Suchergebnisse

Data on the economic development of OECD-Member countries show that tax structures in all OECD countries are changing, but one constant feature is that the share of taxes in GDP is rising. The aim of this article is to discus the main reasons for the increased tax burden in OECD countries, the difficulties of international comparisons of tax burden, & the conditions for tax burden reduction in the Czech Republic. An international comparison is difficult because national economic indicators can be distorted by methods used for measuring GDP on the one hand & by tax-revenues assessment on the other. For example, some countries tax/GDP ratios are underestimated on account of considerable & hidden 'tax expenditures.' Czech tax policy is limited by the coordination & harmonization with, & the fiscal objectives of its accession to, the European Union. 2 Tables, 24 References. Adapted from the source document.

We analyse potential sources of internal imbalances, specifically as regards private and public indebtedness. The combination of a high public debt and increasing private sector indebtedness have been a source of concern in the perspective of the funding of the economy in examined countries. We utilize the detailed financial accounts as an analytical framework for revealing the development of private sector's indebtedness in 18 EU countries in the period 1995-2012. Ratio of private debt (non-financial corporations, households and non-profit institutions serving households) to GDP was steadily increasing till 2009 with a decrease in the following years. After the decomposition of the private sector debt several facts stand out. Highly indebted, on the average, are households in Denmark and The Netherlands. Postsocialist countries have still low indebtedness, but are catching up. In panel regressions (fixed effects) the dependent variable is overlapping two-and free-year forward looking averages. The control variables are those usually used in growth equations a la R. Barro. We have utilised also instrumental variables (Pooled IV Two-stage EGLS) and 3 years averages for all variables to capture medium-run impacts. Having analysed the impacts of different private debt variables on the growth rate of real GDP we assert that the impact has been negative and statistically significant in almost all growth regressions. Adapted from the source document.

The article aims to introduce the phenomenon of public diplomacy, highlighting the key features of the concept. The author is looking into why public diplomacy is worth of the attention of academics, pointing out the reasons for considering public diplomacy a relevant & legitimate segment of foreign policy -- and not just a trendy phrase. The article presents a brief overview of the development of public diplomacy so far, identifying the main reasons for public diplomacy being an important item on today's foreign policy agenda. Seeking to clarify what public diplomacy is & what its implications are, the author highlights some core features of public diplomacy & their temporal & thematic change. The article also touches upon the relationship between public diplomacy & propaganda, branding, international cultural relations & traditional diplomacy. The author concludes with effective public diplomacy strategies & preconditions for its further development. Adapted from the source document.

The long-term sustainability of the public finance in the context of population ageing is becoming a hot topic in most of the European countries including the Czech Republic. Moreover the Czech population will be one of the oldest in the world according to the forecasts of different institutions (UN, OECD, etc.). It poses challenge for the Czech pension security scheme. This paper presents possible scenarios of the future development & illustrates future fiscal impacts of the ageing assuming a preservation of the current Czech pension security scheme in the period up to 2050. The analysis is based on a detailed one-year age structure. This allows us to simulate the influence of the changes in component parameters of the current scheme on its future situation (for example, changes in retirement age limits). The main conclusion is that there is a rather small impact of these parameters changes on the expected future imbalance of the Czech pension system. Therefore a more fundamental reform of the current pension system should be considered. Tables, Graphs, References. Adapted from the source document.

The paper explains the theory of bureaucracy developed by William A. Niskanen. While sociologist Max Weber's analysis treats bureaucrats as "eunuchs" or automatic machines responsible for public well-being, Niskanen tries to apply standard neoclassical economic models to explain the behavior of bureaucracy as a whole. With this background, he concludes that the bureaucracy will concentrate on bargaining processes with the sponsor & not on improving the quality of its services to the public. This is a simple explanation of why the bureaucratic organization provides systematically worse products & services to its customers than does the standard private firm operating on the market. 19 References. Adapted from the source document.

It is always difficult to define the one & only measure of poverty, as there are different concepts of poverty based on a number of welfare indicators. The paper discuses main approaches to individual welfare measurement. A measure of individual welfare in the concept of relative deprivation is proposed. Three dimensions of relative deprivation are considered (economic strain, inability to afford certain items, & housing). The measure is based on multiplicative approach & thus is more sensitive to changes & differences in data than measures based on additive approach. The measure reflects the complex nature of households' relative deprivation & is applied to Slovak EU SILC 2005-2008 microdata in order to analyze the level of poverty in Slovakia in the concept of relative deprivation. Three different poverty lines are applied to the data & results are compared. Level of poverty in terms of relative deprivation is decreasing in Slovakia over time. Using the proposed approach, the results strongly depend on the number of components included in each dimension, as well as the components itself. In accordance with economic changes in the society, in the further research reappraisal of certain components could be a matter of discussion in order to reflect the present situation. Adapted from the source document.

