Portfolio theory and much of asset pricing, as well as many empirical applications, depend on the use of multivariate probability distributions to describe asset returns. Traditionally, this has meant the multivariate normal (or Gaussian) distribution. More recently, theoretical and empirical work in financial economics has employed the multivariate Student (and other) distributions which are members of the elliptically symmetric class. There is also a growing body of work which is based on skew-elliptical distributions. These probability models all exhibit the property that the marginal distributions differ only by location and scale parameters or are restrictive in other respects. Very often, such models are not supported by the empirical evidence that the marginal distributions of asset returns can differ markedly. Copula theory is a branch of statistics which provides powerful methods to overcome these shortcomings. This book provides a synthesis of the latest research in the area of copulae as applied to finance and related subjects such as insurance. Multivariate non-Gaussian dependence is a fact of life for many problems in financial econometrics. This book describes the state of the art in tools required to deal with these observed features of financial data. This book was originally published as a special issue of the European Journal of Finance.

This book is dedicated to examining Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) market in the Asia-Pacific region between 2004 and 2017. It offers a broad examination of the attributes and development of the ETF markets. The book presents a new approach to ETF markets modeling that uses innovation diffusion model. In addition, it explores the empirical links between ETFs and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The book also compares ETFs and competing investment options. This book should appeal to both academics and practitioners as it includes detailed descriptions of the ETF markets and prepared projections regarding their future development. As the Asia-Pacific region plays a significant role in the global economy, this book should be useful for international readers beyond this area. The Emergence of ETFs in Asia-Pacific begins with an overview of the Asia-Pacific economies, focusing on their importance for the global economy and their features. Next, the book introduces an analytical framework. It explains major features of ETFs (such as their creation, distribution, and trading) and key categories, which facilitates profound understanding of the book merit even for readers with little knowledge about ETFs. The following chapter explores the role of ICTs in economy and society identifying channels of their impact on financial markets. It discusses how ICTs foster dynamic spread of financial innovations (including ETFs) across financial markets. Next, the book examines the ETF market's development in different countries in the Asia-Pacific region, by analyzing their level of development in terms of turnover. In this part it also provides brief characteristics of all markets, including their structures and categories of ETFs in various countries. Consecutive part of the book is dedicated to reports on the process of ICTs growing penetration across Asia-Pacific countries, showing the changes observed during recent years. It then continues the empirical analysis of the ETF markets in the Asia-Pacific region by attempting to trace the links between the development of ETF markets and ICT penetration during the period 2004-2017. As complementary material, a methodological annex is included showing major analytical techniques used throughout the research.

Most of the existing textbooks on international economics - a widely taught and ighly popular subject - are long and too detailed and advanced for many students. This book, first published in 1983, and written by a respected leading authority, presents the essentials of the topic in a simple and straightforward way. The book contains the minimum of algebra and avoids detailed proofs. It incorporates the most recent theoretical advances and discusses current issues in comercial policy. Moreover, it puts less emphasis than other textbooks on trade theory and more on balance of payments theory and on questions of international finance and international finance anf international monetarism which are the areas of current concern.

Critical Praise . . .
"The Alchemy joins Reminiscences of a Stock Operator as a timeless instructional guide of the marketplace." - Paul Tudor Jones from the Foreword
"An extraordinary . . . inside look into the decision-making process of the most successful money manager of our time. Fantastic."- The Wall Street Journal
"A breathtakingly brilliant book. Soros is one of the core of masters . . . who can actually begin to digest the astonishing complexity . . . of the game of finance in recent years."- Esquire
"A seminal investment book . . . it should be read, underlined, and thought about page-by-page, concept-by-idea. . . . He's the best pure investor ever . . . probably the finest analyst of the world in our time." - Barton M. Biggs, Morgan Stanley
George Soros is unquestionably the most powerful and profitable investor in the world today. Dubbed by BusinessWeek as "The Man Who Moves Markets," Soros has made a billion dollars going up against the British pound. Soros is not merely a man of finance, but a thinker to reckon with as well. Now, in The Alchemy of Finance, this extraordinary man reveals the investment strategies that have made him "a superstar among money managers" (The New York Times).

