Sovereign wealth funds are a growing and dynamic force in international finance. The shifting international economic relations from capital rich states gives them new power in influencing the global agenda. Despite controlling trillions of dollars in the biggest companies in the world, little is known about the opaque funds of oil rich and non-democratic governments. This is the first book to compile a history of sovereign wealth funds recounting the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority's involvement with the scandal-plagued BCCI bank and Chinese arms exports to Iran. By constructing a history within the proper context of oil driven surpluses and large inflationary pressures with no international investment framework, this book explains the development and growth of sovereign wealth funds. The economics of capital surplus countries and investment strategies are examined in order to better understand sovereign wealth fund creation and growth. In a straightforward and accessible style, the author examines the complex and amazing growth of an unknown group of investors controlling trillions of dollars worldwide.

This important book - written by leading scholars in international business - critically reviews the activities of European and Pacific international firms. Transformations of markets and national economic systems associated with the activities of these corporations are posing many issues of adjustment and development, and are affecting decisions on long term investments in industrial capacity.The book provides a useful framework and source of reference for policy makers in government, international agencies and the private sector to address the challenges and opportunities that arise from corporate, regional and financial integration of the world economy.

The bond market is a key securities market and emerging economies present exciting, new investment opportunities. This timely book provides insights into these emerging bond markets through empirical models and analytical databases, i.e. Bloomberg, Eikon Refinitiv and the Russian Cbonds. The book looks at the dynamics of the development of emerging bond markets, their competitiveness, features and patterns using macro and micro level data. It also takes into consideration various securities type i.e. government, corporate, sub-federal and municipal bonds, to identify respective challenges and risks. The book also analyses factors that may inhibit or stimulate a well-balanced financial market. It includes case studies of Asian, Latin American and Russian bond markets, as also as cross-country comparisons. It will be a useful reference for anyone who is interested to learn more of the bond market and the modelling techniques for critical data analysis.

This book explores the role of law and regulation in sustaining financial markets in both developed and developing countries, particularly the European Union, United States and China. The central argument of this book is that law matters for the operation of financial markets, which, in turn, significantly influences the performance of firms, industries, and economies. The Role of Law and Regulation in Sustaining Financial Markets is divided into four parts. Part one addresses the connection between law, financial development, and economic growth. Part two deals with the role of financial regulation, which can be used to correct market failures, such as negative externalities, information asymmetries, and monopolies. Part three focuses on the design, functioning, and performance of different financial instruments. Part four examines the topic of Corporate Social Responsibility. This book contributes to the 'law and finance' literature by studying certain conventional issues, such as the relationship between finance and economic growth, and the effects of regulatory quality on financial development, from new perspectives and/or with new evidence, data, and cases. It also explores novel topics, such as project finance contracts, insurance and climate change, the shadow banking system, that have been overlooked in current literature. This book is meaningful not only for the EU and the US, which have suffered considerably from the financial crisis of 2008, but also for China, which is struggling to build a sound institutional infrastructure to govern its increasingly complicated financial system. By comparing the regulatory philosophies and practices of the EU, the US and China, this book will help the reader to understand the diverse nature of the global 'law and finance' nexus and avoid succumbing to the myth of "one size fits all".

Academics and practitioners alike recognize that global governance institutions suffer from a democratic deficit. Many have looked to transnational civil society as a means of remediation. Yet a clear gap has begun to emerge between normative hopes and empirical reality. Using new data from civil society engagements with the World Bank, this book shows how transnational civil society organizations prioritize pre-existing mission over responsiveness to claimed stakeholders, undertake activism in line with financial incentives, achieve impacts using elite channels of influence, and undercut the authority of developing country governments. It explores the structural roots of these patterns and examines their impact on democratic representation. It also offers practical advice for how these negative patterns can be moderated through new practices at the Bank and new norms within civil society.

