Background: Acquiring capital is one of the most fundamental necessities for an enterprise. The discussed ways of doing so by this thesis, are the so called Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and Seasoned Equity Offerings (SEOs). Although engaging in an IPO is a desire for most of the newly started firms, the process of introduction to the global market and the results of it are far from smooth and problem free. One of the main unknowns that issuers face is underpricing. Theory suggests that mechanisms for undervaluing the new stock have been devised, so that certain parties can benefit by allocation on the market. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate any possible relationship between the level of industrial diversification and the level of short-run underpricing of the two most common asset issuances - Initial Public Offerings and Seasoned Equity Offerings. Further on, it is of use to compare the severity of diversification’s effect on underpricing of IPOs and SEOs. Method: This research is basically solely quantitative. A database for levels of diversification and industrial underpricing for the companies that conducted IPOs and SEOs in the given time period was compiled. Statistical calculations were conducted to examine possible relationships between the variables. Conclusion: The paper could not see any relevant relationship between the degree of industrial diversification and the amount of “money left on the table”. The conclusion can be drawn that investors apparently do not consider the degree of industrial diversification when assessing the value of a company.

This paper studies the industrial structure and degree of industrial diversification of Taoyuan County since 1986 to examine if Taoyuan Aerotroplis will meet one of the successful key factors of industrial diversification. It begins with a discussion of strategic analysis on critical factors of Taoyuan International Airport and finds out one of the important factors of successful aerotroplis lies in industrial diversification. This research is conducted by adopting quantitative approach and applying coefficient of industry diversity to value the degree. The Location Quotients (LQs) ratios are applied as well, providing a way to examine the specialization of economic activity in Taoyuan County. The finding reveals that the industrial structure of Taoyuan County is secondary industry from 1986 to 1991. After 1991, the tertiary industry grows enormously and now it trends to service-oriented market. Also, industrial diversification of Taoyuan County is toward positive and high degree of diversity in industry since 1986. Taoyuan County has a relatively higher concentration of employment in manufacturing than Taiwan since 1986. Health Care Services industry, Water Supply and Remediation Services industry and Transportation, Storage and Communication industry are industries which increase concentration of employment in Taoyuan County. This research suggests that the authority concerned could make use of the positive condition of diversity in industry to accelerate industrial cluster in development of aerotroplis that strengthen the competitiveness of Taoyuan Airport and attract more cargo and passengers traffic. Further research is suggested by enlarging the areas such as Taipei County development axis or Hsinchu County, by broadening the sample of the industry scope and classification systems to subsectors, industry group or industry and by comparing the industrial diversification of Taoyuan Aerotroplis with that of the other countries which succeeds in aerotroplis models.

In recent years, diversification has become a common strategy used by companies in emerging markets. It is believed that diversification operations could help firms get better performance and gain higher profits from a larger internal market. However, contradictory results reveal that diversification empirically hurts firm value and other studies show the relationship between diversification and firm performance is complicated that should be studied in separate industries. The opinion is inconclusive on this topic. This study developed a performance index to see how diversification impact on various perspectives of firm performance. Conclusions as follow. International diversification has a positive correlation with firm performance in several aspects whereas industrial diversification helps firms’ developing ability. However, due to the unavailability of long-term data, we can not rule out the possibility that well-performed firms go for international diversification. Besides, The relationship between diversification and firm performance affected by different industries. The agricultural and natural resource firms tend to exceed manufacturing firms in the efficiency aspects whereas manufacturing companies tend to have advantages in the sustainability aspect compared to service firms. There is also evidence showing that the largest shareholders’ holdings rates have a positive impact on firm performance and state-owned rate has a negative relation with firm performance.

This thesis researches what effect the economic crisis of ’08-’09 had on the returns of M&A deals, and whether the type of diversification in the deal affected this relationship. In order to do this, a sample of 898 M&A deals announced between 2006 and 2011 is constructed. With this data an event study is executed, followed by an OLS regression. Both the event study and the regression find a significant negative effect of the crisis period on the abnormal returns of M&A deals, while no significant moderating effect of both cross-border and industrial diversification is found. The results show that it is important for other research on M&A returns to look at the state of the economic cycle at the point in time the M&A deal was announced, as this could influence the outcomes of these studies. Furthermore, the results should discourage firms to participate in M&A deals during crisis periods, as these will be value destroying compared to the same deals during non-crisis periods.

