Orientador: Andréia Galvão / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-27T12:26:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cicero_PedroHenriquedeMoraes_D.pdf: 2260568 bytes, checksum: 0e875358b87396d1218f50d9f269f127 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Resumo: O trabalho analisa as implicações decorrentes do rentismo tanto para a estrutura político-econômica doméstica quanto para a política externa exercida pela Venezuela. Ao constatar que a riqueza do país é gerada, majoritariamente, pelo comércio do petróleo no exterior, o texto problematiza as dificuldades enfrentadas em razão desta atividade não compor uma cadeia produtiva extensa, mas, sim, um conjunto restrito de ações e serviços vinculados à extração de recursos não-renováveis. Nesse contexto, a tese expõe as diferentes maneiras pelas quais a natureza rentista da economia venezuelana repercutiu, também, em sua política externa. Inicialmente, o foco recai sobre o processo que, entre 1927 e 1958, consolidou a primazia da atividade petroleira, bem como a ascensão e queda do momento político subsequente, o puntofijismo (1958-1998), enfatizando-se, nesse primeiro momento, o emergir da "diplomacia do petróleo" e o estabelecimento da vocação centro-americanista e caribenha da política externa venezuelana. Em seguida, detalha-se a maneira pela qual o governo Chávez (1999-2013) regulou e colocou em prática a exploração petrolífera no país, argumentando-se que o modelo escolhido para reorganizar o setor ¿ as empresas mistas ¿ manteve a iniciativa privada transnacional como sua principal beneficiária. Por outro lado, se reconhece a importante inovação realizada pelo governo bolivariano ao investir boa parte da renda no financiamento de programas de inclusão social. Já no âmbito internacional, em que pese a maior proeminência conquistada por meio da postura proativa e integracionista adotada pela política externa bolivariana, realça-se o fato do instrumento utilizado para tanto (o comércio do petróleo) colocar o país numa posição instável e preponderantemente subalterna no contexto da divisão internacional do trabalho / Abstract: The study analysis the implications of oil rentism for both the domestic political-structure and the foreign policy pursued by Venezuela. Noting that the country's wealth is generated mainly by the trade of oil abroad, the thesis discusses the difficulties faced due to the fact that the aforementioned activity is not part of a large chain of productive activities, being, on the contrary, part of a limited set of actions and services related to the extraction of non-renewable natural resources. Within this perspective, the study presents the different ways in which the rentier nature of the Venezuelan economy reflected in its foreign policy. Initially, the focus is on the process that, between 1927 and 1958, consolidated the primacy of oil as the main component of the economy, as well as the rise and fall of the subsequent political moment, puntofijism (1958-1998), emphasizing the emergence of "oil diplomacy" and the establishment of the Central American and Caribbean vocation of Venezuelan foreign policy. Then, it is presented how Chávez's administration (1999-2013) regulated and put into practice the oil exploration in the country, arguing that the model chosen to reorganize the sector - joint ventures ¿ maintained privet transnational capital as its main beneficiary. On the other hand, it is acknowledged that an important change has been made by the Bolivarian government through the policy of investing part of the income on social programs. In the international context, despite a greater prominence achieved by a proactive and integrationist Bolivarian foreign policy, it is stated that the instrument used to do so (oil trade) occupies, due the framework that rules oil trade, an unstable and subordinate position within transnational capitalism / Doutorado / Ciencia Politica / Doutor em Ciência Política

A Research Report submitted in partial fulfillment of the Degree of Master of Commerce in Economics in the School of Economic and Business Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand 2018 / The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and food security at the local municipal level in South Africa. This analysis is based on a cross sectional framework for 2016 and a panel framework over the period 2000 – 2016. Furthermore, the study utilized geospatial analysis. There is currently little to no literature deciphering the relationship between foreign direct investment and food security, in terms of the South African context. The contribution of this paper is to bridge the gap. The results show the importance of an equitable distribution of foreign direct investment, across various local municipalities in South Africa, as a means to alleviating hunger and food insecurity. More specifically, the paper has managed to highlight the fact that municipalities that receive a sufficient amount of foreign direct investment experience lower levels of hunger in comparison to the local municipalities that receive little to no foreign direct investment. / MT 2019

