Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Costes de capital'

El principal objetivo de este artículo es realizar una revisión teórica a la literatura existente sobre las metodologías que se utilizan para calcular el costo promedio ponderado de capital . En este sentido, la primera de las contribuciones que se plantean en este trabajo es el análisis de los conceptos de costo de capital promedio ponderado que diversos autores realizan, como segunda contribución se plantean las metodologías que se emplean para calcular el WACC, siendo el CAPM uno de los modelos más utilizados por los profesionales de las finanzas.

This thesis studies how firms’ investment and credit are affected by different financial imperfections related to firm and bank learning, relationship lending and financial wealth. After reviewing in chapter 2 the related literature, in chapter 3 I investigate the main determinants of different types of financial constraints, such as credit rationing and excessive cost of debt, by constructing new measures of these problems based on qualitative data. I then develop in chapter 4 a model of firm investment with financial constraints and Bayesian learning that provides a new framework to analyze the problem of asymmetric learning between a bank and a firm and its effect on a firm’s investment decision. This model is used to investigate, theoretically and empirically, the relationship between firms’ investment and internal funds in the presence of limited information, learning and bankruptcy costs, providing new arguments to support a ushaped curve theory of investment and internal funds. Finally, in chapter 5 this model is used to analyze how relationship lending affects the evolution of interest rates during the life cycle of firms.
Esta tesis estudia cómo la inversión y el crédito están afectados por diferentes imperfecciones financieras relacionadas con el aprendizaje, las relaciones de crédito y la riqueza financiera. Luego de revisar la literatura relacionada, en el Capítulo 3 se investiga los principales determinantes de distintas restricciones financieras relacionadas con el acceso y las condiciones del crédito, mediante la construcción de nuevos indicadores de estos problemas. Luego, en el Capítulo 4 se desarrolla un modelo de inversión con restricciones financieras y aprendizaje Bayesiano que provee un nuevo marco para analizar el problema del aprendizaje asimétrico entre un banco y una firma y su efecto en las decisiones de inversión de esta última. Dicho modelo es utilizado para investigar de forma teórica y empírica la relación entre la inversión y los recursos propios en la presencia de información asimétrica, aprendizaje y costes de quiebra, obteniendo nuevos argumentos para apoyar la teoría de una relación en forma de U entre la inversión y los recursos propios. Finalmente, en el Capítulo 5 se estudia como una relación de crédito afecta la evolución de los tipos de interés durante el ciclo de vida de las firmas.

I explore the passage of wrongful discharge laws by U.S. state courts that allow workers to sue employers for unjust dismissal as an exogenous increase in employee firing costs. I find that firms reduce debt ratios following the adoption of these laws, and this result is strongest for subsamples of firms that experience larger increases in expected firing costs. Following the passage of these laws, firms also increase cash holdings, firms save more cash out of cash flows, and investors place a higher value on each additional dollar of cash holdings. Overall, my results indicate that employee firing costs can have an important impact on corporate financial policy decisions.

This thesis consists of three self-contained chapters that empirically evaluate the influence of capital costs and occupational regulation on labor demand. In the first chapter, I study the effects of investment tax credits on firms’ input choices in Germany. I find evidence that such a policy has a strong positive direct effect on firm investment and employment, and that positive spillovers between firms lead to sizable further adjustments. In the second chapter, I estimate the firm-level capital-labor elasticity of substitution. I set up a model of firm production with size-dependent capital costs and estimate the model for a German tax policy targeted towards manufacturing firms. The estimated elasticity implies important complementarities between capital and labor in firm production. In the third chapter, I analyze how the formal recognition of immigrants’ foreign occupational qualifications affects their subsequent labor market outcomes using novel German data. The results show that access to regulated occupations after recognition is an important driver for faster assimilation of immigrants’ earnings.
Aquesta tesi consta de tres capítols independents que avaluen empíricament la influència dels costos de capital i la regulació ocupacional sobre la demanda laboral. En el primer capítol, estudio els efectes dels crèdits fiscals sobre inversions a la determinació d’input de les empreses a Alemanya. Trobo proves que aquesta política té un fort efecte directe positiu en la inversió i en l’ocupació de les empreses, i que els efectes indirectes entre empreses porten a ajustaments ad-dicionals positius. En el segon capítol, calculo l’elasticitat de substitució entre el capital i el treball a nivell de l’empresa. Estableixo un model de producció d’empreses amb costos de capital discontinu i estimo el model per una política fiscal alemanya dirigida a empreses manufactureres. L’elasticitat estimada implica importants complementarietats entre el capital i el treball en la producció de les em-preses. En el tercer capítol, analitzo com el reconeixement formal de les qualificacions ocupacionals estrangeres dels immigrants afecta els seus resultats del mercat laboral posteriors utilitzant noves dades alemanyes. Els resultats mostren que l’accés a ocupacions regulades després del reconeixement és un factor important per a una assimilació més ràpida dels ingressos dels immigrants.

Memooria para optar al título profesional de Ingeniero Agrónomo
El presente estudio fue realizado con el propósito de determinar estructuras de costos y el capital de trabajo de los productores de uva de mesa que son beneficiarios del servicio de asistencia técnica (SAT) de INDAP, y que se ubican en las comunas de San Esteban y Santa María, en la Región de Valparaíso, para lo cual fue necesario describir económica y productivamente la actividad agrícola, analizando costos asociados a la actividad y requerimiento de capital de trabajo. Por lo anterior, se aplicó una encuesta a 20 productores para recopilar la información de la temporada 2014/2015. La información fue analizada mediante análisis estadístico descriptivo (medias, desviación típica y frecuencias), regresión simple y tablas de contingencia con prueba chi cuadrado. El promedio de edad de los encuestados fue 51 años, siendo el 65% mayor a 50 años. Respecto al nivel de estudios, el 40% de ellos solo completó su educación primaria, un 35% terminó la educación secundaria y un 25% dejo incompleta su educación secundaria. En términos productivos, poseen 3,60±1,51 ha de superficie productiva; el 45% de ellos arrienda alguna unidad productiva de 1,7±1,1 ha. Por otra parte, las variables edad y nivel educacional se mostraron independientes a ratios económicos y productivos. El costo total productivo va de los 1,7 a los 35,8 millones de peso, siendo la superficie explotada uno de los factores que explica esta variabilidad. El costo promedio por hectárea se registró en 5,8 millones de pesos.