For many academics, students, and professionals, the field of commodities is a black box. This book explores commodities in a holistic manner, presenting concepts from a multidisciplinary business and financial perspective, and offering a panoramic view of the global commodity business and markets. In this book, the author presents core issues related to global commodities with recent data including COVID-19. The book introduces the key physical commodities traded globally and some related issues such as the global supply chain, global trading, transportation, storage, and how to finance global commodity trades. Then, it discusses how global commodity businesses and traders manage global risks related to commodity production (generation or extraction), transportation, storage, the final delivery, and currency exchange. Additionally, the book discusses financial commodities, the origins of global commodity derivatives and exchanges, the rationale behind the birth of commodity futures and trading, hedging, speculation, financialization, and manipulation of commodity markets, and how financial trading is executed in real life. In the last section, the author also discusses sustainability issues related to global commodities and the financial valuation aspects of the global commodity businesses supported by examples from real cases with recent data.

This book examines the case of nominal income targeting as a monetary policy rule. In recent years the most well-known nominal income targeting rule has been NGDP (level) Targeting, associated with a group of economists referred to as market monetarists (Scott Sumner, David Beckworth, and Lars Christensen among others). Nominal income targeting, though not new in monetary theory, was relegated in economic theory following the Keynesian revolution, up until the financial crisis of 2008, when it began to receive renewed attention. This book fills a gap in the literature available to researchers, academics, and policy makers on the benefits of nominal income targeting against alternative monetary rules. It starts with the theoretical foundations of monetary equilibrium. With this foundation laid, it then deals with nominal income targeting as a monetary policy rule. What are the differences between NGDP Targeting and Hayek's rule? How do these rules stand up against other monetary rules like inflation targeting, the Taylor rule, or Friedman's k-percent? Nominal income targeting is a rule which is better equipped to avoid monetary disequilibrium when there is no inflation. Therefore, a book that explores the theoretical foundation of nominal income targeting, comparing it with other monetary rules, using the 2008 crisis to assess it and laying out monetary policy reforms towards a nominal income targeting rule will be timely and of interest to both academics and policy makers.

This fascinating book examines the World Bank's capacity for change, illustrating the influence of overlapping political, organizational and epistemic constraints. Through comprehensive historical and economic analysis, Peter J. Hammer illuminates the difficulties faced by recent attempts at reform and demonstrates the ways in which the training and socialization of Bank economists work to define the policy space available for meaningful change.The author examines the patterns of change and continuity at the World Bank during the presidencies of James Wolfensohn (1995-2005), Paul Wolfowitz (2005-2007) and Robert Zoellick (2007-2012) and discusses the role that various Chief Economists have played in the evolution of the Bank's research activities. His analysis of Bank reforms - both successful and unsuccessful - demonstrates how neoclassical economics sets the Bank s research and development agendas and limits reform possibilities derived from different academic traditions. This clear and balanced account is an important case study in the role that epistemic constraints can play in the formation of public policy, with implications for both the World Bank and other international organizations. Students, professors and researchers with an interest in economic development, institutional economics and policy studies will find it an invaluable resource, as will government officials and practitioners working in international development. Contents: Preface - An Economic Pilgrimage 1. The World Bank and Wolfensohn Era Reforms 2. The ABCs of the World Bank 3. A Framework for Modeling Bank Behavior 4. The Dynamics of Epistemic Economic Change 5. Application to Debt Relief, Participation and Knowledge 6. Application to Social Capital 7. Application to Institutional Economics 8. Redefining Bank Research within the Epistemic Constraints of Economics 9. Bank Evolution since Wolfensohn 10. The Future of Development Index

The most recent conversations about financial instability in International Political Economy have addressed the ongoing financial spasms of the past five years; a global financial spasm unleashed by the 2008 subprime debacle, ongoing Eurozone instability, and general price volatility in securities markets globally. Alongside and as part of these broader spasms, however, has been another key trend-the intensifying reach of global financial markets into and among those populations which live at its very edges. There are increasing, and increasingly profitable, experiments which are explicitly targeted to those without regular access to full or formalized financial practices. This book places the practices of fringe finance in critical context by situating them within a larger set of discussions in the field. Most importantly, this book is part of a much broader attempt in IPE to rethread the study of finance to questions of cultural and social theory in a meaningful manner. Finance is increasingly subjected to innovative forms of social inquiry influenced by a range of diverse methods including governmentality, actor-network theory and cultural economy. By drawing on several strands of social theory, this book contributes to this broader movement in IPE and helps open more space for the continuation of these interdisciplinary conversations. This work will be of great interest to students and scholars of IPE, development studies and economic sociology.

