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Strategic analysis of Electronic Arts™
Zahermanesh, Arian ; Balcar, Petr (advisor) ; Paulus, Michal (referee)
The present thesis focuses on and provides a case study of a merger and acquisitions of an interactive software industry. The author analyzes a comprehensive managerial and financial metrics. The thesis includes a thorough historical, industrial, managerial, statement, crisis management and volatility analysis with a benchmark comparison. The focus of this thesis is stability in the long run. The thesis should contribute to M&A literature, coming in favor of such actions taken by corporations.
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Cross-Country Analysis of Life Satisfaction
Stehlíková, Zuzana ; Janhuba, Radek (advisor) ; Paulus, Michal (referee)
This thesis examines the relations between subjective well-being and economic, politic and social characteristics of individual countries. We study the link between three components of subjective well-being - life satisfaction, positive affect and negative affect and other country characteristics. First, we use the dataset containing countries from almost all countries of the whole world and then with a more detailed European dataset. For the analysis of life satisfaction, panel data models are used. The results indicate that we are able to explain better variation in life satisfaction by our set of explanatory variables in comparison with positive affect and negative affect. In the former dataset, we discovered that the most important determinants of life satisfaction are GDP per capita, health, freedom to make life choices, political conditions and social support. In the latter, European dataset revealed a strong negative correlation between tertiary education attainment and happiness. The results also indicate that female representation in national parliament is an important predictor of life satisfaction in European countries. This supports the idea that equality between men and women plays an important role in developed societies. Keywords Subjective well-being, Happiness, Life satisfaction,...
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Observing the Effects of CAFTA on Trade Using the Gravity Model of Trade
Škreb, Jan ; Paulus, Michal (advisor) ; Semerák, Vilém (referee)
This thesis aims to analyse the effects of the Central America Free Trade Agreement on trade using the gravity model. The principal actors of interest are the United States of America and Central American countries combined with Dominican Republic as the other regional actor. Panel data was used with 153 countries for the period of 1995-2015. The model was specified using the dummy approach and estimated with OLS and PPML estimators to obtain results on effects of trade policy variables on exports. Estimates show mixed results but the general effect of CAFTA on exports is positive and significant. This trade creation effect makes CAFTA an important trade agreement for economic relations between member countries.
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Does Aid Lead to More Trade? Evidence of the Effect of US Aid on its Exports
Schütz, Anna ; Paulus, Michal (advisor) ; Semerák, Vilém (referee)
This thesis investigates the effect of US development aid on US exports to 134 recipient countries over the time period 1993 to 2015 with an application of the gravity model of international trade. Estimates of one-way panel dataset, specified by a dummy approach and estimated with OLS and PPML, suggest that for every aid dollar spent by the United States, US exports significantly increase by 1.59 US dollar. By lagging the aid variable for several years after disbursement, we find a declining effect of US aid on US exports, which indicates that tied aid is an important channel of the effect's magnitude. The effect does not vary systematically across income groups. Yet for geographical regions with a higher US export share, the impact of US aid on US exports is significantly larger suggesting that existing trading relations contribute to a larger effect of aid on donor's exports. The evidence shows that US aid increases US exports and reinforces economic relations with recipient countries and, thus, can be regarded as an important motive for the donor to provide development aid.
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Trade and Politics: Political Determinants of International Trade Flows
Sosnovec, Jan ; Semerák, Vilém (advisor) ; Paulus, Michal (referee)
Charles University in Prague Faculty of Social Sciences Institute of Economic Studies Master's thesis Trade and Politics: Political Determinants of International Trade Flows Author: Bc. Jan Sosnovec Supervisor: Ing. Vilém Semerák, M.A., Ph.D. January 3, 2018 Abstract This thesis takes a comprehensive look at the relationship between international trade and politics. The first part of this thesis is theoretical. Besides providing a useful overview of this highly complex subject, it makes a contribution to the contemporary theory by proposing two simple models. The first of these models explains how because of complementarity of institutions, countries end up stuck with inefficient institutions and consequently high trade costs; countries can break out of this inefficient equilibrium only by coordinating their actions. The second proposed model shows how governments set trade barriers in order to pursue their political aims, while at the same time staying popular in order to remain in power. This model is consistent with a wide variety of regime types and ideologies, and takes into account voter heterogeneity. The second part of this thesis is empirical. It uses the gravity model of trade, with multilateral resistance terms represented either by fixed effects or by the Baier-Bergstrand linear approximation of...
