Univ., Habil.-Schr.--Hannover, 2001.

The equity crowdfunding market has since the financial crisis in 2008 become an important source of alternative financing in Sweden. The equity crowdfunding platforms constitute the market and are responsible for governing the investment relationships. However, the market is not regulated, and in the spring of 2018 the Swedish government proposed regulatory changes for the platforms to impact the problem of information asymmetry. There are different approaches on how to impact the problem, and therefore the thesis sets out to understand how the equity crowdfunding platforms within the Swedish market work to impact information asymmetry.  Empirical data has been collected from five different Swedish equity crowdfunding platforms. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals whose work is connected to governing and impacting information asymmetry. The analysis of the empirical findings identifies five main reasons for the arise of information asymmetry and the platforms work to control and reduce information asymmetry by mitigation strategies, investor communication and effective signaling. The findings indicate that there is a trade-off between controlling information asymmetry and making the financing method accessible within the market. This study contributes to the understanding of how equity crowdfunding platforms work to impact information asymmetry within the Swedish market.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the effect of two specific external, to the principal-agent relationship, influences on executive pay practices in the UK, namely pay consultants and the introduction of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The thesis consists of three essays. In the first essay, I examine the role of pay consultants in UK CEO pay practices. The results illustrate that their role is not consistent with the predictions of the managerial power theory. More specifically, pay consultants do not try to help managers towards the expropriation of shareholders' wealth; on the contrary I show strong indications that pay consultants urge firms towards the adoption of more incentive based CEO compensation. Moreover, I report that economic characteristics (e.g. firm size, complexity of the contract) rather than CEO power explain the firm's choice to hire a compensation consultant. These results are robust to selection bias controls. The results of this essay indicate that pay consultants play a less "sinister" role than what the managerial power theory suggests and that their advice and expertise can assist firms design an optimal executive pay contract. In the second essay, I examine the existence of managerial opportunism at the switch from UK GAAP to IFRS. I find strong indications that the restatements from UK GAAP to IFRS have not been manipulated by managers. I examine the existence of such behaviour under different specifications and for different types of CEOs that one would expect to engage in opportunistic behaviour to maximise the expected personal wealth. The research design that I adopt makes the results less prone to methodological issues common in studies in this area. Positive Accounting Theory literature has established that managerial opportunism seriously affects accounting choice. The results of this essay imply that with respect to IFRS restatements, where managers had strong incentives to manage future earnings, I find no signs of manipulation. This essay thus puts into question the Positive Accounting Theory Paradigm. In the third essay, I examine the effect of IFRS on the use of performance measures for evaluating and rewarding managers. This essay illustrates that firms make less use of accounting based performance measures due to the introduction of IFRS. I explain these results based on the predictions of optimal contacting theory. I claim that IFRS adds unnecessary "noise" to accounting numbers not relevant to the managers' actions. This is mainly due to the adoption of "fair value" accounting, which makes accounting earnings more value relevant and therefore useful for firm valuation purposes; however, "fair value" accounting also makes accounting numbers more volatile and sensitive to market movements. If this increase in volatility is related to events outside the managers' control, this makes the use of accounting based performance measures less useful for evaluating and rewarding managers. The results of this essay imply that IFRS might have made accounting earnings more useful for stock market purposes, e.g. firm valuation, but this has happened at the expense of other purposes that accounting serves, e.g. contracting.

