Economic growth from a globalisation point of view is seen as being impacted to a large extent by two phenomena – foreign direct investments (FDI) and trade. FDI brings many positive spillovers such as technological progress and increases in human capital. Trade can help improve the efficiency of production allocation in which the comparative advantage lies. According to David Nellor (2008) parts of sub-Saharan Africa today experience growth rates similar to those of the first five founding members of ASEAN in the beginning of the 1980’s: Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to analyse the role of FDI and trade openness in promoting economic growth in Africa and Asia. The contrast in how FDI and openness to trade affect growth rates in these regions in particular is something that has been left out from previous studies. It may give a hint of what factor(s) are important for Africa and Asia to focus on in order to stimulate economic growth. The effects of FDI and trade openness on economic growth are empirically tested using data on a sample of 82 countries in Africa and Asia over the years of 1999-2006. Regressions are conducted using the total sample as well as the regions separately to show on differences of the importance and effects of the explanatory variables in each of the two regions. The regression results most often indicate a positive relationship between FDI, trade and their combined effect on economic growth. Despite this the results are weaker than expected and in general insignificant. A possible explanation for the unexpected results may be due to additional forces driving economic growth such as macroeconomic stability, human capital, taxes and inflation all of which have been left out from the estimated model. / Ekonomisk tillväxt påverkas ur ett globaliseringsperspektiv, av två fenomen: utländska direktinvesteringar och handel. Utländska direktinvesteringar medför många positiva tillskott, som tekniska framsteg och högre nivåer av humankapital. Handel gör länder mer effektiva, då de kan fokusera sin produktion på varor där de har komparativa fördelar. Enligt David Nellor (2008) kan delar av tillväxtnivåer i sub-Sahara jämföras med grundarna av ASEAN:s under tidigt 1980-tal: Singapore, Thailand, Filippinerna, Malaysia och Indonesien. Syftet med denna kandidatuppsats är att analysera utländska direktinvestingar och frihandels roll för att gynna ekonomisk tillväxt i Afrika och Asien. Effekten av utländska direktinvesteringar och frihandel på tillväxtnivåer i dessa två regioner är något som utelämnats i tidigare studier. Resultaten kan indikera vilken eller vilka faktor(er) är viktiga för att stimulera ekonomisk tillväxt i Afrika och Asien. Uppsatsen fokuserar på 82 länder i Afrika och Asien under åren 1999-2006. Analysen är genomförd på afrikanska och asiatiska länder tillsammans, men också för kontinentalspecifika effekter. Resultaten visar i hög grad positiva samband mellan utländska direktinvesteringar, frihandel och dess kombinerade effekt på ekonomisk tillväxt. Resultaten är svagare än förväntat och en möjlig förklaring kan vara de komplexa samband av krafter som driver ekonomisk tillväxt, till exempel makroekonomisk stabilitet, humankapital, skatter och inflation som är utelämnande från den estimerade modellen.

