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Hughes (1986), and the 'no news, bad news' voluntary disclosure models posit that firms which voluntarily disclose a forecast have better news than firms that do not. On the contrary, Trueman (1986), Feltham and Xie (1992) and Arya and Mittendorf (2005) suggest that firms may disclose a forecast regardless of the nature of the news that they have. The empirical evidence on the voluntary disclosure motivations and implications is far from conclusive.

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This research has taken the form of a field study to gather empirical evidence capable of providing an overview of current initial public offerings OPOs) in Saudi Arabia. The main thrusts of this thesis are: to identify empirically the motivations for going public in Saudi Arabia; to find the barriers to going public in the Kingdom; to investigate the effects of IPOs on the performance of companies; to investigate the relationship between an increase in the number of IPOs and economic performance; to find which kind of companies are more likely to go public in the country, and to identify some suggestions which could increase the number of IPOs in Saudi Arabia. To answer the research questions, the researcher undertook three studies. Firstly, data was collected through a case study of a single company that had made an IPO in the Kingdom. Financial ratio analysis was employed to capture the changes in the financial Statements before and after the IFO, and two in-depth interviews were conducted with the company's CEO and financial manager to discuss the financial changes and other IDPO issues. Secondly, more data was gathered through a comprehensive questionnaire. The sample studied in the questionnaire was taken from the top management of the 500 largest companies in Saudi Arabia. A total of 145 companies from 7 different business sectors in Saudi Arabia participated in the study. This represented a response rate in excess of 29%. Thirdly, extra data was obtained from personal interviews with three well-experienced and educated businessmen who have taken their companies public. The results obtained from the single case study, the questionnaire, and the interviews showed firstly, that companies in Saudi Arabia are motivated to go public in order to use the money raised for more expansion and growth, to be more competitive, and to separate the company's life from that of the previous owners. Secondly, with regard to the most important barriers to going public in the Kingdom, the study finds that private fin-ns are reluctant to go public because of the failure of many joint stock companies listed on the Saudi Stock Market to generate profit; because of the possible loss of control; and because of the lengthy procedure for going public. Thirdly, this research also discovers that whereas most of the questionnaire survey participants believed that IPO performance would decline after the transition, and also confmned by the results from the case study, the interviewees thought that performance would improve after the IPO. Fourthly, with regard to the effect of IPOs on economic conditions, there is a great consensus between the questionnaire participants and all the interviewees on that an increased number of IPOs in Saudi Arabia would have a favourable, effect on economic welfare. An increase in joint stock companies in the Kingdom would improve several economic factors, such as the growth rate, foreign investment, the balance of trade, and the unemployment rate. Fifthly, this research also finds that while most of the questionnaire survey respondents thought that companies owned by more than one investor and large companies (in terms of size) are more likely to go public, most of the interviewees believed that companies working in industrial sector are more probably to seek public equity. Sixthly, this research finds that the rate of going public in Saudi Arabia could be improved if the government creates a complete financial system, prepares clear guidelines that explained the procedures for going public, and eases the procedures for IPOs. The rate of going public in Saudi Arabia also could be improved if the decision makers in private firms separate management from ownership and hire professional personnel to lead the companies. In conclusion, the study suggests that since going public would add many advantages to firms, like strengthening financial position, increasing public trust, and attracting well qualified personal, the flotation decision could solve some of the problems that the Saudi private sector has, such as severe competition, poor management, constraints of finance, and generation shift (lock of family succession and control). Nevertheless, the study also confirms that IPOs would create new problems, especially that of more restrictions on private transactions.

The thesis explores the magnitude and determinants of spinoff value effects using robust methodologies and different theoretical perspectives. From a sample of 170 European spinoffs in the period 1987-2005, I find that spinoff announcement returns are significantly positive while the long-run shareholder value performance of postspinoff firms is insignificant when the cross-sectional return dependence problem is controlled. This is consistent with market efficiency overall in relation to spinoffs. However, this overall efficiency may conceal irrational investor behaviour towards certain types of spinoffs. Assuming investor irrationality, I examine whether investor sentiment affects spinoff wealth effects and spinoff decisions. I use four different proxies to measure investor demand for corporate focus and glamour stocks, and observe a positive association between these proxies and spinoff announcement returns. In addition, I find that offspring, born of spinoffs to cater to investor demand for glamour stocks, significantly underperform various benchmarks including the performance of less glamourous offspring. An improvement in operating efficiency of post-spinoff firms may not be realised if post-spinoff firms have weak corporate governance and agency conflicts are not mitigated. I investigate this issue by examining changes of corporate governance mechanisms around spinoffs. I observe that spinoff firms with a controlling family shareholder have higher announcement stock returns but lower post-spinoff performance than others. Moreover, controlling family shareholders generally reduce their stock ownership in post-spinoff firms, indicating that they may undertake spinoffs to reshuffle their wealth portfolios. I also find that board monitoring and takeover threats for post-spinoff firms positively affect the long-run performance of post-spinoff firms. This thesis further inspects the relationship between information asymmetry between the pre-spinoff parent and the stock market, and spinoff value effects. By employing four different information asymmetry proxies, I find no evidence that a spinoff resolves information asymmetry problems. In contrast, I document some evidence that the information asymmetry problem may be exacerbated following spinoffs when the liquidity of post-spinoff firms is decreased. Taken together, my findings suggest that managers and shareholders should assess the desirability of a spinoff more carefully and take investor irrationality into account. This is the first study that focuses on European spinoffs over a long period and tests various theories concerning the sources of value. It also provides the first time empirical evidence on the validity of the catering theory in the context of spinoffs.

