This paper examines the value-relevance of Scandinavian earnings information and book values over the past decade in order to shed some light on whether the extensive global adoption of IFRS/IAS has contributed to an increased accounting quality in terms of economic decision-usefulness to equity investors. We address this research question using a sample of 4.310 firm-year observations for 431 exchange-listed companies at NASDAQ OMX Nordic and Oslo Stock Exchange between 2001 and 2010. The degree of value-relevance in our firm-sample is operationalized through two price regressions and one return regression and empirically tested via the statistical association between capitalized values of equity or annual changes in capitalized values of equity and the study’s three explanatory accounting variables: (i) book values, (ii) accrual-based earnings and (iii) cash-flow-based earnings. Taken as a whole, our results show significant empirical signs of an increased value-relevance in both Scandinavian earnings information and book values, allowing us to draw significant as well as contributing conclusions on the information content of financial statement information disclosed in the Scandinavian region. We believe our study adds empirical substance to practical debates over the function of financial reporting as well as resourceful material to both Scandinavian investors and to the ongoing international discussion on the harmonization of financial reporting standards.

This thesis presents various dynamic models of corporate decisions to address two main issues: investment distortions caused by debt financing and cash flow sensitivities. In the first chapter, four measures of investment distortion are computed. First, the effect of financing frictions is examined. The tax benefit of debt induces firms to increase their debt capacity and to invest beyond the first-best level on average. The cost of this investment distortion outweighs the tax benefit of debt. Second, Myers's (1977) debt overhang problem is examined in a dynamic framework. Debt overhang obtains on average, but not in low technology states. Third, there is no debt overhang problem in all technology states when debt is optimally put in place prior to the investment decision. Finally, the cost of choosing investment after the debt policy is examined. Equity claimants lose value by choosing to invest after their debt is optimally put in place because they do not consider the interaction between their investment choice and the debt financing conditions. The second chapter explores the impact of financial constraints on firms' cash flow sensitivities. In contrast to Fazzari, Hubbard, and Petersen (1988), cash flow sensitivities are found to be larger, rather than smaller, for unconstrained firms than for constrained firms. Then, why is investment sensitive to cash flow? In the two models examined in the second chapter, the underlying source of investment opportunities is highly correlated with cash flows. Investment may be sensitive to cash flow fluctuations simply because cash flows proxy for investment opportunities. This leaves two important questions. Can this chapter suggest a better measure of investment opportunities than Tobin's Q? Not a single measure for both the unconstrained and constrained firm models. Can this chapter suggest an easily observable measure of financial constraint? Yes: large and volatile dividend-to-income ratios.

The first essay examines cross-sectional differences between money market mutual funds (MMMFs), in the context of the sponsoring fund family. While extant studies have shown that fund family characteristics impact the management of open-end equity mutual funds, results of this study’s analysis find that fund family characteristics also affect the management of MMMF assets, contributing to differences in the maturity of the fund’s holdings, expenses, and realized returns. I find that an MMMF is not simply a transitional account with a short-term low-risk investment objective, but rather, a critical role player within the fund family. Differences in maturity, yield, and expenses in MMMFs can be explained by family-specific characteristics, including diversification and cash management strategies at the family level. The second essay examines implications of substitutability of two similar financial assets: conventional index mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs). I seek to explain the coexistence of these fund types, since both offer a claim on the same underlying index return process, but have different organizational structures. This study compares conventional open-end index funds with matched ETFs on various underlying indexes. Aggregate flows are used to detect substitution and clientele effects. I show that conventional funds and ETFs are substitutes, while ETFs have smaller tracking errors and lower fund expenses. However, I find that these fund types are not perfect substitutes, and their coexistence can be explained by a clientele effect that segregates them into different market niches.

This paper investigates the effect of correlation and volatilities of firm and project cash flows on the choice of project finance. I use a pure-play approach to measure unobservable project cash flows for a sample of 440 US and non-US firms that invested in 577 projects from 1990 to 2008 and find evidence that the probability of project finance is increasing in cash flow volatility difference between firm and project cash flows. The likelihood of the project finance is greater when volatilities are different and the correlation between firm and project cash flows is high. I also find that firms are likely to choose corporate finance for low correlation and low and similar volatilities between firm and project cash flows. This empirical work is consistent with the theoretical predictions in Leland (2007) that provides a potential explanation for the existence of project finance based on financial synergies.

