Sammanfattning Titel: Bostadsrättsbyggande i en lågkonjunktur Ämne: Kandidatuppsats i företagsekonomi, 15 hp Författare: Ebba Fritz & Emmy Rabe Nyckelord: Lågkonjunktur, kapitalstruktur, bostadsmarknaden, hushållens köpkraft Syfte: Syftet med examensarbetet är att undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar de privata fastighetsbolagens möjlighet att anskaffa kapital för att bygga och sälja bostadsrätter. Studien kommer även att undersöka vilka faktorer som ligger till grund för att färre bostadsrätter byggs i en lågkonjunktur. Metod: I denna studie användes en abduktiv forskningsansats med en kvalitativ metod. Empiri insamlingen baseras på intervjuer från sex respondenter som representerar olika företag som är aktiva i Göteborg. Den teoretiska referensramen har tagits fram med hjälp av relevanta vetenskapliga artiklar, litteratur samt internetkällor med koppling till fastighets- & byggbranschen. Slutsats: Studiens slutsats visar att den rådande marknadssituationen har gjort det svårt för privata fastighetsbolag att anskaffa kapital för att bygga bostadsrätter. Bankernas restriktivitet har visat sig genom skärpta krav på försäljningsgrad vilket har försvårat fastighetsbolagens finansiering av nya projekt. Överskott av osålda bostadsrätter, den förhöjda räntenivån och minskad efterfrågan på grund av ekonomisk osäkerhet har också bidragit till att företagen bygger mindre. Hushållens försiktighet gällande köp av bostadsrätter på grund av höga räntor och psykologiska faktorer har bidragit till återhållsamhet och begränsad investeringsvilja vilket har varit en bidragande faktor till att fastighetsbolagen har haft svårigheter med sin försäljning. Företagen arbetar med strategisk planering för att överleva lågkonjunkturen och positionera sig för framtiden. / Abstract Title: Building condominiums in a recession Subject: Master's thesis in business administration, 15 credits Author: Ebba Fritz & Emmy Rabe Keywords: Recession, capital structure, housing market, household purchasing power Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to investigate which factors affect the private real estate companies' ability to acquire capital to build and sell condominiums. The study will also investigate which factors are the basis for fewer condominiums being built in a recession. Method: This study used an abductive research approach with a qualitative method. The empirical data collection is based on interviews from six respondents who represent different companies that are active in Gothenburg. The theoretical frame of reference has been developed with the help of relevant scientific articles, literature and internet sources connected to the real estate & construction industry. Conclusion: The study's conclusion shows that the current market situation has made it difficult for private real estate companies to acquire capital to build condominiums. The restrictiveness of the banks has been shown through stricter requirements on the sales ratio, which has made it more difficult for the real estate companies to finance new projects. Surplus unsold condominiums, the increased interest rate and reduced demand due to economic uncertainty have also contributed to companies building less. The caution of households due to high interest rates and psychological factors has led to restraint and limited willingness to invest, which has been a contributing factor to the fact that property companies have had difficulties with their sales. The companies work with strategic planning to survive the recession and position themselves for the future.

The world is experiencing a large degree of change and that is no different for the banking industry in Sweden. With a higher level of communication happening through digital channels combined with the lowering of bank offices, questions arise about how advisors are communicating, what the advisors' demands and recommendations are for firms applying for credit as well as who their customers are and their demands.  The purpose of this paper is to find out what communication channels advisors are using and how they are used. Based on the demands that they present during this communication, what capital structure theory seems to fit the behavior of both the advisor and the firms. Results from this purpose indicate that advisors use a myriad of different ICTs daily and that the use of them is widespread and growing over time, but there still exist situations where physical meetings and contact occur. Furthermore, the demands and actions of the advisor point them towards communicating in preference for the pecking order theory mainly and the use of internal funds, though exceptions exist of the opposite. The demands observed by firms are more widespread but trade-off theory seems to explain the actions of larger firms better with there being a split in the evidence of support of pecking order theories explanation of firms behavior. Previous work related to this field has previously been done by looking at the firm's behaviors in connection to capital structure theory, but to our knowledge, work related to the observed demands seen from a banking advisor's perspective seems to be lacking. Previous work involved in ICT is also apparent but with the nature of the subject and the rapid advancement of the technologies, new information is always needed. Therefore, how the capital structure theories and ICT explain the behavior and communication of advisors and bank customers are a needed area of research.

