This thesis considers how fiscal and monetary policy should be conducted in resourcerich economies. It consists of three papers addressing: whether governments should spend, save or invest volatile oil income; the assets they should save in; and how monetary policy should respond. The first, “Eight principles for managing resource wealth”, shows that capital-scarce countries should save relatively less against oil price volatility, and invest more in domestic capital. They also should prepare for volatility in advance, and treat savings as a source of income rather than a temporary buffer. To show this the paper develops a framework that nests a variety of existing results, which are presented in eight principles. The second, “The Elephant in the Ground: Oil extraction and asset allocation in sovereign wealth funds”, shows that governments should use sovereign wealth funds to offset oil price risk, extract oil faster if its price is pro-cyclical, and use precautionary savings to manage any residual volatility. To do this it combines three strands of literature for the first time: on continuous-time portfolio theory, oil extraction and precautionary savings. The third, “Optimal monetary responses to oil discoveries”, addresses the anticipation effects around an oil discovery. It shows that the terms of trade will need to appreciate twice: once when oil is discovered and consumers anticipate future revenues; and again when the government begins spending the revenues. Oil wealth will give the monetary authority an incentive to appreciate the terms of trade, in addition to stabilising domestic inflation and the output gap. Optimal policy is well-approximated by a standard monetary rule that also responds to expected changes in the natural level of output.

The objective of this thesis is to examine real exchange rate volatility, with a particular focus on investigating the causes of exchange rate jumps. While the predominant approach in the literature is to examine the interaction between nominal rigidities and nominal shocks, this thesis examines the volatility that arises from real rigidities and shocks. Trying to better understand the transmission of real shocks to the exchange rate is a worthwhile task, given the substantial evidence that these shocks and rigidities are important for explaining other economic fluctuations. This thesis develops theoretical models that examine the contributions of specific real rigidities to exchange rate volatility. Chapter 1 introduces our baseline specification - a frictionless model, with the exception of capital adjustment costs. This baseline generates very mild exchange rate fluctuations. Additional rigidities are required to generate volatility of the magnitude that is typically observed. Chapter 2 finds that introducing imperfect asset substitutability - specifically, home asset bias - goes a little towards achieving this. When investors are biased, the exchange rate must adjust by more to equilibrate asset markets. This greater burden of adjustment on the exchange rate along the short run path typically translates to larger jumps after shocks. Similarly, Chapter 3 shows that augmenting the baseline with banks and financial frictions raises exchange rate volatility. The key point is that, in the presence of financial frictions, there is a risk premium that widens after negative shocks, increasing the required adjustment of the exchange rate. A fourth chapter extends Chapter 3 and shows that unconventional credit policy, while beneficial in some respects, nonetheless entails nontrivial costs because it invites moral hazard by encouraging banks to be more highly leveraged, which increases exchange rate and consumption volatility. So, the overall message is that, in the presence of plausible real frictions - including (i) capital adjustment costs, (ii) imperfect asset substitutability, and (iii) financial frictions - real shocks can generate a plausibly significant degree of real exchange rate volatility. This thus posits an additional explanation of exchange rate jumps that complements the predominantly monetary literature.

This dissertation consists of two essays. First essay investigates Fortune 500 companies that implemented Six Sigma. Since the 1980s, industrial organizations have adopted practices such as Six Sigma to maintain and enhance competitiveness. The purpose of this study is to look at the long run stock price and the operating performance of Fortune 500 companies that were identified to have implemented Six Sigma compared to the overall market performance as well as the performance of industry and size matched firms. Even though our sample firms improved several variables after implementing Six Sigma, their operating performances were not quite close to the performances of the matching firms. After implementing Six Sigma, compared to the industry and size matched firms, the only variable that improved out of 14 variables we looked at, is the growth in staff levels. The findings may contribute to understanding the reasons that underlie the so-called jobless recovery. Second essay investigates the real estate price indices in 19 emerging markets. The main objectives of the central banks are not necessarily in line with the goals for asset prices, particularly house prices; however house price changes can have important implications for economic activity and inflation. The consequences of excess changes in house prices also should be watched carefully by central banks and other government agencies that regulate financial institutions for the purpose of financial stability. This essay searches for a link between house prices, broad money, private credit and the macro-economy among 19 emerging markets. We are also trying to explain which variables predict the emerging markets real estate index returns. Our results show that money market rate, growth in GDP and CPI as well as log of private credit and money supply have significant predictive power on growth in real estate price indices a quarter ahead. We also show that there is multidirectional causality among all of the variables. A unique data is being used for the emerging markets real estate price indexes in this study. The data is provided by aDubaibased private company which offers emerging markets real estate information to its customers.

