Mitigating climate change requires the collaborative and international management of a range of socio-economic processes that produce greenhouse gas emissions. Governments in a number of regions are developing carbon markets to mitigate climate change by limiting the production of greenhouse gases. This thesis examines the construction of carbon markets in the United States and Europe to understand what role these markets play in mitigating climate change. Using a relational economic geography framework and institutional theory, I frame the markets into two components: 1) the regulatory structures which give the markets existence and bound their rules of operation, and 2) the financial and service components which operationalized the markets. Within these components, I investigate four specific facets of market development: complementarity, spacetime, design vs. path dependence and institutional development. The study is conducted through close dialogue and case studies of organization in London, New York and Chicago as well as interviews with policymakers in Washington D.C. Sacramento, and San Francisco. I find that the regulatory components of the market are built both by regulatory agencies and private organizations such as legal firms. Political path dependence constrains the development of the regulatory framework of the carbon markets. The financial service components are constructed in existing financial service centers such as London and New York by directly adopting expertise, products, services and infrastructure from other markets. With respect to the spacetime construction of markets, I find that carbon markets are being adapted to management in existing time zones, with a seamless transaction of activity between North America, Europe and Asia. However, the nature of spacetime within the markets is changing; the markets now manage non-spacetime. In sum, the carbon markets are constructed as a social institution which mitigates greenhouse gas production by communicating and widely disseminating the value of the absence of emissions.

The thesis titled "More is Less: The Political Economy of the MiFID Revision" aims to reveal to what extent different preferences of individual Member States on EU financial regulation affect the increase in complexity of financial legislative acts, concretely MiFID II. Using three theoretical building-blocks in a classical framework of political economy, we argue that divergence of member states is inherent to their different capitalist environments (Varieties of Capitalism). Aligning these differences with the common, harmonized regime can create costs and cause market disadvantages. Therefore, Member States try to push for as similar legislation to their own as possible, to minimize the costs. The result is a disproportionately long legislative act, that was crafted in a way to satisfy individual preferences of Member States, through discretionary provisions, exemptions and other. We also investigate how much harmonization the original MiFID established, asking if some provision became less complicated in MiFID II, owing to gradual convergence of Member State regimes.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo elaborar uma interpretação histórica sobre a expansão das funções do estado durante o período de 1930 a 1945, analisando as causas e desdobramentos da mudança institucional a partir do marco teórico da Economia Política Institucionalista. Esta perspectiva permite compreender mediante descrição da evolução histórica as especificidades do processo de mudança institucional devido as influências multidirecionais o influenciam resultantes das relações entre as novas instituições com ambiente institucional vigente e as circunstâncias materiais, além dos conflitos de ideias e interesses e o papel da agência humana. De forma geral, a interpretação empreendida demonstra que o estado, ao se expandir, alterou a visão de mundo dos agentes econômicos sobre sua própria intervenção e do desenvolvimento econômico. Além disso, as mudanças institucionais que sofre o estado contribuíram outras mais amplas através com estabelecimento de instituições voltadas a restringir o comportamento dos indivíduos e a possibilitar decisões, direcionando a modificação estrutural da economia brasileira e alterando os arranjos institucionais que sustentavam os mercados. Entretanto, os conflitos entre ideias e interesses também limitaram a ação do governo e a mudança institucional. O exame da evolução do Conselho Federal de Comércio Exterior corroborou a interpretação da ação do estado sobre a mudança institucional e a sua permeabilidade as contestações por parte de grupos de interesses. / The present work aims do a historical interpretation on the expansion of state functions during the period from 1930 to 1945, analyzing the causes and consequences of institutional change based on the theoretical framework of Institutional Political Economy. This perspective allows, through a description of historical evolution, to understand the specificities of the process of institutional change because the multidirectional influences that result from the relations between the new institutions with the current institutional environment and the material circumstances, also due the conflicts of ideas and interests and the role of human action. In general, the interpretation shows that the state expansion changed the worldview of economic agents about their own intervention and the economic development. In addition, the institutional change of the state triggered other broader ones through the establishment of institutions aimed restricting the behavior of individuals and enabling decisions, managing the structural modification of the Brazilian economy and changing the institutional arrangements that supported the markets. However, conflicts between ideas and interests also limited government action and institutional change. The examination of the evolution of the Foreign Trade Council corroborated the interpretation of the state's action on institutional change and its permeability to the disputes of interest groups.