This diploma thesis deals with the issue of evaluation of economic development in Visegrad group countries compared to Germany in years from 2009 to 2015. The aim of the thesis is to take down and to evaluate economic development in this period based on the analysis of macroeconomic indicators. In the theoretical part, there are several notions explained, such as the definition of GDP, economic growth rate, unemployment rate, balance of payments or economic cycle. In the practical part, there is an analysis carried out which describes the concrete data development of macroeconomic indicators in Visegrad group countries in comparison to Germany. Subsequently, general characteristics of the countries are deduced. At the end of the thesis, the findings are summarized, and further possibilities of elaboration are foreshadowed.

This diploma thesis is concerned with the quality of the institutional environment. In particular, it examines the impact of institutional factors, bank indicators and macroeconomic shocks on the lending activity of commercial banks. The empirical analysis adopts a panel regression model with fixed effects. The data file contains data on 6,372 banks, obtained from the Bankscope database. The figures refer to the countries of the European Union in time period 2000-2014.

Thesis focusses on impact of global financial crisis 2008-2009 on Eurozone countries and countries with own currency. This is analysed via chosen macroeconomic indicators from databases of International Monetary Fund and Eurostat. Goal of the thesis is to assess the impact on indicators and provide statistical base for decision, whether membership in Eurozone in times of crisis is beneficial for countries or not. To serve this purpose, models of panel data with fixed and random effects and method Difference in Difference are used.

This doctoral thesis devotes itself to macro-finance models of the Czech yield curve that enable the modeling of the yield curve as a whole and belong to the group of multi-factors models. These factors are unobservable or latent variables, and are intuitively called level, slope and curvature. Macro-finance models not only fit the yield curve through the use of latent factors, but they also try to provide a macroeconomic interpretation. The macro part of the model uses a type of VAR model, where the macroeconomic variables are endogenous or exogenous, or some macroeconomic model based on e.g. a New Keynesian economy. Such a type of models can answer (1) how the macroeconomic variables affect the yield curve, and, on the other hand, (2) how these macroeconomic variables are affected by the yield curve. The EUR/CZK exchange rate and the external environment play an important role in the Czech small open economy (in particular, developments in the eurozone and the impact of global investors' sentiment toward risky assets). Thus, we should take this into consideration when applying to Czech data. It has been shown that temporary macroeconomic and financial shocks (to inflation, output gap, EUR/CZK exchange rate, external demand, etc.) strongly affect the short end of the yield curve; however, longer spot rates react only marginally. The longer end of the curve may move more significantly in the case of a longer duration of the above-mentioned shocks (thus affecting inflationary expectations) or in the case of shocks to the inflation target and real equilibrium interest rates.

The main goal of this thesis has been a study of alternative policy rules in a small structural model calibrated to capture the Czech economy. After the overview of the historic development of economic theory and structural modeling we have specified a small open economy model that has served as a main technical tool for the analysis. The model represents a framework, where forward-looking model-consistent expectations are formed with respect to the development of the exchange rate and interest rates. Inflation expectations are forward looking too with some nominal rigidities in inflation dynamics. The model's structure is relatively simple. The IS curve captures the dynamics of real GDP, that exhibits real rigidity, motivated by habit formation or investment adjustment costs. In our specification the real GDP is a function of (the deviation of) real XR, real IR and foreign demand (from corresponding equilibrium levels). The Phillips-curve is based on the F-M type wage setting behavior, therefore it enables to consider domestic prices, that are modeled as mark-ups over wages. CPI inflation then consists of domestic, imported and administered inflation, including the effect of any indirect taxes changes. The exchange rate is modeled by the UIP arbitrage condition. Exchange rate expectations are forward-looking, but with some inertia in expectation formation. Interest rates with one year maturity are also modeled as an arbitrage condition on the money market, they are fully model-consistently forward looking. The model is closed by a Taylor-type forward-looking policy rule. The interest rate exhibits some inertia and feeds back from deviation of inflation from target and output from its equilibrium. The specification (parameterization) of the rule is general enough to examine CPI and domestic inflation targeting. The model specification has been followed by empirical work leading towards the implementation of the previously specified model on Czech data. Based on the sources of the Czech Statistical Office, Czech National Bank, Consensus Economics Inc., we first processed the data by executing seasonal adjustment and other transformations necessary for being consistent with the definition of model variables. The database has been created by an automatic MATLAB based routine, therefore the calculations were relatively easy to update. The database being completed, we have set up a Kalman-filter for determining equilibrium values for the real interest rate, exchange rate and output. At the same time through Kalman filtering we identified all model residuals. We paid special attention to the decomposition of the output gap and discussing In order to assess the overall dynamic properties of the model and judge how well the model fits the data, we conducted several exercises. First we decomposed some of the important endogenous variables of the model to shocks to see, whether the identified shocks are in line with our intuition and episodes of the recent Czech economic history. We found, that the shocks are not in contrast with some of the clearly distinguishable episodes. After the shock decomposition we run in-sample simulations to see, how well the model is able to fit the reality two years ahead. We found the overall results quite encouraging. We were able to fit quite well the output gap as well as MP inflation. Domestic inflation has been slightly more inertial in model simulations than in reality, but even in this case the results were acceptable. The model was not able to fit the 2001-2 appreciation of the nominal XR footnote{Understandably it neither forecasted well the fast fall in inflation after the appreciation period.}, which is not a big surprise. The model calibration part of the thesis concludes, that the model fits the data and economic story reasonably well.

