Balance of payment crises and capital flows : the role of liquidity

A model of externaI CrISIS is deveIoped focusing on the interaction between Iiquidity creation by financiaI intermediaries and foreign exchange collapses. The intermediaries' role of transforming maturities is shown to result in larger movements of capital and a higher probability of crisis. This resembles the observed cycle in capital fiows: large infiows, crisis and abrupt outfiows. The mo deI highlights how adverse productivity and international interest rate shocks can be magnified by the behavior of individual foreign investors linked together through their deposits in the intermediaries. An eventual collapse of the exchange rate can link investors' behavior even further. The basic model is then extended, quite naturally, to study the effects of capital fiow contagion between countries.

Especulative (sic) attack on exchange rate target zone regime : the uncertainty case

We present a continuous time target zone model of speculative attacks. Contrary to most of the literature that considers the certainty case, i.e., agents know for sure the Central Bank behavior in the future, we build uncertainty into the madel in two different ways. First, we consider the case in whicb the leveI of reserves at which the central bank lets the regime collapse is uncertain. Alternatively, we ana1ize the case in which, with some probability, the government may cbange its policy reducing the initially positive trend in domestic credito In both cases, contrary to the case of a fixed exchange rate regime, speculators face a cost of launching a tentative attack that may not succeed. Such cost induces a delay and may even prevent its occurrence. At the time of the tentative attack, the exchange rate moves either discretely up, if the attack succeeds, or down, if it fails. The remlts are consistent with the fact that, typically, an attack involves substantial profits and losses for the speculators. In particular, if agents believed that the government will control fiscal imbalances in the future, or alternatively, if they believe the trend in domestic credit to be temporary, the attack is postponed even in the presence of a signal of an imminent collapse. Finally, we aIso show that the timing of a speculative attack increases with the width of the target zone.

Optimal exchange rate policy, optimal incomplete taxation and business cycles

Implementation and collapse of exchange rate pegging schemes are recur- rent events. A currency crisis (pegging) is usually followed by an economic downturn (boom). This essay explains why a benevolent government should pursue Þscal and monetary policies that lead to those recurrent currency crises and subsequent periods of pegging. It is shown that the optimal policy induces a competitive equilibrium that displays a boom in periods of below average de- valuation and a recession in periods of above average devaluation. A currency crisis (pegging) can be understood as an optimal policy answer to a recession (boom).

A indústria de fundos de investimento no Brasil : um estudo teórico e empírico sobre a relação fiduciária entre o administrador-gestor e os respectivos cotistas de fundos de investimentos

De acordo com dados de 07.10.2014 da Associação Brasileira das Entidades dos Mercados Financeiro e de Capitais – ANBIMA, no acumulado em 12 meses, entre aplicações, resgates e captações, a indústria de fundos movimentou mais de 11 bilhões de reais no Brasil. É um volume financeiro considerável, fazendo dos fundos de investimento importantes instrumentos de captação de poupança e de direcionamento de recursos para os mais diversos projetos de financiamento da economia. Além disso, as quebras de determinados conglomerados financeiros no Brasil nos últimos anos envolvendo fundos administrados e geridos por sociedades pertencentes a esses conglomerados colocou em evidência a importância de regras e estudos direcionados à relação entre o administrador-gestor e o cotista de fundos de investimento. De fato, pesquisa conduzida ao longo dos anos de 2013 e 2014 demonstrou que acadêmicos, reguladores e demais participantes do mercado de valores mobiliários possuem poucos estudos que possam assisti-los na solução de problemas relativos a essa relação, inclusive diante de situações envolvendo conflitos de interesses entre administradores-gestores e cotistas. Assim, diante da importância econômica dos fundos de investimento para o Brasil, da relevância dos direitos dos investidores dentro da indústria de fundos, e também em razão da escassez de estudos, este trabalho tem por finalidade realizar investigação teórica e empírica sobre a relação fiduciária entre o administrador, o gestor e os respectivos cotistas dos fundos de investimento. Dessa forma, o objetivo será identificar a origem, as características essenciais dessa relação, os riscos que ela pode trazer para o investidor e os deveres que ela impõe aos administradores e gestores. Para tanto, propõe-se avaliar a origem histórica da relação fiduciária e os fundamentos teóricos que a suportam aplicados aos fundos de investimento nos Estados Unidos e no Brasil. Com base nesse conhecimento teórico e sob o enfoque dos deveres fiduciários aplicáveis aos administradores e gestores, parte-se para a avaliação das normas de conduta contidas nas instruções da Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM), visando testar as características da relação fiduciária diante das regras da CVM. Por fim, realiza-se estudo sobre casos em que administradores e gestores foram condenados por quebra na relação fiduciária e por inobservância de deveres específicos embutidos nas normas de conduta avaliadas anteriormente. Com fundamento nos estudos teóricos e empíricos descritos, conclui-se que existem características essenciais na configuração de uma relação fiduciária entre o administrador-gestor e o cotista de fundos de investimento e que, uma vez formada essa relação, administradores e gestores obrigam-se a observar o cumprimento de deveres de diligência e de lealdade perante o cotista. Igualmente, ainda é possível afirmar que as normas da CVM de fato instituem a relação fiduciária entre o administrador-gestor e o cotista de fundos de investimento, bem como os deveres fiduciários conexos a essa relação.

