In the first paper, the effects of trade openness and conflict risk on income inequality are investigated. I obtain that the effect of trade openness on inequality depends on the level of conflict risk. More precisely, there exists a threshold effect: trade openness worsens income inequality in countries where the risk of internal and external conflicts is high. Moreover, I find that countries with higher risk of conflicts are more unequal, and that more ethnically diverse countries increase income inequality. Finally, I obtain that democratic regimes decrease inequality. In the second paper, we analyze the general-equilibrium consequences of property right enforcement in the natural resource sector. Assuming that exclusion requires both private and public enforcement efforts, we compare states that differ by their ability to provide protection services. This ability is referred to as state capacity. We obtain that public protection services can effectively act as either substitutes or complements to private enforcement, and this strongly depends on state capacity. Under low state capacity, an increase in state protection services leads to a drop in national income as labor is drawn away from the directly productive activities. The opposite holds for high-capacity states. As a result, public protection services have an ambiguous effect on national income even though they can unambiguously increase resource rents. In the third paper, we argue that the right to hold dual citizenship can generate important social and economic benefits beyond its political dimension. We assemble a large panel dataset on dual citizenship. We find that in developing countries, dual citizenship recognition increases remittance inflows by US$1.19 billion, GDP and household consumption, and improves child survival. In developed countries, however, dual citizenship recognition decreases remittance inflows by US$1.44 billion, but increases FDI by US$828 billion, raises household consumption, gross capital formation and trade, and provides incentives for skilled workers to move to other countries.

Les enjeux présentés par la puissance financière des fonds souverains et les réactions politiques des pays d’accueil appellent naturellement à s’interroger sur la façon dont la fiscalité appréhende ces questions. La réponse nécessite de se placer tant sur le plan du droit interne français que sur celui de la fiscalité internationale. La présente étude procède à une analyse comparée de la fiscalité directe applicable aux fonds souverains en France et aux Etats-Unis. Cette analyse se poursuit à travers l’examen de conventions fiscales conclues par la France mais aussi par des Etats étrangers détenteurs de fonds souverains. La question de l’application des conventions fiscales aux fonds souverains est évoquée à travers l’exposé des modèles de conventions fiscales de l’OCDE et des Etats-Unis. Le statut fiscal des fonds souverains est confronté à celui des apporteurs de capitaux privés au regard de la distorsion de concurrence fiscale entre investisseurs. En l’absence de dispositions législatives précises, de doctrine administrative et de jurisprudence, ces travaux sont principalement fondés sur une interprétation des faits et du droit positif. Les solutions proposées tentent de remédier aux problématiques ainsi dégagées. / The growing number of investments made by sovereign wealth funds and the reactions of host countries has raised questions regarding the tax treatment of those public financial entities. Answering these questions implies to analyze the tax legislation on both a national and international level. In this respect this paper compares the direct taxation of sovereign wealth funds investments in France and in the United States. It is then followed by an analysis of some tax treaties signed by France as well as tax treaties signed by countries owning sovereign wealth funds. Questions related to the application of tax treaties to sovereign wealth funds are examined through the presentation of the OECD model tax convention and the United States income model tax convention. We then compare the tax status of sovereign wealth funds and private investors regarding tax competition and portfolio choices. We will see through the lack of tax regulations, guidance and the absence of court decision that this study is mainly based on an interpretation of the facts and the law as a consequence. The solutions provided in this paper aim at clarifying the issues we have identified. Hopefully this will raise further interrogations and will be followed by other studies.

