Die vorliegende Dissertation setzt sich aus drei Aufsätzen zusammen: zwei im Bereich der Arbeitsmarktökonomie und einer im Bereich der politischen Ökonomie. Der erste Aufsatz untersucht die Rolle der zunehmenden Firmenheterogenität für die Stagnation des Gender Wage Gaps auf dem westdeutschen Arbeitsmarkt in den 1990er und 2000er Jahren. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die steigende Firmenheterogenität während dieses Zeitraums einen Rückgang des Gender Wage Gaps um 15% bzw. 3,6 Log-Prozentpunkte verhindert hat. Darüber hinaus zeigen die Analysen, dass eine zunehmende Lohnflexibilisierung, bedingt durch einen Rückgang der Tarifbindung und wachsende Dezentralisierungs- und Flexibilisierungstendenzen innerhalb der vorhandenen Tarifbindungsregime, den Anstieg der Lohnungleichheit zwischen Betrieben und folglich die Lohnungleichheit zwischen Männern und Frauen verstärkt hat. Der zweite Aufsatz untersucht die Auswirkungen des Anfang der 1990er Jahre von Flüchtlingsmigranten verursachten, plötzlichen Anstiegs des Arbeitskräfteangebots auf Löhne und Beschäftigung der einheimischen Arbeitnehmer. Die empirischen Analysen zeigen, dass ein 1%iger Zuwachs in der Beschäftigung von Migranten mit einer Reduzierung des lokalen Lohn- und Beschäftigungswachstums in den betroffenen Regionen um durchschnittlich etwa 0,68 bzw. 1,13% einhergeht; auf längere Sicht zeigen sich indes keine negativen Auswirkungen. Zwei Drittel des lokalen Beschäftigungsrückgangs werden durch entsprechende Beschäftigungsgewinne in solchen Regionen kompensiert, die von der Flüchtlingszuwanderung nicht betroffen sind. Die Unterschiede zwischen kurz- und langfristigen Konsequenzen sowie die Umverteilung der Beschäftigung zwischen Regionen sind für die politische Evaluation der Vor- und Nachteile von Migration von Bedeutung. Der dritte Aufsatz untersucht, ob die Parteienlandschaft im Gemeinderat einen Effekt auf die Struktur von Gemeindezusammenlegungen hat, indem sie die Wahrscheinlichkeit der Wiederwahl und folglich des Machterhalts der im Amt befindlichen politischen Entscheidungsträger beeinflusst. Die empirischen Ergebnisse deuten darauf hin, dass die Parteienstruktur für die Realisierung von Gemeindezusammenlegungen von Bedeutung ist. / This dissertation is composed of three essays: two in the field of labour economics and one in political economics. The first essay studies the role of growing workplace heterogeneity for the stagnation of the gender pay gap on the West German labour market during the 1990s and 2000s. The analysis shows that the expansion of workplace-specific wage premiums over that time period prevented the gender wage gap from narrowing by around 15% or 3.6 log points. This effect is not driven by a relocation of men and women across high and low wage firms, but is entirely attributable to a widening in the distribution of wage premiums. The study further shows that rising wage flexibilisation, facilitated by deunionisation and decentralisation tendencies within unions, has led to higher rent-sharing elasticities, and thereby catalysed the role of workplace heterogeneity for overall inequality and the wage gap between genders. The second essay investigates the impact of a refugee-driven labour supply shock on native wages and employment. By exploiting a large and unexpected refugee wave hitting the West German labour market between 1988 and 1993, the analysis shows that an increase in local immigrant employment by 1% reduces native wages and employment by about 0.68 and 1.13%, respectively; in the longer perspective, however, these negative effects disappear. The study also shows that about two-thirds of the local employment decline is compensated by corresponding employment gains in regions not affected by immigration. Both findings—the difference between short and long run effects and the redistribution of native employment across regions — are important for the political evaluation of immigration. The third essay investigates the political determinants of municipality amalgamations. By exploiting a boundary reform in the state of Brandenburg, which reduced the number of municipalities by about 70%, the study asks whether party representation in the town council influences the structure of municipality mergers by affecting the political decision makers’ probability to remain in power. The empirical estimates suggest that political representation matters for the structure of mergers that materialise.

