Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 45-50) Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Worcester Polytechnic Institute. / Keywords: Resampling; Portfolio Optimization; Transaction Costs; Mean-Variance Optimization. Includes bibliographical references (p. 23).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2005. / Advisor: Richard C. Feiock, Florida State University, College of Social Science, Askew School of Public Administration and Policy. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Jan. 24, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains xiii, 133 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--City University of Hong Kong, 2005. / "Submitted to Department of Computer Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy" Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-102)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of Computer Science and Software Engineering, 2009. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (p. 179-198)

A condução de processos de falência ou de recuperação geram custos, principalmente, aos seus participantes diretos: credores e devedora. Esses custos são chamados custos de falência e são classificados em diretos e indiretos. Os custos diretos são representados pelas despesas administrativas do processo jurídico, tais como honorários do administrador judicial, custas e despesas judiciais. Os indiretos são os custos de oportunidade incorridos para os participantes devido à participação em processos de falência ou de recuperação, tais como a dificuldade em obter crédito, ou o tempo despendido no processo. Admitindo-se a presença desses custos, este trabalho objetivou identificar, mensurar e classificar os custos de falência para os participantes diretos desses processos (devedor e credores) conduzidos sob a legislação falimentar brasileira a fim de compará-los aos custos encontrados em trabalhos internacionais que trataram sobre o tema. Por meio da consulta de processos de falência e de recuperação judicial nas comarcas de São Paulo-SP, Belo Horizonte-MG e Contagem-MG, foi possível coletar os dados necessários para o desenvolvimento desta pesquisa. Como resultados principais foram encontrados que os desembolsos ocorridos nos processos de falência foram de em média 35% do ativo final da falida, os ativos das falidas perderam, em média 47% do valor, a taxa de recuperação total dos credores foi de, em média, 12% e os processos duraram 9 anos, em média. Em relação aos processos de recuperação, os custos diretos foram de, em média, 26% do ativo inicial da recuperanda, a taxa de recuperação dos credores foi, em média, de 25% e a duração de processos foi de 4 anos, em média. A análise dos resultados conduziu à indicação de que o processo falimentar brasileira é moroso e oneroso, considerando-se os resultados encontrados nos estudos internacionais utilizados como parâmetro, e que a dificuldade em se maximizar o valor do ativo da falida e ressarcir credores em ambos os procedimentos é um desafio não somente para o Brasil. / The procedure of bankruptcy generates direct and indirect costs of bankruptcy to its participants. Direct costs are represented by the expenses incurred during the legal procedure, such as trustee\'s fees, legal costs and expenses. The indirect costs are the opportunity costs incurred for the participants due to participation in liquidation or reorganization. Assuming the presence of these costs, this study aimed to identify, measure and classify bankruptcy costs of Brazilian bankruptcy law to direct participants of proceedings (debtor and creditors) and to compare them to the costs found in international studies that treated on the subject. Through documentary research, it was possible to collect the necessary data for the development of research that had as its main results that the direct costs of liquidation represented in this sample, on average 11.63% of the initial asset of the bankrupt, and in the reorganization, these costs were average 25.46 % of the initial asset of the firm. The asset bankrupt companies lost an average of 46.84 % of the value. Regarding the creditor recovery rates in the liquidation it was, on average, 12.40 % and 25.36 % in the reorganization. The results led to the indication that the Brazilian bankruptcy law is slower than results of international studies and the difficulty in maximizing the value of the bankrupt\'s assets and repay creditors in both procedures is a challenge not only to Brazil.

