The economic reforms in Jordan during the last two decades have highlighted and promoted the role that non-financial firms play within the Jordanian economy. The ability of firms to play this role is in major part determined by the structure of the financial system in which they operate, and in particular whether this financial system is able to make capital available efficiently to those firms that need it. Whether this is the case can be investigated by analysing the impact of firm characteristics on some of the most important financial decisions taken by these firms, and how these decisions are influenced by the presence of market imperfections. The thesis examines the relation between the financing and investment decisions, where the effect of financial constraints on the firm’s investment decision is investigated. In particular, this thesis focuses on how financial constraints affect different firms by investigating the extent to which the reliance on internal cash flow is affected by firm characteristics such as size, age, dividend payout ratio, and market listing. We find that Jordanian firms are financially constrained, but that these constraints do not appear to be related to firm characteristics. Further, results show that Jordanian firms use debt rather than equity to finance their investment. The second empirical chapter focuses on the main determinants of firms’ capital structure. Here the results show that Jordanian firms follow the pecking order theory, where profitability and liquidity have a negative impact on the level of debt. Size and market to book value have a positive impact, supporting the view that there are significant constraints on debt financing since indicators of the financial health of the firms affect their capital structure ratio. There is also evidence that ownership structure affects the firm’s access to debt. The final empirical chapter examines the impact of firm characteristics on dividend policy, and shows that profitability and market to book value have a positive impact on dividend policy, implying that firms with better access to capital or credit pay dividends. This implies that firms retain earnings in order to ensure that they have sufficient capital to invest, confirming the initial result that Jordanian firms are financially constrained. There is also evidence of the impact of ownership structure, consistent with the predictions of agency cost theory, while institutional investors appear to follow the prudent-man restrictions, being positively associated with firms that pay dividends. This thesis confirms the presence of market imperfections that have a significant influence on the financial decisions taken by Jordanian firms. The consistent evidence of the importance of retained earnings shows that these firms face substantial constraints in terms of their access to external funds, despite the reforms to the Jordanian financial system over the last two decades.

Este trabalho investiga a adequação científica das teorias monetárias e financeiras marxistas em face à nova realidade do pós-1971, tendo como ponto de partida a introdução lógica da forma dinheiro inconversível. A primeira parte, composta pelos dois primeiros capítulos, discute as duas maiores heranças que Marx recebeu - Hegel e o pensamento monetário inglês do século XIX -, para aí evidenciarmos tanto suas potencialidades quanto suas inevitáveis limitações. Quando passamos à segunda parte, constituída pelos dois últimos capítulos, o foco recai sobre a tentativa de fazer as categorias marxistas se adequarem ao nosso hodierno sistema financeiro e monetário; com um ponto claro: mostrar a ligação necessária entre o dinheiro inconversível e a atual formação de capital fictício. Momento no qual os derivativos financeiros se revelarão objetos contraditórios e, mais do que instrumentos, produtores de suas próprias pressuposições - em especial, o risco abstrato. Dessa forma estaremos aptos a analisar em toda sua profundidade o ciclo do moderno capital fictício - da mercadoria-capital, do capital que retorna como capital ao seu predicado lógico inicial. O resultado deste movimento será o engendramento de um novo capital abstrato, para o qual os swaps são seu veículo. / Departing from the logical introduction of the inconvertible money form this dissertation investigates the scientific adequateness of the monetary and financial Marxist theories to the new post-1971 reality. The first part, constituted by the first two chapters, discusses the two main heritages that Marx received - Hegel and the English monetary thought from the 19th century - to then make evident both its potentialities and its inevitable limitations. Moreover, with the clear objective of disclosing the necessary connection between inconvertible money and the present formation of fictitious capital, the second part, composed by the last two chapters, will focus on the attempt to adequate Marxist categories to our hodiern financial and monetary system. Moment to which financial derivatives will reveal themselves as contradictory objects and, more than just hedge devices, as producers of their own presuppositions - in special, abstract risk. In this way, we will be capable to analyze in all its profoundness the circuit of the modern fictitious capital - capital-commodity, capital that returned as capital to its first logical predicate. The outcome of this movement is the yield of an abstract capital, to which swaps are its vehicle.

