Problems: How would a decision model that takes into account more aspects and dimensions than just the financial aspect look for smaller service compa-nies? What aspects are important to consider in such a decision model? Purpose: The purpose of this master thesis is to develop a decision model based on previous research, to improve decision making in smaller service com-panies – by considering perspectives that traditional investment calcula-tions ignore. Method: The study was qualitative and was based on both primary and secondary data. As data collection method for the development of the model we used literature search on previous research. The study’s primary data consisted of responses from five smaller service companies. The model was evaluated empirically by five smaller service companies to explore the model’s practical relevance and applicability. Conclusions: The study confirmed the need for a comprehensive investment decision model, since it has been clearly shown that aspects other than the tradi-tional calculation methods could have big impact on an investment deci-sion. The key factors for small service companies has shown to be cus-tomer relationships, previous experience, competitors and corporate strategy. The developed model was based on these factors and was con-sidered as useful and interesting by the responded companies. / Problemformuleringar: Hur kan en beslutsmodell som tar hänsyn till fler aspekter och dimens-ioner än enbart det finansiella se ut för mindre tjänsteföretag? Vilka aspekter är viktiga beakta i en sådan beslutsmodell? Syfte: Syftet med denna magisteruppsats är att med utgångspunkt i tidigare forskning utveckla en modell för att förbättra beslutsfattandet i mindre tjänsteföretag, genom att beakta perspektiv som traditionella investe-ringskalkyler förbiser. Metod: Studien var av kvalitativ karaktär och baserades på såväl primärdata som sekundärdata. Som datainsamlingsmetod för framtagandet av investe-ringsmodellen användes till störst del litteratursökning om tidigare forskning. Studiens primärdata utgjordes av responsen från fem mindre tjänsteföretag, som utvärderade den framtagna modellens praktiska rele-vans och applicerbarhet. Slutsats: Studien bekräftade att ett behov av en heltäckande modell för investe-ringsbeslut finns eftersom det tydligt har visat sig att andra aspekter än de traditionella kalkylmetoderna kan ha minst lika stor inverkan på ett investeringsbeslut. De viktigaste faktorerna för mindre tjänsteföretag har utöver det finansiella visat sig vara företagets anställda, kundrelationer, tidigare erfarenheter, konkurrenter och företagets strategi. Den framtagna modellen som bygger på dessa faktorer ansågs av de responderade före-tagen som användbar och intressant.

With the recent financial crisis that have happened and the global move towards fair value accounting financial institutions such as the IASB saw fit to increase the mandatory disclosure requirements by implementing IFRS 13 to regulated fair value accounting in IFRS. The implementation of IFRS 13 means that many of the old standards in regards to fair value will be replaced, for example investment properties reporting under IAS 40. Furthermore IFRS 13 redefines the classification system for assets and liabilities.   The purpose of this study is to investigate whether these changes have any influence on investment decisions. This has been done by adopting a qualitative abductive descripto-explanatory approach to our research, and our empirical data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with academics and audit professionals.   The analysis of our empirical data suggests that the implementation of IFRS 13 and its increased disclosure requirements have been useful to investor’s decision making. IFRS 13 accomplishes this through its increased clarity in financial reporting. However investors should be mindful whilst investing in companies utilizing Level 3 valuation techniques because they use estimates of unobservable inputs and because such estimates are hard to control they are prone to bias, error, and manipulation.

Sunk costs play a central role in antitrust economics, but are often misunderstood and mismeasured. I will try to clarify some of the conceptual and empirical issues related to sunk costs, and explain their implications for antitrust analysis. I will be particularly concerned with the role of uncertainty. When market conditions evolve unpredictably (as they almost always do), firms incur an opportunity cost when they invest in new capital, because they give up the option to wait for the arrival of new information about the likely returns from the investment. This option value is a sunk cost, and is just as relevant for antitrust analysis as the direct cost of a machine or a factory.

This study addresses the green bond market, a young and upcoming market that has received increasing attention in recent years. Academic literature in the field is limited, therefore theaim of this study is to identify investors’ main barriers and motives behind green bondinvestments. In order to examine Swedish fund companies’ requirements to invest in greenbonds, questionnaire responses were linked to interviews. The overall result shows the importance of financial incentives in investment decisions. In terms of market barriers, the low return of green bonds was the main reason that investments were restrained. It has been stated that green bonds are issued at a premium due to an additional reporting related administrative cost for the issuers. Another defined limit was the concern for issuers not fulfilling their 'green' obligation. The main motive behind green bond investments was to invest in a sustainable environment followed by the possibility to gain a combined financial and environmental return. In addition to the financial attributes, investors find a utility function in the green bonds that account for the premium price that these investors seem to accept. Furthermore, social norms are shown to influence the investment decision to a lesser extent.