本研究以探討高雄都會區產業型態與其空間分佈為目的，首先界定研究地理範圍與產業範圍，且對產業型態與空間分佈的分析方法及其相關研究作一番介紹，並以此對高雄都會區的產業型態、產業結構及空間分佈情形作一通盤性探討。 　　本研究內容係以區位商數分析高雄都會區基礎性產業；以CES生產函數探討高雄都會區產業型態；以產業百分比、地方化係數、產業雜異化指標來探討高雄都會區產業結構及其空間分佈；以因子分析法來探討高雄都會區產業活動影響因素；最後以群落分析來劃分高雄都會區產業整體活動、工業活動、服務業活動等中心階層。 　　本研究結果為高雄都會區基礎性產業計有木竹製品業等廿七類，而該等產業經濟型態主要為地方化經濟型態；高雄都會區產業結構以工業為主，但服務業活動已佔了相當大比重；高雄都會區產業活動主要集中於高雄市區，高雄都會區產業發展極不均衡；高雄都會區整體產業活動中心階層以楠梓區、三民區、前鎮區為主要活動中心，高雄都會區工業活動主要分佈在高雄市外緣區域如楠梓區、前鎮區、小港區，而服務業活動主要分佈於高雄市中心區域如三民區、新興區、前金區等。

Par comparaison avec la littérature sur les fusions-acquisitions nationales, celles sur les fusions-acquisitions transfrontalières (Cross-Border Mergers & Acquisitions, CBM&A) est relativement récente. En particulier, nous avons encore très peu d’études sur les fusions-acquisitions entre les entreprises des pays développés et émergents. Cette thèse considère trois questions rarement abordées jusqu’à présent. 1) Est-ce que la diversification industrielle peut expliquer les fusions-acquisitions entre les entreprises européennes et des marchés émergents? 2) Est-ce que le marché valorise plus dans ces opérations les actions de diversification industrielle? 3) Quelles sont les modalités de paiement préférées dans ce type d’opérations ? Parallèlement, nous avons comparé ces opérations de fusions-acquisitions à celles ayant lieu en France et à l’intérieur de l’Union Européenne. Fondés sur 2406 fusions-acquisitions en France, 7628 à l’intérieur de l’Union Européenne et 1857 entre des entreprises européennes et des marchés émergents sur la période 1992(1998)-2012, nos résultats sont les suivants. Premièrement, conformément à ce qui est observé dans les fusions-acquisitions entre des entreprises des pays développés mais contrairement à ce que laisse entendre la littérature théorique sur les investissements dans les marchés émergents, les fusions-acquisitions entre les entreprises européennes et de pays émergents sont plutôt des opérations de spécialisation industrielle. Nous constatons également que la relation entre la diversification internationale et la diversification industrielle est négative. Deuxièmement, les effets d'annonce des CBM&A entre les pays de l’'Union Européenne et les marchés émergents se traduisent par une augmentation de richesse des actionnaires des entreprises européennes acquéreuses. Cependant, par rapport aux fusions et acquisitions réalisées entièrement à l'intérieur de l'Union Européenne et en France, les effets d’annonces sont beaucoup moins positifs. Troisièmement, les marchés financiers sous-évaluent les entreprises européennes lors des fusions-acquisitions avec des entreprises de pays émergents. Nos résultats démontrent que les entreprises acquéreuses payent moins en espèces dans les fusions-acquisitions avec des entreprises des marchés émergents qu’avec d’autres entreprises européennes. En revanche, les primes payées ne sont pas significativement différentes. Nos résultats suggèrent aussi que les dirigeants des entreprises Européennes ne jouent pas sur le « market timing » lors de leurs décisions de paiement. Cette thèse a des implications importantes pour des futurs acquéreurs d’entreprises de pays émergents. Compte tenu des résultats obtenus sur la fin de notre période d’analyse, elle révèle que la diversification industrielle dans les fusions et acquisitions d’entreprises de pays industrialisés avec des entreprises de marchés émergents est plus importante ces dernières années, et qu’elle a un impact positif. Nous pensons que les résultats peuvent être attribuables soit à la crise financière soit à une meilleure intégration des marchés émergents dans l'économie mondiale. Elle met aussi en évidence qu'il existe des conflits d'intérêts clairs entre les investisseurs et les dirigeants lors de fusions-acquisitions entre des entreprises européennes et de pays émergents. / Compared to domestic M&A, the literature of cross-border M&A is relatively fewer. Most of the current research is based on US studies. We also have much less knowledge about the cross-border M&A from developed countries to emerging countries. Motivated by the general research background, the thesis conducted three distinctive papers regarding cross-border M&As from European Union (EU) to emerging countries. We propose three research questions that are seldom addressed in previous literatures: 1) Does industrial diversification explain the cross-border M&A from the European Union to emerging countries? 2) Do market value industrial specialization or diversification in CBM&A with emerging countries? 3) Do acquiring managers take advantage of the market timing in payment decisions in CBM&A with emerging countries? In addition, we compared the CBM&As with those of domestic France as well as the CBM&As inside the European Union. Based on 2406 fusions-acquisitions in France, 7628 CBM&As inside the European Union, and 1857 CBM&As between European firms and the emerging markets during 1992-2012, we find the following results. First, consistent with what is observed in prior M&As literatures between companies in developed countries but contrary to what is suggested in the theoretical arguments in earlier literatures about emerging countries, we show CBM&As from the European Union to emerging countries are industrially specialized rather than industrially diversified. We find that there is a negative relationship between international diversification and industrial diversification. Second, we found that the announcement effects for CBM&As between the E.U.-15 and emerging market are positive, but compared to CBM&As conducted wholly inside the E.U.-15 and domestic M&As in France, they are significantly less positive due to the focus on industrial diversification versus specialization. Third, we found the market undervalues the acquiring firms in CBM&A from the European Union to emerging countries. The acquiring managers do not take the advantage of the market timing when making their payment decisions. Our results show the acquiring firms do not incline to pay cash in CBM&A to emerging countries but rather in CBM&A inside European Union. In the meanwhile, we find the premium paid by the acquiring firms are not different from CBM&As inside the European Union. Our analyses evidence that acquiring firms are reluctant to pay cash in CBM&As with emerging countries. The thesis contributes to the current M&A empirical literatures and it has provided important research implications. It highlights also that there are clear conflicts of interests between investors and managers in the cross-border from the European Union to emerging countries. The thesis also opens new perspectives for the future research. For example, we observed that industrial diversification has an increasing trend in recent years, and it is valued positively by the market. We believe the results may be attributable to either the financial crisis or the better integration of emerging markets into the world economy.