This book focuses on income inequality, output-inflation trade-off and economic policy uncertainty in South Africa. Tight monetary and macroprudential policies raise income inequality. Income inequality transmits monetary policy and macroprudential policy shocks to real economic activity. Economic policy uncertainty influences the dynamics in the lending rate margins, inflation expectations, credit, pass-through of the repo rate to bank lending rates and companies' cash holdings. The trade-off between output and inflation and output growth persistence vary with inflation regimes. Stimulatory demand policy shocks are less effective in high inflation regime. High income inequality raises consumption inequality, which raises demand for credit, but price stability matters in this link. Increased bank concentration raises income inequality, lowers economic growth and employment rate. Elevated economic policy uncertainty lowers output growth, lowers capital formation, reduces credit and raises companies' cash holdings. Increased companies' cash holdings reduce capital formation and impact the transmission of expansionary monetary policy shocks to real economic activity. This book shows there is an inflation level within the target band below it which lowers income inequality, while raising GDP growth and employment. Thus price stability, economic policy uncertainty and income inequality matter for the efficient transmission of policy shocks.

A comprehensive catalog of exchange-traded funds and insights into successful trading techniques

This "Second Edition" of the bestselling "Trading ETFs" offers an updated version of the definitive guide to this vital part of the capital markets. It contains numerous new examples of the techniques that author Deron Wagner uses in selecting the most timely ETFs to trade and underscores the core insights of his trading discipline "trade what you see, not what you think."

Written for professionals who are using, or should be using, ETFs as an asset class within their portfolios, as well as the individual investor who wants exposure to wider sectors and geographical regions than those available elsewhere.This revised edition of the classic resource focuses on the pros, cons, and potential pitfalls of trading the latest class of ETFsIncludes inversely correlated and leveraged ETFs and the dangers, risks, and benefits associated with each new class of ETFContains a refresher on the initial concept of ETF selection and new case studies on ideal entry and exit points as well as examples of real trades

This thoroughly revised and updated edition offers a "go-to" reference for understanding exchange-traded funds.

This proceedings volume examines accounting and financial issues and trends from both global and local economic perspectives. Featuring selected contributions presented at the 19th Annual Conference on Finance and Accounting (ACFA) held in Prague, Czech Republic, this book offers a mixture of research methods and micro- and macroeconomic approaches to depict a detailed picture of the impact of global and local determinants on the globalized economy. The global perspectives versus local specifics make the volume useful for not only academics and scholars, but also for regulators and policy makers when deliberating the potential outcome of competing regulatory mechanisms. The Annual Conference on Finance and Accounting (ACFA) has become one of the biggest conferences in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region solely oriented to contemporary research in finance and accounting. Bringing together researchers and scholars from all over the world, the conference provides a platform in which thoughts, visions, and contemporary developments in the field of finance and accounting are discussed.

In this revealing book Junie Tong reflects on the role of banking and finance in China. The author adopts a critical perspective that views the societal as well as economic functioning of banking and finance. Finance and Society in 21st Century China considers how far the modern economy is disconnected from Chinese culture and history and the problems this separation may cause. She questions the common assumption that China has outgrown its reliance on its Western counterparts. The author believes that the country is still very much dependent on exports and foreign investments and any radical or rapid reduction in either would have serious adverse consequences for China's sustainable economic growth. To provide a model for 'finance and society' that integrates culture and economy, Tong draws on the seminal work of Belgian economist, banker and social commentator, Bernard Lietaer, who has focused on cultural forces and the future of money in the world, generally. Using representative case studies for illustration, Tong applies Lietaer's work in a specifically Chinese context, highlighting the need to root finance and enterprise in the rhythms and forces within Chinese culture to avoid future chaos and achieve socio-economic stability in a country now so critical to global well-being.

International Finance is a complete and authoritative text on the theory and practice of finance in the international arena. Features include: A user-friendly approach to a complex topic which moves from the basics to the advanced with clarity and conciseness. A strong European orientation which gives it an approach that is singular in its focus. Opportunities for students to assess their progress with multiple choice questions, end-of-chapter questions and answers, exercises, and glossary. Coverage of current issues and up-to-date material on credit default swaps, the financial crisis of 2007 / 2008, sovereign debt crises, and the carry trade. Financial Times press cuttings on selected controversial issues drawn from actual vignettes by top FT journalists.

This book systematically discusses the contribution of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to China's transition from an emerging to an advanced economic and financial system after more than five years. From a historical perspective, it explains to what extent the BRI plan is effective enough to help China bounce back from its economic slowdown and the financial implications in a policy trilemma context. Further, it investigates both the rationale of the BRI and its pitfalls, focusing on the various options for financing the project based on the Mundell & Fleming model. The book also analyses the impact of the BRI as well as possible policy options to deal with China's policy trilemma in a structurally more balanced "new normal" economic growth model. Lastly, it reviews the financial stability issues concerning liberalization policies in China.