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo elaborar uma interpretação histórica sobre a expansão das funções do estado durante o período de 1930 a 1945, analisando as causas e desdobramentos da mudança institucional a partir do marco teórico da Economia Política Institucionalista. Esta perspectiva permite compreender mediante descrição da evolução histórica as especificidades do processo de mudança institucional devido as influências multidirecionais o influenciam resultantes das relações entre as novas instituições com ambiente institucional vigente e as circunstâncias materiais, além dos conflitos de ideias e interesses e o papel da agência humana. De forma geral, a interpretação empreendida demonstra que o estado, ao se expandir, alterou a visão de mundo dos agentes econômicos sobre sua própria intervenção e do desenvolvimento econômico. Além disso, as mudanças institucionais que sofre o estado contribuíram outras mais amplas através com estabelecimento de instituições voltadas a restringir o comportamento dos indivíduos e a possibilitar decisões, direcionando a modificação estrutural da economia brasileira e alterando os arranjos institucionais que sustentavam os mercados. Entretanto, os conflitos entre ideias e interesses também limitaram a ação do governo e a mudança institucional. O exame da evolução do Conselho Federal de Comércio Exterior corroborou a interpretação da ação do estado sobre a mudança institucional e a sua permeabilidade as contestações por parte de grupos de interesses. / The present work aims do a historical interpretation on the expansion of state functions during the period from 1930 to 1945, analyzing the causes and consequences of institutional change based on the theoretical framework of Institutional Political Economy. This perspective allows, through a description of historical evolution, to understand the specificities of the process of institutional change because the multidirectional influences that result from the relations between the new institutions with the current institutional environment and the material circumstances, also due the conflicts of ideas and interests and the role of human action. In general, the interpretation shows that the state expansion changed the worldview of economic agents about their own intervention and the economic development. In addition, the institutional change of the state triggered other broader ones through the establishment of institutions aimed restricting the behavior of individuals and enabling decisions, managing the structural modification of the Brazilian economy and changing the institutional arrangements that supported the markets. However, conflicts between ideas and interests also limited government action and institutional change. The examination of the evolution of the Foreign Trade Council corroborated the interpretation of the state's action on institutional change and its permeability to the disputes of interest groups.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo elaborar uma interpretação histórica sobre a expansão das funções do estado durante o período de 1930 a 1945, analisando as causas e desdobramentos da mudança institucional a partir do marco teórico da Economia Política Institucionalista. Esta perspectiva permite compreender mediante descrição da evolução histórica as especificidades do processo de mudança institucional devido as influências multidirecionais o influenciam resultantes das relações entre as novas instituições com ambiente institucional vigente e as circunstâncias materiais, além dos conflitos de ideias e interesses e o papel da agência humana. De forma geral, a interpretação empreendida demonstra que o estado, ao se expandir, alterou a visão de mundo dos agentes econômicos sobre sua própria intervenção e do desenvolvimento econômico. Além disso, as mudanças institucionais que sofre o estado contribuíram outras mais amplas através com estabelecimento de instituições voltadas a restringir o comportamento dos indivíduos e a possibilitar decisões, direcionando a modificação estrutural da economia brasileira e alterando os arranjos institucionais que sustentavam os mercados. Entretanto, os conflitos entre ideias e interesses também limitaram a ação do governo e a mudança institucional. O exame da evolução do Conselho Federal de Comércio Exterior corroborou a interpretação da ação do estado sobre a mudança institucional e a sua permeabilidade as contestações por parte de grupos de interesses. / The present work aims do a historical interpretation on the expansion of state functions during the period from 1930 to 1945, analyzing the causes and consequences of institutional change based on the theoretical framework of Institutional Political Economy. This perspective allows, through a description of historical evolution, to understand the specificities of the process of institutional change because the multidirectional influences that result from the relations between the new institutions with the current institutional environment and the material circumstances, also due the conflicts of ideas and interests and the role of human action. In general, the interpretation shows that the state expansion changed the worldview of economic agents about their own intervention and the economic development. In addition, the institutional change of the state triggered other broader ones through the establishment of institutions aimed restricting the behavior of individuals and enabling decisions, managing the structural modification of the Brazilian economy and changing the institutional arrangements that supported the markets. However, conflicts between ideas and interests also limited government action and institutional change. The examination of the evolution of the Foreign Trade Council corroborated the interpretation of the state's action on institutional change and its permeability to the disputes of interest groups.