The main aim of the Master`s thesis is to compare and evaluate the system of flat tax in the Baltic States and the Slovak Republic. In the first chapter the reader will learn about a brief history of the flat tax and the general terms that relate to the topic. The second and third chapter is devoted to an analysis of the tax systems in the countries surveyed. This thesis analyzes the political and economic situation of each country before the tax reform, a description of the tax systems as originally introduced and changes over time to present. The last chapter is devoted to a detailed analysis of macroeconomic indicators in the form of graphs and verbal descriptions. Finally, in the section "4.6 The overall assessment" there is a summary of the gathered facts and the impact of flat tax on the economy of each relevant country.

New Zealand has gone through remarkable reforms which have encompassed of wide range of government policies which have changed the incentives in private and public sector. This article tries to show the development of New Zealand economy before reform period, shows development of the reforms and tries to assess the economic effects of these reforms. First it analyses the effects in the primary sector, where it defines primary sector as itself and then analyses the incentives that have changed the sector output and conditions. Next the firm dynamics is being analysed as per the effects of the reforms. It is shown that first in some sectors the output proportion in GDP is lowering because of reforms were being made, later it shows this proportion to be rising again. Last, the view is made in effects analysis in labour market, where it has been found, that labour productivity is not growing enough, so the reforms were made too agresively. Next part of this article analyses macroeconomic effects such as public debt, which in brutto has been lowered through reforms to less than 30% of New Zealand GDP. First, inflation which was few years after reforms still in very high rates, but in 1990s it has been reduced well. And finaly the GDP growth itself, where it has been found out, that New Zealand has sacrifised a part of its GDP amount for agressive and fast reforms. Overlooking the period and its effects it has to be said that New Zealand has now a great market economy with transparent public sector, and the sacrifises were probably worth it.

Práce analyzuje zahraničně obchodní vývoj v České republice po roce 1989, resp. 1993 do současnosti v makroekonomických souvislostech. Sleduje vývoj vybraných agregovaných veličin z časového hlediska (funkční otevřenost ekonomiky, dynamika zahraničního obchodu, teritoriální struktura, komoditní struktura, vnější rovnováha, struktura platební bilance, zahraniční zadluženost, směnné relace, reálný efektivní směnný kurz, transformační výkon ekonomiky, důchodové vazby zahraničního obchodu). Cílem a výsledkem práce je zhodnocení uskutečněných vývojových změn na bázi sledovaných časových řad, zhodnocení dosaženého pokroku nebo přetrvávajících rezerv ve vývoji, zamyšlení se nad vzájemnými vývojovými souvislostmi.

The work analyses an economic development of Czechoslovakia mainly during the thirties. The work deals with origins and consequences of the Great Depression, which is in most cases associated with the economic collapse in the United States after the stock market crash in October 1929. In most of other countries the business cycle was characterized by decline of product, deflation, record-breaking unemployment and had a destructive impact on economic, social and political arrangements. In Czechoslovakia the crisis hits all economic branches and under the pressure of the catastrophic results the economic policy changed. Economic recovery was slow and even at the end of the thirties most of the economic indicators were below their 1929 levels.

This thesis will deal with a current issue - euro adoption in the Czech Republic. The three neighboring countries of the Czech Republic have already adopted the euro. The Czech Republic lie under an obligation to adopt the euro and solve the arguments for and against early entry to the Euroarea at this time. The issue will be solved from the perspective of euro adoption in Slovakia. Both of the republics had the "same" default position seventeen years ago. Why is Slovakia the member of the Euroarea and why not the Czech Republic? Advantages and disadvantages of euro adoption in Slovakia will be the basis for the argumentation of the acceptance or rejection of the euro in the Czech Republic. The purpose of the thesis is to demonstrate the Czech readiness to adopt the euro from a purely economic point of view, even though this is a political decision. The adopted methods will be analysis and comparison of macroeconomic indicators, called the magic rectangle (GDP, inflation, balance of payments, unemployment rate). The thesis will evaluate the progress of these indicators in the key periods of the republics. These periods had an impact on the state of both economies and led to euro adoption in Slovakia and the postponement of euro adoption in the Czech Republic indefinitely (separation of both republics, preparations and entry into the European Union, preparations for euro adoption, the advent of financial crises, etc.). The main aim of this thesis is to answer the question "Why is Slovakia adopted the euro earlier than the Czech Republic?" and to confirm or to disprove hypothesis of Czech readiness to adopt the euro according to experience of Slovakia.