A gestão das ameaças e dos riscos nas empresas tem se dedicado a estudar estes problemas, pelo viés de mercado, com o intuito de torná-las mais preparadas para enfrentar estes desafios. Nesse sentido, uma série de instrumentos de análise diagnosticaram que as ameaças e os riscos fazem parte da natureza das relações empresariais. Dentre as inúmeras relações que uma empresa estabelece para atingir os seus objetivos, destacam-se as que estão inseridas em um sistema denominado “cadeia de suprimentos” que, em decorrência do processo de globalização tornou-se internacionalizada. As empresas, ao prolongarem suas cadeias de suprimentos “além fronteiras”, estão submetidas, às influências do ambiente econômico, geopolítico, social e histórico. Nesses ambientes, o ano de 2001 originou uma série de estudos de gestão de risco que identificaram, nas ameaças externas ou exógenas, isto é, as que estão fora do viés de mercado, a possibilidade de tornar a cadeia de suprimentos internacional insegura. Tais ameaças se configuram em ações da natureza e ações praticadas pelo ser humano, por meio de atos criminosos, como, o terrorismo, o tráfico, o contrabando e a pirataria marítima Além das empresas, os países criaram regimes internacionais que buscaram proteger as cadeias de suprimentos, principalmente, em seu sistema de transporte, destacando-se o modo chamado “marítimo”, em razão da sua intensa utilização para transportar cargas. O presente estudo tem como objetivo propor um protocolo de gestão de risco para o transporte marítimo de cargas “less than container load”, para tornar a cadeia de suprimentos internacional mais segura. A metodologia utilizada nesta pesquisa, foi descritiva e documental, já que descreveu o processo de operacionalização e baseou-se na análise dos documentos, utilizados na gestão do transporte marítimo “less than container load”. Conclui-se, assim, que o operador de transporte multimodal, como responsável por operacionalizar uma forma de transportar cargas, a qual torna a cadeia de suprimentos insegura, tem condições e, principalmente, o dever de juntar-se aos outros atores, em prol do aumento da segurança do sistema. / The management of threats and risks in the company has been dedicated to study these problems by market bias in order to make them better prepared to face these challenges. In this regard a number of analytical tools diagnosed threats and risks as part of the business relations. Among the many relationships that a company established to achieve their goals, we highlight those that are embedded in a system called the supply chain, which as a result of the globalization process has become internationalized. Companies to extend their supply chains "across borders", are subject to the influences of economic, geopolitical, social and historical environment. In these environments, the year 2001 led to a series of risk management studies that have identified the external or exogenous threats, those outside the market bias, the possibility of making the chain of uncertain international supplies. Such threats are configured shares of nature and actions taken by humans, by means of criminal acts as terrorism, trafficking, smuggling and maritime piracy In addition to companies, countries have created international regimes that sought to protect supply chains, especially in its transport system, highlighting the called maritime, because of their heavy use to transport cargo. The thesis aims to propose a risk management protocol for the shipping cargo "less than container load" to make the international supply chain more secure. The methodology used was based on descriptive type and documentary because described the operational process and analized documents used in the management of shipping “less than container load”, In conclusion, the multimodal transport operator who is responsible for operating a means of transporting cargo , which makes the supply chain insecure supplies, has conditions , and especially the obligation to join the other actors , in favor of the increase system security.

