Projects

Recent projects

Post-crisis regulation of banks and its impact on economic activity in a small export-oriented economy

Czech Science Foundation

Frait, Jan; Schlossberger, Otakar; Konečný, Tomáš; Komárková, Zlatuše; Dlasková, Gabriela; Beneš, Vadim

The project responds to new framework for regulations of banks that is expected to emerge on the EU level in 2012-2013. The project will focus on the impacts of the framework on the interest and non-interest conditions and availability of credit and subsequently on the economic activity. Relative to the existing literature it will look at the small and export-oriented European economies in which majority of external funding is obtained in a form of bank credit and in which the foreign-owned banks have a strong position. The focus of the project will be not only the new regulations regarding the bank capital, but also changes in funding liquidity regulations. Besides this, the changes in international accounting standards (especially impairment
of bank assets), new approaches to reducing risks of systemically important institutions, and upcoming EU financial crisis framework will have to be taken into account. On top of it, the assessment of regulatory impacts will be carried out in a way that reflects underlying post-crisis changes in global macroeconomic environment.

The international transmission of shocks in the context of macro-financial linkages

Czech Science Foundation

Komárek, Luboš; Benecká, Soňa; Novotný, Filip; Komárková, Zlatuše; Motl, Martin; Kvapilová, Eliška

This project aims to investigate the transmission and impact of international shocks on the Czech economy and whether this process changes in times of financial instability. Allowing for interaction between macroeconomic and financial variables in frameworks like Global VAR and the Macro-financial model – both of which will be developed – it is possible to decompose the effect of foreign financial shocks on the small open economy in two elements: financial contagion and trade shock. This may help to define the optimal policy response to international developments and see how potential buffers to external shocks (e.g. exchange rate) respond to financial instability abroad. For scope of comparison, several frameworks will be considered and special shocks (like oil price or sovereign shock) will be treated in separate empirical models, extending the current literature
with time-varying dimensions and/or non-linearity due to financial distress. Similarly, models to forecast the exchange rate will be enriched with financial stress measures.

Changes in the Way of Life in the Hlučín Region Territorial Community

Czech Science Foundation

Zich, František; Matějů, Petr; Roubal, Ondřej; Anýžová, Petra

Despite its close connection with globalization, modernization process does not take the same paths in all social segments and environments. Its effects on way of life may clash with traditional, conservative values, often historically rooted in regional subcultures and generations. Indispensable for sociological understanding of modernization effects on way of life is research aimed at explaining clashes of modernization with strong identities, above all regional ones. The project will focus on the Hlučín region, one of the last territorial communities in the Czech Republic. It underwent a specific historical development and has strong traditional culture and conservative value orientation. Quantitative (comparative) and qualitative surveys intended to identify the influence of general and specific modernization processes on changes in value orientations and way of life. It will help to understand the general and specific aspects of modernization of way of life, mainly its shaping under the strong influence of the above identities.

Increasing the effectiveness of policies and proceedings to detect money laundering and suppression of criminal structures financing in the sector

of financial services providers

Ministry of the Interior

Schlossberger, Otakar; Blahová, Naďa; Brada, Jaroslav; Budík, Josef; Hradec, Milan; Korbasová, Petra; Šugár, Ján; Vavrušková, Adriana;

One of the most common methods of money laundering is the effort to use subjects in the financial sector. Products and technologies that are currently used in this sector begin to differ from the conventional technology for the financial market products provided to their clients in the past. The project and its outputs will be based on this fact and will focus on defining new opportunities and ways how to detect efforts to legitimize the proceeds of money laundering by these approaches.

Completed projects

Addressing the loss of income due to temporary incapacity, pregnancy and maternity in the EU

Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs

Krebs, Vojtěch; Mertl, Jan; Kubátová, Květa; Čejka, Robin; Horecký, Jiří

In the Czech Republic, just like in most other European countries, there is a intense debate about the extent to which insuring and securing roles of health insurance should be exerted. During the second half of the 20^th century majority of the world’s social security systems moved towards greater universality and generosity. The percentual ratio of covered persons and generosity of benefits has steadily increased. Yet from the 80s onwards, a reverse movement in social security systems and health insurance policies can be detected (Dismantling the Welfare State, Pierson). Effects of these trends in developed states vary greatly and depends on a whole range of conditions. Besides specific circumstances in nation states, such as their particular political, historical and social developments, some dependency on the countries’ categorization within a typology of welfare states can be found (Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Esping-Andersen). While in some OECD member states this reverse trend was manifested only in benefit reductions, in others the system was downsized not only on the side of benefits, but also in numbers of employees covered. A hypothesis is proposed about a general connection of these developments with an extent of social partners’ participation on system administration.

