This thesis contributes to our understanding of CEO succession decisions in family firms with an incumbent family CEO. The successor choice may be a manifestation of conflicts of interests between the controlling family and the minority shareholders. Previous research has focused on the consequences of the CEO succession on firm performance; it has not studied the factors that determine the choice of the successor, the shareholder reaction to this choice, nor methodological concerns particularly relating to adjusting board independence for links the directors have to the controlling family, thin trading and confounding events. Thus, our objectives are: (i) to highlight key methodological concerns and propose ways of addressing these, (ii) to identify the determinants of the CEO successor choice between a family and a nonfamily CEO and (iii) to examine the stock market reaction to the succession announcement. Our sample comprises 283 succession announcements in listed family firms from France, Germany and the UK during 2001-2010. We find that reported board independence is overstated compared to our proposed measure of adjusted board independence. Two factors are found to influence the CEO successor choice. First, while reported board independence has no impact on the successor choice, our adjusted measure of de facto independence reduces the likelihood of a family successor, implying that the former is a biased measure. Second, cross-listed French firms are less likely to appoint another family CEO, confirming the bonding hypothesis of Coffee (1999). Our event study presents new evidence on the drivers of the stock market reaction to the succession announcement in family firms. Investors only react to the announcement of a nonfamily CEO successor, which is met by positive cumulative abnormal returns (CARs). Poor past performance elicits more positive CARs to the announcement of a nonfamily CEO. Two other factors, on interaction with past performance, drive the stock market reaction to the latter announcement. Accordingly, in poorly performing firms, the greater the adjusted board independence, the less positive are the CARs when a nonfamily CEO is announced, whereas, more positive CARs are observed for firms that offer greater shareholder protection. The key policy implication of these results is that definitions for board independence in the codes of best practice must account for directors’ links to the controlling shareholders.

This thesis contains the findings of an examination of the relationship between internal corporate governance structures and the financial performance of South African listed firms. Specifically, using a sample of 100 South African listed firms from 2002 to 2006 (a total of 500 firm-year observations) and corporate governance data collected directly from company annual reports, the thesis seeks to ascertain whether better-governed listed firms tend to be associated with higher financial returns than their poorly-governed counterparts. Unlike prior studies, the internal corporate governance-financial performance nexus is investigated by applying both the compliance-index and equilibrium-variable research methodologies. The results based on the compliance-index model suggest that there is a statistically significant and positive association between the quality of the sampled firms’ internal corporate governance structures and their financial performance. This finding is robust whether an accounting (return on assets) or a market (Tobin’s Q) based measure of financial performance is used. Distinct from prior studies, an analysis of the impact of complying with the South African context specific affirmative action and stakeholder corporate governance provisions on the financial performance of South African listed firms is also investigated. The results indicate that compliance with the affirmative action and stakeholder corporate governance provisions impacts positively on the performance of South African listed firms. By contrast, the results based on the equilibrium-variable model are generally mixed. First, regardless of the financial performance measure used, board diversity, the frequency of board meetings, and the establishment of board committees except the presence of a nomination committee seem to have no impact on firm financial performance. Second, board size is statistically significant and positively associated with Tobin’s Q (Q-ratio), but statistically insignificant and negatively related to return on assets (ROA). Third, role or CEO duality is statistically significant and positively related to ROA, but statistically insignificant and negatively associated with the Q-ratio. Director shareownership is statistically insignificant and positively related to ROA, but statistically significant and negatively associated with the Q-ratio. Finally, the findings based on both the director shareownership squared and cubed do not support the statistically significant non-linear director shareownership-financial performance association reported by Morck et al. (1988). The findings from a series of robustness or sensitivity analyses carried out suggest that the empirical results reported are generally robust to potential endogeneity problems.

