Traditionally, Multinational Corporations and the United Nations used to have different agendas. During recent years, there has been a shift, and with the adoption of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, the objectives of the two different entities are more closely aligned. The United Nations has increasingly promoted multi-stakeholder partnerships as a way to foster development efforts in emerging markets. At the same time, these partnerships have appeared to be a way for businesses to gain legitimacy and overcome the challenges in entering emerging markets. The literature review is based on Johanson and Vahlne’s (1977) Uppsala Model, complemented with Bottom of the Pyramid literature. Specifically, the role of experiential knowledge in the internationalization process is investigated. An exploratory field study has been conducted during one month in Myanmar, with the overarching purpose to study an MNC’s expansion into an EM. The study has further investigated on how MNCs partner with non-traditional actors when entering EMs and how the exchange of knowledge is carried out on the micro-level in these relations. The study includes interviews with both an MNC and the UN, including observations on site and a documentary analysis. In line with previous literature, the result show that the MNC had to learn from the local market in order to succeed in their internationalization process, but also educate the local market in order to enter. Thus, the thesis contributes to research in proving that internationalization in emerging markets seems to be a two-way experiential knowledge direction where MNCs also need to take an active part in educating the emerging market in order to enter.

Charles University in Prague Faculty of Social Sciences Institute of Economic Studies MASTER THESIS Financial Stress Transmission from Developed to Emerging Countries Author: Bc. Nicolae Gavrilenco Supervisor: doc. Roman Horvàth, Ph.D. Academic Year: 2012/2013 Abstract In this research we have analyzed the financial system as it is today, describing the implications financial innovation had and the impact of the recent financial crisis. We tried to understand the nature of the financial stress and its measures. In the context of world financial integration it was also necessary to have a review upon the financial stress transmission channels from developed to emerging countries, determining the linkages and their measures. We employed a structural VAR model to determine whether there is empirical proof of financial Stress transmission from developed to emerging countries and see if financial integration represents the decisive factor in financial stress transmission. Our results suggest that there is a significant impact of financial stress in developed countries on the output of emerging ones. However we can observe an increasing influence of country-specific factors in explaining the variation in the rest of the variable of our model. The results also indicate the level of international financial...

One of the most visible signs of the globalization of the world economy is the increase of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows across countries. This past decade the trend of FDI has shifted from developed countries to emerging economies, which is most notably in the BRICS countries. However, as BRICS reputation has been damaged these past years due to its weak growth outlook in the early 2010s, investors are shifting to the new economic grouping acronym, the MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) countries for better future prospects of FDI destination. Since the MINT countries have emerged as a popular destination of FDI, it is necessary to investigate what are the key factors that make these four countries attractive as FDI destinations. Hence, this paper analyzes what are the determinants of inward FDI into the MINT countries during the time period from 1990 to 2014. To be able to answer the research question and demonstrate the effect of the seven independent variables (market size, economic instability, natural resources availability, infrastructure facilities, trade openness, institutional stability and political stability) on FDI as a dependent variable, the study uses a panel data analysis. The data is based on secondary data, which is collected from the World Bank dataset. The empirical finding from the study illustrates that market size, economic instability, infrastructure facilities, trade openness, institutional stability, and political stability are significant as determinants FDI inflows to the MINT countries, meanwhile, natural resources availability appears to be an insignificant determinant of FDI inflows to the MINT countries.

