This dissertation comprises of three related essays in regard of puzzling negative book equity phenomenon among U.S. public firms. In essay 1, I present the evidence that there is an increasing trend of negative book equity firms over the past 50 years, from 0.3% up to over 5% among publicly traded firms in US. In contrast to previous research which generally classify these firms as distressed firms with highly likelihood of bankruptcy, I propose a new method to separate Healthy Negative Book Equity Firms (HNBEF) from relatively more distressed negative book equity firms. The results show that HNBEF have much higher net income and interest coverage ratio, they survive longer, and pay more dividends. More interestingly, these firms are often actively increase share repurchases and debt issuance. These facts, combined with their strong profitability, indicate that managers of these firms are actively increasing their leverage and choose to be negative book equity firms. To explain the existence of HNBEF, in essay 2, I investigate several possible reasons that may contribute to the extreme leverage of these firms. I find that HNBEF are substantially undervalued by their book assets as stated on the balance sheet. In addition, the value of intangible assets, especially those off-balance sheet intangible assets, is positively related to the probability of becoming HNBEF. Moreover, I find that characteristics of intangible assets and firms also play important role on existence of HNBEF. Specifically, I find that both liquidity and redeployability of intangible assets are positively related with the probability of becoming HNBEF. Also, firms associated with closer borrower-lender relationship are more likely to become HNBEF. To investigate if the aggressive capital structure adopted by HNBEF is optimal, in essay 3, I performed several tests to analyze how these firms differ from other firms in terms of operating performance, corporate governance and firm value. My research finds that compared to firms from same industry and with similar size, managers of HNBEF invest more heavily in their own firms, and HNBEF have better corporate governance. In addition, HNBEF are associated with better operating performance and higher value.

Com a promulgação da Lei de Responsabilidade Fiscal (LRF), foram instituídas as regras de disciplina fiscal com o objetivo de reduzir o déficit público e estabilizar o montante da dívida pública em relação ao Produto Interno Bruto (PIB). Essas regras de disciplina fiscal compõem as restrições orçamentárias rígidas (hard budget constraint), destacando-se a exigência do orçamento equilibrado, o limite legal do endividamento, a destinação da dívida para investimentos e o controle indireto da dívida por meio do limite de despesas com pessoal. Todavia, dentre essas regras, os gestores dos grandes Municípios brasileiros alegam que o limite legal de endividamento de 1,2 da Receita Corrente Líquida (RCL) fixado pelo Senado Federal é inadequado, pois é único para todos os governos locais sem apresentar tratamento diferenciado aos grandes Municípios que possuem profundas diferenças em termos de população, renda e receita. Nesse contexto, é extremamente importante avaliar o desempenho fiscal da dívida dos grandes Municípios brasileiros, tendo como foco o nível de endividamento segundo os recursos potenciais desses governos locais e das restrições orçamentárias instituídas pela LRF. Assim, esta tese tem como objetivo central medir e explicar o desempenho do nível da dívida dos grandes Municípios brasileiros em função dos recursos potenciais para servir à dívida e dos mecanismos de restrições orçamentárias. Para tanto, foram considerados, no estudo, todos os grandes Municípios acima de 500.000 habitantes. Para medir o desempenho do nível da dívida, foi utilizada a análise envoltória de dados (DEA) em painel, denominada de DEA Dinâmica DSBM (Dinamic Slacks Based Model) com dados de 2000 a 2008, considerando como input o nível da dívida, como variável carryover o resultado primário e como outputs variáveis representativas dos recursos potenciais do Município: PIB, valor das propriedades e tamanho populacional. O desempenho do nível da dívida obtido com o DEA DSBM foi explicado pelas regras de disciplina fiscal com o uso da regressão GEE (Generalized Estimating Equations). Os resultados não rejeitaram as hipóteses de que o limite de despesas com pessoal e a destinação da dívida para investimentos são responsáveis para garantir o desempenho do nível da dívida dos grandes Municípios brasileiros. Os resultados rejeitaram a hipótese do equilíbrio orçamentário corrente influenciar positivamente o desempenho da dívida, contudo, considerando que para o cumprimento dessa regra fiscal é necessário observar as demais regras testadas, confirmou-se a tese de que os mecanismos de restrições orçamentárias provocam efeitos positivos no nível da dívida dos grandes Municípios brasileiros. Esses achados veem acentuar e eficácia da LRF no controle do endividamento público. Por outro lado, os dados revelaram que as transferências voluntárias, por representarem ajuda financeira implícita, atuam como uma força