Asian efforts towards bond market development are driven by the 1997-98 financial crises; Central and Eastern European efforts by the transition towards EMU. The small size of most of the economies underlying these still "emerging" bond markets poses the question of minimum efficient scale and which options to pursue. We argue that the joint bond funds and regional bond market linkups that follow existing trade, FDI and bank ties will broaden the sources of finance, can improve market discipline, provide signals to the market, and thus increase financial stability. Based upon bond market data and analysis of regional efforts like the Asian Bond Funds, we argue that bond market development should be given more attention to foster growth and stability. (author's abstract) / Series: EI Working Papers / Europainstitut

Thesis (doctoral) - Freie Universität, Berlin, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 189-203).

- / -

This essay presents an alternative approach to the predominant democratic analysis of the European Monetary Union. As the Treaties stipulate the political conduct within Monetary Union and put certain restrictions on the European politicians they are to some extent constitutional in their character. Essential for constitutional theory is the concept of precommitment; according to which a decision is made in t1 purposing to obstruct certain actions in t2. In light of this the aim of this essay is to investigate whether or not delegating monetary responsibility to the ECB can be seen as an example of constitutional precommitment and if so, if this constitutional perspective can add something to the predominant democratic analysis of the EMU. According to the author the EMU is by and large a form of precommitment as the leading politicians in Europe figuratively have tied their hands from intervening in the common monetary policy. The author is also of the opinion that a constitutional approach can add something to the incomplete democratic analysis of the EMU. If a treaty has a constitutional character one cannot expect it to be changed using ordinary political means. Since it is instituted to safeguard certain values the amendment process has to be complex. This complexity does not however entail that it is impossible to change the mandate of the ECB. The European Union furthermore has a confederal character and the member states can thus, as a last resort, withdraw their membership, still making them the"Masters of the Treaties".

This diploma thesis focuses on fiscal deficits in the Eurozone and possible consequences of their existence. The current state of public finances caused by insufficient fiscal responsibility of member states is discussed in the context of the debt and finance crisis, and related actions of the European Central Bank. The economic stability of the Eurozone is assessed in accordance with the theory of optimal currency areas. Using a monetary approach, the thesis presents circumstances that allow for a rise in inflationary pressures, also as a possible consequence of a debt monetization. The possible development of the indebtedness in the Eurozone and the critical points of public finance sustainability are discussed in the final part.

In my graduation theses I deal with the eurozone crisis. This crisis can be seen in relation to the causes of it, as a result of many factors of varying importance - the global financial and economic crisis, the State lavishness, the construction of EMU, etc. Eurozone crisis can however be also seen in the inability of states to agree on the future appearance of the eurozone. In the first two chapters I analyze the first mentioned approach, namely financial and debt crisis with regard to their expensiveness. In detail I attend to interconnection of banking and debt crisis and the role of the ECB. In the second part I come to the principal point of my work, another approach to the crisis, namely the attitude of Germany to address problems of EMU. Germany therefore, that as the largest economy of EMU it forms it the most, but also carries the largest share of costs. I will analyze both the priorities of Germany, and his approach to promoted measures from the fiscal compact to Eurobonds. Eventually, through an analysis of the attitudes of actors in Germany - the German Government, the political opposition, the constitutional court, the Bundesbank, the German academics, public opinion - I come to a conclusion that the position of Germany is divided, however, at least for political representation I can not yet speak of fundamental contradictions. But it seems that the German population begins to differ in this way from their political representatives. The future will show us how serious this discrepancy will be and what results will it bring.

Introduced graduation thesis engaged in chosen implications on joining the euro area by the Czech Republic. The main target is to find the response for question: How much contributive is to enter the European Monetary Union (EMU)? The thesis is divided into five chapters. The first one includes historical and political development of European monetary integration, institutional effectiveness and economic development analysis of EMU. Following section considers the topic of EMU as a optimum currency area – objective conditions are also tested by way of Czech Republic example. Here I came to the conclusion that conditions of optimum currency area are not satisfied in many respects. Chapter number three describes the topic of nominal convergence, chapter number four describes the topic of real and price level convergence. Czech Republic is being characterized by low price level whose stepwise fitting is expected to become more complicated by virtue of using common monetary policy. Cost-benefit analysis of joining EMU is mentioned in last chapter. The most significant cost is accounted a loss of independent monetary policy, on the other hand the stable exchange rate is believed to be the most considerable benefit. The recommendation stating that Czech Republic is advised to join EMU later date is mentioned in final conclusion.

The main aim of this thesis is to discover a suitable instant of time for the Czech Republic to join European Monetary Union. I am analyzing dependence between monetary policies of the Czech National Bank (CNB) and the European Central Bank (ECB) themselves as well as in relation to essential Czech macroeconomic indicators. My observation is focused on interest rate policies represented by operative interest rates, on monetary policies represented by indices of nominal effective exchange rates and on convergence monitoring. The analytical instruments I used in the thesis are correlation analyses, linear trends, the Granger causality test and the Impulse-Reaction test. Besides, my thesis examines fulfillment of the Convergence (Maastricht) criteria in the Czech Republic and other central European countries. This thesis also examines impact of the European monetary policy on some Eurozone member countries.

