My Master Thesis consists of five main parts. First part analyses economical situation on German market within the time period of middle 2008 and the end of 2009. The set of actions that have been implied to support the economical situation and its individual impacts are presented in this chapter in addition. Second part presents Nal von Minden GmbH Corporation, its organizational structure, company's profile, and the products portfolio analysis. Export theory containing the list of fundamental reasons of companies to export, the forms of entering new markets, and its timing are part of third chapter. To apply the theory, chapter four deals with the actual practice of Nal von Minden and its own method of entering new markets. PEST and SWOT analysis of the Czech Republic and Portugal are part of the final fifth chapter of the Master Thesis. As Nal von Minden entered both markets approximately at the same time, it is adequate to analyze factors affecting entry on those markets.

The aim of this thesis is to display the problematic areas where greater coordination and cooperation could occur between all energy market players in order to fulfill a vision of a Central and Eastern European regional market place.

Background: Investing internationally is easier than ever before, with the rise of the internet, unification of accounting standards, and faster flow of information. Yet, many argue that due to increasing global equity market correlations, it is getting increasingly hard to attain benefits from international diversification. Therefore, it is important to know if there are any benefits attainable from international diversification for Swedish investors. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if there are any benefits achievable from international diversification for Swedish investors, if those benefits have changed from before and after the financial crisis in 2007/2008, as well as where Swedish investors might attain the greatest benefits from diversification; namely in developed- or emerging markets. Method: Correlations are measured over the time periods before and after the financial crisis, using both a 61-month correlation window (the entire periods) as well as a 12-month rolling correlation window.  To test diversification benefits, different portfolios are created using the Markowitz Portfolio Optimizer, such as a Maximum Sharpe portfolio and an Equal Weighted portfolio. Conclusion: Correlations have increased from before and after the financial crisis, both for developed- and emerging markets. Diversification benefits exist for Swedish investors, but they have decreased from before and after the financial crisis, and they appear slightly greater in emerging markets than in developed markets.

Thesis (M.M. (Finance & Investment))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, 2013. / This paper analyses the provision of development finance to oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) firms through Development Finance Institutes (DFIs) in Africa. The paper aims to determine the state of equity markets and development finance in Africa and the level at which they contribute to the financing of oil and gas projects in Africa. The main question to be answered: is small firm participation sustainable in the oil and gas industry if equity markets do not develop to meet the financing needs in Africa? It is found that development finance contributes a small proportion of capital into oil and gas deals and financial equity markets play an even smaller role in garnering finance for capital intensive projects in the oil and gas industry as most finance is sourced externally or from internal cash flows. Small firms tend to reduce their interest in oil and gas projects based on lack of access to domestic finance through equity markets and limited development finance availability.

