Browsing Departments by Title
-
Bajlum, Claus (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This Ph.D. thesis consists of three self-contained chapters, which can be read independently. The chapters are interrelated through their use of structural credit risk models and a credit derivative known as the Credit Default Swap (CDS). Chapter 1 estimates the impact of accounting transparency on the term structure of CDS spreads for a large cross-section of firms. Chapter 2 analyzes the use of CDS spreads in a convergence-type trading strategy known as capital structure arbitrage. Finally Chapter 3 estimates the time-series behaviour of the credit risk premium in the market for Credit Default Swaps. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6520 Files in this item: 1
claus_bajlum.pdf (1.513Mb) -
Amore, Mario Daniele (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The effect of corporate governance and managers on the value of companies has received great attention in the recent public debate. In the academic research, this increased attention has been associated with an effort to develop finer conceptual frameworks and analytical techniques to assess how governance and financial characteristics influence corporate policies and profitability. While theoretical models represent a successful approach under specific hypotheses, the econometric analysis of corporate governance and managerial characteristics has proven to be extremely challenging. Because governance and managerial characteristics are equilibrium outcomes largely determined by the firm itself, it is methodologically difficult to separate out their determinants from their consequences to infer causal effects. Since its infancy the empirical corporate governance and corporate finance research has faced this problem, which is often responsible for mixed empirical results. In my dissertation, I adopt a common methodological framework developed in the “program evaluation” literature to shed new light on the effects of governance and managerial characteristics on a variety of corporate policies and, ultimately, firm performance. In particular, I estimate a class of difference-in-differences models deriving the empirical identifications from policy changes that generate “quasi-natural experiments”. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8451 Files in this item: 1
Mario_Daniele_Amore.pdf (1.242Mb) -
Zhou, Haoyong (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The dissertation examines corporate performance and capital structure of family firms, contributing to the limited empirical research on family firms. Family firms are prevalent in national economies all over the world. It is the prevalence that makes family firms receive increasing attentions from academia. The dissertation consists of an introduction and three chapters. Each chapter is an independent paper. The first chapter is a joint work with Professor Morten Bennedsen and Dr. Markus Ampenberger. The version of in the dissertation will be published as Chapter 6 in the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Entrepreneurial Finance by Oxford University Press. The second paper and third paper are single-authored papers. In the first chapter, we discuss the capital structure of family firms, with a focus on the debtequity mix. Two parts comprise the chapter. In the first part, we provide a literature review on existing theoretical and empirical research in the capital structure of family firms. The literature review shows that the most important theories to explain capital structure in family firms seem to be risk aversion, agency theory, and control considerations. We argue that risk aversion and control considerations have opposing impacts on the optimal choice of debt leverage of family firms. On one hand, controlling families of family firms are typically non-diversified investors with most of their wealth and human capital tied to the company and consequently family firms use less debt. On the other hand, controlling families want to maintain the control over their companies. This control consideration restricts the willingness to raise new equity outside the family and therefore often lead to a stronger dependence on banks and other debt instruments. The literature review also shows that evidence on capital structure choices of family firms is inconclusive. Large-scale evidence on private family firms is almost missing. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8607 Files in this item: 1
Haoyong_Zhou.pdf (2.035Mb) -
Forssbæck, Jens (Frederiksberg, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The thesis studies how financial markets discipline commercial and central banks’ behavior in various ways. In the first part, two papers test different aspects of market discipline of commercial banks’ risk taking, using a dataset of several hundred banks worldwide. In the first paper, it is shown that the risk-shifting opportunity of shareholders introduced by deposit insurance depends on ownership structure and the extent of market discipline by uninsured creditors. I find that the effect of shareholder control on risk is convex, and that creditor discipline tempers this effect but has little individual influence on risk. The second paper tests the monitoring dimension of market discipline and formulates a two-step procedure which makes it possible to sidestep the common methodological