The joint-stock company Pila Pasák, a.s., which is one of the leading woodworking companies in South Bohemia, was selected for the thesis. The first step was to understand the nature of investment decisions in the context of a literature review. Subsequently, on all the theoretical knowledge was created appropriate methodology for the practical part of the thesis. In first step in the practical part is introduced the company together with the investment project. Subsequently, was created financial analysis evaluation of the initial financial and economic condition of the company for the period of 2006 - 2012. Using internal data then determined budget costs and revenue of the investment project in 2014 - 2022. At these initial data were expressed as the future cash flows of the investment project, which was discounted by average cost of capital. Evaluation of the effectiveness of the investment project was done by using revenue methods. Evaluation of the future impact on the effectiveness of the company was planned complete financial statements for 2014 - 2019. The final evaluation decided about acceptance the investment project and it showed positive impact on the business. It was evaluated by using financial analysis and by economic value added.

Este estudo analisa os efeitos do sistema financeiro, caracterizado tanto em termos de desenvolvimento financeiro quanto por sua estrutura financeira, sobre as decisões de investimento e restrições financeiras de firmas brasileiras. Dessa forma, este trabalho investiga como o desenvolvimento financeiro afeta o comportamento das firmas e que tipo de estrutura financeira, isto é, se market-based ou bank-based, prepondera na condução do investimento corporativo e na redução das restrições financeiras das firmas. A relevância deste estudo reside em seu caráter original conduzido a partir da análise de um tema ainda pouco explorado na literatura nacional. A investigação é realizada dentro de um contexto teórico e aplicado e assumindo que o sistema financeiro exerce impacto substancial sobre as decisões de investimento. Com o propósito de contribuir para a escassa literatura internacional e à exígua literatura para o Brasil são consideradas neste estudo informações de 404 firmas brasileiras para o período de 1998 a 2006. A fim de identificar a presença de restrição financeira no comportamento da firma e para controlar e separar seus efeitos de outros fatores nas decisões de investimento, as firmas da amostra são classificadas segundo os índices de restrição financeira KZ e WW. A partir do emprego de dados macroeconômicos em uma análise microeconômica, é estimada uma versão do modelo acelerador do investimento pelo método GMM-system para analisar os efeitos do sistema financeiro sobre os investimentos corporativos. Os resultados sugerem que para firmas financeiramente não restritas o impacto do desenvolvimento financeiro sobre as decisões corporativas ocorre de forma direta, conduzindo a maiores investimentos. Já para firmas financeiramente restritas este efeito ocorre de forma indireta. Nesse caso, um maior desenvolvimento financeiro reduz a dependência dessas firmas por recursos internos para investir e aumenta a resposta de seus investimentos às oportunidades de crescimento. Evidências também são encontradas de que a estrutura financeira exerce influência sobre os investimentos de firmas financeiramente restritas, mesmo após os resultados serem controlados pelo nível de desenvolvimento financeiro. Este resultado aponta para a relevância de um sistema financeiro baseado em mercados para atenuar as restrições financeiras de firmas restritas. Os resultados também sugerem que na presença de oportunidades de crescimento um sistema financeiro baseado em mercados destaca-se ao permitir que a resposta do investimento das firmas a um aumento da demanda seja maior que em um sistema baseado em bancos. / This study analyzes the effects of the financial system, characterized both in terms of financial development as also by its financial structure, on the investment decisions and financial constraints of Brazilian firms. Thereby, this work investigates how the financial development affects a firm\'s behavior and which kind of financial structure, that is, if market-based or bank-based, prevails in driving corporate investment and in reducing a firms\' financial constraints. The relevance of this study lies on its original feature carried from the analysis of a topic not much explored in the national literature. The research is conducted within a theoretical and applied context and by assuming that the financial system exerts substantial impact on investment decisions. In order to contribute to the scarce international literature and to the limited literature for Brazil this study considers information on 404 Brazilian firms over the 1998-2006 period. With the aim to identify the presence of financial constraint on firm behavior and control and separate its effects from other factors on investment decisions, the firms are classified according to the KZ and WW financial constraint indexes. Through the use of macroeconomic data in a microeconomic analysis, a version of the accelerator investment model is estimated by the GMM-system method to analyze the effects of the financial system on corporate investments. The results suggest that for financially unconstrained firms the impact of financial development on corporate decisions is direct, leading to higher investments. On the other hand, for financially constrained firms this effect occurs in an indirect way. In this case, a higher financial development reduces the investment dependence of these firms on internal resources and increases the response of investment to growth opportunities. Evidence is also found that the financial structure affects the investment of financially constrained firms, even after the results are controlled for the level of financial development. This result points to the relevance of a market-based financial system for mitigating the constrained firms\' financial constraints. Results also suggest that in the presence of growth opportunities the response of a firm\'s investment to the increased demand is higher in a market-based financial system than in a bank-based one.

