Este estudo tem como principal objetivo analisar a relação causal entre um conjunto de variáveis macroeconômicas e o mercado acionário brasileiro, aqui representado pelo Ibovespa, e para tal utilizará o enfoque multivariado VAR. Buscou-se analisar o efeito dos choques inesperados nas variáveis macroeconômicas sobre o índice da Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo. O período analisado compreendeu os meses de janeiro de 1995 a dezembro de 2003. O modelo proposto, visando à análise, foi implementado utilizando-se os testes de raiz unitária de Dickey e Fuller Aumentado (ADF) e Perron, de co-integração de Johansen e o método de Auto Regressão Vetorial com Correção de Erro (VEC). Primeiramente empregou-se o VEC convencional seguindo a proposição de Gjerde & Sættem (1999) e Burgstaller (2002). Os resultados obtidos deixaram claro a sua instabilidade. Buscando eliminar esta instabilidade empregou-se o procedimento de Bernanke (1986). Os resultados dos três modelos analisados mostram-se semelhantes. Nas matrizes de relações contemporâneas observam-se relações significativas entre a taxa de câmbio real e a taxa de juros de curto prazo com o Ibovespa. Por sua vez, o preço do petróleo no mercado internacional não explica contemporaneamente o Ibovespa. Nas decomposições das variâncias dos erros de previsão os resultados deixam claro o poder explanatório da taxa de juros de curto prazo sobre o índice da Bolsa de São Paulo. O próprio índice também tem um grande poder explicativo, importância essa não observada quando da análise das outras variáveis empregadas. Conforme verificado na matriz de relações contemporâneas, um choque inesperado na taxa de câmbio real e a taxa de juros de curto prazo leva a uma redução no Ibovespa já no primeiro momento. Os resultados obtidos deixam claro a elevada sensibilidade do Ibovespa frente à taxa de juros real de curto prazo (SELIC), tanto no tocante a decomposição do erro de previsão quanto da função de resposta a impulsos elasticidade. Dentre as variáveis empregadas no presente estudo, a taxa básica de juros da economia é a que mais impacta no índice da BOVESPA. Esse resultado mostra a importância exercida pela taxa de juros na economia brasileira, sugerindo, assim, que os agentes econômicos que investem no mercado acionário brasileiro vêem o investimento em renda fixa como sendo grande substituto das aplicações em ações. / The main objective of this study was to investigate the casual relationship among a sort of macroeconomic variables and the Brazilian stock market, represented here by Ibovespa, using multivariate VAR focus. This meant to analyze the effect of unexpected shocks in macroeconomic variables on São Paulo Stock Exchange index. The period of study was from January 1995, to December 2003. The present model was implemented using augmented Dickey-Fuller test for unit root (ADF) and Perron, Johansen co-integration in VAR models and the method of Vector Auto-Regression with error correction (VEC). First of all, conventional VEC was used according to Gjerde & Saettem (1999) and Burgstaller (2002). Data showed clearly the instability of the process. Aiming to eliminate this instability, Bernanke (1986) procedure was used. Results of the three models analyzed were similar. In contemporaneous relation matrixes were observed significant relations between the real exchange rate and short run interest rate in comparison to Ibovespa. On the other hand, petroleum prices set in the international market do not explain Ibovespa contemporaneously. In variables decomposition of forecast error, data is clear in showing the explanation power of short term interest on São Paulo Stock Exchange index. Index per se explains itself conveniently, what was not observed when analyzed the other variables investigated. As noticed in contemporaneous relation matrix, an unexpected shock in the real exchange rate and the interest rate of short date leads to a reduction in Ibovespa at the first moment. Data obtained showed strong sensibility of Ibovespa in comparison to real short term interest rate (SELIC), when observed the decomposition of the forecast error and function of impulse response of elasticity. Among used variables in this present study, basic interest rate of the economy is the one that most shock in BOVESPA index. This result shows the importance exerted by interest rates in Brazilian economy, suggesting that economic agents that invest in Brazilian stock market are more interested in investment of fixed rent than in stock applications.