International companies are increasingly taking advantage of the benefits of globalisation such as continuous improvement in transport and communication technologies that in turn lower transportation costs and decrease logistical difficulties. However, the international environment includes business uncertainty in the form of exchange rate volatility as well as political and economic issues. Moreover, ongoing reduction of trade barriers is reversing the previous tendency to integrate business vertically, shifting international business schemes towards outsourcing all except what the company consider its core competence. Supply chain management is a strategic concept that considers the behavioural and political dimensions of conflict and dependence at the purchaser-supplier interface. Nevertheless, there is substantive ambiguity regarding its actual practice. Furthermore, although international purchasers are increasingly becoming more important, the purchasing si de of international trade remains largely ignored in empirical research. This study focuses on understanding the complexity surrounding the commercial relationship between purchasing executives and foreign suppliers. The aim is to investigate what key factors are associated with uncertainty at the cross-national purchaser-supplier interface. Of interest to this research is how purchasing executives deal with those variables. The literature review addresses the discussions of the constructs as it informs the development of hypotheses investigating patterns arising from their interactions. The result was a theoretically driven model addressing the complexity of the purchaser-supplier interface. A survey was conducted to collect data from the membership of a nation-wide professional body of Australian purchasing executives. The richness of the management reality was approached by having recourse to systems theory and the realism paradigm. The model was tested and discussed using structural equation modelling, the supply chain management literature and the responses and comments of the participating purchasing executives buying from over twenty countries. xxii The results include purchaser�s perceptions regarding five latent variables and their concurrent interactions within the uncertainty surrounding international trade. The factors are culture affinity, the strength of the commercial relationship, quality reliability, ISO 9000 certification and the country of origin effect. Findings indicate that culture affinity is particularly important for purchasing executives and that it is a significant driver of the commercial relationship with foreign suppliers of manufacturing products. Nevertheless, culture affinity does not significantly influence perceptions of quality reliability. In contrast, commitment, cooperation and conflict management have a significant influence when assessing foreign supplier�s quality reliability. Trust, traditionally seen as a social aspect of the commercial relationship, was found structurally embedded in the perceptions of quality reliability together with technical dimensions of quality. The commercial relationship between Australi an purchasing executives and foreign suppliers was found to have a high level of maturity. However, the purchasers showed no orientation towards commercial equity, and cooperation was found to be incomplete, overlooking working on cost optimisation. Further, a level of commercial partnership has not been established. It is suggested that a relational approach in the international supply chain is a necessary, but insufficient, condition to progress to the level of commercial partnerships. The study shows that Australian purchasers� perceptions regarding ISO 9000 are surrounded by controversy. However, the Standard is still considered a credible quality management system tool that enhances supplier�s competitive position. Additionally, the majority of the Australian purchasing companies were not engaged in a low-cost country sourcing strategy. Overall, it can be said that the country of origin effect and ISO 9000 certification did not have a significant influence on quality perceptions within the context of an uncertain international environment. By taking a multivariable and multidisciplinary perspective, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of mature commercial relationships in the international supply chain. The findings provide valuable information that assists organisations to tune or balance the supply management philosophy principles in the uncertainty associated with global trade.

A gestão das ameaças e dos riscos nas empresas tem se dedicado a estudar estes problemas, pelo viés de mercado, com o intuito de torná-las mais preparadas para enfrentar estes desafios. Nesse sentido, uma série de instrumentos de análise diagnosticaram que as ameaças e os riscos fazem parte da natureza das relações empresariais. Dentre as inúmeras relações que uma empresa estabelece para atingir os seus objetivos, destacam-se as que estão inseridas em um sistema denominado “cadeia de suprimentos” que, em decorrência do processo de globalização tornou-se internacionalizada. As empresas, ao prolongarem suas cadeias de suprimentos “além fronteiras”, estão submetidas, às influências do ambiente econômico, geopolítico, social e histórico. Nesses ambientes, o ano de 2001 originou uma série de estudos de gestão de risco que identificaram, nas ameaças externas ou exógenas, isto é, as que estão fora do viés de mercado, a possibilidade de tornar a cadeia de suprimentos internacional insegura. Tais ameaças se configuram em ações da natureza e ações praticadas pelo ser humano, por meio de atos criminosos, como, o terrorismo, o tráfico, o contrabando e a pirataria marítima Além das empresas, os países criaram regimes internacionais que buscaram proteger as cadeias de suprimentos, principalmente, em seu sistema de transporte, destacando-se o modo chamado “marítimo”, em razão da sua intensa utilização para transportar cargas. O presente estudo tem como objetivo propor um protocolo de gestão de risco para o transporte marítimo de cargas “less than container load”, para tornar a cadeia de suprimentos internacional mais segura. A metodologia utilizada nesta pesquisa, foi descritiva e documental, já que descreveu o processo de operacionalização e baseou-se na análise dos documentos, utilizados na gestão do transporte marítimo “less than container load”. Conclui-se, assim, que o operador de transporte multimodal, como responsável por operacionalizar uma forma de transportar cargas, a qual torna a cadeia de suprimentos insegura, tem condições e, principalmente, o dever de juntar-se aos outros atores, em prol do aumento da segurança do sistema. / The management of threats and risks in the company has been dedicated to study these problems by market bias in order to make them better prepared to face these challenges. In this regard a number of analytical tools diagnosed threats and risks as part of the business relations. Among the many relationships that a company established to achieve their goals, we highlight those that are embedded in a system called the supply chain, which as a result of the globalization process has become internationalized. Companies to extend their supply chains "across borders", are subject to the influences of economic, geopolitical, social and historical environment. In these environments, the year 2001 led to a series of risk management studies that have identified the external or exogenous threats, those outside the market bias, the possibility of making the chain of uncertain international supplies. Such threats are configured shares of nature and actions taken by humans, by means of criminal acts as terrorism, trafficking, smuggling and maritime piracy In addition to companies, countries have created international regimes that sought to protect supply chains, especially in its transport system, highlighting the called maritime, because of their heavy use to transport cargo. The thesis aims to propose a risk management protocol for the shipping cargo "less than container load" to make the international supply chain more secure. The methodology used was based on descriptive type and documentary because described the operational process and analized documents used in the management of shipping “less than container load”, In conclusion, the multimodal transport operator who is responsible for operating a means of transporting cargo , which makes the supply chain insecure supplies, has conditions , and especially the obligation to join the other actors , in favor of the increase system security.

