The subject of this thesis is financial globalisation in historical perspective, and its key contribution is to demonstrate the J-curve as an alternative depiction of financial globalisation since the classical Gold Standard period. As a preliminary and essential step, some definitions and clarifications on globalisation are provided in a literature review. Then, fundamental issues are considered to assess financial globalisation, so that both the goals and the boundaries of the thesis are clearly stated. Throughout the historical period in debate, there were two waves of financial globalisation: the first one occurring during the 1870-1914 period, and the second lasting from the end of the Bretton Woods agreements until the present day. The dominant approach in economics asserts that the degree of commercial and financial integration corresponds over time to a U-shaped pattern, i.e. markets presented high levels of integration during the forty years before WWI. Then, this integration collapsed in the years between the wars, recovering gradually after the Bretton Woods agreements until it reached again in the 1990s the same pre-1914 level of integration. The thesis approaches this model focusing on the financial side. Then, according to the U-curve, contemporary financial globalisation is not unprecedented. This thesis proposes an alternative view. In contrast to the mainstream U-curve, the empirical data provided indicates that today’s financial integration is unprecedented and more pervasive in some key financial markets than it was during the pre-1914 era. The empirical evidence provided proposes that a J-shaped pattern is a more appropriate way to interpret how financial markets have evolved since the late 19th century. The Jshape suggests that in some financial achieved a huge surge from the 1990s to 2005, surpassing the previous level of integration. So, in these markets, contemporary financial globalisation is unprecedented from the 1990s onwards. The J-curve does not mean that all financial markets became more globalised during the late 20th century in comparison to the Gold Standard era, but only some that presented the U-shape from 1870 to 1995. Qualitative aspects of the J-curve are examined. The different institutional frameworks underlying each historical period are discussed revealing that new institutional arrangements, policy changes, technological advances in ICT and a wide range of financial innovations are the key driving forces that have spurred today’s financial globalisation to higher levels than in the past. Finally, the last chapter assesses the key macroeconomic implications of this new era for the world economy.

This research examines the impact of certain bank-specific variables on bank stability in Ghana, in the context of the existing regulatory structures. The thesis examines this issue along two main themes. The first part of this study examines whether two of the commonly used measures of banking stability, the CAMELS and the Z-Score, provide similar or different results in assessing the stability of banks in Ghana. The results of this study show that the use of the CAMELS and the Z-score measures could lead to different outcomes in terms of bank stability in Ghana. This suggests that the traditional micro-prudential CAMELS framework should be complemented with the Z-score which inherently has both micro and macro-prudential characteristics of signaling weaknesses in bank stability, and to enhance the management of bank stability. The second part of the study examines the impact of some bank-specific variables on bank stability. Using the panel data approach, the results show that while bank size, regulatory governance, regulatory independence and origin impact significantly on the stability score, there was no significant impact in terms of interbank borrowing and non-performing loans. Further analysis using the Blinder –Oaxaca decomposition also suggests that foreign banks in Ghana exhibit relatively higher levels of stability compared to local banks. The policy implications of these findings suggest that the liberalisation of the banking sector should be accompanied by an effective micro- and macro-prudential supervisory regime in order to manage the stability of the constituent banks and the banking sector as a whole.

