Economic literature suggests that private firms, especially small and medium ones, may not pursue technology research and development projects because of complexity of technology and financial barriers. Two main economic rationales have been discussed for public subsidies of private-sector research and development (R&D). First is the generation of positive externalities. Government R & D subsidies can have positive spillovers so that other firms or society would benefit. A second rationale is derived from the fact that government subsidies provide information on firms to financial institutions and potential investors. Information asymmetries tend to exclude entrepreneurs from private investments [Eshima, 2003]. Taiwan launched similar SBIR in 1997. Since then, Taiwan¡¦s SBIR research budget has steadily increased. SBIR¡¦s actual expenditure increased from NT$340 million to NT$520 million from 2004 to 2005. The SBIR produced 839 patents, 523 patent applications, 210 technical papers, and 265 contracts and industrial services in 2005. With respect to the benefits of research and development, the SBIR also produced 285 enterprise investments in 2005. There are many researches on the TDP and the objects are almost the firms which got the subsidies. On the other hand, there is no research focus on the firms which failed to apply. Because it is limited to examine the effect of the government subsidies, we can not know comprehensively whether the subsidies raise the companies¡¦ performance or not. This paper evaluates public support of private-sector R&D through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program in Taiwan. We not only want to know the effect of the subsidy subjects on the individual company, but also find the significant differences in the performance of the companies which got the subsidies or not. SBIR has been launched for seven years since 1999. The method which measures long-term performance should be applied. The research uses the Lerner and Eshima¡¦s quasi-experiment framework of the policy estimate to the United States and Japan. We distribute the firms into two groups. One is the treat firms that received subsidy, and the other is the matched firms each that applied the subsidy but not received. Furthermore, the research estimates the effect of the subsidies on the performance of the firms¡¦ R&D activities and operation with t tests of paired.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been auctioning frequency licenses since 1994. To encourage long-run competition in the telecommunication industry, the commission granted bid discounts to the small firms in its spectrum auctions. The primary focus of the dissertation is to evaluate the effect of the program on the number of licenses won by small firms, and on the FCC's auction revenues. It also examines the consequences of access manipulations by large-firm affiliates which used legal loopholes to capture over $7 billion in discounts. The first chapter presents an overview of the FCC auction system and the discount program. It sets up the rest of the analysis. The second chapter of the dissertation applies a non-parametric estimation approach to recover the auction participants' value distribution through its bounds. Auction simulations using the distribution argue that the subsidy increases the share of small firm licenses from 25.9% to 27.6% at a low cost to the commission. They also imply that subsidy access by large firms has no significant effect on FCC's revenues but reduces the program's effectiveness by more than one third. The third chapter extends the analysis by introducing a parametric model that takes advantage of the bidder as well as license characteristics heterogeneity. My findings imply that perfect implementation of the program would triple the number of small firm licenses from 357, when no subsidies are present, to 942. It would also increase auction revenue from $31.89 billion to $34.17 billion. However, the access manipulations led to an increase in small firm licenses by just 266 for a total of 623, and a drop in FCC receipts to $30.21 billion. The results of my dissertation suggest that improving the program's eligibility regulations holds benefits for both small firms and the FCC. Tightening the commission's access criteria would increase welfare.

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The aim of the thesis was to examine the impact of subsidy on the development of agriculture in the South Bohemian region. The first part was focused on the development of the agrarian policy in the Czech republic and on the characteristics of the subsidiary titels, as a step in the common agrarian policy of the EU. The other part of the thesis dealt with the characteristics of the South Bohemian region and its agriculture and with the analysis of the subsidy utilised by agrarian contractors in the South Bohemian region. The analysis concerned the using of subsidy from the direct payment, the horizontal plan of the rural development and the operational programme {\clqq}The Rural Development and Multifunctional Agriculture`` within the period 2004{--}2006. On the basis of the analysis it was possible to consider the impact of individual subsidy on the receipts in agriculture. According to the acquired data and the current Czech and Bavarian subsidiary policy a proposal of the direction of the future subsidiary policy has been draft.

This diploma thesis deals with the issue of subsidies, and gives an overview on their structure and basic programmes offered by the funds, from which it is possible to draw grants and it subsequently informs about the conditions for the payment of subsidies. There also offers information about accounting and tax aspects.It focuses on the describtion of management of an agricultural entity operating in South Bohemia. The thesis elaborates the most important aspects of the application of exercicing costs reduction in the managment of Agricultural Cooperative in the absence of subsidies.Yet subsidies have a significant impact on the economic situation of the company. In the absence of any subsidy a Cooperative Entity would surely go bankrupt. This paper evaluates two cases to illustrate such eventuality. The first is maintenance cost analysis of grassed-areas, the second case- finding costs on the unemployed.We come to the conclusion that agricultural businesses today are not in a position to finance its activity only from their own resources and are significantly dependent on the subsidy policy, mainly of the European Union.

