There are gradually prosperous trades in foreign exchange markets, agents could hedge, speculate and arbitrage in markets. Market efficiency and whether future spot rates could be predicted by forward rates are worthy of investigate. Hakkio and Rush (1989) demonstrated that cointegration is a necessary condition for market efficiency hypothesis, so that the examination of cointegration to investigate the long-run relationship between the spot rates and forward rates is important. We consider a new method -- stochastic coinegration which contains heteroscedastic and stationary cointegration, to re-examine the relationships between spot and forward rates. The feature of stochastic cointegraion is that the cointegrating residuals contain the integrated of order one process and heteroscedastic integrated process. However the special residuals would stochastically trendless over time, so that the spot rates and forward rates has long run equilibrium relationship. Conclusively, the future spot rates empirically are stochastic (and conventional) coinegrated with forward rates in Taiwan, Japan, and Singapore.

The traditional efficiency market hypothesis supposes that the fluctuations of the stock prices are random, and stock price is unable to be predicted. But in recent years papers point out that the fluctuations of the stock prices are not totally random, the fluctuations of the stock price have long term memory characteristics. Therefore, trying to find out the regularity of the market price becomes a new subject for research. This paper attempts to use the fractional market hypothesis to analyze stock market, which divided samples into two types which are the developed markets ¡]Japan , U.S.A. , Australia, and South Africa¡^and mergering markets ¡]Korea , Taiwan , China¡]Shanghai¡^ , and Jordan¡^. The sample period is from January of 1997 to December of 2006. And using the regarding countries¡¦ main returns of daily stock price index. By using R/S analysis to estimate each country¡¦ Hurst coefficients, this paper studies the aperiodic cycle in each country. It also wants to see whether the degree of maturity affects the different result or not. The empirical results show that the stock indeies in the developed markets have shorter aperiodic cycle than in the mergering markets. U.S.A., Australia ,and South African markets the aperiodic cycles are 138 days , 126 days ,and 152 days respectively. Taiwan and Shanghai markets the aperiodic cycles are 208 days and 202 days respectively. Japan, Korea , Jordanian markets in this sample period have not found aperiodic cycles.

This dissertation is divided into an introductory chapter and four essays. Chapter one discusses the importance of the study and describes the development and growth of the market as well. The first part (Chapters 2 & 3) examines stock returns behaviour and trading activity around earnings announcements. The second part (Chapters 4 & 5) examines price impact asymmetry and the price effects of block trades in the market microstructure context. Each essay addresses some aspects of market microstructure and stock returns behaviour in order to aid researchers, investors and regulators to understand a market which lacks research coverage. The research provides empirical evidence on issues such as the efficiency of the market, information asymmetry, liquidity and price impact of block trades. In first part of the thesis, event study and regression analysis were used to measure the price reaction around earnings announcements and to examine trading activity, information asymmetry and liquidity. In second part the determinants of the price impact of block trades were examined with regard to trade size, market condition and time of the day effects using transaction data. Liquidity and information asymmetry issues of block trades were also studied in this part.

The thesis examines whether the role of credit rating prior to the announcement of credit rating change is the neglected factor explaining in large extent the paradox investigated in prior papers that downgrades influence the stock prices of company but upgrades not. It is motivated by the notion that credit rating changes from low credit rating classes influence the stock price of company more distinctively than changes from higher credit rating classes and there is proportionally more downgrades from low credit rating classes than upgrades. The large sample of credit rating changes including proportionally more upgrades from low credit rating classes than downgrades is collected and the results suggesting the influence of downgrades on stock prices of company and any influence of upgrades persist. Furthermore when controlled for credit rating prior to the announcement of credit rating change, magnitude of credit rating change, crossing the investment-speculative barrier, credit rating changes within and across credit rating categories, consecutive credit rating changes in the same direction and industry sector of issuer all the results are consistent with the original conclusions proposing significant stock price reaction to announcements of credit rating downgrades and no stock price response to...

