This paper uses the panel data of 11 OECD countries over a period from 1971 to 2006. Unlike the traditional cointegration model which omitted the impact of structural breaks in the analysis, this paper applies panel cointegration with structural break test proposed by Westerlund (2006), panel unit root test, and panel dynamic OLS test. The empirical results indicate that health care expenditure and economic growth (GDP per capita) are non-stationary in the series; and between the two variables, a long-term cointegration relationship exists. Moreover, a positive correlation between HCE and economic growth is found in the panel dynamic OLS model. The researcher concludes that investing in health capital improves human capital and that boosts economic growth in the sample countries, and vice versa. More importantly, allowing structural breaks in the cointegration analysis obtains reliability in the estimation and proves more detailed and specific information on the consequence of the momentous events on the two variables; and thus enables policy makers and health economists to propose more effective strategies.

Apesar da recente queda no crescimento das exportações, a resposta das vendas externas à valorização cambial tem sido mais lenta do que previa a teoria econômica. Essas evidências sugerem a lentidão na correção dos desvios de uma relação de longo prazo entre o câmbio e as exportações, motivando a pesquisa sobre a presença de hysteresis no comércio brasileiro. O objetivo deste estudo é confirmar as predições da teoria de hysteresis em nível macroeconômico para as exportações manufaturadas brasileiras. Para isso, propõe-se um diferencial metodológico: a inclusão, nos modelos de oferta e demanda de exportações, de variável representativa de hysteresis, construída segundo o método de Piscitelli et al. (2000), testando sua significância nas equações. São utilizados modelos com dados em painel, metodologia que permite lidar com efeitos específicos aos setores industriais e realizar testes de hysteresis para o total das exportações manufaturadas a partir de informações desagregadas, proporcionado maior eficiência na estimação. Além disso, é investigada a estacionariedade das séries de dados, realizando testes para raiz unitária e cointegração em painel. Também são estimados os parâmetros das relações de longo prazo entre as variáveis. Os resultados confirmam a hipótese de uma relação de hysteresis, em especial, nas equações de demanda por exportações brasileiras. / In spite of the recent fall of the growth rate of Brazilian exports, the response of external sales to the appreciation of the exchange rate has been slower than what was predicted by economic theory. These evidences suggest that deviations from a long-run relationship between exchange rate and exports may take longer to be corrected, motivating the investigation of the presence of hysteresis in Brazilian international trade. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the applicability of the theory of macro-hysteresis to Brazilian manufactured exports. Thus, a distinct methodology is proposed: including a hysteretic variable in the equations of export supply and demand as an explanatory variable. This variable is constructed as the method developed by Piscitelli et al. (2000) and will be tested in order to assess its power in capturing the hysteretic effect. This study uses panel data which allow for heterogeneity among the industrial sectors and admits testing the hysteresis hypothesis in the aggregate exports through disaggregated information; hence, panel data will lead to more efficiency when estimating models. Furthermore, the stationarity of the data series is investigated through panel unit root and cointegration tests and the long run relationship parameters are estimated. Results confirm the hypothesis of the presence of a hysteretic relationship, especially in the demand equations.

Contribuições recentes em teoria econômica têm sugerido que os efeitos do gasto do governo sobre o consumo privado dependem da interação entre agentes otimizadores e não-otimizadores, dada a restrição de liquidez dos últimos. Este trabalho analisa empiricamente tal hipótese estimando modelos de correção de erros em painel uniequacionais (P-ECM) e multiequacionais (P-VECM) para um painel com 48 países, assumindo uma estrutura de dependência de corte transversal e utilizando alguns dos mais recentes procedimentos de cointegração em painel. Sob a hipótese de que em países em desenvolvimento existe uma maior fração de agentes não-otimizadores (restritos ao crédito), analisa-se a existência de efeitos distintos entre países desenvolvidos e em desenvolvimento. Os resultados indicam que o gasto do governo crowds in o consumo privado agregado no longo prazo, sugerindo que o gasto do governo e o consumo privado podem ser descritos como bens complementares, e que os efeitos são duas vezes maiores nos países em desenvolvimento relativamente aos desenvolvidos, dando suporte às hipóteses testadas. / Recent contributions in economic theory have proposed that the observed effects of government spending on private consumption depend on the interaction between optimizing and non-optimizing agents, i.e., those who are liquidity constrained. This dissertation empirically analyzes this hypothesis by estimating panel error-correction models both uniequational (P-ECM) and multiequational (P-VECM) in a panel of 48 countries, assuming cross-sectional dependence structure and applying some of most recently developed methodologies on panel cointegration. Under the hypothesis that developing countries have a higher fraction of non-optimizing agents (with credit constraints), the dissertation analizes the existence of different effects on developed and developing countries. The results show that government spending crowds in private consumption in the long run, suggesting that government spending and private consumption can be described as complementary goods, and that the effects are two times as larger in developing countries as in developed ones, supporting the tested hypothesis.

