Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Stanislava Janáčková Title: Rozšiřování eurozóny: některá rizika pro dohánějící země Title: Eurozone enlargement: some risks for catching-up countries Abstract: Accession countries are bound by EU rules to enter the eurozone after they have fulfilled the Maastricht criteria. Yet for many years, the eurozone will not constitute an optimum currency area for the new members. There are additional risks connected with low relative economic levels - as well as low relative price levels - of the new candidates. Catch-up will require fast productivity growth and will entail inflation rates well above present eurozone targets. The shares of the new countries in the HCPI index will be relatively low but in sum, and together with present eurozone members with higher-than-average inflation, they could pose a threat for the ECB low-inflation policy. Restrictive steps by the ECB would, in turn, slow down growth in the new countries. For this reason, adoption of the euro should not be undertaken too hastily, without regard for the needs of the catch-up process. Keywords: monetary policy, Balassa-Samuelson effect, nominal and real convergence, optimum currency area, eurozone Volume: 2002 Issue: 6 Year: 2002 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/polek/385 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpol:v:2002:y:2002:i:6:id:385 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Zdeněk Dvorný Title: Transmise klíčových úrokových sazeb v české ekonomice Title: Transmission of the key interest rates in the czech ekonomy Abstract: The presented study is an empirical investigation of interest rates transmission on the Czech financial market. Transmission was simulated by means of VAR model, built up to evaluate an impact of impuls change of one interest rate on the behaviour of the others in the given sample. The study shows that transmission from repo rates through PRIBORs to the yields on treasury bills can be determined. Next, transmission from repo rates to short interbank rates was proven as an important channel used by the Czech National Bank to stabilize unfavourable development on the money market in the middle 1997. Keywords: interest rate transmission, VAR model, money market, repo rate, interbank rate Volume: 2002 Issue: 6 Year: 2002 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/polek/386 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpol:v:2002:y:2002:i:6:id:386 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Jiří Fárek Author-Name: Jaroslav Foltýn Title: Světová 'únava z pomoci' a ekonomika České republiky Title: The global 'donor fatigue' and economy of the Czech Republic Abstract: This article describes gradual but visible slowdown in development assistance provided by advanced countries for developing and transitional economies during the 1980s and 1990s. The anticipated peace dividend has not been replaced by the increase of ODA and the other forms of aid after the cold war's end. Some probable reasons are discussed in the second part, but found questionable, at least partially. These are regional crises since 1994, transformation costs in some former socialist countries and the low efficiency of aid due to widespread corruption, bad distribution etc. The transitional economies generally did not properly use some comparative advantages in the DC which they had in the early 1990s. Such shortcomings should now be rectified and aid raised as some of them will soon become obliged to join DAC and EU agreements after accession. Appropriate institutional network must be created by them. Keywords: Czech Economy, poverty, peace dividend, donor fatigue, development assistance, transformation costs, development aid agencies, comparative advantages for assistance Volume: 2002 Issue: 6 Year: 2002 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/polek/387 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpol:v:2002:y:2002:i:6:id:387 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Jaroslav Daňhel Title: K problému asymetrie informace v pojišťovnictví Title: Observations regarding the issue of asymmetric information in insurance Abstract: The 2001 Nobel Prize award to three American scientists for their theoretical contribution to analysis of markets with asymmetrical information has reawakened debates on the behavior and decision-making of economic players under uncertainty. Because insurance is a classic example of such a situation, it is used to illustrate the cases of asymmetry, for the client is supposed to know better his own exposure than the insurer. In fact, the client's objective exposure a priori cannot be quantified from the point of view of exact sciences and his decision is further influenced by psychological or sociological factors. The insurer is better equipped to make calculations, drawing on past experience and using the laws of statistics, furthermore, he takes antiselection into account. Keywords: decision under uncertainty, insurance market, asymmetric information Volume: 2002 Issue: 6 Year: 2002 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/polek/388 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpol:v:2002:y:2002:i:6:id:388 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Marek Loužek Title: Může být pronatalitní politika účinná? Title: Can pronatalist policy be effective? Abstract: The article is concerned with pro-natalist policies, examining empirically their effectiveness. There are proposed four hypotheses: 1. Continuous decline of the birthrate, 2. Adaptive model, 3. Natural-rate-hypothesis and 4. Crowding-out-hypothesis. Nine countries are tested: Germany, Italy, Sweden and France before World War II and Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and East Germany during the communism. Best empirical results arise from the crowding-out-hypothesis. Good results follow from the adaptive model and the continuous decline of birthrates. The natural-rate-hypothesis has small explanational power. Pronatalist policies, according to this study, are not too effective. Keywords: population policy, pronatalist sentiment, static model, dynamic model, constant decline in the birthrate, adaptive model, natural-rate-hypothesis, crowding-out hypothesis Volume: 2002 Issue: 6 Year: 2002 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/polek/389 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpol:v:2002:y:2002:i:6:id:389 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Jiří Řezník Title: K Rothbardovu pojetí ekonomie Title: Concerning the concept of murray n. Rothbard's economics Abstract: The commentary on the Czech translation of selected works of M. N. Rothbard analyses Rothbard's conception of an individual, society, utility, state, taxes as well as economics in order to investigate, whether the author cannot arrive at fallacies within framework of his programme (the destruction of the state and government). But in fact, no state can protect individuals. Governments can only protect a certain level of relations between individuals on a specific territory, can and must be able to make choice between a protection of the individuals and a protection of the territory. Thanks to this choice, an efficiency of governmental activities can be higher than activity of private police and courts. Taxes are an additional reward for the government that had been previously able to create enough space for an effective behaviour of individuals. Therefore introducing more private agencies should not be regarded as the most suitable solution. Keywords: utility, government, tax, society, libertarianism, individual, state, private police protection, insurance company Volume: 2002 Issue: 6 Year: 2002 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/polek/390 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpol:v:2002:y:2002:i:6:id:390 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Jaromír Hurník Title: Ekonomie strany nabídky a ekonomická úroveň Title: Supply-side economics and economic level Abstract: This article analyses the impact of different types of taxes on economic growth. Taking into account inter-temporal substitution we develop an economic model originally stemming from the Ramsey model. Using the dynamic optimization we search the balanced trajectories of consumption and capital stock to the new steady state after tax adjustment. The results show the negative impact of tax on capital on economic growth. The impact of consumption tax and payroll tax depends on the concrete parameters of the utility function of the representative agent, exactly on agent's evaluation of consumption and leisure. The influence of low taxes on economic growth may be positive, while the influence of high taxes may become negative. The analysis shows that there might be the identical economic growth for two different tax levels. Keywords: supply side economics, Ramsey model, working time curve, steady states curve Volume: 2002 Issue: 6 Year: 2002 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/polek/391 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpol:v:2002:y:2002:i:6:id:391