It is an accepted fact that the Net Income of the Indianapolis Water Company was increased by the corporate refinancings of 1936 and 1946. However, no detailed study has been made, to date, to show the amount of the increase either in aggregate or in annual amounts. The writer thought such a study would be informative and interesting and the result of his study is presented herewith.

When purchasing a home, buyer considerations include price of the home, credit rating, mortgage type, and lending agency. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the loan options successful business leaders consider when shifting loan lending from prime mortgage loans to subprime mortgage loans. Systems theory formed the conceptual framework for the study. A purposive sample of 20 participants from Gwinnett County, Georgia completed semistructured interviews and described their personal experiences. Data analysis incorporated van Kaam's technique to code and cluster information into topics. The following themes emerged from the analysis indicating what these business leaders considered when they established subprime mortgage loans: (a) creditable subprime mortgage lending, (b) preferred subprime mortgage type, (c) length of the approval process, (d) pressures and limited options, and (e) the benefits of a subprime mortgage. The findings indicated these creditworthy subprime borrowers received better loans options. Findings also showed that subprime mortgage borrowers preferred fixed rate mortgages, creditworthiness determined the extent of their subprime process, the number of first time homebuyers increased, and mortgage borrowers with credit problems preferred subprime mortgage loans. The information from this study could assist mortgage borrowers looking for loan options and mortgage lenders looking to build stronger relationships with the borrowers and communities they serve. Implications for positive social change include the possibility to lower foreclosures in Gwinnett County, Georgia and increase the mortgage knowledge of future borrowers.

The aim of this thesis is to compare the causes, course and effects of the mortgage crisis and the subsequent financial crisis in the USA and in the Czech Republic in the years 2000-2012. Conclusions comparisons show that the impact of the crisis on the economy of the Czech Republic were milder mainly due to readiness of Czech banks. Furthermore, this work analyzes a model example of choice of parameters mortgage loan from the client's perspective, focusing on the assessment of the advantages of combination mortgages and savings products. Based on the results of this analysis, the combination can be recommended, but with regard to the rates of appreciation achieved when saving resources. If the condition of compensation refinancing costs by the difference in interest rates is satisfied, it is also possible recommended this financial instrument to a qualified client. Finally, we completed the image of the Czech mortgage market by comparing the classical mortgage products in offer of several banks.

[pt] Neste trabalho, estudamos o forte movimento do risco país em momentos de emissões de dívida externa. Nossos resultados indicam que emissões de curto prazo em momentos de alta assimetria informacional reduzem o risco país em pelo menos 12 pontos-base, enquanto que emissões de longo prazo, nestes momentos, aumentam-no em torno de 90 pontos, movimentos que são mais pronunciados nas taxas de longo prazo da estrutura a termo do spread do que nas de curto prazo. Estes resultados, interpretados à luz de modelos que consideram o trade off entre custo de financiamento e risco de refinanciamento, sugerem que os investidores inferem de uma emissão curta uma maior probabilidade de o governo honrar a dívida e, em contraste, de uma emissão de longo prazo um aumento na probabilidade de moratória. Desta forma, concluímos que a maturidade das emissões de dívida revela informação sobre a qualidade da política econômica futura. / [en] In this work, we study the strong movements in country spreads in moments of sovereign debt issues. Our results point that short term bond issues in moments of high informational asymmetry reduce sovereign spreads in 12 basis-points at least, while long-term ones increase spreads in roughly 90 basis-points, movements that are more pronounced in long- term outstanding bonds than in short ones. These results, interpretated in light of models that consider the trade off between financial cost and refinancing risk, suggest that financial markets infer a higher likelihood of default from long term bond issues and a lower from short term ones. Therefore we conclude that sovereign debt issues reveal information about the future quality of the economic policy.

