Capital structure is one of the most frequent topics in the finance literature. This literature has its origins in studies of the manufacturing industry. Much of the results of this work have been applied indiscriminately to other industries without thorough validation. Only limited studies have considered financial structure in hospitality industry. The service industry is different than manufacturing industry, and even the hospitality industry is not homogeneous. The restaurant industry and lodging industry are quite different from each other. Of interest to this present study is to seek to understand how the patterns of capital structure are shaped within the context of the multi-unit casual themed restaurant industry. Restaurant industry is well known for a high bankruptcy rate. Many multi-unit restaurants exist in the casual themed restaurants strategic group in the Unites States, and many small independent restaurants are also present. The firm's strategic choice and its relationship with financial structure became a topic for my research. Publicly traded casual themed restaurants have been selected in this study. Hypothetically a common capital structure exists among firms within this strategic group. In this study, an investigation can consider the relationship among financial ratios as well as the uniqueness of the financial structure of the casual themed restaurants. / Master of Science

本研究共一冊，預計四萬至六萬字，分六章：第一章、緒論；第二章、上市公司制度 架構與現況，第三章、上市公司財務結構之分析，第四章、上市公司股利發放情況與 財務結構之探討，第五章、現有法令的規定及影響，第六章、建議與結論。以上市公 司的財務資 第一階段是以上市公司的財務資料作集群（cluster ）分析，然後再以變異數分析來 判斷每一集群的特性，以便將上市公司能以財務結構的構面加以分類。第二階段是以 每一類的上市公司求出大概的股利發放，然後分析每一類的財務結構與其股利情況是 否有一致性。第四階段是描述有關的法令規定及其影響。最後，希望能得到一些啟示 和有用的建議。

<p>Financial sector development can reduce poverty and promote economic growth by extending access to financial services in developing countries. Traditionally, banking in Sub-Saharan Africa has been conducted by state-owned banks. Although, evidence has shown that severe government involvement in the banking sector has proved to cause low profitability and inefficiency. During 2001, Uganda Commercial Bank, the dominant provider of banking experienced financial problems; as a result, the government had to privatize the bank. The aim of this thesis is therefore to investigate if the privatization prevented the banking sector from collapse and if it made the sector more competitive and outreaching. The main conclusion is that the privatization strongly prevented the banking sector from collapse. Since privatization, competition has increased sufficiently in urban areas of Uganda while rural areas have not experienced any significant increase in competition. Finally, we conclude that the outreach of banking has increased somewhat since the privatization, but it is still relatively poor.</p>

S’appuyant sur les principales théories de financement et tenant compte du contexte qui cadre les décisions de financement, cette recherche a un double objectif. D’une part, appréhender les déterminants de la structure financière des entreprises marocaines et d’autre part, évaluer l’effet des décisions de financement de ces entreprises sur leurs cours boursiers. Dans un premier temps et à travers une étude économétrique, nous avons vérifié la capacité des déterminants traditionnels de l’endettement à expliquer la structure financière des entreprises marocaines en période normale et en période de crise financière. Dans un deuxième temps, nous avons testé la théorie des conventions qui stipule l’existence de régimes de financement. Pour ce faire, nous avons réalisé une analyse en composantes principales et une classification hiérarchique ascendante. Dans un dernier temps, nous avons conduit une étude d’événement pour évaluer la réaction du marché boursier aux décisions de financement. Notre recherche a porté sur un panel de 50 entreprises non financières cotées à la bourse des valeurs de Casablanca et sur 16 annonces relatives à des décisions d’augmentation de capital et d’emprunt obligataire. Les résultats indiquent que seules quelques variables issues de la théorie financière jouent un rôle important dans la politique de financement des entreprises marocaines. Ainsi, en tenant compte de l’effet taille et de l’effet de la crise financière, l’influence de ces variables diffère d’un compartiment de cotation à l’autre ainsi que d’une période à l’autre. Par ailleurs, les résultats obtenus indiquent que la structure financière se présente comme un régime de financement qui est influencé par la nature des besoins à financer. Ainsi, en période normale, l’autonomie est le régime auquel adhère la plupart des entreprises de l’échantillon. En revanche, le régime de découvert est le mieux représenté en période de récession. Les résultats de l’étude d’événements indiquent que le marché boursier marocain ne réagit pas aux annonces d’augmentations de capital et d’émissions obligataires et montrent que les informations transmises par les décisions de financement n’auraient pas de valeur pour les investisseurs marocains. / Based on the primary financing theories and considering the context of financing decisions, this study serves two purposes. On the one hand, understanding the determinants of the Moroccan corporations financial structure, and on the other hand, evaluating the impact of these corporations financing decisions on their stock exchange prices. As a first step, we verified through an econometric study, the ability of traditional determinants of debt to explain the financial structure of Moroccan corporations during regular times and during financial crisis times. As a second step, we tested the theory of conventions which states the existence of financing modes. To that end, we carried out an analysis of the main components and a top-down classification. On last time, we carried out an events study in order to evaluate the stock market response to financing decisions. Our study targeted a series of 50 non-financial corporations listed in the Casablanca stock exchange and on 16 capital increase and bond financing announcements. Results show that only a few variables, originally from the financial theory, play a primary role in the financing policy of Moroccan corporations. Thus, considering the size and financial crisis effects, the influence of these variables changes from a compartment to another, and also from a period to another. Furthermore, the final results show that the financial structure stands as a financing mode which is influenced by the financial needs nature. Thus, in regular times Autonomy is the regime that adheres to most firms in the sample. In contrast, overdraft regime is best represented in recession. The events study results suggest that the Moroccan stock market is not responding neither to capital increase announcements nor to bond announcements, and indicate that communicated information by the financing decisions are not valuable to Moroccan investors.

