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Three Essays on Asymmetric Information in SME Finance and Microfinance
Wang, Yao ; Drábek, Zdenek (advisor) ; Janda, Karel (referee) ; Brada, Josef C. (referee) ; Kutan, Ali M. (referee)
This dissertation thesis consists of three essays on asymmetric information problem in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) finance and Microfinance. The aim of the thesis is to address the key problem in the credit rationing in the SME finance and microfinance and strive to improve the credit analyzing model with the help of soft information. The first essay investigates the factors that hinder the growth of SMEs using a World Bank dataset, and access to finance is found to be their biggest constrain to growth. Asymmetric information between small business owners and banks generates high interest rates, complex application procedures and high collateral requirements, which are found to be the biggest obstacles business owners face when they seek external financing. Small business owners who cannot get loans from banks will turn to microfinance as an alternative source of funds. In the second essay, a new dataset from disintermediated Peer to Peer (P2P) lending market is used to investigate credit rationing efficiency when there is no financial intermediary. The results show the existence of adverse selection where investors are predisposed to making inaccurate diagnoses of signals and gravitate to borrowers with low creditworthiness, while inadvertently screening out those with high...
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Three Essays on Labor Market Institutional Environment
Fialová, Kamila ; Schneider, Ondřej (advisor) ; Münich, Daniel (referee) ; Brada, Josef (referee) ; Dybczak, Kamil (referee) ; Janáček, Kamil (referee)
Charles University in Prague Faculty of Social Sciences Institute of Economic Studies Three Essays on Labor Market Institutional Environment Dissertation Thesis Kamila Fialová Prague 2012 Abstract This thesis consists of three papers about labor market institutional environment. The first paper "Labor Market Institutions and Their Effect on Labor Market Performance in the New EU Member Countries" estimates the effects of labor market institutions on various performance indicators (unemployment, long-term unemployment, employment, activity rate) in European countries. The results confirm that high taxes increase unemployment, whereas active labor market policies tend to reduce it. The paper also shows that stricter employment protection, higher taxes, and a larger economic burden represented by the minimum wage decrease employment and activity rates. The second paper "Labor Market Institutions and Their Impact on Shadow Economies in Europe" analyzes the role of labor market institutions in explaining developments of shadow economies in European countries using several alternative measures of the shadow sector. The results indicate that the one institution that unambiguously increases shadow production and employment is strict employment protection legislation. Other labor market institutions have less...
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Currency Substitution and Foreign Exchange Intervention in Emerging Market
Loiseau-Aslanidi, Olga ; Zemčík, Petr (advisor) ; Kutan, Ali M. (referee) ; Brada, Josef (referee)
This dissertation consists of three essays that focus on the determinants and implications of exchange rate behavior in emerging markets. The first essay studies foreign exchange intervention conducted by the National Bank of Georgia. Various econometric methodologies are applied to study both the determinants and effectiveness of intervention. A unique daily data set is employed in the analysis. The major intervention motives of leaning-against-the-wind and of decreasing volatility are revealed. Intervention influences the exchange rate as intended after some lag. However, this effectiveness is achieved at the price of increased volatility of the exchange rate. In the second and third essays, the issue of currency substitution is studied. Two-currency monetary models are specified to analyze and explain currency substitution from different perspectives. These models focus on economic observables that influence a households decision to switch to a foreign currency, namely the exchange rate, interest rates of savings in foreign and domestic currencies, and domestic and foreign inflation. The second essay studies the significance and rationalizes currency substitution in Georgia. The paper finds that this issue is of first-order importance in the country. The actual dynamics of currency substitution...
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