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Current status and future perspectives of the number and structure of primary health care physicians in the Czech Republic
Šídlo, Luděk
The aim of this study is to evaluate the current manpower and age structure of physicians in primary health care in the Czech Republic and outline its future development, both at national and regional levels. In the Czech Republic, the field of primary health care includes physicians in general practice, physicians practising medicine for children and adolescents, gynaecologists and obstetricians and dentists. In the first part, attention is focused on describing different variables that influence the primary health care availability, and on analyzing the regional differentiation of the number and structure of primary care physicians in the period 2000-2007. After the subsequent description of the movement of physicians within the system of primary health care, models of the input-output system, which largely generalize this movement, are compiled. Based on these models, the estimates of the future development of the number and structure of primary care physicians by 2040 are calculated. This study especially aims to point out the negative effects of demographic aging of primary health care physicians, in combination with demographic aging of the population in the Czech Republic.
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The risk element contents in soil and vegetation cover at selected locations within Hradec Králové city
Bartošová, Tereza ; Száková, Jiřina (advisor) ; Hejtmánková, Alena (referee)
The county town named Hradec Králové is located in eastern Bohemia on the confluence of Elbe and Orlice rivers. It is situated in a flat area, with many green areas and the absence of heavy industry. The industrial activity is concentrated in small business - engineering, chemical, electrical and food processing industries. All these aspects of human activity may be associated with risk elements contamination of the environment. The town is characterised by the high traffic density; we can therefore also assume the presence of risk elements in the air and subsequently soil contamination in the proximity of these roads. The aim of the study was to analyze the level of contamination of soil and vegetation in the city caused by risk elements (As, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, Pb, V and Zn). According to sampling scheme, which involved 86 sampling points, there were taken samples of soils and aboveground parts selected plant species: dandelion (Taraxacum sect. Ruderalia) and doorweed (Polygonum aviculare) occurring at all the sampling points. These samples were analysed for the risk elements contents.
In most of cases the risk element levels did not exceed the maximum allowable limits for the content of elements in soil and plants given by Decree no. 13/1994 Coll. and Directive no. 2002/32/EC. In the case of soil, there were significantly higher values of potentially mobilizable contents measured for arsenic. But this was not reflected on the contents of this element in the vegetation when all results were below the detection limit of the analytical method. Rarely, the values exceeding the limits were observed in several soil samples in the case of lead and cadmium. While for lead no increased concentrations of this element in the vegetation was observed, the cadmium levels occurring in dandelion exceeded in several cases the limits for fodder crops. The ability of doorweed to accumulate the risk elements was lower compared to dandelion.
Linear regression analysis showed that there is no significant relationship between the element contents in the soil and vegetation and the distance from the road. It therefore appears that the contents of elements in the soil and vegetation are not affected by traffic. Due to the significant positive correlation of most elements (except Cd and Zn) in the soil can be estimated that the levels in the soil are given rather by the character of the subsoil. This speculation but would require more detailed geological and geochemical survey of the site.
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Fitting of Probability Distributions for Applications
Pavlíčková, Lenka ; Bednář, Josef (referee) ; Karpíšek, Zdeněk (advisor)
The diploma thesis describes the bootstrap method and its applications in the confidence intervals generation, in the testing of statistical hypotheses and in the regression analysis. We present the confidence interval for individual value. Further the method of discrete probability estimation of the categorical quantity is presented, making use the gradient and the line estimate.
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Two essays on the modeling of monetary policy transmission mechanism
Rusnák, Marek ; Svoboda, Svatopluk (referee) ; Horváth, Roman (advisor)
In first essay, we investigate the evolution of monetary policy transmission mechanism in the Czech Republic over 1993:1 - 2009:9 period by employing time varying parameters Bayesian vector autoregression model with stochastic volatility. We document relative stability of monetary policy transmission mechanism over time. However, there is some evidence that the transmission to prices was weakened temporarily during the climax of the financial crisis, but appear to be back to its pre-crisis strength already in the second half of 2009. Further, we augment the estimated system with a financial variable to investigate the significance of financial shocks for the transmission. The results suggest that financial shocks indeed play relatively important role in explaining the fluctuations of the output and prices. Second essay presents a meta-analysis of the effects of a monetary policy shock on prices. First, we present some summary statistics that document the pervasiveness of the price puzzle, which denotes an increase in the price level following a contractionary monetary policy shock, in the results of empirical studies. Next, using meta-regression methods such as funnel asymmetry test, we find the evidence of publication selection bias that increases with the horizon studied. Finally, we use explanatory...
