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Constructive Engagement or Illegal Investment?
Levely, Ian ; Levrincová, Petra (advisor) ; Riegl, Martin (referee)
This thesis examines the role of transnational corporations in preventing human rights abuse and conflict, along with the limits to proactive strategies and engagement with host governments. It concludes by applying these principles in a case study: the oil and gas industry in Burma. The issue is approached both practically and theoretically from economic, legal and political approaches. In some cases it is possible for companies to avoid or mitigate risks by adopting proactive strategies that might included training and community development programs. A firm that recognizes these issues and adopts a socially responsible strategy may justify their presence in a given country based on the overall effect it has, despite some negative consequences, such as financing a corrupt regime. Furthermore, it can be assumed in many cases that a firm that withdraws will quickly be replaced by another firm, which may be less sensitive to these concerns. Based on these grounds, a company might argue that their presence in a country where the government does not respect human rights represents constructive engagement with the host country's regime. While this line of reasoning is certainly valid, and while this strategy is feasible in some cases, there are certain boundaries that firms should not cross. Firstly, any...
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Informal Economy: A micro-level analysis
Vu Duc, Cuong ; Levely, Ian Vandemark (advisor) ; Cingl, Lubomír (referee)
This paper analyzes association of informal economy with demographic charac- teristics. The first part introduces the definition and composition of the informal economy and sets the theoretical background. It presents its consequences and causes from different points of view. In the second part, we isolate characteris- tics that predict the propensity to work in the informal economy using the probit model. The work finds that the direction of individual effects matches with find- ings in Latin America reported by Perry et al. (2007). Keywords Informal economy, Shadow economy, South Africa, econometrics
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Effects of poverty on impatience: preferences or inattention?
Bartoš, V. ; Bauer, Michal ; Chytilová, Julie ; Levely, I.
We study two psychological channels how poverty may increase impatient behavior – an effect\non time preference and reduced attention. We measured discount rates among Ugandan farmers\nwho made decisions about when to enjoy entertainment instead of working. We find that\nexperimentally induced thoughts about poverty-related problems increase the preference to\nconsume entertainment early and delay work. The effect is equivalent to a 27 p.p. increase in\nthe intertemporal rate of substitution. Using monitoring tools similar to eye tracking, a novel\nfeature for this subject pool, we show this effect is not due to a lower ability to sustain attention.
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Informal Economy: A micro-level analysis
Vu Duc, Cuong ; Levely, Ian Vandemark (advisor) ; Cingl, Lubomír (referee)
This paper analyzes association of informal economy with demographic charac- teristics. The first part introduces the definition and composition of the informal economy and sets the theoretical background. It presents its consequences and causes from different points of view. In the second part, we isolate characteris- tics that predict the propensity to work in the informal economy using the probit model. The work finds that the direction of individual effects matches with find- ings in Latin America reported by Perry et al. (2007). Keywords Informal economy, Shadow economy, South Africa, econometrics
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Three Essays on Post-Conflict Reintegration
Levely, Ian Vandemark ; Bauer, Michal (advisor) ; Filer, Randall (referee) ; Van Koten, Silvester (referee) ; Kovařík, Jaromír (referee)
Three Essays on Post-Conflict Reintegration Abstract This dissertation consists of three essays which explore the effects of conflict and the post- conflict reintegration process, each using a different methodology to study a different facet of these issues, including an analysis of survey data, an artefactual economic experiment conducted in the field, and an laboratory experiment. The research presented here demonstrates how these methods complement one another in contributing to our understanding of how conflict affects individuals' well-being and behavior. In the first essay, I analyze an existing data set from a survey of ex-combatants in Liberia to estimate the effect of a reintegration program for former soldiers on participants' income and employment status, using propensity score matching to account for self-selection bias. The second chapter also deals with the reintegration of ex-soldiers, but focuses on social capital, using a set of experiments, including trust and dictator games, to study the effects of forced military service for a rebel group on social capital in northern Uganda. In the third chapter, we study cooperation within and between groups in the laboratory, by modeling conflict with an inter- group Tullock rent-seeking contest, and manipulating groups' conflict history to measure...
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Does payoff dominance matter?: an experiment
Polena, Michal ; Cingl, Lubomír (advisor) ; Levely, Ian Vandemark (referee)
Risk dominance and Payoff dominance are considered to be the most important selection criteria in Stag-hunt games. In contrast, the main finding of Schmidt et al. (2003) is that players do not respond to changes in Payoff dominance parameter in these games. There might be, however, other explanations for results of Schmidt et al. (2003). Moreover, Dubois et al. (2011) and Battalio et al. (2001)'s experimental results suggest that sufficiently large changes in Payoff dominance parameter may play a role. We, therefore, proposed three Stag-hunt games in order to examine whether players respond to large changes in Payoff dominance parameter. Furthermore, we tested the predictive power of Relative riskiness. Our main finding is that even large changes in Payoff dominance parameter do not induce players to change their choices. An in- significant trend in players' choices, caused by Relative riskiness, was detected in our second finding. Possible explanations are discussed.
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The Institutional Analysis of Banking Reforms in Vietnam
Nguyen Quang, Dung ; Mertlík, Pavel (advisor) ; Levely, Ian Vandemark (referee)
The main goals of the bachelor thesis is an institutional analysis of the banking reform in Vietnam. The author analyzes how the banking reform influences the institutional development. Modern institutions require flexible and efficient rules, both formal and informal. Hence, a legal framework is analyzed as well especially as to whether the de jure banking legal framework corresponds with the de facto one. Liberalization and internationalization of Vietnamese economy has a big impact on the development of the banking sector. Albeit institutions are de jure well developed they are not sufficiently efficient due to the inability of enforcement of laws, lack of confidence, and corruption in the banking sec- tor. Vietnam has chosen the right direction but the establishment of efficient institutions has to go hand-in-hand with the change of informal rules. Since the diffusion of information is limited due to lack of codification of laws, connections relationship and informal rules play a crucial role in the banking sector. Infor- mal rules are deeply entrenched and tenacious, and hence difficult to change in the short time. 1
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Constructive Engagement or Illegal Investment?
Levely, Ian ; Levrincová, Petra (advisor) ; Riegl, Martin (referee)
This thesis examines the role of transnational corporations in preventing human rights abuse and conflict, along with the limits to proactive strategies and engagement with host governments. It concludes by applying these principles in a case study: the oil and gas industry in Burma. The issue is approached both practically and theoretically from economic, legal and political approaches. In some cases it is possible for companies to avoid or mitigate risks by adopting proactive strategies that might included training and community development programs. A firm that recognizes these issues and adopts a socially responsible strategy may justify their presence in a given country based on the overall effect it has, despite some negative consequences, such as financing a corrupt regime. Furthermore, it can be assumed in many cases that a firm that withdraws will quickly be replaced by another firm, which may be less sensitive to these concerns. Based on these grounds, a company might argue that their presence in a country where the government does not respect human rights represents constructive engagement with the host country's regime. While this line of reasoning is certainly valid, and while this strategy is feasible in some cases, there are certain boundaries that firms should not cross. Firstly, any...
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