<p>Sedan årsskiftet 2006/2007 har antalet medlemmar i arbetslöshetskassorna minskat drastiskt. Under samma period har ett flertal reformer genomförts på arbetslöshetsförsäkringens område som bland annat resulterat i höjda medlemsavgifter för de flesta a-kassorna. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka huruvida det över tid går att finna något samband mellan förändringar i medlemsantal och medlemsavgifter. För att undersöka detta måste man förutom avgifterna även ta hänsyn till andra variabler kopplade till arbetslöshetsförsäkringen. Dessa övriga variabler är grundbelopp, högsta dagpenning, ersättningsgrad och arbetslöshet. Vi formulerar en modell för sambandet mellan medlemsantal och dessa variabler och skattar denna genom metoden Generalized Method of Moments med hjälp av data från 2000-2009. Våra resultat visar i enlighet med teori och tidigare forskning på ett negativt samband mellan medlemsavgifter och antalet medlemmar i a-kassan. Detta samband visar sig vara starkt, särskilt på lång sikt. För att tydigare se hur avgiftsförändringar påverkar olika typer av individer i olika grad har vi även undersökt huruvida medlemsantalet i a-kassor kopplade till tjänstemanna- respektive arbetarförbund är olika känsliga för förändringar i avgiften. Våra resultat visar i kontrast till tidigare studier att a-kassorna kopplade till tjänstemannaförbunden (TCO och Saco) är mer känsliga för förändringar jämfört med arbetarförbunden (LO). Detta skapar anledning att tro att det finns andra faktorer än avgifter och de övriga variablerna som inkluderats i vår modell vilka påverkar anslutningsgraden och som kan förklara skillnaden mellan de olika grupperna.</p>

Sedan årsskiftet 2006/2007 har antalet medlemmar i arbetslöshetskassorna minskat drastiskt. Under samma period har ett flertal reformer genomförts på arbetslöshetsförsäkringens område som bland annat resulterat i höjda medlemsavgifter för de flesta a-kassorna. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka huruvida det över tid går att finna något samband mellan förändringar i medlemsantal och medlemsavgifter. För att undersöka detta måste man förutom avgifterna även ta hänsyn till andra variabler kopplade till arbetslöshetsförsäkringen. Dessa övriga variabler är grundbelopp, högsta dagpenning, ersättningsgrad och arbetslöshet. Vi formulerar en modell för sambandet mellan medlemsantal och dessa variabler och skattar denna genom metoden Generalized Method of Moments med hjälp av data från 2000-2009. Våra resultat visar i enlighet med teori och tidigare forskning på ett negativt samband mellan medlemsavgifter och antalet medlemmar i a-kassan. Detta samband visar sig vara starkt, särskilt på lång sikt. För att tydigare se hur avgiftsförändringar påverkar olika typer av individer i olika grad har vi även undersökt huruvida medlemsantalet i a-kassor kopplade till tjänstemanna- respektive arbetarförbund är olika känsliga för förändringar i avgiften. Våra resultat visar i kontrast till tidigare studier att a-kassorna kopplade till tjänstemannaförbunden (TCO och Saco) är mer känsliga för förändringar jämfört med arbetarförbunden (LO). Detta skapar anledning att tro att det finns andra faktorer än avgifter och de övriga variablerna som inkluderats i vår modell vilka påverkar anslutningsgraden och som kan förklara skillnaden mellan de olika grupperna.

This thesis addresses the question, whether the impact of financial development on the relative and absolute indicators of poverty is dependent on the levels of the human capital present in an economy. To answer this question, first we develop a theoretical framework to explain the growth process in the context of financial development assuming that human capital is heterogeneous in terms of the skills and education people have. Then, by using the data sets based on five-year averages over 1960-2010 and 1980-2010, covering 107 developed and developing countries, we empirically investigate the extensions of the theoretical framework developed earlier. These extensions cover the relationships between: 1. Income inequality and economic growth 2. Financial development, human capital and income inequality, and 3. Financial development, human capital and poverty We provide empirical evidence using modern panel data techniques of dynamic and static GMM. The findings elucidate that income inequality and economic growth are inter-dependent on each other. There exists an inverse relationship between initial inequality and economic growth. The changes in income inequality follow the pattern identified by Kuznets (1955) known as Kuznets’ hypothesis. The results also show that financial development helps in reducing income inequalities and in alleviating poverty, only when there is a sufficient level of human capital available. On the basis of our findings we develop the term "effective financial development" which means that financial development is effective in accelerating growth levels, reducing income inequalities and alleviating poverty only if there is a sufficient level of human capital available. The empirical study covers multiple aspects of financial development like private credit extended by banks and other financial institutions, liquid liabilities and stock market capitalization. The results of the empirical investigations are robust to multiple data sets and various indicators of income inequality, financial development, poverty and human capital. The study also provides marginal analysis, which helps in understanding the impact of financial development on inequality and poverty at different levels of human capital. This research study of effective financial development can be a useful learning paradigm for the academics and researchers interested in growth economics and keen to learn how poverty and income inequality can be reduced effectively. This study can also be useful for the policy makers in the financial institutions, because it provides robust empirical evidence that shows that financial development cannot help in alleviating poverty and in reducing inequalities unless there is a sufficient level of human capital available. The findings can be useful for policy makers, particularly in the developing countries where high levels of income inequalities and poverty are big problems. This study explains the mechanism of how effective financial development can be used to reduce income inequalities and to alleviate poverty. It also explains the process of inter-linkages between financial development, human capital, inequality, economic growth and financial instability. The policy makers can also take advantage from the marginal analyses that illustrate the minimum levels of private credit and primary and secondary schooling above which the effects of financial development and human capital become significant in reducing inequalities and poverty.

