O presente estudo tem dois objetivos. O primeiro (1) é substantivo: contribuir com o debate sobre globalização financeira, ajudando a nele incorporar uma dimensão que parecia um pouco fora de foco em diversas discussões a dimensão jurídico-institucional empírica. O segundo (2) é metodológico, e não se relaciona diretamente com o objeto da pesquisa: ajudar a incorporar ao estudo do direito no Brasil a utilização de certas técnicas empíricas que permitiriam o exercício mais freqüente do que se será chamado aqui de ceticismo esclarecido pela empiria o salutar questionamento de afirmações doutrinais peremptórias com o auxílio de evidência empírica. Em relação ao objetivo (1), apresenta-se a seguinte tese. A globalização financeira é produto de diversos processos heterogêneos de cooperação internacional, políticas governamentais, reformas legislativas e estratégias políticas. Tais processos têm determinantes diversos, e objetivos variados, não apenas liberalização. De fato, mera liberalização unilateral não daria suporte suficiente ao aumento de fluxos financeiros transfronteiriços a globalização só pôde e só pode ocorrer em vista da criação de uma diversidade de estruturas internacionais, incluídas aí as bilaterais, plurilaterais e multilaterais. Estas resultaram em uma densa malha jurídico-institucional que, para ser criada, demandou mudanças por diversas vezes dolorosas e custosas aos países que as implantaram, assim como grandes esforços de negociação. Somente porque existe essa malha jurídica, cuja origem é a atividade política dos governos nacionais, é que investidores e empresas financeiras puderam e podem cruzar fronteiras, deter ativos no estrangeiro, e fazê-los circular em nível global. A globalização é resultado, não da abdicação e retração dos Estados, mas do ativo engajamento de seus governos na persecução de objetivos de política pública. Trata-se, portanto, de uma reação a interpretações concorrentes, segundo as quais a globalização financeira estaria sendo causada pela retração dos Estados Nacionais, que estariam se retirando da atividade regulatória, de forma geral, e da regulação das finanças, de formas mais específicas. A primeira parte consiste de dois capítulos discutindo os arranjos jurídico-institucionais que geraram a globalização financeira. A metodologia utilizada foi primordialmente qualitativa. Realizaram-se reconstruções institucionais comparadas, discutindo a evolução de certos arranjos de governança do sistema financeiro. Dois conjuntos de análises de casos foram realizados: (a) uma sobre a formação comparada de Sistemas Financeiros Nacionais, e (b) outra sobre processos comparados de integração financeira. A segunda parte consiste de um capítulo discutindo correlações entre indicadores econômicos e processos de globalização financeira. Aplicaram-se métodos econométricos sobre uma grande base de dados reunida e criada exclusivamente para esta pesquisa. / This study has two objectives. The first (1) is substantive: to contribute to the debate on globalization by helping to incorporate to it a dimension that has been somewhat left aside in many discussions the legal-institutional dimension. The second (2) is methodological, and not directly related to the subject of research: to help incorporating to the study of law in Brazil the use of certain empirical techniques that allow the exercise of what can be called a skepticism enlightened by the empiricism - the healthy questioning of doctrinal statements with the aid of empirical evidence. In relation of (1), the following thesis is advanced. Financial globalization is the product of several heterogeneous processes of international cooperation, government policies, legislative reforms and legal strategies. These processes have several determinants, and varied objectives, not just liberalization. In fact, a mere unilateral liberalization process would not give enough support to increase cross-border financial flows - globalization could only and may only occur in view of a diversity of international structures, including bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral agreements. These resulted in a dense mesh of legal and institutional structures, that to be created, demanded changes several times painful and costly to the countries that have implemented, as well as major efforts to negotiate. Only because of such legal tissue, whose origin is the political activity of national governments, is that investors and financial institutions could and can cross borders, holding assets abroad, and circulate them globally. Globalization is the result, not the abdication of the retraction, but the active engagement of governments in their pursuit of public policy objectives. The thesis is therefore a reaction to competing interpretations, under which financial globalization was being caused by the retraction of nation states, they were withdrawing from regulatory activity, in general, and regulation of finance, more specific forms. The first part consists of two chapters discussing the legal and institutional arrangements that led to financial globalization. The methodology was primarily qualitative. There were institutional compared reconstructions, discussing the evolution of certain governance arrangements of the financial system. Two sets of case studies were conducted: (a) training on a comparison of national financial systems, and (b) the other on the comparative analysis of financial integration. The second part consists of a chapter discussing correlations between economic indicators and processes of financial globalization. Were applied econometric methods on a large database collected and created exclusively for this research.

