The aim of this thesis is an evaluation of influence of privatization methods on performance and effectiveness of firms which were directly privatized especially to the hands of foreign holders. Within its theoretical framework, the thesis performs crucial aspects and the historical development of the entire privatization process. Nonetheless, the core of the theoretical part of the study contains the argument for usage a different privatization forms in terms of options for foreign investors' participation. The main subject to the practical part of thesis is the quantitative analysis of a broad sample of companies privatized by both Czech and foreign capital. Subsequently, the qualitative analysis extends the robustness of the outcomes. The basic criteria for valuation of enterprises performance are the indicators of profitability, leverage and productivity. The main outcome of the thesis is the verification of the hypothesis that enterprises privatized by foreign capital reported higher performance at the all examined sub-periods covering the period 1995 -- 2005. At the end of the examined period, the trend of performance convergence between Czech and foreign owned firms took place. Conclusions are supported by the relevant and broad database and therefore it may be accepted as a significant contribution to the research which refutes the statements of some politicians and citizens about the negative influence of foreign capital on Czech economy.

The CEO of a large listed firm is often under public scrutiny due to listing requirements of stock exchanges of the respective country as well as pressures from stakeholders. Of these stakeholders, shareholders are mostly interested in the firm performance as it relates to their investment to determine if their investment is still worthwhile as well as to determine its returns. A CEO has the duty of ensuring that a firm meets its set targets and the responsibility of having to account for any deviations from these targets. In a firm with sound corporate governance measures, any underperformance experienced by the firm should result in the CEO being replaced and when targets met, the CEO being rewarded. However this is not always the case and this study considers the key determinants of CEO turnover as it later aims to determine what these key determinants are in South African JSE-listed firms as well as the correlation with CEO turnover. This study examines the relationship between ownership structure and board characteristics on CEO-firm performance sensitivity. The population for this study was 60 companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The period covered for this study runs over 5 years from 2013 to 2017. This period was chosen mainly because data for some companies was missing for the period beyond 2017. Thus, excluding companies that had no data for the period beyond 2017 could have reduced the sample further and would have made the analysis less meaningful. The study reports three important findings. The first is that CEO turnover is insensitive to firm performance, irrespective of whether it is an accounting-based firm performance (i.e CEO turnover vs EBIT/Assets ratio) or market-based measure of firm performance (lagged stock returns, 18, 24, and 36 months respectively). Second, the findings of this study show that CEO age and institutional ownership are inversely related to CEO turnover. In addition, board size becomes a significant determinant of CEO turnover when the model in includes returns lagged over 36 months or when the EBIT/Assets ratio is part of the Model (see models 7 and 8), although this is only at 10% level of significance. Third, board insiders and firm size are found to be unrelated to CEO turnover.

Background: As corporate social responsibility (CSR) has increasingly received more awarenessdue to a growing expectation of corporations to actively engage in social and environmental issues,understanding the factors influencing CSR is of great importance. Prior literature has shown theownership structure to be contributing factors for variances in CSR performance found amongstfirms. Thus, making this a relevant subject for a deeper understanding for the driving forces behindCSR performance. Purpose: The aim of this study is to explain how the ownership structure, more specifically theidentity and concentration of the owner, make firms engage in CSR activities. Additionally, thisthesis aims to contribute to the literature explaining the relationship between ownership structureand CSR performance in the Swedish context. Method: This study uses a positivistic view of research where a deductive approach is appliedusing a quantitative method to investigate the relationship between ownership structure and CSRperformance. The data were collected through databases, financial reports, and academic articlesand analyzed using Spearman correlation matrix and Tobit regression model. Findings: The findings show that a higher level of concentrated ownership is related to a lower CSR performance. Further, firms with a long-time horizon are more prone to CSR engagementthan firms with a short time horizon. Lastly, the institutionally entrenched ownership structure inSweden shows no relationship to CSR performance.

No description available.

