Thesis (Th. M.)--Master's Seminary, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-129).

Thesis (M.S.) B.Y.U. Dept. of religion.

Thesis (M.S.) B.Y.U. Dept. of religion. / Electronic thesis. Also available in print ed.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Master's Seminary, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-129).

Thesis (M.A.)--Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-92).

Thesis (M.A.)--Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-92).

Thesis (M.A.)--Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, 2003. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-92).

Cette thèse contient trois essais en macroéconomie empirique. L'accent est mis sur le financement des entreprises. Le premier chapitre étudie l'impact des clauses financières restrictives (covenants financiers) sur le comportement des entreprises et, en particulier, sur les investissements. Les covenants financiers sont des conditions présentes dans presque tous les contrats de prêt bancaire. Lorsqu'une entreprise ne remplit pas ces conditions, qui sont des ratios comptables tels qu'un ratio maximal de dette divisé par le revenu, la banque obtient le droit de rappeler le prêt. Après une violation d’un covenant, les banques réduisent souvent le montant du prêt ou modifient les conditions de prêt. Je trouve qu'environ 80% des entreprises sont soumises à des covenants et que la plupart des covenants sont basées sur le revenu d'une entreprise. Pour la crise de 2008, j'utilise des données manuellement collectées sur les limites de crédit des entreprises pour estimer la contribution des covenants de revenus à la contraction du crédit. Je trouve qu'environ un tiers des diminutions de lignes de crédit peut être attribué de manière plausible aux covenants du revenu. Motivé par ces faits, j'intègre des covenants sur le revenu dans un modèle d’entreprises hétérogènes par ailleurs standard. Dans une version calibrée du modèle, j’ai constaté que les covenants réduisent l’investissement global de 1,3% par rapport à un modèle sans frictions financières. Je montre que le coût de précaution, c’est-à-dire les entreprises qui empruntent et investissent moins parce qu’elles veulent éviter une violation d’un covenant, est supérieur au coût direct de la réduction de l’offre de crédit après la violation du covenant. Les régressions sur des données simulées produisent des effets directs et de précaution très similaires aux données réelles. Dans le deuxième chapitre, JaeBin Ahn, Mai Chi Dao et moi-même documentons une augmentation généralisée des actifs financiers liquides des entreprises au cours des deux dernières décennies. Nous construisons un modèle simple dans lequel une diminution des barrières commerciales incite les entreprises à innover. Parce que l'innovation est une activité à haut risque, les entreprises augmentent leurs avoirs en actif liquide lorsque les droits de douane baissent. Nous testons ces prévisions à l'aide de données de cinq économies majeures et nous constatons que l’augmentation des opportunités d'exportation et, dans une moindre mesure, la concurrence par des importations, accroissent les avoirs en actifs liquides des entreprises. À l’appui de notre interprétation, nous constatons que cet effet est plus marqué chez les entreprises qui investissent dans la recherche et le développement. Dans le troisième chapitre, Simon Fuchs et moi examinons le marché mondial de la création cinématographique. Nous montrons que 1) la part des revenus des suites et des adaptations de livres a considérablement augmenté au cours des deux dernières décennies et, 2) que le marché mondial de la création cinématographique est devenu plus global, avec la part des revenus total générés aux États-Unis en forte diminution. Nous établissons un lien entre ces deux faits stylisés grâce à un modèle dans lequel les studios de cinéma peuvent diffuser un film sur un marché composé de pays aux goûts différents. De plus, les studios sont confrontés à des incertitudes quant à l'emplacement d'un film dans l'espace ``gustatif''. Nous estimons cet espace ``gustatif'' global en utilisant les parts de marché des films observé. Lorsque la part de marché de l'Asie du Sud-Est sur le marché mondial du film augmente, les suites offrent une protection contre le risque accru. / This thesis contains three essays in empirical macroeconomics. The main focus is on firm financing. In the first chapter, I study the impact of financial covenants on firms' behavior and in particular the impact on investment. Financial covenants are conditions present in almost all bank loan contracts. When a firm does not satisfy those conditions, which are accounting ratios such as a maximal debt to earnings ratio, the bank has the right to call back the loan. In most cases banks use covenant breaches to lower the loan size or adjust other loan terms. I document that around 80% of firms are subject to covenants and most of the covenants are based on a firm's income. For the Great Recession, I use hand-collected data on firms' credit limits to estimate the contribution of income covenants to the credit crunch. I find that about a third of credit line decreases can be plausibly attributed to income covenants. Motivated by these facts, I incorporate an income covenant into an otherwise standard heterogeneous firms model. In a calibrated version of the model I find that income covenants reduce aggregate investment by 1.3% compared to a model without financial frictions. I document that the cost from precaution, i.e. firms borrowing and investing less because they want to avoid a covenant breach, is larger than the direct cost of lower credit supply after a covenant breach. Regressions on simulated firm-level data yield very similar effects of the direct and precautionary effects of income covenants compared to actual data. In the second chapter, Jae-Bin Ahn, Mai Chi Dao and I, document a broad-based increase in cash holdings at the firm level during the last two decades. We build a simple model in which lower trade barriers increase firms' incentives to innovate. Because innovation is risky, firms increase their liquidity holdings when tariffs fall. We test these predictions using firm-level data from five large countries and find that expanding export opportunities and, to a lesser extent, increased import competition, raise cash holdings among incumbent firms. In support of our channel, we find this effect to be stronger among firms investing in R&D. In the third chapter, Simon Fuchs and I look at the global movie market. We show that the revenue share of sequels and adaptations of books has increased dramatically over the last two decades. During the same period the global movie market has become geographically more diverse, i.e. the revenue generated in the US has declined. We connect these two stylized facts in a model where movie studios can release one movie to a market that consists of countries with different taste. Additionally, studios face uncertainty concerning the location of a movie in the taste space. We estimate the global taste space based on market shares. We investigate whether the change in the composition of global demand can account for the increase in the revenue share of sequels. Our current results suggest this is not the case.

