In context of the forthcoming Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, this study examines how scope 3 emissions and the reporting thereof affect the cost of debt. Further, it investigates how scope 1 emissions affect the cost of debt and how the two scopes differ in materiality. As a theoretical foundation, this thesis uses previous research on environmental risk management, carbon risk premium, scope 3 emissions and cost of capital. By collecting a sample of 1710 firm-year observations for publicly listed European companies during the period 2019-2022, this quantitative study utilizes fixed effect regression models to find the relationship between scope 3 emission and cost of debt. No evidence of a relationship between scope 3 emissions and cost of debt is found. When looking at scope 1 emissions, the results show that companies with lower scope 1 emissions are rewarded by creditors with a reduced cost of debt. Regarding reporting of scope 3 emissions, we find no evidence suggesting that scope 3 disclosure lowers the cost of debt.

<p>This thesis focuses on three important topics in corporate finance: corporate governance, management efforts to avoid debt covenant violations and the cost of such violations. The thesis adds to these aspects of the finance literature and the findings are reported in chapters two, three and four.</p> <p>The second chapter focuses on the role of corporate governance in determining the interactions between financial leverage and profits and attests to the validity of the trade-off theory of capital structure. It examines management’s financing choice behaviour in distinctly different corporate governance settings to ascertain the effect of governance mechanisms on such behavior. The estimation methodology allows for financial leverage, profits and governance to be determined jointly, using an instrumental variable approach. The results of the paper demonstrate that leverage is increasing in profits when controlled for agency problems, and good governance firms exhibit the results predicted by the trade-off theory of capital structure.</p> <p>The third chapter examines management’s earnings manipulation activities around debt covenant violation through accrual manipulation and real earnings management. Covenant restrictions are expected to influence these activities in the quarters surrounding and the quarter of the violation. Cross-sectional analyses reveal the use of such strategies to report higher earnings in the periods surrounding the covenant violation. The results also show disparity in the use of accrual based and real earnings management techniques.</p> <p>The fourth chapter investigates the relation between debt covenant violation and the cost of new borrowing from three different aspects: the incidence of violation, the timing of violation and the frequency of violation. The results show that there are significant benefits to not violating a debt covenant and violators are penalized by the creditors for not upholding the contractual restrictions.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the relationship between audit quality, with a specific focus on auditor size and audit fees, and the cost of debt and access to debt for medium-sized privately held enterprises in Sweden. Additionally, we seek to explore how family firms moderate these relationships.   Theoretical perspective: This paper combines signaling theory and agency theory to theorize how Big-4 classifications of audit firms and audit fees signal audit quality and different levels of agency cost of debt to creditors. Further, it explores the moderating effect of family firms using socioemotional wealth theory alongside agency theory.   Method: This study is based within the positivistic paradigm, employing a deductive approach. The study uses a quantitative methodology, gathering data from 463 medium-sized privately held enterprises in Sweden. The empirical data is analyzed using multiple linear regressions, with the moderating effects of family firms.    Findings: The findings of this study suggest that firms engaging Big-4 audit firms do not experience lower costs of debt nor improved access to debt. However, audit fees demonstrate a positive relationship with both the cost of debt and access to debt. Further, the study indicates that family firms do not have a moderating effect on these relationships.

