The three chapters of my dissertation study the macroeconomics and firm dynamics under financial frictions and institutional frictions. They contain both theoretical and empirical analysis with a special emphasis on the scope of the open economy and the implications on policy. Chapter 1 presents a theoretical framework to study the debt portfolio choice and optimal capital control policy in an open economy with financial frictions. I extend the model of international borrowing with collateral constraint to allow for multiple debt maturities. As in the single-maturity version of the model, the equilibrium exhibits overborrowing because, due to a pecuniary externality, private agents undervalue the cost of financial liabilities that demand repayment in future constrained states. I show that in the multiple-maturity model overborrowing in short-term debt is especially severe because the repayment of short-term liabilities is larger than that of long-term liabilities in future constrained states, resulting in greater cost undervaluation of short-term financial obligations. To counteract these inefficiencies, the model justifies a set of maturity-dependent capital controls. The model predicts a tightening of capital controls tilted toward short maturities during financial crises. When calibrated to Argentine data, the model reproduces the observed dynamics of debt portfolios, and the short-term targeting of capital controls during crises. The optimal capital-control policy reduces the frequency of crises by half and generates sizable welfare improvements. Motivated by the policy implications of Chapter 1, the second chapter of my dissertation presents an empirical study of how capital control policies are implemented in financial crises. I construct a novel measure of capital control stringency and establish three stylized facts about the capital control changes around banking crisis. First, capital control policies do not show significant changes until the onset of financial crisis (procyclicality). Second, not only outflow controls but also inflow controls are strengthened upon the arrival of financial crisis (dual tightening). Third, inflow controls show strong emphasis towards curbing short-term flows, while outflow controls are generally enhanced with respect to a wide range of flows regardless of their maturities (short-term maturity targeting). These patterns are robust to countries with different economy stances, external indebtedness, exchange-rate regimes and capital control levels. Besides the financial frictions, the institutional frictions also play important roles in the external finance. Therefore, the third chapter of my dissertation examines the role of public governance quality in determining the composition of a country's external liabilities and the capital structure of firms. In this joint work with Shang-Jin Wei, we first build a model with firm heterogeneity to show that better institutional quality tends to promote a higher share of foreign direct investment and equity investment in total foreign liabilities, and a higher share of long-term debt within the debt/loan category. Similar prediction holds for the capital structure of firms. We then conduct extensive empirical investigation by exploring both firm-level data and country-level data and find supportive evidence for these predictions.

Abstract not available

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Political Science Department, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alberta, 2010. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on January 12, 2010). "A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Political Science, University of Alberta." "Spring 2010." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alberta, 2010. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on January 12, 2010). "A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Political Science, University of Alberta." "Spring 2010." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2003. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 315 p.; also includes graphics. Includes abstract and vita. Advisor: Brian M. Pollins, Dept. of Political Science. Includes bibliographical references (p. 342-381).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2003. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-106). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

This study is an examination of recent changes in the organisation and activity of Canada's foreign aid programme. Three conceptually distinct categories form the theoretical framework of the study: (a) contending approaches to the study of international relations; (b) contending conceptions of economic growth and development; and (c) contending approaches to the aid policy-making process. The study examines the multiple objectives underlying Canada's aid programme, develops and interprets a series of "aid quality" indices, and undertakes a detailed examination of the aid policy process. Emphasis is placed on tracing the specific combination of domestic "push" and international "pull" factors which have pressured Ottawa into initiatives promoting a closer linkage of the aid and trade facets of government activity. Attention is also drawn to the impact of these initiatives on the developmental objectives of the programme. / The principal finding of the study is that while Canada's aid programme has until recently been able to maintain a precarious balance between the opposing forces of philanthropy and self-interest, there are now unmistakable signs of a deliberate effort to tilt the programme in a more commercial direction. In this trend, the single case of Canada mirrors a more general pattern towards an increasingly commercial orientation in most donor aid programmes.

Offshore jurisdictions attempt to attract foreign capital to themselves by having lower financial regulatory requirements than other jurisdictions. By examining the literature and the latest data on financial flows, the thesis attempts to identify the sources of the powerful systematic causes and effects of Offshore. It does this by disaggregating elements of Offshore that are normally conflated. An eclectic theory based on elements of liberal international theory and world-system structuralism is constructed in order to clarify the role of Offshore in the international economy. The conclusions are that Offshore is an integral part of the current global economic system; that further research may reveal that Offshore serves hegemonic interests; that regulatory competition is likely to remain a part of the international economy for the foreseeable future; and that, by finding common interests among hegemons and others, the invidious Offshore element of secrecy has a serious chance of being curtailed so that systematic stability can be increased.

In the first chapter, this thesis exemines the legal, political and economic foundations of the liberal state. Drawing upon the works of Hobbes, Locke, Hume and Rousseau the first chapter focuses upon how the idea of natural "good" was replaced by a political "right" manifested through the law. In chapter one, the thesis criticises neo-liberalism and corporate theory in their attempts to strip nature of all intrinsic values except self-preservation. In the context of neo-liberal domination, the first chapter further argues that the legal and political foundations of the liberal state have been miscast. It defends reform liberalism against criticisms and attacks the assumption common to such criticisms that the landscape of liberalism is barren ethically. From this perspective, the second chapter injects competing neo-liberal and reform-liberal ideas into debates about the role of the state and systems of governance in, what is claimed to be, the globalized world. Troubled as the years of nationhood have been, the thesis suggests that it is misleading to summarize contemporary transformations in legal, political and economic systems under the term "globalization". The changes in the global order do not imply the withering away of the nation-state, but rather suggest a re-interpretation and transformation of its role. Besides the nation-state, macro-regional and local entities are emerging as the new sources of political, legal and economic identity. In the third chapter, the thesis explores the nature, content and legal aspects of privatization as the dominant and hugely misused tool of liberal policy. The thesis discusses the analytical framework of the term "privatization" and suggests that privatization may not be regarded exclusively as an economic process but rather should be seen as a policy tool with political, legal, economic and ethical repercussions. In chapter three, the thesis further suggests an elusive line between public and private ownership and argues that the state has direct or indirect rights in practically every economic activity under its jurisdiction, whether undertaken by individuals or public authorities. Our demand for democratization and "liberalization" of liberalism should not be devoted only to the improvement of economic efficiency and the empowerment of private ownership, but rather to the affirmation of the public sphere and changes in the structures of power. The thesis approaches ideology, government and ownership from a theoretical perspective that sees law as a constitutive part of the political, social and economic field.