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Thailand has been one of significant recipients of foreign direct investment (FDI) among developing countries over the last 30 years, and has recorded rapid and sustained growth rates in a number of different industrial categories. Thailand has shown a clear policy transition for foreign investment over time from an import-substitution regime to an export-oriented regime. Before the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis (1985-1996), Thailand had the fastest growing level of exports in manufactured goods among Asian economies. FDI plays a significant role in the Thai economy. Thailand has been pursuing different foreign investment policies at different times depending on the development objectives and economic situation in the country. The main objective of this research is to evaluate the determinants of FDI and foreign portfolio investment (FPI) in Thailand using the extended Gravity Model. Panel data is used to estimate and evaluate the empirical results based on the data for the years 1980 to 2004. It also examines the FDI flows between different locations and their geographical distances in Thailand. The primary research question addresses what factors motivate, attract, and sustain the FDI and FPI in Thailand. In addition, this study also examines the effects of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis on the inflows of FDI and FPI into Thailand. The results show that the inflows of FDI in Thailand, which are supply-driven, are significantly influenced by its 21 largest investing partners. The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis has no impact on the determinants of the inflows of FDI into Thailand, but positively influences the inflows of FPI into Thailand. Our results also show that increases in GDP and trade between investing partners and Thailand potentially attract more FDI and FPI into Thailand. Investing partners closer to Thailand draw more portfolio investment into Thailand than distant partners – emphasising that distance has a negative impact on the portfolio investment but a negligible impact on the FDI.

The power balance between France and Germany in the European Union has been one of great discussion and debate. Countless journalists and scholars have argued that Germany’s power has risen gradually against the seemingly perpetually stronger France over the past sixty years, and is now finally set to surpass France; but how true are these claims? How can power within the EU truly be measured? Through an analysis of Franco-German collaboration through unionization, a critique of the contemporary discourse on the relationship, and an examination of changing contributions to the EU budget, my paper argues that the Franco-German power balance has never been truly equal, as Germany has continually been the largest source of economic power in the European Union since its creation.

This paper will employ unit root tests for finding structural breaks endogenously among India’s key macroeconomic aggregate series, as well as their components and subcomponents. The same analysis will be repeated, wherever data are available, for states. The results from these unit root tests will then be used in regression models for national and state level data to understand the causes behind structural breaks. We find that breakpoints cluster around 1982 and 2003 for most series at the national and state level. The services component appears to be a promising candidate for explaining the 2003 structural break in some of the series.

Water is the most important resource on the planet for sustaining life, and many consider access to water as a fundamental human right. However, in light of its necessity, the distribution and allocation of water has become a highly politicized issue. Economic and political conditions have been shown to be influential in shaping a country’s water policy, more so then recognition of water as a basic human right. The reason for this is that many agree that there needs to be a value assigned to water to encourage its conservation and efficient use, and different methods of addressing that issue have led to varying degrees of privatization of water. Whether through the private or public sector, there is an expectation that water be delivered to the people by the government, and it is often the influence of public and private actors within the government that direct the policy for water distribution. Using three cases in Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay it will be demonstrated how water policy has correlated with the political and economic changes within each country.

This essay argues that social entrepreneurship is the most efficient means to generate lasting social change and permanently reduce poverty. Using the support of scholarly research, interviews with experts in the field, and my own qualitative observations, I conclude that traditional aid models that are economically dependent on outside funding, as well as those that simply provide monetary and product contributions in order to sustain the poor or marginalized communities they serve are inherently structured in a way that prevents them from resolving social ills. Despite the influx of aid organizations over past decades, chronic poverty and other serious social problems persist, and have not been significantly impacted on a global scale. Traditional aid models merely treat the fundamental issues that perpetuate global poverty. Ironically, these methods of aid actually sustain the inherent problems. Social entrepreneurship is one of the only models that has successfully initiated wide scale social development through promoting the economic independence and self-sustainability of the communities influenced by their initiatives. It has proven to incorporate the necessary tactics that, if implemented internationally and on a wide scale, has the potential to permanently and significantly impact global poverty.

This thesis will examine Tanzania’s development landscape through Amartya Sen’s perspective, as per his conception of development that is put forth in Development as Freedom. Applying Sen’s conception of development to the case of Tanzania reinforces his view that development is an intricate process that is dependent on the expansion of various freedoms. It also yields unique insights about the most pressing issues that are currently impeding progress in the country. I will first clarify Sen’s framework and provide an explanation of development that corresponds with his ideals. Next, I will assess Tanzania’s state of affairs in terms of Sen’s five freedoms. I will then consider the impact of the recent expansion of technology in Tanzania, as well as discuss the question of inequality, which is a topic that Sen does not adequately address in his book. Finally, I will conclude with a discussion of the most pressing challenges that the country is facing and suggest what implications these challenges might have for Tanzania’s future.

