This study investigates the importance of reduced capital misallocation in explaining the gains in corporate spinoffs. The capital misallocation hypothesis asserts that the internal capital market of a diversified firm fails to meet the needs of the relatively low growth divisions for less investment and the needs of the relatively high growth divisions for more investment. Higher differences in growth opportunities imply that more capital is misallocated. This study finds that the higher the difference in growth opportunities of a diversified firm's businesses, the more likely the firm is to conduct a spinoff. This finding supports the argument that diversified firms conduct spinoffs to reduce capital misallocation. This study finds differences in managerial ownership of spinoff firms and of nonspinoff firms. This suggests that the misallocation of internal capital is an agency problem. A low management ownership stake, coupled with the existing differential in growth opportunities between parent and spunoff firms, leads to misallocation of internal capital, thus creating incentives for a spinoff. Spinoffs should result in a shift to the “right" investment policy and to better operating performance for both the parent and spunoff firms. This improvement in operating performance for the post-spinoff firms is expected to be higher when they are from highly different growth opportunity spinoffs. I find mixed evidence regarding market reaction, changes in investment policy, and changes in operating performance. The evidence that supports the capital misallocation hypothesis does not appear uniformly and consistently across the proxies for growth opportunities. However, there is evidence that both parent and spunoff firms benefit from a spinoff. The magnitude of the benefits is larger for spunoff firms than for parent firms. This is as expected because the capital misallocation problem may be reduced, but does not entirely disappear, in the parent firm.

Doctoral thesis submitted to the University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of the Doctor in Philosophy, December 2016 / Healy and Wahlen (1999:368) define earnings management as an event that “occurs when managers use judgement in financial reporting and in structuring transactions to alter financial reports to either mislead some stakeholders about the underlying economic performance of the company or to influence contractual outcomes that depend on reported accounting numbers.” Management’s intent to mislead users distinguishes accruals that signal managers’ inside information about future cash flows from earnings management which intends to misrepresent performance (Dechow and Skinner, 2000; Parfet, 2000). Earnings management is a very serious issue; if it is not detected it can result in large financial losses for investors and creditors. Earnings data is a fundamental input to valuing a firm’s shares and prospects. Erroneous assessments of future cash flows because of misleading information will result in invalid share valuations and incorrect lending decisions which can have negative consequences on capital markets. The severe negative consequences of earnings manipulation, if undetected, suggest that investors, auditors and regulatory bodies should be aware of the prevalence of earnings management in an economy, whether investors are able to detect and price suspected earnings management and the most efficient way to detect it. This thesis aims to answer two fundamental questions: Does earnings management exist in South Africa? Are investors in South Africa misled by earnings management? How to detect earnings manipulation is the predominant theme in earnings management literature. The majority of research has been conducted in advanced economies and has transformed from identifying discontinuities in earnings distributions and measuring discretionary accruals to sophisticated predictive models, such as the F-score (Dechow, Ge, Larson and Sloan, 2011). Yet, research into the subject is sparse in emerging markets and tends to replicate existing methodology. The objective of this thesis is to examine earnings management in the South African economy, with the specific aim of identifying a databank of suspected earnings management firms that can be used for further research. Because the number of firms that have been forced to restate earnings is small in this environment, this thesis resorts to identifying suspected earnings management firms using discontinuities in earnings distributions. South Africa is similar to other emerging economies in that it is characterised by concentrated ownership, weaker legal enforcement and a smaller stock exchange. The South African environment is dissimilar to emerging economies as the JSE is considered to be well regulated, accounting and auditing standards are world class and accounting transparency and disclosure are satisfactory (Leuz, Nanda, and Wysocki, 