International Economics Commons^™

Three Essays In International Macroeconomics, Simeon Boyanov Nanovsky

Theses and Dissertations--Economics

This dissertation spans topics related to global trade, oil prices, optimum currency areas, the eurozone, monetary independence, capital controls and the international monetary policy trilemma. It consists of four chapters and three essays. Chapter one provides a brief summary of all three essays. Chapter two investigates the impact of oil prices on global trade. It is concluded that when oil prices increase, countries start trading relatively more with their neighbors. As an application this chapter provides a new estimate of the eurozone effect on trade. Chapter three continues to study the eurozone and asks whether it is an optimum currency …

What Is The 'Economic Value' Of Learning English In Spain?, Molly M. Robbins

Scripps Senior Theses

This paper uses historical and economic references to evaluate the economic value of learning English in Spain. Seeing that English is the lingua franca in politics, business, and technology, it is a necessary skill for Spanish citizens to possess in order to efficiently interact in foreign relations of all kinds. Due to Franco’s harsh language policies, and Spain’s ineffective education system, Spain has lacked the same linguistic exposure to foreign languages—especially English—than the rest of Europe. By referencing the previous literature written about the relationship between language and earnings, this paper seeks to find the economic incentive for Spaniards to …

Costly Distribution And The Non-Equivalence Of Tariffs And Quotas, James Lake, Maia K. Linask

Economics Faculty Publications

When governments impose a quota or tariff on imports, it is well known that the resulting rents and revenues trigger costly rent-seeking and revenue-seeking activities, which are welfare-reducing and may be economically more significant than the efficiency losses resulting from the protectionist-induced resource misallocation. Repeated interaction among firms can eliminate wasteful rent- and revenue-seeking expenditures through cooperation. We show that while aggregate outcomes are equivalent under tariffs and quotas if cooperation arises, the conditions under which cooperation arises differ by policy. This difference arises because a firm must incur additional cost to physically import and distribute the goods associated with …

Who Profits From Trade Facilitation Initiatives? Implications For African Countries☆, Bernard Hoekman, Ben Shepherd

Journal of African Trade

Extensive research has demonstrated the existence of large potential welfare gains from measures to facilitate trade — reduce trade costs — for African countries in particular. However, concerns have been expressed by policymakers regarding the distribution of the benefits and costs of trade facilitation. We use firm-level data for a large number of developing countries, in Africa and the rest of the world, to assess the claims that it will be mostly large firms that benefit from trade facilitation and that trade facilitation may result in a deterioration of the trade balance. We find no evidence for either argument. Our …

Unemployment And Economic Integration For Developing Countries, Haiwen Zhou

Economics Faculty Publications

While financial or trade integration between countries may increase the size of the market and aid the adoption of more advanced technologies, will it also increase the level of urban unemployment for a developing country? In this model, there is unemployment in the urban sector. Manufacturing firms engage in oligopolistic competition and choose increasing returns technologies to maximize profits. Financial firms provide capital to manufacturing firms and they also engage in oligopolistic competition. We show that an increase in the wage rate in the manufacturing sector changes neither the level of technology nor the level of employment in the manufacturing …

Crime, Institutions And Sector-Specific Fdi In Latin America, Luisa Blanco, Isabel Ruiz, W. Charles Swayer, Rossitza Wooster

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this article, we explore how crime and institutions affect the flow of capital in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Latin American and Caribbean countries in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors during the 1996-2010 period. We use three different variables related to violent crime: homicides, crime victimization, and an index of organized crime. We find that there is a correlation between the institutional and crime variables, where the significance of institutional variables tends to disappear when the crime variables are added to the model. We find that higher crime victimization and organized crime are associated with …

Industry Career Guide: Mining, Roberto Raymundo

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

The mining industry in the Philippines plays a very significant role in the pursuit of industrial development because of the sector’s ability to provide mineral resources that serve as raw materials for manufacturing, construction, the utilities as well as the transportation and communications sector. It is also a major contributor of foreign currency through the exports of mineral ore and other processed mineral products and provides employment to communities in far flung areas where the only source of economic activity is mining operations. The extraction of copper, gold, silver, nickel, coal, gas, oil, stone and gravel as well as finding …

Mexico Consensus Economic Forecast, Volume 18, Number 1, Thomas M. Fullerton Jr., Adam G. Walke

Border Region Modeling Project

No abstract provided.

Political Choice And Economic Crisis In Brazil: A Case Of Mismanagement Of Public Money, Evellyn Brasil Monteiro

Dissertations and Theses

A few years ago, Brazil was the country where everybody would like to invest. Because it was one of the members of the BRIC, group of emergent countries with fast-growing economies including also Russia, India and China that gave the investors warranties that those investments would be successful. The current situation is very different from the one pictured not too long ago. High interest rates, high inflation, undervalued currency, and international political scandals describe the very serious economic crisis the country has been facing recently, making the economic growth forecast decrease. In 2013, the variation of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) …

Do Oil Economies In Sub-Sahara Africa, Rebecca Girma

Dissertations and Theses

The African continent provides majority of the world’s raw material for technology and fine jewelry. Countries dependent on their extractive industries lag behind on developmental goals. Their GDPs are high as well as their national poverty levels. This paper explores the factors in which a nation lacks development when it is financially wealthy to do so. There are similar patterns in nations where resource curse has occurred. What is the key to sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa? Is solving corruption and migrating away from a market dependent on primary exports the answer? Can they transition from the ancient patrimonial state …