This thesis proposes to enlighten several channels that favor the emergence and the outcome of creative ideas and innovation in general amongst private firms, with a particular focus on European companies. The first chapter introduces the motivations related to this research, defines the research objectives and questions addressed by the dissertation and concludes with the outline and the contributions of the thesis. <p><p>The second chapter analyzes the financing constraints on R&D investments. The central question in this chapter is whether financing constraints can explain a part of the acknowledged R&D gap between Europe and the US. In order to address this question, a dataset is constructed on the basis of a compilation of R&D scoreboards. The findings of this chapter are based on a sensitivity analysis of R&D to cash flow using estimates of dynamic R&D equations. The relationship between the financing constraints on R&D and the age of the companies is analyzed in an additional set of results with parametric as well as non parametric estimations. European firms appear to be affected by financing constraints in the 2000s while this is not the case for the US companies. The age seems to affect negatively the R&D sensitivity for EU and US leading innovators, with higher sensitivities for old and low-tech EU firms than their US counterparts.<p><p>The third chapter is dedicated to the measuring of the knowledge production of R&D expenditures when they are disaggregated into the following components: intramural versus extramural expenditures, research versus development expenditures, product-oriented versus process-oriented, human capital versus investments. The sources of funding and the types of subcontractors are also considered. The main question of this chapter is whether the heterogeneity of R&D affects the technology performance of the companies, as measured by patent applications. A cross-sectional Belgian R&D survey conducted over 2004-2005 is used for the purpose of the analysis. Given the high dependency of the Belgian innovation system towards the foreign MNEs, a matching process was performed between Belgian R&D and patents related to Belgian inventors in order to capture the patents filed outside Belgium but related to inventions created by firms located in Belgium (i.e. subsidiaries of foreign groups). Estimates of the elasticity of the quantity of patents with respect to the components of R&D are provided. <p><p>The main question of the fourth chapter is whether the diversification strategies of the economic activities of the R&D leaders in Europe affect, positively or negatively, the performance of their R&D activities. An original approach is proposed on the basis of the analysis of the subsidiaries of EU MNEs. The sample consists of large R&D firms that represent about 80% of total European R&D. In general, the results indicate a positive impact from globalization on firms’ R&D productivity, especially in the US, while a negative impact for industrial diversification is found. <p><p>The main question of the fifth chapter is whether the R&D activities that are conducted outside Europe still benefit to European growth. If so, how does the regional location of R&D centers matter in the production process of EU MNEs? The analysis is conducted on the basis of a unique sample of 637 European R&D leaders with information that is consolidated with respect to about 8000 worldwide patenting subsidiaries. The assessment of R&D internationalization is proxied by the regional repartition of the inventors of each firm. The empirical findings suggest that R&D located in Europe yields significant economic results, but a reallocation of R&D located in Europe instead of outside Europe seems to be correlated with lower R&D performances in high-tech sectors, but not in lower-tech industries. Conversely, a larger share of R&D located in the US seems to improve the economic performance of R&D activities within high-tech EU MNEs while the effect is negative for lower-tech companies. Nevertheless, the economic performance of R&D centers in Europe and US is jointly positive and significant for both regions.<p><p>The sixth chapter concludes the dissertation by reviewing the main findings of the previous chapters. Policy implications are summarized and the limitations of the thesis are addressed. Finally, extensions of the scope of the analysis and ideas for future research are suggested. / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished