This study examines the effects of 2007/8 financial crisis on capital structure determinants of Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed companies in South Africa. Data extracted from INET BFA Expert database was analyzed using regression models on the correlation between the leverage and company size, growth, profitability, tangibility, liquidity, non-debt tax shield along with Ordinary Least Squares based on the sample of JSE listed companies for the period of 2004 to 2013. The study examined two industries namely, Real estate and Retail industry. The results show that size, tangibility, profitability and liquidity have significant impact on the capital structure before, during and after financial crisis. Growth results were inconsistent over the period under review, and non-debt tax shield was found to be statistically insignificant. The study also shows that the 2007/8 had statistical significance on the capital structure of the listed companies in South Africa.

This paper examines the effect of the 90s financial crisis in Sweden on patent quantity and attempts to determine the potential mediating role that institutions of higher education may play. The empirical design consists of adifference-in-differences model which relies on cross-municipality variation in crisis exposure, which is defined asthe percentage of employment loss during the crisis years, 1991-1993. The results suggest that the crisis did not significantly affect the overall number of patents issued; however, Innovation significantly increased in municipalities with an above-median college attendance rate. Additionally, I find that municipalities with access to institutions of higher education were also positively affected by the crisis in terms of patent quantity. Both these results indicate that government policy to expand access to higher education institutions may in fact facilitate innovation activity during times of financial crisis.

Elaborate master’s thesis investigates at first the general knowledge of the theoretical background related with the global financial crisis and its subsequent transfer to the automotive industry. After the theoretical examination is master’s thesis analyzing company MS technik in the period before the financial crisis and especially during the drop in production caused by the effects of financial crisis in the automotive industry. The main part of master’s thesis is solving the impacts of the crises and their consequences in MS technik and in particular the proposals and their subsequent application in the enterprise to cope with the effects of financial crisis which in 2008 affected the market of the automotive industry.

The Effects of the Financial Crisis on the Regulation of Financial Markets with a Focus on Securitization Abstract The thesis investigates the influence of the financial crisis on financial markets regulation, with a focus on securitization. In its first part, it attempts to identify the causes of the financial crisis from years 2008 and 2009. It builds up the attention onto the regulatory tendencies of the 20th century from the Great Depression until the 2008 financial crisis. Then it focuses on the monetary policy of central banks, especially the FED in the USA and its influence on the mortgage market.The following part contains a brief description of the development of the US mortgage market and the start of mortgage loan securitization. The chapter of financial crisis also addresses the role of rating agencies in the securitization system and their impact on the creation of toxic assets. The main part of the thesis is dedicated to securitization, where it is analyzed its economic essence, legal definitions and process of securitization, which is further divided into traditional and synthetic securitization. In order to disucuss the synthetic securitization more in depth, one chapter is dedicated to credit derivatives. The securitization process is conluded with the release of ABS as a securitization...

