Abstract This thesis analyses the stock market synchronicity of 34 emerging markets and compares the findings with seven developed markets. The study uses weekly stock return data and the final dataset includes approximately 20.8 million weekly observations for 40,014 firms across the world. Morck et al. (2000) are among the first to introduce the topic of stock market synchronisation and argue that stock markets in economies with high per capita GDP move in a relatively unsynchronised manner over time, in contrast to stock prices in low per capita GDP economies. They also suggest that stock synchronicity is associated with macroeconomic indicators including rule of law, inflation, corruption and geographical size. In addition, Skaife et al. (2006) propose a further measure of stock synchronicity based on the proportion of zero returns and argue that the zero-return measure is a superior measure of stock market co-movement. The study uses both measures proposed by Morck et al. (2000) and one measure proposed by Skaife et al. (2006) for synchronicity analysis and extends the analysis to cover a ten year period, a larger sample of shares and more recent measures of country specific characteristics. It is found that stock markets in emerging economies are more synchronous than in developed economies over the sample period using the classical measure. It is also found that over the 10-year study period the synchronicity measure is stationary. There is evidence of a statistically significant negative correlation between stock synchronicity and both government accountability and corruption for the emerging markets using the cross-sectional analysis. The R-square measure of stock synchronicity averages 0.091 for the emerging markets and 0.045 for the developed economies, suggesting that higher stock price co-movement is evident in emerging economies. Further, there is a statistically significant positive correlation between the R-square measure and both corruption and inflation. The study also uses the zero-return measure of stock synchronicity suggested by Skaife et al. (2006). It is found that the zero-return measure for emerging economies is higher than for developed economies. Surprisingly, China and the S&P 500 group of companies exhibit the lowest values for the zero-return measure during this period, which is inconsistent with the classical measure and the R-square measure. Further, panel data analysis shows that GDP per capita and trade openness have a strong effect on the zero-return measure. The Pearson correlation and Spearman rank correlation coefficient indicate that the classical measure and the R-square measure are positively correlated and appear to capture similar aspects of the markets in the study, which is also consistent with cross-sectional analysis results. In contrast, the zero-return measure shows either insignificant or negative correlation with the classical measure and the R-square measure for most sub-period and full period analysis. Finally, there is evidence that emerging stock markets are more synchronous over time than in developed financial markets. It is found that common-law country stock synchronicity is lower than in civil-law countries or post-communist countries using the classical measure and the R-square measure.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-84).

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Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-84). Also available in print.

Yes / A statistical model combined with CFD (computational fluid dynamic) method was used to explain the detailed phenomena of the process parameters, and a series of experiments were carried out for propylene polymerisation by varying the feed gas composition, reaction initiation temperature, and system pressure, in a fluidised bed catalytic reactor. The propylene polymerisation rate per pass was considered the response to the analysis. Response surface methodology (RSM), with a full factorial central composite experimental design, was applied to develop the model. In this study, analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated an acceptable value for the coefficient of determination and a suitable estimation of a second-order regression model. For better justification, results were also described through a three-dimensional (3D) response surface and a related two-dimensional (2D) contour plot. These 3D and 2D response analyses provided significant and easy to understand findings on the effect of all the considered process variables on expected findings. To diagnose the model adequacy, the mathematical relationship between the process variables and the extent of polymer conversion was established through the combination of CFD with statistical tools. All the tests showed that the model is an excellent fit with the experimental validation. The maximum extent of polymer conversion per pass was 5.98% at the set time period and with consistent catalyst and co-catalyst feed rates. The optimum conditions for maximum polymerisation was found at reaction temperature (RT) 75 °C, system pressure (SP) 25 bar, and 75% monomer concentration (MC). The hydrogen percentage was kept fixed at all times. The coefficient of correlation for reaction temperature, system pressure, and monomer concentration ratio, was found to be 0.932. Thus, the experimental results and model predicted values were a reliable fit at optimum process conditions. Detailed and adaptable CFD results were capable of giving a clear idea of the bed dynamics at optimum process conditions.

Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 47-01, page: 0342. Adviser: Kristy O. Murray. Includes bibliographical references.

