Suchergebnisse

The subject of the study is a set of theoretical and methodological foundations, as well as econometric tools for substantiating the representation of the shadow economy as a negative factor for the development of the Ukrainian economy. The purpose of the study is to empirically analyze the peculiarities of the impact of the main factors and risks on the level of the shadow sector in Ukraine and other countries in the world, as well as to determine the strategic directions for further reducing of shadow part of Ukrainian economy with the use of the developed econometric toolkit. Such general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis as methods of comparative analysis, generalization, systematization, and grouping of data, methods of graphic and scenario analysis, as well as econometric tools, in particular methods and models of panel (longitudinal) data wereused in the process of research. Results. A significant amount of the shadow sector in Ukraine poses additional threats to the effective functioning of the economy and its economic development, especially in conditions of political and economic instability. The conducted statistical and empirical analysis confirmed the hypothesis that during a deep economic crisis, the shadow economy may not only be a consequence but also a cause of a growing fall in gross domestic product and, in turn, can aggravate a crisis that is also characteristic of the Ukrainian economy. Even though in recent years there has been a tendency of reducing the shadow level of the Ukrainian economy, it is still a considerable amount, which threatens the financial and economic security of the state and requires the formation of a scientifically grounded strategy for its lowering. The current situation requires not only an adequate definition of the sources of the shadow economy, mechanisms and development, the relationship with the formal economy but also the definition of the main factors affecting its level, as well as quantitative assessment of such impact using economic and mathematical methods of research. The empirical analysis of the impact of the main financial and economic indicators on the level of the shadow economy on the basis of panel data tools for a sample of more than 31 countries of the world allowed to identify not only the main macroeconomic factors affecting the shadow economy, taking into account the specifics of each individual state, but also significantly increase the number of observations and thus increase the accuracy of calculations in the conditions of limited information in a time dimension. Besides, the presentation of countries of different groups in the sample allows, for example, to measure how the country's entry into the European Union affects the level of the shadow economy and whether it affects it overall. According to the modeling results, the clustering of the countries was carried out depending on the level of the shadow sector and the initial conditions for the tendency to shadow. The hypothesis is that the shadow economy of Ukraine exists and even develops in favorable terms that are accompanied by low rates of social and economic development, the imperfection of the legislative and the judicial system, the complexity of opening and doing business, a rather high level of tax rates and a significant spread of corruption. Moreover, a scenario analysis based on the developed model showed that, in the wake of the economic crisis, the shadow economy of Ukraine would tend to increase, which will further deepen the economic downturn in the country in the medium term. Accordingly, the definition of strategic directions for lowering the part of the shadow economy in Ukraine becomes one of the priority tasks of its economic policy. The results of the study can be used by public authorities to form economic policies and strategic directions aimed at ensuring a gradual reduction of the shadow economy in Ukraine, enhancing its financial security and economic development. Conclusions. The presence of the shadow sector is characteristic for almost all countries in the world, but under current conditions of economic development, a significant part of shadow economy becomes an obstacle to the development of a robust corporate sector, the establishment of a functioning market economy and economic growth. The statistical and empirical comparative analysis of the factors influencing the level of shadowing of the economy of different countries confirms the fact that due to imperfect economic, social and legal reforms, many of them still have a high level of the shadow economy, including Ukraine, which negatively affects the level of its economic development. Moreover, according to the optimistic scenario based on the developed econometric model of panel data, the positive dynamics of the gradual reduction of the level of shadow economy to 30.2% of the country's GDP in 2022 were obtained. Despite that fact, according to more realistic assumptions, the growth of the shadow sector is somewhat probable to the level that far exceeds its current value. Accordingly, the definition of strategic directions for further reducing of shadow part of the Ukrainian economy is one of the critical tasks of its economic policy. At the same time, as statistical and empirical studies have shown, the effectiveness of the policy of deterrence should increase as a result of the implementation of elaborate measures aimed, in particular, at reducing the impact of factors that increase the level of the shadow economy in the country; increase of expenses from attraction to shadow activity and riskiness for its participants; raising public awareness about the harmful effects of shadow economy; growth of personal income and living standards of the population, etc.

