M.Com. (Financial Management) / Economically active individuals are frequently faced with the responsibility of making financial decisions which may dramatically impact their financial wellbeing. In today’s world of complex financial products and individuals increasingly being responsible for their own financial wellbeing, higher levels of financial literacy are of the utmost importance. The main aim of this study will be to determine whether students who study towards a diploma in a finance-related field have higher financial literacy levels than those studying towards a diploma in field of study that is not finance-related. A quantitative research methodology will be employed to the study in the form of a survey. The population includes all the diplomas presented on the University of Johannesburg (UJ), Bunting Road campus, and the sample consists of one finance-related diploma and two non-finance-related diplomas. Although the results of the study, in line with previous research, indicated that the finance group performed better than the non-finance group, the margin was smaller than expected and the average financial literacy score of both groups was low. Students performed the worst in the savings and borrowings and the best in the basic concepts content area. Many of the demographic and background characteristics identified by previous research to influence financial literacy could not be analysed as there was not enough variation or adequate representation within the total sample. In contrast to previous research many of the remaining demographic and background characteristics that could be analysed did not influence financial literacy. Only language (Sotho) and funding (NSFAS and my parents and/or family paid) were found to influence financial literacy levels. As this study indicates that the financial literacy levels of final year diploma students in South Africa are low, higher education might have to consider introducing a financial curriculum to increase financial literacy.

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The current study explored the impact of intellectual versus physical affirmations received over Instagram, either directly or indirectly, on females’ physical acceptance, intellectual pursuits during leisure and financial decision making. A total of 256 female students of the Claremont Colleges were recruited through advertisement of the study on the colleges’ designated Facebook page, and flyers posted around the campuses. The longitudinal, quasi- experimental study used a 2 (Type of Affirmation: Physical or Intellectual) x 2 (Mode of Exposure: Feed or Direct Message) x 3 (Phase: 1, 2, 3) fully crossed factorial design. Participants who voluntarily agreed to participate were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions. Participants exposed to physical affirmations, via Instagram’s direct messaging feature, reported significantly lower levels of physical acceptance, were less likely to engage in intellectual activities during leisure, and made financial decisions that reflected a greater desire to attend to their appearance than to their intellect, compared to participants exposed to physical affirmations, via feed. The opposite pattern of interaction was found for participants exposed to intellectual affirmations. The results support previous psychological literature on social role theory, stereotype threat, self-objectification theory, social comparison theory, and affirmation theory. The implications of this study concern female leadership development, specifically how exposure to intellectual affirmations over social media has the potential to attenuate the negative effects living in a patriarchal society has on females.

Most firms are using optimal combination of equity and debt so as to maximize firms value and the wealth of the shareholders. To achieve all these, firms should be aware of the factors that influence the capital structure decisions. Previous empirical studies attempted to explain what determines the choice of capital structure in firms. The focus was on firms in general without categorizing family firms and non-family firms. The primary objective of this study is to examine what determines the capital structure of family firms in OECD countries. Amadeus database was used to obtain the data needed for the statistical analysis. Measures for firm-specific characteristics were calculated based on the previous stud-ies. The study was conducted over a period of 9 years from 2005-2013. Dataset com-prised of 95 family firms resulting in 850 observations. The results from the study indicate that the capital structure for family firms in OECD countries is influenced by profitability, asset tangibility, growth, size, debt tax shield , non-debt tax shield and liquidity. Both pecking-order theory and trade-off theory explain the capital structure of family firms.

Many immigrants arrive in Canada from countries with different degrees of gender inequality. While Canada has relatively high levels of gender equality, many immigrant-origin countries are characterized by high levels of inequality between men and women. Studies show that source-country gender inequality negatively impacts immigrant women's socioeconomic outcomes in the host society. However, little is known about how source-country gender inequality impacts social aspects of immigrant adjustment in Canada. This dissertation examines how source-country gender inequality impacts acculturation, structural integration and identification. My analyses of data from the Ethnic Diversity Survey and General Social Surveys find that source-country gender inequality can benefit identification when measured by sense of belonging to Canada. In other cases, it can be a barrier when acculturation is measured by financial decision-making. Further, source-country gender inequality can have little impact on the structural integration of immigrants when measured by sport participation. The results suggest that source-country gender inequality affects immigrant men and women in complex and multifaceted ways. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Better access to financial literacy programs in underserved communities has the potential to improve financial decision making and to help individuals and families escape poverty. This multimethod dissertation explores some of the challenges of developing financial literacy programs for underserved individuals and provides insights into the cultural and institutional factors that discourage financial literacy and sound financial decision making. This research re-examines the construct of financial literacy, reviews relevant past research, and presents a conceptual model with hypotheses regarding factors that affect financial literacy. To test the model, multiple studies were conducted in underserved communities in rural and urban areas to understand the complexity of the relationship between financial literacy and financial decision making. These studies were supplemented by a series of in-depth interviews with financial literacy experts, community leaders, and underserved individuals. The results indicate the importance of refining both financial literacy instruments and training to rural and urban underserved communities, while also building stronger ties to community leaders and financial institutions. / Business Administration/Finance

Bakgrund: Filmklimatet har gjort det svårt för producenter att nå lönsamhet och fånga en stor biopublik. Under 2014 var det 78 % av svensk film som gick med förlust. Filmbranschen har genomgått stora förändringar till följd av digitaliseringen, där den nya tekniken har resulterat i en stor flexibilitet som har medfört att biograferna snabbare kan svara på biopublikens efterfrågan. Filmer kan numera snabbt plockas bort från biorepertoaren. Det har resulterat i att gapet mellan filmer som går bra och filmer som går dåligt har ökat. Aktörer talar om en bransch som präglas av turbulens, osäkerhet och risktagande, där den primära inkomstkällan för producenter är intäkter som genereras från bio. Producenters strategiska val blir allt viktigare för en films överlevnad.  Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka vilka strategiska val en producent kan använda sig av för att en film ska erhålla höga intäkter och nå lönsamhet. Metod: Studien använder sig av en kvantitativ metod som utgår från en deduktiv ansats där 111 filmer har studerats genom regressionsanalyser.  Resultat: Studien har identifierat att budget och huvudrollsinnehavare påverkar en films intäkter. Det går det inte att urskilja vilka strategier som leder till att en film blir lönsamhet.

The chapters of this dissertation explore complementary areas of applied microeconomics, within the fields of experimental and environmental economics. In each case, preferences and institutions interact in ways that enhance or subvert efficiency. The first chapter, "The Girl Scout Cookie Phenomenon," uses a laboratory experiment to study favor trading in a public goods setting. The ability to practice targeted reciprocity increases contributions by 14%, which corresponds directly to increased efficiency. Subjects discriminate by rewarding group members who have been generous and withholding rewards from ungenerous group members. At least some reciprocal behavior is rooted in other-regarding preferences. When someone is outside the "circle of reciprocity," he gives less to the public good than in other settings. We find no evidence of indirect reciprocity. We find two behavioral types in each treatment, differing in baseline giving but not in tendency to reciprocate. The second chapter, "The Effects of Conservation Reserve Program Participation on Later Land Use," studies another public goods issue: conservation. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) pays farmers to retire farmland. We use a treatment effect framework to find that ex-CRP land is 21-28% more likely to be farmed than comparable non-CRP land. This implies that the CRP improves low-quality land, making it more attractive to farm. This could demonstrate inefficiency, since farmers gain private benefit from a program meant to provide a public good. On the other hand, farmed ex-CRP land is more likely to adopt conservation practices, although this may not be caused by CRP participation. The third chapter, "Learning from Mistakes," examines financial decisions by adult Rwandans in institutions inside and outside the lab. Over 50% of subjects make irrational choices over risk—choices that likely do not reflect their preferences, and are therefore likely inefficient—and these subjects share tendencies in their take-up of financial instruments. Risk-averse individuals are more likely to belong to a savings group and less likely to take out an informal loan. For those who make mistakes, however, as they become more risk averse, they are less likely to belong to a savings group and more likely to take up informal credit.

