Following the model developed by Easley, Kiefer, O¡¦Hara and Paperman (1996), I estimated the probability of informed trading (PI) in the TSEC. The result in my study is that the probability of informed trading is highly related with the trading volume of each stock. More active stocks will have lower probability of informed trading, so investors trading with active stocks will face less information asymmetry. Feather more, my research followed the study of Easley, Hvidkjaer, and O¡¦Hara (2002), who used the Fama-French asset pricing model(1992) discussing the relationship among stock return, portfolioed market risk, size and BE/ME ratio. The result in my study is that the stock return in TSEC is affected by portfolioed market risk and size, but PI and BE/ME ratio have no effect to stock return. The result is different from the study of Easley, Hvidkjaer, and O¡¦Hara (2002). The reason could be that most investors in TSEC are individuals who lack the awareness about information asymmetry.

No / This study investigates the impact of LIFFE's introduction of individual equity futures contracts on the risk characteristics of the underlying stocks trading on the LSE. We employ the Fama and French three-factor model (TFM) to measure the change in the systematic risk of the underlying stocks which arises subsequent to the introduction of futures contracts. A GJR-GARCH(1,1) specification is used to test whether the futures contract listing affects the permanent and/or the transitory component of the residual variance of returns, and a control sample methodology isolates changes in the risk components that may be caused by factors other than futures contract innovation. The observed increase (decrease) in the impact of current (old) news on the residual variance implies that futures contract listing enhances stock market efficiency. There is no evidence that futures innovation impacts on either the systematic risk or the permanent component of the residual variance of returns.

Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by antisocial deviance in the context of interpersonal and emotional detachment. The study of psychopathy in non-forensic samples is an area of growing interest, but one that is limited by the fact that most large-scale epidemiological studies, which collect a wealth of data that could further elucidate the phenotypic correlates, constructs, assessments, and etiologic mechanisms in psychopathy, typically do not include direct assessment of psychopathy construct or measurements. However, if facets of psychopathy could be predicted from other measures, such as broadband inventories of normal personality that are often administered in large-scale investigations, data from college epidemiological studies could be brought to bear light on the study of psychopathy. This study is two-fold in the investigation of psychopathy. First, the present study replicated the work of Sellbom and colleagues (2012) three-psychopathy scales derived from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF). These scales were developed to assess psychopathy as conceptualized in the PPI-R and include Global Psychopathy (Py-T), Impulsive-Antisociality (Py-IA) and Fearless-Dominance (Py-FD). Second, the present study built upon the three-psychopathy scales by investigating psychopathy’s construct in relation to Cooke and Michie’s (2001) three-facto model. A sample of 151 participants from a Midwestern university were administrated the PPI-R and MMPI-2-RF. The MMPI-2-RF three scales and construct of psychopathy were evaluated using bivariate correlations. Results support previous studies, regarding the Py-T, Py-IA, and Py-FD scales and the three-factor model of psychopathy.

The explanatory power of six asset-pricing models are tested and compared in this study. The models include the four known asset pricing models: the CAPM, the Fama and French's (1996) Three-Factor model, the Carhart's (1997)'s Four-Factor model, a model similar to Zepeda's (1999) Five-Factor model. Additionally, it includes two new models - the Five-Factor-Volume (5F-V) model and the Six-Factor model, which are developed in line with Ross's (1976) Arbitrage Pricing Theory.

During the last decade, investments into the Swedish mutual fund market have increased substantially. The increased popularity of actively managed Swedish equity funds among households and investment companies, correspondingly, funds need to deliver substantial results, raised the importance to evaluate these funds’ performance. This thesis adds to the scarce empirical literature on Swedish equity mutual fund performance. Employing the Fama-French three factor model, it analyzes whether actively managed Swedish equity mu- tual funds outperform the Fama-French benchmarks net- and gross of management fees. The study uses time-series data and constructs equally-weighted portfolios of the 42 Swe- dish based actively managed equity mutual funds investing in Sweden for the period 2003- 2013. The portfolios’ excess returns are calculated by estimating the Fama-French three factor model by means of ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis. The empirical results show that actively managed equity mutual funds over performed the Fama-French three factor benchmarks by an average annualized net- and gross excess return of 3.60 and 4.67 percent respectively. Sorting out the funds by the performance into deciles, the find- ings indicate that management fees influence the performance of the equity mutual funds in the sample of our study. The conclusion is made such that there is an indication that Swedish equity funds’ managers are able to add value above passive investing.