Since ¡§Doi Moi¡¨ (renovation) begun in 1986, Vietnam has engaged in economic reform on an on-going basis in order to create a fruitful investment environment and attract foreign investors to engage in its market. As the total investment amount is over 19 billion US dollars, the role of Taiwanese investors played is more important than before. Notwithstanding that the investment environment in Vietnam has improved more significantly than ever, the enterprises¡¦ operation still has to bear considerable risk. Due to Vietnam¡¦s special single-party state constitution, for foreign investors, it is expected that the political risk is existed with the high feasibility of government change policies and ignore investors¡¦ benefits. According to this, the purpose of this research is to realize how the host¡¦s political risk influences Taiwanese MNEs¡¦ entry mode choice. As previous studies generally focused on the discussion of the relationship between political risk and entry mode choice, however, the moderating effects of firms¡¦ own resource and advantages are less mentioned. Therefore, this thesis tries to provide a theoretical framework based on resource-based view, eclectic theory and other related theories that includes profitability, financial structure, and R&D capability as the contingency factors to examine how these factors moderate the relationship between political risk and entry mode choice. The findings of this study reveal that when the political risk in Vietnam getting higher, Taiwanese MNEs are more likely to engage in Vietnam through JVs. Besides, the positive moderating effect of profitability is also existed. It shows when a firm with higher profitability, it will more tend to choose JVs as the political risk in Vietnam rising.

Financial sector development can reduce poverty and promote economic growth by extending access to financial services in developing countries. Traditionally, banking in Sub-Saharan Africa has been conducted by state-owned banks. Although, evidence has shown that severe government involvement in the banking sector has proved to cause low profitability and inefficiency. During 2001, Uganda Commercial Bank, the dominant provider of banking experienced financial problems; as a result, the government had to privatize the bank. The aim of this thesis is therefore to investigate if the privatization prevented the banking sector from collapse and if it made the sector more competitive and outreaching. The main conclusion is that the privatization strongly prevented the banking sector from collapse. Since privatization, competition has increased sufficiently in urban areas of Uganda while rural areas have not experienced any significant increase in competition. Finally, we conclude that the outreach of banking has increased somewhat since the privatization, but it is still relatively poor.

