Researchers in various business disciplines use the event study methodology to assess the market value of firms through capital market reaction to news in the public media about the firm's activities. Capital market reaction is assessed based on cumulative abnormal return (sum of abnormal returns over the event window). In this study, the event study methodology is used to assess the impact that two important information technology activities, Internet security breach and ecommerce initiative, have on the market value of firms. While prior research on the relationship between these business activities and cumulative abnormal return involved the use of regression analysis, in this study, we use decision tree induction and regression.For the Internet security breach study, we use negative cumulative abnormal return as a surrogate for damage to the breached firm. In contrast to what has been reported in the research literature, our results suggest that the relationship between cumulative abnormal return and the independent variables for both the Internet security breach and ecommerce initiative studies is complex, often involving conditional interactions between the independent variables. We report that the incomplete contract theory is unable to effectively explain the relationship between cumulative abnormal return and the organizational variables. Other ecommerce theories provide support to the findings from our analysis. We show that both attack and firm characteristics are determinants of damage to breached firms.Our results revealed that the use of decision tree induction presents additional insight to that provided by regression models. We illustrate that there is value in using data mining techniques to study the market value of e-commerce initiative and Internet security breach and that this approach has applicability in other domains and that Decision Tree can enhance the event study methodology.We demonstrate that Decision Tree induction can be used for both theory building and theory testing. We specifically employ Decision Tree induction to test and enhance ecommerce theories and develop a theoretical model for cumulative abnormal return and ecommerce. We also present theoretical models for Internet security breach and damage to the breached firm. These models can be used by decision makers in Internet security and ecommerce investments strategic formulations and implementations.

Financial analysts play a key role in collecting, processing and disseminating information for the stock market. Selecting the best analysts among thousands of analysts is an important task for investors that determines future investment profitability. Extensive research has been dedicated to finding the best analysts of the market based on various criteria for different clienteles. The state of the art approach in this process has developed into so-called Star Rankings with lists of top analysts who have previously outperformed their peers. How useful are such star rankings? Do the recommendations of stars have higher investment value than the recommendations of non-stars (i.e., recommendations of Stars “shoot” more precisely before and after selection)? Or do star rankings simply represent the past performance that will regress to the mean in the future (i.e., in reality, Shooting Stars are not stars and quickly disappear from the sky)? The aim of this Ph.D. thesis is to empirically investigate the performance of sell-side analysts’ recommendations by focusing on a group of star analysts. This thesis comprises four papers that address two overarching questions. (1) Do star rankings capture any true skill, and, thus, can investors rely on the rankings? (Papers I and II) (2) How do market conditions impact star analysts? (Papers III and IV) Paper I examines the profitability persistence of the investment recommendations from analysts who are listed in the four different star rankings of Institutional Investor magazine, StarMine’s “Top Earnings Estimators”, “Top Stock Pickers” and The Wall Street Journal and shows the predictive power of each evaluation methodology. By investigating the precision of the signals that the various methodologies use in determining who the stars are, the study distinguishes between the star-selection methodologies that capture short-term stock-picking profitability and the methodologies that emphasize the more persistent skills of star analysts. As a result, this study documents that there are star-selection methods that select analysts based on more enduring analyst skills, and, thus, the performance of these methods’ stars persists even after ranking announcements. The results indicate that the choice of analyst ranking is economically important in making investment decisions. Paper II investigates the