Yes / We study the asset pricing implications arising from imperfect investor protection using a new governance measure. This is defined as the product of institutional quality in a country and the proportion of free float shares, which captures the impact of controlling block holders. Using monthly returns of 4756 blue chip firms from 50 international equity markets for 13 years, we show through tests of variants of the augmented-CAPM, that a two factor CAPM augmented with a factor mimicking portfolio based on our new investor protection metric yields the highest explanatory power, especially for markets that exhibit true variation in ownership types.

Yes / Electricity Suppliers in competitive electricity markets commonly respond to prices changes which are fluctuating over time, but most consumers respond to the price changes as reflected on their electricity bills. Almost all consumers pay fixed tariffs for their consumption without distinctions based on usage time, so these consumers have had no incentives to reduce their use during the peak times. This paper aims to analyze the influence of different tariff schemes on consumer behaviours in UK domestic buildings. A realistic half hourly electricity load profile for different types of UK households that based mainly on public reports and statistics has been generated. This load profile data were used to help calculate the expected change in consumers' bills under standard tariffs offered from different suppliers to what the cost of electricity would be under time varying tariff (economy7 tariff) and to estimate of how much consumers would shift their load in response to price changes without changing total consumption, for which the results are presented and discussed / MSCRC

[pt] O CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model) padrão, proposto por Sharpe, Lintner e Mossin, é um dos principais paradigmas da teoria de finanças. Especifica que o retorno médio esperado de um ativo é função linear apenas do seu risco não diversificável ou risco sistemático. O prêmio de risco esperado do mercado é a inclinação desta função, e o retorno esperado do ativo livre de risco é o intercepto. Possui como uma de suas premissas básicas a de que os investidores podem emprestar e tomar emprestado à taxa livre de risco. O modelo CAPM ZERO-BETA, proposto por Black, Jensen e Scholes (1972), considera que o investidor não pode emprestar nem tomar emprestado à taxa livre de risco. Nesse modelo o retorno esperado do ativo livre de risco é substituído pelo retorno esperado de uma carteira (carteira zero-beta) que possui mínima variância e covariância zero com o retorno esperado da carteira de mercado. É também conhecido como CAPM de dois parâmetros, pois tanto o beta do ativo como o retorno da carteira zero-beta necessitam ser estimados, já que não podem ser diretamente observados. Este trabalho testa o CAPM zero- beta no mercado de capitais brasileiro. Utiliza a metodologia de regressão multivariada (MVRM), proposta por Gibbons (1982). Esta metodologia executa uma SUR (Seemingly Unrelated Regression) e estima conjuntamente o beta dos ativos e o retorno da carteira zero-beta. Além de dispensar a escolha do ativo livre de risco, a MVRM evita o erro de variáveis que ocorre na metodologia de regressão cross- section. Utilizando os ativos negociados na Bolsa de Valores do Estado de São Paulo (BOVESPA) no período de 1986 a 2001, o teste não rejeita o CAPM zero-beta para os períodos de 1991 a 1996 e 1996 a 2001. Os resultados indicam um aumento recente na eficiência do mercado de capitais brasileiro. / [en] The standard CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model), proposed by Sharpe, Lintner and Mossin, is one of the most important paradigms of finance theory. It states that the expected mean return on an asset is a linear function of its non-diversifiable risk or systematic risk. The expected market risk premium is the slope of this function, and the risk-free return is the intercept. One of its main assumptions is that investors can lend and borrow at the risk-free rate.The Zero-Beta CAPM, proposed by Black, Jensen and Scholes (1972), states that investors cannot lend nor borrow at the risk-free rate. In this model, the expected return of the risk-free asset is substituted by the expected mean return on a portfolio with minimum variance and no covariance with the market portfolio. This model is also known as the two-parameter CAPM, as both the beta and the zero-beta expected mean return need to be estimated. This work tests the Zero-Beta CAPM in the Brazilian stock market. It uses a >multivariate regression methodology (MVRM), proposed by Gibbons (1982). This methodology runs a SUR (Seemingly Unrelated Regression), proposed by Zellner (1962) and both the beta and the zero-beta mean return are estimated jointly. This methodology doesnt need a risk-free asset, and eliminates the errors-in-variables problem present in the cross-section regression model. By using the stocks negociated at the São Paulo Stock Exchange (BOVESPA), in the period from 1986 to 2001, it doesnt reject the zero-beta CAPM in the period from 1996 to 2001.

