The pension system is an important part of social policy and public budget. Negative demographic development put pressure on the financial sustainability of the pension system therefore political establishment are forced to implement reform measures. The aim of the thesis will be to analyze the pension system of the Czech Republic between 2010 and 2016 and on the basis of this analysis to propose measures for its improvements. In the theoretical part the thesis will examine the social policy and issues of pension systems. At the same time it will pay attention to the international institutions and their proposals. In the practical part the thesis will be focused on demographic development which is a fundamental factor of the long-term stability of the pension system. It will analyze the changes in the pension system in the period under review. The conclusion of the thesis will show the possible ways to improve the stability of the pension system.

J’utilise des modèle de search comme point de départ de mon analyse, en examinant l'impact des frictions d'un point de vue soit théorique soit empirique. Dans le Chapitre 1 j’analyse les effets de l’incertitude sur la macroéconomie. Les estimes empiriques montrent que l’incertitude a un impact négatif sur l’économie et que le marché du travail est un important canal de transmission. Un modèle d’équilibre général avec frictions DMP est capable de reproduire les faits observés. Dans le Chapitre 2 j’utilise un Time Varying Parameter SVAR avec volatilité stochastique pour investiguer les propriétés de la création d’emploi aux Etats Unis et leur variation dans le temps. Les estimes indiquent que la volatilité dépend largement des chocs de demande et de prix. Les postes de travail réagissaient négativement aux chocs technologiques jusqu’au début des années 90. Le Chapitre 3 intègre la dimension spatiale dans un modèle de search. Cela permet d'expliquer quelques régularités observées dans des données Autrichiens: i) l’existence d’une frontière de réserve entre salaire est distance; ii) le changement de stratégie de recherche d’emploi; iii) l'effet décourageant des d’allocations chômage. Dans le Chapitre 4 je présente un modèle qui explique la sélection des nouvelles embauches entre contrats à court et à long terme. En exploitant une base de données italienne, on trouve que la probabilité d’obtenir un contrat permanent dépend négativement du degré de mismatch entre l'éducation du travailleur et l'occupation. En outre, les réformes qui libéralisent le contrats à durée déterminée encouragent leur utilisation mais ils ont effets non-linéaires sur le taux de chômage. / In this thesis I take the search and matching framework as the starting point of my analysis to investigate several aspects of the labor market. In Chapter 1, I explore the consequences of uncertainty on the macroeconomy . The empirical analysis shows that uncertainty has a detrimental effect on the aggregate economy and that job creation is an important channel of transmission. The empirical findings are then rationalized through a DSGE model incorporating the DMP setup and featuring stochastic volatility. In Chapter 2, I study the time-varying characteristics of job creation in the US. The econometric setup is a Time-Varying Parameter SVAR (TVP-SVAR) with stochastic volatility. The identification strategy is based on a DSGE model with a frictional labor marketIn Chapter 3, I extend the standard framework to take into account the spatial dimension of job search. Austrian data show the existence of a trade- off between wage and commute time. They also uncover complex patterns in the dynamics of exits from unemployment. Cox-regressions further show that the level of unemployment benefits has a strong discouraging effect on job search. In Chapter 4, I use a random search model to study the sorting of new hires into open-ended and fixed-term contracts. The co-existence of these two types of contracts is explained by match heterogeneity. The match productivity is interpreted as the fit of worker's skills to task requirements. This hypothesis is supported by matched employer-employee data from a large Italian region.

The goal of this thesis is to summarize and describe August's accession to power and his legal reform in the spheres of the administration of the empire, financial administration, military, justiciary and family law. It is fascinating how one man during the period of his government managed to change all the political arrangements of the most powerful empire in the world in such a way that determined its direction and the development of the constitutional system for centuries ahead. The truth is, there was enough time for that. If August's government counts from the Battle of Actia, it took 45 years. No other emperor ruled the Roman Empire longer than him. This brought him the possibility to carry out all the reforms individually and gradually and he was very careful so that all his actions would make the appearance of continuity with the old republican system, and could not therefore be accompanied by any revolt by his contemporaries, although from the present perspective, these reforms in their totality were revolutionary indeed. However, we can also say that, with exceptions, such as the strong opposition of the population with his laws on family relations, these changes have been accepted peacefully. Indeed, this was also given by the fact that the company was already tired of a period of constant unrest...