problem that banks’ ‘true’ risk is unobserved. Results suggest that if the quality of institutions is sufficiently high, some market-based indicators may be more accurate measures of banks’ true risk than a set of commonly used accounting-based benchmark indicators – a possibility effectively precluded by much of previous research. In the second part of the thesis, three papers study constraints on central bank behavior introduced by financial markets, using data from a set of small, open European economies during the 1980s and 1990s. The first of these papers tests how capital account liberalization and exchange-rate regime constrain monetary policy autonomy. Contrary to traditional theory, the paper finds no autonomy effect of exchange rate flexibility, whereas capital controls provided some (albeit limited) independence from innovations in foreign money market interest rates. The remaining two papers address how deregulation, innovation, and growth in domestic money markets interplay with central banks’ choices of monetary policy operating procedures. The analysis of the European countries suggests that while deregulation and the emergence of short-term financial markets constrained central bank discretion and compelled increased reliance on open market operations, the paths of money market development in different countries were also partially determined by the respective central banks’ decisions. In the final paper, the same framework of analysis is applied to China, which has announced its intention to rely increasingly on market operations in monetary policy. The results suggest that the disciplining effect of domestic financial markets on central bank behavior in China is so far very small, largely due to remaining de facto financial repression. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7785 Files in this item: 1
Jens_Forssbæck.pdf (3.819Mb) -
Vinten, Frederik Christian (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: We study the impact of stock market valuations on delistings from European stock exchanges 1996-2004. Previous research has found that mergers and acquisitions (M&A) occur more often when market valuations are high. This is paradoxical since it implies that companies are more likely to engage in M&A when it is most expensive. In accordance with prior research we find that delistings by mergers and acquisitions are more likely when industry market-to-book values (q) are high. In contrast, we find no effect of industry q on going private transactions. The data also suggest that M&A are more likely to take place in bull years while going private transactions are relatively more likely in bear years. Our study is the first comprehensive study of delistings in Europe and the first study to demonstrate that going private transactions appear to be driven by different causal mechanisms than M&A. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7682 Files in this item: 1
frederik_vinten.pdf (1.449Mb) -
Fux, Sebastian (Frederiksberg, 2014)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This thesis consists of three essays of which two are about return predictability while the last essay covers term structure models. Return predictability is still a heavily debated issue among nancial economists as well as practitioners in the nancial industry. The ability to predict stock returns out-of-sample, that is, by relying on information available at time t, is still controversial. In a recent paper, Goyal and Welch (2008) comprehensively reexamine the performance of 14 predictor variables that have been suggested by the academic literature to be powerful predictors of the U.S. equity premium, that is, the S&P 500 index return minus the short-term interest rate. The authors conclude that none of these predictor variables led to robust predictions across di erent forecast horizons and sample periods which consistently beat benchmark models such as the historical mean. In a response to Goyal and Welch (2008) Campbell and Thompson (2008) nd evidence of out-of-sample predictability by putting some economically meaningful restrictions on the coe cients of the predictive regressions. However, the out-of-sample explanatory power is nil, but nonetheless it is economically signi cant for investors with mean-variance preferences. The predictability literature argues that the out-of-sample predictability deteriorates due to structural breaks such as macroeconomic instability, changes in monetary policy, new regulations etc. Thus, not only the predictor model changes over time, but also its coef- cients. Goyal and Welch (2008) explain that more sophisticated models accounting for structural breaks might be able to consistently beat historical mean predictions. Additionally, predictability su ers from model uncertainty, meaning that there is only little consensus about the correct predictor variables and hence, the correct speci cation of the predictor model is unknown. The Bayesian framework accounts for model uncertainty by computing posterior model probabilities for all possible predictor models. Thus, Bayesian forecasts condition on the whole information set as opposed to conditioning on a single predictor variable and lead to more accurate forecasts. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8906 Files in this item: 1
Sebastian_Fux.pdf (1.090Mb) -
