This thesis comprises five empirical essays using Swedish data. Three of the essays examine open market share repurchases, one essay investigates changes in investors’ shareholdings surrounding equity rights offerings (ROs), and the last essay investigates owner-managers’ equity portfolio choices. The first essay examines stock performance around initiation announcements of open market share repurchase programs, the price impact of repurchase trading and the long-run stock performance following the initiation announcements. The study uses a unique data set of initiation announcements and actual share repurchases conducted by firms listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange (SSE). The results show that initiation announcements of open market repurchase programs exhibit a 2 day abnormal return (AR) of 2% on average. The price impact on the actual repurchase days is positively correlated with the daily repurchase volume, and is both statistically and economically significant during the first 3 repurchase days in a repurchase program. The long-run abnormal stock performance is positively associated with the fraction of shares bought in the program and is on average 7% for the first year following the initiation announcement. The results indicate that repurchase trading provides price support and that the market participants detect and perceive the initiation announcement and the first repurchase days in a repurchase program as a signal of undervaluation. The second essay examines differences in the market performance of Swedish firms that initiate repurchase programs infrequently (1-2 programs), occasionally (3-4 programs) and frequently (5 or more programs) over the period 2000-2009. It is found that infrequent repurchase programs are greeted with a stronger positive reaction than occasional and frequent programs. However, over the long-term, infrequent repurchase programs show no AR while occasional and frequent repurchase programs show significant positive ARs. A positive relationship between AR and repurchase size is documented for all types of repurchase programs. The third essay examines the market liquidity impact of open market share repurchases in an electronic order-driven market. The study uses a detailed data set of daily repurchase transactions on the SSE together with intraday data on bid-ask spreads and order depths which enables an investigation of the liquidity effects on the actual repurchase days. It is found that repurchase trades inside the order-driven trading system contribute to market liquidity through narrower bid-ask spreads and deeper market depths. After controlling for trading volume, price and volatility, a significant decrease of the bid-ask spread on repurchase days relative to surrounding non-repurchase days is still found. However, repurchases executed as block trades outside the order-driven trading system have a detrimental effect on the bid-ask spread, consistent with a negative response to the presence of informed managerial trading. The fourth essay examines changes in equity ownership surrounding ROs by firms listed on the SSE. The results show that domestic individual investors on average reduce their shareholdings following rights issues, whereas domestic institutional investors and foreign investors increase their holdings. However, when ownership changes are adjusted with changes in ownership in matched non-issuing firms, it is documented that domestic institutions significantly increase their shareholdings in RO firms, whereas foreign investors decrease their holdings in these firms. A positive (negative) association between the 6 month benchmark adjusted return following the offering and the change in shareholdings by foreign investors (domestic institutional investors) is also documented. Finally, the fifth and last essay investigates how Swedish owner-managers (CEO or Chairman) invest in the Swedish stock market conditional on a major investment in their own firm. No evidence is found that owner-managers seek diversification benefits when they invest in other Swedish stocks. In general, they choose other stocks that show higher correlation among themselves than the average Swedish stocks. It is also found that owner-managers within high-tech industries invest significantly more of their total Swedish stock investments in IT stocks than owner-managers within other industries. / <p>QC 20130515</p>

