The USA's financial and economic crisis spilled over and resulted into a "global" financial crisis (GFC) that impacted several developed and developing countries. Regarding the latter, trade affairs have been identified as being a major growth component for the economies of developing countries. In particular, numerous studies have highlighted the importance and benefits of international trade on a country's path to promote economic growth rates. In lieu of the above, the main aim of this study is to assess the impact of this crisis on the South African steel trade industry, with special emphasis on the periods 'before', 'during' and 'after' the GFC. Through efficient targeting of a specific sector and its industry within the South African economy, government entities would be able to determine the extent that they could gain effective targeting and allocation of resources. Past research papers, relevant theoretical frameworks and data have been taken into consideration to form the basis of our analyses. In essence, we analysed the South African economy as a whole and tried to identify its relationship with the trade industry during this study period. Therefore, a composition of South Africa's economic activities and an economic profile was also determined and discussed. In addition. we implemented Porter's competitive strategy and diamond theory, to identify whether the South African steel trade industry has a competitive advantage. From the analyses we concluded that the steel trade industry of South Africa was adversely impacted in 2009. the 'during' period of the GFC and showed the 'after' period as the recovering period for the industry. Evidently, there is a positive correlation between the steel trade industry of South Africa and the country's economy ' before', during' and after' periods of the GFC. This positive correlation can be contributed to the trade sector's influence on the economy's overall state, as imports and exports have been identified as a key aspect to economic growth, and vice versa. Identified recommendations include the need for more research on the South African steel trade industry's competitors, in order to realize possible opportunities for the industry itself and realize increased growth patterns, as well as extensive promotion that could lead to amplifying trade flows benefiting the South African economy. / Thesis (M.Com. (Economics) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2012

It is sometimes purported that one of the factors affecting a firm's value is its capital structure. The event of the 1997 Asian financial crisis was expected to affect the firms' gearing level as the firms' earnings deteriorated and the capital market collapsed. The main objective of this research is to examine empirically the determinants of the capital structure of Malaysian firms. The main additional aim is to study the capital structure pattern following the 1997 financial crisis. Empirical tests were conducted on two different data sets: the first data set is the published data extracted from Datastream and consists of: 572 companies listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) between 1994 and 2000. The second data set comprises finance managers' responses to a questionnaire survey. Chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis, ANOVA, multiple regression, stepwise regression and logistic regression were utilised to analyse the data. The multiple regression analysis was employed to find the determinants of the capital structure using various account data items provided by Datastream. The gearing differences between the two boards and within the sectors were also analysed using ANOVA and Krukal-Wallis tests. The panel data were evaluated with regard to the gearing pattern following the 1997 currency crisis. Overwhelming evidence on profit was found, with past profitability being the major determinant of gearing. In particular was the support for pecking order theory, in that finance managers had given internal funds the highest priority, followed by debt and equity as a last option. The statistical analysis found a strong negative correlation between liquidity and the gearing ratio for both boards, implying firms considered highly the excess current assets for funding, a conservative approach towards debt management policy. On the other hand, taxation items were not highly significant in capital structure decisions. The results indicate the existence of gearing differences between the main board and the second board gearing with high debt levels employed by second board companies. However, the second board's high gearing is dominated largely by short to medium term bank credit. Differences were also significant between different sectors of companies listed on the main board. Firms' gearing ratios increased significantly following the 1997 financial crisis, and the gearing tended to increase where the company's share prices were highly sensitive towards currency volatility. Also inflation is found to influence the changes in actual and target gearing ratios following the crisis. Recent emphasis on the development of private debt securities may affect the findings of this research in the near future.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / This thesis theoretically and empirically analyzes the nature and consequences of interactions between family members. The first chapter tests whether children's human capital accumulation was significantly affected by earnings shocks to their nonresident kin in the context of the 1997-8 financial crisis in Indonesia. The crisis produced sudden, heterogeneous shocks that facilitate the construction of an exogenous measure of earnings changes. Results indicate that earnings shocks to nonresident kin - including extended family and relatives living in other districts- significantly affected children's human capital accumulation between 1997 and 2000, and ultimate educational attainment measured nearly a decade after the crisis hit. Supplementary results point to intra-family transfers, underpinned by ex post altruism, as an important channel of causation. The second chapter develops a theoretical model of private transfers underpinned by ex post altruism among members of a network. I use this model to analyze equilibrium transfer patterns and inequality under alternative income distributions and network structures. I demonstrate the general intuition that transfers obtain in equilibrium when the amount of altruism is sufficiently strong relative to income inequality. Within the networks that I analyze, every equilibrium involving transfers takes the same form: unique income thresholds separate senders from receivers. Effective risk sharing takes place among senders and receivers, while those at intermediate incomes remain in autarky. Every equilibrium gives rise to the same set of allocations. I contrast these predictions with insurance-based theories of transfers in which risk sharing is operative for small in come differences and may fall apart at large income differences. The third chapter uses longitudinal data spanning nearly fifteen years to test whether transfers among family members within Indonesia are consistent with ex post altruism, against the alternative of insurance. I use the predicted effects of permanent versus transitory income on transfers, as well as theoretical predictions from the second chapter regarding the shape of transfer functions , to carry out this test. The results provide some evidence that transfer motives are inconsistent with insurance but consistent with ex post altruism.