Includes bibliographical references. ; Number of sources in the bibliography: 119 ; Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Cyprus, Faculty of Economics and Management, Department of Economics, 2017. ; The University of Cyprus Library holds the printed form of the thesis. ; Η παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή έχει δύο κύριους στόχους. Πρώτον, να μελετήσει τους παράγοντες που εξηγούν τις κυβερνητικές δαπάνες, και δεύτερον, να κατανοήσει το πως διαμορφώνονται οι προτιμήσεις για την αναδιανομή του πλούτου. Στο πρώτο κεφάλαιο, χρησιμοποιώντας δεδομένα από διάφορες χώρες για την περίοδο 1970-2010, ερευνούμε εννιά διαφορετικές θεωρίες που επηρεάζουν το μέγεθος την κυβέρνησης, λαμβάνοντας υπόψιν την αβεβαιότητα της θεωρίας (theory uncertainty). Με τον όρο αβεβαιότητα της θεωρίας εννοούμε ότι οποιαδήποτε θεωρία η οποία επεξηγεί τις κυβερνητικές δαπάνες δεν μπορεί να αποκλείσει κάποια άλλη θεωρία από το να είναι σχετική. Άρα δεν υπάρχει μια εκ των προτέρων αιτιολόγηση για να επικεντρωθούμε σε κάποιο συγκεκριμένο υποσύνολο καθοριστικών παραγόντων που επεξηγούν τις κυβερνητικές δαπάνες. Προτείνουμε μια νέα μέθοδο Bayesian Model Averaging, για γραμμικά συστήματα παλινδρόμησης, η οποία επιτρέπει την ύπαρξη ενδογένειας των μεταβλητών. Τα ευρήματα μας υποδηλώνουν ότι οι συνολικές κυβερνητικές δαπάνες και οι διάφορες κατηγορίες τους μπορούν να εξηγηθούν μέσω πολλαπλών μηχανισμών που λειτουργούν ταυτοχρόνως, αλλά έχουν διαφορετική επίδραση σε ότι αφορά το μέγεθος και την σημαντικότητα τους. Συγκεκριμένα, για τις συνολικές δαπάνες της γενικής κυβέρνησης βρίσκουμε ότι η θεωρία που σχετίζεται με τα δημογραφικά στοιχεία της χώρας παίζει καθοριστικό παράγοντα στην διαμόρφωση τους. Σε ότι αφορά τις συνολικές δαπάνες της κεντρικής κυβέρνησης βρίσκουμε οτι καθοριστικό παράγοντα στη διαμόρφωση τους, εκτός από την θεωρία που σχετίζεται με τα δημογραφικά στοιχεία της χώρας, παίζουν οι θεωρίες αναφορικά με την εισοδηματική ανισότητα και την μακροοικονομική πολιτική. Τα αποτελέσματα αυτά είναι σύμφωνα με την ανάλυση διακύμανσης (variance decomposition analysis). Κάθε ένας από τους καθοριστικούς παράγοντες, με υψηλή ύστερη πιθανότητα ένταξης (posterior inclusion probability), \gr εξηγεί πάνω από 5% της διακύμανσης των κυβερνητικών δαπανών. Στο δεύτερο κεφάλαιο, επικεντρωνόμαστε στον τρόπο διαμόρφωσης των προτιμήσεων αναδιανομής του πλούτου και μελετούμε πως αυτές επηρεάζονται από την κοινωνική ταυτότητα του ατόμου. Χρησιμοποιώντας δεδομένα από το General Social Survey και το γραμμικό μοντέλο κοινωνικών αλληλεπιδράσεων με την χρήση της κοινωνικοοικονομικής δομής του δικτύου, μελετούμε την επίδραση της κοινωνικής ταυτότητας του ατόμου πάνω σε μια σειρά κοινωνικοοικονομικών πεποιθήσεων συμπεριλαμβανομένων των προτιμήσεων για αναδιανομή, των πεποιθήσεων για την έκτρωση, τις διακρίσεις, τις κυβερνητικές υποχρεώσεις, το νομικό σύστημα, το πολιτικό σύστημα και τη θρησκεία. Βρίσκουμε ισχυρές ενδείξεις ότι η κοινωνική ταυτότητα του ατόμου, με την μορφή ενδογενών κοινωνικών αλληλεπιδράσεων παίζει πολύ σημαντικό ρόλο τόσο στη διαμόρφωση των προτιμήσεων για αναδιανομή όσο και μιας σειράς κοινωνικοοικονομικών πεποιθήσεων. Στο τρίτο κεφάλαιο, ερευνούμε την παρουσία ετερογένειας των παραμέτρων και πολλαπλών καθεστώτων στις προτιμήσεις για αναδιανομή. Χρησιμοποιούμε δεδομένα από την World Values Survey και το μοντέλο structural threshold regression, το οποίο επιτρέπει την παρουσία ενδογένειας στη μεταβλητή που διαχωρίζει το δείγμα. Βρίσκουμε σημαντικές ενδείξεις για την παρουσία πολλαπλών καθεστώτων στη διαμόρφωση των προτιμήσεων για αναδιανομή. Συγκεκριμένα, βρίσκουμε ότι οι μηχανισμοί που παράγουν πολλαπλά καθεστώτα είναι οι μέσες πεποιθήσεις των χωρών όσον αφορά την αναδιανομή, την εμπιστοσύνη, τη δικαιοσύνη, το επίπεδο ανάπτυξης, το ανθρώπινο κεφάλαιο, την ανισότητα, τους πολιτικούς θεσμούς, τη θρησκεία, την κυβερνητική σταθερότητα και τη διαφθορά. ; The present dissertation has two main objectives. Firstly, to uncover the determinants that drive government spending, and secondly, to understand how preferences for redistribution are formed. In the first chapter, using country data for the period 1970 to 2010, we investigate nine alternative theories that determine government size, taking into account theory uncertainty. By theory uncertainty we mean that any given theory of government expenditure does not logically exclude other theories from also being relevant. Therefore, no a-priori justification exists for focusing on a specific subset of determinants. We propose a novel Bayesian model averaging method in linear regression systems that allows for endogeneity. Our findings suggest that government size and its components are explained by multiple mechanisms that work simultaneously but differ in their impact and importance. In particular, for general government total expenditure we find decisive evidence for the demography theory. In the case of central government total expenditure, we find that income inequality and macroeconomic policy play a decisive role, in addition to demography. Our results are in agreement with the variance decomposition analysis. The determinants that have a high posterior inclusion probability explain more than 5\% of the various expenditures components variation. In the second chapter, we focus on the formation of preferences for redistribution and study how they are affected by social identity. Using individual data form the General Social Survey, we employ the linear social interaction model with socioeconomic network structure to study the impact of social identity on a range of socioeconomic beliefs, including preferences for redistribution, beliefs on abortion, attitudes, discrimination, government duties, legal system, politics, and religion. We find strong evidence that social identity, in the form of endogenous social interactions, plays a major role in the formation of preferences for redistribution and a range of socioeconomic beliefs. In the third chapter, we investigate the presence of parameter heterogeneity and multiple regimes in the preferences for redistribution. We use data from the World Values Survey and we use the structural threshold regression model to allow for the endogeneity of the threshold variable. We find substantial evidence for the presence of multiple regimes in the formation of preferences for redistribution. In particular, we find that the mechanisms that generate multiple regimes are the mean country beliefs on redistributions, trust, fairness, the level of development, human capital, inequality, political institutions, religion, government stability and corruption.

