Includes bibliographical references / This paper investigates the impact of firm size and industry on the capital structure of listed South African firms. It uses data obtained from firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and tests trade-off theory and pecking order theory for firms of various sizes, firms in different industries and also tests for differences between debt maturities. Multiple fixed effect models are used to firstly test for the main factors that impact capital structure and secondly to test which sources of capital are preferred to finance a change in assets. The analysis shows that firms of different sizes and firms that operate in different industries choose their capital structure in various ways. Larger firms are more highly geared debt more than small firms and smaller firms prefer to use internally generated funds. The two main capital structure theories, trade-off and pecking order, do not explain the difference in behaviour adequately. The paper also finds that similar factors impact both long-term and short-term debt.

This study is on implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by reporting entities in Nigeria. Since Nigeria adopted IFRS in 2010, managers of reporting entities have been confronted with organizational changes both in the structures and processes of financial reporting. Previous studies have not assessed the claims that adopting IFRS improves the quality of financial reports and managerial efficiency. This study evaluated the assertion that IFRS adoption impacts the quality of financial reports, operational costs, and operational efficiencies of management. The theoretical frameworks which undergirded the study were theories of organizational behaviors and attitudinal change. Data were collected via a stratified sampling of 520 respondents who completed a 5-point Likert scale, which has a long history of reliability and usage in social science research. This study adopted a documentary review of financial statements before and after IFRS implementation to evaluate how IFRS adoption affected them. Logistic regression was used to test the main effects of IFRS adoption as independent variable to predict managerial efficiency as outcome variable. The study found statistically significant improvement in the quality of financial reporting and managerial efficiency following IFRS adoption. Participants' perceptions about IFRS measured on the attitudes scale did not significantly predict managerial efficiency, however, and the cost and benefit of implementing IFRS had no significant relationship with managerial efficiency. The study has positive social change implications as its findings, when implemented, may lead to more efficient company management, business expansion, improved government accounting oversight, more job opportunities, and reduced crime rates.

The banking industry in Ghana has seen tremendous growth in recent times. This exponential growth has led to high levels of competition and necessitated that all banks devise strategies to improve customer satisfaction to gain competitive advantage. The growing demands of customers have a significant impact on bank management's ability to attract and retain them. The ability to retain customers depends on the strategy in place to exceed customer expectations and satisfaction. Grounded in relationship marketing theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies banking leaders use to increase customer satisfaction. Data were collected through semistructured interviews from 6 bank leaders in 3 banks in Accra. Member checking confirmed the interpretation of participant data. Three themes emerged from the data analysis. The themes were customer centricity, customer relationship management, and service quality standards. Adopting customer-centric strategies, building strong relations with customers, and implementing quality service standards might increase customer satisfaction, retention, and profitability. The social change outcomes include the opportunity for the banks to give back to the community through corporate social responsibility and extending credit to improve the quality and standards of living of the people. Improved standards of living could result in the people in the Ghanaian community doing more business with banks, resulting in a ripple effect of profitability and giving back to society.

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.

Poor decisions and conflicts of interest by members of company boards of directors have been a factor in the dramatic rise in chief executive officer (CEO) compensation, resulting in a lower return on equity (ROE) for shareholders. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between CEO compensation, CEO duality, and ROE after controlling for CEO age, CEO tenure, and firm size, as measured by total assets. Agency theory was the theoretical framework for this study. The study examined whether a statistically significant relationship existed between CEO compensation, CEO duality, and ROE, after controlling for CEO age, CEO tenure, and firm size. Archival data were collected and analyzed from a sample of publicly traded firms in the United States listed on the 2016 Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Hierarchical multiple regression techniques were used to test the relationship between variables. The results indicated that there was not a statistically significant relationship between CEO compensation, CEO duality, and ROE after controlling for CEO age, CEO tenure, and firm size. The study may contribute to positive social change by increasing the potential for board of directors' members to implement best practices, contributing to reduced shareholder conflicts, less litigation, higher ROE, and enhanced investor confidence benefiting emerging economies and local communities.