Esta dissertação apresenta a importância dos condicionantes externos ao desenvolvimento econômico e destaca o papel da taxa real de câmbio em impulsionar o setor de bens comercializáveis, os quais, além de melhorar a situação externa, têm a capacidade de induzir o crescimento econômico no longo prazo. Para isso se trará a importância do crescimento econômico compatível com o “equilíbrio” do balanço de pagamentos e se analisará os resultados da estratégia de inserção brasileira no processo de globalização financeira sob a perspectiva da vulnerabilidade externa. Em seguida são realçados os impactos da taxa real de câmbio no setor externo e no desenvolvimento econômico, tanto no aspecto teórico como aplicado ao Brasil após o Plano Real. Por fim, são realizados testes econométricos, utilizando-se do método Almon lag, para estimar os impactos da taxa real de câmbio na balança comercial e nos seus principais componentes. Os resultados encontrados para o caso brasileiro corroboram o argumento de que a taxa real de câmbio contribui para a melhora da situação externa e incentiva o setor exportador, especialmente o de bens manufaturados. / This dissertation presents the importance of external constraints to economic development and highlights the role of real exchange rate to boost the tradable sector, which improve the external position and induce economic growth in the long run. It is considered the importance of economic growth consistent with the equilibrium of balance of payments and it is examined the results of international insertion strategy in the Brazilian financial globalization from the perspective of external vulnerability. Are then highlighted the impact of real exchange rate in the external sector and economic development, both in theoretical and applied to Brazil after the Real Plan. Finally econometric tests are performed, using the Almon lag method to estimate the impact of real exchange rate on trade balance and its main components. The results for the Brazilian case corroborate the argument that the real exchange rate contributes to the improvement in the external environment and encourages the export sector, especially of manufactured goods.

Abstract Attracting foreign investments to the economy in a large scale pursues long-term strategic goals for creating civilized, socially-oriented society in Uzbekistan, which is characterized by a high standard of living based on mixed economy. For stabilizing the economy and for improving the investments climate, it is necessary to take a number of arrangements, which will target on forming general terms of development of civilized market relations as well as on special conditions relating directly to problem solving -- how to attract the foreign investments. When analyzing the investment process in Uzbekistan, it is possible to say that the extent of attracting and efficiency of using the foreign investments on the national level as well on the regional levels very often depends upon the abilities to establish relevant legal and economic conditions within each phase of the development of the society. It is essential for Uzbekistan to try to attract foreign investments, which would help and support the development of the domestic industry and contribute to implementation of advanced technologies. Therefore volume of business exchange between the enterprises with foreign investments and Uzbek enterprises serves as a criterion for evaluation of successful attraction of foreign investments. We assume that positives brought by the involvement of foreign enterprises in the Uzbek market, must lie predominantly in using technologies for processing raw materials, which Uzbekistan is very rich in. Policy of monetary exchange rates is an important part of the reform programs realized in transformed economy of Uzbekistan. This policy is crucial for improvement of relative prices, restoration of price stability and for opening national markets to international business -- markets, which were closed so far. Nonexistent convertibility of domestic currency is a reason for decreasing the volume of investments within the country. It is therefore necessary to introduce liberalization of the monetary market and open a seamless access of the businesses to hard currencies. Issues of investment image of Uzbekistan are closely related to the problem of openness of the national economy, which under the current conditions become extremely meaningful.