Ziel dieser Dissertation ist es, auf Grund der Änderungen der wirtschaftspolitischen Struktur des Wirtschafts-und Finanzsystems, die Ursachen warum in den letzten Jahren manche Schwellenländer Staatsfonds gründen bzw. aufbauen, zu verstehen. Der Ausbreitungsprozess ist eine direkte Folge der massiven Anhäufung von Reserven des letzten Jahrzehnt. Dies konnte man in vielen Schwellenländern, insbesondere bei Ölexporteure und asiatischen Ländern, die groβe Handelsüberschüsse mit den Vereinigten Staaten und andere Entwicklungsländern registrierten, beobachten. Um das Defizit der Handelsbilanz zu decken, haben die Reserven in diesen Ländern einen exzessiven Niveau erreicht. Den Verwaltern dieser Reserven wurde daher die Gelegenheit gegeben höchstmögliche Gewinne zu erzielen. Wichtige, voneinander abhängige Faktoren wurden analisiert, um an dieses Ziel näher zu kommen, wie (i) in den 80er Jahren initiierten wirtschaftlichen und finanziellen Liberalisierungsprozess; (ii) die immer wichtigere Rolle, die die Finanzmärkte in der globalen Ökonomie spielen; (iii) das Hervortreten von wichtigen Schwellenländern; (iv) die wachsende, internationale Missverhältnisse und die daraufhin mögliche Anpassungsmechanismen; und (v) Kapitalanhäufungen, die zum Ausbreitungsprozess von Staatsfonds führten. Es wird darauf hingewiesen, dass die oben erwähnten Faktoren nicht Zielobjekte dieser Dissertation darstellen, jedoch sich als grundlegende Elemente zusammensetzen, um Staatsfonds und Hauptursachen des jetzigen Ausbreitungsprozess im Zusammenhang zu verstehen. Daher ist es wichtig, durch einen generellen Standpunkt, die Geschichte, Ziele, Dimensionen, Wachstumsrate und Auswirkungen der Staatsfonds, zu verstehen. Diese Verständnisse könnten gemeinsam mit einer Zusammenstellung von politischen prinzipien, sowohl für Fonds als auch für Investitionsempfänger, die Öffnung für Auslandskapital erhalten und weltweit finanzielle Stabilität fördern. Ursprünglich am Ende des kalten Krieges erschienen und Resultat der Anpassungen des internationalen Wirtschaftssystems, ist die Verbreitung der Staatsfonds eine relativ innovative und neue Bewegung. Als wissenschaftliches Thema handelt es sich hierbei noch um ein Grenzthema, was weitere Untersuchungen dagegen herausfordernd und relevant macht. / O objetivo desta dissertação é entender, com base nas alterações da estrutura econômica e política do sistema econômico e financeiro internacional, os motivos que levaram alguns países emergentes, a criarem e/ou aprofundarem os fundos soberanos de riqueza nos últimos anos. O processo de proliferação é conseqüência direta da massiva acumulação de reservas que ocorreu na última década. Essa acumulação se deu em muitas economias emergentes, especialmente nos países produtores de petróleo e países asiáticos, que apresentavam grandes superávits comerciais com os EUA e outros países em desenvolvimento. Nesses países, as reservas alcançaram níveis além do necessário para cobrir o balanço de pagamentos, fornecendo uma oportunidade para que os administradores dessas reservas maximizassem os retornos. Assim, de forma a alcançar esse objetivo, foram analisados importantes fatores interdependentes e correlacionados, tais como (i) a liberalização econômica e financeira a partir da década de 1980; (ii) o processo de financeirização da economia mundial; (iii) a emergência de importantes economias em desenvolvimento; (iv) os crescentes desequilíbrios internacionais e, conseqüentemente, os possíveis mecanismos de ajuste; e (v) o acúmulo de capitais que levou ao processo de proliferação dos fundos soberanos de riqueza. Ressalta-se que os fatores acima mencionados não são objeto de análise específica da dissertação, mas constituem elementos essenciais que compõem o contexto para o entendimento próprio dos fundos soberanos e das principais causas do atual processo de proliferação. Dessa forma, fazse necessário entender, sob um ponto de vista mais geral a história, os objetivos, a dimensão, o ritmo de crescimento e as implicações sistêmicas dos fundos soberanos de riqueza. Tal entendimento, juntamente com um conjunto de princípios políticos tanto para esses fundos como para os países receptores desses investimentos, poderia ajudar a preservar a abertura ao capital estrangeiro e promover a estabilidade financeira por todo o mundo. A proliferação dos fundos soberanos de riqueza é um movimento recente e de certa forma inovador, resultante das adaptações do sistema econômico internacional, surgido com o final da Guerra Fria. Isso significa que é um tema cujas reflexões e interpretações ainda não estão totalmente consolidadas, fato que cria tanto obstáculos ao seu estudo apropriado, mas também um desafio de se trabalhar com um tema de fronteira. / This thesis aims at examining, within the framework of the recent changes in the international political and economic systems, the reasons that led some emergent countries to create and/or enlarge their sovereign wealth funds. Such enlarging springs from the massive capital accumulation of the past decade which took place on a number of emerging countries, notably oil exporters and Asian economies - which achieved large trade surplus in their deals with the USA and other developing countries. In these countries, reserves greatly surpassed the amount needed for covering any possibility of trade balance deficit, allowing governments to maximize their returns. In order to examine this scenario, this thesis examines a number of its key, inter-related factors, such as: (i) the process of economic and financial liberalization started in the 80's; (ii) the increasingly important role played by the financial markets in global economy; (iii) the growing international imbalances and some possible mechanisms to fix them; (iv) the capital accumulation process which led to the spreading of sovereign wealth funds. Such factors do not constitute any kind of privileged object of this analysis but are listed as crucial elements to understand sovereign wealth funds and the causes of their sharp increase over the recent years. In fact, understanding these funds could contribute - if coupled with a set of investment policies including investors, as well - to preserve capital flows and stabilize world economy. The proliferation of sovereign wealth funds is a recent, innovative movement, which emerged from the economic adjusts world economy underwent after the Cold War. As an academic theme, it is still a frontier topic, a fact that makes its study more challenging and relevant.