By using five measures of corporate governance, this paper sheds light on the relationship between corporate governance, firm performance and firm valuation in a sample of large Swedish firms between 2013-2016. The study is conducted on the grounds of the Agency Theory as proposed by Jensen and Meckling (1976) and influenced by corporate governance research by Bhagat and Bolton (2008). Using Tobin’s Q and return on assets (ROA) as estimates of firm valuation and firm performance respectively, we find mixed results compared to prior research concerning the effects of good corporate governance. Our study shows that greater equity holdings of board members are significantly and positively impactful on Tobin’s Q as well as ROA. Furthermore, we find that a larger board size has a significant inverse relationship with both Tobin’s Q and ROA, which is consistent with prior research suggesting that smaller boards are more effective. Interestingly and partly inconclusive with prior research however, we find that greater equity holdings of the CEO is significantly and negatively impactful on Tobin’s Q as well as ROA. These results are robust for multiple controls and various models.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-02T21:42:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 kleber dos santos.pdf: 727034 bytes, checksum: a536df14c79434848f7ad1edefcc2f78 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-09-14 / This research aimed to verify whether there are differences between the returns of companies listed on the BOVESPA and the level of corporate governance established by the BOVESPA in December 2000 in order to differentiate between companies that voluntarily adopt additional corporate governance practices. The main goal since the process is to improve transparency between investors and companies, thereby reducing the information asymmetry. To perform this research was first conducted a literature review on information asymmetry, transaction cost theory, agency theory and a history of corporate governance in the world and in Brazil. To check whether there are differences between the returns of the companies listed in IBOVESPA and different levels of corporate governance used the statistical model ANOVA and t test on a sample of all listed companies in IBOVESPA they had in stock 31/03/2011 negotiated between 2006 and 2010 which are the last five years of implementation of the levels of governance in Brazil. As a result it was found that firms listed on the Novo Mercado and Level 1 have higher returns than traditional listed companies in the market. / Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo verificar se existe diferença entre os retornos das Empresas listadas no IBOVESPA e nos Níveis de Governança Corporativa criados pela BOVESPA em dezembro de 2000, visando diferenciar as empresas que voluntariamente adotassem práticas adicionais de governança corporativa. O principal objetivo desde processo é melhorar a transparência entre o investidor e as empresas, reduzindo assim a assimetria de informação. Para efetuar esta pesquisa primeiramente foi realizada uma revisão bibliográfica sobre a assimetria da informação, teoria dos custos de transação, teoria da agência e um histórico da governança corporativa no mundo e no Brasil. Para verificar se existe diferença entre os retornos das empresas listadas no IBOVESPA e nos níveis diferenciados de governança corporativa utilizou-se o modelo estatístico ANOVA e Teste t em uma amostra composta por todas as empresas listadas no IBOVESPA em 31/03/2011 que tiveram ações negociadas entre 2006 e 2010 que são os últimos cinco anos da implantação dos níveis de governança no Brasil. Como resultado obteve-se que as empresa listadas no Novo Mercado e no Nível 1 possuem maior retorno que as empresas listadas no mercado tradicional.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-02T21:42:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Apendice.pdf: 4566 bytes, checksum: 7993cb35705d0ae83d7eb17a2d5e9225 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-06-30 / After scandals of management in the case of Enron, Parmalat and Xerox, best practices of corporate governance are considered a tool to aid in the management, demanding that the organization has more transparency, equity, corporate responsibility and accountability. By this, this research has as main objective to verify the practices of corporate governance which are practiced in the capital closed businesses considered small and medium sized (SME `s) segment of the ordinance and cleaning and, if the good or some of these practices bring generation of value for organizations. This study was conducted in the cities of Santo André, São Bernardo and São Caetano do Sul, State of São Paulo. The justification for this research project occurs because there is lack of studies directly measuring the corporate governance practices in service companies (SMEs) and also because the mortality rate among the companies providing services according to the IBGE (2008) is considered high due to several factors, one in particular, measured as disability of the manager. The corporate governance directly addresses to the internal control and risk management of the organization (MOTTA, SILVEIRA and BORGES 2006), then manage the failures can be minimized with the adoption of this practice. The information will be obtained through survey questionnaires from the managers of the previously mapped studied companies to scale and quantitative primary data. The results showed that there is a link to the Corporate Governance and Performance in the sampled companies. The constructs corporate responsibility, accountability and transparency have greater significance as equity had the opposite direction to the performance.