O objetivo do presente trabalho é analisar a presença da restrição financeira nas decisões de investimentos em condições de incerteza de um conjunto de 1223 empresas brasileiras no período de 1986 a 2006. A incerteza é incorporada no modelo de investimento considerando o comportamento das variáveis vendas e fluxo de caixa como um movimento browniano com drift. Além disso, a variável fluxo de caixa é analisada em baixa e alta incerteza, considerando três diferentes medidas para a incerteza: a variação anual do índice Ibovespa, o desvio-padrão de vendas e de fluxo de caixa. Já para considerar o efeito da restrição financeira sobre as decisões de investimento as firmas são agrupadas de acordo com o grau de intensidade de capital, tamanho da firma e grau tecnológico. A estimação dos parâmetros da equação do investimento é realizada considerando-se o modelo misto. O modelo misto, ainda não utilizado em estudos brasileiros na análise do comportamento das decisões de investimento, permite considerar a heterogeneidade nos coeficientes das variáveis independentes, o que evita o viés introduzido pela suposição de homogeneidade. Os resultados obtidos neste estudo mostraram uma maior sensibilidade do investimento ao fluxo de caixa para as firmas mais intensivas em capital, firmas de médio porte e firmas com alto grau tecnológico. Esses resultados se mantêm quando a variável fluxo de caixa é analisada em alta incerteza, ou seja, o investimento das firmas com alta intensidade de capital, médio porte e com alto grau tecnológico é mais sensível ao fluxo de caixa em condições de alta incerteza. / The aim of this research is to analyze the presence of financial constraints on investments decisions under uncertainty using data from 1223 Brazilian firms over the 1986 to 2006 period. Uncertainty is incorporated in the model of investment decisions considering the sales and cash flow variables, which are estimated by a stochastic equation of Brownian motion. In addition, the variable cash flow is grouped by high and low uncertainty according to annual rate of the Ibovespa index, the standard deviation of sales and cash flow. To consider the effects of financial constraints on firms investment decisions, this study used the degree of capital intensity, size, and the technological degree to classify firms. The investment equation parameters are estimated considering the mixed model. The mixed model, it has not yet been used in analysis of Brazilian firms, allows considering the heterogeneity on explanatory variables, which avoids the bias introduced by assumption of homogeneity. The results show greater sensitivity of investment to cash flow for more capital-intensive firms, medium and high-tech ones. These results keep when cash-flow variable is analyzed by high uncertainty, i.e, for these firms the investment is more sensitive to cash flow under higher uncertainty.

