This dissertation introduces three different topics on waterborne transportation. River transportation is a very important alternative for freight shipments in some countries. A significant portion of United States agricultural commodities transported via river barges. The lower portion of the Missouri River has been channelized to support barge traffic. Barge traffic has been used to move agricultural commodities to the Gulf of Mexico through Mississippi River to be exported overseas. Missouri River faced some weather issues such as drought in some years and flooding in others. Alternative transportation modes are important during the post-harvest period when the river has low-flow. The results showed a positive cost to agricultural freight in three years of a five years in dry period. In the other two years rail rates were estimated to be lower than barge rates. The second topic is using maritime distance to measure trade costs in agriculture. Maritime transportation holds an important position among other transportation means because it has some characteristics that others do not. Maritime shipping is critical to international trade because of the advantages that ships have by carry huge amounts of cargo for long distances. The impact of port-to-port maritime distance on US international trade to Europe and North and South America was tested. Unexpectedly result shows that trade increases with maritime distance. This impact decreases when the geographical distance is higher than the maritime distance. The third paper measures the efficiency and productivity of major Middle East container ports. Ports considered the main node to link the trading partners. The results indicate that eight ports out of 21 ports have low productivity. / Saudi Arabia Cultural Mission, USA / King Abdulaziz University / Faculty of Maritime Studies, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

This thesis models trade flows between countries as a function of several variables, including those representing membership in multilateral trade agreements (MTAs). The objective of this research is to evaluate the impact of trade policies, trading costs, trade agreements and other demographic characteristics on exports of food and agriculture products. More specifically, the paper uses a gravity model augmented with three sets of dummy variables to estimate the impact of 13 trade arrangements on intra-bloc and extra-bloc trade. Results indicate that several MTAs enhance intra-bloc trading at the expense of non-members while others have been successful at increasing both intra-bloc trade and trade with the rest of the world. Findings further suggest that several arrangements had no significant effect on member trading and that a few have effectively reduced trade for members.

This master´s thesis deals with analysis of investment opportunities for czech investors in Latvia. In this work is realized analysis of geopolitical, economic and business environment in Latvia and in conclusion are suggested desirable sectors and opportunities of investments for czech investors in Latvia.

The master’s thesis devises a logistical concept as well as the execution of promotional and advertising commodities’ exportation to the markets of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

This thesis deals with opening store with mens fashion in the city of Brno, based on franchsing concept of an italian company. The starting points of the work are theoretical findings about this type of business and technical specifications and requirements of the franchisor. On these basis will be developed the business plan, together with the evaluation of its feasibility.

This thesis deals with logistics concepts in international trade in Holek Production Company, which is engaged in the manufacture of steam ironers. Thesis described based on theoretical knowledge and evaluted logistics concept for export steam ironers in the USA. Thesis proposed the alternative for packaging produckt and recommended transport company for export steam ironers.

Orientador: Rosângela de Lima Vieira / Resumo: O objetivo da presente pesquisa é estudar, sob o viés da análise sistêmica, a visão liberal de desenvolvimento econômico. Como a bibliografia sobre esse assunto é extremamente ampla optamos por estudar a tese de Adam Smith. A escolha em pesquisar este autor reside na relevância que ele tem para a própria história do liberalismo econômico. Assim, a pesquisa será centrada principalmente na ideia de desenvolvimento construída por esse autor. No que tange a análise sistêmica, devido sua crítica à concepção ocidental de progresso, presume-se que essa abordagem seja adequada para rebater a concepção liberal de desenvolvimento. Portanto essa pesquisa indica um estudo que contraponha as perspectivas liberal e sistêmica sobre a questão do desenvolvimento econômico. / Abstract: The objective of this research is to study, from the bias of the systemic analysis, the liberal view of economic development. As the bibliography about this subject is extremely large, we opted to study the Adam Smith's theory. The choice in research this author keeps in his importance to the history of economic liberalism. Thus, the research will be mainly focused on the free market idea developed by this author. Regarding the systemic analysis, due to its criticism of the Western concept of progress, is assumed that this approach is appropriate to oppose the liberal conception of development. So this search indicates a study that contrasts the liberal and systemic perspectives on the issue of economic development. / Mestre

International trade in pharmaceuticals Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to provide an analysis of the human pharmaceuticals international trade. This work examines the general questions of the diagonal relationships between states and private foreign pharmaceutical companies because there are a lot of many specific problems too. The author also focuses on questions concerning the contractual relationships of many stakeholders. There are many opportunities to beginning new directions in research innovative medicines and personalized medicine, but there are dangerous situations for the generic pharmaceutical market. Only a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of these relationships are efficient to develop new pathways to solving problems. The hypothesis of this dissertation text is the concept of efficiency good relationships to the stable distribution of the pharmaceutical products. There are many aspects of the relationships between stakeholders with possibility influencing of the final benefit from the business. Problems result from different interest, strength or weakness of stakeholders. In essence speaking, this thesis is divided into three parts. At first, with regard to our membership in the European Union, it was necessary to make the analysis some legislation of the European Union which...

In a world which is highly reliant on international trade and at the same time is facing what has been described as among the greatest challenges planet Earth ever seen, climate change. The connection the two have to each other becomes increasingly essential to understand. This study was put in the context of a developing country, Malaysia, due to the increased amount of businesses located in developing countries which are choosing to internationalise and export products. The 17 Global Goals created by the United Nations, which has been adopted by all member states are aimed to be reached in 2030. The Global Goals are built upon trust and responsibility for the planet which creates a scenario where the behaviour of both businesses and consumers is changed. The purpose of the study was to gain knowledge of how the aspect of environmental sustainability impacts export and what motivates the Malaysian businesses to change for the better. The outcome of this study indicates that the customers have a significant role for both motivation of businesses and the implementation of new strategies. The study has also seen an indication of a connection between the speed of internationalisation and export related to how businesses are motivated by customers in terms of environmental sustainability. Moreover, the study has shown that there is little connection between the business’s selection of export mode and environmental sustainability.

This study investigates China's international trade with North Africa from a small-sized tradersperspective, while referring to the Belt and Road Initiative’s (B&R) practical influence.Further, the research focuses on how the traders perceive the challenges related to trade withNorth African countries like Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, etc. Moreover, the study explores thedifferent challenges related to international trade, international business, and at last, psychicand cultural distance with consideration to prior research. A qualitative approach was adoptedin order to answer the research question for this study. The approach consisted of a series of indepth interviews that were conducted with traders within different industries. The data collection process focused on gaining insights related to the trade challenges in an attempt to distinguish between their nature. The findings point out that the challenges perceived are four-fold: Trade Incentives, Business Development, Government Intervention and Culture’s Influence. Meanwhile, the impact of B&R is comprehended as a catalyst for bilateral economic development.