In view of the latest corporate collapses globally, the purpose of this thesis is an attempt to investigate and to theorise how managers make decisions when faced with an ethical dilemma.Philosophers over the years have proposed different moral theories. For example, Kantian’s Categorical Imperative (O’Neil 2001, Peters, 1971) suggests that there are laws that should apply universally. However, its principles are too abstract to guide action, in that it does not provide a detailed set of instructions for following them. Others such as Baier, (2001) suggest that people behave to satisfy their own self-interest. The literature review shows that there is no consensus to define what constitutes ethical behaviour. Kohlberg (1981) divides childhood moral development into six stages. He theorises that greater moral development will be related to the highest social responsibility of an individual. Lagon (2000), Seabright and Moberg (1998), Logsdon and Yuthas (1997) extrapolate Kohlberg’s model to incorporate into organisational and individual moral development.Based on the literature review, research questions were developed. The research methodology is qualitative, based on the realism paradigm using a case research design (Yin 1994). Face to face interviews were conducted with fourteen participants using critical incidents and the findings were triangulated using a semi-structured focus group.The research data analysis is based on grounded theory proposed by Glaser and Strauss (1967). The findings confirm that there is no single theory or approach to business ethics. The findings indicate that a person’s ethical behaviour changes when his/her self-interest is affected. Whilst participants believed that business and ethics can be reconciled, most agreed that they can only be reconciled if the individual’s interest or business profit is not affected. Based on the findings, a new model is proposed in an attempt to theorise an individual’s business ethical behaviour and his/her ethical decision making process.This research also identifies important areas that require further research. These are:• Conflicts between personal values and business values• Should ethics be taught? And if so how?• Should an ethical programme be developed and incorporated in a company’s strategic plan?

In view of the latest corporate collapses globally, the purpose of this thesis is an attempt to investigate and to theorise how managers make decisions when faced with an ethical dilemma.Philosophers over the years have proposed different moral theories. For example, Kantian’s Categorical Imperative (O’Neil 2001, Peters, 1971) suggests that there are laws that should apply universally. However, its principles are too abstract to guide action, in that it does not provide a detailed set of instructions for following them. Others such as Baier, (2001) suggest that people behave to satisfy their own self-interest. The literature review shows that there is no consensus to define what constitutes ethical behaviour. Kohlberg (1981) divides childhood moral development into six stages. He theorises that greater moral development will be related to the highest social responsibility of an individual. Lagon (2000), Seabright and Moberg (1998), Logsdon and Yuthas (1997) extrapolate Kohlberg’s model to incorporate into organisational and individual moral development.Based on the literature review, research questions were developed. The research methodology is qualitative, based on the realism paradigm using a case research design (Yin 1994). Face to face interviews were conducted with fourteen participants using critical incidents and the findings were triangulated using a semi-structured focus group.The research data analysis is based on grounded theory proposed by Glaser and Strauss (1967). The findings confirm that there is no single theory or approach to business ethics. The findings indicate that a person’s ethical behaviour changes when his/her self-interest is affected. Whilst participants believed that business and ethics can be reconciled, most agreed that they can only be reconciled if the individual’s interest or business profit is not affected. Based on the findings, a new model is proposed in an attempt to theorise an individual’s business ethical behaviour and his/her ethical decision making process.This research also identifies important areas that require further research. These are:• Conflicts between personal values and business values• Should ethics be taught? And if so how?• Should an ethical programme be developed and incorporated in a company’s strategic plan?

Le principe de nécessité constitue incontestablement un des piliers de l’action pénale moderne. Ce principe fut essentiellement développé au cours des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, sous l’impulsion notamment de Cesare Beccaria dont la pensée fut influencée par celle des philosophes des Lumières. Ces auteurs, animés par l’idée de modération voire d’abolition des châtiments corporels, prescrivaient un recours mesuré au droit pénal. Ces développements philosophico-juridiques étaient précurseurs d’une reprise ultérieure du principe de nécessité en droit positif, au lendemain de la révolution de 1789. Inséré au sein de la Déclaration des droits de l’homme et du citoyen, ce dernier y a acquis le statut de principe fondamental et irrigue l’ensemble du droit pénal tant en ce qui concerne les incriminations (article 5) et les peines (articles 8) que la procédure (article 9). La présente thèse situe la réflexion quant au principe de nécessité dans le domaine bien défini du droit pénal des affaires. La question de la place du droit pénal dans la sphère économique et financière est une problématique constante pour le législateur. Elle requiert de ne pas s’arrêter au seul aspect traditionnel du principe de nécessité en tant que modérateur de l’action pénale, mais de dépasser cette vision pour étudier son côté positif et engager une réflexion globale sur les raisons d’un recours au droit pénal en matière économique et financière / The necessity principle undeniably represents one of the pillars of modern criminal law. This principle was essentially developed during the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries, in particular by Cesare Beccaria, whose thought was influenced by the Enlightenment philosophers. Driven by ideas of moderation and corporal punishment abolition, they prescribed a restrained application of criminal law. These philosophical and legal developments reappeared in substantive law after the 1789 revolution. Embedded in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, the necessity principle acquired the fundamental principle status and shapes incriminations (Article 5), punishments (Article 8) and criminal law procedure (Article 9). This work analyses the necessity principle within the area of criminal business law. The influence of criminal law in the economic and financial realm is a constant issue for the legislator. As the necessity principle involves more than the traditional aspect of moderation, its positive aspect will also be analysed in order to reflect on the rationale of its application in the economic and financial sphere