The objective of the given research is to study the phenomenon of hybrid symbolism as both heuristic and counterproductive factor of a person's self-identification in a transitional society. The article studies Ukrainian experience of national self-identification reconstruction taking place in the times of profound socio-cultural transformation and the phenomenon of hybrid symbols as an ambivalent factor of person's self-identification. Complexity and variety of national self- identification realization in the space of the innovative symbols of the epoch is a relevant and not enough studied problem, which exists rather as a subject matter of publicistic writing than of scientific research. The research methodology is based on the use of analytical, comparative and hypothetical-deductive methods for revealing and explaining the symbolic nature of public protest. Scientific novelty of the results obtained in the course of the research consists in the use of the phenomenon of public protest as a problem field of formation of new cultural symbols of the era. Public protest as a reaction to social troubles, corruption dominance and dependence on other states becomes a powerful factor of making the process of national and ethnic self-identification more active. The symbols accompaning public protest remind an insight, and a certain public enlightenment that appears unconsciously, by impulse, and partly unwillingly. New symbols are not developed purposefully; they are a result of social crises and transformations. Conclusions. The creation of new national symbols is a long and complicated process, as the development of modern Ukrainian society itself, which cannot be based only on ethnic or national self-identification. Public protest is a ritual action, which presupposes national and ethnic self-identification, multicultural and multiethnic national character realization and political nation development. Ukrainian protest phenomenon has demonstrated that it is a symbolic action and an act of transgression, when the doer is being transformed and changed and when the transitional ritual, accompanied by the process of making its own history and modern identity, is taking place. ; Вивчення феномена гібридного символізму як одночасно евристичного та контрпродуктивного фактора національної самоідентифікації особистості у транзитивному суспільстві є основною метою дослідження. У статті аналізу- ється український досвід реконструкції національної самоідентифікації, що відбувається на тлі гострих соціокультурних трансформацій. Здійснено дослідження феномена гібридних символів як амбівалентного фактора самототожності особистості. Складність та багатоманітність проявів національної самоідентифікації у просторі новітніх символів епохи є проблемою гостроактуальною та досить маловивченою, такою, що наразі перебуває радше у стані предмета публіцис- тики, ніж наукового дослідження. Виділення у ній нових кроскультурних феноменів, дослідження їх гібридної природи є запорукою подальшої актуалізації та всебічного наукового вивчення. Методологія дослідження базується на використанні аналітичного, компаративістського та гіпотетико-дедуктивного методів для розкриття і пояснення символічної при- роди громадянського протесту. Наукова новизна одержаних результатів полягає у використанні феномена громадянського протесту як проблемного поля формування новітніх культурних символів епохи. Громадянський спротив, що виникає як реакція на соціальні негаразди, засилля корупції та залежності від інших держав, стає потужним чинником активізації процесу національної та етнічної самоідентифікації. Символи, що супроводжують громадський протест, є чимсь на кшталт інсайту, певного колективного осяяння, з'являються невимушено, імпульсивно, почасти мимоволі. Нові символи не виробляються цілеспрямовано, вони є наслідком ефекту соціальних потрясінь та трансформацій. Висновки. Творення нових національних символів – тривалий та складний процес, як, власне, і формування самого модерного українського суспільства, в основу якого не може бути покладено лише етнічну чи національну ідентичність. Громадянський спротив – це ритуальне дійство, під час якого відбувається національна та етнічна самоідентифікація, актуалізу- ється мультикультуральний та мультиетнічний характер народу та формується політична нація. Феномен українського протесту продемонстрував у чистому вигляді, що він є символічним дійством, актом трансгресії, коли трансформується та змінюється сам фігурант, відбувається ритуал переходу, що супроводжується процесом творення власної історії та власної модерної ідентичності. ; Изучение феномена гибридного символизма как одновременно эвристического и контрпродуктивного фактора национальной самоидентификации личности в транзитивном обществе является основной целью данного исследования. В статье анализируется украинский опыт реконструкции национальной самоидентификации, который происходит на фоне острых социокультурных трансформаций. Осуществляется исследование феномена гибридных символов как амбивалентного фактора идентичности личности. Сложность и многообразие проявлений национальной самоидентификации в пространстве новейших символов эпохи является проблемой остроактуальной и достаточно малоизученной, такой, которая сейчас находится скорее в состоянии предмета публицистики, нежели научного исследования. Выделение в ней новых кросскультурных феноменов, исследование их гибридной природы является залогом дальнейшей актуализации и всесто- роннего научного изучения. Методология исследования базируется на использовании аналитического, компаративистс- кого и гипотетико-дедуктивного методов для раскрытия и объяснения символической природы гражданского протеста. Научная новизна исследования заключается в использовании феномена гражданского протеста как проблемного поля формирования новых культурных символов эпохи. Гражданское сопротивление, возникающее как реакция на социальные проблемы, засилье коррупции и зависимости от других государств, становится мощным фактором активизации процесса национальной и этнической самоидентификации. Символы, сопровождающие общественный протест, является чем-то вроде инсайта, определенного коллективного озарения, появляются непринужденно, импульсивно, отчасти невольно. Новые символы не производятся целенаправленно, они являются следствием эффекта социальных потрясений и трансформаций. Выводы. Создание новых национальных символов – длительный и сложный процесс, как, собственно, и фо- рмирование самого современного украинского общества, в основе которого лежит этническая или национальная идентичность. Гражданское сопротивление – это ритуальное действо, в ходе которого происходит национальная и этническая самоидентификация, актуализируется мультикультуральный и мультиэтническая характер народа и формируется политическая нация. Феномен украинского протеста продемонстрировал в чистом виде, что он является символическим действом, актом трансгрессии, когда трансформируется и изменяется сам фигурант этого акта, происходит ритуал перехода, сопровождающийся процессом создания собственной истории и собственной современной идентичности.

