This thesis provides an empirical analysis of the relationship between the value premium and financial distress. Measures of leverage and default are used as proxies for financial distress. Using both an international data set, 1991 to 2006 and a long time series data set for the United States, 1927 – 2007, the thesis adds knowledge about the role of the value premium in asset pricing theory. Generalised autoregressive conditional heteroscedastic modelling (GARCH) is used and information gathered on the volatility of the value premium. A vector autoregressive (VAR) framework and Granger Causality tests are utilised in order to offer a deeper examination of the relationship between risk premium and economic activity. The results add further evidence to support the view that the value premium appears to be linked to variables associated with financial distress, although it is noted that this does not necessarily mean that participants in financial markets behave rationally.

Master’s thesis focuses on the topic "Evaluation of Key Risks of Supply Chains". The thesis links the field of supply chain management with the field of risk management. In the first part of the thesis, the basic concepts of these fields are defined, which are then linked and narrowed down to the specialization of supply chain risk management. Subsequently, the problems of inadequate supply chain structure, configuration and resilience are formulated and argued. Macroeconomic MRA is applied against these problems and its applicability and usefulness in a supply chain environment is tested. Subsequently, its ability to predict future developments is also tested to provide a basis for building long-term sustainable chains that are able to cope with the pitfalls and uncertainties in the current highly dynamic environment.