Shareholder activism has exploded in popularity since the turn of the century, due in large part to impressive relative returns generated by its major participants. The result has thus been a surge in assets invested in the category, to in excess of $170 billion today up from less than $3 billion in 2000 (Inglis 2015; Romito 2015). This influx of capital, in absolute dollars and pace of growth, has caused many to wonder whether activists truly create shareholder value and, if so, if the value generated is sustainable. Numerous studies of activist interventions prior to 2009 reveal significant stock price gains around the time of activist arrival and positive longer term buy-and-hold abnormal returns as well. The question remains, however, whether those trends have continued as volume of transactions and number of activists have increased post the recent global financial crisis. In this report, we perform an empirical analysis focused on a hand-collected dataset of 1,088 activist interventions from 1995-present. This dataset includes all 13D filings, as well as Under the Threshold activist campaigns. First, we analyze stock price returns for this group over short- and long-term periods and find that activists continue to unlock shareholder value in recent deals comparable to that of earlier ones. We then perform a proprietary regression to identify which factors drive the most successful returns. Such insights should prove informative for investors employing an activist strategy and companies looking to manage areas of vulnerability.

Orientador: Alfredo José dos Santos / Coorientador: Luiz Antônio Soares Hentz / Banca: Alexandre Walmott Borges / Banca: Euclides Celso Berardo / Resumo: Este estudo busca identificar a sociedade anônima aberta como um modelo societário propício à formatação jurídica, organização e capitalização de empreendimentos do setor sucroalcooleiro. O estudo foca este setor específico da economia brasileira, em função de sua acentuada importância no cenário econômico mundial, do intenso crescimento, nas últimas décadas da demanda por açúcar, etanol e álcool anidro (em especial no que tange a esses combustíveis renováveis), bem como, em razão das mudanças administrativas e estruturais que vêm sendo aplicadas ultimamente nas empresas do setor. Nessa conjuntura, a pesquisa busca demonstrar como se organizam, atualmente, os diferentes agentes econômicos do setor e quais as principais estratégias aplicadas no sentido de se capitalizarem e, assim, promoverem medidas de reorganização administrativa e estrutural. Sob essas premissas, o estudo sugere a formatação jurídica das sociedades anônimas abertas, como um modelo viável para a organização de empreendimentos sucroalcooleiros que reúnam condições de experimentarem um potencial crescimento econômico, a partir da capitalização e da integração empresarial com outros empreendimentos relacionados ao setor. Para tanto, propõe-se a revelar os procedimentos necessários para a abertura de capital, especialmente quanto à reorganização societária, contratações de assessorias, realização de registros, comunicação e aprovação dos órgãos governamentais, bem como aqueles demandados quando da realização de oferta de ações, debêntures e demais valores mobiliários a serem negociados no mercado de capitais. Na mesma conjuntura focaliza as implicações decorrentes do processo de abertura de capital e as principais dificuldades enfrentadas pelos empreendedores que lançam mão dessa empreitada ou que... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This study intends to identify the publicly traded companies as a corporate model propitious to capitalize, to legally format and to organize the assets of the sugar and alcohol sector. This study focuses on this specific sector of the Brazilian economy due to its accented importance on the global economy to its intense increase in the last decades on the demand for sugar, ethanol and anhydrous ethanol (particularly regarding these renewable fuels) as well as to the administrative and to the structural modifications that have been lately applied in its companies. Considering this juncture, this research intends to show how the different economic agents of the sector are organize, nowadays, and which the main strategies are applied in order to capitalize and, therefore, promote measures of administrative and of structural reorganization. Under these assumptions, the study proposes the legal formatting of the publicly traded companies as a viable model to the organization of the sugar and alcohol sector that gather conditions to experience an economic growth based on the capitalization and on the integration with other assets related to the sector. For that purpose, it aims to reveal the necessary procedures for initial public offerings, especially regarding the approval of government agencies, conducting legal records, corporate reorganization, hiring of consultancy, as well as the procedures demanded when issuance of debentures, stock offers and other securities offering to be traded on the capital market. It focuses on the implications of the initial public offering process and the main difficulties faced by the entrepreneurs who intend to apply the legal restructuring towards the flotation of shares. Finally, based on these surveys, this study tries to refer all these contents to the reality of this sector in order to emphasize... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

