This thesis analyses the impact of three different trade shocks on labour market outcomes and firms’ performance. The first chapter evaluates the impact of an increase in import competition on employment, gender employment gap and structural transformation in Ethiopia over the 1994-2013 period. In the second chapter, the objective is to investigate the changes in the Egyptian trade policies on wages and job stability, with a panel dataset covering a 20 years period (1998-2018); the last chapter examines the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on firms with different modes of internationalization, in terms of changes in sales and in business strategies. By exploiting three different very rich micro-level datasets, we study trade shocks under three different perspectives: a worker-level perspective, a firm-level perspective and a local labour market perspective. What emerges is that the impact of trade shocks is ultimately an empirical question, and that the direction of results greatly depends on the economic context under analysis. When trade liberalization is implemented in countries whose structural transformation process is still at an early stage, as in the Ethiopian case, this can harm rather than benefit their economies. On the other hand, the evidence in the third chapter suggests that being interconnected in the international market can help firms mitigating the shock, not only when the shock is domestic or idiosyncratic, but also, as in the case of Covid-19, when the it affects the whole global economy.

Yes / Over last few decades, there has been a growing interest among researchers in understanding the link between trade liberalization and regional disparities within the context of an individual country. In this study, we develop the first ever single-country multiregional Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model for the Indian economy to investigate this linkage. Overall our results suggest that, in the short run, trade liberalization has a beneficial impact on the rich and fast-growing middle-income states and a marginal or negative impact on the poor states.

Esta dissertação ilustra como o regime fordista de acumulação brasileiro foi induzido à sua crise na década de oitenta, pelas políticas de ajuste econômico patrocinadas pelo FMI, e como na década seguinte a política de liberalização da economia terminou por reformatá-lo. Destacam-se as alterações estruturais na economia neste novo ambiente pós-fordista, e evidencia-se como este novo regime de acumulação não permitiu uma ampliação do produto e renda / This master dissertation elucidates how the Brazilian accumulation of fordist type was driven into its crisis in the eighties, by the adjustment policies of International Monetary Fund and how, during the nineties, the liberalization of economy put another one in curse, the so called post-fordist regime. The work approaches the structural changes of the Brazilian economy under this new post-fordist regime, and attempts to show how it was not able foster new economic growth, as expected

This study investigated factors affecting housing finance supply in Nigeria. Housing finance is a major factor determining the quality and tenure of housing consumption, the overall financial portfolio of the public and the stability and effectiveness of the financial system. In both developed and emerging economies, sovereign governments have intervened in the markets by setting up institutions characterised by a significant degree of regulation and segmentation from the rest of the financial markets and very often with governments providing subsidised housing finance. Attempts were made to develop an empirical model to reveal the underlying factors affecting housing finance in Nigeria. Time series data from sampled Universal Money Deposit Banks (UMDBs) balance sheets between 2003 and 2007 were used to assess the ability of the financial institutions to engage in long-term lending. Additional instruments in form of questionnaire, for the sectoral allocation of loans and advances by these financial institutions were employed to gather information from Corporate Banking / Loans and Advances Managers coupled with unstructured interviews. Supplementary questionnaires were directed to the users of housing finance at the household level as control for validity to the research findings. Applying a multiple regression approach, the model identified that housing finance supply in Nigeria is significantly driven by clusters of factors related to share capital and the reserves of the financial institutions. It is closely observed that housing finance models in the developed economies, which are largely financed by deposit liabilities, cannot be wholly adopted in the emerging economies. The implication for practice therefore is that financial institutions in the emerging economies must adequately increase their capital base for effective housing finance supply and introduce mortgage products with long-term tenure to actively mobilise resources for mortgage lending.

The aim of this thesis is to describe the economic transformation in Czech Republic in 1990-1997 with accent on difference between transformation process in Czech Republic and other transition countries. Theoretical part is based on the description of the model of centrally planned economy and transformation theory. Practical part discuss macroeconomy a microeconomy measures of economic transformation.

The thesis deals with the results of liberalization and deregulation of the electricity sector in the European Union with a special focus on creating the internal electricity market. The first part focuses on EU energy policy. The aim is to present the wide range of policies and measures that influence the development of the internal electricity market. High attention is given to legislative measures and their proper implementation by the Member States. The following section deals with the process of liberalization and deregulation with regard to specific economic structure of the sector. The adopted measures are framed in the context of the specific economic characteristics of the electricity market, which relate to the existence of the so-called natural monopoly. The third part is devoted to regulation, regulators and their responsibilities in the internal electricity market. It focuses on their powers, methodology and cooperation within the EU. In the fourth part the regression model was developed that assesses the impact of specific variables characterizing the changes occurring in this sector on the price of electricity in Germany, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Poland and Hungary.

