This thesis analyses the dynamics and determinants of the size distribution of firms and examines its implications on welfare. It draws on Schumacher‘s proposition of a 'balanced‘ size distribution of firms as a precondition for sustainable economic development, which conflicts with models predicting an increase in firm size inequality in the long run. For the said dynamism to be understood, the historical development from the First Industrial Revolution is reproduced and emerging patterns set in relation to the evolutionary approach to economic development. This leads to the central argument of this thesis, which is the need for a fair share of medium-sized firms in order to maximise innovative capacity, economic resilience, net job creation and sustainability. To identify the forces driving firm size inequality and the extent to which rebalancing is possible, this thesis consolidates the streams Gibrat‘s Law initiated. The industry-level analysis of the UK, Italy and Germany from 2001 to 2010 demonstrates that the size distribution of firms converges to a lognormal distribution. For technology-rich firms, firm size inequality is inversely U-shaped and the systemic erosion of diversity reduces the options to rebalance. In service industries, industry dynamics are more intense and cause a faster increase in firm size inequality. The resulting co-existence of small and large firms reduces spill-over effects and the ability to recover from macro-economic shocks, but these, paradoxically, increase firm size inequality. To delay the process of increasing firm size inequality, small and medium-sized firms need to engage with export activities and accumulate intangible assets. As the owner-managed firm commercialises on uncertainty and the large firm escapes from it, preserving the 'middle‘ is rewarded with a higher degree of innovative capacity and contributes to sustainable growth. There are also windows of opportunity where rebalancing is possible and from these openings new industries emerge.

In broad terms, the aim of this thesis is to investigate the determinants of capital structure in European-listed firms. More specifically, it examines the existence of market timing effects in European firms and the speed of adjustment towards optimal capital structure as well as its determinants. Over the last two decades, Europe has undergone an intriguing experience involving changes in the political geography, financial liberalization, financial integration, a financial crisis and, most recently, financial reform. These exogenous shocks have taken their toll on European capital markets and banking sectors. In particular, the recent financial crisis has unveiled a number of inefficiencies in the incomplete financial integration process in terms of weak governance and ineffective regulations. The crisis period witnessed an increase in the following: the probability of bankruptcy; the number of banks and firms failing; illiquidity; and a significant loss in firms’ values. This in turn affected the flow of funds into firms either from bank lending channels or from capital markets. Indeed, such financial turmoil calls for further investigation into the determinants of firms’ capital structure in the European markets. This thesis contributes to the literature in two ways. First, this is the first study that empirically tests the market timing theory in 15 European countries. Second, it adds to the scant literature on comparative studies that examine the target capital speed of adjustment and its determinants. The thesis employs various econometric models to analyse the unbalanced panel data collected from 15 European countries. The generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator (among other panel data techniques) is deemed appropriate to estimate the models. It is designed to accommodate the unbalanced panels, multiple endogeneity and the autoregressive properties in the dependent variable. The new evidence provided by the findings of this study will be of great interest to the literature and policy-makers. The results confirm the effect of market valuation. However, it is negative in Europe, rather than positive as theory suggests. The results provide evidence that partially supports both pecking order and trade-off theories. For European firms, the annual speed of adjustment towards target capital is, on average, one quarter for book leverage and one half for market leverage. Firms in the Netherlands and Finland are the fastest to adjust their capital while firms in France and Spain are the slowest. The driving forces of the adjustment speed reveal that firms adjust more rapidly in wealthier and healthier environments such as those which involve a stable economy, a concentrated banking system and a promising future.

The crucial and vital objective of this thesis is to assess the extent to which team learning and collaboration are promoted or hindered by the organisational culture of public and private organisations. To this end, the thesis explores the literature overlaps between the concepts of organisational and learning culture and finds that the central common denominator of these concepts is the "team learning and collaboration‟ characteristic. Two Greek organisations in the postal sector, one public and one private, were involved in this research. The selection of this sector was defined by the liberalisation of the postal market, which took place on 1st January 2013. A key research question is how the organisations under investigation use their „team learning and collaboration‟ characteristic to prepare for the open market. This implies an uncertainty in terms of distinguishing the extent to which such learning and collaboration takes place. The adopted research methodology consists of mixed methods research including a quantitative questionnaire and qualitative semi-structured interviews. This study provides an insight into the understanding of organisational culture and learning culture. It concludes by arguing that the bureaucratic organisational culture of the public organisation hinders team learning and collaboration, whilst the supportive organisational culture of the private organisation promotes them. This study also demonstrates the individual and organisation-level factors that promote or inhibit team learning and collaboration. In effect, these findings indicate whether or not organisational learning is achieved in the public and private organisation. This study is unique in the sense that no previous research has yet to employ the “team learning and collaboration‟ characteristic to the postal industry. One can also generalise beyond the organisations investigated. Thus, theoretical and practical inferences can be drawn from this research.

