Estimating exports and imports demand for Manufactured goods: The role of FDI

In this paper we examine the joint performance of FDI and trade under a full liberalization process consistent with New Trade Theory models. The testing framework consists of the estimation of demand for exports and imports of manufactured goods for a panel containing the majority of the EU countries as well as the US and Japan. The model includes as explanatory factors, not only the traditional determinants of trade, but also new ones, such as the stock of foreign direct investment (FDI). We apply a variety of panel unit root and cointegration tests to the cases of both homogeneous and heterogeneous panels. Whereas there is no evidence of cointegration when using just the traditional formulation, the results are favorable to the existence of long-run relationships linking the variables of the augmented model. Moreover, the results point mainly to a complementarity relationship between trade and FDI.

Essays on Foreign Capital, Extenal Finance and Trade of European Firms

Disertace se skládá ze tří kapitol zkoumajících empirické otázky podnikových financí, evropské integrace a mezinárodního obchodu s využitím firemních dat. První kapitola se zaměřuje na makroekonomické a firemně specifické determinanty lákání zahraničních investorů do českých firem před českým členstvím v EU. Druhá kapitola se zabývá testováním efektu zavedení evropské společné měny na pravděpodobnost, že firmy z eu- rozóny emitují vlastní jmění a korporátní dluh. Třetí kapitola si klade za cíl odhadnout, do jaké míry mohou levnější dovezené vstupy kompenzovat ztrátu exportních tržeb v důsledku apreciace domácí měny z pohledu českých firem v zpracovatelském průmyslu v období vstupu do EU. V první kapitole zkoumáme, které faktory přitahovaly zahraniční kapitál do českých firem v období prostřední fáze transformace před vstupem do EU mezi lety 1997 a 2002. Zatímco vliv zahraničních vlastníků na výkon firem byl již v odborné literatuře široce zkoumán, totéž neplatí pro opačný směr kauzality. Bereme v úvahu makroekonomické, odvětvově a firemně specifické indikátory atraktivnosti firem pro zahraniční kapitál. S využitím panelových dat odhadujeme lineární modely, modely s omezeně pozorovatelnou závislou proměnnou a hazardní model se zahraničním vlastnictvím jako závislou proměn- nou. Ukazujeme, že zahraniční...This dissertation is composed of three chapters studying empirical questions of corporate finance, European integration and international trade using firm-level data. The first chapter is focused on the macroeconomic and firm-specific determinants of attracting foreign investors to Czech firms before Czech EU membership. The second chapter tests the effect of introducing the European single currency on the likelihood of equity and corporate debt issues by firms in the eurozone. The third chapter asks to what extent cheaper imported inputs may offset the loss in export sales due to domestic currency appreciation in Czech manufacturing firms around the EU accession period. In the first chapter we study what factors attracted foreign capital to Czech firms during the mid-transition, pre-EU-accession period 1997-2002. While the foreign own- ers' influence on firm performance has been widely studied, the same is not true for the opposite direction of causality. We consider macroeconomic, industry- and firm-level indicators of a firm's attractiveness to foreign capital. Using panel data techniques, we es- timate linear models, limited dependent variable models and a hazard model with foreign ownership as the response variable. We find that foreign investors are likely to come from countries with higher corporate taxes...CERGEFaculty of Social SciencesFakulta sociálních vě

Poverty and social security in Malaysia : major themes in economic and social development.

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DX188331 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

The metaphorical brain [Research topic]

This Frontiers Special Issue will synthesize current findings on the cognitive neuroscience of metaphor, provide a forum for voicing novel perspectives, and promote new insights into the metaphorical brain

A chaos theory and nonlinear dynamics approach to the analysis of financial series : a comparative study of Athens and London stock markets