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本論文包括三篇有關「國防經濟」相關議題之研究。此三篇研究建立隨機的內生性成長模型，進行國防經濟的成長與福利分析，整個論文的主軸及行文順序如下： 第一篇文章為「國防支出、隨機成長與福利」，本文主要係延伸Barro (1990)、Turnovsky (1999) 與Gong and Zou (2003) 所提政府支出具生產力的概念，建構一個隨機的內生性成長模型，探討國防支出對於長期經濟成長率與福利水準的影響。我們發現國防支出與長期經濟成長率的關係是非線性的，並且得到使得長期經濟成長率最大時的最適國防支出比例。此外，我們也證明國防支出會透過兩種管道影響福利水準：第一種管道為國家安全效果，第二種管道為經濟成長效果。最後，本文首先提出國防支出波動程度對長期經濟成長率以及福利水準的衝擊會受到生產與國防支出干擾項的共變數以及代表性個人的風險偏好程度所影響。 第二篇文章為「軍事威脅、隨機成長與福利」，本文係延伸第一篇文章的架構，加入軍事威脅的隨機過程，並建構一個隨機的內生性成長模型，除了得到第一篇文章的結論外，更得到外國軍事支出的成長與本國長期內生成長率成反比以及外國軍事支出的波動程度與本國長期內生成長率成正比的結果。此外，本文亦首先證明外國軍事支出的成長與波動程度對於福利水準與長期經濟成長率的影響是相同的。換言之，若外國軍事支出的成長與波動程度導致長期經濟成長率增加，則福利水準也會增加；反之亦然。 第三篇文章為「軍事威脅、成長與福利：小型開放隨機成長模型」，本文建構一個小型開放的隨機內生性成長模型，探討外國軍事威脅對於本國長期經濟成長率與福利水準的影響。本文首先證明外國軍事威脅未預期的干擾對於本國長期經濟成長率的影響與本國是否為債權國或債務國有關。我們也首先證明外國軍事威脅的波動程度對於經濟成長率隨機過程變異數的衝擊會與本國是否為債權國或債務國以及消費的跨期替代彈性有關，即我們證明如果本國為淨債權國且消費的跨期替代彈性大於1或者如果本國為淨債務國且消費的跨期替代彈性小於1，此時若外國軍事威脅的波動程度愈大，則本國經濟成長率的隨機調整路徑愈平穩。

本文以Barro (1990)、Turnovsky (1997)與Lai and Liao (2012)的模型為基礎，建構一個小型開放經濟的內生成長模型，為凸顯資本市場移動性所扮演的角色，分別探討政府當局在面對資本完全移動及資本不完全移動時，該如何制訂一套最適之非線型所得稅以追求社會福利極大。根據本文的分析，可得出以下結論： 一、在資本完全移動的情況下，為矯正政府基礎建設的生產外部性，可透過課徵所得稅矯正市場失靈的扭曲，並利用累退稅率矯正因所得稅尺度所造成資本邊際生產力過低的扭曲。政府可以透過最適租稅結構矯正所有分權經濟體系的扭曲，使得經濟體系達到最佳境界的經濟成長率與福利水準。 二、在資本不完全移動的情況下，當最適的所得稅尺度等於基礎建設的生產外部性，矯正了基礎建設的生產外部性，並且透過累進／累退稅率矯正課稅後導致資本邊際生產力過低的扭曲，然而代表性個人在做最適決策時視國外利率為固定，總體決策中利率會隨著借債規模而變動，存在資本不完全移動性的扭曲，經數值模擬的結果得知，代表性個人相對社會最適借債過多，因而無法使得經濟體系達到柏拉圖最適境界。 / Based on the Barro (1990), Turnovsky (1997) and Lai and Liao (2012) model, this thesis specifies that on endogenous growth model of a developing economy facing an upward-sloping supply curve of debt. The analysis includes both perfect world capital market case and imperfect world capital market case. The government’s infrastructure expenditure is financed by nonlinear income taxation, and examine how the fiscal authority devises its nonlinear tax structure from the viewpoint of welfare maximization. Several main findings emerge from the analysis. First, in a world of perfect capital market, it is found that a suitable package containing two instruments can fully remedy the inefficiencies arising from the production externality and distortionary taxation, as a result, the Pareto optimality can be restored. Second, according to the calibration results, in the face of imperfect world capital market, there are three distortions in the economy: the production externality, the capital externality, and the financial externality association with the upward-sloping supply of debt. Two policy instruments for the tax scalar and tax progressivity/regressivity causing the distortion arising from the production externality and the capital externality to vanish. Consequently, one remaining distortion, namely, the financial externality association with the upward-sloping supply of debt, are present in the economy. As a consequence, the structure of the optimal tax policy that won’t permit the attainment of the first-best optimum.