Paraguay es quizá el país menos conocido en el escenario latinoamericano. Este pequeño país, ubicado en el centro de América del Sur llegó a ser un país muy próspero y sin deuda externa. Dos grandes guerras -La Triple Alianza y la Guerra del Chaco- desdibujaron su geografía y diezmaron su población. Otras tantas revueltas y una larga dictadura de más de tres décadas terminaron de poner el sello distintivo del subdesarrollo endémico que soporta el país y su población, con uno de los IDH más bajos del continente y los índices de corrupción más altos. La caída de la dictadura y el ingreso del país al MERCOSUR, marcaron nuevos rumbos políticos y económicos, dentro del patrón de la globalización. En ese entonces, se creía firmemente que la única vía para el desarrollo era el crecimiento a través de las exportaciones. Más de veinte años después, los datos señalan una excesiva dependencia de los países más grandes del bloque, Argentina y Brasil. Esto deja la economía del país condicionada a la suerte de sus vecinos. La economía paraguaya se basa principalmente en la venta de commodities con poco valor o ningún valor agregado y dependiente de la agricultura extensiva, como la soja. Otro de los problemas importantes del país es el reparto y uso de la tierra, con una verdadera reforma agraria siempre postergada. En este escenario conviven grandes productores y exportadores, con pequeños agricultores rurales, generalmente carentes de atención técnica y crediticia y de políticas gubernamentales. Uno de esos sectores es el fresero, que aunque la producción data de la década de 1920, su desarrollo no ha sido fomentado desde instancias gubernamentales, ni existen estudios publicados sobre el mismo. El presente trabajo de investigación es un acercamiento a parte de este subsector, situado mayoritariamente en la Cuenca del Lago Ypacarai, donde cientos de familias realizan el cultivo de fresas, actividad económica que pasa de generación en generación, como una tradición familiar. A través de un acercamiento desde tres perspectivas teórico-metodológicas complementarias -la Teoría del Desarrollo local, Teoría de las Representaciones Sociales y la Planificación Estratégica- se ha realizado un estudio del sector identificando Fortalezas, Debilidades, Oportunidades y Amenazas. Seguidamente se han esbozado unas líneas generales de actuación dentro de un modelo sistemático y sistèmico de abajo-arriba apuntando hacia el desarrollo económico local. El estudio de las representaciones sociales ha detectado la inviabilidad de aplicar un desarrollo del subsector basado en el cooperativismo, tal como el realizado en Huelva, la zona de mayor producción de fresas de Europa. La investigación concluye con un modelo de actuación para facilitar el desarrollo económico basado en la acción participativa, la movilización del capital social y la cohesión del subsector, en vistas a lograr el mejoramiento del nivel de vida de las familias de agricultores, la sostenibilidad ambiental del cultivo y así garantizar un mejor futuro para las siguientes generaciones de productores freseros. ; Paraguay is perhaps the least known country in the Latin American scene. This small country, located in the center of South America became a prosperous country without foreign debt. Two great wars -The Triple Alliance and the Chaco War- blurred its geography and its population decimated. Many turns and a long dictatorship ended more than three decades put the hallmark of endemic underdevelopment for the country and its population, with one of the lowest HDI of the continent and the highest rates of corruption. The fall of the dictatorship and the country's entry into MERCOSUR set new political and economic directions in a globalization pattern. Then, it is strongly believed that the only way for the development was the growth through exports. More than twenty years later, the data indicate an excessive dependence of the largest bloc countries, Argentina and Brazil. This leaves the economy tied to the fate of their neighboring country. The country's economy is based primarily on the sale of commodities of little value or no value added and dependent on extensive farming, such as soybeans. Another of the major problems the country is the sharing and use of land, with a real agrarian reform always postponed. In this scenario major producers and exporters coexist with small, often lacking technical and financial care and government policies rural farmers. One of these sectors is the strawberry, which although this culture dating from the 1920s, its development has not been promoted from government entities nor are there published studies on it. This research is part of an approach to this subsector, mainly located in the basin of Ypacarai Lake, where hundreds of families make the cultivation of strawberries that passes from generation to generation, like a family tradition. The study of this sector was conducted within three complementary theoretical and methodological perspectives -Local Economic Development, Social Representation Theory and Strategic Planning- identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Then they have outlined some general guidelines within a systematic and systemic model of bottom-up local development pointing. The study of social representations has detected the impossibility of implementing a development based on the cooperative subsector, such as the one conducted in Huelva, the area of greatest strawberry production in Europe. The study concludes with a role model to facilitate economic development based on participatory action, the mobilization of social capital and cohesion of the subsector, with a view to achieve the improvement of living standards of the families of farmers, environmental sustainability cultivation and guarantee a better future for next generations of strawberry farmers.