This thesis provides a thorough analysis of the covered- and uncovered interest parity conditions (CIP, UIP) as well as the forward rate unbiasedness hypothesis (FRUH) for Sweden and the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). By studying data on interbank rates in Sweden (STIBOR) and the EMU (EURIBOR) as well as the corresponding spot- and forward exchange rates, monetary integration and country-specific risks are determined and analyzed with direct applications to the potential entry of Sweden into the EMU. As interest rate parity in general gives insight into market efficiency and frictions between the chosen regions, such points are discussed in addition to EMU entry. Drawing on past studies that mainly studied one condition in isolation, a nested formulation of interest rate parity is instead derived and tested using cointegration and robust estimation methods. The results point to a strict rejection of the FRUH for all horizons except the shortest and a case where CIP only holds for the 6-month horizon and partially over one year. This implies, based on the nested formulation, that UIP is rejected for all horizons as well. Ultimately, the study concludes that a Swedish entry into the EMU is not motivated given the lackluster results on UIP and due to the lack of monetary integration. / Den här uppsatsen presenterar en djupgående analys av det kurssäkrade- och icke-kurssäkrade ränteparitetsvillkoret samt den effektiva marknadshypotesen på valutaterminer för Sverige och den europeiska ekonomiska och monetära unionen (EMU). Genom att studera data på interbankräntor i Sverige (STIBOR) och EMU (EURIBOR) samt respektive spot- och valutaterminskurser så skattas och analyseras monetär integration samt landsspecifika risker med en direkt tillämpning på Sveriges eventuella inträde i EMU. Eftersom ränteparitet generellt ger insikt i marknadseffektivitet och friktioner regioner emellan, diskuteras även dessa punkter utöver ett eventuellt EMU-inträde. Genom att bygga på föregående studier som i huvudsak studerar ränteparitetsvillkoren var för sig, härleds en sekventiell formulering av villkoren som sedan testas med kointegration och robusta estimeringsmetoder. Resultaten ger att den effektiva marknadshypotesen strikt förkastas på alla tidshorisonter förutom på en dag respektive en vecka, samt att kurssäkrad ränteparitet håller på 6 och delvis 12 månaders sikt. Baserat på den sekventiella formuleringen så innebär detta att icke-kurssäkrad ränteparitet inte håller på någon tidshorisont. Slutligen, baserat på både resultat och diskussion, är ett svenskt inträde i EMU inte motiverbart givet negativa resultat för icke-kurssäkrad ränteparitet och avsaknaden av fullständig monetär integration mellan regionerna.

Cette thèse constitue une analyse historique évolutionniste de la fonction de prêteur en dernier ressort à travers les mutations du cadre institutionnel et opérationnel des Banques Centrales. L’enjeu de ce travail de recherche est de se pencher sur les origines de l’apparition de cette théorie d'un point de vue historique comme outil d’analyse des problématiques de gestion des crises modernes. Il convient de démontrer que le dévoiement de la doctrine du PDR entraîne une incompatibilité avec le cadre institutionnel de la politique monétaire de la Banque Centrale. Ainsi, les interventions « non conventionnelles » des Banques Centrales confirment qu’il est nécessaire de sortir du cadre institutionnel censé assurer une gestion efficiente de la politique monétaire. Par conséquent, ce cadre institutionnel qui garantit notamment l’indépendance de la Banque Centrale parait inadéquat à la nouvelle pratique du prêteur en dernier ressort. L’étude historique de cette fonction permet de mettre en perspective l’évolution du rôle de prêteur en dernier ressort en tant qu’outil de prédation monétaire pour les gouvernements. En définitive, les évolutions divergentes du cadre institutionnel et opérationnel de la Banque Centrale constituent l’un des principaux signes d’une déliquescence du système bancaire centralisé (Central Banking). L’exercice de la fonction de prêteur en dernier ressort par la BCE au sein de la zone euro représente un cadre d’analyse pertinent afin d’étudier les difficultés de cette fonction dans la gouvernance d'une zone économique hétérogène et politiquement inaboutie. / This paper offers an historical analysis of the evolution of lenders of last resort (LOLR) through the institutional and operational mutations of Central Banks framework. The aim of this research is to examine the origins of the appearance of this theory from a historical perspective. It should demonstrate that the perversion of the doctrine of LOLR causes incompatibility with the institutional framework of the Central Bank’s monetary policy. Thus, the "unconventional" interventions of central banks confirm the need to exit the institutional framework meant to ensure the efficient management of monetary policy. Therefore, this institutional framework which guarantees the independence of the Central Bank seems inadequate in the context of the new practice of the lender of last resort. Ultimately, diverging trends of the institutional and operational framework of the Central Bank is a major sign of demise of Central Banking. Last resort lending by the ECB in the euro zone provides a useful analytical framework to study the difficulties of the function of LOLR in the governance of a heterogeneous and politically unfulfilled economic zone.