Given the significant burden that gun violence places on individuals and communities, it is important to understand the factors that produce differential rates of gun violence across communities. One robust predictor of city- and neighborhood-rates of gun violence has been drug market activity. Mounting evidence suggests that not only are drug markets criminogenic places themselves, they produce spillovers of violence into spatially proximate areas as well. Yet it is still unknown whether there is a more general spillover effect of drug markets that affects neighborhoods that are spatially distant. This dissertation fills this critical gap by examining the influence of drug market activity on gun violence across a “network of neighborhoods” in Baltimore, New York City, and Philadelphia. Using large-scale cellphone data on resident mobility patterns, this study creates a mobility-based network of urban neighborhoods representing census tracts that are linked by where their residents visited throughout the course of several months (year-quarters). Set within a social disorganization and environmental criminology framework, this study uses tract-level data on shootings, drug arrests, sociostructural characteristics, business and transit locations, and cell-phone based mobility to answer a series of research questions. The primary research questions addressed in this dissertation examine whether drug market activity in network neighbors contributes to elevated gun violence in local neighborhoods. To answer these questions, a series of network lag models are run predicting the net effect of mobility network-lagged drug market activity on local gun violence rates. A secondary research question is related to an exploration of the mobility-based network of neighborhoods in each city. Descriptive analyses are conducted on the resident routine mobility networks to answer this question. Results from this dissertation will add to the literature concerning the drug market-violence link, and the spatial patterning of violence in cities more generally. Using cellphone data capturing resident mobility to connect neighborhoods will also add to the literature on neighborhood networks, and provide insight into whether examining neighborhoods connected by the routine mobility of city residents is useful in explaining the spillover of drug market activity on gun violence in spatially close and distant neighborhoods. / Criminal Justice

Thesis (MComm (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The study addresses foreign investment in China’s fund–management industry, with a detailed analysis of the opportunities and challenges that foreign investors may face. With the entry of China into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001, foreign investors have been allowed to hold up to 33% of a joint fund-management firm, which has increased to 49% from the end of 2004. As a trendy investment tool, investment funds, and particularly mutual funds, have expanded significantly especially as regards market size and economic importance in developed economies. This study starts with an introduction to the investment fund, which includes types of investment funds and the advantages of mutual funds. Then, the history of China’s fund-management industry is described to give a brief picture of this nascent industry. In order to justify the promising future for foreign investment in China’s fund-management industry, the study first analyses the sustainability of China’s economic growth, which is driven by some favourable aspects such as the gradual development of an economic structure, continued FDI inflow and WTO membership. Another two specific factors that may be favourable for the fund-management industry in this regard, namely pension fund reform and increased income, are also discussed. Foreign investors in China’s fund-management industry are also exposed to some challenges. For investment funds, the main platform is the financial markets, which means that the development of the fund-management industry is tied closely to the development of the financial markets. In the case of China, the financial markets are still developing and have not grown into efficient capital allocation mechanisms due to the restricted involvement of foreign participants and substantial government intervention. However, this study only focuses on major opportunities and challenges associated with foreign investment in China’s fund-management industry. A detailed analysis of each of various relevant aspects can be conducted in a future study, as well as a pertinent survey.

This project approaches ongoing debates over the impact of increased Chinese engagement in African countries through the lens of production and industrialisation. Emerging market FDI into Africa is growing rapidly, and an increasing proportion of this investment is into manufacturing and productive sectors. This trend is led by the commercial expansion of private Chinese manufacturing firms across the continent. The goal of this project is to examine the differentiated impacts on African industrialisation attempts of this phenomenon. It takes as its case study industrial zone development projects in Nigeria, namely, the two official economic and trade cooperation zones being developed as large-scale FDI projects by Chinese firms, with Chinese and Nigerian government support, in Lagos and Ogun states. Analytically, four dimensions of this process are identified for study: the home country context, the host country context, the zone structures and institutions, and the firms themselves. Special attention is paid to the interface between foreign actors and the particular political economy of Nigerian manufacturing, as well as the at times substantial gaps between policy and practice in terms of industrial planning, investment and production. The thesis argues that SEZ projects in general, including the Chinese ETCZs, are industrial policy tools that operate on particular assumptions regarding the organisation of global production. As such, they incentivise the insertion of export-oriented firms into established global networks supplying international markets. However, a closer examination of industrial policy in China, the production environment in Nigeria and the behaviour of internationalising firms reveals that these assumptions are not always accurate. Thus, the SEZ institution as it is currently conceived in Nigeria is ill-suited to lend support to the trend towards Chinese relocation of producer firms, as well as to the reality of Nigerian production—both of which are predicated on domestic and regional markets as the primary driver of African industrialisation and productive sector growth.

