Thesis advisor: Fabio Ghironi / Chapter 1: Foreign Direct Investment and Contract Enforcement Many developing countries are financially constrained and therefore have to rely on international capital flows to finance economic activity. Empirical evidence shows that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as a percentage of total capital flows is higher for less developed countries compared to more developed countries. This chapteruses a dynamic contracting model with human capital to explain why less developed countries receive a greater percentage of capital flows as FDI. I analytically show that countries that are financially constrained have a higher share of FDI in total capital flows, and that the share of FDI in total capital flows is increasing in human capital flows. In addition, the positive association between the share of FDI in total capital flows and human capital flows is decreasing in the degree of financial constraints. I construct a measure of intangible assets of FDI and find empirical support for the analytical results. Chapter 2: Trade Liberalization, Firm Heterogeneity, and Unemployment: An Empirical Investigation This chapter is a joint work with Yoto V. Yotov. We provide empirical evidence for the interaction between firm-level total factor productivity and trade liberalization as key determinants of firm-level job destruction caused by trade. Employing US firm-level data, we find strong empirical support for the following: a) All else equal, a one percent increase in total factor firm productivity decreases trade-induced layoffs by 32%; b) An additional percent of trade liberalization increases the number of firm-level trade-induced layoffs by 2%; c) Trade liberalization results in an increase in the minimum level of productivity required for domestic production; d) Trade liberalization lowers the minimum productivity threshold required for exporting; e) The increase due to trade liberalization in the minimum productivity threshold for domestic production is larger than the absolute decrease in the export productivity threshold. Chapter 3: Do Audit Fees Influence Credit Risk and Asymmetric Information Problems? Evidence from the Syndicated Loan Market This chapter is a joint work with Lewis W. Gaul. We examine whether an increase in the demand for auditing services is associated with a decrease in borrowers' credit risk and asymmetric information problems in the syndicated loan market. In the syndicated loan market, potential accounting errors exacerbate credit risk and asymmetric information problems. The purpose of financial statement audits is to provide reasonable assurance that accounting records are free from material errors. We hypothesize that if audit fees face an upward sloping supply curve for auditing services, an increase in the demand for auditing services increases both the equilibrium price and quantity of auditing services purchased. We interpret the equilibrium quantity of auditing services as the number of auditing hours billed and the price of auditing services as the hourly fee. We assert that an increase in the quantity of auditing services purchased reduces the likelihood of an accounting error because auditors exert more effort verifying the accuracy of accounting records. We present empirical evidence that a demand-induced increase in audit fees is associated with syndicated loans with lower interest rate spreads and shorter maturity lengths, which we interpret as evidence consistent with the assertion that these audit fee increases reduce credit-risk and asymmetric information problems. We empirically identify an increase in the demand for auditing services with instrumental variables that are intended to capture shifts in the demand curve for auditing services, rather than shifts in the supply curve for auditing services. In addition, we find that audit fees are positively associated with the number of lenders in loan syndicates, but are unable to attribute this association to an increase in the demand for auditing services. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

Venture capital (VC), a historically American industry, has been in the process of globalizing in recent years. International venture capital flows (investing outside of one’s own country) have grown substantially over the past 30 years and even more dramatically in just the past decade. Previous research has mostly highlighted the determinants of where capital flows. However, research on the factors in a VC’s home country that affect investments abroad has been underdeveloped. To address this gap, this paper explores the impact of home country economic conditions on VCs’ propensity to invest abroad. I find that higher interest rates and economic wellbeing in a country (as measured by GDP growth and stock market capitalization to GDP) are associated with less deal flow abroad and, that higher foreign exchange rates are related to greater deal flow. I also note an interesting divergence in the role of these factors between VCs located in countries that exhibit different levels of international investing experience. My research indicates that VCs’ home country economic conditions do play a role in their decisions to invest abroad and suggests that these considerations may be different depending on the experience level of the VC industry in the firm’s country.

<p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan i Stockholm, 2008</p>

This thesis examines the effects of international capital flows on economic growth by using a dynamic general equilibrium framework based on a three-sector Ramsey Model. In order to detect the impact of financial integration on production, allocation of resources across three sectors and consumption, two different economic environments are modelled. While the first model represents a closed economy with financial autarky, the second model examplifies a financially integrated open economy with partial capital mobility. Each of the models is calibrated to Turkish economy based on the data of the year 2006. The simulation results demonstrate that the presence of international capital flows, despite being limited by a borrowing constraint, reverses the impact of economic growth on production and resource allocation. It is found that even though the importance of production in tradable-goods sector diminishes in the absence of international capital flows, it increases in the open economy model. Moreover, the findings show that while production in the closed economy model simply adjusts to domestic demand, that of the open economy model is not constrained by it. This can be explained by the augmentative effect of partial capital flows on the impact of foreign demand on domestic production.