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Shannon test
Smrt, Martin ; Hoksza, David (referee) ; Lánský, Jan (advisor)
In the present work we focus on creating an application for the purpose of measuring entropy of written language. The work presents results yielded from actual use of the application. It is based upon the work of an American mathematician Claude E. Shannon and exploits one of the methods which he used for estimating entropy. The content of the work describes the application and presents results of the experiment. While Shannon only focused on letters in his work, this thesis compares results of working with letters, syllables and words. Entropy estimates are given for Czech and English languages.
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Aplikace optimalizačních metod na problémy výroby elektřiny
Šumbera, Jiří ; Dlouhý, Martin (advisor) ; Pelikán, Jan (referee) ; Hančlová, Jana (referee)
This thesis deals with application of optimisation methods based on linear and mixed-integer linear programming to various problems in the power sector related to electricity production. The thesis goal is to test the applicability of such methods to formulating and solving various instances from the class of real-world electricity production problems, and to find the advantages and disadvantages associated with using these methods. Introductory chapters describe the main characteristics of power markets, including the historical and regulatory context. Fundamental properties of power markets on both demand and supply side are also described, both from a real-world and a modelling point of view. Benefits of optimisation and modelling are discussed, in particular the solution feasibility and optimality as well as insights gained from sensitivity analysis which is often difficult to replicate with the original system. In the core of the thesis, optimisation techniques are applied to three case studies, each of which deals with a specific problem arising during electricity production. In the first problem, the profit of gas-fired power plant in Slovakia from selling power on the day-ahead market is maximised. The model is set up using both technical and commercial constraints. The second problem deals with the problem of representing a two-dimensional production function which primarily arises for a hydro generator with large variations in the level of its reservoir. Several representations of the original function using piecewise linear subsets are presented, compared, and characterised by their computational intensity both theoretically and practically. In the third problem, the prices on the German day-ahead market in 2011 are modelled. Contrary to the previous two models, the model does not capture an optimisation problem faced by a single producer, but incorporates a large subset of the whole market instead. Consequently the model is formed out of generic constraints relevant to all power plants whose parameters are estimated. By combining information about the aggregate availability of power plants with the estimated efficiencies a full supply curve for each day is created. Different scenarios are analysed to test the impact of uncertain inputs such as unknown or estimated constraints. The choice of the investigated problems stems from the attempt to cover electricity production problems from the point of view of multiple criteria. The three investigated electricity production problems span a broad range from the decisions of a single power plant to the modelling a power market as a whole. Formulations of the production function with different level of detail are presented ranging from a simple linear relationship to several bivariate function formulations. While each problem answers a specific question, they all illustrate the ease with which various electricity production problems can solved using optimisation methods based on linear and mixed-integer linear programming. This is mainly due to the ability of these methods to approximate even non-linear functions and constraints over non-convex domains and find global solutions in reasonable time. Moreover, models formulated with these methods allow sensitivity and scenario analyses to be carried out easily as is illustrated in each of the case studies.
