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The Association between Firm Characteristics and Access to Finance in SMEs: Cross Country Evidence from Europe
Aslay, Oguz ; Gok, Ugur (advisor) ; Cahlík, Tomáš (referee)
The Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) carry a significant weight in the European economies with their share in number of enterprises, total employment and value added being very substantial. These firms are the major source of new employment generation and they also actively participate in international trade activities. However, these firms face important challenges in doing business like finding customers, availability of skilled labor force, cost of inputs and access to finance. This thesis investigates the issue of access to finance for SMEs in Europe using a cross-country survey data set. Specifically, the possible association of three firm characteristics, namely age, size and exporter status, with access to finance will be examined using quantitative methods. Moreover, given the rich set of countries, how the country conditions like financial deepening, the sovereign debt crises and investment-saving imbalances affect these associations will be studied in detail. Overall, this thesis is expected to contribute to the relevant literature, by displaying the effects of firm characteristics on access to finance for SMEs and the cross-country differences with important implications for related economic policies, and to provide suggestions which can be taken into account by policymakers as...
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Rationality of child labour and its effects on labour market
Vislous, Václav ; Benáček, Vladimír (advisor) ; Bauer, Michal (referee)
Child labor is still a big issue in the developing world. However, with an expand- ing literature base, we can conprehend its sources and policies in which we try to affect it in a much more precise way. This thesis reviews relevant literature regarding child labor. The scope of this review covers historical origins of child labor during the Industrial Revolution, its basic economic modelling, coercive measures against child labor, the effects of globalization, international trade, transitory income shocks and credit constraints on child labor and education. The main contribution to the literature are the three lessons about child labor. First, the parallels between findings about child labor in today's developing countries and the Industrial Revolution are studied. Second, it is showed that in the case of an import ban on child labor produce, there is always a better solution for children. Finally, previously unstudied consequences of Conditional Cash Transfer programs on children's motivation for education are related. Keywords Child labor, history, international trade, globalization, transitory income shocks, credit constraints, education, food for education, coercive measures, intrinsic motivation
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