in Turkey.

The aim of this study is to determine regional income level and disparities in CEECs and Turkey in a comparison of new 26 NUTS-II regions for Turkey with 49 NUTS-II regions of CEECs in the period of 1995 and 2001 by using the indicator of GDP per capita in terms of purchasing power standard. In this study, furthermore, those questions have been discussed: whether the EU is a chance for reducing regional inequalities and growth of the regional wealth in Turkey, and whether Turkey is another thread for the EU regional policy in the future on the enlargement process for the EU. In this study, it is also examined regional income level and disparities in the EU-15, the EU-25, the EU-27, and the EU-28 in case accession of Turkey to the Union. The analyses are carried out for 207 NUTS-II regions of the EU-15, for the EU-25 (248 NUTS-II), for the EU-27 (262 NUTS-II) and for the EU-28 (288 NUTS-II) in terms of the latest available data of GDP per capita in PPS for 2001. The regional income disparities are discussed by using the most well known measures of regional inequality / i.e., Maximum to Minimum Ratio (MMR), Coefficient of Variation (CV), Relative Mean Deviation (Rw) and Theil Index (T). In case accession of Turkey to the EU, her NUTS-II regions would take an advantage of benefit assistance of the EU regional policy instruments along with the CEECs&rsquo / whereas, the seven NUTS-II regions of current three member states would continue to benefit of this assistance, i.e. 3 NUTS-II regions of Greece, 3 for Portugal and only one NUTS-II region for Spain. In the accession-period of Turkey, which will start accession-negotiations with the EU on 3 October 2005, she should adjust her regional policy and regional development projects in light with the EU regional policy and its financial instruments in order to utilize that advantage.

The goal of this thesis is to provide comprehensive set of information about Chinese investment abroad policy and its approach to Eastern Europe. Introduction and first chapters describe China as a developing country which is trying to diversify its large foreign reserves, and actively to penetrate into foreign markets. Then thesis focuses on Chinese regional investment experience. Natural resources and commodities are prime targets for China in Africa. Meanwhile, Western Europe is perceived as an opportunity to gain knowhow and management experience as well as access to developed markets. Last chapters are devoted to the investment partnership between China and CEE countries and are focused on CEE attractiveness for Chinese corporations. China invests in high tech, telecommunication, automotive, machinery, food and construction industries in Eastern Europe.

The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to present to the reader a comprehensive overview on how the characteristics of grocery products and apparel products influence the customer behavior and the choice of an offline or an online sales channel within an omnichannel marketing strategy. This thesis takes a company’s point of view in order to investigate the reactions and the resulting marketing and channel strategies the different retailers apply while taking into account the varying customer behavior. In order to fulfill this purpose, we formulated and presented two research questions and three propositions that helped to investigate the chosen subject matter of this thesis. The research philosophy of this Master’s thesis is based on an interpretivist epistemological perspective and a subjectivist ontological view. The research conducted within this thesis has an exploratory nature. In addition, the deductive approach is used to study the research questions, while adopting a qualitative research method. The practical method employed in this thesis in order to fulfill the purpose is based on conducting multiple semi-structured, non-standardized interviews. The respondents and the companies they represent are divided according to the industry they belong to, namely the apparel retail or the grocery retail, and the geographically located in Europe. The final results are then gained by the combination of the primary data, yield from the interviews, and secondary data, collected during a literature search and an undertaken literature review. The contribution of this Master’s thesis is represented by an analysis that combines the theoretical perspectives and empirical findings. They provide an overview on how do the characteristics of products influence the customer behavior and the choice of an offline or an online sales channel within an omnichannel marketing strategy while focusing on apparel and grocery retailers in Europe. In addition, the findings also provide an overview on how the apparel and grocery retailers react on the varying behavior of their customers and based on this, what marketing and sales strategies they employ.