Researchers criticize predominant expected return models for being imprecise and based on fundamentally flawed assumptions. This dissertation evaluates Implied Cost of Capital, CAPM and the Three-Factor model abilities to estimate returns. We study each models expected return association to realized return and test for abnormal returns. Our sample covers the period 2000 to 2012 and includes 2916 US firms. We find that Implied Cost of Capital has a stronger association with realized returns than CAPM and the Three-Factor model. Implied Cost of Capital also has lower abnormal returns not accounted for by expected returns. Our results suggest that we can replace CAPM and the Three-Factor model with Implied Cost of Capital.

Problembakgrund: Studier för sambandet mellan volatilitet och avkastning har för det aggregerade marknadsperspektivet varit odelat enliga i att detta är negativt. Detsamma gäller inte sambandet vid studier på aktier för enskilda företag där ett antal har kunnat observera ett positivt samband. Detta skulle betyda att det är fördelaktigt när en akties volatilitet ökar, vilket går emot tidigare teorier som säger att sjunkande aktiekurser leder till en ökande volatilitet. I en teori har reala optioner presenterats som en förklaring genom dess konvexitet som leder till ett samtidigt ökande värde när volatilitet ökar. Problemformulering: Existerar ett positivt samband mellan volatilitet och avkastning för enskilda aktier noterade på den svenska aktiemarknaden? Syfte: Studiens huvudsyfte ligger i att avgöra om det går att observera ett positivt samband mellan volatilitet och avkastning på företagsnivå. Sambandet kontrolleras för de variabler som indikerar på en relativt stor tillgång reala optioner för att avgöra om ett företags flexibilitet gör att avkastning och volatilitet ökar samtidigt genom de reala optionernas värdeökning i enlighet med den teori presenterad av Grullon, Lyandres och Zhdanov. Ett delsyfte är därefter att undersöka huruvida vanliga prisjämviktsmodellers förklaringsgrad kan förbättras för att utreda om reala optioner har en så betydande effekt för svenska aktiers avkastning att investerare bör ta dessa i beaktande. Teori: Studien avhandlar de två teorier som tidigare presenterats som huvudförklaringar för det asymmetriska sambandet mellan volatilitet och avkastning, hävstångseffekten och volatilitetsfeedback-effekten. Dessutom presenteras den teori som genom ett företags flexibilitet eventuellt förklarar ett symmetriskt samband och de nyckeltal som indikerar på en relativ tillgång reala optioner. För att kunna undersöka detta samband använder vi CAPM, Fama-French tre- och Carhart fyrfaktormodell, samt en vidare modifierad modell som beaktar reala optioner. Metod: För att besvara vår problemformulering har vi valt att genomföra denna kvantitativa studie med en deduktivt ansats. Ett totalurval bestående av 1131 företag på aktiemarknaden mellan åren 1992 – 2011 ligger som grund för de statistiska testen.  Empiri/analys: Resultaten visar på att det inte föreligger ett positivt samband mellan volatilitet och avkastning för enskilda aktier noterade i Sverige, det samband vi finner är signifikant negativt. De undersökta prisjämviktsmodellerna visar på en något ökande förklaringsgrad för de variabler som indikerar reala optioner men utan signifikanta resultat. Dessa resultat skiljer sig från referensstudien på den amerikanska marknaden av Grullon et al. som kunnat visa på ett positivt samband. Slutsats: Ett existerande symmetriskt samband går inte att helt utesluta, resultaten visar däremot på att de teorier som driver ett negativt samband är dominerande på den svenska marknaden. Detta kan bero på exempelvis skillnader i företagsklimat eller juridiska trösklar mellan länder som hämmar ett företags möjligheter till att vara flexibla och att denna effekt därför blir begränsad.

