While both the concept of Private-Public Partnerships and the research on the topic is not new, PPPs from a market expansion perspective has not been covered to any notable extent, something this thesis aims to rectify. With the importance of relationships in business in emerging markets, the Institutional Network Approach serves as the backdrop for the study, highlighting the interplay between MNE and surrounding institutions. Through three case studies of Swedish MNEs active in PPP-projects in emerging markets, the aim is to develop a model suitable for analyzing MNE engagements in PPP-projects, but also to see if the gains from PPP engagements can constitute a feasible emerging market expansion tool.   The outcome of the study revealed that the studied MNEs primarily sought legitimacy and credibility in their projects, goals which according to MNEs also were acquired, and that the new model to a large extent captured aspects that were identified as important in the firms’ reports from the projects. It was concluded that in order for the PPP to serve as reliable market expansion tool, the firm has to be of MNE-size in terms of resources and ambitions, because smaller firms would struggle to be awarded, or handle, PPP-projects of this size. Previously stated credibility and legitimacy (from the CSR-aspects of the PPP), as well as the long-term collaboration resulting in solid relationships between MNE and institutions, are other benefits.

This dissertation explains the causes of national differences in markets for technology. Different national approaches to intellectual property protection and use, market openness and market scope are the result of the process of creating technology standards in different countries. Technology Standards, in turn, are the product of two causal variables: the historically determined institutions of standardization - particularly the role of the state in the standardization process, and the position of a country in the fragmented global production system. The institutions of standardization determine the relative influence of different actors over standardization and market position. The position within the global economy determines these actors’ perspectives on intellectual property and market scope. Using case studies of standardization and technology market creation in the United States, Europe and China, this dissertation reveals the mechanisms by which these two variables give rise to national differences in technology markets.

<p>An abstract of a dissertation that examines different dimensions of legitimacy stemming from different sources, and how they condition the effects of each other. The traditional literature studies organizational legitimacy as a uni-dimensional phenomenon, however, there are multiple audiences with different systems of values that evaluate organizations and based on the fit with their values grant or withdraw legitimacy from the firm. This dissertation examines three different dimensions of legitimacy (i.e. social, market, and home country) and shows that they may substitute each other in affecting organizational outcomes. This is shown in a financial event study of additions and deletions from the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, a qualitative study of the nature of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the emerging market of Russia, and a large-scale quantitative analysis of M&A deals, where the acquirer comes from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS).</p> / Dissertation

The study was done to understand the direction in which South Africa’s mining model is developed and the changes required for South Africa to take its rightful place in the mainstream spheres of economic and commercial affairs. The huge demand for African commodities is creating new opportunities for African governments to realise the hopes of their people for a better life. The objective of this study is to analyse the South African mining model to determine the sustainability of mining in South Africa. It was done by analysing Chrome, Coal and Platinum as selected minerals and metals. A literature study was conducted and the focus was on the reserves and resources that South Africa has in these minerals and metals, the current supply and demand factors and estimates were done on the future demand. The last part was to determine the state of and planned expansions of infrastructure like Electricity supply, Shipping Ports, Rail transport, Road transport and Water supply that mining operations require. Following the literature study, a survey was conducted in order to support the findings of the literature study and to determine the most important factors that can influence investment decisions in the mining sector by evaluating the investor’s acceptability of South Africa’s mineral and resource industry. It was concluded that the South Africa mining module is well developed with the required skills and knowledge for sustainable mining in the future. It was determined that there would be a future market to maintain a sustainable mining module. The major risk for the sustainable mining module is the reliance on infrastructures required in the mining environment, which is under governmental management. Survey results concluded that South Africa is not an investor-friendly country mainly because of its ineffective administration processes to perform mining. Investors are also seeking for independence of regulatory institutions. A recommendation for future research would be to determine the optimum South African Governmental needs of the investment in infrastructure capital to ensure that the country’s economy will be able to grow.The study was done to understand the direction in which South Africa’s mining model is developed and the changes required for South Africa to take its rightful place in the mainstream spheres of economic and commercial affairs. The huge demand for African commodities is creating new opportunities for African governments to realise the hopes of their people for a better life. The objective of this study is to analyse the South African mining model to determine the sustainability of mining in South Africa. It was done by analysing Chrome, Coal and Platinum as selected minerals and metals. A literature study was conducted and the focus was on the reserves and resources that South Africa has in these minerals and metals, the current supply and demand factors and estimates were done on the future demand. The last part was to determine the state of and planned expansions of infrastructure like Electricity supply, Shipping Ports, Rail transport, Road transport and Water supply that mining operations require. Following the literature study, a survey was conducted in order to support the findings of the literature study and to determine the most important factors that can influence investment decisions in the mining sector by evaluating the investor’s acceptability of South Africa’s mineral and resource industry. It was concluded that the South Africa mining module is well developed with the required skills and knowledge for sustainable mining in the future. It was determined that there would be a future market to maintain a sustainable mining module. The major risk for the sustainable mining module is the reliance on infrastructures required in the mining environment, which is under governmental management. Survey results concluded that South Africa is not an investor-friendly country mainly because of its ineffective administration processes to perform mining. Investors are also seeking for independence of regulatory institutions. A recommendation for future research would be to determine the optimum South African Governmental needs of the investment in infrastructure capital to ensure that the country’s economy will be able to grow. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

