This thesis is focused on forestry economics and timber industry and present state of the Czech foreign commerce with raw food. Finally, there are determined critical factors, proposals and recommendations.

This thesis consists of three chapters. The first two are regarding the political economy of international trade, the third is about empirical banking.Chapter 1 is titled "Suspiciously Timed Trade Disputes" and it is the result a joint work with Paola Conconi, David DeRemer, Georg Kirchsteiger, and Maurzio Zanardi. This Chapter is already published in the Volume 105 of the Journal of International Economics and it shows that electoral incentives crucially affect the initiation of trade disputes. Focusing on WTO disputes filed by the United States during the 1995-2014 period, we find that U.S. presidents are more likely to initiate a dispute in the year preceding their re-election. Moreover, U.S. trade disputes are more likely to involve industries that are important in swing states. To explain these regularities, we develop a theoretical model in which re-election motives can lead an incumbent politician to file trade disputes to appeal to voters motivated by reciprocity. The second chapter, titled "Trade Policy and the China Syndrome", analyzes how trade policy can be used to smooth the effects of trade liberalizations. The recent backlash against free trade is partially motivated by the decline in manufacturing employment due to rising import competition from China. Politicians in high-income countries have extensively used antidumping (AD) measures and other temporary trade barriers to protect their economies from rising Chinese imports. To estimate the causal effect of trade protection on industry outcomes, I construct a new instrument for AD measures based on the importance of an industry in swing states and the industry's experience at filing AD petitions. In this paper, I first show that trade policy contained the rise of Chinese imports in protected sectors, decreasing the annual growth rate of US imports from China in a range between 3% and 14% compared to the non-protected sectors. Second, I show that these protectionist measures have contained the "China Syndrome". In manufacturing sectors protected by AD measures, the annual growth rate of employment was between 2% and 24% higher compared to non-protected sectors. I find that previous studies that neglect the moderating impact of AD have underestimated the negative effects of Chinese import competition on US manufacturing employment by between 5% and 15%.The third chapter, titled "Bank Lending Standards and Credit to Firms during the Great Recession", is a joint work with Lorenzo Ricci and Giovanni Soggia. This chapter investigates the impact of unforeseen shifts in lending standards on firm credit in Italy on the onset of the Great Recession, using data from the Regional Bank Lending Survey to disentangle the effects of loan supply and demand.We combine our measure of change in bank supply with bank-firm loans retrieved from the credit register. Our proposed empirical strategy presents several benefits: it allows us to (i) estimate the impact of credit supply in the absence of an exogenous shock to banks, (ii) analyze credit policy throughout the sample period, and (iii) disentangle the effect of geographical heterogeneity within Italy using the rich information from our survey data. The effect of supply shocks differs across types of loans. A firm with a revocable credit line from a bank that tightens its lending standards suffers a reduction in credit growth more than if it had borrowed from a bank with unchanged lending standard. On the extensive margin, a supply shock decreases the acceptance probability of a new loan with a pronounced effect for term loans. / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Como se explicam os embargos ao comércio internacional de carne bovina na regulamentação aplicável? Este trabalho trata de fornecer tal explicação, na esfera do Direito Internacional Econômico. O embargo, como um fenômeno de comércio internacional, é o objeto do estudo de casos: casos de embargos à carne bovina in natura colocados pela União Européia e pela Federação da Rússia, a partir de 1995. O comércio internacional de carne bovina serve para análise na perspectiva das exceções ao comércio ou medidas sanitárias. O Brasil atualmente é líder na exportação e um dos principais produtores de carne bovina no mundo, e a União Européia e a Federação da Rússia, inobstante sejam os principais