Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Berkeley, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 429-446).

The thesis deals with the US mortgage crisis of 2008. The mortgage crisis, the following financial crisis and the debt crisis have affected billions of people around the world. It has been widely covered in literature. This thesis, however, takes a different approach. It analyses the crisis form the point of view of law and economics, looking for overlaps between those disciplines. The author does not accept the divide between law and economics. It is necessary to consider both views in order to understand the crisis. This work does not seek causes of the crisis primarily in the banks and the lack of regulation, as is common view. Rather, this thesis looks for systemic failures and root causes. It focuses on monetary policy (especially the US Fed), the regulatory institutions, bank management and the role of credit rating agencies and exotic financial instruments. In the first part of the work, the author looks at possible causes in different areas: Monetary policy and global trade imbalances, regulation of the mortgage market and government support of affordable housing, banks and their management (corporate governance), regulation and deregulation of the banking sector (with emphasis on the functioning of regulatory institutions, their legal basis and historical context), so-called securitization and...

No description available.

This thesis studies the causes and consequences of the credibility problem in trade liberalization, with a special reference to African economies. The two necessary conditions for credibility are found to be macroeconomic compatibility and time-consistency, while the sufficient conditions are more difficult to identify. A lack of credibility is typically probabilistic as private agents may be uncertain about the government's intentions, or the future terms of trade. The first part of the thesis develops a theory of economic behaviour in the absence of credibility. Due to private responses, incredibility creates a welfare cost which may arise from (i) non optimal intertemporal substitution in consumption, (ii) accumulation of stocks of imports, (iii) insufficient relocation of factors, and (iv) deferral of investment. A simple consumption model and two production models are used to assess the magnitude of the welfare cost and to derive a cost curve as a function of the probability of default. A non-monotonic curve with kinks emerges. Many standard results concerning the speed of liberalization change drastically when the assumption of full credibility is relaxed. Containing consumption costs would typically call for a gradual reform to reduce the incentive to accumulate inventories, while, from the production point of view, a big bang or initial overshooting are preferable. Gradualism is preferable when (i) reserves may otherwise be depleted by speculative imports, forcing the government to abandon the reform, (ii) only incremental devaluation is possible, or (iii) the level of the implicit tariff is unknown. The second part examines how liberalization episodes can be identified empirically using a quantitative measure of trade policy. The average implicit tariff index, which is the ratio of the domestic deflator to the world price index, is derived for Kenya. As the domestic deflator appears to be biased, a hypothetical implicit tariff index is derived from a Linear Expenditure System. Further, the other empirical study quantifies the social cost of incredibility during four Kenyan reforms. Three hypotheses are tested: (i) speculative accumulation of imports, (ii) deferral of investment, and (iii) increased liquidity in response to perceived uncertainty about future trade policy. The highest welfare cost was incurred during the 1980 reform which was not coordinated with exchange rate management and was therefore incompatible.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Georgetown University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 129-137)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1996. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [189]-197).

Economic growth and development are strategic for the overall development of a country. Micro, small and medium enterprises play a surmountable role in economic growth and development. Among other contributions, they provide jobs in an economy. Several developing countries, such as Eritrea, face limited private sector growth, yet also have the need to invest in the creation of enough and decent job for youths. Hence, this study intended to identify the prominent factors that deter the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises as well as the connection between their growth and youth employment, using a case study of Eritrea. The study used econometric research method. Through stratified sampling and a questionnaire, it collected data from 76 micro, small and medium enterprises. In the analysis, it used ordinal and binary logistic regressions, chi-square and correlation tests. The study concludes that there is no sufficient evidence that the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises influences youth employment. It finds that the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises is deterred by obstructive access to raw materials, obstructive banking regulations and obstructive general business regulations and policies. The study recommends improvement of the macro-economic conditions for pro-business sector growth, establishment of a policy on development of micro, small and medium enterprises, and a gradual liberalization of the private economy. Further, it proposes an impact investing based growth model of micro, small and medium enterprises to increase certainty on employment creation contribution. It suggests that an investment in micro, small and medium enterprises for youth employment creation that does not address the identified deterrents faces a significant impact risk.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2006. / Supervisor: William D. Coleman. Includes bibliographical references (p. 309-349).

This study compares the impact of media ownership, regulation and policy, and technology adoption on the introduction of digital terrestrial television in the United States and Mainland China. Through the use of a case study approach, a qualitative and quantitative examination is given. The results indicate that private group ownership throughout the U.S. digital terrestrial television industry and state ownership in China's television industry lead to the different paths to digital transition. Both governments, however, are deeply involved in respective digital initiatives and play an important role in the implementation from analog to digital. The technical standard adoption in the two countries places the underpinning for the future development of digital television (DTV), which also results in China lagging behind the United States by almost ten years. The differences of technological environments in households and income among consumers in the two countries further predict the intention to DTV adoption.