This paper examines the long-term relationship between primary energy consumption and other key macroeconomic variables, including real GDP, labour force, capital stock and technology, using a panel dataset for 64 countries over the period 1965-2009. Deploying panel error correction models, we find that there is a positive relationship running from physical capital, GDP, and population to primary energy consumption. We observe however a negative relationship between total factor productivity and primary energy usage. Significant differences arise in the magnitude of the cointegration coefficients, when we allow for differences in geopolitics and wealth levels. We also argue that inference on the basis of a single model without taking model uncertainty into account can lead to biased conclusions. Consequently, we address this problem by applying simple model averaging techniques to the estimated panel cointegration models. We find that tackling the uncertainty associated with selecting a single model with model averaging techniques leads to a more accurate representation of the link between energy consumption and the other macroeconomic variables, and to a significantly increased out-of-sample forecast performance. (authors' abstract) / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

Cette thèse est consacrée à l’étude de transmission de la politique monétaire dans la zone Euro, en traitant le canal du taux d’intérêt et le canal du crédit. La démarche suivie consiste à combiner des approches théoriques et empiriques de façon à mettre en évidence empiriquement l’hétérogénéité de transmission au sein de la zone euro et l’existence du canal du crédit. Le premier chapitre consiste à étudier le pass-through aux taux bancaires. D’après les résultats, le processus de transmission semble bien influencé par la spécificité des pays de la zone euro. Les niveaux et les vitesses de transmission restent en effet hétérogènes, le niveau du pass-through est incomplet dans la plupart des cas et il a diminué au cours de la période étudiée, en particulier après la crise financière. Le deuxième chapitre est consacré à l’étude des déterminants de la transmission. D’après les résultats, l’hétérogénéité de la transmission se trouve son origine dans les différences des structures des banques et des marchés bancaires et dans les différences de l’intégration bancaire. Le dernier chapitre est consacré à examiner le canal du crédit dans la zone euro en distinguant la réaction des banques sur la bas de la taille, la capitalisation et la diversification bancaires. Les résultats confirment l’existence du canal du crédit dans la zone euro qui s’avère plus important après la crise financière, et montre aussi que la taille et la capitalisation bancaire jouent un rôle important dans la réaction des banques aux chocs monétaires. Cette présente thèse a apporté de nouveaux résultats par rapport à la littérature et elle a montré que le pass-through résultant de l’estimation du modèle MCE en seule étape est supérieur pour certains cas à celui du modèle en deux étapes, ainsi que le canal du crédit semble jouer un rôle plus considérable pendant la période de la crise. / The aim of this thesis is to study the transmission of monetary policy in the Euro Zone, by treating the channels of interest rate and credit. The approach consists of combining theoretical and empirical approaches in order to empirically highlight the heterogeneity of transmission within the Euro Zone and the existence of the credit channel. The first chapter dilates on the study of pass-through through banking rates. According to results, the process of pass-through seems well influenced by the specificity of the countries of Euro Zone. The levels and speeds of transmission remain heterogeneous; the level of pass-through is incomplete in most cases and decreases during the period under study, in particular after the financial crisis. The second chapter is devoted to investigate the determinants of transmission. According to results, the heterogeneity of transmission finds its origin in the differences of the structure of banks, banking markets, and in the differences of banking integration. The final chapter examines the channel of the credit in the Euro Zone by distinguishing the reaction of banks on the basis of size, capitalization, and diversification. The results confirm the existence of credit channel in the Euro Zone, which proves to be even more important after the financial crisis, and also shows that the size and capitalization of the banks play a significant role in the reaction of the banks to the monetary shocks. This thesis produces new results compared to the literature and it shows that the pass-through resulting from the estimate of ECM model in one stage is higher for certain cases, as well as the credit channel seem to play a more considerable role during the period of the crisis.

