Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:59:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 4 João Alberto Peres Brando.pdf.jpg: 2463 bytes, checksum: 7165283204747b7ad54315f2e7262618 (MD5) João Alberto Peres Brando.pdf.txt: 100624 bytes, checksum: f5f62a8bb7d8bea633703c05a47bc4c6 (MD5) license.txt: 4712 bytes, checksum: 4dea6f7333914d9740702a2deb2db217 (MD5) João Alberto Peres Brando.pdf: 302368 bytes, checksum: 4dc3c2f85699d0a9f7cd9f898cf0d860 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-10T00:00:00Z / The objective of this study is to investigate the determinants of trade credit supply by Brazilian publicly traded companies between the years of 2005 and 2008. International literature (both theoretical and empirical) documents that the main determinants of trade credit supply are the size of the firm and the size of its debt. Both indicate that the availability of resources to the firm is an important factor for the supply of trade credit. In addition the literature confirms strategic uses of trade credit such as those for price discrimination purposes. The results obtained using a sample consisted of 157 Brazilian companies do not support the former hypotheses but they confirm the supply of trade credit as a strategic tool for the firms. Additionally we observed a significant decrease in trade credit supply in 2008, the year in which a severe international financial crisis took place. / O objetivo deste trabalho é testar os determinantes da oferta de trade credit por companhias brasileiras de capital aberto, no período entre os anos de 2005 e 2008. Estudos internacionais, teóricos e empíricos, documentam que os principais determinantes são o tamanho e nível de endividamento das firmas, ambos indicando a disponibilidade de recursos nas firmas como fatores significantes na oferta de trade credit. Adicionalmente, esta literatura confirma usos estratégicos para o trade credit, como discriminação de preços entre clientes. Os resultados obtidos no presente estudo, utilizando-se uma amostra de 157 empresas brasileiras, não suportam as primeiras hipóteses, mas endossam a oferta de trade credit como elemento estratégico para estas firmas. Foi ainda observada uma significativa queda na oferta de trade credit em 2008, ano marcado por uma aguda crise financeira internacional.

The topic of the diploma thesis is the analysis of receivables management at the building company PRIMA, joint-stock company in the period from 2010 to 2014. The theoretical part characterizes the receivables from the legal, accounting and tax points of view. Then it is engaged in their life cycle and the problematic connected with the management, provision and receivables recovery per curiam or in an out-of-court way. In the practical part there is the analysis of the current plutonomic situation. It is followed by the introduction of the company and the evaluation of their current financial situation via the done financial analysis. The following part deals with the analysis of the receivables management which involves the structure, term of expiration and the ways of receivables recovery at the analysed company. The main data sources include the financial evidences, annual reports, special publications, articles, internal materials and the consultations with the management of the company. The output of the diploma thesis is the evaluation of the current status of the receivables management, eventual finding the deficiencies and the proposal of the concrete recommendations for their elimination for the purpose of the current adjusted system tuning.

Dans un contexte où l'importance de la Responsabilité Sociale des Entreprises (RSE) va croissante, cette thèse explore la relation entre la RSE et plusieurs attributs financiers des entreprises comme l'information spécifique incorporée dans le prix des actions, le risque de détresse financière des entreprises et le niveau de crédit commercial. Les chercheurs en finance d'entreprise présentent deux points de vue opposés sur la RSE: "Faire le bien est bon pour les affaires" et "La RSE crée des problèmes d'agence". Le premier chapitre aborde brièvement les théories analysant les répercussions financière de la RSE et met en évidence les avantages financiers concomitants aux pratiques responsables. Les entreprises socialement responsables améliorent l'environnement informationnel ce qui complète l'information financière. Dans le deuxième chapitre, nous montrons que la RSE joue un rôle important dans l'amélioration de l'information incorporée dans les cours boursiers. Une meilleure performance RSE est appréciée par les investisseurs et les gestionnaires d'actifs et améliore la disponibilité des financements. Le troisième chapitre explique que les entreprises peuvent atténuer leur risque de détresse financière (Z-score) en améliorant leur performance en matière de RSE. Des entreprises plus responsables promeuvent de meilleures relations avec les parties prenantes grâce à un objectif de confiance et de maximisation de la valeur. Dans le quatrième chapitre, nous constatons que les entreprises socialement responsables ont un meilleur accès au financement (côté fournisseur du crédit commercial) et font plus confiance à leurs clients (côté acheteur du crédit commercial). Par conséquent, cette dissertation fournit un ensemble de résultats soulignant la pertinence et l'importance de "Faire le bien est bon pour les affaires". / In the context of the rapidly growing importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), this dissertation explores the relationship between CSR and firm financial attributes, like stock price informativeness, financial distress risk, and trade credit. First chapter briefly discusses the theories of CSR and highlights the financial advantages of favorable CSR practices. Corporate finance researchers present two opposite views on CSR, “Doing good is good for business” and “CSR creates agency problems”. In the second chapter, we testify this association and find that CSR plays an important role to improve the information impounding in stock prices. Socially responsible firms improve the financial information environment. Third chapter elaborates that firms can mitigate their financial distress risk (Z-score) through improved CSR performance. Firm better CSR performance is appreciated by the investors and asset managers and it improves the availability of finance. In fourth chapter, we find that socially responsible firms have better access to finance (supplier side of trade credit) and have more trust on their stakeholders (buyer side of trade credit). Better CSR firms promote the better relationship with stakeholders through trust and value maximization goal. Therefore, this dissertation provides evidence on the importance of “Doing good is good for business”.

