The aim of this thesis is to examine the relationship of all corporate governance indicators with firm performance (proxied by price to book value) and tax fees. Using a sample of 133 large U.S firms, in a single model, we explore the correlation of price to book value with board of director's structure (composition and size). Our results show that smaller and younger boards with less independent directors lead to a higher firm performance. We further find that presence of women on board is important rather than their number. The outcome of the study shows also that financial expertise of audit committee members has a significant and positive influence on the amount of tax fees. Overall, the results suggest that board characteristics are important and they influence firm performance. Keywords: board of directors, firm performance, price to book value, governance indicators, tax fees.

<p>Jag använder ett från Världsbanken nyligen utkommet datamaterial över institutionell kvalitet i världens länder för att i en replikeringsstudie undersöka sambandet mellan institutionell utveckling och ekonomisk tillväxt. Modellen har med framgång redan tidigare använts, men i detta arbete är tidsperioden en senare och datamaterialet enligt min bedömning av högre kvalitet. För att kunna göra det senare uttalandet och analysera resultaten på ett uttömmande sätt, innefattar arbetet en översiktlig presentation av institutionella teorier. Eftersom undersökt samband i utgångsläget antas uppvisa dubbelriktad kausalitet, använder jag ett ekonometriskt tillvägagångssätt innehållande instrumentering för att trygga validiteten. Sammantaget visar resultaten en enkelriktad, positiv kausaleffekt från institutionell kvalitet till ekonomisk tillväxt. Det är en bit kvar till en verkligt fruktbar modellkonstruktion, samtidigt som arbetet pekar på att institutioner hör hemma i en sådan.</p>

Jag använder ett från Världsbanken nyligen utkommet datamaterial över institutionell kvalitet i världens länder för att i en replikeringsstudie undersöka sambandet mellan institutionell utveckling och ekonomisk tillväxt. Modellen har med framgång redan tidigare använts, men i detta arbete är tidsperioden en senare och datamaterialet enligt min bedömning av högre kvalitet. För att kunna göra det senare uttalandet och analysera resultaten på ett uttömmande sätt, innefattar arbetet en översiktlig presentation av institutionella teorier. Eftersom undersökt samband i utgångsläget antas uppvisa dubbelriktad kausalitet, använder jag ett ekonometriskt tillvägagångssätt innehållande instrumentering för att trygga validiteten. Sammantaget visar resultaten en enkelriktad, positiv kausaleffekt från institutionell kvalitet till ekonomisk tillväxt. Det är en bit kvar till en verkligt fruktbar modellkonstruktion, samtidigt som arbetet pekar på att institutioner hör hemma i en sådan.

Bakalauro baigiamajame darbe nagrinėjama institucinių veiksnių įtaka tiesioginių užsienio investicijų (TUI) įplaukoms, tenkančioms vienam gyventojui, naujosiose Europos Sąjungos šalyse 2002-2008 metų laikotarpiu. Tyrimo metu buvo nustatyta, kad didžiausios vidutinės TUI įplaukos buvo Maltoje bei Kipre, tuo tarpu mažiausios – Rumunijoje, Lenkijoje bei Lietuvoje. Tiriant sukauptų TUI pokytį nustatyta, kad vienam gyventojui tenkančios sukauptos TUI 2008 metais, lyginant su 2002-aisiais labiausiai išaugo Bulgarijoje ir Rumunijoje. Atliekant institucinių veiksnių (balsas ir atskaitomybė, politinis stabilumas ir smurto nebuvimas, reguliavimo kokybė, įstatymo viršenybė, korupcijos kontrolė, valdžios efektyvumas) palyginimą nustatyta, kad analizuojami institucijų kokybę nusakantys veiksniai nuo 2002 iki 2008 metų buvo geriausiai įvertinti Maltoje, Slovėnijoje, Estijoje bei Kipre. Tuo tarpu prasčiausiai – Bulgarijoje ir Rumunijoje. Galiausiai, tiriant ryšį tarp institucinių veiksnių ir TUI įplaukų buvo nustatyta, kad valdžios efektyvumas, reguliavimo kokybė, įstatymo viršenybė bei korupcijos kontrolė buvo stipriai susiję su tiesioginių užsienio investicijų įplaukomis. Institucinio veiksnio „valdžios efektyvumas“ kitimas, įtakojo net 69 proc. tiesioginių užsienio investicijų įplaukų variacijos bei ryšys tarp šio valdymo rodiklio ir TUI įplaukų buvo pats stipriausias lyginant su kitais valdymo rodikliais. Politinis stabilumas TUI įplaukų kitimui darė mažiausią įtaką bei ryšys tarp šio... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In the bachelor‘s thesis is examined the influence of institutional determinants on foreign direct investment inflows per capita in the new European Union countries during 2002-2008 period. The study showed that the highest average FDI inflows were in Malta and Cyprus while the lowest – in Romania, Poland and Lithuania. The examination of the change in FDI stock showed that foreign direct investment stock per capita in year 2008, compared to year 2002 increased most significantly in Bulgaria and Romania. The comparison of the institutional determinants (voice and accountability, political stability no violence, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, control of corruption) demonstrated that institutional determinants was top rated in Malta, Slovenia, Estonia and Cyprus, meanwhile, poorly rated in Bulgaria and Romania. Finally, while investigating the relationship between institutional determinants and FDI inflows, have been found that government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law and corruption control were strongly associated with FDI inflows. Evolution of institutional determinant “government effectiveness” influenced 69 percent of FDI inflows variation and the relationship between this government indicator and foreign direct investment inflows was the strongest compared with other governance indicators. The political stability did the smaller influence for the variation of FDI inflows and the relationship between this index and FDI inflows... [to full text]