La présente thèse contribue à la littérature sur trois principaux axes de recherche relatifs à la structure du capital: les déterminants de la structure du capital, la profitabilité et la demande de travail. (i) Le fondement théorique des déterminants de la structure du capital montre qu’il existe trois modèles qui peuvent expliquer la structure du capital: la théorie de ratio optimal d’endettement, la théorie hiérarchique de financement et récemment la théorie de market timing. De plus, l’évaluation empirique montre un effet positif des coûts d’ajustement et de la garantie. Par contre, l’opportunité de croissance, l’impôt non lié à la dette et la rentabilité sont corrélés de façon négative avec l’endettement. (ii) L’impact de la structure du capital sur la profitabilité peut être expliqué par trois théories essentielles: la théorie du signal, l’influence de la fiscalité et la théorie de l’agence. L’analyse empirique a permis de distinguer trois groupes différents de secteurs: pour le premier groupe, la structure du capital n’a aucune incidence sur la profitabilité. Le deuxième, c’est le groupe où l’endettement affecte négativement la profitabilité de manière linéaire. Le dernier groupe se caractérise par la présence d’un effet négatif de façon linéaire et non linéaire (iii) Théoriquement, un impact négatif de la structure du capital sur la demande de travail est prévu. L’application empirique montre une hétérogénéité des comportements entre les secteurs en ce qui concerne l’effet de l’endettement sur la demande de travail, donc, il existe aussi trois groupes différents de secteurs (pas d’effet, effet négatif linéaire et effet négatif linéaire et non linéaire). De plus, la magnitude de l’effet de l’endettement sur la demande de travail et sur la profitabilité dépend, non seulement du secteur, mais aussi de la taille d’entreprise. / This thesis contributes to the literature in three main areas of research about capital structure: the determinants of capital structure, the profitability and the labour demand. (i) The theoretical basis of the determinants of capital structure shows that there are three models that explains the capital structure: Trade-Off theory, Pecking Order theory and Market Timing theory. Further, the empirical evaluation shows a positive effect of the adjustment costs and the tangibility. On the other hand, growth opportunity, non-debt tax shield and profitability are negatively correlated with debt. (ii) The impact of capital structure on profitability can be explained by three essential theories: signal theory, tax theory and the agency costs theory. The empirical analysis allowed to distinguish three different groups of sectors: for the first group, the capital structure has no impact on profitability. The second, it is the group where the debt affects negatively the profitability in a linear way. The last group is characterized by the presence of a negative effect in a linear and nonlinear way. (iii) Theoretically, a negative impact of the capital structure on labour demand is expected. The empirical application shows heterogeneity of behavior between sectors regarding the impact of debt on the demand for labor; therefore, there are three different groups of sectors (i.e. no effect, negative linear effect, and linear and non linear negative effect). Furthermore, the magnitude of the effect of debt on the labour demand and on the profitability depends not only of the sector, but also of the size of company.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:31:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Andre Fernandes Lima.pdf: 717720 bytes, checksum: e1002c943e6cd65b97220bcb149117a4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-02-04 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / This dissertation aims to investigate the existence of a causal relationship between levels of organizational slack, the risk of the company and its performance. The point of departure is the conjecture that the magnitude of the organizational slack is a determinant factor of the risk as well as the performance of the company. The importance of this piece of research lies on the empirical fact that owners of a company are willing to take risks based on the prospect of returns. In order to test the causal relationship, it proceeds as follows. First, it collects data from 218 manufacturing companies in the period 2001-2007 and combines part of it through factor analysis so as to compose the three types of organizational slack: available, recoverable and potential ones. Second, the data is arranged in the form of a panel and is next assessed by the generalized method of moments (GMM). The results support the validity of the two proposed models: the first takes risk as the dependent variable, while the second takes future performance. The findings corroborate the hypothesis that the organizational slack has a nonlinear influence on risk and performance. In addition, they shed light on the increased robustness of the second model relative to the first one. This is regarded as the second contribution of the dissertation provided that most literature emphasizes the influence of the organizational slack over risk neglecting its role in performance. We go on to claim that the little attention paid to performance contributes to the available inconclusive empirical results within the literature. / O objetivo do trabalho é investigar a existência de uma relação causal entre os níveis organizacionais de folga, o risco da empresa e seu desempenho. O ponto de partida é a conjectura de que a magnitude da folga organizacional é fator determinante do risco representado pela empresa, bem como de seu desempenho. A importância desta pesquisa recai sobre o fato empírico de que os proprietários da empresa estão dispostos a se expor a riscos com base na perspectiva de retorno. Para testar esta relação causal são considerados dados de 218 empresas manufatureiras no período 2001-2007, sendo parte destes dados agrupados através de análise fatorial, de forma a compor os três tipos de folga organizacional considerados: disponível, recuperável e potencial. Em seguida, os dados são dispostos na forma de painel e, então, analisados através do método dos momentos generalizados (GMM), o que constitui uma contribuição original. Os resultados obtidos suportam a validade de dois modelos propostos, o primeiro em que o risco é variável dependente, e o segundo em que a variável dependente é o desempenho futuro, corroborando a hipótese de que a folga organizacional exerce influência não linear sobre o risco e o desempenho. Adicionalmente, verifica-se que o modelo de desempenho futuro é mais robusto, sendo esta a segunda contribuição da pesquisa. Isso decorre do fato de que grande parte da literatura enfatiza a influência da folga organizacional sobre o risco, negligenciando sua significância sobre o desempenho. Argumenta-se aqui que tais práticas implicaram em resultados empíricos não conclusivos na literatura.