Contribuições recentes em teoria econômica têm sugerido que os efeitos do gasto do governo sobre o consumo privado dependem da interação entre agentes otimizadores e não-otimizadores, dada a restrição de liquidez dos últimos. Este trabalho analisa empiricamente tal hipótese estimando modelos de correção de erros em painel uniequacionais (P-ECM) e multiequacionais (P-VECM) para um painel com 48 países, assumindo uma estrutura de dependência de corte transversal e utilizando alguns dos mais recentes procedimentos de cointegração em painel. Sob a hipótese de que em países em desenvolvimento existe uma maior fração de agentes não-otimizadores (restritos ao crédito), analisa-se a existência de efeitos distintos entre países desenvolvidos e em desenvolvimento. Os resultados indicam que o gasto do governo crowds in o consumo privado agregado no longo prazo, sugerindo que o gasto do governo e o consumo privado podem ser descritos como bens complementares, e que os efeitos são duas vezes maiores nos países em desenvolvimento relativamente aos desenvolvidos, dando suporte às hipóteses testadas. / Recent contributions in economic theory have proposed that the observed effects of government spending on private consumption depend on the interaction between optimizing and non-optimizing agents, i.e., those who are liquidity constrained. This dissertation empirically analyzes this hypothesis by estimating panel error-correction models both uniequational (P-ECM) and multiequational (P-VECM) in a panel of 48 countries, assuming cross-sectional dependence structure and applying some of most recently developed methodologies on panel cointegration. Under the hypothesis that developing countries have a higher fraction of non-optimizing agents (with credit constraints), the dissertation analizes the existence of different effects on developed and developing countries. The results show that government spending crowds in private consumption in the long run, suggesting that government spending and private consumption can be described as complementary goods, and that the effects are two times as larger in developing countries as in developed ones, supporting the tested hypothesis.

O objetivo desse trabalho é analisar a influência que fundamentos internos e fatores externos exercem sobre a taxa de juros nominal dos títulos soberanos de longo prazo nos países emergentes. A base de dados engloba 13 países ao longo de 33 trimestres entre 2006 e 2014. A metodologia utilizada aborda as técnicas econométricas mais recentes para tratar dados macroeconômicos. O modelo estimado é o Pooled Mean Group desenvolvido por Pesaran, Shin e Smith (1999). O modelo consegue separar as variáveis que afetam o nível de equilíbrio da taxa de juros das que exercem efeito apenas no curto prazo. Na melhor especificação apresentada, os resultados indicam que as variáveis que causam flutuações de curto prazo na taxa de juros dos países emergentes são a taxa de juros livre de risco (+0,3), a taxa de curto prazo (+0,4) e o déficit do governo americano (+0,1). Já as variáveis que afetam o nível de equilíbrio são a taxa de juros livre de risco (+0,5), a aversão ao risco dos investidores (+0,1), o saldo em conta corrente (-0,3), a inflação (+0,1), a abertura econômica (-0,04) e a dívida bruta (efeito positivo não linear). Por fim, ao analisar exclusivamente o caso brasileiro, nosso modelo indica que se o país tivesse mantido os fundamentos internos em linha com a média dos outros emergentes desde o final de 2006, o Brasil iria chegar ao final de 2014 com uma taxa de juros nominal de longo prazo de 6,1%, 6 p.p. abaixo do valor efetivamente observado que foi de 12,1%. / The aim of this study is to analyze the influence that internal fundamentals and external factors have on long-term sovereign bond yields in emerging markets. The database covers 13 countries over 33 quarters between 2006 and 2014. The methodology addresses the latest techniques to deal with macro panels, such as panel unit root and panel cointegration tests. The estimated model is the Pooled Mean Group developed by Pesaran, Shin e Smith (1999). This model can separate the variables that affect the interest rate equilibrium from the ones that only have an effect in the short-run. In the best specification presented, the results indicates that in the short-run the variables that affects the interest rates in emerging markets are the risk free interest rate (+0.3), the short term interest rate (+0.4) and the American government deficit (+0.1). The variables that affects the equilibrium level are the risk free interest rate (+0.5), risk aversion (+0.1), current account balance (-0.3), inflation (+0.1), trade openness (-0.04) and gross debt (non-linear positive effect). Finally, by examining only the Brazilian case, our model indicates that if the country had maintained the internal fundamentals in line with the average of other emerging markets since the end of 2006, Brazil would reach the end of 2014 with a long-term interest rate of 6.1%, 6 p.p. below the actual value of 12.1%.