[pt] Ao longo dos últimos 20 anos as economias aumentaram seus estoques de reservas internacionais de forma acelerada. As reservas globais passaram de aproximadamente um trilhão de dólares em 1990, para mais de cinco trilhões de dólares em 2006. Este processo também pode ser observado no Brasil, principalmente nos últimos dois anos, onde o estoque de reservas passou de aproximadamente 60 bilhões de dólares no fim de 2005 para mais de 180 bilhões de dólares no fim de 2007. Neste estudo, fazemos uma análise custobenefício das reservas internacionais, levando em consideração o seu papel como mitigadora tanto da probabilidade de ocorrência quanto do custo da crise, uma vez esta instaurada. Nossos resultados indicam que maiores reservas, representadas pela razão Reserva/Dívida Externa de Curto Prazo, são significantes em reduzir o custo e a probabilidade de crise. Além disso, encontramos que os níveis de reservas acumulados pela maioria dos países emergentes analisados são ótimos para valores razoáveis de custo de crise e de custo de manter reservas. No entanto, o caso brasileiro é uma exceção, pois o acúmulo de reservas internacionais nos últimos dois anos parece ser excessivo, não podendo ser explicado pelo modelo estimado. / [en] Over the past 20 years, economies have increased their levels of international reserves at a rapid pace. Global reserves went from approximately one trillion dollars in 1990, to over five trillion dollars in 2006. This trend can also be observed in Brazil, especially over the past two years, when the stock of reserves increased from about 60 billion dollars by the end of 2005 to more than 180 billion dollars by the end of 2007. In this study, we make a cost-benefit analysis of international reserves, taking into account its role in mitigating both the probability of a crisis, and the cost of a crisis once it happens. Our results show that higher reserves, represented by the Reserves/Short Term External Debt ratio, are significant in decreasing the cost and probability of a crisis. Furthermore, we find that the levels of reserves accumulated by the majority of the emerging economies analyzed are optimum for reasonable values of cost of crisis and cost of reserves. However, the Brazilian case is an exception, since the reserves accumulated in the past two years seem excessive, not being explained by the model estimated.

Os indicadores tradicionais de atividades inovativas, dentre os quais se destacam as estatísticas de pesquisa e desenvolvimento e patentes, se apoiam no argumento linear de que a pesquisa leva à comercialização de novas tecnologias. Baseados nos indicadores tradicionais, estudos recentes focados no processo de inovação industrial em economias emergentes afirmam que hoje em dia as firmas latino-americanas desempenham um papel passivo nas atividades inovadoras mundiais, caracterizado pela ausência de capacidades inovadoras. Esses indicadores, entretanto, não parecem ser os mais adequados para se medir a inovação, em especial em firmas dessa natureza. Isso porque eles se mostram limitados para captar como o processo de inovação ocorre no interior das firmas. O fato de que o comprometimento empresarial deliberado com a atividade de inovação seja relativamente menor em firmas localizadas em economias emergentes não necessariamente implica a ausência de atividades inovadoras nas mesmas. Possivelmente, atividades inovadoras se desdobram de maneira diferente. Sua avaliação, portanto, requer o uso de outras medidas. Este estudo tem como objetivo desenvolver um conjunto de novos indicadores de atividades inovativas que ampliem o escopo de análise dos indicadores tradicionais no interior das firmas e testá-los em um grupo de firmas da economia brasileira. Para se garantir a acurácia dos novos indicadores de atividades inovativas, a criação dos mesmos é teoricamente amparada por cinco correntes do pensamento econômico: a teoria clássica, a teoria neoclássica, a teoria schumpeteriana, a teoria coaseana da firma e a teoria evolucionária da mudança econômica. Propõe-se teoricamente um conjunto de 16 novos indicadores de inovação, agrupados em torno de quatro dimensões: empreendedorismo, estrutura, coordenação e valor. Para o teste e a validação dos novos indicadores, é realizado um estudo de casos múltiplos em sete firmas brasileiras. Em paralelo ao conjunto de novos indicadores de inovação, também são aplicados junto aos casos estudados quatro indicadores tradicionais, em vias de se ressaltar as especificidades que os novos indicadores permitem observar. Evidências empíricas obtidas na pesquisa de campo referentes ao processo de inovação e ao desempenho inovativo dos casos estudados sugerem a existência de atividades inovadoras que extrapolam os aspectos capturados pelos indicadores tradicionais. Especificamente, observou-se a existência de atividades inovadoras e de desempenho inovativo intermediário nos casos estudados. Adicionalmente, as análises realizadas a partir do primeiro exercício de aplicação do conjunto de novos indicadores evidenciaram que 12 novos indicadores de inovação são acurados o suficiente para serem utilizados em pesquisas futuras e complementarem as análises antes embasadas somente nos indicadores tradicionais. Esses novos indicadores, em especial quando usados conjuntamente, permitem um entendimento mais detalhado da atividade de inovação no âmbito intraorganizacional. / The traditional indicators on innovation rely on the linear assumption that research leads to development. Overall, these indicators refer to research and development expenditures and patents statistics. Based on the traditional innovation indicators, recent studies focused on the industrial innovation process at emerging economies argue that nowadays Latin American firms play a passive role in world’s innovative activities, characterised by the lack of firms’ innovative capabilities. However, these indicators do not seem to be the most appropriate for measuring innovation, especially in emerging economies’ firms. This is because the traditional indicators are unable to capture how the innovation process occurs inside firms. The fact that the deliberated commitment to innovation is relatively low in firms of emerging economies does not necessarily mean that they do not undertake innovative activities. Innovative activities possibly take a different form and therefore also require other measures. The aim of this study is to develop a set of new indicators on innovation that broaden the scope of the traditional indicators on innovation and test them in a group of Brazilian firms. In order to assure the accuracy of the new indicators, this study searches for support from five approaches of the economic theory: the classical theory; the neoclassical theory; the Schumpeterian theory; the Coasean theory of the firm; and the evolutionary theory of economic change. A set of 16 new indicators is theoretically proposed. They are distributed over four dimensions: entrepreneurship, structure, coordination and value. To test and validate the new indicators, a multiple case study is conducted in seven Brazilian firms. This study also makes use of the application of four traditional indicators on innovation with the aim of highlighting the specificities observed by the use of the new indicators. Empirical evidence on the innovation process and performance of the studied cases suggest the existence of innovative activities that go beyond the aspects captured by the traditional indicators. Additionally, the analyses undertaken through the first application exercise of the set of new indicators showed that 12 new indicators are sufficiently accurate to be utilised by future studies. They could be of help to complement the analyses hitherto only guided by the traditional indicators. These new indicators, especially when together employed, allow a more comprehensive observation of the innovation activity inside firms.

