LL.M. (Corporate Law) / Jurisdictions employ several legal methods to regulate loans made by shareholders to companies. This dissertation explores the legal mechanisms employed by Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom as well as Australia that align to the recommendations of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) in respect of shareholder loans and seeks to answer the question whether South Africa should adopt similar mechanisms. German law complies fully with the UNCITRAL recommendations by providing for the automatic subordination of shareholder claims in respect of loans as well as the avoidance of repayments and security interests made and registered within a certain period of the commencement of insolvency proceedings. German law also contains avoidance provisions specific to transactions between the debtor and a shareholder that cause detriment to a third-party creditor and general avoidance provisions which provide for certain presumptions to apply in the case of transactions concluded between the company and a shareholder. In the United States the doctrine of equitable subordination is legislated and applies in the event that the debtor is thinly-capitalised and mismanaged and legislative provision is made for the avoidance of preference transactions concluded between a creditor and a debtor, which provide for a longer avoidance period in the case of a transaction concluded with a shareholder. In addition to full legislative compliance with the UNCITRAL recommendation relating to shareholder transactions, the wide powers given to the courts to uphold bankruptcy legislation is codified and led to the development of the doctrine of recharacterization, which entails shareholder loans being treated as equity contributions in certain circumstances. The United Kingdom does not contain legal provisions relating to the subordination of shareholder claims and thus does not comply fully with the UNCITRAL recommendations relating to shareholder loans. However, it does provide specifically for a longer avoidance period in respect of preference transactions involving shareholders and certain presumptions to be applied in the case of transactions concluded between the debtor company and a shareholder.

This diploma thesis focuses on trade environment in Mexico with special focus on practical example of a particular trade operation. The aim is to analyze trade environment in Mexico on an example of particular trade operation. The first part focuses on main attributes, characteristics and structural problems of the Mexican economy. The second part describes more in detail the country's business environment and customs procedures. The last chapter analyzes the selected trade operation of export of goods to Kuwait performed by small Mexican trade company. Based on the analysis of the operation are identified several recommendations for potential improvement of the exporter's activities. Methods of interview, description, analysis and comparison are used. The bibliography cites printed resources, books and articles, as well as electronic resources, statistical databases and legal rules. The practical part was elaborated with support of the exporter's and freight forwarder's experts, who provided access to information and documentation needed.

Cette thèse aborde différentes thématiques dans le champ de l’économie internationale et de la macroéconomie. Les travaux de recherche développés dans cette thèse étudient l’impact des chocs de différentes natures sur les flux de migrations internationales, de commerce international et sur la croissance de la productivité. Le premier chapitre s’intéresse à l’évolution des flux migratoires en réaction à des chocs conjoncturels. L’estimation du modèle à partir des données nous permet de conclure qu’à la fois les chocs structurels et les chocs conjoncturels influent les flux de migration. Une augmentation de 10% du salaire du pays de destination conduirait à une augmentation du flux migratoire vers ce pays de destination de près de 8%, toutes choses égales par ailleurs. Le second chapitre étudie dans quelles mesures les chocs financiers affectent le niveau des exportations des entreprises, avec un focus particulier sur les entreprises qui exportent vers des destinations lointaines. Nous trouvons que les entreprises qui font face à des frictions financières exportent entre 4% et 10% de moins que celles qui ne sont pas soumises à ces frictions. Nos résultats montrent également que parmi les exportateurs en difficulté financière, ceux qui exportent vers des destinations lointaines réduisent encore davantage leurs exportations. Dans le chapitre trois, nous étudions comment les frictions financières peuvent conduire à des distorsions dans l’allocation des ressources. Nos résultats suggèrent que dans les pays développés financièrement, les capitaux ne permettent pas forcément une amélioration de l’allocation efficace du travail entre les firmes. / This thesis covers various issues in international economics and macroeconomics.It studies the role of several types of shocks on international migration, firms’ export strategies and sectoral productivity growth. The three chapters exploit different sources of data and use recent econometrics approaches to deal with these issues.Chapter one contributes to the literature on international migration by looking at the role of short-run fluctuations as determinants of the location choice of the migrants. We find evidence that business cycles and employment rates at destination affect the intensity of gross bilateral flows.Chapter two investigates how financial frictions impact firms’ foreign sales, especially for firms that export to long distance export markets. We find that firmsfacing financial frictions export from 4 to 10% less than the ones without anyfinancial constraints. Our results also suggest that amongst exporters facing financial difficulties, those who export to faraway destinations reduce their exportsales more.Chapter three investigates how financial frictions affect the efficiency with which labor allocates across firms within a sector. Results suggest that an increase intangibility decreases the productivity growth rate of an industry located in highly financially developed country and this lower productivity growth rate is largely explained by the reallocation of labour across firms within the sector.

