Abstract With the liberalization and globalization, the scope for banks is much more sophisticated in decade. Accompanied with Asian Financial Crisis, the Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio of domestic financial institutions has increased significantly. Consequently, this research adopts 2SLS to estimate simultaneous equations and examines the impact of risk-based capital regulation on NPL ratio and operating performance. The empirical results are summarily as following: 1. There exists a negative relationship between capital adequacy ratio and NPL ratio, which means that the higher the capital adequacy ratio is, the lower the NPL loan will be. Therefore, adopting the capital regulation will be helpful to improve the balance-sheet structure. 2. With the change of capital adequacy ratio, ROE moves in the same direction; that is, there is a positive relationship between capital adequacy ratio and ROE. Usually, the high-profit companies have more cash flow to support the capital requirement. 3. Examining the effectiveness of ¡§First-Stage Financial Reform Policy¡¨, we find that only 12% and 26% of the banks are not qualified for capital adequacy ratio and NPL ratio, respectively.. Thus, the ¡§First-Stage Financial Reform Policy¡¨ has achieved the preliminary goal. 4. We adopt t-test to distinguish whether the difference between actual and standard figures is significantly large for those disqualified banks. It shows that the main factor might be because of the essential problem of bad asset-debt structure, and not the lack of time to adapt themselves to the new regulation.

The thesis describes a stochastic procedure developed for assessing risk and reducing uncertainty inherent in the investment decision making process. It is proposed that the two most important profitability financial ratios in relation to investment decisions are the return on equity and the return on assets respectively. In order to exploit their use as criteria for risk measurement and uncertainty reduction, a stochastic formulation is adopted in which these ratios are expressed in probabilistic terms. A density function to describe their behaviour is derived; it is found that density distribution analysis for both ratios indicate that the Weibull distribution apart from being the most flexible and adaptable model of all those considered, provides the best overall fit to the data. It is accordingly used in the latter part of the research for evaluating industrial sector and company investment risk.

Magister Economicae - MEcon / China has embarked on a wide range of economic reforms in the past thirty years. One of the major reforms was to restructure state-owned enterprises (SOEs) into public listed companies (PLCs) to improve the performance and quality of corporate governance of SOEs. However, the unique phenomenon of China’s equity market is that the state continues to hold a controlling stake in PLCs with less than 40% of shares tradable in the stock market. This seriously affects the performance and quality of corporate governance of China’s PLCs. This mini-thesis investigates the effects of split-share structure reform on SOEs in China, with particular focus on an analysis of the relationship between ownership structure and firm performance of listed companies. By using a sample of the top 50 companies based on the ranking of the 2004 Fortune top 100 PLCs, a negative correlation was found between the state ownership structure and firm performance of China PLCs before the announcement of split-share structure reform. However, by using the same samples and techniques, the analysis shows that the improvement in the diversified ownership structure had a positive impact on firm performance in China PLCs after the reform.

The thesis describes a stochastic procedure developed for assessing risk and reducing uncertainty inherent in the investment decision making process. It is proposed that the two most important profitability financial ratios in relation to investment decisions are the return on equity and the return on assets respectively. In order to exploit their use as criteria for risk measurement and uncertainty reduction, a stochastic formulation is adopted in which these ratios are expressed in probabilistic terms. A density function to describe their behaviour is derived; it is found that density distribution analysis for both ratios indicate that the Weibull distribution apart from being the most flexible and adaptable model of all those considered, provides the best overall fit to the data. It is accordingly used in the latter part of the research for evaluating industrial sector and company investment risk.