CEO pay has attracted substantial public attention since its introduction as one of the remedies to the agency conflict. This is driven by the extensive and sustained rise in executive pay in most of the developed countries. Two questions arise from increased executive pay. First, does rising executive pay reflect top management contribution to firm performance or it is just following patterns from past years? Second, what is the role that is played by corporate governance practices to control this rising pattern in CEO pay? This thesis has two main objectives, first to investigate whether CEO pay contributes to enhanced corporate performance by differentiating between the impacts of short- and longterm compensation on short- and long-term performance indicators respectively. Second, the study further investigates the role of corporate governance and political connections on the CEO pay. The thesis uses the System GMM method to analyse a sample of 777 nonfinancial UK firms during the period 2000-2012. This method allows counting for endogeneity and unobserved heterogeneity that are likely to emerge in the models. The findings show that CEO bonuses are positively associated with short-term performance measures, while they have a negative impact on the total shareholder return. Evidence also suggests that long-term compensation has a positive impact on long-term performance, supporting the main claim of the Agency Theory. The results also show that the required role of corporate governance practices is passive in UK companies, reflecting a source of managerial power for the executive officers. The thesis is the first to show that politically connected CEOs are paid higher compensation compared to their peers. However, evidence suggests that those highly powerful managers are well governed as a way to hedge against future uncertainty comes from being politically connected.

Common to both parts of this study is an acceptance of management's discretionary behaviour in product markets, comparative security against takeover, self-financing potential and interest in defining a top level of strategy choice. The study first explores the "managerial" content of orthodox valuation and cost of capital theory, then modifies that theory to represent management's framework for strategy choice under realistic conditions. Part I develops the orthodox valuation and cost of capital theory applicable to "safe" investments. Management's continuing objective is the constrained maximisation of equity investors' wealth: dividend risk policy --- not minimisation of the cost of capital --- takes priority, and the constancy of cost of capital is only achieved through continuous control over investment financing aimed at maintaining the target level of dividend risk. In Part II investment profitability is assumed subject to ex ante risk, and this necessitates a further retreat from a market-determined investment criterion. Given management's (largely) discretionary criteria for investment --- its investment strategy --- performance through time is generated by repeated interactions of probabilistic investment demand and profitability functions, and can be described ex ante in terms of a probability distribution of growth-paths of earnings and investment. With appropriate conditional planning of investment financing, management can picture any strategy as a probability distribution of growth-paths of constant-risk dividend expectations. A minimal extension of the orthodox valuation model yields an interpretation of share valuation under multiple growth-path conditions and allows management to identify the equity value prospects of alternative strategies. The resulting model of decision making and managerial utility permits a full range of realistically interpreted motivations --- from investor-oriented to "mangerial" --- and contrasts strongly with certain implications of models depicting strategy choice in terms of a choice between steady-state growth-paths.

This thesis critically explores how changing work and employment institutions have brought about challenges for workers, companies and Education and Training institutions in Mauritius. The study uses a historical institutionalist approach as well as additional concepts to examine how Work and Employment as well as Education and Training institutions of Mauritius, have adjusted to contemporary economic conditions. Recently, Mauritius, a former French and British colony, has diversified its economy and launched its Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector. The sector has developed in parallel with the government’s endeavour to turn Mauritius into a knowledge economy over time. In order to facilitate the setting up of numerous multinational companies, the country has adopted more flexible employment legislation. As a result, companies have been able to take advantage of the island-nation’s cheap, multi-lingual and youthful labour market. The thesis identifies challenges that have been triggered by the requirement for new skill capacities, and further challenges in the form of risks experienced by young Mauritian workers in their employment relationships. Through a qualitative empirical approach, 75 semi-structured interviews were undertaken with workers, managers, educationists and experts in Mauritius. The study argues that current and forthcoming Education and Training (E&T) Policies face several tensions that the Mauritian government did not anticipate and cannot adequately deal with. Findings show disparities between employers’ expectations of workers’ level of employability and skill capacities on the one hand and actual skill capacities on the other. Tensions also lie between the government and private employers in regard to who is to provide which form of training. Further contradictions are found in the government’s one-sided efforts towards building a ‘high-skill’ workforce while new pillars of the economy, here illustrated by the BPO sector, can be comparatively low-skill. Considering the absence of union organisation and the generally low level of agency among workers, these tensions can have damaging impact upon young Mauritian workers at work and beyond. In conclusion, the study highlights the importance of considering context-specificity in the formulation of E& T policies. It suggests that there is much scope for institutional change in which education systems and policies can be more carefully designed to address new economic and social needs in Mauritius.

