Prague Economic Papers, 2013 (vol. 22), issue 3
Original contributions, Original article, Research article
Some Annuity Problems in the Framework of Czech Pension Systems
Tomáš Cipra
Prague Economic Papers 2013, 22(3):307-323 | DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.454 
The contribution analyzes some life annuity aspects of the pension system (including commercial insurance) in the Czech Republic. In particular, the problem of sustainability, the Generation Life Tables for the pension system and the gender problem for the pensions in the Czech Republic are discussed. Such topics are important for the future of the pension system in the Czech Republic and for the necessary pension reform. Some numerical results with the Czech data concerning these aspects are presented including corresponding conclusions. Economic theory of pensions (see e.g. Sheshinski, 2005 or Uebelmesser, 2004) is not considered here.
Returns and Persistence of Investment Fund Performance in the Czech Republic
Dariusz Filip
Prague Economic Papers 2013, 22(3):324-342 | DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.455
The article aims at verifying the occurrence of performance persistence phenomenon among equity funds in the Czech Republic. The study uses the most popular measures of return mentioned in financial academic publications. Moreover, a relatively long time horizon, lasting from the beginning of 2000 to the end of 2010 was taken into consideration. The non-parametric methods utilized in the study were traditional contingency tables combined with a new approach discussed in the literature on the subject and related to the estimation of stochastic kernel. The obtained results have revealed the existence of weak and limited performance persistence within...
Propensity to Migration in the CEEC: Comparison of Migration Potential in the Czech Republic and Poland
Karolina Kowalska, Wadim Strielkowski
Prague Economic Papers 2013, 22(3):343-357 | DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.456
Together with mainly economic factors influencing the migration decisions, there is also a migration potential which is unique for every country and that largely pre-determines the outgoing migrations or labour mobility decisions. This paper compares the migration potential and migration decisions for the Czech Republic and Poland using the data for inter-regional and rural-urban migrations. These data that can be used as a proxy for migration potential, are very useful in predicting the propensity to international migration. We come to conclusions that migration potential and the propensity to migrate as a reaction to worsening of the economic conditions...
Complex Price Dynamics in the Modified Kaldorian Model
Jan Kodera, Quang Van Tran, Miloslav Vošvrda
Prague Economic Papers 2013, 22(3):358-384 | DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.457
In this article we analyse a neoclassical model of inflation. Our aim is to reconstruct the neoclassical theory of inflation to obtain a model which generates non-periodical oscillations of price level. This model is considered to be a realistic approximation of actual price level evolution. We start our analysis with the Fisherian equation of exchange. The assumption on non-variability of the velocity of money circulation parameter is relaxed in favour of dependence on expected inflation. The resulting model of inflation is a two-equation model where price evolution depends on production dynamics which is assumed to be an exogenous variable. After...
Economic and Environmental Effects of Rural-Urban Migrant Training
Xiaochun Li, Yu Zhou
Prague Economic Papers 2013, 22(3):385-402 | DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.458
In this paper, we conduct the simple comparative static analysis of the environmental and economic effects of the government and producer services sector's training of rural-urban migrants. We mainly focus our attention on environmental issues and reach the following conclusions: When the government lowers the interest rate of training loans, environmental conditions will worsen. However, when the producer services sector increases the unit cost of training rural labour, the opposite effect occurs, and environmental conditions will improve. In addition, we discuss the conditions under which a government reduction in the interest rate of training loans...
Micro-Credit and Poverty Reduction: A Case of Bangladesh
Mohummed Shofi Ullah Mazumder, Lu Wencong
Prague Economic Papers 2013, 22(3):403-417 | DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.459
Bangladesh is a pioneer and home of conceptualizing micro-credit program. It has undertaken a number of such programs to reduce poverty and bring about socio-economic changes in the rural community. The main purpose of this paper is to give an overview about access to micro-credit for rural poor and its impact on their poverty situation and relevant factors related to income of the micro-credit recipients. Data was collected in two phases from the same respondents (April 2009 and April 2010) using a face-to-face interview schedule from a sample of 360 micro-credit recipients. Additionally, another set of 60 non-credit beneficiary respondents was also...
Curiosity of Pay-Per-Bid Auctions: Evidence from Bonus.cz Auction Site
Miroslav Svoboda, Petr Bocák
Prague Economic Papers 2013, 22(3):418-432 | DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.460
This paper analyses the pay-per-bid auctions which have appeared recently on the Internet and scored an immediate business success. In these auctions bidders pay a small, but irrevocable fee each time they want to increase the price. In this paper we test the model suggested by Platt, Price and Tappen (2010), which forecasts the distribution of closing prices depending on the item's value, bid fee and price increment. The data from the Czech leading auction site Bonus.cz were chosen for the test. Observed closing prices distribution of about 69 % of commonly auctioned items fits the model. However, we find some theoretical and practical flaws in the...