This paper attempts to explain the factors that determine the geographical allocation of foreign aid. Its novelty is that it develops a rigorous theoretical model and conducts the corresponding empirical investigations based on a large panel dataset. We run regressions for different major donors (United States, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, and multilateral organizations). with the explicit objective of establishing whether the United States, in light of its geopolitical hegemony, behaves differently from others. We find that all the donors respond to recipient need in their allocation of aid, but that the United States puts less emphasis on this than the other donors with the exception of Japan. We also find that the United States puts more emphasis on donor¿recipient linkages than do the other donors suggesting that the United States attaches greater importance to issues of donor interest, for example, geopolitical, commercial, and other links with specific recipients.

Yes / We examine the effects of banking supervisory architecture on central bank preferences, quantified through a recently proposed measure of central bank conservatism. Using a dynamic panel data specification we document that central banks serving both monetary policy and banking supervision functions are less inflation conservative than those with only a price stability mandate.

There are a variety of international issues that disrupt the global trade market, an important one being national policies on the regulation of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. Many crops have been genetically modified for reasons from herbicide resistance to correcting dietary shortfalls. This study evaluates the United States' exports of corn and soybeans from 1998 to 2016 to identify unusual shocks in trade values. In particular, this study quantifies how the importers' policy stance on the GMO issue impacts bilateral trade values. I estimate a gravity model with both ordinary least squares (OLS) and Poisson pseudo maximum likelihood (PPML) estimations. Residual analysis is used to assess the difference between actual trade and the trade levels predicted by the models. The results suggest that anti-GMO policies reduce trade values by an average of 11%. The largest difference between predictions and actual trade values is seen in corn exports to the European Union. Between 1998 and 2016, this forgone trade in corn was valued at $52.7 billion, which is $2.77 billion per year on average. This value is similar to the annual average value of U.S. exports of corn to Japan in the same period, $2.46 billion. The results have important implications for the agricultural industry. For developing nations, adoption of GMO crops could increase productivity and help alleviate poverty. Ultimately, the decision to adopt is up to the consumer, so the factors of consumer knowledge and opinions of GMOs are not to be ignored. / Master of Science / There are a variety of international issues that disrupt the global trade market, an important one being national policies on the regulation of genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. This study evaluates the United States’ exports of corn and soybeans from 1998 to 2016 to identify unusual drops in trade values. In particular, this study quantifies how the importers’ policy stance on the GMO issue impacts bilateral trade values. I estimate a gravity model with various estimation methods. Residual analysis is used to assess the difference between actual trade and the trade levels predicted by the models. The results suggest that anti-GMO policies reduce trade values by an average of 11%. The largest difference between predictions and actual trade values is seen in corn exports to the European Union. Between 1998 and 2016, this forgone trade in corn was valued at $52.7 billion, which is $2.77 billion per year on average. This value is similar to the annual average value of U.S. exports of corn to Japan in the same period, $2.46 billion. The results have important implications for the agricultural industry. For developing nations, adoption of GMO crops could increase productivity and help alleviate poverty. Ultimately, the decision to adopt is up to the consumer, so the factors of consumer knowledge and opinions of GMOs are not to be ignored.

No description available.

國際觀光對於許多國內經濟成長趨緩的已開發國家是重要財源之一，日本政府近年來開始積極推動入境旅遊，來刺激停滯經濟成長。此研究探討觀光趨勢與政府能夠推動可增加觀光客人數的觀光政策進而成為以觀光為發展導向的國家。 此報告採用Panel Data分析方法中的固定效應模式來評估觀光收入與觀光價格以及主要事件與相關政策對於國際觀光客的影響，研究對象以十一個亞洲國家到日本旅遊為例。此研究發現觀光需求易受到觀光客出發國家以及目的國家的旅遊價格影響。此研究發現需求的收入彈性係數為+3.041，需求的收價格彈性係數為-0.486，表示對國際觀光客而言，赴日旅遊是較昂貴的商品，觀光客的價格較不彈性。此外, 有關當局預估福島核災事件在2011年會減少觀光客人次至2,765,669，而2015年的外國觀光客免稅購物政策則導致國際觀光客入境人次2,115,519。此研究發現免簽證觀光的延長政策以及對日本的重大抗議對於國際觀光客入境日本並無顯著影響。 / International tourism has become a significant source of economic growth for many developed countries that have encountered slowdowns in domestic economic productivity. The Japanese government has begun, in recent years, to promote inbound tourism in an effort to stimulate its own stagnant economic growth. This paper discusses tourism trends and policies the government could implement to increase the number of tourists and become the “tourism-oriented country” it aspires to be. This paper adopts a Panel Data Analysis with Fixed Effects model to estimate the impact of tourist income and tourism price as well as major events and policy on international tourist arrivals to Japan from 11 Asian countries. The paper finds that tourism demand is sensitive to both origin country income and destination country price. Income elasticity of demand is found to be +3.041 and price elasticity of demand to be -0.486 implying travel to Japan is considered a luxury good and that visitors are price inelastic. Further, the Fukushima nuclear disaster is estimated to have reduced international arrivals by 2,765,669 in its aftermath in 2011 and the implementation of tax-free shopping for foreign visitors led is estimated to have increased international arrivals by 2,115,519 in 2015. The paper finds the expansion of visa exempt travel and major protests against Japan to have no significant impact on international arrivals.

