Thesis (Ph. D.)--Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 313-324).

This dissertation covers both policy-oriented and theory-based topics in International Economics. The first two chapters cover financial policy related to the capital account, while the third chapter covers tariff policy related to the current account. The first chapter examines the theoretical value of capital controls in reducing the probability of bank runs. I develop a global game model with information-based bank runs and strategic complementarities within and between foreign and domestic creditors. My analysis appears to be the first to model the interconnectedness of foreign and domestic creditor behavior. The framework pins down the probability of a bank run and shows that a capital control can lower the probability of a domestic bank run and of capital flight. I also find that a control on outflows is relatively more effective than a control on inflows. Finally, I test the model's implications using the abnormal returns of Brazilian and South Korean bank stock prices as a proxy for the probability of bank runs. The second chapter analyzes the policy actions of Brazil and Chile between 2009 and the third quarter of 2011, when Brazil deployed capital account regulations and Chile intervened in its currency markets. I examine the effectiveness of each of these actions and the extent to which the actions of Brazil caused capital flow spillovers in the Chilean market. Consistent with the peer-reviewed literature on the subject, I find that capital account regulations had small but significant effects on the shifting the composition of capital inflows toward longer-term investment, on the level and volatility of the exchange rate, on asset prices, and on the ability of Brazil to have independence in monetary policy. Brazil's regulations did also temporarily cause an increase in capital flows into Chile. Chile's interventions did not have a lasting impact on the Chilean exchange rate or on asset prices beyond the initial announcements of the policies. In Brazil's case we thus conclude that Brazil's regulations helped the nation 'lean against the wind,' but were not enough to tame the 'tsunami' of post-crisis capital flows. The third chapter uses a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model calibrated to late nineteenth century parameters to show that protectionism alleviated the skilled wage gap. Had the U.S. chosen free trade instead of protective tariffs, wage inequality generally would have been higher in the post-bellum era. The imposition of high tariffs after the Civil War may have dampened what some economic historians believe to have been a long-term upward trend in inequality--the rising portion of the American-Kuznets' curve.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:53:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:02:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Dissertação (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:53:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:02:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Com a redução das barreiras tarifárias ao comércio internacional, as normas técnicas, regulamentos técnicos e procedimentos de avaliação da conformidade vêm se tornando importantes mecanismos protecionistas e de restrição ao comércio. Esse trabalho tem por objetivo estudar essas questões, tendo como foco principal a exportação para a União Européia dos equipamentos eletromédicos produzidos por pequenas e médias empresas brasileiras. Realiza-se uma revisão bibliográfica buscando-se identificar e comparar as normas técnicas, os regulamentos técnicos e os mecanismos de avaliação da conformidade para os dispositivos eletromédicos, praticados pela União Européia e os vigentes no Brasil. É desenvolvida uma pesquisa junto a PMEs Pequenas e Médias Empresas fabricantes de dispositivos eletromédicos e exportadores para a União Européia, buscando-se identificar as dificuldades encontradas, as formas de superação dessas e os apoios recebidos. É elaborado um método, baseado nas experiências estudadas e adquiridas a partir da pesquisa junto às PMEs, para a identificação e superação das dificuldades técnicas para a exportação dos equipamentos eletromédicos para a União Européia. Conclui-se que não existem propriamente barreiras técnicas e que as dificuldades enfrentadas pelas empresas podem ser superadas com a participação nos fóruns de normalização, apoio técnico dos institutos tecnológicos, apoio financeiro das agências governamentais de fomento e investimentos em pesquisa, desenvolvimento e inovação. / Dissertação (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP

M.A.

This thesis aspires to assess the explanatory value of different theories of international cooperation for the case of the world trade regime of GATT/WTO and subsequently strives to reach a satisfactory interpretation of the instance of cooperation. The world trade regime embarked on a process of transformation with the signing of the Marrakech Agreements of 15th April 1994. The event marked the conclusion of the Uruguay Round and, with the establishment of the WTO, the beginning of a new era for the world trade regime. The thesis endeavours to establish the substance of the regime change from GATT to the WTO. It outlines the most significant provisions of the agreement of the Uruguay Round and, subsequently, analyses the change on the level of regime norms underlying the world trade regime. The analysis of regime norms yields insights about the essence of the regime transformation and as to what factors proved to be conducive to cooperation in the sphere of the world trade. The GATT/WTO regime with its extended scope and more sophisticated institutional structures can be regarded as a prime example of successful cooperation. However, the prospects for cooperation between states in an anarchic environment without central authority for enforcement are the subject of a remarkably intense scholarly debate. Therefore it is worthwhile to examine which theoretical framework proves to be most adept at elucidating the circumstances of this instance of cooperation. This thesis applies different theories of international cooperation to the case of the GATT/WTO regime. While a large array of rational theories attempts to explain cooperation from a perspective which focuses on interests and capabilities, a different strand of theories, that of cognitive approaches, emphasizes the paramountcy of ideas and beliefs as variables which explain cooperation. They endogenize the process of interest formation. This thesis seeks to synthesise the strong points of rational and cognitive approaches and thus to reconcile the divergent schools of thought. Its further purpose is to set out factors which are conducive to cooperation.

