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In this mini-dissertation, an investigation of the municipal credit control policy, with specific reference to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality was undertaken. The dissertation comprises six chapters. The study is based on the assumption that the existing credit control policy currently (2001) used by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality to collect service arrears has failed and that this failure is the reason why the Municipality is struggling to survive financially. This is affecting the rendering of services. The validity of this assumption was investigated. The primary objectives of the research included, inter alia, to provide a brief theoretical background on the transformation of local government in South Africa. This was followed by an investigation of the role of South African local government and the impact of non-payment for municipal services, with specific reference to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality. The empirical survey, the research methodology and the interpretation of the research findings are described. This is followed by an explanation of the survey questionnaire used for the accumulation of data needed for the analysis. The research findings of the empirical survey were statistically analysed and reported.

This dissertation investigates the manager motivations involved in the participation of White Knights (WKs) in corporate control contests. The three features of WK bids, viz. (i) it is a subsequent bid, (ii) it is a friendly bid and (iii) it follows a hostile bid, combine uniquely to provide the context for varying bidding motivations of WK managers relative to the hostile bidders (HBs). An analysis of the sequence of bidding in these contests reveals a category called HHW WKs who make their bid after two consecutive bids by the HB, and tend to take relatively more time in doing so. The non-HHW WKs make their bid in relative haste after the first HB bid. Overpayments by WKs, for which statistical evidence is documented, are observed to be much more pervasive, and of considerably greater economic magnitudes, for non-HHW WKs. The managers of HHW WKs are thus more likely to be firm value maximizers; any observed overpayments could be the result of hubris or the winner's curse. However, the managers of non-HHW WKs may not be maximizing firm value through their bids, implying an absence of proper ex-ante incentive alignments for minimizing agency conflicts. These managers may thus have a lower proportion of annual expected income from their separate holdings of stock and stock options relative to their annual cash compensation (defined as variables COM and OP respectively). An examination of the structure of compensation packages of managers reveals that COM is lower for non-HHW WKs as compared to HHW WKs. OP is unable to directly distinguish between non-HHW WKs and HHW WKs. Yet, OP (as well as COM) are lower for non-HHW WKs relative to HBs. Further, neither COM nor OP is able to differentiate between HHW WKs and HBs. Thus, if HBs are considered as firm value maximizers, then HHW WKs are likely to be governed by similar motivations. In contrast, size maximization goals leading to higher proportions of cash compensation for their managers may dominate the acquisition activity of non-HHW WKs. External monitoring to limit agency conflicts, as proxied by relative debt levels, is also lower for non-HHW WKs.

"June 2002" Includes bibliographical references: (p. 30-35). The papers examines the association between the transparency of corporate financial reporting on intangible assets relative to a proxy for total intangible assets, and analyst incentives to follow firms and properties of analysts' earnings forecasts - controlling for endogeneity among these factors. More transparent financial reporting on intangible assets is measured by higher recognition of intangible assets on the balance sheet relative to a proxy variable for total (underlying) intangible assets, market value added which equals equity market value minus book value with intangible assets subtracted. The results suggest (1) a reputation for transparent financial reporting on intangible assets is associated with increased demand for analyst research and thus analyst following incentives; and (2) a reputation for less transparent reporting on intangible assets is associated with higher forecast dispersion and errors due to analysts' greater reliance on their own private information. The study extends research on determinants of analyst following, forecast dispersion and accuracy, and research on the impact of public disclosure on private information acquisition activity.

This study examines systematic patterns in returns reported by hedge funds for the period from 1989 to 2003. Two patterns are examined: strategic changes in returns variance in the second half of the year and the avoidance of reporting small losses. The hedge fund industry has grown rapidly during the 1990s. Despite this rapid growth, and the large amount of investment in hedge funds, hedge funds are less regulated than other forms of investment. Given the lower level of regulation and the assumed ability of hedge fund managers to influence both investment policy and the estimation of value for illiquid assets included in the calculation of returns, I predict systematic patterns in hedge fund returns. Brown, Goetzmann and Park (2001) show that funds that perform poorly compared to their peers tend to adopt more risk in subsequent periods while funds that perform relatively well tend to adopt less risk. I replicate this result in a larger and more recent database of hedge fund returns. The strategic use of variance is more visible in the latter half of the fifteen year period examined. This result is consistent with increased investor scrutiny and competition between hedge funds in recent years. Burgstahler and Dichev (1997) show that public companies tend to avoid reporting small losses. I show that the well documented discontinuity around zero seen in public company earnings distributions is also found in the distribution of hedge fund returns. This is consistent with hedge fund managers facing similar pressure to public company managers to avoid reporting small losses, and managers having the ability to influence reported returns in a less regulated environment.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1987.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Texas at Arlington, 2007.

