Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T16:45:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Paula Augusta Rodrigues Coelho.pdf: 814355 bytes, checksum: fe3507ca66b0de5d265df8b55ec24ada (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-05-31 / Investors try to capture the opportunities for capital gains offered by emerging countries by increasing the total return or reduce the risk of the portfolio. Solnik (1991, 2004) found evidence of reduced risk and increased return through international diversification. In addition, to benefits such as the development of local capital markets, the greater liquidity of shares traded and financial market development. This study aims to determine whether markets are more globalized and investigate whether there are still benefits of risk-return in the international diversification of portfolios for an investor from United States. The countries of the sample will be the three largest stock markets (U.S., Japan and England) and the BRICs (Brazil, China, Russia and India). The study refers to two periods: from January 1996 to December 2000 and from January 2003 to December 2007. In the second period (2003-2007) the market indexes are more correlated and has a higher level of NGR, ie, the markets of the sample are more global. Using the Model Portfolio Selection, met the efficient portfolio for the investor of the United States. The results show that the portfolio composed with developed countries indexes (United Kingdom, United States of America and Japan) and indexes of the countries that make up the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) has a better risk-return than the portfolio formed only by developed countries index, indicating that despite of the increased globalization, there is still diversification benefits in the developing countries / Os investidores procuram capturar as oportunidades de ganhos de capital oferecidas pelos países emergentes aumentando o retorno total ou reduzindo o risco do portfolio. Solnik (1991, 2004) encontrou evidências de redução de risco e aumento do retorno via diversificação internacional. Além de benefícios como o desenvolvimento do mercado de capitais local, a maior liquidez das ações negociadas e o desenvolvimento do mercado financeiro. Este estudo objetivou verificar se os mercados estão mais globalizados e investigar se ainda há benefícios de risco-retorno na diversificação internacional de portfólios para um investidor dos Estados Unidos. A amostra considera os 3 maiores mercados acionários (EUA, Japão e Inglaterra) e os BRICs (Brasil, China, Rússia e Índia). O estudo refere-se a dois períodos: de janeiro de 1996 a dezembro de 2000 e de janeiro 2003 a dezembro de 2007. No segundo período (2003-2007) os índices dos mercados analisados se encontram mais correlacionados e com um maior Nível de Globalização Restrita que no primeiro período, ou seja, os mercados da amostra estão mais globalizados. Usando o modelo Portfolio Selection, encontrou-se o portfólio eficiente para o investidor dos Estados Unidos. Os resultados mostram que a carteira composta pelos índices dos países desenvolvidos (Reino Unido, Estados Unidos e Japão) e pelos índices dos países que compõe o BRIC (Brasil, Rússia, Índia e China) tem uma melhor relação risco-retorno que a carteira formada somente pelos países desenvolvidos, indicando que, apesar de uma maior globalização, ainda há benefícios na diversificação nos em desenvolvimento

<p>Background: The global capital markets have enlarged investment opportunities and thus also the sources of funds for companies which increasingly face global markets for their services and products. Huge capital movements show that investors are constantly searching ways to minimise risk and maximise returns. In the light of the substantial growth of assets in institutional funds, an important question for international finance is the degree to which institutional investors have diversified their portfolios internationally. </p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the international diversification of portfolio investments of institutional investors in Japan, the US and the UK and deepen into international diversification in portfolios of Japanese institutional investors. </p><p>Demarcations: Institutional investors can use their power directly in companies or indirectly through capital markets. In this thesis, I will not discuss corporate governance issues. Nor is it an aim of this thesis to try to find the optimal portfolio or the best performing portfolio. </p><p>Method: Secondary data in this study are based on several sources from academic literature as well as from public data and statistics. Primary data for this study include interviews and background discussions as well as my own calculations. Interviews were made in order to obtain more information and make a proper comparison. The interviews were held in Tokyo, Japan. </p><p>Conclusions: International diversification of portfolio investment of institutional investors tend to differ more between countries where the investors are based than between the type of investor in different countries. Institutional investors in UK tend to diversify their investments more internationally compared to Japanese and US counterparts. Japanese institutional investors tend to have very similar international diversification strategies. This can be explained by cultural aspects which traditionally have promoted risk averse and domestic investment strategies. Furthermore, there are reasons which make investment strategies more country contingent. Currency risk, level of knowledge and domestic investment opportunities have critical impact on international investments.</p>

