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The Association between Firm Characteristics and Access to Finance in SMEs: Cross Country Evidence from Europe
Aslay, Oguz ; Gok, Ugur (advisor) ; Cahlík, Tomáš (referee)
The Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) carry a significant weight in the European economies with their share in number of enterprises, total employment and value added being very substantial. These firms are the major source of new employment generation and they also actively participate in international trade activities. However, these firms face important challenges in doing business like finding customers, availability of skilled labor force, cost of inputs and access to finance. This thesis investigates the issue of access to finance for SMEs in Europe using a cross-country survey data set. Specifically, the possible association of three firm characteristics, namely age, size and exporter status, with access to finance will be examined using quantitative methods. Moreover, given the rich set of countries, how the country conditions like financial deepening, the sovereign debt crises and investment-saving imbalances affect these associations will be studied in detail. Overall, this thesis is expected to contribute to the relevant literature, by displaying the effects of firm characteristics on access to finance for SMEs and the cross-country differences with important implications for related economic policies, and to provide suggestions which can be taken into account by policymakers as...
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Occupational regulation and its influence on the labor market: evidence from reforms in the Czech Republic
Ptáčníková, Marie ; Pertold-Gebicka, Barbara (advisor) ; Gok, Ugur (referee)
This thesis examines the impact of a 2004 reform that increased educational requirements for a regulated profession, namely nurses, on earnings level for both waged and salaried employees, and employment within nurse profession in the Czech Republic. Recently, a reform in the opposite direction regarding educational requirements for general nurses is in the approval process. It makes this analysis relevant. Similar country-based studies contracted by the European Commission regarding occupational regulation show mixed results, what additionally motivates this study. To identify effects of the reform a linear probability model and a difference-in-differences analysis were used. Empirical results suggest a negative effect on nurses' salaries with respect to doctors. In the case of wages, the effect appears to be fluctuating. As for the employment, a decrease in the probability of pursuing a nurse profession was identified for the years following the reform, but mostly insignificant. In general, this thesis shows that the reform had slightly negative short-term effect on nurses' earnings and employment levels. Due to few after-reform yearly observations it is challenging to make long-term conclusions.
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