(AU) / Após escândalos em gestão como o caso da Enron, Parmalat e Xerox, as boas práticas da Governança Corporativa são consideradas uma ferramenta de auxilio na gestão, exigindo que a organização tenha mais transparência, equidade, responsabilidade corporativa e prestação de contas. Mediante a isto, este trabalho de pesquisa tem como objetivo principal verificar as práticas da governança corporativa que são praticadas em empresas de capital fechado consideradas pequenas e médias (PME`s) no segmento de portaria e limpeza e, se as boas ou algumas destas práticas trazem geração de valor para as organizações. Essa pesquisa será realizada nas cidades de Santo André, São Bernardo e São Caetano do Sul, Estado de São Paulo. A justificativa para este projeto de pesquisa se dá pelo fato de existir carência de estudos medindo diretamente as práticas de governança corporativa em empresas de serviço (PME s) e também porque a taxa de mortalidade entre as empresas prestadoras de serviços segundo dados do IBGE (2008) é considerada alta devido a vários fatores, sendo um em especial, mensurado como deficiência do gestor. A governança corporativa trata diretamente do controle interno e a gestão de risco da organização (MOTTA, SILVEIRA E BORGES 2006), portanto as falhas gerencias podem ser minimizadas com a adoção desta prática. As informações foram obtidas através de survey de questionários a partir de gestores das empresas estudadas previamente mapeados e escala com dados primários e quantitativos. Os resultados apresentaram que existe uma relação com a Governança Corporativa e Desempenho nas empresas da amostra. Os construtos responsabilidade corporativa, prestação de contas e transparência tiveram maior significância enquanto equidade apresentou sentido inverso com o desempenho.(AU)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-02T21:42:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Denise Simao.pdf: 1046697 bytes, checksum: 1db5be779c666445bbbec5bf320c6017 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-12-13 / This essay presents an exploratory study aiming to evaluate the market reaction concerning agency problems and the asymmetry of the information among the controlling major shareholders and the minor shareholders in open capital Brazilian company, with respect to the value of the negotiated stocks in the São Paulo stock market. This study intends to investigate the impact in the price fixing process of such stocks through the analysis of their behavior after the announcement of the crisis and fraud in the company by the specialized media. The adapted methodology consists of the application of the event study to identify the abnormal returns of the company from the disclosure of the first selected news in May 2001 to the last news in October 2005, using procedures such as linear regression and the application of the test T of Students to estimate and compare the results. The data were obtained through the Economática Ltda. Data bank, in the University of São Paulo. As object of the research, we have selected Bombril S/A, a company that became evident due to its agency problems in the national market. The results have shown that the market reacted significantly to the announcement of the selected conflicts, presenting a p-value smaller than 0,05 to the blocks of events, that means the rejection of the null hypothesis, making evident the statistical evidence of the tested information proves accumulated abnormal returns different from zero. However, new surveys are suggested using new parameters of events in order to find new evidence about the effect concerning the information about the stock price. / Esta dissertação apresenta um estudo exploratório que tem como objetivo a avaliação da reação do mercado frente aos problemas de agência e assimetria informacional entre os acionistas majoritários-controladores e os acionistas minoritários de uma empresa brasileira de capital aberto, no tocante ao valor das suas ações negociadas na Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo. O estudo se propõe a investigar o impacto de precificação dessas ações promovendo a análise do seu comportamento frente à divulgação de notícias de crise e fraude da empresa por meio da mídia especializada. A metodologia adotada consiste na aplicação de estudo de eventos para identificação de retornos anormais da empresa desde a divulgação da primeira notícia selecionada, datada de maio de 2001, até a última notícia em outubro de 2005, utilizando-se de procedimentos estatísticos como a regressão linear e aplicação do teste t de student para estimar e comparar os resultados. Os dados foram obtidos por meio do banco de dados da Economática Ltda, conforme acesso realizado na Universidade de São Paulo. Para objeto de pesquisa foi selecionada a empresa Bombril S/A, por estar em evidências quanto a problemas de agência no âmbito do mercado nacional. Os resultados obtidos apontaram que o mercado reagiu significantemente aos anúncios dos conflitos selecionados, apresentando um valor de p-value <0,05 para os blocos de eventos, o que significa a rejeição da hipótese nula, constatando que a evidencia estatística dos dados testados comprova retornos anormais acumulados diferentes de zero. Entretanto, sugere-se novas pesquisas com outros parâmetros de eventos na busca de mais evidências sobre o efeito das informações no preço das ações.

Every actor of the society has its own expectations about the companies. Shareholders are interested in the maximization of the profitability, managers are interested in sustainability, and partners are interested in fulfilment of the business ethics. And the company with well-structured CSR policy should be able to meet expectations of all stakeholders. This can cost large part of the company's resources. It can potentially impact on company’s profitability whether positively or negatively. Using the quantitative research method we tried to explore the impact of CSR policy on the short-term profitability. Our research question is composed as:What is the relationship between CSR and short-term profitability?The main purpose of this study is to analyze and present positive or negative links between CSR policy and corporate financial performance (CFP) using different profitability indicators. We analyzed impact of weighted average CSR score and environmental rank on the short-term profitability.The theoretical framework of the thesis consists of different theories, such as stakeholder theory, shareholder theory, agency theory, legitimacy theory and etc.The research conducted in accordance with the functionalist research paradigm, the objectivist ontological and positivist epistemic research philosophies using the deductive approach. Our result indicates that there negative relationship between CSR performance and short-term profitability. Also we found that CSR policy can negatively impact on return on assets. This in turn could have negative implications on shareholders and stakeholders. No positive correlation between CSR policy and profitability observed. All in all, the expenses on CSR policy have a negative impact on indicators of financial performance.