O Brasil possui um grande potencial agrícola e deve ampliar suas exportações para reduzir o déficit em transações correntes. No entanto, as exportações agrícolas brasileiras estão sujeitas a restrições tarifárias e não-tarifárias nos Estados Unidos e na União Européia, mercados importantes para o Brasil. Este trabalho visou a avaliar a incidência de picos tarifários, quotas tarifárias, barreiras técnicas e barreiras sanitárias e fitossanitárias sobre o valor das exportações agrícolas brasileiras nos Estados Unidos e na União Européia, definir as medidas de proteção mais usadas por cada um desses parceiros comerciais e verificar os principais produtos e complexos agrícolas sujeitos a essas medidas no ano 2000, através da utilização dos índices de cobertura e freqüência. / Brazil has a large agricultural potential and must increase its exports to reduce the deficit in current transactions. However, Brazilian agricultural exports are subject to tariff and non-tariff trade restrictions in the United States and European Union, which are important markets for Brazil. The purpose of this theses was to evaluate the importance of tariff peaks, tariff rate quotas, technical barriers, sanitary and phytosanitary measures over Brazilian agricultural export value in the United States and European Union, to define the protection measures applied by each of these trade partners and verify which are the main agricultural products subjects to these measures in the year 2000, by the use of frequency and coverage indexes.

De acordo com um ramo da literatura de comércio internacional, aumento expressivo nos preços de recursos naturais pode causar forte crescimento na receita de exportação desses bens, que causaria apreciação da taxa real de câmbio e perda de competitividade das exportações e da produção de bens manufaturados. Em casos extremos, haveria encolhimento desse setor, efeito esse denominado desindustrialização. Esse conjunto de efeitos é comumente denominado doença holandesa. A apreciação da taxa de câmbio no Brasil, experimentada a partir de 2003, gerou debate entre economistas, acadêmicos ou não, a respeito da possível ocorrência de sintomas da doença holandesa no Brasil. A maior parte desses trabalhos e opiniões se amparou em observações dos dados para tomar posição a favor ou contra a ocorrência do fenômeno, sem aparente consenso. Este trabalho busca testar a hipótese do país ter apresentado sintomas da doença holandesa no período de 1999 a 2008 e contribuir com a literatura através do emprego de técnicas econométricas tradicionalmente observadas em trabalhos sobre o tema, abordagem essa distinta e inédita para o caso brasileiro. A estimação de relações de cointegração (VECM) mostrou ligação positiva entre preços de commodities e a taxa real de câmbio no Brasil, principalmente a partir de 2003, porém não corroborou a relação negativa entre os mesmos e exportações e produção de bens manufaturados que seria necessária na ocorrência da doença holandesa. O emprego da equação de gravitação para analisar a ligação entre esses preços e as exportações de bens manufaturados em um painel de 172 países tampouco encontrou indícios da ocorrência desse fenômeno. Concluiu-se, portanto, que entre 1999 e 2008 não há evidências indicativas de que o Brasil tenha apresentado os sintomas da doença holandesa. / According to a branch of the literature on international trade, a boom in the price of natural resources could lead to a surge in revenues with the exports of such goods, which would appreciate the real exchange rate and cause a loss of competitiveness in exports and production of manufactured goods. In extreme cases, the manufacturing sector could shrink, thus amounting to a phenomenon known as deindustrialization. The whole of those effects is commonly referred to as Dutch Disease. The appreciation of the exchange rate in Brazil, experimented from 2003 onwards, generated a debate among economists, both in and out of the academy, concerning the possibility of the symptoms of the Dutch Disease being observed in Brazil. The majority of such works and opinions relied upon the observation of economic data in order to come to a conclusion either in favor or against the phenomenon, without clear consensus. This work aims to test the hypothesis of the country having presented the symptoms of the Dutch Disease between 1999 and 2008 and to contribute with the literature through the employment of econometric techniques commonly observed in works dealing on the theme, a distinct and novel approach for the Brazilian case. The estimation of cointegration relations (VECM) showed a positive connection between commodity prices and the real exchange rate in Brazil, mainly from 2003 onwards, but failed to find the negative relationship between those prices and exports or production of manufactured goods that would be required in the occurrence of the Dutch Disease. The employment of the gravity equation in order to analyze the connection between the price of commodities and exports using a panel of 172 countries also failed to present evidence of the phenomenon. It was concluded that between 1999 and 2008 there is no indication that Brazil presented the symptoms of the Dutch Disease.