2003). The results of this thesis are relevant in an institutional and macroeconomic setting where incentives to manipulate earnings, enforcement, legal protection, rule of law and sample size may differ from those in developed economies. This thesis firstly, focuses on methodological issues that may be encountered by researchers in identifying discontinuities in earnings distributions in emerging economies and secondly, validates kernel density estimation, Lahr (2014), as a viable methodology to test for earnings management by comparing total accruals, discretionary accruals and working capital accruals between suspected earnings management and non-earnings management firms. Thirdly, deferred tax expense is considered as a predictor variable in place of discretionary accruals in detecting suspected earnings management firms. Finally, in order to investigate investors’ reaction to suspected earnings management this thesis investigates whether the market prices suspected earnings management firms differently from non-earnings management firms. Pre- selected researcher binwidths (Burgstahler and Dichev, 1997, Coulton, Taylor and Taylor, 2005, Glaum, Lichtblau, and Lindemann, 2004; Holland and Ramsay, 2003) prove to be unsuitable in this milieu. Consequently kernel density estimation Lahr (2014), which derives bandwidths from the empirical earnings distributions, is used to identify discontinuities and to concurrently investigate the effect of deflation on the location of discontinuities. Discontinuities are shown to exist in earnings levels and changes distributions and emerge around zero in earnings levels distributions where number of shares is the deflator. Two important results emerge from this analysis. Firstly, when kernel density estimation is used in levels distributions, there is evidence that deflating by market value of equity and total assets shifts the location of suspected earnings management firms to the second and third intervals to the right of zero. Scaling does not alter the location of suspected earnings management firms in earnings changes distributions. Secondly, in the earnings deflated by number of shares distribution there is evidence that the band of suspected earnings management firms contains the results of firms that have upwardly and downwardly manipulated earnings. The implication of these findings are that deflating by number of shares is probably the most efficient scalar and that if doubt exists, alternative deflators should, at least, be compared between profit and loss firms. In addition, in the presence of evidence of downwards earnings management, researchers should evaluate whether and how to identify firms that are suspected of having reduced earnings. Specifically in emerging market research, these results indicate that it is inappropriate to merely replicate distribution research based on researcher selected binwidths and that kernel density estimation is probably more efficient in identifying discontinuities as it gives researchers a much broader perspective on the location of discontinuities. Kernel density estimation is confirmed as a method to identify discontinuities in earnings levels and changes distributions by comparing total, discretionary and working capital accruals between suspected earnings management and non-earnings management firms. Evidence that discontinuities in earnings distributions may be attributable to earnings management activities is found where earnings levels and earnings changes are deflated by number of shares and market value of equity, both modified Jones and asymmetric BS discretionary accruals are significantly income increasing in suspected earnings management (EM) firms and income decreasing in non-EM firms. Scaling by total assets is not a suitable deflator in the South African context as it appears to affect the sign and statistical significance of the accruals metrics in the earnings levels before and after tax distributions. This result does not detract from the efficiency of kernel density estimation as it is attributable to the inefficiency of total accruals as a scalar in an emerging market environment. Furthermore, this research endorses Ball and Shivakumar’s (2006) (BS) finding that an asymmetric discretionary accruals model is more efficient in estimating discretionary accruals in all the distributions, irrespective of deflators. In addition, the results of this thesis show that, in an emerging economy, deferred tax is incrementally useful to modified- Jones and the asymmetric BS discretionary accruals in detecting earnings management. The implication of this result is useful to investors, auditors and regulators because deferred tax movements and its components are a visible and identifiable numbers in financial statements. Deferred tax expense can be used, instead of complicated discretionary accrual models, to identify evidence of earnings management. This means that the components of