Diss. sc. pol. Bern, 1954.

Master-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2006.

Zugl.: Münster (Westfalen), Universiẗat, Diss., 2008.

Zugl.: Basel, Univ., Diss., 2007

Konstanz, Univ., Diplomarb., 2003.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the extent of euro&rsquo / s challenge to the US dollar as an international currency, focusing on comparisons between these two major currencies&rsquo / international roles and their private and official uses as a store of value, a medium of exchange and a unit of account throughout the world, and specifically in Turkey. The thesis evaluates the roles of the euro and US dollar as financing and investment, invocing, vehicle, reserve, anchor and intervention currencies basically in financial markets, foreign trade, foreign exchange markets, foreign exchange reserves and exchange rate regimes globally and in Turkey. The evaluations highlight the fact that the euro has been successfull as an international currency since its introduction in 1999 and is the second most widely used international currency in all the main international currency roles, after the US dollar. The findings of the thesis indicate that the use of the euro shows an increasing trend and the euro is likely to play an increasingly prominent role in the world, and specifically in Turkey.

Following Devereux, Shi, and Xu（2007）, this thesis analyzes the effects of tariffs and derives the optimal tariff under the circumstances that the US dollar acts as an international ‘vehicle’ currency— all traded goods prices between the US and the rest of the world are set in US dollars. We set a tariff policy rule which allows the authority to react to country-specific productivity shocks. The analysis on the equilibrium shows that the current tariff imposed by the US on its output is expansionary. However, for the rest of the world, a current tariff imposed by the US is contractionary. Optimal tariff under flexible and fixed exchange rates are examined. Under flexible exchange rate, optimal tariff policy parameters of the US are dependent only on the monetary policy of its own being indifferent to the exchange rate movement；the exchange rate movement is crucial to the optimal tariff policy of the rest of the world. Nevertheless, the optimal tariff policy of the US under fixed exchange rate is the same as that under the flexible exchange rate, while the policy of the rest of the world is altered owing to the loss of control on its domestic money supply to do the unilateral peg.

A utilização do modelo de Black-Scholes e suas extensões na precificação de opções é bastante difundida tanto na academia quanto no mercado financeiro. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o desempenho de um modelo alternativo de precificação de opções em relação ao do modelo de Black na precificação de opções sobre futuro de dólar. Mais especificamente, a partir de hipóteses sobre o comportamento agregado da economia, da trajetória de preços de ativos e das preferências a risco dos agentes econômicos, é possível reconciliar uma condição de equilíbrio parcial, necessária para a precificação de opções, com uma condição de equilíbrio geral da economia. Essa reconciliação é obtida a partir da escolha cuidadosa de pares de preferências a risco e distribuições e possibilita a obtenção do preço de equilíbrio livre de preferências de um derivativo lançado sobre um dado ativo-objeto. O presente estudo utiliza os resultados de uma generalização recente feita por Câmara (2003), que demonstrou como distribuições e preferências podem ser combinadas de forma que se obtenham fórmulas fechadas para precificação de opções. Particularmente, assume-se que os preços do contrato futuro de dólar possuem distribuição lognormal com assimetria negativa, hipótese que resulta em uma fórmula alternativa de precificação de opções lançadas sobre esse contrato. O modelo obtido foi matematicamente contrastado com o modelo de Black, o que possibilitou que as implicações nos preços das opções, resultantes da premissa de assimetria negativa, fossem evidenciadas. Os desempenhos dos modelos foram comparados com base nos preços de mercado das opções. Os resultados alcançados sugerem que , em geral, o modelo de Black apresenta desempenho melhor que o modelo alternativo na precificação de opções sobre futuro de dólar. / The utilization of the Black-Scholes option pricing model is widespread, in both the academe and the market. Additionally, the literature related to its generalizations and adaptations is vast. Of particular importance are works concerning new sufficient conditions for existing risk-neutral option pricing equations. Under a new set of propositions on distributions and preferences, Câmara (2003) derived new analytical solutions for the price of European-style contingent claims. The objective of the present study was to adapt and test an option pricing model that was derived by Câmara (2003). Particularly, the tested model assumes that the underlying asset, in this case the US dollar futures contract traded on the Brazilian Mercantile & Futures Exchange, follows a negatively skew lognormal distribution. The performance of the alternative model was compared to that of the Black model, the standard model used in the market to price such options. More specifically, the performances of both models were measured against the market prices of US dollar futures options. Also, considerations about the validity of the negative skew lognormal hypothesis were made and a mathematical analysis of the differences in the prices generated by the two models was carried out. In the end, although the alternative model produces, in some cases, prices that are closer to the market’s, the evidences suggest that, in general, the Black model performs better than the alternative one.

This study seeks to assess the correlation which exists between exchange rate of Nigerian naira and Unites States dollar and oil price on the basis of monthly data from 1999-2009. The research employ the fundamental variables which were assumed to be the monthly spot crude oil price, monthly exchange rate of Nigeria naira and monthly exchange rate of United States dollar. The empirical result adopted the ordinary least square using regression analysis and also the correlation model which shows that there is a weak/negative relationship between exchange rate and oil price as there are other factors that brings about changes in oil price other than the exchange rate. The activities of cartel pricing policy and oil speculators too have come to greatly affect the price of crude oil, and it will be interesting to examine the impact speculators have on the change in price of crude oil against the normal drivers of crude oil price.

This thesis seeks to analyze the role and importance of establishing control over the world&rsquo / s oil resources in reproduction of the global hegemonic position of the US. It is asserted that dominant position of US dollar in global financial system has an important place in reproduction of US world hegemony and ensuring that oil transactions are made through US dollar has played an important role in maintaining the dominant position of dollar. It is also argued that secure access to cheap energy resources is of utmost importance for advanced industrialized nations of the world in terms of maintaining their economic growth. In this respect, this thesis portrays US policies and strategies to take world&rsquo / s energy resources under its control and thereby maintain the dollar hegemony and making the advanced industrialized nations of Western Europe and East Asia dependent on US goodwill for secure access to energy. Being an important actor in global energy market, competition and cooperation between Russia and US is also taken into consideration. In this thesis, it is assumed that the US world hegemony is achieved through both cooperation and competition among advanced industrialized states.