The development of the private equity industry since the 2008 financial crisis

The private equity industry was experiencing a phenomenal boom at the turn of the century but collapsed abruptly in 2008 with the onset of the financial crisis. Considered one of the worst crises since the Great Depression of the 1930s, it had sent ripples around the world threatening the collapse of financial institutions and provoking a liquidity crunch followed by a huge downturn in economic activity and recession. Furthermore, the physiognomy of the financial landscape had considerably altered with banks retracting from the lending space, accompanied by a hardening of financial regulation that sought to better contain systemic risk. Given the new set of changes and challenges that had arisen from this period of financial turmoil, private equity found itself having to question current practices and methods of operation in order to adjust to the harsh realities of a new post-apocalyptic world. Consequently, this paper goes on to explore how the private equity business, management and operation model has evolved since the credit crunch with a specific focus on mature markets such as the United States and Europe. More specifically, this paper will aim to gather insights on the development of the industry since the crisis in Western Europe through a case study approach using as a base interviews with professionals working in the industry and those external to the sector but who have/have had considerable interaction with PE players from 2007 to the present.

Oil price shocks and policy implications the emergence of U.S. tight oil production: a case study

How have shocks to supply and demand affected global oil prices; and what are key policy implications following the resurgence of oil production in the United States? Highlights: − The recent collapse in global oil prices was dominated by oversupply. − The future of tight oil in the United States is vulnerable to obstacles beyond oil prices. − Opinions on tight oil from the Top 25 think tank organizations are considered. Global oil prices have fallen more than fifty percent since mid-2014. While price corrections in the global oil markets resulted from multiple factors over the past twelve months, surging tight oil production from the United States was a key driver. Tight oil is considered an unconventional or transitional oil source due to its location in oil-bearing shale instead of conventional oil reservoirs. These qualities make tight oil production fundamentally different from regular crude, posing unique challenges. This case study examines these challenges and explores how shocks to supply and demand affect global oil prices while identifying important policy considerations. Analysis of existing evidence is supported by expert opinions from more than one hundred scholars from top-tier think tank organizations. Finally, implications for United States tight oil production as well as global ramifications of a new low price environment are explored.

How the full opening of the capital account to highly liquid financial markets led Latin America to two and a half cycles of ‘mania, panic and crash’