The understanding of the mechanism determining exchange rates is still an unsolved puzzle in the field of international economics. In the search for the underlying causes of the failure of existing approaches to explain a large proportion of short term exchange rate movements, our review of methodology literature revealed that a significant number of scholars consider the methodological approach employed by mainstream economics as a main cause for the disappointing result of established approaches. In particular, the excessive use of formal modelling and quantitative data as well as the use of oversimplified assumptions has been criticized. In response to this critique we chose to use a more pluralistic approach in our research methodology by employing both qualitative as well as quantitative data analysis. For the analysis of qualitative data, we employed an approach based on grounded theory principles, where we analyze Reuters Foreign exchange market reports. The findings of the qualitative data analysis show that, based on market practitioners commentary, there are two predominant variables affecting exchange rates. First, expectations on interest rate changes appears to be a major variable affecting currency value. An upward revision of interest rate expectations usually suggests an increase in the value of the currency concerned and vice versa. Second major variable affecting exchange rates appear to be global equity returns. In contrast to interest rates, which is a country specific variable, global equity returns is a global variable affecting currencies based on their relative interest rate levels and safe haven attributes. In particular, it is suggested that higher yielding currencies’ value is positive related to global equity returns, while low/lower yielding and safe haven currencies’ value is negatively related to global equity returns. The empirical test we performed to explore the relationship between exchange rates and global equity returns suggest that they are indeed linked. The sign of the relationship depends on the characteristics of the currencies examined. When equity prices increase, currencies with higher interest rates tend to appreciate, whereas currencies with lower interest rates tend to depreciate and vice versa. In addition, the strength of the relationship depends to some extent on relative interest differentials. A stronger relationship is observed when interest differentials are relatively large, while the explanatory power of the model is reduced when interest rate differentials are relatively narrow. Our study presents evidence on the role of stock markets in exchange rate determination which is considerable different to the focus of current theory. Whereas current research focuses on stock market’s relative stock market returns in the respective countries, the findings of this thesis suggests that global stock market returns affect exchange rate movements based on differentiated characteristics of different currencies. Another important contribution of this thesis is that we illustrate the complexity of interactions and links among different variables. For example, whereas interest changes were seen as positively correlated to the home currency value, the relationship was seen as being reversed because of the possible effect of higher interest rates on the subprime crisis. Another example of complex links is the relationship between exchange rates and equity markets. For example, whereas the USD effective exchange rate was not related equity returns during the initial stages of the subprime crises, the strength of the relationship increased significantly when the crisis escalated and the demand for USD increased due to safe haven flows.