Considerando a importância dos fatores financeiros nas decisões de investimento e as restrições financeiras das firmas, os intermediários financeiros mostram-se como importantes provedores de fonte de recursos para a viabilização dos investimentos. Devido a esta ligação, um possível canal de transmissão no qual o setor financeiro afeta o crescimento e risco das empresas ocorre pela dependência de recursos financeiros externos, portanto, o risco e retorno das firmas devem ser afetados pelas dificuldades das entidades financeiras. Atentando a esta circunstância o objetivo deste estudo é de verificar na economia brasileira os efeitos do alastramento de risco do setor financeiro para a economia real nas decisões de investimentos das firmas, as quais perpassam por conjunturas de restrição financeira. Para atingir tal objetivo utiliza-se informações financeiras e retorno das ações das empresas de capital aberto no Brasil no período de 1997 a 2015. O alastramento do risco do retorno é estimado por um processo VAR-GARCH, e o contágio financeiro pelo indicador de co-excessos condicionais. Essas variáveis são inseridas em um modelo neoclássico acelerador de investimento modificado, para um grupo de firmas restritas e outro de não restritas, classificadas pelos índices KZ e WW. A estimação do modelo de investimento é realizada pelo GMM system e os resultados mostram que o nível do alastramento do risco do setor financeiro para as firmas impacta negativamente nas taxas de investimento das empresas restritas tanto pelo índice KZ, quanto pelo WW. O estudo amplia a literatura nacional utilizando um enfoque microeconômico do alastramento do risco e dos co-excessos condicionais e abordando a questão do alastramento do risco no modelo de investimento. / Considering the importance of financial factors and financial constraints in firm\'s investment decisions, financial sector show up as important source of funds providers to the viability of industry investments. Because of this connection, a possible transmission channel in which the financial intermediaries affect firm\'s growth and risk is from the dependence on external financial funds, so the risk and return of firms should be affected by the difficulties and vagaries of financial sector. In accordance to this circumstance this study aim\'s to verify the effects of the financial sector risk spillover and contagion to the real economy in constrained, and unconstrained, firms\' investment decisions. To achieve this goal, we use financial data and stock returns of publicly traded companies in Brazil from 1997 to 2015. The risk spillover is estimated by a VAR-GARCH process, and financial contagion by an index called conditional co-exceedance. These variables are included in a modified neoclassical accelerator model of investment, splitting the observations into groups of constrained and unconstrained firms, classified by KZ and WW indexes. The estimation of the investment model is performed by GMM system, and the results show that the level of financial sector risk spillover negatively impact investment rates of constrained companies, both by the KZ and WW segregations. This study contributes to the national literature using a microeconomic approach to the risk spillover and conditional co-exceedances addressing it to the investment model.

Este trabalho tem como objetivo examinar os efeitos do desenvolvimento financeiro e das restrições financeiras nas decisões de investimento da firma considerando um conjunto de informações de 659 firmas brasileiras no período de 1998 a 2006. A investigação é realizada dentro de um contexto teórico e aplicado, considerando um modelo econométrico com dados longitudinais e assumindo que o desenvolvimento financeiro exerce impacto substancial nas restrições financeiras das firmas, o que está diretamente relacionado às suas decisões de investimento. Com o propósito de contribuir para a escassa literatura internacional e à inexistente literatura para o Brasil, este trabalho utilizou o índice KZ para classificação das firmas como financeiramente restritas e não restritas. Por meio do uso de dados macroeconômicos em uma análise microeconômica, empregou-se o modelo probabilístico logit para encontrar os principais fatores determinantes da probabilidade de restrição financeira das firmas brasileiras. Já para analisar a relação entre desenvolvimento financeiro, restrições financeiras e investimento da firma, estimou-se uma versão do modelo acelerador do investimento pelo método dos momentos generalizados (GMM) devido seu caráter dinâmico e à presença do problema de endogeneidade. Os principais resultados indicaram que, além dos fatores associados à estrutura financeira da firma, fatores como o nível de desenvolvimento financeiro e a taxa de juros de longo prazo têm influência sobre a probabilidade de restrição financeira da firma. Medindo-se a dependência das firmas por recursos internos por meio da sensibilidade do investimento ao fluxo de caixa, os resultados também indicaram que o desenvolvimento financeiro é mais importante para as firmas consideradas financeiramente restritas ao reduzir sua dependência por recursos internos, diminuindo seu grau de restrição financeira. Maiores níveis de desenvolvimento financeiro também se apresentaram associados a maiores taxas de investimento e a uma melhor alocação de capital no caso de firmas identificadas como financeiramente restritas. Esses resultados apresentaram-se robustos mesmo ao se controlar os resultados pela taxa de crescimento econômico, por diferentes variáveis de desenvolvimento financeiro e ao se classificar as firmas por intensidade de capital e taxa de investimento. / The aim of this work is to examine the effects of financial development and financial constraints on firm\'s investment decisions using data from 659 Brazilian firms over the 1998-2006 period. The research is conducted within a theoretical and applied context, considering an econometric model with longitudinal data and assuming that the financial development exerts a substantial impact on firms\' financial constraints, which is directly related to their investment decisions. With the aim of contributing to the scarce international literature and to the inexistent literature for Brazil, this study used the KZ index to classify firms as financially constrained and unconstrained. Through the use of macro data in a microeconomic analysis, the logit probability model was employed to find the main determinants of the financial constraint probability of Brazilian firms. To examine the relationship between financial development, financial constraints and firm\'s investment decisions, it was estimated a version of the accelerator model of investment by the generalized method of moments (GMM) due to its dynamic character and the presence of the endogeneity problem. The main results indicate that, beyond factors associated with the firm\'s financial structure, factors such as the financial development level and the long-term interest rate have influence on the likelihood of firm\'s financial constraint. Measuring the dependence of firms on internal resources by the sensitivity of investment to cash flow, the results also showed that financial development is more important for firms which are considered financially constrained by the fact that a higher level of financial development reduces the dependence on internal resources of these firms, decreasing their level of financial constraint. Higher levels of financial development were also associated with higher rates of investment and with a better allocation of capital when considering firms identified as financially constrained. These results were robust even when controlled by the economic growth rate, by different financial development variables and when firms were classified by capital intensity and investment rate.

