Executive replacements have historically created fluctuations in the market value of a company and precipitated inappropriate investor reaction. However, the direction and statistical significance of relationships between executive turnover, market value, financial risk, and investor reaction among a census of highly performing firms was previously unexplored. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of the relationship between CEO turnover and indicators of company performance. Theoretical foundation for this study was the efficient markets hypothesis. Hypotheses tests were designed to support an ex-post facto research methodology for pre-post comparison of volatility of financial metrics, which are indicators of market value (market value added), investor reaction (Tobin's q), risk (beta), executive performance (economic value added and return on assets), and turnover frequency given CEO succession. Statistically significant differences in firm risk emerged from comparisons of highly performing firms exemplified in the foundational leadership text Good to Great. Approximately 45 % of firms sampled did not experience volatility of financial metrics, which supported the presence of a leadership legacy, or strategic management behavior which minimized financial risk. Contrary to prior studies, financial metrics sampled within an interval immediately surrounding the succession event were less indicative of significant financial risk as compared to metrics sampled over the entire tenure of executives. Implications for positive social change include reducing investor risk in selection of equity holdings; capital fairly directed to entities results in benefits for society including job creation, economic stimulus, safer retirement accounts, and corporate sustainability.

The adverse effect of small bank closures in the United States from 2007 to 2009 required $7 trillion from United States taxpayers to rescue the United States economy. This comparative case study explored the reasons that led to differences in efficiency in small banks in the United States and Ghana during the 2007 to 2009 period. This research was driven by the contingency theory, which states leaders perform well if they change their styles of leadership to suit the situation at hand. Semistructured interviews were employed to gather data from 20 senior and chief executives of small banks: 10 from the United States and 10 from Ghana. Data were formatted into matrices using the van Kaam method and then coded and organized into categories, which led to the identification of the 2 themes: (a) policies and practices and (b) reasons that contributed to the differences in efficiency between small banks in the United States and Ghana. The participants expressed concerns regarding the impact of increased regulations and bank reserves, and the resulting impact on the future of small banks. Findings from this study suggest that small banks that relaxed their mortgage qualification requirements during the 2007 to 2009 financial crisis had more losses compared to the small banks that did not. Additionally, findings from the United States and Ghana revealed small banks focusing on commercial loans had less losses compared to small banks investing in residential real estate. This study may contribute to social change by providing bank leaders with additional tools to prevent future bank failures and the confidence to make new commercial and residential mortgage loans, thereby creating jobs, lowering poverty, increasing income levels, and contributing to a more stable economy in which small banks operate.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(経済学) / 甲第19951号 / 経博第538号 / 新制||経||279(附属図書館) / 33047 / 京都大学大学院経済学研究科経済学専攻 / (主査)教授 劉 徳強, 教授 岩本 武和, 准教授 矢野 剛 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Economics / Kyoto University / DGAM

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(経済学) / 甲第20653号 / 経博第553号 / 新制||経||282(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院経済学研究科経済学専攻 / (主査)教授 矢野 剛, 教授 劉 徳強, 教授 三重野 文晴, 准教授 高野 久紀 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Economics / Kyoto University / DFAM

Thesis M.Com. (Accounting)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, 2015 / With changes in international governance trends leaning towards integrated reporting, and the inclusion of good governance practices in the Companies Act No. 71 of 2008, it has become imperative for companies to embrace integrated reporting in order to be, and also be seen to be, responsible with regard to social, environmental and economic issues. The purpose of this report is to investigate the trends in the extent of integrated reporting by companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). The report sought to investigate compliance with the recommendations of the King Report and Code of Governance Principles for South Africa 2009 (King III) by companies listed on the JSE. The report assesses the extent of reporting and disclosures made by companies in relation to the specific recommendations contained in the various chapters of King III since the inclusion of King III in the JSE listing requirements for financial years beginning on or after 1 March 2010. The report also assesses the extent of economic, social and environmental sustainability reporting as required by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines. The annual integrated reports of fifty-two companies listed under the various sectors of the JSE were examined to determine whether there had been significant changes in the specific disclosures provided by these companies, as recommended by King III, from 2010 to 2012. The key findings of the study show that although there has been an increase in the level of disclosure by companies, this change was not significant over the three-year period. The results also show that much improvement is needed in disclosures relating specifically to the new King III sections of risk management, compliance management and IT governance. Key words: corporate governance, disclosure, financial performance, integrated reporting, non-financial information, sustainability