This article is focused on the composition & development of the so-called Scandinavian approach to economic policy. The first part describes its three main posts, this is labor market, public sector, & social equality. Two main streams of Swedish labor-market policy are centralized wage bargaining managed by the Rehn-Meidner model under the motto "equal wage for equal work," which was transformed into "equal wage" & the so-called active labor-market policy. The second part deals with macroeconomic policy & progressive market regulation & competition obstacles, & the third part introduces the Swedish tax system with its highly progressive tax rates & its 1985 & 1991 tax reform. 2 Tables, 9 Graphs, 27 References. Adapted from the source document.

The Individual Action Plan (IAP) is an Active Labour Market Policy measure that should be used by local public employment service offices. It is an active & preventive tool targeted at the young & long-term unemployed. In this paper we focus on identifying both its officially prescribed goals at the supranational & national level & on its real operational goals at the local level in the case of the Czech Republic. Identically to other EU states, we observe a high level of goal modification (i.e. regional policy discretion) in the Czech Republic. The results of the research are: (1) a typology of IAP's operational (& related individual access) goals, & (2) the observation that the IAP in the Czech Republic is modified due to a particular bureaucratic & professional approach. Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.

Gradual narrowing of the gap between consumer & investment demand was one of major achievements of 2003, supporting the long-term sustainability of Czech economic growth. In the first half of 2004, industry & construction witnessed strong growth, retail trade showing a considerable slowdown. Growth in industry has continued to be more rapid in the sector of foreign controlled companies. After a slight weakening of deflation tendencies in the third quarter of 2003, last quarter of 2003 & first half of 2004 confirmed a resurgence of inflation. Growth of industrial prices was more rapid than the growth of consumer ones, predominantly due to increasing world prices of oil & metals. The labour market & public finance continue to be the main macroeconomic problems of the Czech Republic. The improvement may come only after adoption of fundamental reforms in both these areas. 9 Tables, 5 Graphs, 6 References. Adapted from the source document.

The article aims to introduce the model of public diplomacy in the conception of small states, highlighting the key features which fulfill the idea of public diplomacy promoted by these small states. The article looks into how these characteristics are reflected in public diplomacy strategies. The author examines which concrete components of these strategies have direct connection to the public diplomacy model of small states, how strongly these differences are evident in plans for strategies & how deeply these differences can influence the final form of the strategies. In its last part the article also touches on the practice of public diplomacy in the Czech Republic through discussions of key documents, tools used in public diplomacy & the development of institutions. The author tries to reach a conclusion as to whether & how deeply the contemporary practice in the Czech Republic corresponds to the public diplomacy model of small states. Adapted from the source document.

The article presents an analysis of the performance of regional governments -- the institutions representing the self- governing regions in the Czech Republic. The authors try to answer the question of whether regional governments function similarly or whether they vary in terms of performance, & if they do vary, how structured & how large are these differences. After a review of the position occupied by the regions in the Czech public administration system, & after assessing the ways in which regional government performance can be understood & measured & the accessibility of necessary data, indicators are proposed & used to create an aggregate index of regional government performance. An analysis based on these indicators shows that there are considerable differences between regional governments in terms of the structure & the level of their performance. Based on the performance index it was possible to distinguish regions with above- average, average, & below- average regional government performance. The territorial distribution of these groups & some other factors confirm the validity of these measurements.

The Czech Republic is going to face ageing of its population. It will affect the economy in many ways. The pension system is one of them. This paper provides a view on possibilities how to insure long-term stability of the pension system in the Czech Republic using a mix of pay-as-you-go & fully funded system. Simulations are based on OLG model, long-term demographic forecast & limits of fiscal policy stemming from the necessity to fulfill Maastricht criteria & The Stability & Growth Pact. Those obligations creates a frontier for plausible solutions. Results suggest that it is possible to find a solution for mixed system providing more favorable conditions than purely parametric changes of PAYG. Taking into account fiscal limits, the contribution rate to the FF pillar would be similar to the rates in other CEE countries where pension reform already started. Tables, Figures. Adapted from the source document.