Emerging markets have become important investment destination for international investors as they seek opportunities to grow and diversify their investment portfolios. At the same time, emerging markets are perceived to be riskier than developed markets. It is therefore imperative for the international investor to fully comprehend and appreciate the risk faced by their investments in the emerging markets and the drivers of the underlying their value. A significant amount of research has been carried out on the valuation of companies in emerging markets and the role country risk has in determining the final valuation price. Despite this, there is still no consensus amongst practitioners in the financial industry and academics on the best approach. The valuation methodologies currently employed vary significantly and in some cases involve making arbitrary adjustments based on “gut feel” with limited empirical evidence. This research study appraises existing emerging markets valuation frameworks such as the discounted cash flow model (DCF), including capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and its variants. It also looks at relative valuation and real option pricing framework with intention of proposing the “best practice” valuation framework for valuing companies in emerging markets. The general theory is that emerging markets are segmented from the developed world capital markets making portfolio optimisation across these markets difficult. Segmentation of emerging markets is as a result of inefficiency of the capital markets, in particular the inability of foreign investors to enter and exit the local capital markets at no extra costs. The emerging markets valuation frameworks are designed to address the inability to effectively diversify investments due to the segmentation of these markets. It was therefore pertinent that this study determines whether emerging markets are indeed segmented from world capital markets and therefore significantly riskier than developed markets. This part of the study was carried out by conducting both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the emerging capital markets. Quantitative analysis was done on the performances of twenty-seven emerging equity markets for the period between July 1998 and November 2008 and the results were compared with the US equity market analysis (United States was used in the study as the proxy for the world equity market) for the same period. The study used volatility of the markets as the measure of risk and the correlation to measure the level of integration. Qualitative analysis involved reviewing regulatory, legal and political risks of the different emerging markets. The results from this part of the study showed that emerging markets are indeed riskier than developed markets and are somewhat segmented from the world capital markets. Based on 4 this result, we concluded that the valuation frameworks in emerging markets should be adjusted or modified to incorporate the impact of country risk. A total of eleven different emerging markets valuation frameworks were appraised. The study reviewed the literature relating to the emerging markets valuation frameworks to establish their theoretical and empirical basis. The study also conducted qualitative and quantitative analysis of each of the eleven selected methods regarding relevance and practicality in the valuation of emerging market companies. Valuation models were developed from the different valuation frameworks, a process that included deriving different variants of the models such as the country risk premium. The qualitative analysis looked at the how practical is the valuation frameworks considering its variants. For quantitative analysis the emerging market valuation models were used to value ABSA Bank Group; Edgars Consolidated Stores Limited; and Standard Bank Group and outcomes of the valuation were compared with the final purchase price paid in recent corporate transactions involving these companies. The absolute difference between the notional valuation and the actual transaction price was used to rank the valuation frameworks, with smallest difference indicating the best fit. All the eleven emerging market valuation methodologies yielded results different from the purchase prices. Erb−Harvey−Viskanta (EHV) model had the best fit when compared with the actual purchase price. However, the study does not propose the usage of EHV as the “best practice” method because of weak theoretical basis. The study concludes that at least three to four methodologies should be used to derive a valuation range for purchase price negotiations

A dissertation submitted to the Wits Business School, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the candidacy of the Masters of Management in Finance and Investments University of Witwatersrand April 2016 / The aim of this paper is to investigate financial contagion in African financial markets from the global financial crisis. Interest in this subject has grown exponentially in the recent past in light of expanding globalization. The empirical analysis is based on daily stock price indices of a sample of African countries in order to compute the stock returns and find the impact of correlations between them and the US market. The empirical evidence is based on correlation tests by Forbes& Rigobon (2002). The analysis suggests that the larger markets by market capitalization and number of traded stocks exhibit co-movement, whereas the smaller markets experience financial contagion. The results have implications for financial investment process and risk management in terms of globalization and the unfolding of financial liberalization in Africa. / GR2018

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Finance and Investment (MMFI) in the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management Wits Business school at the University of Witwatersrand, 2016 / This thesis studied the effects of terrorist attacks on Kenya‟s financial markets between January 2004 and December 2014. The study uses an augmented asset-pricing model similar to that in Eldor and Menelik (2004). The model includes terrorist attack dummies representing location of the attack, the type of attack, the intended target, number of people injured and number of people killed. Data on the terrorist attacks and share index values and foreign exchange rates variables are used to estimate the model. The results show that attacks carried out using explosives had a positive impact on share prices on the NSE. On the flipside, attacks that were carried out on facilities/infrastructure or on religious figures/institutions as well as those carried out using incendiaries had a negative impact on the NSE. An increase in the number of people injured also led to a greater negative impact on the NSE. As regards the forex market, attacks carried out using firearms and incendiaries led to a depreciation of the local currency. Transport attacks on the other hand led to an appreciation. Similarly, the greater the number of people injured led to a greater appreciation of the KES / GR2018