本論文之研究目的係驗證公允價值資訊是否會影響聯合貸款的借款條件。實證結果顯示公司採用更多公允價值，尤其是第1等級輸入值，可在聯合貸款市場中可取得較有利的聯合貸款條件，例如可取得更低的利率及更高額的貸款金額。然而實證結果也顯示，若公司採用更多公允價值，尤其是第1等級輸入值，會有更高的機會被債權人要求提供債務擔保。由此可知，公司採用更多公允價值可有助於取得更有利的聯合貸款借款條件，同時第1等級輸入值可獲得更顯著的結果。

近年來，我國上市上櫃公司發行公司債籌措資金的情形蔚為風潮。依據我國目前規定，公司擬發行的公司債須由證期會認可之信用評等機構進行評等，並出具報告。既無信用評等向來重視會計資訊的品質，因此引起了本研究探討資訊揭露是否會降低公司債資金成本的動機。關於資訊揭露與負債資金成本的關係，僅見於Sengupta(1998)的研究，而本研究則試圖以資訊揭露能降低代理成本的角度，探討在國內資本市場中，資訊揭露是否與負債資金成本存在一反向關係。 本研究評估揭露指數方法與之前文獻所採用的的內容分析法不同。本研究是以公司發行公司債前一年度盈餘概估情形評估揭露指數口本研究採用最小平方法迴歸分析(OLS)對測試假說，其結果如下： 1.公司發行公司債之增額負債資金成本與資訊揭露程度存在反向關係。 本研究之實證結果顯示，我國資本市場中，公司資訊揭露程度與公司債之殖利率存有顯著的反向關係。顯示在債券的初級市場中，除了債券的條件與公司體質的好壞以外，資訊揭露也可能成為公司債殖利率的決定因素。 2.若公司債的代理成本較高，其資訊揭露對負債資金成本之反向變動關係會較強。 本研究以公司債轉換條款與擔保條款的有無，區分公司債代理成本的高低。實證結果發現，發行具轉換條款公司債之公司與發行不具轉換條款公司債之公司，其資訊揭露對負債資金成本影響顯著較低。驗證了設有轉換條款或擔保條款之公司債將因為債券本身的代理成本下降，而削弱資訊揭露對公司債殖利率的影響。也就是說若公司債屬於普通公司債或無擔保公司債時，資訊揭露對公司債之殖利率影響更大。因此對於有意發行無擔保公司債或普通公司債的公司而言，資訊揭露將更能降低其負債資金成本。 關鍵字：代理成本，負債資金成本，揭露程度，資訊不對稱 / In recent years, it has become a common phenomenon for listed corporations to issue bonds in Taiwan. Currently in Taiwan, the Securities and Futures Committee (SFC) forbids a corporation to issue bonds unless it has been properly rated by a credit rating agency certified by the SFC. Since the credit rating agency all along have generally placed a great deal of emphasis on the quality of accounting information, this research purports to investigate whether fuller disclosure of accounting information can indeed reduce the cost of debt capital. Only one study by Sengupta (1998) focused on the cost of debt capital, and addressed the issue about the relation between the disclosure level the cost of debt capital, and this study attempts to investigate whether a reverse relationship exists between disclosure and cost of debt capital in Taiwan form the angle of the agency cost. The method to determine the score of the disclosure level applied by this research is different from the content analysis method applied by prior studies. This research uses the earning estimation disclosure made in the year prior to the bond issuance, for measuring the disclosure level. This research applies the QLS model to test the hypotheses. After controlling for other variables, this research concludes that: 1.There may exist a reverse relation between the incremental cost of debt capital and the disclosure level. The result shows that there exists a significant reverse relation between the yield to maturity of bond and the corporate disclosure level. This finding leads us to conclude that because of the ability to lower the agency costs and control the information asymmetry, corporate disclosure level, couple with the terms of the bond and the issuing corporation's financial conditions, could be one determinant of the yield to maturity of the bond. 2.If the agency cost of the bond is higher, the reverse relation between the incremental cost of debt capital and the disclosure level could be stronger. In this research, agency costs are considered low when the bond is convertible or secured, or vice versa. The result shows that for the corporation issuing convertible or secured bonds, the impact of the disclosure is less significant. This finding verifies that when the bond is convertible or secured, the reverse relation between the cost of debt capital and the disclosure level could be weakened since the agency costs are lower. Therefore, this research draws a conclusion that for corporations that attempt to issue straight bonds or unsecured bonds, the disclosure level plays a more important rule to reduce the cost of debt capital. Key word: Agency Cost, Cost of Debt Capital, Disclosure Level, Information Asymmetry.