In this resarch the problems of the 1991 Lithuanian Land Reform are being analyzed. The main problem is that starting the Reform mentioned Lithuania's legislature didn't postpone the desicion of the Parliament, 26th of July, 1990, regarding establishement of the personal farming of villagers. According to the idea of the restitution, based in Lithuania's legal constitutional tradition and based on the just expectations, Land Reform should have been great democratical project, partly restoring previous civil order, which was destroyed by the Soviet occupation by nacionalizing all immovable property. In this paper having analysed Lithuania's scientific papers regarding Land Reform issues author didn't choose solely thoeretical analysis as Lithuanian scientist didn't analyse this problem of two social groups interests claiming the right to the same piece of land. That is why author used broad range of the social science methodology, interviewed plaintiffs and land owners, analyzed Lithuanian Supreme Court's practice regarding cases between personal farm owner and the real owner of the same land according to the restitution idea. It is concluded that Lithuanian Land Reform partly collapsed because the law of the restitution didn't come into practice what means that law remained unimplemented. The results of the research suggest that not only legislature didn't guarantee the due process of law during the Land Reform, but also judges and the attorneys where not ready for such kind of cases and most of the time such cases where decided wrongly - not following legal practice rules which where adopted by Lithuanian Supreme Court already long time ago. The biggest Lithuania's problem is that there is no mechanism of controlling judges, the rules regarding control of judges as it is shown in the case study example doesn't work in practice in Lithuania. Author states that on of the biggest problems in the process of the restitution of the land property was the fact that officials of the legislature didn't implement valid Land laws, but all the work of interpreting law have left to judges. As until now there is no adequate control of judges in Lithuania, and only since 2009 there is practice of the concuring oppinion in Lithuania's courts, restitution of the land property of such land, which is ruled by the third parties – so called personal farming land owners – becomes very complicated and hardly it is succesfull to achieve restitution of the land property, when legislature, state's officials and even courts many times refuse to use valid Land laws in legal practice. In this research author derives 4 existing rules of the legal practice regarding cases where restitution problems are being solved. Regarding those rules author analyses court cases and investigates, whether judges have followed those specific rules. In this work author points at the problems of the legal science in Lithuania, when during two decades of independence no scientific research regarding chosen problem has been done. Legal scientists most often make no practical research, but mostly rewrite the norms and laws, claiming, that the idea of the restitution of the land property was constitutional and democratical approach of the state. No practical difficulties trying to protect the rights promised in the Constitution are being analyzed. That comes from the Soviet times when the science and the courts were strongly controlled by the Comunist party. But nowadays in the author's oppinion there is nothing to fear and land reform's problems must be analyzed trying to find out the main reasons that caused difficulties of the restitution of the property in Lithuania in those areas where big groups of people received personal farming land ownership. In this research author makes case analysis analyzing cases of the Supreme Court of Lithuania, also one case which is pending at the moment in Kaunas district court and concludes that during land reform big mechanism of controlling and terorizing land owners has been created, and this mechanism can cause situations that land owner would give up because of the activities of judges, procecutors, states lawyers and the lawyers of the defendants. Respondent analysis shows that many times lawyers has worked not for the interests of the clients in such kind of cases. Courts made desicions following emotions, corruption and other factors, incompatible with the valid law regarding Land Resform and the Civil Process Law. The analysis of the Supreme Court Cases show that in some cases courts didn't follow their own practice and legal rules, broke the law and Government's desicions concerning personal farming land's legal regulation. In this research 2 hypothesis are being raised. The first hypothesis suggests that some parts of the law concerning restitution of property in Lithuania have left as dead norms of the law, because were never implemented and used in real legal practice, if officials refused to follow those norms. The second hypothesis states, that the process was initially made controversial because of the valid law concerning fullfilling needs of the villagers distributing pieces of land of 2 hectares in the villages. It is also concluded, that according to political philosophy, such project had to collapse, as marxism is incompatible with liberalism, as well as public law gets into conflict with the private law. The results of the research suggest that even though the land was given to the third parties as the personal farming land, it is not a factor that can ban real land owner from the implementing his right of the restitution to such land property.

