With the liberalization of financial market, the prevalence of international trade and the prosperity of foreign exchange markets ,investors could hedge,speculate or interest arbitrage in markets. Therefore, market efficiency is worthy of investigation and analysis on the international finance extensively. According to simple market efficiency hypothesis, there would be a long-run relationship between spot exchange rate and forward exchange rate if the foreign exchange market is efficient. Under the circumstance, this study firstly tries to examine whether there is a long-run relationship or not between spot exchange rate and forward exchange rate by Linear Cointegration Theory. At the same time, the study tests Simple Market Efficiency Hypothesis is correct or not in practice. Next,in a non-linear threshold cointegrational way, it looks into whether there is an apparent threshold effect or not among variables, and the adjusting behavior in the long-run equilibrium process. The result of the study proves that there are an apparent threshold effect and inconsistent behaviors in the long-run equilibrium process.

In the paper, the interaction between public debt and inflation including mutual impulse response will be analysed. The European sovereign debt crisis brought once again the focus on the consequences of public debt in combination with an expansive monetary policy for the development of consumer prices. Public deficits can lead to inflation if the money supply is expansive. The high level of national debt, not only in the Euro-crisis countries, and the strong increase in total assets of the European Central Bank, as a result of the unconventional monetary policy, caused fears on inflating national debt. The transmission from public debt to inflation through money supply and long-term interest rate will be shown in the paper. Based on these theoretical thoughts, the variables public debt, consumer price index, money supply m3 and long-term interest rate will be analysed within a vector error correction model estimated by Johansen approach. In the empirical part of the article, quarterly data for Germany from 1991 by 2010 are to be examined.

Food inflation in South Africa has been viewed as an important source of underlying inflationary pressures in the economy due to its persistence beyond that of other commodities. Although several studies found food to be one of the factors that influence purchase decisions, there still appears to be an absence of research that directly links food inflation to consumers’ decisions, especially when financing the purchase of new passenger vehicles in South Africa. In this regard, this study investigated whether the increase in the prices of food products has a significant effect on passenger vehicle purchases in South Africa. Leaning on the literature that argues that economic factors do not play much of a role in passenger vehicle purchase decisions in South Africa, it was hypothesised that there is no supported relationship between food inflation and passenger vehicle purchases in South Africa. Using secondary time series data, the Pearson correlation test revealed a negative but insignificant relationship between food inflation and vehicle purchases in South Africa. The ordinary least squares estimate of the purchase function, taking into account several economic factors that influence passenger vehicle purchase decisions in the literature, showed that disposable income of households along with vehicle purchases of the previous period are to be considered as main determinants of vehicle purchases in South Africa. In addition, it was also revealed that new vehicle prices are also a significant determinant of vehicle purchases. The Johansen cointegration test revealed that the variables in the vehicle purchase function were cointegrated in the long run. The vector error correction model showed a long-run relationship, albeit insignificant, between food inflation and vehicle purchases and no relationship between the two variables in the short run. The Granger causality test revealed that food inflation and vehicle purchases are independent from each other, meaning that no causal effect was found between the variables, regardless of the direction of the test. This study concluded that economic factors such as interest rate and fuel price have an insignificant influence on passenger vehicle purchases in South Africa. In the same line, the impact of food inflation on passenger vehicle purchases in South Africa was found to be insignificant, therefore, the conclusion was drawn that the increase in the prices of food products will not play a considerable role in consumers’ decisions regarding passenger vehicle purchase in South Africa. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

The main purpose of this study is to examine the causal relations between energy use, CO2 emissions and economic growth for Sweden. Vector Error Correction model with annual data from 1970 to 2016 has been used in order to determine potential causality between the variables. The empirical findings indicate that in the long-run, causality relationship between energy consumption, CO2 emissions and economic growth cannot be rejected and it is bidirectional. This means that energy is a determining factor for economic growth in Sweden and that applying policies in order to reduce the CO2 emissions has slowed down economic growth in Sweden. This finding is consistent with the Feedback Hypothesis. But in the short-run no causality was found between energy and economic growth. According to Granger causality test results, bidirectional causality between CO2 emissions and energy consumption cannot be rejected in the short-run. Variables’ trends show that in the period under study, energy consumption and economic growth have moved in the same direction; meaning that higher energy consumption has led to higher economic growth. At the same time, lower CO2 emissions have been accompanied by higher economic growth. There is also short-run causality running from capital to economic growth according to VECM results. It can be suggested to the policy makers that in order to maintain economic growth and reduce environmental degradation, energy consumption should be shifted gradually from nonrenewable sources to renewable ones so to avoid decrease in economic growth and ensure lower levels of CO2 emissions in the long-run.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / O presente trabalho estima a elasticidade produto-gasto pÃblico para economia brasileira, no perÃodo de 1950 a 2003, utilizando um modelo vetorial de correÃÃo de erro (VECM) para controlar possÃveis mudanÃas estruturais nas sÃries. Quando existem mudanÃas estruturais, os vÃrios testes estatÃsticos de Dickey-Fuller sÃo viesados em direÃÃo da nÃo rejeiÃÃo de uma raiz unitÃria. Este viÃs significa que o teste de Dickey-Fuller à viesado em direÃÃo da hipÃtese nula de uma raiz unitÃria, mesmo se a sÃrie à estacionÃria dentro de cada subperÃodo. Sem controlar para mudanÃas estruturais, os testes de cointegraÃÃo podem apresentar resultados enganosos, e as estimativas obtidas podem ser viesadas. / Aiming to estimate the elasticity product-public expenditure to the Brazilian economy, during the period 1950-2003, it was used a vector error correction model (VECM) to control for possible structural changes in the series. When structural changes were observed, many of the Dickey-Fuller statistic tests are biased towards the non-rejection of the existence of a unit root. This bias means that the Dickey-Fuller test is biased towards the null hypothesis of unit root, even if the series is stationary within each sub period. Without controlling for structural changes, the cointegration tests may present deceiving results and the estimates obtained may be biased.

