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The Developments of the Rentier State Model in Saudi Arabia
Tomaštík, Karel ; Gombár, Eduard (advisor) ; Ťupek, Pavel (referee)
Saudi Arabia, along with other Gulf oil monarchies, represents an original politico- economic system. Huge revenues in the form of oil rent, flowing to the Treasury since the oil boom in the early 70's, have fundamentally changed the socio-economic structure, which was in literature termed the rentier state. The origin, development and description of typical characteristics of rentier state are the main topic of this thesis. The first section discusses the theoretical foundations and approaches to the issue. The second chapter provides a historical background in order to position the study in the context of previous political, economic and ideological development. In an analysis of the formation of state structures, the work deals with the relationships between members of the ruling house of Saud, between the government and social elites, with functioning of clientelist structures and interactions within the bureaucratic apparatus. Based on the study of these relationships the thesis marks out particularities of the Saudi politico-economic system that distinguish it from the classical concept of rentier state model. The main distinctive feature is the diminished autonomous ability of state to regulate the functioning of state institutions and to encourage individual agencies to cooperate actively...
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Merger Control in the European Union
Moldovanu, Victoria ; Serdarevič, Goran (advisor) ; Vacek, Pavel (referee)
The main goal in this paper is to make an in-depth analysis of the regulatory situations that can arise during mergers when political involvement takes place. The research is based on four controversial merger cases of undertakings within the same country (E.On-Ruhrgas), European Union countries (E.On-Endesa, Unicredit-Hypoverein) and between companies from the USA (Boeing-McDonnell Douglas) that have effect on the European market. We analyze the four mergers using Michele Ruta and Massimo Motta models from the paper "A Political Economy of Merger Policy in International Markets" (2008). By the end of the research we reached the conclusion that due to some lapses in the European Commission Merger regulation at the time of the mergers, as well as due to government involvement in the mergers, they are not always cleared in the benefit of the market competition or consumer welfare, but due to nationalistic interests of governments to have big players on the market or to keep governmental power in certain industries, even with the risk of harming competition. Along with this, from the mergers analyzed here, it becomes clear that local or union authorities scrutinize the foreign acquirers more.
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Global Political Economy of New Regionalism and the European Union
Hnát, Pavel ; Cihelková, Eva (advisor) ; Neumann, Pavel (referee) ; Kabát, Ladislav (referee) ; Čajka, Peter (referee)
The thesis focuses on theoretical and empirical analysis of the New Regionalism trends that are further applied to the case of the European Union. Aim of the thesis is to explain the substance and features of New Regionalism in the world economy and confront them with the current state of integration in the European Union. The matter is whether the European Union, which has belonged to the most successful examples of regional integration, is strong and flexible tool of its member states to cope with changing conditions of the globalized world economy and whether it can aspire for a more substantial role in regional and global governance.
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Political determinants of economic reforms: case study of of pension schemes
Lukeš, Tomáš ; Lehmannová, Zuzana (advisor) ; Klosová, Anna (referee)
The work aims to explain the character and success/failure of pension reforms with help of political explanatory variables. The constitution of given political system is considered, as well as the actual political alignment and the role of electorate, in explaining the processes underlying the pension scheme reforms - a major topic of today's aging societies. The case study approach is used, utilising the recent experience of Great Britain and Sweden in reforming the pensions. The findings are compared with the results and conclusions suggested by a dynamic economic model of pension scheme switch, demonstrating eventually what factors and conditions are favorable for pension reforms, both from the political and the economic point of view.
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Selected Aspects of Business Environment, Cultural Specifics and the Formation of International Institutional Comparative Advantage of South Korea – Mutual Relationships
Šípková, Martina ; Zamykalová, Miroslava (advisor) ; Kalínská, Emílie (referee) ; Lehmannová, Zuzana (referee) ; Horák, Tomáš (referee)
This thesis deals with historical and socio-cultural context of Korean political economy and its relationships with important aspects of Korean business environment. The work dedicates significant space to chaebols as specific business organizational structures and the application of Korean paradigm of rationality to the reform following 1997 International Monetary and Financial Crisis. The main part of the thesis focuses on the analysis of Korean political economy from the viewpoint of its institutional comparative advantage, through which Korean cultural characteristics influence commodity structure of Korean international trade and Korea's patent specialisation profile. The main contribution of the thesis lies in its effort to document mutual relationships and links among various aspects of Korean political economy. The findings of the thesis show that Korea's socio-cultural characteristics still represent an important factor influencing Korean business environment and local form of capitalism. The continuing existence and success of chaebols in current economy implies that the socio-cultural and economic sources of their existence still prevail despite the increasing number of conglomerates of non-chaebol types operating in Korea since post-crisis reform. The application of "Eastern paradigm" to the post-crisis reform reveals that the reform was based on "Western paradigm" of highly liberal Anglo-American form of capitalism and crisis management was thus ethnocentrically biased. Regarding the institutional comparative advantage, the thesis concludes Korea can be regarded as a group coordinated market economy where mutual links among various agents of its political economy are of outmost importance, with some aspects of liberal market economies. The main coordination mechanism of Korean political economy can be characterised as thick networks of highly particularistic socio-economic relationships based on Korean socio-cultural characteristics. This institutional and socio-cultural set up provides Korean companies with capacities that favour companies'preference of incremental innovation production strategies. However, Korean "mobilizational culture" along with other specific organizational principles and socio-cultural features of Korean corporate culture also provide Korean firms with advantages in some radical innovation fields.
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Jak reorganizovat trh práce: politická ekonomie současných českých a slovenských reforem
Jurajda, Štěpán ; Mathernová, K.
The Czech and Slovak Republics - until 1993 two parts of former Czechoslovakia - offer a unique reform comparison. Even though Slovakia faced higher unemployment since early transition and it was subject to greater reform failures, the two countries experienced similar macroeconomic paths over the first decade of transition. However, since the currency crises of 1997(8), their depth of reforms has been very different, with Slovakia making major strides to improve the labor market. We suggest two explanations, one based on fiscal pressures, the other stemming from political developments.
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