In recent years, petrochemicals products from Saudi Arabia have been the subject of anti-dumping (AD) cases in several countries. This has raised questions about whether Saudi Arabia’s domestic laws and regulations relating to AD and anti-subsidy are, (1) effective, and (2) compatible with Saudi Arabia’s international legal obligations under the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This thesis examines the compatibility of Saudi Arabia’s domestic laws concerning AD, with international trade law, under the WTO agreement on the Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (Anti-Dumping Agreement (AD Agreement)). It critically analyses cases filed against Saudi Arabia’s petrochemicals products in a number of countries; including India, China, and Turkey, and in the European Union. It is observed that the high number of AD cases filed against Saudi Arabia’s petrochemicals products around the world reflect a need to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s domestic laws, and the regulations applicable to dumping. Arguably, some aspects of the WTO AD Agreement are in need of reconsideration by the contracting parties in view of the modern context of trade between contracting parties. Aspects to be re-examined include, for example, dispute resolution procedures. In this respect, this thesis argues that some parts of the WTO AD Agreement should be subject to further negotiations between the WTO contracting parties, with a view to making appropriate amendments. Finally, this research will present recommendations for the Saudi Arabian economic system, suggest amendments relating to AD and anti-subsidy provisions under the WTO and finally offer recommendations for the dispute resolution mechanism under the DSU. This will help to improve and develop an effective AD legal regime under the WTO agreement, which would be applicable in the context of the changing circumstances of global international trade.

Insects have become increasingly resistant to chemical control methods, while at the same time public awareness of the harmful effects of synthetic pesticides has increased. The search for more environmentally 'friendly' means of pest suppression is gaining momentum and biological control (the use of natural enemies to reduce populations of noxious organisms) has become an increasingly sought-after option. Despite an increase in the establishment rate of insect natural enemies, classical biological control of arthropods is currently no more successful than it was one hundred years ago. Ecological theory relevant to population biology, food webs and diversity provides insight into how biological control agents can be made more effective, yet this theory has often been absent from the biological control literature. Examples of the use of ecological concepts (including intraguild predation, life-history omnivory and resource subsidies) in practical biological control are reviewed, and aspects of theory not yet considered in this context are discussed. Cereals are important as primary food crops, globally and within New Zealand. Possibly the greatest amount of damage sustained by cereal crops in New Zealand is caused by aphids and chemical control of these pests is very expensive relative to biological control. This thesis examines how biological control of the rose-grain aphid Metopolophium dirhodum (Walker) (Hemiptera: Aphidiidae) by the koinobiont, synovigenic endoparasitoid Aphidius rhopalosiphi De Stefani-Perez (Hymenoptera: Aphidiidae) can be enhanced by floral resource subsidies. The mechanisms underlying this enhancement were determined in a series of laboratory experiments and then tested in laboratory microcosms and in the field. Sugar resources significantly increased longevity and egg load in A. rhopalosiphi and another species of aphidiid, Diaeretiella rapae McIntosh. Pollen had no significant effect on longevity or egg load in these species. These results are discussed in terms of the effects of resource subsidies on egg- versus time-limitation. Laboratory microcosm experiments tested whether the mechanisms of increased potential fecundity via enhanced egg load and longevity translate into increased rates of parasitism (i.e., realised fecundity). Only treatments receiving sugar showed increased reproductive success. The presence of flowering buckwheat Fagopyrum esculentum Moench (c.v. Kitawase) (Polygonaceae) plants caused a slight, non-significant increase in rates of parasitism. Field surveys of natural aphid populations in a wheat Triticum aestivum (L.) (c.v. Otane) (Gramineae) field showed that proximity to floral buckwheat patches, distance to the nearest edge or the leeward end of the field were not significantly correlated with rates of parasitism. These variables were significantly correlated with aphid density in some surveys. Rates of parasitism were not correlated with aphid density. When aphid population density was controlled by experimental placement of aphids, proximity to floral resource patches significantly affected rates of parasitism. Parasitism rates were highest at the edges of buckwheat patches and declined exponentially with distance, eventually reaching zero beyond 14 m. Lower levels of parasitism were observed within the floral patches than at their edges. This phenomenon is compatible with the concept of spatio-temporal partitioning between parasitoid feeding and host-searching behaviours. Potential costs (increased predation risk, opportunity costs) and benefits (increased fecundity and longevity) associated with floral feeding by parasitoids, and temporal variation in these factors, are discussed. It is concluded that resource subsidies are not only effective in the practical enhancement of the efficacy of a specific biological control agent, but their use is based on a sound foundation in ecological theory that allows extension of these principles across taxa.

No description available.

This thesis is an empirical research project assessing the household nutritional impact of the DICONSA food subsidy program in Mexico. By employing a combination of propensity score matching and OLS econometric approaches, I conduct an analysis of household survey data contained in La Encuesta Nacional de Ingresos y Gastos de los Hogares (ENIGH) from Mexico. I find strong evidence of a significant increase in household caloric intake in rural areas targeted by the program, driven primarily by increased consumption of DICONSA subsidised cereal products and corn grain in particular. I find no evidence of decreased caloric intake resulting from overriding income effects of subsidisation. However, my investigation into the specifics of participant household food expenditure data suggests that reselling of subsidised commodities may occur amongst poorer households.

Legal aspects of sports financing from the government budget Abstract The present thesis deals with legal aspects of sports financing process. Sports financing from the government budget, constitutes the greatest fraction of income to sports organizations and sports clubs. The present study scrutinizes the legal aspects of financial support of sports from the government budget, via thorough analysis anchored in legal research. Individual sections of the thesis ponder the redistribution of funds from the government budget. First, it explains how the whole process of funding from the state budget commences, what actors are involved in it and also what volume of financial aid is granted to the department of sport. The thesis describes and evaluates the individual parts of the process, which has led to an overview of the entire issue of state financing of sport. It also outlines the development of sports support throughout the past century and further explains why effective legislation is still considered to be inadequate. The present study further illustrates the current institutional provision of sport support system. The thesis deals with the issue of sports financing from levies on lottery companies and its influence on the support of sport. The governing point of the present thesis is the notion of state...