Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-56) Also available in print.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2004. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-93). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Faculty of the Graduate School of Business. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1959. / Typescript. Abstracted in Dissertation abstracts, v. 10 (1959) no. 3, p. 916-917. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [344]-357).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The object of this work is to quantify the costs, which are connected with using production factors, qualify their effectiveness and evaluate individual tools that are used to control and optimization of these cost sorts. Within the case study, to make the cost structure analysis in a selected company and to suggest steps leading to improving the effectiveness of this company through optimization individual cost sorts.

The measurement of the banking sector performance in Zimbabwe is motivated by the unique developments that typified the sector during the period 2009-2014 after emerging from an economic crisis. The Zimbabwean economy returned to stability and growth in 2009, after a decade long economic decline. Economic stability brought about growth in deposits, loans, assets, capitalization and profits during this period. The banking sector has been accused of excessive profiteering through overpricing their products, which culminated in the intervention by the authorities in the sector. The interest rates spread, fees and other charges were presumed to be high which motivated the need to understand whether the banking sector is efficient or inefficient given the high interest rate spreads between the deposit rates and lending rates. Furthermore the high interest rates have raised the question of whether banks were exploiting their market power to price their products highly or whether their prices were determined by the dictates of market forces. Continued profitability of the sector also called for an investigation into what was driving the persistence of profitability over time. The primary objective of this research was to measure the performance of the banking sector during the period 2009-2014. The study contributes to the empirical literature by measuring and assessing the drivers of banking sector competition, efficiency and profitability and applying them at much disaggregated levels. This study also contributes to the debate on the relationships among the performance measures of competition, profitability and efficiency. The study adopted a number of methods which contributes to the array of tools central banks can employ to measure bank performance. The study employed a number of methodologies to measure the competition, efficiency and profitability performance of the banking sector. Competition was estimated using the new empirical industrial organisation methods of Panza and Rose (1987) and the Lerner (1934) Index was used. Cost and revenue efficiency was estimated using the two step methods of Data Envelopment Analysis followed by the Tobit regression method. An assessment of the persistence and drivers of profitability was measured using the Generalised Method of Moments. This study shows that the banking sector was operating under monopolistic competition market structure. This implies that banks held some market power as a result of product differentiation due to unique features such as brands, image and advertising, among others. The study indicates that competition increased during the period 2009-2014. Market power/competition in the banking sector during the study period was driven by capital adequacy, non-performing loans, liquidity risk, cost-income ratio, economic growth and government policy on pricing of bank products. The study suggests that the banking sector experienced an average inefficiency level of approximately 35 per cent in relationship with the best performing institutions in the sample. As a result of stability experienced in the economy, the average revenue and cost efficiency increased between 2009 and 2014. The study further established that the discord around the implementation of the indigenisation and empowerment law, coupled with the government intervention in the banking sector had a negative impact on the banking sector efficiency. It also found that efficiency is determined by market power, capital adequacy, cost income ratio, economic growth, inflation, market share and profitability. The Granger Causality test between cost efficiency and market power suggests that causality is bidirectional. On the other hand granger causality between revenue efficiency and market power is unidirectional and positive, running from revenue efficiency to market power. The result implies that policy measures should bring a balance between increasing competition and improving the revenue efficiency. The study shows that the banking sector was profitable during the period 2009 to 2014. The profitability was a reflection of a stable macroeconomic environment, typified by low inflation levels, despite the crises during this period. It further reveals that the banking sector‟s profitability persisted over time, reflecting the regulatory structure of the sector. The study established that profitability was determined by market power, non-performing loans, liquidity risk, capital adequacy, bank size and cost efficiency. This implies profitability was driven by bank specific determinants. There are a number of policy implications derived from the study. Regulatory measures such as forced consolidations can lead to excessive market power by the banking institution; hence it should be moderated. Banks should enhance credit risk because NPLs has been dragging profits. Banks should take advantage of the various measures introduced, such as the setting up of the special purpose vehicle and credit reference bureau. The government should avoid tampering with market forces as this reduces competition, efficiency and profitability and put in place measures that grow the economy as it increases the efficiency and profitability of the banking sector.

