Exchange Rate Policy and Sovereign Bond Spreads in Developing Countries

This paper empirically analyzes how exchange rate policy affects the issuance and pricing of international bonds for developing countries. We find that countries with less flexible exchange rate regimes pay higher sovereign bond spreads and are less likely to issue bonds. Quantitatively, changing a free-floating regime to a fixed regime decreases the likelihood of bond issuance by 4.6% and increases the bond spread by 1.3% on average. Furthermore, countries with real exchange rate overvaluation have higher bond spreads and higher bond issuance probabilities. Moreover, such positive effects of real exchange rate overvaluation tend to be magnified for countries with fixed exchange rate regimes. Our results suggest that choosing a less flexible exchange rate regime in general leads to higher borrowing costs for developing countries, especially when their currencies are overvalued

Exchange Rate Policy and Sovereign Bond Spreads in Developing Countries

This paper empirically analyzes how exchange rate policy affects the issuance and pricing of international bonds for developing countries. We find that countries with less flexible exchange rate regimes pay higher sovereign bond spreads and are less likely to issue bonds. Quantitatively, changing a free-floating regime to a fixed regime decreases the likelihood of bond issuance by 4.6% and increases the bond spread by 1.3% on average. Furthermore, countries with real exchange rate overvaluation have higher bond spreads and higher bond issuance probabilities. Moreover, such positive effects of real exchange rate overvaluation tend to be magnified for countries with fixed exchange rate regimes. Our results suggest that choosing a less flexible exchange rate regime in general leads to higher borrowing costs for developing countries, especially when their currencies are overvalued

Osteoarthritis, Labour Division, and Occupational Specialization of the Late Shang China - Insights from Yinxu (ca. 1250 - 1046 B.C.)

This research investigates the prevalence of human osteoarthritis at Yinxu, the last capital of the Late Shang dynasty (ca. 1250–1046 B.C.), to gain insights about lifeways of early urban populations in ancient China. A total of 167 skeletal remains from two sites (Xiaomintun and Xin’anzhuang) were analyzed to examine osteoarthritis at eight appendicular joints and through three spinal osseous indicators. High osteoarthritis frequencies were found in the remains with males showing significantly higher osteoarthritis on the upper body (compared to that of the females). This distinctive pattern becomes more obvious for males from Xiaomintun. Furthermore, Xiaomintun people showed significantly higher osteoarthritis in both sexes than those from Xin’anzhuang. Higher upper body osteoarthritis is speculated to be caused by repetitive lifting and carrying heavy-weight objects, disproportionately adding more stress and thus more osseous changes to the upper than the lower body. Such lifting-carrying could be derived from intensified physical activities in general and specialized occupations in particular. Higher osteoarthritis in males may reveal a gendered division of labour, with higher osteoarthritis in Xiaomintun strongly indicating an occupational difference between the two sites. The latter speculation can be supported by the recovery of substantially more bronze-casting artifacts in Xiaomintun. It is also intriguing that relatively higher osteoarthritis was noticed in Xiaomintun females, which seems to suggest that those women might have also participated in bronze-casting activities as a “family business.” Such a family-involved occupation, if it existed, may have contributed to establishment of occupation-oriented neighborhoods as proposed by many Shang archaeologists

Increase Productivity of Machinig Center at Machine-shop by Using Multiple Machine at Small Seriality

Import 23/07/2015Diplomová práce se zaměřuje na problém, kterým je zvýšení produktivity na středisku obrobna s využitím více strojových obsluh při malé sériovosti. Hlavní cíl zvyšování produktivity spočívá v tom, zda je možné zavést dvou strojovou obsluhu na CNC strojích typu SP 30 CNC č. 1, č. 2. V rámci druhotného cíle zvyšování produktivity na středisku obrobna a zájmu firmy byly z projektového hlediska navrhnuty a umístěny nové CNC stroje, sklad přípravků a materiálu, skříňky a kovové bedny k jednotlivým strojům, skříňky na osobní věci a navrhnout jídelní kout.This master thesis focuses on the problem of increasing machine shop productivity by using multimachine operation in small series production. More specifically, the primary thesis aim is to analyze options and feasibility of implementing multimachine operation of two CNC lathes SP 30 CNC to increase productivity. The secondary aim of machine shop productivity increasing in the interest of the company includes design of new CNC machines and their layout, a material and jigs warehouse, cabinets and metal crates for each of workplaces, personal lockers and a dining area.345 - Katedra mechanické technologievelmi dobř