The impact of COVID-19 has exposed major cracks in the global financial system and has severely undermined global financial stability. Never have the shortcomings of universal financialization - the dominant principle of the global financial system for the past thirty-odd years - been more obvious or more painful. Islamic finance provides ways forward: based on commercial and social modes of risk-sharing and financing, it offers radical structural solutions to the health, human and financial crises faced in this unprecedented time. In Towards a Post-Covid Global Financial System: Lessons in Social Responsibility from Islamic Finance, an international team of experts explore how COVID-19 has affected the most vulnerable parts of the global economy; how it has been met by Islamic banking and finance specifically; and how the principles of Islamic social finance could be used to have a fairer, more resilient Islamic finance system for all.

This book sheds new light on the role of speculative bubbles in the stock market and argues that, provided they are sustainable, bubbles may in fact have a positive effect on the market. In many developed countries, speculative bubbles in stock markets seem to have emerged as a persistent phenomenon. This book offers new perspectives on the role bubbles play in recent economic development. The author refutes the traditional argument that speculative bubbles necessarily increase instability or develop at the expense of real activities. He argues that, when profitable investment projects are scarce, bubbles on the stock market may provide additional investment opportunities with the potential to increase aggregate profits and to improve economic welfare. However, he allows that this potentially positive effect can only occur if bubbles are sustainable and do not burst. Highly sophisticated financial systems are needed in order to allow for positive effects to develop or, as recent experience in Asia has shown, the destabilizing effects will outweigh the potential benefits. The book takes a groundbreaking view on speculative bubbles and will be invaluable to academics and practitioners with an interest in financial economics.

The fifth edition of Maurice D. Levi s classic textbook has been updated to incorporate the massive changes in the world of international finance of the past few years. In particular, the emergence of new markets is given broad coverage particularly the rise to financial prominence of China and India and other growth economies in Asia and elsewhere. Key features of the book include:

• the impact of globalization and the greater connectedness of national economies and the world economy as a whole
• probably the best introduction to exchange rates available and how they directly impact upon firms as well as governments
• the continued massive impact of multinational corporations on the global financial scene as well as the opportunities presented by e-commerce.

The material is interlaced with a wealth of supplementary material including real world case studies, review questions, examples and objectives. The result is the most authoritative survey of international finance currently available.

Thoroughly updated and with a large amount of new information, this text will prove an indispensable guide to the inner workings of international finance to students of economics and business as well as professionals in the finance industry.

Globalization is a largely ungoverned process of deepening integration, in which American firms are the most active agents of structural change. There are general benefits, in terms of growth and employment, but there are also costs which can generate pressures for protection of the US home market. The book discusses that prospect while reviewing the expansion of interdependencies between the USA and the rest of the world.The authors address questions in current business and policy literature regarding the structural linkages evolving in the globalization process. The authors conclude that the US administration and American firms have to be more responsive to the interests of the international community that are being vitally affected by the integrating effects of transnational production and world trade. Globalizing America will be important reading for international business and international political economy scholars, and for planners in multinational firms.

This book explores the microstructure of carbon markets and the pricing of carbon financial instruments generally. It provides a critical microstructure analysis of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS), and also examines the theoretical and related market design issues affecting emissions trading schemes. Individual chapters analyse how intraday pricing evolves in carbon markets, the price impact of block trades in carbon financial instruments and their determinants, short and long-term liquidity effects in carbon markets, and the links between carbon market liquidity and efficiency. The aforementioned issues are explored using case studies of two major trading platforms operating within the EU-ETS. The book concludes by focusing on future policy and regulatory challenges in carbon markets, especially with respect to addressing pricing volatility challenges.

This book focuses on the impact of financial liberalisation and globalisation on economic growth and inequality worldwide over the past quarter century. It places a particular emphasis on the first fourteen years of this century. It begins by exploring certain assumptions developed as a result of early works in the field, providing a critical review of some of the most important academic works published over the past twenty years. It then goes on to present a comparative measurement of the economic performance of key countries for which data is available in the World Bank database, including G-10 countries, EU countries, and fastest growing countries like China, India, and small-open oil-producing economies.

