The primary purpose of this research is to perform an empirical test using Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) in order to investigate the relationship between the Chinese stock market performance and domestic economic activity.China's stock market was established in early 1990s and has operated through a period of strong economic growth. Generally, it has been recognized that the development of a sound financial market is necessary to sustain and support a high growth economy. In turn, a growing economy will drive financial market growth. This research is designed to shed light on this unique relationship by investigating the links between China's booming national economy and the domestic stock returns.Using both time-series and cross-section regressions, several identified macro economic variables are shown to be significant in their influence on stock returns. These variables include the growth rate of industrial production, the growth rate of total social retail sales, the growth rate of terms of trade and the growth rate of total social saving deposits. Stock market indexes are found significantly related to the stock portfolio returns in time-series regressions.Overall, the empirical results suggest that the rapid growth of the Chinese economy is factored into stock returns by the market. It also indicates that the market index has strong explanatory power over, the time-series returns, providing empirical support for the market model Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). However, the explanations of cross-section returns need to be further explored.

One of the prominent features of the Natural Rubber (NR) market is its price variability, and the aim of this study is to project accurate short-term NR prices. This is accomplished by exploiting the use of forecasting techniques and information sets to seek the combination with the best forecasts, and exploring best ways of combining forecasts. We evaluate the relative performance of 19 models based upon three different forecasting techniques, and four information sets. In addition, we compare their forecasts with 13 other forecasts combined in various different ways, and taking the Naive forecast as benchmark. The generalised autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity regression (or ARCH-type) models, though more complex, are generally better than the simpler regression models. In general, the performance of the various techniques seems to perform consistently well (or poorly) over the forecasting horizons, with alternations in performance due mainly to the type of information set used. We also adopted a simple trading rule to find out the economic values of our forecasts, and the results are most promising. Importantly, the forecasts generated from the alternative models developed in this study can potentially be beneficial to participants in the NR futures market.

The findings of this research confirm that the notion of descriptive efficiency has been developed as a populist concept in managerial discourse and is typically interpreted in simplistic, normative terms and thus has limited technical meaning in management praxis. Furthermore, the concept has been captured by uncritical, yet plausible, management commentators who have seemingly assumed that management efficiency will emerge from the adoption of their various prescriptions. The research will contribute to the general management literature through a cross-disciplinary critique and a re-interpretation of the notion of efficiency in management praxis. At a macro-level, the research advances the proposition that the notion of efficiency has become an ideological statement of support for any management intention, rather than a practical means to inform a range of management actions. A grounded theory of descriptive efficiency is proposed in order to explain the apparently unconscious application of laissez-faire and more contemporary principles of economics to management praxis and the wider management discipline without the support of a substantive elaboration of contemporary efficiency. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

No description available.

This thesis is a collection of four papers that explore the economics of forest carbon sequestration and optimal harvest decision, considering carbon storage in three major carbon pools: biomass, dead organic matter and wood product. The first three papers use a dynamic programming approach to determine the optimal harvest decision for a forest stand in the boreal forest of western Canada that provides both timber harvest volume and carbon sequestration services. The last paper uses an analytical model to confirm the findings in the first three papers that show that the optimal rotation age is dependent on the carbon stocks in the dead organic matter and wood product pools. In the first paper, the state of the forest at any point in time is described by stand age and the amount of carbon in the dead organic matter pool. The results of the study indicate that while optimal harvest age is relatively insensitive to carbon stocks in dead organic matter, initial carbon stock levels significantly affect economic returns to carbon management. In the second paper, the system is described by three state variables: stand age and the amount of carbon in the dead organic matter and wood product pools. The results of the study suggest that optimal behaviour of a landowner does not change much between cases where the market considers and ignores carbon storage in the wood product pool or between cases where the market considers and ignores fossil fuel carbon emissions. The third paper demonstrates that alternative baselines have little or no effect on the optimal decision, but can have a large effect on financial return to landowner. In the third paper, the forest stand is described by four state variables: the age of the stand, the initial stand age, carbon stocks in the DOM pool and the initial carbon stocks in the DOM pool. In the last paper, an analytical model is used to demonstrate that the optimal harvest decision is dependent on the initial DOM and wood product stocks. This finding is consistent with the results in the previous papers. / Forest Biology and Management

