Orientador: Marcelo Passini Mariano / Banca: Tullo Vigevani / Banca: Haroldo Ramanzini Júnior / O Programa de Pós-Graduação em Relações Internacionais é instituído em parceria com a Unesp/Unicamp/PUC-SP, em projeto subsidiado pela CAPES, intitulado "Programa San Tiago Dantas" / Resumo: Os esforços para a integração da infraestrutura regional sul-americana têm seu marco inicial com a formulação da política de coordenação dos países amazônicos sob a iniciativa brasilei-ra, resultando em 1976 na criação do Tratado de Cooperação Amazônica (TCA). Ainda que tais esforços tenham sido iniciados nos anos 1970, a integração da infraestrutura na América do Sul teve seu espaço institucionalizado apenas a partir dos anos 2000. Foi em meados dos anos 2000 que o cenário regional sul-americano apresentou maior coesão política, impulsio-nando a aproximação entre os países da região. Com a demanda político-econômica por maior conexão territorial entre os países, através da coordenação brasileira criou-se a Iniciativa de Integração da Infraestrutura Regional Sul Americana (IIRSA). No entanto, apesar da existên-cia de investimentos externos e de um discurso pró-integração e cooperação na América do Sul, defendido principalmente pelo governo brasileiro, a atuação direta do país dentro dos mecanismos regionais tem diminuído nos anos recentes. Tal afastamento também é entendido como resultante das mudanças domésticas não só do país, mas dos países da região desde 2013, no qual a instabilidade nas relações regionais ainda é presente. Ainda que a partir de 2011 a integração da infraestrutura sul-americana tenha passado a ser discutida sobre a égide da UNASUL, as dificuldades em concretizar projetos e ultrapassar as barreiras detectadas, como a escassez de investimentos privados, a ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The efforts towards the South-American Infrastructure Regional Integration originated from the formulation of a political coordination between the Amazon countries under Brazilian initiative, resulting in the creation of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty (TCA) in 1976. Although such efforts had started in 1970, the infrastructural integration in South America was institutionalized only by the year 2000. In the mid-2000s the regional scenario presented a better political cohesion, propelling an approximation within the countries in the region. With a political and economic demand for a better infrastructural interconnection amongst the South-American territory, and through the Brazilian coordination, the South-American Regional Infrastructure Integration Initiative (IIRSA) was created. However, although existing different financial sources of investments and a pro-integration and cooperation discourse in South-America, defended mainly by the Brazilian government, its direct actions within the regional mechanisms have been declining over the recent years. This withdrawing is also understood as resulting from the domestic changes in Brazil and in its neighbors since 2013, in which the instability in the regional relations still present. Even if from 2011 the south-American regional integration has started to be discussed inside the UNASUR, it was kept the hard time getting done projects and trespassing the difficulties as the private investments shortage; the strong dependency in th... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Resumen: Los esfuerzos para la integración de la infraestructura regional sudamericana tienen su marco inicial con la formulación de la política de coordinación de los países amazónicos bajo inicia-tiva brasileña, resultando en la creación del Tratado de Cooperación Amazónica (TCA) en 1976. Mismo que estos esfuerzos tengan su inicio en los años 1970, la integración de la infra-estructura en América del Sur tuvo su discusión institucionalizada a penas a partir de los años 2000. Fue en mediados de los años 2000 que el escenario regional sudamericano presentó mayor cohesión política, impulsando la aproximación entre los países de la región. Con la demanda político-económica por una mejor conexión territorial entre los países, fue a través de la coordinación brasileña que se creó la Iniciativa para la Integración de la Infraestructura Regional Suramericana (IIRSA). Sin embargo, a pesar de existir inversiones de órganos pri-vados y un discurso pro-integración y cooperación en América del Sur, defendido principal-mente por el gobierno brasileño, la actuación directa de ese país por medio de los mecanismos regionales viene disminuyendo en los últimos años. El alejamiento de Brasil también es com-prendido como resultado de los cambios domésticos del país y de la región desde 2013, por lo cual la inestabilidad en las relaciones regionales aún está presente. Aunque a partir de 2011 la integración de la infraestructura suramericana empezó a ser discutida bajo la estructura de UNASUR, las dificul... (Resumen completo clicar acceso eletrônico abajo) / Mestre