Latin America has recently experienced three cycles of capital inflows, the first two ending in major financial crises. The first took place between 1973 and the 1982 ‘debt-crisis’. The second took place between the 1989 ‘Brady bonds’ agreement (and the beginning of the economic reforms and financial liberalisation that followed) and the Argentinian 2001/2002 crisis, and ended up with four major crises (as well as the 1997 one in East Asia) — Mexico (1994), Brazil (1999), and two in Argentina (1995 and 2001/2). Finally, the third inflow-cycle began in 2003 as soon as international financial markets felt reassured by the surprisingly neo-liberal orientation of President Lula’s government; this cycle intensified in 2004 with the beginning of a (purely speculative) commodity price-boom, and actually strengthened after a brief interlude following the 2008 global financial crash — and at the time of writing (mid-2011) this cycle is still unfolding, although already showing considerable signs of distress. The main aim of this paper is to analyse the financial crises resulting from this second cycle (both in LA and in East Asia) from the perspective of Keynesian/ Minskyian/ Kindlebergian financial economics. I will attempt to show that no matter how diversely these newly financially liberalised Developing Countries tried to deal with the absorption problem created by the subsequent surges of inflow (and they did follow different routes), they invariably ended up in a major crisis. As a result (and despite the insistence of mainstream analysis), these financial crises took place mostly due to factors that were intrinsic (or inherent) to the workings of over-liquid and under-regulated financial markets — and as such, they were both fully deserved and fairly predictable. Furthermore, these crises point not just to major market failures, but to a systemic market failure: evidence suggests that these crises were the spontaneous outcome of actions by utility-maximising agents, freely operating in friendly (‘light-touch’) regulated, over-liquid financial markets. That is, these crises are clear examples that financial markets can be driven by buyers who take little notice of underlying values — i.e., by investors who have incentives to interpret information in a biased fashion in a systematic way. Thus, ‘fat tails’ also occurred because under these circumstances there is a high likelihood of self-made disastrous events. In other words, markets are not always right — indeed, in the case of financial markets they can be seriously wrong as a whole. Also, as the recent collapse of ‘MF Global’ indicates, the capacity of ‘utility-maximising’ agents operating in (excessively) ‘friendly-regulated’ and over-liquid financial market to learn from previous mistakes seems rather limited.

How the full opening of the capital account to highly liquid financial markets led Latin America to two and a half cycles of ‘mania, panic and crash’

Latin America has recently experienced three cycles of capital inflows, the first two ending in major financial crises. The first took place between 1973 and the 1982 ‘debt-crisis’. The second took place between the 1989 ‘Brady bonds’ agreement (and the beginning of the economic reforms and financial liberalisation that followed) and the Argentinian 2001/2002 crisis, and ended up with four major crises (as well as the 1997 one in East Asia) — Mexico (1994), Brazil (1999), and two in Argentina (1995 and 2001/2). Finally, the third inflow-cycle began in 2003 as soon as international financial markets felt reassured by the surprisingly neo-liberal orientation of President Lula’s government; this cycle intensified in 2004 with the beginning of a (purely speculative) commodity price-boom, and actually strengthened after a brief interlude following the 2008 global financial crash — and at the time of writing (mid-2011) this cycle is still unfolding, although already showing considerable signs of distress. The main aim of this paper is to analyse the financial crises resulting from this second cycle (both in LA and in East Asia) from the perspective of Keynesian/ Minskyian/ Kindlebergian financial economics. I will attempt to show that no matter how diversely these newly financially liberalised Developing Countries tried to deal with the absorption problem created by the subsequent surges of inflow (and they did follow different routes), they invariably ended up in a major crisis. As a result (and despite the insistence of mainstream analysis), these financial crises took place mostly due to factors that were intrinsic (or inherent) to the workings of over-liquid and under-regulated financial markets — and as such, they were both fully deserved and fairly predictable. Furthermore, these crises point not just to major market failures, but to a systemic market failure: evidence suggests that these crises were the spontaneous outcome of actions by utility-maximising agents, freely operating in friendly (light-touched) regulated, over-liquid financial markets. That is, these crises are clear examples that financial markets can be driven by buyers who take little notice of underlying values — investors have incentives to interpret information in a biased fashion in a systematic way. ‘Fat tails’ also occurred because under these circumstances there is a high likelihood of self-made disastrous events. In other words, markets are not always right — indeed, in the case of financial markets they can be seriously wrong as a whole. Also, as the recent collapse of ‘MF Global’ indicates, the capacity of ‘utility-maximising’ agents operating in unregulated and over-liquid financial market to learn from previous mistakes seems rather limited.