contrária ao desempenho do nível da dívida, flexibilizando as restrições orçamentárias, conforme prevê a hipótese do soft budget constraint (restrição orçamentária flexível). Considerando a relevância da regra fiscal do limite de endividamento no contexto das restrições orçamentárias, o estudo investigou se o limite fixado pelo Senado Federal reflete os recursos potenciais dos grandes Municípios. Os resultados revelaram, contrariamente ao esperado, que o limite legal é bastante elevado para esses Municípios, exceto para São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro, cuja capacidade de endividamento, segundo seus recursos potenciais, conduz a um limite médio de 0,35 da RCL. Contudo, para os Municípios de São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro o limite legal deveria ser bem maior que o instituído pelo Senado Federal, respectivamente, 1,84 e 1,64 da RCL, haja vista o considerável tamanho populacional desses Municípios, o significativo fluxo de riqueza expresso pelo PIB e a expressiva riqueza da comunidade representada pelo valor das propriedades. Acredita-se que esse estudo tenha contribuído para uma reflexão da dívida pública, apresentando uma metodologia que auxilie no avanço de estudos nessa área. / With the promulgation of the Fiscal Responsibility Law (FRL) some rules for fiscal discipline were set in order to reduce the public deficit and stabilize the public debt relative to Gross National Product (GDP). These rules compound the hard budget constraint, highlighting the balanced-budget requirement, the legal limit of indebtedness, the allocation of debt for investments and indirect control of debt through the limit of personnel expenses. However, among these rules, managers of large municipalities in Brazil claim that the legal limit of indebtedness of 1.2 over the Net Current Revenue (NCR) set by the Senate is inadequate because it is unique for all local governments without giving special treatment to major municipalities that have sound differences in terms of population, income and revenue. In this context, it is extremely important to assess the fiscal performance of the debt of major Brazilian cities, focusing on the level of debt according to the potential resources of local governments and budget constraints imposed by the FRL. So, this thesis has as principal purpose to measure and explain the performance of the debt level of the major Brazilian municipalities in terms of potential resources and mechanisms of budget constraints. To do that, we considered in the study all the larger municipalities over 500,000 inhabitants. In order to measure the performance of the debt level we used Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in a panel of data, called Dynamic DEA DSBM (Slacks Based Dynamic Model) with data from 2000 to 2008, considering the debt level as input, the primary result as carryover variable and as output variables that represent the potential resources of the City: GDP, property values and population size. The performance of the debt level achieved using DEA DSBM was explained by the rules of fiscal discipline using GEE regression (Generalized Estimating Equations). The results did not reject the hypothesis that the limit of personnel expenses and the allocation of debt for investments are responsible for ensuring the performance of the debt level of the major Brazilian municipalities. The results rejected the hypothesis of the current balanced budget to positively influence the performance of debt, however, considering that to obey this rule it\'s necessary to observe the further rules tested, we confirmed the thesis that the mechanisms of budget constraints cause positive effects on the debt level of large Brazilian municipalities. These findings intensified the efficacy of the FRL in the control of public debt. On the other hand, the data revealed that voluntary transfers, which represent implicit financial aid, act as a counterforce to the performance level of debt, weakening the budget constraints, as predicted by the hypothesis of soft budget constraint. Considering the importance of the fiscal rule of debt limit in the context of hard budget constraints mechanism, this study investigated whether the limit set by the Senate reflects the potential resources of the major Brazilian cities. The results showed, contrary to the expectations, that the legal limit is quite high for large municipalities, except for São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, because the debt capacity of these municipalities, according to its potential resources, leads to an average limit of 0.35 of the NCR. However, for the municipalities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro the legal limit should be much larger than that established by the Senate, respectively, 1.84 and 1.64 of the NCR, because of the considerable size of population, the significant flow of wealth expressed by the GDP and the considerable wealth of the community represented by the property values. We believed this study has contributed to a reflection of the public debt and introducing a methodology to assist in the progress of studies in this area.

