This thesis consists of three empirical studies on the economics of organization using novel data on organizations for analysis. Chapter 1 uses the longitudinal and nationally representative data from Statistics Canada's Workplace and Employee Survey to examine the distinct effects of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on decentralization of decision rights. Using a sample of workplaces from different sectors and controlling for unobserved workplace-level heterogeneity, I find that decentralization (defined as the case when workers can plan work for themselves) is more likely when database software is used (which reduces learning cost) but is less likely when communication system is used (which reduces communication cost). These results are consistent with the predictions of the organizational model by Garicano (2000). Chapter 2 also uses the data from Workplace and Employee Survey and examines the impact of competition on the quality of the middle management in terms of the use of Human Resources Management (HRM) practices. I find that increased competition leads to an improvement in managerial quality, proxied by the use of HRM practices. These results complement the industry-specific evidence documented in the literature. Chapter 3, co-authored with Professor Varouj A. Aivazian, uses the management score of Bloom and Van Reenen (2007) as a proxy for managerial quality to examine the extent to which market structure interacts with capital structure. We find that leverage is negatively related to competition (measured by Import Penetration Ratio, Lerner Index, and Herfindahl-Hirschman Index). Besides, we find that competition is positively associated with managerial quality, and that managerial quality is in turn negatively related to leverage. We conclude that managerial quality explains the impact of competition on leverage which suggests that managerial quality serves as an important link between capital structure and market structure.

Firms must access capital to remain in business.  Small firms have greater difficulty accessing financial resources than have large firms because of their limited access to capital markets.  These difficulties are exacerbated by information asymmetries between a small firm’ s management and capital providers.  It has been theorized that many information asymmetries can be reduced through networks that link those in need of capital with those who can supply it. This research is about these relationships and their impact on the firms’ capital structure. This research has been limited to a sub-set of small firms, family firms.  I have collected data through a survey using a systematic sampling procedure. Both self-administered questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were utilized. The data analysis was based on the responses from two-hundred-and-fifty-six small manufacturing firms in Thailand. Seemingly unrelated regression (SUR), logistic regression, multiple discriminant analysis and Mann-Whitney U test were employed in the analysis. The hypothesis that firms apply a pecking order in their capital raising was confirmed although the generally accepted rationale based on poor access (and information asymmetries) was rejected.  Instead, at least for family firms, the desire to maintain family control had a significant impact on the use of retained earnings and owner’s savings. My results also indicated that while the depth of relationships had a positive effect on direct funding from family and friends, networks did not facilitate capital access from external providers of funds. Instead direct communications between owner-managers and their capital providers (particularly bank officials) mattered. A comparative analysisof small manufacturing firms in general and small family manufacturing firms revealed that there were differences between them in regard to their financial preferences, suggesting that family firms should be considered separately in small firm research. Further, the results of this research raise some questions about the appropriateness of applying theories directly from one research context to another without due consideration for  the impact of cultural influences. Through this research I have added evidence to the dialogue about small firms from a non-English speaking country by investigating the impact of networks on capital structure and the rationale behind family firm capital structure decisions.