La teoria financera s’ha centrat a desenvolupar el suport conceptual per a la determinació del cost de capital de les empreses que cotitzen en borsa. Si bé se n’ha fet un gran desenvolupament, fins ara no s’ha conformat cap metodologia d’acceptació general per a les empreses que no cotitzen en borsa, que són un cas semblant de les que es troben en mercats emergents. Aquesta proposta de tesi presenta un model de determinació del cost de capital per a empreses que no cotitzen en borsa o que treballen en mercats emergents, a partir del model de fixació de preus d’actius de capital (capital asset pricing model, CAPM). En primer lloc, s’analitzen els aspectes discrepants relacionats amb el càlcul del model i els seus paràmetres. Una de les formes per al càlcul del cost de capital de les empreses que no cotitzen en borsa que s’ha desenvolupat és prendre com a referència una empresa que sí que hi cotitza. S’ha cercat d’analitzar la consistència d’escollir aquesta empresa de referència pel sol fet que té activitat en el mateix sector en què opera l’empresa que no cotitza en borsa. Un altre dels temes que s’hi tracta és l’anàlisi de la hipòtesi que el cost del deute en el mercat local interioritza la prima per risc-país, és a dir, que les taxes d’interès internes es formen a partir de les taxes d’interès internacionals base, a les quals s’afegeix la prima per risc-país. Amb les anàlisis anteriors, es proposa un model per calcular el cost de capital per a empreses que cotitzen en borsa i per a empreses de països emergents. Aquest model es basa en el següent: (i) dues empreses de risc econòmic similar –l’empresa objectiu i la de referència que cotitza– tenen el mateix diferencial entre el cost de capital econòmic de les empreses de referència (KOA,ERC) i les taxes dels passius de la mateixa empresa (Ki,ERC), és a dir, mantindran el diferencial entre KOA-Ki; (ii) si existeixen raons –com ara un accés menor a fonts del mercat de capitals o el risc-país– que modifiquin les taxes dels passius de les empreses, aquestes variacions quedaran reflectides en els costos de capital econòmic en el mateix sentit, de manera que el diferencial es mantindrà; (iii) és un model que utilitza les mateixes taxes d’interès que l’empresa objectiu –a la qual s’està calculant el cost de capital–; llavors, la determinació del cost de capital de qualsevol empresa que cotitza o que opera en un mercat emergent consistiria a prendre el cost dels passius de l’empresa Ki i afegir-hi el diferencial presentat al punt (ii), i quedaria de la manera següent: . En el cas del model per a empreses de països emergents, les taxes d’interès contenen informació a què se sotmeten els costos de capital de les empreses que operen en aquests mercats. Les taxes d’interès ja inclouen l’efecte de risc-país, és a dir, les taxes d’interès local són iguals a les taxes d’interès internacionals –pròpies de mercats desenvolupats–, a les quals s’ha afegit l’efecte de la prima per risc-país en la proporció que li correspon al mercat i a l’empresa. Però no tan sols inclou l’efecte del risc-país, sinó també els efectes de la política monetària expansiva o restrictiva. Això vol dir que, per a aquestes empreses, se seguirà aplicant la mateixa fórmula proposada, i és que en la taxa d’interès dels mercats emergents ja hi ha inclosos els efectes que en el model clàssic s’assumien com una prima per risc-país. S’ha fonamentat que, si el diferencial entre el cost de capital i la taxa d’interès és consistent, llavors, per al càlcul del cost de capital d’una empresa que no cotitza en borsa, s’hauria de prendre la taxa d’interès dels seus passius i afegir-hi aquell diferencial. Per al cas de les empreses que es troben en mercats emergents, hauria de ser semblant.
La Teoría Financiera se ha concentrado en el desarrollo del soporte conceptual para la determinación del costo de capital de empresas que cotizan en bolsa. Si bien existe un vasto desarrollo conceptual y metodológico para ellas, al momento no se ha conformado una metodología de aceptación general para empresas que no cotizan en bolsa, que es un caso similar a las que se encuentran en mercados emergentes. La propuesta de la Tesis presenta un modelo de determinación del costo de capital para empresas que no cotizan en bolsa o que trabajan en mercados emergentes a partir del CAPM. Inicialmente se analiza los aspectos discrepantes relativos al cálculo del modelo y sus parámetros. Una de las formas para el cálculo del costo de capital de las empresas que no cotizan en bolsas desarrolladas es tomar como referencia a una empresa que sí cotiza. Se buscó analizar la consistencia de elegir a esta empresa de referencia por el solo hecho de tener actividades en el mismo sector en el que trabaja la empresa no listada. Otro de los temas que se analizó es el análisis de la hipótesis que el costo de la deuda en el mercado local interioriza la prima por riesgo país, es decir que las tasas de interés internas se forman a partir de tasas de interés internacionales base a las cuáles se les añade la prima por riesgo país. Con los análisis anteriores se propone un modelo para el cálculo del costo de capital para empresas que cotizan en bolsa y para empresas de países emergentes. Dicho modelo se sustenta en lo siguiente: (i) dos empresas de similar riesgo económico –la empresa objetivo y la de referencia que cotiza– tienen el mismo diferencial entre el costo de capital económico de las empresas de referencia (KOA,ERC) y las tasas de los pasivos de la misma empresa (Ki,ERC), es decir mantendrán el diferencial entre KOA-Ki; (ii) Si existen razones –como el menor acceso a fuentes del mercado de capitales o el riesgo país– que modifiquen las tasas de los pasivos de las empresas, estas variaciones se reflejarán en los costos de capital económico en el mismo sentido, de modo que el diferencial se mantendrá; (iii) es un modelo que utiliza las mismas las tasas de interés de la empresa objetivo –a la cual se está calculando el costo de capital-, entonces la determinación del costo de capital de cualquier empresa que cotiza u opera en un mercado emergente sería tomar el costo de los pasivos de la empresa Ki y añadirle el diferencial presentado en el punto ii, quedando de la siguiente manera: . En el caso del modelo para empresas de países emergentes, las tasas de interés contienen información a las cuáles están sometidos los costos de capital de las empresas que operan en estos mercados. Las tasas de interés ya incluyen el efecto de riesgo país, es decir que, las tasas de interés locales son iguales a las tasas de interés internacionales –propias de mercados desarrollados– a las cuáles se ha sumado en efecto de la prima por riesgo país en la proporción que le corresponde al mercado y la empresa. Pero no solamente incluye el efecto de riesgo país, también los efectos de la política monetaria expansiva o restrictiva. Esto significa que para estas empresas se seguirá aplicando la misma fórmula propuesta, y es que en la tasa de interés de los mercados emergentes ya están incluidos los efectos que en el modelo clásico se asumía como una prima por riesgo país. Se ha sustentado que si el diferencial entre el costo de capital y la tasa de interés es consistente, entonces, para el cálculo del costo de capital de una empresa que no cotiza en bolsa, debería tomarse la tasa de interés de sus pasivos y añadirle aquel diferencial. Para el caso de empresas que se encuentran en mercados emergentes debería ser algo similar.
Financial theory has concentrated on the development of the conceptual framework to determine the capital costs for listed companies. While an extensive conceptual and methodological development exists for such companies, at present no broadly accepted methodology has been thought through for unlisted companies, and a similar situation is encountered with regard to companies working in emerging markets. The proposal of this thesis is to present a model, based on a CAPM, to determine the capital costs for unlisted companies, or those in emerging markets. As a point of departure, the divergent aspects relative to the calculation of the model and its parameters are analyzed. One of the approaches to the calculation of the capital costs for companies not listed on developed stock exchanges is to take a listed company as a reference. The consistency sought when choosing this reference company is solely the fact that it conducts activities in the same sector in which the unlisted company works. Another of the issues that is studied is the analysis of the hypothesis that the cost of the debt in the local market internalises the country’s risk premium, which means that the interest rates are based on international interest rates to which the country risk premium is added. Drawing on the previous analysis a model for the calculation of the capital costs for listed companies and for companies from emerging markets. This model is based on the following: (i) two companies with a similar economic risk –the target company and the listed reference company– have the same differential between the reference companies’ economic capital costs (KOA,ERC) and the liabilities rate of the same company (Ki,ERC), which means that the differential between KOA-Ki will be maintained; (ii) if there are reasons –such as less access to the capital market or the country risk– that modify the liabilities rate of the companies, these variations will likewise be reflected in the economic capital costs, so that the differential will be maintained; (iii) it is a model that uses the same interest rates of the target company –for which the capital cost is being calculated–, thus, the capital costs of any company that is listed, or operates in an emerging market, would be determined by taking the cost of the company’s liabilities Ki and adding it to the differential presented in point ii, which may be articulated as follows: . With regard to the model of companies from emerging markets, the interest rates contain information to which the capital costs of companies operating in these markets are subjected. The interest rates already include the effect of the country risk, which is to say that the local interest rates are equal to the international interest rates –those of the international markets– to which the effect of the country risk premium has been added, in proportion to the market and the company. However, not only is the effect of the country risk included, but also are the effects of expansive or restrictive monetary policy. This means that for these countries the proposed formula will continue to be applied, because the interest rate of emerging markets already includes the effects that the classic model assumed as risk country premium. It has been claimed that if the differential between the capital cost and the interest rate is consistent, then, for the calculation of an unlisted company’s capital cost, the interest rate of its liabilities should be taken and added to that differential. In the case of companies from emerging markets, it should be something similar.