Abstract The laws and financial structure of a country can affect firm decisions and outcomes by affecting financial constraints and agency problems. Power theories of credit suggest that the legal rights of creditors, such as the ability to grab collateral in bankruptcy, increase the willingness of lenders to extend credit. Shareholder protection can reduce information asymmetry and agency problems by mandating quality disclosures, stipulating approval procedures for potentially conflicted transactions and facilitating the private litigation process. The bank-based financial structure can reduce moral hazard by alleviating the free-rider problem in monitoring. This dissertation contains various novel results. The first essay presents evidence of an inverse relation between creditor rights and the value of cash. This is consistent with financial constraints increasing the marginal value of cash, and creditor rights alleviating financial constraints. The second essay suggests that the bank-based financial structure improves the operating performance of large investments especially for diffusely held firms, consistent with the less prevalent free-rider problem in monitoring. The third essay shows that shareholder protection raises investment hazard for the smallest firms. This is consistent with the notion that shareholder protection alleviates those asymmetric information-related problems that delay investment, such as cash flow diversion by corporate insiders. In addition to contributing to the scientific literature, the results of this dissertation can have practical implications for companies, suppliers of finance and policymakers. A value-maximizing company should take into account its legal environment when deciding on cash holdings. Suppliers of finance should consider the interplay between financial structure and ownership structure when evaluating the profitability of investments. Policymakers often encourage investments due to their effect on employment and tax income. The results of this dissertation show that investor protection increases the frequency of large investments and their profitability. / Tiivistelmä Maan lait ja rahoitusrakenne voivat vaikuttaa yrityksen päätöksentekoon rahoitusrajoitteiden ja agenttiongelmien kautta. Velkojien vaikutusvaltaan perustuvien teorioiden mukaan velkojan oikeudet, kuten oikeus vakuuteen konkurssin yhteydessä, lisäävät velanantajan lainaamishalukkuutta. Osakkeenomistajia suojaavat lait voivat puolestaan vähentää yrityksen ja sijoittajien välistä epäsymmetristä informaatiota ja agenttiongelmia esimerkiksi vaatimalla laadukkaita ilmoituksia ja hyväksymisprosesseja koskien potentiaalisesti eturistiriitoja sisältäviä transaktioita sekä mahdollistamalla yksityisen kanteen nostamisen. Lisäksi maan pankkiperusteinen rahoitusrakenne voi vähentää moraalikatoa lievittämällä vapaamatkustajaongelmaa yritysjohdon monitoroinnissa. Tämä tutkielma sisältää useita uusia tuloksia. Ensimmäisessä esseessä havaitaan käänteinen yhteys velkojien oikeuksien ja kassan arvon välillä. Johdonmukainen selitys tälle havainnolle on, että rahoitusrajoitteet lisäävät kassan marginaaliarvoa ja velkojien oikeudet lieventävät rahoitusrajoitteita. Toisen esseen tulosten mukaan pankkiperusteinen rahoitusrakenne parantaa suurten investointien vaikutusta operatiiviseen tulokseen eritysesti hajaantuneen omistusrakenteen omaavien yritysten osalta. Tämä voi johtua pankkiperusteisen rahoitusjärjestelmän vapaamatkustajaongelmaa vähentävästä vaikutuksesta. Kolmannen esseen tulosten mukaan osakkeenomistajansuoja kohottaa suurten investointien hasardifunktiota pienimpien yritysten osalta. Tämä puolestaan voi johtua siitä, että osakkeenomistajansuoja lievittää investointeja hidastavia epäsymmetrisen informaation ongelmia, kuten yrityksen sisäpiiriläisten mahdollista taipumusta ohjata yrityksen kassavirtoja heitä itseään hyödyttäviin kohteisiin. Tieteellisen kontribuution lisäksi tutkimustuloksia voidaan hyödyntää yritysten, rahoittajien ja politiikkojen päätöksenteossa. Yrityksen arvoa maksimoivan johtajan tulisi kassan suuruutta päättäessään ottaa huomioon maassa vallitseva lakiympäristö. Rahoittajien tulisi puolestaan huomioida maan rahoitusrakenteen ja yrityksen omistusrakenteen vaikutus investointien kannattavuuteen. Politiikkojen yleinen tavoite on lisätä yritysten investointeja, koska ne parantavat työllisyyttä ja synnyttävät verotuloja. Tämän tutkielman mukaan sijoittajansuoja lisää suurten investointien frekvenssiä ja kannattavuutta.

This work presents a case study, in a company that offers services in the field of partnerships, located in the city of Santa Maria, RS, which uses the Strategic Planning in its activities. The research seeks to identify the competences of management of the Financial Administrative Manager in the financial structure of the company. To reach this objective, the following specific objectives were established: (1) to study the main models of strategic management proposed by the authors, currently; (2) to study the current models of structures in the financial field; (3) to identify the Strategic Planning and the Organizational and Financial Structure in the company; (4) to identify the Functions and Competences, the present ones and the expected ones, of the company s Financial Administrative Manager. To collect these data, a semi-structured interview was used, with the aid of semi-opened questionnaires and participant observation, applied to the Financial Administrative Manager, his boss and his subordinated. With these interviews it was possible to identify the way the financial structure of the company is organized, as well as to analyze the competences of management that this professional has and should have to perform his functions efficiently and to provide an optimized Strategic Management for the company. / O presente trabalho apresenta um estudo de caso, em uma empresa prestadora de serviços, no ramo de consórcios, localizada no município de Santa Maria, RS, que utiliza o Planejamento Estratégico nas suas atividades. A pesquisa busca identificar as competências gerenciais do Diretor Administrativo Financeiro na estrutura financeira da empresa. Para atingir este objetivo, foram estabelecidos os seguintes objetivos específicos: (1) estudar os principais modelos de gestão estratégica propostos pelos autores; (2) estudar os atuais modelos de estruturas na área financeira; (3) identificar o Planejamento Estratégico e a Estrutura Organizacional e Financeira, na empresa pesquisada; (4) identificar as Funções e Competências, presentes e esperadas, do Diretor Administrativo Financeiro da empresa estudada. Para coletar esses dados foi utilizada a entrevista semi-estruturada, com auxílio de questionários semi-abertos e observação participante, aplicados junto ao Diretor Administrativo Financeiro, seu superior e seu subordinado. Com essas entrevistas, foi possível identificar como está organizada a estrutura financeira da empresa, como também, fazer a análise das competências gerenciais que esse profissional possui e deveria possuir para o eficiente desempenho de suas funções e otimização da Gestão Estratégica da empresa.