structure of the portfolios that are built on the recommendations of sell-side analysts and confirms that the abnormal returns are explained primarily by analysts’ stock-picking ability and only partially by the effect of over-weight in small-cap stocks. The study examines the number of stocks in the portfolios and the weights that are assigned to market-cap size deciles and GICS sectors and performs an attribution analysis that identifies the sources of overall value-added performance. Paper III examines the differences in seasonal patterns in the expected returns on target prices between star and non-star analysts. Although the market returns in the sample period do not possess any of the investigated seasonal effects, the results show that both groups of analysts, stars and non-stars, exhibit seasonal patterns and issue more optimistic target prices during the summer, with non-stars being more optimistic than stars. Interestingly, the results show that analysts are highly optimistic in May, which contradicts the adage “Sell in May and go away” but is consistent with the notion of a trade-generating hypothesis: since analysts face a conflict of interests, they may issue biased recommendations and target prices to generate a trade. A detailed analysis reveals that the optimism cycle is related to the calendar of companies’ earnings announcements rather than the market-specific effects. Paper IV discusses how a shift in economic conditions affects the competitiveness of sell-side analysts. The focus is on the changes that were triggered by the financial crisis of 2007-2009 and a post-crisis “uncertainty” period from 2010-2013. The study follows Bagnoli et al. (2008) in using a change in the turnover of rankings as a measure of a transformation in analysts’ competitive advantages. Paper IV extends their research and documents how different ranking systems capture analysts’ ability to handle changes in the economic environment. The results show that market conditions impact analyst groups differently, depending on the group’s competitive advantages. / <p>QC 20170412</p> / European Doctorate in Industrial Management

Cette thèse consiste en trois chapitres distincts. Dans le premier chapitre, je teste l'hypothèse selon laquelle le format d'affichage de l'information financière affecte les décisions des investisseurs individuels. Je montre qu'un affichage plus efficace permet aux individus de mieux gérer leurs ordres à cours limité en minimisant le risque de sélection adverse encouru en utilisant ces ordres. Cela suggère que les investisseurs individuels ont une rationalité limitée. Dans le second chapitre, je teste si les stratégies de trading apporteuses de liquidité peuvent générer des profits, après coûts de transactions, pour les traders actifs qui les implémentent. Je montre que seuls les individus situés dans le plus haut décile de performance peuvent battre le marché de façon persistante en utilisant des stratégies hautement contrariantes qui nécessitent l'utilisation massive d'ordres à cours limité. Les limites-à-l'arbitrage semblent expliquer ce phénomène. Dans le troisième chapitre, j'étudie les stratégies des individus autour des annonces de résultats. Je montre que les allers-retours qui sont implémentés un jour avant une annonce génèrent en moyenne des profits plus élevés et sont plus courts en durée que ceux implémentés en temps normal. Les individus clôturent leurs positions gagnantes le jour de l'annonce, ce qui peut ralentir l'ajustement des prix suite à l'annonce. / This thesis is made of three distinct chapters. In the first chapter, I test whether the display format of financial information matters for the individual investor. I find that a more efficient information display allows investors to increase returns on their limit orders, because it becomes easier for them to mitigate the risk of adverse selection when trading with those orders. My findings suggest that retail investors have bounded rationality. In the second chapter I test whether liquidity provision to the market can be a profitable strategy, after fees, for active retail investors. I find that only individuals ranked in the top decile of performance can persistently beat the market using highly contrarian limit order strategies. Limits-to-arbitrage seem to explain why these top retail investors exploit trading opportunities before other more sophisticated arbitrageurs. In the third chapter, I study the retail trading strategies around stock earnings announcements. I find that round-trips started one day before an announcement are more profitable and much shorter in duration than those started during the non-announcement period. Retails reverse their winning trades on the event date, which can slow down the adjustment of prices to new information.

