published_or_final_version / Economics and Finance / Master / Master of Economics

published_or_final_version / Economics and Finance / Master / Master of Economics

Abstracting from potential incentive costs, both theoretical and applied research on contracts and contract choice suggest that bundling multiple contracts may be optimal. With the abundance of risk and uncertainty, especially among low-income environments that are often ill-prepared, the design and commercial success of contracts for mitigating these risks remain crucial. This dissertation brings together applied microeconomic theory along with careful empirical analyses to study three issues about contracts and risks, with implications for the functioning of markets, financial inclusion, unequal impacts of climate extremes and the design of insurance and financial contracts aim at mitigating environmental risks that confront society. Chapter 2 studies the potential moral hazard and welfare consequences of interlinking credit with insurance market contracts, establishing that interlinking these two markets not only increases insurance demand, but induces large moral hazard effects in develop- ing countries. Chapter 3 examines environmental risks and their differential impacts on human capital investments, specifically, documenting how Harmattan-induced “Meningitis” outbreaks potentially explain the observed gender gaps in educational attainments in Niger. Chapter 4 evaluates the impact of informal risk-sharing schemes on the adoption of “index” insurance contracts aimed at mitigating climate risks among low-income societies. Two com- peting forces are identified to show that informal network schemes have ambiguous effect on the demand for formal index insurance, which provides novel explanations for two empirical puzzles about index contracts along with an experimental evidence from rural India. The third project connects the first two via contracts and environmental risks, respectively.

published_or_final_version / Real Estate and Construction / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Real Estate and Construction / Master / Master of Philosophy

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-05-22T14:17:42Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Cláudia Haidamus Perri.pdf: 1496060 bytes, checksum: b5347b22e822dd9e2c035b914402db1f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-22T14:17:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cláudia Haidamus Perri.pdf: 1496060 bytes, checksum: b5347b22e822dd9e2c035b914402db1f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-05-12 / This paper discusses the American theory of “efficient breach of contract”, long acclaimed by mentors of the “Law and Economics” movement. After a brief digression to recall the origins of Common Law and Civil Law in order to provide a clear view of the converging and diverging points between both systems, we will present our understanding about how the hybridization of such systems occurs in current Brazilian Law. We will then move on to the general theory of contracts under Brazilian law as applied to business contracts, that is, the general theory of contracts from a socioeconomic perspective. We will approach the dialog between the principles that govern civil and business relationships, with the aim of demonstrating that there are differences that should be taken into consideration in order to consolidate an economically strong, stable society that ensures a firm legal basis for contractual transactions. After showing how the American contract law system focuses on the economic objective of contracts, we will, by means of a comparative study, approach the consequences of breaches of contract (and the effects thereof) under both systems. Afterwards, we will explain the theory of efficient breach of contract, notably under American contract law, looking at a series of cultural impediments and jurists” opinions that hinder the path for its recognition in the courts and in the academic world within Civil Law jurisdictions, which are less inclined to accept the applicability and development of the “efficient breach of contract” principle than is the American law. By identifying and discussing such impediments and difficulties (based on other Civil Law jurisdictions where this topic has already been subjected to debate), we will try to demonstrate that the economists” views and the views of legal scholars specializing in comparative law are able to find common ground, interact, and accept this (highly polemic) theory in our country. The study of contract law under the light of the “Law and Economics” movement implies bringing under debate one more hermeneutical tool from amongst the many others that exist / No presente trabalho avaliaremos a teoria americana da denominada “quebra eficiente dos contratos”, há muito proclamada pelos mentores do movimento “Law and Economics”. Faremos uma breve digressão sobre as origens do “Common Law” e do “Civil Law” para oferecer uma visão sobre os pontos de convergência e de distanciamento entre os sistemas, a fim de compreendermos como se dá, na atualidade, a hibridização desses sistemas no Direito Brasileiro. Apresentaremos a teoria geral dos contratos no direito brasileiro aplicada aos contratos empresariais, ou seja, a teoria geral dos contratos sob a ótica socioeconômica. Cuidaremos do diálogo entre os princípios que regem as relações civis e as empresarias, com a finalidade de demonstrarmos que há diferenças a serem consideradas para a consolidação de uma sociedade economicamente forte, mais estável e com maior segurança jurídica nas contratações. Trataremos do sistema contratual norte-americano, demonstrando a preocupação que existe naquele país com a finalidade econômica dos contratos, e, em seguida, comparativamente, abordaremos as consequências do inadimplemento contratual (e seus efeitos) nos dois sistemas. Após esse estudo, exporemos o que vem a ser a teoria da quebra eficiente dos contratos, eminentemente norte-americana, enfrentando uma série de impedimentos culturais e doutrinários que se interpõem no caminho do reconhecimento judicial e acadêmico da teoria nas jurisdições de “Civil Law”, que são menos favoráveis a aceitar a aplicação e desenvolvimento da doutrina da “quebra eficiente do contrato” do que a lei americana o é. Ao identificarmos e discutirmos esses impedimentos e dificuldades (valendo-nos de outras jurisdições de “Civil Law” onde já se teve a oportunidade de debater o tema), procuraremos demonstrar que a visão dos economistas e comparatistas jurídicos tem condições de dialogar, interagir e recepcionar a (tão polêmica) teoria em nosso país. O estudo dos contratos à luz da “Law and Economics” implica em trazer ao debate mais uma dentre tantas ferramentas hermenêuticas