The CEO and CFO are the two key executives of a firm. They work cohesively to ensure the growth of the firm. After the adoption of the Sarbanes Oxley Act (SOX) in 2002, the importance of CFOs has increased due to their personal legal obligation in certifying the accuracy of financial statements. Only a few papers such as Mian (2001), Fee and Hadlock (2004), and Geiger and North (2006) focus on CFOs in the pre-SOX era. However, a vacuum exists in research focusing exclusively on CFOs in the post-SOX era. The purpose of this dissertation is to delve into a comprehensive investigation of the CFOs. More specifically, I answer three questions: a) does the CEO change lead to the CFO change? b) does the CFO appointment type affect the firm’s debt-equity choice? and c) does the CFO appointment affect the firm’s information environment? I use Shumway’s (2001) dynamic hazard model in answering question ‘a’. For question ‘b’, I use instrumental variable (IV) regression under various estimation techniques to control for endogeneity. For part ‘c’, I use the cross sectional difference-in-difference (DND) methodology by pairing treatment firms with control firms chosen by the propensity scores matching (PSM). I find there is about a 70% probability of CFO replacement after the CEO replacement. Both of their replacements are affected by prior year’s poor performance. In addition, as a custodian of the firm’s financial reporting, the CFO is replaced proactively due to a probability of restatement of earnings. I find firms with internal CFO hires issue more equity in the year of appointment than firms with external hires. The promoted CFO significantly improves the firm’s overall governance which helps the firm obtain external financing from equity issue. However, I find that CFO turnover does not significantly affect the firm’s information environment. To ensure that my finding is not due to mixing up of samples of good and distressed firms together, I separated distressed firms and re-ran my models and my finding still holds. This dissertation fills the gap in the literature with regards to CFOs and their post SOX relationship with the firm.

Buuruljin Enkhbold Finance and Growth Nexus: CEE & Central Asia and Beyond Abstract (English) This thesis investigates the effect of financial development on economic growth using both global sample and regional samples focusing on Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Central Asia during the time period 1960-2013. The results of fixed effect panel and system GMM estimators suggest that the effect of private credit on growth had been neutral until 2007 and the effect turns negative if the time period is up to 2013. The negative effect of private credit on growth has been the largest for CEE and Central Asia, particularly for non-EU countries in the region. Stock market capitalisation and lending deposit spread have consistent effects regardless of the choice of time frame which implies that economies benefit from larger stock markets and lower lending deposit spread. Keywords: financial development, credit, stock market, spread, growth, CEE and Central Asia, generalized method of moments (GMM)