During the past decade, growing attention has been given to industrial service offerings in the marketing literature as well as in many manufacturing firms. This phenomenon is often described as a goods-services transition, in which companies increasingly turn to the provision of industrial services in order to achieve competitive advantage, such a closer customer relationships and higher profit margins. Industrial services span a wide range of offerings, from basic after-sales services to process-orientated solutions consisting of both services and capital goods. With industrial service offerings receiving increased attention as their importance is understood, the ability to manage the service business in a manufacturing context becomes ever more vital. The overall purpose of this doctoral thesis is to describe and analyse how capital equipment manufacturing firms strategically manage their industrial service offerings in order to achieve long-term competitive advantage. This includes analysing how to organise the firm for the development and production of service, and, depending on the type of industrial service offering, what the requirements on the service processes are. Furthermore the role of information and communication technologies as enablers for new offerings and processes is analysed. The thesis consists of a compilation of five papers, two case descriptions and an extended summary. The research builds on a multiple case study of the service organisations of market-leading manufacturing firms. The main cases are based on in-depth studies at ITT Water &amp; Wastewater and Toyota Material Handling Group. The results suggest that, as the division between goods and services becomes ever more blurred, there is an increasing need for cooperation between the service and the product organisations. Applying a service logic means that the traditional division between goods sales and after-sales services becomes outdated. Instead, the customer relationship becomes the centre of the offering regardless of its combination of services and goods. Further, the infusion of service in manufacturing firms means that more service processes and interfaces have to be managed simultaneously. Theoretically, this research contributes mainly to the fields of industrial marketing and service as a business logic. One contribution is the proposed typologies for industrial service offerings which make it possible to better understand the dynamics of service processes. Another important contribution of this research is the service function concept. Industrial services must not be equated with the activities of the industrial service organisation only. Although the service organisation most likely is the key entity, it is only one subset of the service function; sales product development, manufacturing, senior management, and other organisational entities, as well as external service providers and customers, are to be seen as part-time service functions that influence the offering. Compared to previously, competitive advantage through industrial service offerings is to a greater extent based on factors outside the service organisation, i.e. in other parts of the service function.

In March 2003, the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) released new corporate governance guidelines, which included debatable “best practice” recommendations such as the adoption of an independent board and separation of the roles of chairperson and CEO. Given the premise that strong corporate governance enhances shareholder value and, by extension, increases initial public offering (IPO) issuers’ appeal to investors, this thesis assesses the level of conformity by a sample of Australian firms, which made an IPO between 1994 and 1999, with the best practice recommendations. We also examine the relationship between firm outcomes (including IPO underpricing, post-IPO long-run performance, and the likelihood of a SEO) and board governance quality, captured by board composition, board leadership, board size and share ownership of directors. These outcomes are addressed as they are important dimensions of firm performance that may be reasonably assumed to be associated with the quality of corporate governance, and these tests can provide an insight into the preference of investors who arguably are best placed to assess the appropriateness of the recommendations promoted by the ASX. Further, we analyse changes in IPO firms’ board structures from the time of listing to five years later to determine if IPO firms adopt governance structures that are more in line with the best practice recommendations after listing and if the changes are related to IPO firms’ long-run performance. Overall, we find that IPO firms that arguably have the strongest incentive to adopt the “optimal” board structures diverge substantially from ASX’s recommendations both at the time of IPO and five years later. IPO firms’ board structures are found to be unrelated with the level of IPO underpricing and board size, after controlling for the size of the firm, is significant in explaining both long-run aftermarket performance and the probability of a SEO. IPO firms with larger boards and those that increase the board size after listing are found to perform better in the long-run. However, contrary to expectation, smaller boards are associated with a higher likelihood of equity reissuance. Overall, the results lead us to question the role played by the board of directors in signalling firm quality. Our findings also suggest that ASX’s best practice recommendations are likely to distort the market-driven practices already in place.