A gestão das ameaças e dos riscos nas empresas tem se dedicado a estudar estes problemas, pelo viés de mercado, com o intuito de torná-las mais preparadas para enfrentar estes desafios. Nesse sentido, uma série de instrumentos de análise diagnosticaram que as ameaças e os riscos fazem parte da natureza das relações empresariais. Dentre as inúmeras relações que uma empresa estabelece para atingir os seus objetivos, destacam-se as que estão inseridas em um sistema denominado “cadeia de suprimentos” que, em decorrência do processo de globalização tornou-se internacionalizada. As empresas, ao prolongarem suas cadeias de suprimentos “além fronteiras”, estão submetidas, às influências do ambiente econômico, geopolítico, social e histórico. Nesses ambientes, o ano de 2001 originou uma série de estudos de gestão de risco que identificaram, nas ameaças externas ou exógenas, isto é, as que estão fora do viés de mercado, a possibilidade de tornar a cadeia de suprimentos internacional insegura. Tais ameaças se configuram em ações da natureza e ações praticadas pelo ser humano, por meio de atos criminosos, como, o terrorismo, o tráfico, o contrabando e a pirataria marítima Além das empresas, os países criaram regimes internacionais que buscaram proteger as cadeias de suprimentos, principalmente, em seu sistema de transporte, destacando-se o modo chamado “marítimo”, em razão da sua intensa utilização para transportar cargas. O presente estudo tem como objetivo propor um protocolo de gestão de risco para o transporte marítimo de cargas “less than container load”, para tornar a cadeia de suprimentos internacional mais segura. A metodologia utilizada nesta pesquisa, foi descritiva e documental, já que descreveu o processo de operacionalização e baseou-se na análise dos documentos, utilizados na gestão do transporte marítimo “less than container load”. Conclui-se, assim, que o operador de transporte multimodal, como responsável por operacionalizar uma forma de transportar cargas, a qual torna a cadeia de suprimentos insegura, tem condições e, principalmente, o dever de juntar-se aos outros atores, em prol do aumento da segurança do sistema. / The management of threats and risks in the company has been dedicated to study these problems by market bias in order to make them better prepared to face these challenges. In this regard a number of analytical tools diagnosed threats and risks as part of the business relations. Among the many relationships that a company established to achieve their goals, we highlight those that are embedded in a system called the supply chain, which as a result of the globalization process has become internationalized. Companies to extend their supply chains "across borders", are subject to the influences of economic, geopolitical, social and historical environment. In these environments, the year 2001 led to a series of risk management studies that have identified the external or exogenous threats, those outside the market bias, the possibility of making the chain of uncertain international supplies. Such threats are configured shares of nature and actions taken by humans, by means of criminal acts as terrorism, trafficking, smuggling and maritime piracy In addition to companies, countries have created international regimes that sought to protect supply chains, especially in its transport system, highlighting the called maritime, because of their heavy use to transport cargo. The thesis aims to propose a risk management protocol for the shipping cargo "less than container load" to make the international supply chain more secure. The methodology used was based on descriptive type and documentary because described the operational process and analized documents used in the management of shipping “less than container load”, In conclusion, the multimodal transport operator who is responsible for operating a means of transporting cargo , which makes the supply chain insecure supplies, has conditions , and especially the obligation to join the other actors , in favor of the increase system security.