Tang Andersen, Allan Sall (Frederiksberg, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The topic of this thesis is the modeling of risks in interest-rate and inflation markets. Interest-rate risk is an important issue to investors. For instance, according to BIS (2010) the notional value of over-the-counter interest-rate derivatives markets is 465,260 billion US-dollar. This corresponds to 77 percent of the notional of the entire OTC derivatives market. Thus interest-rate derivatives is at the back-bone of the financial markets. According to ISDA (2009) 83 percent of Fortune 500 companies report using interest-rate derivatives in their risk management. Furthermore, many mortgage-based loans and pension contracts contain either explicit or implicit interest-rate options. Thus a better understanding of the interest-rate derivative markets, and the risk associated with the traded products is of great value, both to financial and non-financial companies as well as individuals.... URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8339 Files in this item: 1
AllanSallTangAnderen_PhDThesis.pdf (2.088Mb) -
Henningsson, Stefan; Hanseth, Ole (, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper inquires into the complexities of contemporary IT solutions based on a case study of the EU’s eCustoms initiatives using Manuel DeLanda’s Assemblage Theory. Technological innovations have enabled information infrastructures with dramatically increased number and heterogeneity of included components, and their dynamic and unexpected interactions. Unfortunately, lack of understanding of how the increasing complexity influences development initiatives is hampering effective information infrastructure development. Assemblage Theory can be seen as holistic synthesis of previous research streams seeking to explain how information infrastructures evolve in social contexts. Accordingly, in this paper it helps us getting a holistic grasp of the complexity of contemporary IT solutions and the “essence” of their dynamics. Through Assemblage Theory we explain how the European eCustoms information infrastructure has through a dialectic between stabilizing and destabilizing processes assumed its current shape - a result of decisions taken decades ago, path dependency, complexity, and accumulated emergence. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8632 Files in this item: 1
Henningsson_Hanseth_2011.pdf (680.2Kb) -
between the "unification" and "fragmentation" trapKnudsen, Christian (København, 2002)[More information][Less information]
-
Jeppesen, Kim K. (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper examines recent attempts to professionalize Danish public sector auditing by the establishment of a certification of public sector auditors known in Danish as Certificeret Offentlig Revisor (COR). The establishment of the COR-certification has led to a dispute over the public sector auditing jurisdiction between a coalition of public sector auditors and the professional bodies of the private sector auditors. The paper outlines the process that led to the decision to create the COR-certification, analyse the COR coalition’s attempt to build a network of support for its jurisdictional claim of expertise, and discusses the general implications of the case for the ongoing attempt to create a European certification of public sector auditors. *) Paper presented at the 5th EIASM International Conference on Accounting, Auditing & Management in Public Sector Reforms, Amsterdam September 3-5, 2008 URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6745 Files in this item: 1
wp_2008-01.pdf (105.0Kb) -
Henri Lefebvre’s ‘Work of Art’ and Scholarly Poli0cal EngagementBarinaga, Ester (Frederiksberg, 2014)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This article takes up Lefebvre’s challenge to apply the intellectual tools of the academy to the practical production of urban space, and discusses an effort to make use of our theories of signification in re-articulating stigmatized suburbs. Often referred to as ‘vulnerable’, ‘disenfranchised’ or ‘marginalized’, stigmatized suburbs and the people living in them are targeted by many social and economic initiatives simply because they are distinctly vulnerable, marginalized or disenfranchised. In so doing, initiatives interpellate and reproduce the geographical imaginary that is both the outcome and the source of their target groups’ political disadvantage. The article shows how a particular community initiative attempts to overcome the problem of interpellation. It uses Callon’s notion of ‘the qualification of products’ to understand the initiative’s efforts to transcend the objectification of the targeted groups as well as the symbolic limitation of agency. This allows us to follow the process by which the initiative attempts to re-symbolize the body and the neighborhood identified through the category of ‘the immigrant’. The article suggests that efforts to overcome the problem of interpellation must go beyond the realm of the symbolic to include, as well, social and material elements. The article ends with a reflexive note on the extent to which the engaged scholar is also caught within the interpellation paradox. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/9020 Files in this item: 1
Barinaga - spatial resistance4.pdf (226.5Kb) -