American Depository Receipts (ADRs) represent shares of foreign firms that are issued and traded in the U.S. Since an ADR and its underlying shares represent ownership interest of the same firm, they should be perfect substitutes in a perfect market. However, market imperfections such as differences in information environment, liquidity, investment and trading restrictions, taxes, control right, corporate governance might make them less-than-perfect substitutes. These imperfections, on the other hand, also present opportunities for research. This dissertation consists of two essays on ADRs, both related to the effects of less-thanperfect information. Specifically, the first essay examines the return and volatility transfers between ADRs and their underlying home shares. Our investigation differs from the previous studies in that we cover substantially more countries and that we attempt to explain the variations in the extents of transfer effects both across firms and across countries. Various hypotheses are developed, based on the premise that barriers associated with trading, investments, and corporate governance would lower the extent or effectiveness of transfers. Overall, our empirical results support these hypotheses. The second essay takes the viewpoint of the issuing firms. Supposedly, an issuer's timing and dollar amount raised depend on the conditions of three markets: its home equity market, the U.S. equity market, and the currency market. From purely the standpoint of information accessibility, ADR issuers are likely to time their issues or set their amounts with respect to the conditions of the home equity market and/or currency market, with which they are more familiar. On the other hand, issuers typically employ the assistance of U.S. investment banks, and therefore they may be well-informed about the U.S. equity market. This is largely an empirical issue. Generally, our empirical results are mixed, but there is somewhat stronger evidence for the U.S. equity market being more important when setting the issue amount. There is also evidence that suggests regulations having influences on such activities.

A sustainable development becomes more and more important with an increasing number of catastrophic and long-term changes to the environment due to global warming. This also means that all the actors in the society needs to take their responsibility to combat this development. One of these actors are the private sector where the investors plays a large part in which companies that gets to develop their ideas and make a difference in the world. So, the question is: are investors taking that responsibility today and invest in start-ups with a focus on sustainable development in their business plans. This thesis aims to study how inclined investors are to invest in start-ups with a focus on sustainable development in their business plan. This is tested though Discrete Choice Experiments where 14 investors got to choose between three different companies with different levels of focus on sustainable development. Company A with the least amount of sustainability, company B with some focus and company C with a high focus on sustainable development. The Discrete Choice Experiments were distributed through a survey format where the companies were represented with a Business Model Canvas each and the investors first got to choose between company A &amp; B, then A &amp; C, and then company B &amp; C. The results show that investors chose company A with the least amount of focus on sustainable development in 26 percent of the cases, company B with some focus in 45 percent, and company C with a high amount of focus in 29 percent of the cases. The study also shows a variation between different groups of investors, i.e. the investors who identified themselves as women were more inclined on investing in more sustainable options then men, and angel investors showed a clear willingness to invest in sustainability compared to venture capitals. The conclusions of the study are that its purpose was fulfilled and that the research questions was answered, investors showed an inclination to investing in companies with some focus on sustainable development but not too much. The results of the study can be used by companies in need of investments since they can see what group they should focus on to increase their chances. It is despite this also important to remember that the reliability and the validity of the study can be criticised with flaws for example in the reputability of the results. Future research within the area should study larger populations of investors to see if the same patterns repeat itself in other groups. It should also split the different attributes of the business model to see if different attributes play a larger part when investors decide which company to invest in. / Då hållbar utveckling blir allt mer viktigt så behöver alla aktörer i samhället göra sin del för att minska de ibland katastrofala och långvariga klimatförändringarna som blir på grund av exempelvis en högre medeltemperatur på jorden. En av dessa aktörer är den privata sektorn där investerare har en stor påverkan i vilka företag som får möjlighet att testa sina idéer och göra skillnad i världen. Frågan är dock om investerare tar det ansvaret och investerar i start-up företag med fokus på hållbar utveckling i sin affärsmodell. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka hur benägen investerarna är att faktiskt göra detta. Detta testas genom ett Discrete Choice Experiment där 14 investerare fick välja mellan tre olika företag som har olika stort fokus på hållbar utveckling i sin affärsmodell. Företag A har minst fokus på hållbar utveckling, företag B har viss fokus och företag B har stort fokus på hållbar utveckling. Discrete Choice Experimentet distribuerades i enkätformat där företagen representerades av en Business Model Canvas vardera och investerarna fick först välja mellan företag A &amp; B, sedan företag A &amp; C, och till sist företag B &amp; C. Resultatet från studien visar på att investerare vid 26 procent av gångerna skulle välja en start-up utan fokus på hållbar utveckling, 45 procent av gångerna en med visst fokus på hållbar utveckling och 29 procent av gångerna en start-up med stort fokus på hållbar utveckling. Undersökningen visar också på en differens mellan olika grupperingar då exempelvis de som identifierade sig som kvinnor var mer benägna att investera på hållbar alternativ än män. Dessutom visar ängelinvesterare tydligt på en större benägenhet att investera i start-ups med fokus på hållbar utveckling än riskkapitalister. Slutsatserna av studien är att dess syfte uppfyllts och forskningsfrågan besvarats med att investerare har en benägenhet att investera i start-ups med en visst fokus på hållbar utveckling men det fick inte bli för mycket fokus. Resultatet av undersökningen kan användas av företag som befinner sig i faser där de behöver investeringar samt att de kan se vilket typ av investerare de bör vända sig till för att få störst möjlighet till positivt resultat. Viktigt att ta med sig från undersökningen är att dess reliabilitet och validitet kan kritiseras med brister exempelvis inom upprepbarheten i resultaten. Fortsatt forskning inom området bör studera större populationer av investerare för att se om samma mönster upprepar sig inom andra grupperingar samt att attributen hos affärsmodellerna kan delas upp mer för att undersöka om vissa attribut har större betydelse än andra när investerare väljer vilka start-ups de ska investera i.

