Acta Oeconomica Pragensia, 2013 (vol. 21), issue 1

Human Capital Quality and Economic Growth

Rudolf Kubík

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2013, 21(1):3-12 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.389  

The topic of the relationship between human capital and economic growth has been intensively examined in empirical studies since the 1980s. Although the positive impact of education and human capital on growth has been repeatedly confirmed, there are still doubts about the strength and probable inverse causality of the relationship. The quality of human capital is frequently mentioned in the empirical literature as an important factor which can help to understand and properly determine the link. The quality of human capital is a key focus of this paper. It tests and confirms the hypothesis that the quality is an important factor which significantly...

The Independence of the European Central Bank

Matej Šandor

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2013, 21(1):13-25 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.390  

The independence of central banks is a hot topic. In connection with the ongoing financial crisis, the media often come with concerns that central banks might be influenced by political elites. These considerations apply both to central banks of EU Member States and the European Central Bank. The aim of this paper is to prove or disprove the hypothesis of limited independence of the ECB. The main reason to focus primarily on the ECB is due to its leadership within the European System of Central Banks as well as due to the fact that any interference in its activities would affect mainly the functioning of the ESCB. The paper is divided into three parts....

Analysis of the Capital Market Via Stochastic Dominance and Multi-Criteria Interactive Method

Adam Borovička

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2013, 21(1):26-45 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.391  

Two levels can be identified in the article. The first one is related to a theoretical introduction to the known stochastic dominance approach and the interactive multi-objective programming method; in the second we apply the aforesaid quantitative approaches to making an "optimal" portfolio structure of shares funds. We use the draft of stochastic dominance for a reduction in a relatively huge set of investment opportunities. The application of the stochastic dominance principle is determined by the stochastic character of the studied problem. The yield rate of shares funds is stated as a random variable. We also apply the Monte Carlo method in the...

A Few Notes on the Issues of Cultural Property Valuation

Eva Kislingerová

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2013, 21(1):46-59 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.392  

This work analyses some data and information in particular on the development of theatrical production in the Czech Republic and concludes that the efficiency of spending subsidies and other support from public budgets in this area has been rather decreasing in recent years. A relatively significant financial support of theatres leads to the fact that there is an "inflation" in the offer of theatrical production measured by the number of available seats, as well as the number of existing theatres and the number of performances. However, since the number of spectators coming to the theatre remains essentially the same in the long term, it seems that...

Positive Impacts of Labour Migration from Ukraine on the Czech Economy

Zuzana Cahlíková, Wadim Strielkowski

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2013, 21(1):60-67 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.393  

Of all the post-Communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Czech Republic is probably the only one that is marked by significant inflows of labour force. The largest group of migrants in the Czech Republic comprises the Ukrainians. In 2009, they made up 21% of all the foreigners legally residing in the country and in the previous years their share was even larger. In 2006 alone, 30 thousand Ukrainians migrated to the Czech Republic and the total share of Ukrainians constituted 46% of all the migrants. According to some members of the general public and politicians, migrants represent a burden to the Czech economy. The most notorious arguments...

Property Tax Autonomy of Municipalities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

Lucie Sedmihradská

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2013, 21(1):68-80 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.394  

The objectives of the paper are to compare the development of the legally granted municipal autonomy regarding the property tax in the Czech Republic and Slovakia since 1993 and its real implementation in 2011 and to evaluate the impacts of the municipal autonomy regulation on municipal behaviour. The comparison is based on a legal analysis of the versions of the law on property tax pertaining in the individual years 1993-2012 in both the countries and a comparison of the tax rates actually implemented in 2011 in the Czech and Slovak district towns. Czech municipalities can influence the tax rates through three types of coefficients which enforce quite...

Morphological and Syntactic Characteristics of Business Correspondence in German

Věra Höppnerová

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2013, 21(1):81-91 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.395  

The article deals with morphological and syntactic phenomena typical of business correspondence in German. The surveyed phenomena are quantified; the reasons for their frequent or less frequent presence in business correspondence and their functioning in it are examined; the results are compared with general language usage. At the same time, possible different usage in Czech is pointed out.