The research question investigated is “Do managers of Australian firms use upward asset revaluations to reduce debt contracting costs?” Much work in the accounting choice literature is premised on a relation between debt contracts and accounting policies. In particular, prior research using sample periods from the 1970s and early 1980s, provides evidence that asset revaluations are used to reduce the costs of debt contracting (see Whittred and Chan, 1992; Brown, Izan and Loh, 1992; and Cotter and Zimmer, 1995). However, considerable changes to the institutional setting have occurred in the past decade. These institutional changes include increased regulation of asset revaluations and disclosures, changes in the macroeconomic environment, and changes in the Australian debt market. Particularly, there has been a shift in emphasis from public to private debt. The relationship between asset revaluations and debt contracting is examined in the current setting. Following Watts and Zimmerman’s (1990) suggestion that research into the relationship between firms’ contracts and their accounting policy choices will be improved by the use of more refined measures of contracting variables, the research commences with an investigation of the terms contained in recently issued debt contracts. Accordingly, this thesis contains two phases. Part A comprises an investigation of the covenants and accounting measurement rules typically contained in the recent debt contracts of listed Australian firms, with an emphasis on the role of asset revaluations. Part B then uses the outcomes of this investigation to determine the refined measures of debt contract terms used in testing hypotheses about the current relationship between asset revaluations and debt contracting. Part A establishes the current dominance of bank loan financing, along with a dramatic decline in the use of public debt. Details of the terms typically contained in bank loan agreements, particularly those relating to asset revaluations, are then investigated using a questionnaire survey of senior corporate bankers and analysis of a small sample of actual contracts. Outstanding public debt contracts are also analysed and compared with private debt contracts. The results of this phase of the research indicate that leverage covenants are the most widely used accounting based covenant in the bank loan agreements of listed Australian firms. In addition, interest coverage, current, tangible net worth, and prior charges ratios are all frequently used. Covenants tend to be less restrictive for larger firms than for smaller firms, and more restrictive for mineral producers than for industrial firms. Covenants contained in bank loan agreements tend to be more restrictive than those contained in convertible note trust deeds. In addition to providing important data for part B, the results of this phase of the research address an important gap in our knowledge about the terms contained in recently issued public and private debt contracts of listed Australian firms. Part B develops hypotheses based on the assumption that the costs of revaluing will be incurred when they are expected to be less than reductions in the costs of debt contracting derived from the revaluation. Due consideration is given to the likelihood that at least some of these costs have changed since prior research was conducted. In addition to the arguments presented in prior asset revaluations research, the expected costs of default on debt contracts, and the accounting discretion available to managers, are investigated as determinants of asset revaluation accounting choices. Predictions are made in relation to the likelihood of revaluation, the choice of valuer type, and whether to recognise or merely disclose new valuations of land and buildings. Interestingly, the results of prior research do not replicate in the current setting. Further analysis shows that differences in results are not due to differences in research methods between the current and prior research. In order to further examine the potential impact of changes to the institutional setting, a series of interviews with Chief Financial Officers is undertaken. The conclusion drawn from this additional analysis is that the relatively closer relationship between firms and their bankers has caused many firms to choose footnote disclosure of undervalued assets in preference to recognising an upward asset revaluation in the balance sheet. Overall, the results indicate that, when investigating the relationship between firms’ contracts and their accounting policy choices, a consideration of the way that contracts are negotiated and monitored is potentially more important than the use of refined measures of contract terms.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Calvin Theological Seminary, 1994. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-140).