Thesis (Ph. D.)--Lehigh University, 1999. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 201-206).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-125).

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 41-42).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2008. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Florida, 1988. / Description based on print version record. Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Chapter 1 studies wage contracts and their roles in workers’ employment and wage dynamics, as well as the implications on income inequality. I develop an on-the-job search model that allows for different types of wage contracts. Using indirect inference method, I am able to estimate the structural model and evaluate the impact of different productivity elements, including firm productivity, returns to routine task and individual effort. The model is able to capture key measures on worker’s labor market mobility, wage growth and distribution. It also allows me to evaluate the implications of productivity change on income inequality through counterfactual analysis. I show that these productivity elements have different implications on income inequality, and the use of performance based wage contract is an important channel for income polarization at the top percentiles. Chapter 2 studies the effect of overtime pay on workers’ working schedule and income. How overtime pay regulations affect the labor market is a controversial yet relatively under- studied topic. In this paper, I study the effect of the revision to statutory overtime pay in 2004 on worker’s income and hours of work. Using monthly panel data on workers’ working hours and income that covers the period of rule change, I find evidence that for workers who gained statutory overtime pay coverage under the new rule, hours and income increased. I also find spillover effects on overtime pay premium and overtime schedule for workers who are not directly affected by the rule change. My results suggest that the standard competitive model does not capture well the labor market for overtime work, and government regulations could reduce labor market frictions. Chapter 3 studies debt covenant violations and their effects on corporate innovation. Exploiting the state of debt contract covenant violation and the institutional feature that creditors obtain increased control right of the firm, the paper examines the effect of increased creditor governance well before the state of bankruptcy on corporate innovation. Consistent with the view that increased creditor monitoring has disciplining effect on the managers, I find no significant change in the R&D spending, significant but model decrease in the total patent counts two years forward as well as significant and large positive impact on the citation counts of the patents. The results demonstrate that increased creditor governance is overall beneficial to firm innovation.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (May 2, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

M.Comm. (Financial Management) / The purpose of this study is to show the influence of corporate debt on financial distress particularly during and after an economic/financial crisis on South African companies. It is assumed that companies that are highly leveraged prior to a crisis will experience financial distress during as well as after the crisis and that they will go through a process of deleveraging sometime after the financial crisis. The financial statements of 47 capital intensive companies that are traded on the main board of the JSE Limited are analysed for two crises that took place between 1994 and 2010. These crisis points coincide with the Asian crisis and the Dot.com bubble crash. The 2008 sub-prime crisis is excluded from the analyses due to the absence of post-crisis financial information for some of the companies sampled. The analysis examines the relationship between debt and financial distress and between debt and profitability before, during and after the crises. The evolution of debt levels before, during and after the crises is also examined. The empirical findings of the study are a departure from international literature and experience that suggest that during times of economic prosperity companies become over-indebted due to expansion plans and therefore in most cases experience financial distress as they are unable to meet their obligations or meet these with great difficulty during and after the crisis.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-125).