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This dissertation studies economic aspects of commuting. It explores, on one hand the mechanism of self-selection into long-distance commuting, return to commuting and, on the other hand, the factors that determine exits from commuting. After investigation of the main bulk of literature about commuting, the research addresses the selectivity of commuters from ex-ante earnings and ability distributions (Chapter 1), monetary return to the commuting distance (Chapter 2) and factors that affects the probability of various exits from commuting spells (Chapter 3) with particular focus on the role of commuting distance and earnings. The analysis uses extensive longitudinal dataset with the precise geocoded information on the individuals' places of work and residence which is based on the administrative registers of Statistics Sweden. The first research paper, titled "Self-selection into long-distance commuting on earnings and latent characteristics", focuses on understanding the nature of selectivity, as it is important factor in interpretation the results of empirical research. In our study we consider two potential dimensions of self-selection: the selection based on latent characteristics and the selection based on the measured earnings before starting long distance commuting. Both dimensions are captured using single model allowing identification of testable hypothesis about the simultaneous selection based on the previous earnings and latent characteristics. In order to conduct our analysis, we apply extensive administrative geocoded dataset with precise individual information including the coordinates of the places of residence and work. We demonstrate the negative selection of commuters from the ex-ante earning distribution. In the same time, our results indicate that the individuals with unobserved traits associated with higher earnings are also more likely engage into the long distance commuting. The second research paper, titled "Return to commuting distance in Sweden", aims to estimate the magnitude of the economic return to commuting and compare the relative returns received by men and women. We apply fixed effect models to deal with individual unobserved heterogeneity that could potentially generate an endogeneity issue. We use a large dataset based on Administrative Registers for Sweden, which gathers detailed information on residential and job location, and indirectly on commuting. Results indicate that individuals receive relatively small compensations for commuting, with higher returns in agglomerations. Moreover, the relative return as a fraction of hourly wage is approximately similar across genders. This last finding provides evidence of similar bargaining powers for both men and women. In our third paper, titles "Hazard from commuting: the role of earnings and distance. The case of Sweden", we estimate the effect of earnings and commuting distance on the probability of exiting from a duration spell of commuting using a discrete time competing risk model. The data set, used in analysis, is based on the Swedish administrative registers from Statistics Sweden and the Swedish Tax Board and covers the period between 2000 and 2009. The problem of endogeneity of individual earnings and commuting distance in determining the length of work-related commuting spells is addressed using two-stage residual inclusion (2SRI). The estimates reveal that the earnings paid by firms have a positive impact on the probability of migration and a negative impact on the probability of job separation. At the same time, greater distance increases the probabilities of migrating closer to the place of work, re-employment closer to the place of residence and separation to non-employment while decreasing the probabilities of migration further away from the place of work and re-employment further away from the place of residence. The results are revealed to be robust in the samples of married and unmarried individuals.

This paper deals the overview of characteristics and prices of Biomass. The agriculture in Hungary has big potential in energy production from biomass. Economic aspects of the utilizing the Biomass for energy production is very important. The price of biomass production mainly depends on internal agricultural preferences, on biomass transformation prices and the government biomass utilization support.

Public debt is one of the crucial forms of public revenue necessary to achieve some stabilization goals of fiscal policy, such as stable inflation, full employment, trade balance, economic growth, economic development, and primary securing finances for states public expenditures. It is defined as an extraordinary source for financing public expenditures, but above all it is considered for effective instrument of fiscal policy in accomplishing economic growth and development. Public debt is considered as accumulation of various forms of loans, which are normally realized by the state for the implementation of economic and fiscal policy. Continuity in emission of public debt is immanent in the determination of achieving high levels of investments in various areas of public sector, such as health care, infrastructure, education, etc. With the economic growth and higher demands for various public goods, the state is faced with the problem of securing additional sources of finance that would satisfy the peoples needs and boost the economy additionally. However, if the state decides to reduce the levels of public debt, then the government would discontinue the emissions of public debt and use the budget surplus to pay out the bond holders. Also, very important thing is the source of public debt, internal or external, which could leave the country without the needed capital to secure economic development. Therefore, the productive usage of the borrowed money is essential to have justification for continuing with policy of deficit finance. Contrary of that, the unproductive use of public debt would be risky and bring the state closer to over borrowing and finally bankruptcy.

Reprinted from Political Science Quarterly, v. 26, no. 4. ; Mode of access: Internet.

"Reprinted from Political science quarterly, vol. XVI, no.4, and col. XVII, no.1" ; Mode of access: Internet.

