Zugl.: Oestrich-Winkel, Europ. Business School, Diss., 2007.

<p>Due to a rising debate concerning corporate governance that has caused increasing demands for companies’ transparency, several codes of conduct have been introduced. The Swedish Code for Corporate Governance is obliged to companies with a turnover exceeding three billions. There are companies that voluntarily apply the Swedish Code. Possible causes to this phenomenon ought to be that the code for corporate governance conveys legitimacy through the insight into the affairs of a company the public receives, through the report of the corporate governance that is published in the annual report and on the home page of the company. This insight increases the confidence and faith in the company that furthermore results in increased competitiveness and increased stock value. This Thesis inquires into how the market values the new information the use of the Swedish code convey.</p><p>To carry out this problem we have preformed two different surveys. The first one maps out how frequent the use of the code is in the small cap segment on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Whereas the second survey inquire into how the share prices have evolved in two different segments, in companies that have implemented the code respectively in companies that have chosen not to put the Code into practice. The result of the second survey is tested in a Wilcoxcon Signed Rank Test for Matched Pair Experiment to determine whether there exists a relation between the Code and stock value.</p><p>Our study point out that there is not a specific branch of trade that prioritizes the code in a higher extent than another, in the small cap segment. Regarding the relation between use of Code and stock value our survey proves that companies that have implemented the code have a higher development of relative share price. The Wilcoxcon Signed-Rank Test proves that the median for companies using the code is higher than for companies without the code, with 97,5 percentage points certainty. The voluntarily implementation indicates that if relevant facts are communicated correctly the share value increases.</p>

Due to a rising debate concerning corporate governance that has caused increasing demands for companies’ transparency, several codes of conduct have been introduced. The Swedish Code for Corporate Governance is obliged to companies with a turnover exceeding three billions. There are companies that voluntarily apply the Swedish Code. Possible causes to this phenomenon ought to be that the code for corporate governance conveys legitimacy through the insight into the affairs of a company the public receives, through the report of the corporate governance that is published in the annual report and on the home page of the company. This insight increases the confidence and faith in the company that furthermore results in increased competitiveness and increased stock value. This Thesis inquires into how the market values the new information the use of the Swedish code convey. To carry out this problem we have preformed two different surveys. The first one maps out how frequent the use of the code is in the small cap segment on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Whereas the second survey inquire into how the share prices have evolved in two different segments, in companies that have implemented the code respectively in companies that have chosen not to put the Code into practice. The result of the second survey is tested in a Wilcoxcon Signed Rank Test for Matched Pair Experiment to determine whether there exists a relation between the Code and stock value. Our study point out that there is not a specific branch of trade that prioritizes the code in a higher extent than another, in the small cap segment. Regarding the relation between use of Code and stock value our survey proves that companies that have implemented the code have a higher development of relative share price. The Wilcoxcon Signed-Rank Test proves that the median for companies using the code is higher than for companies without the code, with 97,5 percentage points certainty. The voluntarily implementation indicates that if relevant facts are communicated correctly the share value increases.

This paper argues that “enlightened shareholder value” (“ESV”) offers a “third way” between the shareholder primacy and stakeholder theories of the corporation; one that maintains the creation of shareholder value as the corporation’s primary function, but requires directors to take into account the environmental impact of the corporations’ operations. ESV requires directors to “have regard to”, among other things, “the impact of the company’s operations on…the environment.” The obligation to “have regard to” should be interpreted as a procedural duty requiring directors to inform themselves as to the environmental impact of the corporation’s operations, which may in itself cause directors to reallocate corporate resources to environmental protection. ESV may also improve corporations’ environmental disclosure and impact social norms of corporate behaviour with respect to the environment. Any negative impact of ESV on present shareholder returns is justified by the obligation to avoid imposing foreseeable severe or irreparable environmental harm on future generations.

This paper argues that “enlightened shareholder value” (“ESV”) offers a “third way” between the shareholder primacy and stakeholder theories of the corporation; one that maintains the creation of shareholder value as the corporation’s primary function, but requires directors to take into account the environmental impact of the corporations’ operations. ESV requires directors to “have regard to”, among other things, “the impact of the company’s operations on…the environment.” The obligation to “have regard to” should be interpreted as a procedural duty requiring directors to inform themselves as to the environmental impact of the corporation’s operations, which may in itself cause directors to reallocate corporate resources to environmental protection. ESV may also improve corporations’ environmental disclosure and impact social norms of corporate behaviour with respect to the environment. Any negative impact of ESV on present shareholder returns is justified by the obligation to avoid imposing foreseeable severe or irreparable environmental harm on future generations.

Both advertising and research and development (R&D) can be viewed as two factors crucial to long-term corporate growth. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of the advertising, R&D and interaction between advertising and R&D on shareholder value concerning economic scale and industry concentration. The empirical results show R&D investments may generate innovative products which enhance shareholder value. Moreover, the interaction between advertising and R&D is significantly and positively related to shareholder value. In practice, advertising plays a role to build brand awareness for innovative products. Additionally, we examine how economic scale and industry concentration influence the effects of advertising and R&D on shareholder value individually. With the respect to economic scale, advertising and R&D strategies may increase shareholder value more significantly for firms with high economic scale (large firms). The synergy between advertising and R&D is only significant and positive for firms with low economic scale (small firms). This implies that small firms should invest in advertising to build brand awareness and promote new products while large firms have already developed brand awareness, so the large firms should specialize in core competences. Firms in competitive industry rely more on successful advertising campaigns to increase sales. Moreover, economic scale and industry concentration significantly moderate the effectiveness of advertising and R&D. Under the limited firm sources, managers should decide the appropriate mix of advertising and R&D to maximize shareholder value significantly according to economic scale and industry concentration.

As economies are increasingly driven by services, the introduction of new services to satisfy customers and improve firm value is becoming a critical issue for managers. In my dissertation, I take a step in improving the understanding of service innovations. In the first essay, I look at the determinants of the number of service innovations introduced by a firm and their interrelationship with customer satisfaction and firm value. Furthermore, I look how these interrelationships vary between Internet-Enabled Service Innovations (IESIs) and Non-Internet-Enabled Service Innovations (NIESIs). I develop a system of equations that link service innovation, customer satisfaction and firm value. I model the determinants of service innovations, using a zero-inflated Poisson model. I estimate the model on a panel data set that I assembled across multiple industries from multiple data sources such as the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Compustat, SDC Platinum, and LexisNexis. My results reveal that IESIs are more strongly influenced by financial resources of the firm and by market growth than are NIESIs. Surprisingly, neither IESIs nor NIESIs have a significant direct effect on customer satisfaction. However, IESIs have a positive and significant effect on firm value. Given the differences between consumer markets and business markets, it is important to understand better the determinants and outcomes of business-to-business service innovations (B2B-SIs). In my second essay, I empirically address this issue. I develop a modeling system that relates service innovation to firm value. I estimate my model on unique panel data of service innovations. Results indicate that B2B-SIs have positive effects on firm value. Furthermore, I find that the number of B2B-SIs introduced by a firm is primarily determined by firm-level factors rather than marketlevel factors Overall, I find that regardless of firm type or market type, the number of service innovations introduced by a firm has a substantial impact on firm value. In particular, IESIs and B2B-SIs increase firm value. In addition, the two essays also show that liquid financial resources are important determinants of service innovations. This is especially true for IESIs and B2B-SIs.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Köln, 2000.

Zugl.: Koblenz, Wiss. Hochsch. für Unternehmensführung, Diss., 2007.

Universiẗat, Diss.--St. Gallen, 2004.