The Face Of The Market, Thomas Woodcock

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis reviews the effect on economic openness that can be established by the presence of strong Global Compact local networks. The work identifies three measures of openness and four sets of domestic conditions in which the Global Compact operates, respectively: (1) prevalence of trade, (2) measures of foreign direct investment and foreign portfolio investment and (3) policy indicators of openness, in respect to democracies with (a) strong local networks or (b) weak local networks, as well as autocratic regimes with (c) strong or (d) weak local networks. A comparative study follows, looking at twenty-three years of data across fifty …

World Bank, Agriculture And Policy: A Case Study In Ghana And Ethiopia, Steven Margel

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis tests the effectiveness of the World Bank’s agricultural-aid policy by examining case studies in Ghana and Ethiopia in the period of 2000-2010. Each study examines the policy context, project/program success, overall human development results, and threats to sustainability, of agricultural aid. The primary hypothesis of the paper is that participatory processes and inclusive institutions will prove to be decisive factors. Each case is tested against this political view of aid in addition to three additional images (Destructive, Ineffective, Effective Technical), in order to ensure a comprehensive review.

The Ghana case showed a lack of participation in forming the …

Is China The Answer? The Effect Of Chinese Engagement On Economic And Human Development In Africa, Ralph Achacoso

Dissertations and Theses

Though the relationship between China and Africa dates back to the 1950s, China's ever-increasing demand for energy sources has garnered newfound attention from scholars, coinciding with the rapid expansion of the Chinese economy over the last fifteen years. In order to fuel its economic machine, China has turned to Africa, a resource-rich continent and holder of one-third of the world's oil deposits. Taking a unique approach that blurs the line between aid, trade, and investment, China‘s search for resource security has injected new life into Africa‘s developmental efforts. To Africa's benefit, the relationship has boosted African trade volumes, productivity, physical …

Examining Tanzania's Development Landscape, Jenna Hussein

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis will examine Tanzania’s development landscape through Amartya Sen’s perspective, as per his conception of development that is put forth in Development as Freedom. Applying Sen’s conception of development to the case of Tanzania reinforces his view that development is an intricate process that is dependent on the expansion of various freedoms. It also yields unique insights about the most pressing issues that are currently impeding progress in the country. I will first clarify Sen’s framework and provide an explanation of development that corresponds with his ideals. Next, I will assess Tanzania’s state of affairs in terms of …

From Trade Deficit In Goods To Trade Surplus In Services: An Eclectic And Extended Gravity Model Approach In Analyzing The Determinants Of Service Trade Of The United States, Tofayel Ahmmad

Masters Theses

This paper employs an eclectic and extended gravity model of trade to assess the most important determinants of real export and import of services of the United States by analyzing US service trade with its 33 partner countries for 15 years. Distance affects US real export of services negatively, but has no influence on US real import of services. A devaluation of the US dollar increases service export of the United States. We find a positive relationship between US goods trade and US service exports. US outward FDI has a positive impact on US real export of services, but has …

Asian Tiger Economies' Choices, Hwee Kwan Chow-Tan

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper considers the choices facing the Asian tiger economies regarding growth strategies that foster trans-Pacific rebalancing. A review of historical data spanning 2000 to 2008 reveals only a slight widening of the overall current account surplus but that there is considerable variation across the countries, with Hong Kong, China exhibiting the biggest increase in the saving and investment (S-I) balance. Meanwhile, cross-correlation coefficient estimates tentatively suggest that changes in the real effective exchange rate do not seem to exhibit a consistent negative lead over changes in the S-I gap in the short run over the past decade. Highimport leakage, …

Measuring Globalization: Better Trade Statistics For Better Policy, Susan N. Houseman Editor, Michael J. Mandel Editor

Upjohn Press

Understanding the impacts of globalization requires good data, and national statistical systems were not designed to measure many of the transactions occurring in today’s global economy. The chapters in this volume and its companion volume identify biases and gaps in national statistics, examine the magnitude of the problems they pose, and propose solutions to address significant biases and fill key data gaps.

Sustainable Microfinancing: Improving Microenterprise's Traditional Measures Of Success, Stephen R. Watson

Graduate Research Papers

Microfinance has over three decades of experience serving the needs of the poor on earth. Unfortunately, academia and the secular world are divided on its effectiveness to lift the impoverished from the bottom of the economic pyramid. India is the focus of this paper, but measures of microfinace success are essentially universal. This paper examines the metrics used to evaluate programs and their benefit to India's poor. Current estimates find 2.8 billion people survive on less than $2 per day. Subsistence living impacts nutrition, shelter, sanitation, transportation and access to healthcare and education. India's caste system creates discrimination and overpopulation …

Malaysian Equities: A Sector Analysis Of Risk And Normality, Robert J. Powell

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study uses Value at Risk (VaR) and Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) metrics to measure the relative riskiness of sectors for Malaysian equities. VaR is a widely used volatility measure, but only measures risk below a specified threshold, whereas CVaR looks at risk beyond that threshold. The study finds that the relative risk of sectors changes with changing economic circumstances as measured by VaR, but remains significantly the same as measured by CVaR. Parametric (normally distributed) measures of VaR are compared to nonparametric measures, and it is found, consistently across all sectors, that parametric measures are not suitable measures …