<p>Today, the global market is a fast expanding environment. There are more and more companies that go abroad to compete with companies from all over the world. The barriers between countries have been lowered and trade is encouraged. Therefore, international expansion is an important factor for many companies. The purpose of this dissertation is to study the effect international expansion has on firm performance. Since there is limited previous research within the field of international expansion and performance done on Swedish companies this dissertation tries to fill that gap.</p><p> </p><p>The study is performed on listed Swedish companies. Several factors are used to measure the international expansion and performance of the companies. The relationships between international expansion and firm performance were positive when international expansion was measured as Number of Countries and Market Commitment. When international expansion was measured as Foreign Assets and as the GL-Index (Gerlofstig-Lindstrand Index), support was given to a positive relationship. The relationship between Foreign Board and firm performance as well as Foreign HR (Human Resources) and firm performance was to some extent supported. The remaining two measures of international expansion were Foreign Assets and International ownership. These measures showed no supported relationships between international expansion and firm performance. To conclude, the results of the study indicated that there are some support for a relationship between international expansion and firm performance for listed Swedish companies.</p><p> </p><p>This study contributes to the lack of research on the effect of international expansion on performance of Swedish companies. Swedish managers can use the conclusions drawn from the study as guidelines for international expansion.</p>

Background: The global capital markets have enlarged investment opportunities and thus also the sources of funds for companies which increasingly face global markets for their services and products. Huge capital movements show that investors are constantly searching ways to minimise risk and maximise returns. In the light of the substantial growth of assets in institutional funds, an important question for international finance is the degree to which institutional investors have diversified their portfolios internationally. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the international diversification of portfolio investments of institutional investors in Japan, the US and the UK and deepen into international diversification in portfolios of Japanese institutional investors. Demarcations: Institutional investors can use their power directly in companies or indirectly through capital markets. In this thesis, I will not discuss corporate governance issues. Nor is it an aim of this thesis to try to find the optimal portfolio or the best performing portfolio. Method: Secondary data in this study are based on several sources from academic literature as well as from public data and statistics. Primary data for this study include interviews and background discussions as well as my own calculations. Interviews were made in order to obtain more information and make a proper comparison. The interviews were held in Tokyo, Japan. Conclusions: International diversification of portfolio investment of institutional investors tend to differ more between countries where the investors are based than between the type of investor in different countries. Institutional investors in UK tend to diversify their investments more internationally compared to Japanese and US counterparts. Japanese institutional investors tend to have very similar international diversification strategies. This can be explained by cultural aspects which traditionally have promoted risk averse and domestic investment strategies. Furthermore, there are reasons which make investment strategies more country contingent. Currency risk, level of knowledge and domestic investment opportunities have critical impact on international investments.

Today, the global market is a fast expanding environment. There are more and more companies that go abroad to compete with companies from all over the world. The barriers between countries have been lowered and trade is encouraged. Therefore, international expansion is an important factor for many companies. The purpose of this dissertation is to study the effect international expansion has on firm performance. Since there is limited previous research within the field of international expansion and performance done on Swedish companies this dissertation tries to fill that gap.   The study is performed on listed Swedish companies. Several factors are used to measure the international expansion and performance of the companies. The relationships between international expansion and firm performance were positive when international expansion was measured as Number of Countries and Market Commitment. When international expansion was measured as Foreign Assets and as the GL-Index (Gerlofstig-Lindstrand Index), support was given to a positive relationship. The relationship between Foreign Board and firm performance as well as Foreign HR (Human Resources) and firm performance was to some extent supported. The remaining two measures of international expansion were Foreign Assets and International ownership. These measures showed no supported relationships between international expansion and firm performance. To conclude, the results of the study indicated that there are some support for a relationship between international expansion and firm performance for listed Swedish companies.   This study contributes to the lack of research on the effect of international expansion on performance of Swedish companies. Swedish managers can use the conclusions drawn from the study as guidelines for international expansion.