This thesis comprehensively examines financial structure choices of firms in three emerging economies of the East African region. It highlights the lack of research in this area and empirically examines three panel data models of financial structure (ownership, firm-specific factorsâ and firm performance models, whilst incorporating the influence of macroeconomic factors) using panel data estimation techniques, including the method of moments framework. It estimates these models using panel data from 47 listed firms; and then data from 20 private firms. The original and significant contributions to knowledge of my thesis are as follows: it provides novel insights into the relation between ownership structure and firm financial structure; it provides new understanding of the relation between firm-specific factors and financial structure of quoted and private firms in emerging economies (an area where research has been lacking); it provides new understanding and additional evidence with respect to the effect of ownership structure on the performance of firms in the East African region; it incorporates the influence of macroeconomic and institutional factors on financial structure choices; and it proposes frameworks for reviewing knowledge of financial structure choices, which can be used for further scholarly work on financial structure of firms in emerging economies. The findings of this research have implications for a possibility of a new theoretical framework for researching financial structure choice of firms in emerging economies; for policy makers to design deliberate policies that enhance access to finance for firms operating in an emerging economy; and for policy makers to regulate institutions (banking sector and capital market) as they develop to ensure equitable access (particularly for the private firms) to finance by all firms operating within the economy. Taken together, the results have implication for future scholarship in that they provide clearer and useful insights on ownership structure, financial structure choices and performance of both quoted and private firms in emerging economies; and the methods used are highly replicable and can be replicated in future studies of financial structure choices of firms in emerging economies. It has also invoked further questions that require answers.

Esta pesquisa busca investigar quais os direcionadores-chave da estrutura de capital corporativa na América Latina durante o período de 1996 a 2006. Para tanto, são levantados 28 potenciais determinantes do endividamento organizacional a partir da literatura, sendo os mesmos segmentados em fatores específicos da empresa, do setor e do país. A análise dos dados consiste na estimação de um modelo estático e um dinâmico, os quais controlam qualquer efeito constante no tempo que afete o nível de dívida das empresas. A partir dos resultados, verifica-se que 10 variáveis apresentaram efeito significativo sobre o grau de alavancagem corporativa, sendo as mesmas relativamente bem distribuídas entre os grupos de fatores explicativos. Comparando os sinais dos coeficientes encontrados com os preconizados pela literatura, é constatado que a teoria do tradeoff estático, dos custos de agência e da assimetria de informação e pecking order se complementam ao explicar as estimativas obtidas. Uma comparação entre os determinantes do endividamento corporativo da América Latina e dos Estados Unidos apresenta indícios de que as imperfeições de mercado superiores que as empresas latino-americanas enfrentam são mais relevantes para a tomada de decisão de estrutura de capital. Por fim, verifica-se que os fatores específicos das empresas são os direcionadores-chave do endividamento das organizações latino-americanas. / This study aims to investigate which are the key drivers of corporate capital structure in Latin America during the period from 1996 to 2006. To do so, I select 28 potential determinants of firms' debt ratio based on the literature, which are divided into firm, industry and country-specific factors. The data analysis consists in the estimation of a static and a dynamic model, where both control any effect constant through time that affect the level of firm debt. The results show that 10 variables have a significant effect on the degree of corporate leverage. These variables are relatively well distributed among the groups of explanatory factors. Comparing the signs of the coefficients found with those predicted by the literature, one can observe evidence that the static tradeoff, the agency costs and the asymmetric information and pecking order theories complement each other to explain the estimates obtained. A comparison between the determinants of corporate leverage in Latin America and United States shows vestiges that the superior market imperfections Latin American companies face are more relevant to the capital structure decision making. Lastly, I find that firm-specific factors are the key drivers of the Latin American firms' leverage.

Submitted by Robson Campos (rcampos@uol.com.br) on 2016-02-22T12:19:25Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Master's Thesis_CIM2_RobsonCampos_Final Version_uploaded281215.pdf: 956324 bytes, checksum: efa8185ebe5e8bc92dbd2d369654082e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Janete de Oliveira Feitosa (janete.feitosa@fgv.br) on 2016-02-25T14:14:37Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Master's Thesis_CIM2_RobsonCampos_Final Version_uploaded281215.pdf: 956324 bytes, checksum: efa8185ebe5e8bc92dbd2d369654082e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcia Bacha (marcia.bacha@fgv.br) on 2016-02-29T12:18:56Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Master's Thesis_CIM2_RobsonCampos_Final Version_uploaded281215.pdf: 956324 bytes, checksum: efa8185ebe5e8bc92dbd2d369654082e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-02-29T12:19:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Master's Thesis_CIM2_RobsonCampos_Final Version_uploaded281215.pdf: 956324 bytes, checksum: efa8185ebe5e8bc92dbd2d369654082e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-10-28 / One of the challenges presented by the current conjecture in Global Companies is to recognize and understand that the culture and levels in structure of the Power Distance in Organizations in different countries contribute, significantly, toward the failure or success of their strategies. The alignment between the implementation and execution of new strategies for projects intended for the success of the Organization as a whole, rather than as an individual part thereof, is an important step towards reducing the impacts of Power Distance (PDI) on the success of business strategies. A position at odds with this understanding by Companies creates boundaries that increase organizational chasms, also taking into consideration relevant aspects such as, FSAs (Firm-Specific Advantages) and CSAs (Country-Specific Advantages). It is also important that the Organizations based in countries or regions of low Power Distance (PDI) between its individuals be more flexible and prepared to ask and to hear the suggestions from Regional and Local Offices. Thus, the purpose of this study is to highlight the elements of effective strategy implementation considering the relevant aspects at all levels of global corporate culture that justify the influences of power distance when implementing new strategies and also to minimize the impacts of this internal business relationship. This study also recognizes that other corporate and cultural aspects are relevant for the success of business strategies so consider, for instance, the lack of alignment between global and regional/local organizations, the need for competent leadership resources, as well as the challenges that indicate the distance between the hierarchical levels ─ Headquarters and Regional Office ─ as some of the various causes that prevent the successful execution of global strategies. Finally, we show that the execution of the strategy cannot be treated as a construction solely created by the Headquarters or by only one Board and that it needs to be understood as a system aimed at interacting with the surroundings.

Esta pesquisa busca investigar quais os direcionadores-chave da estrutura de capital corporativa na América Latina durante o período de 1996 a 2006. Para tanto, são levantados 28 potenciais determinantes do endividamento organizacional a partir da literatura, sendo os mesmos segmentados em fatores específicos da empresa, do setor e do país. A análise dos dados consiste na estimação de um modelo estático e um dinâmico, os quais controlam qualquer efeito constante no tempo que afete o nível de dívida das empresas. A partir dos resultados, verifica-se que 10 variáveis apresentaram efeito significativo sobre o grau de alavancagem corporativa, sendo as mesmas relativamente bem distribuídas entre os grupos de fatores explicativos. Comparando os sinais dos coeficientes encontrados com os preconizados pela literatura, é constatado que a teoria do tradeoff estático, dos custos de agência e da assimetria de informação e pecking order se complementam ao explicar as estimativas obtidas. Uma comparação entre os determinantes do endividamento corporativo da América Latina e dos Estados Unidos apresenta indícios de que as imperfeições de mercado superiores que as empresas latino-americanas enfrentam são mais relevantes para a tomada de decisão de estrutura de capital. Por fim, verifica-se que os fatores específicos das empresas são os direcionadores-chave do endividamento das organizações latino-americanas. / This study aims to investigate which are the key drivers of corporate capital structure in Latin America during the period from 1996 to 2006. To do so, I select 28 potential determinants of firms' debt ratio based on the literature, which are divided into firm, industry and country-specific factors. The data analysis consists in the estimation of a static and a dynamic model, where both control any effect constant through time that affect the level of firm debt. The results show that 10 variables have a significant effect on the degree of corporate leverage. These variables are relatively well distributed among the groups of explanatory factors. Comparing the signs of the coefficients found with those predicted by the literature, one can observe evidence that the static tradeoff, the agency costs and the asymmetric information and pecking order theories complement each other to explain the estimates obtained. A comparison between the determinants of corporate leverage in Latin America and United States shows vestiges that the superior market imperfections Latin American companies face are more relevant to the capital structure decision making. Lastly, I find that firm-specific factors are the key drivers of the Latin American firms' leverage.

