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Historians and political scientists have explained the pre-eminence of Social Credit in British Columbia during the last half of this century as an institutionalized protest against the seeming inactivity of partisan governments and as a reaction to the strength of the social democratic element in the province's political culture. This thesis examines the period from 1932 up to and including the BC Social Credit movement's electoral breakthrough in 1952 and suggests that economic and political conditions during that time affected the way that Social Crediters organized and changed the focus of Social Credit ideology in BC from monetary reform to a call for good government and conservative values. It also suggests that some previous conclusions about BC's Social Credit movement - that it was an outgrowth of Alberta Social Credit, that it was a populist organization, that it was too small to be intellectually significant - should be modified in the light of new evidence. This thesis should serve as a starting point for more specialized studies of the Social Credit movement in British Columbia.

Dramatic changes in medical science and a general improvement in living standards has led to significant reduction in the morality rate of certain age groups in South Africa. As a result the average age at which people are likely to die increased significantly in the 2oth century. The implications of this has not only to increase the number of people who survive to retirement age, but it has also seen larger numbers of people live for much longer periods in retirement. Opposite to the above, is the HIVIAids pandemic, which will increase the mortality rates of individuals at a younger age and undoubtedly affect pension plans and the costs thereof. The effect of all these changes have been the ultimate cost of providing a given pension benefit. At first the paper examines the trend in retirement saving away from Defined Benefit (DB) towards Define Contribution (DC) funds. It looks at the reasons why this shift has occurred in South Africa, and provided confirmation of the retirement savings plans away from DB structures and towards DC type of plans in South Africa. Secondly the paper briefly looks at the operation of DC plans in South Africa. The potential consequences of the shift are then reviewed in the context of roleplayers in the retirement savings decision and personal involvement in retirement planning process. Upon completion of the literature study, a model was developed in which data from DC funds were used to make projections regarding the sufficiency and adequacy of funding within DC funds. This study has proved that the shift from DB to DC funds had an enormous impact on provision for retirement. It was found that a significant part of the population will not be independent at retirement and therefore might potentially became a responsibility of the state. The paper suggests that the level of personal involvement in the retirement savings decision may be a critical factor in determining the propensity of an individual to save for retirement. As a result research is proposed to consider the importance of the three elements in the involvement of the individual in the retirement savings decision: the perceived ownership of retirement savings, the awareness of the need to save for retirement and the understanding of how to save for retirement. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

Background and problem: Recent banking and financial crises has undoubtedly stressed the importance of a sound and well-functioning banking system. The banking industry is in critical need of strong governance stemming from their opaque and complex business along with the high social costs incurred in the event of bank failure. Previous research has shown that credit rating changes serve as a governance mechanism on the U.S. banking market, affecting real economic decision-making. However, no existing research has been conducted in an European context, rendering the objective of this thesis. Objective: The objective of this study is to examine the governance effects of credit rating changes on banks within the European banking market. Methodology: The objective of this thesis is achieved by using a novel and comprehensive data set comprising credit rating changes and financial accounting variables of 202 banks on the European banking market between the time period 1997-2011. A quantitative method is implemented to examine banks’ financial accounting variables in the event of credit rating changes. In order to measure the isolated effect from a credit rating change, the difference-in- differences econometric approach in combination with a Propensity Score Matching procedure will be conducted. Conclusions: The results from this research provide numerous evidence that credit rating changes have consistent governance effects on the European banking market. In the event of a credit rating downgrade, banks on the European banking market decrease in size and set aside more capital as reserves for non performing loans. In the event of a credit rating upgrade, banks increase in size and re-allocate assets, providing evidence that these banks have a more optimistic view of their financial conditions. The findings in this thesis are in line with previous research on the U.S. banking market, however, banks on the European banking market seems to have, on average, a more conservative attitude towards risk-taking in the event of a credit rating change.