Cette thèse s’intéresse au défi que représente le rattrapage des niveaux de prix pour la stabilité macroéconomique des pays en transition d’Europe centrale et orientale, dans la perspective de leur future participation à la zone euro. A cet égard, une modélisation du taux de change réel d’équilibre suggère que l’appréciation réelle liée au rattrapage économique recouvre des évolutions de prix relatifs différentes suivant les régimes de change, dont témoignent des trajectoires d’endettement extérieur contrastées. Dans les économies en changes flexibles, la hausse du taux de change nominal favorise une appréciation endogène des termes de l’échange à moyen terme, en orientant les investissements directs étrangers et la réalisation des gains de productivité vers le secteur exposé de l’économie, ce qui se traduit par une appréciation du taux de change réel d’équilibre et une amélioration des comptes extérieurs. Dans les économies en changes fixes, les effets de valorisation liés à la hausse des prix relatifs domestiques tendent à orienter les investissements vers le secteur abrité de l’économie, entraînant une érosion de la compétitivité extérieure, dont témoigne le gonflement de la dette externe. Par ailleurs, l’intégration monétaire comporte des risques spécifiques pour la stabilité macroéconomique des économies en rattrapage, dans la mesure où elle s’accompagne d’un processus marqué de convergence des conditions de financement entre Etats membres, dès lors que la perspective de l’adhésion à l’espace monétaire commun devient crédible. Un modèle dynamique à anticipations rationnelles permet de montrer que face au choc de demande lié à une telle convergence financière, l’appréciation du taux de change nominal se révèle cruciale pour limiter la surchauffe de l’économie. A l’inverse, dans les économies en régime de change fixe, l’abaissement des primes de risque pays est susceptible de provoquer une montée de l’endettement extérieur, suivi d’enchaînements déflationnistes une fois dans l’union monétaire. / This research investigates the challenges of price level catching-up for macroeconomic stability in Central and Eastern European transition countries seeking to enter the Euro area. In this respect, an equilibrium real exchange rate model suggests that the process of real appreciation observed along economic catching-up in these countries can be ascribed to different relative price developments, depending on the exchange rate regime, as exemplified by contrasted external debt trajectories. In flexible exchange rate economies, the increase in the nominal exchange rate fosters an endogenous appreciation of the terms of trade in the medium run, by channelling foreign direct investment and associated productivity gains to the exposed sector of the economy, thus appreciating the equilibrium real exchange rate and strengthening the current account over time. In fixed exchange rate economies, positive valuation effects associated with the increase in domestic relative prices tend to divert investment to the sheltered sector, thus undermining external competitiveness and bringing about higher external debt. Furthermore, monetary integration entails specific risks for macroeconomic stability in catching-up economies, because it implies a process of rapid convergence in the financing conditions across member States, which takes place as soon as the perspective of accession to the common monetary area appears credible. A dynamic, rational expectations model shows that the appreciation of the nominal exchange rate becomes crucial to curtail the economic overheating triggered by the demand shock associated with financial convergence. By contrast, diminishing country risk premia under fixed exchange rate regimes are likely to cause ‘boom bust’ cycles, with an increase in external indebtedness followed by deflationary developments once in the monetary union.