<p>The current financial crisis has spread around the world and no business sector has stayed untouched. While companies in some sectors have been forced to close down or lay off employees, companies in the food retail sector mainly have to adapt to their customers´ preferences, which according to Ang, Leong & Kotler (2000) change in times of financial crisis. The purpose of this dissertation was therefore to examine how Swedish food retailers adapt their marketing strategies to the changing consumer buying behavior during the financial crisis.</p><p>A qualitative method with an abductive approach was chosen for this research, and the empirical data was gathered from three companies in the Swedish food retail sector; ICA, Coop and Axfood. Primary data was collected through phone interviews and was supported by annual information from their websites, annual reports and different articles. </p><p>The findings show that all three companies have recognized a change in their consumers buying behavior and done several changes in their marketing strategies. </p><p>This research can be useful for every company in the same or similar situation, in order to see how important it is to have a flexible marketing strategy and be able to adapt to the changing environment in order to either survive or improve their position on the market.</p>

<p>The purpose of this study is to provide the view on the online advertising’s characteristics during the present financial crisis in Sweden. To achieve the purpose, multiple case study of four main Swedish banks is used with the predominance of descriptive method. The main finding of this study is close interaction between the advertising character and market trends impact. This main observation has a great impact on the character of the analysis and affects almost every functional aspect of the advertising. Besides that, also five other main observations were made. Following them, it is especially worth to mention that advertising can be a source of competitiveness, a way of differentiation or a way of conditioning customer. From all the study findings, clear image of ads typical features, functions and roles in the banks’ prosperity arises.</p>

The purpose of this study is to provide the view on the online advertising’s characteristics during the present financial crisis in Sweden. To achieve the purpose, multiple case study of four main Swedish banks is used with the predominance of descriptive method. The main finding of this study is close interaction between the advertising character and market trends impact. This main observation has a great impact on the character of the analysis and affects almost every functional aspect of the advertising. Besides that, also five other main observations were made. Following them, it is especially worth to mention that advertising can be a source of competitiveness, a way of differentiation or a way of conditioning customer. From all the study findings, clear image of ads typical features, functions and roles in the banks’ prosperity arises.

The current financial crisis has spread around the world and no business sector has stayed untouched. While companies in some sectors have been forced to close down or lay off employees, companies in the food retail sector mainly have to adapt to their customers´ preferences, which according to Ang, Leong & Kotler (2000) change in times of financial crisis. The purpose of this dissertation was therefore to examine how Swedish food retailers adapt their marketing strategies to the changing consumer buying behavior during the financial crisis. A qualitative method with an abductive approach was chosen for this research, and the empirical data was gathered from three companies in the Swedish food retail sector; ICA, Coop and Axfood. Primary data was collected through phone interviews and was supported by annual information from their websites, annual reports and different articles. The findings show that all three companies have recognized a change in their consumers buying behavior and done several changes in their marketing strategies. This research can be useful for every company in the same or similar situation, in order to see how important it is to have a flexible marketing strategy and be able to adapt to the changing environment in order to either survive or improve their position on the market.

2008, the subprime mortgage of America caused the global financial crisis since 1930. The semiconductor company, Qimonda claimed bankrupt protection due to final issue. Most semiconductor companies including DRAM, IDM were hurt deeply by the financial crisis. This study researches by interviewing and referring the related documentation to understand the semiconductor industry¡¦s history and current situation. And provide the possible management strategies while the financial crisis occurring.

No English Abstract.

My dissertation investigates the behavior of consumers and banks in the presence of government as the credit insurer of last resort. Consumers have an option to file for bankruptcy under law when there are unexpected adverse shocks, while banks, especially large banks, are supported by the government during financial crisis because of systemic risk. I explore the heterogeneous behavior among consumers and banks with adverse shocks. In the first chapter of my dissertation, my inquiry focuses on the heterogeneous behavior of households in filing for bankruptcy. In the literature, there are two theories in explaining personal bankruptcy: adverse event theory and strategic timing theory. Fay, Hurst and White(FHW) 2002(AER) include both financial benefit and adverse event variables in explaining the bankruptcy decision, and they find only financial benefit from filing is significant in explaining whether to file or not. Our argument is that adverse events may not work directly on bankruptcy decisions, however, they operate by running a higher amount of debt. Thus FHW's setting may not be appropriate. Instead, adverse event consumers' debt occurs after adverse events, while strategic timing consumers' debt decision and bankruptcy decision are jointly determined, which means their debt or financial benefit is endogenous; thus we propose that the endogeneity test of financial benefit is a way to distinguish the two types of consumers. Assuming only one type exists in the sample, we find support for adverse event theory. Extending the analysis to allow for both adverse events and strategic timing consumers shows existence of both types of filers, and strategic timing filers are more sensitive to financial benefit. Additionally, lower access to debt markets and lower income significantly increase the chance of strategic behavior. The second part of my dissertation is to study the effectiveness of the Troubled Asset Relief Program(TARP) on banks' loan to asset ratio. One of the fundamental objectives of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is to stimulate bank loan growth. I use panel data to study the dynamic effect of TARP investments on banks' loan to asset ratio (LTA). I find that TARP stimulate recipients' LTA growth as a whole, and the effect is significant only for medium banks(asset between 1 billion and 10 billion), with an annual decrease of 14 percentage points in LTA with the LTA in treatment quarter as benchmark. In terms of a dollar amount, 7.71 dollar more loans are generated for every TARP dollar invested in medium banks, compared with the average level of the quarters before TARP. There is no significant effect on small banks or big banks. Using graphs and different regression models, I argue that the dynamic setting, rather than the cross-sectional comparison, is more appropriate.