Master‘s work explores the influence of credit risk of individual clients to the bank management process. It analyzes and systemizes theoretical and practical elements of the banks credit risk management conducted by various Lithuanian and foreign authors. It also measures the importance of credit administration and monitoring of individual clients with the purpose to decrease credit risk. Also this work presents prepared credit risk management system of private clients. It presents an analysis of legal acts of the Republic of Lithuania that directly influence bank credit risk management. Master’s work proves scientific hypothesis that improved credit applicant evaluation system enables to assess and reduce credit risk in AB bankas “NORD/LB Lietuva”.

This master‘s final paper formulates problems of the commercial banks‘ credit portfolio risk management. It analyzes theoretical methods to manage credit portfolio risk conducted by various Lithuanian and foreign authors. It also analyses „NORD/LB Lietuva“ bank credit portfolio risk management: principles of credit portolio formation, credit risk management in the process of granting loans, credit portfolio risk management in the process of monitoring, management of default credits and requirements for the credit indemnity. This paper offers ways to impove credit portfolio risk management in the bank. It indicates effective credit risk management organisational structure, effective credit portfolio risk management system and methods to evaluate financial risk and sufficiency of the capital required to cover credit risk.

Magistro darbe yra suformuluotos komercinio banko kreditų portfelio formavimo problemos. Remiantis Lietuvos ir užsienio autorių moksline literatūra, pateikti banko kreditų portfelio valdymo metodai ir jų taikymo galimybės. Atlikta AB „Šiaulių bankas“ kreditų portfelio kitimo analizė. Pasiūlyta paskolų apimties didinimo perspektyva bei jos ekonominė nauda bankui. Pirmoji – konceptualioji baigiamojo magistro darbo dalis skirta teoriniams klausimams nagrinėti, remiantis moksline literatūra. Analizuojama Lietuvos mokslininkų F. Jasevičienės, V. Vaškelaičio, D. Ivaškevičiaus, G. Kancerevyčiaus, taip pat užsienio mokslininkų J. Bessis, E. I. Altman ekonominė literatūra, nagrinėjami ir analizuojami paskolų vertinimo, grupavimo ir pelningumo principai. Antroje dalyje analizuojamos AB “Šiaulių bankas“ kreditų kitimo tendencijos. Taikant statistinius metodus atlikta paskolų portfelio apimties kitimo ir struktūros analizė. Taip pat taikant statistinius metodus nustatyta, kas labiausiai veikė visą paskolų portfelio didėjimą. Konstruktyviojoje dalyje analizuojant AB “Šiaulių bankas“ paskolų portfelio kitimo tendencijas, pritaikius statistinius metodus atlikta prognozė 2007 – 2008 metams. Atlikus įvairių autorių nuomonių įvertinimą bei apžvelgus kreditų kitimo tendencijas AB „Šiaulių banke“ pateikiami pasiūlymai kredito portfelio apimčiai didinti. / In the master’s paper portfolio formation problems are formulated for commercial bank credits. Basing upon the Lithuanian and foreign scientific literature, bank credit portfolio control methods and application opportunities are given. AB Siauliu bankas credit portfolio change analysis is done. Loan volume increase perspective and its economic benefit for the bank are suggested. The first, the conceptual part of the master’s paper is dedicated to analyse theoretical questions basing upon scientific literature. Economic literature of Lithuanian scientists F.Jaseviciene, V.Vaskelaitis, D.Ivaskevicius, G.Kancerevycius as well as foreign authors J.Bessis, E.I.Altman is analysed, loan assessment, grouping and profitability principles are analysed. In the second part I analyse AB Siauliu bankas credit change trends. Applying statistical methods, loan portfolio volume change and structure analysis is performed. Also, applying statistical methods, the factors which influenced increase of the loan portfolio are established. In the constructive pat, by analysing AB Siauliu bankas loan portfolio change trends, applying statistical methods, forecast for 2007-2008 is done. After having assessed opinions of various authors and reviewed credit change trends in AB Siauliu bankas, suggestions for increase of credit portfolio volume are given.