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Administration and Law, in fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Economics at the University of Zululand, 2019. / The extent of the damage caused by the 2007/08 global financial crisis (GFC) has forced policymakers all over the world to respond promptly in order to mitigate its effect, a process in which they are still engaged in, particularly in advanced economies. The main objective of this study is to measure systemic risk in African emerging economies and develop a macroprudential regulatory framework to mitigate or limit the effect of such risk. More specifically, the study intends to1) Developing financial stress index (FSI) for the Emerging African economy; 2) Investigate the possibility of Early Warning Signal (EWS) helping in predicting and preventing or minimising the effects of the crisis on financial institutions; 3) Assess the resilience of individual banking companies to adverse macroeconomic and financial market conditions using stress testing technique; 4) Identify the source of fluctuation within the system; 5) Identify and measure systemic risk emanating from the capital flow (surge) as well as its effects on financial stability. This study contributed to the body of knowledge by measuring systemic risk in emerging African economies. To the best of my knowledge, there have not been any studies that have been conducted for the measure of systemic risk with the context of emerging African economies. The target economies include South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya. The first objective of the study is to construct a financial stress index (FSI) for emerging African economies. The FSI which is aimed at revealing the functionality of the financial system a single aggregate indicator that is constructed to reflect the systemic nature of financial instability and as well to measure the vulnerability of the financial system to both internal and external shocks. The result shows that both the domestic and international shocks created uncertainty in the economies under consideration. On the international scene, we have the financial crisis while on the domestic scene; we have slow growth, banking crisis, energy crisis, labour crisis, coupled with political uncertainty. The FSI is also useful and appropriate as the dependent variable in an early signal warning model, and as well be used to gauge the effectiveness of government measures to mitigate financial stress. The models forecasting performance was tested using the ordinary least square methods and it affirmed that the model is reliable and that the FSI can be used for prediction of a future crisis. v The aim of the second objective is to develop an early warning signal (EWS) model to predict the possibility of the occurrence of a financial crisis in emerging African countries. The multinomial logit model built by Bussiere and Fratzscher (2006) was adopted to afford policy makers ample time to prevent or mitigate potential financial crisis. In summary, the result suggests that emerging African economies are more likely to face financial crisis as debts continue to rise without a corresponding capacity to withstand capital flow reversal as well as excessive FX risk due to currency exposure. The result further indicates that rising debt exposure increases the probability or likelihood of the economies remaining in a state of crisis. This result confirms the significance of a financial stability framework that fits Africa’s emerging economies characteristics such as rising debt profile liquidity and currency risk exposure. The third objective is to test the resilience of the financial sector using stress testing technique. Macro stress testing is a multi-step simulation process aimed at estimating the impact of credit risk shock on macroeconomic as well as financial sectors. In this study, a two-step approach was employed in this chapter. The first step involves analyzing the determinants of credit risk in 4 Emerging African economies during the period 2006m1 to 2012m12 using the panel Auto Regressive Distribution Lag (ARDL) model. Second, the vector autoregressive (VAR) models were employed to assess the resilience of the financial system as well as the economy to adverse credit risk shocks. The result shows that all the variables under both the macro and financial model jointly determine credit risk, although when examined on an individual basis only, UMP, IBR, and INF have a significant impact on NPL in the long run. For the macro stress testing, the VAR methodology was employed to stress test the emerging African economy financial sector and the result indicated that there a significant relationship between changes in output gap (GAP) and the nonperforming loans. A significant relationship was also established between inflation and nonperforming loans. In all, South Africa and Nigeria’s financial system seems more resilient to credit losses associated with this scenario without threatening financial stability compared to Kenya and Egypt. The fourth objective examined the sources of capital flows surge and their impact on macroeconomic variables. This study employed a ��−�������� to investigate the source capital flow surge within the system. The main findings of the result indicate that capital flow, which is vi proxied by FDI, is influenced by a wide variety of macroeconomic variables such as inflation, export growth and unemployment. There is therefore need for the implementation of capital controls framework tame massive capital inflows. Nevertheless, such a mechanism should not undermine the impact of capital inflows on employment, growth and financial stability. The fifth objective of the study is aimed at identifying and measuring the sources of systematic risk and its impact on the stability of the financial system using the Conditional Value-at-Risk methodology. The main finding of the study indicates that at the normal and extreme event the banking sector contributes positively and significantly to the real economy for all the countries except for Nigeria at the extreme event or 1 percent quantile. This study, therefore, concludes that the banking sector, stock market volatility contributes greatly to systemic risk in emerging African economies. The individual bank also contributes significantly to systemic risk for all the economies although the magnitudes are relatively different across economies. This finding is of great interest to policymakers since it shows that the banking sectors as well as stock market volatility have a negative impact on the real economy. This result is plausible as the banking and financial sector for most emerging economies constitute a greater proportion of the real economy. There is, therefore, need for a regulatory framework to reduce risk emanating from the banking sector as well as the financial markets. In summary, due to huge capital flows and rising debt level in emerging African economies, there is, therefore, a need for a macroprudential policy that will fit African economies as well as the implementation of capital controls framework tame massive capital inflows. Efforts should be made to reduce the rising debts profile of most countries and that will require a greater level of commitment from their respective government and central banks. However, these should be in the interest of the growth and stability of the financial system and the real economy at large. In the case of the banking sector, since it has a great impact on triggering systemic risk, more effort should be utilized to continue to monitor its performance so that potential risk can be detected early and nip in the bud.

This thesis deals mainly with the question how and to what extent the 1997 Asian financial crisis influenced the unprecedented development of the welfare system in South Korea while other Asian countries remained or diminished their welfare programs. This research explains the historical development of the South Korean welfare system, which has been entwined with political and economic conditions in the theoretical approach of the path dependence. This research proved that the 1997 crisis was a critical juncture, which explains how unprecedented welfare policy reforms were achieved and that the character of the South Korean welfare system has improved. While the IMF and the World Bank required the reforms and expansion of social safety net as a bailout condition, the political leadership of South Korea was changed by President Kim Dae-Jung, which made possible opening progressive policymaking and decision processes in reform politics to extend the national welfare system, particularly four social insurance systems and the public assistance. Given these occasions, the character of the South Korean welfare system has transferred from the liberal welfare-state regime to the conservative.