This study examines the extent of and motivations behind corporate social reporting (CSR) by large corporations in general and subsidiaries of multinational corporations in particular in Bangladesh. It particularly addresses the research question: Why, in Bangladesh, do corporations in general and subsidiaries of MNCs in particular produce or not produce social and environmental data in their annual reports? At the first step, the study explores the general trend of CSR in the UK and Bangladesh, and then examines in more detail: (a) CSR of subsidiaries of MNCs in Bangladesh in general; and (b) CSR of UK MNCs and their subsidiaries in particular. Content analysis has been used to capture the nature and quantity of CSR issues provided in the annual reports by the companies. At the second step, the study explores reasons for accepting social responsibility and practising CSR by subsidiaries through in depth interviews. The study argues that CSR in Bangladesh mainly means employee disclosure. More importantly, subsidiaries disclose social and environmental issues more in line with Bangladeshi national companies than they do with their MNC parents. Managerial perspectives on social responsibility are found to be limited to local traditions of philanthropy similar to the South Asian trend. The main reason for practicing CSR by corporations in Bangladesh is found to be to manage certain stakeholders’ perceptions for corporations’ own interests. It appears that a single theory (i.e. stakeholder, legitimacy or political economy) cannot explain the whole social and environmental reporting phenomenon observed in Bangladesh. Rather, each theory provides a slightly different and useful insight into CSR practices. The absence of CSR is not only socio-cultural; rather it is found to be political which hints that corporations are in control of choosing the channel for producing CSR and the choice not to make information available to the public.

Exchange Market Pressure refers to money market disequilibrium that arises due to non-zero excess demand for domestic currency in the foreign exchange market. Exchange rate changes reflect the extent of market pressure in the absence of Central Bank intervention. It is argued that nominal exchange rate changes have consequences for domestic macroeconomic variables. These include domestic output growth, increase in domestic prices, balance of trade, firms’ price-setting behaviour in high inflation countries, foreign debt burden of the country, balance of payments and the stability of the domestic financial system. It has been observed that the Central Banks generally intervene in the foreign exchange market to avoid these undesirable consequences of exchange rate changes. In this thesis, we construct exchange market pressure and intervention index for Pakistan using Weymark’s (1995) approach. The basic objective is to identify whether it is downward or upward pressure that has remained dominant over the entire sample period. Based on intervention index values, we evaluate the Central Bank’s monetary policy over the given sample period. In addition, we also calculate the actual exchange rate and predicted exchange rate using one period lagged exchange rate. We check whether monetary policy is successful in its objective of reducing exchange rate volatility. Finally, we also evaluate the determinants of exchange market pressure in a panel of ten countries. The first empirical chapter utilises difference data and the two-stage least square approach. In the second empirical chapter we adopt Johansen’s (1988) cointegration approach. Both of these provide evidence of downward pressure and active Central Bank intervention. Furthermore, these chapters show that the Central Bank’s foreign exchange intervention policy is fairly successful in achieving its objective of reducing exchange rate volatility. The initial empirical chapters use a fixed parameter approach. This has the disadvantage that it does not allow the estimated parameters to take account of structural changes. A third empirical chapter addresses this issue and uses the Kalman Filter Time Varying Parameter approach. This has the advantage of allowing the parameters to take account of the effects of structural changes on parameter constancy. The results show unstable estimated parameters. The constructed exchange market pressure and intervention index show downward pressure and the active Central Bank intervention. Thus, this chapter further confirms our earlier findings of downward pressure and active Central Bank intervention. However, despite unstable estimated parameters, Central Bank intervention policy is successful in reducing exchange rate volatility which is unexpected. In the earlier empirical chapters, we assumed direct Central Bank intervention. However, there may be the case that Central Bank may use interest rate for fending off speculative attack. In such a case it is better to include interest rate as component of exchange market pressure to truly reflect the extent of foreign exchange market disequilibrium. Last empirical chapter overcomes this issue and uses Eichengreen et al. (1996) approach for constructing exchange market pressure. It consists of percent changes in exchange rate, relative interest rate differential and relative percent changes in foreign exchange reserves. Furthermore, in this chapter, we evaluate the determinants of exchange market pressure in a panel of ten countries. The results indicate the relevancy of some macroeconomic variables and measures of openness.

