The Development of Public Finances and Role of Fiscal Constraints in a Monetary Union: Example eurozone

This thesis is about the development of public debt and deficit in the eurozone, which has been in the center of attention for much of the new millennium. The debt-to-GDP and deficit-to-GDP ratios have changed significantly during the period of the European monetary integration, with sharp increases in the levels since the beginning of the financial crisis. We view the levels both before and after the establishment of the European Central Bank. The subject is complemented by a study of the restrictions on fiscal policy in the eurozone. The thesis begins with a review of the most central agreements in the Economic and Monetary Union, namely the Maastricht Treaty, the Stability and Growth Pact and the Fiscal Compact. We study the instructions and requirements provided by these contracts, with the emphasis being on the debt and deficit values. Furthermore, we view two theories that aim to provide us with information, whether the fiscal restrictions are useful or not. The second and empirical part consists of review on the debt and deficit levels in practice. We take a close look on the values for each of the currency union members. The third and last part summarizes the findings, and analyzes the reasons behind the changes. The result of the thesis is, that even though the levels of public debt and deficit have worsened since the beginning of the financial crisis, tight rules on fiscal policy might not be the best possible solution. Private sector has played a crucial part in the increase of the debt levels, and tight rules have their impact on the long awaited economic growth in the eurozone. It is obvious, though, that some form of fiscal guidelines with scientific ground are needed in order to avoid excessive and harmful debt and deficit levels. The main task is to make these guidelines a more essential part of the fiscal policy in each of the member countries.

DEVELOPMENT OF A FAIR CHARGING MODEL FOR A PUBLIC DATA CENTER

The purpose of the study was to explore how a public, IT services transferor, organization, comprised of autonomous entities, can effectively develop and organize its data center cost recovery mechanisms in a fair manner. The lack of a well-defined model for charges and a cost recovery scheme could cause various problems. For example one entity may be subsidizing the costs of another entity(s). Transfer pricing is in the best interest of each autonomous entity in a CCA. While transfer pricing plays a pivotal role in the price settings of services and intangible assets, TCE focuses on the arrangement at the boundary between entities. TCE is concerned with the costs, autonomy, and cooperation issues of an organization. The theory is concern with the factors that influence intra-firm transaction costs and attempting to manifest the problems involved in the determination of the charges or prices of the transactions. This study was carried out, as a single case study, in a public organization. The organization intended to transfer the IT services of its own affiliated public entities and was in the process of establishing a municipal-joint data center. Nine semi-structured interviews, including two pilot interviews, were conducted with the experts and managers of the case company and its affiliating entities. The purpose of these interviews was to explore the charging and pricing issues of the intra-firm transactions. In order to process and summarize the findings, this study employed qualitative techniques with the multiple methods of data collection. The study, by reviewing the TCE theory and a sample of transfer pricing literature, created an IT services pricing framework as a conceptual tool for illustrating the structure of transferring costs. Antecedents and consequences of the transfer price based on TCE were developed. An explanatory fair charging model was eventually developed and suggested. The findings of the study suggested that the Chargeback system was inappropriate scheme for an organization with affiliated autonomous entities. The main contribution of the study was the application of TP methodologies in the public sphere with no tax issues consideration.

The importance of environmental sustainability in public procurement of medical devices in health care sector

The aim of this thesis was to examine the role of environmental sustainability in the procurement of medical devices in health care sector. Current literature is mainly focused on other product groups and medical devices have been left without sufficient attention. Nevertheless, EU has recently developed green public procurement criteria for medical devices (EU GPP criteria for health care EEE) in order to support and offer guidelines for purchasers in hospitals. In this study, the criteria were used as a framework in order to examine the most significant environmental aspects for medical devices. The empirical research was executed in Finnish public hospitals with mixed method approach; quantitative data was collected by a survey and qualitative data was collected by interviews held for procurement specialists. The focus was on understanding the importance of environmental sustainability in the procurement of medical devices and which environmentally sustainable features would be the most significant. Of interest was also the medical device supplier view and how they could take environmental sustainability into consideration.