China’s presence in Africa has increased phenomenally over the last six years. Chinese high-level visits have intensified, investment from China on the continent has soared, trade between the two regions has quintupled and perhaps most startling of all China has cancelled US$1.27 billion worth of debt to African countries. The extent at which China is engaged in Africa today would not have been possible had it not been for the relationship China nurtured from the very beginning between the two regions. China’s aid has been used to induce the establishment of diplomatic relations with African states and once diplomatic relations have been established, aid is used to ensure the establishment of strategically, lucrative economic agreements. This study will examine China’s aid policies in Africa from the 1950s through to the twenty-first century and aims to assess how foreign aid as a foreign policy tool has furthered China’s national interest in Africa.

The thesis deals with the Czechoslovak-British relations in 1953-1957. The thesis is divided into the three parts, which are analysing the development in the aforementioned period. Each part has own chapter. These parts are political and diplomatic one, economic one and last but not least cultural one. The political part includes the basic framework of international relations in the aforementioned period, then deals with brief summary of post-war development of mutual political relations. The next main part of chapter mentions the influence of German question and Suez Crisis. The political part concludes with the subchapter about general tendencies of mutual Czechoslovak-British relations. The economic part is opened with the brief introduction of post-war development of mutual political relations. The next main part of chapter is dedicated to some mutual relations in the matter of nuclear power for civilian use. The same as the previous chapter also the economic part is concluded with the subchapter about general tendencies of mutual economic relations. The final cultural part starts with mentions of brief summary of post-war development. The main part of chapter comprises also two subchapters about Whitehaven fund and Lidice Shall Live Committee. The cultural part is concluded again with the...

Dissertation Submitted in Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD.) at the University of Witwatersrand – School of Governance September 2015 / This research is demarcated according to two modes, one conceptual – state sovereignty - and two - distant proximity – the ideal of regional integration. When these are juxtaposed in the state sovereignty-regional integration complex, they resemble a complex picture of what is under construction. The nation state currently exists, so it is an important variable. The research examines what happens to the nation state variable, in respect to its policy preferences, interests and ideational content as the process of regional integration evolves. Put differently, does the nation state remain indivisible or is it evolving as the process of regional integration deepens? The research has found that the policy preferences and interests of states in Southern Africa converge and/or diverge not so much based on the SADC objectives and norms. The convergence and/or divergence of policy preferences among states in SADC is informed by the constant negotiation and engagement among states - yielding not so much a zero-sum regional integration arrangement nor is it leading to the demise of the nation state – but around a range of factors including: perceived economic gains and losses; persuasion and influence among state and non-state actors; political solidarity among state actors; external and internal political and economic pressures. The notion of state sovereignty is invoked by many states when all the factors above have yielded inadequate results for the particular state. The research has found that a constructivist process of co-determination and co-constitution and solidarity, albeit very loose and not legaly binding, is taking place in Southern Africa. This process, the research has found, is pointing to an intergovernmental regional integration arrangement wherein certain policy areas or competencies reside at the regional level and some at the nation state level. The process of inter-state action and behaviour, the dissertation has found, is underpinned by the interests, preferences and choices of states in their discursive relationship to one another in the process of regional integration. / MT2016