In this resarch the problems of the 1991 Lithuanian Land Reform are being analyzed. The main problem is that starting the Reform mentioned Lithuania's legislature didn't postpone the desicion of the Parliament, 26th of July, 1990, regarding establishement of the personal farming of villagers. According to the idea of the restitution, based in Lithuania's legal constitutional tradition and based on the just expectations, Land Reform should have been great democratical project, partly restoring previous civil order, which was destroyed by the Soviet occupation by nacionalizing all immovable property. In this paper having analysed Lithuania's scientific papers regarding Land Reform issues author didn't choose solely thoeretical analysis as Lithuanian scientist didn't analyse this problem of two social groups interests claiming the right to the same piece of land. That is why author used broad range of the social science methodology, interviewed plaintiffs and land owners, analyzed Lithuanian Supreme Court's practice regarding cases between personal farm owner and the real owner of the same land according to the restitution idea. It is concluded that Lithuanian Land Reform partly collapsed because the law of the restitution didn't come into practice what means that law remained unimplemented. The results of the research suggest that not only legislature didn't guarantee the due process of law during the Land Reform, but also judges and the attorneys where not ready for such kind of cases and most of the time such cases where decided wrongly - not following legal practice rules which where adopted by Lithuanian Supreme Court already long time ago. The biggest Lithuania's problem is that there is no mechanism of controlling judges, the rules regarding control of judges as it is shown in the case study example doesn't work in practice in Lithuania. Author states that on of the biggest problems in the process of the restitution of the land property was the fact that officials of the legislature didn't implement valid Land laws, but all the work of interpreting law have left to judges. As until now there is no adequate control of judges in Lithuania, and only since 2009 there is practice of the concuring oppinion in Lithuania's courts, restitution of the land property of such land, which is ruled by the third parties – so called personal farming land owners – becomes very complicated and hardly it is succesfull to achieve restitution of the land property, when legislature, state's officials and even courts many times refuse to use valid Land laws in legal practice. In this research author derives 4 existing rules of the legal practice regarding cases where restitution problems are being solved. Regarding those rules author analyses court cases and investigates, whether judges have followed those specific rules. In this work author points at the problems of the legal science in Lithuania, when during two decades of independence no scientific research regarding chosen problem has been done. Legal scientists most often make no practical research, but mostly rewrite the norms and laws, claiming, that the idea of the restitution of the land property was constitutional and democratical approach of the state. No practical difficulties trying to protect the rights promised in the Constitution are being analyzed. That comes from the Soviet times when the science and the courts were strongly controlled by the Comunist party. But nowadays in the author's oppinion there is nothing to fear and land reform's problems must be analyzed trying to find out the main reasons that caused difficulties of the restitution of the property in Lithuania in those areas where big groups of people received personal farming land ownership. In this research author makes case analysis analyzing cases of the Supreme Court of Lithuania, also one case which is pending at the moment in Kaunas district court and concludes that during land reform big mechanism of controlling and terorizing land owners has been created, and this mechanism can cause situations that land owner would give up because of the activities of judges, procecutors, states lawyers and the lawyers of the defendants. Respondent analysis shows that many times lawyers has worked not for the interests of the clients in such kind of cases. Courts made desicions following emotions, corruption and other factors, incompatible with the valid law regarding Land Resform and the Civil Process Law. The analysis of the Supreme Court Cases show that in some cases courts didn't follow their own practice and legal rules, broke the law and Government's desicions concerning personal farming land's legal regulation. In this research 2 hypothesis are being raised. The first hypothesis suggests that some parts of the law concerning restitution of property in Lithuania have left as dead norms of the law, because were never implemented and used in real legal practice, if officials refused to follow those norms. The second hypothesis states, that the process was initially made controversial because of the valid law concerning fullfilling needs of the villagers distributing pieces of land of 2 hectares in the villages. It is also concluded, that according to political philosophy, such project had to collapse, as marxism is incompatible with liberalism, as well as public law gets into conflict with the private law. The results of the research suggest that even though the land was given to the third parties as the personal farming land, it is not a factor that can ban real land owner from the implementing his right of the restitution to such land property.