O Brasil possui um grande potencial agrícola e deve ampliar suas exportações para reduzir o déficit em transações correntes. No entanto, as exportações agrícolas brasileiras estão sujeitas a restrições tarifárias e não-tarifárias nos Estados Unidos e na União Européia, mercados importantes para o Brasil. Este trabalho visou a avaliar a incidência de picos tarifários, quotas tarifárias, barreiras técnicas e barreiras sanitárias e fitossanitárias sobre o valor das exportações agrícolas brasileiras nos Estados Unidos e na União Européia, definir as medidas de proteção mais usadas por cada um desses parceiros comerciais e verificar os principais produtos e complexos agrícolas sujeitos a essas medidas no ano 2000, através da utilização dos índices de cobertura e freqüência. / Brazil has a large agricultural potential and must increase its exports to reduce the deficit in current transactions. However, Brazilian agricultural exports are subject to tariff and non-tariff trade restrictions in the United States and European Union, which are important markets for Brazil. The purpose of this theses was to evaluate the importance of tariff peaks, tariff rate quotas, technical barriers, sanitary and phytosanitary measures over Brazilian agricultural export value in the United States and European Union, to define the protection measures applied by each of these trade partners and verify which are the main agricultural products subjects to these measures in the year 2000, by the use of frequency and coverage indexes.

For a multi-national company like Adidas, supply chain management is one of the most crucial aspects of business operations. Products cannot be sold unless Adidas’s supply chain is well-managed and efficient, and public perception of a brand/company is critical to success. This case study analyzes the effectiveness of Adidas's distinct “collaborative approach” to supply chain management, which is characterized by not only monitoring and auditing suppliers, but also training them to make Adidas’s standards their own and approaching suppliers with the intention of building long-term relationships where the suppliers can become self-sufficient. This study reviews the structure of Adidas's supply chain, the nature of Adidas's collaborative approach to supply chain management, the benefits that collaboration provides over the conventional "compliance" approach to supply chain management, and the potential shortcomings of Adidas's approach. A conclusion is reached that the collaborative approach is the backbone of Adidas's success as one of the largest apparel manufacturers in the world because of its holistic nature and consideration for unique cultural challenges.

The thesis investigates the behavior of Spain’s persistently high unemployment rate. Rigid labor laws, unemployment insurance generosity, and the demographics of the unemployed are part of the cause, but they are only underlying factors driving the hysteresis that has been present for nearly four decades. The thesis attempts to extract explanations for this persistence by comparing Spain to other countries, such as its next-door neighbor, Portugal. Special attention is placed on the role that recessions and subsequent changes in real GDP growth play in sustaining a high rate of unemployment.

Climate change is the most obvious and pressing impairment of the biological, physical, and chemical systems. To help mitigate this unprecedented problem, I present heads of state, policymakers, and members of civil society with a set of new provisions that they can include in their trade agreements to drive emissions reduction from countries inside and outside of their trade agreements, maintain their ability to compete in an increasingly globalized world, and comply with international trading rules. Ultimately, I seek to demonstrate the untapped potential for leveraging trade agreements to reduce emissions in the midst of an international system that lacks concerted climate action. In light of humanity’s inadequate efforts to address the immense threats posed by a changing climate, decentralized efforts, such as these, are increasingly essential to reduce emissions.

In the current international climate, both nations and individuals increasingly question both the validity and necessity of international organizations. This paper seeks to answer some of those questions, and to determine why countries choose to surrender significant portions of the national power that they are afforded under traditional perceptions of “Westphalian sovereignty”. This question is answered through an analysis of historical political thought on the concept of Sovereignty, then is applied to two case studies: the United Nations and the European Union, in which the benefits and downsides of surrendering sovereignty are discussed. Ultimately, this thesis concludes that the concept of Westphalian sovereignty is weakening in the modern world, as the international system gradually adopts new ideas about what national power allows, and reapplies old concepts that had long fallen out of use. Additionally, many of the problems faced by humanity in the present day are too large and complicated to be solved by singular nations, and require concerted international action. Together, these evolving conceptions of sovereignty and increasingly complex global problems have greatly contributed to the growth and empowerment of international organizations.