While the valuation of standard American option contracts has now achieved a fair degree of maturity, much work remains to be done regarding the new contractual forms that are constantly emerging in response to evolving economic conditions and regulations. Focusing on recent developments in the field, American-Style Derivatives provides an extensive treatment of option pricing with an emphasis on the valuation of American options on dividend-paying assets. The book begins with a review of valuation principles for European contingent claims in a financial market in which the underlying asset price follows an Ito process and the interest rate is stochastic and then extends the analysis to American contingent claims. In this context the author lays out the basic valuation principles for American claims and describes instructive representation formulas for their prices. The results are applied to standard American options in the Black-Scholes market setting as well as to a variety of exotic contracts such as barrier, capped, and multi-asset options. He also reviews numerical methods for option pricing and compares their relative performance. The author explains all the concepts using standard financial terms and intuitions and relegates proofs to appendices that can be found at the end of each chapter. The book is written so that the material is easily accessible not only to those with a background in stochastic processes and/or derivative securities, but also to those with a more limited exposure to those areas.

Brazil is a globally vital but troubled economy. This volume offers comprehensive insight into Brazil's economic development, focusing on its most salient characteristics and analyzing its structural features across various dimensions. This innovative Oxford Handbook provides an understanding of the economy's evolution over time and highlights the implications of the past trajectory and decisions for current challenges and opportunities. The opening section covers the country's economic history, beginning with the colonial economy, through import-substitution, to the era of neoliberalism. Second, it analyses Brazil's broader place in the global economy, and considers the ways in which this role has changed, and is likely to change, over coming years. Particular attention is given to the productive sectors of Brazil's economy, for example manufacturing, agriculture, services, energy, and infrastructure. In addition to discussions of regional differences within Brazil, socio-economic dimensions are examined. These include income distribution, human capital, environmental issues, and health. Also included is a discussion of Brazil in the world economy, such as the increase in "South-South" cooperation and trade as well as foreign direct investment. Last but not least is a discussion of the role of the Brazilian state in the economy, whether through state enterprises, competition policy, or corruption.

The current state of research in the international public finance field is elucidated in the fifteen papers collected in this volume, selected from among the more than 200 that were presented at the 53rd Congress of the International Institute of Public Finance held in Kyoto, Japan, in August 1997. The collection assembled here is not intended to comprise a proceedings of the Congress but, rather, presents the ideas of eminent scholars in seven areas of current research in the international public finance field: The Welfare State, Public Investment and Economic Growth, Inter-Governmental Relations, Tax Competition and Foreign Direct Investment, Foreign Investment in Transitional Economies-Russia and China, and Equalization Transfer Systems in Japan and Australia. The highlight of the Congress was the brilliant debate between two of the greatest authorities in the area of public finance, James M. Buchanan and Richard A. Musgrave, whose papers form the opening section of the volume.

Sovereign debt is necessary for the functioning of many modern states, yet its impact on human rights is underexplored in academic literature. This volume provides the reader with a step-by-step analysis of the debt phenomenon and how it affects human rights. Beginning by setting out the historical, political and economic context of sovereign debt, the book goes on to address the human rights dimension of the policies and activities of the three types of sovereign lenders: international financial institutions (IFIs), sovereigns and private lenders. Bantekas and Lumina, along with a team of global experts, establish the link between debt and the manner in which the accumulation of sovereign debt violates human rights, examining some of the conditions imposed by structural adjustment programs on debtor states with a view to servicing their debt. They outline how such conditions have been shown to exacerbate the debt itself at the expense of economic sovereignty, concluding that such measures worsen the borrower's economic situation, and are injurious to the entrenched rights of peoples.

This work contains primary research texts regarding two centuries of the development of corporate finance in the US and Great Britain. It is designed to help scholars, financial managers, and public policymakers to investigate the historical background of issues in contemporary corporate finance, including: corporate structure and governance; securities issuance; direct and indirect finance; and fraud detection. Key texts in the set include detailed securities market primers like thomas Fortune's Epitome of the Stocks and Publick Funds and Charles Fenn's Compendium of the English and Foreign Funds. There are extended discussions of policy issues contained in Observations on Unlimited and Limited Liability, by William Hawes; two early, specialized treatises on corporate financial law; descriptions of everyday corporate financial practices, from George Rae's The Internal Management of a Country Bank; and early theoretical treatments of corporate finance, including excerpts from Thorstein Veblen's Theory of Business Enterprise and Alfred Marshall's Industry and Trade.

The principal message of this book is that international financial enterprises must be reoriented towards funding productive activities rather than potentially destabilizing speculation. The effects of financial sector operations are addressed with serious warnings that the dangers of speculative destabilization are increasing as regulatory and market discipline gradually weakens.The Structural Foundations of International Finance examines the ways in which national economies, especially those of industrialized countries, are affected by the operations of international financial markets. Although these markets provide productive funding, there is also much speculative trading in stocks and currencies which can cause booms, slumps and hinder recovery. The authors advocate entrepreneurial coordination by productive enterprises for balanced and stable growth, with reduced risks of financial crises and recessions. This topical and highly engaging book will be invaluable for academics and students of business, economics, political economy, international relations and law.