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This dissertation contains four essays in spatial and international economics. Chapter 1 investigates how housing variety varies across space. Housing costs are key in understanding real income differences across space and time. Standard measures of housing costs do not account for availability differences, where some housing varieties are available in certain cities or time periods but not others. When households have idiosyncratic preferences over housing units, the set of available housing varieties in a city matters. This paper develops theoretically-founded housing price indices to measure housing costs that account for availability differences. To allow for flexible substitution patterns, I propose a method to jointly estimate the nests that varieties belong to and the elasticity of substitution across varieties within each nest. I find that households in larger cities benefit from having access to varieties not available in smaller cities. Utility-consistent housing prices reduce the elasticity of housing prices with respect to population by a half. Since housing is a third of household expenditure, this implies that we have systematically underestimated real income and overestimated residual amenities in larger cities. In contrast to previous estimates, I find that real income is increasing in city size after accounting for availability differences. Chapter 2 investigates the factors that cause incomplete pass-through of exchange rate shocks into border prices. This paper examines the role of decreasing returns to scale, a channel that has received limited empirical and theoretical attention. Based on a first-order approximation to a firm's optimal price, I show that 1) decreasing returns to scale interacts with variable markups, imported inputs, and destination non-traded costs to generate incomplete pass-through, 2) there is asymmetry between importer currency and exporter currency shocks due to imported inputs, and 3) strategic complementarity matters, where firms adjust their prices in response to competitor prices. I propose a new estimation method for key demand and supply parameters that govern the degree of markup and marginal cost adjustments. Using the estimated parameters, I find that decreasing returns to scale is the dominant factor in generating incomplete pass-through, with variable marginal costs contributing to over 90% of the incomplete pass-through, while variable markups account for less than 10%. Chapter 3 analyzes the determinants of exporter size. Theories of comparative advantage and product differentiation have emphasized productivity and quality differences. This paper shows that incorporating decreasing returns to scale matters for understanding the determinants of exporter size. Exogenous marginal cost differences affect equilibrium quantities but do not necessarily appear in prices since lower exogenous marginal costs (a lower cost curve) are offset by higher endogenous marginal costs (movement along the cost curve). As a result, standard approaches that assume constant returns to scale underestimate the contribution of marginal cost differences and overestimate the contribution of quality differences. Based on bilateral trade flow data between 1997 to 2016 for over 200 countries and 3000 products, I find that standard approaches attribute almost no variation in exporter size to cost differences. In contrast, after incorporating decreasing returns to scale, I estimate that 58% (65%) of the variation in exporter size is attributed to fundamental cost differences in the time series (cross-section). Chapter 4 models and quantifies the dynamic gains from exporting. I develop a dynamic trade model where firms innovate and learn from other firms in the destinations they sell to. The evolution of a country's stock of knowledge can be expressed as a function of export flows and the stocks of knowledge of their trading partners. I find evidence that countries in Asia, North America, and Europe, as well as countries in the top two quartiles of TFP growth were able to better absorb foreign insights than other countries. I evaluate whether there are dynamic gains from trade with two counterfactual exercises. First, I measure the impact of changing trade costs between 1962 and 2000. I find small static gains but zero dynamic gains for the world economy. Second, I quantify the dynamic gains from export-induced foreign knowledge flows by simulating a counterfactual where there is no learning from foreign sources. I find that domestic learning compensates for foreign learning: there are large dynamic gains from exporting when there is no domestic learning and small dynamic gains when there is domestic learning.

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<p>American IPE has traditionally marginalized the role that social forces, and particularly religion, have played in the construction of the international political economy. This dissertation is an examination into the foreign economic relations of the Republic of Indonesia from the perspective of the British school of International Political Economy (IPE). British IPE is used to critically assess what role, if any, the religion of Islam has had in the construction of Indonesia’s foreign economic relations. This research demonstrates that Islamic social forces have influenced the political debates that construct Indonesia’s foreign economic relationships. Mainstream Islamic organizations pushed the state to engage with international institutions of trade and finance throughout the pre-independence period when Indonesian national identity was being forged, as well as during the parliamentary democracy that followed independence, and into Sukarno’s “Guided Democracy.” The trend from the Suharto era to the early twenty-first has been the appropriation of Islamic discourse by the state to legitimize its economic policies of engagement with the international political economy. Firstly, this dissertation challenges the dismissal of religious social forces as a salient dimension of the international political economy that is implicit to the American school of IPE. Secondly, the findings of this dissertation challenge the narratives of mainstream International Relations (IR) theory that interprets political Islam as a destabilizing force in international order.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)