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.

Inquiries have been made by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education and the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to determine how colleges and universities could meet the financial crisis now being faced. One of the recommendations made by both agencies as a result of their investigations was that curriculum planners at these institutions provide students with opportunities to have off-campus experiences, preferably in their chosen career areas, before they are graduated to determine whether they want to pursue their studies in that area or reorient themselves to other options. These planned stopouts, they suggested, would curtail drifting or hanging on as well as enable students to gain practical experiences at various stages in their training. There is a lack of information in the literature to justify immediate response to the suggestions made by the private and public bodies mentioned. Time does not permit officials to conduct longitudinal studies based on an experimental design which would provide a basis to accept or reject these recommendations. This study represents an effort to investigate the effects of stopping out on former students. Admittedly it has limitations, particularly those inherent in ex post facto research, but does provide some results which may assist administrators and faculties as they make decisions in light of the crisis now facing them. The results of this study indicate that students who have stopped out are more likely to change their academic major than students who have not stopped out. Also, there are indications that stopping out does not affect academic standing. However, it was found that for most students grades get higher as they progress through school whether they stop out or stay in. This finding is in agreement with findings from previous studies reported in the literature.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Finance and Investment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2018 / This paper aims to optimise the financial conditions index (FCI) indicator that best describes the monetary policy interest rate setting behaviour of twelve emerging market central banks. This is achieved by analysing and looking at the background of modelling interest rates and forecasting interest rate setting behaviour from various regions globally. Following the credit crisis of 2008, the conventional wisdom and foundations that prevailed before were profoundly shaken. Particularly the conduct and behaviour of central banks in response to financial conditions assumed centre stage. Consequently, there has been a consensus among economists and policymakers on the importance of financial conditions, and the influence thereof, on the interest rate setting. However, in order for central banks to achieve their financial stability objectives, they need to construct an optimal indicator that best describes financial conditions. To construct such an optimal indicator, this paper firstly investigates whether the central banks of emerging markets follow the Taylor rule in setting their interest rates. Secondly, it investigates whether the FCI with optimal time-varying weights better describes interest rate movements in emerging markets, when incorporated in the Taylor rule. Lastly, it evaluates interest rate predictability by comparing various models that include non-optimized FCIs. The paper finds that the majority of emerging countries follow the Taylor rule. It also finds that most emerging markets take into account the information contained in FCIs and the majority of these countries, optimize the variables that enter the FCIs. When evaluating the forecasting accuracy of these models, the paper finds that the optimized model ranks superior in most countries in terms of forecasting accuracy. The optimization and allocation of the variables that enter the optimized FCI happen in a similar manner that was proposed by Markowitz in portfolio allocation theory. / GR2019

This thesis examines three important topics in corporate governance: the relationship between activist hedge funds and other institutional investors, the role of perks in the market for CEO talent, and public scrutiny and the changing nature of perks. First, I provide an in depth study of the interaction between activist hedge funds and other institutional investors. Hedge funds are more likely to target firms with high levels of institutional ownership, and demonstrate a preference for short term focused institutional investors. Hedge fund activism generates short run and long run abnormal returns without increasing stock return volatility. Regardless of investment horizon, volatility is inversely related to prior period institutional ownership. The trading behavior of institutional owners with different investment horizons is consistent with hedge fund activism creating value. These findings hold regardless of whether investment horizon is based on portfolio churn rate or type of institution. Overall, the results suggest a mutually beneficial relationship between activist hedge funds and other institutional investors. Second, in a coauthored paper with Drs. Seungijn Han and Jiaping Qiu, I provide the first comprehensive analysis on how CEOs’ wage and perks are jointly determined in a competitive CEO market. The underlying theory shows that in equilibrium, firm size, wage, perks and talent are all positively related. Perks are more sensitive than wage to changes in firm size. The more perks enhance the CEO’s productivity, the faster perks increase in firm size. Closed form solutions allow the recovery of the cost function of providing perks. I examine the determinants of CEO perquisite compensation using hand-collected information for S&P 500 companies and find consistent empirical evidence. Third, I examine the impact of public scrutiny on CEO compensation using the unique opportunity provided by the 2008 financial crisis, government support, and legislated compensation restrictions. I introduce novel data on executive perks at S&P 500 firms from 2006 to 2012. Overall, my results are consistent with increased public scrutiny having lasting impact on perks and temporary impact on wage, and with legislated compensation restrictions having temporary impact on wage. Changes in specific perks items provide evidence on which perks firms perceive as excessive and which provide common value. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)