This research aims to detect and measure earnings management using a newly modified version of the standard Jones model (Jones, 1991). The standard model is extended to include a measure of discretionary accruals as an additional regressor instead of using the residuals. The variable used to measure discretionary accruals is a composite variable that consists of two components, one that represents the incentive and the other represents the tool of manipulation. The model is applied to detect earnings management in loss reversal companies for listed companies in Jordan and examine the market reaction to the loss reversal. The model is also applied on loss reversal companies for listed companies in the UK and the US. In chapter three, the new model is applied on listed companies in Amman Stock Exchange (ASE). The ASE is structured into two markets: the first market and the second market. Companies are motivated to be listed or remain listed in the first market since it only lists profitable companies. Companies reporting losses more frequently are listed in the second market. Results provide evidence of earnings management for companies listed in the first market. Companies that report a loss in a previous period manipulate in the following period to report profits. As a result of loss reversal, they preserve their place in the first market and avoid dropping back to the second market. This research conducts statistical simulation tests to compare the extended Jones model with the standard model. Results show that the extended model detects earnings management better than the standard one. This new model also separates discretionary accruals from measurement error (i.e. residuals) and makes it possible to accurately measure the whole amount of manipulation. Chapter four examines the investor reaction to the manipulation taking place in the first market. Results show that the market is pricing the discretionary accruals (the manipulation) as a component of net income, although they result only from earnings management. In chapter five, the model is applied on loss reversal firms listed in the UK and in the US. Results show that the companies manipulate to reverse losses and the manipulation depends on to the presence of R&D activities and the changing level in these activities.

In many developing countries, the electricity system is too weak to meet growing demand and the availability and reliability of generating capacity is inadequate. Protracted mismanagement, political interference, subsidised pricing, and corruption all undermine the ability of developing electricity supply industries to finance and deliver service or attract new private investment. Power sector reform is an acute need in developing countries where implementation of a top-down liberalisation approach has been pursued without adequately considering the social, political and economic conditions. The conventional response to low levels of electricity sector investment has been from the top-down: aim to create competitive electricity markets by encouraging new entry into the generation sector and by breaking up vertically integrated power companies. Using a case study from Gujarat, India, this thesis argues for an alternative approach—utilise distributed generation (DG) and captive power capacity (self-generation) of industry to reshape the generation and distribution sectors from the bottom-up. The thesis examines the economic viability of distributed generation in a rural setting and captive power for industrial use in Gujarat, India, taking into account the economic, technical and political factors that shape investment decisions. In India, 40 percent of the population still does not have an electricity connection, but an array of new energy technologies for small-scale electricity generation near the site of use may provide a new development path. The bottom-up model enables rapid addition of generation capacity to a system struggling to meet demand while increasing competition in the power market. The thesis concludes that more power from independent and industrial sources will best harness the financial and engineer resources of the Indian electricity supply industry (ESI) and ultimately benefit the economy. The solution proposed is not suggested as an optimal policy programme, but instead is advanced as the best of the feasible options available within current political and economic constraints.