Cette thèse est composée de trois essais qui étudient le déroulement des introductions en bourse. Dans le premier essai, nous examinons l’effet de la séparation propriété-contrôle sur la performance des offres publiques initiales (IPO) à long terme en France. En utilisant un échantillon de 351 entreprises françaises introduites en bourse sur la période 1997-2011, nous constatons que la séparation entre les droits de vote et les droits de propriété des actionnaires majoritaires est négativement associée à la performance à long terme des introductions en bourse. Cette constatation indique que les IPO ayant une structure de propriété dispersée sont moins performantes que les autres entreprises au cours de la période allant de 1 à 5 ans suivant l'offre initiale. Cette séparation incite les actionnaires dominants à retirer des avantages privés de contrôle au détriment des actionnaires minoritaires.Dans le deuxième essai, nous examinons le rôle des clauses de lock-up sur la précision des prévisions de résultat publiées dans le prospectus d'introduction en bourse. En utilisant un échantillon de 303 prévisions des entreprises françaises introduites en bourse entre 1997 et 2013, nous apportons la preuve que les introductions en bourse ayant plus d'actions à détenir, ainsi que celles qui choisissent des périodes de lock-up plus longues, sont plus susceptibles de divulguer des prévisions de résultats conservatrices et précises. Ces résultats sont robustes à un certain nombre de tests de sensibilité.Dans le troisième essai, nous étudions l'impact de la localisation géographique sur la sous-évaluation à court terme des introductions en bourse françaises. Les résultats montrent que les entreprises situées à proximité du centre financier parisien sont moins sous-estimées que les entreprises distantes. Ces résultats fournissent un support empirique à l'argument selon lequel l'incertitude sur la valeur des IPO augmente proportionnellement à la distance de Paris. En d'autres termes, la proximité géographique améliore la qualité des informations collectées sur les entreprises, ce qui réduit leurs coûts d'introduction en bourse et diminue le niveau des rendements initiaux. / This dissertation consists of three essays. In the first essay, we investigate whether the control-ownership divergence can explain IPO long-run performance in France. Using data from a sample of 351 French IPOs during 1997-2011, we find that the separation between ownership and control rights of the largest shareholder is negatively associated with long-term performance of French IPOs. This finding indicates that IPOs with disproportional ownership structure underperform other firms in the one- to five-year period following the initial offering. Such separation induces controlling shareholders to extract private benefits of control to the detriment of minority shareholders.In the second essay, we examine the effect of lockup agreements on management earnings forecasts in initial public offering (IPO) prospectuses. Using a sample of 303 forecasts of French firms that went public over the period 1997–2013, we find that IPOs with lockup clauses are more likely to disclose conservative profit forecasts. Moreover, we provide evidence that IPOs with more shares to lock up, as well as those selecting longer lockup periods, have more accurate management earnings forecasts. These results are robust to a number of sensitivity tests.In the third essay, we examine the impact of geographic location on the short–run underpricing of French initial public offerings (IPOs). The results show that firms located in close proximity to the financial centre, Paris, are less underpriced than distant ones. These findings provide empirical support to the argument that uncertainty about IPO value increases with distance from Paris. In other words, geographic proximity improves the quality of collected information on IPO firms, which lowers their costs of going public and decreases the level of initial returns.

Architecture and Activity Areas in ConchopataThis paper presents the results from excavations conducted during 1997 and 1998 in Conchopata, Ayacucho, Peru, when we discovered a ceremonial area with espectacular offering deposits consisting of urns and jars intentionally broken, associated with human skulls, camelids burials and a possible solar clock. In addition, we have identified pottery workshops, offering areas, human burials and household units where residents of the Huari epoch lived. Polychrome iconography on the ceramics represents mythological figures related to "the staff god" from Tiwanaku, as well as new images of warriors holding weapons and shields and other important persons dressed in clothing similar to known Huari textiles. / Se presentan los resultados obtenidos en las excavaciones realizadas en Conchopata en 1997 y 1998, durante las cuales se descubrió un área ceremonial con espectaculares depósitos de ofrendas correspondientes a urnas de cerámica rotas intencionalmente. A éstos se asociaban cráneos humanos, entierros de camélidos y un posible reloj solar. Asimismo, se han identificado talleres de producción de cerámica, áreas de ofrendas y entierros humanos, así como las unidades domésticas donde vivieron estos antiguos pobladores de la época Huari. La iconografía de la cerámica no sólo reproduce deidades mitológicas vinculadas al "Dios de los báculos" de Tiwanaku, sino que amplía su repertorio con la presencia de guerreros con armas y escudos, así como personajes importantes con indumentaria que aparece en los textiles.

O presente trabalho pretende analisar as formas de sustento de pregadores/as que vêm sendo praticadas no contexto da Igreja Evangélica Luterana de Angola (IELA) desde seu surgimento até os dias atuais. As dificuldades econômicas, as condições sociais dos/as pregadores/as e a falta de ensino da Palavra de Deus aos membros das congregações no tocante às contribuições para a causa da fé cristã têm sido grandes limitações ao trabalho pastoral e missionário. Por conseguinte, isso afeta o desenvolvimento da IELA em todas as dimensões: econômica, geográfica, numérica e poimênica. A IELA busca caminhos que apontem na direção da autonomia em sentido amplo. Portanto, a pesquisa quer ajudar na compreensão do contexto em que a Igreja se encontra, permitindo assim uma percepção um pouco mais clara dos limites e das possibilidades do trabalho dos/as pregadores/as luteranos/as em Angola. / This paper intends to analyze the ways in which preachers have been sustained in the context of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Angola (IELA) from its inception to the current days. The economic difficulties, the social conditions of the preachers and the lack of teaching the Word of God related to the contributions for the cause of the Christian faith, to the members of the congregations have presented great limitations to the pastoral and missionary work. Consequently, this affects the development of the IELA in all dimensions: economic, geographic, numerically and poimenically. The IELA seeks paths which point in the direction of autonomy in a broad sense. Therefore, the research aims at helping in the comprehension of the context in which the church finds itself, thus permitting a clearer perception of the limits and possibilities of the work of the Lutheran preachers in Angola.