This study measures the short-term and long-term contagion effects in U.S. stock markets and REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) markets during the periods of subprime mortgage and financial crises. First, we test contagion between the U.S. stock market and the U.S. REITs market. Then, we test the contagion effects between the U.S. REITs market and eighteen international REITs markets, selected from North America, Oceania, Asian and Europe. To catch the asymmetric effect in the volatility structure of index returns and consider the time-varying data, this study employs asymmetric dynamic Copula models that measure contagion effects. The test result in this study shows that the contagion effect exists because of the fact that during the subprime mortgage crisis, the correlation between the U.S. stock market and REITs market significantly increased. Thus, the two markets lost ground together. While managing not to emerge in Asian REITs markets, the contagion then spread from the U.S. REITs market to Canada, Australia and most of the European REITs markets. In the later financial crisis period, however, the number of European REITs markets impacted by contagion from the U.S. REITs market decreased. Except for Singapore, contagion is absent from the Asian REITs markets. Contagion is more obvious in the short term than in the long term. These results imply that the Asian REITs markets are not easily affected by the U.S. REITs market, which in turn implies that investors could obtain the positive effects of international diversification by investing in this portfolio. In addition, investors should reduce the proportion of their investments placed in REITs markets, as well as focus on a long-term diversification strategy.

State multinationals were investigated in the 1980s. Since then, little work on the state multinational has been done because of the dramatic changes in the world in terms of both politics and economics, such as the waves of liberalization, deregulation and privatization. However, in the current global environment, we see the increase in the number of state multinationals, and thus initiate research of this study. This study investigates two sets of research questions. First, is the state multinational the overlap of two organizational forms (the state owned enterprise (SOE) and the multinational enterprise (MNE))? If so, what are the key characteristics and implications of the state multinational? Second, can the state multinational be considered a hybrid organizational form, which is different from that of its parents? Propositions are set forth to examine the first set of research questions. After clarifying the unit of analysis for this study, the second set of questions asks how state ownership influences the state multinational‘s international diversification and firm performance, and what is the impact of institutional ownership on the state ownership—international diversification relationship, and how home country institutional environments influence the proposed relationships. Hypotheses are proposed to investigate the second set of research questions and are tested with a three-year sample (2004-2007) and a seven year sample (2000-2007) of the state multinational. Results of hierarchical linear models indicate that the state multinational, first, does have characteristics that are different from its parents (i.e., the SOE and the MNE) and thus is considered a hybrid organizational form. Second, state ownership may improve the level of the state multinational‘s international diversification, but reaches a threshold, after which the positive influence diminishes due to the prominent agency costs. Third, institutional ownership has been verified as a useful mechanism to improve the effectiveness of corporate governance in the case of the state multinational. Fourth, home country institutional environments matter in the studied relationships. The state multinational in developed countries with an established institutional environment may not depend on state ownership as much as those in developing and emerging countries. Results also show the influence of state ownership on the state multinational‘s firm performance. The state ownership—performance relationship is also non-linear (inverted U-shaped). Moreover, in the case of the state multinational, the higher the level of international diversification, the higher the firm performance. In addition, international strategies of the state multinational function as a mediator for the relationship between state ownership and firm performance.

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由於國際經濟情勢的快速轉變，以及國內環境的巨變，國內的企業必須加 速調整其營運的步伐，選擇一適當的國際多角化策略--非相關產品多角化 、國際市場多角化、相關產品多角化，以因應全球競爭的來臨。臺灣企業 應採用何種國際多角化策略，以達到更高的績效呢？目前國內尚無這方面 的實證研究，而本研究以回收的 136封問卷進行分析，檢視國際多角化策 略對於績效(風險與報酬)的影響，並同時考慮產業因素、規模、研發密集 度、廣告密集度以及資本密集度對於績效的影響。本研究有三項主要的結 論：ぇ若相關產品多角化的程度較高，則會導致報酬顯著的降低，且有可 能使風險增加。え若國際市場多角化的程度較高，則會導致報酬顯著的降 低，且同樣會導致風險顯著的降低。ぉ若非相關產品多角化的程度較高， 則有可能使報酬降低，且風險增加。此結論顯示公司層次的產品多角化對 於績效有負面的影響，而以往國內在關係企業層次的實證研究上，顯示相 關產品多角化策略對於報酬有正向的影響，而非相關產品多角化策略可顯 著降低風險。由此觀之，臺灣企業若要進行產品多角化之策略，似乎以形 成關係企業的方式較優 (亦即由各子公司經營不同的產品線)。

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