My dissertation combines structural macroeconomic models with analyses of macro and micro data and broadly contributes to two research agendas. The first relates to the channels through which monetary policy impacts the economy. The second aims to understand how heterogeneity observed at the micro level affects the economy. The first two chapters, "Monetary Policy and Heterogeneous Mortgage Refinancing" and "A Model of Heterogeneous Mortgage Refinancing," focus on the refinancing channel of monetary policy. Since fixed-rate mortgages are the most significant source of household debt in the U.S., monetary policy can stimulate household consumption and wealth by lowering mortgage costs through refinancing. The potency of this channel will depend on households’ outstanding mortgage rates, as well as their willingness and ability to refinance. I combine empirical patterns from monthly loan-level data (from joint work with A.Burya) and a heterogeneous agent model of mortgage refinancing to show that credit score heterogeneity dampens the aggregate consumption response to monetary policy by 11%. The third and fourth chapters, "Anchoring of Inflation Expectations: An Empirical Test" and "Anchoring of Inflation Expectations: Role of Risk Premia," study the effectiveness of monetary policy in the U.S. by exploring the degree to which inflation expectations are anchored. If inflation expectations are well-anchored, then the Fed has a higher capacity to support aggregate employment when necessary, without destabilizing inflation. In joint work with A. Burya and S. Mishra, I construct a proxy of the change in the Fed's aggressiveness to inflation and develop an empirical test for inflation expectations anchoring. The proxy of the changes in the Fed's aggressiveness is equal to changes in expectations of future policy rates that are unexplained by the information contained in the inflation news release. The empirical test involves examining the sensitivity of inflation expectations to monetary policy shocks conditional on that proxy. I then use a measure of inflation expectations adjusted for inflation and liquidity risk premia to demonstrate that bond yield data in the U.S. is consistent with the anchoring of the long-term inflation expectations.

This thesis aims to analyse the connection between the Eurozone's balance of payments crisis and the TARGET 2 balances. These balances represent mutual clearing relationship of the individual euro area member states to the European Central Bank inside the TARGET 2 system, which serves as a heart of the Eurozone's payment settlements. In fact, the central banks of the core countries hold significant positive balances while the peripheral central banks accumulated substantial negative positions. The TARGET 2 balances appeared mainly as a consequence of the liquidity outflow from the peripheral countries to the core due to the large imbalances in fundamental factors such as the NCA deficits, net foreign debt, public and private debt or competitiveness. The development of the balances was further facilitated via uneven liquidity provisions from the Eurosystem, as the peripheral countries effectively financed their balance of payments disequilibrium by issuing new liquidity that almost immediately moved to the core. The banking systems of the core started to operate in the liquidity excess status as the monetary base increased in 2011 and 2012. Assets with questionable quality collateralized the increasing refinancing operations in the periphery as the collateral requirements were repeatedly lowered. It resulted in an increase in the credit risk of these operations primarily in the periphery countries. This situation, among many others presented in this thesis, raises further questions about the parameters of the future single monetary policy as well as the continuance of the European monetary union.

Mit dem Ausbruch der Weltwirtschaftskrise 2008/2009 begann in Spanien eine über ein Jahrzehnt andauernde Reform des Konkursrechts mit dem Fokus die außergerichtlichen Restrukturierungsinstrumente im Geiste der Zeit zu stärken. Im Zentrum dieser Reformen stand der acuerdo de refinanciación - die sog. Refinanzierungsvereinba-rung - die durch verschiedene Schutzmechanismen und Privilegien den frühen Zugang zu einer außergerichtlichen Restrukturierung ermöglichen und damit für sanierungsfähige Unternehmen den Gang zu dem kostspieligen und oft wenig erfolgsversprechenden Konkursverfahren vermeiden sollte. Das Werk untersucht dieses Instrument auf seine Kohärenz und Praxistauglichkeit und entwickelt auf der Grundlage verbleibender Regelungslücken und Fehl-einschätzungen Verbesserungsvorschläge, die einen Beitrag für zukünftige Reformdebatten leisten soll. Der Ver-fasser gelangt zu dem Ergebnis, dass das spanische Konkursrecht ein Paradigmenwechsel vollzogen hat und trotzdem noch einen weiten Weg bis zu einem in der Praxis erfolgreichen Restrukturierungsrecht gehen muss. / With the onset of the global economic crisis in 2008/2009, Spain embarked on a decade-long reform of its bank-ruptcy laws with a focus on strengthening out-of-court restructuring instruments in the spirit of the times. At the center of these reforms was the acuerdo de refinanciación - the so-called refinancing agreement - which was intended to provide early access to out-of-court restructuring through various protective mechanisms and privi-leges, thereby avoiding the need for companies capable of restructuring to go through the costly and often unprom-ising bankruptcy proceedings. The work examines this instrument in terms of its coherence and practicality and, on the basis of remaining regulatory gaps and misconceptions, develops proposals for improvement that are in-tended to contribute to future debates on reform. The author concludes that Spanish bankruptcy law has undergone a paradigm shift, but still has a long way to go to achieve a restructuring law that is successful in practice.