The dissertation consists of three papers presenting applications of meta-analysis in international economics. The first paper examines the effect of common currency on international trade, while the remaining two papers address the relationship between foreign investment and the productivity of domestic firms. An introductory chapter puts these applications into perspective. In the first application I present a meta-analysis of the effect of currency unions on trade, focusing on the euro area. I find strong publication bias in the literature. The estimated trade- promoting effect of currency unions other than the euro reaches more than 60%. In contrast, the euro's trade-promoting effect is insignificant when I correct for publication bias. The empirical literature on this topic shows signs of the so-called economics research cycle: the relation between the reported t-statistics and publication years has an inverse U-shaped form. During the last decade more than 100 researchers have examined productivity spillovers from foreign affiliates to local firms in upstream or downstream sectors. Yet results vary broadly across methods and countries. To examine these vertical spillovers in a systematic way, in the second application I collect 3,626 estimates of spillovers and review the literature quantitatively....

Ziel dieser Dissertation ist es, auf Grund der Änderungen der wirtschaftspolitischen Struktur des Wirtschafts-und Finanzsystems, die Ursachen warum in den letzten Jahren manche Schwellenländer Staatsfonds gründen bzw. aufbauen, zu verstehen. Der Ausbreitungsprozess ist eine direkte Folge der massiven Anhäufung von Reserven des letzten Jahrzehnt. Dies konnte man in vielen Schwellenländern, insbesondere bei Ölexporteure und asiatischen Ländern, die groβe Handelsüberschüsse mit den Vereinigten Staaten und andere Entwicklungsländern registrierten, beobachten. Um das Defizit der Handelsbilanz zu decken, haben die Reserven in diesen Ländern einen exzessiven Niveau erreicht. Den Verwaltern dieser Reserven wurde daher die Gelegenheit gegeben höchstmögliche Gewinne zu erzielen. Wichtige, voneinander abhängige Faktoren wurden analisiert, um an dieses Ziel näher zu kommen, wie (i) in den 80er Jahren initiierten wirtschaftlichen und finanziellen Liberalisierungsprozess; (ii) die immer wichtigere Rolle, die die Finanzmärkte in der globalen Ökonomie spielen; (iii) das Hervortreten von wichtigen Schwellenländern; (iv) die wachsende, internationale Missverhältnisse und die daraufhin mögliche Anpassungsmechanismen; und (v) Kapitalanhäufungen, die zum Ausbreitungsprozess von Staatsfonds führten. Es wird darauf hingewiesen, dass die oben erwähnten Faktoren nicht Zielobjekte dieser Dissertation darstellen, jedoch sich als grundlegende Elemente zusammensetzen, um Staatsfonds und Hauptursachen des jetzigen Ausbreitungsprozess im Zusammenhang zu verstehen. Daher ist es wichtig, durch einen generellen Standpunkt, die Geschichte, Ziele, Dimensionen, Wachstumsrate und Auswirkungen der Staatsfonds, zu verstehen. Diese Verständnisse könnten gemeinsam mit einer Zusammenstellung von politischen prinzipien, sowohl für Fonds als auch für Investitionsempfänger, die Öffnung für Auslandskapital erhalten und weltweit finanzielle Stabilität fördern. Ursprünglich am Ende des kalten Krieges erschienen und Resultat der Anpassungen des internationalen Wirtschaftssystems, ist die Verbreitung der Staatsfonds eine relativ innovative und neue Bewegung. Als wissenschaftliches Thema handelt es sich hierbei noch um ein Grenzthema, was weitere Untersuchungen dagegen herausfordernd und relevant macht. / O objetivo desta dissertação é entender, com base nas alterações da estrutura econômica e política do sistema econômico e financeiro internacional, os motivos que levaram alguns países emergentes, a criarem e/ou aprofundarem os fundos soberanos de riqueza nos últimos anos. O processo de proliferação é conseqüência