O objetivo desta dissertação foi investigar se a Rentabilidade sobre o Patrimônio Líquido (ROE) do setor bancário privado atuante no Brasil foi maior do que a dos setores não-financeiros privados no período de 1997 a 2004. Partiu-se de uma comparação geral para comparações mais detalhadas a fim de se chegar a respostas mais consistentes e verificar se o que vale para o todo vale para as partes que o compõem. Considerou-se tanto o ROE legal quanto o ROE ajustado pelos efeitos da inflação. Analisou-se também a rentabilidade dos cinco maiores bancos privados brasileiros comparativamente a seus pares de países desenvolvidos selecionados. Por fim, foi analisado se a rentabilidade auferida pelo setor bancário privado foi maior do que seu custo de capital próprio, ou seja, se seu spread econômico foi positivo.Utilizou-se, como medida para comparação, a média dos ROE’s e o seu desvio padrão. Para estimação do custo do capital próprio foi utilizado o CAPM tendo como benchmark as taxas dos EUA adaptadas ao risco Brasil. Os resultados da pesquisa evidenciaram que, na média, a rentabilidade do setor bancário privado foi maior do que a dos setores não-financeiros privados e apresentou menor volatilidade, tanto pelo ROE legal quanto pelo ROE ajustado pelos efeitos da inflação, neste caso, no entanto, as diferenças foram menores. Na comparação com os maiores bancos de países selecionados, evidenciou-se que o ROE médio dos maiores Bancos Privados brasileiros não destoa de seus pares de países desenvolvidos. Quanto à questão do spread econômico, considerou-se o ROE ajustado tanto pelo IGP-M quanto pelo IPCA. Em ambos os casos, o spread econômico do setor bancário privado só foi positivo em 1999. No período de 1997 a 2004, o spread econômico foi de –6,4%, quando se utilizou o IGP-M, e de -4,6%, quando se utilizou o IPCA. Concluindo, embora o setor bancário privado, na média, tenha apresentado Rentabilidade sobre o Patrimônio Líquido maior do que os setores privados não-financeiros privados, essa rentabilidade não foi suficiente para cobrir o custo do capital próprio. Dessa forma, na média, os Bancos não têm conseguido criar valor para os acionistas. / The objective of this thesis was to investigate if the return on equity (ROE) from the private banking sector that operates in Brazil was bigger than the non-financial private sectors in the period from 1997 to 2004. It began from a general comparison and evolved to more specific comparisons in order to reach more consistent answers and to analyze if what is true for the whole is true for the parts that complete it. It was considered both the legal ROE and the adjusted ROE by the inflation effects. It was also analyzed the ROE of the five largest Brazilian private banks comparatively to theirs peers from developed countries selected. At last, it was analyzed if the ROE of the private banking sector was bigger than its own capital cost, that is, if its economic spread was positive. It was used, as comparison measure, the average of the ROE’s and its standard deviation. The CAPM having as benchmark the USA rates adapted to the Brazil´s risk was used for estimating the cost of own capital. The results of the research showed that, on the average, the ROE of the private banking sector was bigger than the non-financial sectors and presented less volatility, as for the legal ROE as for the adjusted ROE by the inflation effects, in this case, however, the differences were lower. In the comparison with the biggest banks from selected countries, it was showed that the average ROE of the biggest Brazilian private banks wasn’t different from their developed countries peers. Regarding economic spread, it was considered as the ROE adjusted by the IGP-M as by the IPCA. In both cases the private banking sector economic spread was positive only in 1999. In the period from 1997 to 2004, the economic spread was –6,4%, when IGP-M was used, and –4,6%, when IPCA was used. To sum up, although the private banking sector, on the average, showed ROE bigger than the non-financial private sectors, this ROE was not enough to cover the own capital cost. In this way, on average, the banks have not created value for their stockholders.