A substantial body of literature links precarious employment with increased exposure to occupational hazards and adverse OHS outcomes. While a majority of these studies has found that precarious work has adverse effects on OHS outcomes, findings are more mixed with regard to temporary employment (the focus of this study), and there are still many gaps in the research that have yet to be addressed. Various models have been proposed in an attempt to explain the causal mechanisms behind the health effects of precarious employment. However, relatively few studies have empirically investigated these mechanisms. There is also a dearth of research on the effects of precarious work on OHS outcomes in parts of the service sector, such as hospitality, despite the fact that these industries make extensive use of precarious work arrangements. Further, few studies have been based on international comparative data (and even fewer where the focus has been on a particular industry). This thesis seeks to address these gaps by investigating OHS outcomes of hotel workers engaged under different employment arrangements in Ireland and Australia. There are two principle objectives to the study. The first is to examine OHS outcomes, while the second is to test and refine the Quinlan, Mayhew and Bohle (2001) Three Factor Model in an attempt to explain the links between health and precarious employment. It also aims to enhance the understanding of the mechanisms by which these factors interact to influence outcomes. This study defines and tests a health and injury structural model. The structural equation modelling techniques employed have not been used in previous studies in this area and provide a clearer portrayal of the complex relationships between the many variables affecting the OHS of precarious employees in the hotel industry. The OHS outcomes range from exposure to occupational violence and stress to a wide variety of debilitating physical ailments. This research also highlights several indirect or spillover effects of precarious employment. The inconsistencies between both locations are mainly regarding perceived job security, economic and reward pressures and lack of control over working hours. Despite these differences, there are basic similarities between the locations that are important.

Over the past years, the total assets under management among hedge funds and equity mutual fundshave increased significantly. The question from an investor point of view iswhich investment vehicle can provide the greatest return adjusted for risk. The purpose of this study involves an analysis on the historical net asset values todetermine and evaluate what one can except from actively managed hedge andequity mutual funds. It supports the determination of the most profitable asset, adjusted for risk, as part of a diversified portfolio. The performance is measured net of fees and costs with the inclusion of potential performance fees individual hedge funds may apply. Hedge funds practice different investment approaches depending on what strategy is applied and hence, return levels can vary dramatically. The study is designed to answer questions by comparing net returns and risk-adjusted returns for respective investments and the different hedge fund strategies. With a deductive research approach, the analysis is conducted by applying existing models and theories as the Fama-French three-factor model through time-series regressions measuring excess returns (alpha), risk-adjusted performance measures as Sharpe ratio, M-squared and the Sortino ratio. The results show that hedge funds outperform equity mutual funds in all examined aspects and produce positive monthly net alphas,on average. Equity mutual funds are unable to provide investors with positive excess returns and subsequently fail the purpose of an actively managed fund by providing returns lower than the return of the market. The results are increasingly strengthened with both time-series regressions and performance measures showing homogenous results and reaching the equal conclusions. From the conclusions that hedge funds provide the most profitable investment compared to equity mutual funds, the hedge fund strategy CTA/managed futures strategies perform best in both net and risk-adjusted terms.

Pension funds play a large role in the UK pension system since the returns of the funds determine how large the total pension will be. The future retirees can choose between active and passive fund management where the active management often is more expensive. In this study 102 actively managed UK equity pension funds are analyzed in order to see if managers have sufficient skill to generate risk adjusted return to cover the cost imposed on the investors. The result implies that the active pension funds in aggregate, before expenses, hold a portfolio that imitates market returns during 2000 to 2012. Bootstrap simulations suggest that only eight funds out of the sample of 102 have skilled managers and six of these managers are skilled enough to produce risk adjusted excess return large enough to cover the expenses imposed on the investor.