Mitigating climate change requires the collaborative and international management of a range of socio-economic processes that produce greenhouse gas emissions. Governments in a number of regions are developing carbon markets to mitigate climate change by limiting the production of greenhouse gases. This thesis examines the construction of carbon markets in the United States and Europe to understand what role these markets play in mitigating climate change. Using a relational economic geography framework and institutional theory, I frame the markets into two components: 1) the regulatory structures which give the markets existence and bound their rules of operation, and 2) the financial and service components which operationalized the markets. Within these components, I investigate four specific facets of market development: complementarity, spacetime, design vs. path dependence and institutional development. The study is conducted through close dialogue and case studies of organization in London, New York and Chicago as well as interviews with policymakers in Washington D.C. Sacramento, and San Francisco. I find that the regulatory components of the market are built both by regulatory agencies and private organizations such as legal firms. Political path dependence constrains the development of the regulatory framework of the carbon markets. The financial service components are constructed in existing financial service centers such as London and New York by directly adopting expertise, products, services and infrastructure from other markets. With respect to the spacetime construction of markets, I find that carbon markets are being adapted to management in existing time zones, with a seamless transaction of activity between North America, Europe and Asia. However, the nature of spacetime within the markets is changing; the markets now manage non-spacetime. In sum, the carbon markets are constructed as a social institution which mitigates greenhouse gas production by communicating and widely disseminating the value of the absence of emissions.

The first chapter of this dissertation examines the returns to frequent acquirers from emerging markets and analyzes the cross-country variations in cumulative abnormal returns. The sample consists of 5,147 transactions carried out by firms from 17 common and civil-law countries during the period of January 1985 to June 2008. I find that the cumulative abnormal returns decline over the deal order and it is more pronounced in civil-law countries than in common-law countries. There is also evidence that the premiums paid by acquirers from civillaw countries with a first successful acquisition are higher than those from common-law countries. These findings are consistent with agency problems and the hubris hypothesis, first introduced by Roll (1986). The second chapter examines the information links across futures markets in different nations, using Vector Autoregressive (VAR)-Dynamic Conditional Correlation (DCC) model. The data comprise a large set of commodity and financial futures traded in U.S., U.K., China, Japan, Canada, and Brazil during the period from August 1998 to December 2008. The primary finding is that market interactions are relatively high for commodities for which information production generally is more diverse (metal commodities), while moderate for commodities for which information is more concentrated (agricultural commodities). Furthermore, the strength and persistence of interactions among futures markets decline after excluding the most informative markets. These findings indirectly support the breadth of information being a relevant factor in the extent of information linkage. The results also indicate that the dynamic correlation in futures markets is high in most commodity and financial futures if there is a significant bi-directional return and volatility spillover. Additionally, I estimate a market’s contribution to the price discovery process. In general, the market that has a stronger price impact and a stronger volatility spillover tends to be the market that has greater contribution or leadership in price discovery.