M.A. (Political Studies) / Sub-Saharan African governments have long expressed their support for increased intra-African trade, but official statistics show that this type of trade. remains Iess than 5% of the total. The continued emphasis on establishing supranational organisations to direct regional trade Iiberalisation through. phased tariff reductions is symptomatic of the strategies dominating most. deliberations on regional integration. Despite the continuing proliferation of multilateral treaties, protocols and resolutions concerned with promoting regional trade, intra-African exchange has stagnated. Recorded barter in Africa's major sub-regional communities has not significantly increased between the late 1970's and today (Barad, 1990: 102). The reason for this absence of progress in the promotion of intra-African trade is most clearly expressed in the fact that Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing its worst economic crisis to date. According to Williams (1993: 5-6) this crisis is manifested in foreign .debt, poverty and trade.deficits. These conditions are the result of the following: deteriorating terms of external trade, the rise in debt-servicing obligations relative to both export earnings and gross domestic product, climatic conditions such as drought, civil wars and regional disputes, the lack of infrastructure and the overvaluation of African currencies, government and privatesector corruption, and the inability of African states to respond to the oil crisis of 1979-1980. Naldi (1989: 2) adds the neglect of the agricultural sector, unfeasible . industrial programmes, and wasteful prestige projects as factors contributing to the economic crisis. African states have of necessity turned to the industrial nations of the First World for their image and development, since these communities have the technology and finances fundamental to development. This may be themain reason that 95% of all African trade occurs outside the African continent However, African leaders. have long recognised the need for closer regional ties as a way of overcoming the fragmentation of the continent, one of the major constraints on economic development. Ndulo (1992: 17) claims that the economic integration of Africa was the centr8llheme of the 1980 Lagos ?Ian of Action and numerous other high-level statements and reports on African policy and development strategy. Economic integration is perceived by many African states as the ultimate type of regional economic collaboration, and as a promising vehicle for enhancing economic and social development, This idea is reinforced by the relative success of integration in Western Europe and through the United States-Canadian Free Trade Agreement.

The thesis examines transnational Scottish book marketing to a diasporic audience from 1995 to 2015. The study addresses the research question: what makes marketing of Scottish-interest books from Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the publishing industry successful transnationally? The data underlying the research comes from semi-structured interviews with members of publishing organisations in Scotland and members of Scottish heritage organisations worldwide, case studies of the marketing histories of economically successful books targeting the diaspora, and narrative rhetorical criticism of the online book blurbs of Scottish-interest books by Scottish publishers. The qualitative results demonstrate that the marketing of Scottish-interest books from SMEs in the publishing industry is successful transnationally when creative relationship marketing through storytelling is emphasised; icons, symbols and narratives from Scotland’s place brand are utilised; and communication of value is targeted to specific subcultures of consumption (like the Scottish diaspora) that transcend national boundaries. Adopting the definition of marketing as the communication of value of a product or service, the study analyses the influencers, characteristics, and participants of that communication. The research impacts those individuals and organisations, particularly Scottish publishing companies, who are involved in the twenty-first century Scottish book trade. The thesis recommends that to reach the diaspora audience, Scottish publishers need to make a more united effort under Publishing Scotland to approach and partner with Scottish heritage organisations; create working relationships with Global Scot (and Scottish Enterprise more generally), Scottish Development International, Visit Scotland, and Event Scotland; and become more involved in tourism events relating to the Scottish diaspora.

Magister Legum - LLM / This study unveiled the trade-environment debate which has been revolving in the World Trade Organization for quite a long time now. While economic integration and trade liberalization offer the promise of growth and prosperity, environmentalists fear that free trade will lead to increased pollution and resource depletion. On the other hand, free traders worry that over-reaching environmental policies will obstruct efforts to open markets and integrate economies around the world. Trade liberalization has the potential to affect the environment both positively and negatively. Trade and environment tensions have therefore emerged as a major issue in the debate over globalisation. This paper examined the contours of these tensions and argued that trade policy and environmental programs can be better integrated and made more mutually supportive. / South Africa

Magister Legum - LLM / This thesis aimed to examine the prevailing international intellectual property regime as embodied especially in the TRIPS Agreement, for purposes of outlining some of the criticisms levelled against it especially by the less developed world. The work aimed to illustrate how, despite the imperfections of the system, certain intellectual property rights could still be used strategically by African countries to bolster the entrepreneurial spirit, in the form of musical entrepreneurship for purposes of enhancing their international trade capacity. / South Africa

Magister Legum - LLM / South Africa

Magister Legum - LLM / This paper will analyse critically the main sources, namely UNCAC, the African Union Convention on Prevention and Combating Corruption (AU Convention), the Southern African Development Community Protocol against Corruption (SADC Protocol) and the Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention on Corruption (CoE Convention). Furthermore, the paper will examine the corresponding explanatory notes and try to provide a picture of the most important aspects of the issue. As many countries are obliged to consider the criminalisation of trading in influence, drawing an overview of it may make a substantial contribution to its comprehension. Due to the limited space, the paper is unable to cover all provisions of trading in influence in countries where it exists. Accordingly, the discussion will be restricted to the situation in France, Spain and Belgium. By analysing the position in these countries, the different approaches to criminalisation can be highlighted. / South Africa

Doctor Legum - LLD / The thesis considers the approaches followed by the European Union with the Brussels Regime, the federal system of the United States of America under the ‘full faith and credit clause’; the inter-state recognition scheme under the Australia and New Zealand Trans- Tasman judicial system; as well as the convention-approach of the Latin American States. It finds that the most suitable approach for the SACU is the negotiation and adoption by all SACU Member States of a multilateral convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments, comparable to the 1971 Convention of the Hague Conference on Private International Law; the EU Brussels I Regulation and the Latin-American Montevideo Convention, as complemented by the La Paz Convention. It is imperative that a proposed convention should not merely duplicate previous efforts, but should be drafted in the light of the legal, political and socio-economic characteristics of the SACU Member States. The current legislative provisions in force in SACU Member States are compared and analysed, and the comparison and analysis form the basis of a proposal for a future instrument on recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments for the region. A recommended draft text for a proposed Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments for the SACU is included. This draft text could form the basis for future negotiations by SACU Member States.