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Is the concept of the Laffer curve valid? : the empirical evidence from the corporate income tax for selected OECD countries
Herbst, Karel ; Schneider, Ondřej (advisor) ; Hedbávný, Petr (referee)
This thesis deals with the issue of Laffer curve. According to the idea of Laffer curve when the tax rate exceeds certain treshold (revenue-maximizing tax rate) the tax revenue would in absolute terms decrease with rising tax rate. Therefore this thesis tries to discover whether those facts are valid in the corporate income taxation for 20 OECD countries for the time period from 1965 to 2006. The structure of the thesis could be divided into three parts. In first introductory chapters we would discuss the issue of taxation in general. We will briefly examine the history of taxation and explore the theory of taxation and tax systems. The second part of this thesis will focus on the Laffer curve in detail. Third chapter will introduce the theory behind Laffer curve and discuss its properties for different types of taxation. In the following chapter the literature and different possibilities of estimation of Laffer curve and (or) Laffer effects would be reviewed. Fifth chapter focuses on the corporate income taxation per se and examine the development of corporate income tax revenues and rates in our sample countries. In the last part of this thesis the econometric estimates the Laffer curve for corporate income taxation are presented. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
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Output-Inflation Trade-off After a Quarter of a Century of Inflation Targeting
Kamarád, Martin ; Potužák, Pavel (advisor) ; Kadeřábková, Božena (referee)
This thesis estimates the treatment effect of inflation targeting adoption on inflation, inflation variability, output, and output variability for 25 explicit inflation targeting countries. I implement the propensity score matching methodology that takes into account the problems of non-experimental nature, such as selection bias or selection on observable, and allows me to effectively mimic properties of randomized experiment and compute unbiased treatment effect estimates. I introduce a variety of propensity score matching methods that were recently developed in the treatment effect literature, including Nearest Neighbor, Radius matching, Kernel matching, and Inverse Probability Weighting. The results indicate that both industrial and developing inflation targeting countries exhibit lower inflation levels and at the same time higher output growth than non-targeting countries. The estimates are however in most cases statistically insignificant. Moreover, it appears that both industrial and developing countries achieve combination of lower inflation variability and output variability compared to non-targeting countries. Nonetheless, majority of the estimates are again statistically insignificant. The results are to a small extent sensitive to the choice of propensity score matching method. Radius matching with tight calipers (r=0.005, r=0.001) tends to provide the most reliable estimates. Balancing properties of the models are reasonable and compared to the previous research the standardised biases are quantitatively better.
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The Summer Olympic Games 2016: Who will be the winner?
Hatyinová, Petra ; Melzochová, Jitka (advisor) ; Babin, Jan (referee)
This paper examines determinants of national medal success at the Summer Olympic Games between 1996 and 2012. Does hosting the Games have a positive impact on the number of gained medals? Do neighboring countries benefit from the approximate home advantage? Analysis based on the Tobit model confirmed the positive effect of hosting the event in the case of current as well as future host. The effect of the neighboring country was not proved. In-sample predictions test quality of the underlying model. It was found that the model based on the absolute number of medals can provide more accurate estimates. Correctly predicted was 96.88 % of the variance of the actual values. Out-of-sample predictions for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro are also provided.
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Analýza dopadu sankcí na obchod mezi Evropskou unií a Ruskem
Kolářová, Andrea ; Klosová, Anna (advisor) ; Coniglio, Nicola (referee)
This thesis is trying to assess the effects of sanctions imposed on Russia in 2014 by the European Union and other countries, with respect to the changes in the trade flows among the two participants (EU and Russia). Firstly, the theoretical background for sanctions is provided, explaining their meaning and instruments which they use. Secondly, the overview of the Ukrainian conflict is conducted together with a brief review of the economic restrictions which were implemented, as well as the Russian counter-sanctions. The empirical part is firstly explaining the effects of the restrictions on the both economies and then introducing the state of the bilateral trade flows between the EU and Russia before the imposition of the sanctions. The most important part of the thesis is the gravity model conducted in the third chapter, which is trying to estimate the effects of the sanctions on the EU-Russian trade flows using two approaches. One of them is conducted with the help of regression analysis and a dummy variable which controls for the sanctions effect. The other one is predicting the values of exports without the disturbance of the sanctions and then comparing the results with the real values of the export for the years examined. The results of these analyses have proven the expectations about the negative impact of the sanctions on the trade flows between the EU and Russia.
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