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Impact of online user reviews on demand for PC and video games
Veselá, Anna ; Mičúch, Marek (advisor) ; Hurník, Jaromír (referee)
The thesis examines impact of online user reviews, expressed in 5-star rating system, on demand for PC and video games. Used weekly data are collected from www.amazon.co.uk for period 2000 - 2012. The thesis contributes to discussion which takes place between supporters of superstar theory and supporters of long tail theory. Panel structure of the dataset referred to application of fixed effects model for estimation of basic and extended model. Both estimates proved negative influence of assigned number of stars on sales rank. Basic model estimated influence of one unit change of stars on rank by 9 positions, extended model estimated this change to be 10 positions. Quantile estimate also proved negative influence of stars on sales rank. The influence is strongest for the lowest quantile of dependent variable (tau = 0,05) representing 5 % best-selling titles, where one unit change of stars causes change of 35 positions in opposite direction. With increasing quantiles this influence decreases to zero. It proves that within the market for PC and video games online user reviews contribute to superstar effect.
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Microfoundations of the Wage Inflation in the Czech republic
Galuščák, Kamil ; Münich, Daniel
The study investigates whether microfoundations might increase the predictive power of macroeconomic models of wage inflation. By comparing past predictions to observed values, the study finds that the Phillips curve with the average unemployment rate in districts with prevalently low unemployment rates delivers more accurate predictions of aggregated wage inflation than the Phillips curve with the overall unemployment rate.
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Information and Communication Technologies in the Czech Republic
Honsa, Viktor ; Mičúch, Marek (advisor) ; Kovanda, Lukáš (referee)
Development of information and communication technologies (ICT) has recently increasing importance. ICT has therefore become one of the effective tools in process of optimization and increase of competitiveness on the market. As a result of this trend, there are already some studies, having ambitions to explicitly formulate their importance. The application of ICT in the Czech Republic is similar, but there are not many studies with such ambitions. This thesis analyzes (i) the relations between, the use of ICT, total factor productivity and growth of gross added value in the Czech Republic in 1997-2007 based on growth accounting and (ii) based on econometric analysis of panel data for the Czech Republic, also estimates the importance of selected determinants influencing adoption of ICT. The output of the thesis consists of (i) determining the contribution of each input and discussion of possible synergies of ICT capital deepening and total factor productivity and (ii) specification of variables that are, based on the formulated model, shown to be statistically significant and they may affect the adoption of ICT.
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Assessing the influence of sickness benefits on worker absenteeism: An empirical analysis based on panel data
Kureková, Lucie ; Čermáková, Klára (advisor) ; Chytilová, Helena (referee)
The influence of economic variables on the probability of being absent was analyzed using longitudinal data on work absence behaviour for each day during 2006 and 2009. Panel data contain everyday information about work attendance of each employee working in the company in South Bohemia, the final sample has 43 800 observations. During the observed period, there were a number of reforms of the sickness insurance in the Czech Republic performed and such reforms affected primarily the replacement level of earnings and influenced the period guaranteeing sickness benefits for an employee. The method used by Johansson and Palme (2002) has been followed. As them, I as well distinguish between the dynamic dependence varying in the fact whether the worker is in the work presence state or in the work absence state. Empirical results show that the worker's costs arising from being absent have a significant effect on work absence behaviour.
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Are Recessions Good for Your Health?
Kopecká, Petra ; Bartoň, Petr (advisor) ; Rotschedl, Jiří (referee)
The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of macroeconomic conditions on mortality from different causes during the period 1991-2007 by the same way as Ruhm (2000) did his analysis for the period 1972-1991 and then compare the results of these two analysis. Using the model with fixed effects panel data from 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia was tested. Results of the analysis in this work were distorted due to autocorrelation, which could not be removed. It was therefore only possible to evaluate the results of the analysis of total mortality and mortality due to suicide and murder. Ruhm (2000) showed pro-cyclical nature of total mortality, as well as eight of the ten causes of death. In the analysis performed in this work pro-cyclicity was proved only in total mortality rate. Mortality due to suicide and murder proved to be countercyclical in the period 1991-2007.
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Model of EU international trade - assigning countries into subgroups in panel data
Tichý, Filip ; Hušek, Roman (advisor) ; Kodera, Jan (referee) ; Vošvrda, Miloslav (referee)
I model foreign trade among European countries by applying gravity equation model on panel data. The aim is to investigate exchange rate volatility impact on foreign trade and to test for the presence of the so-called Rose effect in relation to the Euro currency area. I develop a novel complex approach to the estimation of the gravity equation when the assumption of homogeneous reaction within the group of studied countries is relaxed. New methodology, tests and implementation is proposed. I develop several heuristic methods that permit effective clustering of countries in a selection of subgroups. The clustering process is iterative: in each step, countries are redistributed in new subgroups and the process is terminated, when no subsequent superior redistribution is possible. Finally, the effective selection of subgroups of countries is chosen to minimize an appropriately defined objective function. Results of the proposed heuristic tests suggest that no dominant method exists. Therefore, an algorithm of chaining of alternative heuristic methods is proposed. After the solution is achieved with one method, an alternative method is imposed and the search for the optimal solution continues, until the objective function reaches its minimum. The proposed methodology is applied to estimate the gravity equation of foreign trade with the extension that permits to assign countries into optimally selected subgroups using the newly introduced algorithms.
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Analysis of export promotion provided by Czech Export Bank
Potácelová, Věra ; Janda, Karel (advisor) ; Tuček, Miroslav (referee)
Export promotion via officially supported export credits and insurance is relatively widespread around the world. The thesis describes activity of Czech Export Bank (CEB) and mentions also its legal framework in Czech system of export promotion. Text contains pros and cons of export promotion. The main part of the thesis is panel data analysis using gravity equation. This panel data involves 130 countries in period of 1996 -- 2008 with data on export, export promotion, GDP, political risk and other variables. There is investigated impact of activities of CEB on Czech export using 2 gravity models (static and dynamic). In these models export promotion is significant factor with positive impact on Czech export.
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