Ion chromatography coupled with a conductivity detector was used to investigate the analysis of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in aqueous samples. An IC methodology for Cr(III) was developed using a cation column and an eluent containing tartaric acid, ethylenediamine, and acetonitrile at pH 2.9. The detection limit of this method can reach 0.1 ppm level with good precision. Several operational parameters were evaluated during the regular use of the method. Comparison of the IC method with AA method showed good agreement between the two methods. The anion exchange column was used for Cr(VI) determination. The best results were obtained with an eluent containing sodium gluconate, borate buffer, glycerin, and acetonitrile. The retention time for the Cr207 2 - sample was 11 min. and the calibration curve was linear between 1.0 and 100 ppm.

M.Com. (Investment Management) / In the research of currency risk management it is important to note that currency risk management forms part of the overall risk management of business and authorised currency dealers. various hedging instruments exist with which currency risk can be managed. This study deals with the origin and the influence of currency fluctuations on business, and the management of such risk. Various factors exist which affect the level of exchange rates. In South Africa the most important factors affecting these rates are the gold price, the level of the American dollar and the degree of political stability. Since most of these factors do not fall within South Africa's control, but are mostly influenced by external factors, exchange rates can only be managed to a certain extent. This is possible through Reserve bank interference. Fluctuation in exchange rates exposes local companies and currency dealers to currency risk. Several techniques and instruments can be employed in currency risk management.

M.Comm. / The fundamental objective of this paper is to effectively analise and forecast currency option volatility in the South African derivative market. The study of Dollar/Rand volatility is based in the domain of quantitative and international economics. It focuses on the monetary aspect of international finance, where currency volatility is of critical significance in the hedging of open currency option positions used in investment strategies as well as in active currency risk management. Topics covered in this study include firstly a theoretical discussion of option pricing and volatility to provide the necessary financial and statistical background: Advanced volatility issues are secondly addressed to define the volatility matrix and to explain the appearance of volatility smiles and cones as well as the characteristics of the time structure of volatility. The use of volatility as an important risk management tool is also depicted. Various time-series techniques such as the Box Jenkins methodology and decomposition of Dollar/Rand historical and implied volatility are assessed and used to forecast volatility. Univariate and multivariate regression analysis is in addition described and used to find the best estimate for subsequent Dollar/Rand volatility. Finally, the paper is concluded by an analysis of time varying stochastic volatility models such as the models for autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity. The techniques apply a regression on the variance and include a function to allow for the asymmetric nature of movements in Dollar/Rand volatility. Up to date, no formal in-depth academical research on high frequency currency volatility has been conducted in the South African derivative market. It is therefor crucial to research the unique characteristics of Dollar/Rand option volatility. If the study concludes that Dollar/Rand volatility is predictable, it will have important implications for currency option pricing and portfolio management. Investors seeking to avoid risk, may choose to adjust their portfolios by reducing their commitments to assets whose volatilities are predicted to increase, or by using dynamic diversification approaches to hedge predicted volatility increases. This is particularly true of currency derivative markets where the volatility of the underlying asset has a profound effect on the value of the derivative.

Thesis (M.M. (Finance & Investment))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2015. / e period 2000:q1 – 2014:q3 in South Africa. In addition, the paper examines the impact that the exchange rate volatility exerts on the different forms of capital flows. Consequently, the aim of the study is to examine whether the volatility in the exchange rate is a significant determinant of foreign investor capital into South African markets as well as to empirically establish the dynamic relationship that can be observed between capital flows and exchange rate volatility. A trade weighted exchange rate was constructed from which the conditional variance GARCH (1,1) model is applied to estimate exchange rate volatility. The findings from the multiple regression analysis reveal that exchange rate volatility has a statistically significant negative impact on the aggregated capital flows to South Africa. Using the bi-variate vector autoregressions (VARs), the Granger-causality test, impulse response and variance decomposition, the results show there is a dynamic interrelationship between exchange rate volatility and the aggregated and disaggregated capital flows. Furthermore, the VAR specifications results reveal that portfolio flows exhibits a strong bi-directional causality with exchange rate volatility as well as explaining a significant percentage of innovations in exchange rate volatility. This suggests that fluctuations in the exchange rate can be explained by portfolio flows into South Africa’s capital markets. The recommendations for authorities resulting from the findings include, a monetary policy that mitigates the rand exchange rate volatility in an effort to attenuate the adverse subduing effects it has on capital flows in South Africa. Further broadening financial instruments and derivatives available for investors to hedge against exchange rate volatility and a meticulous management of portfolio flows is imperative to ensure prevention of its destabilizing effect on the exchange rate.