La libéralisation des télécommunications soulève des questions juridiques, politiques et sociales. L’interaction entre ces divers enjeux incite logiquement à retracer le processus d’adaptation du service public des télécommunications. Avec la libéralisation de ce secteur, nous passons d’une approche étatiste et unifiée à un avenir libéral. Cette transformation n’a pas été sans conséquences juridiques. En réalité, l’avènement des idées libérales dans le secteur des télécommunications a conduit à une confrontation entre les principes économiques traditionnels du droit public et celles de droit la concurrence, et fait surgir des problèmes juridiques nouveaux. Cette thèse a pour objet d’étudier l’expérience française et koweitienne en matière de libéralisation du secteur des télécommunications. Il s’agira plus particulièrement d’identifier les multiples dimensions juridiques de cette libéralisation, notamment les enjeux liés au service public. Dans cette perspective, deux points fondamentaux ont été successivement abordés. D’une part, la mise en œuvre de la libéralisation des télécommunications en France et au Koweït. D’autre part, la restructuration organique et matérielle du service public des télécommunications.L’analyse comparative permet de démontrer que le contexte de la libéralisation varie entre la France et le Koweït. En France, la libéralisation du service public des télécommunications s’explique dans une large mesure par l’influence du droit européen. Il s’agit d’une traduction progressive des diverses directives européennes relatives à la libéralisation des services en réseaux. Au Koweït, la libéralisation du secteur des télécommunications est le résultat d’une volonté interne, soutenue par certaines recommandations internationales en la matière. La libéralisation du secteur des télécommunications au Koweït n’a pas été aussi cohérente et harmonieuse qu’en France. C’est pourquoi, un projet de réforme a été proposé pour permettre au droit koweïtien de s’adapter au nouveau contexte économique et social. / The Liberalization of telecommunications in all its aspects raises legal, political and social issues. The interaction between these various issues logically and naturally encourages us to trace the process of adaptation of the public telecommunications service. That in mind, the liberalization of this sector, is moving us towards a future with this perspective. It is without note that this transformation has not been without legal consequences. The advent of liberal ideas in the telecommunications sector has brought the traditional economic principles of public law into competition law, and new legal problems are emerging. This thesis aims to study the French and Kuwaiti experience in the liberalization of the telecommunications sector. It will be necessary to identify the multiple legal dimensions of this liberalization, in particular the issues related to the public service. In this perspective, two fundamental points have been successively addressed. On the one hand, the implementation of the liberalization of telecommunications in France and Kuwait. On the other hand, the organic and material restructuring of the public telecommunications service.The comparative analysis has shown that the context of liberalization varies between France and Kuwait. In France, the liberalization of the public telecommunications service is to a large extent explained by the influence of European law. This is a progressive translation of the various European directives relating to the liberalization of networked services. In Kuwait, the liberalization of the telecommunications sector is the result of an internal desire, supported by certain international recommendations in this area. The liberalization of the telecommunications sector in Kuwait has not been as coherent and harmonious as in France. That is why a reform project has been proposed to allow Kuwaiti law to adapt to the new economic and social context.

(EN) This thesis deals with the EU competition law enforcement in the transport sector towards private undertakings. Specifically, air and rail transport are focused at as they represent convenient examples on which it can be demonstrated how the EU manages to cope with the liberalization process and apply the competition rules to these sectors. The main research question of the thesis is what specific features can be observed in the decision making of the Commission and Court of Justice of the EU regarding the competition rules in the transport sector, specifically air and rail industry. This thesis is structured as follows. In total, it includes six chapters, introduction, four main chapters and the conclusion. The first main chapter is devoted to the EU transport policy as the goals of the transport policy, the liberalization process and its main characteristics are described. Specifically, the main milestones in the creation of single European transport policy in the transport sector are presented and the main obstacles in the liberalization process in the airline and rail sector are discussed. Moreover, the chapter also deals with the relationship of ex ante regulation and ex post competition rules. The second chapter focuses on the analysis of the competition rules enforcement in the air...

