Depuis 1939, une partie des pays de l'Afrique de l'Ouest a pour monnaie le Franc CFA d'Afrique de l'Ouest. Ces pays constituent, de fait, une zone monétaire. La dévaluation du CFA de 1994 marque le passage d'une convertibilité automatique à une convertibilité partielle. Il est alors légitime de s'interroger sur l'optimalité de cette zone monétaire surtout dans un contexte où la Zone Euro connaît elle même des difficultés.Elle a pour ambition de s'interroger sur l'optimalité de la zone monétaire l'Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest-Africaine. L'étude a donc pour objectif d'identifier si cette zone monétaire est une Zone Monétaire Optimale, (ZMO) au sens de MUNDELL (1961). L'objet d'étude soulevé ici portera plus particulièrement sur l'analyse des critères de faisabilité d'une ZMO et le passage à des critères de soutenabilité. Les critères de premier rang d'une ZMO, déterminés par les auteurs précurseurs de littérature sur la question dans les années 1960 et 1970, constitués principalement par les apports de MUNDELL, (1961).Notre travail propose de ne pas se limiter à la définition donnée par MUNDELL, même si cette théorie s'applique à juste titre pour des pays candidats à l'adhésion. Dans ce cas la Loi du Prix Unique permet de caractériser la fixité du taux de change comme étant une condition nécessaire de premier rang. Cette condition de premier ordre est non suffisante pour justifier de la soutenabilité et durabilité d'une zone. La fixité des monnaies est la deuxième condition retenue. La monnaie unique devient alors un choix rationnel qui se justifie par les avantages qu'elle procure aux pays qui l'adoptent. / Ome of the West African countries have adopted the CFA Franc (Franc of African Financial Communities) as their currency in 1939. These countries hence form a monetary zone. The devaluation of the French CFA in 1994 marked the passage from an automatic convertibility to a partial convertibility. It seems legitimate to consider the optimality of the West-African currency area - especially in a context where the Euro zone itself faces difficulties.This thesis aims to identify whether this area is indeed an optimal currency area as defined by MUNDELL in 1961. The object of study raised here will focus more particularly on the analysis of the feasibility of an OCA (Optimum currency area) and on the passage to sustainability criteria. The primary criteria of an OCA -- as determined by the founding authors in the literature of the 1960s and 1970s on the issue, MUNDELL being the main contributor (1961). This study however does not restrict itself solely to the definition given by MUNDELL, even though his theory applies rightly to countries which are candidates to entry into the union. In this case, the Law of one Price (Loop) can characterize the fixity of the exchange rate as a primary necessary condition. This proviso however is not sufficient to justify the sustainability and durability of an area. In case this latter condition is not met, the other condition is the fixity of currencies. The unique currency then becomes a rational choice which is justified by the advantages it procures countries which adopt it.

<p>Jag undersöker huruvida fundamentala faktorer såsom konsumtion, investeringar, statliga utgifter samt utländsk exportefterfrågan inverkat på fluktuationer i USAs reala växelkurs mellan 1970 och 2005. Ekonomin beskrivs av en Mundell-Fleming-modell. Utifrån denna konstrueras tillsammans med en dynamisk exportmodell av Gottfries (2002) ett uttryck för en hypotetisk real växelkurs, vars utveckling jämförs med den faktiska växelkursutvecklingen. Jag finner vid denna beräkning samt vid en statistik analys, båda grundande på kvartalsdata, att den faktiska växelkursutvecklingen föregår chocker i konsumtion, investeringar, statliga utgifter med tre-fyra års sikt, vilket jag tolkar som att marknadens aktörer förutser förändringar inom de fundamentala faktorerna och påverkar valutaflödena därefter. Detta resultat utmärker sig från rådande empirisk forskning, som överlag inte finner något samband mellan växelkurser och fundamentala faktorer.</p>