A Doctoral thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy degree in the field of Finance The Graduate school of Business Administration, University of the Witwatersrand, October 2016 / The global financial system has experienced turmoil in the past three decades, at the least. Although the shocks originate abroad, they possess some rippling effects on African economies. The essence of market integration and cross-border listings of stocks has fueled the need for African markets to be well integrated with the global economy. Despite this need, available empirical literature exploring the integration of African markets regionally, and with the rest of the world appear unclear. Moreover, the possibility of global shocks transmitting to Africa via its emerging equity markets remains underexplored. At the same time, such knowledge is critical for not only understanding the functioning of equity markets in particular, but also important for regulating the financial system in general. This thesis addresses these gaps inherent in extant literature and proffer empirical and theoretical solutions by exploring the nexus between African stock markets and global shocks. The emphasis is on contagion, co-movement, and diversification. The thesis is organized into four empirical essays, each deeply touching on specific theme (s) that form the core of the problems or research questions under investigation while employing advanced econometric techniques that underpin the modeling of asset returns. The first essay examines the capacity of African equity markets to act as ‗hubs‘ for portfolio investors during tranquil and turbulent conditions of global equity and commodity markets. The findings posit that African stock markets provide decorrelation from commodity and global equity markets during extreme market conditions. To the extent that the results reveal the strength of African stocks in cushioning international portfolio investors in a mean-variance stand-point during market crashes, the essay helps to decay doubts in the minds of investors on the perceived lack of capacity of the continent‘s stocks to yield higher expected risk-return trade-offs during global market sell-offs. The implication of the study is that given the recent history of commodities and global stocks, fund managers around the world seeking viable alternatives to compensate for losses from commodity shocks through uncorrelated markets may consider the equity markets in Africa, albeit on account of volatility persistence, present and past market conditions, markets stability, as well as size and liquidity issues. The second essay examines regional and global co-movement of African stock markets using the three-dimensional continuous Morlet wavelet transform methodology. The essay establishes evidence of stronger co-movements broadly narrowed to short-run fluctuations. The co-movements are time-varying and commonly non-homogeneous – with phase difference arrow vectors implying lead-lag African Equity Markets and Global Shocks 2016 © Gideon Boako Page iii relationships. The presence of lead-lag effects and stronger co-movements at short-run fluctuations may induce arbitrage and diversification opportunities to both local and international investors with long-term investment horizons. The findings also reveal that some African equity markets are, to a degree, segmented from volatilities of the dollar and euro exchange rates. The third essay sheds light on whether African equity markets decoupled from, and / or converged with regional and global markets from 2003 to 2014, and analyzes the implications of that for shocks spillovers. Although there is no evidence of African markets convergence either regionally or globally, shock propagation exists in a time-varying setting. Regional markets in Africa are not just ‗shock absorbers‘ but also ‗shock transmitters‘. In the last essay, the dependence structure and (extreme) downside developed equity markets and currency price risk spillover effects to African stock markets using value-at-risk (VaR) and conditional value-at-risk (CoVaR) based on stochastic copulas is modeled. The study finds evidence of non-homogenous weak negative dependence between stocks and the USD and EUR exchange rates. Except for Egypt, there is evidence of positive significant dependencies between all African markets and their developed counterparts. Although, evidence of both uni-directional and bidirectional causality, as well as upper and lower tail dependencies are found across the stocks and currency markets, only some minuscule evidence of downside spillover effects was recorded, albeit episodic. It is observed that propagation of shocks from the GFC had a second round effect in African stock markets. Thus, the impact of the GFC to African economies was not through the credit crunches and liquidity freezes in Phase I of the crisis, but rather through the global recession that followed into the second phase. The findings are consistent with the view that global shocks propagation to developing markets may stagger during crisis and intensify post-crisis. A practical implication from the results is that given the relatively scarce resources and levels of technological know-how available to African governments, efforts to wean the continent‟s equity markets from adverse effects of global market crashes should be geared towards plans and programmes to mitigate the shocks not at the early stages but latter stages, where the effects to Africa could be prominently felt. Three key arguments are deduced from all the essays. First, although financial market underdevelopment seems prima-facie, to help countries isolate themselves against immediate contagion, it also reduces the ability of the real economy to cushion the impact of the crisis. African Equity Markets and Global Shocks 2016 © Gideon Boako Page iv Therefore, the argument of the thesis is that despite the common fear that a highly integrated and developed market may present fertile grounds for shock spillover, Africa must continue to pursue programmes aimed at enhancing inter and intra-regional integration. However, the degree and extent of both inter- and intra-regional integration ought to be pegged at certain optimal levels in order to reap benefits from scale economies. Such endeavours at integration will not only help in risk diversification but also help smooth the impact of shocks. The second argument is that, the proposition of the ―decoupling theory‖ i.e. returns of African equity markets and global stocks are not jointly normal during crisis periods may not be entirely tenable, empirically. Thirdly, the thesis argues that the “shift-contagion” theory may not reflect the reality for Africa, particularly during initial stages of crisis. Instead, the thesis suggests an extension and argues for a “delayed-shift contagion” theory. Keywords: Decoupling, shift-contagion, spillover effects, CoVaR, exchange rates, commodities. JEL Classification: C40, C58, F31, F36, G10, G11, G15, / GR2018