In this thesis, I first investigate the relation between the aggregate unemployment rate and foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and outflows. To study this relationship, I use a panel data set that contains 45 (developed and developing) countries observed from 1987 through 2008, and I employ Arellano and Bonds generalized methods of moments (ABGMM) estimation method for dynamic panel data. My results show that FDI inflows and outflows are not determinants of the aggregate unemployment rate. In addition, in line with macroeconomic theory, the previous level of aggregate unemployment has a positive impact on the current level of aggregate unemployment. Again, as macroeconomic theory suggests, my results show that per capita real gross domestic product (RGDP) has a negative effect on the current level of aggregate unemployment. Second, I study the long-run relationship between exports and per capita gross domestic product (instrumented by total population) using a panel data set of 51 countries from 1970 through 2008. To study this relationship, I employ the dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) estimation method. I find that the percentage of exports in nominal gross domestic products (GDP) is sensitive to changes in the populations of host countries and, hence, to the changes in their GDP. In addition, my results show that the agreement on trade related investment measures increased the percentage of exports in the nominal GDP of developed host countries more than it did in developing host countries.

In this thesis we examined the validity of Okun’s law across four Nordic countries (Sweden,Norway, Finland and Denmark) using the gap version of Okun's law. Our method foranalyzing the Okun’s law for Nordic countries in this study is time series. We performed anAugmented-Dickey fuller test in order to test for stationarity, to which the result yielded allvariables stationary. Our result, after running the regression of the gap version of Okun’s law,confirms the existence of a negative relationship between unemployment rate and economicgrowth. However, the outcome indicates different Okun coefficients for the four Nordiccountries within the time period of 1989-2018. In conclusion we can affirm that according toour result, the basic assumptions made by Okun regarding a negative correlation betweenunemployment rate and output still holds true today for Nordic countries, with the exceptionthat the percentage decrease in unemployment rate when output increases by one percentvaries across Nordic countries. / I denna uppsats undersökte vi validiteten av Okuns lag för fyra nordiska länder (Sverige, Norge, Finland och Danmark) hjälp av Okuns lag gap modellen. Vår metod för att analyseraOkuns lag för de nordiska länderna i denna studie är tidsserier. Vi testade stationariteten ivåra resultat från tidsserie regressionen via ett Augmented-Dickey fuller test, vilketindikerade att alla variabler var stationära. Vårt resultat, efter att ha utfört regressionen av gapversionen av Okuns lag, bekräftar förekomsten av ett negativt samband mellan arbetslöshetoch ekonomisk tillväxt. Utfallet indikerar dock olika Okun-koefficienter för de fyra nordiskaländerna inom tidsperioden 1989-2018. Sammanfattningsvis kan vi konstatera att enligt vårtresultat gäller de fundamentala antagandena för Okuns lag fortfarande idag för de nordiskaländerna, med undantaget att den procentuella minskningen av arbetslösheten närproduktionen ökar med en procent varierar mellan de nordiska länderna.