The Financial Crisis was a cross-sector crisis that fundamentally affected modern society. Regulation, as a concept, was both blamed for allowing the crisis to happen, but also tasked with developing and implementing solutions in the wake of the crash. In this book, a number of specialists from a range of fields have contributed their insights into the effect of the Financial Crisis upon the regulatory frameworks affecting their fields, how regulators have responded to the Crisis, and then what this may mean for the future of regulation within those industries. These analyses are joined by a picture of past financial crises - which reveals interesting patterns - and then analyses of architectural regulatory models that were fundamentally affected by the Crisis. The book aims to allow sector specialists the freedom to share their insights so that, potentially, a broader picture can be identified. Providing an interesting and thought-provoking account of this societally impactful era, this book will help the reader develop a more informed understanding of the potential future of financial regulation. The book will be of value to researchers, students, advanced level students, regulators, and policymakers.

This volume contains new important research on banking institutions and performance in transition economies, economic growth and inequality and exchange rate economics and international finance. Topics include exchange rate exposure of firms, the relationship between monetary policy and house price shocks, economic interdependence of south-eastern European countries, China's exchange rate policy and economic growth, inequality and financial sector. Among the questions answered are: Is exchange rate volatility a significant determinant of average firm level exposure? Can we identify shocks that can be interpreted as loose monetary shocks, low inflation shocks, banks credit shocks and house price shocks? What are the main factors driving the relationship between banks and companies in transition economies? Does it matter for forecasting GDP growth whether the economy is in tranquil times or during a period of turbulence? Has economic growth played any role in reducing inequality in South Africa? Are global bilateral investment holdings characterized by strong persistence? And finally, Is China's international competitiveness fluctuates in consistency with PPP equilibrium?

This revised and fully expanded edition of Understanding Investments continues to incorporate the elements of traditional textbooks on investments, but goes further in that the material is presented from an intuitive, practical point of view, and the supplementary material included in each chapter lends itself to both class discussion and further reading by students. It provides the essential tools to navigate complex, global financial markets and instruments including relevant (and classic) academic research and market perspectives. The author has developed a number of key innovative features. One unique feature is its economic angle, whereby each chapter includes a section dedicated to the economic analysis of that chapter's material. Additionally, all chapters contain sections on strategies that investors can apply in specific situations and the pros and cons of each are also discussed. The book provides further clarification of some of the concepts discussed in the previous edition, thereby offering a more detailed analysis and discussion, with more real-world examples. The author has added new, shorter text boxes, labeled "Market Flash" to highlight the use of, or changes in current practices in the field; updates on strategies as applied by professionals; provision of useful information for an investor; updates on regulations; and anything else that might be relevant in discussing and applying a concept. This second edition also includes new sections on core issues in the field of investments, such as alternative investments, disruptive technologies, and future trends in investment management. This textbook is intended for undergraduate students majoring or minoring in finance and also for students in economics and related disciplines who wish to take an elective course in finance or investments.

Recalling the Lisbon strategy defining structural reform in the EU, and stressing the need to integrate the acceding countries in the reform process, this book argues that meeting the ambitious challenges set is not impossible. It scrutinises both reforms already undertaken and those yet to be tackled. The main thrust of the book is that the sharing of mutual experiences is important for generating an acceptable policy mix, both at EU and national levels. The contributors highlight key financial issues, including the role of FDI and of foreign banks in the still 'under-banked' acceding countries, the re-launch of social security systems and the fiscal challenges of financing the catch-up process. They also examine the ongoing EU debate surrounding the application of the Stability and Growth Pact in Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) and go on to explore the contrasting evidence that some CEECs have shown more extensive privatisation efforts than some EU countries. Linking general theory and empirical research with practical evidence from EU and acceding countries, this accessible volume will be invaluable to a wide-ranging readership, encompassing economists and specialists - whether academic or professional - in the fields of CEECs and European integration and enlargement, as well as governments, banks and international organisations.

