This thesis extends the literature on institutional accounting by providing a new channel---proprietary information leakage between competitors---through which institutions affect accounting attributes and information disclosure. Weak property rights protection exacerbates outflow of proprietary information on operation, thus reduces managers' incentive to disclose financial information and other operation related information since the disclosed information will be helpful for competitors to learn more about proprietary information on operation of the firm. The channel is built with two links. One is the link between property rights protection and R&D spillovers, which proxy for proprietary information disclosure, and the other is the link between R&D spillovers and transparency. Empirical results show that R&D spillovers are negatively associated with regional property rights protection. In addition, I find that innovation output depends less on in house R&D investment and more on R&D spillovers from competitors in regions with weak property rights protection than in regions with strong protection and that the level of R&D expenditures is positively associated with property rights protection. Some evidence is found that firms with more R&D spillovers are more likely to have opaque earnings and disclose less firm-specific information. The relationship is stronger in regions with weak property rights protection than in regions with strong protection, indicating that firms are more likely to utilize opacity to prevent proprietary information leakage when R&D spillovers are large. / Yu, Xin. / Adviser: Joseph P. H. Fan. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: 2123. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-79). / 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, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

LL.M. (International Law) / Before 2006, there had been some movement to expose conspiracy and injustices in government and corporate life but the emergence of Julian Assange and wikileaks would set a new standard in this kind of investigative probe into what the political leaders and heads of major corporations did behind the scenes. Assange’s initial revelations and release of incriminating documents was about to launch his debut as an ‘international man of mystery’ as people who are globally and politically curious will forever wonder what else he would reveal to the world. The first target of his disclosures was Africa then the United States but his actions would unleash a wave of leaks with corporate and government conspiracy at a volume that the world as we know it was previously unaccustomed to. Although some doubted the authenticity of his disclosures, and others criticized his methods, none doubted his right to freedom of expression as enshrined in national, regional and international instruments. Assange’s organization proposes that governments and corporations should be transparent in their dealings, and policies. Although tumultuous at first, leaks from Assange have helped expose some corrupt practices that would not otherwise have come to light. The impact of wikileaks on freedom of expression in the world has been massive and far reaching, the viral way in which the leaks spread are evidence to the fact that people have always been curious about this kind of conspiracy theories and are eager for transparency. It shows also that it is unwise to underestimate the impact that an event in one country could trigger globally. But what does it really mean to global stability and freedom of expression when one man chooses to go against conventional methods and probe into the powers that be? How will this change how the world does business in the area of what people are allowed to freely say or disclose without persecution and how this disclosure affect the laws that govern this kind of freedom of expression?