O objetivo desta dissertação é mostrar como a estratégia de inserção internacional da Índia se articula com sua estratégia de desenvolvimento. Inicialmente, o trabalho conceitua inserção internacional e desenvolvimento econômico para países subdesenvolvidos e apresenta algumas estratégias estilizadas de inserção de alguns países emergentes. Posteriormente, busca-se caracterizar a economia da Índia do ponto de vista da evolução histórica e em seus aspectos distintivos. Entre as principais conclusões do trabalho, percebe-se que apesar da maior integração da Índia com o mundo, esta se dá em um grau inferior ao dos demais países em grau semelhante de desenvolvimento. Mesmo com o avanço recente, o crescimento não se traduziu em grandes modificações estruturais, com a maior parte da população ainda em condições de pobreza, e alocada no setor rural da economia. A relativamente baixa integração econômica e a própria abertura gradual e planejada da economia da Índia, mantendo reduzidos os índices de vulnerabilidade externa, permite que a Índia coloque algumas das prioridades da nação em primeiro lugar, tanto no arcabouço do regime macroeconômico, como nos fóruns internacionais. As oportunidades de crescimento, especialmente através do setor externo, devem ser consideradas tendo em vista as fontes de vulnerabilidade e oportunidades de mudanças estruturais que se traduzam em melhores condições de vida. / The objective of this dissertation is to show how the strategy of international insertion of India is linked to its development strategy. Initially, this dissertation conceptualizes international insertion and economic development for underdeveloped countries and it presents some stylistic strategies of insertion for some emerging countries. Subsequently, it seeks to characterize the Indian economy from the standpoint of historical development and its distinguishing features. Among the main conclusions of this dissertation is that despite India’s greater integration with the world, this occurs at a lower grade than that of other countries in similar levels of development. Even with recent progress, growth has not translated into major structural changes, as most of the population remains in poverty in the rural sector of the economy. The relatively low economic integration and the very gradual and planned opening of the economy of India, while maintaining low rates of external vulnerability, allows India to place some of the priorities of the nation's first, both in the framework of the macroeconomic regime, and in international forums. The opportunities for growth, especially through the external sector, should be considered in view of the sources of vulnerability and opportunities for structural changes that translate into better living conditions for its population.