Companies within Artificial Intelligence are receiving increased international attention in many industries and the technology is affecting the everyday life of many people, with or without their knowledge. Simultaneous to this development, the BRIC countries have gained a spot in the global sitting room due to their rapid growth and industrialisation, which in its turn has made way for vast business opportunities. The purpose of this thesis has therefore been to explore how Artificial Intelligence companies utilise these opportunities and internationalise to the BRIC countries. This has been done through a qualitative study where four cases have been interviewed to explore whether traditional or new internationalisation processes are applicable in this context. Additionally, the drivers and barriers of this market expansion have been researched to broaden the view of the process. The findings reveal that Artificial Intelligence business is global and that networks are significant in the success of internationalising to the BRIC countries. It is also found that there are great drivers and challenging barriers that affect the decision to enter the BRIC countries and the success in these markets. Lastly, several topics for future research are presented in the hope of encouraging more contributions to the field.

Este trabalho tem por escopo analisar o conteúdo semântico do artigo 146-A da Constituição Federal a fim de delimitar o seu campo de incidência e, desta forma, tentar esclarecer em que medida o Direito Tributário e a livre concorrência podem se relacionar. A partir de uma breve análise dos três modelos de mercados competitivos, a saber: o mercado de concorrência perfeita, o mercado monopolista e o mercado oligopolista, tentaremos definir em quais circunstâncias a livre concorrência pode ser protegida ou fomentada pelo Estado e em quais circunstâncias deve o Estado se abster de intervir. Adiante, analisaremos as formas de intervenção do Estado no domínio econômico e, em especial, os instrumentos jurídicos que permitem ao Estado regular a livre concorrência nos mercados. A partir destas conclusões, analisaremos o texto normativo do artigo 146-A e tentaremos oferecer uma interpretação consistente de seu conteúdo semântico, levando-se também em consideração os demais dispositivos constitucionais que versam sobre a livre concorrência. Por fim, analisaremos criticamente os pontos de maior discussão na doutrina e na jurisprudência envolvendo o Direito Tributário e a livre concorrência. / This work aims at analysing the content of article 146-A of Federal Constitution so as to define its object and, as such, clarifying how Tax Law and free competition may Interact with one another. After a brief overview of the three main models of competitive markets, them being: the perfectly competitive Market, the monopolistic Market and the oligopolistic Market, it will try to define in which circumstances free competition may be protected or fostered by public policies. Further, it will analyse how public administration may intervene into the private economic domain, specially the legal instruments though which public administration may regulate competition levels within markets. Based on these conclusions, it will analyse the provisions of article 146-A trying to provide an interpretation consistent with its content, also taking into account others constitutional provisions governing the free competition in the markets. At last, it will analyse the main points of discussion by scholars and legal precedents regarding Tax Law and the free competition principle.