The significant role of multinational corporations (MNCs) in the international political economy necessitates innovative ways to study their activities and relationships with states. This study, therefore, analyses the foreign policy of the South African government in Africa during President Thabo Mbeki’s administration – 1999 to 2008 juxtaposed with the corporate diplomatic strategies of selected retail MNCs. The MNCs – Shoprite Holdings Limited, Massmart Holdings Limited, Woolworths Holdings Limited and Pick n Pay Holdings Limited – are treated as actors. The study uncovers the nature and extent of coalescences and divergences of strategies between the government and the MNCs. It also finds divergences between government’s policy pronouncements and interests. For example, the government’s plan to craft a code of good business practice is found to be in conflicts with its support for multilateralism. The study lays the basis for a new model to study diplomatic strategies of firms and governments. / Political Sciences / M. A. (International Politics)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T20:21:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Francisco Americo Cassano.pdf: 664441 bytes, checksum: 52de16385ba8b8f86aeb75c060d8e215 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-05-26 / This study aims to understand the effects that Brazilian external politics exerts on foreign capital flow into the country in the respective periods of government, starting in1947. The subject is justified by the existence of a large volume of resources available in the international financial market and by the rapid adaptation of the poorer countries to the regulations defined by the investors. A theoretical reference was made to allow the hypothesis confirmation that an aligned external politics with the developed countries is fundamental to an increase of the foreign direct investments in Brazil. To verify scientifically this hypothesis, a search in two parts was done: a survey of documents about the Brazilian external politics definition with the respective content analysis, and, a quantitative analysis for the confirmation of qualitative analysis. The results obtained allowed to confirm the hypothesis that the alignment with developed countries, with the increase of direct investments, was be fundamental for Brazil s development in the studied period. Besides, it was possible to conclude that such investments interfere in the national PIB, according the constructo defined in the study. These conclusions allow suggesting to the Brazilian external policy makers not to despise the alignment with developed countries, for a most favorable capitation of external resources / Este estudo tem como objetivo geral compreender os efeitos que a política externa brasileira exerce sobre o fluxo de capitais externos no país em cada período de governo, a partir de 1947. O tema se justifica pela existência de intenso volume de recursos disponíveis no mercado financeiro internacional e pela rápida adaptação dos países carentes de recursos às regras definidas por tais investidores. Foi construído um referencial teórico, a fim de permitir a confirmação da hipótese de que uma política externa alinhada aos países desenvolvidos é fundamental ao incremento dos investimentos estrangeiros diretos no Brasil. Para se constatar cientificamente essa hipótese, foi elaborada uma metodologia de pesquisa dividida em duas etapas: levantamento de documentos relacionados com a definição da política externa brasileira no período, com a análise de conteúdo dos mesmos, e, uma análise quantitativa, para ratificação da análise qualitativa. Os resultados obtidos permitiram confirmar a hipótese de que o alinhamento aos países desenvolvidos, com incremento dos investimentos diretos, foi fundamental para o desenvolvimento do Brasil em todo o período estudado. Além disso, foi possível concluir-se que tais investimentos interferem no comportamento do PIB nacional, conforme constructo definido no estudo. Estas conclusões permitiram sugerir-se aos formuladores da política externa brasileira que não desprezem o alinhamento aos países desenvolvidos, para uma captação mais favorável de recursos externos

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T14:55:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Francisco Americo Cassano.pdf: 664441 bytes, checksum: 52de16385ba8b8f86aeb75c060d8e215 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-05-26 / This study aims to understand the effects that Brazilian external politics exerts on foreign capital flow into the country in the respective periods of government, starting in1947. The subject is justified by the existence of a large volume of resources available in the international financial market and by the rapid adaptation of the poorer countries to the regulations defined by the investors. A theoretical reference was made to allow the hypothesis confirmation that an aligned external politics with the developed countries is fundamental to an increase of the foreign direct investments in Brazil. To verify scientifically this hypothesis, a search in two parts was done: a survey of documents about the Brazilian external politics definition with the respective content analysis, and, a quantitative analysis for the confirmation of qualitative analysis. The results obtained allowed to confirm the hypothesis that the alignment with developed countries, with the increase of direct investments, was be fundamental for Brazil s development in the studied period. Besides, it was possible to conclude that such investments interfere in the national PIB, according the constructo defined in the study. These conclusions allow suggesting to the Brazilian external policy makers not to despise the alignment with developed countries, for a most favorable capitation of external resources / Este estudo tem como objetivo geral compreender os efeitos que a política externa brasileira exerce sobre o fluxo de capitais externos no país em cada período de governo, a partir de 1947. O tema se justifica pela existência de intenso volume de recursos disponíveis no mercado financeiro internacional e pela rápida adaptação dos países carentes de recursos às regras definidas por tais investidores. Foi construído um referencial teórico, a fim de permitir a confirmação da hipótese de que uma política externa alinhada aos países desenvolvidos é fundamental ao incremento dos investimentos estrangeiros diretos no Brasil. Para se constatar cientificamente essa hipótese, foi elaborada uma metodologia de pesquisa dividida em duas etapas: levantamento de documentos relacionados com a definição da política externa brasileira no período, com a análise de conteúdo dos mesmos, e, uma análise quantitativa, para ratificação da análise qualitativa. Os resultados obtidos permitiram confirmar a hipótese de que o alinhamento aos países desenvolvidos, com incremento dos investimentos diretos, foi fundamental para o desenvolvimento do Brasil em todo o período estudado. Além disso, foi possível concluir-se que tais investimentos interferem no comportamento do PIB nacional, conforme constructo definido no estudo. Estas conclusões permitiram sugerir-se aos formuladores da política externa brasileira que não desprezem o alinhamento aos países desenvolvidos, para uma captação mais favorável de recursos externos

In the first paper, the effects of trade openness and conflict risk on income inequality are investigated. I obtain that the effect of trade openness on inequality depends on the level of conflict risk. More precisely, there exists a threshold effect: trade openness worsens income inequality in countries where the risk of internal and external conflicts is high. Moreover, I find that countries with higher risk of conflicts are more unequal, and that more ethnically diverse countries increase income inequality. Finally, I obtain that democratic regimes decrease inequality. In the second paper, we analyze the general-equilibrium consequences of property right enforcement in the natural resource sector. Assuming that exclusion requires both private and public enforcement efforts, we compare states that differ by their ability to provide protection services. This ability is referred to as state capacity. We obtain that public protection services can effectively act as either substitutes or complements to private enforcement, and this strongly depends on state capacity. Under low state capacity, an increase in state protection services leads to a drop in national income as labor is drawn away from the directly productive activities. The opposite holds for high-capacity states. As a result, public protection services have an ambiguous effect on national income even though they can unambiguously increase resource rents. In the third paper, we argue that the right to hold dual citizenship can generate important social and economic benefits beyond its political dimension. We assemble a large panel dataset on dual citizenship. We find that in developing countries, dual citizenship recognition increases remittance inflows by US$1.19 billion, GDP and household consumption, and improves child survival. In developed countries, however, dual citizenship recognition decreases remittance inflows by US$1.44 billion, but increases FDI by US$828 billion, raises household consumption, gross capital formation and trade, and provides incentives for skilled workers to move to other countries.

In the first paper, the effects of trade openness and conflict risk on income inequality are investigated. I obtain that the effect of trade openness on inequality depends on the level of conflict risk. More precisely, there exists a threshold effect: trade openness worsens income inequality in countries where the risk of internal and external conflicts is high. Moreover, I find that countries with higher risk of conflicts are more unequal, and that more ethnically diverse countries increase income inequality. Finally, I obtain that democratic regimes decrease inequality. In the second paper, we analyze the general-equilibrium consequences of property right enforcement in the natural resource sector. Assuming that exclusion requires both private and public enforcement efforts, we compare states that differ by their ability to provide protection services. This ability is referred to as state capacity. We obtain that public protection services can effectively act as either substitutes or complements to private enforcement, and this strongly depends on state capacity. Under low state capacity, an increase in state protection services leads to a drop in national income as labor is drawn away from the directly productive activities. The opposite holds for high-capacity states. As a result, public protection services have an ambiguous effect on national income even though they can unambiguously increase resource rents. In the third paper, we argue that the right to hold dual citizenship can generate important social and economic benefits beyond its political dimension. We assemble a large panel dataset on dual citizenship. We find that in developing countries, dual citizenship recognition increases remittance inflows by US$1.19 billion, GDP and household consumption, and improves child survival. In developed countries, however, dual citizenship recognition decreases remittance inflows by US$1.44 billion, but increases FDI by US$828 billion, raises household consumption, gross capital formation and trade, and provides incentives for skilled workers to move to other countries.

The thesis describes and analyses the evolution of the Czech industry since the beginning of the economic transformation in 1990 till today and it forecasts it's likely further development. The chapter one presents a brief description of the Czech industrial sector in the 19th and the 20th centuries. The chapter n. 2 is dedicated to the evolution in 1980s, the last decade before the collapse of the centrally planned economy. The third chapter describes the transformation process in the beginning of the 1990s. It focuses on the privatization, which was the most important constituent of the economic transformation from the perspective of the Czech industry. Chapters n. 4 and 5 focus on the evolution and restructuration of the Czech industry in the 1990s and in the first decade of the new millennium. The biggest attention is paid to the international trade, foreign direct investments, industrial production, industrial workforce and changes of the industrial structure. Chapter n. 6 is devoted to the evolution in the past 1,5 year and it describes the evolution of the Czech industry in the context of the global economic recession. The last part of the thesis outlines the probable evolution of the Czech industry in the future.