Berger and Udell (1990) made an important distinction between sorting-byobserved- risk (SBOR) and sorting-by-private-information (SBPI) as responses to asymmetric information in financing entrepreneurial ventures. The current research seeks not to distinguish, but to integrate, these responses in what is called Signalling and Self-Selection (SASS) model. By developing Bester’s (1985) model, the SASS model is one in which the type (high or low) of the entrepreneur is private information known only to the entrepreneur and the bank offers a menu of contracts as a self-selection mechanism. The SASS model proposes that high-type entrepreneurs, who have a high probability of success and high project returns, are more likely to choose a contract with high collateral but low interest rate. Low-type entrepreneurs, who have a low probability of success and low project returns, are more likely to choose a contract with low collateral but high interest rate. The SASS model predicts that the arrangement and choice of debt contracts is influenced by loan characteristics, signals transferred by entrepreneurs and the relationship between the entrepreneur and the bank. The 1998 U.S. Survey of Small Business Finances is used to empirically test the hypotheses derived from the SASS model. This research includes, for the first time, many personal characteristics of the entrepreneur in regressions seeking to explain collateralisation and interest rates. The empirical results imply that both the signalling process and the self-selection mechanism influence the outcome of entrepreneurial debt finance, which in turn depends on the scale of asymmetric information. Less risky entrepreneurs are more likely to pledge collateral, suggesting that private information strongly influences the collateralisation decision. It also seems that the signals of the entrepreneur are as important as the signals of the business, since entrepreneurs with ‘good’ signals enjoy more favourable contracts than those with ‘bad’ signals. The evidence from this thesis emphasises that there are considerable returns to the ‘good’ entrepreneur, in conditions of asymmetric information, in signalling her ability to the lender. Moreover, it also finds that relationship lending significantly reduces the interest rates charged on loans. Another contribution of this research is that, by investigating discouraged borrowers, it empirically examines the degree of problem of information asymmetries in small business financial markets, on which the above hypotheses tests are based. This research, for the first time, reports evidence that information asymmetries influence the discouragement of high-risk and low-risk small business from applying external finance in opposite directions. It also suggests that small business financial markets are informationally efficient because bad borrowers are more likely to be discouraged by symmetric information than good borrowers by asymmetric information.

This study investigates how waqf officers in two State Religious Councils (SRCs) in Malaysia undertake their responsibilities and duties of accountability to inform and improve the management of waqf properties for the benefit of beneficiaries and the public. The thesis uses the concept of holistic accountability by O'Dwyer & Unerman (2008) to conceptualise the relationship between waqf officers (accountors) and waqf stakeholders (accountees). Two key components of holistic accountability are identified, i.e., hierarchical upward and downward accountability. The religious setting of waqf presents an opportunity to examine how Islamic values influence the way holistic accountability is enacted and experienced. The thesis uses the concept of felt accountability to assess the extent to which this occurs. Semi-structured interviews are employed to understand the waqf officers' perception of the extent to which they discharge their responsibilities and duties of accountability. This data collection method is complemented by non-participant observation and documentary analysis. The study finds that Islamic values, such as belief in the Day of Judgement, encourage the officers to undertake their responsibility and duty of accountability in a proactive and creative way. This is explained in the thesis as felt accountability, an individualised . perception of accountability that provides a powerful motivation for waqf officers to discharge their downward accountability. However, the study also finds that the impact of felt accountability on holistic accountability is influenced by the organisational Structure of the SRC. Hierarchical structures may constrain officers' felt accountability whilst decentralised structures may offer too much flexibility to waqf officers.