A governança corporativa é uma área do conhecimento em finanças que tem recebido crescente atenção da comunidade acadêmica. Em seu escopo, existe um fenômeno que, crescentemente, tem motivado pesquisas: o board interlocking. Isto é, o fato de uma ou mais pessoas participarem, simultaneamente, do conselho de administração de empresas diferentes, possibilitando a formação de redes corporativas e pessoais, nas quais são criados fluxos de recursos essenciais à empresa, sejam esses negociados, ou não, em mercados. Diante desses argumentos, o objetivo principal desta tese é verificar a existência de associações de aspectos posicionais das empresas nas redes com o valor e o desempenho financeiro da firma, ao mesmo tempo em que se analisa a evolução estrutural das redes corporativas e pessoais. O presente estudo foi desenvolvido a partir de dados relativos a um conjunto de 452 empresas listadas no Brasil, entre 1997 e 2007, com base nas abordagens da teoria dos grafos e das redes sociais, empregando regressões com dados em painel. Os principais resultados deste estudo sugerem a existência de uma elite intelectual que ocupa a alta administração das companhias listadas em bolsa. Uma consequência desse resultado é o entendimento do ambiente corporativo, segundo o modelo de small-worlds, para o qual a distância entre os atores de uma rede tende a ser pequena, sendo grande o agrupamento local dos participantes da rede, aumentando a velocidade de comunicação entre membros de conselhos, e, consequentemente, entre as empresas. No quesito do desempenho da firma, encontrou-se uma relação quadrática significativa, do tipo U invertido, da centralidade de grau com o Q de Tobin e com a liquidez da firma, indicando a existência de valores ótimos (que maximizam o valor e o desempenho corporativo) da centralidade da empresa, no âmbito da rede de relações corporativas. / Corporate governance is the realm of finance studies that has received growing attention from the academic community. In addition, when studying corporate governance, there is a phenomenon that has increasingly motivated research, the interlocking board - the fact that one or more individuals participate simultaneously in the board of directors of different companies, allowing the formation of corporate and personal networks, which create a flow of essential resources to the company, resources that can be negotiated, or not, in markets. The main objective of this thesis is to verify the existence of associations with firms positional aspects in the networks regarding their value and their financial performance, while it examines the structural evolution of corporate and personal networks. This study used a dataset of 452 companies listed in Brazilian stock market between 1997 and 2007, based on the graph theory and social networks approaches, using regressions analysis with panel data. The main results of this study suggest the existence of an intellectual elite who occupy the top management of listed companies. One consequence of this result is the understanding that the business environment follows the model of small-worlds, whereby the distance between the actors of a network tends to be small, and large group of participants from the local network, increasing the speed of communication between board members, and thus between the companies. Regarding the performance of the firm, the results suggest a significant quadratic relationship, such as inverted U, the centrality of the degree to Tobin\'s Q and the liquidity of the firm, indicating the existence of optimum values (with maximizes the value and corporate performance) for the centrality of the company, within the network of corporate relations.