The efficient market hypothesis (EMH) maintains that all relevant information is fully and immediately reflected in stock prices and that investors will obtain an equilibrium rate of return. The EMH has far reaching implications for capital allocation, stock price prediction, and the effectiveness of specific trading strategies. Equity market anomalies reflect that the market is inefficient and hence, contradicts the EMH. This book gathers both theoretical and practical perspectives, by including research issues, methodological approaches, practical case studies, uses of new policy and other points of view related to equity market efficiency to help address the future challenges facing the global equity markets and economies. Information Efficiency and Anomalies in Asian Equity Markets: Theories and evidence is an insightful resource that will be useful for students, academics and professionals alike.

With the concessional lending operations of the World Bank and IMF having expanded dramatically in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis, Liam Clegg provides a timely analysis of the institutional dynamics shaping this aspect of the institutions' operations. Drawn from staffs' own understandings of their operational environments, the volume explores the dynamics of power surrounding these activities. As shareholder states continue to push the institutions to demonstrate their effective contribution to global poverty reduction, they alter the opportunities available for a range of stakeholders to shape operational practice in these key arenas of global economic governance. By demonstrating that current developments are serving to tilt the balance in the 'asymmetric accommodation' between shareholders and stakeholders towards the former, the author highlights some of the most controversial areas of World Bank and IMF operations.

Monetary sovereignty is a crucial legal concept dictating that states have sovereignty over their own monetary, financial, and fiscal affairs. However, it does not feature as part of any key instruments of international law, including the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund. Rather, it has remained a somewhat separate notion, developed under contemporary international law from an assertion of the former Permanent Court of International Justice in 1929. As a consequence of globalization and increasing financial integration and a worldwide trend towards the creation of economic and monetary unions, the principle of monetary sovereignty has undergone significant change. This book examines this evolution in detail, and provides a conceptual framework to demonstrate what this means for the legal and economic challenges faced by the international community. The book examines the historic origins and evolution of the concept of monetary sovereignty, putting it into the context of broader concepts of sovereignty. It argues that monetary sovereignty remains relevant as a dynamic legal concept with both positive and normative components. It investigates the continuing hybridization of international monetary law resulting from changes to its formal and material sources. It then examines the complex phenomenon of exchange rate misalignment under international monetary and trade law, and the increasing regionalization of monetary sovereignty, notably in light of the European sovereign debt crisis. Finally, it assesses the role the concept of monetary sovereignty can play in the reorganization of international finance following the recent global financial crisis.

Since the last financial crisis, much work has been undertaken to strengthen the ability to respond to distress in the EU financial system. However, reforms enacted since the Single Resolution Mechanism was created in July 2014 as part of the Banking Union initiated in 2012 mainly focused on non-performing loans, and the third pillar of the Banking Union, namely a European Deposit Insurance Scheme, has not been completed. Against this backdrop, this book focuses on the reasons why the EU banking system continues to remain fragile. In particular, high stocks of non-performing loans in some countries, the Level 3 assets evaluation and high exposure of many banks to the debts of their own governments are among the major concerns. Secondly, the book discusses the completion of the public safety net for banks, including deposit insurance, which remains primarily at the national level. This creates scope for contagion from banking sector fragility to national sovereign debt distress. Of interest to banking researchers, academics and students, this book combines rigorous analysis of the regulatory framework and empirical investigation on EU banking system data to prove that market discipline and risk sharing should be viewed as complementary pillars of the Euro-area financial architecture rather than as substitutes, requiring a reformed institutional framework.

This book provides a comprehensive investigation of the messy and crisis-ridden relationship between the operations of capitalist finance, global capital flows, and state power in emerging markets. The politics, drivers of emergence, and diversity of these myriad forms of state power are explored in light of the positionality of emerging markets within the network of space and power relations that characterises contemporary global finance. The book develops a multi-disciplinary perspective and combines insights from Marxist political economy, post-Keynesian economics, economic geography, and postcolonial and feminist International Political Economy. Alami comprehensively reviews the theories, histories, and geographies of cross-border finance management, and develops a conceptual framework which allows unpacking the complex entanglement of constraint and opportunities, of growing integration and tight discipline, that cross-border finance represents for emerging markets. Extensive fieldwork research provides an in-depth comparative critical interrogation of the policies and regulations deployed in Brazil and South Africa. This volume will be especially useful to those researching and working in the areas of international political economy, contemporary geographies of money and finance, and critical development studies. It should also prove of interest to policy makers, practitioners, and activists concerned with the relation between finance and development in emerging markets and beyond.