Com a promulgação da Lei de Responsabilidade Fiscal (LRF), foram instituídas as regras de disciplina fiscal com o objetivo de reduzir o déficit público e estabilizar o montante da dívida pública em relação ao Produto Interno Bruto (PIB). Essas regras de disciplina fiscal compõem as restrições orçamentárias rígidas (hard budget constraint), destacando-se a exigência do orçamento equilibrado, o limite legal do endividamento, a destinação da dívida para investimentos e o controle indireto da dívida por meio do limite de despesas com pessoal. Todavia, dentre essas regras, os gestores dos grandes Municípios brasileiros alegam que o limite legal de endividamento de 1,2 da Receita Corrente Líquida (RCL) fixado pelo Senado Federal é inadequado, pois é único para todos os governos locais sem apresentar tratamento diferenciado aos grandes Municípios que possuem profundas diferenças em termos de população, renda e receita. Nesse contexto, é extremamente importante avaliar o desempenho fiscal da dívida dos grandes Municípios brasileiros, tendo como foco o nível de endividamento segundo os recursos potenciais desses governos locais e das restrições orçamentárias instituídas pela LRF. Assim, esta tese tem como objetivo central medir e explicar o desempenho do nível da dívida dos grandes Municípios brasileiros em função dos recursos potenciais para servir à dívida e dos mecanismos de restrições orçamentárias. Para tanto, foram considerados, no estudo, todos os grandes Municípios acima de 500.000 habitantes. Para medir o desempenho do nível da dívida, foi utilizada a análise envoltória de dados (DEA) em painel, denominada de DEA Dinâmica DSBM (Dinamic Slacks Based Model) com dados de 2000 a 2008, considerando como input o nível da dívida, como variável carryover o resultado primário e como outputs variáveis representativas dos recursos potenciais do Município: PIB, valor das propriedades e tamanho populacional. O desempenho do nível da dívida obtido com o DEA DSBM foi explicado pelas regras de disciplina fiscal com o uso da regressão GEE (Generalized Estimating Equations). Os resultados não rejeitaram as hipóteses de que o limite de despesas com pessoal e a destinação da dívida para investimentos são responsáveis para garantir o desempenho do nível da dívida dos grandes Municípios brasileiros. Os resultados rejeitaram a hipótese do equilíbrio orçamentário corrente influenciar positivamente o desempenho da dívida, contudo, considerando que para o cumprimento dessa regra fiscal é necessário observar as demais regras testadas, confirmou-se a tese de que os mecanismos de restrições orçamentárias provocam efeitos positivos no nível da dívida dos grandes Municípios brasileiros. Esses achados veem acentuar e eficácia da LRF no controle do endividamento público. Por outro lado, os dados revelaram que as transferências voluntárias, por representarem ajuda financeira implícita, atuam como uma força contrária ao desempenho do nível da dívida, flexibilizando as restrições orçamentárias, conforme prevê a hipótese do soft budget constraint (restrição orçamentária flexível). Considerando a relevância da regra fiscal do limite de endividamento no contexto das restrições orçamentárias, o estudo investigou se o limite fixado pelo Senado Federal reflete os recursos potenciais dos grandes Municípios. Os resultados revelaram, contrariamente ao esperado, que o limite legal é bastante elevado para esses Municípios, exceto para São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro, cuja capacidade de endividamento, segundo seus recursos potenciais, conduz a um limite médio de 0,35 da RCL. Contudo, para os Municípios de São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro o limite legal deveria ser bem maior que o instituído pelo Senado Federal, respectivamente, 1,84 e 1,64 da RCL, haja vista o considerável tamanho populacional desses Municípios, o significativo fluxo de riqueza expresso pelo PIB e a expressiva riqueza da comunidade representada pelo valor das propriedades. Acredita-se que esse estudo tenha contribuído para uma reflexão da dívida pública, apresentando uma metodologia que auxilie no avanço de estudos nessa área. / With the promulgation of the Fiscal Responsibility Law (FRL) some rules for fiscal discipline were set in order to reduce the public deficit and stabilize the public debt relative to Gross National Product (GDP). These rules compound the hard budget constraint, highlighting the balanced-budget requirement, the legal limit of indebtedness, the allocation of debt for investments and indirect control of debt through the limit of personnel expenses. However, among these rules, managers of large municipalities in Brazil claim that the legal limit of indebtedness of 1.2 over the Net Current Revenue (NCR) set by the Senate is inadequate because it is unique for all local governments without giving special treatment to major municipalities that have sound differences in terms of population, income and revenue. In this context, it is extremely important to assess the fiscal performance of the debt of major Brazilian cities, focusing on the level of debt according to the potential resources of local governments and budget constraints imposed by the FRL. So, this thesis has as principal purpose to measure and explain the performance of the debt level of the major Brazilian municipalities in terms of potential resources and mechanisms of budget constraints. To do that, we considered in the study all the larger municipalities over 500,000 inhabitants. In order to measure the performance of the debt level we used Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) in a panel of data, called Dynamic DEA DSBM (Slacks Based Dynamic Model) with data from 2000 to 2008, considering the debt level as input, the primary result as carryover variable and as output variables that represent the potential resources of the City: GDP, property values and population size. The performance of the debt level achieved using DEA DSBM was explained by the rules of fiscal discipline using GEE regression (Generalized Estimating Equations). The results did not reject the hypothesis that the limit of personnel expenses and the allocation of debt for investments are responsible for ensuring the performance of the debt level of the major Brazilian municipalities. The results rejected the hypothesis of the current balanced budget to positively influence the performance of debt, however, considering that to obey this rule it\'s necessary to observe the further rules tested, we confirmed the thesis that the mechanisms of budget constraints cause positive effects on the debt level of large Brazilian municipalities. These findings intensified the efficacy of the FRL in the control of public debt. On the other hand, the data revealed that voluntary transfers, which represent implicit financial aid, act as a counterforce to the performance level of debt, weakening the budget constraints, as predicted by the hypothesis of soft budget constraint. Considering the importance of the fiscal rule of debt limit in the context of hard budget constraints mechanism, this study investigated whether the limit set by the Senate reflects the potential resources of the major Brazilian cities. The results showed, contrary to the expectations, that the legal limit is quite high for large municipalities, except for São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, because the debt capacity of these municipalities, according to its potential resources, leads to an average limit of 0.35 of the NCR. However, for the municipalities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro the legal limit should be much larger than that established by the Senate, respectively, 1.84 and 1.64 of the NCR, because of the considerable size of population, the significant flow of wealth expressed by the GDP and the considerable wealth of the community represented by the property values. We believed this study has contributed to a reflection of the public debt and introducing a methodology to assist in the progress of studies in this area.

