Local government, as government at grassroot, has, probably undergone transformation more than any institution in post-1994 South Africa. State-of the-art legislation have been passed that have restructured municipalities, and, especially, in the areas of performance and conduct of councillors and officials. Prominent in the areas of transformation are the roles of the Executive Mayor, which are no longer ceremonial as well as the radical changes which have been legislated in municipal financial management. This study was undertaken to determine the challenges that confront the Executive Mayor in financial management in selected local municipalities in the Free State. The hypothesis was formulated that "despite the state-of-the art legislation to regulate municipal finance, Executive Mayors in municipalities face the challenge of poor service delivery as a result of noncompliance to financial statutes due to human resource incapacity". To test the hypothesis, use was made by empirical research that comprised questionnaires completed by sample of managers and officials in the selected local municipalities of Mafube, Metsimaholo, Moqhaka and Ngwathe.The findings, amongst others, were that: • Human capital in the 4 selected local municipalities are in their prime age. 69 percent of managers are in the aged between 30 years to 50 years; • 57 percent of the managers responded that they have adequate qualifications and training to pursue the challenges in municipal finance; • All 4 municipalities normally get their budgets approved as required by compliance. • The hypothesis was consequently, invalidated. The study ends with recommendations to help improve standards and quality of financial management practice in the 4 municipalities.

Local government, as government at grassroot, has, probably undergone transformation more than any institution in post-1994 South Africa. State-of the-art legislation have been passed that have restructured municipalities, and, especially, in the areas of performance and conduct of councillors and officials. Prominent in the areas of transformation are the roles of the Executive Mayor, which are no longer ceremonial as well as the radical changes which have been legislated in municipal financial management. This study was undertaken to determine the challenges that confront the Executive Mayor in financial management in selected local municipalities in the Free State. The hypothesis was formulated that "despite the state-of-the art legislation to regulate municipal finance, Executive Mayors in municipalities face the challenge of poor service delivery as a result of noncompliance to financial statutes due to human resource incapacity". To test the hypothesis, use was made by empirical research that comprised questionnaires completed by sample of managers and officials in the selected local municipalities of Mafube, Metsimaholo, Moqhaka and Ngwathe.The findings, amongst others, were that: • Human capital in the 4 selected local municipalities are in their prime age. 69 percent of managers are in the aged between 30 years to 50 years; • 57 percent of the managers responded that they have adequate qualifications and training to pursue the challenges in municipal finance; • All 4 municipalities normally get their budgets approved as required by compliance. • The hypothesis was consequently, invalidated. The study ends with recommendations to help improve standards and quality of financial management practice in the 4 municipalities.

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This analysis examines the impact that personal characteristics like gender, race, years participating in the labor force, education, and previous entrepreneurship have on the amount of funding a startup receives from venture capital investors. Data for the analysis is taken from online venture capital database, Crunchbase, and includes investments made by venture capitalists between the years of 2002 and 2014. Findings from the regression analysis conclude that gender, the number of years a founder has been in the labor force, and a founder’s education background are significant determinants of the amount of funding a company receives in funding rounds. In addition, the sector the company falls under and the venture capital firms that the company seeks investment from are both significant determinants of the amount of funding received by the company and the founder.

In this paper I analyzed the intra-industry competitive and contagion effect during bond defaults in China. The analysis is performed using bond price, since the Chinese stock market is immature and has incredible amount of volatility. The sample includes 15 cases of default across 10 different industries since 2014, and the cumulative effect of the industry portfolio is positive over 11-day event window (competitive effect) with a t-statistic of 6.22. In addition, I found that SOE defaults overall have a significant positive abnormal return on their industry portfolios during 11-day event window with a t-statistic of 4.72, indicating a competitive effect. In contrast, Non-SOE defaults overall have a significant negative abnormal return on their industry portfolios over 3-day window with a t-statistic of -3.36, showing a contagion effect. But this difference could be due to the characteristics of industries as opposed to the nature of SOE. By analyzing the condition and characteristics of each industry, I found that the significance of abnormal return depends on the level of competition of the industry and the level of information available. In terms of contagion and competitive effect, industries showing a contagion effect offer products that are difficult to differentiate, such as cement and water bottle. Industries showing a competitive effect offer products that are highly specialized and rely heavily on technology innovation, such as the special equipment industry and electric equipment industry.

This paper focuses on understanding the higher than average punishment to Greek stocks and bonds and the overall investor reactions to the worsening economic situation in Greece from 2000 to 2014. Were Greek stock and bond values driven by fiscal and financial conditions, macroeconomic indicators and event shocks to the economy? Time series regressions, Granger Causality Wald tests and impulse response functions are used to answer the question. The proxies for Greek stock and bond market performance include the Athens Stock Exchange Index growth rate and the short run and long run interest rate spreads between Greece and Germany. The macroeconomic variables include debt to GDP ratio, the National Bank of Greece return on equity growth rate, real GDP growth rate, inflation rate, and M1 and M2 money supply growth rates. The significant events include Greece joining the Euro in 2001, the Greek government admitting to lying about budget deficits in 2004, Greece’s first bailout in 2010 and the resignation of Prime Minister George Papandreou in 2011. Results show that most variables are significant and stock and bond market performance are dependent on macroeconomic indicators and event shocks.

Ένα από τα εργαλεία της χρηματοοικονομικής διαχείρισης είναι και η ανάλυση των ισολογισμών των επιχειρήσεων με αριθμοδείκτες για την λήψη αποφάσεων. Σκοπός της διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι η αποτύπωση μιας ολοκληρωμένης εικόνας για την οικονομική θέση των εταιρειών του κλάδου ιδιωτικών μονάδων υγείας το χρονικό διάστημα 2007-2011 αξιοποιώντας τους αριθμοδείκτες από τους δημοσιευμένους ισολογισμούς των εξεταζόμενων επιχειρήσεων. / -

The United States has high failure rates of small businesses, with 50% of new small business establishments failing during the first 5 years, and 60% of small business owners failing within the first 6 years of business operation. Small retail services business owners help provide job creation as a driver of growth for the U.S. economy. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore the strategies small retail services business owners use to sustain their business for 5 years or more in San Diego County, California, with entrepreneurship theory as the conceptual framework. A purposive sample of 2 successful small retail services business participated in the interview process describing their perspectives. The research question aim was to identify strategies that successful small retail services business owners apply to sustain their business beyond 5 years. Coding keywords, sentences, and ideas from semistructured interviews and document analysis into categories was the key for the data analysis using method triangulation. Six themes emerged: (a) education and training skills acquired, (b) motivation, (c) brand awareness, (d) community involvement, (e) client loyalty, and (f) small business survival tactics. According to the responses of the participants, brand awareness and client loyalty were the most vital strategies to sustain business more than 5 years. The implications for social change include the potential to provide new strategies to support small retail services business toward sustainability; create strong relationships between small business; and enhance perceptions of community in order to increase sales, revenue, and job creation.

6 pp. / Originally published: 2006 / This publication is an introduction for individuals interested in starting their own business specializing in wholesale nursery production. The bulletin provides an overview of different types of nursery production, common production types in the Southwestern United States, starting the business, economic considerations, and a resource section.

In the United States, the number of female entrepreneurs who receive venture capital funding is significantly lower than the number of male entrepreneurs who receive venture capital funding. This thesis explores some of the economic, sociological, and psychological principles behind why this gender disparity in venture capital might exist. This thesis then surveys the current efforts in place to lessen the disparity, and lastly prescribes future ways in which female entrepreneurs can gain more access to capital for their businesses.