Este estudo tem por objetivo verificar como a reputação afeta as decisões de investimento das firmas. Já existe um consenso na literatura de que uma boa reputação contribui para o desempenho da firma, mas ainda são poucos e recentes os estudos que verificam as relações entre reputação corporativa e decisões de investimento. Portanto, deseja-se verificar se a reputação afeta a probabilidade de uma empresa ser classificada como subinvestimento, investimento eficiente ou sobreinvestimento; e também qual é o impacto da reputação na taxa de crescimento do investimento de uma firma. Para isso utiliza-se uma base de dados longitudinais de 180 firmas espanholas entre 2000 e 2015. A mensuração para reputação corporativa é feita através da classificação no ranking de reputação Merco, que divulga anualmente uma lista com as cem empresas espanholas com melhor reputação naquele ano. Os dados financeiros e de estrutura de propriedade são obtidos através do sistema SABI. Inicialmente, o modelo tem como variável dependente uma binária que representa se a empresa pertence ou não a determinado nível de investimento. Neste caso, regressões logísticas são utilizadas para determinar como a reputação afeta a probabilidade da empresa ser classificada por apresentar subinvestimento, investimento ótimo ou sobreinvestimento. Em seguida, a variável dependente é a taxa de investimento da firma, portanto, o método GMM-sys é aplicado para controlar a endogeneidade provocada pela inclusão da variável dependente defasada no modelo. Também são estimados modelos considerando a restrição financeira da firma, seu tamanho e sua estrutura de propriedade. Os resultados mostram que a reputação interfere de maneira positiva na taxa de investimento das firmas espanholas. Além disso, quando a empresa tem melhor reputação, sua dependência de caixa para fazer investimentos também aumenta. Contudo, a reputação não é significativa para aumentar a probabilidade de uma empresa apresentar investimento eficiente, nem para explicar o investimento das firmas consideradas restritas financeiramente. / The objective of this research is to verify how reputation affects investment decisions. There is already a consensus in the literature that a good reputation contributes to firm performance; however, there are few recent studies that examine the relationship between corporate reputation and investment decisions. Therefore, our desire is to verify whether reputation affects the probability of a company being classified as underinvestment, efficient investment or overinvestment; also, we attempt to analyze the impact of reputation on the growth rate of a firm\'s investment. A longitudinal database of 180 Spanish firms between the period of 2000 and 2015 is used. The measurement for corporate reputation is done by ranking in the Merco reputation ranking, which annually publishes a list of the 100 most reputable Spanish companies in that year. The financial and ownership structure data are obtained through the SABI system. Initially the model has as dependent variable which is a binary that represents whether the company belongs or not to a certain level of investment. In this case, logistic regressions are used to determine how the reputation affects the probability of the company being classified as having underinvestment, optimal investment or overinvestment. Later, the dependent variable is represented by the investment rate of the firm, so the GMM-sys method is applied to control the endogeneity caused by the inclusion of the lagged dependent variable in the model. Models are also estimated considering the firm\'s financial constraint, its size and its ownership structure. The results show that reputation interferes in a positive way in the investment rate of Spanish firms. In addition, when the company has a better reputation, its dependence on cash to make investments also increases. However, reputation is significant in increasing the likelihood that a firm will be able to make an efficient investment, or to explain the investment of firms that are considered financially constrained.