ABSTRACT Title: Working Capital Management in Telecommunication sector: A case study of VGC telecoms Author: Gbenga Segun Akinwande Supervisor: Anders Hederstierna Department: School of Management, Blekinge Institute of Technology Course: Master’s thesis in business administration, 15 credits (ECTS). Background and Problem Discussion: The efficient management of working capital is very vital for a business survival. This is premised on the fact having too much working capital signifies inefficiency, whereas too little cash at hand signifies that the survival of business is shaky. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to study the working capital management in the small and medium scale businesses, using VGC Telecoms Company as a case study, so as to establish factors influencing working capital performance; examine how cash management, inventory management and trade credit management affects working capital management; company effectiveness in converting working capital to ready money; how working capital management impacts on the problem of slow development and to offer recommendations on possible ways of improving working capital management Method: Literatures bordering on different areas of working capital management were reviewed. Thus, this research employed qualitative and quantitative analysis; and semi- structured questions were drafted based on the issues raised from the review of various literatures. In addition, materials from journal articles, textbooks, working papers and industry practitioners are put into consideration. The use of internet and e-mails to send out questions were explored where appropriate. Analysis on the company’s financial statement was carried out in order to verify my findings. Theory: In this research, the theory section looks at various concepts that come up when analyzing the consequences of working capital management for company value and the factors that influence a company’s working capital management performance. I have therefore chosen the most common concept for the theory section. I have also tried to create a theoretical understanding for the company’s sensitivity to a workable WCM policy Analysis: In the analysis of the research findings, I employed qualitative approach to the data analysis whereby the impacts of the poor WCM on the company were discussed in depth. Conclusion: The findings corroborate the postulation of Weston et al that a company’s investment in working capital is a substantial percentage of its total investment. In case of VGC Telecoms, it is as high as 65 percent. An inefficient and ineffective management of this investment will result in slow pace of development and ultimately to the business failure. The performances of the company in the different spheres of working capital management were scored as follows:- • Cash management – 65.4 percent • Inventory management - 78.6 percent • Trade credit management and financing decisions - 60.0 percent This is an average performance of 68 percent. That is, the company’s performance is above average. This is a good performance. The financial statements as interpreted reinforce the validity of this result. The liquidity ratios are high; the collection period is short; and the cash cycle is not quite expansive. This makes it possible to sustain sufficient cash flow for the smooth running of the business. The management of working capital impacts on liquidity, investment portfolio and profitability. All these three factors are decisive in the growth or failure of a business. Hence, good performances in working capital management affects these decisive factors favourably and thus, contribute to growth and success of the business.