abstract: Managers’ control over the timing and content of information disclosure represents a significant strategic tool which they can use at their discretion. However, extant theoretical perspectives offer incongruent arguments and incompatible predictions about when and why managers would release inside information about their firms. More specifically, agency theory and theories within competitive dynamics provide competing hypotheses about when and why managers would disclose inside information about their firms. In this study, I highlight how voluntary disclosure theory may help to coalesce these two theoretical perspectives. Voluntary disclosure theory predicts that managers will release inside information when managers perceive that the benefits outweigh the costs of doing so. Accordingly, I posit that competitive dynamics introduce the costs associated with disclosing information (i.e., proprietary costs) and that agency theory highlights the benefits associated with disclosing information. Examining the context of seasoned equity offerings (SEOs), I identify three ways managers can use information in SEO prospectuses. I hypothesize that competitive intensity increases proprietary costs that will reduce disclosure of inside information but will increase discussing the organization positively. I then hypothesize that capital market participants (e.g., security analysts and investors) may prefer managers to provide more, clearer, and positive information about the SEO and their firms. I find support for many of my hypotheses. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2017

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No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2723691 bytes, checksum: a36df740c73be4b421a7267749037ff7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-22 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Among the approaches of the area of behavioral finance, the impact of irrational and speculative behavior of investors has drawn attention of researchers in the face of evidence that indicate a possible influence of idiosyncratic asymmetry into the context of investors' perception in their decision-making and, consequently, prices and returns on assets. Sometimes it is not difficult to find situations where optimistic or pessimistic expectations impacting in some way in the financial market. The idiosyncratic asymmetry can be understood as investors' preference for positive asymmetry, contrary to the assumptions of the theory of expected utility. Investor sentiment can be defined quite broadly, however, the underlying issue that sentiment mainly covers how such investors interpret and react to daily events so they can build their beliefs. The initial public offerings (IPO) are those in which the listed companies provide first sale of its stocks. Thus, understanding the way in which the financial market operates can be of great value to assist investors in their perception and their active trading strategy to take into account the impact factors of stock prices and, if it's worth before speculation of possible delay or not your decision making based on the evaluation of the assumed returns and risks when investing in assets in its first day of trading on the stock exchange. Face of this perspective, the objective of this research is to investigate the relationship between the irrationality of investors and returns of the first day of Brazilian companies that made IPO from 2004 to 2014. The sample comprised 106 companies among the 152 who underwent IPO in this interval of eleven years. The research was based on the model developed by Aissia (2014), who also found the influence of idiosyncratic asymmetry and investor sentiment, but in the financial market of France. The method used for the estimation of the proposed model was through regression analysis by ordinary least squares (OLS). The data revealed that one of the research hypothesis was confirmed because it was found that the idiosyncratic asymmetry positively affected returns of the first day of IPO's inherent in the companies in the sample. Furthermore, this study can enrich the discussion of aspects inherent irrationality of investors in decision-making from a peculiarity has not investigated within the Brazilian market, making relationship with the preference for asymmetry itself in order to open new horizons for future studies proposed. / Dentre os enfoques da área de finanças comportamentais, o impacto do comportamento irracional e especulativo dos investidores tem chamado atenção dos estudiosos, diante de evidências que indicam uma possível influência da assimetria idiossincrática inserida no contexto da percepção dos investidores em sua tomada de decisão e, consequentemente, nos preços e retornos dos ativos. Por vezes, não é difícil encontrar situações em que expectativas otimistas ou pessimistas impactem de alguma maneira no mercado financeiro. A assimetria idiossincrática pode ser entendida como a preferência dos investidores por uma assimetria positiva, contrariando as premissas da Teoria da Utilidade Esperada. Já o sentimento dos investidores pode ser definido de maneira bastante ampla, porém, a questão subjacente desse sentimento abarca principalmente a maneira como tais investidores interpretam e reagem aos acontecimentos cotidianos para que possam construir suas crenças. As ofertas públicas iniciais de ações (IPO) são aquelas em que as empresas listadas em bolsa disponibilizam pela primeira vez a venda de suas ações. Sendo assim, compreender a maneira em que o mercado financeiro funciona pode ser de grande valia para auxiliar os investidores em sua percepção e em sua estratégia de negociação de ativos, ao levarem em consideração os fatores de impacto dos preços das ações e, se vale a pena, diante de possíveis especulações, postergar ou não sua tomada de decisão a partir da avaliação dos retornos e riscos assumidos ao investir em ativos em seu primeiro dia de negociação em bolsa. Diante dessa perspectiva, o objetivo desta pesquisa é o de investigar a relação entre a irracionalidade dos investidores e os retornos do primeiro dia das empresas brasileiras que realizaram IPO, no período de 2004 a 2014. A amostra contou com 106 empresas, dentre as 152 que realizaram IPO nesse intervalo de 11 anos. A pesquisa tomou como base o modelo desenvolvido por Aissia (2014), que verificou também a influência da assimetria idiossincrática e sentimento do investidor, porém no mercado financeiro da França. O método utilizado para a estimação do modelo proposto foi por meio da análise de regressão por mínimos quadrados (OLS). Os resultados encontrados permitiram que uma das hipóteses de pesquisa fosse confirmada, pois constatou-se que a assimetria idiossincrática afetou positivamente os retornos do primeiro dia das IPO’s inerentes às empresas que compuseram a amostra. O presente trabalho pode enriquecer a discussão acerca dos aspectos inerentes à irracionalidade dos investidores na tomada de decisão, a partir de uma peculiaridade ainda não investigada no âmbito do mercado brasileiro, fazendo relação com a preferência por assimetria propriamente dita, de maneira a abrir novos horizontes para propostas de estudos futuros.