importadores da carne bovina in natura brasileira, são dois dos maiores consumidores e importadores de carne bovina no mundo. Para obter informações sobre os casos e sobre os acordos pertinentes, empregou-se pesquisa em várias fontes de documentos, inclusive relativos às relações diplomáticas brasileiras com o bloco e país mencionados. Essencialmente, a finalidade deste estudo foi a verificação da relação entre as circunstâncias que constitiram em justificativas oficiais aos embargos e a análise e interpretação de tais circunstâncias em um quadro regulatório circunscrito pelos acordos internacionais pertinentes ou aplicáveis. Os resultados finais verificaram que: 1) todas as circunstâncias que consistiram em justificativas oficias aos embargos estiveram relacionadas com a sanidade animal; 2) estas circunstâncias estão incluídas no que os acordos aplicáveis concebem por medidas sanitárias; 3) a aplicação de medidas sanitárias encontra permissibilidade na referida regulamentação; 4) inobstante, tal permissibilidade é condicionada, na maioria dos acordos, pela "necessidade" de aplicação; 5) esta "necessidade" traz implicações menos objetivas que os textos dos acordos internacionais analisados, como as avaliações de risco e condições econômicas e políticas; 6) também os processos de avaliação de risco podem implicar interesses políticos e populares, uma vez que a determinação de que conhecimento científico aplicar é uma decisão dos governos; 7) nas recomendações da Organização Mundial de Saúde Animal, a permissibilidade à colocação de embargos ao comércio de carne bovina depende da enfermidade animal em questão, porquanto fundada no conhecimento científico veterinário estipulado por um comitê internacional formado por representantes de todos os membros da Organização; e pelo exposto, 8) o trabalho argumenta que a utilização dos padrões internacionais elaborados pelas organizações internacionais de referência é estratégica nas negociações internacionais, e sugere que os negociadores se engajem nesta consideração, no sentido de uma harmonização. / How to explain international trade bans on beef within the applicable regulation? This work attempts to give such explanation, in the field of International Economic Law. The ban, as a phenomenon of international trade, is the object of study: through cases of European Union and Russian Federation's bans to Brazilian fresh, chilled and frozen beef, from 1995. International beef trade provides analysis in the perspective of trade exceptions or sanitary measures. Brazil is actually the foremost beef exporter and one of the most beef producers in the world, and European Union and Russian Federation are two of the world's principal beef consumers and importers, whereas the main buyers of Brazilian fresh, chilled and frozen beef. The data about the cases and the applicable regulation were taken from various sources of documents, including relating to Brazilian diplomatic relations with the mentioned bloc and country. Essentially, the purpose of this study is to verify the relation between the circumstances which officially justified the international trade bans on beef in the cases documented and the regulatory framework defined by the pertinent international agreements. The results verified that: 1) in all of the cases studied, the circumstances which officially justified bans were concerned with animal health; 2) that circumstances are included in what the pertinent agreements consider as sanitary measures; 3) the application of sanitary measures is permissible within the applicable regulation; 4) nonetheless, in the majority of the agreements, such permissibility is subject to the condition of "necessity"; 5) that condition carries further implications, less objective than the texts of the agreements, like risk analysis and economic and political circumstances; 6) moreover, the risk analysis processes could implicate political and popular interests, because to ascertain which scientific knowledge should be pursued is a decision by the governments; 7) in the World Organisation for Animal Health recommendations, the permissibility to ban trade depends on the animal disease in question, then based on scientific knowledge undertaken by an international committee of delegates of the members of the Organization; and thereafter, 8) the work argues that the utilization of international organizations standards is a strategic approach to negotiations, and suggests that negotiators should focus in that, in the direction of harmonization.