the deferred tax asset or liability accounts can be analysed to highlight unusual movements which may in turn, focus attention on unusual accruals. For researchers, this result has important implications. Kernel density estimation can be used to identify suspected earnings management firms which can be used to further research. The final chapter of this thesis explores whether investors price suspected earnings management and nonearnings management firms differently and finds that, in this South African sample, there is no difference in price levels or cumulative abnormal returns in suspected earnings management and non-earnings management firms. This result is in sharp contrast to Balsam, Bartov, and Marquardt (2002) and Baber, Shuping, and Sok-Hyong (2006) who report a negative association between unexpected discretionary accruals and cumulative abnormal returns and Keung, Lin, and Shih (2010) who find that investors react negatively to zero or small earnings surprises. To some extent the results of this section of the thesis supports the finding in Gavious (2007) that prices react to discretionary accruals only after the introduction of revised analysts’ forecasts.The finding in this thesis implies that investors in South Africa are unable to detect earnings management. This outcome should be viewed in the context of prior research that reports that the JSE may be inefficient (Bhana, 1995, 2005, 2010; Hoffman, 2012; Ward and Muller, 2012; Watson and Roussow, 2012) and may be attributed to the fact that there is no signal to investors that the quality of earnings may be questionable in the sample of suspected earnings management firms. All in all, the findings of this thesis indicate the existence of earnings management in listed companies in South Africa. / XL2018

As a consequence of financial analysts' joint role as information intermediaries and firm monitors, I investigate analysts' responses to opportunistic corporate earnings management as firm mispricing increases. While firms' management have capital markets and executive equity incentives to manage earnings, financial analysts have trading volume, investment banking, and management information incentives which result in analysts' optimism bias. However, prior research also finds that analysts have reputational incentives, which motivate them to provide accurate and profitable outlooks. Using a generalized linear model (GLM), I estimate analysts' stock recommendation (price targets) responses for earnings management firms. I use the residual income model to compute fundamental value and I add proxies for earnings management to my analyst-responses models.... The main implications of my findings are that analysts use corporate earnings management and firm fundamental value in their stock recommendations (price targets) responses. In addition, my results provide evidence that, after controlling for earnings quality, analysts' stock recommendations (price targets) are consistent with strategies based on residual income models. These findings will be of interest to shareholders, regulators, and researchers as well as to finance and accounting practitioners. / by Jomo Sankara. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

I investigate the effect of shareholder rights and information asymmetry on option-related repurchase activity. Prior research shows that the dilution effect of the exercise of the employee stock options on earnings per share (EPS) decreases the value of stock options. Thus, managers tend to use stock repurchases rather than dividends to return cash to shareholders (the dividend substitution effect). I document that the executive stock option incentives to repurchase stock as a substitute for dividends are stronger when firms have weak shareholder rights and the level of information asymmetry positively influences managerial stock option incentives to repurchase stock. Furthermore, prior research indicates that information asymmetry is positively associated with stock repurchases. I also provide evidence indicating that the relationship between information asymmetry and stock repurchases is stronger when firms have weaker shareholder rights. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