This study aims to investigate if an outside investor can gain positive return from investing in company stocks on the Swedish stock market following published announcements of insider stock purchases done through the Swedish financial regulatory authority Finansinspektionen’s public insider transaction registry. Studying a total of 5 966 announced stock purchases during the period 2014 – 2018, the study finds significant positive abnormal return over all studied time periods following the announcement date, regardless of differences in company size. Highest return was found in smaller companies, at the cost of accepting a higher degree of risk. Despite significant results showing informational value of the announced purchases, economic gain from following insider behavior could be inhibited by the cost of investment and would require the outside investor to pick the right stock, which could prove difficult.

Abstract  Background and problem discussion: Revenues has been an important financial measure in financial reports. During the last decades the revenue accounting has been problematic and some remarkable incidents have occurred. The 1 January 2018 entered the new revenue recognition standard IFRS 15. Transition into IFRS 15 has been expected to have varying results for the companies.  Purpose: The purpose with this study was to review how IFRS 15 affected profitability ratios for companies listed on the Stockholm exchange. The study also intended to discuss how the relationship between companies and investors was affected by a new revenue standard within IFRS.  Method: This study has been based on a quantitative approach when the empirical data was collected. The data were collected mainly from the selected companies annual reports for the fiscal year 2017. To measure the effect of adaption to IFRS 15 for the companies, the key ratios were chosen for gross margin and operating margin.  Result: In this study 18 of a total of 225 companies got a percentage effect on the selected key ratios. Where 16 of these companies got an effect on gross margin and 16 on operating margin. The hypotheses that was created and tested in the study did not show any statistic significant difference on the key ratios. / Sammanfattning  Bakgrund och problemdiskussion: Intäkter har alltid varit en viktig post i företags årsredovisning. Under de senaste decennierna har redovisningen av intäkter varit problematisk och en del uppseendeväckande händelser har skett. Den 1 januari 2018 trädde den nya intäktsredovisningsstandarden IFRS 15 i kraft. Övergången till IFRS 15 har förväntats få varierande utfall för företagen.  Syfte: Syftet med studien var att granska hur IFRS 15 påverkade lönsamhetsnyckeltalen i företag noterade på Stockholmsbörsen samt vad som kännetecknade de med påverkan. Studien ämnade även att diskutera hur relationen mellan företag och investerare påverkats av en ny redovisningsstandard inom IFRS.  Metod: Denna studie har utgått från ett kvantitativt tillvägagångssätt när den empiriska data samlats in. Data samlades främst in från de utvalda företagens årsredovisningar för räkenskapsåret 2017. För att kunna mäta den kvantifierbara påverkan av anpassning till IFRS 15 för företagen så valdes lönsamhetsnyckeltalen bruttomarginal och rörelsemarginal ut.  Resultat: Av totalt 225 studerade företag fick 18 stycken en procentuell påverkan på de utvalda nyckeltalen. Där 16 av dessa företag fick en påverkan på bruttomarginal och 16 stycken på rörelsemarginal. De hypoteser som utformades och testades i studien visade ingen statistiskt signifikant skillnad på nyckeltalen.