Spelar finansiering roll och hur bör fördelningen mellan eget kapital och skulder se ut? Kapitalstruktur har studerats i många års tid och forskare har försökt finna de faktorer som kan påverka kapitalstruktur och om skuldsättningsgraden påvisar samband mellan olika betydande variabler. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka kapitalstrukturen hos företag inom olika branscher i avseende på skuldsättningsgrad, tillväxt, företagsstorlek och företagsålder. Undersökningen är genomförd utifrån en kvantitativ ansats som omfattar 50 företag på NASDAQ OMX Stockholm. Korrelation- samt regressionsanalyser genomfördes för att undersöka sambandet mellan företagsstorlek, företagsålder samt tillväxttakt som oberoende variabler och skuldsättningsgrad som beroende variabel. Studien har visat att företagsålder är en branschspecifik variabel som påverkar skuldsättningsgraden på olika sätt beroende på bransch. Samtidigt som företagsstorlek och tillväxttakt har visat sig vara icke branschspecifika variabler. Studien har även kunnat klargöra att vissa branscher är mer homogena än andra i avseende på kapitalstruktur. / How important is the capital structure and how should equity and debt be divided within a company? Capital structure has been studied for many years, and researchers have attempted to identify the factors that can affect the capital structure and if the leverage ratio shows significant correlations between different variables. The purpose of this study is to examine the capital structure of companies in different industries in terms of leverage, growth, company size and company age. The survey was conducted based on a quantitative approach, which includes 50 companies on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm. Correlation-and regression analyzes were conducted to examine the relationship between company size, company age and growth rate as independent variables and leverage as the dependent variable.  The study has shown that business age is an industry-specific variable affecting leverage in different ways depending on the industry. While firm size and growth rate has been found to be non-industry-specific variables. The study was also able to clarify that some industries aremore homogenous than others in terms of capital structure.

Presentació d'un nou model de "Trade-Off" d'estructura òptima de capital d'una empresa. La innovació consisteix a incloure una simplificació de la fórmula de distància a la fallida de Merton (1974) realitzada per Bystrom (2006), per a determinar la taxa d'interès de l'empresa. D'aquest mode s'inclou un efecte dinàmic del palanquejament sobre la taxa d'interès, la qual cosa afecta el cost del deute i la taxa de descompte utilitzada i que s'expressa com un increment o disminució de la probabilitat de fallida de l'empresa. A l'unir aquest resultat a la pèrdua i valor de bons "ferralla" (publicat per Altman & Suresh, 2007), s'obté l'actual valor net del cost de fallida que es manifesta com a percentatge del valor del deute. El model desenvolupat s'ha aplicat a les empreses que van integrar al 2007 el DJIA, que calcula nivells estimats de deute per a aquestes empreses entre l'any 1996 i l'any 2006. Posteriorment, el deute estimat s'acara amb el deute real de l'empresa amb l'ús de la prova estadística de Mann-Whitney. Els resultats obtinguts indiquen que el 63% de les companyies comparades no mostren una diferència estadísticament significativa entre el deute estimat i el real. / Presentamos un nuevo modelo de “Trade-Off” de estructura óptima de capital de una empresa. La innovación consiste en incluir una simplificación de la fórmula de distancia a la quiebra de Merton (1974) realizada por Bystrom (2006), para determinar la tasa de interés de la empresa. Así incluimos un efecto dinámico del apalancamiento sobre la tasa de interés, el cual afecta al coste de la deuda y a la tasa de descuento utilizada expresándose como un incremento o disminución de la probabilidad de quiebra de la empresa. Al unir este resultado a la perdida e valor de bonos “chatarra” (publicado por Altman & Suresh, 2007), obtenemos el valor presente neto del coste de quiebra expresado como porcentaje del valor de la deuda. El modelo desarrollado es aplicado a las empresas que integraron en el 2007 el DJIA, calculando niveles estimados de deuda para dichas empresas entre el año 1996 y el año 2006. La deuda estimada es luego comparada con la deuda real de la empresa utilizando la prueba estadística de Mann-Whitney. Los resultados obtenidos indican que el 63% de las compañías comparadas no muestran una diferencia estadísticamente significativa entre la deuda estimada y la real. / We introduce a new Trade-Off model of capital structure. the innovation introduced is a simplification of Merton's (1974) distance to bankruptcy done by Bystrom(2006), to calculate the company's interest rate. Thus we include a dynamic effect of leverage on the interest rate, which affects both the cost of debt and de discount rate of the model. when we add this to the discounted value of distressed bonds (published by Altman & Suresh, 2007), we get the net present value of the cost of bankruptcy as a percentage of the value of the debt. We applied the model to the companies in the DJIA in 2007, calculating estimated debt levels for each company between the years of 1996 and 2006. the estimated debt was then compared with the actual debt using the Mann-Whitney statistical test. The results indicated that, on 63% of the compared companies, there is no statistically significant difference between the estimated debt and the actual debt.