Magistrinio darbo tikslas yra ištirti ir sukurti elektroninių mokėjimų universitetinėje aplinkoje programinę įrangą. Darbo metu buvo atlikta projektavimo ir technologinių sprendimų analizė. Iškelti penki pagrindiniai sistemos realizavimo probleminiai uždaviniai ir pateikti jų galimi sprendimai. Suprojektuotos ir sukurtos programinės įrangos architektūra remiasi trisluoksnio projektavimo principais. Atliekant sistemos kokybės tyrimą ji buvo įvertinta kaip vidutiniška išskiriant tik gana prastai įvertinta sistemos palaikomumo kriterijų. O lyginant sistemos teikiamą naudingumą su alternatyviais sprendimais ji buvo įvertinta kaip naudingiausia. / The objective of this master project was to research and to develop the software for digital cash in the university environment. During the work execution, the analysis of design and technology solutions was performed. Further, five basic goals of system realization were formulated, the potential solutions for which were presented in the thesis. The architecture of the designed and the developed software is based on the principle of three layer design. During the quality analysis of the system, it was evaluated as an average system except that its maintainability rate was rather low. Its comparison with the alternative systems disclosed its superiority over them from the viewpoint of its expediency.

The role of information is central to the study of corporate finance. In the real world where one party usually has more and better information, information asymmetry forms the basis of analysis in many key aspects of modern economics including contract theory and principle-agent problems. Although technology facilitates information flow, information continues to play an important role because we live in an environment in which there is more information and information that is more complex. Moreover, we are experiencing a fundamental shift towards a knowledge-based economy in which ideas and concepts, both in the form of information, gain importance. This thesis examines the role of information as we make this transition in two separate settings: First in a “real impact” setting where knowledge generated at leading research universities spills over into firms nearby, and second, in a "traditional market" setting where analysts help disseminate information. In the post-industrial economy of the 21st century, innovation is the engine of economic growth. As a result, we increasingly value human capital and knowledge. Chapter 2 looks at the location of firms relative to knowledge centers and its impact on stock volatility. I argue that knowledge spillovers foster firm R&D and find supporting evidence. My evidence is consistent with the classic models on the impact of human capital on economic growth (Nelson and Phelps, 1966). Chapter 3 examines the impact of knowledge and innovation on firms’ cash management policies. Bates, Kahle, and Stulz (2009) find that the average cash-to-assets ratio for firms more than doubles in the past decades and attribute it to changing firm characteristics. I identify innovation as a driving force behind these changes, resulting in firms holding more cash as a precaution. In Chapter 4, I study the investment value of information from analysts, or more specifically, analyst target prices. Due to potential conflicts of interest problems, the value that analysts provide to investors remains controversial. Moreover, since the information age is characterized by information overload, it is harder for investors to identify relevant information. I find that institutions trade in the same direction as the consensus target price movement. / Thesis (Ph.D, Management) -- Queen's University, 2012-03-07 14:20:20.178

Financing is necessary for investments in new production processes, in new production equipment, in new innovative products, and for expansion in new markets. Firms operating under cash constraints may not be able to order or produce optimally. Especially for fast-growing firms in emerging countries, money acts as a catalyst if potential demand is high but financial constraints leave them no choice but to order less. In this setting, implications for supply chain can be detrimental where lack of financial resources at one level can plague the performance of the whole supply chain, at least temporarily until restored. In this study for supply chain finance we focused on supply side of the exporting firms and especially length of Accounts Receivables (A/R) and Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) because it’s directly related to the supply chain used by the exporting companies and this can squeeze or prolong the time of A/R. It is obvious that the period of the receivables will be squeezed and the working capital will be required for a shorter period of time and it can save cost of interest. As the period of CCC shortened exporting firms can get benefits from that. We took one exporting firm each from China and India as a case study to know how these firms use logistics for exporting because logistics is the largest single expenditure in the cost of products sold and is a major critical success facto impacting on productivity, profitability, shareholder volume and competitive advantage. It is important to note the key role and impact of logistics in the exporting companies, on the sustainability, competitiveness and profitability as well as in the economy of the country.

In this paper, I discuss the importance of internal funds for corporate investment among financially constrained firms. I use the paper ‘Financing Constraints and Corporate Investments’ by Fazzari, Hubbard and Petersen.as a base for my framework. I focus on a specific paper refuting their findings and their response in order to fully understand the benefits and costs of the framework. I then apply the original framework to a recent sample that covers the Great Recession to see the results of the initial paper are still valid today and if the recent recession and elongated recovery had an even more adverse effect on financially constrained firms than was previously noted.