The research performed throughout this dissertation aims at implementing quantitative methods in order to assess economic and technological performances of firms, i.e. it tries to assess the impacts of the determinants of technological activity on the results of this activity. For this purpose, a representative sample of the most important R&D firms in the world is constituted. The micro-economic nature of the analysis, as well as its international dimension are two main features of this research at the empirical level.<p><p>The second chapter illustrates the importance of R&D investments, patenting activities and other measures of technological activities performed by firms over the last 10 years.<p><p>The third chapter describes the main features as well as the construction of the database. The raw data sample consists of comparable detailed micro-level data on 2676 large manufacturing firms from several countries. These firms have reported important R&D expenditures over the period 1980-1994.<p><p>The fourth chapter explores the dynamic structure of the patent-R&D relationship by considering the number of patent applications as a function of present and lagged levels of R&D expenditures. R&D spillovers as well as technological and geographical opportunities are taken into account as additional determinants in order to explain patenting behaviours. The estimates are based on recently developed econometric techniques that deal with the discrete non-negative nature of the dependent patent variable as well as the simultaneity that can arise between the R&D decisions and patenting. The results show evidence of a rather contemporaneous impact of R&D activities on patenting. As far as R&D spillovers are concerned, these externalities have a significantly higher impact on patenting than own R&D. Furthermore, these effects appear to take more time, three years on average, to show up in patents.<p><p>The fifth chapter explores the contribution of own stock of R&D capital to productivity performance of firms. To this end the usual productivity residual methodology is implemented. The empirical section presents a first set of results which replicate the analysis of previous studies and tries to assess the robustness of the findings with regard to the above issues. Then, further results, based on different sub samples of the data set, investigate to what extent the R&D contribution on productivity differs across firms of different industries and geographic areas or between small and large firms and low and high-tech firms. The last section explores more carefully the simultaneity issue. On the whole, the estimates indicate that R&D has a positive impact on productivity performances. Yet, this contribution is far from being homogeneous across the different dimensions of data or according to the various assumptions retained in the productivity model.<p><p>The last empirical chapter goes deeper into the analysis of firms' productivity increases, by considering besides own R&D activities the impact of technological spillovers. The chapter begins by surveying the alternative ways proposed in the literature in order to asses the effect of R&D spillovers on productivity. The main findings reported by some studies at the micro level are then outlined. Then, the framework to formalize technological externalities and other technological determinants is exposed. This framework is based on a positioning of firms into a technological space using their patent distribution across technological fields. The question of whether the externalities generated by the technological and geographic neighbours are different on the recipient's productivity is also addressed by splitting the spillover variable into a local and national component. Then, alternative measures of technological proximity are examined. Some interesting observations emerge from the empirical results. First, the impact of spillovers on productivity increases is positive and much more important than the contribution of own R&D. Second, spillover effects are not the same according to whether they emanate from firms specialized in similar technological fields or firms more distant in the technological space. Finally, the magnitude and direction of these effects are radically different within and between the pillars of the Triad. While European firms do not appear to particularly benefit from both national and international sources of spillovers, US firms are mainly receptive to their national stock and Japanese firms take advantage from the international stock.<p> / Doctorat en sciences économiques, Orientation économie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished