Since the Global Financial Crisis, the literature of financial networks analysis has been trying to investigate the changes in the financial networks structure, that led to the instability of the financial system. The Global Financial Crisis followed by the Great Recession costed taxpayers an unprecedented $14 trillion (Alessandri and Haldane, 2009), austerity and downturns in GDP. The dynamics of the financial networks transferred the collapse of a US housing market bubble into a large meltdown of the financial systems globally. The study of systemic risk and macro-prudential policy has come to the forefront to model and manage the negative externalities of monetary, fiscal and financial sector activities that can lead to system wide instabilities and failure. The dimensions of crisis propagation have been modelled as those that can spread cross-sectionally in domino like failures with global scope, or build up over time, as in asset bubbles. The cross sectional propagation of shocks that occur due to non-payment of debt or other financial obligations with the failure of a financial intermediary or a sovereign leading to the failure of other economic entities, is called financial contagion. Cross sectional analysis of financial contagion can be done using statistical methods or by network analysis. The latter gives a structural model of the interconnections in terms of financial obligations. This dissertation uses both approaches to model financial contagion. The applications include the study of systemic risk in Eurozone Sovereign crisis, the US CDS market and the global banking network. This is organized in three self-contained chapters Our contribution to the literature begins with the study of the dynamics of the market of the Credit Default Swap (CDS) contracts for selected Eurozone sovereigns and the UK. The EWMA correlation analysis and the Granger-causality test demonstrate that there was contagion effect since correlations and cross-county interdependencies increased after August 2007. Furthermore, the IRF analysis shows that among PIIGS, the CDS spreads of Spain and Ireland have the biggest impact on the European CDS spreads, whereas the UK is found not be a source of sovereign contagion to the Eurozone. Next we perform the empirical reconstruction of the US CDS network based on the real-world data obtained from the FDIC Call Reports, and study the propagation of contagion, assuming different network structures. The financial network shows a highly tiered core-periphery structure. We find that network topology matters for the stability of the financial system. The “too interconnected to fail” phenomenon is discussed and shown to be the result of highly tiered network with central core of so called super-spreaders. In this type of network the contagion is found to be short, without multiple waves, but with very high losses brought by the core of the network. Finally we study a global banking network (GBN) model based on the Markose (2012) eigen-pair approach and propose a systemic risk indices (SRI) which provide early warning signals for systemic instability and also the rank order of the systemic importance and vulnerability of the banking systems. The empirical model is based on BIS Consolidated Banking Statistics for the exposures of 19 national banking systems to the same number of debtor countries and the data obtained from Bankscope for the equity capital of these 19 national banking systems. The SRI is based on the ratio of the netted cross-border exposures of the national banking systems to their respective equity capital. The eigen-pair method stipulates that if the maximum eigenvalue of the network exceeds the capital threshold, there is cause for concern of a contagion. This is compared with the loss multiplier SRI proposed by Castrén and Rancan (2012). The latter is found to have no early warning capabilities and peaks well after the onset of the crisis in 2009 while the eigen-pair SRI gives ample warning by late 2006 that the cross border liabilities was unsustainable in respect of the equity capital of the national banking systems. We contribute to the literature by highlighting the efficacy of the network approach to systemic stability analysis of GBNs. In particular we develop an eigen-pair approach for GBNs and prove its usefulness in an early warning context.

The aim of this thesis is to obtain comprehensive results for the population of the Czech Republic in the field of human values, value preferences and value charts by using results from conducted research and data from previous studies. Also an important objective of this thesis is to show the economic behavior of people in the Czech Republic at the time of the financial and economic crisis. As a theoretical basis for the practical part, three major, interrelated areas have been selected: economic behavior, focused on principles of individual decision-making and on media and their possible impact on the economy; life values; and economic development as a source of changes in economic behavior in terms of development on the labour market, development of education and development of ecology. Empirical part, which is called Research - changes in value preferences, is at first focused on the formulation of hypotheses, which relate to the issue, and on the creation of the questionnaire. The analysis and the interpretation of results can be considered as a pivotal chapter of the practical part of this thesis.It is divided into several sub-chapters according to the examined area.

The fifteenth century was not marked by an epoch-making catastrophe, like the one which preceded it, or glorified by an outburst of literary activity, like that which followed; but it was none the less a most critical period in the history of the nation. Momentous events took place in the spheres of industry and commerce, which shaped its destiny in future days. England had hitherto depended largely upon her neighbours in these matters, but at this time she began to be conscious of her own powers, and entered upon the career, which she has never since quitted. Industrial development caused great changes in social life; it introduced new ideas, trained new faculties, and brought into prominence men who had been of little account in the past, and thereby it overthrew old modes of thought and old institutions. A century is, however, an arbitrary division of time, and the origin of some of the changes which swept over England in the fifteenth century may be found in the fourteenth. Other changes were not fully accomplished until long after the fifteenth century had reached its close, and they, in their turn, exercised a great influence upon conditions of life in the sixteenth century. Economic environment is only one of the many forces which mould social life ; religion, political institutions, and war are factors which must be taken into account, and they might have lessened the effects of the economic changes had not circumstances diminished their own strength. Religion was discredited by quarrels in the Church, and respect for the priesthood was decreased by its worldliness. Political institutions, however admirable, are of little practical use, unless they are well administered, but during the greater part of the century the Government was weak and inefficient. The authority of the Crown was lessened by a defective title and by wars of succession, and the nobles, who should have been its chief support, were absorbed in their private affairs, and cared little for the public good. War, it must be admitted, affected the characters of those engaged in it, and the deterioration of the baronage may be partially attributed to the demoralizing influence of the French War. But after the death of the Duke of Bedford the French War languished, the people took little part in it, and they had even less share in the Wars of the Roses. Morever, in so far as war reduced the numbers and lowered the prestige of the nobles, it acted in confunction with Economic forces, which deprived them of superiority by raising other classes to their level. Thus economic forces were not only able to hold Their own, but also materially to affect the development of other tendencies; and so religion and politics were tinged by a commercial spirit, and commercial intercourse formed the subject of much diplomacy. Consequently England made great strides as an industrial country; but her devotion to trade prevented her from paying much attention to other affairs, and she was hardly aware of the great awakening of thought which was going on in the South of Europe. A comparison of the progress of this country with that of other nations would be an interesting study, and though space does not permit it here, perhaps this slight attempt to describe life in England may furnish some data for this purpose. From several points of view, therefore, the Economic History of the fifteenth century has a special value for ourselves, for our own age must inevitably witness a like process of transition—new ideas are constantly presented to us, and new interests are being awakened from a long repose. Possibly, then, we can gain from the past some wisdom to guide our future policy.

An initial public offering (IPO) of equity provides a significant source of finance for Malaysian companies. Due to the existence of inequalities of wealth within Malaysian society as a result of its colonial heritage, the government has used IPOs to redistribute wealth among ethnic groups with the main objective being to increase the involvement of the Bumiputera (local indigenous people) in the corporate sector. This thesis consists of three inter-related studies on Malaysian IPOs that were listed on the Bursa Malaysia (formerly known as the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange) during the period 1990 to 2000. In particular, this study investigates post-IPO performance using alternative performance approaches (market-based and accounting-based) and the earnings management explanation for observed performance. The results from the first study indicate that Malaysian IPOs significantly overperform their benchmarks when performance is measured using both equally-weighted cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) and buy-and-hold abnormal returns (BHARs), except when matched companies are used as the benchmark. However, this significant overperformance disappears when returns are calculated on a value-weighted basis and also when Fama-French (1993) three-factor regressions are employed. Cross-sectional analysis reveals differential performance related to year of listing, issue proceeds and initial returns. The results from the second study using accounting-based measures provide strong evidence of declining operating performance in the IPO year and up to three years following an IPO. The year-to-year analysis reveals that the declining performance is greatest in the year immediately following the IPO. The deterioration in performance is more pronounced when accrual-based operating performance measures are used. The difference in the results using accrual-based and cash flow-based approaches suggests the existence of earnings manipulation by the IPO manager. The investigation of the possible sources of operating performance changes suggests that post-IPO declines in asset turnover parially explain the poorer operating performance. Univariate analysis of the association between family relationships, retained ownership and post-IPO operating performance produces little evidence to explain the deterioration in operating performance. However, underpricing partially explains the deterioration when the cash flow-based performance measure is used. The results from the third study reveal that Malaysian IPO companies employ income-increasing strategies around offerings, and that these strategies were more prevalent during the East Asian crisis period, especially for those companies that provided a profit guarantee. Analysis of the assöciation between the magnitude of earnings management in the IPO year and post-IPO performance provides some evidence to support the view that aggressive earnings management at the time of an IPO subsequently leads to poor stock market and operating performance. Overall, the evidence in this thesis supports the consensus that has emerged from the international debate on studies involving long horizon returns, which suggests that the magnitude of long run performance depends on the method employed to measure performance. The evidence derived from the accounting-based measure of operating performance supports the existing international evidence that operating performance declines following IPOs. The results also provide a degree of support for the earnings management explanation of post-IPO performance. These findings have implications for investors, security analysts, companies and accounting standard setters.

This thesis looks at the role of wild pollinators in providing services to crops. Two data chapters (2 and 3) are accompanied by a modelling chapter (4) which build on the findings of the field studies. The thesis ends with an overview of the trends in pollinator populations and how these relate to the needs of farmers in the UK (chap-ter 5). It is often assumed that commercial pollinators are appropriate substitutes of wild pollinators on farms; however this view neglects the differing roles that particular pollinator taxa might play in providing pollination services. For example, crops with a long growing system may require multiple pollinators to ensure pollination throughout the season. Strawberries in Scotland have an extremely long growing season, flowering from April to August. Chapter 2 presents a study showing season-al complementarity between different pollinating taxa across strawberry farms in Scotland. Pollinators of strawberries also differed in their responses to weather pa-rameters indicating that preserving multiple pollinator taxa could ensure yields un-der different weather scenarios. The requirements of a long-growing season and ad-verse weather may be specific to strawberry production in Scotland, but the valua-tion of multiple taxa can be generalised to systems with differing needs, and also to different ecosystem services. Wild bees are not only valuable for providing complementary services to commercial pollinators, but are also valuable in the longer term as it is unknown whether com-mercial pollinators will be available in the future. There are threats to the supply of honeybees which have already triggered price rises; such supply shocks could force farmers to leave production or to seek other ways of providing pollination, including supporting wild pollinators. However farm management pressures, in particular pes-ticide use, could threaten the ability of wild pollinators to continue to support crop production. The interplay of pesticides and pollination is discussed in chapter 3 and 4. Chapter 3 presents an experiment undertaken on soft-fruit farms which had and had not used the neonicotinoid, thiacloprid, and shows that nests exposed to thia-cloprid had higher worker mortality, and lower male production than those at con-trol farms. This has implications both for pollination services now, as worker mor-tality will reduce the number of bees visiting farms, and also for the maintenance of future pollination services through decreased reproductive capacity of exposed nests. Chapter 4 uses a theoretical model to link pesticide use and habitat use to pollina-tion services, and shows that the use of commercial pollinators could mask the de-cline in wild populations, making local extinctions more likely. Chapter 5 sets out the status and extent of pollinators in the UK, along with popu-lation trends, trends in habitat and trends in pesticide use to provide an overview of how well pollination services are likely to meet the ongoing needs of crop farmers.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universiteit Leiden, 2003. / "Stellingen" ([1] p.) laid in. Includes bibliographical references (p. 263-278) and index.