Mit den steigenden Anteilen der Wind- und Solarstromerzeugung als fluktuierenden erneuerbaren Energien (FEE) wurden in den vergangenen Jahren aus der Energiewirtschaft, der Wissenschaft und Politik Forderungen laut, die FEE im Interesse einer effizienteren Förderung „besser“ in die liberalisierten Strommärkte zu integrieren (sog. Marktintegration der EE). Gefordert wird u. a., dass die FEE in Zukunft ähnlich wie die thermischen Kraftwerke ihre Stromproduktion an den Preissignalen der Großhandels-Strommärkte ausrichten, um somit zum besseren Ausgleich von Angebot und Nachfrage beizutragen. In die Diskussion zur grundlegenden Reform des EEG 2014 wurde u. a. die Einführung einer fixen statt variablen Marktprämie, einer kapazitiven Vergütung sowie die wettbewerbliche Ausschreibung anstatt administrativer Förderhöhen eingebracht. Investitionen in FEE-Anlagen als kapitalintensive Technologien sehen sich jedoch bei verstärkter Marktintegration unter den heute vorherrschenden Marktbedingungen – die primär auf einen thermischen Kraftwerkspark ausgelegt sind - zunehmenden Investitions- und Betriebsrisiken ausgesetzt, die durch Risikoaufschläge bei Eigen- und Fremdkapital in die Investitionskosten eingepreist werden. Neben steigenden Preisrisiken durch stärkere Preisvolatilitäten bei höheren FEE-Anteilen ergeben sich in Abhängigkeit der Förderinstrumente jedoch auch neue Mengenrisiken, da mit der Einführung der FEE-Direktvermarktung diese bei entsprechend niedrigen Preisen marktgetrieben abgeregelt werden. Durch den bereits in der Vergangenheit nachgewiesenen Merit-Order-Effekt und den Marktwertverlust der FEE durch den sog. Gleichzeitigkeitseffekt, stellt sich damit die Frage, ob sich ein System mit hohen Anteilen an FEE zukünftig rein marktendogen auf Basis eines Grenzkostenmarktes refinanzieren lässt. Mit Hilfe des im Rahmen der Dissertation weiterentwickelten agentenbasierten Strommarktmodells AMIRIS wurden zur Beantwortung der Fragestellung unterschiedliche Szenarioanalysen durchgeführt und auf der Akteurs- und Systemebene ausgewertet. Die stündlich aufgelösten Simulationsläufe von 2015-2035 zur Entwicklung der Refinanzierungsbedingungen der FEE, der FEE-Marktwerte sowie der assoziierten Fördereffizienz zur Erreichung der FEE-Ziele bei Anwendung einer variablen oder fixen Markt- sowie Kapazitätsprämie kommen dabei zu dem Ergebnis, dass die Refinanzierung eines allein marktendogenen Ausbaus von FEE-Anlagen unter den Bedingungen eines grenzkostenbasierten Strommarktes nicht möglich ist. Dies liegt primär an den zunehmend marktgetrieben abgeregelten Strommengen sowie den Marktwertverlusten durch den Gleichzeitigkeitseffekt. Problem ist hierbei, dass keiner der Anlagenbetreiber zum Zeitpunkt der Investition realistisch abschätzen kann, welcher Anteil der meteorologisch erzeugbaren Strommenge sich letztendlich am Markt absetzen lässt. Denn die vermarktbaren Strommengen hängen nicht nur vom Förderinstrument, sondern vor allem von der zukünftigen Flexibilität im System ab. Hinzu kommt, dass sich im Referenzszenario mit keinem der diskutierten Instrumente auch nur annäherungsweise die EE-Ausbauziele bis 2035 erreichen lassen. Zusätzlich kommt es beim derzeit implementierten EE-Direktvermarktungssystem über die Strombörse mit Wettbewerb zwischen den dezentralen Direktvermarktern bei der variablen Marktprämie zu ineffizienten Abregelungsentscheidungen, da in diesem Förderregime der Anreiz besteht, die stromgestehungskostentechnisch günstigsten FEE-Anlagen als erstes abzuregeln. Mit zunehmendem Anteil der FEE-Einspeisung wird es zukünftig bei einem dezentralen Direktvermarktungssystem außerdem zu hohen Informationsasymmetrien und damit einer ineffizienten Preisbildung im Stromgroßhandel kommen. Dies liegt an der Unkenntnis anderer Marktteilnehmer über die dezentrale Entscheidung abzuregelnder FEE-Mengen. Ein zentrales Direktvermarktungssystem mit einem sog. ‚Single-Buyer‘-Konzept könnte hier Abhilfe schaffen. Entgegen der vorherrschenden ökonomischen Theorie erweist sich die variable Marktprämie jedoch in allen untersuchten Szenarien als dynamisch effizienter als eine fixe Marktprämie, die wiederum effizienter wirkt als eine variable und fixe Kapazitätsprämie. Den größten Einfluss auf die absoluten als auch relativen Marktwerte der FEE; haben neben den Förderinstrumenten in absteigender Reihenfolge vor allem neue Stromverbraucher (P2X), ein zentrales statt dezentrales Direktvermarktungssystem, ein gleichmäßigeres Ausbauverhältnis zwischen Wind- und PV-Anlagen, eine gleichmäßigere Verteilung der Windanlagen zwischen Nord- und Süddeutschland, der flexible Einsatz von Biomasseanlagen, der Einsatz von Strom-zu-Strom-Speichern und zu relativ kleinen Anteilen auch eine systemdienlichere Auslegung der Anlagen (Schwachwindanlagen). Bessere Anreize zur Hebung der Flexibilitätspotentiale und damit bessere Integrationsmöglichkeiten der FEE bietet die Integration über die