The share of corporate saving in total saving in South Africa has increased during the past four decades. In this dissertation various economic theories are examined in order to try to explain this change and to determine the possible implications of this change. The conclusion is that the relationship between the investment decision of companies and their savings decision is governed by the determinants of the financing choice of firms. These include cost, risk, control and availability. If, because of these factors, firms prefer to finance investment with retained earnings, there is a relationship between investment and the level of corporate saving. The degree to which the investment decision is dependent on the availability of internal financing will determine the importance of the level of corporate saving in a country. / Oor die afgelope vier dekades het die aandeel van maatskapybesparing in die totale besparing in Suid-Afika toegeneem. In hiersie vehandeling word veskillende ekonomiese teoriee ondersoek ten einde hierdie verandering te probeer veklaar en te probeer vasstel wat die implikasies van hierdie veandering is. Die gevolgtrekking waartoe gekom word, is dat die verband tussen die investeringsbeleid en die maatskappye se besparingsbesluit bepaal word deur faktore wat die finansieringskeuse van die firmas beinvloed, naamlik koste, risiko, beheer en beskikbaarheid. Indien hierdie faktore daartoe lei dat die maatskapye verkies om investering met terruggehoue bespaaring the finansier, is daar 'n verband tussen investering en die vlak van maatskappybesparing. Die mate waarin die investeringsbesluit afhanklik is van die beskikbaarheid van interne finansiering, sal bepaal hoe belangrik die vlak van maatskappybesparing in 'n land is. / Economics and Management Sciences / M.Com.

近幾年針對資本結構的研究發現,在比較先進國家的企業確實有逐步調整回自己的最適資本結構的動作。本論文進一步將研究擴大到開發中國家，發現研究中的32個國家，不論是已開發或是發開中國家的企業，確實都有維持最適資本結構的動作。當資本結構偏離時，企業會逐步地調整回其最適值，然而每個國家調整回最適資本結構的調整速度則存在著差異性。本論文進一步利用國家間法律、會計、制度以及規範面的差異下去分析，發現國家發展程度以及會計制度是影響調整回最適資本結構的速度快慢的重要因子。此外，本論文亦探討融資順位理論及擇時理論的影響，發現加入融資順位理論因子後，調整速度會有相當程度的減緩，而減緩的幅度，則與國家發展程度、法律保護、公司稅率以及會計制度有顯著的關連性。 / Recent empirical literature provides evidences that firms in most developed countries do partially adjust toward their target capital structure. In this paper, we show that no only firms in developed countries, but also those in emerging countries gradually move back to their long-run equilibrium when they are away from it. But the adjustment speeds vary from country to country. We study the determinants of adjustment speeds around the world by focusing on differences in laws and regulations across countries. Our evidences show that firms in countries with common-law tradition, stronger shareholder right, or more completed accounting standards tend to move back to their optimal leverage quicker. Furthermore, we add two variables related to other two main capital structures (pecking order and market timing) in our analysis to capture their effects. Both theories add some information in explaining capital structure, but the impacts differ when applying different leverage measures. When we define leverage ratio as long-term debts dividend by net assets, we observe that pecking order factor lowers the adjustment speed a lot. And the magnitude of decrease on adjustment speed is significantly correlated with market condition, law enforcement, corporate tax rate and accounting standard. More developed countries and countries with stronger law enforcement, higher corporate tax rate, or more completed accounting standards tend to have less reduction on adjustment speed when including pecking order factor, because they have less information asymmetries.