Since the opening of the Central, Eastern and South Eastern European (CESEE) banking market, foreign banks, have started to invest in the financial sector of emerging economies. Economic research highlights that foreign banks have brought advanced technology, improved management expertise, upgraded risk management techniques and generally more efficient and competitive banking practices into CESEE countries (Clarke, Cull, Peria and Sànchez, 2002; Eller, Haiss and Steiner, 2006). However, there is hardly evidence about how this large-scale knowledge transfer has been achieved and what knowledge has actually been transferred. This paper intends to fill this gap. Two in-depth case studies of bank acquisitions by Austrian banks in CESEE give insight into the methods and content of knowledge transfer within the post-acquisition integration. A questionnaire sent out to CESEE subsidiaries of Austrian banks additionally provides information on the topic. The results show that knowledge transfer mainly occurs in international teams and during international meetings, trainings and development programs and that it is supported by information and communication technologies. Results further show that the content, methods and magnitude of knowledge transfer efforts change along the stages of post-acquisition integration. (author's abstract)

<p>This dissertation computes the optimal monetary and fiscal policy for small open and emerging economies in an estimated medium-scale model. The model departs from the conventional approach as it encompasses all the major nominal and real rigidities normally found in the literature in a single framework. After estimating the model using Bayesian techniques for one small open economy and one emerging economy, the Ramsey solution for the optimal monetary and fiscal policy is computed. Results show that foreign shocks have a strong influence in the dynamics of emerging economies, when compared to the designed optimal policy for a developed small open economy. For both economies, inflation is low, but very volatile, while taxes follow the traditional results in the literature with high taxes over labor income and low taxes for capital income.</p> / Dissertation

<p>This dissertation is a collection of essays with the main objective of estimate and understand macroeconomic behavior of emerging countries by the lenses of modern tools in general equilibrium modeling.</p><p>In the first chapter, I study whether structural parameters of Small Open Economy Real Business Cycle models are constant when applied to Emerging Markets data. Using data from Argentina, I estimate a small open economy model with trend shocks and working capital constraints, augmented with time varying parameters. I find that so called ``structural" parameters suffer substantial changes in the period 1983-2008. Structural instabilities arise from both technological and financial sources. Given these findings, I inquire which are the features of the data that parameter drifts capture. I review emerging markets facts and find parameter instabilities play a key role in addressing for the variability observed in the data.</p><p>In the second chapter, I study policy changes in emerging countries. Motivated by the repeated stabilization programs implemented by emerging economies during the last 30 years, I develop a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with Markov-Switching to study fiscal and monetary policies in emerging economies. I estimate the model for Mexico and find strong evidence of policy changes. Two Regimes are identified. The Active Monetary Policy Regime (AMP), in which monetary and fiscal policies respond to inflation and government debt, respectively; and the Active Fiscal Policy Regime (AFP), in which fiscal policy does not respond to government debt and monetary policy does not respond to inflation. AMP holds during short periods of time after macroeconomic crises during the 80s and 90s, and for a long period after 2002. The rest of the periods, AFP is in effect. I find that switches from AFP to AMP have strong stabilization effects at the cost of high output losses. Moreover, credibility in the persistence of the regime change is key to assess the effectiveness of the stabilization program.</p> / Dissertation

Fluctuation of exchange rate has affected the increasing burden of foreign debt payment in emerging economies. This issue has negatively influenced the economic growth. It has been a severe obstacle considering that governments have to issue public debt denominated in foreign currency to finance the budget deficit. Hence, there is an urgent necessity to implement an efficient public debt management to minimize the exchange rate exposure. This thesis analyses how efficient the foreign debt portfolio management is in the 14 emerging economies under examination in the period of 1990-2013. Panel Dynamic Fixed-effect Estimator and Granger Causality approach are applied to analyze how responsive the currency composition of foreign debt portfolio to the exchange rates movement. The thesis examines the four biggest foreign debt shares that are denominated in US dollar, Euro, British pound, and Japanese yen, and the related exchange rates movement in the economies under consideration. The observation concludes that the foreign debt portfolio management in these emerging economies is not efficient or not optimal. The evidences prove that changes in the exchange rates of Euro, British pound, and Japanese yen relative to US dollar Granger cause changes in respected debt shares. It means that there is no substitution effects from the appreciation of the currencies vis-à-vis the US dollar during the year of observation.