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本文從債務契約的角度，調查穩健會計對財務報表使用者的經濟效益，以及編製者提供穩健會計的經濟誘因。穩健會計的最主要受益者為債權人，選擇債務契約係基於，首先，本研究利用當期公司穩健特性預期次期該公司契約是否違約，研究結果發現穩健會計得以使債權人及時偵知債務人倒帳風險，其次，本研究調查編製者的經濟誘因，實證結果未能發現，其中經濟誘因的變數包括銀行貸款利率、異常應計與盈餘反應係數，本文建議未來研究可繼續探求財報提供者報導穩健之誘因，並進行跨國分析比較。 / Perceived from the perspective of debt contract, this paper investigates the benefit of accounting conservatism for users of financial statements and the motivation of financial preparers to provide conservative reporting. I choose this topic because main beneficiaries of accounting conservatism are the lenders. First, I use the measure of conservatism in current period to predict the default risk of borrowers in next period. The evidences show that conservatism benefits lenders through the timely signaling of default risk. Second, I try to discover the motivation of borrowers to provide conservatism accounting through the proxies of cost of capital, abnormal accruals and earning response coefficient but fail. One potential avenue for future research is to find the economic motivation of financial reporting preparers to report conservative accountings and do the cross-country comparisons.

Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht in welchem Ausmaß Manager Optimismus finanzielle Entscheidungen von Unternehmen beeinflusst. Der erste Teil der Dissertation analysiert den Einfluss von Optimismus auf die Ausgabe von Fremdkapital. Optimistische Manager überschätzen die zukünftigen Erfolgsaussichten ihrer Firma. Daher könnten sie Verträge bevorzugen, die die Kuponzahlungen an die zukünftige Entwicklung des Kreditrisikos koppeln (sogenannte PSD Verträge). Diese Hypothese wird empirisch bestätigt. Ein weiteres Ergebnis der empirischen Analysen ist, dass in Firmen mit optimistischen Managern die Kreditqualität nach Ausgabe von PSD sinkt. Der zweite Teil untersucht den Zusammenhang zwischen Manager Optimismus und Spekulation mit Finanzderivaten in Unternehmen. Optimistische Manager, die ihre Fähigkeiten generell überschätzen, könnten irrtümlicherweise denken, dass sie mit Hilfe von Derivaten in der Lage sind den Markt zu schlagen und abnormale Renditen zu erzielen. Die Studie untersucht Derivatetransaktionen von Goldproduzenten in Nordamerika. Diese Industrie ist besonders interessant durch die ausführliche Ausweisung der Derivatepositionen und durch das klare Exposure zum Goldpreisrisiko. Das Ergebnis der Studie bestätigt die Hypothese dass optimistische Manager in größerem Ausmaß spekulieren und mit den Spekulationen letztendlich Verluste produzieren. Der letzte Teil der Arbeit untersucht die Auszahlungspolitik von Firmen mit optimistischen Managern. Optimistische Manager überschätzen durch ihre verzerrte Wahrnehmung den Wert der Firma und sollten daher eher zu Aktienrückkäufen als zu Dividendenzahlungen neigen. Die empirischen Ergebnisse der Arbeit bestätigen diese Voraussage. Optimistische Manager ersetzen Dividenden mit Aktienrückkäufen, das absolute Niveau der Auszahlungen unterscheidet sich jedoch nicht zwischen Firmen mit optimistischen und rationalen Managern. / This work analyses the impact of managerial optimism on financial policies of firms. The first part investigates the effect of optimism on debt contract design. Optimistic managers overestimate the credit quality of their firms and should be more likely to issue debt contracts that link coupon payments to the future credit risk of their firms (PSD contracts). This prediction is confirmed empirically. Further, firms with optimistic managers that issue PSD experience future deteriorations in their credit quality. The second part analyses the relation between managerial optimism and corporate speculation with financial derivatives. Optimistic managers overestimate their abilities and should be more likely to time markets because they believe that they have superior market timing abilities. The study uses data on North American gold producers because these firms disclose detailed data on their derivative positions and have a clear exposure to the gold price. The empirical results confirm the prediction that optimistic engage in more speculation with financial derivatives and that the cash flow resulting from speculation is lower relative to firms with rational managers. The last past analyses the relation between managerial optimism and a firm’s payout policy. As a consequence of their biased beliefs, optimistic managers perceive their firm’s equity as undervalued and should therefore be more likely to prefer share repurchases over cash dividends. The empirical analyses confirm this prediction: Firms with optimistic managers use more share repurchases relative to firms with rational managers. However, the total amount of payouts does not differ between firms with optimistic and rational managers.

