Incomplete markets provide many challenges for both investment decisions and valuationproblems. While both problems have received extensive attention in complete markets,there remain many open areas in the theory of incomplete markets. We present the resultsin three parts. In the first essay we...

We present a derivative pricing and estimation methodology for a class of stochastic volatility models that exploits the observed 'bursty' or persistent nature of stock price volatility. Empirical analysis of high-frequency S&P 500 index data confirms that volatility reverts slowly to its mean...

My dissertation aims at understanding the financing and investment decisions of firms. It contains two chapters.Chapter One studies the currency composition of debt for firms in emerging economies. Using a dataset of traded Mexican firms, I document two stylized facts about firms in the...

This dissertation contains three essays. The first and second essays examineintergenerational mobility in earnings in Brazil using a data set spanning three generations. I use data from PNAD{a nationally representative household survey inBrazil. I build a three-generations data set consisting of...

Diese Doktorarbeit untersucht drei Fragestellungen. Erstens, wie die Wirkung von plötzlichen Änderungen exogener Faktoren auf endogene Variablen empirisch im Allgemeinen zu bestimmen ist. Zweitens, welche Effekte eine Erhöhung der Staatsausgaben im Speziellen hat. Drittens, wie optimale...

Electricity price forecasting is an important task for electricity market participants since the very beginning of the deregulation. Accurate forecasting is essential for designing bidding strategy, risk management, and market operation. However, due to the compli-cated factors affecting...

This dissertation focuses on monetary policy rules in the OECD countries at both theoretical and empirical levels. It is divided into seven chapters.Chapter 1 presents some recent literature on monetary policy rules and introduces the goal and organization of this dissertation.Chapter 2 explores...

While the market for credit instruments grew continuously in the decade before 2008, its liquidity has dried up significantly in the current crisis, and investors have become aware of the possible consequences of being exposed to credit risk. In this thesis we address these issues by pricing...

Model uncertainty hampers consensus on the key determinants of economic growth. Some recent cross-country cross-sectional analyses have employed Bayesian Model Averaging to tackle the issue of model uncertainty. This paper extends that approach to panel data models with country-specific fixed...