FDI investment is a vital factor for the developing countries economic growth. Apart from working as a catalyst of increasing total output level, FDI is a source of clean energy, technology transfer and energy efficiency. There have been very limited studies on the impact of FDI on renewable energy consumption in the context of Bangladesh. In fact, to my best knowledge there hasn’t been any studies on Bangladesh regarding this relationship with recent data available. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to reveal the relationship between FDI and renewable energy consumption in Bangladesh with annual Data spanning from 1980 to 2016. Johansen’s cointegration test showed that variables are cointegrated in the long run. Through Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), the paper shows there is short run and long run causality between FDI and Renewable Energy Consumption and the causality is negative. Granger causality test reveals that the direction of causality is running from FDI to Renewable Energy Consumption. Policies regarding attracting more sectoral FDI should be considered to improve investment scenario in Renewable energy sector.

Yes / This paper develops a model of optimal choice over an array of different assets, including domestic and foreign bonds, domestic and foreign equities and domestic and foreign real money balances in order to examine the determination of the real exchange rate in the long-run. The model is tested empirically using data from the UK and the USA. The results show that all the coefficients of the model are right signed and significant and consequently financial assets may play a significant role in the determination of the real exchange rate.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:25:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Eli Hadad Junior.pdf: 290403 bytes, checksum: 413b010b2b66c535b71df800b9626c61 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-08-10 / The dissertation analyzes data of the Brazilian household consumption and income between the years 1947 and 2009. The study aims to evaluate to what extent the aggregate consumption of Brazilian household may approximate be a random walk. The dissertation uses Johansen's cointegration techniques (1988, 1991) and super exogeneity tests as proposed by Engle and Hendry et al. (1983). The dissertation attempts to evaluate whether interventions that affect consumption will impact the dynamics of aggregate income. These interventions can occur through credit policies and tax changes, among other macroeconomic shocks. Finally, a decomposition is made following the methodology proposed by Gonzalo-Granger (1995) and evaluating the importance of shocks in permanent and temporary changes in consumption. / A dissertação analisa os dados de consumo e renda das famílias brasileiras entre os anos de 1947 e 2009. O trabalho visa avaliar em que medida o consumo agregado das famílias brasileiras pode ser bem aproximando a partir de um passeio aleatório puro. O trabalho utiliza técnicas de cointegração de Johansen (1988, 1991) e testes de super exogeneidade na forma proposta por Hendry, Engle et al. (1983). A dissertação procura avaliar se intervenções que afetam o consumo das famílias geram impacto na dinâmica da renda agregada das mesmas. Tais intervenções podem ser por políticas de crédito, alterações tributárias, choque macroeconômicos entre outras. Por fim uma decomposição entre fatores permanentes e transitórios será feita pela metodologia proposta por Gonzalo-Granger (1995) com o objetivo de avaliar-se a importância dos choques permanentes e transitórios para as variações do consumo.

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

The transition from communism to capitalism at the end of the last century was one of the most significant events in the world economy since industrialization. During the latter part of the 1980s, people the Central and Eastern European countries and former Soviet Republics opted for a change from highly distorted command economic system to a market driven economic system. Privatization and liberalization policies led to major changes in the commodity mix and volume of agricultural production, consumption and trade. However, the changes and the impacts varied among countries as they followed different transition strategies. This study investigated the impact of market liberalization on the agricultural sector, as well as how the inter-sectoral linkages among the agricultural, industrial and service sectors responded in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary using time-series analysis. The study estimated an econometric model that incorporates the linkages among the sectors using a Vector Error Correction Model. The procedure identified long-run and short-run relationships for each country. The results showed that a sector can have a negative linkage to other sectors in the short-run; however, that does not mean that the linkage will be negative in the long-run. Impulse response functions were constructed to determine how a system reacts to a shock in one of the endogenous variable in a model. The study explored how a shock in the agricultural sector was absorbed by the other sectors in the economy, and how a shock in the other sectors was absorbed by the agricultural sector, in all four countries. The responses reflected how the variables are interrelated within a country, and how the shocks are transferred through different linkages over a long period of time. Such dynamic analysis was used to identify the total impacts of different policy alternatives.