Finance scholars disagree on how real world financial markets work. On the one hand, efficient market hypothesis (EMH) advocates claim that arbitrage ensures that market prices do not systematically deviate from their fundamental value even when some market participants are less than fully rational. Hence, in the EMH world, securities’ prices always reflect all available information. On the other hand, behavioural finance theorists argue that investors suffer important cognitive biases and that arbitrage is both risky and costly. In this alternative setting, prices may not reflect all available information and can systematically deviate from their fundamental value for long periods of time. My thesis contributes to this ongoing debate by exploring how the US equity market reacts to bankruptcy announcements. Using a set of 351 non-financial, non-utility firms filing for Chapter 11 between 1979 and 2005 that remain listed on a main exchange, I first find a strong, negative and statistically significant mean post-bankruptcy announcement drift. This ranges from -24 to -44 percent over the following 12 months depending on the benchmark adopted to measure abnormal returns. A number of robustness tests confirm that this result is not a mere statistical artefact. In fact, the post-bankruptcy drift is not subsumed by known confounding factors like the post-earnings announcement drift, the post-first-time going concern drift, the momentum effect, the book-to-market effect, industry clustering or the level of financial distress. In addition, I show that my main result is robust to different methods for conducting longer-term event studies. My empirical findings are consistent with the previous behavioural finance literature that claims that the market is unable to deal appropriately with acute bad news events. In the second part of this thesis, I investigate how limits to arbitrage impact the stock price of firms undergoing a Chapter 11 reorganization. I find that, despite the apparent large negative abnormal returns, the post-bankruptcy announcement drift offers only an illusory profit opportunity. Moreover, I show that noise trader risk is critical for the pricing of these firms’ stock. Taken together, my results suggest that limits to arbitrage issues can explain the persistence of the market-pricing anomaly I uncover. As such, the market for firms in Chapter 11 appears to be “minimally rational” (Rubinstein, 2001). My work additionally explores whether behavioural finance theory can help clarify why the post-bankruptcy announcement drift occurs in the first place. I find that the Barberis, Shleifer and Vishny (1998) and the Hong and Stein (1999) models do not account well for the typical return pattern associated with the announcement of Chapter 11. My results call into question the reliability of existing theoretical models based on behavioural concepts in explaining how real world financial markets really work. In the last part of this thesis, I show that the different motivations for filing for Chapter 11 Court protection affect the market’s reaction to this extreme event. Solvent firms addressing the Bankruptcy Court not as a last resort but as a planned business strategy characterize a strategic bankruptcy; companies on the verge of imminent failure typify a non-strategic bankruptcy. I find that for non-strategic bankruptcies, there is a negative and statistically significant post-event drift lasting at least twelve months. Conversely, I show that, although the initial market reaction to bankruptcy filing is similar in the case of strategic bankruptcies in terms of viewing all bankruptcies as homogeneous, there is a subsequent reversal in the stock return pattern for these peculiar firms. In effect, abnormal returns become strongly positive and significant suggesting that, over time, the market to recognise strategic bankruptcies as good news events. Overall, the results of my PhD allow me to make some important contributions to finance theory and the finance literature, in particular in the bad news disclosure and market pricing domains.

In the last decade the accounting profession has shown increased interest in accounting for nonprofit organizations including accounting for churches. Statement of Position 78-10 and Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 4 provide standards and objectives for church financial reporting. Although accounting standards have been determined for churches, there is little information about the current accounting and reporting practices followed by churches. This research determines the actual accounting principles and reporting practices used by the group of churches whose business administrators belong to the National Association of Church Business Administrators (NACBA). The NACBA is national in scope and represents larger churches from many denominations. Secondly, the research determines the potential impact of the Statement of Position (SOP) on church accounting and reporting practices. Data measuring the churches' compliance with principles recommended in the SOP and NACBA members' attitudes toward the principles are gathered using a mail questionnaire. The compliance questions are answered by checking yes, no, or not applicable. The attitude responses are indicated on a Likert scale measuring degree of favor from 0 to 4. The questionnaire also includes demographic information about the churches and items of general interest about the type of financial reports they present. After appropriate pretesting, the questionnaire was sent to the NACBA members currently employed by a local congregation. The mailing and follow-up procedures resulted in a 64% response rate. The questionnaire was sent to a population rather than a sample, therefore, inferential statistics are not used to analyze the responses. Compliance percentages and average attitude response scores are presented for all responding NACBA members and their churches. Additional analysis provides profiles of compliance rates and attitude response scores for three groupings - denomination, size, and audit classification. In general, the analysis shows that the group of large churches and the group of churches whose financial statements are externally audited are most likely to be in compliance with recommended principles. These same groups express the most favorable attitudes toward the recommended principles. / Ph. D.

Focus of the thesis was to analyze the method of accounting of the city and work with budget issue as an appropriate tool for income and expends studies. Municipality Chynov was chosen for analysis. Evaluation was done based on the reports, which were received from city officers. First part is focused on accounting reform, which directly affects Municipality of Chynov. Next issue based on the evaluation reports were to analyzed incomes and expenses of city. It was observed the Municipality of Chynov does not have any major problems in this issue, due the balanced budget. As next step, statistical analysis was performed. Balanced budget was major task. As result of this analysis was said with probability that the balanced budget should be real in next years. Next part of the statistical analysis was cluster analysis. As result were statements that foreign incomes (mainly grants) have significant influence on municipality finances. As results of this thesis the Municipality of Chynov is from finances structure point of view without any problems and is effectively using the budget as tool to capture the finances structure of whole city.