Ce travail de recherche a pour objectif d'apporter un éclairage et une compréhension sur l'évolution du droit des affaires en Chine et plus particulièrement sur les outils de protection des investissements pour les étrangers dans ce pays. Cet ouvrage analyse les incidents liés à la protection juridique des investissements étrangers ainsi que l'effectivité des voies de recours en cas de différents. / The objective of this thesis is to bring insights into the understanding of the evolution of business law in China and in particular on the tools of investment protection used by foreigners in this country. This paper analyses the events related to the protection of foreign investments as well as the efficiency of arbitrative solutions in the case of problems.

Dans l'espace de l'OHADA, la diffusion massive du terme de gouvernance relève essentiellement du contexte de la coopération internationale pour le développement. Ce nouvel impératif de gouvernance est depuis quelques années, dans le débat sur la construction d'une gouvernance d'entreprise, au cœur de tous les discours, des réformes, de toutes les initiatives en matière de développement des affaires et de fonctionnement efficace de l'entreprise. En réalité, dans cet environnement communautaire de l'OHADA, (CEMAC et UEMOA), il se trouve que la volonté politique est avant tout économique, le droit ne jouant qu'un rôle de second plan de mise en ordre a posteriori. Aussi, cela pose le problème suivant, à savoir : comment concilier d'une part, l'objectif de sécurité juridique et judiciaire indispensable pour drainer des flux importants d'investissements et, d'autre part, l'enjeu essentiel dont participe l'OHADA à l'établissement de ce qu'il est aujourd'hui coutume d'appeler « la bonne gouvernance » et de l'Etat de droit en Afrique comme vecteur de la performance économique.Au regard de l'ambition affichée par les rédacteurs de l'AUSCGIE et, sous le prisme des normes internationales, d'exigences nouvelles de développement économique et de la pérennité des entreprises, la gouvernance des sociétés commerciales pose la problématique de l'efficacité juridique de ce corps de règles. En d'autres termes, comment faire émerger dans un espace où le contrôle de l'Etat sur les activités économiques est mis à mal, des règles de gouvernance d'entreprise efficace au sein des sociétés commerciales ? Vaste programme.Dans la pratique, compte tenu des réalités, « la gouvernance dans les Etats membres de l'OHADA signifie souvent tout autre chose. Il ne s'agit pas de la gouvernance des sociétés dans le sens classique, mais au contraire, de l'influence politique ». De fait, il se trouve qu'aujourd'hui, la zone OHADA souffre avant tout, non pas de l'absence de règles, mais de la persistance de graves faiblesses et d'un manque cruel en terme de gouvernance et de contrôle de la bonne application des règles de droit, notamment, vis-à-vis de l'entreprise. Au regard de cette situation, l'on est tenté de dire que l'application des règles et principes de la gouvernance d'entreprise reste quelque peu limitée ou n'a pas encore porté les fruits escomptés. Une gouvernance d'entreprise dans l'espace OHADA est-elle une illusion ? Le constat objectif est bien évidemment non. C'est donc au prisme des enjeux économiques actuels et, face aux nouvelles attentes et défis des Etats membres, des axes de convergences ne seraient possibles qu'en vertu du réalisme du droit de l'OHADA, qui doit concilier à la fois, impératif économique (besoin d'investissement) et sécurisation juridique et judiciaire des activités économiques (quête de sécurité juridique).Mots clés : OHADA (Organisation pour l'Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires), Droit, Gouvernance, Entreprise, Acte uniforme. / In the space of OHADA, the massive dissemination of the term governance essentially within the context of international cooperation for development. This new imperative of governance in recent years, the debate on building a corporate governance at the heart of all the speeches, reforms, all initiatives in the development of effective business and operation of the 'business. In fact, at that Community environment OHADA (CEMAC and UEMOA), there is the political will is above all economic, law playing only a role of second order implementation plan afterwards. Also, this poses the following problem, namely how to reconcile one hand, the essential objective of legal and judicial security to drain large flows of investment and, secondly, the essential challenge which involved the OHADA in establishing what is today commonly called "good governance" and the rule of law in Africa as a vector of economic performance. Given the ambition of the drafters of the AUSCGIE and, from the perspective of international standards, new requirements of economic development and enterprise sustainability, governance of corporations raises the issue of the legal effectiveness This set of rules. In other words, how to emerge in a space where the state control on economic activities is undermined, effective corporate governance rules within the commercial companies? Extensive program.In practice, given the realities, "Governance in the OHADA member states often means something else entirely. There is no corporate governance in the classic sense, but rather of political influence." Indeed, it is today the OHADA area suffers above all, not the absence of rules, but serious weaknesses persistence and a severe lack in terms of governance and control proper application of rules of law, particularly vis-à-vis the company. Given this situation, one is tempted to say that the rules and principles of corporate governance remains somewhat limited and has not yet yielded the expected fruits. Is a corporate governance in OHADA an illusion? The objective fact is obviously not. So the prism of current economic challenges and face new challenges and expectations of Member States, would only be possible convergence of the axes of realism that under the law of the OHADA, which must reconcile both imperative Economic (investment required) and legal and judicial security of economic activities (search for legal certainty).Keywords: OHADA (Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa), Law, Governance, Enterprise, Uniform Act.