Andersen, Steffen; Fountain, John; Harrison, Glenn W.; Rutström, E. Elisabet (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: It is intuitive that decision-makers might have attitudes towards uncertainty just as they might have attitudes towards risk. However, it is only recently that this intuitive notion has been formalized and axiomatically characterized. We estimate the extent of uncertainty aversion in a manner that is parsimonious and consistent with theory. We demonstrate that one can jointly estimate attitudes towards uncertainty, attitudes towards risk, and subjective probabilities in a rigorous manner. Our structural econometric model constructively demonstrates the theoretical claims that it is possible to define uncertainty aversion in an empirically tractable manner. Our results show that attitudes towards risk and uncertainty can be different, qualitatively and quantitatively, and that allowing for these differences can have significant effects on inferences about subjective probabilities. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7803 Files in this item: 1
wp2009-7.pdf (467.5Kb) -
Andersen, Steffen; Fountain, John; Harrison, Glenn W.; Rutström, Elisabet (Frederiksberg, 2013)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Subjective probabilities play a central role in many economic decisions, and act as an immediate confound of inferences about behavior, unless controlled for. Several procedures to recover subjective probabilities have been proposed, but in order to recover the correct latent probability one must either construct elicitation mechanisms that control for risk aversion, or construct elicitation mechanisms which undertake “calibrating adjustments” to elicited reports. We illustrate how the joint estimation of risk attitudes and subjective probabilities can provide the calibration adjustments that theory calls for. We illustrate this approach using data from a controlled experiment with real monetary consequences to the subjects. This allows the observer to make inferences about the latent subjective probability, under virtually any well-specified model of choice under subjective risk, while still employing relatively simple elicitation mechanisms. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8837 Files in this item: 1
Andersen_Fountain_Harrison_Rutstrom.pdf (232.2Kb) -
Andersen, Steffen; Fountain, John; Harrison, Glenn W.; Rutström, E. Elisabet (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Subjective probabilities play a role in many economic decisions. There is a large theoretical literature on the elicitation of subjective probabilities, and an equally large empirical literature. However, there is a gulf between the two. The theoretical literature proposes a range of procedures that can be used to recover subjective probabilities, but stresses the need to make strong auxiliary assumptions or “calibrating adjustments” to elicited reports in order to recover the latent probability. With some notable exceptions, the empirical literature seems intent on either making those strong assumptions or ignoring the need for calibration. We illustrate how one can jointly estimate risk attitudes and subjective probabilities using structural maximum likelihood methods. This allows the observer to make inferences about the latent subjective probability, calibrating for virtually any well-specified model of choice under uncertainty. We demonstrate our procedures with experiments in which we elicit subjective probabilities. We calibrate the estimates of subjective beliefs assuming that choices are made consistently with expected utility theory or rank-dependent utility theory. Inferred subjective probabilities are significantly different when calibrated according to either theory. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7801 Files in this item: 1
wp2009-5.pdf (435.4Kb) -
Ionascu, Delia; Kristjánsdóttir, Helga; Davies, Ronald B. (København, 2007)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper applies the panel fixed effects with vector decomposition estimator to three FDI datasets to estimate the impact of time-invariant variables on FDI while including fixed effects. We find that the omission of fixed effects significantly biases several of these variables, especially those proxying for trade costs and culture. After including fixed effects, we find that many time-invariant variables indicate the importance of vertical FDI. We also find that by eliminating these biases, the differences across datasets largely disappear. Thus, controversies in the literature that are driven by differences in data sets may be resolved by using this estimation technique. JEL Classification: F14, F23 Key Words: Foreign Direct Investment, Trade Costs, Culture URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7610 Files in this item: 1
wp2-2007.pdf (355.7Kb) -