A presente tese possui como tema o estudo da inserção internacional de países intermediários no Sistema Multilateral de Comércio (SMC). Devido à existência de variadas maneiras de categorizar os países que compõem o estrato intermediário do Sistema Internacional (SI), entendeu-se como apropriado o foco no protagonismo internacional das Potências Médias para essa categorização. Dentro deste contexto, a instituição do Acordo Geral sobre Tarifas e Comércio (GATT) além de unir uma gama diversificada de países, também representou a criação de um local propício para a atuação de países de segunda ordem em uma conjuntura política e econômica internacional carente de nichos de oportunidades para protagonismos que não de potências hegemônicas. Ademais, observou-se que a partir de dado momento histórico, determinados países em desenvolvimento de reconhecido protagonismo, cristalizaram em suas atuações comportamentos que passaram a ser rotulados como sendo de Potência Média. Desta forma, considerando este cenário e aceitando o travamento da Rodada de Doha da Organização Mundial do Comércio (OMC) como um momento decisivo para a afirmação do papel de determinados países na estruturação do atual SMC, elaborou-se o seguinte problema de pesquisa: Existem elementos teóricos e empíricos que corroboram o resgate e (re)definição do conceito de Potência Média no mundo contemporâneo? A busca por esta resposta suscitou outra questão derivada dela: É possível afirmar que atualmente se observam determinados países praticando protagonismos que podem ser considerados como sendo de Potência Média? Para responder estas questões, realizou-se: (a) uma revisão bibliográfica sobre os esforços da literatura para a categorização de países intermediários no SI; (b) a construção de um modelo para o enquadramento de países no conceito de Potência Média; (c) uma análise da evolução histórica, e das dinâmicas econômicas e políticas que foram determinantes para a condução e moldagem do SMC; e (d) a aplicação dos parâmetros para o enquadramento de países no conceito de Potência Média através do modelo proposto na presente tese. Os resultados encontrados sugerem que Argentina e Brasil foram os países que melhor atenderam os requisitos exigidos pelo modelo para o enquadramento de países no conceito de Potência Média. A utilização de critérios menos restritos dentro do modelo proposto possibilita o enquadramento de Chile, Índia, Indonésia e Colômbia, ao lado de Brasil e Argentina, no grupo das Potências Médias. / This thesis has as its theme the study of the international insertion of intermediate countries in the Multilateral Trading System (MTS). Due to the fact that there are different ways to categorize the countries that make up the intermediate stratum of the International System (IS), it was understood as appropriate for this categorization to focus on the international behavior of Middle Powers. Within this context, the establishment of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) promoted, in addition to the union of a diverse range of countries, the creation of an auspicious place for the performance of second-tier countries in a political context lacking niches of opportunities for protagonists that are not hegemonic powers. Moreover, it was observed that from a given historical moment, certain developing countries with a widely recognized international role, crystallized in their performances behaviors which are now labeled as those of Middle Powers. Thus, considering this scenario and accepting the locking of the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as a turning point for the affirmation of the role of certain countries in structuring the current MTS, the following research problem was elaborated: Are there theoretical and empirical elements that support the rescue and (re)definition of the Middle Power concept in the modern world? The search for this answer raised another question derived from it: Can it be said that currently certain countries are practicing protagonisms that can be considered to be of a Middle Power? To answer these questions, we took the following steps: (a) a review of the literature efforts for the categorization of intermediate countries in the IS; (b) the construction of a model for the classification of countries within the concept of Middle Power; (c) an analysis of the historical evolution and the economic and political dynamics that were crucial to driving and shaping the MTS; and (d) the application of the criteria for classification of countries into the concept of Middle Power through the model proposed in this thesis. The results suggest that Argentina and Brazil were the countries that better fit the requirements of the model for classification of countries in the concept of Middle Power. The use of less restrictive criteria within the proposed model enables the framing of Chile, Índia, Indonesia and Colombia, along with Brazil and Argentina, in the group of Middle Powers.

Charles University in Prague Faculty of Social Sciences Institute of Economic Studies DISSERTATION THESIS ABSTRACT Essays on Natural Resource Richness, Economic Growth and Institutional Quality Author: Ayaz Zeynalov Supervisor: Doc. Roman Horvath, Ph.D Academic Year: 2016/2017 Abstract This dissertation consists of three empirical papers on natural resource, economic growth and institutional quality. The first paper analyzes possible publication bias and the reason for contradictory findings in the natural resource literature, the second paper examines the effect of natural resource exports on manufacturing performance in the 15 former Soviet Union countries, and the last addresses whether similarities in country income size and at the institutional level encourage increased amounts of bilateral trade between countries. An introductory chapter puts these three papers into perspective. In the first paper, I analyze 43 studies providing 605 different regression specifica- tions and found that approximately 40% report a negative and statistically significant effect, another 40% report no effect, and the remaining 20% report a positive and statistically significant effect of natural resources on economic growth. The findings show that including interaction between natural resources and institutional quality, controlling...