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Economics / Yang M. Chang / Concerns over the possible loss of government revenue resulting from tariff reductions under trade liberalization have triggered many developing countries to opt for a strategy of raising destination-based consumption taxes on tradable goods. The first essay analyzes the welfare effects of a coordinated tariff reduction and domestic tax reform when the objective of a reforming country is to keep its government revenue unchanged. Assuming imperfect competition in an import-competing industry, we find that revenue-neutral reform involving tariff reduction and an increase in domestic tax rate may reduce domestic welfare under plausible assumptions. It also discusses the scenario in which the reforming country's objective is to keep domestic profit (or production) unchanged. We further identify the conditions under which a profit-neutral tariff and tax reform may be welfare-improving or welfare-deteriorating. The second essay uses a reciprocal-dumping model to examine the welfare effects of the Byrd Amendment (i.e., the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act, or CDSOA). It analyzes the differences in optimal tariffs set by the home and foreign governments when the home (i.e., the U.S.) government redistributes anti-dumping duties to its domestic firm under the new trade law, as compared to the traditional antidumping policy under which these duties are government revenues. We derive conditions under which the CDSOA may raise or lower the price of an import-competing good in the U.S. market. The results show that the CDSOA is an instrument of protectionism and strictly improves the home country welfare when markets are less competitive than in Cournot equilibrium. We find that under the same market characteristics, the new trade law strictly reduces foreign country welfare. The CDSOA's welfare effect is shown to be ambiguous, however, when markets are more competitive than Cournot. The third essay modifies the model presented in Essay 2 to allow for the scenario in which the foreign country strategically responds to the home country's CDSOA law by adopting similar trade law. The results show that the foreign country is able to enhance its national welfare when the import-competing markets are less competitive than in the Cournot equilibrium. We also discuss whether it is welfare-improving for the U.S. to voluntarily repeal the Byrd Amendment and restore the traditional antidumping policy, considering that, otherwise, its trading partner may also adopt the CDSOA law. We find that it is still in the best interest to the U.S. not to revoke the Byrd Amendment when markets are less competitive than Cournot. When markets are more competitive than Cournot, however, repealing the Amendment may turn out to be socially welfare-improving.

The study explored when, under what conditions, and to what extent did European integration, particularly the European Union’s requirement for democratic conditionality, contribute to democratic consolidation in Spain, Poland, and Turkey? On the basis of a four-part definition, the dissertation examined the democratizing impact of European integration process on each of the following four components of consolidation: (i) holding of fair, free and competitive elections, (ii) protection of fundamental rights, including human and minority rights, (iii) high prospects of regime survival and civilian control of the military, and (iv) legitimacy, elite consensus, and stateness. To assess the relative significance of EU’s democratizing leverage, the thesis also examined domestic and non-EU international dynamics of democratic consolidation in the three countries. By employing two qualitative methods (case study and process-tracing), the study focused on three specific time frames: 1977-1986 for Spain, 1994-2004 for Poland, and 1999-present for Turkey. In addition to official documents, newspapers, and secondary sources, face-to-face interviews made with politicians, academics, experts, bureaucrats, and journalists in the three countries were utilized. The thesis generated several conclusions. First of all, the EU’s democratizing impact is not uniform across different components of democratic consolidation. Moreover, the EU’s democratizing leverage in Spain, Poland, and Turkey involved variations over time for three major reasons: (i) the changing nature of EU’s democratic conditionality over time (ii) varying levels of the EU’s credible commitment to the candidate country’s prospect for membership, and (iii) domestic dynamics in the candidate countries. Furthermore, the European integration process favors democratic consolidation but its magnitude is shaped by the candidate country’s prospect for EU membership and domestic factors in the candidate country. Finally, the study involves a major policy implication for the European Union: unless the EU provides a clear prospect for membership, its democratizing leverage will be limited in the candidate countries.

