Thesis advisor: Jeffrey Pontiff / The first essay of this dissertation studies the effect of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) on the yields and liquidity of the underlying corporate bonds. I find that ETFs lower the yield, have an insignificant or negative impact on the liquidity, and decrease the retail volume of constituent bonds. Overall, these results support theoretical predications that basket securities entice liquidity traders to exit the underlying market. The second essay analyzes the role of ETFs in mutual fund families and is joint work with Harold Spilker. We study mutual fund and ETF twins - index funds from the same family that follow the same benchmark. Mutual fund twins are shown to have lower tax burdens, long-term capital gains yields, and unrealized capital gains. Conversely, ETF twins have higher long-term yields and unrealized capital gains, but are compensated with lower expense ratios. Fund families benefit because twin offerings generate higher flows than their non-twin peers. These results support previous research that mutual fund families use diversification and subsidization to benefit the overall family. The third essay provides academics with a detailed understanding of the history, structure, regulation, and prospects of ETFs. The essay documents that the growth of index investing can largely be attributed to ETFs. The information and nuances discussed provide a baseline for developing future research questions and data. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Finance.

Submitted by Henrique Yu Jiunn Wang (henriqueyjw@gmail.com) on 2015-09-21T21:41:16Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Intervenções fiscais em uma economia monetária- um estudo do caso brasileiro.pdf: 13075665 bytes, checksum: 460672073307c2ae8ff746ee1b17f376 (MD5) / Rejected by Renata de Souza Nascimento (renata.souza@fgv.br), reason: Henrique, Será necessário fazer alguns ajustes na formatação das primeiras páginas de seu trabalho, pois não não está de acordo com as normas da ABNT. Encaminharemos as orientações por e-mail. Att on 2015-09-21T22:15:38Z (GMT) / Submitted by Henrique Yu Jiunn Wang (henriqueyjw@gmail.com) on 2015-09-21T23:15:53Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Intervenções fiscais em uma economia monetária- um estudo do caso brasileiro.pdf: 13079987 bytes, checksum: 7b8cba8ba1620901c7863edbd398d23c (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Renata de Souza Nascimento (renata.souza@fgv.br) on 2015-09-21T23:18:19Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Intervenções fiscais em uma economia monetária- um estudo do caso brasileiro.pdf: 13079987 bytes, checksum: 7b8cba8ba1620901c7863edbd398d23c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-09-22T13:56:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Intervenções fiscais em uma economia monetária- um estudo do caso brasileiro.pdf: 13079987 bytes, checksum: 7b8cba8ba1620901c7863edbd398d23c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-25 / In this study, we consider an economy where the determination of fiscal and monetary policies are subject to the budget constraint of the government, seen as a consolidated agent that incorporates the executive and the central bank. We study how changes in the growth rate and composition of government liabilities (currency and governmental bonds) affect prices, interest rates, and economic activity. We are particularly interested in analyzing how these effects are affected by changes in the relative liquidity of government bonds. A central result of this work is that increases in the degree of liquidity of government bonds positively affect economic activity and the financing of public debt. We describe this last aspect with an example reflecting the case of the Brazilian economy. / Neste estudo consideramos uma economia onde a determinação das políticas fiscais e monetárias estão sujeitas à restrição orçamentária do governo, visto como um agente consolidado que incorpora o executivo e o banco central. Nós estudamos como mudanças na taxa de crescimento e na composição do passivo governamental (moeda e títulos) afetam preços, juros, e atividade econômica. Estamos particularmente interessados em analisar como estes efeitos são afetados por mudanças na liquidez relativa dos títulos públicos. Um resultado central deste trabalho é que aumentos no grau de liquidez dos títulos públicos afetam positivamente a atividade econômica e o financiamento da dívida pública. Descrevemos este último aspecto com um exemplo refletindo o caso da economia brasileira.