The local food movement in the Portland Metro Region of Oregon is as prevalent as anywhere in the Country. To a large degree this is driven by the Portland Metro area food culture and the diverse agricultural landscape present in the Willamette Valley and throughout the State. Portlanders demand local food and thus far the rural periphery has been able to provide it; driving a new food economy that has economic implications throughout the region. As this regional food economy emerges much attention has been focused on harnessing its power for economic development perpetuated by the belief that there exists an opportunity to foster a cluster of economic activity pertaining to the production, processing, distribution and sale of regional foods that might generate economic opportunities throughout the value chain. The research presented here constitutes an attempt to characterize the local and regional food system that currently exists in the Portland Metro Region and to bring to light the opportunities present at the regional scale that link the agricultural periphery to the urban core. I present two different definitions of local and regional food systems and show how these different conceptions have very different implications for economic development. Once defined, I test for differences between local and regional food systems and the export-oriented, agro-food sector by analyzing aspects of geographic space and processes of knowledge accumulation and innovation in the context of aspects of regional economic development such as agglomeration economies, knowledge spillovers, business life cycle and industrial location. My analysis showed that there are significant differences between local and regional food systems and the export-oriented agro-food industry specific to supply chains, actors and products of the different systems. Furthermore, through spatial analysis, I found that there are differences in terms of the spatial structure and distribution between producers who participate in the different systems. Local and regional producers tend to cluster closer together at smaller scales, are smaller in size and are found to be closer to the urban core. Through a qualitative inquiry I found that this clustering facilitates forces of agglomeration economies specific to food producers who participate in local and regional supply chains, particularly non-pecuniary effects of knowledge accumulation. This underlying structure has significant effects on economic outcomes and as such has implications in terms of regional economic development when local and regional food systems are considered in terms of the city-region.

本文主要是應用一內生性成長模型, 以先持有現金(Cash-in-Advance)限 制引入貨幣, 討論長期經濟成長率與貨幣成長率間的關係.

In their pursuit of profits, adventure and new markets, humans have traded since prehistoric times. The relations between trade, profits and technological change, how- ever, were not the main concern of early economists ranging from Aristotle to the mercantilists. Presumably because in their world, the rate of technological change was decidedly low, and the basket and quality of goods available through production and trade did not change much over decades, or even centuries! In addition, it was not the technological change that brought markets closer, but “the ferocity of nomadic horsemen or the edge of a scimitar”, while “violently imposed monopolies and plunder”. (Findlay and O’Rourke, 2003) made trade more profitable. It was not until the industrial revolution that growth rates began to rise to high levels. Now that human inventions and discoveries came faster and cheaper than ever, trade liberalization was not only the way to gain access to new markets; trade liberalization had also a role in promoting growth. Trade liberalization in the form of lower trade costs, increases profits from exporting, and consequently, overall profits. That increases the incentives to innovate, produce something new and export it. Trade liberalization thus promotes technological change by increasing the incentives firms have to conduct R&D, implement the innovation or improvement and make larger profits. The field of economics that studies economic growth as the result of decisions made by profit-maximizing firms is called endogenous growth theory. There have been a number of theoretical advances in endogenous growth theory over the last 20 years, but there is no consensus on whether trade liberalization promotes growth or not. Some models predict that trade liberalization has a positive effect on growth. Other models predict no effect at all. In addition, not all countries have benefited equally from globalization. In this dissertation, I study the linkages between trade liberalization and economic growth (papers one and two). In papers two and three, I also explore the relationships between globalization, growth and the demand for labor. There is well documented evidence from a number of countries, that the demand for less-skilled labor has decreased in recent decades, and this decrease has resulted in a higher skilled-wage premium, that is, the degree in which the wages of skilled workers exceed less-skilled worker wages. This phenomenon has occurred in several countries, including the U.S. The skilled- wage premium has also increased in Europe, although less dramatically. In paper two, the relationships between trade liberalization, growth and wage inequality are analyzed using an endogenous growth model. The third and final paper is an empirical study on the relationships between the demand for labor and offshoring. More specifically, I examine what happens to the demand for different types of labor (not only skilled and unskilled labor) in the Swedish plants of Swedish multinational enterprises, when these multinationals expand abroad. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan i Stockholm, 2011