A governança corporativa é uma área do conhecimento em finanças que tem recebido crescente atenção da comunidade acadêmica. Em seu escopo, existe um fenômeno que, crescentemente, tem motivado pesquisas: o board interlocking. Isto é, o fato de uma ou mais pessoas participarem, simultaneamente, do conselho de administração de empresas diferentes, possibilitando a formação de redes corporativas e pessoais, nas quais são criados fluxos de recursos essenciais à empresa, sejam esses negociados, ou não, em mercados. Diante desses argumentos, o objetivo principal desta tese é verificar a existência de associações de aspectos posicionais das empresas nas redes com o valor e o desempenho financeiro da firma, ao mesmo tempo em que se analisa a evolução estrutural das redes corporativas e pessoais. O presente estudo foi desenvolvido a partir de dados relativos a um conjunto de 452 empresas listadas no Brasil, entre 1997 e 2007, com base nas abordagens da teoria dos grafos e das redes sociais, empregando regressões com dados em painel. Os principais resultados deste estudo sugerem a existência de uma elite intelectual que ocupa a alta administração das companhias listadas em bolsa. Uma consequência desse resultado é o entendimento do ambiente corporativo, segundo o modelo de small-worlds, para o qual a distância entre os atores de uma rede tende a ser pequena, sendo grande o agrupamento local dos participantes da rede, aumentando a velocidade de comunicação entre membros de conselhos, e, consequentemente, entre as empresas. No quesito do desempenho da firma, encontrou-se uma relação quadrática significativa, do tipo U invertido, da centralidade de grau com o Q de Tobin e com a liquidez da firma, indicando a existência de valores ótimos (que maximizam o valor e o desempenho corporativo) da centralidade da empresa, no âmbito da rede de relações corporativas. / Corporate governance is the realm of finance studies that has received growing attention from the academic community. In addition, when studying corporate governance, there is a phenomenon that has increasingly motivated research, the interlocking board - the fact that one or more individuals participate simultaneously in the board of directors of different companies, allowing the formation of corporate and personal networks, which create a flow of essential resources to the company, resources that can be negotiated, or not, in markets. The main objective of this thesis is to verify the existence of associations with firms positional aspects in the networks regarding their value and their financial performance, while it examines the structural evolution of corporate and personal networks. This study used a dataset of 452 companies listed in Brazilian stock market between 1997 and 2007, based on the graph theory and social networks approaches, using regressions analysis with panel data. The main results of this study suggest the existence of an intellectual elite who occupy the top management of listed companies. One consequence of this result is the understanding that the business environment follows the model of small-worlds, whereby the distance between the actors of a network tends to be small, and large group of participants from the local network, increasing the speed of communication between board members, and thus between the companies. Regarding the performance of the firm, the results suggest a significant quadratic relationship, such as inverted U, the centrality of the degree to Tobin\'s Q and the liquidity of the firm, indicating the existence of optimum values (with maximizes the value and corporate performance) for the centrality of the company, within the network of corporate relations.

Este trabalho investiga a adequação científica das teorias monetárias e financeiras marxistas em face à nova realidade do pós-1971, tendo como ponto de partida a introdução lógica da forma dinheiro inconversível. A primeira parte, composta pelos dois primeiros capítulos, discute as duas maiores heranças que Marx recebeu - Hegel e o pensamento monetário inglês do século XIX -, para aí evidenciarmos tanto suas potencialidades quanto suas inevitáveis limitações. Quando passamos à segunda parte, constituída pelos dois últimos capítulos, o foco recai sobre a tentativa de fazer as categorias marxistas se adequarem ao nosso hodierno sistema financeiro e monetário; com um ponto claro: mostrar a ligação necessária entre o dinheiro inconversível e a atual formação de capital fictício. Momento no qual os derivativos financeiros se revelarão objetos contraditórios e, mais do que instrumentos, produtores de suas próprias pressuposições - em especial, o risco abstrato. Dessa forma estaremos aptos a analisar em toda sua profundidade o ciclo do moderno capital fictício - da mercadoria-capital, do capital que retorna como capital ao seu predicado lógico inicial. O resultado deste movimento será o engendramento de um novo capital abstrato, para o qual os swaps são seu veículo. / Departing from the logical introduction of the inconvertible money form this dissertation investigates the scientific adequateness of the monetary and financial Marxist theories to the new post-1971 reality. The first part, constituted by the first two chapters, discusses the two main heritages that Marx received - Hegel and the English monetary thought from the 19th century - to then make evident both its potentialities and its inevitable limitations. Moreover, with the clear objective of disclosing the necessary connection between inconvertible money and the present formation of fictitious capital, the second part, composed by the last two chapters, will focus on the attempt to adequate Marxist categories to our hodiern financial and monetary system. Moment to which financial derivatives will reveal themselves as contradictory objects and, more than just hedge devices, as producers of their own presuppositions - in special, abstract risk. In this way, we will be capable to analyze in all its profoundness the circuit of the modern fictitious capital - capital-commodity, capital that returned as capital to its first logical predicate. The outcome of this movement is the yield of an abstract capital, to which swaps are its vehicle.