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management of the University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree Master of Laws in Labour Law, 2018 / This paper examines whether there is any role for financial education of the members of the public in the legal mandate of the Central Bank of Lesotho. The traditional functions of the central banks have been discussed to see first whether Central Bank of Lesotho performs functions similar to those of its sister banks. All the statutes that enshrine the functions of the central bank are analysed and interpreted in order to conclude whether and how financial education of the members of public forms part of the legal mandate. Conclusions and recommendations on how best to address financial education in Lesotho are made at the end of this report. / XL2019

This study develops a bankruptcy prediction model for South African companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The model is of considerable efficiency and the findings reported extend bankruptcy literature to developing countries. 64 financial ratios for 28 companies, grouped into failed and non-failed companies, were tested using multiple discriminant analysis after conducting normality tests. Three variables were found to be significant which are: Times Interest Earned, Cash to Debt and Working Capital to Turnover. The model correctly classified about 75% of failed and non-failed in the original and cross validation procedures. This study went on to conduct an external validation of the model superiority by introducing a sample of failed companies, which showed that the model predictive accuracy is more than chance. Despite the popularity of the topic among researchers this study highlighted the importance and relevance of the topic to corporate managers, policy makers and to investors especially in a developing market perspective, thereby contributing significantly towards understanding the factors that lead to corporate bankruptcy.

Financial literacy is a growing problem in the United States. While research has approached the formation of financial skills from a variety of angles, little is known about the influence of religiosity. Using the College Student Financial Literacy Survey (CSFLS) and Duke University Religiosity Index (DUREL), data was analyzed for correlations between religiosity and financial knowledge, financial attitudes, and financial behaviors. Data was collected from 938 undergraduates at Mississippi State University via an online survey using Qualtrics survey software in the spring of 2015. Items measured on the DUREL (i.e., religiosity) were not significantly related to financial attitudes, financial knowledge, or financial behavior. These findings are important for churches and faith-based organizations as well as financial educators as populations in need seek financial education. Faith leaders and institutions could incorporate financial lessons to improve the financial skills of all members.

A Research Report submitted in fulfillment of the Degree of Master of Commerce (Economics/Economic Science) in the School of Economic and Business Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 27 September 2019 / This study uses a panel data estimation approach to estimate the relationship between financial inclusion and economic growth using the case of 34 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study uses panel data sourced from the World Bank which include the Global Financial Index survey and World Development Indicators covering the periods of 2011, 2014 and 2017. The study analysis is based on two models, the first model measures the relationship between financial inclusion and economic growth and the second model measures the relation between financial inclusion and financial development. The results of the first model established a relationship between financial inclusion (measured by account ownership and a composite financial index) and economic growth (measured by Logarithm of GDP). This confirms what is in the literature, that financial inclusion stimulates economic growth. The results from the second model established that financial development (measured by the ratio of credit to GDP) is significantly related to financial inclusion (measured by account ownership and the composite index of financial inclusion). Overall, the results indicate that the use of composite variable and General Least Squares estimation approaches improves the robustness of the regression models. Based on these findings, the study, therefore, recommends among other things that the government promote financial inclusion through reforms in education, trade and industrialisation. / PH2020

In September 1979, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued a statement entitled Financial Reporting and Changing Prices (FASB No. 33). FASB No. 33 requires publicly-held companies of a certain size to issue supplementary constant dollar and current cost disclosures along with their primary financial statements.To investigate the effect of the signals on security prices the study used a methodology known as "Iso-beta Portfolio Analysis" and employed different models in conjunction with the methodology, the market model (MM) and a new model called "the multi-index model" (MIM). Cluster analysis was used to develop the indexing used with the MIM.