Este trabalho buscar explicar como o endividamento externo da economia norte-americana, a partir do início da década de (19)80, atenuou (e atenua ainda hoje) as decorrências macroeconômicas advindas da tendência para a estagnação do produto interno bruto. Segundo o argumento usado aqui, tal tendência para a estagnação origina-se da queda ao longo do tempo da parcela da acumulação produtiva sobre o produto. A tendência é explicada por um crescente diferencial no desempenho das taxas de lucro intersetoriais na economia, no qual as desvantagens para os setores industriais podem ser explicadas por suas mais elevadas razões capital/produto e conseqüentes menores taxas de lucro. Tal é intensificado por (a) pelo comportamento dos preços relativos, os quais conhecem uma queda maior dos preços dos bens industriais face a outros preços na economia; e (b) pelos crescentes déficits comerciais em bens. Particularmente, a tendência ao declínio foi intensificada pelas crises do petróleo (1974-1979) e pela política de juros altos no fim da década de (19)70 e meados de (19)80. O crescimento da financeirização surge assim como a outra face da moeda do movimento de diminuição da acumulação produtiva. Em segundo lugar, além de se tentar abordar as causas das flutuações em tendência decrescente do produto no período, tentou-se demonstrar como, em meio às flutuações do produto, o nível de endividamento correlacionou-se com a economia norte-americana no sentido de funcionar como elemento estabilizador. Dentro disto, buscou-se mostrar como a recuperação das taxas de lucro industriais, a partir do final da década de (19)80, e em meados da de (19)90, não levaram à queda da dívida externa. Isto se deu porque o nível de crescimento do setor industrial não logrou levar a economia a um patamar de crescimento que tornasse possível prescindir da dívida externa. Isto significava que a acumulação produtiva continuava insuficiente como mecanismo que permitisse uma diminuição do endividamento externo, principalmente devido às dificuldades relativas das taxas das de lucro industriais e das perdas no comércio exterior em bens tangíveis, não contornadas completamente pelo crescimento visto no período. Isto mostra que para sustentar os níveis de investimento e consumo, sem auxílio do endividamento externo, um volume muito maior de investimento teria de estar ocorrendo, o que não é possível pela queda relativa das taxas de lucro nos setores produtivos. Argumenta-se, assim, que o endividamento externo atenuou mas não solucionou fundamentalmente a continuidade da queda do investimento produtivo ao longo do tempo, processo que teria conduzido a economia a ainda menores taxas de crescimento na ausência do papel hegemônico do dólar na economia mundial. / This work aims to explain how the external indebtedness of the U.S. economy since the 1980s attenuated and still attenuates the macroeconomic effects originated from the tendency of the gross domestic product to stagnate. This tendency comes from the fall of the productive accumulation in its relation to the national product, explained by the growing disadvantages of the industrial profit rates when compared to the financial ones. These disadvantages can be explained mainly by the bigger capital/product rates in the industrial sectors, lowering its rates of profit. This is intensified by (a) the performance of the relative prices, which shows an ongoing fall in goods prices and a increase in nongoods prices, and (b) by the increasing trade deficits, stressing domestic production. Particularly, these tendencies were intensified by the oil crisis and the high interest rates of the middle 1970s. The growing participation of the financial sectors in the national economy is the other face of this tendency of the productive accumulation to fall. Moreover, this work intended to discuss how the external indebtedness is correlated to the instability of the economy, showing how, during all the period, the external indebtedness worked as a mechanism of stabilization. The work then tried to describe this process of stabilization. After this, the work intended to explain why the absolute rise of the industrial rates of profit, since the middle 1980s, was not able to diminish the rate of the external indebtedness. This occurred because the financial rates of profit expanded still more rapidly, expressing the persistence of the above mentioned different performances between productive and non-productive sectors in the U.S. economy. It explains why the increase in profitability of productive capital during the 1990s continued insufficient to conduct the economy to smaller degrees of external indebtedness. This is the specific conclusion of chapter 9, which tries to demonstrate how a faster process of accumulation of capital did not take to a lesser external debt during the middle 1990s. It occurred because that process of economic growth needed a still more vigorous rate of productive investment to make possible a fall in external indebtedness. Hence, the conclusion that emerges is that only a much more stronger process of productive accumulation would be able to diminish the external indebtedness process - a not easy process, given the poorest domestic performance of industrial sectors in face of the other domestic sectors and in face of the international ones. That is, the external indebtedness attenuated but did not solve the occurrence of a falling rate of productive accumulation. So, this fall of the rate of profit in industrial sectors would have conducted the economy to a still more fragile degree of investment and consumption if there was not the hegemonic role of dollar in the international economy, which permits the above mentioned strategy of external indebtedness.