To counter the problem of the volatility of jet fuel prices within the United States, many financial managers of U.S. airlines use hedging as a financial tool to mitigate the risk of exposure to market price volatility. However, their efforts often lead to financial distress for their airlines. The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to explore U.S. airline managers' use of financial hedging to reduce the risk of exposure from the volatility of jet fuel prices. The conceptual framework was Simkowitz's theory of modern finance, which concerns debt policy, dividend policy, and investment policy as they relate to financial decision making by upper management. The research questions addressed when, why, and how U.S. airline financial managers would consider the use of hedging as a financial tool to mitigate the risk in the purchase of jet fuel at times of lower jet fuel prices. Interviews with a purposive sample of 20 U.S. airline financial managers provided data for analysis and theory development of jet fuel hedging utilization in the U.S. airline industry. Data analysis using the constant comparative method enabled the development of a theory of jet fuel hedging utilization. Participants reported using over-the-counter derivatives purchasing strategies as a form of hedging to protect their airlines against spikes in jet fuel prices on the open market. Using study findings, managers may be able to reduce jet fuel operating costs in the U.S. airline industry. Implications for positive social change include potentially higher profits and more jobs as well as lower consumer prices.

L’objet de la thèse est d’analyser la pertinence de la théorie financière, référencée aux modèles théoriques qui servent à la compréhension du comportement financier des entreprises de grande taille, dans l’explication de la spécificité de la structure financière des PME françaises. Plus spécifiquement, il s’agit d’identifier et d’analyser empiriquement les déterminants de la structure du capital (taux d’endettement total) et de la structure de la dette (taux d’endettement à court, moyen et long terme) de ces entreprises qui a fait l’objet d’une large réflexion théorique dont le point de départ est le théorème de Modigliani & Miller(1958). Le chapitre 1 est consacré à la présentation et à la définition de notre cadre d’analyse. Le chapitre 2 expose les besoins et les sources de financement de ces entreprises. Le chapitre 3 examine les décisions d’investissement et de financement en se référant aux enseignements de la théorie du compromis, de la théorie de l’agence, de la théorie du signal, de la théorie du financement hiérarchique et de la théorie du rationnement du crédit ; la prise en compte des conflits d’intérêt et des asymétries d’information donne un pouvoir explicatif de la spécificité de la structure financière des PME. Les deux derniers chapitres (4 et 5) étudient le comportement de financement de 1520 PME françaises sélectionnées dans la base de données DIANE sur la période 2000-2004. Les résultats des régressions statistiquement significatives montrent que le crédit interentreprises joue un rôle de signal pour les créanciers qui ne disposent pas d’une information privée sur l’entreprise ; l’accès à la dette est très dépendant de la capacité de l’entreprise à offrir des garanties ; enfin, les résultats montrent l’existence de contraintes d’accès aux ressources financières pour les entreprises de petite taille ; l’âge de l’entreprise et son secteur d’activité influencent son choix de financement. / This thesis attempts to analyze the relevance of existing financial theory, referenced to the theoretical models that shed light on the financial behaviour of large enterprises, in explaining the specificity of the financial structure of French Small and Middle Enterprises (SMEs).More specifically, it identifies and analyzes empirically the determinants of capital structure (total debt ratio) and debt structure (debt ratio over the short, medium and long term) of these enterprises. There is a large body of literature on this issue the theorem of Modigliani and Miller (1958). The first chapter 1 is devoted to the presentation and definition of ouranalytical framework. Chapter 2 outlines the requirements and sources of financing of French SMEs. Chapter 3 discusses the investment and financing decisions, with reference to the theory of compromise, agency theory, signal theory, pecking order theory, and creditrationing theory ; the specific financial structure of SMEs can be better understood when one takes into account conflicts of interest and information asymmetries. In the last two chapters,we study the behaviour of finance from a sample of 1520 French SMEs released from DIANE dataset over the period from 2000 to 2004. The regression results show that inter-companycredits play a role as signal to creditors, which do not have private information about the company. Access to debt is strongly dependent on the ability of the company to offer guarantees. Finally, our results indicate the existence of constraints on access to finance forsmall businesses and the financing choices are affected by their age and the industry to which they belong.