This thesis conducts empirical studies related to financial institutions and corporate finance. Specifically, I look at banks’ lending behavior, performance of leveraged buyouts (LBOs), and the cultural impact on cross-border LBOs. Following an introduction in Chapter 1, in Chapter 2, I study U.S. commercial banks’ herding behavior in their domestic loan decisions, where herding is defined as the extent to which banks deviate from the industry average lending decisions and collectively increase or decrease loans to certain categories. I find significant evidence that herding exists and that banks tend to herd more when the economic condition is less favorable, regulation is tight, and when banks are struggling . Overall, these findings support the hypotheses of information asymmetry and regulatory arbitrage as motivations for herding. Chapter 3 provides a comprehensive study of LBO deal characteristics, participants’ involvement, and their impact on target firms’ performance. I find that better post-buyout operating performance is associated with larger amounts of leverage added during the LBO process, tighter LBO loan covenants, and equity contribution by target firms’ incumbent management. LBOs are more likely to exit through an IPO or a sale if they use more bank debt with tighter covenants and are sponsored by private equity (PE) firms of high reputation. These results suggest that the main source of value creation in LBOs is the reduced agency costs through the disciplining effect of debt, closer monitoring by lenders, and the better aligned management incentives. PE reputation is also important in ensuring successful deal outcomes. Chapter 4 (co-authored) examines the impact of cultural differences between PE firms and target firms on the completion of cross-border LBOs. We find that cultural distance between PE and target firms reduces the likelihood of buyout completion and increases the time between buyout announcement and completion. We also find that club deals moderate the negative (positive) impact of cultural distance on the likelihood (the duration) of LBO completion. This mitigation effect is through the increased familiarity channel of club formation. Our findings contribute to the literature that underscores the importance of culture in economic outcomes. / Thesis (Ph.D, Management) -- Queen's University, 2014-06-24 08:59:00.0

公司發生訴訟將影響其價值與財務狀況，亦影響未來償債能力。本研究係探討公司的事前訴訟風險(ex-ante litigation risk)是否影響銀行對其之貸款條件，進而探討宗教信仰是否降低銀行對於訴訟風險的敏感度。本研究發現，當公司面臨較高的事前訴訟風險時，銀行將要求較高的貸款利率，同時主貸銀行持有較高貸款比例且參與貸款的銀行數量較少。此外，由於宗教信仰能抑止管理階層的不道德行為及提昇財報品質，故本研究以公司總部所在地之信仰宗教人數比例作為衡量宗教的代理變數。實證結果發現，公司若位於宗教程度較高的地區，能降低事前訴訟風險對於銀行貸款條件的影響，進而獲得較低的貸款利率、較大的貸款金額，並增加參與貸款的銀行數量。 / Lawsuits may deteriorate defendant firms’ financial position and lower their firms’ value. Moreover, it reduces the recovery rate in the event of default. This study examines whether banks price their borrowers’ ex-ante litigation risk in syndicated loan market and further investigates whether the relation between ex-ante litigation risk is conditioned on religiosity. The results suggest that banks tend to price in firms with higher ex-ante litigation risk by charging higher spread, and form more concentrated syndicate. In addition, strong religious social norm is seen as a mechanism to constrain managerial opportunism and improve financial reporting quality. Using the proportion of adherents where firms’ headquarters locate as a proxy for religious adherence, I find that the association between ex-ante litigation risk and syndicated loan features is alleviated. Firms with higher ex-ante litigation risk are associated with lower loan spreads, larger loan amounts and greater number of total lenders if borrowers are headquartered in areas with strong religious social norms.