Bakgrund och problem: Finanskrisen 2008-2009 hade sitt ursprung i överoptimistisk långivning med anknytning till fastigheter. Bostadsbubblan som hade uppstått mellan 2001-2006 i USA fick störst betydelse och kom att beskrivas som den främsta utlösande faktorn till finanskrisen. Bostadsbubblan sprack och huspriserna började falla under 2007. Krisen intensifierades och utvecklades till en global finanskris under 2008 då den amerikanska investmentbanken Lehman Brothers tilläts gå i konkurrs. Botten nåddes sannolikt under 2009 som präglades av en global recession. Men samtidigt ser vi fortfarande under 2012 efterspelet av finanskrisen i form av svag tillväxt, osäkerhet på de finansiella marknaderna och stadsfinansiella kriser i euroområdet. Finanskrisens utbrott resulterade bland annat i att banker och andra finansiella institut ströp utlåningen, penningmarknaden total frös och tecken på en totallåsning av banksystemet blev snabbt tydliga. Fastighetsbranschen karaktäriseras av speciella finansiella förutsättningar som gör att den urskiljer sig från andra branscher. Fastighetsbolag har generellt sett en hög belåning för att möjliggöra de kapitalkrävande investeringar som fastigheter innebär. Fastighetsbolagen har därför vanligtvis en kapitalstruktur med stor andel främmande kapital, vilket medför att tillgång till externt kapital och en fungerande finansiell marknad är närmast ett livsvillkor bolagen. Utifrån den bakgrunden ansåg jag att det borde vara intressant att undersöka hur den finansiella situationen i börsnoterade fastighetsbolag har påverkats och utvecklats under finanskrisen. Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att beskriva och förklara hur den finansiella situationen i börsnoterade fastighetsbolag har påverkats och utvecklats under den senaste finanskrisen. Vidare syftar studien till att förklara hur finanskrisen har påverkat bolagens finansiella ställning. Studien syftar även till att bidra med i någon mån ökad förståelse för hur börsnoterade fastighetsbolag påverkas av en finansiell kris. Teori: Den teoretiska referensramen behandlar fyra olika temaområden bestående av teori som förklarar kapitalstruktur, finansiella nyckeltal, värderingsteori samt redovisning i fastighetsbolag. Teoriområdet kring kapitalstruktur belyser dels kapitalstruktur som begrepp, men även de teorier som traditionellt förknippas med kapitalstruktur. Redovisning i fastighetsbolag fokuseras på den internationella standarden IAS 40, som tillämpas vid redovisning och värdering förvaltningsfastigheter. Metod: För uppsatsen har en kvantitativ metod använts där 17 fastighetsbolag noterade på NASDAQ OMX Stockholm har studerats. Analysen grundar sig på insamlad data från fastighetsbolagens årsredovisningar för år 2006 till 2010. Resultat och slutsatser: Studiens resultat visar att fastighetsbolagens soliditet minskade och var lägre under 2008-2010. Studien visade även att belåningsgraden hos fastighetsbolagen ökade under perioden 2007-2010. I undersökningen kunde även en stigande lönsamhet i form av förvaltningsresultat och driftöverskott noteras sedan 2006. Studien visade att bolagen gjorde nettoupptag av lån under samtliga år, med en tydlig minskning 2008-2010. En ökande total skuldsättning kunde även påvisas under hela perioden. Avslutnings vis visade studien att samtliga fastighetsbolag redovisade positiva värdeförändringar på sina förvaltningsfastigheter 2006-2007 och 2010. För främst 2008 men även 2009 redovisade stora flertalet av bolagen en markant negativ värdeförändring på förvaltningsfastigheter. / Background and problem: The financial crisis of 2008-2009 originated from overoptimistic lending and projections of asset prices in real estate and residential markets. The housing bubble that developed during 2001-2006 and the sub-prime lending in the US became known as the main cause and trigger of the financial crisis. The bursting of the housing bubble during 2007 followed by decreased housing prices was the first sign of the upcoming turmoil in the US. The financial crisis was intensified and spread to a global financial crisis and recession when the bank Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy on September 14th 2008. The financial crisis most likely reached its bottom during 2009, a year that was characterised by halting global credit markets and a synchronised recession among advanced economies. But in 2012 we can still see the affects of the financial crisis with weak growth in the global economy, uncertainty in the finical markets and sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone. The financial crisis made the banks and other lending institutions reluctant to lend money both among themselves and to others, this triggered a credit crunch and halt in the credit markets. Real estate business and real estate firms are characterised by special financial conditions that separates it from other sectors. Real estate firms generally have a high leverage ratio, to enable profitable investments in capital intensive real estate business. Hence real estate firms are known to have a capital structure with a large proportion of debt; as a consequence real estate companies are highly dependent on the supply of external capital, and functioning capital and debt markets are the lifeblood of real estate firms. This unique characteristic of the real estate industry and the companies makes them an interesting area of study, especially during a time with a credit crunch and financial crisis.                          Purpose: The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to describe and explain how the financial situation in listed real estate companies was affected and developed during the last financial crisis. Furthermore the purpose of the study is to explain how the financial crisis has affected the financial position of real estate companies. The study also aims to contribute to more knowledge about how listed real estate companies can be affected by a financial crisis.    Theory: The theoretical framework for the thesis is constituted by four main areas that explains and describes capital structure, financial ratios, asset pricing models and investment property accounting. Methodology: The thesis is based on a quantitative method and approach, where 17 real estate companies listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm has been studied. The empirical analysis was based on data collected from annual reports for the years 2006-2010.     Empirical results and conclusions: The study showed a decrease in solidity (equity ratio) during the studied period, and a lower solidity 2008-2010. The study also showed that the real estate companies increased their leverage (debt to real estate value) between 2007 and 2010. The essay also indicated a higher and increased underlying profitability among the companies since 2006. Another result was that the companies increased the total debt, and took up new external debt each year during 2006-2010. Finally the study showed that all companies in the study reported significant gains from fair value of investment property 2006-2007, and losses during 2008 and 2009.