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The first chapter analyzes the impact of macroprudential policies on bank systemic risk worldwide. Using data from 63 countries over 2001-2017, I find strong evidence that macroprudential policies are effective in reducing systemic risk at the country level. The effectiveness of macroprudential policies differs across countries in the sample. Macroprudential policies are more effective in reducing systemic risk in countries with more advanced economic development, with a higher degree of concentration in the banking sector, and with less stringent micro-prudential regulations. Bank-level evidence suggests that bank size matters. The impact of macroprudential policies on constraining bank systemic risk is more pronounced for large banks. Results are robust to the use of instrumental variables to address potential concerns, and to the inclusion of additional controls to account for the impact of alternate tools that might be used to foster financial stability. These results have policy implications for effective conduct of macroprudential policies. The second chapter examines the impact of macroprudential policies on private credit growth worldwide. Using data from 43 countries over 2001-2017, I confirm previous findings that borrower-targeted macroprudential policies (Loan-to-Value ratio and Debt-to-Income ratio) significantly reduce total private credit growth. Moreover, the impact of macroprudential policies on private credit differs across countries in the sample. Macroprudential policies negatively affect credit growth only in countries with less advanced economic development, with a lower degree of creditor protection, and without the existence of information sharing institutions. Results are robust to additional controls to account for the impact of alternate bank regulations and policies that might be used to constrain unsustainable credit growth. The third chapter examines the impact of loan loss provisions regulations on bank income smoothing. Using a sample of 2,380 banks from 107 countries over the period 1995-2016, I document evidence that stricter loan classification regulation reduces bank income smoothing through loan loss provisions, especially for big banks. However, I do not find such impact of loan provisioning regulation. I also find evidence that stricter loan classification regulation is effective at reducing bank income smoothing because it encourages banks to recognize loan loss in a more timely manner.

My dissertation contains three essays on short-selling, margin trading, and market efficiency. The first essay uses a unique exogenous event, the introduction of short selling in the Chinese stock market, to examine the direct link between idiosyncratic risk and short selling. Based on Shleifer and Vishny (1997), I hypothesize that idiosyncratic risk deters arbitrageurs with negative information from taking short positions in overvalued stocks. Consequently, the stocks with high idiosyncratic risk are more overvalued at the onset of the introduction of short sale and perform worse in the subsequent period. The second essay examines the impact of the introduction of margin trading and short selling in the Chinese stock market on market quality. The third essay examines the relationship between short selling and SEO discount under the SEC’s amendment to Rule 105. If the amendment is binding, the short-selling prior to seasoned equity offering (SEO) should correctly reflect negative information and promote price efficiency. Thus the winner’s curse problem during SEO process is reduced and the value discount of a SEO should be less

This dissertation is a comprehensive study of convertible-preferred-stock pricing and performance following issuance. It is the first major academic study that identifies significant abnormal performance of corporate contingent claims following issuance. The research utilizes both option-based contingent claims valuation models and econometric techniques to investigate the sources of superior investment performance of convertible securities as an asset class that has persisted for the past thirty years. Two main issues are examined: potential underpricing of convertible preferred stocks at issuance and their subsequent investment performance. Underpricing is examined based on a robust contingent-claims valuation model. Using two samples of convertible preferred stock offerings (24 issues, 12,051 observations and 69 issues, 28,831 observations respectively), the study provides evidence of statistically and economically significant underpricing at issuance that ranges from 2.9% to 1.4% and persists from the first day of convertible trading up to six months following issuance. Underpricing is invariant to convertible ratings and the exchange where the issues are traded. It is found, however, that, large and mid cap issues are more likely to be underpriced than small cap convertibles. Also, the offerings that are underwritten by non-reputable investment bankers are more likely to be underpriced than those underwritten by reputable investment bankers.

Chapter 1 examines the effect of property-type diversification in equity real estate investment trusts (REITs) from 1995 to 2006. A strong positive relationship is documented between property-type diversification and return on assets, return on equity, and Tobin’s Q. The diversification benefit comes from both the ability to select better performing property types in “hot” markets and the limited exposure to poorly performing property types in “cold” markets. Diversified REITs produce higher cash flows relative to equity as a result of a broader opportunity set; moreover, return on assets increases with the degree of diversification, which suggests significant shielding to property-type specific risk. Additionally, results indicate that diversified REITs operate and trade above their contemporaneous predicted values, which are calculated using imputed multipliers from specialized REITs. The evidence shows that the market is operating efficiently and has incorporated this information; diversified REITs Q ratios are significantly greater than specialized REITs. Chapter 2 uses a large sample of municipal bond closed-end funds to examine how tax liability affects seasonal trading. Optimal tax trading dictates that net tax liability be calculated after all trades. Investors’ net tax liability is held in a holding account of his or her choosing. This study investigates what happens when there is tax liability in excess of Safe Harbor, and tax holding accounts are liquidated to cover the payments. We find that there exists a pattern of negative returns and increased volume in the month of March that is unexplained by changes in yield. iii Chapter 3 examines the ex-dividend day effect for municipal bond closed-end. The proposed explanations for this phenomenon are tax effects, short-term trading and/or market microstructure effects. In this study I use a unique set of dividend distributions to provide additional evidence that ex-dividend behavior is related to taxation as well as short-term trading. The sample I use is comprised of dividends in nontaxable closed-end funds, which ordinarily are not subject to Federal Income Tax. However, there is an occasional distribution that is subject to capital gains or ordinary income tax. This provides a unique environment in which to study the ex-dividend price behavior of a fund while eliminating the need for comparisons across funds.