Esta pesquisa investiga os fatores de política doméstica que motivam os Estados a delegar determinados temas a organizações internacionais. Com base na abordagem de principal-agente aplicada à delegação internacional, o estudo de caso sustenta que a dinâmica da política doméstica norte-americana foi um determinante importante da delegação da crise da dívida dos anos 80 para o Fundo Monetário Internacional. A hipótese se baseia no argumento teórico segundo o qual a delegação de um tema para uma organização internacional oferece ao ator que delega (em geral o Poder Executivo) uma oportunidade de aumentar sua influência sobre aquele tema em detrimento dos outros atores políticos domésticos. Nesta visão, a delegação pode aumentar a influência do Poder Executivo ao deslocar o poder de agenda sobre o tema para a organização internacional, reduzir o número de pontos de decisão doméstica, criar assimetrias de informação e prover fontes adicionais de legitimidade para as posições do Executivo. Quanto mais agudo for o conflito doméstico sobre um tema, maior será o incentivo para o Poder Executivo delegá-lo a uma organização internacional. Este estudo sustenta que a crise da dívida dos anos 80 foi essencialmente uma crise bancária, e como tal poderia ter sido tratada exclusivamente no nível doméstico norte-americano. A pesquisa apresenta evidências de que, ao enquadrar a crise como um problema de política internacional e delegá-la ao FMI, o Departamento do Tesouro dos EUA aumentou seu controle sobre o tema e reduziu a influência do Congresso, cujas visões e prioridades eram diferentes das do governo. O Executivo norte-americano, a despeito da desconfiança que inicialmente nutria com relação às instituições financeiras multilaterais, decidiu delegar o gerenciamento da crise para o FMI porque suas preferências estavam mais alinhadas com as preferências do Fundo do que com as preferências do Congresso e, portanto, as perdas de agências eram pequenas em comparação com o ganho obtido por impedir o Congresso de adquirir um papel ativo sobre a questão. / This research examines the domestic factors that contribute to certain political issues being delegated by states to international organizations. Based upon principal-agent theory, the case study argues that American domestic politics played a major role in the delegation of the 1980s debt crisis of developing countries to the International Monetary Fund. The hypothesis is based on the theoretical argument that delegation of an issue to an international organization offers the delegating actor (usually the executive branch) an opportunity to increase its influence on that issue vis-à-vis other domestic political actors. As such, delegating an issue to an international organization can increase the influence of the executive branch by shifting control of the agenda on the issue in favor of the delegating actor, decreasing the number of domestic decision points, creating information asymmetries and providing additional sources of legitimacy for the positions of the executive. The more intense the domestic conflict on an issue, the bigger the incentive for the executive branch to delegate the issue to an international organization. This study contends that the LDC debt crisis of the 1980s was essentially a banking crisis, and that as such could have been handled domestically by the US government. The research provides evidence that, by framing the crisis as an international problem and delegating it to the IMF, the US Department of the Treasury increased its control of the issue and reduced the influence of Congress, whose views and priorities were different from those of the Administration. The US Treasury, despite its initial mistrust of international financial institutions, chose to delegate the management of the crisis to the IMF because US Treasury preferences were more aligned with the preferences of the Fund than with the preferences of Congress, and thus agency losses were small in comparison with what was gained by preventing Congress from having an active role on the issue.