Inledning: Modigliani och Miller-teoremet betraktas som en milstolpe och ett paradigmskifte inom Corporate Finance. Forskningen bakom teoremet har gett upphov till den kontroversiella slutsatsen att ett företags kapitalstruktur är irrelevant på en jämviktsmarknad, utan beskattning. När beskattning däremot förekommer, ökar företagsvärdet motsvarande den avdragsgilla skatten på räntekostnader vid belåning. Teoremet har dock inte varit utan kritik. Flera forskare har undersökt teoremet och kritiserat teoremets antaganden. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka Modigliani och Miller-teoremet i avseende av kapitalstrukturens inverkan på företags aktiekurser. Tidigare forskning: Modigliani och Miller-teoremet med dess antaganden presenteras inledningsvis som studiens grundläggande teori. Därefter presenteras agentteorin, signaleringsteorin, trade-off-teori och effektiva marknadshypotesen tillsammans med tidigare forskningsstudier om teoremet och antagandena. Metod: Studien tillämpar en kvantitativ metod, med tre regressionsmodeller. Det slumpmässiga urvalet består av tio företag inom industribranschen som är registrerade på Stockholmsbörsen. Urvalet består av paneldata från företagen under perioden 2005 till 2012. Studiens empiri består av historiska aktiekurser och årsredovisningar. Resultat: Skuldsättningsgraden visar en låg och icke signifikant korrelation med aktiekurserna för de undersökta företagen, i samtliga tre regressionsmodeller. Skatteskölden visar en högre och signifikant korrelation med aktiekursen, medan kontrollvariabeln vinst per aktie EPS visar den högsta korrelationen med aktiekursen, som responsvariabel. Slutsats: Studiens resultat visar inget empiriskt stöd för Modigliani och Miller-teoremet i dess helhet. Förklaringen till resultaten kan vara att antagandena inte tillfredsställs inom empirin. Agentteori, signaleringsteori, trade-off-teori och effektiva marknadshypotesen kan stå som förklaringar till studiens resultat. / Introduction: Modigliani and Miller theorem is regarded as a milestone and a paradigm shift in Corporate Finance. The research behind the theorem has given rise to the controversial conclusion that a company's capital structure is irrelevant in an equilibrium market, without taxation. In contrast, when taxation occurs firm value will increase equivalent to the deductible tax on interest expense when debt is issued. The theorem has not been without criticism. Several researchers have examined the theorem and criticised its assumptions. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate the Modigliani and Miller theorem in respect of capital structure’s impact on companies' share prices. Literature Review: The Modigliani and Miller theorem with its assumptions is initially presented as the study’s main theorem. The presentation of the theorem is followed by a description of agency theory, signalling theory, trade-off theory and the efficient market hypothesis, along with previous studies on the theorem and its assumptions. Research Methodology: The study applies a quantitative approach, with three regression models. The random sample consists of ten companies in the industrial sector, that are listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The sample is based on panel data of the companies during the period 2005 to 2012. The study's empirical data consists of historical stock prices and annual reports. Empirical Results: The leverage ratio, i.e. debt to equity ratio, indicates a low and non-signif-icant correlation with the stock prices of the examined companies, in all three regression models. The tax shield indicates a higher and significant correlation with the stock price, while the control variable earnings per share EPS indicates the highest correlation with the stock prices, as the response variable. Conclusions: The study’s results show no empirical support for the Modigliani-Miller theorem in its entirety. The explanation for the findings may be that the assumptions are not satisfied in the empirical data. Agency theory, signalling theory, trade-off theory and the efficient market hypothesis may serve as explanations of the study’s results.

