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Globalization, Rule of Law and Wealth Inequality
Svěchotová, Anežka ; Horváth, Roman (advisor) ; Schwarz, Jiří (referee)
We examine the determinants of wealth inequality using new dataset consisting of a rich set of explanatory variables including rule of law, as well as different measures of globalization. We use the Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) approach to account for model uncertainty. The BMA methodology allows to thoroughly compare a large number of potential determinants. Due to large differences in wealth inequality across different countries, the variables included reflect countries' various aspects, namely economic, geographical, regulatory, institutional, finance, globalization, political and demographic factors. Examining 39 potential determinants, we find five robustly related variables. Among them there are three financial development indicators, GDP growth and one geographical dummy for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. On the other hand, some of the measures of globalization are correlated with wealth inequality; however, they are not its determinants. JEL Classification C33, E21, G51 Keywords wealth inequality, globalization, Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) Title Globalization, Rule of Law and Wealth Inequality
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Economic Effects of Germans' Expulsion from Czechoslovakia Revisited
Kafková, Kateřina ; Baxa, Jaromír (advisor) ; Schwarz, Jiří (referee)
Economic Effects of Germans' Expulsion from Czechoslovakia Revisited Author: Bc. Kateřina Kafková Abstract This thesis studies long-run effects that expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II had on the Czech borderlands. Specifically, the thesis tests sensitivity of prior literature's findings by investigating previously not addressed potentially confounding factors - presence of military areas and border zone in the data; heavy air pollution in the North-West Bohemia during the communist regime; and impact of Wild expulsion in the Soviet liberation zone right after the end of World War II. Minor to no effects of these factors are revealed. Therefore, the findings of this thesis are in line with the findings of the existing literature - the expulsion of Germans caused higher unemployment, lower population density, lower employment in high- skilled sectors, and a lower share of population with secondary and tertiary education in the borderlands, when compared to the Czech interior, that lasts until today.
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Determinants of the average daily rate of Peer-to-peer accommodation in the Czech Republic
Řežábek, Pavel ; Pavlíček, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Schwarz, Jiří (referee)
This thesis investigates which characteristics of peer-to-peer accommodation affect its average daily rate. The study utilizes a unique dataset created with data on all accommodation offers in the Czech Republic, made directly from data downloaded from airbnb.com, which is the largest platform presenting short-term rentals outside hotels. The information about amenities and reviews of individual properties offering accommodation are firstly categorized. The effects of each such category together with information about size and location on the average daily rate are then investigated using the ordinary least squares method. The following parameters are found to have have the most significant effect on the average daily rate: location in Prague, the maximum number of occupants, hotel-type equipment, and luxury amenities.
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Does RIA Really Evaluate Regulatory Impact? The Case of the Czech Republic
Jára, Karel ; Schwarz, Jiří (advisor) ; Cahlík, Tomáš (referee)
Regulatory Impact Assessment/Analysis (RIA) has become a hot topic in the world politics as well as economic research in the last 20 years. Its basic definition as a tool to improve regulatory quality using cost-benefit analysis is viable only in the case when it is properly implemented for all potential sources of regulation, one of which is parliament with its amendments to bills. After summing up basic information about RIA and its history and surveying relevant literature on RIA, this thesis performs a pioneer analysis of the changes in regulatory impact of laws caused by parliamentary amendments. A sample of all laws passed in the Czech Republic in 2010 is studied. The passed amendments to these laws are analysed and it is found that only 3 out of 20 bills with RIA had amendments which made no changes in regulatory impacts of the bill. This supports the conclusion that the RIA implementation should take these amendments into account. Another finding is that circumventing of the RIA system occurs also in the case of non-governmental bills, which are not subject to RIA in the Czech Republic, as 18 of 32 bills without RIA did not have it due to their non-governmental origin.