This thesis gives an overall view of the two most commonly used approaches for measuring the relative efficiencies of organisational units. The two approaches, data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontiers (SF), are supposedly estimating the same underlying efficiency values but the natures of the two methods are very different. This can lead to different estimates for some, or all, of the units in an analysis. By identifying the nature of these differences this work shows that it is possible to gain some insight into the nature of the underlying data and to say more confidently which of the two estimates is closer to the true efficiency for individual units. In order to investigate the differences between the methods across different facets of the technology two important dimensions are chosen. Firstly differences across scale size are investigated. It is shown how it is possible to define a measure of scale size in both the single output and multiple input and output cases. This measure of scale size can then be used to split the technology into regions of differing scale size enabling, for example, tests for the true nature of returns to scale in DEA. The measure of scale size developed in multiple dimensions necessitates a method for estimating an homothetic, constant returns to scale function. Differences between the approaches across input mix are also investigated. These differences may highlight the abilities of the methods to correctly identify the elasticity of substitution between the inputs. The results of the comparisons between the methods are summarised. This summary gives possible reasons for differences which may be found between the results of the two approaches, and an indication of what the nature of the estimates may be to the true efficiency values. An algorithm is then developed for using a comparison of the results from the two methods to help to identify the better estimates.

A previous study of the moneyers' names on the late Anglo- Saxon coinage by the same writer concluded with the death of Ethelred Il. This study continues the survey to the accession of Edward the Confessor. The introduction summarises the sources for the coins of this period, current research on their dating and die-cutting, and the function of double names which appear on the coins. A section on phonology discusses in detail the spellings used in the coin-legends, showing how the numerous forms are not due to carelessness or illiteracy on the part of the die-cutters, but reflect sound-changes and spelling conventions-which are also found in documentary sources. Several sound-changes which have hitherto been attributed to Anglo-Norman influence appear on the coins, reinforcing the evidence for their having in fact taken place in native Old English. The individual names are then examined in an Alphabetical Name List for their derivation, and in the final section this information is used towards assessing the composition of the population in the towns where mints were situated, region by region, with regard to the density of Scandinavian settlement and the presence of other non-English groups. The Scandinavian ruling dynasty had little effect on the manning of the mints, the proportions of Scandinavian to English names being very similar to those under Ethelred. There are small changes in the southern Danelaw, which it is suggested may be a legacy of Ethelred's anti-Anglo-Scandinavian policy in the early years of the eleventh century. The coin-evidence reflects the general geographical patterns of settlement to be inferred from place-name and other material., rather than suggesting that the mint towns, because of their commercial status, had attracted a more cosmopolitan population.

The relationship between the physical work environment and the social practices associated with it has until recently been neglected in studies of organisation and public management. Although there is now growing interest in organisational space, the area is characterised by competing definitions and fragmented contributions. There are still relatively few empirical studies, and no ethnographic studies which have analysed the relationship between organisational space and organisational social processes over time and in depth. A sociological analysis of the interrelationship between the material environment of an organisation and organisational social structures and processes is undertaken, using a case study of a UK local authority which undertook a spatial reconfiguration of all its staff over a period of four years. During this time, successive groups of staff were moved into new or refurbished buildings which were designed to support 'new ways of working', a term which stood for fluid networking across structural boundaries, in particular, directorates and hierarchical levels. In these new offices, all staff were based in open plan space and no employees had official 'ownership' of a particular desk. The new spatial configuration grouped 'strategic' managers in a central headquarters building, 'back office' employees in an adjacent building, and relocated 'locality' staff in 'Public Service Villages' which integrated staff across directorates. Senior managers expressed ambitious intentions for the way in which this new configuration could reshape what they presented as an outdated bureaucracy into an outward-looking, inspirational organisation based on a networked form. The study focuses chiefly on the strategic centre and back office buildings and compares officially stated intentions with the social processes and structures that actually emerged over time in both buildings. The case study is ethnographically-oriented and works within Pragmatist criteria of truth and validity. The analysis uses Lefebvre's conceptualisation of the social production of space to integrate social and spatial dimensions, and link the configuration of space with the social structures of capitalism. To compensate for Lefebvre's relative neglect of agency in the production of space, use is made of Berger and Luckmann's analysis of the social construction of reality. Thus, the thesis applies what Harvey terms the 'geographical imagination', which relates everyday spatial processes to the wider sociospatial configuration ofthe society of which they are a part. The first two contributions link the spatial structure of organisation with the degree of autonomy given to employees. In the strategic centre, new networked structures emerged to an extent, but the transformation to a network form was limited by a hierarchical sociospatial structure, which the study conceptualises as the 'invisible office'. In the back office building, the official priorities appeared to have shifted towards the cost-efficient use of space and the capacity to flex the organisation structure rapidly. This resulted in a sociospatial structure in which the key distinctions were between the top managers and all other staff, and between employees who established unofficial ownership over particular desks and those who could not. In this building, the use of space mapped closely onto the non-inclusive roles which Kallinikos argues are the basic units from which modern organisation is composed. The exchangeable use of space can therefore be understood as a shift in which the efficiency and rationality of bureaucratic organisation is increased. In both buildings, the group of employees at the top of the organisational hierarchy (in what was officially suggested should be an entirely non-hierarchical environment) maintained a semi-private space. While both office environments had the same material capacity for exchangeability, the more powerful organisational members appeared to take root and from this position of spatial stability planned the flexible reconfiguration of other employees.