In this resarch the problems of the 1991 Lithuanian Land Reform are being analyzed. The main problem is that starting the Reform mentioned Lithuania's legislature didn't postpone the desicion of the Parliament, 26th of July, 1990, regarding establishement of the personal farming of villagers. According to the idea of the restitution, based in Lithuania's legal constitutional tradition and based on the just expectations, Land Reform should have been great democratical project, partly restoring previous civil order, which was destroyed by the Soviet occupation by nacionalizing all immovable property. In this paper having analysed Lithuania's scientific papers regarding Land Reform issues author didn't choose solely thoeretical analysis as Lithuanian scientist didn't analyse this problem of two social groups interests claiming the right to the same piece of land. That is why author used broad range of the social science methodology, interviewed plaintiffs and land owners, analyzed Lithuanian Supreme Court's practice regarding cases between personal farm owner and the real owner of the same land according to the restitution idea. It is concluded that Lithuanian Land Reform partly collapsed because the law of the restitution didn't come into practice what means that law remained unimplemented. The results of the research suggest that not only legislature didn't guarantee the due process of law during the Land Reform, but also judges and the attorneys where not ready for such kind of cases and most of the time such cases where decided wrongly - not following legal practice rules which where adopted by Lithuanian Supreme Court already long time ago. The biggest Lithuania's problem is that there is no mechanism of controlling judges, the rules regarding control of judges as it is shown in the case study example doesn't work in practice in Lithuania. Author states that on of the biggest problems in the process of the restitution of the land property was the fact that officials of the legislature didn't implement valid Land laws, but all the work of interpreting law have left to judges. As until now there is no adequate control of judges in Lithuania, and only since 2009 there is practice of the concuring oppinion in Lithuania's courts, restitution of the land property of such land, which is ruled by the third parties – so called personal farming land owners – becomes very complicated and hardly it is succesfull to achieve restitution of the land property, when legislature, state's officials and even courts many times refuse to use valid Land laws in legal practice. In this research author derives 4 existing rules of the legal practice regarding cases where restitution problems are being solved. Regarding those rules author analyses court cases and investigates, whether judges have followed those specific rules. In this work author points at the problems of the legal science in Lithuania, when during two decades of independence no scientific research regarding chosen problem has been done. Legal scientists most often make no practical research, but mostly rewrite the norms and laws, claiming, that the idea of the restitution of the land property was constitutional and democratical approach of the state. No practical difficulties trying to protect the rights promised in the Constitution are being analyzed. That comes from the Soviet times when the science and the courts were strongly controlled by the Comunist party. But nowadays in the author's oppinion there is nothing to fear and land reform's problems must be analyzed trying to find out the main reasons that caused difficulties of the restitution of the property in Lithuania in those areas where big groups of people received personal farming land ownership. In this research author makes case analysis analyzing cases of the Supreme Court of Lithuania, also one case which is pending at the moment in Kaunas district court and concludes that during land reform big mechanism of controlling and terorizing land owners has been created, and this mechanism can cause situations that land owner would give up because of the activities of judges, procecutors, states lawyers and the lawyers of the defendants. Respondent analysis shows that many times lawyers has worked not for the interests of the clients in such kind of cases. Courts made desicions following emotions, corruption and other factors, incompatible with the valid law regarding Land Resform and the Civil Process Law. The analysis of the Supreme Court Cases show that in some cases courts didn't follow their own practice and legal rules, broke the law and Government's desicions concerning personal farming land's legal regulation. In this research 2 hypothesis are being raised. The first hypothesis suggests that some parts of the law concerning restitution of property in Lithuania have left as dead norms of the law, because were never implemented and used in real legal practice, if officials refused to follow those norms. The second hypothesis states, that the process was initially made controversial because of the valid law concerning fullfilling needs of the villagers distributing pieces of land of 2 hectares in the villages. It is also concluded, that according to political philosophy, such project had to collapse, as marxism is incompatible with liberalism, as well as public law gets into conflict with the private law. The results of the research suggest that even though the land was given to the third parties as the personal farming land, it is not a factor that can ban real land owner from the implementing his right of the restitution to such land property.

World sometimes is really strange! And Italy it's a typical country of the world, full of contradictions, in many fields. You can think easily to some of them: Italy is one of the countries with a larger number of Unesco heritage sites but Italian people always prefers to go abroad to spend their holidays instead then discover their country. Another one? The national consciousness it's absolutely no part of Italian way of life, at least if you make a comparison with other countries, like USA, Switzerland, Germany, in which the flag honours, the spirit to be part of a global one country (with a precise identity) is an integrant part of each individual mind. In Italy people recognize them like Italian only when the national football team plays the World Championship!Would you like to have another example of Italian citizens contradictions? Very easy… Please, ask to an Italian guy "Do you vote for Berlusconi?" The common answer is "Absolutely not". And you can believe to students or young people that historically are more on left side in politics. You can believe to working people, to blue collars that generally forecast their rights more protected by a left government. You can believe to old people that remember with no happiness Fascism period.But all, really all people, white collar, managers, shopkeeper, trader, housewives, will tell you "I do not vote for Berlusca" [Berlusca is the nickname of Silvio Berlusconi, done simply imitating the dialect of Milan, region in which the new Italian Prime Minister is born].And yet? Berlusconi, the magnate of media, has won for the third times in 14 years the national elections! And this time has been a real triumph like percentage, moreover considering that the coalition of Silvio this time had lost the party of Casini, the real center, so Silvio has won only with his party and with Lega Nord (Northern League, a former sort of separatism movement transformed in federalism movement). Unbelievable… or not?We can analyze the vote and thinking about:1) Italy from 2001 to 2006 has had the second Berlusconi government and began a period of big economic crisis, especially due to Euro money introduction. On top on this it's however necessary a consideration: many European countries have introduced Euro, but not all suffered that internal prices increasing, especially because many of them put some ad hoc measures, not done in Italy. 