This study examines the specific ways in which private equity firms influence their portfolio companies to enhance their value, with a focus on the relationship between the level of retained ownership and post-IPO performance. Private Equity firms influence their portfolio companies in specific ways to enhance their value. Private Equity firms are typically limited partnerships, and to realize the value created during the life of the investment, the exit strategy is crucial. An initial public offering is stated as the preferable exit. However, private equity firms usually stay invested in their portfolio companies for up to several years after an initial public offering. Their retained ownership is crucial for underpricing at the IPO and performance post-IPO. This study aims to discover this relationship and to determine its effects. It will contribute to understanding how the portfolio companies' price changes on the first day of trading and their performance, in the long run, is affected by the stake held by the private equity firms. This research will try to clarify the current uncertainty about the effect of underpricing that prevails. It will also fill the existing gap in the academic literature about performance. It can also be potentially helpful for investors. Given knowledge about how retained ownership by PE firms affects underpricing at the IPO and performance post-IPO, this study can help investors to make better investment decisions. However, it should not be seen as investment advice but rather as a contribution to increasing the investor's understanding and knowledge. Publicly listed portfolio companies in the Nordic region constitute the sample for the analysis, and pooled OLS is the econometric method used in this study. We utilized a panel dataset for performance and obtained 2411 unique observations. The long-run performance has been measured as 36 months following the IPO. Our findings indicate a positive relationship between the level of ownership held by the PE firm and both underpricing and performance. These relationships are both statistically significant on the 1% level. Control variables were also included to capture other possible factors that might impact our dependent variables. The positive relationship between the level of ownership held by the PE firm and performance was in line with previous similar research and our expectations. However, the relationship between the PE firm's level of ownership and underpricing was the opposite of what we expected. Previous research has also presented contradictory results, making it difficult to predict the relationship. We hope our results have contributed to clarity regarding underpricing and broadening existing literature about performance for private equity-backed companies.

Due to widespread bank scandals and failures around the world, there has been renewed interest in the effect of corporate governance on bank performance. The majority of research concerning corporate governance and its effect on bank performance has been undertaken in developed countries and markets, particularly the USA and European Union but relatively little evidence is provided in Sub Saharan Africa, specifically, Ghana. This study investigates the effects of corporate governance on financial performance of Ghanaian universal banking companies during the period 2006- 2014. This study primarily employs relevant governance theories to investigate the relationship between corporate governance and bank performance. Multiple regression panel data analysis and other appropriate methods are the main tools of analysis in this study. The empirical investigation revealed a mixed set of results. The findings showed that board size, board composition, bank size and foreign ownership are positively but insignificantly related to profitability in terms of return on asset and return on equity, while board committees have a positive and statistically significant impact on financial performance which is consistent with the monitoring hypothesis of agency theory which argues that board committees are an important mechanism of corporate governance in Ghana which impact on bank performance. This study contributes to the increasing number of research studies on the link between bank performance and corporate governance. The lacked of clarity, mixed and permanent relationships provided, show that the association the association between bank performance and different corporate governance mechanisms is complex and dynamic optimal governance arrangements may differ from bank to bank in relation to governance characteristics.

No description available.

No description available.

No / We analyse the impact of ownership and corporate control on firms’ investment using the 2001survey of Yacoub et al. on Ukrainian firms. The model explains investment by output, financial and soft budget constraints, and corporate control (and ownership) categories potentially enjoying private benefits of control. We find that the corporate control model fits better than the ownership model,a negative relationship between state and employee control and firms’ investment, and evidence forthe presence of soft budget constraints. A negative relationship between firms’ investment and the relative size of non-monetary transactions strengthens the conclusion of private benefits of control impacting investment.

Yes / This study examines the governance attributes of post-IPO (initial public offering) retained ownership of private equity in business group constituent firms in contrast to their unaffiliated counterparts, in 202 newly listed firms in 22 emerging African economies. We adopt an actor centered institutional-theoretic perspective in rationalizing institutional voids and the advantages of maintained governance by both business angels (BA) and venture capital (VC) private equity. Our findings reveal private equity retain higher post-IPO ownership in business group constituents compared to unaffiliated firms and that this is inversely moderated in the context of improving institutional quality – where this is particularly strong in case of foreign VC as opposed to domestic VC or BA. Our result adds to the literature on multifocal corporate governance mechanisms and the institutional determinants of private equity investment.