MCOM / Department of Economics / The choice of a weak or strong currency has been at the center of the debate in most developing economies as exchange rates play a vital role in a country’s level of economic growth. This growth is critical to many developing economies. The study assessed the role of real exchange rate on economic growth in South Africa from 1994, first quarter, to 2015, fourth quarter. The study used time-series data in which Augmented Dicky Fuller and Philip Perron tests for stationarity, cointegration test, Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) approach for the long-run relationship were conducted. Impulse Response Function (IRF) and Variance Decomposition (VD) were also conducted to explain the response to shock amongst variables and how much of the forecasting error variance is explained by the exogenous shocks to other variables. VECM results showed a positive role exchange rates play on economic growth in South Africa. The study’s implication is that currency devaluation (exchange rates depreciation) can be effective in improving economic growth in the short-run. Nonetheless, a strong currency is good for economic growth in the long-run as it attracts foreign investments and a good instrument for controlling inflation. Thus, basing on the findings of the study, the floating exchange rate system adopted by South Africa in 2000 can be maintained.

L’objet de cette thèse est de contribuer à l’analyse de l’effet des politiques visant à endiguer les risques d’instabilité financière. Les investigations menées sont d’ordre théorique (modèle DSGE) et empirique. En se plaçant dans un cadre macroéconomique d’un pays ouvert, deux dimensions doivent être prises en compte. La dimension externe est couverte par la politique de contrôles prudentiels des capitaux. De par son caractère sélectif, cette politique peut permettre de diminuer les déséquilibres externes qui ne rentrent pas dans le champ d’application macro-prudentielle. Cette dernière aborde la dimension interne et cherche à internaliser le risque global consécutif aux choix d’investissement desagents résidents. L’analyse de la coordination interne de ces deux types de mesures, macro-prudentielles et contrôles prudentiels, est essentielle pour garantir leur efficacité. En outre, les potentiels effets de débordements internationaux que peuvent entraîner les politiques de régulation prudentielle doivent être étudiés avant de valider l’utilisation de telles politiques.Voici les résultats que nous tirons de notre analyse. La politique macro-pudentielle semblent offrir de meilleurs résultats en termes de stabilité financière, des prix et de performance économique que les contrôles de capitaux. Toutefois, les contrôles prudentiels de capitaux ont leur rôle à jouer. Nos résultats montrent surtout une utilité envers la croissance excessive du crédit. L’application de contrôles prudentiels, lorsque la croissance du crédit devient excessive, peut permettre d’atténuer la surchauffe du système financier et de diminuer le décalage entre le cycle économique et financier. Par conséquent, si un choc négatif survient, les conséquences économiques devraient être amoindries. Ensuite, la politique optimale s’avère être celle combinant la politique monétaire et prudentielle, menée par une agence commune qui prend les décisions en matière de politique monétaire et prudentielle conjointement. Les politiques prudentielles s’avèrent d’autant plus nécessaires que les prêts transfrontaliers sont importants. Enfin, des effets de débordement des politiques prudentielles sur les autres pays incitent à davantage de coopération internationale ou régionale en la matière. / The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the analysis of the effect of policies aimed at curbing the risks associated with financial instability. The investigations carried out are theoretical (DSGE model) and empirical. In an open country macroeconomic framework, two dimensions must be taken into account. The external dimension is covered by the policy of prudential capital controls. Because of its selective nature, this type of policy can help reduce external imbalances that do not fall within the macroprudential scope. The latter addresses the internal dimension and seeks to internalize the overall risk resulting from the investment choices of resident agents. The analysis of the internal coordination of these two types of macro-prudential measures and prudential controls is essential to ensure their effectiveness. In addition, the potential effects of international spillovers that may result from prudential regulation policies must be studied before validating the use of such policies. We find that macroprudential policies seem to offer better results in terms of financial stability, price stability and economic performance than capital controls. However, prudential capital controls have their role to play, especially with regards to excessive credit growth. The application of prudential controls, when credit growth becomes excessive, can indeed help mitigating the overheating of the financial system and reducing the gap between economic and financial cycles. Therefore, as a negative shock occurs, its economic consequences should be lessened. Then, the optimal policy turns out to bethe one combining monetary and prudential policy, led by a joint agency that makes decisions on monetary and prudential policies. Prudential policies are all the more necessary as cross-border lending is important. Finally, the effects of prudential policies on other countries encourage more international or regional cooperation in this area.