Submitted by Edypo Soares de Oliveira (edyposoares@gmail.com) on 2016-12-21T17:03:50Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese FGV MPFE - Edypo Soares eng - 21dec16.pdf: 751881 bytes, checksum: 503843ddee636b0d04d0195201a33270 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Renata de Souza Nascimento (renata.souza@fgv.br) on 2016-12-21T17:08:37Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese FGV MPFE - Edypo Soares eng - 21dec16.pdf: 751881 bytes, checksum: 503843ddee636b0d04d0195201a33270 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-22T13:14:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese FGV MPFE - Edypo Soares eng - 21dec16.pdf: 751881 bytes, checksum: 503843ddee636b0d04d0195201a33270 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-14 / Literature has often examined how hedging affects firm value and cost of capital, but its relation with cost of debt is less studied, especially for Latin American firms. This dissertation examined the impact of derivatives usage over credit spread of the bonds issued by 66 non-financial companies from Brazil, Chile and Mexico, based on the secondary market transactions from 2005 to 2015. To test the hypothesis that hedging reduces credit spread, we performed different regressions based on Chen and King (2014) study. We only found a significant coefficient for hedging and leverage interaction for the post-2008 period, supporting Coutinho, Sheng and Lora (2012) findings that companies were not using derivatives for hedging purpose before the financial crisis and also corroborates Chen and King (2014) hypothesis that more leveraged firms obtain higher benefits from hedging. / Há uma extensa literatura examinando como o uso de derivativos afeta o valor e o custo de capital da firma, porém sua relação com o custo da dívida (spread de crédito) é menos estudada, especialmente para os países da América Latina. Esta dissertação, a partir dos dados do mercado secundário dos títulos (bonds) emitidos por 66 empresas não financeiras de Brasil, Chile e México no período entre 2005 e 2015, analisa o impacto do uso de derivativos sobre o spread de crédito. Para testar a hipótese de que hedging reduz o spread de crédito pago pelas companhias, rodamos diferentes regressões baseadas no estudo de Cheng e King (2014). Encontramos resultados significativos apenas para a interação entre hedging e alavancagem no período posterior a 2008, em linha com o que foi reportado por Coutinho, Sheng e Lora (2012), que investigam a relação entre hedging e custo de capital. Resultado corrobora as hipóteses de que (1) empresas estariam utilizando derivativos para especular antes da Crise Financeira e (2) conforme Chen e King (2014), as empresas mais alavancadas (maior stress financeiro) são as que mais se beneficiam do uso de derivativos.

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-06-12T11:09:27Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Cassia Neves da Silva - 2018.pdf: 2161688 bytes, checksum: e70d5a8c4b3eab21a97ddd645182a7e5 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-06-12T12:18:23Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Cassia Neves da Silva - 2018.pdf: 2161688 bytes, checksum: e70d5a8c4b3eab21a97ddd645182a7e5 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-06-12T12:18:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Cassia Neves da Silva - 2018.pdf: 2161688 bytes, checksum: e70d5a8c4b3eab21a97ddd645182a7e5 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-04-09 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás - FAPEG / The literature goes back to the fact that emerging markets have characteristics that are not relevant to the developed markets, among them the concentration of stocks and the cost of debt. Among emerging markets, the BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are economic powers. Therefore, this research aims to analyze whether the concentration of ownership and the cost of debt interfere in the value of the company in the BRICS in the period from 2007 to 2016, after the subprime crisis. For this purpose, publicly traded companies from these countries, financial and non-financial, were selected in the period to compose the sample, analyzed by quantile regression. In the results, China presented the lowest debt costs of the economic group. And the stock concentration does not affect the cost of debt in Brazil, but in China and Russia the lower the share concentration, the higher the cost of debt. In India only companies with Tobin's 50% lower Qs are shown to be negatively influenced. Finally, the cost of debt was relevant in companies with lower market values, proving to be irrelevant in companies with higher value. / A literatura descreve que os mercados emergentes apresentam características destoantes dos mercados desenvolvidos, dentre elas a concentração acionária e o custo de dívida. Em meio aos mercados emergentes, os BRICS – Brasil, Rússia, Índia, China e África do Sul – são potências econômicas. Portanto, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo analisar se a concentração de propriedade e o custo da dívida interferiram no valor da empresa nos BRICS no período de 2007 a 2016, após a crise do Subprime. Para tal, foram selecionadas as empresas de capital aberto desses países, financeiras e não financeiras, no referido período, para comporem a amostra, analisadas via regressão quantílica. Nos resultados, a China apresentou os menores custos de dívida do grupo econômico. Ademais, a concentração acionária não afetou o custo da dívida no Brasil, mas, na China e na Rússia,quanto menor a concentração acionária, maior o custo da dívida. Na Índia, apenas as empresas com os 50% menores Q de Tobin demonstraram serem influenciadas negativamente. Por fim, o custo da dívida foi relevante nas empresas com menores valores de mercado, provando serem irrelevantes nas empresas com maior valor.