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How people learn from mistakes on an example of weather lores
Skála, Jakub ; Schwarz, Jiří (advisor) ; Šolc, Jan (referee)
The work deals with the empirical research of informal institutions. The aim was to determine on the basis of the verification of weather lores whether our null hypothesis is valid. Our null hypothesis is as follows: known weather lores have a higher success rate of forecast than unknown weather lores. We worked on the assumption, that in the general awareness remain mainly weather lores that works (passed on from generation to generation as a result of long-term learning process). That should have clarified whether not working weather lores are used any more. We verified weather lores on the basis of hydro- meteorological data for the period 1972-2002. We used several measure criteria. Each criteria was tested with Student's t-test. For all criteria, we observed that at the 5% level of significance we could not reject the hypothesis of equal values of known and unknown weather lores. It was not confirmed our hypothesis that known weather lores have a higher success rate of predictions. That means there is no development of informal institutions in the context of informal institutions on the basis of our empirical research. Keywords weather lores, formal institutions, informal institutions, development of informal institutions, categorical evaluation of weather forecast
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Determination of firm boundaries: Influence of regulations and rule of law on firm size
Dočkal, Ondřej ; Cahlík, Tomáš (advisor) ; Schwarz, Jiří (referee)
Study of determinants of firm size is important for policy making and economic theory, because much of economic growth takes place within firms and firms are prevailing form of organisation of production units in modern economies. Theory o↵ers contradictory views on e↵ect of quality of regulations and rule of law on firm size. Better regulatory quality in the environment of post-soviet countries enables firms to become larger. In the case of rule of law, the relationship seems to be rather fragile and of a more complex nature with ambiguous e↵ects, hence the matter re- mains subject of future research. Regulatory quality and rule of law explain only very little part of variations in growth rates of firms. Keywords: firm size determination, quality of regulations, rule of law, industrial organisation Character count: 73 717 Abstrakt Studium determinantů velikosti firem je důležité pro vytváření politik i ekonomickou teorii, protože velká část ekonomického růstu je způsobena růstem existujících firem a firmy jsou převažující formou organizace produkčních jednotek v moderních eko- nomikách. Teorie přináší protichůdné pohledy na vliv kvality regulace a právního státu na velikost firem. V prostředí postsovětských zemí je růst kvality regulace spojený s růstem velikosti...
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Perceived vs. observed inflation. Perceived inflation in connection with the euro adoption
Klubíčková, Kateřina ; Schwarz, Jiří (advisor) ; Martišková, Monika (referee)
This thesis deals with the difference between observed and perceived inflation. It builds on literature which focuses on perceived inflation and its difference from observed inflation. The thesis broadens existing literature with detailed analysis of factors affecting the difference between observed and perceived inflation (inflation gap) and its size. There are numerous theoretical explanations for the gap increase which followed the euro-changeover. This thesis summarizes these reasons and analyzes what and to what extent affects the size of the inflation gap using data about awareness about the euro among public, macroeconomic (GDP, rate of inflation, rate of unemployment etc.) and social variables (sex, age). Result of the analysis is that the size of the gap is affected particularly by the euro introduction. Extent of this impact differs for men and women, but is very similar across age groups. The impact of HICP and its components in various sectors was in most models larger in periods when countries were using euro as their national currency. Hypothesis stating that the higher is the awareness about the euro among public, the smaller is the inflation gap was confirmed in models considering later waves of the euro introduction.
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Analysis of bone marrow plasma in order to identify new biomarkers in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Kováč, Martin ; Hrušák, Ondřej (advisor) ; Schwarz, Jiří (referee) ; Petrák, Jiří (referee)
Leukemia, a malignant disorder of lymphoid or myeloid progenitor cells, is the most frequent malignant disease of childhood. The most common subtype is acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In acute leukemia, several clinical symptoms may be caused by soluble proteins secreted by AL cells into the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment. We aimed at identifying proteins in BM plasma of children with ALL, which may be responsible for ALL aggressiveness or for microenvironment-mediated survival of ALL cells. LBMp (leukemic bone marrow plasma) at the diagnosis of ALL was compared to CBMp (control bone marrow plasma) and CPBp (control peripheral blood plasma) using cytokine antibody array and two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-D PAGE). Cytokine antibody array for 79 proteins identified 23 proteins expressed differentially with a statistical significance of p<0.05; of those, 2 proteins (TIMP-1 and LIF) withstood Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons (p<0.00064). On the other hand little difference was observed between CBMp and CPBp. Using 2-D PAGE, we were able to detect 397 protein spots per gel, among which 16 showed statistically significant differences in protein levels, when comparing LBMp and CBMp by MALDI-TOF analysis. The highest difference has been found for haptoglobin in LBMp and retinol binding...
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Economics of Religion: Analysis of Contributions in the Roman Catholic Church in the Czech Republic
Švejdová, Amália ; Schwarz, Jiří (advisor) ; Skuhrovec, Jiří (referee)
The bachelor thesis Economics of Religion: Analysis of Contributions in the Roman Catholic Church in the Czech Republic focuses on economics of religion in the enviroment of the Czech republic and especially the case of the Roman Catholic Church. The main aim of the thesis is to analyze the situation of the religious market and the role and position of the Roman Catholic Church within it, in regards to participation in religious institutions, voluntary donations etc. By studying the relationship between the state and church and it's determined financing system it is possible to set the model for the degree of financial participation of the church's members (voluntary contributions). By using a regression analysis, a hypothesis is tested on specific empirical data - the amount of voluntary contributions, (un)employment, age, size of the church, and percentage of women in the population.
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