<p>  </p> <p>My dissertation is composed of three independent chapters in the field of labor economics and international trade. </p> <p><br></p> <p>The first chapter studies marriage market signaling and women’s occupation choice. Despite the general closure of gender disparities in the labor market over the past half century, occupational segregation has been stubbornly persistent. I develop a new model that explains these occupational outcomes through marriage market signaling. Vertically differentiated men have preference over women’s unobservable caregiving ability. Heterogenous women choose caregiving occupations to signal their ability to be caregivers. My model generates unique predictions on the influence of marriage market conditions on women’s occupational choices. I find empirical support for these predictions using longitudinal data on marriage rates, policy shocks to divorce laws, and shocks to the marriage market sex ratio driven by waves of immigration. </p> <p><br></p> <p>The second chapter investigates Covid19 and consumer animus towards Chinese products. Covid19 has tremendously affected all areas of our lives and our online shopping behaviors have not been immune. China is the first country to report cases of Covid19 and suffers from rising animus in the U.S. In this paper, we study consumer animus towards Chinese products post Covid19 using Amazon data. We tracked all face masks sold on Amazon between Sep. 2019 to Sep. 2020, and collect product information that is available to a real consumer, including reviews. By analyzing both seller-generated (e.g., product name, description, features) and user-generated (e.g., reviews and customer Q&A) content, we collect information on the country-of-origin as well as consumer animus for the products. Under a fully-dynamic event study design, we find that the average rating drops significantly after a product is identified as made in China for the first time, while no such drop is found for products with other countries-of-origin. This negative impact is U-shaped, which quickly expands in the first five weeks, and then gradually fades out within six months. An informative-animus review affects the average rating of a Chinese product both directly (through its own rating) and indirectly (through other future ratings), with both mechanisms supported in data. We also provide strong evidence that the drop in average rating is driven by consumer animus instead of product quality. </p> <p><br></p> <p>The third chapter explores how cultural transmission through international trade affects gender discrimination. In this paper, I propose that international trade helps alleviate gender discrimination. With imperfect information on workers’ ability, there is statistical discrimination towards female workers. Through international trade, culture transmits asymmetrically between firms located in countries with different gender cultures. This cultural transmission benefits women because it transmits only in one direction from more gender-equal cultures to less gender-equal cultures. I prove this by linking the Customs data to the Industrial Firms data of China in 2004, and find that Chinese firms trading with more gender-equal cultures hire a higher fraction of female workers and enjoy higher profits. Similar patterns are not found in Chinese firms trading with less gender-equal cultures. The impact of cultural transmission goes beyond the firms engaged in international trade to have spillover effects onto purely domestic firms. Comparing across skill groups, cultural transmission benefits high-skill female workers more.</p>

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The intent of the thesis is to ascertain whether mitigation of political risk to the IT industry in Panama can be of value to the country by improving the economy and standard of living.