Amorphous phases of metal oxide thin films are of interest to the Berlinguette group because they mediate the oxygen evolution reaction more efficiently than crystalline phases of the same compositions. One goal of this thesis is to develop a technique to implement amorphous metal oxide thin films in a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) by depositing these highly active thin films on solid polymer electrolyte membranes. Chapter 2 outlines the implementation of amorphous iridium oxide (a-IrOx) into a catalyst-coated membrane (CCM) to study amorphous thin film electrocatalysts in MEAs. Current densities of 10 mA cm-² were reached at relatively low overpotentials (~ 400 mV) for amorphous CCMs produced using the decal transfer method. This electrochemical response compares closely to that of amorphous iridium electrodeposited on conductive glass (10 mA cm-² at η = 430 mV). The second goal of this thesis is to lower the capital costs of alkaline electrolyzer units by using plastic as a surrogate for metal in field-flow plates. This achievement was demonstrated by electroplating nickel onto 3D-printed plastic flow-field plates. The test cells containing these metal-coated plastic components matched the performance of conventional metal components, despite containing 60-fold less metal. Chapter 4 summarizes this work and offers future directions of the research conducted for this thesis.
Applied Science, Faculty of
Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of
Graduate

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2010.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references.
Prior authors have concluded that case-specific determinants, such as the number of professionals involved in a given case or the lead attorney's hourly rate, are the principal determinants of variance in professional fees and expenses in US corporate restructurings. The implication has been that less proximate variables, such as the availability of credit, the cost of capital or coincident economic conditions, are not relevant to predictive models. While we do not question the relevance of case-specific factors we question the practicality of models that rely exclusively on such factors in order to predict future fees and expenses. Our hypothesis is that both case-specific and less proximate variables are relevant to the determination of professional costs in bankruptcy, since we believe that variables belonging to each of these categories can act as frictions to the refinancing process or otherwise inform the court's determination as to the efficacy of refinancing, thereby impacting the complexity and duration of the restructuring process. Our results are less than conclusive, since our data is limited. However, the data that we have gives us reason to believe that the addition of non-case predictors may improve the accuracy of case-specific models; in some instances, these non-case-specific predictors even displace case specific predictors (via a screen for statistical significance). Our analysis indicates that this improvement is more pronounced when the data is sorted for Section 364 financing. Our goal is to complement the on-going analysis of professional fees and expenses so that it might better account for the potential impact of non-case factors and thereby yield a more accurate and practical predictive model.
by John P. Curran, Jr.
S.M.