The goal of this thesis ,,Analysis of debt capacity of the enterprise,, is to analyze the debt capacity of company DŠP, focusing on project and financial guarantees as part of DG with respect to planned growth. The analysis also includes the view of financial institutions to credit risk and assessment of the indicative debt capacity of the company. This analysis is primarily supported by Moody's methodology of heavy manufacturing industry. First part of the thesis is focused on the introduction of the company DŠP and its current situation and reasons why I chose this topic. The theoretical part is devoted to general information about debt capacity,methodological apparatus and the view of bank on the company. The practical part begins with an analysis of the debt capacity in various scenarios. Based on this, I used a sensitivity analysis of the debt capacity of the main risk factors. The last part of practical section consists of benchmark comparisons. Achievements and insights are summarized at the end of the entire thesis.

隨著台灣加入世界貿易組織(WTO)及國際資本市場進一步地整合，國際融資工具如海外存託憑證及海外可轉換公司債近年來備受企業的喜愛，成為企業進行海外市場擴張的一大利器。尤其近二、三年來台灣更掀起發行海外可轉換公司債的籌資風潮。本研究目的在了解此現象對公司價值的影響及市場投資人相關的反應。 本文針對1993至2001年間台灣上市、上櫃公司成功發行的61檔國內可轉換公司債及35檔海外可轉換公司債進行實證研究，主要結論如下： 1. 宣告發行時的訊息效果方面，ECB發行公司不論是宣告發行前後一週或二週的股價累積異常報酬都顯著為正，但CB發行公司卻不然，前者優於後者。 2. 發行海外可轉換公司債及國內可轉換公債發行公司特性差異方面，不論是二獨立樣本T檢定、Mann-Whitney U 檢定及Logistic檢定，結論皆一致：公司規模愈大，轉換溢價幅度愈高、市場利率差愈高的公司愈易傾向發行海外可轉換公司債。此外，二種發行公司發行前的營運績效並無顯著不同。 3. ECB和CB宣告發行時價格效果的不同，和「與國內籌資相比，發行海外可轉換公司債有較高的融資空間」的假設無關，融資空間假設不成立；但和「與國內籌資相比，發行海外可轉換公司債的融資成本較低」的假設有關，融資成本假設成立。 4. 投資人對公司轉換溢價隱含的對未來股價成長的信心及未來資金成本的降低才是解釋宣告發行時價格效果的因子。 5. 投資人給予海外可轉換公司債相對較高的短期價格反應確實表現在海外可轉換公司債發行公司長期較佳的營運績效上。 / With Taiwan’s entrance to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and further integration among international capital markets, international financing tools, such as Global Depositary Receipt (GDR) and European Convertible Bond (ECB) have become popular. For the past few years especially, companies in Taiwan have heavily used ECB as their leading financing tools. This study focuses on how investors in Taiwan response to the issue of ECB and CB. Using 61 CB and 35 ECB samples from Taiwan companies during 1993 and 2001, this study comes to the conclusions as follows: 1. Companies that issue ECB have higher announcement effects than companies that issue CB. 2. Companies with larger size, higher conversion premiums, and higher interest spreads tend to issue ECB instead of CB. There is no significant difference between the pre-issue performance between ECB and CB companies. 3. The hypothesis that “ECB companies have higher debt capacities than CB companies” is not verified. However, the hypothesis that “ECB companies have lower cost of capital than CB companies” is supported. 4. The conversion premium that signals companies’ confidence for the stock price and lower cost of capital in the future is the main factor to explain the announcement effects of ECB and CB. 5. In comparison to CB companies, ECB companies have better post-issue performance which can be supported by their better announcement effects.