abstract: Managers’ control over the timing and content of information disclosure represents a significant strategic tool which they can use at their discretion. However, extant theoretical perspectives offer incongruent arguments and incompatible predictions about when and why managers would release inside information about their firms. More specifically, agency theory and theories within competitive dynamics provide competing hypotheses about when and why managers would disclose inside information about their firms. In this study, I highlight how voluntary disclosure theory may help to coalesce these two theoretical perspectives. Voluntary disclosure theory predicts that managers will release inside information when managers perceive that the benefits outweigh the costs of doing so. Accordingly, I posit that competitive dynamics introduce the costs associated with disclosing information (i.e., proprietary costs) and that agency theory highlights the benefits associated with disclosing information. Examining the context of seasoned equity offerings (SEOs), I identify three ways managers can use information in SEO prospectuses. I hypothesize that competitive intensity increases proprietary costs that will reduce disclosure of inside information but will increase discussing the organization positively. I then hypothesize that capital market participants (e.g., security analysts and investors) may prefer managers to provide more, clearer, and positive information about the SEO and their firms. I find support for many of my hypotheses. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2017

The literature indicates that, mainly in countries with high stock concentration, the property structure is an important internal mechanism of control of the corporate governance, with effects in the valorization and acting of the companies. In Brazil, the existent relationship among governance property-acting corporate-structure is still shown not conclusive . The present study investigates if there is relationship among property structure, financial acting and value in the non-financial Brazilian companies of capital open with actions negotiated in the Stock Exchange of São Paulo (BOVESPA), between the period of the years: 1997 to 2001 (consequences of the property structure), as well as the determinant of the concentration degree of the referred companies property (causes of the property structure). In the empiric investigation the following statistical methods were used: 1) Analysis of Parametric Variance (ANAVA); 2) Analysis of No-parametric Variance (Test of Kruskal-Wallis); and 3) Analysis of Multiple Regression through the estimators of Ordinary Least- Square (MQO) with solid mistake-patterns of the heterocedasticidade according to White (1980). Concerning the used methodology, the results indicate that the variables of property structure as defined don't exercise influence on the financial acting and value of the companies. Remain to the determinant of the property structure of capital open non-financial Brazilian companies, the results indicate that the property structure can be explained by the size of the firm, instability and regulation of the market, showing to be the last variable the main determinant of the property structure. / A literatura indica que, principalmente em países com alta concentração acionária, a estrutura de propriedade é um importante mecanismo interno de controle da governança corporativa, com efeitos na valorização e desempenho das empresas. No Brasil, a relação existente entre governança corporativa-estrutura de propriedade-desempenho mostra-se ainda inconclusiva. O presente estudo investiga se existe relação entre estrutura de propriedade, desempenho financeiro e valor das empresas brasileiras não-financeiras de capital aberto com ações negociadas na Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo (BOVESPA), entre os anos de 1997 a 2001 (conseqüências da estrutura de propriedade), bem como os determinantes do grau de concentração de propriedade das referidas empresas (causas da estrutura de propriedade). Na investigação empírica foram utilizados os seguintes métodos estatísticos: 1) Análise de Variância Paramétrica (ANAVA); 2) Análise de Variância Não-Paramétrica (Teste de Kruskal-Wallis); e 3) Análise de Regressão Múltipla por meio dos estimadores de Mínimos Quadrados Ordinários (MQO) com erros-padrões consistentes à heterocedasticidade conforme White (1980). Considerando-se a metodologia empregada, os resultados indicam que as variáveis de estrutura de propriedade como definidas não exercem influência sobre o desempenho financeiro e valor das empresas. Sobre aos determinantes da estrutura de propriedade das empresas brasileiras não-financeiras de capital aberto, os resultados indicam que a estrutura de propriedade pode ser explicada pelo tamanho da firma, instabilidade e regulação do mercado, mostrando ser essa última variável a principal determinante da estrutura de propriedade. / Mestre em Administração