Energy security is becoming an increasingly important issue in the energy domain. However, from an economic point of view, many questions related to energy security are still unclear: from its definition and the costs associated to insecurity, to the design of policies intended to reduce it. In this paper we first illustrate why the security of energy supply is and will continue to be a major concern in the next few decades. We subsequently attempt, with a review of the limited literature on these matters, to provide an answer to some of the economic concepts associated to this issue and to the application of corrective public policies in the field. ; peer-reviewed

To ensure that the resources of the health care sector are used effectively, new technologies need to be evaluated before implementation to examine if they generate health outcomes at an acceptable cost. This information can be collected by performing health economic evaluations in which the costs and health outcomes of different technologies are compared. To estimate the effect on health care budgets, there is also a need for information about the prevalence of the specific disease. Health outcomes in health economic evaluations are often measured in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), which are calculated by multiplying the remaining life years after an intervention by a weight representing the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) during those years. This thesis aims to provide deeper knowledge of the health economic aspects of diabetic retinopathy (DR), an eye complication that affects patients with diabetes and may in the worst case lead to blindness. The focus is on three empirical and two methodological health economic research questions. The empirical research areas cover prevalence, costs, and HRQoL related to patients with DR. The methodological research questions explore the performance of different methods for estimation of QALY weights. This is of interest since it has been argued that the most common methods for estimating QALY weights may not capture all relevant vision-related aspects of quality of life. The analyses comprehend the validity of different methods for estimating QALY weights among patients with DR and if the results of one of the specific methods for estimating QALY weights, the time trade-off (TTO) exercise, are affected by patients' subjective life expectancy (SLE). The empirical results demonstrate that DR is seen in approximately 40% and 30% of patients with type I and type II diabetes respectively, indicating that the prevalence of DR has decreased in both of these patient groups. Healthcare costs vary considerably between different severity levels of the disease, being estimated at €26, €257, €216, and €433 per patient per year for background retinopathy, proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), diabetic macular oedema (DMO), and PDR combined with DMO respectively. Blindness due to DR is associated with an increased use of transportation services, caregiving services, and assistive technologies as well as productivity losses. This suggests that preventing the progression of DR may lower healthcare costs. Patients with vision impairment due to DR have lowered HRQoL in various dimensions, but the diagnosis of DR in itself has only a limited effect on HRQoL. The results on the methodological research questions show that different methods for estimating QALY weights seem to give different results. In comparison to EQ-5D, the Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI-3) is the most sensitive method for detecting differences in QALY weights due to DR, and if decisions are to be made based on values from the general public, it can be recommended for use in cost-utility analyses of interventions directed at DR. Neither of the direct methods, TTO and the visual analogue scale, seems to be sensitive to differences in visual function, and more research is needed concerning the role of vision in people's responses to the TTO exercises. In TTO exercises with time frames based on actuarial life expectancy, the patients' SLE has an effect on their willingness to trade off years for full health. Thus, applying time frames deviating from patients' SLE may result in biased QALY weights. Such bias may appear stronger within patient populations than within the general public. In conclusion, this thesis offers estimates for prevalence, costs, and QALY weights that can be used in economic evaluations of interventions directed at DR and as benchmarks for future DR research in order to follow up consequences of changes in diabetes care. In addition, it demonstrates that the choice of method for estimating QALY weights may have an impact on whether an intervention is considered cost-effective.

The purpose of this thesis is to attempt to survey and analyse incomes policies in Western countries which have instituted them and to try to explain the economic problems that confront economies which apply them with the prime object of checking inflation. It is, moreover, important to consider whether the disappointing results flowed from policies which were basically inappropriate for the economies for which they were designed, or whether they were due to a lack of determination by the authorities to carry them out, in view of public hostility towards this kind of government intervention. Incomes policies can, of course, be taken to include many types of direct and indirect government controls and methods of distributing the national product. It is intended, however, to limit the survey to a consideration of their specific objective of controlling inflation, as distinct from their objectives such as reducing the disparity in incomes within a community or the social welfare aspects of pensions and unemployment. We shall, therefore be dealing in the main with incomes policies in the narrower sense "of the relationship between changes in real income and changes in the aggregate of money incomes taking place in the economy at the same".

Albania has been partner of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe and the EU Stabilisation and Association process for the Western Balkan from the beginning. European integration requires very fundamental and far reaching reforms. Albania has faced the challenge, but in many cases reform measures are not yet properly implemented. Macroeconomic performances have improved recently, and there are some encouraging signs that foreign business might be ready to invest in the country. Yet uncertainties and deficiencies in the political system remain a major risk. ; Albanien ist Partner im Stabilitätspakt für Südosteuropa und im Stabilisierungs- und Assoziierungsprozess der EU. Die europäische Integration verlangt grundlegende Reformen, die Albanien zum Teil eingeleitet hat, die aber häufig in Justiz und Verwaltung noch nicht umgesetzt wurden. Der sich abzeichnende Wirtschaftsaufschwung und ausländische Investitionsbereitschaft könnten durch politische Unsicherheiten in Gefahr geraten.