What causes managers to manipulate their financial statements? How best can shareholders or prospective investors, auditors, financial analysts and regulators detect earnings manipulations? Addressing these questions is of critical importance to the efficient functioning of capital markets. For an investor it can result to improved returns, for an auditor it can mean avoiding costly litigation, for an analyst it can mean avoiding a damaged reputation, and for a regulator it can lead to enhanced investor protection and fewer investment disasters. The objective of this thesis is two-fold. The first objective is to investigate the frequency and the magnitude of earnings management. Second, is to provide an analysis of the characteristics of companies discovered to manipulate earnings and the determinants of these manipulations. Exploratory interviews with the Financial Reporting Review Panel suggest that earnings manipulation usually results from escalating earnings management that after a certain stage violates accounting principles. This is analysed in a review of a series of companies publicly criticised for applying aggressive accounting practises. It is suggested that these cases involve specific accounting standards that require increased judgement from management. In order to gain a broader view of the extent that companies manage earnings, this thesis examines the distribution of earnings among thresholds such as zero earnings and earnings decreases. This thesis documents evidence of unusually low frequencies of small decreases in earnings and small losses and unusually high frequencies of small increases in earnings and small positive earnings. Additional evidence suggests that three components of earnings, cash flow from operations, changes in working capital and discretionary accruals, are used to achieve increases in earnings. Finally, this thesis presents evidence of the characteristics of firms that manipulate earnings and proposes a model for detecting earnings manipulation. Companies found to manipulate earnings appear to have lower accrual quality, declining performance, weaker corporate governance structure, weaker balance sheet and increased leverage. The output of this investigation is a scaled logistic probability model for discriminating accounting manipulations, where higher values suggest a greater probability of manipulation.

The thesis presents my work on the modelling, explanation and prediction of credit risk through three channels: (binary) default indicator, (ordinal) credit ratings and (continuous) CDS spreads.

The primary aim of this dissertation is to research the private banking consumer perception and to analyse the impact acquisition in private banking has or might have on private banking consumer perception. A literature review discovered that existing research in the field of private banking consumer perception is relatively rare and no studies were discovered that dealt with private banking consumer perception and, in particular, the influence of an acquisition. In addition to that, private banking consumer perception is not defined by any literature. Hence, there is a gap in existing literature and the literature review resulted in research questions which were analysed and discussed by gathering primary data. A holistic case study based on the Swiss and German private banking market was used to gather primary data. This type of case study offers the researcher a holistic view(Patton, 1990) on the present subject as it considers all parties which have an influence on the topic under investigation. The first phase of the case study consisted of nonparticipant observation at a finance fair. Private banking consumers, relationship managers and consultants were observed. In the next phase semi-structured interviews were undertaken with relationship managers, banking managers, private banking clients and lawyers. Both phases were qualitative in its nature. Based on the findings it was established that private banking consumers have expectations on private banking. If the private banking service provider is able to fulfil or exceed these expectations the client perceives this as "satisfaction". Determinants of private banking consumer perception were elicited. These determinants are defined as categories and sub-categories of different criteria used by the consumer to evaluate a perceived service. Apart from that, the research findings revealed that acquisition can influence all private banking consumer perception determinants depending on the context of the acquisition. The independent advice of private banks as well as retaining the relationship manager was found to be of primary concern to the clients during an acquisition process. A model of private banking consumer perception was developed from the primary data results. With the knowledge gained from this research private banks are better able to understand bank consumers’ expectations and perceptions. This contributes to higher levels of competitiveness for banks as customers’ needs can be better met, and client movements during an acquisition process reduced.