Background: While substantial progress has been made globally towards achieving United Nations Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG 4) on child mortality, the decline is not sufficient to reach the targets set for 2015. The South Asian region, which includes India, was to achieve the MDG 4 target of 39 deaths per 1000 live births by 2015 but was estimated to have reached only 61 by 2011. A part of this under-achievement is due to the gender-differentials in child mortality in South-Asia. The inherent biological advantage of girls, reflected inlower mortality rates as compared to boys globally, is neutralized by their sociocultural disadvantage in India. The availability of technology for prenatal sex determination has promoted sex-linked abortions. Current government efforts include a law that regulates the use of ultrasound and other diagnostic techniquesfor prenatal testing of sex and a conditional cash transfer (CCT) scheme thatinvests a certain amount of funds at the birth of a girl child to attain maturity when the girl turns 18 years of age. This thesis describes the trends in genderspecific mortality during the period 1992-2011 and gender differentials in causes of death among children (paper I), compares gender differentials in child survivalby socio-economic status of the family (paper II), explores the contribution of non-specific effects of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccination to the excess mortality among girls (paper III), and evaluates the impact of CCT schemes of the government and explores community attitudes and practices related to discrimination of girls (paper IV). Methods and Results: This study is set in Ballabgarh Health and DemographicSurveillance System (HDSS) of Haryana State in North India that covered a population of 88,861 across 28 villages in 2011. This study uses the electronic database that houses all individuals enumerated in the HDSS for the period 1992-2011 along with other demographic, socio-economic and health utilization variables. Sex ratio at birth (SRB) was adverse for girls throughout the study period, varying between 821 to 866 girls per 1000 boys. Overall, under-five mortality rates during the period 1992-2011 remained stagnant due to the increasing neonatal mortality rate and decreasing mortality in subsequent age groups. Mortality rates among girls were 1.6 to 2 times higher than boys during the post-neonatal period (1-11 months) as well as in the 1-4 year age group. Girls reported significantly higher mortality rates due to prematurity (relative risk of 1.52; 95% CI = 1.01-2.29); diarrhoea (2.29;1.59-3.29), and malnutrition (3.37; 2.05-5.53) during 2002-2007. The SRB and neonatal mortality rate were consistently adverse for girls in the advantaged groups. In the 1-36 month age group, girl children had higher mortality than boys in all SES groups. The age at vaccination for and coverage with ivabstractBacillus Calmette–Guérin, DTP, polio and measles vaccines did not differ by sex. There was significant excess mortality among girls as compared to boys in the period after immunization with DTP, for both primary (hazard ratio of 1.65; 95% CI 1.17-2.32) and DTPb (2.21; 1.24-3.93) vaccinations until the receipt of the next vaccine. No significant excess mortality among girls was noted after exposure to BCG (1.06; 0.67-1.67) or measles (1.34; 0.85-2.12) vaccine. A community survey showed poor awareness of specific government schemes for girl children. Four-fifths of the community wanted government to help families with girl children financially. In-depth interviews of government programme implementers revealed the themes of “conspiracy of silence” that was being maintained by general population, underplaying of the pervasiveness of the problem coupled with a passive implementation of the programme and “a clash between politicians trying to cash in on the public sentiment of need for subsidies for girl children and a bureaucratic approachof accountability which imposed lot of conditionalities and documentations to access these benefits”. While there has been some improvement in investment in girl children for immunization and education during the period 1992 to 2010, these were also seen among boys of the same houses and daughters in-laws who come from outside the state where such schemes are not in place. Conclusions: In the study area, girl children continue to be disadvantaged a tall periods in their childhood including in utero. In the short run, empowerment of individuals by education and increasing wealth without a concomitant change in culture of son-preference is harmful as it promotes the use of sex determination technology and female feticide to achieve desired family size and composition. There is a need to carefully review the use of health-enhancing technologies including vaccines so that they do not cause more harm to society. Current government efforts to address the gender imbalance are not working, as these are not rooted in a larger social context.

Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att studera om förändringar i arbetet med rörelsekapital hade ett samband med lönsamheten i företag. Som mått på rörelsekapital används Cash Conversion Cycle och som mått på lönsamhet används ROA. Teoretiskt perspektiv: Den teoretiska referensramen består av teorier om Working Capital Management, Cash Conversion Cycle, Lean, Supply Chain Management och Supply Chain Finance. Metod: I denna uppsats används en kvantitativ metod där sekundärdata samlas in från årsredovisningar för 2005 och 2013. Denna data ligger till grund för fyra korrelationsanalyser. Den beroende variabeln i korrelationsanalyserna är ROA och defyra oberoende variablerna är Cash Conversion Cycle, dagar i lager, dagar som kundfordring och dagar som leverantörsskuld. Urvalet i denna studie består av svenska aktiebolag inom branschen tillverkning och industri med fler än 50 anställda. Empiri: Empirin består av fyra tabeller som presenterar de beräkningar som gjorts. Slutsats: Sambandet mellan förändring i Cash Conversion Cycle och förändring i ROA blev väldigt svagt positivt men inte signifikant. Alla förändringar i dagar i lager, dagar som kundfordring och dagar som leverantörsskuld visade svaga negativa samband till ROA och var signifikanta.