nÃo hà / Em um contexto no qual os mercados estÃo mais unificados entre os paÃses, a estabilidade na conjuntura econÃmica de uma naÃÃo torna-se um determinante para o desempenho do comÃrcio internacional, de onde as polÃticas econÃmicas adotadas pelos governos influenciam diretamente o desempenho das exportaÃÃes, ora retraindo, ora expandindo o seu desempenho. A taxa de cÃmbio e a renda mundial, como determinantes do desempenho da exportaÃÃo, tÃm sidos discutidos ao longo dos anos e vÃm merecendo bastante atenÃÃo por parte dos agentes econÃmicos, pois seu incremento pode significar maior geraÃÃo de renda e emprego. Diante disso, este trabalho propÃe-se caracterizar o perfil do setor de exportaÃÃo do Cearà e testar a possÃvel relaÃÃo de existÃncia no longo prazo, bem como o grau de influÃncia, das variÃveis taxa de cÃmbio e renda mundial sobre o desempenho das exportaÃÃes do estado do Cearà para o perÃodo de 2000 a 2012. A metodologia adotada consiste na utilizaÃÃo do modelo VAR mais completo denominado de vetor e correÃÃo de erros (VECM). Os resultados apontam que, no longo prazo, a taxa de cÃmbio e a renda mundial sÃo relevantes para explicar oscilaÃÃes ocorridas na variÃvel dependente exportaÃÃo. Por outro lado, no curto prazo, a anÃlise apresentou certa defasagem de tempo para que os desequilÃbrios ocorridos no curto prazo sejam corrigidos no longo prazo. Comportamento idÃntico se verificou na utilizaÃÃo da funÃÃo impulso resposta e na decomposiÃÃo da variÃncia do erro. / In a context where markets are more unified between countries, the stability of the economic situation of a nation becomes a crucial factor for the performance of international trade, where the economic policies adopted by governments directly influence the performance of exports, now retracting, now expanding its performance. The exchange rate and world income as determinants of export performance, solids have discussed over the years and deserve close attention on the part of economic agents, because its increase can mean greater income generation and employment. Thus, this study aims to characterize the profile of the export sector in Cearà and test the possible relationship of existence in the long term as well as the degree of influence of the variables exchange rate and world income on the export performance of the state Cearà for the period 2000-2012. The methodology of this study adopted the most comprehensive VAR model called vector and error correction (VEC). The results show that, in the long run, the exchange rate and world income are relevant to explain oscillations in export dependent variable. On the other hand, in the short term, the analysis showed some lag time for imbalances occurring in the short term will be corrected in the long run. Identical behavior was found in the use of impulse response functions and variance decomposition of the error.

This thesis has treated the subject of DCC-GARCH model’s forecasting ability and Value-at- Risk applications on the Scandinavian foreign exchange market. The estimated models were based on daily opening foreign exchange spot rates in the period of 2004-2013, which captured the information in the financial crisis of 2008 and Eurozone crisis in the early 2010s. The forecasts were performed on a one-day rolling window in 2014. The results show that the DCC-GARCH model accurately predicted the fluctuation in the conditional correlation, although not with the correct magnitude. Furthermore, the DCC-GARCH model shows good Value-at-Risk forecasting performance for different portfolios containing the Scandinavian currencies.

The thesis evaluates the effect of Czech National Bank's exchange rate commit- ment on Czech sectoral exports. Thus, we show how unconventional monetary policies could affect the exports. To assess the impact of interventions, we use Synthetic Control Method. The method constructs synthetic Czech exports from data of comparable countries that were not under the policy of inter- est and compares them to observed Czech exports following the interventions. We expect a positive effect of Czech National Bank's commitment on Czech exports, because the interventions resulted in the undervaluation of koruna causing a higher demand for Czech goods abroad. Additionally, the exporters should benefit from reduced uncertainty caused by no exchange rate volatility with the euro area. The results showed a positive impact of interventions only in half of the export sectors. The positive effect of a stable exchange rate is not confirmed, because the effect on the euro area countries in some categories was smaller than for the other countries. The results for total sectoral exports were stable across model specifications and confirmed by analysis of Czech bi- lateral sectoral exports to the largest destinations. The significant contribution of this thesis is application of Synthetic Control Method on total sectoral...