The dissertation consists of two essays. In the first essay we compare the performance of Islamic and conventional stock returns in Saudi Arabia in order to determine whether the Saudi market exhibits characteristics that are consistent with segmented markets and investor recognition effects. We sample the daily stock returns of all Saudi firms from September 2002 to 2015 and calculate important measures, including idiosyncratic volatility (Ang et al, 2006), market integration (Pukthuanthong and Roll, 2009), systematic turnover (Loughran and Schultz, 2005), and stock turnover and liquidity (Amihud, 2002). Integration tests report that Islamic stocks are more sensitive to changes in global and local macroeconomic variables than conventional stocks, supporting the hypothesis that the Islamic and conventional stock markets are segmented in Saudi Arabia. In addition, our results show that Islamic stocks have larger number of investors, lower idiosyncratic risk, higher systematic turnover, and more liquid than conventional stocks, which supports the investor recognition hypothesis. Our results provide new evidence on asset pricing in emerging markets, the evolving Islamic financial markets, and the potential impact of other implicit market barriers on global financial markets. In the second essay we examine the effects of shared beliefs and personal preferences of individual investors on their trading and investment decisions. We anticipate that the process of classifying stocks into Shariah compliant (Islamic) and non-shariah compliant (conventional) has an effect on investibility and acceptance of the stock especially by unsophisticated or individual investors. The wide acceptance of Islamic stocks between individual investors promote and facilitate the circulation of firm-specific information between certain groups of investors. Our results indicate that stock classification has an effect on the stock price comovement through increased stock trading correlation between the groups of Islamic investors. The commonality in preferences between Islamic stocks’ holders generate commonality in trading activity and in stock liquidity. We find that classifying a stock as an Islamic stock increases its price comovement with other Islamic stocks and also increases its commonality in liquidity.

M.Comm. / There has been renewed focus recently on the small business sector, particularly from the South African government. However, there are many and serious questions in the media with regard to the effectiveness of efforts made to stimulate this sector, especially from governement. This study attempts to determine effective and efficient ways of stimulating small business in South Africa and recommend changes in current strategies.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the antecedents and reinforcements of fairtrade purchase intention and to examine the effect of reporting good fairtrade practices on consumers’ punishment behavior. A stratified sample of 240 English-speaking, American, adult subjects was collected online. First, the Behavioral Perspective Model (BPM) (Foxall, G., 2007) was modified and four manipulations varying luxury/commodity product type and open/closed purchase settings were presented. The results of paired-sample t-tests demonstrated closed purchase settings did not increase luxury purchase intention by itself. A split-plot ANOVA combining closed setting and the participant’s fairtrade learning history did not produce significant results, but post-hoc testing revealed a significant effect of positive learning history on purchase intention. Two separate, repeated-measures ANOVA found that utilitarian reinforcement was not affected by purchase setting, but informational reinforcement was significantly increased by the presence of others. Second, four manipulations of good/bad press events were presented without/without the firm’s fairtrade performance history mentioned in a news article. A two-way, between-subjects ANOVA produced insignificant results for the effect of information on willingness to pay. Importantly, the type of event significantly affected willingness to pay, accounting for 18% of the variation, with positive events generating higher willingness to pay than negative, regardless of whether fairtrade performance information was included. This study suggested firms would benefit from including cues for the social reward aspect of luxury fairtrade purchasing in marketing efforts and from preventing missteps rather than bragging about past practices. Future research suggestions included further analyzing the effect of information on punishment of bad corporate actors, investigating the credibility of self-declaration of fairtrade certification versus independent certification labels, and incorporating the effect of culture into the BPM.