Darbo tema yra aktuali tuo, kad tarptautinės reitingų agentūros, įvertindamos skolų krizę Europoje, pastaruoju metu daugeliui šalių mažino valstybės kredito reitingus ar blogino jų perspektyvas. Nors po prieš trejus metus patirto nuosmukio Baltijos šalių reitingai ir stabilizavosi, jų aukštesnių reikšmių išlaikymas Baltijos valstybėms yra svarbus užsienio investicijų pritraukimo ir šių šalių finansų sektoriaus vystymosi veiksnys. Vis dėlto, reitingų gerėjimas gali turėti ir priešingą poveikį.Todėl svarbu išsiaiškinti situaciją Baltijos šalyse. Tiriamojo darbo objektas yra Baltijos šalių ilgalaikio ir trumpalaikio skolinimosi užsienio valiuta reitingai bei ilgalaikio ir trumpalaikio skolinimosi nacionaline valiuta reitingai. Šio darbo tikslas - atlikus teorinę valstybės kredito reitingų ir jų įtakos šalies finansų sektoriaus vystymuisi ir užsienio investicijų srautams analizę, nustatyti valstybės kredito reitingų įtaką finansų sektoriaus vystymuisi ir užsienio investicijų srautams Baltijos šalyse. Darbo tikslui pasiekti buvo suformuluoti uždaviniai: atlikti teorinę valstybės kredito reitingų ir jų įtakos šalies finansų sektoriaus vystymuisi ir užsienio investicijų srautams analizę, išanalizuoti Baltijos šalių finansų sektoriaus išsivystymo lygį bei užsienio investicijų srautų ir kredito reitingų šiose šalyse pokyčių tendencijas, reitingus įtakojusius veiksnius, nustatyti valstybės kredito reitingų įtaką finansų sektoriaus vystymuisi ir užsienio investicijų srautams Baltijos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The topic of the work is relevant due to the fact, that international credit rating agencies, assessing the debt crisis in Europe, recently downgraded credit ratings or their outlook for many countries. Despite the fact that sovereign credit ratings of Baltic states have stabilized after the decline occured three years ago, higher ratings are the essential factor for Baltic states, seeking to attract foreign investment and promote their financial sector development. Though, the improvements of ratings may have the opposite effect. Therefore, it is important to clarify the situation in Baltic states. The object of the research work – the Baltic states‘ short and long term in foreign and local currency ratings. The purpose of this paper is to establish the impact of sovereign credit ratings on the financial sector development and international capital flows in the Baltic states, doing theoretical analysis on sovereign credit ratings and their impact on the financial sector development and international capital flows in a country. In order to achieve an objective, the following tasks have been fomulated: to accomplish above-mentioned theoretical analysis, to analyse the level of financial sector development, changes in trends of international capital flows and sovereign credit ratings in the Baltic states, reveal the main factors, which affected ratings in these countries and ascertain the influence of these ratings on the financial sector development and international capital... [to full text]

Thesis is focusing on trends in foreign direct investment flows and stocks in Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia break down by country and activity. The main data analysis is for years 2000 - 2006. Recent trends from 2007 till H1 2009 are mentioned only in terms of total flows and stocks.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:48:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Frederico Moreira Carbonari.pdf: 1291956 bytes, checksum: 057c7dcd0f41c9506a24d6fcb52e76c8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-12 / This study aims to analyze the International Monetary and Financial System influence exercised in the conduction of the economic policy in Brazil from 1980 to 2000, with emphasis on exchange rate policy, mostly because of its great importance as a key price for the economy. The study demonstrates how the hegemonic nation had manipulated the currency use as a way to dominate the other countries of the system and submit them to its behalf. By evidencing the differences between the periods of crisis and the adjustment at the conduction of economic policy against the dollar policy in the period, it becomes clear the Brazilian dependence on the leader currency of the International Monetary System. It can be concluded that this dependence is closely related with the country's vulnerability to the international capital flows, thus showing, how the Brazilian exchange rate policy became subordinated to the policy and interests of the nation which owns the international reserve currency / Este trabalho se propõe a analisar a influência que o Sistema Monetário e Financeiro Internacional exerceu na condução da política econômica brasileira de 1980 a 2000, com destaque para a política cambial, sobretudo devido a sua grande importância como preço-chave para a economia. O trabalho mostra como a nação hegemônica manipulou a utilização de sua moeda como forma de dominar os demais países do sistema e submetê-los aos seus interesses. Ao fazer a contraposição dos períodos de crise e ajuste da condução da política econômica brasileira, vis-à-vis a política do dólar no período, fica clara a dependência brasileira em relação à moeda líder do Sistema Monetário Internacional. Pode-se concluir que essa dependência está intimamente ligada com a vulnerabilidade da economia brasileira em relação aos fluxos internacionais de capitais, mostrando, assim, como a política cambial brasileira ficou sujeita a política e aos interesses da nação proprietária da moeda de reserva internacional

