Thesis (M. Commerce (Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the impact of the real effective exchange rate on South Africa‟s trade balance and whether the J-curve phenomenon and the Marshal-Lerner condition are satisfied in the economy. Using data spanning the period 1980Q1 – 2014Q4, the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds test as well as the Johansen cointegration test were employed to test for the long run cointegrating relationship between the variables. The ARDL approach was employed to estimate both the long run and short run models as well as to ascertain whether the Marshal – Learner condition as well as the J-curve phenomenon are satisfied in the RSA economy. The results from the cointegration tests show that there is a stable long run equilibrium relationship between the trade balance, real effective exchange rate, domestic GDP, money supply, terms of trade and foreign reserves. The results from the Autoregressive Distributed Lag long run model show that a depreciation of the ZAR improves the trade balance, thus confirming the MarshalLerner condition. The results further reveal that domestic GDP and money supply both have a significant negative impact on the trade balance in the long run with the terms of trade reported positive as well. Foreign reserves were not found to significantly affect the trade balance in the long run. In the short run, the ARDL error correction model shows that a ZAR depreciation leads to a deterioration of the trade balance, thus confirming the J-curve effect for the RSA economy. The terms of trade effect was reported positive in the short run, thus confirming the Harberger-LaursenMetzler effect (HLME) in the process. Money supply, domestic GDP and foreign reserves are also found to have a significant negative impact on the trade balance in the short run. Finally, the error correction model reveals that about 26% of the disequilibrium in the trade balance model is corrected in each quarter.

This thesis concentrates on the case of Russian economy and assessment of its dependence on oil. Russia is often cited as an example of country suffering from resource curse as its natural wealth forms significant share of country's exports and revenues. Thesis will first concentrate on factors determining current state of Russian economy. Presence of the symptoms of Dutch disease in the Russian economy will be studied using the Vector error correction model (VECM) applied on the real effective exchange rate of country (REER). Thesis will also contain an assessment of Russian institutional environment to check for other symptoms of resource curse theory. Analysis of latest federal budget will be used to evaluate the sustainability of Russian federal finances. The thesis is concluded by discussion of results and possible paths of future development of Russian economy.

90年代末東亞金融危機造成多國貨幣大幅貶值，銀行紛紛倒閉。基本上金融危機可分為通貨危機(Currency Crisis)與銀行危機(Banking Crisis)；通貨危機是指當年中任一季名目匯率貶值超過25%，且貶值幅度比前一季超過10個百分點。諸多實證文獻顯示，高估一國匯率為其通貨崩潰之先驅；又由於近年來新興國家快速開放資本市場，以致於成為危機之導火線。為分析此一現象，本文首先編製金融帳權數之新台幣實質有效匯率指數，並將東亞之台灣、印尼、韓國、菲律賓、泰國等五國之匯率、相對物價（各國與美國物價）、金融帳餘額等變數做共整合關係檢定，觀察三個變數的長期均衡關係，再將誤差項加入模型中，建構向量誤差模型。實證結果發現，金融帳與相對物價對匯率有顯著之影響力。 / The 1997 East Asian Crises had made exchange rate depreciations and bank bankruptcies. Broadly speaking, it can be divided into currency crisis and banking crisis. Nominal exchange rate of any season in a year, which is depreciated over 25% and 10% than last season, is called a currency crisis. Lots of papers demonstrate that overvaluation is a precursor of a currency crash. Furthermore, developing countries have opened capital markets so rapidly that it became the tinderbox of crises. To analyze the phenomenon, this thesis first compile Taiwan’s financial weighted real effective exchange rate index, then examine exchange rates, relative prices (compare to American consumer price index), and net financial account of Taiwan, Indonesia, Korea, Philippine, and Thailand with cointegrated test to identify the long run equilibrium relationships between variables; then adding error terms into models to estimates vector error correction model (VECM). The empirical results show that financial account and relative price influence exchange rate significantly.

Cette thèse étudie comment le taux de change effectif réel (TCER) et ses mesures associées (volatilité du TCER et désalignement du TCER) affectent la croissance de la productivité totale des facteurs (CPTF). Elle analyse également les canaux par lesquels le TCER et ses mesures associées agissent sur la productivité totale des facteurs (PTF). La première partie étudie comment le TCER lui-Même, d'une part, et la volatilité du TCER, d'autre part, influencent la productivité. Une analyse du lien entre le niveau du TCER et la PTF dans le chapitre 1 indique qu'une appréciation de taux de change cause une augmentation de la PTF. Mais cet impact est également non- inéaire: en-Dessous du seuil, le TCER influence négativement la productivité tandis qu'au-Dessus du seuil il agit positivement. Les résultats du chapitre 2 illustrent que la volatilité du TCER affecte négativement la CPTF. Nous avons également constaté que la volatilité du TCER agit sur PTF selon le niveau du développement financier. Pour les pays modérément financièrement développés, la volatilité du TCER réagit négativement sur la productivité et n'a aucun effet sur la productivité pour les niveaux très bas et très élevés du développement financier. La deuxième partie examine les canaux par lesquels le TCER et ses mesures associées influencent la productivité. Les résultats du chapitre 3 illustrent que la volatilité du TCER a un impact négatif élevé sur l'investissement. Ces résultats sont robustes dans les pays à faible revenu et les pays à revenu moyens, et en employant une mesure alternative de volatilité du TCER. Le chapitre 4 montre que le désalignement du taux de change réel et la volatilité du taux de change réel affectent négativement les exportations. Il démontre également que la volatilité du taux de change réel est plus nocive aux exportations que le désalignement. Ces résultats sont corroborés par des résultats sur des sous-Échantillons de pays à bas revenu et à revenu moyen. / This dissertation investigates how the real effective exchange rate (REER) and its associated asurements (REER volatility and REER misalignment) affect total factor productivity growth (TFPG). It also analyzes the channels through which the REER and its associated measurements act on total factor productivity (TFP). The first part studies how the REER itself, on the one hand, and the REER volatility, on the other hand, influence productivity. An analysis of the link between the level of REER and TFP in chapter 1 reveals that an exchange rate appreciation causes an increase of TFP. But this impact is also nonlinear: below the threshold, real exchange rate influences negatively productivity while above the threshold it acts positively. The results of chapter 2 illustrate that REER volatility affects negatively TFPG. We also found that REER volatility acts on TFP according to the level of financial development. For moderately financially developed countries, REER volatility reacts negatively on productivity and has no effect on productivity for very low and very high levels of financial development. The second part examines the channels through which the REER and its associated measurements influence productivity. The results of chapter 3 illustrate that the exchange rate volatility has a strong negative impact on investment. This outcome is robust in low income and middle income countries, and by using an alternative measurement of exchange rate volatility. Chapter 4 show that both real exchange rate misalignment and real exchange rate volatility affect negatively exports. It also demonstrates that real exchange rate volatility is more harmful to exports than misalignment. These outcomes are corroborated by estimations on subsamples of Low- ncome and Middle-Income countries