[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Purpose: For the last three decades, Stakeholder management has been concerned either with strategic business management or business ethics, values and quality. Many models have been developed, but recently the literature asks for more dynamic models that can explain the complexities of the interaction between a corporation and its stakeholders. Methodology/approach: This paper offers a theoretical ‘Organic Stakeholder Model’ based on decision making theory, risk assessment and adaption to a rapidly changing world combined with appropriate stakeholder theory for ethical purposes in decision making processes in businesses. Findings: The concept of the ‘Organic Stakeholder Model’ is derived from observational studies of publicly owned enterprises from 2004 - 2011. The paper encourages researchers to test the validity of the model in any kind of business model. Practical implications (if applicable): The Model is based on case studies, but the limited scope of the length of the paper did not leave room to show the empirical evidence, but only the theoretical study. Originality / value of a paper: The model offers a new way of combining risk management with ethical decision-making processes by the inclusion of multiple stakeholders. The conceptualization of the model enhances business ethics in decision making by managing and balancing stakeholder concerns with the same concerns as the traditional risk management models does – for the sake of the wider social responsibilities of the businesses and its stakeholders. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8733 Files in this item: 1
LAUESEN.pdf (376.0Kb) -
Skov, Lise (, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The question of ethics is about determining concepts of right and wrong human action. There are a number of ethical controversies in relation to the industries that dress the visible self, especially clothing, shoes, accessories and skincare industries. The most important are, firstly, representations of idealized gender and body images, secondly, fakes and counterfeits of branded goods, thirdly, working conditions, fourthly, environmental impact and sustainability, and fifthly, animal rights. In a strict philosophical sense, these issues cannot be said to be purely moral because they overlap with political, social, legal, economic and environmental concerns. But they are problems that have been cast in terms of right and wrong behaviour from the point of view of West European industries and consumers. Because both consumption and production of dress are highly globalized these debates in West Europe are not qualitatively different from those of other highly developed regions. Many ethical problems, campaigns and monitoring issues are distinctly transnational because both consumer markets and production systems are highly globalized. It is a paradox that while many consumers have a positive involvement with clothing in terms of emotional attachment and identification, they also tend to have a distinctively negative image of the industry behind. In fact, there is a widespread cynicism about the fashion industry. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7770 Files in this item: 1
-
Greve, Carsten (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper consists of Carsten Greve’s inaugrial lecture as new professor with special responsibilities for the areas public-private relationships and public management. First, the talk gives a view of how public-private partnerships have been defined in the literature. Then the talk focuses on the business of PPPs, including the way markets develop and are structured. The talk moves on to focus on the politics of PPPs, including the political processes in forming a policy on PPPs. The talk then discusses the interrelationship between business and politics within a political economy framework and institutional theory. The talk ends by considering the international perspective and the comparative research agenda. The conclusions highlight the research challenges for the future which include examining the stability and change in the use of market mechanisms in the delivery of public services in a historical-institutional perspective. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7347 Files in this item: 1
wp38_intl_ppp.pdf (194.4Kb) -
[More information][Less information]
-
[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper discusses the changing relationship between the EU and Vietnam, and asks whether there is a shift from a “parental” to a “competitive” relationship. The focus of the paper is on the shift from aid to trade as the main interface between the EU and Vietnam. Aid relationships are often understood as hierarchical, linking a benevolent donor to a needy recipient, whereas commercial relationships are typically expected to involve a more competitive relationship. However, we argue that the bilateral relationship was never a “parental” one, even at the time when Vietnam’s relation to the EU was limited to aid. The reason is largely Vietnam’s historical experiences from the aid relationship with the Soviet Union, which created dependence and eventually an economic crisis when aid flows dried up in the late 1980s. Instead, there has been substantial tension between the donor community and Vietnam during most of the period since the early 1990s, when aid flows from the EU started growing. Regarding trade relations, we note that the EU’s increasing use of antidumping tariffs against Vietnamese exporters during the past years could be an indication of a less friendly and more competitive attitude towards Vietnam. However, it is likely that the antidumping measures used by the EU are not primarily directed at Vietnam, but rather at China. This means that Vietnam is affected by the re-polarization of the world economy through its proximity to and links with China, but that the relation is perhaps not as bad as the increasingly frequent trade conflicts may suggest. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8369 Files in this item: 1
Kokko_November_2011_CIBEM_WP.pdf (151.5Kb)