Esta pesquisa busca investigar quais os direcionadores-chave da estrutura de capital corporativa na América Latina durante o período de 1996 a 2006. Para tanto, são levantados 28 potenciais determinantes do endividamento organizacional a partir da literatura, sendo os mesmos segmentados em fatores específicos da empresa, do setor e do país. A análise dos dados consiste na estimação de um modelo estático e um dinâmico, os quais controlam qualquer efeito constante no tempo que afete o nível de dívida das empresas. A partir dos resultados, verifica-se que 10 variáveis apresentaram efeito significativo sobre o grau de alavancagem corporativa, sendo as mesmas relativamente bem distribuídas entre os grupos de fatores explicativos. Comparando os sinais dos coeficientes encontrados com os preconizados pela literatura, é constatado que a teoria do tradeoff estático, dos custos de agência e da assimetria de informação e pecking order se complementam ao explicar as estimativas obtidas. Uma comparação entre os determinantes do endividamento corporativo da América Latina e dos Estados Unidos apresenta indícios de que as imperfeições de mercado superiores que as empresas latino-americanas enfrentam são mais relevantes para a tomada de decisão de estrutura de capital. Por fim, verifica-se que os fatores específicos das empresas são os direcionadores-chave do endividamento das organizações latino-americanas. / This study aims to investigate which are the key drivers of corporate capital structure in Latin America during the period from 1996 to 2006. To do so, I select 28 potential determinants of firms' debt ratio based on the literature, which are divided into firm, industry and country-specific factors. The data analysis consists in the estimation of a static and a dynamic model, where both control any effect constant through time that affect the level of firm debt. The results show that 10 variables have a significant effect on the degree of corporate leverage. These variables are relatively well distributed among the groups of explanatory factors. Comparing the signs of the coefficients found with those predicted by the literature, one can observe evidence that the static tradeoff, the agency costs and the asymmetric information and pecking order theories complement each other to explain the estimates obtained. A comparison between the determinants of corporate leverage in Latin America and United States shows vestiges that the superior market imperfections Latin American companies face are more relevant to the capital structure decision making. Lastly, I find that firm-specific factors are the key drivers of the Latin American firms' leverage.

Bakgrund: Analytikerhus och banker har i dagsläget en betydande roll för värderingen av företag och allmänhetens investeringsbeslut som följer dessa aktörers råd. Oavsett värderingsmetod så har analytikern en stor frihet i värderingsprocessen och det finns mycket möjligheter för subjektiva bedömningar och antaganden. Varför är detta viktigt? Jo, analytikernas ändamål skiljer sig mellan företag. Vissa aktieanalytiker arbetar med uppdragsanalyser, där ett företag begär en publik analys för att marknadsföra både sitt bolag och sin aktie, fokus kan ofta befinna sig på möjligheter för företaget i fråga snarare än hot. Vissa aktieanalytiker jobbar med M&A transaktioner, där det istället kan vara fördelaktigt för köparens team att komma fram till en låg värdering för att köpa ett bolag billigt men för säljaren gäller motsatsen. Olika ändamål kan skapa utrymme för missvisande värderingar. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att analysera hur svenska analytikerhus och banker jobbar med företagsspecifika riskpremier för att sedan kunna analysera hur de skiljer sig åt och belysa hur och när riskpremierna används av de olika analytikerna. Metod: Studien grundar sig i en kvalitativ undersökning i form av intervjuer med svenska analytiker från analytikerhus och banker, vars dagliga verksamhet består av företagsvärdering och/eller rådgivning. Efter empiriska data presenterats har denna ställts mot befintliga teorier och annan forskning för att skapa en redogörelse över hur analytikerna skiljer sig åt gällande riskpremierna Slutsats: En justerad CAPM används av nästan alla respondenter. De främsta riskerna som identifierades hos analytikerna vissa sig vara branschrisk, vinstvolatilitet, överlevnadsrisk, ledning, kund- och leverantörsberoende. Största skillnad var vilka risker analytikerna väljer att inkludera i prognos och i riskpremier. Författarna har identifierat att en storlekspremie används endast vid arbete med onoterade bolag av revisionsbyrå. Erfarenhet har visat sig vara avgörande vid skattningen av avkastningskravet, författarna menar att det kan finnas en koppling till bias i detta sammanhang. / Background: Analyst firms and banks currently play a significant role in the valuation of companies and the public's investment decisions that follow the advice of these players. Regardless of the valuation method, the analyst has a great deal of freedom in the valuation process and there are many opportunities for subjective assessments and assumptions. Why is this important? Well, the purpose of the analysts differs between companies. Some stock analysts work with commissioned analyzes, where a company requests a public analysis to market both its company and its stock, the focus can often be on opportunities for the company in question rather than threats. Some equity analysts work with M&A transactions, where it may instead be advantageous for the buyer's team to arrive at a low valuation to buy a company cheaply, but for the seller the opposite applies. Different purposes can create room for misleading valuations. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to analyze how Swedish analyst firms and banks work with firm-specific risk premiums in order to then be able to analyze how they differ and shed light on how and when the risk premiums are used by the various analysts.  Methodology: The study is based on a qualitative study in the form of interviews with Swedish analysts from analyst firms and banks, whose daily operations consist of company valuation and / or financial advice. After empirical data has been presented, this has been set against existing theories and previous research to create a description of how analysts differ regarding current risk premiums.  Conclusion: An adjusted CAPM is used by almost all respondents. The main risks identified by the analysts turned out to be industry risk, profit volatility, survival risk, management, customer and supplier dependence. The biggest difference was which risks the analysts choose to include in the forecast and in risk premiums. The authors have identified that a size premium is only used when working with unlisted companies by an auditing firm. Experience has proven to be crucial in estimating the required rate of return, the authors believe that there may be a connection to bias in this context.