In the context of globalisation and liberalising economies, an increasing number of local firms based in developing countries and emerging markets are encouraged to internationalise their business activities and thus participate in foreign trade. Their sustained success is founded on two key factors; their ability to access potential foreign markets, and their ability to upgrade their capabilities and thus improve their positioning in global markets. This thesis investigates the internationalisation process and upgrading prospects of Indian Garment Manufacturers (IGMs). It begins by examining how IGMs gain access to foreign markets and discusses the factors that help or hinder their progress. The thesis subsequently explores the ways in which IGMs upgrade their activities to higher value-added activities and investigates the contributory factors that drive and shape their upgrading prospects. Existing studies employ the concept of ‘Diaspora networks’ or ethnic ties to explain how local firms from emerging markets are able to internationalise their business activities. These studies highlight the integral role played by Diaspora networks in enabling this internationalisation. Diaspora networks help connect local firms with foreign, world class buyers (or ‘lead firms’) using the Diaspora’s own pre-established ties and links with such lead firms. Similarly, Global Value Chain (GVC) proponents assume the upgrading prospects of these local firms can be enhanced as a result of linking up with ‘lead firms’ because of the benefits that can be derived from knowledge and technology transfer imparted through working with world class buyers. The extant literature however is vague on the internationalisation processes of IGMs. Furthermore, it does not adequately address the extent to which IGMs utilise Indian Diaspora networks to access foreign markets and to internationalise their business activities. It is also unclear what mechanisms are employed to impart knowledge from lead buyers to suppliers and to what extent the knowledge and technology transferred plays a key role in progressing IGMs upgrading activities; especially in the higher value added functions of design. This thesis contributes by addressing and shedding further light on these unresolved issues. It examines the issues using a combined approach, where theories and concepts from international business (IB) and GVC are employed in analysing the subject matter and thus allows for a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of the issues under investigation. To explore the above themes a case study based approach was employed. Interviews were conducted with key decision makers/owners of 23 case companies. Further interviews with key industry, academic and government heads were conducted as a means of triangulation. Interviews were, in turn, supplemented with documentary evidence and published material from company websites, industry and academic journals, and newspaper articles, so as to arrive at a more comprehensive understanding of the issues in question. Findings from this study suggest that IGMs rarely use Diaspora networks to access foreign markets. Instead, the majority of IGMs have achieved internationalisation as a result of well-developed networks of formal intermediaries based in India who have facilitated connections with prospective buyers. Furthermore, their manner of internationalisation reveals IGMs tend to access foreign markets initially at a very young age and at a rapid pace. Thus process-based theories of internationalisation seem inappropriate in explaining this rapid pace of internationalisation; insights from the literature on Born Globals and International New Ventures (INVs) seem, at first, to offer better explanations. However, employing concepts such as the ‘mature’ born global and the ‘failed’ born global leads one to re-examine and reconsider these initial findings. Re-examined findings indicate that in fact maturing IGMs are realigning their internationalisation trajectories to be better positioned to take advantage of favourable domestic market conditions. These findings are better explained using a more inclusive definition of internationalisation; particularly, concepts of de-internationalisation and extra-regional expansion from the field of IB. Additional findings, related to the issue of upgrading, indicate that contextual factors, usually related to the domestic economy and the firm’s internal circumstances, play a significant role in affecting the upgrading prospects of IGMs. These findings are contrary to GVC-based explanations of what drives and shapes IGMs’ upgrading activities, which place excessive emphasis on the role of the ‘lead firm’. In particular, GVC-based assumptions regarding the knowledge and technology transfer benefits available to local manufacturers by linking with larger world class buyers or lead firms seem of limited applicability to IGMs; here, firm-specific factors seem more important in determining firm choices concerning upgrading trajectories.

<p>This dissertation consists of three separate essays on job search and labor market dynamics. In the first essay, “The Impact of Labor Market Conditions on Job Creation: Evidence from Firm Level Data”, I study how much changes in labor market conditions reduce employment fluctuations over the business cycle. Changes in labor market conditions make hiring more expensive during expansions and cheaper during recessions, creating counter-cyclical incentives for job creation. I estimate firm level elasticities of labor demand with respect to changes in labor market conditions, considering two margins: changes in labor market tightness and changes in wages. Using employer-employee matched data from Brazil, I find that all firms are more sensitive to changes in wages rather than labor market tightness, and there is substantial heterogeneity in labor demand elasticity across regions. Based on these results, I demonstrate that changes in labor market conditions reduce the variance of employment growth over the business cycle by 20% in a median region, and this effect is equally driven by changes along each margin. Moreover, I show that the magnitude of the effect of labor market conditions on employment growth can be significantly affected by economic policy. In particular, I document that the rapid growth of the national minimum wages in Brazil in 1997-2010 amplified the impact of the change in labor market conditions during local expansions and diminished this impact during local recessions.</p><p>In the second essay, “A Framework for Estimating Persistence of Local Labor</p><p>Demand Shocks”, I propose a decomposition which allows me to study the persistence of local labor demand shocks. Persistence of labor demand shocks varies across industries, and the incidence of shocks in a region depends on the regional industrial composition. As a result, less diverse regions are more likely to experience deeper shocks, but not necessarily more long lasting shocks. Building on this idea, I propose a decomposition of local labor demand shocks into idiosyncratic location shocks and nationwide industry shocks and estimate the variance and the persistence of these shocks using the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) in 1990-2013.</p><p>In the third essay, “Conditional Choice Probability Estimation of Continuous- Time Job Search Models”, co-authored with Peter Arcidiacono and Arnaud Maurel, we propose a novel, computationally feasible method of estimating non-stationary job search models. Non-stationary job search models arise in many applications, where policy change can be anticipated by the workers. The most prominent example of such policy is the expiration of unemployment benefits. However, estimating these models still poses a considerable computational challenge, because of the need to solve a differential equation numerically at each step of the optimization routine. We overcome this challenge by adopting conditional choice probability methods, widely used in dynamic discrete choice literature, to job search models and show how the hazard rate out of unemployment and the distribution of the accepted wages, which can be estimated in many datasets, can be used to infer the value of unemployment. We demonstrate how to apply our method by analyzing the effect of the unemployment benefit expiration on duration of unemployment using the data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) in 1996-2007.</p> / Dissertation