The purpose of this thesis was to examine how liberalization and the introduction of pro-poor policies can be successful in post-conflict countries using the Rwanda coffee market as a case study. My research supports the notion that economic development, political stability and peace can be a result of liberalization when policies that are pro-poor and focus on the largest sector of the population are created. The study examines why and how Rwanda chose to liberalize their economy in the way they did by focusing on the intentions of the actors and the effects their actions have had on the coffee market and country as a whole. The findings suggest that Rwanda’s coffee market liberalization has been successful and has contributed to stability and economic development in Rwanda. The conclusion indicates that pro-poor liberalization policies with the assistance from a variety of actors and institutions can lead developing countries on the path to development in ways the international community has not seen before.

Purpose – The purpose of this research project is to explore the research question – how does the pursuit of agenda of regulatory reforms, post the crisis, influence governance arrangements at banks and assist them in maintaining resilience during subsequent episodes of crises?Research methodology – The project adopts a comparative case study approach involving a mixture of review of secondary resources and fieldwork interviews across East Asian nations. Findings – The project applied the Minskian Financial Instability Hypothesis to the 1997 East Asian crisis. It explored the macro-economic and policy environment during 1990s for highlighting institutional failures at the heart of the crisis. The interview findings offered contextual setting and diverse perspectives for regulatory reforms aimed at improving bank governance, post the crisis. The experience of case study banks outlined the impact of regulatory reforms on banking business models, post the crisis. The role of post-1997-crisis regulatory reforms in bringing about East Asian resilience, during the 2007 crisis, is thus analysed in the research project. Practical implications – The research project provides emerging economy perspective to regulatory reforms and offers policy-level recommendations for banks, regulatory authorities, corporate borrowers, and statutory auditors in maintaining governance standards conductive to financial stability in the long run. Originality – The project claims originality of application, interpretation and evaluation (which are considered as building blocks for “academic contribution”) of an important academic theory in the context of financial crises – Minsky’s Financial Instability Hypothesis. It integrates the aspects of financial instability, regulatory reforms and bank governance in the context of East Asian financial crisis by introducing the concept of “economic responsibilities” of market participants from emerging economies.

This diploma thesis is divided into three parts. The first chapter deals with theoretical aspects of transformation and its objectives. Furthermore, characteristics of the previous system, a centrally planed economy, and its specifics in comparison with a market economy are explained; positives and negatives of the starting situation are described, through different theoretical approaches of transformation. In the second chapter, the reader can find explanation of the transformation process and concrete changes such as privatization, company restructuring, privatization of banking sector, liberalization and the topic of entrepreneurial environment and restructuring. The end of this chapter focuses on reforms, namely fiscal reform, retirement reform and public health reform. The third chapter is aimed to review the results of the transformation process. The analysis was done first by means of macroeconomic indicators, second, using transformation results published by EBRD, in comparison with other countries.

The aim of this study is to investigate the reasons of slow path of economic transformation in Belarus. In the first part is analyzed the general pattern of transition, characteristic for most of post-soviet countries. In the second part is described the path of transition in Belarus -- one of the least transformed countries in post-soviet region. In the study is introduced the analysis of initial conditions and first market reforms implemented on the initial stage of transition. Also, the author investigates the economic model, established in Belarus after market reforms had been suspended. In the study is discussed the possibility for continuation of economic transformation in Belarus in recent future. In order to summarize the key points of the study and draw the complex picture of Belarus in the world economy the SWOT analysis of Belarusian economy is introduced.

The master thesis in the theoretical part tries to explain the functioning of the social market economy in Germany and also describes the individual reform steps which were aimed to increase the competitiveness of the German economy in the era of increasing global competition. In the practical part the author concentrated on the impact of the economic crisis on the system of social market economy in Germany. The author chose the revival of the private consumption as the key factor in overcoming the economic crisis and using the regression model tried to assess which economic indicators influence the private consumption of German households the most. From the results of this analysis he derived six reform measures which should help Germany overcome the current economic crisis.