Behavior and human action must be understood as an expression of the needs and desires of man that apply in social, economic. Law, as an instrument of human life, cannot be separated from various aspects around it, both economic, political, social and cultural beings. This study attempts to analyse socio-political and economic aspects of law making and change. The results of this study reveal that there are various realities in legal change, such as social reality at macro-objective level, social reality at macro-subjective level, social reality at micro-objective level, and social reality at micro-subjective level. These four levels of reality will be the focus of observation on various shifting issues in the legal policy aspect. ; peer-reviewed

Since the early 1990s, when the Czech Republic has transformed into the main immigration destination among the V4 countries, can be identified several periods and milestones, which not only influenced the patterns of the international migration, but also the formation of the Czech migration policy. The aim of the chapter is to summarise and discuss recent developments in migration trends on general level, the demographic and socio-economic situation and migration governance in the period of 1989-2018. The chapter finds, that the trends characterising the current Czech migration policy, in contrast to high demand for labour force, is an increased effort to manage migration through stricter and more selective access to opportunities for foreigners. The restrictive trends in migration policies have been accompanied by explicit attempts to securitise migration in both, bureaucratic and political fields. This trend got most flagrant during the so-called migration crisis of 2015. Despite heated political debates, irregular migration flows affected the Czech Republic rather marginally, as the country was not a destination, but primarily a transit area for migrants and asylum seekers heading to Western and Northern Europe. ; Od počátku 90. let, kdy se Česká republika transformovala na hlavní imigrační cíl mezi zeměmi V4, lze identifikovat několik období a milníků, které ovlivnily nejen vzorce mezinárodní migrace, ale také formování české migrační politiky. Cílem této kapitoly je shrnout a diskutovat nejnovější vývoj migračních trendů na obecné úrovni, demografickou a sociálně-ekonomickou situaci a správu migrace v období 1989–2018. Kapitola shledává, že trendy charakterizující současnou českou migrační politiku, na rozdíl od vysoké poptávky po pracovní síle, jsou zvýšeným úsilím o řízení migrace prostřednictvím přísnějšího a selektivnějšího přístupu k příležitostem pro cizince. Omezující trendy v migrační politice byly doprovázeny výslovnými pokusy o sekuritizaci migrace v byrokratické i politické oblasti. Tento trend byl nejviditelnější během tzv. migrační krize roku 2015. I přes vyhrocené politické debaty se neregulérní migrace ČR dotýkala spíše okrajově, země nebyla cílovou destinací, ale spíše tranzitním prostorem migrantů a žadatelů o azyl ze severní Afriky a Blízkého východu, směřujících západní a severní Evropy.

Victims of events including road accidents, workplace injuries and medical negligence are compensated in the Irish legal system through once-off lump-sum awards. In cases where victims have suffered incapacitating injuries but have extended life expectancy, these awards include provision for loss of earnings and life-long medical care that can run into millions. Where liability is contested, significant litigation costs also arise, but even where liability is admitted, the determination of quantum is complex, requiring evidence about future medical care costs, loss of earnings, life expectancy and the returns to be expected from the investment of the lump sum award. The once-off lump sum system of compensating successful plaintiffs has been criticised over the years from both legal and economic perspectives, and change was recommended in a Law Reform Commission report in 1996. Mr. Justice Nicholas Kearns, President of the High Court, established recently a working group to consider the issues involved and charged it to report by November 2010. Since 1995, courts in the United Kingdom have been free to award periodic payments, as distinct from once-off lump sums, where the parties agree, and since the passage of the 2003 Courts Act, whether or not they agree. It is opportune to consider whether periodic payments should be introduced in Ireland and this paper reviews the principal economic aspects of the issue. The paper also considers whether a move to periodic payments would require changes to the government bond market, specifically the issuance of long-dated index-linked Exchequer debt.

despite the extreme urgency of lifelong learning in the era of knowledge economy, employers in Latvia's regions are not active investors in the training of their employees, and individuals are not eager to actively educate themselves throughout their lives, mentioning the expensiveness of lifelong learning – unlike in the majority of EU Member States – as the key reason. Therefore, one can identify the discrepancy between the political priorities and the actual situation. The author, following the idea of Latvia's scientist A.Jaunzems to perceive knowledge purely economically – as a product of the education market – developed this idea further by examining the knowledge market in Latvia's regions in regard to its institutional "casing", i.e. lifelong learning. The research findings show that the regional specifics of lifelong learning in Latvia are determined by the fact that Latvia's regions are in different stages of economic development.

Doing business in Albania, as a country that has suffered by a long economic transition, is not so easy. The most crucial agents of economic game: government and business are going to be in the bad situations that they ever been. The role of state is so decisive. By the status that it have, is it duty to take fiscal and monetary policies in order to create a favorable climate of business. Especially, regards of competitive environment. Something is sure: if the business is in good condition, also the government will be and will perform its duties in high level. But, how is the reality and what steps has undertake the government by this point of view, will be the focus of this article. For this reason, a questionnaire has been created and distributed in the most great area of the country, in order to get more information and to evaluate the probably correlation that must be exists among the variables that explain the situation. The econometric model will be created with the aim to stress which is the most effective macroeconomic policy, fiscal or monetary policy, under the current economic situation in Albania. The aim of article is to examine which is the macroeconomic policy that contributes in the improvement of firm's situation. DOI:10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n1p279

The harmful effects of smoking on population health have long been shown. More recently, the exposure to second hand smoke (SHS) has also been proved to have detrimental health effects (U.S.DHHS, 2006). In order to improve the public health, governments introduce policies aimed at reducing smoking and exposure to SHS. The aim of this thesis is to analyse some of the economic aspects of these policies in Ireland. ; TARA (Trinity?s Access to Research Archive) has a robust takedown policy. Please contact us if you have any concerns: rssadmin@tcd.ie