The objectives of the thesis - which comprises six parts – can be summarized in i) implementing linear and nonlinear/nonparametric approaches toward detecting, measuring and analyzing the nature and directionality of causal relationships in financial markets, ii) elaborating on modern topics in financial investment analysis, iii) probing into the role of commodity futures in constructing optimal portfolios as well as iv) investigating growth dynamics via aggregated and disaggregated indices. The first paper named “Analyzing causal interactions between sectoral equity returns and commodity futures returns in the aftermath of the global financial crisis: The case of the US and EU equity returns”, aims to explore and compare the dependence and co-movement structure between commodity and various asset classes’ returns including the USA and EU stock markets via the use of linear and non-linear causality testing in a comparative context with the additional adjustment for cointegration and conditional heteroscedasticity. The findings provide important implications for optimal asset allocation and portfolio diversification with respect to various market conditions, namely both in “good” and “bad” (crisis) times. The second paper is entitled “On the time scale behaviour of Equity-Commodity links: Implications for Portfolio Management”, and has been published in the Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money (2016). The study is co-authored with Professors S. Bekiros, D.K. Nguyen, and B. Sjö. It develops a holistic framework for the investigation of the multi-horizon and intra-frequency causal directionalities of various asset classes, by means of multi-resolution analysis. The results verify the assumption that financial markets exhibit time-varying co-movement patterns, which are fundamentally important in a) generating profitable trading strategies according to different investor horizon expectations and b) decoding the financialization mechanism across various asset classes. The third paper entitled “Business Cycle (de) Synchronization in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis: Implications for the Euro Area”, was published at Studies in Nonlinear Dynamics and Econometrics (2015) and is co-authored with S. Bekiros, D.K Nguyen and B. Sjö. In this work, the scale-dependent time-varying (de)synchronization effects between the Eurozone and the broad Euro area business cycles are revealed, before and after the global financial crisis. The results, which point towards an increased observed comovement during the crisis period for the Euro area, could be catalytic for the introduction of a more efficient monetary policy by EU institutions and in particular by the European Central Bank. In the fourth paper, “Do financial stress and policy uncertainty have an impact on the energy and metals markets? A quantile regression approach”, which was published in the International Review of Economics and Finance (2016) and co-authored with J.C. Reboredo, the financial and policy uncertainty is investigated in relation to the price dynamics of energy and metal commodity futures’ markets. This work lead to the analysis of the asymmetric interrelationships with respect to changes in the perceptions of various risk measures, covering various periods, i.e., “normal” vs. “turbulent” such as upward or downward market episodes. The fifth paper, co-authored with P. Andreasson, S. Bekiros and D.K. Nguyen, is entitled “The impact of speculation and economic uncertainty on commodity markets”, and is published in the International Review of Financial Analysis (2016). This paper attempts a novel methodological approach to measuring speculation in commodity markets, in particular whether market speculation drives agricultural commodity prices or viceversa. The assessment of the empirical analysis demonstrates that agricultural prices are not affected by speculation. Finally, the sixth paper “Energy and Output Dynamics in Bangladesh”, co-authored with B.P. Paul, was published in Energy Economics (2011) and explores the relationship between energy utilization and economic growth in Bangladesh. Specifically, it deals with the important issue of whether energy consumption can be reduced without affecting economic growth while at the same time implicitly may lead to poverty reduction. The findings substantiate the fact that a) energy usage has become more efficient in recent times, as well as indicate that b) fluctuations in energy consumption did not have a significant impact on economic output.