direta da massiva acumulação de reservas que ocorreu na última década. Essa acumulação se deu em muitas economias emergentes, especialmente nos países produtores de petróleo e países asiáticos, que apresentavam grandes superávits comerciais com os EUA e outros países em desenvolvimento. Nesses países, as reservas alcançaram níveis além do necessário para cobrir o balanço de pagamentos, fornecendo uma oportunidade para que os administradores dessas reservas maximizassem os retornos. Assim, de forma a alcançar esse objetivo, foram analisados importantes fatores interdependentes e correlacionados, tais como (i) a liberalização econômica e financeira a partir da década de 1980; (ii) o processo de financeirização da economia mundial; (iii) a emergência de importantes economias em desenvolvimento; (iv) os crescentes desequilíbrios internacionais e, conseqüentemente, os possíveis mecanismos de ajuste; e (v) o acúmulo de capitais que levou ao processo de proliferação dos fundos soberanos de riqueza. Ressalta-se que os fatores acima mencionados não são objeto de análise específica da dissertação, mas constituem elementos essenciais que compõem o contexto para o entendimento próprio dos fundos soberanos e das principais causas do atual processo de proliferação. Dessa forma, fazse necessário entender, sob um ponto de vista mais geral a história, os objetivos, a dimensão, o ritmo de crescimento e as implicações sistêmicas dos fundos soberanos de riqueza. Tal entendimento, juntamente com um conjunto de princípios políticos tanto para esses fundos como para os países receptores desses investimentos, poderia ajudar a preservar a abertura ao capital estrangeiro e promover a estabilidade financeira por todo o mundo. A proliferação dos fundos soberanos de riqueza é um movimento recente e de certa forma inovador, resultante das adaptações do sistema econômico internacional, surgido com o final da Guerra Fria. Isso significa que é um tema cujas reflexões e interpretações ainda não estão totalmente consolidadas, fato que cria tanto obstáculos ao seu estudo apropriado, mas também um desafio de se trabalhar com um tema de fronteira. / This thesis aims at examining, within the framework of the recent changes in the international political and economic systems, the reasons that led some emergent countries to create and/or enlarge their sovereign wealth funds. Such enlarging springs from the massive capital accumulation of the past decade which took place on a number of emerging countries, notably oil exporters and Asian economies - which achieved large trade surplus in their deals with the USA and other developing countries. In these countries, reserves greatly surpassed the amount needed for covering any possibility of trade balance deficit, allowing governments to maximize their returns. In order to examine this scenario, this thesis examines a number of its key, inter-related factors, such as: (i) the process of economic and financial liberalization started in the 80's; (ii) the increasingly important role played by the financial markets in global economy; (iii) the growing international imbalances and some possible mechanisms to fix them; (iv) the capital accumulation process which led to the spreading of sovereign wealth funds. Such factors do not constitute any kind of privileged object of this analysis but are listed as crucial elements to understand sovereign wealth funds and the causes of their sharp increase over the recent years. In fact, understanding these funds could contribute - if coupled with a set of investment policies including investors, as well - to preserve capital flows and stabilize world economy. The proliferation of sovereign wealth funds is a recent, innovative movement, which emerged from the economic adjusts world economy underwent after the Cold War. As an academic theme, it is still a frontier topic, a fact that makes its study more challenging and relevant.