The first part of this doctorate dissertation examines the factors influencing the occurrence and costs of pinhole leak corrosion as well as the household decisions for corrosion prevention and plumbing material selection. Three mail surveys of households were used to elicit the experiences with leaks as well as the optimal corrosion prevention and material choices. Probability modeling (i.e. MNL) and linear regression analysis were used to analyze survey responses. Pinhole leak occurrences were found associated with pipe type installed, property age, pipe failure history, and dwelling distance from a water treatment plant. The number and location of pinhole leaks in the dwelling and the pipe type are associated with the financial costs of pinhole leaks. The corrosion prevention choices as well as the plumbing materials depended on the risk of corrosion and cost associated with each option. Previous experiences with pinhole leak impacted the decision for household choices. Faster responses to pinhole leak outbreaks by utility managers and policymakers in terms of advising homeowners on the best ways of responding to leaks would assist homeowners in reducing costs of pinhole leak repairs and associated damages. The second part of this document deals with the debt financing issues. Debt financing decisions are made simultaneously by lenders and borrowers. Since lenders are unable to observe directly the firms’ investment decisions, the banks offer contracts based up on firms’ observable characteristics (i.e. wealth and size) and the prevailing market conditions. When deciding on the financing decisions, firms also take into account the changes in macroeconomic variables in order to lower the cost of borrowing. As a result, the goal for this article is to examine empirically the hypothesis of the effect of the debt determinant as well as the macroeconomic variables on the debt maturity structure. A reduced form of the simultaneous financing decisions model is estimated by employing several OLS estimation methods. The empirical findings offer strong support for firms with few growth options, large, and of low quality having more long-term debt in their capital structure. There was, however, no clear support for the impact of macroeconomic variables on debt maturity as some variables were not statistically significant.
Ph. D.

This dissertation provides novel tests of two recent theories that relate human capital variation among and within cities to differences in the price of interior space. The tests are novel in that they rely on measures of human capital that are typically unmeasured in previous research. In particular, the application to obesity as an alternative measure of human capital is entirely new. In a separate chapter, the dissertation tests the implications of these two theories on a small subset of the labor force (medical doctors), disaggregated by specialty, and distinguished by quality of the medical school that they attended. The empirical results of both novel tests are consistent with implications of the two theories tested; that both among and within cities, differences in human capital and real estate prices are positively related.

Ingeniero Civil Industrial
Una componente principal que caracteriza el nivel de competitividad de una industria corresponde al precio que enfrentan los consumidores. En este sentido, la industria de fondos mutuos local ha presentado un crecimiento importante durante los últimos años y cada vez son más quienes participan en ella a través de sus inversiones y/o ahorros; sin embargo, los costos asociados a esta alternativa de inversión presentan una dispersión importante que no ha sido estudiada en profundidad. Tanto a nivel nacional como internacional, los costos asociados a la inversión en fondos mutuos varían significativamente entre las distintas alternativas disponibles en el mercado, razón por la cual existen estudios que analizan los factores que explicarían esta dispersión; en particular, Khorana, Servaes y Tufano (2009) distinguen una serie de atributos relevantes para explicar este fenómeno, entre los que destacan: tamaño del fondo, objetivo de inversión, protección a los inversionistas, antigüedad y nivel de educación de la industria, entre otros. En base a información dispuesta por la Asociación de Administradoras de Fondos Mutuos (AAFM), el presente trabajo analizó la competitividad de la industria de fondos mutuos en Chile, focalizándose en identificar los factores que explicarían la dispersión de costos observada entre las alternativas disponibles. Como resultado, los factores explicativos varían de manera importante entre las distintas categorías analizadas. En línea con la evidencia internacional, se observa que series de fondos dirigidas a grandes inversionistas se encuentran asociadas a estructuras de menor costo. Por otra parte, se determina que el grado de especialización de las administradoras se traduciría en una reducción de los costos, mientras que las series APV no presentarían una diferencia significativa para parte importante de los fondos de deuda. De igual forma, se observan economías de escala en relación al tamaño del fondo y administradora, mientras que el número de partícipes estaría asociado a un aumento en los costos. Se identificó una fuerte relación entre los costos y la rentabilidad neta obtenida por los partícipes. En particular, se observan rentabilidades brutas relativamente parejas para parte importante de la industria, motivo por el que la dispersión en comisiones y remuneraciones genera diferencias considerables en las rentabilidades recibidas por quienes eligen a los fondos mutuos como alternativa de ahorro y/o inversión. Por este motivo, asumiendo que la principal variable de decisión al momento de elegir un instrumento de inversión corresponde a maximizar la rentabilidad (sujeta a un cierto nivel de riesgo), se recomienda a los inversionistas poner especial énfasis en la búsqueda de alternativas asociadas a un menor costo.

We specify a class of non-linear and non-Gaussian models for which we estimate and forecast the conditional distributions with daily frequency. We use these forecasts to calculate VaR measures for three different equity markets (US, GB and Japan). These forecasts are evaluated on the basis of different statistical performance measures as well as on the basis of their economic costs that go along with the forecasted capital requirements. The results indicate that different performance measures generate different rankings of the models even within one financial market. We also find that for the three markets the improvement in the forecast by non-linear models over linear ones is negligible, while non-gaussian models significantly dominate the gaussian models.
Series: Report Series SFB "Adaptive Information Systems and Modelling in Economics and Management Science"