This master's thesis is focused on the issues of stress testing in the context of financial stability. It consists of two major parts. The first part deals with methodology of general stress tests with special regard to stressed indicators and relevant risks. In the second part, the difficulties and shortcomings of general stress tests are analysed with respect to the dynamic expansion of financial instruments and markets. A special attention is paid to integrate liquidity risk and contagion risk into the current stress testing framework. Furthermore, the alternative instruments for increasing the complexity of banks financial soundness analysis are presented. It can be said that the system of financial stability analysis before the crisis was not sufficient because it did not reflect on all risk exposures. The main contribution of this thesis is the organized presentation of possible solutions which would help to enhance the quality of stress testing outputs and to a certain extent unify these outputs as well.

The purpose of this essay is to illustrate the debate of water politics and privatisation of water distribution. My method is debate analysis and qualitative idea analysis and for my essay I used three books that try to persuade the reader that his or her idea is the best for this water crisis. My main question is to illustrate the debate concerning water privatisations. I will also look at the arguments for or against privatisations and finally determine how the authors think the state should act towards this subject. The first book I used was Vandana Shivas “Water Wars” that when published started an international discussion about the water privatisations. The next book was Ann-Christin Sjölander Hollands book “Vatten rättighet eller handelsvara?” who just like Shiva is negative against market solutions. The third book was “Vatten till salu” by Fredrik Segerfeldt. He is positive to both privatisations and deregulations in the public sector. Shiva considers trans national companies one of the biggest enemies for the development countries and a source for this problem. Her opinion is that agreements like GATS only benefit the already rich. The solution for the water crisis in her opinion is to legislate against foreign companies right to operate in poor countries. Her wish is to keep the water distribution in the state or towns own hands. Sjölander Holland dislike big companies as well but her opinion are that a privatisation can work if the contract with the state is well designed without corruption. However the state should handle water delivery, not companies thirsting for economical gain. Segerfeldt disagrees totally with these opinions and his firm believe is something has to be done. This is to let companies in to the water market and take over with their special knowledge and technology. My conclusion is that something has to be done, but it is not to let the companies set the agenda. Instead the United Nations and its sub-organisations should change the terms for their loans and make sure they sponsor water investments instead of arms. The solution for this problem is not purely market or state distribution, rather a good combination of both.

Magister Legum - LLM / This research acknowledges that although literature abounds on development assistance in general, not much has been published yet on Cameroon specifically. Therefore, this mini-thesis seeks to contribute to fill this gap. Moreover, it aims to examine both development assistance legislative frameworks in Cameroon and above all to compare them in order to find out which development assistance approach is the most aligned in terms of international obligations relative to human rights and economic development. The IMF-World Bank’s Comprehensive Approach to debt Reduction, (the HIPC Initiative), and China’s White Paper on Foreign Aid have been specifically chosen for this research for two main reasons: first, these two international instruments are significantly impacting upon and reshaping Cameroon’s political, social and economic development architecture since Cameroon economic crisis exists till today; and secondly, to enlighten the public, academicians, policy makers, on development assistance in Cameroon given that legal sources on the topic exist but mostly unpublished and inaccessible Therefore this research will be restricted to the period from Cameroon’s economic crisis in 1980 up to 2014. Given the limited availability of primary legal sources at both the international and domestic levels, this research will primarily look at HIPC Initiative Agreement and the Chinese White Paper on Foreign Aid. Moreover, this study will be conducted in form of the available HIPC documents and reports on Cameroon regularly published by the staff of IMF and the World Bank and specifically the HIPC Decision Point Document and the HIPC Completion Point Document of Cameroon. In addition, this study will rely on primary legal sources relative to states international obligations regarding human rights and economic cooperation such as, the UDHR (10 December 1948), the ICCPR (16 December 1966), the ICESCR (16 December 1966) and the Declaration on the Right to Development (4 December 1986). In the case of China’s development assistance approach, given that neither China nor Cameroon release specific bilateral treaties or agreements related to their development co-operation and the fact that documents and publications relative to Cameroon’s development assistance are mostly unpublished and inaccessible, this study will principally focus on the Chinese White Paper on Foreign Aid. It will also look, amongst others, at the Beijing Declaration of the FOCAC (2004), the White Paper on China-Africa Economic and Trade Co-operation (August 2013). Moreover this research will be complemented through secondary sources such as books, journals articles, report, working papers, press reviews, drafts, deliberation of international conferences and international summits, and internet sources