Background: The firm’s choice of the optimal financial structure remains an unsolved problem within finance. The reasoning behind family firms’ specific financial structure differs within various research. The GGVV-region is composed of four small municipalities: Gnosjö, Gislaved, Värnamo, and Vaggeryd. This region is seen as the best dynamic counties in all of Sweden, it is also considered the most successful area of the countryside in terms of its economic contribution. Because of these aspects, it is therefore of great importance to investigate the difference of the financial structure within generations of family firms. Purpose: This paper studies whether there is a correlation between the generation in charge of family businesses within the GGVV-region and the financial structure of the businesses. Aim: The aspiration is that this research will be a good addition to the understanding of family businesses in the GGVV-region along their financial policies within different generations running the firm. Method: This study will contain 42 family firms within the GGVV-region defined as family firms through a questionnaire. The financial structure of the first-generation and non-first-generation family firm will be investigated using their debt ratios throughout the years 2015-2019. The testing is performed through Panel Data Model using Random Effects Model, along with descriptive statistics of the data and a Difference-in-Difference test. Conclusion: No significant difference can be found at any level between the 1GFF and the Non-1GFF when it comes to their financial structure.

Bakgrund och problem: Det finns många olika aspekter som avgör om ett bolag ska börsnoteras eller inte vilket gör det till ett komplext beslut. Det uppstår därmed olika effekter inom bolagens lönsamhet, tillväxt och finansiella struktur beroende på om de är noterade eller onoterade samt vilken sektor de är verksamma i. Vidare kan noterade bolag utsättas för strängare regler och krav på marknaden jämfört med onoterade bolag vilket leder till olika konsekvenser. Att vara eller icke vara ett noterat bolag är därför betydelsefullt för att få en bättre förståelse av marknaden.   Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka om det finns skillnader mellan olika nyckeltal inom lönsamhet, tillväxt och finansiell struktur genom att jämföra svenska Small Cap-bolag med motsvarande onoterade bolag inom samma sektor.   Metod: En kvantitativ studie med ett deduktivt synsätt genomförs där 3 hypoteser utformas utifrån teorin. Dessa hypoteser utgår ifrån att noterade bolag har en högre lönsamhet, tillväxt och bättre finansiell struktur jämfört med onoterade bolag. Studiens empiriska material består av 25 noterade svenska Small Cap-bolag som matchas med 25 onoterade “tvillingbolag” som är motsvariga inom storlek och sektor. Bolagen jämförs under tidsperioden 2009-2015 och studeras både över samtliga tidsperioder samt inom tre olika tidsperioder för att finna möjliga skillnader mellan de noterade och onoterade bolagen. Både t-tester och multipla regressioner utförs för att tyda möjliga skillnader och samband.   Slutsats: Studien finner signifikanta skillnader mellan noterade och onoterade bolag inom deras finansiella struktur under olika tidsperioder. Det kan dock inte tydas några signifikanta skillnader mellan bolagens lönsamhet och tillväxt. Det framkommer även bevis på att tillväxt och finansiell struktur skiljer sig mellan sektorerna. En anledning till att inga signifikanta skillnader kan påvisas mellan lönsamhet, tillväxt och förändring i kassalikviditet kan vara för att skillnaderna mellan de noterade och onoterade bolagen har minskat genom åren, i jämförelse med tidigare studier. / Background and problem: There are many different aspects that determine whether a company should be listed or not, which makes it a complex decision. Thus, there are different effects within the companies' profitability, growth and financial structure depending on whether they are listed or unlisted, and the sector in which they operate. Furthermore, listed companies may be subject to stricter rules and requirements in the market compared to unlisted companies, resulting in different consequences. To be or not to be a listed company is therefore important for a better understanding of the market. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate whether there are differences between various key ratios in profitability, growth and financial structure by comparing Swedish small cap companies with corresponding unlisted companies within the same sector. Method: A quantitative study with a deductive approach is implemented where 3 hypotheses are constructed from the theory. These hypotheses assume that listed companies have higher profitability, growth and better financial structure than unlisted companies. The empirical material of the study consists of 25 listed Swedish small cap companies, which are matched with 25 unlisted "twin companies" which are similar in size and sector. The companies are compared over the period 2009-2015 and are studied within all periods and three different periods to find possible differences between listed and unlisted companies. Both t-tests and multiple regressions are performed to indicate possible differences and relationships. Conclusion: The study finds significant differences between listed and unlisted companies within their financial structure during different periods of time. However, there are no significant differences between the companies' profitability and growth. There is also evidence that growth and financial structures differ between the sectors. One reason why no significant differences can be found between profitability, growth and the change in liquidity ratio may be because the differences between listed and unlisted companies have decreased over the years, compared with previous studies.