This research examines the impact of certain bank-specific variables on bank stability in Ghana, in the context of the existing regulatory structures. The thesis examines this issue along two main themes. The first part of this study examines whether two of the commonly used measures of banking stability, the CAMELS and the Z-Score, provide similar or different results in assessing the stability of banks in Ghana. The results of this study show that the use of the CAMELS and the Z-score measures could lead to different outcomes in terms of bank stability in Ghana. This suggests that the traditional micro-prudential CAMELS framework should be complemented with the Z-score which inherently has both micro and macro-prudential characteristics of signaling weaknesses in bank stability, and to enhance the management of bank stability. The second part of the study examines the impact of some bank-specific variables on bank stability. Using the panel data approach, the results show that while bank size, regulatory governance, regulatory independence and origin impact significantly on the stability score, there was no significant impact in terms of interbank borrowing and non-performing loans. Further analysis using the Blinder –Oaxaca decomposition also suggests that foreign banks in Ghana exhibit relatively higher levels of stability compared to local banks. The policy implications of these findings suggest that the liberalisation of the banking sector should be accompanied by an effective micro- and macro-prudential supervisory regime in order to manage the stability of the constituent banks and the banking sector as a whole.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:48:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rodrigo Dugnani.pdf: 5058567 bytes, checksum: 63969641fcdd5f3673058d95b37e3329 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-11-04 / This study aims to analyse the neoliberal thinking influence in the Social Welfare debate and its use in policies, especially in the Brazilian one. After years 1980, as Neoliberalism was becoming more powerful, the Social Security systems that count on the State effective participation started to be questioned by the neoliberal thinking believers, who were interested in separate the economic issues from social matters, this way, provoking public deregulations, emphasizing the inequalities, questioning the universality concept and leading to a depoliticized approach to the social matter. This process follows the reorganization of the accumulation mechanisms of the capitalism globalisation, by means of the valuation of the interest-bearing capital , in its fictitious configuration, influencing the perspective of the Social Security and the Social Welfare changes, in Brazil and Worldwide. That brings into question, who will take control of the raised financial resources from the pension funds and the mutual funds . In the search of the profits empowerment, the neoliberal ones pressure in order to promote changes, which can move the additional resources to the financial market, but, on the other hand, it is prejudicial to the workers and the mass of the population. In Brazil, the debate on the Social Welfare is not recent. Right after the 1988 Constitution promulgation, that meant great advances in terms of Social Protection, the contrary speeches to the benefits that had just been implanted were becoming more incisive. These reasoning, which gained force in the mandates of the former-president Fernando Henrique Cardoso and the president Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, had motivated the approval of policies that caused meaningful changes in the Brazilian Social Welfare. However, the neoliberal general reasoning about the Social Security, and the Social Welfare in particular, are questionable and must be object of criticism for everyone who defends the necessity of a Social Protection system extension, as a mean of making it really fair and democratic / Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar a influência do pensamento neoliberal na discussão e na aplicação de políticas na Previdência Social, sobretudo a brasileira. Com o fortalecimento do neoliberalismo, após os anos 1980, os sistemas de Seguridade Social que contam com a participação mais efetiva do Estado passam a ser alvo de questionamentos por parte dos neoliberais, estes interessados em promover a separação entre o econômico e o social, provocando desregulamentações públicas, enfatizando as desigualdades, questionando o conceito de universalidade e levando a uma forma despolitizada de abordagem da questão social. Esse processo acompanha a reestruturação dos mecanismos de acumulação do capitalismo mundializado, mediante a valorização do capital portador de juros em sua configuração fictícia, contaminando a percepção da Seguridade Social e pautando as reformas da Previdência, no Brasil e no Mundo. O que está em questão, nesse caso, é o controle dos elevados recursos financeiros oriundos dos fundos de pensão e dos fundos mútuos de aposentadoria. Na busca da potencialização dos lucros, os neoliberais pressionam para que haja promoção de mudanças que possam direcionar recursos adicionais para o mercado financeiro, mas que, em contrapartida, afetam negativamente os trabalhadores e a massa da população. No Brasil, o debate sobre a Previdência Social não é recente. Logo após a promulgação da Constituição de 1988, que significou grandes avanços em termos de Proteção Social, os discursos contrários aos benefícios implantados nos últimos tempos tornaram-se mais incisivos. Esses argumentos, que se fortaleceram principalmente nos mandatos do expresidente Fernando Henrique Cardoso e do presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, motivaram a aprovação de medidas que imprimiram mudanças significativas na Previdência Social brasileira. No entanto, os argumentos neoliberais sobre a Seguridade Social em geral, e a Previdência em particular, são questionáveis e devem ser objeto de críticas por todos os que defendem a necessidade de se ampliar o sistema de Proteção Social, de forma a torná-lo realmente justo e democrático