Trading companies have played and continue to play significant and strategic roles in international trade, supporting the export of manufacturers and the import of purchasing companies. The transaction costs economics, indicated that the role of trading companies is reducing the transaction costs during export. However, the rise of transition economies, such as China, which has become one of the most important players in international trade, leads to two gaps in existing studies. First, the trading companies from these countries and regions have been kept as a “black box”, compared with relative numerous studies on developed countries. Second, the local institutions, which are considered as main determinants on business models in transition economies, are most likely to affect the transaction costs during export, and trading companies’ characteristics and their methods of reducing transaction costs. Therefore, the aims of this study were to explore these institution-related transaction costs in China’s export market, and how Chinese ETCs operate one more efficient indirect export market compared with one direct market between domestic manufacturers and foreign buyers. Correspondingly, the main research questions were: 1) what are the institutions, which generate transaction costs for domestic manufacturers and foreign buyers, in China’s export market? And 2) how do Chinese exporting trading companies respond to such institution-related costs as an intermediary between domestic manufacturers and foreign buyers. A qualitative multiple-case approach was chosen. Six Chinese ETCs were selected, with their export processes as embedded units. The main sources of data included semi-conducted interviews and in-depth field observation. In addition, secondary data, such as newspapers, industrial reports, also contributed to the context of the cases. With one integrative analytical framework, this study identified a couple of institutional constraints in China’s export markets, including the bureaucratic procedures and administrative approvals, inefficient legal system and informal contract obligation, and long-term OEM trading methods. These institutions were involved in the whole procedure of export transaction, from the manufacturing by domestic manufacturers to the purchase by the foreign buyers and generated additional transaction costs in different steps, ranging from search, negotiation, to enforcement. Even though the transaction costs were greatly increased because of the export-related institutional constraints, the findings further reveal that Chinese ETCs can reduce these institution-related transaction costs by a series of effective methods, such as acquirement of knowledge on administrative procedures, collection of information on production, vertical integration, offering supplementary functions for dysfunctional domestic manufacturers and so on. The relevant explanations are twofold. As explained in traditional economic theories, Chinese ETCs’ also relied on economies of scale to reduce institution-related transaction costs. Moreover, Chinese ETCs adopted some approaches affiliated to export-related institutions, such as long-term reselling system and monopoly of export authority in history in China’s export market, and this is the first time that institutional perspective were applied to explain the transaction behaviour of trading companies. To sum up, this study extends our understanding of Chinese export trading companies and export-related institutions in China’s export market, enhances traditional transaction costs analysis on trading companies by adding the perspective from foreign buyers, and integrates institutional perspective into transaction costs analysis to better explain ETCs’ business model in transition economies. Last but not least, the findings in this study are also helpful for practitioners and policy-makers from transition economies in order to improve their export performance and local export-related institutional arrangements.

Magister Economicae - MEcon / The main objective of this research was to measure and compare the influence of institutions (government laws, rules, regulations) on the transaction cost of establishing microenterprises in informal/township areas and suburbs. The research target area was Maitland (a suburb) and Joe Slovo (a township area). A research framework was developed using the theories of institutions and the TACE. In order to achieve the research objectives, both quantitative and qualitative research designs were used. A total research sample of 40 microenterprise owners were selected from these two areas. A random sampling technique was used to select half (twenty) microenterprise traders in Maitland and the other half (twenty) from Joe Slovo. The research also applied non-random sampling technique to select relevant government institutions that regulate microenterprises in these two areas. The research has collected both primary and secondary data. To collect the primary data, face-to-face interviews were held with the shop owners in the two research sites and government (City) officials. A questionnaire containing both open-ended and closed-ended questions was used in collecting the primary data. The secondary data was collected using desktop (internet) search and also physically searching government archives and publications. Descriptive statistics (frequency distributions and graphical representations) of the data were used to analyze and compare the data collected in a meaningful way. The research also used non-parametric independent samples t-test to compare the differences of the transaction costs of establishing microenterprises in Joe Slovo and in Maitland. The data collected was analyzed and compared using SPSS statistical research analysis software. The results show, to establish a microenterprise business, microenterprise owners in both formal and informal areas need to comply with the environmental health laws. In addition to complying with the environmental health laws, microenterprises in formal areas are obliged to comply with the City zoning scheme and seek permission to establish businesses in these areas. The application process for seeking the City zoning approval is cumbersome and subjective. The results show that entrepreneurs in informal/township areas are automatically allowed by the local government to establish microenterprises in these areas and need not comply with the Zoning Scheme. The main findings of the study reveal that microenterprises in formal suburbs face higher TACs in establishing businesses in these areas when compared to those in township areas.

This paper investigates the impact of related party transactions on a firm’s operating performance and market-based performance, as well as the impact of institutional ownership on the use of related party transactions. Using a sample of 1218 deals from S&P1500 firms from 2007 to 2018, we propose and examine three relevant hypotheses: (a) related party transactions, especially, “Red-flag” related party transactions are negatively related to firm’s operating performance, (b) related party transactions, especially, “Red-flag” related party transactions are negatively related with firm’s marketbased performance, (c) institutional ownership is negatively related with related party transactions. In summary, we do not find a significant relationship between related party transactions and firm’s operating performance, such as ROA, Profit Margin and COGS. As for firm’s market-based performance, we found related party transactions are positively related with Tobin’s-Q, but are not significantly related with 12-months buy and hold abnormal return. Finally, we do not find any significant relationship between overall institutional investors and RPTs, but we find short-horizon institutional investors reduce the use of related party transactions, but long-horizon institutional investors do not limit the use of RPT