The demographic structure seems to change dramatically over the next 50 years in the Czech Republic. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of expected demographic changes on the future development of a real interest rate and international capital flows. In order to simulate the impact of the expected demographic changes upon the mentioned variables we apply a computable overlapping generations model. The real interest rate development is simulated under a closed economy assumption. As a result of the future expected demographic changes labour-capital ratio tends to fall, i.e. the real interest rate diminishes. The range of a change is significantly affected by a public budget closure rule. In case of an endogenous income tax rate, the real interest rate falls down by 0.5 percentage point. On the contrary, the real interest rate decreases by almost 1 percentage point in case when public transfers adjusted. Assuming an open economy, we simulate the impact of the expected demographic changes on the international capital flows between the domestic economy and the rest of the world. In case of increasing ratio of older agents, the aggregate domestic wealth surpasses the demand for capital by domestic firms. As a result a part of domestic capital is exported abroad. Increasing level of net foreign assets contributes to positive change in ratio of the balance of payment to the domestic production in a range from 2 to 5 percentage points over next 40 years if income taxes or public transfers change respectively.

This thesis sheds light on several macroeconomic aspects of international and domestic goods trade during the last three decades. The first chapter investigates the causes of the growth of world trade during this period and shows that it is best understood from a factor-proportions perspective. The second chapter analyses the decline in trade experienced by countries in the wake of sovereign debt crises. Empirical evidence suggests that it is due to a reduction in exporters’ access to foreign credit. The third and final chapter provides an explanation for the procyclicality of input trade among domestic firms. I argue that periods of economic expansion affect vertically integrated producers asymmetrically, providing incentives for intermediate-goods trade between fast-growing and slow-growing firms. / Aquesta tesis posa en relleu varis aspectes macroeconòmics del comerç internacional i domèstic en les últimes tres dècades. El primer capítol investiga les causes del creixement del comerç mundial en aquest període i demostra que s’entén millor des de la perspectiva dels proporcions dels factors. El segon capítol analitza la caiguda del comerç experimentada per països arran de crisis del deute sobirà. L’evidencia empírica suggereix que aquest declivi es deu a la reducció en l’accés dels exportadors al crèdit extern. El tercer i últim capítol ofereix una explicació per la prociclicitat del comerç d’inputs entre empreses domèstiques. En períodes d’expansió econòmica els productors integrats verticalment es veuen afectats d’una forma asimètrica, proporcionant així incentius pel comerç de bens intermedis entre empreses que creixen a diferent ritme.

Le Luxembourg est le 3ème exportateur mondial de services financiers. Il figure parmi les pays qui accueillent le plus d’investissements directs en provenance de l’étranger, ce qui indique l’intensité de ses liens avec l’économie mondiale. Le but de ce travail est d’analyser l’influence éventuelle d’une économie mondiale caractérisée par l’interdépendance des marchés réels et financiers sur l’économie Luxembourgeoise. Chapitre 1 présente une analyse des interactions de l’économie Luxembourgeoise avec le monde extérieur. Le chapitre suivant est consacré à la revue de la littérature portant sur la modélisation de l’intermédiation financière au niveau macroéconomique, couvrant plusieurs types d’approches de modélisations. Enfin, le troisième chapitre comporte un modèle macroéconométrique multi-pays construit et analysé afin de simuler les scénarios plausibles. Le modèle y est présenté avec ses fondements théoriques, les résultats des simulations et une comparaison avec d’autres modèles. La nouveauté du modèle réside dans sa prise en compte du commerce international désagrégé en services financiers et autres, et des investissements internationaux en portefeuille avec leurs flux de titres et de capitaux, ainsi que de leur impact sur la croissance économique. Les résultats des simulations montrent que ce cadre d’analyse donne parfois des résultats différents par rapport aux modèles standards. Nombre de scénarios qui ne peuvent être simulés par d’autres modèles, tels que la baisse des flux internationaux d’investissements de portefeuille, sont également analysés et confirment la forte vulnérabilité du Luxembourg aux chocs externes qui ont lieu sur les marchés financiers. / Luxembourg is world’s third financial services exporter and one of world’s top recipients of foreign direct investment in value as well as per capita terms, which highlight its strong linkages with world economy. The objective of this dissertation is to analyze possible outcomes for the very small and very open economy of Luxembourg in a world environment, where real and financial markets affect each other. To better understand the characteristics of the economy and economic mechanisms behind them, a thorough analysis with emphasis put on the interactions with the outside world based on available data and relevant literature is presented (Chapter 1). Subsequently a survey of literature devoted to modeling financial intermediation at macroeconomic level across various types of modeling approaches is offered (Chapter 2). Finally, a multi-country macroeconometric model built to simulate possible scenarios is presented and analyzed (Chapter 3) with its theoretical background, simulations’ results and comparison with other models. The model is novel in that it accounts for international trade disaggregated into financial services and the rest, and international portfolio investment in securities and equity flows, that have a significant impact on the country’s economic growth. Simulations’ results show that such a framework generates sometimes markedly different results than more standard models. A number of scenarios which cannot be simulated in other models, such as American stock market fall or a decrease in international portfolio flows, are also analyzed and confirm the high vulnerability of Luxembourg economy to external shocks originating in financial markets.