Acta Oeconomica Pragensia, 2014 (vol. 22), issue 4

Discussion of methods estimating the VAT gap

Hana Zídková

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2014, 22(4):3-15 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.442  

The paper focuses on methods of quantification of VAT evasion. It describes the top-down methods using the National Accounts data for the calculation of the theoretical VAT liability. These methods first compute the theoretical VAT base in the whole economy. Then the base is multiplied by the weighted average VAT rate to get the theoretical VAT. The VAT gap is then obtained as the difference between the theoretical VAT liability and the accrued VAT revenues of the state budget. The first method described is based on the supply and use tables; the second method is a product of the calculation of a weighted average VAT rate by a model (WAR) performed...

Will the Financial Crisis Become a Milestone in the Development of Methodology of Economics?

Lukáš Kovanda

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2014, 22(4):16-29 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.443  

It has been widely accepted that philosophers of science wrote a "swansong" for positivism during the second half of the 20th century. Milton Friedman and Paul Samuelson, major contributors in the field of economic methodology at the time, the argument goes, never reflected the demise. Therefore, positivist roots are still to be found in influential theoretical concepts developed by mainstream economists. Specifically, I present the hypothesis of rational expectations and the theory of efficient markets as two significant outcomes of a "high tide" of positivist thinking in economics. However, quite a large number of scholars currently share the view...

Loyalty Programmes and their Perception by Customers and Operators of Retail e-Shops

Radek Tahal, Václav Stříteský

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2014, 22(4):30-41 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.444  

The paper deals with building customer loyalty through loyalty programmes in online stores (e-shops) and makes a comparison with standard retail chains. The first part is based on a survey of customer attitudes towards loyalty programmes in the online environment and a survey of customer attitudes towards loyalty programmes in retail chains. Research findings for the two specific environments are compared with e-shop operators' and owners' viewpoint of loyalty programmes. Presented findings indicate the direction in which the loyalty programmes should be built. A successful loyalty programme must be sufficiently attractive for customers. The survey...

The concept and terminology of strike in French in comparison with Czech

Pierre Brouland, Zora Kidlesová

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2014, 22(4):42-51 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.445  

The strike is one of the clichés associated with France. Compared with other European countries, the strikes there are more numerous, more violent and more spectacular. We can evoke as such the existence of a real culture of strike in France. This situation explains the existence of a very rich vocabulary which we suggest studying in this article. The term "grève" itself came into use relatively late, at the beginning of the 19th century, replacing other expressions such as "tric" or "coalition".

Alternative specification, estimation and identification of vector autoregressions

Roman Hušek, Tomáš Formánek

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2014, 22(4):52-72 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.446  

The article focuses on various aspects of specification, estimation and identification of vector autoregression (VAR) models. Key VAR-specific topics of verification of an estimated model are also covered, as well as the differences between a standard (unrestricted) and structural VAR model. Subsequently, we address theoretical properties and practical aspects of impulse response functions (IRFs) as calculated upon estimated VAR models. Topics such as Cholesky decomposition (CHD), orthogonalised and generalised IRFs are discussed. Properties of VAR models are compared against alternative econometric modelling tools, such as simultaneous equation models...

Expected population development in Czech regions and its consequences

Tomáš Fiala, Jitka Langhamrová

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2014, 22(4):73-96 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.447  

In January 2014, the Czech Statistical Office published its demographic prospect for the regions of the Czech Republic. It follows the medium option of the prospect for the whole Czech Republic published in 2013. Unlike previous prospects, the current prospect has been computed including migration. Its influence not only on the population size but mainly on its sex and age structure is (especially in some regions) very considerable. The population development in the Central Bohemian Region and, in particular, in Prague is expected to be quite different from that in the other regions. While in Prague and Central Bohemia the population size will be increasing...

Political Marketing for not Only Economists

Pavel Sirůček

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2014, 22(4):97-100 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.448