The purpose of the thesis examines the relationship between migration and economic growth that has taken place in the EU Member States during the period 2009-2019. The study includes three different theories, Borja's model, Solow's model and Romers' model. It's based on these models in order to be able to answer the study's question and achieve the purpose of this study. A multiple regression analysis is used with the help of panel data for those EU member states. The data material which is used in this study is taken from Eurostat and The World Bank. The GDP per capita growth is used as the dependent variable and the independent variables are Migration, Employment, Expenses, Education and Trade. The results of the regression analysis show that migration has a significant positive relationship with the GDP per capita growth. This supports Borja's (1995) assumptions that there is a migration surplus for the receiving countries when migrants enter, moreover many other studies that are mentioned later that indicate the same. The discussion part deals with the connection between economic growth and migration in which the connections between previous studies and the results from this study is discussed.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:26:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alexandre Hiroshi Mitushima.pdf: 505405 bytes, checksum: 407f21225d3d7cb8c6b1f84ae26228b9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-03-10 / The study of capital structure is one of the main issues in Corporate Finance. Many researchers, in opposition to the propositions of Modigliani and Miller (1958), suggest that there is an optimal debt-equity ratio. Some authors say that the capital structure has a dynamic behavior and try to build models to identify the determinants of this dynamic capital structure. Some recent papers try to identify the variables that influence the speed of adjustment of capital structure. The objective of this research is to identify the determinants mentioned above in Brazilian companies, by analyzing the financial statements of companies listed in São Paulo Stock Exchange. The academic relevance of this study is to give an overview of the behavior of Brazilian companies regarding their optimal capital structure finding some information that can contribute to future researches. / A estrutura de capital das empresas é um dos principais assuntos estudados em Finanças Corporativas. Ao contrário do que propuseram Modigliani e Miller, em 1958, vários autores afirmam que existe uma relação ótima entre capital próprio e capital de terceiros para as empresas. Alguns deles propõem, ainda, que a estrutura de capital é dinâmica, e procuram estabelecer um modelo para identificar quais os seus determinantes. Além disso, em alguns estudos mais recentes, os autores tentam encontrar os fatores que influenciam na velocidade com a qual as empresas se dirigem à estrutura ótima. O objetivo desta pesquisa é identificar tais fatores no mercado brasileiro, através de informações extraídas das demonstrações financeiras de empresas de capital aberto listadas na Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo (Bovespa). A relevância acadêmica consiste em proporcionar uma visão do comportamento das empresas brasileiras quanto à busca de uma estrutura ótima de capital, fornecendo algumas informações que poderão ser úteis para estudos posteriores acerca do assunto.

本研究採取固定效果( fixed effect ) panel data模型，分析影響中國大陸外商直接投資( FDI )的決定性因素，共分為三個面向進行實證，第一個面向係按FDI投資區域之不同，而分為東部沿海與中西部地區進行估計；第二個面向則按FDI投資產業之不同，分為三大產業進行分析；第三個面向係以FDI之來源地區為依據，共分為八個主要FDI來源地區探討其決定性因素。 在分區估計方面，透過一般化最小平方法( generalized least squares, GLS )進行估計，得到的結果顯示，東部地區係以市場區位來吸引FDI前來投資，例如市場商機與較高的對外開放程度；而中西部地區則以生產區位來吸引FDI，如低廉的勞動成本、地方基礎建設水準，換言之，兩地區之間在影響FDI的因素上完全不同，另一方面，針對固定效果的觀察發現，地理位置位在東部地區的省市，固定效果明顯高於中西部地區，因此東部地區的確比中西部地區具有較佳的條件以吸引FDI。 若按FDI所投資的三大產業進行實證，以探討FDI之決定性因素，其估計結果顯示，第一產業( 農、林、漁、牧業 ) FDI的影響因素為對外開放程度，具有負面排擠FDI的效果，而第二產業( 製造業、建築業等 ) FDI的影響因素則為市場規模、工資率、高品質勞動力供應與對外開放程度，除工資率為負面影響外，其他因素皆為正向效果，第三產業( 服務業 )因樣本期間中國大陸尚未放寬外資的進入限制，故僅有基礎建設與高品質勞動力供應是影響FDI的決定性因素。 在中國大陸不同來源國FDI之決定性因素方面，實證結果發現，中國大陸高速的經濟成長率會吸引美國、新加坡、台灣的廠商前來投資，低廉的工資水準則形成對美國、南韓、新加坡以及台灣的吸引力，而中國大陸若加強研發能力，可促使美國、日本、南韓、新加坡、台灣增加直接投資，但廠商過度集中所導致的高度競爭環境，卻會排擠掉英國、香港的FDI，本研究也考慮高品質勞動供應的影響，以香港、台灣廠商較注重高品質勞動力是否充分供應，另一方面，對外開放程度的高低對日本、新加坡、香港、台灣的廠商具有正面效果，對德國廠商則有負面影響。 隨著中國大陸加入世界貿易組織( WTO )後，中國政府對外資的政策勢必更加開放，在中國大陸龐大市場與廉價生產要素的誘惑下，預期會有更多外國資金投入中國大陸，中國做為世界工廠的地位將更加穩固，對我國而言，面對中國經濟崛起所導致的全球經濟整合以及產業分工趨勢，我國必須採取正面的態度來思考中國大陸問題，善用本身所具備的充沛資金與研發能力，以及與中國大陸同文同種的優勢，積極進入大陸市場，一方面應用其廉價勞動力，一方面搶佔大陸市場佔有率，將中國大陸做為我國經濟實力的延伸，我國廠商方能在國際競爭潮流下取得生存利基，進而從中國市場打入全球市場，則我國未來的經濟前景必將大有可為！