2) Nevertheless the Italian people dissatisfaction, in 2006 Romano Prodi won the elections (with his center-left coalition) for really few few votes. And, truth to tell, no one has never discovered if Prodi really won. In fact there has been many claims about votes calculation never definitively resolved.3) The period 2006-2008 has been a real disaster for Italian economy and all social classes have been very frustrated, also for some government decisions absolutely not aligned with a center-left coalition (taxes increasing for all social classes…), only in part due to a real necessity to improve the Italian government economy and sometimes taken only for non sense.4) After Prodi government debacle, Prodi declared to exit from the political scene and, behind him, the left and center-left begun some insider fighting that caused the birth of a great center-left party (that of Veltroni) and three minor left party. Veltroni got the direct support only of Di Pietro movement (Di Pietro was the magistrate that killed the first Italian republic in '94 discovering a big business and politics corruption).5) On the center-right and right side, Berlusconi and Fini (right) joined in a new movement and Lega Nord associated with them. The extreme right instead practically disappeared and Casini decided to remain alone.And so? It was easy to think that Italian people, burned by the last 2 years government, would have given confidence to center-right coalition, captained by Berlusconi.But in which way to not think to scandals of some Berlusconi guys in the past, of some promises never maintained, to some clowning impression in international meetings? The point is that there wasn't neither isn't a real alternative to Berlusconi or Verltroni!So we (Italian citizen) can only hope that Berlusconi could apply his perspicacity and intuition (that provide him to be a real best in class in business) in choosing the right men (Ministers) to guarantee a solid future to Italy. The secret is no Berlusconi, but his men and the freedom that they will have to act for the wellness of the country.The possibilities to improve the actual state of the economy, decrease percentage of unemployment, let people more satisfied are big, but the problems are also many! First of all infrastructures (a disaster now: road, high speed train, link to Sicily…), the Alitalia (the national airline, to be sold urgently), the criminality and the illegal immigration, the public health, the school system, the taxes too high… A solution?Try to have like model the Spain (that in 15 years has really had tangible progress) associated with the Italian imagination, like i.e. to promote a real tax federal system (like promised by Lega Nord to people) and to help South of Italy not with money but with projects that permit a real development, but also (if no one reach the goal) to delete any incentive to southern Italy and especially to government people.That's to say to consider politic goals like common management tasks, and politician salary like managers salary, with a relevant percentage depending from reaching or not business objectives… A dream? May be… but Berlusconi is considered a manager and like a magician in many fields… Corresponsal en TorinoItalia

The Country Opinion Survey in Myanmar assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in gaining a better understanding of how stakeholders in Myanmar perceive the WBG. It provides the WBG with systematic feedback from national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media, academia, the private sector, and civil society in Myanmar on 1) their views regarding the general environment in Myanmar; 2) their overall attitudes toward the WBG in Myanmar; 3) overall impressions of the WBG's effectiveness and results, knowledge work and activities, and communication and information sharing in Myanmar; and 4) their perceptions of the WBG's future role in Myanmar.

After decades of war, with a dilapidated infrastructure and millions of people dead, wounded or displaced, Vietnam could have been considered a hopeless case in economic development. Yet, it is now about to enter the ranks of middle-income countries. The obvious question is: How did this happen? This paper goes one step further, asking not which policies were adopted, but rather why they were adopted. This question is all the more intriguing because the process did not involve one group of individuals displacing another within the structure of power. To answer this question, the paper relies on the insights of those who were actually involved in the economic experiments, conceptual discussions, and political maneuvering that led to the adoption of key reforms. Especially, it builds on a series of long and regular conversations with H. E. the late Vo Van Kiet, one of Vietnam's leading figures. In doing so, it brings into the open the inside story of Doi Moi, a process that is not known by outsiders and remains opaque to most Vietnamese. The relevance of this exercise is not merely historical. Understanding how reforms were engineered may yield valuable lessons for other developing countries. It is also relevant for Vietnam, as two decades of rapid economic growth have resulted in dramatic changes in its economy and society. While praising the decision-making processes that allowed Vietnam to successfully emerge from poverty, the paper also explores the adjustments that could be needed for it to become an industrial country.

International audience ; This paper empirically examines which type of fiscal levies are environmental taxes, by analyzing how governments actually use them. The theoretical literature is polarized between two alternative interpretations of environmental taxes: the Pigouvian and the Leviathan hypotheses, each leading to alternative testable hypotheses. We test them on a sample where the analysts' discretionary evaluations are minimal, the EU-28 countries that committed themselves to correcting a negative environmental externality, the greenhouse gas emissions, by 2020. The estimates lend support to the strict Pigouvian hypothesis, while the Leviathan hypothesis appears less consistent with the data.

International audience ; This paper empirically examines which type of fiscal levies are environmental taxes, by analyzing how governments actually use them. The theoretical literature is polarized between two alternative interpretations of environmental taxes: the Pigouvian and the Leviathan hypotheses, each leading to alternative testable hypotheses. We test them on a sample where the analysts' discretionary evaluations are minimal, the EU-28 countries that committed themselves to correcting a negative environmental externality, the greenhouse gas emissions, by 2020. The estimates lend support to the strict Pigouvian hypothesis, while the Leviathan hypothesis appears less consistent with the data.

International audience ; This paper empirically examines which type of fiscal levies are environmental taxes, by analyzing how governments actually use them. The theoretical literature is polarized between two alternative interpretations of environmental taxes: the Pigouvian and the Leviathan hypotheses, each leading to alternative testable hypotheses. We test them on a sample where the analysts' discretionary evaluations are minimal, the EU-28 countries that committed themselves to correcting a negative environmental externality, the greenhouse gas emissions, by 2020. The estimates lend support to the strict Pigouvian hypothesis, while the Leviathan hypothesis appears less consistent with the data.