Bitcoin has become notorious as the first cryptocurrency to gain widespread media attention, however, despite its many benefits over the existing financial system it remains a volatile fringe currency. This thesis examines the validity of bitcoin as a currency and whether it can play a role in circumventing extractive economic and political institutions in developing countries. The analysis compares bitcoin usage to the level of financial openness, the inflation rate, and the percentage of the population with a bank account in 21 different countries. The correlation is found to be both statistically and economically significant for all of these variables, which suggests that bitcoin is being used in countries with underdeveloped financial systems and detrimental monetary policies. A regression run on these variables indicates that a one-percentage-point increase in inflation leads to a 44.48% increase in bitcoin usage, a one-percentage-point increase in the percentage of people in a country that have a bank account leads to an 8.65% decrease in bitcoin usage and a one unit increase in financial openness leads to a 216% decrease in bitcoin usage. Throughout this analysis the positive and negative implications of widespread bitcoin adoption are discussed with respect to economies in the developing world.

La comprensión y respuesta del impacto del financiamiento externo en la productividad de las empresas es un tema que, en la actualidad, los gerentes deben considerar en el marco de las decisiones financieras. En la actualidad, los gerentes deben tomar la decisión sobre si es el momento oportuno de acceder a un financiamiento externo y si esta es la mejor decisión para lograr el crecimiento de la empresa. El propósito de esta investigación es brindar a los gerentes una herramienta que les permita conocer y analizar los diferentes criterios que deben considerar en la toma de decisiones al momento de acceder al financiamiento externo. Siendo la elección de la estructura de capital, el apalancamiento, el gobierno corporativo y la fuerza laboral los subtemas que se deben considerar y cómo la relación entre ellos define el impacto que tendrá el financiamiento externo en la productividad de la empresa. De esta manera, el desarrollo de esta investigación se sustenta en diferentes fuentes de especialistas en la materia en los últimos años, busca aportar académicamente en los temas relacionados con el financiamiento externo y su impacto en beneficio de la productividad. En tal sentido, la información obtenida permite a los gerentes, administradores, investigadores y estudiantes relacionados con el mundo de las finanzas ampliar el panorama respecto a las decisiones de financiamiento externo y como, en base al modelo de gestión propuesto, las empresas obtendrán beneficios en términos de rendimiento, desarrollo económico, rentabilidad y productividad. / The understanding and responding to the impact of external financing on company productivity is an issue that managers must now consider in the context of financial decisions. Today managers must make the decision about whether it is the right time to access external financing and whether this is the best decision to achieve the growth of the company. The purpose of this research is to provide managers with a tool that allows them to know and analyze the different criteria they should consider in decision-making when accessing external funding. Being the choice of capital structure, leverage, corporate governance and labor force sub-items to be considered and how the relationship between them defines the impact that external financing will have on the company's productivity. In this way, the development of this research based on different sources of specialists in the field in recent years seeks to contribute academically on the topics related to external financing and its impact for the benefit of productivity. In this sense, the information obtained allows managers, administrators, researchers and students related to the world of finance to broaden the landscape regarding external financing decisions and as based on the proposed management model companies make profits in terms of performance, economic development, profitability and productivity. / Trabajo de Suficiencia Profesional

[pt] O objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar a validade da hipótese da restrição financeira ao investimento fixo em uma amostra de empresas brasileiras não financeiras de capital aberto, listadas em bolsa de valores, entre 1995 e 2003. O estudo pretende contribuir para o debate dos motivos da reduzida participação do crédito no financiamento ao investimento fixo no Brasil. A teoria da restrição financeira ao investimento postula que, quando existem imperfeições no mercado de capitais, a estrutura de capital é relevante para as decisões empresariais e as decisões de investimento dependem da disponibilidade de recursos internos. A intensidade das restrições financeiras depende do grau de assimetria informacional e das condições financeiras das empresas. Por conseguinte, a sensibilidade do investimento à disponibilidade de recursos internos varia de acordo com as características das empresas. Procurou-se, então, analisar a intensidade das restrições financeiras em função de tamanho, rentabilidade, distribuição de dividendos, liquidez, endividamento e controle de capital. A amostra foi formada por 160 empresas. Foram adotados o modelo de investimento baseado em Fazzari e Petersen (1993), a metodologia empírica desenvolvida por Fazzari, Hubbard e Petersen (1988) e o método de regressão em painel. Os resultados permitiram concluir que as empresas brasileiras listadas em bolsa de valores enfrentaram restrições financeiras aos seus investimentos fixos durante o período estudado. / [en] The purpose of this study was to examine the hypothesis of financial restriction on fixed investment in a sample of Brazilian non-financial public companies, between 1995 and 2003. The study intends to contribute to the debate concerning the reasons for the low share of credit in the financing of fixed investment in Brazil. The theory of financial restriction on investment presupposes that when there are market capital imperfections, the capital structure is important for business decisions and that the investment decisions depend on the availability of cash flow. The intensity of financial restrictions depends on the degree of informational asymmetry and the financial conditions of companies. Consequently the sensitivity of investment to the availability of cash flow varies according to corporate characteristics. Thus an attempt was made to relate the intensity of financial restrictions to size, profitability, dividend pay out, liquidity, indebtedness, and control. 160 corporations were included in the sample. The study adopted an investment model based on Fazzari and Petersen (1993), an empirical methodology developed by Fazzari, Hubbard and Petersen (1988) and a panel regression method. It can be concluded from the results that Brazilian public companies indeed faced financial restrictions on their fixed investments between 1995 and 2003.