本研究旨在探討公司治理與動態資本結構之間的關係，以及產品市場競爭對此關係的影響。 第一篇文章探討公司治理品質如何影響動態資本結構。本篇文章同時考慮負債的「接管防禦」與「懲罰」效果，對最適資本結構調整速度的影響。我們的實證結果發現，雖然低負債(underlevered)和高負債(overlevered)公司，皆呈現公司治理品質愈差，調整速度愈慢的結果，但原因並不相同。以低負債且弱治理的公司來說，因負債所扮演的懲罰角色帶來的成本，高於使用負債作為接管防禦工具所帶來的利益，因此公司傾向減少負債的使用，並以較緩慢的速度朝向目標資本結構調整。但就高負債弱治理的公司而言，因面臨較嚴重的接管威脅，為了驅逐潛在的掠奪者，公司選擇增加負債的使用，而不願調降其負債水準至目標值，因此也降低了資本結構的調整速度。 第二篇文章主要探討產品市場競爭在公司治理品質與動態資本結構關係中所扮演的角色。文獻中已有許多研究探討市場競爭對經理人的怠惰行為的影響。然而，到目前為止，仍然沒有文獻研究產品市場競爭程度的高低如何影響公司治理與資本結構調整速度之間的關係。我們的文章因此補足目前研究文獻不足之處。實證結果顯示，公司在競爭的狀態下，更願意以追求股東財富極大化為其目標，此舉也因此提升公司資本結構朝向最適目標值調整的速度。除此之外，我們的實證結果亦發現在一個高度市場競爭的環境下，弱治理與強治理公司之間調整速度的差距會縮小。 / This study contains two essays on the relationship between corporate governance on capital structure dynamics, and how production market competition affects this relation. Essay 1: Corporate Governance and the Dynamics of Capital Structure: New Evidences The effects of corporate governance on optimal capital structure choices have been well documented, though without offering empirical evidence about the impact of corporate governance quality on the adjustment speed toward an optimal capital structure. This study simultaneously considers two effects of debt originating from agency theory—the takeover defense and the disciplinary effects of debt—on the speed of adjustment to the optimal capital structure. Corporate governance has a distinct effect on the speed of capital structure adjustment: weak governance firms that are underlevered tend to adjust slowly to the optimal capital structure, because the costs of the disciplinary role of debt outweigh the benefits of using debt as a takeover defense tool. Although, overlevered weak governance firms also adjust slowly, they do so because they are reluctant to decrease their leverage toward the target level to deter potential raiders, especially if they face a serious takeover threat. Therefore, this study finds that both overlevered and underlevered firms with weak governance adjust slowly toward their target debt levels, though with different motivations. Essay 2: Corporate Governance, Product Market Competition, and Dynamic Capital Structure The importance of product market competition for analyzing managerial slack or the impact of corporate governance on capital structure decision has been widely discussed. However, prior studies pay little attention to center on the impact of market competition on the relationship between corporate governance quality and capital structure dynamics. This paper thus fills this gap in the literature. Our study finds that competition makes firms with weak governance have stronger incentive to maximize shareholders’ wealth and thus increase their adjustment speed toward their target leverage. Moreover, the difference in the adjustment speeds between weak and strong governance firms become smaller when firms operate in highly competitive industries.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:51:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 98468.pdf.jpg: 15556 bytes, checksum: 82354d9e302b0f5851ce3c9150147d2f (MD5) 98468.pdf: 841055 bytes, checksum: d3f59690cddbb38713e374ee903838c6 (MD5) 98468.pdf.txt: 263196 bytes, checksum: 5c0fa64209b55216a17821d5d4e86f3a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2004-04-15T00:00:00Z / Este trabalho analisa a abordagem oportunista nas decisões de financiamento, buscando evidências desse comportamento nas empresas brasileiras. O oportunismo sugere que o administrador escolha as fontes de recursos economicamente mais vantajosas no momento da decisão, não se preocupando com uma hierarquia de captação de fundos, ou com a manutenção de um nível de endividamento ótimo. As evidências empíricas apontam para a existência de oportunismo na escolha das fontes de financiamento e influência de fatores macroeconômicos na determinação do nível de endividamento. / We analyze the windows of opportunity theory in capital structure decisions, searching for evidences on this behaviour in Brazillian publicly held companies. The opportunistic approach suggests that managers make their capital structure choices based on economic advantages offered by each source of funds. That means, managers do not follow a pecking order nor a target adjustment model. Empirical evidences points to managerial opportunism behaviour in the financing decisions and strong macroeconomic factors influence on leverage. Public debt from Government competes with companies for sources of funds; interest rate and stock market liquidity are negatively related to leverage.