L'objectif de cette thèse est d'étudier la nature de la collaboration productive entre capital investisseur et dirigeant-propriétaire dans le cadre d'une opération OBO et son influence sur la création de valeur à travers l'identification des leviers et mécanismes organisationnels de création de valeur. Pour ce faire, nous avons opté pour une méthodologie mixte. Dans un premier temps, en observant les pratiques managériales de 42 investisseurs en private equity, nous avons cherché à identifier les critères mobilisés par les investisseurs financiers spécialisés en vue de réduire l'asymétrie informationnelle dans la phase de pré-investissement. Grâce à une analyse typologique, nos résultats ont montré que les critères de présélection de la cible à un OBO doivent faire l'objet d'une différenciation en fonction des profils-types des groupes d'investisseurs identifiés (les financiers et les stratèges). La différence entre les deux classes est d'ordre cognitif et concerne essentiellement la perception qu'ont les investisseurs des enjeux stratégiques d'une opération OBO. Dans un deuxième temps, grâce à des entretiens semi-directifs auprès de 17 capital-investisseurs, nous avons cherché à mettre en exergue les leviers et mécanismes organisationnels à l'origine du processus de création de valeur. Notre étude a montré que les modalités liées à leur mise en œuvre doivent elles aussi être nuancées selon la perception qu'ont les investisseurs des enjeux stratégiques associés à une opération OBO. En effet, les investisseurs qui se réclament d'un mode de gestion de type « hands-on » participent activement à la mise en place de stratégies de développement et de transmission de l'entreprise. Ils accordent un intérêt particulier à la viabilité économique à long terme du projet, à la performance des dirigeants en matière de gestion, à leurs motivations et à celles de leurs équipes de direction et notamment à la présence d'un repreneur dès le début de l'opération. En revanche, les contributions des investisseurs qui se réclament d'un mode de gestion de type « hands-off» demeurent limitées à l'apport de ressources financières et à l'alignement des intérêts des différentes parties prenantes afin de garantir un retour sur investissement sur un horizon relativement court. De même, l'absence d'un repreneur potentiel au démarrage d'OBO n'est pas considérée comme rédhibitoire pour cette catégorie d'investisseurs. L'étude a notamment montré que la nature des conflits qui peuvent surgir entre les protagonistes et les mécanismes de résolution sont en corrélation avec le mode de gestion des participations dont se proclament les investisseurs. / The subject of my study is to investigate the nature of productive collaboration between investor capital and owner­manager in an OBO operation and its influence on value creation through the identification of organizational levers and mechanisms of value creation. In order to achieve it, we opted for a mixed methodology. First, by observing the management practices of 42 private equity investors, we have identified the criteria mobilized by specialized financial investors to reduce the information 's asymmetric in the pre-investment phase. Through cluster analysis, the obtained results suggested that the target preselecting's criteria to an OBO must be qualified in terms of the typical profiles of the identified groups of investors (financial and strategists). The difference between the two classes was cognitive and mainly concerned the investor perception of the strategic issues of an OBO operation. Secondly, through selective interviews with 17 capital investors, we highlighted the levers and organizational mechanisms at the origin of the value creation proccss. Our stud has shown that the modalities associated with their implementation must also be qualified according to investors' perceptions of the strategic issues associated with an OBO operation. Indeed, investors who claimed to have a "hands-on" type of management are actively involved in setting up the company's development and transmission strategies. They paid particular attention to the long-term economic viability of the project, the performance of managers in management, their motivations and those of their management teams, and in particular to the presence of a potential buyer at the beginning of the operation. On the other hand, the contributions of investors who claimed to have a "hands-off" type of management are limited to providing financial resources and aligning the interests of the various stakeholders in order to guarantee a retum on investment on a relatively short horizon. Similarly, the absence of a potential buyer at the start of the OBO was not considered as prohibitive for this category of investors. The study showed, in particular, that the nature of the conflicts that can arise between the protagonists and the mechanisms of resolution are correlated with the mode of management of the participations that investors claimed.