Obligational means of securing claims in the international trade Abstract The subject of this dissertation is obligational means of securing claims and their functioning in the commercial transactions with international coverage. The thesis is primarily concentrated upon the statutory securing instruments most often encountered in practice i.e. surety, financial (bank) demand guarantees, contractual assignment of receivables causa cavendi, letters of credit and letters of intent. The thesis is divided into four parts. The first part deals with the introduction into the subject of negotiable instruments of securing obligations, provides an overview of the historical development of selected instruments, endeavours to outline the difference between the securing instruments conceived as rights in rem and those seen as obligations and eventually raises the issue of methodology. Afterwards the analysis is carried out on two levels: in the second part the author focuses on the applicable approach in determining the governing law in accordance with international and national regulations and afterwards on the topic of the unified norms developed by the international organisations that may be relevant in the light of the thesis' subject-matter. In this regard the works of the International Chamber of Commerce in...

Esta tese utiliza a Matriz de Análise de Políticas (MAP) para avaliar a competitividade, as vantagens comparativas e eventuais níveis de proteção ou subsídios da cadeia do arroz beneficiado do Estado de Rio Grande do Sul (RS), na região Sul do Brasil, em comparação ao Uruguai (UR). Entende-se que a MAP é um método que poderá auxiliar na análise e definição de políticas públicas e na identificação de possíveis falhas de mercado que possam impactar nos resultados econômicos das cadeias agroindustriais, como é o caso da cadeia examinada na presente pesquisa. A cadeia do arroz é avaliada considerando-se os elos de produção, beneficiamento e transporte. Os resultados do estudo confirmam que a cadeia do arroz é competitiva, tanto no Rio Grande do Sul quanto no Uruguai, embora em maior grau neste último. Apesar de a gravação da carga tributária e dos encargos sociais e o custo de oportunidade do capital serem elevados em ambas as cadeias analisadas (RS e Uruguai), pode-se observar que tais gravações são mais elevadas no Rio Grande do Sul do que no Uruguai. Em termos gerais, a cadeia de arroz transfere uma alta carga de recursos para outros setores da economia, tanto neste Estado quanto naquele País. / This thesis has used the Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) to evaluate competitiveness, comparative advantages and occasional levels of protection and subsidies of milled rice from Rio Grande do Sul (RS), in the south of Brazil, and from Uruguay (UR). PAM has been taken as a methodology that may help analyze and define public policies as well as identify possible market gaps that are likely to have an impact on the economic results of agro-industrial chains, such as the one examined in the present research. The assessment of the rice chain has considered the production, processing and transportation links. The results have confirmed that the rice chain is competitive in both Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay, but at a higher level in the latter. Despite the incidence of high tax burden, social costs, opportunity and capital cost in both chains (RS and Uruguay), it has been possible to perceive that such incidences in Rio Grande do Sul are higher than in Uruguay. In general, the rice chain transfers a high amount of resources to other economic sectors, in both Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay.