Jag undersöker huruvida fundamentala faktorer såsom konsumtion, investeringar, statliga utgifter samt utländsk exportefterfrågan inverkat på fluktuationer i USAs reala växelkurs mellan 1970 och 2005. Ekonomin beskrivs av en Mundell-Fleming-modell. Utifrån denna konstrueras tillsammans med en dynamisk exportmodell av Gottfries (2002) ett uttryck för en hypotetisk real växelkurs, vars utveckling jämförs med den faktiska växelkursutvecklingen. Jag finner vid denna beräkning samt vid en statistik analys, båda grundande på kvartalsdata, att den faktiska växelkursutvecklingen föregår chocker i konsumtion, investeringar, statliga utgifter med tre-fyra års sikt, vilket jag tolkar som att marknadens aktörer förutser förändringar inom de fundamentala faktorerna och påverkar valutaflödena därefter. Detta resultat utmärker sig från rådande empirisk forskning, som överlag inte finner något samband mellan växelkurser och fundamentala faktorer.

This paper aims to explain the current account imbalances between the United States of America, Japan and China. According to theory, such imbalances should offset each other so that the international balance of payments account is zero. The study also tests the Uncovered Interest Rate Parity (UIP) theory for the same sample of countries. The focus is on the empirics of the topic, therefore time-series analysis is used. The results suggest that American current account deficit can indeed be explained by the surpluses of the Japanese and Chinese current accounts. Furthermore, the conclusion regarding the UIP is that it simply does not hold in the real world. Finally, the main implication of this study is that the Asian countries will eventually buy up American assets if the trend of imbalances continues.

Paper evaluates current status of the preparedness of the Czech economy for the currency Euro. It includes both aspects of the process, i.e. formal preparation and the real convergency. In the field of formal preparation the functioning of EMU is described, based on which current formal status of the czech EMU membership is assesed. The Maastricht criteria are considered part of the formal process as well. On the other hand, a range of real indicators, which are chosen based on various OCA resources is evaluated, giving the full picture of the current situation.

With the shift to a system of floating exchange rates among major currencies in 1973, there was a shift of emphasis from the external balance to the exchange rate determination. Attempts have been made to explain the behavior of the exchange rate both theoretically and empirically over the last 20 years. Most models could not explain what happened, as in the 1980s, when the exchange rate moved a lot. Alternative models based on different approaches give different explanations and suggest different policies. This study examines the implications of the models to see what light the empirical results shed on the issues. Results of this study indicate that both monetary and real factors are important in explaining the behavior of the exchange rate, but the results generally support the view of the monetary approach.

The assertion that financial flows are the primary drivers of exchange rates may be considered as financial markets become increasingly large and sophisticated. However, the Post-Keynesian critique leaves little room for the real economy to impact exchange rates. This paper aims to extend the Mundell-Fleming model to address the Post-Keynesian critique of mainstream models, by incorporating wealth effects, expectations, and Taylor-rule interest targeting. Discussion of significant financial events affecting the USDJPY exchange rate finds that wealth effects are significant considerations, and that the real economy cannot be discounted completely. Empirical results find that the real interest rate is a significant factor in exchange rate determination, tying into the discussion over the relationship between savings and consumption.

The present thesis analyzes the application of capital controls and their impact on the economy in the short and long term. These regulatory measures have gone through many periods and opinions in which they were considered as both positive and negative instrument not only of monetary policy. Global financial crisis of 2008 has again raised a lot of questions dealing with this topic. Capital controls may help ease the acute problems associated with inflows or outflows in the short term but they will not solve the issue of the country's susceptibility to movements of primarily debt capital. Long-term capital closeness (whether in terms of export or import) may causes, inter alia, the excessive accumulation of savings in the domestic closed economy or lack of capital for economic development. Therefore, when applying capital controls it is also necessary to improve the country's institutional quality which proved to be an important determinant of capital flows.

The submitted thesis focuses on the Economic and Monetary Union and its stability or instability with respect to theory of optimal currency areas. The aim of the thesis is to evaluate whether the current euro area is the optimal currency area, what possible ways of reducing the costs of the common currency exist and what are the economic consequences of a potential breakdown of the Economic and Monetary Union. The analysis of the theory of optimal currency areas is the subject of the first part of this thesis and its criteria are evaluated in the second part. The second part then deals with the economic implications of this theory in practice.