Muitas controvérsias cercam, atualmente, a negociação da Cédula de Crédito Bancário (CCB), dividindo a doutrina e atraindo a atenção do mercado financeiro e de capitais. A discussão central gira em torno da natureza jurídica da CCB, mais especificamente de seu enquadramento no conceito de valor mobiliário, do qual decorreria a competência da Comissão de Valores Mobiliários para regulamentar e supervisionar as ofertas públicas de CCBs. A análise da natureza jurídica da CCB torna-se, assim, imperativa para a delimitação do campo de atuação da Comissão de Valores Mobiliários. Para fins dessa análise, examina-se neste trabalho, inicialmente, o conceito e características dos títulos de crédito e valores mobiliários. Analisa-se, ainda, o conceito de CCB, sua origem, finalidade no âmbito do mercado financeiro, elementos característicos e modelos de negociação. Este trabalho também tem por escopo a investigação dos riscos associados à CCB e o exame da necessidade e das formas de se assegurar a proteção dos investidores. Diante dos elementos característicos da CCB e do conceito de valor mobiliário adotado pelo direito brasileiro, este trabalho conclui sobre a não caracterização da CCB como valor mobiliário. Este trabalho propõe-se, ainda, a concluir sobre os mecanismos adequados de proteção daqueles que investem em CCBs, em vista dos riscos inerentes a esse título de crédito. / Several controversies currently surround the trading of Bank Credit Note (Cédula de Crédito Bancário - CCB), dividing the doctrine and attracting the attention of financial and capital market. The main discussion is around the legal nature of CCB, more precisely around the characterization of CCB as security, from which would arise the competence of the Brazilian Securities Commission to regulate and supervise the public offering of CCBs. The exam of the legal nature of the CCB becomes, therefore, imperative for delimitation of the actuation field of Brazilian Securities Commission. For purpose of this analysis, it is initially examined in this work the concept and characteristics of the titles of credit and securities. It is also examined the concept of CCB, its origin, purposes within the financial market, characteristics elements, and trading models. This work has also as scope the investigation of the risks associated to CCB and the exam of the need and forms to assure the investors protection. Considering the characteristics elements of CCB and the concept of security adopted by Brazilian law, this work concludes that the CCB does not constitute a security. This work also concludes on the proper mechanisms for the protection of those who invest in CCBs, given the risks inherent to such title of credit.

Hållbarhetdokument har blivit mer vanligt förekommande de senaste åren och nu har hållbarhetsrapporter blivit lagtvingande för organisationer som uppfyller vissa kriterier. De hållbarhetsrapporter som upprättas utefter lagkraven har också ett krav på sig att få ett yttrande, på en begränsad nivå, från en revisor. På hållbarhetsredovisningar som är frivilliga kan organisationen välja att anlita en revisor för granskning på en översiktlig nivå, vilken är mer omfattande. Den här studien syftar till att undersöka processen för granskning och huruvida den tillför kvalitet från revisorns perspektiv. Studien syftar också till att undersöka icke-professionella investerares uppfattning av den granskning som utförs. Detta gjordes genom sex djupintervjuer med revisorer och åtta intervjuer med ickeprofessionella investerare. Slutsatser från studien visar att revisorn genom sin roll bidrar till en kvalitetsökning vid översiktlig granskning men att brister i kvaliteten finns vid begränsad granskning. Studien fann även att icke-professionella investerare inte påverkas av granskade eller icke granskade hållbarhetsdokument vid investeringsbeslut, men anser att det är viktigt att hållbarhetsdokument upprättas och granskas. / Sustainability documents have become more common in recent years and now sustainability reports have become mandatory for organizations meeting certain criteria. The sustainability reports drawn up according to the statutory requirements also have a requirement to obtain an opinion, at a limited level, from an auditor. On sustainability accounting, which are voluntary, the organization can choose to hire an auditor for review at a reasonable level, which is more extensive. The purpose of this study is to investigate the process of reviews and whether it delivers quality from the auditor's perspective. In addition, to examine non-professional investors' assessment of the audit performed. This was done through six in-depth interviews with auditors and eight interviews with non-professional investors. Conclusions from the study show that the auditor through their role contributes to an increase in quality with the reasonable review, but there are shortcomings in quality at the limited review. The studies also found that non-professional investors were not affected by audited or unexamined sustainability documents at investment choices, but that they consider it important that sustainability documents are drawn up and reviewed.

