This study revists Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) and discusses the monetary policy transmission mechanism in exchange rate channels. The analysis is conducted using generalized impulse response functions derived from a Factor- Augmented Vector Error Correction (FAVECM) model. The FAVECM methodology as developed by Lee (2009) extends the Factor- Augmented Vector Autoregression (FAVAR) model to analyze long-run and shortrun dynamics of non-stationary variables. This recently derived FAVECM model combines the advantages of factor model and the VECM model. The estimations are conducted using 157 macroeconomic time series in monthly frequency for the period January 2000 to September 2009. Results indicate that PPP exists and expansionary devaluation effect in Taiwan. Other GIRF results are generally consistent of the expected exchange rate effectiveness.

Abstract Japan is the second largest economic power in the world. It has a great deal of FDI outflows but few FDI inflows. Therefore, Japan is in the serious situation of ¡§FDI balance of payments deficit.¡¨ In terms of inward FDI stocks as a percentage of GDP and gross fixed capital formation, Japan is the lowest place of G-7. The purpose of this research is focusing on discussing the shortage of FDI inflows and causing factors which lower the desires of investments in Japan by using the simplest way which is based on the actual situation and the limit of the information in Japan. This paper takes the quarterly data of Japan from 1978 to 2005 and four variables (wage index, real exchange rate, trade and FDI inflows). In this research, the unit root test is used to check if the data have the stationarity or not, and then it uses vector autoregression model (VAR) to proceed impulse response function and forecast error variance decomposition. According to the result of these two approaches, we can figure out the influences of four variables for each other, and then find out the causing factors which lead Japan to have less FDI inflows. The calculation shows that the reason which leads Japanese wages to increase gradually results not only from real exchange rate, trade and FDI inflows, but also from Japanese labor system (lifetime employment system and payment according to working seniority) and the labor quantities. The causality runs from real exchange rate to trade is greater than vice versa. Trade has a positive impact from the real exchange rate which means that the depreciation can accelerate trade. However, the main factor of hindering FDI inflows is Japanese high wages rather than real exchange rate or trade. Therefore, in order to get rid of the depression which was caused by the bubble economy in 1990s, Japanese government not only opens up the restrictions in policy but also takes the control of the prime costs into the most important consideration.

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In this master thesis multiple time series of shipping industry and financial data are analysed in order to create a forecasting model to forecast freight rate indices. The data of main interest which are predicted are the two freight rate indices, BDI and BDTI, from the Baltic Exchange. The project investigates the possibilities for aggregated Vector Autoregression(VAR) models to outperform simple univariate models, in this case, an Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average(ARIMA) with seasonal components. The other part of this thesis is to model market shocks in the freight rate indices, given impulses in the other underlying VAR-model time series using the impulse response function. The main results are that the VAR-model forecast outperforms the ARIMA-model in forecasting the tanker freight rate index (BDTI), while the the bulk freight rate index(BDI) is better predicted by the simple ARIMA when calculating the forecast mean square error. / I denna avhandling analyseras multipla tidsserier över rederinärings- och finansiell data i syfte att skapa en prognosticerande modell för att prognosticera fraktratsindex. Dataserierna som i huvudsak prognosticeras är fraktratsindexen BDI och BDTI från Baltic exchange. I projektet undersöks om en aggregerad Vektor Autoregressiv(VAR) modell överträffar en univariat modell, i detta fall en Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average(ARIMA) med säsongsvariabel. I andra delen av denna avhandling modelleras chocker i fraktratsindexen givet impulser i de andra underliggande tidsserierna i de aggregerade VAR-modellerna. Huvudresultaten är att VAR-modellens prognos överträffar ARIMA-modellen för tankerraterna (BDTI), medan bulkraterna(BDI) bättre prognosticeras av ARIMA-modellen, i avseende på prognosernas beräknade mean square error.