This dissertation consists of three essays. In the first essay, econometric models are used to measure price risk in a study for major grains (wheat, rice, corn, and soybeans) in China. Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) models and Multiplicative Heteroskedasticity (M Het) models are applied to estimate time-varying price variance, and then covariances are estimated by a simple two-step process assuming constant conditional correlations. An aggregate price risk index is constructed from these variances and covariances using an economic index number approach. In theory, this approach is superior to the more common approach of estimating a univariate GARCH model for an aggregate price index. This easay compares the two approaches to measuring aggregate price risk and finds low correlations. Thus there is substantial difference between the two approaches in practice as well as in theory. The previous essay measures aggregate price risk but does not explain price risk. The second essay attempts to investigate potential factors that contribute to aggregate price risk of major grain products (rice, wheat, corn and soybeans) on monthly base in China from mid 1980s to recent year from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. The superlative price risk indexes are explained by a set of key variables that characterize China’s economy, agricultural market and trade as well as biological system of major grain in China. These variables account for much of the variation in the aggregate price risk index. Moreover empirical results favor use of the superlative index of aggregate risk rather than standard measures of aggregate risk. The third essay is an extension of previous two essays by explaining price risk at disaggregate level. Price variances and covariances are modeled using both Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Seemly Unrelated Regression (SUR) techniques. Results are broadly consistent with the previous essays.

The thesis aims to contribute to the question of the origins of efficient institutional arrangements, which are regarded essential for economic development and long-term economic growth. In Africa most institutional frameworks were established under colonial rule and then persisted to a large extent. In this sense colonialism offers a "natural experiment" - a phase in which European institutions were transferred to African countries. The thesis investigates the influence of colonial rule on the institutional development of two countries and former British colonies: Botswana and Nigeria. It applies a theoretical model of institutional legitimacy based on the theoretic work of Douglass North and Oliver Williamson. The case studies' findings highlight the persistence of pre-colonial informal institutions grounded in cultural norms and beliefs of the local populations. In addition, pre-existing levels of urbanisation, constraints on political power and integration in colonial labour markets have been factors which influenced the transfer of European institutions. (author's abstract)

This thesis focuses on the genesis and development of direct taxation in early New Zealand. During the study period (1843-45), both taxpayers and tax were new to the colonial settlement and this study traces the early history of the two trying to accommodate each other. Between 1843 and 1845, subject to the politics of tax, the fiscal future of the colony was decided. The thesis begins by contextualising the study. It critically examines the revenue and expenditure record of the Crown Colony period and then details the antecedents of New Zealand fiscal policy in general and specifically tax policy (our shared English heritage). Thereafter, four interesting events in New Zealand tax law are discussed: (1) Schedule E of the British Land and Income Tax Act, 1842 (arrived in New Zealand 1843); (2) The Property Rate Ordinance, 1844; (3) the proposed Amendment to the Property Rate Ordinance, 1844; and, (4) the proposed Dealers’ Licensing Ordinance in 1845. After analysing the period’s individual direct tax laws, the thesis elaborates on the political process which determined the development of this body of tax laws. Thereafter, the thesis develops a conceptual model to explain the tax reform process of the study period. The thesis finds that tax policy during the study period was driven by four key influences: crisis (internal/external and economic); political considerations; the application of sound nineteenth-century economic policy; and importantly, the precedent of another nation’s experience with tax policy development. To have knowledge of such events in economic history (the past record of tax law), how and why they occurred, matters. Just as a nation’s financial accounts are built on the foundations of the previous fiscal year, future taxation policy will be based on current taxation policy; tax laws which were developed from past (historic) tax practices. Therefore, knowledge of how New Zealand formulated tax policy in the past and why it did so, is of interest to fiscal policy makers today. Future tax policy is simply a derivation of past tax laws; the development of New Zealand’s taxation policy began in New South Wales in 1839, and thereafter began, what this thesis suggests, was a predictable, evolutionary process.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 95-102).