This thesis is about the causal relationship between interest rates. In chapter 1, with the help of time-series econometrics and by applying linear Granger causality tests based on the Toda-Yamamoto approach, the linear causality directions between the federal funds rate and five different interest rates during the last seven business cycles in the U.S. are investigated. We also examine the linear Granger causality directions between the overnight rate and five other interest rates during the last three business cycles in Canada. In chapter 2, the Diks and Panchenko Granger causality test is applied to explore the nonlinear causality effects between the short-term and long-term interest rates. By combining nonlinear causality effects with the linear ones which are found in the first chapter, it is seen that during the related periods in the U.S. and Canada, the most common Granger causality direction between short-term and long-term interest rates is a bidirectional one. Moreover, our findings show that during recent periods, the federal funds rate and overnight rate Granger cause other interest rates significantly. In chapter 3, the rolling window strategy is employed to detect the linear and nonlinear Granger causality relationship between the federal funds rate and the 10-year government bond rate, during different time horizons, investigating whether these causalities change with the passing of time. Our findings show that during different time horizons, there is a significant two-way Granger causality relationship between these interest rates. Although we have a different interpretation of the existence of bidirectional causation between short-term and long-term interest rates, this conclusion provides some support to some post-Keynesian structuralists viewpoints like Pollin (2008). However, Pollin's claim indicating that with the passing of time the significant causality effects of the federal funds rate to the market rates becomes insignificant is not supported by the current thesis findings because our results demonstrate that these causality effects have not been diminishing over the most recent business cycles.

In recent years, investors have become more concerned about where they invest their capital and how to spread the risk among different asset types. The interest in commercial real estates has increased as this market is seen as less volatile than the stock market. Previous research for other economies has found that the commercial real estate market and the stock market do not cointegrate. Therefore it is possible to invest in both asset classes to create diversified portfolios. This thesis examines if such cointegration relationship exist on the Swedish market. Furthermore, the thesis examines the correlation and the lead-lag relationship between the two asset classes. The observed data is quarterly between the years 1994-2013 and the indices used are OMX Stockholm, sold multi-dwelling and commercial buildings, and sold manufacturers industries. To examine if there exist any cointegration between the indices the Engle-Granger 2-step method is used and the lead-lag relationship is tested by using the Granger Causality test. The results from the different tests do not show any short- or long-term relationship between the Swedish stock market and the Swedish commercial real estate market, neither do the assets show any lead-lag relationship. This means that the portfolio risk decreases and it is therefore possible for investors to diversify their portfolios with both short- and long-term time horizons.

This dissertation investigates the determinants of China's exports and regional economic growth, the direction of causality between foreign direct investment (FDI) and exports; and convergence analysis among Chinese provinces. The study firstly discusses the evolutional process of China's foreign trade regime through comparing the strategies and policies before 1978 with those after 1978. It is emphasised that the export-promotion development policies result in the recent basic export patterns and characteristics. Furthermore, the study reviews the existing literature on exports, FDI, and convergence/growth determinants in the case of China. The empirical work comprises three parts. Firstly, fixed-effects ordinary least squares (OLS) and random-effects generalised least squares (GLS) panel data estimators are applied to test the determinants of provincial exports from 1994 to 2003. It is found that FDI, geographical location, investment in manufacturing innovation, and human capital have significant influences on regional export performance. Secondly, the augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) tests are carried out to test stationarity and the Granger causality tests are conducted to test the causal direction between FDI and exports, based on monthly national data from January, 2002 to June, 2006. The empirical results indicate that there is a one-way complementary causal link from FDI inflows to China's export flows. Thirdly, three methods, beta convergence, sigma convergence, and Markov Chain analysis, are used to do convergence debate among China's regions and the standard OLS cross-section and random-effects GLS panel data are applied to test the conditional convergence. The results suggest that the convergence hypothesis does not hold in China between 1994 and 2003 and there is a sign of conditional convergence, conditioning the explanatory variables such as exports, human capital, and population growth. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Economics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

We use annual real GDP and the volume of the bond, stock and credit markets to assess the causal relationship between the aggregate bond market development and economic growth in the USA, Japan, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, France and the Netherlands over the 1950 to 2001 period. The literature on the real - financial nexus to date has focused on the credit and stock markets, with few exceptions. Partially due to data availability problems, the impact of bond markets on economic growth has not yet been examined in the same way. To fill this gap we provide empirical evidence for long-run equilibrium and Granger causality in at least one direction in the relationship among real GDP and bond, credit and stock markets in seven economies with large bond markets. The supplyleading hypothesis that development of the financial markets enhances growth is supported in all countries except for Germany. The demand-leading hypothesis that economic development pulls the development of the financial markets is supported only for Germany. A feedback between domestic credits and output is found in Japan. There is evidence for a feedback between the equity markets and real output in Japan and the Netherlands. (author's abstract) / Series: EI Working Papers / Europainstitut