This dissertation consists of essays that study exchange rate pass-through, China’s de facto exchange rate regime, and China’s capital controls. The first essay studies exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) by using a set of data from ten countries including four advanced economies and six Asian emerging markets. The price indices used in this essay include consumer price, producer price, import price and export price indices. While most literature only include the import price index, this essay also puts emphasis on the export price index. It investigates the asymmetry in the ERPT between depreciation and appreciation of domestic currency by using a non-linear OLS model; meanwhile, the short-run and long-run effects of ERPT are also compared with each other. It also detects possible structural change in the ERPT and finds most structural change points are around the Great Recession and Asia financial crisis. Finally, a VAR model is developed to detect the impulse responses of prices to exchange rate shock. The second essay is about China’s exchange rate regime. It has changed a lot since the 2005 reform. It is interesting and important to investigate China’s de facto exchange rate regime with the most recent data. This essay follows Frankel and Wei’s (2008) method, by applying both the basic model and new model with the exchange market pressure (EMP) variable to currency basket for the Chinese yuan exchange rate. I select the US dollar, the Euro, the British pound, the Japanese yen, the Canadian dollar, the Australian dollar and the Russian ruble as component currencies of the basket, based on free floaters, GDP and trade volume. I also add results from a VAR model, considering the endogeneity issue, and the results are consistent with those of OLS. I find the weight of the US dollar declines dramatically and the variation of the Chinese yuan becomes much larger after 2015. This implies that China has been transferring its exchange rate regime from dollar pegged to free floating. The third essay investigates the effectiveness of China’s capital controls. In recent years, after 2014, China’s foreign reserves declined dramatically, from 4 trillion US dollars to 3 trillion US dollars. There was a huge amount of capital outflows from China during 2015 to 2016. This phenomenon lets us reconsider the question: Are China’s capital controls still effective? I will use five methods to measure the effectiveness of China’s capital controls, including de jure indicators, saving-investment correlation test, covered interest rate parity, real interest rate differentials and Edwards-Kahn model. The de jure indicators I use are from Fernández et al. (2016) and Chinn and Ito (2008). I compare China with the US, the UK and Japan in the saving-investment correlation test, and with the Eurozone and Japan in covered interest rate parity, real interest rate differentials and Edwards-Kahn model. Various results indicate that China’s capital controls are still effective.

Most people in the United States (US) spend considerable amount of time indoors—about 90% of their time as compared to outdoors, which makes the US population vulnerable to adverse health effects of indoor air contaminants. Volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations are well-known to be higher in indoor air than outdoor air. One source of VOC concentrations in indoor air that has gained considerable attention in public health and environmental regulatory communities is vapor intrusion. Vapor intrusion is the process by which subsurface vapors enter indoor spaces from contaminated soil and groundwater. It has been documented to cause indoor air contamination within hundreds of thousands of communities across the US. Vapor intrusion is well-known to be difficult to characterize because indoor air concentrations exhibit considerable temporal and spatial variability in homes throughout impacted communities. Unexplained variations in field data have not been systematically investigated using theoretical fate and transport processes. This study incorporates the use of numerical models to better understand processes that influence spatial and temporal variability in field data. The overall research hypothesis is that variability in indoor air VOC concentrations can be (partially) explained by variations in building air exchange rate (AER) and pressure differentials between indoor spaces and outdoor spaces. Neither AER nor pressure differentials are currently calculated by existing vapor intrusion numerical models. To date, most vapor intrusion models have focused on subsurface fate and transport processes; however, there is a need to understand the role of aboveground processes in the context of vapor intrusion exposure risks, which are commonly measured as indoor air VOC concentrations. Recent field studies identify these parameters as potentially important and their important role within the broader field of indoor air quality sciences has been well-documented, but more research is needed to investigate these parameters within the specific context of vapor intrusion. To test the overall hypothesis, the dissertation research developed a new vapor intrusion modeling technique that combines subsurface fate and transport modeling with building science approaches for modeling driving forces, such as wind and stack effects. The modeling results are compared with field data measurements from actual vapor intrusion sites and confirms that the research is relevant to not only academic researchers, but also policy decision makers.

Both economists and policy makers are interested in understanding the welfare effect of economic policies, especially in small open economies such as Turkey and Iran. This knowledge is crucial for priority setting in any informed policy discussion. This dissertation aims to study the impoverishing effect of high levels of out-of-pocket (OOP) payments in the health sector, referred to as catastrophic health expenditure (CHE), and investigates the impact of exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) on both the microeconomic and macroeconomic indicators of a country. For millions of people worldwide, health payments present a huge financial risk. A high rate of OOP health care payments can lead to CHE, which can force households to cut down their consumption, minimize access to their needs, or face poverty. This makes the design of financial risk protection necessary for governments in order to secure people against the financial hardship at the time of incurring CHE. This thesis comprises three essays. The first investigates financial risk protection indicators related to OOP health care payments through CHE mean positive overshoot and incidence and depth of impoverishment. This research observes that in the absence of universal health care insurance in Iran, together with a high share of OOP spending for health care (more than 52%), the Iranian households facing CHE will eventually face poverty. In the second essay, using a difference-in-differences propensity score matching approach, I seek to analyze the degree to which Iranian universal health care insurance protects households from high rates of OOP health expenditure. In this study, I evaluate the effect of the universal health insurance program on Iranian CHE. The results show that the program was successful in decreasing the rate of OOP health expenditures and CHE in Iran during the sample period. The third essay estimates the ERPT using product-level daily data on wholesale prices of imported agricultural products, where the identification is possible by using daily data on the domestic inflation rate. The results of standard empirical analyses are in line with existing studies that employ lower frequencies of data by showing evidence for incomplete daily ERPT of about 5 percent.