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Euro and the Effect on Bilateral Trade: Gravity Model Analysis
Gabaš, Ondřej ; Semerák, Vilém (advisor) ; Paulus, Michal (referee)
Euro and the Effect on Bilateral Trade: Gravity Model Analysis Ondřej Gabaš The purpose of this thesis is to estimate the impact of common Euro- pean currency on bilateral trade. Using data from 1993 to 2015, we employ structural Gravity model of trade on the sample of 19 European Monetary Union members and 25 developed countries. In our analysis, we use two different methods to account for the endogeneity, country-pair fixed-effects and Baier and Bergstrands (2009) specification of the Gravity model esti- mated by OLS. In order to examine the effect of missing observations, we employ Poisson Pseudo-Maximum-Likelihood estimator. Last, we focus on the adoption of the Euro as a reason behind the effect of trade diversion. The results of all three models show that the creation of the EMU had sta- tistically insignificant effect limiting to zero. In the case of fixed-effects and OLS, the estimated effect is negative, while in the case of the PPML, we found a positive impact. In addition, the results of our analysis show that the adoption of the Euro did not cause a trade diversion. 1
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The Importance of Non-Price Competitiveness: Oil Downstream Sector in Europe
Sláma, Ondřej ; Baxa, Jaromír (advisor) ; Paulus, Michal (referee)
This thesis investigates the role of price and non-price competitiveness factors using a relative export price index, introduced by Benkovskis and Wörz (2016), that is adjusted for changes in quality and taste. First, we replicate their model employing an updated dataset, confirming previous results. Then, the framework is used to study the recent developments in the Europe's oil product market. Given the saturation of the market, decreasing demand, and converging prices, importance of non-price competitiveness factors, such as quality, increases. The results suggest that the problems of the underinvested oil downstream industry in Northwestern European producers are caused not only by decreasing aggregate demand, high costs, and low margins, but by non-price competitiveness factors as well. We find profound improvements in product quality in CEE countries, following substantial investments into the sector and market consolidation. Both regions are at risk of rising imports of high-quality products from the Middle East, Russia and USA. This thesis provides a comprehensive picture of price and non-price competitiveness developments of all players in the highly competitive European oil downstream market.
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The impact of China's demographic policy on its current GDP growth
Rotar, Karina ; Paulus, Michal (advisor) ; Semerák, Vilém (referee)
The topic of this paper is relation between the current demographic policy of China and its GDP. A large number of papers have been already written on the subject; however, there is still a space for theoretical analysis and empirical estimation: use more recent data, find new variables and relations. In this thesis we have performed a research based on panel data on 31 Chinese provinces for the years 1995 - 2015. Based on Solow growth model, we chose gross regional product of each province as dependent variable; gross capital formation, foreign direct investment and joint variable of percentage of ethnic minorities multiplied by birth rate have been chosen as independent variables. As an estimation technique we use fixed effects model. Empirical estimation led us to the following findings. Firstly, the impact of the one child policy on economic growth of China is negative. Secondly, the impact of the foreign direct investment on gross regional product is insignificant. Thirdly, high percentage of ethnic minorities in the population of the region negatively affects its economy. We come to a conclusion that the government of People's Republic of China has to further adjust the demographic policy in order to secure further sustainable growth. JEL Classification Keywords demography; one child policy;...
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Social Inequality and Green Energy: The Case of India
Rakshit, Shoumyadeep ; Salamon, Janusz (advisor) ; Paulus, Michal (referee)
The problems of social inequality has plagued the Indian society since the history known. The caste system and its intersection with other religions have compounded the situations even further. This study focuses on the issue of marginalization between the three religious communities of India, namely Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. Furthermore this investigation try to propose a solution to this ensuing problem of marginalization by involving the case of green energy sector and its components. The potential that green energy entails for the economy will be studied at close quarters and evidences will be portrayed to see the positive effects. The creation and realization of the fertile grounds for the intersection or the juxtaposition of green energy over marginalization will be studied by combining the two philosophies of complex equality and equality of condition. The investigation reveals that marginalization can be solved by introducing Green energy on a large scale. The proposed model under the architectures of the conceptual frameworks of Spheres of Justice and Development as Freedom creates Green Energy as an independent sphere of influence that shows positive effect in reducing Inequality by interacting with other spheres of influence. Keywords Social inequality,green energy,HDI,Capability...
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The effect of the New Silk Road on EU-China trade
Philipps, Andreas ; Paulus, Michal (advisor) ; Benáček, Vladimír (referee)
The thesis tries to investigate which impact the new Silk Road announced 2013 by the Chinese president has on EU-China trade potentials. The so called OBOR initiative is an infrastructure project that aims to promote trade facilitation along the ancient Silk Road. The initiative includes more than 60 countries. The gravity model of trade will be applied to run a simulation exercise to estimate trade potentials from the EU to China and vice versa. The results suggest that China can increase its trade potential to the EU. Among the EU countries there are winners and losers. Those countries which participate in the initiative will benefit from an increased trade potential others will lose trade potential.
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