Den svenska ekonomin har gått på högvarv under flera år och har kännetecknats av en lågräntemiljö med god tillgång på kapital. I spåren av finanskrisen under 2008 har flera kapitalkällor vuxit fram och möjliggjort en diversifiering av finansiering. Konkurrens bland kapitalkällorna har pressat priserna, ökat flexibiliteten, skapat längre löptider och ökat valfriheten för fastighetsbolagen. Detta är resultatet av stränga regelverk för bankväsendet och ett ökat intresse från både internationella och nationella investerare. Marknadsfinansiering har alltså fått en mer central roll i fastighetssektorns skuldportföljer. Covid-19-krisen har ställt detta på sin spets och dämpat tillgången på kapital. I den akademiska litteraturen är antalet studier inom forskningsfälten corporate finance och behavioral finance i kristid relativt få. Studiens syfte är att utforska marknadsaktörers uppfattning om krisen och om alternativ för refinansiering av kommersiella fastigheter samt att jämföra den nuvarande situationen med tidigare kriser. Studien bidrar med unikt material eftersom den produceras i inledningen av Covid-19-krisen. Studien är kvalitativ och använder sig av en dokumentstudie samt en intervjustudie om 17 respondenter från den svenska kommersiella fastighetsmarknaden. Dokumentstudien har möjliggjort en djupgående analys av hur tidigare ekonomiska kriser har påverkat fastighetsmarknaden och vilka lärdomar som kan dras. Aktörerna i studien anger att Covid-19 minskar tillgången på kapital för fastighetsmarknaden. Detta eftersom att det råder en stor osäkerhet i marknaden, vilket orsakat att flera kapitalkällor “fryst”. Det går att se signaler som pekar på ett skifte av finansieringskällor för de svenska fastighetsbolagen. Flera vänder sig nu från kapitalmarknaden och mot bankmarknaden för att få hjälp med refinansiering. Covid-19 har realiserat en unik refinansieringsrisk som inte påminner om tidigare kriser, vilket kan förstås mot bakgrund av de senare årens ökade användande av nya finansieringsformer. / The Swedish economy has been booming for several years and has been characterized by a low interest rate environment with good access to capital. In the wake of the financial crisis in 2008, several sources of capital have emerged and enabled diversification of funding. Competition among the capital sources has pushed prices down, increased flexibility, created longer maturities and increased freedom of choice for the real estate companies. This is the result of stringent banking regulations and increased interest from both international and national investors. Market financing has thus been given a more central role in the property sector's debt portfolios. The Covid-19-crisis has put this at its forefront and slowed the supply of capital. In the academic literature, the research fields of corporate finance and behavioral finance in times of crisis are still relatively unexplored. The aim of the study is to explore the market actor’s perception of the crisis and of alternatives for the refinancing of commercial real estate as well as comparing the present situation to earlier crises. This study is produced during the emergence of the Covid-19 crisis in the Spring of 2020 and provides a unique material. The study is qualitative and uses a document study as well as an interview study of 17 respondents from the Swedish commercial real estate market. The document study has enabled an in-depth analysis of how previous economic crises have affected the real estate market and what lessons can be learned to gain an understanding of the study's research issues. The participants in the study indicate that Covid-19 reduces the supply of capital for the real estate market. There is great uncertainty in the market, which has caused several sources of capital to “freeze”. It is also possible to see signals that point to a shift in sources of financing among the Swedish real estate companies. Companies turn from the capital market to the banking sector for refinancing. Covid-19 has realized a unique refinancing risk that is not reminiscent of previous crises, which can be understood in the light of the increased use of new forms of financing in recent years.