During the 1990s, South Africa's trade policy was drastically reformed. This mainly entailed rapid tariff liberalisation agreed to under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1994, and implemented from 1995 onwards under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). South Africa's trade policy reform was premised on the assumption that tariff liberalization would increase the competitiveness of domestic manufacturing industries. The thesis attempts to ascertain if this did in fact materialise by critically appraises the impact of trade policy reform on the production of the South African manufacturing sector. The results indicate that tariff liberalisation has not been successful in securing improved competitiveness. The thesis argues that improved competitiveness goes beyond trade policy reform — government polices should also be directed at issues relating to efficiency in production, distortions in factor markets and institutional development. The desired or appropriate level of openness does not necessarily entail completely free markets for trade and investment. In the light of market and institutional failures the role of government in securing the appropriate industrial outcomes should not be underestimated. / Thesis (DCom (Economics))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Economics / unrestricted

Power and energy tariffs and their pricing are a vital component which form the main source of income for all actors in the energy industry. Different methods of how to price the energy have been proposed and implemented through the past century, each with its respective advantages and disadvantages. However, in the recent decades, interest has turned towards having power-based tariffs, since it’s the power dimensioning that counts for the majority of the costs. Sala-Heby Energi Elnät AB is local, publicly-owned Swedish distribution system operator which has been using a power-based tariff system for the last 15 years. That being said, the company has an upper limit for their net income which should not be overpassed. With the ongoing energy transition, where the number of electric vehicles in circulation is going up, and more customers turning towards residential micro-production, such a tariff might require modifications. In addition, a look on how the demand will evolve will be needed to see if the grid could handle such a transition. In this paper, a thorough study is conducted on how the energy transition would look like in Sala, Sweden, and what Sala-Heby Energi Elnät AB would expect. A simulation of the total residential load curve of the city is developed and ran via MATLAB and consumption data offered by Sala-Heby Energi Elnät AB. It involved generating an average residence based on the fuse size, which would yield the annual consumption profile to be used. The simulations were also done for several scenarios of different electric vehicle charging routines. They also take into account several residential PV systems coverages in the said city. Depending on which scenario, a rise or a drop in the net income is recorded. Modifications to the power tariff are explored based on that would help counter the fluctuations in the income, and simulated to track their effect. Another aspect that is studied is the subscription capacity to the grid by the operator to the respective power generation. Depending also on the scenario, various excessive consumptions peaks are recorded, which could pave the way to more difficulty in handling the grid.

<p>  </p> <p>Between the ratification of the Constitution and the outbreak of the Civil War, the American Congress regularly engaged in the delicate process of crafting trade legislation that balanced the revenue needs of the federal government with demands for protection of domestic industries. Both in the halls of Congress and throughout newspapers, pamphlets, and the private correspondence of economic actors, discussions of trade and tariffs stimulated political conflict and influenced what goods Americans possessed, produced, and consumed. This project explores how and why residents and representatives of the trans-Appalachian West engaged in the highly contentious tariff politics of the early American republic. I argue that trade policy elicited sustained controversy because of conflicting understandings of markets and the market process forged in response to the economic transformations of the nineteenth century. Throughout this period of market integration and commercial and industrial diversification, free trade advocates and protectionists developed and promoted competing assessments of what happened when supposedly “self-regulating” markets supplanted the authority of governmental institutions in guiding economic development. Merchants, farmers, and manufacturers in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Tennessee engaged in the politics of trade policy in a manner that reflected their distinct economic geography. In contrast to the more rigid embrace of protectionism among northern industrialists and free trade from those invested in southern cotton slavery, westerners fluctuated in their views on trade legislation. Because the success or failure of tariff laws consistently hinged on a small number of votes, the mixed support for free trade and protection from representatives of the western interest in Congress played a determinative role in shaping trade policy. Ultimately, western views on trade and tariffs illuminate a hybrid set of ideas that joined an economically liberal view of markets with demands for the exercise of legitimate governance in supporting regional development. The disruptive, yet innovative, growth of the first half of the nineteenth century encouraged Americans to look both to markets and nations for freedom from poverty and shelter from the process of “creative destruction.” These ideas emerged again in response to the monopolistic capitalism of the so-called “Gilded Age,” but they are rooted in debates over the power granted to Congress in trade policy that unfolded during the earliest years of nationhood.  </p>

This study investigates the effect of protectionist tariffs on firm performance, income tax payments, and shareholder payouts and investment. Using the US–China trade war and related Section 301 tariffs as a setting, I find that US firms impacted by these tariffs experience decreased firm performance while simultaneously increasing cash tax planning to presumably decrease their total cash burden to the government. I also find that impacted firms decrease shareholder payouts and acquisitions, but do not decrease other real investment activities that may negatively impact operating performance. Cross-sectional analyses confirm that these effects apply to domestic firms, do not appear to be driven by the retaliatory Chinese tariffs, and are more pronounced for those facing higher market competition or applying for exclusions from the protectionist tariffs.