This study is to examine the phenomenon of stock prices drop around the ex-dividend day in Taiwan. Investors purchasing the security before the ex-dividend date will receive the current dividend, whereas investors purchasing the security on or after this date will not receive the dividend. Consequently, the stock price should fall on the ex-dividend date. In a perfect market, the stock price is expected to fall by the amount of the dividend. I show that share prices do not fall by the full amount of dividend, on average. I focus on falling ratio of stock prices, along with stock return. I also study the factors which may influence stock price behavior and find that the drop of stock price is smaller than the amount of the dividend. That is, the stock price tends to rise on the ex-dividend day. The price drop ratio on the ex-dividend day is higher for firms with greater financial leverage, higher dividend pay out ratio and higher dividend yield. Finally, I also observe that stock return and trading volume increase around the ex-dividend day.

To the best of my knowledge, there has not been any academic study about capital structure of Turkish REITs so far. This study attempts to fulfill this gap in the literature by analyzing the capital structure choices of Turkish REITs which are listed in Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) over the period of 1998 - 2007. The key contribution of this study is to understand whether the firm specific, institutional and country specific factors that affect the capital structures of all institutional firms including REITs in developed and developing countries are also applicable to the Turkish REITs sector. The data analysis demonstrates that Turkish REITs employ little long term debt in their capital structure and there exists strong short term debt dominance in the sector. Employing Tobit regression and panel data models, it is concluded that capital structure determinants that are significant in developed and developing countries are also significant in Turkish REITs&amp / #8217 / debt financing choices. However, we observe inconsistency in the sign and significance of some factors which give a way to understand the different institutional and country specific factors of Turkish real estate market and Turkish REITs.