The share of corporate saving in total saving in South Africa has increased during the past four decades. In this dissertation various economic theories are examined in order to try to explain this change and to determine the possible implications of this change. The conclusion is that the relationship between the investment decision of companies and their savings decision is governed by the determinants of the financing choice of firms. These include cost, risk, control and availability. If, because of these factors, firms prefer to finance investment with retained earnings, there is a relationship between investment and the level of corporate saving. The degree to which the investment decision is dependent on the availability of internal financing will determine the importance of the level of corporate saving in a country. / Oor die afgelope vier dekades het die aandeel van maatskapybesparing in die totale besparing in Suid-Afika toegeneem. In hiersie vehandeling word veskillende ekonomiese teoriee ondersoek ten einde hierdie verandering te probeer veklaar en te probeer vasstel wat die implikasies van hierdie veandering is. Die gevolgtrekking waartoe gekom word, is dat die verband tussen die investeringsbeleid en die maatskappye se besparingsbesluit bepaal word deur faktore wat die finansieringskeuse van die firmas beinvloed, naamlik koste, risiko, beheer en beskikbaarheid. Indien hierdie faktore daartoe lei dat die maatskapye verkies om investering met terruggehoue bespaaring the finansier, is daar 'n verband tussen investering en die vlak van maatskappybesparing. Die mate waarin die investeringsbesluit afhanklik is van die beskikbaarheid van interne finansiering, sal bepaal hoe belangrik die vlak van maatskappybesparing in 'n land is. / Economics and Management Sciences / M.Com.

This thesis examines the effects of managerial overconfidence on corporate financing decisions. Overconfident managers tend to overestimate the mean of future cash flow and underestimate the volatility of future cash flow. We propose a novel time-varying measure of overconfidence, which is based on computational linguistic analysis of what the managers said (i.e. Chairman s Statement). The overconfidence of CEO and CFO is also constructed based on what the managers did (i.e. how they trade their own firms shares). We conduct three empirical studies that offer new insights into the roles of managerial overconfidence in the leverage decision (i.e. debt level), pecking order behaviour (i.e. the preference for debt over equity financing) and debt maturity decision (i.e. short-term debt vs. long-term debt). Study 1 documents a negative overconfidence-leverage relationship. This new finding suggests that debt conservatism associated with managerial overconfidence might be a potential explanation for the low leverage puzzle: some firms maintain low leverage, without taking tax benefits of debt, because overconfident managers believe that firm securities are undervalued by investors and thus are too costly (Malmendier, Tate and Yan, 2011). Study 2 finds managerial overconfidence leads to reverse pecking order preference especially in small firms, which sheds light on the pecking order puzzle that smaller firms with higher information costs surprisingly exhibit weaker pecking order preference. This new evidence is consistent with Hackbarth s (2008) theory that overconfident managers who underestimate the riskiness of earnings tend to prefer equity to debt financing. Study 3 finds managerial overconfidence leads to higher debt maturity. This evidence supports our proposition that overconfidence can mitigate the underinvestment problem (which is often the major concern of long-term debt investors) (Hackbarth, 2009), which in turn allows overconfident managers to use more and cheaper long-term debt. This evidence also implies that overconfidence may mitigate the agency cost of debt. Overall, our empirical analysis suggests that managerial overconfidence has significant incremental explanatory power for corporate financing decisions.

This thesis examines the link between mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and corporate financial leverage. The thesis proposes and tests various hypotheses regarding: (1) the relationship between the probability of firms undertaking M&As and corporate financial leverage; and (2) the changes in financial leverage prior to firms' decision to initiate M&As. The empirical evidence on the proposed hypotheses is based on a large sample of firms in the UK during the period 1996 and 2006. The empirical analysis presented in this study contributes to the large and growing body of literature on the interdependence of corporate financing and investment decisions. Specifically, this study contributes to the literature in two ways. First, the thesis investigates the link between firms leverage deviations (i.e. the deviations of firms observed leverage ratios from target leverage ratios) and the probability of undertaking M&As in the future. Building upon the earlier literature, it is argued that extreme leverage deviations lower the probability of undertaking M&As by impairing firms ability to raise capital to finance these deals. The study s empirical analyses suggest that extremely overleveraged firms have lower probability of undertaking M&As. Moreover, the link between extreme overleverage and the probability of undertaking M&As is weaker for diversification-increasing acquisitions (i.e. deals in which the acquirer and the target firm operate in different industries); for domestic acquisitions (i.e. deals in which the acquirer and the target firm are domiciled in the same country); and for focused (i.e. single-segment) firms undertaking acquisitions. Thus, the leverage deviation effect is not symmetric for all types of acquisitions and for all firms. Second, the thesis examines how the pre-acquisition changes in corporate financial leverage may be influenced by: (1) the extent to which firms deviate from their target leverage ratios; and (2) firms intentions to initiate M&As. Key empirical findings in this section suggest that firms that have higher leverage deviations adjust their leverage at a higher rate than those with lower deviations. More importantly, the empirical evidence suggests that firms that undertake M&As adjust their pre-acquisition leverage at a higher rate than those that do not. These findings suggest that, when making adjustments to corporate capital structure, managers tend to consider their firms leverage deviations and their future acquisition plans. Furthermore, the study s findings partly explain the differences in the speeds of financial leverage adjustments reported in the existing literature.