This thesis investigates the agency costs and moral hazard associated with the new capital regulation for banks in the event of balance-sheet losses. The recent introduction of "Bail-in" provisions, under which unsecured creditors must contribute to banks’ rescue through recapitalisation, and the regulatory stipulation of higher equity requirements, will have profound effects on the traditional agency relationships between shareholders and bondholders of banks. These Bail-in provisions imply, "Deviations from the Absolute Priority Rule" (DAPR). This dissertation undertakes quantitative and qualitative analyses of the new Bail-In structures, focusing on their microeconomic consequences that lead to perverse incentives of the equityholders and subsequently propose practical solutions to the identified problems. The first main result reveals that Bail-in could actually aggravate the agency costs by intensifying the "wealth transfer" from bondholders to equityholders. The second main result is to demonstrate that enforcing higher monitoring costs to the bondholders reduces equityholders’ incentive for moral hazard via higher cost of capital. The use of financial and non-financial covenants within the "Bail-In-Able Debt" indenture has been proposed as practical solutions to facilitate bondholders’ monitoring efforts. However, close to the Point of Non-Viability covenants are no longer effective as the risk of DAPR looms, and the equityholders are tempted to attempt "gamble-for-resurrection". To attenuate this distortion of shareholder incentives, Bail-in provision must impose some cost on shareholders. They could be made to face significant dilution, through a fair debt-to-equity swap with bondholders at market prices, or face full dilution via private expropriation by a new shareholder base that we term "Contingent Equity Base". This is the third main result. Overall, this dissertation makes a significant step forward into the understanding of the microeconomic consequences of the new bank’s capital regulation in general and the Contingent Convertibles in particular whilst offering practical solutions to the problems.

This research investigates which theory -- an optimal, irrelevance, or modified pecking order -- best explains a firm's capital structure. A sample of 457 debt and equity utility offerings made from 1973-1982 is used in logit regression analysis to test the predictions of the different theories and the relevance of flotation costs to the financing decision. Target leverage ratios are constructed as averages from industry and firm-specific data. These ratios change over time suggesting that leverage targets are moving in response to general economic conditions. Miller's irrelevance and the modified pecking order theories (if utilities operate well below their debt capacity) are supported. In spite of using leading and lagging targets, no support is found for an optimal capital structure theory. Also, there is no support for flotation costs when measured as the savings from issuing debt rather than equity. An anomalous finding that overlevered firms continue to lever with their next financing decision seems to be robust to the different measures of a target leverage ratio. This finding is inconsistent with the three capital structures theories tested.
Ph. D.

Do firms with higher levels of innovation output, measured by patent counts and citations, enjoy lower costs of funds? The process to develop and apply for patents involves valuable resources. Thus, applying for a patent is a credible signal that the underlying invention is valuable. This value is validated to some degree when the patent is granted. In addition, patents contain detailed information about the firm's inventions and provide collateral value as they can be sold and licensed. The number of citations a firm receives act as a proxy for high-quality inventions, active networking, and pioneering. These attributes are expected to attract investors and reduce the cost of funds. Univariate and cross-sectional regression analyses of a sample consisting of 404,595 firm-years, involving firms from twenty-eight countries spanning from 1976 to 2012, demonstrate a significant negative association between innovation output and the cost of funds. The evidence suggests that the marginal benefit of innovation diminishes as innovation output increases. The results are robust to different measures of the cost of equity and the cost of debt. The negative association between the cost of equity and innovation output is economically larger for younger and smaller firms. The long-term level of innovation seems to be more important to shareholders than short-term changes of innovation. In addition, shareholders demonstrate an ability to discern between low and high-quality innovations, as they require lower rates of returns when initial patents exhibit a high quality. Shareholders place more value on innovation output when firms operate in countries with legal systems that are more effective in controlling self-dealing practices, in countries that have higher economic freedom, and in countries that have more developed financial markets. The correlation between the cost of debt and innovation output is predominantly derived by larger, more mature, and more leveraged firms. Innovation output and the cost of debt are not correlated for low levels of innovation; however, medium and high levels of innovation output relative to peer firms are associated with lower costs of bonds. The findings suggest that the effect of innovation on the cost of debt is stronger in countries with more developed financial markets and in countries characterized by higher levels of economic freedom. Practices that control for self-dealing do not affect the association between innovation output and the cost of debt.

Diplomová práce je postavena na třech hlavních kapitolách, z nich první dvě se staly východiskem pro vytvoření třetí kapitoly a to projektu. První část práce je zaměřena na teoretické poznatky, které jsou spojené s tématem diplomové práce. Druhá část práce je věnována analýze jednotlivých faktorů, jež ovlivňují rozhodování zahraničních investorů při vstupu do České republiky. Analýza je zaměřena na faktor lidských zdrojů, infrastruktury, surovin a připravenosti území, státní regulace, finančních a výrobních trhů. Východiskem této analýzy je SWOT analýza, stanovení silných a slabých stránek a také příležitostí a hrozeb, týkajících se České republiky. V této části práce je zhodnocena i práce agentury CzechInvest a systém investičních pobídek. Analytická část se stala východiskem pro třetí část práce, kde je navržena soustava opatření vedoucí ke zvýšení atraktivity České republiky pro vstup zahraničních investorů. Projektová část práce vychází jak z teoretických tak i z analytických poznatků, které vedly ke stanovení navržených opatření.

Diplomová práce je postavena na třech hlavních kapitolách, z nich první dvě se staly východiskem pro vytvoření třetí kapitoly a to projektu. První část práce je zaměřena na teoretické poznatky, které jsou spojené s tématem diplomové práce. Druhá část práce je věnována analýze jednotlivých faktorů, jež ovlivňují rozhodování zahraničních investorů při vstupu do České republiky. Analýza je zaměřena na faktor lidských zdrojů, infrastruktury, surovin a připravenosti území, státní regulace, finančních a výrobních trhů. Východiskem této analýzy je SWOT analýza, stanovení silných a slabých stránek a také příležitostí a hrozeb, týkajících se České republiky. V této části práce je zhodnocena i práce agentury CzechInvest a systém investičních pobídek. Analytická část se stala východiskem pro třetí část práce, kde je navržena soustava opatření vedoucí ke zvýšení atraktivity České republiky pro vstup zahraničních investorů. Projektová část práce vychází jak z teoretických tak i z analytických poznatků, které vedly ke stanovení navržených opatření.