The first essay studies the Marginal Cost of Funds in the existence of tax evasion. We develop a general equilibrium model of tax evasion, including the expected utility of taxpayers and three different revenue-raising government policies. In this rich model environment, we analytically derive the marginal cost of funds (MCF) for the alternative policy instruments. We consider two main fiscal reforms: the revision in the nonlinear tax scheme and the changes in enforcement mechanism (the audit and penalty rates). First, we derive the MCF for the tax reform and find its key determinants. The derived MCF is greater than the previous ones since it includes a "risk-bearing cost" as well as tax distortion. The reform in enforcement mechanism generates MCFs in different forms. Two more MCFs with respect to audit and penalty rates are presented. Finally, we compare these three different MCFs in numerical example and provide some policy implications. The second essay explores optimal tax structure in the presence of status effect. When the consumption of certain goods affects one's social status, this externality creates two opposite effects in a society. Seeking higher status through “positional goods" gives individuals much incentive to supply labor but still allocates income for less “nonpositional goods" as well. In this case, differential taxes on positional goods work as corrective instruments to internalize the social cost stemming from status seeking. Furthermore, the differential taxes generate revenue that can be used to alleviate preexisting income tax distortion. Thus, the differential taxes on positional goods could give so called “double dividend." I develop a game-theoretic model in which each individual with a different labor productivity unknown to the others engages in a status-seeking game, and the government has a revenue requirement. Then I show that, under a condition in which utility is separable between positional goods and leisure, a revenue-neutral shift in the tax mix away from nonlinear income taxes towards positional-good taxes enhances welfare. Hence, the differential taxes on positional goods are necessary together with the nonlinear income taxes for an optimal tax structure. The third essay explores the impact of increasing capital mobility on regional growth and environment. I develop an endogenous growth model in which each local government competes against the others, to induce imperfectly mobile stock of capital into its region. Then I show that an increase in capital mobility generates “tax importing" due to which each locality experiences a higher growth rate and more degraded environment. That is, the increasing mobility dampens the capital tax and transfers the burden of pollution abatement to the locality. This finding supports the hypothesis of “race to the bottom" in environmental standards. Identifying a reduction in overall welfare of residents, I consider two alternative federal interventions in the model: uniform environmental standard and requirement of lump sum transfer or tax. Both of these federal instruments enhance the residents' welfare. / text

本文建立一個小型開放經濟的內生成長模型，並且以貨幣進入生產函數的方式，將貨幣引入經濟體系。據此，我們分別探討勞動外生及勞動內生的狀況下，央行以釘住通貨膨脹率作為貨幣政策，民眾的信念是否可以造成景氣的波動，並探討央行採行未預料到的貨幣政策及預料到的貨幣政策會如何影響經濟體系相關變數的成長率。 　　根據本文的分析，我們發現在勞動外生的狀況下，通貨膨脹率與Tobin q值呈現負向關係，由此我們可以推論，提高通貨膨脹率目標將對經濟成長率造成負面的影響。當央行採取通貨膨脹率指標作為貨幣政策時，經濟體系呈現均衡的確定性，表示民眾的信念不會造成景氣的波動。若央行調整通貨膨脹率目標時，名目貨幣供給成長率和通貨膨脹率呈現不同比例的變動，且變動方向不確定，需端視實質餘額成長率下降的效果與通貨膨脹率調整的效果何者較大才可決定。在政策宣示的部分，宣告期間的長短僅影響經濟成長率、實質資本成長率及實質貨幣餘額成長率的跳動幅度，不影響動態調整路徑的形狀。 　　在勞動內生化的狀況下，通貨膨脹率增減不影響Tobin q值的變動，故提高通貨膨脹率目標不會影響經濟成長率。當央行採取通貨膨脹率指標作為貨幣政策，勞動需求線斜率大於勞動供給線斜率時，經濟體系呈現均衡的不確定性，表示民眾的信念可以造成景氣的波動在央行調整通貨膨脹率目標時，名目貨幣供給成長率和通貨膨脹率呈現同方向、同比例變動。最後，政策宣示部分，政策宣告期間的長短會造成經濟成長率、實質資本成長率及實質貨幣餘額成長率呈現不同的動態調整路徑。