Chu Kwok Hei Derek. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-103). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgements --- p.iii / Table of Content --- p.iv / Chapter Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2. --- Some Conceptual Issues --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1. --- PPE holding and shareholders' return --- p.6 / Chapter 2.2. --- Mis-management of Corporate Real Estate --- p.7 / Chapter Chapter 3. --- Determinants of Real Estate Holdings --- p.12 / Chapter 3.1. --- Growth opportunities --- p.12 / Chapter 3.2. --- Size --- p.13 / Chapter 3.3. --- Firm focus and real estate holding --- p.14 / Chapter 3.4. --- Level of Debt --- p.15 / Chapter 3.5 --- industrial effect --- p.15 / Chapter 3.6. --- Imperfect capital market and Real Estate decision --- p.16 / Chapter 3.6.1. --- Dividend payout --- p.17 / Chapter 3.6.2. --- Cash flow --- p.17 / Chapter Chapter 4. --- Measuring Corporate Governance --- p.20 / Chapter 4.2. --- Management ownership --- p.21 / Chapter 4.3. --- Outside Blockholder ownership --- p.22 / Chapter 4.4. --- Executive compensation structure --- p.24 / Chapter 4.5. --- Board composition --- p.26 / Chapter 4.6 --- DUALITY --- p.28 / Chapter Chapter 5. --- "Data, Sample and Empirical Analysis" --- p.29 / Chapter 5.1. --- Data and Sample --- p.29 / Chapter 5.2. --- Empirical Analysis --- p.31 / Chapter Chapter 6. --- Summary Statistics and Regression Results --- p.33 / Chapter 6.1. --- Summary Statistics --- p.33 / Chapter 6.2. --- Regression result --- p.35 / Chapter Chapter 7. --- Robustness check --- p.40 / Chapter 7.1. --- Full Sample Splitting --- p.40 / Chapter 7.2. --- Regression result --- p.41 / Chapter Chapter 8. --- Concluding Remarks --- p.44 / Appendices --- p.46 / Appendix 1 --- p.46 / Split full sample into single industry that sample size is larger than 30 --- p.46 / Appendix 2 --- p.52 / "Results after excluding firms in sector of Transportation, communication and Utility" --- p.52 / Appendix 3 --- p.53 / Non-monotonic relation between managerial ownership and agency cost --- p.53 / Appendix 4 --- p.55 / Comparison of previous literatures-1 --- p.55 / Appendix 5 --- p.56 / Comparison of previous literatures-2 --- p.56 / Appendix 6 --- p.61 / List of Tables --- p.61 / Appendix 7 --- p.95 / Variables description: --- p.95 / References --- p.97

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The purpose of this dissertation is to develop a theory that helps explain the conditions under which firms select certain project evaluation techniques. This study uses contingency theory to analyze the impact of environmental uncertainty on the choice of project evaluation techniques. In addition to a direct measure of uncertainty, several dimensions of uncertainty are included in this study. These dimensions of uncertainty include control structure, method of financing, foreign assets, method of growth, and product domination. This study also analyzes the use of project evaluation, management science and risk management techniques in US firms over time and in UK firms over time in order to compare to prior research. A comparison of firms in the two countries are also provided. The primary method of data collection was a survey instrument. Data were also collected from annual reports and various other public sources. The variables that appear significant in the choice of project evaluation technique in US firms are environmental uncertainty, control structure, method of financing, foreign assets, and product domination. The variable that appear significant in the choice of project evaluation technique in UK firms is method of financing. US firms favor discounted cash flow techniques although this study detected a slight decrease over time. UK firms continue to use non-discounted cash flow techniques, although the use of discounted cash flow techniques is widespread. There are significant differences between US and UK firms. US firms tend to use discounted cash flow techniques to a greater extent than UK firms. This research makes a significant contribution in attempting to develop a theory explaining the use of project evaluation techniques in firms in the US and UK. In addition, several other developments relating to project evaluation, management science and risk management are discussed. The results of this study can be used by managers in refining and improving their existing project evaluation processes.

As long as one security is classified into AFS category, I document that banks strategically time the recognitions of gains and losses on AFS securities to smooth earnings, to meet earnings targets, to reduce regulatory costs, or to facilitate seasonal equity offering. These evidences collaborate with my previous results that banks prefer classifying credit risky securities into AFS rather than into trading category. / Finally, I investigate market reactions to fair value changes on AFS securities and to trading revenues from trading assets. I show that trading revenues are more persistent, with greater value relevance, and drive more significant stock returns. This evidence indicates that artificially classifying securities which are held for trading purpose into AFS category may have negative impacts on firm values. / Given the investment decisions made by the managers, the second issue studied in this thesis is the financial reporting decisions made by banks. To elaborate, banks have discretions to classify the debt securities into available-for-sale (AFS) category vs. trading category depending on the purpose of the holding, while the classification decisions have very different impacts on firms' income statement. Therefore, I study how accounting treatments of AFS and trading category and their different impacts on firms' income statements affect reporting decisions. I find banks inclined to classify credit-riskier securities into AFS rather than into trading category, when banks have weak interest revenues, have high level of income-increasing discretional accruals, have concentrated assets, or have high level of risky assets. But I do not find classification decision is related to bank's capital adequacy ratio. / Keywords: Bank holding companies; debt security investments; managerial compensation; trading assets; available-for-sale; SFAS 115; gains trading. / This study examines U.S. banks' investment behaviors as well as their financial reporting decisions on debt security investments. Particularly, I focus on two separate but related issues. The first issue examined is whether and how managerial incentives, influenced by the compensation contracts, affect managers' investment decisions on debt securities in the U.S. banking industry. Using a sample composed of top 1,000 bank holding companies from 2001 to 2009, I find that managers, when their wealth is more sensitive to stock return volatility, tend to structure the firms' debt investments with a higher proportion of credit risky securities. Provided that price of credit risky debt securities slumped during the recent financial crisis, that empirical evidence is consistent with the view that managerial compensation may induce excess risk-taking in the U.S. banking industry. The finding is relevant to both researchers and practitioners when they consider restructuring bankers' compensation. / Zhou, Chunquan. / Advisers: Woody Y. W. Wu; Danqing Young. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-08(E), Section: A. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-83). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.