<p>&nbsp / South Africa has a high rate of children&rsquo / s burn injuries with 1300 deaths annually. These burn injuries are considered preventable and South African research has identified this as a priority concern. South African childhood burn injury studies have mainly focused on expert and parents&rsquo / /caregivers&rsquo / descriptions and accounts. Despite their particular vulnerability, children&rsquo / s perspectives have not been consistently accommodated in the identification of childhood injury risk phenomena or in the development and implementation of safety interventions. Using a qualitative approach this study investigates children&rsquo / s perceptions of causation and prevention of burn injuries. Study data was collected from Khayelitsha, Site C and Philippi, Samora Machel in Cape Town as these areas have reported elevated rates of thermal and fire-related burn injuries. Study data were collected using three isiXhosa focus group discussions based on a convenience sample of 10 &ndash / 11 years old children ranging between 4 &ndash / 6 participants per group. They were selected based on verbal ability, age, residential area and ability to speak either English or isiXhosa. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the results. The themes demonstrate that children appreciate the magnitude of burns in their communities and attribute the problem to factors ranging from themselves, their social conditions and mostly their parents/caregivers. The children emphasized the importance of parental supervision and risk avoidance by the child and adults in prevention. This study recommends an integrated approach to burn injury prevention interventions and calls for the inclusion of children in studies concerning the wellbeing and safety of children.</p>

<p>&nbsp / South Africa has a high rate of children&rsquo / s burn injuries with 1300 deaths annually. These burn injuries are considered preventable and South African research has identified this as a priority concern. South African childhood burn injury studies have mainly focused on expert and parents&rsquo / /caregivers&rsquo / descriptions and accounts. Despite their particular vulnerability, children&rsquo / s perspectives have not been consistently accommodated in the identification of childhood injury risk phenomena or in the development and implementation of safety interventions. Using a qualitative approach this study investigates children&rsquo / s perceptions of causation and prevention of burn injuries. Study data was collected from Khayelitsha, Site C and Philippi, Samora Machel in Cape Town as these areas have reported elevated rates of thermal and fire-related burn injuries. Study data were collected using three isiXhosa focus group discussions based on a convenience sample of 10 &ndash / 11 years old children ranging between 4 &ndash / 6 participants per group. They were selected based on verbal ability, age, residential area and ability to speak either English or isiXhosa. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the results. The themes demonstrate that children appreciate the magnitude of burns in their communities and attribute the problem to factors ranging from themselves, their social conditions and mostly their parents/caregivers. The children emphasized the importance of parental supervision and risk avoidance by the child and adults in prevention. This study recommends an integrated approach to burn injury prevention interventions and calls for the inclusion of children in studies concerning the wellbeing and safety of children.</p>

The work of Marshall McLuhan has often been reduced to the form of catchphrases and "McLuhanisms," such as the "global village" and "the medium is the message" in the field of communication. Though these phrases capture an aspect of his thought, the scholarly understanding of McLuhan's vision remains incomplete, even within the specialized area of Media Ecology, of which McLuhan is recognized as the intellectual father. Throughout his corpus, McLuhan makes reference to the classical and medieval trivium, which was the basis for education throughout Western history until the Renaissance. Indeed, he developed a history of the trivium up to the Renaissance in order to understand the works of Thomas Nashe. At the end of his life, he worked to synthesize his views on technology, media, and communication, and the arts of the trivium-- grammar, logic, and rhetoric--which were essential to these works. Consequently, this project details the connection between the classical and medieval trivium and McLuhan's tetrad, which was the heuristic tool that advanced as New Science for the twentieth and twenty first centuries. By detailing this connection, the tetrad is a tool that advances a neo-Medieval theory of communication. In its essence, the neo-Medieval communication theory is attentive to the linguistic essence of the cosmos, is attentive to the transformative nature of understanding, and unifies the human person within a perceptual and poetic understanding of the world. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts / Communication and Rhetorical Studies / PhD / Dissertation

This thesis applied the short-time direct directed transfer function (SdDTF) to time series data recordings from intracranial electrodes that measure the brain's electrical activity to determine the causal influences that occurred between brain regions during a speech production task. The combination of high temporal and spatial resolution of the electrocorticography (ECoG) recordings directly from the cortex render these measurements of brain activity desirable, particularly when analyzing the fine cognitive dynamics involved in word generation. This research applied a new method to characterize the SdDTF results by compressing across time and high gamma frequencies, generating adjacency matrices, and graphing them to visualize the influences between anatomical regions over the duration of the entire task. This consolidated SdDTF analysis technique allowed for data from a total of seven patients to be combined, generating results which were consistent with current speech production models. The results from this thesis contribute to the expansion of language research by identifying areas relevant to word generation, providing information that will help surgeons avoid irreparable damage to crucial cortex during brain surgery.

Thesis(M.P.H.M.(Primary Health Care Management))--Mahidol University, 2005.

<p>Although there is a considerable evidence on the link between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and economic growth in developing countries, the causal relationship of these two variables still remains an important question. This study attempts to examine the possible causal relationship between FDI and economic growth in Turkey, during the period 1992 (Quarter 2) – 2006 (Quarter 3). We employed the Johansen Cointegration and Granger Causality tests for detecting the long run or short run causality. Our results showed that there is no long run relationship between the variables, which led us to search the causality in the short run. However we couldn’t find any evidence for a causality running from FDI to economic growth or economic growth to FDI in Turkey.</p>