I investigate if all-equity firms are a heterogeneous group as it relates to agency costs and accounting quality. All-equity firms are a unique group of firms that choose a “corner solution” as their capital structure. Extant research, supported by well-established theories such as trade-off theory, free cash flow theory, and Jensen’s (1986) control hypothesis, generally conclude that agency conflicts motivate such structure. Research also supports the alternative argument that poor accounting quality makes debt so prohibitive that such firms are driven to this capital structure. I propose that an all-equity structure is not necessarily symptomatic of agency conflicts and poor accounting quality overall. I investigate if different motivations, within an all-equity setting, reflected by free cash flows and growth opportunities, result in different levels of agency cost and accounting quality. By anchoring on theories that link implicit costs of debt to free cash flow levels and growth opportunities, I hypothesize that free cash flows and growth opportunities are strongly linked to the justification or lack thereof for the pursuit of such strategy. I hypothesize and show that firms in the extremes of the free cash flow to growth rate spectrum exhibit significantly different levels of agency cost and accounting quality within the all-equity setting. These results support my main prediction that there exists agency costs and accounting quality differences within the all-equity setting which are associated with free cash flow levels and growth opportunities and that the pessimistic conclusions for pursuing an all-equity strategy reached by prior research should not be generalized to all such firms. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015 / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This dissertation is a growth options analysis of high tech mergers. I analyze the impact growth options have on the likelihood of a high tech firm being acquired, the premiums paid for these acquisitions, and the synergies that result from these mergers. I examine how proxies for growth options interact with those for the resources needed to fund growth. A significant part of my analysis involves developing and examining a new growth options proxy, Gamma, the return on investment a firm realizes in growth options value from its R&D expenditures. I find that firms that are better than their peers in converting R&D into growth options value, i.e. they have high Gamma, are more likely to be targeted for acquisition than low-Gamma firms. The premiums paid are impacted most by the characteristics of the deal, primarily when deals are competitive, and GDP growth. The acquirer's Gamma, however, is very significant in predicting premiums. Acquiring firms with high Gamma pay significantly lower premiums. The synergies that result from a merger are measured in short and long run returns, and most mergers result in value destruction to the combined firm. In the fewer than 20% of the mergers that resulted in positive long run abnormal returns, the premium paid and whether the deal was competitive significantly reduced the returns. However the two characteristics that significantly increased returns were the acquirer's Gamma and if the acquirer and target had complementary characteristics for growth options levels and free cash flow. / by Sean M. Davis. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web. FboU

In essay I, I empirically examine theoretical inferences of real options models regarding the effects of business risk on the pricing of firms engaged in corporate control transactions. This study shows that the risk differential between the merging firms has a significant effect on the risk dynamic of bidding firms around control transactions and that the at-announcement risk dynamic is negatively related to that in the preannouncement period. In addition, the relative size of the target, the volatility of bidder cash flows, and the relative growth rate of the bidder have significant explanatory power in the cross-section of announcement returns to bidding firm shareholders as does the change in the cost of capital resulting from the transaction. Essay II provides an empirical analysis of a second set of real options models that theoretically examine the dynamics of financial risk around control transactions as well as the link between financial leverage and the probability of acquisition. In addition, I present a comparison of the financial risk dynamics of firms that choose an external growth strategy, through acquisition, and those that pursue an internal growth strategy through capital expenditures that are unrelated to acquisition. / by Jeffrey M. Coy. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader.

by Wong Ting Yu. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 43-45). / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vi / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS --- p.vii / Chapter / Chapter 1. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Objective and Structure --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Dividends and Dividend Policy --- p.3 / Chapter 2. --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.5 / Chapter 3. --- A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SHENZHEN STOCK MARKET --- p.9 / Chapter 4. --- PRACTICES OF AND CONSTRAINTS ON SHENZHEN LISTED FIRMS' DIVIDEND POLICIES --- p.12 / Chapter 4.1 --- Legal Constraints on Dividends --- p.12 / Chapter 4.2 --- Stipulations in Company Articles --- p.14 / Chapter 4.3 --- Constraints of Authorities on Dividend Policies --- p.15 / Chapter 4.4 --- Practices of Dividend Policies --- p.17 / Chapter 5. --- A GENERAL BEHAVIOR STUDY ON SHENZHEN LISTED FIRMS DIVIDEND POLICIES --- p.19 / Chapter 5.1 --- Hypotheses --- p.19 / Chapter 5.2 --- Evidences --- p.22 / Chapter 5.3 --- Further Explanations --- p.31 / Chapter 5.4 --- Preliminary Evidence for Market Response of Dividend Policies --- p.35 / Chapter 6. --- A TIME SERIES AND CROSS SECTIONAL COMPARISON AMONG DIVIDEND POLICIES --- p.37 / Chapter 6.1 --- Comparison of Cash Dividends in 1992/1993 --- p.37 / Chapter 6.2 --- Comparison of Cash Dividend Payout Ratio Among Industries --- p.39 / Chapter 7. --- CONCLUSIONS --- p.41 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.43