In the current globalised economic world, South Korea has maintained a more peripheral role. However, the country has produced some multinational corporations, and is considered a large player in the financial market. The miraculous growth of the Korean economy since the Korean War has been induced by the implementation of Western business philosophies. Strong conflicts with traditional values have however concluded in a multitude of (local) financial crises, most notably the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997. It has become clear to Korean companies that an optimal business environment can only be established by maintaining Korean identity in a globalised world. The current thesis investigates the maintenance of Korean self-identity, focusing in particular on the period of the current financial crisis. It provides a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the front covers of Korean economic magazines over this period in order to provide an indication of how traditional values have become intertwined with Western perspectives. As Yin-Yang is one of the most important traditional perspectives on life on the Korean peninsula, the thesis provides a semiotic analysis of each front cover’s background colour, text colour and vowel structure based on Yin-Yang principles and interprets these results in the light of events throughout the global crisis. Further examples of incorporation of traditional values will be discussed based on the history of South Korea, with specific focus on the economic history since the end of the Japanese colonisation. Results will show that, although Western-based business ideas were instrumental in restarting the Korean economy, it could only flourish by maintaining Korean self-identity, which remains part of every-day life. The thesis provides further insight for Western-based managers and businesses hoping to develop up long-lasting relationships with Eastern (especially Korean) institutions by taking into account traditional values; it also provides alternatives from Eastern philosophy which could be included in the Western ideas of social management within a community or a company. More generally, the thesis provides an understanding that people still value their self-identity in a globalised world, which could be included in product design philosophies to adapt products towards local traditions and values.

The thesis presents an ethnographic study of a group of cultural intermediaries at work in a French advertising agency. A theoretical frame drawn from selected works in cultural economy, sociology and philosophy is deployed to address the ill-understood nature of uncertainty in practice-based research on advertising. Practice-based accounts by marketers, sociologists and anthropologists typically suggest that advertising agencies are unstable businesses because they work with unpredictable stakeholders (consumers and above all clients), and because they struggle to establish the legitimacy of their expertise. The problem with this argument, however, is that whilst it insists on the fragmented identities of practitioners locked in their doubts, anxieties and even myths, the everyday nature, experience and ways in which cultural intermediaries deal with such uncertainties are underexplored. During the three-month empirical study multiple research methods were used to collect data, including participant observation, interviews and visual techniques. It was established during fieldwork that uncertainty is best expressed in the awkward relationships practitioners entertain with time. The analysis of these relationships runs through three analysis chapters. One explains how imaginative conversations, practices and uses of objects seek to restrain time-related uncertainties by ―constructing‖ time. The second further analyses this construction by describing the ways in which practitioners unshackle themselves from their feelings of wasting time. The third relates this construction to the ways in which time is incorporated into creative work and sold to clients. The thesis contributes a deeper and temporally-based interpretation of uncertainty to the small number of ethnographic studies of advertising agencies.

The years between the first Local Government Act 1858 and the establishment of the Local Government Board in 1872 saw great changes in England and Wales: growing populations brought growing problems in crowded living conditions, but there were also increasing wealth, manufacturing and intellectual resources in a context of major international influence and self-confidence, and rapidly expanding countrywide infrastructure. Against this backdrop, the municipal authorities of this period had few general law powers to regulate local conditions, or to provide services. While Parliament was still – at least at the outset – broadly antagonistic to centralisation and the enactment of common standards, it was willing to grant private Acts – special local Act powers – to those places that sought, and could justify and pay for, the means to improve and invest in their localities. This thesis identifies and analyses for the first time the 335 local Parliamentary Bills, and from them the 278 resulting Acts, that municipalities promoted in the years 1858 to 1872 inclusive. Three things stand out from the huge mass of local statute-book material which these 278 Acts comprise – themselves only a small fraction of the total of private Acts passed in the era of railway mania, and of much else besides. The first is that, far from being an unco-ordinated mass of inconsistent, quixotic provisions as private Acts are sometimes thought or assumed to be, these Acts have a substantial degree of cohesion as a body of material. Secondly, the towns and cities of northern England secured more than half of them. Thirdly, the costs of promotions (and the vested interests involved in them) represented a huge and often wasteful outlay that a more pragmatic and forwardlooking Parliamentary attitude could have greatly reduced. These and other matters are examined in detail across the whole spectrum of local legislation for the first time. There are no acknowledgements requiring to be listed.

With reference to Jean Lave’s and Etienne Wenger’s (1991) learning theory and its later development in advocating Communities of Practice (CoPs), this research aimed to explore how architects learn through participation in CoPs in the construction of workplace practice. It is has been identified that the Development and Construction Division of the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) characterizes a social practice, in which the situated nature of architects’ learning is realized through accomplishments amongst professional stakeholders who engage jointly in an enterprise with shared repertoire (Wenger 1998, p. 36) where the Project Development Process is central. Architects’ minds develop, reflect and interact mutually in social situations in which groups of professionals share their concerns or passions for knowledge of architecture and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly (Wenger 2007) in multiple CoPs. A qualitative methodological approach was adopted, involving semi‐structured interviews using a purposeful sample of architects. Saturation analysis was used to identify patterns in the data. Based on the findings, it is evident that architects participate in various CoPs to learn and, through multi‐membership, they negotiate their individual meanings of professional practice. As well, the dynamism coupled with different modes of belonging under CoPs (Wenger 2000) form the major structuring elements of architect’s social learning system in the HA. This research makes the original contribution of a lens, based on the social practice theory of Lave and Wenger (1991) and Wenger’s CoP (1998) concept to understand how architects learn in the workplace practice for knowledge generation and management.