Purpose – The purpose of this master thesis is to examine factors influencing green consumption and to explain the moderating effect of market maturity on these factors in developed and emerging markets.Design/methodology/approach – In this research the pragmatism epistemology was employed as the scientific perspective of the current research. Deductive reasoning has been selected as scientific approach. The formulation of hypotheses, the collection and analysis of the data were based on and derived from existing theories. In line with deductive approach the collected data was analyzed quantitatively within cross-sectional time horizon. SSPS program was applied to process the collected research data and present the research results. The data was collected via online survey (Google Forms) in Russia and Sweden as well as credible and reliable secondary resources.Findings – Based on correlation and multiple regression analysis it was found that factor perceived consumer effectiveness positively (Beta=0.227) and significantly (Sig.<0.05) influences green consumption among young people in Sweden. Price is determined to affect negatively (Beta=-0.279) and significantly (Sig.<0.05) green consumption among young people in Sweden. Perceived consumer effectiveness positively (Beta=0.225) and significantly (Sig.<0.05) influences green consumption among young people in Russia. The presence of moderating effect of market maturity was not revealed within the conducted research. That means the level of development of countries (in case of Sweden and Russia) does not make a significant influence on the association between studied factors and green consumption among young people. Perceived consumer effectiveness is determined to be the main driving factor which pushes the younger generation toward sustainable consumption both in Sweden and Russia.Research limitations – the first limitation relates to the size of the sample. Although the sample of 100 respondents for each country (Sweden and Russia) was considered adequate, still a larger sample size could have provided more heterogonous findings and might have led to a different conclusion. Another limitation considers geographical and industrial boundaries. The research applies the theoretical model to the context of only two particular countries, namely, Sweden and Russia by focusing on consumption of green products from FMCG industry. With this regard, the findings of the study might not be fully suitable for other emerging and developed countries or other industries. Also, the application of non-probability sampling limited the authors to add more validity to the research. The last limitation is such a phenomena as socially desirable responding or response biases that means a tendency to choose the desirable response or the most moderate response.Practical implications – The findings ensure a better understanding of the content of moderating effect of market maturity and explain more in details how particular factors influence green consumption in emerging and developed markets. The model conceptualized by the authors is supposed to be a good basis for future researches aimed at examining moderating effect of market maturity on relationship between green consumption and factors influencing it in other emerging and developed markets besidesRussia and Sweden. In practice a special emphasis on perceived consumer effectiveness by the companies which market green products and target young consumers could helpthem to supply their products more successfully both in developed and/or emerging countries. Particularly, they need create a perception among potential consumers that buying green products contributes to sustainability and solution of environmental problems by elaborating particular strategies. As the research revealed a negative and significant relation between price and green consumption on the developed market it is important that managers consider price policy while marketing green products among young generation in developed countries.

A presente dissertação de mestrado tem por objetivo tratar do regime jurídico da informação no mercado de valores mobiliários brasileiro. De modo geral, em um mundo marcado pela assimetria informacional, a informação, por ser definida em termos de sua (i) relevância e (ii) novidade, se presta, invariavelmente, às funções de conferir segurança e de reduzir as incertezas dos indivíduos que a possuem. Em razão destas características, a informação exerce um papel fundamental no mercado de valores mobiliários, vez que permite a tomada de decisão, a formação de preços, e o exercício de direitos, deveres e poderes de conteúdo patrimonial. Contudo, por conta das características do mercado de valores mobiliários, nele a natureza da informação como expressão de poder e dominação se revela de forma mais aguda do que em outros mercados. É dever do Estado brasileiro zelar pela existência e evolução do regime jurídico da informação no mercado de valores mobiliários, disciplinando a atuação dos participantes do mercado de modo a garantir interações mais ordenadas, seguras e justas. Somente assim poderá o mercado de valores mobiliários atingir suas finalidades constitucionais de promoção do desenvolvimento nacional e do bem-estar. / The purpose of this masters degree dissertation is to discuss the legal framework for information (particularly disclosure rules) in securities markets. Information can be defined in terms of its (i) relevance and (ii) novelty to individuals. Generally, in a world where information asymmetry is the rule, information can be said to reduce uncertainty and confer safety to act to the person that possesses it. Due to its characteristics, information plays a central role in securities markets. It allows for decision making, price formation and the exercise of rights, duties and powers by investors. Information can be understood as an expression of power and domination over others. This nature is revealed more prominently in the securities markets context, however, because of characteristics inherent to this market, as compared to other markets. It is therefore the duty of the Brazilian State to care for the existence and development of a legal framework for information in the national securities market, disciplining the conduct of market participants to ensure more orderly, safer and juster interactions. Only through the States action can the securities market achieve its constitutionally prescribed purposes of furthering national development and the well-being of the Brazilian people.