Modeföretagen i Sverige 2015 befinner sig i en mycket konsumentstyrd bransch där trender uppstår och passerar snabbt, vilket ger en bransch som ständigt förser marknaden med nya varor. Mode är samtidigt råvaruintensiv och lämnar ett avtryck i miljön som påverkar alla. Konsumenterna ställer nu allt högre krav på att varor är producerade mer hållbart och under socialt ansvarstagande, CSR, i alla led. Modeföretagen ansvarar för en produktion av varor som främst sker i länder med lägre kostnad för arbetskraft, vilket medför svårigheter i form av kontroll då avstånden är långa. Vilken relation företaget har till sina leverantörer har således kommit att spela en allt mer avgörande roll. Syftet med uppsatsen är att genom en fallstudie undersöka och analysera de överväganden som producerande aktörer på den svenska modemarknaden gör vid val av leverantörer, för att på så sätt belysa de svårigheter de anser finns och vad som är viktigt för deras framgång. Metoden som använts är semistrukturerade intervjuer inom fallstudiens ramar. Sekundärdata har samlats in från press, företagens hemsidor och från mailkorrespondens med branschorganisationer. Fallstudien visar att relationen företagen har till sina leverantörer är väldigt viktig för dess framgång. Ett bra leverantörssamarbete ökar företagens chanser till både hållbar produktion och ger en ökad möjlighet till finansiering genom handelskredit. En bra leverantörsrelation ökar även företagens möjligheter till flexibilitet från leverantörens sida med snabbare leveranser som bättre kan möta kundens efterfrågan och minska risken för felbedömningar. Långa avstånd anses som ett problem för modeföretagen och de söker därför närmare produktion inom EU som ger kortare ledtider, en möjlighet till bättre leverantörsrelationer samt ett underlättande av likvärdiga kemikalielagar.

This dissertation is made of four distinct chapters. In the first chapter, I consider an exogenous restriction on the ability of French trucking firms to extend payment terms to their clients. I find that they provide trade credit at the cost of lower investment, lower return on assets, and higher default risk. In the second chapter, I show that private equity funds with a longer horizon select younger companies at an earlier stage of their development. Companies which receive funding from funds with a longer horizon increase their patent stock significantly more than companies which receive funding from investors with a shorter horizon. The third chapter presents a joint work with Ron Kaniel and David Sraer. We use detailed brokerage account data to provide a quantitative exploration of the behavior of retail investors during the financial crisis of 2008. We show that investors who appear more sophisticated on these dimensions in the pre-crisis period were, in the post-crisis period, less likely to flee to safety, more likely to engage in liquidity provisions and to earn higher returns. In the fourth chapter, I develop the idea that households have an imprecise knowledge of their portfolio's exposure to systematic risk and that this leads them to make investment mistakes. This idea is tested in the context of the decision to actively trade rather than passively invest in the stock market

Tyrimo objektas-– pirkėjų skolų valdymas smulkaus verslo įmonėje. Tyrimo tikslas – atlikus pirkėjų skolų valdymo tiriamoje įmonėje analizę, sudaryti pirkėjų skolų valdymo modelį ir jį praktiškai pritaikyti. Uždaviniai : 1. Atlikti pirkėjų skolų valdymo UAB „Raimeda“ analizę ir identifikuoti pirkėjų skolų valdymo problemas. 2. Išanalizavus ir apibendrinus ankstesnius mokslinius tyrimus, sudaryti pirkėjų skolų valdymo modelį. 3. Sudarytą pirkėjų skolų valdymo modelį pritaikyti tiriamoje įmonėje“. Tyrimo metodai. Šio darbo rašymo metu buvo naudojami analizės ir sintezės, santykinių rodiklių skaičiavimo, palyginimo, finansinių rodiklių horizontalios bei vertikalios analizės metodai. Taip pat buvo naudojamasi prekinio kreditavimo valdymo klausimais užsienio bei lietuvių autorių parengtais straipsniais, informaciniais leidiniais bei internetinėse svetainėse surasta informacija. Tyrimo rezultatai • pirmojoje darbo dalyje išnagrinėta tiriamos įmonės finansinė padėtis bei pirkėjų skolų valdymo problemos. • antrojoje darbo dalyje išanalizuoti ir apibendrinti moksliniai tyrimai bei sudarytas pirkėjų skolų valdymo modelis. • trečiojoje darbo dalyje pasiūlytas pirkėjų skolų valdymo modelis testuotas tiriamos įmonės sąlygomis. Sukurtas pirkėjų skolų valdymo modelis detaliai nurodė pirkėjų patikimumo, jų reitingavimo bei prekinio kreditavimo sąlygų nustatymo kriterijus, pradelstų skolų išieškojimo metodus. / Research object - buyers' debt management in small business company. Research aim - to analyze buyers' debt management problems of target company, to create buyers' debt management model and test it in this company. Objectives : 1. to analyze methods of buyers' debt management in JCS "Raimeda" and identify the buyers' debt management problems in this company; 2. to create buyers' debt management model; 3. to implement the created buyers' debt management model in the target company. Research methods: analysis and synthesis, relative ratio calculations, comparison, horizontal and vertical analysis. Research results: • The company's financial position and buyers' debt management problems are analyzed in the first part of the work. • The second part, after analyzing and summarizing the previous research, presents the buyers' debt management model. • The third part presents results of the proposed buyers' debt management model implementation and testing in the target company. The buyers' debt management model shows detailed buyers' reliability, their rating and credit terms criteria, overdue debt recovery practices for small businesses company.