O objetivo desse trabalho é analisar a influência que fundamentos internos e fatores externos exercem sobre a taxa de juros nominal dos títulos soberanos de longo prazo nos países emergentes. A base de dados engloba 13 países ao longo de 33 trimestres entre 2006 e 2014. A metodologia utilizada aborda as técnicas econométricas mais recentes para tratar dados macroeconômicos. O modelo estimado é o Pooled Mean Group desenvolvido por Pesaran, Shin e Smith (1999). O modelo consegue separar as variáveis que afetam o nível de equilíbrio da taxa de juros das que exercem efeito apenas no curto prazo. Na melhor especificação apresentada, os resultados indicam que as variáveis que causam flutuações de curto prazo na taxa de juros dos países emergentes são a taxa de juros livre de risco (+0,3), a taxa de curto prazo (+0,4) e o déficit do governo americano (+0,1). Já as variáveis que afetam o nível de equilíbrio são a taxa de juros livre de risco (+0,5), a aversão ao risco dos investidores (+0,1), o saldo em conta corrente (-0,3), a inflação (+0,1), a abertura econômica (-0,04) e a dívida bruta (efeito positivo não linear). Por fim, ao analisar exclusivamente o caso brasileiro, nosso modelo indica que se o país tivesse mantido os fundamentos internos em linha com a média dos outros emergentes desde o final de 2006, o Brasil iria chegar ao final de 2014 com uma taxa de juros nominal de longo prazo de 6,1%, 6 p.p. abaixo do valor efetivamente observado que foi de 12,1%. / The aim of this study is to analyze the influence that internal fundamentals and external factors have on long-term sovereign bond yields in emerging markets. The database covers 13 countries over 33 quarters between 2006 and 2014. The methodology addresses the latest techniques to deal with macro panels, such as panel unit root and panel cointegration tests. The estimated model is the Pooled Mean Group developed by Pesaran, Shin e Smith (1999). This model can separate the variables that affect the interest rate equilibrium from the ones that only have an effect in the short-run. In the best specification presented, the results indicates that in the short-run the variables that affects the interest rates in emerging markets are the risk free interest rate (+0.3), the short term interest rate (+0.4) and the American government deficit (+0.1). The variables that affects the equilibrium level are the risk free interest rate (+0.5), risk aversion (+0.1), current account balance (-0.3), inflation (+0.1), trade openness (-0.04) and gross debt (non-linear positive effect). Finally, by examining only the Brazilian case, our model indicates that if the country had maintained the internal fundamentals in line with the average of other emerging markets since the end of 2006, Brazil would reach the end of 2014 with a long-term interest rate of 6.1%, 6 p.p. below the actual value of 12.1%.

Submitted by Marcos Rocha (marcosrocha@gvmail.br) on 2012-06-27T18:30:38Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_MRocha_biblio.pdf: 2007577 bytes, checksum: 595f726cc8507c10b02153b1ee6674cd (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Vera Lúcia Mourão (vera.mourao@fgv.br) on 2012-06-27T19:02:57Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_MRocha_biblio.pdf: 2007577 bytes, checksum: 595f726cc8507c10b02153b1ee6674cd (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-06-27T19:11:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_MRocha_biblio.pdf: 2007577 bytes, checksum: 595f726cc8507c10b02153b1ee6674cd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-05-29 / Este trabalho é composto de três partes. O primeiro capítulo avalia a hipótese de substituição de poupanças. De acordo com Bresser-Pereira e Nakano (2003), existe nas economias emergentes uma alta taxa de substituição de poupança interna por externa gerada pelo processo de influxo dos recursos estrangeiros. Isso acontece porque, dada a propensão ao consumo dos países emergentes, a maior parte do déficit em conta corrente se transforma em consumo de importados; a parcela dos fluxos gasta em investimento é pequena, de forma que a estratégia de crescimento com poupança estrangeira não é uma opção. Diante desta hipótese, o capítulo avalia teórica e empiricamente a existência de substituição de poupança interna por externa nos países em desenvolvimento e o papel da sobreapreciação da taxa de câmbio real (TCR) nesse processo. Foi utilizado um painel dinâmico System-GMM para uma amostra de 48 países de renda média cobrindo o período de 1970-2004. Os resultados mostram um processo de substituição de poupança doméstica por externa significante, além de efeitos negativos sobre a poupança doméstica resultantes da interação entre sobreapreciação do câmbio e entrada de poupança estrangeira. O segundo capítulo analisa os efeitos de sobreapreciações da TCR sobre o valor adicionado por setores dos países emergentes, para o período 1970-2004. A sobreapreciação, ao minar a competitividade dos produtos manufaturados e industriais domesticamente, pode reduzir a capacidade dos países em desenvolvimento de estimular setores dinâmicos da estrutura produtiva que induzem crescimento e desenvolvimento sustentável no longo prazo. A motivação teórica é a visão Kaldoriana de desenvolvimento. Assim, o capítulo testa a relação entre a sobreapreciação da TCR sobre o valor adicionado dos setores produtivos de bens primários e manufatureiros como parcela do produto, no período de 1970 