This thesis deals with the history of taxation and development of tax system in the Czech Republic from 1989 to the end of year 2010. Thesis compares the tax system in the CR based on progressive taxation and taxation based on the concept of flat rate tax with a focus on a personal income tax. Thesis shows the influence of the development of tax system on the state budget.

Diploma thesis is focused on a comparison between a tax burden of self employed person and limited liability company, precisely, its shareholder. Main goal is to draw a comparison between the taxation of individuals and also scrutinize benefits (or drawbacks) of becoming a self-employed person from a tax perspective or whether is more advantageous establishing a single-member limited liability company. The percentage of a withhold rate enables the quantification of a tax burden, an effective tax rate and an average tax rate. This thesis includes comprehensive case study based on several specified restrictions.

This theses is about measuring the tax gap in the personal income tax in the Czech Republic. The first chapter deals with the theory of the tax gap, tax evasion and shadow economy. Second chapter describes methods that are used for measuring the shadow economy and the tax gap. The third part analyses the taxation of dependent and independent activity in the Czech Republic. The last, fourth part, estimates the tax gap in the personal income tax in the Czech Republic.

This thesis focuses on a tax burden of an income tax payer in the European Union. The main aim of the thesis is to compare the tax burden and differences in determination of tax liabilities in selected member states of the European Union which are the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom. In the first part of thesis, characteristics of the tax burden are described, as performed by a tax to GDP ratio and implicit tax rates. The second chapter deals with principles of determination of the tax liability and social security insurance within selected states. The tax burden within selected states is analyzed in the last chapter. Tax burden of the employee and entrepreneur was analysed through three model taxpayers (single taxpayer, married taxpayer with two children and married taxpayer with one child and with dependant spouse) with four different wage or income level.

Master’s thesis deal with proposal of suitable insurance portfolio for chosen self-employed individual. It contains risk analysis and proposal of an insurance portfolio, that is designed to help the self-employed individual tolerate the most serious risks to activities through commercial insurance.

In recent years, craft fairs, shows and markets where crafters sell their handmade goods such as pottery, jewelry, handmade clothes and needlework have grown in popularity across the United States. A common intent among individuals in this community echo political statements made by the turn of the century Arts and Crafts movement, while there are political aspects of the community that can also be seen as an extension of the third wave feminist do-it-yourself (DIY) ethic of the late 1990s. This newly enlarged community of crafters that congregates in person also has a strong online presence. Etsy.com plays a large role in this community. The introduction of websites such as Etsy.com to the communities they serve has widespread impacts. The aim of this study is to analyze how Etsy.com impacts the lives of women who use the website to earn income. Following ethnographic traditions, the researcher interviewed five community members. The focus was on thick description of the DIY community and thematization of interview narratives. To meet participant observation criteria, the researcher also volunteered at the Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC) in Portland, Oregon for 4 months. Additionally, the researcher conducted a textual analysis of blogs, websites, artwork, and other sources of data collected from the online hand crafting community. The study presents and discusses the themes that emerged from the data, including women's work, feminism and technology, the crafters' political statements, the crafters as owners of legitimate businesses, and Etsy.com's impact on local economy. The results paint a picture of the community (both on and offline) and how Etsy.com helps to shape this. The researcher then discusses how to assess the impacts tools such as community websites will have on the communities they serve.