This study sets out to address the question of whether the costs and the benefits of measuring intellectual capital assets differ depending on the driver for that measure. Although pressure is growing on firms to measure and report on their intellectual capital assets no research has yet been published that questions the costs associated with such actions. And although academic research has purported to show links between the management of intellectual capital assets and real business benefits the research carried out thus far'has not focussed specifically on the benefits of measuring intellectual capital assets. Although there are now a variety of intellectual capital asset measurement frameworks there has been no cross comparison as to which intellectual capital asset measures provide the most business insight or where the outcome of that measurement is most effective. Using a multi method approach the thesis is tested in three phases; an extensive literature review covering intellectual capital, performance measurement and organisational effectiveness; a survey and content analysis to explore what and why companies measure; and structured interviewing of six companies to investigate the costs and the benefits of measurement. The thesis is tested through the investigation of thirteen propositions which show that: firstly, there is a difference in the relative cost of measuring intellectual capital assets given the measurement driver, which is explained by the frequency of measurement, the mode of data collection and analysis, and whether the use of the measure is a by product of some other driver, secondly, that the insight provided by an intellectual capital asset measure differs given the measurement driver, thirdly, that the measurement of intellectual capital assets is most effective for planning the future; and lastly, that particular measurement drivers are effective, to differing degrees, in financial, customer, operational, people and future organisational performance domains.

En esta Tesis Doctoral titulada "Responsabilidad limitada: coste de capital y crisis empresariales: análisis por medio de la teoría de opciones" extendemos el modelo monoperiódico de valoración de acciones por medio de opciones europeas de Black y Scholes a un horizonte perpetuo, pudiendo así valorar la opción de responsabilidad limitada para el caso habitual en que la vida de la empresa no tiene un horizonte finito. Incorporamos a la opción de responsabilidad limitada la opción de abandonar y los costes fijos, lo cual nos permite no sólo analizar simultáneamente la quiebra y el cese de actividades de la empresa, sino también valorar los efectos sobre el coste de la financiación de la opción de abandonar y los costes fijos. Hasta este punto el modelo que hemos construido presenta tres elementos de rigidez: la tasa de interés y la desviación típica constantes y el propio horizonte perpetuo. Para superar esta limitación transformamos, por una parte, este modelo de coste fijo en un modelo de coste variable, en el que el coste de la financiación se adapta en cada período a las variaciones del tipo de interés y del valor de la opción de responsabilidad limitada. Por otra parte, introducimos diversos horizontes en el modelo con objeto de compaginar la deuda a horizonte finito con la deuda perpetua.
Así pues, éste es un trabajo de investigación que estudia diversos aspectos de la relación entre valor de las acciones y valor de la deuda por medio de la teoría de opciones, utilizando como concepto fundamental para la modelización la opción de responsabilidad limitada de los accionistas e incorporando opciones de barrera a fin de poder formalizar diversos matices que afectan al tratamiento de la deuda empresarial y a situaciones de dificultades financieras y de gestión, tales como el cese de la actividad empresarial, la suspensión de pagos y la quiebra. Los modelos construidos nos permite formalizar las características de la rentabilidad exigida a la financiación ajena tanto por los accionistas como por los acreedores.
In this doctoral thesis entitled "Limited Liability: Cost of Capital and Financial Distress: An Analysis Through Option Theory" we extend Black and Scholes model for valuing shares using European options to a perpetual horizon. As a consequence we are able to value the limited liability option in the usual case in which the life of the firm does not extinguish in a finite horizon. Besides we integrate into the limited liability option the option to abandon, and the effects of fixed costs. These results ennable us not only to analyse simultaneuously the firmÕs bankruptcy and ceasing of activity but also to value the incidence of the option to abandon and fixed costs on the cost of capital. To this point the model that we have built up presents three stiff elements: constant interest rate, constant standard deviation, and a perpetual horizon. In order to overcome these constraints we turn this cost fixed model into a variable cost model in which the cost of debt adapts itself to the variations of interest rate and the value of the limited liability option. Besides we introduce several horizons in the model in order to value the limited liability option and the cost of capital in finite horizons.
This doctoral thesis studies, therefore, different aspects of the relationship between the values of stocks and liabilities using option theory, more precisely the shareholders' option of limited liability, and adding barrier options to model different scenarios of the firm's debt and financial distress situations, such as the ceasing of entrepreneurial activities, temporary receivership or voluntary reorganization of bankruptcy, and bankruptcy. In this way this thesis models the debtÕs rate of return that shareholders and creditors ask for.

TESIS PARA OPTAR AL GRADO DE MAGÍSTER EN ANÁLISIS ECONÓMICO
El sector sanitario chileno presenta una metodología de estimación de tasa de costo de capital que parece estar desactualizada con las características propias del sector. Las rentabilidades muestran niveles estables y relativamente elevados con respecto a otros sectores y los costos de capital correspondientes. En este sentido, en particular los sectores regulados, poseen factores de riesgo específicos que deben ser incluidos en la metodología de estimación. Es por esto que el presente trabajo, busca mejorar el método de cálculo actual, con sustentos en aspectos económicos y financieros. De esta forma, se plantea la necesidad de usar una nueva metodología, que se adapte a las condiciones específicas, reflejando las condiciones del mercado permitiendo un retorno “justo” a la firma, con respecto al costo de la misma. Para esto se utiliza un análisis, tanto del contexto general, la metodología teórica existente, experiencia comparada y empírica, así como las condiciones propias del sector. En base a lo anterior se concluye que es necesaria una actualización de la metodología, disminuyendo arbitrariedades, y asignando de mejor manera los riesgos relativos de cada firma.

The main aim of this thesis is to describe the optimalization and quantification of a capital structure in a company, both theoretically and practically. The first part comprises general understanding of a quite broad theoretical base. Firstly, the capital structure of a company and its individual parts are defined. Further, there is the analysis of the method of calculation of individual types of costs of capital. Major attention is paid to the description and evaluation of the various theories of the optimalization of capital structure. In the end of the theoretical part, the most important determinants of the capital structure are mentioned. The practical part of the thesis emphasis on the detailed analysis of an optimal capital structure of a real firm - Škoda Auto a.s. whereas the major attention is paid to balancing of the proportion of the company's own equity and foreign capital. The final part of the thesis includes calculation of the company's actual costs of capital and there are recommendations of how it could optimize its capital structure.