Mit den steigenden Anteilen der Wind- und Solarstromerzeugung als fluktuierenden erneuerbaren Energien (FEE) wurden in den vergangenen Jahren aus der Energiewirtschaft, der Wissenschaft und Politik Forderungen laut, die FEE im Interesse einer effizienteren Förderung „besser“ in die liberalisierten Strommärkte zu integrieren (sog. Marktintegration der EE). Gefordert wird u. a., dass die FEE in Zukunft ähnlich wie die thermischen Kraftwerke ihre Stromproduktion an den Preissignalen der Großhandels-Strommärkte ausrichten, um somit zum besseren Ausgleich von Angebot und Nachfrage beizutragen. In die Diskussion zur grundlegenden Reform des EEG 2014 wurde u. a. die Einführung einer fixen statt variablen Marktprämie, einer kapazitiven Vergütung sowie die wettbewerbliche Ausschreibung anstatt administrativer Förderhöhen eingebracht. Investitionen in FEE-Anlagen als kapitalintensive Technologien sehen sich jedoch bei verstärkter Marktintegration unter den heute vorherrschenden Marktbedingungen – die primär auf einen thermischen Kraftwerkspark ausgelegt sind - zunehmenden Investitions- und Betriebsrisiken ausgesetzt, die durch Risikoaufschläge bei Eigen- und Fremdkapital in die Investitionskosten eingepreist werden. Neben steigenden Preisrisiken durch stärkere Preisvolatilitäten bei höheren FEE-Anteilen ergeben sich in Abhängigkeit der Förderinstrumente jedoch auch neue Mengenrisiken, da mit der Einführung der FEE-Direktvermarktung diese bei entsprechend niedrigen Preisen marktgetrieben abgeregelt werden. Durch den bereits in der Vergangenheit nachgewiesenen Merit-Order-Effekt und den Marktwertverlust der FEE durch den sog. Gleichzeitigkeitseffekt, stellt sich damit die Frage, ob sich ein System mit hohen Anteilen an FEE zukünftig rein marktendogen auf Basis eines Grenzkostenmarktes refinanzieren lässt. Mit Hilfe des im Rahmen der Dissertation weiterentwickelten agentenbasierten Strommarktmodells AMIRIS wurden zur Beantwortung der Fragestellung unterschiedliche Szenarioanalysen durchgeführt und auf der Akteurs- und Systemebene ausgewertet. Die stündlich aufgelösten Simulationsläufe von 2015-2035 zur Entwicklung der Refinanzierungsbedingungen der FEE, der FEE-Marktwerte sowie der assoziierten Fördereffizienz zur Erreichung der FEE-Ziele bei Anwendung einer variablen oder fixen Markt- sowie Kapazitätsprämie kommen dabei zu dem Ergebnis, dass die Refinanzierung eines allein marktendogenen Ausbaus von FEE-Anlagen unter den Bedingungen eines grenzkostenbasierten Strommarktes nicht möglich ist. Dies liegt primär an den zunehmend marktgetrieben abgeregelten Strommengen sowie den Marktwertverlusten durch den Gleichzeitigkeitseffekt. Problem ist hierbei, dass keiner der Anlagenbetreiber zum Zeitpunkt der Investition realistisch abschätzen kann, welcher Anteil der meteorologisch erzeugbaren Strommenge sich letztendlich am Markt absetzen lässt. Denn die vermarktbaren Strommengen hängen nicht nur vom Förderinstrument, sondern vor allem von der zukünftigen Flexibilität im System ab. Hinzu kommt, dass sich im Referenzszenario mit keinem der diskutierten Instrumente auch nur annäherungsweise die EE-Ausbauziele bis 2035 erreichen lassen. Zusätzlich kommt es beim derzeit implementierten EE-Direktvermarktungssystem über die Strombörse mit Wettbewerb zwischen den dezentralen Direktvermarktern bei der variablen Marktprämie zu ineffizienten Abregelungsentscheidungen, da in diesem Förderregime der Anreiz besteht, die stromgestehungskostentechnisch günstigsten FEE-Anlagen als erstes abzuregeln. Mit zunehmendem Anteil der FEE-Einspeisung wird es zukünftig bei einem dezentralen Direktvermarktungssystem außerdem zu hohen Informationsasymmetrien und damit einer ineffizienten Preisbildung im Stromgroßhandel kommen. Dies liegt an der Unkenntnis anderer Marktteilnehmer über die dezentrale Entscheidung abzuregelnder FEE-Mengen. Ein zentrales Direktvermarktungssystem mit einem sog. ‚Single-Buyer‘-Konzept könnte hier Abhilfe schaffen. Entgegen der vorherrschenden ökonomischen Theorie erweist sich die variable Marktprämie jedoch in allen untersuchten Szenarien als dynamisch effizienter als eine fixe Marktprämie, die wiederum effizienter wirkt als eine variable und fixe Kapazitätsprämie. Den größten Einfluss auf die absoluten als auch relativen Marktwerte der FEE; haben neben den Förderinstrumenten in absteigender Reihenfolge vor allem neue Stromverbraucher (P2X), ein zentrales statt dezentrales Direktvermarktungssystem, ein gleichmäßigeres Ausbauverhältnis zwischen Wind- und PV-Anlagen, eine gleichmäßigere Verteilung der Windanlagen zwischen Nord- und Süddeutschland, der flexible Einsatz von Biomasseanlagen, der Einsatz von Strom-zu-Strom-Speichern und zu relativ kleinen Anteilen auch eine systemdienlichere Auslegung der Anlagen (Schwachwindanlagen). Bessere Anreize zur Hebung der Flexibilitätspotentiale und damit bessere Integrationsmöglichkeiten der FEE bietet die Integration über die