African economies, including Nigeria continued to perform poorly despite the adoption of economic policy reforms in the 1980s. An explanation for the failure of economic policy reforms was therefore sought from an institutional perspective. Since active state intervention in the economy was the rationale given for the economic crisis of developing countries, the conventional case for an active state which rested on the need to correct for market failure was counterposed with the argument that the economy was best coordinated by market forces given that the state was not benevolent, omniscient or omnipotent. However, the state has played an important role in the transformation of late developers while a state-market dichotomy takes no account of institutional factors. The widespread adoption of economic policy reforms owed more to an ideological shift in the development paradigm than to the debt crisis and there was a great deal of controversy about the theoretical foundations and impact of these reforms contrary to claims of a consensus. An institutionalist political economy which recognises that the market is not the only institution and that economic transformation requires the positive use of political power was proposed. Such an approach takes account of history, politics and the institutional diversity of capitalism. A more nuanced view of state intervention was therefore advocated. The importance of institutional arrangements in the quest for economic transformation underscored the inadequacy of structural adjustment which was hampered by the lack of price and institutional flexibility as well as other institutional constraints. The Nigerian experience of structural adjustment shows that long term growth prospects were not enhanced and that the reforms tended to favour the financial sector over the real sector. The failure of economic policy reforms in Nigeria can be attributed to the continued presence of constraining institutional factors and the absence of a positive use of political power. / Economics / D. Comm. (Economics)

African economies, including Nigeria continued to perform poorly despite the adoption of economic policy reforms in the 1980s. An explanation for the failure of economic policy reforms was therefore sought from an institutional perspective. Since active state intervention in the economy was the rationale given for the economic crisis of developing countries, the conventional case for an active state which rested on the need to correct for market failure was counterposed with the argument that the economy was best coordinated by market forces given that the state was not benevolent, omniscient or omnipotent. However, the state has played an important role in the transformation of late developers while a state-market dichotomy takes no account of institutional factors. The widespread adoption of economic policy reforms owed more to an ideological shift in the development paradigm than to the debt crisis and there was a great deal of controversy about the theoretical foundations and impact of these reforms contrary to claims of a consensus. An institutionalist political economy which recognises that the market is not the only institution and that economic transformation requires the positive use of political power was proposed. Such an approach takes account of history, politics and the institutional diversity of capitalism. A more nuanced view of state intervention was therefore advocated. The importance of institutional arrangements in the quest for economic transformation underscored the inadequacy of structural adjustment which was hampered by the lack of price and institutional flexibility as well as other institutional constraints. The Nigerian experience of structural adjustment shows that long term growth prospects were not enhanced and that the reforms tended to favour the financial sector over the real sector. The failure of economic policy reforms in Nigeria can be attributed to the continued presence of constraining institutional factors and the absence of a positive use of political power. / Economics / D. Comm. (Economics)

La première partie de la thèse se propose de montrer commentl’analyse du changement structurel doit être abordée, pas seulement du point de vuedes conditions de l’offre mais également du point de vue de la demande. La prise encompte de ces deux aspects du processus de développement, en suivant lesanalyses de Harrod, Prebisch, Kaldor et Thirlwall, a permis d’identifier l'existenced'une contrainte structurelle à la croissance, résultant de la dynamique particulière ducommerce extérieur dans les pays les moins avancés. Les différents modèlesthéoriques qui formalisent cette restriction ont été analysés et, un test empirique aété effectué sur la Loi de Thirlwall dans cinq pays émergents (Brésil, Colombie,Singapour, Corée du Sud et la Malaisie).Dans la deuxième partie de la thèse, l’accent a été mis sur l'analyse historique duprocessus de changement structurel en Corée du Sud et en Colombie, en vue decomprendre comment les deux pays ont lutté contre cette contrainte et commentcette dernière a influé sur leur croissance à long terme. / In the first part, the thesis discusses structural change, not only from offerconditions but also from the point of view of the demand parameters. Following theHarrod, Prebisch, Kaldor and Thirlwall analysis, we identified the existence of astructural constraint to growth, as a result of the particular foreign trade dynamic inthe less advanced economies (demand for imports vs. demand for exports). Weexamined the different theoretical models that formalize such restriction and, weelaborated a Thirlwall's Law empirical test in five emerging economies (Brazil,Colombia, Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia).In the second part, the thesis examines the structural change process in South Koreaand Colombia, in order to understand how these countries, have deal with thisrestriction and how it has impacted their long-term economic growth. To accomplishthis historical analysis, the key concepts of French regulation school areincorporated.