The validating roles of hedging and leverage as value-adding corporate strategies arise from their beneficial manipulation of deadweight market impositions such as taxes and financial distress costs. These roles may even be symbiotic in their value-adding effects, but they are antithetic in their effects on company risk. This study's modelling analysis indicates that hedging and leverage do interact for net benefit to company value; for sensible base-case exogenous parameters, the optimal (value-maximising) joint hedging and leverage strategy increases company value by about 4.0% compared to the unhedged optimal leverage strategy, by about 1.3% compared to the unlevered optimal hedge strategy, and by about 4.0% compared to the company being unlevered and unhedged. Furthermore an optimal joint hedging and leverage strategy is less financially risky than an unhedged optimal leverage strategy or an unhedged and unlevered strategy, and is often less financially risky than an unlevered optimal hedge strategy. Interestingly, the optimal joint hedging and leverage strategy entails some risk-seeking hedge reversal in response to weak price outcomes for production output.

本篇論文目的在檢視壽險業資本結構的影響因素，樣本為美國壽險公司。金融及保險市場的特殊性質會造成保險公司有動機去調整控制資本結構與資產風險，以維持公司失卻清償能力的風險在適當的範圍內。我們的實證結果中顯示槓桿比率與資產風險的負向關係的確存在於美國壽險業當中。 此外，一般公司資本結構理論中的公司大小、代理問題皆顯示對壽險公司的資本結構造成影響；公司的評比對公司的槓桿比率有顯著影響；使用獨立代理人銷售業務的公司有較高的槓桿比率與風險；實證結果亦顯示壽險公司的資產風險與投資的集中度及經營險種的集中度有正相關，意味著資產風險可以透過分散投資與險種多樣化的方式來分散降低。 / This study examines the capital structure determinants of life insurance companies in U.S. The decision of capital structure in insurance industry should be a joint decision of capital structure and firm risk. Insurers have incentive to keep firm risk within a safe range, due to the special features in the insurance markets. We find evidence supporting the negative relationship between leverage ratio and firm risk, suggesting that insurers will balance risk and leverage to keep the insolvency risk within a desired range. In addition, general capital structure theories such as size and agency theory are significant in our empirical result. Rating is shown a significant factor of capital structure in life insurance industry. Evidence suggests the independent agents have less incentive to monitor insurers. Firm risk is also shown significant relationship with undiversified investments and concentrated business line, which suggests that life insurers can reduce firm risk by diversifying investment risk and business risk.

本文共分五章，第一章為緒論，概述本文的研究動機、目的、限制與範圍、及研究架構。第二章為文獻探討，將一些與資本結構相關的理論與文獻做一整理，然後找出影響的可能因素。第三章為研究設計，除對整體樣本公司做迴歸分析外，也對各別產業、股市多空頭時期、第一二類上公司進行分析，以找出影響愛因為何。第四章則為實證結果。第五章為結論與建議，將實證結果做一整理並且對政府及公司有簡短的建議。 　　本研究結果顯示 　　1.公司的獲利性、現金股利發放率、稅率、非負債稅盾、營運風險與長期負債比率成反向相關。規模、成長機會、資產抵押價值則與長期負債比率呈正相關。 　　2.短期負債比率的影響愛因僅與規模、獲利性、股利發放率、資產抵押價值呈顯著相關。 　　3.產業別確是一個影響資本結構的變因。 　　4.股市多、空頭時期的資本結構確有差異，空頭時期公司傾向以負債融通。 　　5.第一、二類上市公司僅長期負債比率存在差異。其中第二類公司的資本結構影響愛因多與土地等有形資產相關。

<p>This study investigates the capital structure pattern on the Nordic Banking sector, and analyzes if the macroeconomics conditions have an impact on it. The topic is timely and relevant as the credit crises, which has reached the real economy strongly, appears to lead to a restructure of the capital structure of the firms. To achieve my objective I have observed the debt-to-equity ratio in the period 2003-2008. I conducted correlation analysis and further regression analysis to search for a relationship between the variables and then a cause-effect relation between the macroeconomic measures and the capital structure. In order to understand and select the macroeconomics measures to this investigation I have reviewed well known theories and studies about the subject.</p><p> </p><p>I have found a stable debt-to-equity ratio on the book value; however to the market value the figures indicate a decrease in equity value, especially in the last year. In order to search for a macroeconomic relationship, I have developed hypotheses and examined them to select the most suitable variables to a regression analysis. The choice was the change in the GDP, the interest rate and tax rate.</p><p> </p><p>The results revealed that the book value is better explained by these measures than the market value. They demonstrate statistical significantly, highlighting the change in GDP. Even if the findings suggest that there is a correlation between the macroeconomic condition and the capital structure, the analyses suggest only moderate relationship, that should be further investigate.</p>