Stromvertriebe statt über den Stromgroßhandel. / With the increasing shares of wind and solar power generation as variable renewable energies (VRE), demands have been made in recent years from the energy industry, science and politics to integrate the VRE 'better' into the liberalised electricity markets in the interest of more efficient promotion (so-called market integration of renewables). One of the demands is that the VRE, like thermal power plants, should in future align its electricity production with the price signals of the wholesale electricity markets in order to contribute to a better balance between supply and demand. The discussion on the fundamental reform of the EEG 2014 included the introduction of a fixed instead of a variable market premium, a capacitive remuneration and a competitive tendering procedure instead of administrative subsidy amounts. Investments in VRE plants as capital-intensive technologies, however, are exposed to increasing investment and operating risks under today's prevailing market conditions - which are primarily designed for a thermal power plant park - as a result of increased market integration. In addition to rising price risks due to greater price volatility in the case of higher VRE shares, there are also new volume risks, depending on the support instruments used, as the introduction of VRE direct-marketing means that the power can be curtailed on a market-driven basis at correspondingly low prices. The merit order effect already proven in the past and the loss in market value of VRE due to the so-called simultaneity effect raise the question of whether a system with a high shares of VRE can be refinanced purely marketendogenously on the basis of a marginal cost market in the future. With the help of the agent-based electricity market model AMIRIS, which was further developed within the framework of the dissertation, different scenario analyses were carried out to answer the question and evaluated at the actor and system level. The hourly resolved simulation runs of 2015-2035 for the development of the refinancing conditions of the VRE, the VRE market values as well as the associated support efficiency in order to achieve the VRE targets with the application of a variable or fixed market and capacity premium come to the conclusion that the refinancing of a market endogenous expansion of VRE plants is not possible under the conditions of a marginal cost based electricity market. This is primarily due to the increasingly market-driven curtailment of VRE electricity volumes and the loss of market value due to the simultaneity effect. The problem here is that none of the plant operators can realistically estimate at the time of the investment what share of the meteorologically producible quantity of electricity can ultimately be sold on the market. This is because the quantities of electricity that can be marketed depend not only on the funding instrument, but above all on the future flexibility of the system. In addition, none of the instruments discussed in the reference scenario can even come close to achieving the renewable energy expansion targets by 2035. In addition, the currently implemented direct marketing system for renewables via the power exchange with competition between the decentralised direct marketers leads to inefficient curtailment decisions with regard to the variable market premium, since in this support regime there is an incentive to curtail the VRE plants with the lowest levelized-cost of electricity (LCOE) first. As the share of VRE increases, a decentralised direct marketing system will in future also lead to high information asymmetries and thus inefficient pricing in electricity wholesale. This is due to the unawareness of other market participants about the decentralised decision to curtailment VRE volumes. A central direct marketing system with a so-called 'single buyer' concept could remedy this situation. Contrary to the prevailing economic theory, the variable market premium proves to be dynamically more efficient than a fixed market premium in all scenarios examined, which in turn is more efficient than a variable and fixed capacity premium. The greatest influence on the absolute as well as relative market values of the VRE is exerted in descending order by new electricity consumers (P2X), a central instead of decentralised direct marketing system, a more even expansion ratio between wind and PV plants, a more even distribution of wind plants between northern and southern Germany, the flexible use of biomass plants, the use of electricity to electricity storage units and to relatively small proportions also a more system-oriented design of the plants (weakwind turbines). Better incentives to increase the flexibility potentials and thus better integration possibilities of the VRE are offered by the integration via the electricity utilities instead of the wholesale market.