This dissertation presents an effort to implement nonlinear dynamic tools adapted from chaos theory in financial applications. Chaos theory might be useful in explaining the dynamics of financial markets, since chaotic models are capable of exhibiting behaviour similar to that observed in empirical financial data. In this context, the scope of this research is to provide an insight into the role that nonlinearities and, in particular, chaos theory may play in explaining the dynamics of financial markets. From a theoretical point of view, the basic features of chaos theory, as well as, the rationales for bringing chaos theory to the attention of financial researchers are discussed. Empirically, the fundamental issue of determining whether chaos can be observed in financial time series is addressed. Regarding the latter, empirical literature has been controversial. A quite exhaustive analysis of the existing literature is provided, revealing the inadequacies in terms of methodology and the testing framework adopted, so far. A new "multiple testing" methodology is developed combining methods and techniques from the fields of both Natural Sciences and the Economics, most of which have not been applied to financial data before. A serious effort has been made to fill, as much as possible, the gap which results from the lack of a proper statistical framework for the chaotic methods. To achieve this the bootstrap methodology is adopted. The empirical part of this work focuses on the comparison of two markets with different levels of maturity; the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), an emerging market, and London Stock Exchange (LSE). Our aim is to determine whether structural differences exist in these markets in terms of chaotic dynamics. In the empirical level we find nonlinearities in both markets by the use of the BDS test. R/S analysis reveals fractality and long term memory for the ASE series only. Chaotic methods, such as the correlation dimension (and related methods and techniques) and the largest Lyapunov exponent estimation, cannot rule out a chaotic explanation for the ASE market, but no such indication could be found for the LSE market. Noise filtering by the SVD method does not alter these findings. Alternative techniques based on nonlinear nearest neighbour forecasting methods, such as the "piecewise polynomial approximation" and the "simplex" methods, support our aforementioned conclusion concerning the ASE series. In all, our results suggest that, although nonlinearities are present, chaos is not a widespread phenomenon in financial markets and it is more likely to exist in less developed markets such as the ASE. Even then, chaos is strongly mixed with noise and the existence of low-dimensional chaos is highly unlikely. Finally, short-term forecasts trying to exploit the dependencies found in both markets seem to be of no economic importance after accounting for transaction costs, a result which supports further our conclusions about the limited scope and practical implications of chaos in Finance

Determining the effect of regulation on Microfinance Institutions Financial Self-Sustainability. A Cross-Country Comparison

Microfinance is an initiative which seeks to address financial inclusion, micro-entrepreneurship, and poverty reduction without over burdening governments. However, the current sector of microfinance is still heavily dependent on the good will of donors. The over-reliance on donations is a feature which threatens the long term sustainability of microfinance. Much has been written about this reliance, but research to date hasn’t empirically examined the effect of regulation as a mediator. This is a critical area of study because regulation directly affects Microfinance Institutions’ (MFI) innovation, and innovation is what shapes the future of microfinance. This thesis considers the role that regulation plays in affecting MFI’s and their ability to innovate in products, services and long-term sustainability via access to capital. Interviews were undertaken with stakeholders in MFI’s, NGO’s, Self-Regulating Bodies, and Regulators in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. This thesis discusses findings from interviews in relation to regulatory measures regarding financial self-sustainability of MFI’s. The conclusions of this thesis have implications for policy and inform the microfinance literature

Hands-on Science. Advancing Science. Improving Education

The book herein aims to contribute to the advancement of Science to the improvement of Science Education and to an effective implementation of a sound widespread scientific literacy at all levels of society. Its chapters reunite a variety of diverse and valuable works presented in this line of thought at the 15th International Conference on Hands-on Science “Advancing Science. Improving Education

Government and Business Relations in Thailand: An Empirical Study of Ideology and Interaction

Introduction. The subject of this thesis is government and business relations in Thailand. The theoretical basis of this subject mainly originated in studies in political science, economics, and sociology. The macro-perspective approach used in these studies produces an inaccurate description of government and business relations, and generates information which is of limited use to private managers and public administrators during their interaction. Studies of the relationship in developing countries are also scarce. In the light of these weaknesses, the microlevel, interactional approach is used to analyse the relationship in this research. Such an approach brings out the non-homogeneous nature of the relationship in which the government is seen as an institution both offering opportunities and imposing restrictions, and business as being both socially responsible and commercially selfish