I examine whether and how racially/ethnically diverse board impacts the quality of reported earnings. Agency theory suggests that the board of directors acts as a robust governance mechanism to reduce opportunistic managerial behavior that may harm shareholders' wealth. Further, diversity coalesces a variety of attributes from different directors that are valuable in predicting organizational outcomes. The majority of extant literature focuses on gender-diverse boards and various firm outcomes, while little is known about how directors' race/ethnicity affects earnings quality. Using a sample of firms publicly traded in the U.S., I find that increased board racial/ethnic diversity is associated with better earnings quality as proxied by lower discretionary accruals and lower probability of internal control weaknesses and financial statement restatements. I further examine whether firms with increased diversity (racial/ethnic and gender diversity) enjoy incrementally higher earnings quality than other firms. However, I fail to find support that racial/ethnic and gender intersectionality is associated with improved earnings quality. Lastly, based on critical mass theory, I test whether an industry descriptive norm is necessary for firms to enjoy increased earnings quality. I find that racial/ethnic directors have a meaningful impact on a firm's earnings quality regardless of the level of diversity; even firms with lower than the industry descriptive norm of racial/ethnic diversity enjoy improved earnings quality. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2021. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Thesis advisor: Thann Tran / Thesis advisor: Margaret Lombe / This study aimed to examine the influence of organizational pro-activeness, organizational risk-taking, and transformational leadership behaviors on social innovation outcomes. The specific aims, within this goal, of this study include the following: 1: Explore the influence of organizational pro-activeness on social innovation outputs - a. product/service, b. process/administrative- within CSOs. 2: Explore the influence of organizational risk-taking on social innovation outputs - a. product/service, b. process/administrative - within the CSOs. 3: Explore the influence of transformational leadership behaviors within CSOs on social innovation outputs - a. product/service, b. process/administrative – within the CSOs. Entrepreneurial Orientation Theory & Transformational Leadership Theory oriented this study and the hypothesis to test. This research is an exploratory-descriptive study using cross-sectional data collected from directors of CSOs in Mexico with a 37-item online survey cross-culturally adapted to the local context. Multiple statistical procedures were used to test the hypothesis, including bivariate robust correlation analysis and multiple and linear robust regression analysis. The sample size of the study is 139 directors of non-profit organizations from 25 different states of Mexico. Data was collected using convenience sampling.This study is relevant for multiple reasons, the primary being the following: 1) The results of this study may help CSOs identify what areas of organizations may need restructuring, improvement, or addition to generating innovations that could enhance program and service effectiveness and sustainability. 2) by providing knowledge about how to enhance the capacity of CSOs and involve their clients or beneficiaries (populations and groups in vulnerable or exclusion conditions) in innovation processes. 3) This study may contribute to the identification of critical components in the design of policies and programs aimed at strengthening CSOs innovation capacities and how to measure their results. 4) Finally, this study's results provide evidence on key variables to understand factors that enhance or limit organizational social innovation. In the context of the proposed study, to our knowledge, there is no readily available data from an extensive number of organizations to inform how CSOs are generating social innovation and with what intensity. Also, with the global socio-economic panorama in the last two years, innovativeness, proactiveness, risk-taking, and the social performance of non-profit organizations have become subject to growing interest. This study has three main findings: Organizational proactiveness and risk-taking are significant predictors of social innovation outputs in non-profit organizations. On the other hand, transformational leadership was not a significant predictor of social innovation outputs. The primary contributions of this study are the generation of a baseline of the current situation regarding social innovation outputs generation among non-profit CSOs in Mexico. The study also contributes evidence on how social innovation can be promoted with organizational practices. It also contributes to the scholarly debate around leadership styles and their relationship to social innovation generation and CSOs better performance. This study explores social innovation in the non-profit field from an international context, specifically in Mexico, for a field mainly concentrated in the U.S. and West Europe. The study also informs some implications for practitioners, policy decisions, and scholarship regarding the need to assess how the notion of risk-taking and proactiveness permeated the CSOs and the non-profit sector. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.