A reutilização do dialisador capilar em hemodiálise é uma prática realizada em muitos países, apesar de não haver consenso sobre sua segurança e eficácia em comparação ao dialisador de uso único. Em relação ao uso único, apontam-se os custos como grande entrave e a preocupação com o aumento do lixo hospitalar. No que se refere aos riscos do reuso, aponta-se a exposição dos profissionais aos produtos químicos necessários à realização do processo de reutilização, assim como movimentos repetitivos envolvidos na dinâmica dessa técnica; somadas a isto, a redução da eficiência da membrana, a contaminação do sistema, as infecções cruzadas, as reações pirogênicas e as bacteremias. Nesse sentido, tornam-se relevantes estudos que investiguem o efeito da adoção desses métodos nesses desfechos. Objetivos: Comparar as implicações do dialisador reutilizado (reuso) com as do utilizado uma única vez (uso único) na saúde dos profissionais, nos desfechos clínicos e custos de pacientes em hemodiálise. Métodos: Estudo longitudinal, com coleta de dados retrospectiva, realizado em um Hospital Público Universitário (Janeiro de 2015 a Fevereiro de 2016). Foram incluídos 18 técnicos de enfermagem e 34 pacientes renais crônicos submetidos à hemodiálise nos dois períodos do estudo (período de reuso e período de uso único), por meio de cateter, fístula ou enxerto, com fluxo de sangue de pelo menos 300 ml/min. e tempo de diálise definido entre três a quatro horas por sessão. Considerou-se como desfechos primários os distúrbios osteomusculares, irritação ocular, as dermatoses, afastamento do trabalho e uso de medicações. Como secundários, hemodinâmica, volemia, exames laboratoriais, reações pirogênicas, bacteremias, uso de antibióticos e custos diretos e indiretos do procedimento. Projeto aprovado no Comitê de Ética da instituição. Resultados: O tempo médio de trabalho dos 18 técnicos de enfermagem foi de 12±7 anos. Durante o período de reutilização do dialisador, houve sete notificações. Verificou-se uma taxa de exposição ao uso de medicamentos de 6,7 dias para cada 1.000 profissionais no período de reuso do dialisador; 1,52 dias de exposição à medicação para cada 1.000 profissionais no período de uso único do dialisador (RDI= 4,4; IC 95%: 2.182-9.805); os dias de afastamento foram semelhantes entre os períodos. Nos 34 pacientes estudados nos dois períodos, foram semelhantes os parâmetros hemodinâmicos e volêmicos; houve redução de ureia pós-diálise, creatinina, fósforo, ferritina, hematócrito e hemoglobina durante o uso único do dialisador; foi observado um risco 91% menor de pirogenia no uso único do dialisador, se comparado ao período de reuso (RC= 0,091; IC 95%: 0,002-0,625). Não houve diferença significativa na presença da bacteremias (p= 0,125); a vancomicina foi utilizada empiricamente para tratar a pirogenia. Para cada paciente em hemodiálise utilizando o dialisador reutilizado, o valor médio foi R$ 23,18; e com o dialisador de uso único foi de R$ 39,77 (p= 0,002). O custo indireto médio mensal durante o período de reuso foi de R$ 168,07 (R$ 0,37 por sessão); e para o uso único foi de R$133,23 ao mês (R$ 0,29 por sessão). O custo indireto não apresentou diferença estatística comparando o reuso e uso único do dialisador (p= 0,463). Conclusão: O reuso do dialisador esteve associado a distúrbios osteomusculares, irritação ocular e dermatoses entre os profissionais de enfermagem, além de maior uso de medicamentos. O uso único do dialisador reduziu pequenos solutos, ferritina, hematócrito, hemoglobina, e apresentou menor risco de pirogenias e bacteremias. Quanto aos custos, o reuso do dialisador obteve benefícios adicionais em relação aos custos diretos. Entretanto, para custos indiretos, o reuso não apresentou diferença em relação ao uso único.
Capillary dialyzer reuse in hemodialysis is a practice carried out in many countries, although there is no consensus about its safety and effectiveness in comparison with the single-use dialyzer. Regarding the single-use dialyzer, costs are considered a major obstacle, as is the concern with the increase in medical waste. In what concerns the risks of reuse, the exposure of the professionals to chemicals needed to carry out the process of reuse, as well as the repetitive movements involved in the dynamics of this technique stand out; added to this, there are the reduced efficiency of the membrane, the contamination of the system, cross-infections, pyrogenic reactions and bacteremia. In this sense, a study which investigates the effect of the adoption of these methods in these outcomes becomes relevant. Objectives: To compare the implications of reused dialyzer with single-use dialyzer on the health of professionals, clinical outcomes and costs of patients in hemodialysis. Methods: Longitudinal study with retrospective data collection, carried out in a Public University Hospital (January 2015 to February 2016). Participated in the study 18 nursing technicians and 34 chronic kidney patients subjected to hemodialysis in the two periods of the study (reuse and single-use periods), through catheter, fistula or graft, with blood flow of at least 300 mL/min, dialysis time set between three to four hours per session. Musculoskeletal disorders, eye irritation, skin diseases, work leave and the use of medications were considered as primary outcomes. Secondary included hemodynamics, blood volume, laboratory tests, pyrogenic reactions, bacteremia, antibiotic use, direct and indirect costs of the procedure. The project was approved by the Ethics Committee of the institution. Results: The average time of work of the 18 nursing technicians was 12±7 years. During the period of dialyzer reuse there were seven notifications. There was a rate of exposure to the use of medicines of 6.7 days for each 1,000 professionals within the period of dialyzer reuse; 1.52 days of exposure to medication for each 1,000 professionals in the period of single use of the dialyzer, (IDR = 4.4; 95% CI: 2,182-9,805); the days of work leave were similar between periods. In the 34 patients studied in the two periods, the hemodynamic and blood volume parameters were similar; there was reduction of urea after dialysis, creatinine, phosphore, ferritin, hematocrit and hemoglobin during the single use of the dialyzer; 91% less risk of pyrogenic reaction was noted in the single use of the dialyzer compared to the period of reuse (OR = 0.091; 95% CI: 0.002-0.625). There was no significant difference in the presence of bacteremia (p = 0.125); vancomycin