No / Conflicting rankings corresponding to alternative performance criteria and measures are mostly reported in the mono-criterion evaluation of competing distress prediction models (DPMs). To overcome this issue, this study extends the application of the expert system to corporate credit risk and distress prediction through proposing a Multi-criteria Decision Aid (MCDA), namely PROMETHEE II, which provides a multi-criteria evaluation of competing DPMs. In addition, using data on Chinese firms listed on Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, we perform an exhaustive comparative analysis of the most popular DPMs; namely, statistical, artificial intelligence and machine learning models under both mono-criterion and multi-criteria frameworks. Further, we address two prevailing research questions; namely, "which DPM performs better in predicting distress?" and "will training models with corporate governance indicators (CGIs) enhance the performance of models?”; and discuss our findings. Our multi-criteria ranking suggests that non-parametric DPMs outperform parametric ones, where random forest and bagging CART are among the best machine learning DPMs. Further, models fed with CGIs as features outperform those fed without CGIs.

<p>This paper examines how debt cancellation, given under the HIPC-initiative, has affected corruption over the period 2000-2006. The examination is foremost interesting due to earlier research showing that high corruption leads to unequal distribution of economic resources. This, combined with the objective of the HIPC initiative to reduce poverty, indicates that combating corruption must be successful in order to fulfill the goals of the initiative. A linear regression shows that countries that have benefited from the HIPC-initiative indeed have a lower corruption than other countries. A panel-data analysis shows on the other hand that no effect on corruption due to debt cancellation or reforms undertaken in the program can be confirmed.</p>

This paper examines the effect of governance on inequality, specifically if improvements in the World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators affect inequality as measured by two Gini coefficients: Market Gini, before taxes and redistribution, and Net Gini, after taxes and redistribution. The data for the Gini measurements was taken from the Standardized World Income Inequality Database (SWIID) and the data for the Worldwide Governance Indicators was taken from the World Bank. Data for fifteen (15) years, from the start of the Worldwide Governance Indicators until 2013, was combined with data from SWIID for the same years. In all, data from one hundred fifty-six (156) countries with a full set of six (6) indicators for the years that had at least one corresponding Gini measurements were used in this study: in total one thousand seven hundred and forty-seven (1747) observations. In a pooled OLS regression, controlling for growth with the variable GDP per Capita expressed as a per cent (%) change on an annual basis, the individual indicators gave the following results, where a positive sign indicates increased inequality and vice versa: Control of Corruption and Regulatory Quality showed a positive sign for both Gini measurements. Rule of Law, Government Effectiveness, Political Stability and the Absence of Violence/Terrorism, gave a negative sign for both Gini measurements. Voice and Accountability showed a positive sign for Market Gini and a negative sign for Net Gini. The fact that an improvement in Control of Corruption increased inequality both before and after taxes and redistribution was unexpected and should be further researched.