Stromvertriebe statt über den Stromgroßhandel. / With the increasing shares of wind and solar power generation as variable renewable energies (VRE), demands have been made in recent years from the energy industry, science and politics to integrate the VRE 'better' into the liberalised electricity markets in the interest of more efficient promotion (so-called market integration of renewables). One of the demands is that the VRE, like thermal power plants, should in future align its electricity production with the price signals of the wholesale electricity markets in order to contribute to a better balance between supply and demand. The discussion on the fundamental reform of the EEG 2014 included the introduction of a fixed instead of a variable market premium, a capacitive remuneration and a competitive tendering procedure instead of administrative subsidy amounts. Investments in VRE plants as capital-intensive technologies, however, are exposed to increasing investment and operating risks under today's prevailing market conditions - which are primarily designed for a thermal power plant park - as a result of increased market integration. In addition to rising price risks due to greater price volatility in the case of higher VRE shares, there are also new volume risks, depending on the support instruments used, as the introduction of VRE direct-marketing means that the power can be curtailed on a market-driven basis at correspondingly low prices. The merit order effect already proven in the past and the loss in market value of VRE due to the so-called simultaneity effect raise the question of whether a system with a high shares of VRE can be refinanced purely marketendogenously on the basis of a marginal cost market in the future. With the help of the agent-based electricity market model AMIRIS, which was further developed within the framework of the dissertation, different scenario analyses were carried out to answer the question and evaluated at the actor and system level. The hourly resolved simulation runs of 2015-2035 for the development of the refinancing conditions of the VRE, the VRE market values as well as the associated support efficiency in order to achieve the VRE targets with the application of a variable or fixed market and capacity premium come to the conclusion that the refinancing of a market endogenous expansion of VRE plants is not possible under the conditions of a marginal cost based electricity market. This is primarily due to the increasingly market-driven curtailment of VRE electricity volumes and the loss of market value due to the simultaneity effect. The problem here is that none of the plant operators can realistically estimate at the time of the investment what share of the meteorologically producible quantity of electricity can ultimately be sold on the market. This is because the quantities of electricity that can be marketed depend not only on the funding instrument, but above all on the future flexibility of the system. In addition, none of the instruments discussed in the reference scenario can even come close to achieving the renewable energy expansion targets by 2035. In addition, the currently implemented direct marketing system for renewables via the power exchange with competition between the decentralised direct marketers leads to inefficient curtailment decisions with regard to the variable market premium, since in this support regime there is an incentive to curtail the VRE plants with the lowest levelized-cost of electricity (LCOE) first. As the share of VRE increases, a decentralised direct marketing system will in future also lead to high information asymmetries and thus inefficient pricing in electricity wholesale. This is due to the unawareness of other market participants about the decentralised decision to curtailment VRE volumes. A central direct marketing system with a so-called 'single buyer' concept could remedy this situation. Contrary to the prevailing economic theory, the variable market premium proves to be dynamically more efficient than a fixed market premium in all scenarios examined, which in turn is more efficient than a variable and fixed capacity premium. The greatest influence on the absolute as well as relative market values of the VRE is exerted in descending order by new electricity consumers (P2X), a central instead of decentralised direct marketing system, a more even expansion ratio between wind and PV plants, a more even distribution of wind plants between northern and southern Germany, the flexible use of biomass plants, the use of electricity to electricity storage units and to relatively small proportions also a more system-oriented design of the plants (weakwind turbines). Better incentives to increase the flexibility potentials and thus better integration possibilities of the VRE are offered by the integration via the electricity utilities instead of the wholesale market.