Utilizando o modelo gravitacional, estimado através da Pseudo Máxima Verossimilhança de Poisson com a inclusão de efeitos fixos, esta tese de doutorado fornece evidências de que a OMC teve um profundo impacto sobre o comércio internacional. Entretanto, esse impacto ocorreu de forma assimétrica entre os setores, países desenvolvidos e em desenvolvimento, membros e não membros. Considerando as importações agregadas, os países em desenvolvimento foram os mais favorecidos pela atuação da OMC, porém com dados desagregados de produtos primários, têxteis e industrializados, os países desenvolvidos foram os que mais se beneficiaram do aumento do comércio mundial promovido pela OMC. Muito embora as nações desenvolvidas também tiveram seus fluxos de comércio ampliados pela OMC nos setores têxtil e industrial, o maior crescimento ocorreu no setor primário. Além disso, esses países não discriminaram os não membros da instituição. Diferentemente, a abertura comercial dos países em desenvolvimento foi discriminatória e o crescimento do comércio foi observado apenas em produtos primários e industriais, mas em menor magnitude que as nações desenvolvidas. Alternativamente, utilizando o Modelo de Equilíbrio Geral Computável do GTAP, foram avaliados os impactos de uma hipotética conclusão da Rodada de Doha sobre os países desenvolvidos e em desenvolvimento, membros e não membros da OMC. Os resultados sugerem que, ao incorporar a redução de barreiras não tarifárias nas reformas, além das tarifas de importação e subsídios à exportação, os ganhos, em termos de PIB e bem-estar, ampliam-se para os seus membros, sugerindo que seus efeitos são claramente dominantes em relação às tarifas de importação e aos subsídios à exportação. Considerando o cenário de maior liberalização comercial, os países desenvolvidos teriam um crescimento de bem-estar de aproximadamente US$ 572 bilhões, enquanto os em desenvolvimento aumentariam US$ 441 bilhões. O custo de não ser membro da OMC, em termos de bem-estar, pode chegar até US$ 34 bilhões. / Using the gravitational model, estimated through the Pseudo Maximum Likelihood of Poisson with the inclusion of fixed effects, this doctoral thesis provides evidence that the WTO had a profound impact on international trade. However, this impact occurred asymmetrically between the developed and developing countries, members and non-members. Considering aggregate imports, developing countries were the ones most benefited by the WTO, but with disaggregated data on primary, textile and industrialized products, developed countries benefited most from the increase in world trade promoted by the WTO. Although developed nations also had their trade flows expanded by the WTO in the textile and industrial sectors, the largest growth occurred in the primary sector. In addition, these countries did not discriminate against non-members of the institution. In contrast, trade liberalization in developing countries was discriminatory and trade growth was observed only in primary and industrial products, but to a lesser extent than developed nations. Also, using the GTAP General Computable Equilibrium Model, the impacts of a hypothetical conclusion of the Doha Round on the developed and developing countries, members and non-members of the WTO, were evaluated. The results suggest that, by incorporating the reduction of non-tariff barriers in the reforms, in addition to import tariffs and export subsidies, gains in terms of GDP and welfare increase for its members, suggesting that its effects Are clearly dominant in relation to import tariffs and export subsidies. Considering the scenario of increased trade liberalization, developed countries would have a welfare growth of approximately US$ 572 billion while developing countries would increase US$ 441 billion. The cost of not being a member of the WTO in terms of welfare can reach up to US$ 34 billion.

The thesis interprets theoretical knowledge on taxes and account questions of value added tax on concrete cases in machinery works. It describes occurrences connected with the duties of exporter or importer in international business. Basic aim of this work is to review demands on the entrepreneur for keeping accountancy and on tax matters in foreign trade relations. Theoretical part is based on interpretation of connections and risks of international trade and its impact on the country economy. Here we will find outline of EU incidence on Czech legislation in the field of VAT. Practical part deals with international business contracts of a concrete machinery company. It is concerned with the range of accountancy-unit duties which refer to goods sale in European community and to goods import and export to the third countries. Conclusion of the work brings complex evaluation of foreign cooperation, comparison of the listed-cases demands versus domestic trade operations and of international cooperation demands on the company management.

Magister Legum - LLM (Mercantile and Labour Law) / The establishment of an anti-dumping regime has become commonplace for many a government that seeks to protect and promote its local industries. One reason which appears to be dominant by its proponents is the need to curb predatory pricing. Another reason given by the proponents of anti-dumping is the need to maintain a level playing field for players in any particular industry. With these reasons and probably many others, anti-dumping legislation began to find its way into present-day trade. Canada, with its anti-dumping statute of 1904 [An Act to Amend the Customs Tariff 1897, 4 Edw VIII, 1 Canada Statutes 111 (1904)] is credited with the first modern anti-dumping legislation. New Zealand followed in 1905 with the Agricultural Implement Manufacture, Importation and Sale Act 1905, which was primarily meant to protect New Zealand's manufacturers of agricultural implements. The Industries Preservation Act 1906 which Australia enacted was to deal with market monopoly by manufacturers but it also contained provisions on anti-dumping. The first decade of the 20th century will thus qualify to be called the introductory decade of anti-dumping legislation.