<p>During the past year it has been made possible to buy back a company’s outstanding stock. This is done in order to change the capital structure towards a situation with less equity. A change in capital structure means a change in the cost of capital for a company and by that a change in the value for the stockholder. This Master Thesis studies the relation between capital structure and business risk. Studying the debt to equity ratio in a company captures capital structure. Studying the volatility in return on assets over a certain time period captures business risk. The Master Thesis also includes a study of what factors have an impact on the business risk when looking at the day-to-day business. By conducting a study of the pulp and paper industry and its nine listed companies a picture is created of what factors have an impact on the relation between capital structure and business risk. The business risk is in a very high degree dependant on factors like economic development for the product, raw material prices, number of product groups and what segments the company penetrates. A positive relation between capital structure and business risk has been identified. The study also indicates that other factors than just the business risk should be hold responsible for a company’s capital structure.</p>

<p>In this paper we study the pecking order and tradeoff theories of capital structure on a sample of 121 Swedish, non-financial, listed firms over the period between 2000 - 2009. We find that the Swedish firms’ financing behavior appears to have features consistent with the predictions of both theories. The evidence shows a preference for a financing behavior consistent with the tradeoff theory for the whole sample and for a sample of small firms, whereas large firms appear to follow a pecking order on their financing decisions. We show that under sufficient conditions both theories might be seen as “reconciled” and not mutually exclusive, and we find evidence for the large firms of our sample consistent with this notion.</p>

The international financial crisis naturally prompts the question of whether IIFS are robust and resilient or may be swept into crisis by a global wave and if so through what channels. This thesis considers channels through which the world financial crisis would affect IIFS, their features that may help contain it and those that may foster post crisis recovery in a dual banking system. Our sample covers 467 conventional banks and 90 Islamic banks in 16 countries for the period 2000-2008, a range advanced economies and emerging markets. We estimation the financial stability (z-score) in conventional and Islamic banks. The z-score has become a popular measure of bank soundness (Boyd and Runkle, 1993; Maechler, Mitra, and Worrell, 2005; Beck and Laeven, 2006; Laeven and Levine, 2006; Hesse and Čihák, 2007, 2008, 2010; Mercieca, Laeven and Levine, 2009; Beck; Demirgüç-Kunt and Merrouche, 2010). With a robust and a quantile estimation model, this empirical analysis explores causes of insolvency risk in Islamic and conventional banks in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Southeast Asian countries, by controlling for various factors, bank-by-bank data, macroeconomic and other system-wide indicators.

This dissertation focuses on models for company (equity) valuation. Company valuation has many interacting components. Essay 1, On the Fundamentals of Company Valuation, discusses the different roles of these components and shows how their interaction can be captured in a valuation framework. Essay 2, Looking Beyond the Horizon, is devoted to problems connected with horizon (terminal) value estimations. Essay 3, Company Valuation with a Periodically Adjusted Cost of Capital, shows how the cost of equity and the weighted average cost of capital can be simultaneously adjusted to reflect varying capital structures. The main contribution of Essay 4, On the General Equivalence of Company Valuation Models, is the specification of a company valuation framework that ensures that the free cash flow, dividend, abnormal earnings, economic value added and adjusted present value models are all equivalent. One characteristic of the framework is that it explicitly links the specification of discount rates to the anticipated future development of the company. Moreover, the results highlight the reasons for why the different models can produce different value estimates in practical applications. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk.

During the past year it has been made possible to buy back a company’s outstanding stock. This is done in order to change the capital structure towards a situation with less equity. A change in capital structure means a change in the cost of capital for a company and by that a change in the value for the stockholder. This Master Thesis studies the relation between capital structure and business risk. Studying the debt to equity ratio in a company captures capital structure. Studying the volatility in return on assets over a certain time period captures business risk. The Master Thesis also includes a study of what factors have an impact on the business risk when looking at the day-to-day business. By conducting a study of the pulp and paper industry and its nine listed companies a picture is created of what factors have an impact on the relation between capital structure and business risk. The business risk is in a very high degree dependant on factors like economic development for the product, raw material prices, number of product groups and what segments the company penetrates. A positive relation between capital structure and business risk has been identified. The study also indicates that other factors than just the business risk should be hold responsible for a company’s capital structure.

Background: A company’s choice of capital structure is influenced by the access to internal and external capital but also by the opportunities and threats that the management perceives in the environment and the management’s attitude towards risk. How an individual perceives and interpret the environment depends on the cognitive structures, which are shaped by personality, background and earlier experiences. Accordingly cognitive structures can be expected to influence the choice of capital structure. Purpose: Out of a cognitive perspective we intend to study the relationship between the way a company views it’s environment and what capital structure it chooses to have, in order to contribute to an increased understanding about what lies behind a company’s capital structure policy. Delimitations: Debt policy refers to the choice of capital structure. Cognition is briefly presented as a phenomena and in relation to risk judgement in decision processes. Realization: Our empirical studies are based on information from the annual reports of H&amp;M, JC and Lindex from the period of 1989-2000. Results: The studied companies have a very similar view on the environment and their capital structures are relatively similar since all of them have a high share of equity. Consequently the choice of capital structure can be said to be influenced by the company’s view on the environment even though this is not the only influencing factor.