This paper examines how debt cancellation, given under the HIPC-initiative, has affected corruption over the period 2000-2006. The examination is foremost interesting due to earlier research showing that high corruption leads to unequal distribution of economic resources. This, combined with the objective of the HIPC initiative to reduce poverty, indicates that combating corruption must be successful in order to fulfill the goals of the initiative. A linear regression shows that countries that have benefited from the HIPC-initiative indeed have a lower corruption than other countries. A panel-data analysis shows on the other hand that no effect on corruption due to debt cancellation or reforms undertaken in the program can be confirmed.

Avec l’évolution du Consensus de Washington comme fil conducteur, nous montrons que la gouvernance est partie à la reconquête de son caractère politique, caractère que les tenants du « tout marché » lui avaient retiré. Une fois le constat établi d’une gouvernance désormais démocratique, nous analysons les indicateurs produits pour la quantifier. Ces indicateurs sont en majorité des indices de perceptions, ils demeurent imparfaits, parfois biaisés.En nous intéressant à la mesure de la corruption, nous avons mis à jour l’existence d’un biais que nous qualifions de réflectif ou médiatique. La liberté de la presse joue un rôle important sur les perceptions. Nous suggérons que l’indice de perception de la corruption produit par Transparency International pénalise les jeunes démocraties. L’ouverture des médias et une liberté de la presse grandissante, en mettant à jour les actes de corruption jusqu’alors non révélés, influencent les experts de Transparency International qui ont tendance à dégrader leur notation.Récemment, un nouvel outil est apparu pour mesurer la qualité institutionnelle. Si les enquêtes menées auprès des ménages ne sont pas nouvelles en tant que telles, leur systématisation ouvre de nombreuses perspectives. En utilisant le Gallup World Poll nous avons été en mesure d’observer le ressenti des populations concernant la corruption, et ce, à une échelle encore inédite. Nous avons alors été en mesure de comparer les perceptions des ménages à celles des experts. Nous avons alors identifié les déterminants de ces écarts et montré l’influence de facteurs comme la liberté de la presse, la nature du régime politique ou encore la confiance envers les gouvernements. / With Washington Consensus as leit motiv, we show that governance ultimately reaffirmed its political nature which “whole market” supporters tried to eradicate. Once established the now democratic nature of governance, we study the indicators produced to evaluate it. These indexes are mostly perceptions indicators. Thus, they remain unperfected, sometimes biased.Focusing on corruption measurement, we uncovered a media or reflective bias. Press freedom plays an important role on perceptions. We suggest that the Corruption Perception Index, provided by Transparency International (TI) penalizes young democracies. Media aperture, broadcasting corruption deeds so far unrevealed, likely influences TI experts that consequently deteriorate their notations.Recently, a new tool appears to assess institutional quality. If household surveys are not brand new, their systematization opens new perspectives. Using Gallup Worl Poll, we were able to observe population’s feeling towards corruption at a global scale. Thus, we were able to compare population’s and expert’s perceptions. We then identified this gap determinants and put the light on the influence of press freedom, political organization or leadership approval.

With their accession to the EU the Visegrad countries subscribed to the fundamental objective of the Union under the Lisbon Treaty - sustainable development. They have undergone substantial reforms, brought their policies into compliance with EU standards and regulations. Nevertheless, a lot of work should still be done in the Visegrad Four in order integrate sustainable development approach into all of the fields of political activity and reorganize their decision-making models according to the new challenges. This study constitutes an analysis of the Visegrad states' performance in ensuring sustainable governance in the period 2005-2010. The research is based on the two editions of Sustainable Governance Indicators, developed by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, and published in 2009 (period of review: January 2005 - March 2007) and in 2011 (period of review: May 2008 - April 2010). In order to assess sustainability of the four Visegrad democracies the study provides a comprehensive comparative analysis of these states' performance and retraces the dynamics of their progress/regress in terms of ensuring sustainability. It also explores the main tendencies of the Visegrad region's development regardless of particular country, identifies the main strengths and weaknesses of the region in terms of...