The range of persons covered by the health insurance, securing of substitute income by the employer within the first fourteen days of a temporary sick-leave, existence of a guard period, methods of calculating benefits and other characteristics of health insurance system are in the Czech Republic rectified by the Decree 187/2006 On health insurance, as amended by later legal adjustments and the Decree 589/1992 On social security insurance and benefits for state employment policies, as amended by later legal adjustments. In a connection with the pertinent legal changes during the last few years and their consequences for the Czech Republic, all related policies were discussed in some detail by both politicians and experts.

European integration and free movement of workforce within the EU puts forward a novel demand on approximation or even unification of entitlement conditions and their extent. In this respect, an identification of main trends across system particularities in the EU is required, with a special attention paid to their acceptance into the system in order to minimize cases where discrepancies lead to disqualification or penalization of some persons within the health insurance. Legal developments in developed states during the last years could serve as an inspiration to solve similar problems within health insurance in the Czech Republic.

Assessment of remuneration system of employees, funds for their salaries are paid wholly or largely from publ. sources, a comparison of the Czech salary system with remuneration systems of similar ranges of employees and employers in selected EU States

Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs

Krebs, Vojtěch; Mertl, Jan;

Subject of research is a system of remuneration of civil servants whose funds for the salaries are wholly or largely reimbursed by public budgets. Researchers will not deal with issues of remuneration of constitutional officials and workers in service relationships. The result of the project will be a comprehensive study recording the problems, strengths and weaknesses of the Czech salary system in terms of its development over the past 15 years from the perspective of international comparisons, and proposals for adjustments of the Czech remuneration system of employees whose salaries are paid by public budgets.

The theory of redistribution systems

Valenčík, Radim; Sekerka, Bohuslav; Budinský, Petr; Wawrosz, Petr; Vysloužilová, Hana; Benesch, Jiří; Vávra, Pavel

Czech Science Foundation

The theory of redistribution systems is an original and prospect microeconomic area of development of a play
theory at the level of basic research with practical applications and own mathematical appliances. It examines an
influence of redistribution inside various social systems on their effectiveness in such cases when the edistribution has been caused by origin of coalitions inside them. The basis of the theory was specified within the frame of a project of GA CR Investment into social capital and effectiveness (2006 - 2008) a solver of which is the proposer of this project. The aim is elaboration of mathematical means and consequently also a computer model, completion of the ground of the theory of redistribution systems as a methodologically consistent theoretical discipline, its application for a disclosure of general relations of distribution of salaries in organizations, development of analytical tools enabling modelling of tendencies of development of economic systems, providing domestic and foreign experts with information on applicable policies of this theory.

New Approaches to an Optimalization of Budgetary and Fiscal Policy with Emphasis on the Fiscal Discipline

Hamerníková, Bojka; Dvořák, Pavel; Kubátová, Květa; Láchová, Lenka; Ochrana František; Štěpánek Pavel

Czech Science Foundation

The need of search for new approaches to optimization of budgetary policy is a reaction to a growth of public expenditures and the risk resulting from thereof. The project will target the area of public revenues, expenditures, and the so-called relative weight of public debt with the aim of analyzing the basic findings of the global economic research as well as with the aim of analyzing factors affecting the situation in these areas, it will review the dangers resulting from maintaining this situation and propose solutions to existing problems. During the research secondary analysis of academic sources, empiric analyses of the current situation, methods and analyses using statistical and econometric methods, optimization methods will be used. In order to find possibilities and scope of application of solutions, the comparative analysis on international level will be used as well as secondary analysis of the decisive sphere, a model of result-oriented budgeting for state budget will be proposed, and recommendations will be formulated for decisive authorities.

Development and perspective of dependence and need of long-term social-health care and social services in the period 2012-2020 in population over 65 in terms of health status

Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs

Krebs, Vojtěch; Mertl, Jan; Mottl, Patrik

The project aims to: an analysis of the impacts of health status of people aged 65 years on the needs for social services and long-term care; a prognosis of needs development in different age groups by 2020; a provision of an objective medical documentation in this area that could be used for any corrections of social services system; the evaluation of changes in the structure of care allowance recipients; projections of results of the analysis of the health status of people aged 65 and the expected changes to changes in the structure of the care allowance recipients; projection of results of this analysis in the criteria for assessing of the dependence rate and contingent proposals for their adjustment.