Este trabalho visa identificar possíveis vantagens que as empresas obtêm ao contribuir com campanhas políticas. Para isso, foi utilizada uma extensa base de dados com informações de doações a candidatos aos cargos de deputado, senador e presidente nas eleições de 2006 e 2010. As variáveis de interesse analisadas foram o retorno anormal cumulativo à época da divulgação do resultado das eleições e o retorno sobre o patrimônio líquido no ano posterior a cada eleição. Foram estimadas regressões de dados em painel através de mínimos quadrados ordinários, e incluídos efeitos fixos de ano e setor das empresas. Os resultados indicam que não apenas o mercado antecipa benefícios futuros para as empresas que contribuíram com campanhas – o que se reflete em retornos anormais cumulativos positivos à época da eleição – mas também estas empresas apresentam retornos sobre o patrimônio líquido superiores aos daquelas que não participaram do processo político. Além disso, doações a candidatos vencedores geram retorno superior aos de doações a candidatos perdedores; o que vai ao encontro da hipótese de retribuição de favores. De forma similar, contribuições a candidatos filiados à coligação do presidente eleito também apresentaram impacto superior quando comparadas com doações a candidatos da oposição. / This paper aims to identify potential benefits that companies obtain by contributing to political campaigns. We used an extensive database with information on donations to House, Senate and Presidency candidates in the 2006 and 2010 elections. The variables of interest analyzed were the cumulative abnormal return by the time the results of each election became know and the return on equity in the year following the election. Panel regressions were estimated as ordinary least squares (OLS), and fixed effects of year and industry were included. The results indicate that not only the market anticipates future benefits for companies that contributed to campaigns - which is reflected in positive cumulative abnormal returns at the announcement of the election results - but these companies also have higher returns on equity than those that were not involved in the political process. In addition, donations to winning candidates generate higher returns than donations to losing candidates; which supports the return of favors hypothesis. Similarly, contributions to candidates affiliated to the president’s coalition's also had higher impact when compared to donations to the oposition candidates.

O objetivo desta dissertação foi investigar se a Rentabilidade sobre o Patrimônio Líquido (ROE) do setor bancário privado atuante no Brasil foi maior do que a dos setores não-financeiros privados no período de 1997 a 2004. Partiu-se de uma comparação geral para comparações mais detalhadas a fim de se chegar a respostas mais consistentes e verificar se o que vale para o todo vale para as partes que o compõem. Considerou-se tanto o ROE legal quanto o ROE ajustado pelos efeitos da inflação. Analisou-se também a rentabilidade dos cinco maiores bancos privados brasileiros comparativamente a seus pares de países desenvolvidos selecionados. Por fim, foi analisado se a rentabilidade auferida pelo setor bancário privado foi maior do que seu custo de capital próprio, ou seja, se seu spread econômico foi positivo.Utilizou-se, como medida para comparação, a média dos ROE’s e o seu desvio padrão. Para estimação do custo do capital próprio foi utilizado o CAPM tendo como benchmark as taxas dos EUA adaptadas ao risco Brasil. Os resultados da pesquisa evidenciaram que, na média, a rentabilidade do setor bancário privado foi maior do que a dos setores não-financeiros privados e apresentou menor volatilidade, tanto pelo ROE legal quanto pelo ROE ajustado pelos efeitos da inflação, neste caso, no entanto, as diferenças foram menores. Na comparação com os maiores bancos de países selecionados, evidenciou-se que o ROE médio dos maiores Bancos Privados brasileiros não destoa de seus pares de países desenvolvidos. Quanto à questão do spread econômico, considerou-se o ROE ajustado tanto pelo IGP-M quanto pelo IPCA. Em ambos os casos, o spread econômico do setor bancário privado só foi positivo em 1999. No período de 1997 a 2004, o spread econômico foi de –6,4%, quando se utilizou o IGP-M, e de -4,6%, quando se utilizou o IPCA. Concluindo, embora o setor bancário privado, na média, tenha apresentado Rentabilidade sobre o Patrimônio Líquido maior do que os setores privados não-financeiros privados, essa rentabilidade não foi suficiente para cobrir o custo do capital próprio. Dessa forma, na média, os Bancos não têm conseguido criar valor para os acionistas. / The objective of this thesis was to investigate if the return on equity (ROE) from the private banking sector that operates in Brazil was bigger than the non-financial private sectors in the period from 1997 to 2004. It began from a general comparison and evolved to more specific comparisons in order to reach more consistent answers and to analyze if what is true for the whole is true for the parts that complete it. It was considered both the legal ROE and the adjusted ROE by the inflation effects. It was also analyzed the ROE of the five largest Brazilian private banks comparatively to theirs peers from developed countries selected. At last, it was analyzed if the ROE of the private banking sector was bigger than its own capital cost, that is, if its economic spread was positive. It was used, as comparison measure, the average of the ROE’s and its standard deviation. The CAPM having as benchmark the USA rates adapted to the Brazil´s risk was used for estimating the cost of own capital. The results of the research showed that, on the average, the ROE of the private banking sector was bigger than the non-financial sectors and presented less volatility, as for the legal ROE as for the adjusted ROE by the inflation effects, in this case, however, the differences were lower. In the comparison with the biggest banks from selected countries, it was showed that the average ROE of the biggest Brazilian private banks wasn’t different from their developed countries peers. Regarding economic spread, it was considered as the ROE adjusted by the IGP-M as by the IPCA. In both cases the private banking sector economic spread was positive only in 1999. In the period from 1997 to 2004, the economic spread was –6,4%, when IGP-M was used, and –4,6%, when IPCA was used. To sum up, although the private banking sector, on the average, showed ROE bigger than the non-financial private sectors, this ROE was not enough to cover the own capital cost. In this way, on average, the banks have not created value for their stockholders.