The main objective of this thesis is to examine the extent of and the potential for Arab economic integration. It adds to the growing literature on the issue of economic integration by throwing the spotlight on several issues hitherto little considered in the existing literature. The thesis especially blends various aspects of economic integration with models of spatial competition, economic geography, regionalisation and globalisation to explain the problems of and prospects for economic integration for the Arab countries. It is important to realise that economic integration has become an important aim for almost all countries in the world; in particular, less developed countries, which need more economic efforts to be able to deal with the current international milieu and the gale of globalisation. The Arab countries have engaged in a number of initiatives to advance economic integration, however despite this the degree of economic integration among them is still relatively insignificant. The thesis also attempts to offer theoretical models to explain the obstacles preventing economic integration in the Arab world. This thesis is, to the best of the author’s knowledge and belief, the first rigorous study of the extent of and the potential for Arab economic integration through three vital economic perspectives: trade, investment and labour flows. In the first perspective, this study investigates the nature of intra-Arab trade and which particular countries/sub-group of countries may potentially become an integrated regional production system, or hub. This investigation is done within the scope of gravity models, which assume that intra-trade is a function of the GDPs of the involved countries and the distance between them. The thesis extends the literature by introducing spatial models and models of new economic geography to explain how economic integration evolves in the current international milieu concomitantly driven by globalisation and regionalisation. In the second perspective, this study investigates intra-Arab FDI and capital mobility. The postulated model assumes that intra-Arab FDI is a function of a number of economic variables, such as GDP, GDP per capita, inflation and purchasing power parity. The thesis offers a comprehensive theoretical model to explain how successful economic integration can be carried out by FDI flows. In the third perspective, the study investigates intra-Arab labour flows. The proposed model utilises remittances as an indicator of labour flows. It assumes that remittances are a function of some economic variables, such as GDP per capita, the real price of oil, and the oil production of Saudi Arabia, which represents the main Arab host country of Arab labour flows. The proposed theoretical model offers insights into the dynamics of labour flows and oil price movements. The econometric study in the thesis applies panel data for the period 1985-2005, and employs Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) fixed effects regression. The most important empirical finding of the study is that Arab economic integration has been significantly affected by intra-trade, intra-FDI and intra-labour flows among sub-unions of Arab countries. / Doctor or Philosophy (PhD)

The main objective of this thesis is to examine the extent of and the potential for Arab economic integration. It adds to the growing literature on the issue of economic integration by throwing the spotlight on several issues hitherto little considered in the existing literature. The thesis especially blends various aspects of economic integration with models of spatial competition, economic geography, regionalisation and globalisation to explain the problems of and prospects for economic integration for the Arab countries. It is important to realise that economic integration has become an important aim for almost all countries in the world; in particular, less developed countries, which need more economic efforts to be able to deal with the current international milieu and the gale of globalisation. The Arab countries have engaged in a number of initiatives to advance economic integration, however despite this the degree of economic integration among them is still relatively insignificant. The thesis also attempts to offer theoretical models to explain the obstacles preventing economic integration in the Arab world. This thesis is, to the best of the author’s knowledge and belief, the first rigorous study of the extent of and the potential for Arab economic integration through three vital economic perspectives: trade, investment and labour flows. In the first perspective, this study investigates the nature of intra-Arab trade and which particular countries/sub-group of countries may potentially become an integrated regional production system, or hub. This investigation is done within the scope of gravity models, which assume that intra-trade is a function of the GDPs of the involved countries and the distance between them. The thesis extends the literature by introducing spatial models and models of new economic geography to explain how economic integration evolves in the current international milieu concomitantly driven by globalisation and regionalisation. In the second perspective, this study investigates intra-Arab FDI and capital mobility. The postulated model assumes that intra-Arab FDI is a function of a number of economic variables, such as GDP, GDP per capita, inflation and purchasing power parity. The thesis offers a comprehensive theoretical model to explain how successful economic integration can be carried out by FDI flows. In the third perspective, the study investigates intra-Arab labour flows. The proposed model utilises remittances as an indicator of labour flows. It assumes that remittances are a function of some economic variables, such as GDP per capita, the real price of oil, and the oil production of Saudi Arabia, which represents the main Arab host country of Arab