This dissertation addresses the question of whether a monopolistic banking system can lead to a higher steady state level of capital stock. Specifically, this research analyzes the comparative advantage of a monopoly banking system. By doing that, it examines factors that contribute to the promotion of economic growth that come from a concentrated banking system. There is substantial evidence of a positive relationship between financial markets development and long term output growth. Little is known, however, about the role played by the market structure of the banking sector on growth. Moreover, little work, if any, has attempted to analyze how the degree of information externality affects the relative performance of a monopoly and competitive banks. I find that a monopoly banking system might perform better in accumulating capital under both low information externality and high information externality under certain conditions. In addition, this paper shows that developing countries as well as industrial countries may benefit from a concentrated banking system. This result is not found in the existing literature, which has only shown that developing countries may benefit from a monopoly banking system. This result can be interpreted as follows: (i) for the developing countries, as the proportion of high quality firms is relatively low, the loss in output associated with lending capital to lower quality firms is relatively high. In this case, the screening technology has enough value-added to compensate for the loss in output associated with the typical rent extraction activity of the monopolist. (ii) for the industrial countries, a monopoly banking system can overcome inefficiency from free riding problem associated with the information externality. This analysis provides an alternative explanation of the recent deregulation and resulting trends in mergers and acquisitions. This supports governments' policy changes from restricting merger and acquisition activity to allowing or even promoting merger and acquisition activity.

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This study addresses the question of the constitution of markets in advanced societies.Specifically, the article studies the role of the traveling trade show in creatingthe real time computing market, which is part of the US electronics sector, duringthe mid-1990’s. Real time computing products assist the transfer, storage and processingof digital signals in real time and support many of the internet applicationswe use today.By applying ethnographic methods,we explore the general question ofhow economic actors cope with uncertainty in the phase of market-making and atthe cutting edge of technology. The paper makes two contributions to the existingliterature. First, it shows that the attempt to organize a trade show in real timecomputing was triggered by the uncertainty experienced by sellers regarding theidentity of prospective buyers and about the exact use to which they would put theemergent technology which is offered for sale. Secondly, we trace the history of anemergent market.We claim that trade shows for innovative products are importantvenues at which markets coalesce.The identification and ordering of market actors,the institutionalization of a distinct business culture and the social networks developedamong market actors and across the subsidiary markets provided the basicsocial infrastructure for what later became known as the real time computingindustry. / M2007-0244:1-PK / European Research Council ERC-2010- StG 263699-CEV / VR 2009–1958

This thesis analyzes and discusses the development of the Swedish government’s role as owner and financier of roads and railroads from the 1930s until the 2010s. The influence on the development of the government’s role from two main theoretical paradigms is discussed and analyzed. These are: a) neoclassical and welfare economics; and b) new institutional economic theory with an organizational focus. The thesis shows that there has been a shift from an institutional view on the organization and financing of the road and railroad systems following the nationalization in the 1930-40s, to a view more based on welfare economics from the 1970s. Technology, economics and politics are three important factors influencing the development of the transport systems and of the government’s role. In the thesis these factors are covered in a co-evolutionary approach applied for analysis of the historical development. This approach connects to a dynamic view on organizations and firms in institutional theory. Over time there have been shifts in the strength of the factors (technology, economics and politics) influencing the development. There have also been controversies around financing principles and contradictions between different elements in the policies actually pursued over time. One such controversy has been whether to aim for full cost coverage or for marginal cost coverage. The thesis discusses how planning and coordination in the transport infrastructure sector can come about. A centralized public sector planner mode is contrasted towards a private sector spontaneous ordering mode. It is argued that it is difficult for a centralized planner to collect the necessary information and transform it into deepened knowledge in order to coordinate. A decentralized spontaneous ordering mode might though allow for including the necessary knowledge. The thesis illustrates a number of trade-offs that must be taken into consideration when discussing a possible future development for transport infrastructure and the government’s role. The following aspects are discussed: - the balance between public and private as the basic organizing principle; - the balance between government and regions/local governments when it comes to - the geographical division of responsibility; and - the balance between the national and EU levels for strategic transport infrastructure planning and coordination, also in relation to spontaneous coordination and centralized planning. The government has acted reluctantly and pragmatically and gradually developed its ownership role and the general policies in the sector. The government’s emphasis on market failure as its basic assumption has become stronger over time. The thesis brings a deepened understanding of the long-term development of the government’s ownership and policy formation in the transport infrastructure sector in relation to the two theoretical paradigms. This combination of a historical view with the theoretical economic background gives new insights into the past and future of the government’s role for transport infrastructure. / <p>QC 20130614</p>

The Chinese car market has, through the last decade evolved into the major market in the world. Its car market from has become the world’s largest market from 2009 until today. With the emerging market that is China, the demand for cars is supposed to grow even more in the next decade.The thesis starts by studying the theories of consumer market segmentation with a hybrid and dynamic aspect. A quantitative investigation was conducted with the help of a survey. The survey was sent out to car consumers and potential car consumers who are residing in China. From this study the authors were able to anticipate possible preferential profiles.