Interpretation of a Gold Offering found at Sillustani SiteThis study presents a detailed description and analysis of an important set of artifacts excavated from near the Chullpa of Lagarto, in Sillustani, Department of Puno, in 1971. These artifacts consisted primarily of objects of gold, silver, copper and Spondylus, as well as beads of lapis lazuli, bone and ceramics. The artifacts help us to affiliate this site with the Qolla ethnic group, who occupied the area of Sillustani and the high altiplano during the Late Intermediate Period. / En este trabajo se presenta en forma detallada un importante conjunto de piezas excavadas cerca de la Chullpa del Lagarto, complejo de Sillustani, departamento de Puno, en 1971. Estas piezas consisten en su mayoría de objetos de oro, plata, cobre y Spondylus, así como abalorios en lapislázuli, hueso y cerámica, que permiten asignarlas por sus características a la etnia qolla, la que ocupó el área de Sillustani y el altiplano andino durante el Periodo Intermedio Tardío.

This thesis is focused on the issuance of Initial Primary Offerings of shares, with an emphasis on the development of the worldwide IPOs. The first part of the thesis deals with the types of possible sources of financing of the company and the factors that affect their selection. In the next section it shows a characteristic of an IPO from the company's point of view-- a candidate for IPO. In this section are described the motivation and the assumptions of the company undergoing IPO as well as the advantages and disadvantages which the IPO can bring to a company. The following section describes in detail the process of issuing the IPO, it is divided into several main sections and is focused on the Czech market. Further work describes the world development of IPO activity. Here are shown the count and volumes which were carried out in the recent years. Furthermore there is the current status and future trends in the major world markets (the Chinese, the United States and the European). In the final part of the thesis, an analysis of both macro/micro-economic conditions and success of two IPOs, for a Chinese technology company Youku.com Inc. (performed in December 2010) and an American Internet dial-up company Vonage Holding Corp. (implemented in May 2006), is carried out.