labour flows. The proposed theoretical model offers insights into the dynamics of labour flows and oil price movements. The econometric study in the thesis applies panel data for the period 1985-2005, and employs Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) fixed effects regression. The most important empirical finding of the study is that Arab economic integration has been significantly affected by intra-trade, intra-FDI and intra-labour flows among sub-unions of Arab countries. / Doctor or Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis investigates implications of interdependence between stock market prices in the context of several financial applications including: portfolio selection, tests of market efficiency and measuring the extent of integration among national stock markets. In Chapter 2, I note that volatility spillovers (transmissions of risk) have been found in numerous empirical studies but that no one, to my knowledge, has evaluated their effects in the general portfolio framework. I dynamically forecast two multivariate GARCH models, one that accounts for volatility spillovers and one that does not, and construct optimal mean-variance portfolios using these two alternative models. I show that accounting for volatility spillovers lowers portfolio risk with statistical significance and that risk-averse investors would prefer realised returns from portfolios based on the volatility spillover model. In Chapter 3, I develop a structural MGARCH model that parsimoniously specifies the conditional covariance matrix and provides an identification framework. Using the model to investigate interdependencies between size-sorted portfolios from the Australian Stock Exchange, I gain new insights into the issue of asymmetric dependence. My findings not only confirm the observation that small stocks partially adjust to market-wide news embedded in the returns to large firms but also present evidence that suggests that small firms in Australia fail to even partially adjust (with statistical significance) to large firms??? shocks contemporaneously. All adjustments in small capitalisation stocks occur with a lag. Chapter 4 uses intra-daily data and develops a new method for measuring the extent of stock market integration that takes into account non-instantaneous adjustments to overnight news. This approach establishes the amounts of time that the New York, Tokyo and London stock markets take to fully adjust to overnight news and then uses this This thesis investigates implications of interdependence between stock market prices in the context of several financial applications including: portfolio selection, tests of market efficiency and measuring the extent of integration among national stock markets. In Chapter 2, I note that volatility spillovers (transmissions of risk) have been found in numerous empirical studies but that no one, to my knowledge, has evaluated their effects in the general portfolio framework. I dynamically forecast two multivariate GARCH models, one that accounts for volatility spillovers and one that does not, and construct optimal mean-variance portfolios using these two alternative models. I show that accounting for volatility spillovers lowers portfolio risk with statistical significance and that risk-averse investors would prefer realised returns from portfolios based on the volatility spillover model. In Chapter 3, I develop a structural MGARCH model that parsimoniously specifies the conditional covariance matrix and provides an identification framework. Using the model to investigate interdependencies between size-sorted portfolios from the Australian Stock Exchange, I gain new insights into the issue of asymmetric dependence. My findings not only confirm the observation that small stocks partially adjust to market-wide news embedded in the returns to large firms but also present evidence that suggests that small firms in Australia fail to even partially adjust (with statistical significance) to large firms??? shocks contemporaneously. All adjustments in small capitalisation stocks occur with a lag. Chapter 4 uses intra-daily data and develops a new method for measuring the extent of stock market integration that takes into account non-instantaneous adjustments to overnight news. This approach establishes the amounts of time that the New York, Tokyo and London stock markets take to fully adjust to overnight news and then uses this

This thesis is a discussion on whether every sector of human activity really is or needs to be 'global'. It discusses the impact that economic globalization has on the role of the nation-state and on the concept of democracy, at both local and international levels. Particular emphasis is put on some of the democratic challenges associated with dispute settlement at the WTO and also under foreign investment international instruments. It is argued that increased participation by non-state actors, particularly NGOs, in state-to-state and in investor-state arbitration threatens to weaken the arbitration process and does little to remedy alleged democratic deficiencies. The author concludes that many democratic concerns regarding these types of dispute settlement processes may be better addressed by strengthening national democracies. Increased public information, consultation, and participation in the shaping of foreign policy could reduce much of the criticism concerning both, international dispute settlement and decision-making.