The 2007-2008 US subprime mortgage crisis evolved into a financial crisis that negatively affected many economies in the world and therefore it was widely referred to as the global financial crisis. Since the beginning of this financial crisis of 2008-2009, South Africa experienced a significant increase in its household debt to income ratio. In the main, the aim of this dissertation is to investigate the prominent factors contributing to the rise in the level of household debt in South Africa. Also, we study the response of household debt to various shocks originating from the aforementioned crisis. Additionally, in the context of our timeline (1985 Q1-2012 Q1) we will extrapolate possible graphical trends in the rise and fall of household indebtedness in South Africa associated with various crises. Working from past research papers and a theoretical framework developed by Franco Modigliani and Milton Friedman, seven macroeconomic variables will be considered to examine the rise of household borrowing to income namely; the real house price index, consumer price index. real income, real prime rate, real household consumption expenditure, real gross domestic product and real household savings. Both a long-run cointegration analysis and a short-run error correction model will be used to evaluate the relationship between household debt and the chosen variables by estimating a Vector Error Correction Model. Furthermore, the Variance Decomposition and the Generalized Impulse Response Function will be utilized to assess the impact of household debt to various shocks emanating from the 2008-2009 financial crisis. The different models and tests conducted in this research will be executed using the statistical software package EVIEWS 7. Based on the results, household debt was seen to have been fairly affected by the 2008-2009 financial crisis. The cointegration analysis maintains that in the long run, household borrowing is positively and significantly determined by consumer price index and real household consumption. In addition, it confirms that household borrowing is negatively affected by real household income and real GOP. The rest of the variables were found insignificant. Nevertheless, the short run error correction model reveals that about 3.6% of the disequilibrium will be corrected each quarter for the equilibrium state to be restored. Also, the Variance Decomposition results confirmed that the South African household debt is mostly affected by shocks from real house price index, real household income, real household consumption and real household savings, respectively. Furthermore, the Generalized Impulse Response Function results established the significant positive response of household debt to a shock from real house price index and real household consumption. The response of debt to shocks from consumer price index, real household savings and real income is negative and this outcome is confirmed by the theory. However, the response of debt shows fluctuating behaviours to shocks from LRIN, LRPR and LRGDP over the estimated period. In conclusion, our econometric investigation highlighted the main causes of the high levels of household debt in South Africa both in the short and long run. The Generalized Impulse Response Functions confirm that shocks like the occurrence of the 2007-2008 financial crisis will have a significant impact on real house price index, consumer price index, real household consumption and real household savings. The Engle granger results show that there exist no significant relationship between household debt and unemployment in South Africa over the period 1980 to 2010. However, we propose that this result may have been significant if quarterly unemployment data was available and included in the main data set. Finally, based on the stability, validity and reliability of our model, we recommend its use to facilitate policy analysis and decision making regarding household debt levels in South Africa. / Thesis (M.Com.( Economics) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2012

Bakgrund och Problem: Aktiemarknaden påverkas både av inhemska och utländska faktorer. Därför är det av intresse att se vilka makroekonomiska variabler som påverkar den svenska aktiemarknaden. Anledningen till att Sverige har valts som den geografiska punkten är att det är av intresse att se hur ett litet land som Sverige, som har en öppen ekonomi påverkas av de utvalda makroekonomiska variablerna. Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att med hjälp av information samt analys, studera hur de olika makroekonomiska variablerna påverkar den inhemska aktiemarknaden. Olika faktorer som påverkar aktiemarknaden kommer att lyftas fram för att i sin tur även se till de olika branscherna. Metod: Då data enbart består av hämtning av tidigare information fokuseras det enbart på sekundärdata i form av historiska siffror samt historiska undersökningar. De statistiska tester som tillämpas är Granger Causality test, Johansens Cointegration test, Impulse Response Function test, ADF test, KPSS test, Mulitpel regression. Slutsats: Med de resultat som presenterades i denna studie, skulle vi nog inte kunna säga att vi har ett svar över vilka aktier en investerare ska införskaffa. Dock skulle vi kunna poängtera att den potentiella investeraren bör ha dessa variabler i beaktning vid beslut. Genom att studera dessa variabler kan man få en känsla om vilket håll variablerna kommer att röra sig och på så sätt säga att de kan påverka aktieindexen. Att bara kolla på de makroekonomiska variabler som denna studie belyser räcker inte för att förstå hur aktieindex kommer att se ut i framtiden, men det är en bit på vägen till att förstå aktiemarknadens rörelse.

The aim of this work is understand how the Exchange rate volatility affects the cearensesâs exports. Many researchers have appointed that an increase in the exchange rate volatility generate risk factors on trade. Therefore, understand the relationship between volatility and trade is fundamental to forecast better the behavior of trade under instabilities of the exchange markets, as the recent international crisis. The period of analysis is from 2002 to 2011 and the data has monthly frequency. Two methodologies are used to investigate this relationship: short run, through impulse response function, obtained from a VEC; long run, through the Johansen cointegration test. The results showed that the exchange volatility reduces the exports of CearÃ. / O objetivo deste trabalho à entender como a volatilidade da taxa de cÃmbio afeta as exportaÃÃes cearenses. Diversos autores tÃm apontado que uma volatilidade da taxa de cÃmbio mais elevada pode estar associada a fatores de risco de exportaÃÃo e importaÃÃo. Dessa forma, entender o relacionamento entre esses componentes à fundamental para aumentar o poder de previsibilidade, especialmente, em perÃodos de instabilidade econÃmica, em que a volatilidade da taxa de cÃmbio tende a ser maior. Nesse trabalho, utilizou-se de dados com frequÃncia mensal entre 2002 a 2012. Duas anÃlises foram feitas: uma de curto prazo, atravÃs da abordagem de funÃÃes impulso resposta obtidas a partir de um VEC e outra de longo prazo atravÃs do teste de cointegraÃÃo de Johansen (1991). Dos resultados encontrados, verificou-se que a volatilidade da taxa de cÃmbio tem efeito sobre as exportaÃÃes cearenses tanto no curto quanto no longo prazo. Ambos, longo e curto prazo, a volatilidade da taxa de cambio reduz o quantum exportado, indicando que tal volatilidade pode ser interpretada como risco associado as exportaÃÃes.