Background Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic presented major difficulties for many self-employed people because it caused pressures such as decreased customer demand, production stagnation, disruptions in supply chains and increased uncertainty. The vast amount of the studies of self-employed people during the pandemic have focused on traditional pathogenic effects. Hence, overall aim of this thesis is to explore how self-employed people experienced and used internal and external salutogenic resources to navigate the pandemic, from a business challenge and an individual well-being perspective.  Methods Different methods of data collection and analysis were employed in the thesis. For study I, a qualitative design was used to explore whether a sense of coherence was experienced, and any general resistance resources were used by small business managers in Sweden and Norway during the pandemic. For study II, a cross-sectional quantitative design was employed to investigate the well-being of self-employed people in Europe during the pandemic and whether their well-being was influenced by factors representing four socio-ecological levels. Lastly, study III applied a mixed-method design including comparative policy analysis and interviews to gain an understanding of how different governmental financial support measures aimed to aid the resilience of Swedish and Canadian self-employed people and improve their ability to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. Study I was analysed through a deductive content analysis, study II was analysed using independent sample t-tests, correlations and linear regression, and study III used comparative policy analysis and inductive content analysis.  Results Findings from the interviews in study I demonstrated that it was important for the participants to comprehend and manage challenges during the pandemic in a resourceful manner, and to see meaningfulness in their situations. In study II, the findings highlight that the socio-ecological factors of resilience, social support, doing useful work and experiencing rules as clear affected the self-employed people’s well-being, and that these factors may be even more important for those who had difficulties running their business. Study III found that self-employed people in both Sweden and Canada who 10 were unable to telework were relatively less resilient during the pandemic. The interviews revealed that many self-employed people in hard-hit industries were dissatisfied with government financial support measures and found them to be unfairly distributed. In addition, the self-employed people who experienced difficulties running their businesses reported reduced well-being, which had a negative effect on their business survival.  Conclusion  While the three studies in this thesis had different foci, they collectively provide insights into the internal and external salutogenic resources that influenced how self-employed people navigated the pandemic. A sense of coherence, resilience and well-being were deemed important for handling the pandemic well, for both the individuals and their businesses. The research also indicated the interconnectedness between self-employed people and their businesses. For instance, financial difficulties may lead to increased stress and pressure to make decisions to sustain the business. Reduced well-being, in turn, made it harder to adapt and adjust positively to adversity. The importance of supporting factors at multiple socio-ecological levels was also highlighted, and these may be particularly important to those who had difficulties running their businesses.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The study presents an empirical investigation into the association between motivation and performance of women entrepreneurs in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Motivations behind women starting their own businesses are defined. It assesses the performance of women entrepreneurs and their contribution to the economic growth (turnover, size of business, number of people employed) of the country. By applying statistical evaluation methods (frequency analysis) this research adds to existing knowledge in this field, by defining the association between the intention of starting a business and the performance of their businesses. Analysis shows that the women's motives for starting their businesses are generally positive. However, there are still a high number of women whose motives are influenced by negative factors (such as loss of income sources). Also, the overall performance of their businesses is still low in terms of revenues generated and the number of people that they employ on a full-time basis. Networking levels are high, indicating a desire to succeed. An association between motivation and performance has been established. However, findings have indicated no significant association between the type of motivation (positive or negative) and performance. The present study concludes with recommendations to enable women to improve the performance of their businesses. Findings have indicated a higher level of positive factors of motivation, in comparison with negative factors of motivation; which implies that there are other factors which could be hindering them from improving the economic performance of their businesses. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie bied 'n empiriese ondersoek van die verband tussen die motivering en die werkverrigting van vroue entrepreneurs in die Wes Kaap provinsie van Suid-Afrika. Die dryfveer van vroue entrepreneurs word omskryf. Verder assesseer die studie die werkverrigting van vroue entrepreneurs en hulle bydrae tot die ekonomiese groei (arbeidsomset, grootte van die besigheid, getal personeel) van die land. Deur die aanwending van statistiese evaluasiemetodes (frekwensie analise) dra die studie by tot die bestaande kennis in hierdiee studieveld, en word gedoen deur die definieering van die verband tussen die besluit om 'n besigheid te begin en die uiteindelike prestasie van hulle besighede. Analise toon dat die vroue se motiewe vir die begin van hulle besighede gewoonlik positief is. Daar is egter ook nog 'n groot aantal vroue wie se motiewe beinvloed word deur negatiewe faktore (soos verlies van inkomstebronne). Die algehele prestasie van hulle besighede is ook nog swak in terme van inkomste gegenereer en die getal werknemers wat op 'n voltydse basis in diens geneem word. Netwerkvlakke is hoog, wat 'n aanduiding is van die wil om te slaag. 'n Assosiasie tussen motivering en prestasie is vasgestel. Daar is egter gevind dat geen beduidende assosiasie bestaan tussen die tipe motivering (positief of negatief) en prestasie of werkverrigting nie. Die studie sluit af met voorstelle vir die verbetering van prestasie vir vroue aan die hoof van besighede. Bevindinge toon dat in vergelyking met negatiewe motiverende faktore, daar 'n hoer vlak van positiewe faktore is, wat impliseer dat daar ander faktore bestaan wat die ekonomiese prestasie van hulle besighede kan verhinder.