<p>Bakgrund: De svenska börsbolagen gör större vinster än någonsin tidigare, men har fått stor kritik för att vara för långsamma i sin vinstallokering. Företag med överkapitaliserade balansräkningar utan investeringsbehov är potentiella måltavlor för riskkapitalisternas affärsidé om finansiell effektivisering och en aggressivare kapitalstruktur. Debatten i media har skapat kritik kring dessa så kallade kortsiktiga och giriga bolagsplundrare som påstås förstöra finansiella värden och kreditvärdigheten i företagen. I tidigare fall har marknaden svarat positivt på riskkapitalisternas investeringar, något som har reflekterats i ett kraftigt ökande aktiepris. Skeptiker hävdar dock att spekulationer är anledningen till att marknadsvärdet drivs upp, inte fundamentala aspekter.</p><p>Syfte: Syftet med denna magisteruppsats är att fastställa en bild av fenomenet riskkapital och hur dess aktiva ägande inverkar på svenska börsbolags kreditbetyg, kapitalstruktur och värdering.</p><p>Metod: För att uppnå syftet med vår magisteruppsats har en kvalitativ ansats till-lämpats baserad på tre börsbolag där riskkapitalisters aktiva ägande spelat en betydande roll. Det empiriska materialet har insamlats genom personliga intervjuer med aktie- och kreditanalytiker, och studien förlitar sig även på markandsdata, artiklar och nyhetssändningar i media, samt respektive bolags kvartals- och årsrapporter.</p><p>Slutsats: Studien har gjorts over den tidsperiod som varit riskkapitalisternas inve-steringshorisont – explicit och implicit. Genom att analysera det aktiva ägarskapet i tre svenska börsbolag kan slutsatsen dras att det inverkat positivt i form av högre prestanda och marknadsvärdering. De finansiella förändringarna har, till skillnad från kritiken, styrkt kreditbetyget i fallen Lindex och Volvo. En analys av Skandia/Old Mutual visade dock en marginellt ökad kreditrisk. Slutsatsen visar härmed att riskkapitalisternas inverkan på svenska börsbolag är värdeförädlande utan att äventyra den finansiella statusen.</p> / <p>Background: The Swedish blue chip companies are performing better than ever, but have been strongly criticised for being too slow in their excess fund allocation. Companies with overcapitalised balance sheets and no investment needs are potential targets for activist funds’ business idea of more aggressive capital structures and financial restructuring. In media, this debate has raised criticism against these so called short-sighted, greedy asset-strippers that destroy company values and increase the companies’ risk of default. In prior cases where activist funds have taken actions, the market has responded positively through increasing the share price. However, sceptics argue that the higher share price is merely a response to a speculative reaction with no fundamental argument supporting the upgrade in market capitalisation.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to establish a view of the phenomenon of activist funds and their impact on blue chip companies’, listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, credit rating, capital structure and valuation.</p><p>Method: To fulfil the purpose of our master thesis, a qualitative approach has been applied based on three cases involving the activities of activist funds. The empirical findings have been retrieved via personal communications with stock- and credit analysts, and the study also relies on articles and news coverage from media, stock market data and annual reports from each of the chosen companies respectively.</p><p>Conclusion: The study has regarded the period of time which has been the investment horizon of the activist funds – explicitly and implicitly. Analysing their active ownership, the conclusion can be drawn that these activist funds have clearly had a positive impact on each of the blue chip companies’ performance and intrinsic value respectively. The financial restructuring has - contrarily to the criticism – strengthened the credit ratings in the cases of Lindex and Volvo. In the Skandia/Old Mutual-case, a marginally higher default risk was detected. Thus, the study has concluded that activist funds indeed add significant shareholder value without jeopardising the companies’ financial statuses.</p>