Investments in Social Capital and Efficiency

Valenčík, Radim; Čechák, Vladimír; Zich, František; Helísek, Mojmír; Wawrosz, Petr

Czech Science Foundation

Social science is now very interested in topic of investments into social capital and construction of social networks (see publications written by P. Bourdieu, M. Castells, J. Coleman, R. Putnam, and others). It is caused by the fact that human capital can be used only if man becomes a member some social network.
Czech science plays sufficient attention investments into human capital. However systematic research, which is interested in investments into social capital and mutual dependence these investments and investments into social capital from the point of view of their Pareto efficiency, has not existed in Czech Republic yet. From this point of view the relations among rival and collaboration networks and the role of educational process is especially significant. These relations and other topics can be researched by using theory of games.
The main aims of research: 1. Describe the most important social networks in Czech Republic establishing of which is influenced by investment into education 2. Identify relations among these networks and global social networks 3. Make a conclusion about the influence of education on cooperative character of social networks.

Accession of the Czech Republic to the euro-zone: the risks connected with the adherence to the exchange rate convergence criterion

Helísek, Mojmír; Kaňková, Eva; Šaroch, Stanislav; Pazour, Michal

Czech Science Foundation

The accession to the euro zone is expected in 2009-2010. The exchange rate convergence criterion requires that a stable exchange rate in ERM II system be maintained for at least 2 years. The aim of the project is to assess the risks related to maintaining the exchange rate criterion with emphasis on currency crises. The starting point will be the evaluating of the exchange rate criterion adequacy and the expected possibility of modifying it, as well as the analysis of currency crises. The transition from floating to a fixed exchange rate and setting a central exchange rate to euro at the time of joining the ERM II will also be evaluated. The main problems are the circumstances leading to reversals in capital flow and pressures for devaluation. Investigating these causes of currency crises also covers recognising them as timely warning signals enabling the authorities of economic policy to intervene. Analogies with the development of the European monetary system (1992-93 crises, fixing up exchange rates in 1997-98) and with the development of exchange rates of currencies in the joining countries (the Czech crisis 1997) will be researched. The project is scheduled into two years. Its partial outputs will be in the form of articles in professional press and a seminar. The final output will be a brochure published by the establishment of the applicant.

Theoretical and methodological basis for analyses of financial markets regulation and supervision systems

Kubíček, Antonín; Pavlát, Vladislav; Záškodný, Přemysl; Křivohlávek, Václav; Budík, Josef; Böhm, Arnošt; Jakub, František;

Czech Science Foundation

The Project is aimed at formulating theoretical and methodological starting points for analyses of financial markets regulation and supervision systems. Theoretical research of these problems is still at the very beginning all over the world.
The aim of this research project is firstly, to define basic theoretical and methodological starting points for analyses of financial markets regulation and supervision systems, secondly, to define the main interdependencies between the actual stage of financial markets and a corresponding regulation and supervision system enabling optimal and efficient degree of these activities at a tolerable cost, and thirdly, to define quantitative and qualitative criteria of an efficient function of financial markets regulation and supervision and to define the optimal structure of organisation of the regulationary and supervisory activities as well.
Creating a theoretical and methodological basis for these analyses will allow for a desirable objectivisation of decision making processi concerning financial markets regulation and supervision systems.

Effectiveness of Investing into Human Capital

Valenčík, Radim; Čechák, Vladimír; Šenkýřová, Bohuslava

Czech Science Foundation

Effectiveness of Investing into Human Capital: This project starts from an assumption that effectiveness of investing into human capital is conditioned by deleting three imperfections of the capital market (predominantly in the sense of product development and institutional environment). It results into answer to the following questions: 1/ How the process eliminating the imperfections of capital market in the area of investing into human capital proceeds and what possibilities are being offered. 2/ Where and how the increase of effectiveness of investing into human capital manifests and can manifests itself. 3/ What role the increase of investing into human capital plays in transformation of an economic system. Answer to these questions will be given: - On the level of retrospective (that is in the form of description and process analysis, which take place in the actual economic system) and on the level of perspective (i.e. in the form of future development prediction in this area).