The thesis analyses the trend of value-added distribution over a span of 10 years, from 2011 to 2021, in the international supply chain of fast fashion products between manufacturers in Bangladesh and multinational fast fashion retailers in Sweden. Bangladesh has grown economically thanks to its ready-made garment sector and favorable policies for businesses and foreign investments. Meanwhile, fast fashion global brands profit by providing affordable clothing to consumers in Europe while allocating garment production to low-wage countries and imposing tight production timeframes. The purpose of the thesis is to analyze the value-added distribution in the international supply chain of fast fashion products between manufacturers in Bangladesh, multinational fast fashion retailers in Sweden and their workers as key stakeholders. Through this thesis, it is possible to notice the inequality between the wealth generated and the remuneration of the parties involved in the supply chain. The methodology involves multiple case studies and value-added analysis. The thesis has three case studies. In each one of them is included a Swedish retail company and a Bangladeshi garment manufacturer. The value-added analysis is carried out on the selected case study companies’ financial reports from 2011 to 2021. Analyzing the distribution of value-added is key from a social sustainability perspective as it directly impacts poverty levels, countries’ growth, health aspects and living conditions of a large part of the population. The results of the thesis are based on the value-added statement elaborations which entail data processing of the profit and loss statement of the annual reports of the companies selected over a span of ten years. The data collected includes an analysis of a total of 60 annual reports. The findings point to the stark inequality between the average monthly salary costs per worker between Swedish and Bangladeshi workers. The value-added distributed to workers in Bangladesh is slowly increasing however it might take a decade to significantly reduce the difference in remuneration between Swedish and Bangladeshi workers. The core point of the findings has proved that multinational companies’ margins are not significantly impacted if they were to factor in higher salary costs of supply chain workers in Bangladesh to ensure a higher living standard than the current one which is not sufficient for a decent standard of living. To conclude the thesis argues about the current lack of disclosure that fast fashion retailers provide to members of society in their sustainability reports and companies’ sustainability strategies. This is because there is an underlying lack of relevant, faithful, verifiable, understandable, and comparable information provided by companies.

This dissertation is a collection of essays on challenges in international trade and international finance, which apply econometric methods to diverse data sets and relate them to economic policy questions. In times of crises, the question, whether individual countries have the ability to pursue idiosyncratic monetary policy, is important. The degree of integration and comovement between financial markets, for instance, is critical to better assess the real threat facing a country in a crisis. Also, from a macroeconomic modeling perspective, there has recently been a renewed interest in the cyclical and long-run comovement of interest rates. Hence, in a first essay, we reinvestigate the long- and short-run comovements in the G7-countries by conducting tests for cointegration, common serial correlation and codependence with nominal and real interest rates. Overall, we only find little evidence of comovements: common trends are occasionally observed, but the majority of interest rates are not cointegrated. Although some evidence for codependence of higher order can be found in the pre-Euro area sample, common cycles appear to exist only in rare cases. We argue that some earlier, more positive findings in the literature are difficult to reconcile due to differing assumptions about the underlying stochastic properties of interest rates. Hence, we conclude that they cannot be generalized for all interest rates, time periods, and reasonable alternative estimation procedures. This finding indicates that scope for individual countries to pursue stabilization policy does still exist in a globalized world. Emerging economies, in general, are much more exposed and vulnerable to crises than industrialized countries. Accordingly, stabilization policy is especially important in these countries and the selection of the best monetary regime is essential. This is why, in a second essay, we contrast two different views in the debate on official dollarization: the Mundell (1961) framework of optimum currency areas and a model on boom-bust cycles by Schneider and Tornell (2004), who take account of credit market imperfections prevalent in middle income countries. We highlight the strikingly different role of the exchange rate in the two models. While in the Mundell framework the exchange rate is expected to smooth the business cycle, the second model predicts the exchange rate to play an amplifying role. We empirically evaluate both models for eight highly dollarized Central American economies. We document the existence of credit market imperfections and find that shocks from the exchange rate indeed amplify business cycles in these countries. Using a new method proposed by Cubadda (1999 and 2007), we furthermore test for cyclical comovement and reject the hypothesis that the selected countries form an optimum currency area with the United States according to the Mundell definition. In the context of the recent global crisis, globalization and vertical integration in particular were often blamed for being the cause for the severe trade crisis. For that reason, in the essay that contributes to the trade literature, we analyze the role of international supply chains in explaining the long-run trade elasticity and its short-term volatility in the context of the recent trade collapse. We adopt an empirical strategy based on two steps: first, stylized facts on long- and short-term trade elasticity are derived from exploratory analysis and formal modeling on a large and diversified sample of countries. Then, we derive observations of interrelated input-output matrices for a demonstrative sub-set of countries. We find evidence for two supply chain related factors to explain the overshooting of trade elasticity during the 2008-2009 trade collapse: the composition and the bullwhip effect. However, evidence for a magnification effect could not be found. Overall, we do not accept the hypothesis that international supply chains explain all by themselves the changes in trade-income elasticity.