Conventional rotating machine vibration monitoring techniques are based on the assumption that changes in the measured structural response are caused by deterioration in the condition of the rotating machine. However, due to variations of the rotational speed, the measured signal may be non-stationary and difficult to interpret. For this reason, the order tracking technique is introduced. One of main advantages of order tracking over traditional vibration monitoring lies in its ability to clearly identify non-stationary vibration data and to a large extent exclude the influences of varying rotational speed. In recent years, different order tracking techniques have been developed. Each of these has their own pros and cons in analyzing rotating machinery vibration signals. In this research, three existing order tracking techniques are extensively investigated and combined to further explore their abilities in the context of condition monitoring. Firstly, computed order tracking is examined. This allows non-stationary effects due to the variation of rotational speed to be largely excluded. However, this technique was developed to deal with the entire raw signal and therefore looses the ability to focus on each individual order of interest. Secondly, Vold-Kalman filter order tracking is considered. It is widely reported that this technique overcomes many of the limitations of other order tracking methods and extracts order signals into the time domain. However because of the adaptive nature of the Vold-Kalman filter, the non-stationary effects due to the rotational speed will remain in the extracted order waveform, which is not ideal for conventional signal processing methods such as Fourier analysis. Yet, the strict mathematical filter (the Vold-Kalman filter is based upon two rigorous mathematical equations, namely the data equation and the structural equation, to realize the filter) gives this technique an excellent ability to focus on the orders of interest. Thirdly, the empirical mode decomposition method is studied. In the literature, this technique is claimed to be an effective diagnostic tool for various kinds of applications including diagnosis of rotating machinery faults. Its unique empirical way of extracting non-stationary and non-linear signals allows it to capture machine fault information which is intractable by other order tracking methods. But since there is no precise mathematical definition for an intrinsic mode function in empirical mode decomposition and – as far as could be ascertained – no published assessment of the relationship between an order and an intrinsic mode function, this technique has not been properly considered by analysts in terms of order tracking. As a result, its abilities have not really been explored in the context of order related vibrations in rotating machinery. In this research, the relationship between an order and an intrinsic mode function is discussed and it is treated as a special kind of order tracking method. In stead of focusing individually on each order tracking technique, the current work synthesizes different order tracking techniques. Through combination, exchange and reconciliation of ideas between these order tracking techniques, three improved order tracking techniques are developed for the purpose of enhancing order tracking analysis in condition monitoring. The techniques are Vold-Kalman filter and computed order tracking (VKC-OT), intrinsic mode function and Vold-Kalman filter order tracking (IVK-OT) and intrinsic cycle re-sampling (ICR). Indeed, these improved approaches contribute to current order tracking practice, by providing new order tracking methods with new capabilities for condition monitoring of systems which are intractable by traditional order tracking methods, or which enhances results obtained by these traditional methods. The work commences with a discussion of the inter-relationship between the order tracking methods which are considered in the thesis, and exposition of the scope of the work and an explanation of the way these independent order tracking techniques are integrated in the thesis. To demonstrate the abilities of the improved order tracking techniques, two simulation models are established. One is a simple single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) rotor model with which VKC-OT and IVK-OT techniques are demonstrated. The other is a simplified gear mesh model through which the effectiveness of the ICR technique is proved. Finally two experimental set-ups in the Sasol Laboratory for Structural Mechanics at the University of Pretoria are used for demonstrating the improved approaches for real rotating machine signals. One test rig was established to monitor an automotive alternator driven by a variable speed motor. A stator winding inter-turn short was artificially introduced. Advantages of the VKC-OT technique are presented and features clear and clean order components under non-stationary conditions. The diagnostic ability of the IVK-OT technique of further decomposing an intrinsic mode function is also demonstrated via signals from this test rig, so that order signals and vibrations that modulate orders in IMFs can be separated and used for condition monitoring purposes. The second experimental test rig is a transmission gearbox. Artificially damaged gear teeth were introduced. The ICR technique provides a practical alternative tool for fault diagnosis. It proves to be effective in diagnosing damaged gear teeth. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / unrestricted

This master thesis is based on analyses of the Cypriot banking sector from 2010 to 2016. The aim is to describe the effects of the recent financial crisis in Cyprus to locally operating banks, to assess the assistance provided to Cypriot banks and especially to analyze the development of systemically important Cypriot banking institutions, namely the Bank of Cyprus Group, Cooperative Central Bank, Hellenic Bank and RCB Bank Ltd with emphasis on the most important banking institution in Cyprus. The work draws mainly from published financial results of the systemic banks and from the Central Bank of Cyprus representing the consolidated banking sector. Furthermore, for the purpose of this study was used the Eurostat database, EBA and the IMF periodicals, along with the websites of the credit rating agencies.