Cette thèse démontre que la dynamique d’intégration peut expliquer l’instabilité financière d’une économie. Sur le plan théorique, nous analysons les éventuelles non-linéarités dans l’effet de la libéralisation financière sur la stabilité externe. Sur le plan empirique, nous proposons les modèles à seuil comme alternative aux modèles linéaires conventionnelles. Notre thèse se subdivise en 4 chapitres. Le premier chapitre revisite le débat sur la nature de l’effet exercé par l’intégration financière sur la stabilité externe. Le second chapitre analyse l’intégration financière et la structure d’intermédiation dans les régions les plus assujettis à des sévères crises. Les crises financières majeures se sont survenues au sein de dynamiques non-optimales d’intégration. Le troisième chapitre présente deux modélisations régionales de la relation Intégration financière/Pressions spéculatives. La première démontre que la libéralisation financière accroit les pressions spéculatives au-delà d’un degré seuil. En outre, l’évolution au sein d’une dynamique non-optimale d’intégration accroit les tensions de change dès les premières étapes d’intégration. La seconde recherche préconise que l’effet « pressions spéculatives » du processus d’intégration dépend de la matrice (dynamique d’intégration/ structure financière). Les économies basées sur les crédits bancaires semblent être moins vulnérable aux tensions de change. Le dernier chapitre s’intéresse à l’effet de la dynamique d’intégration sur la vulnérabilité des économies du Moyen-Orient et d'Afrique du Nord aux crises de change. Le premier essai démontre que le maintien d’une dynamique optimale d’intégration retarde le changement structurel dans l’effet de la libéralisation financière sur les tensions de change. Le second essai signale que l’excès de la libéralisation financière constitue un déterminant de la stabilité de change. Désormais ce n’est plus le choix de la séquence d’intégration qui détermine la stabilité de change mais plutôt c’est le maintien d’une dynamique optimale d’intégration. Notre réflexion peut fournir les fondements d’une théorie de dynamique optimale d’intégration. / This thesis demonstrates that the integration dynamics can explain exchange instabilities. Theoretically, we discuss the possible non-linearity in the effect of financial liberalization. Empirically, we suggest the threshold models as an alternative to traditional linear models. Our thesis is divided into 4 chapters. The first chapter re-examines the debate on the financial liberalization impacts on external stability. The second chapter analyses the financial integration and the intermediation structure in the regions the most impacted by severe financial crises. These crises have been produced within non-optimal integration dynamics. Chapter three analyses two regional investigations of the relationship between financial integration and speculative pressures. The first analysis demonstrates that the financial integration increases the speculative pressures once the degree of financial liberalization exceeds a specific threshold. The second investigation suggests that the effect “exchange instabilities” of the financial integration process depends on the matrix financial structure versus liberalization dynamics. The bank-dominated systems seem to be less financially vulnerable than the market-dominated ones. The final chapter focuses on the effect of integration dynamics on MENA economies 'vulnerability to exchange crises. The first investigation suggests that the preservation of an optimal liberalization dynamic has delayed the structural break in the relationship between speculative pressures and financial liberalization. The second investigation outlines that the excess of financial liberalization constitutes an important determinant of exchange stability. It is no longer the choice of integration sequence which determines exchange imbalances, but rather the preservation of an optimal dynamic of integration. As a final contribution, our investigations can provide specific theoretical guidelines related to the optimal dynamic of integration

O objetivo dessa dissertação é investigar a dinâmica da demanda relativa por qualificação na indústria brasileira durante o período que se inicia em 1990 e vai até 2002. A partir de evidências de que a demanda relativa por qualificação se deslocou no período em questão, produzindo assim efeitos no sentido do aumento da desigualdade salarial na indústria em favor dos trabalhadores qualificados, o presente trabalho busca explicar tal movimento através da hipótese de choques tecnológicos enviesados para a qualificação. Para isso, são utilizadas como proxies para progresso técnico medidas relacionadas diretamente à abertura econômica, como tarifas, e medidas de tecnologia ao nível das firmas, como participação de bens intermediários importados, investimento em P&D, registro de patentes e características de inovação das firmas, como o fato de a empresa atuar ou não no mercado externo e inovar ou não em produtos ou em processos. Como proxy para qualificação do trabalhador, duas variáveis são utilizadas durante o trabalho, quais sejam, educação e ocupação. Os resultados apresentam fortes indícios de que ao menos parte dos movimentos da demanda relativa por qualificação, ocorridos nos últimos quinze anos, deveu-se a choques tecnológicos. Além disso, para o período que vai de 1990 a 1998, são reunidas evidências de que tais choques tecnológicos aumentaram, de fato, a produtividade relativa dos trabalhadores qualificados. Já para o período seguinte, que vai até 2002, os resultados relativos à produtividade são pouco conclusivos. / This paper examines the relationship between trade liberalization, technological changes, and the evolution of the demand for skill in Brazil during the period between 1990 and 2002. Using firm-level data, we test the hypothesis that technological shocks explain part of this rise. The results indicate that the reduction in input tariffs and other proxis for technological changes increased the relative demand for skilled workers.