Submitted by Claudinê Jordão de Carvalho (jordao@ufu.br) on 2012-08-03T13:15:28Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_Jordao_final02082012.PDF: 1362684 bytes, checksum: 3d5f44eefbd2ddcd6b62207811829013 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Suzinei Teles Garcia Garcia (suzinei.garcia@fgv.br) on 2012-08-03T14:31:14Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_Jordao_final02082012.PDF: 1362684 bytes, checksum: 3d5f44eefbd2ddcd6b62207811829013 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-08-03T14:33:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_Jordao_final02082012.PDF: 1362684 bytes, checksum: 3d5f44eefbd2ddcd6b62207811829013 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-07-18 / This study investigates the differences in how managers control working capital in micro and small enterprises. The contributions derives of this study extend the literature on short-term financial MSEs in the sense of understanding how the items related to the construct of working capital behave in an emerging economy with changeable and severe market frictions and a different level of financial development. The different management styles may occur due to the impact of development, depth of financial market and access to and supply of trade credit. The determinant factors of these styles of management of working capital in micro and small enterprises (MSEs) are identified and explained in light of the foundations of theories of growth of firms in stages, of the resource-based view, trade credit, agency and transaction costs. This is a joint research with cross-section investigation in three steps. It consists of a survey and interviews. The data collected through a survey of 447 managers of MSEs in the states of Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo were analyzed by multivariate techniques where four 'styles' of management of working capital were identified, which can be explained by variables such as age, size and profitability of the firm and by content analysis of the interviews. The database was treated with multivariate techniques and structural equation modeling. The results suggest that Brazilian executives are more likely to adopt financial control that the British leaders and credit management positively affects the management of inventory when mediated by internal funds. The results were compared to those obtained from a similar survey conducted in British companies (Westhead and Howorth, 2003), and the evidence shows important differences: 1) Brazilian companies review most of the working capital routines more often than British; 2) Brazilian MSEs offer and demand less trade credit than British MSEs. These differences may be explained, at least in part, by higher cost of bank financing for Brazilian firms in comparison to British firms. / Este estudo investiga as diferenças na maneira como gestores administram o capital de giro nas micro e pequenas empresas. As contribuições derivadas deste estudo ampliam a literatura financeira de curto prazo em MPEs no sentido de se compreender como os itens relacionados ao construto de capital de giro se comportam numa economia emergente, com fricções de mercado severas e mutáveis e com nível de desenvolvimento financeiro distinto. Os diferentes estilos de gestão podem ocorrer em razão do impacto do desenvolvimento e profundidade do mercado financeiro e do acesso e da oferta de trade credit. Os fatores determinantes desses estilos de condução da gestão do capital de giro em micro e pequenas empresas (MPEs) são identificados e, explicados, à luz dos fundamentos das teorias de crescimento das firmas por estágios, da visão baseada em recursos, de crédito comercial, de agência e de custos de transação. Esta é uma pesquisa mista com investigação cross-section, em três etapas. Ela foi composta por um survey e por entrevistas. Os dados obtidos por meio de um survey com dirigentes de 447 MPEs dos estados de Minas Gerais e São Paulo foram analisados por técnicas multivariadas, tendo sido identificados quatro “estilos” de gestão de capital de giro, que podem ser explicados por variáveis como idade, tamanho e lucratividade da firma e as entrevistas pela análise de conteúdo. A base de dados foi tratada com técnicas multivariadas e modelagem com equações estruturais. Os resultados sugerem que dirigentes brasileiros são mais propensos a adotar controle financeiro que os dirigentes britânicos e que gestão de crédito afeta positivamente a gestão de estoque quando mediada por fundos internos. Os resultados foram comparados aos obtidos por pesquisa similar realizada com empresas do Reino Unido (Howorth e Westhead, 2003), e a evidência mostra diferenças importantes: 1) as empresas brasileiras revisam a maioria das rotinas de capital de giro com maior frequência que as britânicas; 2) as MPEs brasileiras ofertam e demandam menos crédito comercial que as britânicas. Essas diferenças podem ser explicadas, pelo menos em parte, pelo maior custo do financiamento bancário das firmas brasileiras em comparação às britânicas.