Pan Wing Wah. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-102). / Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2. --- Literature Review 一 Theory and Evidence / Chapter a. --- Theory Review --- p.7 / Chapter b. --- Empirical Review --- p.42 / Chapter 3. --- Empirical Study: Part I --- p.53 / Chapter 4. --- Empirical Study: Part II --- p.73 / Chapter 5. --- Conclusion --- p.94 / Reference --- p.97

by Ho Pui Sim, Charissa, Tsui Chi Kei, Libra. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1991. / Bibliography: leaves XI-XII. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.vii / List of Exhibits --- p.viii / Chapter 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Financial Structure --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Hong Kong Listed Companies --- p.1 / Chapter 1.3 --- Rationale --- p.2 / Chapter 1.4 --- Financial Structure Theories --- p.3 / Chapter 1.4.1 --- Static Tradeoff Models / Chapter 1.4.2 --- Pecking Order Hypothesis / Chapter 1.4.3 --- Other Models / Chapter 1.5 --- Statement of the Problem --- p.5 / Chapter 2 --- METHODOLOGY AND PRESENTATION OF RESULTS --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1 --- Methodology --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Literature Review / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Survey / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Interviews / Chapter 2.2 --- Study Constraints --- p.7 / Chapter 2.3 --- Presentation of Results --- p.7 / Chapter 3 --- FINANCIAL STRUCTURE DECISION --- p.9 / Chapter 3.1 --- Background of Respondents --- p.9 / Chapter 3.2 --- Static Tradeoff vs. Pecking Order and Other Models --- p.9 / Chapter 3.3 --- Preference for Sources of Funds --- p.10 / Chapter 3.4 --- Term to Maturity of Debts --- p.13 / Chapter 3.5 --- Organization of Financing Decision --- p.14 / Chapter 4 --- SPECIFIC FINANCIAL STRUCTURE MODELS AND PLANNING PRINCIPLES --- p.14 / Chapter 4.1 --- Specific Financial Structure Models --- p.16 / Chapter 4.2 --- Financial Planning Principles --- p.19 / Chapter 4.3 --- Perception on Market Efficiency --- p.21 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Impact on Financing Choice / Chapter 4.4 --- Information Contents of New Stock Issues --- p.23 / Chapter 5 --- SECTORAL ANALYSIS --- p.24 / Chapter 5.1 --- Static Tradeoff vs. Pecking Order and Other Models --- p.24 / Chapter 5.2 --- Preference for Sources of Funds --- p.25 / Chapter 5.3 --- Term to Maturity of Debts --- p.27 / Chapter 5.4 --- Financial Planning Principles --- p.28 / Chapter 5.5 --- Financial Structure Models Inputs --- p.30 / Chapter 6 --- ASSET SIZE ANALYSIS --- p.33 / Chapter 6.1 --- Static Tradeoff vs. Pecking Order and Other Models --- p.33 / Chapter 6.2 --- Preference for Sources of Funds --- p.34 / Chapter 6.3 --- Term to Maturity of Debts --- p.35 / Chapter 6.4 --- Financial Planning Principles --- p.36 / Chapter 6.5 --- Financial -Structure Models Inputs --- p.38 / Chapter 7 --- FINANCING DECISIONS AND OTHER SOURCES AND USES OF FUNDS --- p.42 / Chapter 7.1 --- An Overview of Findings --- p.42 / Chapter 7.2 --- Implications of Findings --- p.42 / Chapter 7.3 --- Contrast with the Findings of Pinegar and Wilbricht --- p.43 / Chapter 7.4 --- Impact of Business Nature --- p.43 / Chapter 7.5 --- Impact of Asset Size --- p.45 / Chapter 8 --- CONCLUSION --- p.47 / Chapter 8.1 --- Objectives of the study --- p.47 / Chapter 8.2 --- Summary of findings --- p.48 / Chapter 8.2.1 --- Sectoral Analysis / Chapter 8.2.2 --- Asset Size Analysis / Chapter 8.2.3 --- Comparison between the Findings in Hong Kong and US / Chapter 8.3 --- Implications and Assessment of Findings --- p.51 / APPENDICES --- p.I / Chapter Appendix 1 --- Cover Letter / Chapter Appendix 2 --- Financial Structure Questionnaire / Chapter Appendix 3 --- Business Nature of Respondents / Chapter Appendix 4 --- Asset Size of Respondents / Chapter Appendix 5 --- Financial Structure Models Used By Respondents / Chapter Appendix 6 --- Market Efficiency Perceptions / Chapter Appendix 7 --- Events of Mispricing / Chapter Appendix 8 --- Pearson's R Correlation Between Market Efficiency Perceptions and Importance Assigned to Inputs / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.XI