This research examines the impact of external shocks on Nigeria’s output performance for the period 1981 – 2015. It aims to bring to the fore the importance of considering external shocks during policy design and implementation. The multivariate VAR and VECM frameworks were used to evaluate the impact of the shock variables on Nigeria’s output performance and to achieve the stated objectives. Findings show that the external shock and domestic policy variables have short-run effects on Nigeria’s output performance. Also, all the measures of external shocks and domestic policies display some viable information in explaining the variabilities in Nigeria’s output performance over the horizon. The comparison between the results of the VECM and the unrestricted VAR shows that the unrestricted VAR model outperformed the VECM. The overall result of the study confirms the view about the vulnerability of the Nigerian economy to external shocks. These shocks explain more than half of the variance in real output performance and have varying effects on output performance in Nigeria. The dynamic response of output performance to each of the defined shock variables show that output performance responds rapidly to the shock variables, while its response to the domestic economic variables is seemingly moderate. Finally, the variance decomposition show that international crude oil price and terms of trade have the largest share in accounting for the variability in output performance, followed closely by the shares of capital inflows and monetary policy.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T21:00:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 4 Alan Marinovic.pdf.jpg: 11803 bytes, checksum: 6f432bd77eda9bb1f8d0a1b55b2d1ea4 (MD5) Alan Marinovic.pdf.txt: 229382 bytes, checksum: 17f470747aee826fc7511c202d10bcc8 (MD5) Alan Marinovic.pdf: 1449291 bytes, checksum: bc20970ba9f69f9209cff4441caf931e (MD5) license.txt: 4886 bytes, checksum: 2dd7def8564dbf39bd3ed6b2e446baf6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-01-28T00:00:00Z / O trabalho estuda a inter-relação entre preços de ações bancárias da América Latina, Estados Unidos e Europa durante o período compreendido entre janeiro de 2000 até final de junho de 2008. De um modo geral o estudo busca evidências sobre a existência de relações de equilíbrio de longo prazo entre as séries de preços utilizando análises de cointegração, testes de causalidade e funções de impulso resposta. Os resultados empíricos apontam para a existência de relações de equilíbrio de longo prazo entre as séries de preços, e para a existência de contágio especialmente de choques oriundos do mercado Norte Americano. Cabe ressaltar que o efeito de choques se mostra mais pronunciado após 2007, período compreendido pela crise do subprime. / This dissertation investigates the inter-relationships among bank’s stock markets for Latin America, United States and Europe from January, 2000 to June, 2008. The study analyzes the existence of long-run relationships among the price of Bank’s stocks, additionally it applies short-run causality tests and impulse response analyses. Empirical results suggests that there is at least one cointegration vector among the price series, and the series time paths are influenced by different extent of changes in price of different banks. Moreover the study finds that the relationships among bank’s stock prices differ between crises (more volatile) and less volatile periods. These findings imply that there are strong evidences of inter-connections among stock markets around the world.

nÃo hà / Na Ãltima dÃcada, o mercado de crÃdito brasileiro experimentou um crescimento inÃdito na histÃria do paÃs, atingindo o nÃvel de 49% do Produto Interno Bruto. Tal fato està diretamente ligado ao desenvolvimento econÃmico do paÃs nos Ãltimos anos. Diante desse cenÃrio, o preÃo que se cobra nas operaÃÃes de crÃdito passou a ter importÃncia fundamental para a manutenÃÃo de um crescimento sustentÃvel. Nessa perspectiva, os spreads bancÃrios â diferenÃa entre a taxa de juros cobrada dos tomadores de crÃdito e o custo de captaÃÃo dos recursos depositados nas instituiÃÃes financeiras â passaram a ser questionados por conta do elevado nÃvel em que se encontram no Brasil. Esse trabalho se propÃe a analisar a evoluÃÃo do spread bancÃrio brasileiro na Ãltima dÃcada e investigar empiricamente seus determinantes. Para tanto, empregou-se nesta pesquisa a tÃcnica economÃtrica de Vetores Autoregressivos de modo a identificar e analisar as principais variÃveis que se relacionam com o spread no perÃodo de 2000 a 2012. AtravÃs da anÃlise das funÃÃes de Impulso e Resposta, o trabalho mostra que a inflaÃÃo à um dos principais determinantes macroeconÃmicos do spread no Brasil. / The unprecedented growth in the Brazilian credit market in recent years made it possible to reach an impressive level of its GDP. This fact is surely related to economic development experimented by the country in current years. Within this scenario, the price which is charged in credit operations started to play a fundamental role to the maintenance of sustainable growth. Thus, the bank spreads which mean the difference between the interest rate charged to borrowers and the funding cost of funds deposited at financial institutions â also began to be disputed in virtue of their actual high level state. The goal of this work is to evaluate the Brazilian banking spread sector evolution in the last decade and empirically investigate its determinants. Therefore, it may employ tools such as the so-called Vectors Autoregressive in order to figure out and work out the main variables which are related to spread regarding the 2000-2012 period. Making use of impulse-response functions, one intends to show that inflation is one of the main macroeconomic determinants to the Brazilian spread.