La mise en place de la politique monétaire non conventionnelle en 2008 aux États-Unis a coïncidé avec d'importants mouvements de capitaux et de taux de change dans les pays émergents. Ces derniers ont accusé la banque centrale américaine d'adopter une politique « d'appauvrissement du voisin » et de créer ces effets de report. En 2013, à la suite de l'annonce du ralentissement graduel du rythme de cette politique monétaire, certains pays émergents ont subi d'importantes crises financières. Dans ce contexte, cette thèse se propose d'étudier dans quelle mesure la politique monétaire non conventionnelle de la Réserve fédérale américaine a induit des effets de report en termes de mouvements de capitaux et de taux de change. Alors que la normalisation de cette politique monétaire est entamée, il est primordial de comprendre les implications internationales des décisions de la Réserve fédérale pour pouvoir contenir les risques potentiels. Tout d'abord, nous étudions les mécanismes et leurs effets sur les pays émergents dans le cadre d'une revue de la littérature. Nous montrons que la politique monétaire de la Réserve fédérale a bien été responsable d'effets de report. Ensuite, nous révélons, de façon empirique, que les conséquences présentent une certaine hétérogénéité dans le temps, en fonction des modalités d'intervention de la banque centrale américaine, ainsi que selon les pays. Nous établissons qu'il n'y a pas de réelle symétrie entre la phase expansionniste et celle de normalisation. De ce fait, la normalisation n'apparaît pas entrainer des reflux de capitaux dans les pays émergents. Finalement, nous nous intéressons aux moyens dont disposent les pays émergents pour limiter les effets de report. Nous montrons que les contrôles de capitaux et les politiques macroprudentielles peuvent permettre de réduire les mouvements de capitaux. Plus précisément, l'efficacité des contrôles de capitaux est conditionnée par leur accumulation. Plus le pays en est doté, plus il limite les effets de report. L'efficacité de la politique macroprudentielle dépend quant à elle de la qualité des institutions dans le pays émergent et de l'intensité de la politique monétaire américaine. / The implementation of the U.S. unconventional monetary policy in 2008 coincided with massive capital inflows and exchange rate appreciation for emerging markets. They implicate the Federal Reserve to pursue a « Beggar-thy-neighbor » policy and to create spillovers. In 2013, following the announcement of the « Tapering », some emerging markets suffered from significant financial crises. In this context, this thesis intends to study how the U.S. unconventional monetary policy led to capital flows and exchange rate movements spillovers. As the normalization of this monetary policy is initiated, understanding the international implications of the Federal Reserve's decisions is essential to contain potential risks. For this purpose, we firstly study mechanisms and their impacts on emerging countries by a literature review. We show that the Fed monetary policy caused capital flows and exchange rate spillovers in the last decade. Then, we reveal empirically that the impacts exhibit heterogeneity over time, depend on implementation modalities of the U.S. central bank as well as on the countries. We establish that there is no real symmetrical impacts between accommodative and normalization periods. As a result, the normalization would not lead to capital outflows in emerging countries. Finally, we examine the means that emerging countries can adopt to limit spillovers. We demonstrate that capital controls and macroprudential policies can be efficient to reduce capital inflows. More precisely, the effectiveness of capital controls is conditioned by their accumulation. The more the country adopts it, the more it limits spillovers. Considering macroprudential policies, the intensity of the U.S. monetary policy and the quality of the emerging countries' institutions are two main determinants of their effectiveness.