Thesis advisor: Georg Strasser / Exchange Rate Pass Through (ERPT) is the percentage change in a destination country’s import price given a percentage change in the exchange rate. A complete ERPT occurs when import price decreases by the same percentage as the depreciation of the exporting country’s currency and vice versa. In this paper I analyze ERPT in large and small open economies, and hypothesize that as destination economy size gets larger, ERPT will decrease. Reasons I provide to support this hypothesis are: the import share of exporters in destination economies, the demand elasticity that foreign exporters face, and the proportion of consumer demand to world demand that the foreign exporter faces. I find, with statistical significance, that ERPT decreases as the destination economy size increases. The main reason attributed to this inverse relationship is the import share of foreign exporters in destination economies. As import share of the foreign exporter increases, ERPT increases within those destination economies. Since foreign exporters have a higher chance of establishing a large import share in small economies than in large economies, they have a better chance of passing through exchange rate changes into destination country prices. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics Honors Program. / Discipline: Economics.

by Ip Chai-si. / Title also in Chinese. / Summary in Chinese. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1980. / Bibliography: leaf 73.

Ip Tak Sang. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-67). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Data and Methodology --- p.4 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Results / Chapter 3.1 --- Performance of Long/Short Strategies --- p.11 / Chapter 3.2 --- Subsample and Sensitivity Analysis --- p.17 / Chapter 3.3 --- Autocorrelation Analysis --- p.25 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Discussion and Conclusion --- p.27 / Appendices / Chapter A.1 --- Exchange Rates Figures --- p.28 / Chapter A.2 --- Tables --- p.32 / References --- p.65

Thesis. 1979. Ph.D.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Economics. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND DEWEY. / Bibliography: leaves 184-187. / Ph.D.

This dissertation consists of three essays on exchange rates and international finance with an emphasis on emerging economies. In Chapter 1, I provide empirical evidence that supports the hypothesis that exchange rate based stabilization programs are expansionary during their early phases. I derive a new set of stabilization episodes using extensive country chronologies from Reinhart and Rogoff (2004) and I find that even after controlling for external conditions, the initial expansion associated with the introduction of an exchange rate based program, is caused by both, the program itself and positive external conditions. These expansionary effects are robust to different estimation methods and different criteria for detecting stabilization episodes. In Chapter 2, I study the relationship between foreign interest rates, country spreads, terms of trade and macro fundamentals in emerging markets. I estimate a structural VAR for 15 emerging economies. I find that country spreads explain 12% of output fluctuations, foreign interest rates an additional 7% and the terms of trade about 5%. I also find that country spreads account for a quarter of real exchange rate variability while the terms of trade account for just 1%. To further validate these results, I develop a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model for a small open economy. The model incorporates several open economy frictions: i) bond-holding adjustment costs, ii) investment adjustment costs, iii) a working capital constraint, and iv) a country spread component that depends upon macro fundamentals, which is taken from the estimated VAR. The model is able to replicate fairly good the propagation effects of foreign rates and country spread shocks but overestimates the importance of the terms of trades. In Chapter 3, I investigate the relation between volatility in the foreign exchange market and excess returns on carry trade portfolios for the G10 currencies. I develop and compare three different investment strategies that aim at avoiding losses when volatility jumps, a common feature of the carry trade. I find that two trading strategies, one based on implied volatility from FX options and the other on exponentially-weighted moving averages, provide better risk-adjusted returns than the standard carry trade. A third strategy, based on Markov-switching exchange rate forecasts, provides excess returns for some currencies but fails for portfolios of currencies. I also show that currency investing provides superior Sharpe ratios than a benchmark bond portfolio and a benchmark stock portfolio, even after including the recent global financial crisis.

Master Thesis: Evaluation of China's FOREX Policy: Equilibrium Exchange Rate Perspective. Author: - Qiriga Supervisor: Ing. Vilém Semerák M.A., PhD. Academic Year: 2018/2019 Abstract This thesis investigated China's foreign exchange policy from the equilibrium exchange rate perspective, using the Fundamental Equilibrium Exchange Rate model with multiregional dimension. The core question is whether Renminbi is misaligned (over- or undervalued) from 2001 to 2017. The result indicated that the bilateral nominal exchange rate of Renminbi against the US dollar was undervalued from 2002 to 2013, reaching a peak of 34.2% in 2007. In the rest of the years, it was overvalued slightly against the US dollar. As to the real effective exchange rate (REER) of Renminbi, it was overvalued in the first three years of the 2000s, then went through the period of undervaluation of 9 years, with a smaller degree compared with the bilateral exchange rate. It is shown that from 2013 the REER of Renminbi had been overvalued for several years until it was undervalued again in 2017 by 2%. Keywords FEER, Renminbi, exchange rate misalignment, multinational model, real effective exchange rate