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Essays in sovereign default and emerging economies

We study sovereign debt default in small open economies and the relation linking sovereign bond spreads, business cycles, and exchange rate policy in emerging economies. In the second chapter, Sovereign Default and Debt Renegotiation, we develop a small open economy model to study sovereign default and debt renegotiation within a dynamic borrowing framework. A country\u27s future borrowing and default decisions affect the determination of debt recovery rates in a Nash bargaining game; whereas the endogenous debt recovery rates, in turn, influence the country\u27s ex ante incentive to default. Sovereign bonds are priced to compensate creditors for the risks of default and debt restructuring in equilibrium. We find that both equilibrium debt recovery rates and sovereign bond prices decrease with the level of debt. We also show that the model quantitatively accounts for the volatile and countercyclical bond spreads, countercyclical current account and other empirical regularities of the Argentine economy. In the third chapter, Country Spreads and Emerging Countries: Who Drives Whom?, we disentangle the link among the world interest rate, country spreads, and emerging-market fundamentals, using a methodology that combines empirical and theoretical models. We find that US interest rate shocks explain about 20 percent of movements in aggregate activity in emerging economies; whereas country spread shocks explain about 12 percent of business cycles in emerging economies. We also show that US-interest-rate shocks affect domestic variables mostly through their effects on country spreads. Furthermore, the feedback from emerging-market fundamentals to country spreads significantly exacerbates business-cycle fluctuations. In the fourth chapter, Exchange Rate Policy and Sovereign Bond Spreads in Developing Countries, we investigate the impacts of exchange rate policy on sovereign bond spreads using data on bonds issued by 51 developing countries between 1990 and 2001. We find that real exchange rate overvaluation significantly increases sovereign bond issue probability and raises bond spreads. We also show that spreads and the likelihood of issuing bonds depend on the exchange rate regime. Particularly, exchange rate misalignment under a hard peg significantly increases bond spreads. Moreover, in time of debt crises, exchange rate policy also greatly affects the sovereign bond market, especially through exchange rate overvaluation

Essays in sovereign default and emerging economies

We study sovereign debt default in small open economies and the relation linking sovereign bond spreads, business cycles, and exchange rate policy in emerging economies. In the second chapter, Sovereign Default and Debt Renegotiation, we develop a small open economy model to study sovereign default and debt renegotiation within a dynamic borrowing framework. A country\u27s future borrowing and default decisions affect the determination of debt recovery rates in a Nash bargaining game; whereas the endogenous debt recovery rates, in turn, influence the country\u27s ex ante incentive to default. Sovereign bonds are priced to compensate creditors for the risks of default and debt restructuring in equilibrium. We find that both equilibrium debt recovery rates and sovereign bond prices decrease with the level of debt. We also show that the model quantitatively accounts for the volatile and countercyclical bond spreads, countercyclical current account and other empirical regularities of the Argentine economy. In the third chapter, Country Spreads and Emerging Countries: Who Drives Whom?, we disentangle the link among the world interest rate, country spreads, and emerging-market fundamentals, using a methodology that combines empirical and theoretical models. We find that US interest rate shocks explain about 20 percent of movements in aggregate activity in emerging economies; whereas country spread shocks explain about 12 percent of business cycles in emerging economies. We also show that US-interest-rate shocks affect domestic variables mostly through their effects on country spreads. Furthermore, the feedback from emerging-market fundamentals to country spreads significantly exacerbates business-cycle fluctuations. In the fourth chapter, Exchange Rate Policy and Sovereign Bond Spreads in Developing Countries, we investigate the impacts of exchange rate policy on sovereign bond spreads using data on bonds issued by 51 developing countries between 1990 and 2001. We find that real exchange rate overvaluation significantly increases sovereign bond issue probability and raises bond spreads. We also show that spreads and the likelihood of issuing bonds depend on the exchange rate regime. Particularly, exchange rate misalignment under a hard peg significantly increases bond spreads. Moreover, in time of debt crises, exchange rate policy also greatly affects the sovereign bond market, especially through exchange rate overvaluation