Bolagsskattesänkningen genomfördes den 1 januari 2013, målet med sänkningen var att stimulera Sveriges tillväxt då en sänk bolagsskatt sägs öka investeringsviljan. Med sänkningen ville man också minska incitamenten för företag att flytta sina verksamheter till lågskatteländer. Att bolagsskattesatsen sänktes väckte ett intresse som skapade denna uppsats att undersöka vilka faktorer det är som styr bolagsskattesatsen, till exempel, i en liten öppen ekonomi som den svenska.  Teorin grundar sig i kapitalstruktur och finansieringsbeslut. Faktorer som anses påverka bolagsskatten och som valts ut är utländska direktinvesteringar, öppenhet mot kapitalflöde och BNP per Capita. Datainsamling har skett sekundärt och bearbetats i det analytiska programmet R. Med hjälp av R och statistiska metoder har det genomförts paneldataanalys och regressionsanalys. Svaret är kort och gott, ja, faktorerna påverkar bolagsskattesatsen. Det visar att ett land som är större geografiskt och har en hög öppenhet för kapitalrörelser tenderar att ha en lägre bolagsskattesats och att det tycktes vara ett bra val av Sverige att justera bolagsskatten. / The goal with lowering of the Swedish corporate tax rate the 1st of January 2013 was to stimulate the Swedish growth, as a lower corporate tax rate is said to increase the will to invest. The incentives for corporations to move to low tax countries was also thought to be decreased due to the reduction.  When the tax rate was reduced an interest arise to examine which factors influence the tax rate, as for example, for a small economy as the Swedish. Theory presented is based on capital structure and finance decisions. The variables chosen is FDI, Openness towards capital flow and BNP per capita. Collection of data is secondary and has been analysed in the statistic program R with focus on panel data and regression analysis. The answer is for short, yes, the variables do indeed influence the corporate tax rate. Countries whom are larger geographically and has a high openness towards capital movement are more likely to have a lower corporate tax rate and it seemed to be a good choice of the Swedish parliament to lower the corporate tax rate.

Since theories of corporate finance are recognised to be conditional, this study explores the impact of the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2007-2009 and institutional settings in determining corporate financial decisions. The recession on the supply of credit and demand for credit affects the corporate financial channels. The credit recession causes more agency costs, bankruptcy costs and information asymmetry, which adversely influence both borrowing and investments. Firms reduce debt financing, retain more cash and cut corporate payouts due to a sharp rise in uncertainty. Moreover, the role of institutional settings on corporate decisions differs following the GFC. Three empirical chapters contribute to the literature: First, Chapter 3 investigates the role of GFC on determinants and the adjustment speed of leverage and debt maturity and reveals that the effect of bankruptcy costs, agency costs and information asymmetry only increases on debt maturity, as opposed to leverage in the post-GFC. The adjustment speed of leverage and debt maturity drops after the GFC due to the low supply and demand for credit. Chapter 4 examines how cash holdings have been affected by the GFC across countries which have different agency problems and analyses how the rise of agency costs and information asymmetry can explain cash decisions before and after the GFC. Financially constrained firms have quicker cash holdings’ adjustment compared to unconstrained firms. However, while firms in low-governance countries have slower adjustment speed of cash than those in high-governance countries in pre-crisis, it has been found that it is vice versa in the post-crisis period. Finally, Chapter 5 analyses the effect of agency problems and the GFC on dividend payouts. Contrary to firms in high-governance countries, those in common-law countries are less likely to pay out dividends, as confirmed by the substitute and outcome models, sequentially after the GFC. Also, dividends are used as a signalling device by the GFC. Overall, the GFC and institutional settings impact corporate financial policies of firms to specify where and when their shareholders invest. / Ministry of National Education of the Republic of Turkey İlim Yayma Vakfı İstanbul İktisatçılar Derneği (İKDER)