80年代末期，全球經濟中出現一種特殊的國際企業，其在創業初期或在創業很短的時間內就開始涉入國際市場，而且國際化的程度相當高。文獻將這種類型的國際企業稱之為「國際新創事業」 (International New Venture)，同時證實這種新出現的國際企業類型非但不是特例，甚至越來越為普及。由於這類廠商通常規模較小，但卻能成功的在國際市場中與設立已久的大型廠商成功競爭，顯示現象背後必然存在相當值得探討的管理意涵。台灣廠商整體而言具備了兩大特色－高度的國際化及旺盛的創業精神－此二特色正符合學界對國際新創事業的概念性定義。另外由於「國際化」與「創業」領域結合的研究議題在學界正方興未艾，在學界對國際新創事業的認識仍存有落差的情況下，針對台灣國際新創事業之現象，具體描繪這些廠商的輪廓、瞭解這些廠商國際化的績效意涵、探討這些廠商的優勢策略、市場策略及後續成長等議題，在理論及實務上都具有相當重要之意義與價值。 本研究在國際新創事業日益普及，但文獻研究卻相對缺乏的研究背景下，嘗試探討影響國際新創事業績效之因素。本研究先以國際化理論之觀點，發展國際化程度、研發投資及廣告投資對國際新創事業績效影響之相關假說；同時另以創業觀點對台灣國際新創事業進行市場進入策略之分類，發展各種策略型態的報酬與風險關係之假說，並針對廠商脫離創業期之後的策略演化進行描繪。 假說驗證上，本研究以行政院主計處1986、1991及1996年針對製造業抽查的資料庫之資料，進行各項假說驗證。統計實證結果大致支持本研究各項假說，即台灣國際新創事業：(1)國際化程度與績效間，呈先增後減的∩型曲線關係；(2) 研發密集度高於低度國際化廠商的研發密集度；(3) 研發密集度與其績效間，呈先減後增的∪型曲線關係；(4) 採取不同市場進入策略，在績效上無顯著之差異；(5) 採取不同市場進入策略在事業風險上有顯著之差異，「技術創業」廠商的風險最高，「後進模仿創業」廠商的風險最低；然而，有關台灣國際新創事業的廣告密集度與其績效間呈負向線性關係之假說，並未能獲得支持。 除以量化統計方式進行分析外，為進一步瞭解國際新創事業國際化的動態歷程及市場策略的演化軌跡，本研究另以個案研究方式進行相關問題之探討。針對四家個案廠商深度訪談的研究結果，除大致呼應量化分析中的各項假說關係外，另亦呈現部分台灣國際新創事業異於西方文獻所預測及描繪的特點，包括海外投資地理範疇的高度集中、國際化與績效關係轉折點跟海外直接投資 (FDI) 有密切關係、利基能力的建構與台灣產業環境間的配適，以及國際化因素對創業廠商績效的調節作用等。 在理論貢獻上，本研究具體完成影響台灣國際新創事業績效的各項因素之探討，補充過去國際新創事業相關文獻中較為缺乏的規範性意涵。此外，透過橫跨1986-1996年的縱斷面分析，本研究具體呈現台灣國際新創事業在特徵屬性、市場進入方式及成長策略上的演化動態，並據以檢驗這些因素的演化型態與廠商績效間之關係，提供學界一個關於國際新創事業更加完整的形態 (posture) 與勢態 (strategic move) 之描繪。最後，本論文以台灣國際新創事業做為研究樣本，也有助於相關理論外部效度之拓展。在實務意涵上，由於本研究跳脫描述性的研究架構，實證結果證實各項策略因素對國際新創事業具有重要之意涵，因此研究結果可做為台灣國際新創事業在制訂國際化策略、優勢策略、市場進入策略及後續成長策略上之參考。

The performance effects of multinationality have been subject to extensive study over the last four decades. To date, the findings of empirical studies have not been able to demonstrate a consistent picture as far as the relationship between multinationality (M) and performance (P) is concerned; nor have they established a general link. This dissertation suggests that the M-P relation might be contingent upon certain contextual considerations. In particular, this doctoral thesis examines the performance effects of multinationality depending on a) scope of international expansion (regional vs. global); b) the role of firm-specific assets (FSAs) and c) home region effects.

本研究主要在探討台灣壽險業健康保險損失率之影響因素。首先，了解健康險損失率是否因為壽險公司規模不同而有顯著差異。再者，將壽險公司依主要專注之通路類型分為三類，包括業務員通路、經代通路以及其他通路，而觀察通路對於健康險損失率的影響情形。最後，藉由個體變數與總體變數之分析，期望以其他不同的角度協助保險公司未來對於損失率的風險控制。 研究結果發現： (一)當壽險公司之資產規模不同時，對於健康險損失率有顯著差異上的影響。大型壽險公司的平均健康險損失率顯著高於小型壽險公司之健康險平均損失率。 (二)壽險公司行銷通路的注重程度不同，確實會使健康保險損失率產生顯著的差異。研究結果發現其他通路運用程度越高的壽險公司，其健康險損失率顯著比使用經代人通路和業務員通路的壽險公司之損失率低。 (三)本研究發現健康險損失率受到總體因素的影響，一般而言比壽險公司個體因素的影響微弱。個體因素確實會顯著影響壽險公司健康險損失率，而且壽險公司不同的規模型態，其主要影響健康險損失率的因素亦會有所不同。 / This study examines the factors that influence the loss ratio of health insurance policies for life insurance companies in Taiwan. First, this thesis intends to investigate whether there are significant differences in loss ratios among insurers due to firm size. Secondly, the impact of marketing channels on health insurance loss ratio is analyzed where the distribution systems mainly used by insurers are divided into three categories: employee sales, agent/broker channel, and others. Finally, this study conducts regression analyses on the health insurance loss ratio with firm-specific and macroeconomic variables to help insurers in controlling risks in the future. The empirical results are shown as follows. 1.The loss ratios of health insurance vary significantly with firm size. The loss ratio of large insurance companies is significantly higher than that of small insurances companies. 2.Distribution system has a significant impact on the loss ratio of health insurance. When the insurer relies more on other channels, instead of employee sales and agent/broker, the insurer will have lower loss ratio. 3.The impact of macroeconomic variables on the loss ratio of health insurance is less than that of firm-specific variables. Additionally, the influential variables for loss ratio may be different between insurers of large and small sizes.