O novo contexto do Direito Internacional tem buscado acomodar interesses econômicos às exigências de proteção ambiental, em linha com o desenvolvimento sustentável. Nesse particular, o investimento estrangeiro é elemento-chave e contribui para a aproximação entre Direito Internacional do Investimento Estrangeiro e Direito Internacional Ambiental, tanto em relação à elaboração de normas substantivas quanto aos processos de adjudicação. Embora já existam diversos trabalhos voltados a demonstrar como os investimentos estrangeiros podem contribuir com a preservação ambiental, pouco se tem escrito sobre os aspectos mais práticos dessa interação. Durante muito tempo, o caráter vago e impreciso da redação dos tratados ambientais dificultava sua aplicação às operações dos investidores. Contudo, a crescente consciência de parcela significativa da população mundial sobre a proteção ao meio ambiente está dando vida a cláusulas com conteúdo ambiental até então dormentes. Nesse contexto, o objetivo do presente trabalho é analisar empiricamente qual o tratamento concedido às questões ambientais suscitadas nos casos decididos pelos tribunais do Centro Internacional para Resolução de Disputas de Investimento (International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes), o ICSID, no período entre 2000-2013. Para tanto, a pesquisa foi dividida em três partes. A primeira parte é dedicada ao contexto histórico que permitiu a aproximação entre Direito Internacional do Investimento Estrangeiro e do Direito Ambiental Internacional. Na segunda parte o ICSID é apresentado, de modo a compreender sua organização e funcionamento e, principalmente, de que forma as questões ambientais podem ser suscitadas no âmbito das disputas de investimento. E, por fim, os resultados obtidos a partir da pesquisa empírica das decisões proferidas pelos tribunais do ICSID são apresentados, sistematizando os argumentos apresentados pelas partes, bem como aqueles utilizados pelos tribunais ao decidir os litígios de investimento compreendendo a matéria ambiental. / The new context of International Law pursues the accommodation of economic interests to the needs of environmental protection, in line with the sustainable development. To that particular, the foreign investment is a key element and contributes to a closer relation between the Foreign Investment International Law and the Environmental International Law, inasmuch as in relation to the enactment of substantive laws, as towards to enforcement procedures. Although there are several studies aiming at demonstrating how foreign investments may contribute to the environmental protection, few has been written about the most practical aspects of such interaction. For a long time, the vague and imprecise character of the provisions in environmental treaties turn harder their enforcement towards the investment transactions. However, the growth in conscience on environment protection of a substantial portion of the world population has given life to clauses with environmental content that were dormant until recently. In this context, the objective of this study is to make an empiric analysis on the treatment granted to environmental matters raised in cases decided by the tribunals of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, the ICSID, in the period between 2000 and 2013. For that, this research is divided in three parts. The first one is dedicated to the historical context that allowed the approximation between Foreign Investment International Law and Environmental International Law. In the second part the ICSID is presented, to allow a better comprehension of its organization and functioning and, mainly, the forms in which environmental matters can be raised within the scope of investment disputes. And, finally, the results obtained with the empiric research on the decisions enacted by the ICSID tribunals are presented, with a systematization of the arguments used by the involved parties, as well as the arguments adopted by the tribunals to decide the investment disputes comprising environmental matters.