The purpose of this correlational and descriptive study was to examine the influence of an agricultural dual credit course curriculum on student self-efficacy of college readiness as students matriculate to post-secondary education. To evaluate the personal characteristics, postsecondary plans, program perceptions and college readiness self-efficacy, a quantitative survey and online instrument was used to gather data and analyze information on high school students enrolled in agricultural education in both dual credit and non-dual credit courses primarily in the Middle Tennessee Region. The target population (N = 543) for this study was defined as students at 16 schools where the dual credit course was offered with the Middle Tennessee State University, School of Agribusiness and Agriscience in the 2011-2012 academic year. A total of 245 students from 16 secondary agricultural programs in seven different school districts across Tennessee, primarily in the Middle Tennessee region, participated in the study for a response rate of approximately 45%. This study examined college readiness of student participation in an agricultural dual credit course and sought to determine the relationship between student participation in a dual credit course offering and college readiness self-efficacy as well as student perceptions of the course offering. Course self-efficacy was higher among dual credit participants versus non-dual credit participants. Social self-efficacy was also higher for dual credit participants. Females had higher Course self-efficacy, and there was a positive relationship between GPA and each construct of the college readiness self-efficacy inventory. Participant perceptions of the agricultural dual credit program were also high. This study indicates that dual credit participants can confidently approach post-secondary options, and that they are more likely to be successful in college due to level of self-efficacy as they matriculate into college. Recommendations from the study include: Using the MTSU dual credit model in future dual credit course developments and collaborations; using findings as a basis for training future agricultural education teachers on how to improve CRSE; and additional and longitudinal studies to track dual credit students’ success in college.

This thesis examines anti-Semitism in the Alberta Social Credit Party under the Aberhart and Manning regimes. It is based on various archival sources from the Glenbow Archives-Institute in Calgary, Alberta, the Premiers' Papers at the Provincial Archives of Alberta in Edmonton, contemporary press reports, and the Social Credit Party's national organ, the Canadian Social Crediter. It argues that anti-Semitism in the Alberta Social Credit Party was not the purview of a marginal, extreme wing of the Party, but that it was an integral element of Social Credit ideology. This ideology was espoused by most Social Crediters, including premiers Aberhart and Manning. When Ernest Manning purged the Movement of its anti-Semites in 1947-1948, he was attempting, unsuccessfully, to eradicate the very essence of Social Credit ideology. The consequence of thirty-six years of Social Credit rule is the persistence of an Albertan political culture which breeds provincialism and intolerance.

This thesis consists of three original articles in the field of general equilibrium with incomplete markets and general equilibrium with asymmetric information, and an introduction to the theory, which traces its development and embeds the following chapters in a common framework. In Pareto Improving Trade Restrictions in an Incomplete Markets Economy, we consider a stylised three period one good general equilibrium model with incomplete security markets. We show that the introduction of an indiscriminate marginal constraint on security trades can lead to a Pareto improvement, even though all prices are endogenous and agents are fully rational and have symmetric information. In Signaling Credit Quality Independently of Contract Choice: a Non-Transaction Cost Approach to Swaps in Anonymous Markets, we demonstrate that under two conditions, swaps are non-redundant securities in anonymous financial markets. Firstly, there is asymmetric information over the project payoff which is financed by swaps. And secondly, borrowers are restricted from being investors at the same time. If either of this condition fails, then swaps are redundant assets. Swaps permit a constrained optimal solution to an asymmetric information problem. Finally, Anonymous Corporate Bond Markets with Asymmetric Information, the main article of this thesis, shows that in an anonymous credit market which is characterised by limited liability and asymmetric information between borrowers and lenders, the nominal rate of interest on tradable debt (the coupon rate) sorts borrowers by their riskiness and in this way has an indirect influence on the price and quantity of bonds traded in equilibrium. This is in contrast to symmetric information models, in which the nominal coupon rate has no function. The paper claims that the adverse sorting effect of the nominal interest rate, as in Stiglitz-Weiss (1981), is maintained in a competitive setting, but that, even though changes in the nominal interest rate result in non-monotonic changes in the deliveries of agents, the orderly functioning of markets is not impaired.