Introduktion En anledning till att företag vill ge ut frivillig redovisning kan vara för att erhålla positiva ekonomiska effekter så som minskad kapitalkostnad. Tidigare forskning finner blandade resultat gällande den frivilliga redovisningens påverkan på kapitalkostnaden. Forskningen indikerar att olika innehåll i den frivilliga redovisningen kan ge varierande effekter på kapitalkostnaden. Därför är det intressant att göra en mer detaljerad analys av innehållet i den frivilliga redovisningen relaterat till kostnaden för eget och lånat kapital. Syfte Studiens syfte är att förklara hur innehållet i den frivilliga redovisningen påverkar kostnaden för eget och lånat kapital. Metod Studien har en deduktiv ansats och utgår ifrån en kvantitativ strategi med kvalitativa inslag. Genom en tvärsnittsdesign genomförs en innehållsanalys av den frivilliga redovisningen i 44 börsnoterade bolags årsredovisningar för att kvantifiera innehållet. Slutsats Resultatet visar på att mer frivillig redovisning i form av information om risk och information av icke-finansiell karaktär leder till minskad kostnad för eget kapital. Mer aktierelaterad information, information av historisk, framåtriktad, kvantitativ, icke-kvantitativ och icke-finansiell karaktär leder till minskad kostnad för lånat kapital. Även mer frivillig redovisning totalt sett minskar kostnaden för lånat kapital. Resultatet bör dock endast ses som indikationer på hur sambanden kan se ut på grund av studiens begränsningar. / Introduction A reason for companies to publish voluntary disclosure can be to receive positive economic effects such as reduced cost of capital. Previous research find mixed results regarding the impact of voluntary disclosure on the cost of capital. Research indicates that different content of voluntary disclosure can affect the cost of capital differently. Therefore, it is of interest to conduct a more detailed analysis of the content of voluntary disclosure related to the cost of equity and debt capital. Purpose The purpose of this study is to explain how the content of voluntary disclosure affects the cost of equity and debt capital. Method This is a quantitative study with qualitative elements that has a deductive approach. Through a cross-sectional design, a content analysis of the voluntary disclosure in the annual reports of 44 listed companies is conducted to quantify the content. Conclusion The results show that more voluntary disclosure in the form ofinformation about risk and information of a non-financial nature leads to a reduced cost of equity. More share-related information and information of a historical, forward-looking, quantitative, non- quantitative and non-financial nature leads to a reduced cost of debt capital. More voluntary disclosure in total also reduces the cost of debt capital. However, due to the limitations of the study, the results should only be seen as indications of the nature of the relationships.

我國庫藏股制度於民國八十九年開始實施，當上市櫃公司宣告買回庫藏股後，造成了公司資產的重分配，其股東、債權人等利害關係人會以預期心理來評估自身權益所受到的影響，並將其反應在所要求的必要報酬率上，因此公司對股東所負擔的權益資金成本及對債權人所負擔的負債資金成本都將產生變動。 當公司宣告買回庫藏股後，實證結果顯示：(1)其負債資金成本將上升，而權益資金成本將會下降。(2)預定買回股份佔資本比愈大時，其負債資金成本增加愈多。(3)買回前獲利能力之不同，並未發現其會對宣告買回公司之負債資金成本有顯著影響。(4)依目的三買回將使該公司負債資金成本增加數小於依目的一或目的二買回之負債資金成本增加數、並使權益資金成本減少數大於依目的一或目的二買回之權益資金成本減少數。(5)公司內部人持股比率於宣告前一年淨增加愈多則權益資金成本降低程度愈大。(6)資訊愈對稱的公司其權益資金成本下降的程度愈少。 / Share repurchase system was formally implemented in Taiwan in 2000 , when the TSEC & OTC listed companies announce that they will repurchase shares , it changes the composition of assets held by the firm , revising the ownership proportions of each of their shareholders and interests of each of their creditors. Thus, their cost of equity capital and debt capital may change . When companies announce to repurchase shares , results show that : (1)their cost of debt capital will increase and their cost of equity capital will decrease. (2)the more percentage of shares companies expect to repurchase , the more their cost of debt capital increase. (3)the different profitability before announcement has no significant effect to companies’ cost of debt capital. (4)repurchase in order to conserve companies’ credibility and shareholders’ equity will increase less cost of debt capital and decrease more cost of equity capital than that in order to reach other two purposes .(5) the more increase of percentage of shares companies’ insiders’ hold before announce, the more their cost of equity capital decrease. (6) the more symmetrical information companies obtain , the less their cost of equity capital decrease.