This thesis consists of three essays that explore the dynamics of interconnected markets and examine the relationships between markets, investor behavior, and fundamental characteristics of the firm and the economy. In the first essay, we investigate the role of trade credit links in generating cross-border return predictability between international firms. Using data from 43 countries from 1993 to 2009, we find that firms with high trade credit in producer countries have stock returns that are strongly predictable based on the returns of their associated customer countries. This behavior is especially prevalent among firms with high levels of foreign sales. To better understand this effect we develop an asset pricing model in which firms in different countries are connected by trade credit links. The model offers further predictions about this phenomenon, including stronger predictability during periods of high credit constraints and low uninformed trading volume. We find supportive empirical evidence for these predictions. The second essay investigates the dynamics of commodity futures volatility. I derive the variance decomposition for the futures basis to show how unexpected excess returns result from new information about expected future interest rates, convenience yields, and risk premia. Using data on major commodity futures markets and global bilateral commodity trade, I analyze the extent to which commodity volatility is related to fundamental uncertainty arising from increased emerging market demand and macroeconomic uncertainty, and control for the potential impact of financial frictions introduced by changing market structure and index trading. I find that a higher concentration in the emerging market importers of a commodity is associated with higher futures volatility. Commodity futures volatility is significantly predictable using variables capturing macroeconomic uncertainty. The third essay investigates the differential explanatory power of consumer (importing countries) and producer (exporting countries) risk in explaining the volatility of commodity spot premia and term premia using trade-weighted indices of GDP volatility. Using data for major commodity futures markets, bilateral commodity trade, exchange rates, and GDP for countries trading these commodities, I test hypotheses on the heterogeneous impact of consumer and producer shocks, potentially driven by differences in hedging preferences and investment planning horizons. Producer risk is significant for both short-dated and long-dated maturities, while consumer risk has greater explanatory power for the volatility of the term spread.

Cette thèse est constituée de quatre chapitres distincts. Dans le premier chapitre, j'utilise une restriction exogène de la capacité des entreprises de transport routier à consentir des délais de paiement à leurs clients. Je montre que certaines entreprises prêtent à leurs clients au détriment de leurs investissements, de leur rentabilité et en s'exposant au risque de défaillance. Dans le second chapitre, je montre que les fonds d'investissement dont l'horizon est long choisissent des entreprises plus jeunes, à un stade moins avancé de leur développement. Les entreprises investies par des fonds dont l'horizon est plus long accroissent leur stock de brevets plus rapidement que celles qui sont investies par des fonds dont l'horizon est plus court. Le troisième chapitre est le résultat d'une collaboration avec Ron Kaniel et David Sraer. Nous utilisons des données détaillées de courtier et entreprenons une exploration quantitative du comportement des investisseurs individuels pendant la crise financière de 2008. Nous montrons que les investisseurs qui ont l'air les plus sophistiqués dans la période antérieure à la crise ont une propension moins grande à fuir vers les actifs sans risque, et une propension plus grande à être apporteurs de liquidité et à obtenir des rendements élevés pendant la crise. Dans le quatrième chapitre, j'explore l'idée selon laquelle les ménages ont une connaissance limitée de l'exposition de leur portefeuille aux facteurs de risque systématique, ce qui les conduit à faire des erreurs. Cette idée est appliquée à la décision des investisseurs individuels d'intervenir activement plutôt que d'investir passivement sur les marchés d'actions. / This dissertation is made of four distinct chapters. In the first chapter, I consider an exogenous restriction on the ability of French trucking firms to extend payment terms to their clients. I find that they provide trade credit at the cost of lower investment, lower return on assets, and higher default risk. In the second chapter, I show that private equity funds with a longer horizon select younger companies at an earlier stage of their development. Companies which receive funding from funds with a longer horizon increase their patent stock significantly more than companies which receive funding from investors with a shorter horizon. The third chapter presents a joint work with Ron Kaniel and David Sraer. We use detailed brokerage account data to provide a quantitative exploration of the behavior of retail investors during the financial crisis of 2008. We show that investors who appear more sophisticated on these dimensions in the pre-crisis period were, in the post-crisis period, less likely to flee to safety, more likely to engage in liquidity provisions and to earn higher returns. In the fourth chapter, I develop the idea that households have an imprecise knowledge of their portfolio's exposure to systematic risk and that this leads them to make investment mistakes. This idea is tested in the context of the decision to actively trade rather than passively invest in the stock market