"Critical Issues in International Financial Reform" ad- dresses weaknesses of the current international financial system and potential beneficial reforms. The focus is on the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, but the authors also take into account relevant lessons from the experience of Canada, a country highly integrated into world and hemispheric trade and financial markets. "Critical Issues" offers a new perspective on a discussion too often dominated by interest groups that take strong, even rigid, positions on issues with limited understanding of the technical aspects of the issues, and little concern for the interests of the developing world. Its chapters have been written by experts in the economic, political, and social aspects of the international financial integration of developing countries. Financial crises and their associated social and economic traumas are the most apparent symptom that something is amiss in the process of world economic integration. But there are also broader questions about the nature and magnitude of the benefits and costs of increased international capital flows for different groups of countries in the developing and developed worlds. For example, even in the absence of turbulence, is it optimal for all participants that capital movements be as free as possible? Does capital inflow discourage domestic savings to a degree that should cause worry? Are some types of flows inherently more beneficial than others--for instance, direct investment flows versus flows into host stock markets? How can the instability of capital movements best be curtailed? These questions concern the contributors to this volume. This volume demonstrates that the evolution of the world financial system, its various problems, and what is or is not done about them require an understanding of the links among financial, economic, and political variables. "Critical Issues in International Financial Reform" is an important contribution to this debate, and will be of value to researchers in economic policy, history, and international politics. Albert Berry is professor of economics at the University of Toronto and research director of the Program on Latin America and the Caribbean. Gustavo Indart is special lecturer of economics and the coordinator of the Program on Latin America and the Caribbean at the University of Toronto. "The papers in this conference volume are grounded on solid economic theory and empirical research, and take a critical view of the prescriptions of the so-called Washington Consensus and of the policies followed in most developing countries under the advice of the international financial institutions (IFIs). The economics and the political economy of their current financial arrangements, in which the IFIs play such an importnat role, are given a thorough treatment. This volume is a very valuable contribution to a debate that interests both academics and policymakers. The thirteen papers are uniformly of high quality and are often very innovative."--Juan-Antonio Morales, president, Central Bank of Bolivia "A stimulating and balanced set of analyses, drawing insightfully upon comparative experiences, of national and international financial systems and their reform, both actual and potential. It is unusual and welcome in its effective blending of political and economic insights, and its use of analyses that are refreshingly skeptical of orthodox presumptions."--Gerald Helliner, University of Toronto

Best books of 2021, Financial Times 'Grab some popcorn and take a front row seat, because Robin Wigglesworth has an astonishing story to tell you' Tim Harford, author of How to Make the World Add Up 'A fascinating account of an investment revolution' Ian Fraser, Literary Review 'A magisterial, delightfully written history offering up portraits of the academic scribblers and entrepreneurial practitioners who created the index-fund revolution' The Wall Street Journal 'Wigglesworth has written an important book' Patrick Hosking, Financial Editor, The Times 'A terrific read' Gregory Zuckerman, author of The Man Who Solved the Market 'A fascinating journey and a crucial book for anyone trying to understand the financial markets' Bradley Hope, author of Billion Dollar Whale --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In Trillions, Financial Times journalist Robin Wigglesworth unveils the vivid secret history of index funds, bringing to life the colourful characters behind their birth, growth and evolution into a world-conquering phenomenon. It is the untold story behind one of the most pressing financial uncertainties of our time. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 'An easy-to-understand and fun read, full of lively characters and little-known details of how finance really works today' Gillian Tett, author of Anthro-Vision

The financial crisis of 2007-8 and its aftermath have resulted in the role of money and finance within the global economy becoming the subject of considerable debate in public, policy and media circles. Global Finance is a timely look at the contemporary international financial environment, providing an introduction to this dynamic field of research for students and more advanced researchers. Drawing on economic geography, economic sociology and critical management, Hall offers a broad selection of case studies that ground critical theory in our current financial climate. Hall examines and reviews a wide range of critical approaches relating to the role of money and finance in the global economy, dividing these approaches into three key sections: Global finance and international financial centres. Global finance and the 'real' economy'. Global financial subjects and actors. The book takes a uniquely interdisciplinary approach which, combined with an international spread of case studies, makes this book highly valuable to a wide range of upper level undergraduate courses across the social sciences.