Cette thèse comporte trois chapitres qui se rattachent aux relations entre les migrants et leur communauté d'origine sur le cas de la Chine et le Vietnam. Le premier chapitre étudie la relation entre les transferts de fonds envoyés par les migrants, et le niveau de confiance et de fiabilité des villageois vietnamiens qui en sont bénéficiaires. Voici les résultats principaux obtenus en combinant les données d’un terrain d’expérimentation de 2010 avec les données de VHLSS 2002 (2002 Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey). En ce qui concerne le niveau de confiance, cette étude montre que les transferts de fonds internationaux sont liés de manière positive au comportement de confiance de ceux qui les reçoivent. En ce qui concerne le niveau de fiabilité, l’étude trouve que les transferts de fonds internationaux ont un lien négatif avec le niveau de fiabilité de celui qui les reçoit tandis que les transferts de fonds internes ont un lien positif avec le niveau de fiabilité de celui qui les reçoit. Cette étude montre en outre que le niveau de fiabilité est plus élevé dans le sud que dans le nord de Vietnam. Le deuxième chapitre s'interroge sur l'impact des enfants lassés dans la communauté d’origine par les migrants sur leur décision de retour en Chine en utilisant une enquête ménage en milieu rural du district de Wuwei (dans la province de l’Anhui) en 2008. Un modèle de durée paramétrique à hasards proportionnels en temps discret et un modèle probit sont employés pour estimer séparément le rôle des enfants laissés au village par âge et par sexe sur la longueur des épisodes migratoires pour les migrants actuels et les migrants du retour, ainsi que pour les intentions de retour de migrants actuels. Cette étude souligne le rôle des enfants lassés derrières comme raison significative pour le retour des parents migrants. Le dernier chapitre étudie l’impact de l’expérience migratoire sur le choix d’être entrepreneur pour un migrant du retour après son retour dans sa communauté d’origine. En utilisant la même base de donnés chinoise, cette étude montre que les migrants du retour ont une tendance plus affirmée à devenir entrepreneurs que les non-migrants, et que l'épargne rapatriée par les migrants, comme la fréquence des changements d'emploi pendant l'épisode migratoire, exercent une influence positive sur la probabilité des migrants de devenir entrepreneurs après leur retour. / This dissertation is comprised of three chapters on the interaction between migrants and their source regions applied to China and Vietnam. The first chapter examines whether remittances are related to receivers’ trust and trustworthiness in Vietnam. Using a combination of a field experiment conducted in 2010 and the “2002 Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey”, the chapter finds that while internal remittances have no significant relationship to trusting behavior, international remittances demonstrate a significantly positive connection. On the other hand, international remittances are negatively related to trustworthiness, while internal remittances are positively associated. Besides, this study finds that the level of trustworthiness is higher in the south than in the north. The second chapter explores the role of children by age and by gender as a motive for return migration in China by using a rural household survey conducted in Wuwei County (Anhui province) in 2008. Resorting to a discrete time proportional hazard model and a binary Probit model to estimate respectively the determinants of migration duration for both on-going migrants and return migrants, and the return intentions of on-going migrants, the chapter finds consistent results regarding the role of left-behind children as a significant motive for return. The last chapter examines the impact of the migration experience on individuals’ choice of being self-employed upon their return to their home villages. By using the same data of Wuwei survey, the chapter finds that return migrants are more likely to be self-employed than non-migrants, and that both return savings and the frequency of job changes during migration increase the likelihood for return migrants to become self-employed.

This dissertation is comprised of three chapters on the interaction between migrants and their source regions applied to China and Vietnam. The first chapter examines whether remittances are related to receivers' trust and trustworthiness in Vietnam. Using a combination of a field experiment conducted in 2010 and the "2002 Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey", the chapter finds that while internal remittances have no significant relationship to trusting behavior, international remittances demonstrate a significantly positive connection. On the other hand, international remittances are negatively related to trustworthiness, while internal remittances are positively associated. Besides, this study finds that the level of trustworthiness is higher in the south than in the north. The second chapter explores the role of children by age and by gender as a motive for return migration in China by using a rural household survey conducted in Wuwei County (Anhui province) in 2008. Resorting to a discrete time proportional hazard model and a binary Probit model to estimate respectively the determinants of migration duration for both on-going migrants and return migrants, and the return intentions of on-going migrants, the chapter finds consistent results regarding the role of left-behind children as a significant motive for return. The last chapter examines the impact of the migration experience on individuals' choice of being self-employed upon their return to their home villages. By using the same data of Wuwei survey, the chapter finds that return migrants are more likely to be self-employed than non-migrants, and that both return savings and the frequency of job changes during migration increase the likelihood for return migrants to become self-employed.