A sucessão na empresa familiar tem sido considerada por seus estudiosos como o mais importante desafio a ser enfrentado por aquelas companhias na luta por sua perpetuação. Os processos de transição do controle da família enfrentam várias dificuldades típicas de qualquer transição gerencial ou de propriedade na firma, mas são complicados por fatores subjetivos presentes na interação das dinâmicas empresarial e familiar. Nas sucessões familiares os conflitos emergem, frequentemente, da indiscriminação entre os papéis sociais na família e na empresa. Tais conflitos envolvem questões ligadas à propriedade do negócio, à sua administração e aos interesses da família. A Nova Economia das Instituições adicionou ao corpo teórico das finanças corporativas uma série de variáveis comportamentais desconsideradas pela Economia Neoclássica com o objetivo de imprimir maior realismo às análises teóricas. O presente trabalho investiga as proposições da Teoria Econômica de Finanças para o comportamento dos administradores quanto à escolha da Estrutura de Capital na firma e sua utilidade para os Processos Sucessórios como elemento atenuante de conflitos. As conclusões apontam para uma interdependência entre decisões de Estrutura de Capital e Processo Sucessório, e para uma grande importância da forma de financiamento no longo prazo para o sucesso da Sucessão na Empresa Familiar, além de sugerirem pesquisas mais avançadas no sentido de compreender melhor esse contexto. / Experts consider the process of succession in the family business as the most important challenge in their fight for perpetuation. The transition processes encounter various difficulties common to managerial transitions, yet they are made more complicated due to subjective factors present in both the family and management arenas. During succession processes, conflicts often arise out of a difficulty to differentiate between social and business roles in the family. Such conflicts involve issues such as ownership, management styles and family interests. The New Institutional Economics added a series of behavior variables to the theoretical body of corporate finance. Such variables, previously not considered by the Neoclassic Economics, were added so as to bring a higher level of realism to the theoretical analysis. This dissertation investigates the propositions put forward by the Economic Theory of Finance regarding the behavior of managers as far as their choice of Capital Structure for the business and its validity as conflict attenuation in the process of Succession. The conclusions put forward here point toward an interdependency between decisions regarding Capital Structure and Succession in the Family Business. In addition to that, they highlight the importance of long term financing for a successful process, and suggest further investigation that could support and illustrate the conclusions.

I denna studie testas tio hypoteser som relaterar till finansiell teori för att se hur väl teorin kan förklara skuldsättningsgraden i små börsnoterade bolag. De teorier som testas är avvägningsteorin (trade-off theory), hackordningsteorin (pecking order theory) samt teorier relaterade till asymmetrisk information och agentkostnader. Testen genomförs med multipel linjär regressionsanalys och de undersökta bolagen är samtliga bolag med färre än 200 anställda på tre av de mindre börslistorna i Sverige. Resultatet visar stöd för åtta av de tio undersökta hypoteserna och är i flera avseenden tydligare än i tidigare studier som testar onoterade små bolag eller ett bredare urval av bolag. / This study tests ten hypotheses related to financial theory in order to determine how well the theory can explain capital structure in small public SMEs. The tested theories are trade-off theory, pecking order theory and theories related to asymmetric information and agent-principal costs. Multiple linear regression analysis is used to test the theories on SMEs with fewer than 200 employees listed on three of Sweden’s smaller stock-exchange lists. The results show statistical significant support for eight out of ten hypotheses, and these results are in many aspects clearer than in studies that test unlisted SMEs as well as studies with broader samples of listed firms.