<p>This study was on the anticipated impact of GATS on the financial services industry in Africa. The paper examined the possible positive and negative impact of the GATS agreement on the financial services industry in the African countries. The research focused on the banking sector and the insurance sector as the main financial sectors under investigation.</p>

This thesis investigates implications of interdependence between stock market prices in the context of several financial applications including: portfolio selection, tests of market efficiency and measuring the extent of integration among national stock markets. In Chapter 2, I note that volatility spillovers (transmissions of risk) have been found in numerous empirical studies but that no one, to my knowledge, has evaluated their effects in the general portfolio framework. I dynamically forecast two multivariate GARCH models, one that accounts for volatility spillovers and one that does not, and construct optimal mean-variance portfolios using these two alternative models. I show that accounting for volatility spillovers lowers portfolio risk with statistical significance and that risk-averse investors would prefer realised returns from portfolios based on the volatility spillover model. In Chapter 3, I develop a structural MGARCH model that parsimoniously specifies the conditional covariance matrix and provides an identification framework. Using the model to investigate interdependencies between size-sorted portfolios from the Australian Stock Exchange, I gain new insights into the issue of asymmetric dependence. My findings not only confirm the observation that small stocks partially adjust to market-wide news embedded in the returns to large firms but also present evidence that suggests that small firms in Australia fail to even partially adjust (with statistical significance) to large firms??? shocks contemporaneously. All adjustments in small capitalisation stocks occur with a lag. Chapter 4 uses intra-daily data and develops a new method for measuring the extent of stock market integration that takes into account non-instantaneous adjustments to overnight news. This approach establishes the amounts of time that the New York, Tokyo and London stock markets take to fully adjust to overnight news and then uses this This thesis investigates implications of interdependence between stock market prices in the context of several financial applications including: portfolio selection, tests of market efficiency and measuring the extent of integration among national stock markets. In Chapter 2, I note that volatility spillovers (transmissions of risk) have been found in numerous empirical studies but that no one, to my knowledge, has evaluated their effects in the general portfolio framework. I dynamically forecast two multivariate GARCH models, one that accounts for volatility spillovers and one that does not, and construct optimal mean-variance portfolios using these two alternative models. I show that accounting for volatility spillovers lowers portfolio risk with statistical significance and that risk-averse investors would prefer realised returns from portfolios based on the volatility spillover model. In Chapter 3, I develop a structural MGARCH model that parsimoniously specifies the conditional covariance matrix and provides an identification framework. Using the model to investigate interdependencies between size-sorted portfolios from the Australian Stock Exchange, I gain new insights into the issue of asymmetric dependence. My findings not only confirm the observation that small stocks partially adjust to market-wide news embedded in the returns to large firms but also present evidence that suggests that small firms in Australia fail to even partially adjust (with statistical significance) to large firms??? shocks contemporaneously. All adjustments in small capitalisation stocks occur with a lag. Chapter 4 uses intra-daily data and develops a new method for measuring the extent of stock market integration that takes into account non-instantaneous adjustments to overnight news. This approach establishes the amounts of time that the New York, Tokyo and London stock markets take to fully adjust to overnight news and then uses this

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2005. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references (ℓ. 164-173)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Faculty of Law, 2005. / Author's name on spine: H.K. Mutai. Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 263-284).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2008. / "A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree Doctor of Philosophy, School of Economics and Finance, College of Business, University of Western Sydney." Includes bibliographies.