This paper studies the link between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and operating performance of companies between two countries in the same industry. This study analyze the relationship between financial performance indicators ROE (return on equity), OM (operating margin) and CSD (corporate social disclosure) for five listed Swedish apparel companies on the Stockholm exchange market and five listed Chinese apparel companies on the Chinese exchange market by using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The main findings are that there are mixed results in the relationship between CSR disclosure and operating performance for two countries’ companies. And there are some differences in this relationship between two countries’ companies.

Bakgrund: Bonussystem är något som började växa fram på 1980-talet och har sedan dess varit ett omdiskuterat ämne, både här hemma i Sverige och internationellt. Många forskare, politiker och invånare har uppmärksammat de höga ersättningarna som delas ut inom företagen i både bra och dåliga dagar. Det som drog mest uppmärksamhet var att företag trots en finanskris fortsatta med sina utdelningar och t.o.m. ökade sina rörliga ersättningar. Detta fick människor att undra vad företagen egentligen baserar sina ersättningar på. Å andra sidan försvarar företag sig med att dessa ersättningar ger motivation och ökad effektivitet hos de anställda som i sin tur presterar bättre, vilket utvecklar och driver företagen framåt.   Problemformulering: Väljer företagen att basera sina ersättningar på prestationsbaserade eller/och storleksbaserade variabler? Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att kartlägga vilken av de teoretiska traditionerna som bonussystem baseras på genom att undersöka hur sambandet ser ut mellan utvalda bonusmått och verkställande direktörers och ledande befattningshavarnas totala ersättning under en femårsperiod. Metod: Uppsatsen bygger på en kvantitativ metod där datainsamlingen har skett genom sekundärdata i form av företagens årsredovisningar. Vi har även valt att anta den deduktiva ansatsen som innebär att våra valda teorier ska appliceras på det reslutat som undersökningen visar. Reslutat: Utifrån de tester som gjordes i SPSS programmet visade resultatet att det framgick ett signifikant samband mellan total ersättning och företagets prestation samt företagets storlek. Slutsats: Studien visar att både prestationsbaserade och storleksbaserade variabler visar samband med den totala ersättningen, en övergripande variabel som utformar bolagens ersättningssystem kunde inte konstateras i vår undersökning. Utformningen av ersättningssystem påverkas av inre och yttre faktorer, bl.a. som landets välfärdssystem, företagskultur, konjunkturförändringar.

Empirical research findings on the consequences of post-M&A performance have generated several result, although most of which are inconsistent. The relation of such post-M&A performances to non-listed and listed companies can be relative especially when considering the companies economic and financial structure and other prevailing factors associated to the host country. However, most of these have been attributed to the choice of performance measurement indicators. This paper analyses and evaluates existing performance indicators that have been employed in the literature. It is argued that to overcome the limitations found in financial indicators of performance, a need to pursue multiple measures of performance in post-M&A research is needed. It also argues that the motives for the transaction should also be included as performance indicators. This hybrid approach will allow researchers and practitioners to measure the overall success of merger and acquisitions.