Broad societal and cultural changes since the 1970s have provided incentives for young people to postpone parenthood. The greater access to and longer pursuit of higher education, the greater involvement of women in the labour market, and changes in family behaviour have contributed to a long-term increase in age at parenthood. The spread of effective contraception and wider access to abortion have also played a part, helping women and couples better plan the timing of births. Using data from the Human Fertility Database, we document a rise in fertility rates among women aged 40 and older in low-fertility countries of Europe, East Asia, North America, and Australia.

The question that Less Developed Countries have faced since the advent of floating exchange rates among the Industrial Countries is whether they should also adopt a floating exchange rate system. The Less Developed Countries have opted for a pegged exchange rate system, since their economic characteristics and institutional structure indicate that floating for the Less Developed Countries would result in volatile or unstable exchange rates. Since Less Developed Countries peg t heir exchange rates in the presence of flexible rates among industrial countries, the Less Developed Countries pegged exchange rates move in accordance to the exchange rates to which they are pegged. This study examines whether there are differences in the variability of the different effective exchange rate indices or currency baskets. Specifically the export, import and total trade weighted effective exchange rates for three African Less Developed Countries are examined. Currency baskets are varied by changing the number of currencies coefficent of variation included in was used the basket. The to compare the variability in the different effective exchange rates.

The current research is motivated by the controversy between the proponents and opponents of privatizing SOEs in LDCs concerning its impact on the MCSs designed and implemented in these companies. On the one hand, proponents expect privatization to foster the design and implementation of market-based, consensual and transparent MCSs. On the other hand, opponents are more critical about the ‘actual’ changes that privatization might entail to SOEs’ MCSs as they expect it to entail the design and implementation of non-transparent, coercive MCSs. When examined closely, this conflict was found to be rooted in the different theoretical perspectives adopted by each side. While proponents base their arguments, mostly, on ‘traditional’ agency and property-rights theories that underplay the role of structure in shaping the MCSs designed and implemented in privatized companies, many of the opponents base their arguments on neo-Marxist theories that underplay the role of agency in that process (namely labour process theory- LPT). The current research contributes to this debate through developing a power-informed theoretical model that acknowledges the role of both agency and structure in shaping the nature of the pre- and post-privatization MCSs designed and implemented in companies operating in LDCs. The model provides an attempt to develop the Hopper et al (2009) model through integrating into it a theory of power informed by the works of Lukes (1974 and 2005) and Gaventa (1980 and 2007) while adopting the integrative agency-structure approach suggested by Mahoney and Snyder (1999).Once developed, the model is used to guide the analysis of the relevant literature pertaining to Egypt’s supra-national and national power relations and structural factors throughout its state and market capitalism eras as a first step towards comparatively analysing the pre- and post-privatization power relations and MCSs manifesting in two Egyptian companies. The empirical data was mainly collected through conducting semi-structured interviews in the two companies and with some of the government officials involved in their privatization. Other sources of data include the companies’ internal records and financial reports, government publications, and newspapers. The comparative analysis shows how the power-informed model can help shed more light onto the nature of, and the dynamics of change in, MCSs transformations in LDCs; without having to abandon LPT as one of the main theoretical perspectives informing the analysis. While doing so, the nature of a company’s MCSs (be it coercive, consensual, or irrelevant) is found to reflect the power relations manifesting in that company (namely, powerful management, comparatively powerful management and labour, or powerful labour, respectively). Furthermore, as the comparative analysis shows, it is found that privatization is more likely to result in changing the nature of a SOE’s MCSs when it entails altering the power relations shaping these MCSs.

This paper studies if a change in political risk has a significant impact on the stock returns of countries. Additionally, the paper assesses if this change in political risk impacts stock returns differently in emerging and developed countries. The paper conducts a risk based portfolio analysis and a linear cross-sectional regression analysis in order to find a conclusive result. The portfolio analysis, which replicates a study carried out by Diamonte, Liew, and Stevens (1996), reveals that there is a difference in the impact that change in political risk has in developed and emerging countries. The regression analysis finds that change in political risk does impact stock returns but there is no statistically significant difference in this impact between emerging and developed countries. The regression analysis also finds that the existing level of risk does not significantly affect the impact that growth in political risk has on stock returns.