a 2004, para uma amostra de 45 países emergentes. Os resultados evidenciam que os episódios de sobreapreciação caracterizados pelo índice reduzem a participação de manufaturados no valor agregado no produto das economias em desenvolvimento, de forma significante. A razão provável deste resultado é que um câmbio sobreapreciado não só torna os bens industriais domésticos menos competitivos, como também favorece a importação doméstica destes que, em virtude disto, deixam de ser produzidos ou aperfeiçoados dentro do país. Por fim, o terceiro capítulo avalia os efeitos da dívida externa sobre crescimento de um ponto de vista diferente dos diagnósticos da literatura 'debt overhang': argumenta que é a estratégia de crescimento com poupança externa a causa do crescente endividamento que, no longo prazo, é responsável por prejudicar a performance de crescimento dos países emergentes por gerar crises no balanço de pagamentos. Para avaliar esta dinâmica empiricamente foi estimada uma equação de crescimento com painel dinâmico System-GMM de variáveis instrumentais; são utilizados dados para 45 países de renda média, no período 1970-2004. A conclusão geral dos exercícios empíricos atesta uma influência não linear da dívida externa sobre o crescimento dos países selecionados na amostra: no longo prazo, o contínuo endividamento reduz o desempenho de crescimento dos países. Pode-se apontar ainda que um dos mecanismos pelo qual a poupança externa pode levar a maior dívida externa é sua interação significante com o influxo de recursos externos necessários para a rolagem da dívida; o resultado sobre o desempenho de crescimento é negativo e significante. Por fim, o apêndice do trabalho detalha os procedimentos de estimação de painel cointegrado utilizados para derivar os índices de sobreapreciação da TCR. / This work consists of three parts. The first chapter assesses the possibility of “savings displacement”. According to Bresser-Pereira and Nakano (2003), there is in emerging economies a high rate of substitution of foreign for domestic savings generated by the process of inflow of foreign financial flows. This is happens because, given the propensity for consumption in emerging countries, most of the deficit in current account turns into consumption of imported goods; the share of the flow spent on investment is small. The existence of savings displacement makes growing with foreign savings a risky strategy. Given this hypothesis, the chapter evaluates theoretically and empirically the existence of substitution of foreign for domestic savings in developing countries and also the role of overvaluation of the real exchange rate (RER) in this process. We used a dynamic panel GMM-System for a sample of 48 middle income countries covering the time span of 1970-2004. The results show a process of substitution of foreign for domestic savings significant and negative effects on domestic savings resulting from the interaction of overvaluation of the exchange and foreign inflows. The second chapter analyzes the effects of RER overvaluations on the value added by economy sectors for developing countries covering the period 1970-2004. The overvaluation process, once undermines the competitiveness of domestically manufacturing industries may reduce the ability of developing countries to stimulate dynamic sectors of the productive structure. The long run outcome can led to adverse effects upon growth and sustainable development. The theoretical motivation of this work is the Kaldorian view of development. The chapter proceeds by testing tests the relationship between the overvaluation of the RER on the added value of the productive sectors of primary goods and manufacturing as product share for the period 1970 to 2004, using a sample of 45 emerging countries. The results show that episodes of overvaluation are correlated with a lower share of manufacturing value-added production on the economies´ product significantly. The probable reason of this result is that an exchange overvaluation not only makes the domestic industrial goods less competitive, but also favors the domestic importats of this commodity from other countries; in this scenario, manufacturing could no longer be produced or improved within the country. Finally, the third chapter evaluates the effects of external debt on growth from a different point of view underlined by the "debt overhang" literature. Here we argues that the strategy of growth with foreign savings is the main reason for the increasing debt that in the long term that is responsible for harming the growth performance of developing countries since generates balance of payments crises. To assess this dynamic was empirically estimated growth equation with a dynamic panel System GMM. The data used 45 middle-income countries, covering the period 1970-2004. The overall conclusion of the empirical exercises attests a nonlinear influence of external debt on growth of selected countries in the sample: in the long term, continuous indebtedness reduces growth performance of countries. It can be pointed that one probable reason why foreign savings can lead to higher external debt problems is its significant interaction with the influx of external resources required to rollover debt, the result on the growth performance is negative and significant. Concluding the thesis, an appendix details the procedures for estimating panel cointegration used to derive indexes of RER overvaluation.