Efeitos da microgravidade em plantas de cana-de-açúcar

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is a plant from Poaceae family that has an impressive ability to accumulate sucrose in the stalk, making it a significant component of the economy of many countries. About 100 countries produce sugarcane in an area of 22 million hectares worldwide. For this reason, many studies have been done using sugarcane as a plant model in order to improve production. A change in gravity may be one kind of abiotic stress, since it generates rapid responses after stimulation. In this work we decided to investigate the possible morphophysiological, biochemical and molecular changes resulting from microgravity. Here, we present the contributions of an experiment where sugarcane plants were submitted to microgravity flight using a vehicle VSB-30, a sounding rocket developed by Aeronautics and Space Institute teams, in cooperation with the German Space Agency. Sugarcane plants with 10 days older were submitted to a period of six minutes of microgravity using the VSB-30 rocket. The morphophysiological analyses of roots and leaves showed that plants submitted to the flight showed changes in the conduction tissues, irregular pattern of arrangement of vascular bundles and thickening of the cell walls, among other anatomical changes that indicate that the morphology of the plants was substantially influenced by gravitational stimulation, besides the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide, an important signaling molecule in stress conditions. We carried out RNA extraction and sequencing using Illumina platform. Plants subjected to microgravity also showed changes in enzyme activity. It was observed an increased in superoxide dismutase activity in leaves and a decreased in its activity in roots as well as for ascorbate peroxidase activity. Thus, it was concluded that the changes in gravity were perceived by plants, and that microgravity environment triggered changes associated with a reactive oxygen specie signaling process. This work has helped the understanding of how the gravity affects the structural organization of the plants, by comparing the anatomy of plants subjected to microgravity and plants grown in 1g gravity

Avaliação da adição de Nanosílica e silicato de sódio em pastas de cimento para poços de petróleo com baixo gradiente de fratura

The oil wells cementing is a critical step during the phase of well drilling, because problems during the operation of slurry pumping and an incomplete filling of the annular space between the metal casing and the formation can cause the slurry loss. Therefore, the slurry adopted in primary cementing an oil well must be properly dosed so that these problems are avoided during its pumping. When you drill a well in a weak rock formation requires even more careful, because should be a limit of hydrostatic pressure exerted during cementation, that does not occur rock collapse. With the objective of performing the cementing of a well whose formation is weak or unconsolidated are employed lighter slurries. Thus, this study used slurries with sodium silicate and nano silica in concentrations of 0,1; 0,4; 0,7 e 1,0 gpc, in which the slurries with nano silica showed the rheological parameters higher concentrations of up to 0.7 gpc and for concentration of 1.0 the slurry with sodium silicate obtained the highest values, remaining above the limits for application in fields, mainly wells with low fracture gradient, because a significant increase in viscosity may result in an increase in pressure pumping in operations of secondary cementations. Furthermore, there was no decrease in strength with increasing concentration of additive. Then, it is possible use of these additives to formulate Lighter slurry

Otimização de vazão de poços injetores em projeto de injeção de água utilizando simulação por linhas de fluxo

Until the early 90s, the simulation of fluid flow in oil reservoir basically used the numerical technique of finite differences. Since then, there was a big development in simulation technology based on streamlines, so that nowadays it is being used in several cases and it can represent the physical mechanisms that influence the fluid flow, such as compressibility, capillarity and gravitational segregation. Streamline-based flow simulation is a tool that can help enough in waterflood project management, because it provides important information not available through traditional simulation of finite differences and shows, in a direct way, the influence between injector well and producer well. This work presents the application of a methodology published in literature for optimizing water injection projects in modeling of a Brazilian Potiguar Basin reservoir that has a large number of wells. This methodology considers changes of injection well rates over time, based on information available through streamline simulation. This methodology reduces injection rates in wells of lower efficiency and increases injection rates in more efficient wells. In the proposed model, the methodology was effective. The optimized alternatives presented higher oil recovery associated with a lower water injection volume. This shows better efficiency and, consequently, reduction in costs. Considering the wide use of the water injection in oil fields, the positive outcome of the modeling is important, because it shows a case study of increasing of oil recovery achieved simply through better distribution of water injection rates

Estudo comparativo da injeção de água usando poços verticais e horizontais

Oil recovery using waterflooding has been until now the worldwide most applied method, specially for light oil recovery, its success is mainly because of the low costs involved and the facilities of the injection process. The Toe- To-Heel Waterflooding TTHWTM method uses a well pattern of vertical injector wells completed at the bottom of the reservoir and horizontal producer wells completed at the top of it. The main producing mechanism is gravitational segregation in short distance. This method has been studied since the early 90´s and it had been applied in Canada with positive results for light heavy oils, nevertheless it hasn´t been used in Brazil yet. In order to verify the applicability of the process in Brazil, a simulation study for light oil was performed using Brazilian northwest reservoirs characteristics. The simulations were fulfilled using the STARS module of the Computer Modelling Group Software, used to perform improved oil recovery studies. The results obtained in this research showed that the TTHWTM well pattern presented a light improvement in terms of recovery factor when compared to the conventional 5- Spot pattern, however, it showed lower results in the economic evaluation