This book addresses the financing of government budgets with non-debt-creating flows through risk-sharing capital market instruments. It offers a comparative analysis with conventional finance to demonstrate the ability of Islamic capital market instruments to create an impetus for economic stability and growth. Rizvi, Bacha, and Mirakhor guide readers chronologically through the unfolding effects of macroeconomic policy implemented to reduce crippling sovereign debt, increase government financing, and guide governments to the path of economic progress.

This book addresses the question of how competition takes place in international manufacturing industries. It examines patterns of rivalry among firms from different countries across national boundaries and their influences on international trade and investment. By using various data on Japanese firms in manufacturing industries from the late 1950s through the early 2000s, the first part of this book presents a series of empirical analyses that examines effects of market structure on export pricing, linkages of domestic and foreign market structures on trade performance, and patterns of oligopolistic interactions among firms from different countries in exporting. The second part of this book deals with the impact of strategic interactions on foreign direct investment. In particular, the book examines 'bunching' in foreign direct investment, strategic interactions in intra-industry cross-market foreign direct investment, and their effects on entry patterns and post-entry performance.

This book deals with the models and applications of exchange rate forecasting. It is written primarily for professionals with the objective of providing a concise survey of the techniques of forecasting. The book considers the business decisions requiring exchange rate forecasting and some related issues such as market efficiency and trading rules.

With the banking industry in flux and the credit business at its core, Credit Portfolio Management is a timely and practical guide on how to successfully manage a credit portfolio in light of a challenging market environment and increased regulatory scrutiny.
Structured in line with a credit value chain, part I deals with the framework in which credit risk is originated and managed. It comprises of three chapters: a brief description of the role that credit risk played in the financial crisis and thereafter; the credit risk strategies which aim at optimizing the risk/return profile of the portfolio under the condition of adequate capital; and finally an introduction to stress tests which support a proactive and forward looking approach to portfolio management by allowing the quantification of improbable but plausible outcomes.
In Part II, conceptual aspects of an Active Credit Portfolio Management (ACPM) are discussed. It ranges from the description of the value proposition to a full credit cycle approach to portfolio management. Since in most organizations a loan transfer pricing scheme underpins the internal role of ACPM to optimize the risk and the return side of credit portfolio, it is given due consideration. Part II also reviews practical aspects of the implementation of ACPM, and dedicates a chapter to the accounting symmetry of credit derivative hedges and loans. It concludes with an overview of regulatory capital relief.
Part III focuses on the back end management of a credit portfolio where corrective actions are usually carried out by use of controversial credit default swaps. Michael provides a non technical, detailed description of CDS as a hedging tool for credit portfolio managers whilst also introducing other hedge instruments such as Loan CDS and sub-participations.
A number of case studies are used throughout the book to illustrate the various topics in a real world setting.

This second volume in the series discusses such topics as the implications of mainland China and Taiwan's joining GATT on cross straits economic relations and capital structure, market fundamentals and stock returns.

This book investigates why the convergence of Japan's bank-centered financial system to an American-style capital market-based model has lost steam since the mid-2000s, despite financial deregulation during the 1980s and 1990s. Examining the ideational conflict within Japanese elites between the market liberalization and anti-free market camps, it scrutinizes the American and Japanese credit rating agencies operating in Tokyo and explores the differences between the two major industrial associations, Keidanren and Doyukai, which have played a key role as "ideational platforms" for Japanese corporate society. The book emphasizes the concept of "systemic support", whose broadened definition incorporates dominant elites' support and protection of subordinates in exchange for the latter's obedience and loyalty. It argues that Japanese society's anti-liberal, anti-free market norms centered on systemic support are a form of counter-hegemony, and this has resisted American financial hegemony, promoting international capital mobility and capital markets, and prevented capitalist dominance from severing long-term social ties such as management-labor cooperation and corporate group alliances. Yet this resistance has generated growing problems for Japan. With a focus on social norms, bureaucracy, credit rating agencies, industrial associations and corporate governance, this book will provide useful insights for scholars and students of international political economy, sociology, cultural studies, and business studies.