The modern capital structure theory attempts to determine an optimal capital structure on the maximum shareholder¡¦s wealth. In practice, it is very difficult to find an optimal capital structure. Nevertheless, the dynamic capital structure model can simulate an optimal capital structure by Monte Carlo approach. Therefore, this study begin at the opinion of sales revenue and modifies the model of Goldstein, Ju and Leland(1998). Firstly, using the model to simulate the optimality of capital structures about traditional and high-tech industries of Taiwan. Secondly, the impacts of industry characteristic¡Bfirm size¡Bgrowth¡Bprofitability¡Boperating risk and dividend policy on the optimal capital structure are also analyzed. Meanwhile, to investigate the effect of implementation of the integration of individual and corporate taxes on the firm value¡Bdividend policy and capital structure. There are some conclusions in this study. The simulate results indicate that the leverage ratio of traditional industry is higher than that of high-tech industry. Firm size and growth are positively associated with debt ratio. The profitability and dividend yield are negatively associated with debt ratio. But operating risk and debt ratio have curve relation. The traditional industry trends to optimal static capital structure strategy. But high-tech industry is toward optimal upward dynamic capital structure strategy. The higher corporate tax rate, the higher firm value is. The shareholder¡¦s individual tax rate and the tax rate on the retained earnings with firm value are negatively relation. So the extent of how tax reform affects firm value depends on the shareholder¡¦s individual tax rate. According to the model, debt ratio should decrease. The empirical result for the high technology industry has satisfied the theoretical prediction. However, the increase of the debt ratios of firms in the traditional industry indicates that industry framework is changed for higher equity cost. Therefore, the resource of firm funds will be by debt policy. Dividend payment will increase after the implementation of the integration of individual and corporate taxes. The more dividend pay out, the lower firm value is. So it consists with tax-effect hypothesis. Finally, this study derives the valuation model of dynamic capital structure. The simulate results are consistent with research hypothesis. That can advise managers to revise capital structure and to make dividend policy.

This paper examines the impact of credit rating migration in determining optimal capital structure. The models we propose capture empirical behavior in two ways; the behavior of linking firm¡¦s rating to the promised coupons and the behavior of targeting minimum rating. We find that as long as the rating at issuing time is not too low, tax shields of the rating-linked coupon debt are larger than those of standard debt with the same par, and hence, optimal leverage usage of the firm with the rating- linked coupon scheme is greater. Further, we also show that the behavior of targeting a minimum rating causes mean-reverting leverage dynamics. Managers are appeared to make over-repurchase choices for adjusting the current rating back to the initial target following a downgrade from target minimum rating.

<p>Background: A company’s choice of capital structure is influenced by the access to internal and external capital but also by the opportunities and threats that the management perceives in the environment and the management’s attitude towards risk. How an individual perceives and interpret the environment depends on the cognitive structures, which are shaped by personality, background and earlier experiences. Accordingly cognitive structures can be expected to influence the choice of capital structure. </p><p>Purpose: Out of a cognitive perspective we intend to study the relationship between the way a company views it’s environment and what capital structure it chooses to have, in order to contribute to an increased understanding about what lies behind a company’s capital structure policy. </p><p>Delimitations: Debt policy refers to the choice of capital structure. Cognition is briefly presented as a phenomena and in relation to risk judgement in decision processes. </p><p>Realization: Our empirical studies are based on information from the annual reports of H&M, JC and Lindex from the period of 1989-2000. </p><p>Results: The studied companies have a very similar view on the environment and their capital structures are relatively similar since all of them have a high share of equity. Consequently the choice of capital structure can be said to be influenced by the company’s view on the environment even though this is not the only influencing factor.</p>