The external debt is no doubt "a front burner" nowadays, not only in the group of well informed economists or politicians. And although it is regarded as a problem ascribed to the third world countries only, any national economy can bear it. Anyway, neither developed countries are exceptions, despite distinctly small attention which is given to them from the external indebtedness point of view. In my thesis, I decided to link the foreign debt problem with another frequent topic of any discussions: with the really prudent process of the European Union expansion to the East. Primarily, I will try to confute many skewed information about both of them. Or - is the foreign debt really such an uncompromising indicator of the external instability hindering any economic progress? Must thus the relatively successful transformation of the transitive economies pass off with the zero foreign indebtedness entirely?

De nos jours, le multilatéralisme et le libre échange sont le fondement du système économique. La participation de la Thaïlande à l’OMC et au FMI joue un rôle incontournable dans les stratégies de développement du pays. En tant que pays en développement et malgré certaines dispositions particulières en sa faveur, l’influence qu’elle exerce au sein de chaque institution reste limitée. Ce qui l’a conduite à chercher des alliances en regroupant avec les pays qui partagent les mêmes positions pour mieux se faire entendre.Grâce à cette participation, le gouvernement thaïlandais dispose d’une source de financement en cas de crise économique et financière. Il peut mieux mener les politiques commerciales dont l’accent a été mis sur la promotion des exportations et avoir un mécanisme de règlement des différends qui lui permettent de défendre les intérêts de ses producteurs de manière plus efficace surtout lorsqu’il s’agit d’un différend avec des pays développés. Mais face à des limites du système multilatéral à vocation universelle (impasse du Cycle de Doha, problème de la conditionnalité de l’aide et de l’efficacité des mesures prévues par le FMI), la Thaïlande est retournée plus vers le bilatéralisme et le régionalisme afin de protéger les intérêts du pays. / In this day and age, multilateralism and free trade are the foundations of theeconomic system. The participation of Thailand in the World Trade Organization (WTO) andthe International Monetary Fund (IMF) plays an essential role in the development strategies ofthe country. As a developing country and despite some specific provisions in its favour,Thailand’s influence within each institution is limited. A greater voice, by gathering withcountries that share the same positions, prompted Thailand to seek such alliances. Throughthis participation, the Thai government has a funding source in the event of economic andfinancial crisis. They can improve trade policies that focus on export promotion and have adispute settlement mechanism that allows them to better defend the interests of its producers,especially when these disputes involve developed countries. But the limits of the multilateralsystem (Doha round impasse, the issue of conditionality and effectiveness of the IMF’smeasures) incite Thailand to turn more towards bilateralism and regionalism for protecting thecountry’s interests.

This thesis analyses whether China tries to gain more power in the IMF staying within the current international U.S.-dominated system. The analysis focuses on China's behavior in the IMF during the reform process of the last decade. The thesis examines the ways in which China can gain more power staying in the IMF. However, current power structures make it difficult to implement changes and China might therefore use political groups such as the BRICS and their New Development Bank to exert pressure. But the intention of the BRICS is not to overthrow the system but to reform it. Using official statements and speeches delivered by Chinese, U.S. or IMF staff in the IMF as well as articles published in newspapers Chinese claims and US reactions were analyzed. The results suggest that China stays within the international system and does not try to overthrow it. Nevertheless, pressure is created through the establishment of the New Development Bank (NDB) and the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB). The intention of this thesis is to give a current account of Chinese behavior in the international community, supporting the understanding of underlying dynamics. Keywords IMF, China, Reforms, BRICS, New Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank, international system, challenge