was used empirically to treat pyrogenic reactions. For each patient on hemodialysis using the reused dialyzer, the average value was R$ 23.18 and with the single-use dialyzer, R$ 39.77 (p=0,002). The average monthly indirect cost during the period of reuse was 168,07R$ (0.37 R$ per session), and for the single-used period, R$ 133,23 per month (0.29 R$ per session). The indirect cost showed no statistical difference comparing the reuse and the single use of the dialyzer (p = 0.463). Conclusion: The reuse of the dialyzer was associated with musculoskeletal disorders, eye irritation and skin diseases among nursing professionals, in addition to more frequent use of medicines. The single use of the dialyzer reduced small solutes, ferritin, hematocrit hemoglobin, and showed lower risk of pyrogenic reactions and bacteremia. In what concerns the costs, the reuse of the dialyzer obtained additional benefits concerning the direct costs. However, for indirect costs, reuse exceeded single use values.
La reutilización del dializador capilar en hemodiálisis es una práctica realizada en muchos países, aunque no hay ningún consenso sobre su seguridad y eficacia en comparación al dializador de uso único. Con relación al uso único, se señalan los costos como un gran obstáculo, además del incremento de los residuos hospitalarios. En lo respecta a los riesgos del reuso, se señala la exposición de los profesionales a los productos químicos necesarios para la realización del proceso de reutilización, así como los movimientos repetitivos involucrados en la dinámica de esta técnica; se suma a esto la reducción de la eficiencia de la membrana, la contaminación del sistema, las infecciones cruzadas, las reacciones pirogénicas y las bacteriemias. En este sentido, estudios para investigar el efecto de la adopción de estos métodos en estos desenlaces se vuelven relevantes. Objetivos: Comparar las implicaciones del dializador reutilizado (reuso) con las del dializador de un solo uso (uso único) para la salud de los profesionales, desenlaces clínicos y costos de los pacientes en hemodiálisis. Métodos: Estudio longitudinal, con recopilación retrospectiva de datos, realizado en un Hospital Público Universitario (desde Enero 2015 hasta Febrero 2016). Se incluyeron 18 técnicos de enfermería y 34 pacientes renales crónicos sometidos a hemodiálisis en los dos periodos de estudio (periodo de reuso y periodo de uso único), a través de catéter, fístula o injerto, con flujo de sangre de por lo menos 300 ml/min y tiempo de diálisis definido entre tres y cuatro horas por sesión. Se consideraron como desenlaces primarios los trastornos osteomusculares, irritación ocular, dermatosis, alejamiento del trabajo y uso de medicaciones. Como secundarios, se consideraron la hemodinámica, volemia, exámenes de laboratorio, reacciones pirogénicas, bacteriemias, uso de antibióticos y costos directos e indirectos del procedimiento. El proyecto fue aprobado por el Comité de Ética de la institución. Resultados: El tiempo medio de trabajo de los 18 técnicos de enfermería fue de 12±7 años. Durante el periodo de reutilización del dializador, hubo siete notificaciones. Se verificó una tasa de exposición al uso de medicamentos de 6,7 días para cada 1.000 profesionales en el periodo de reuso del dializador; 1,52 días de exposición a la medicación para cada 1.000 profesionales en el periodo de uso único del dializador (RDI= 4,4; IC 95%: 2,182-9,805); los días de alejamiento fueron similares entre los periodos. En los 34 pacientes estudiados en los dos períodos, los parámetros hemodinámicos y volémicos fueron similares; hubo una reducción de urea después del diálisis, y de creatinina, fósforo, ferritina, hematocrito y hemoglobina durante el uso único del dializador; se observó un nivel de riesgo de piogenia 91% menor en el uso único del dializador, en comparación con el periodo de reuso (RC= 0,091; IC 95%: 0,002-0,625). No hubo diferencia significativa en la presencia de bacteriemias (p= 0,125); la vancomicina fue utilizada empíricamente para tratar las reacciones pirogénicas. Para cada paciente en hemodiálisis utilizando el dializador reutilizado, el valor medio fue de R$ 23,18; y con el dializador de uso único fue de 39,77 R$ (p= 0,002). El costo indirecto medio mensual durante el periodo de reuso fue de 168,00 R$ (R$ 0,37 por sesión); y para el uso único fue de R$ 133,23 al mes (R$0,29 por sesión). El costo indirecto no presentó diferencia estadística comparando el reuso y el uso único del dializador (p= 0,463). Conclusión: El reuso del dializador estuvo asociado a trastornos osteomusculares, irritación ocular y dermatosis entre los profesionales de enfermería, además de un mayor uso de medicamentos. El uso único del dializador ha reducido pequeños solutos, ferritina, hematocrito, hemoglobina, y ha presentado un riesgo menor de reacciones pirogénicas y bacteriemias. En cuanto a los costos, el reuso del dializador ha obtenido beneficios adicionales con relación a los costos directos. Sin embargo, para los costos indirectos, el reuso no ha presentado diferencia con relación al uso único.

This dissertation investigates the perceived riskiness of electric utilities based on their mix of residential and industrial customers. While previous studies have attempted to develop a simple measure of the total riskiness of individual customer classes, this study examines the relative riskiness of the total utility as impacted by customer mix. Because the cost of risk is an element in the determination of the utility's revenue requirement, it impacts the set of optimal tariffs derived from a constrained welfare-maximization problem. The null hypothesis that investors do not base their perception of the riskiness of a utility on the customer mix is tested against the alternatives that residential customers decrease and that industrial customers increase the perceived riskiness of a utility. The hypothesis is examined using cross-sectional data for 1981. The weighted-average, after-tax cost of capital is used to measure the relative riskiness of the utility. In addition to the customer mix variables, the explanatory variables include operational and regulatory variables. The analysis provides support for the hypothesis that investors do not differentiate the riskiness of a utility based on the size of the residential class. Further, the analysis permits rejection of the alternative hypothesis that investors perceive a utility to be more risky when its customer mix is heavily industrial. The results suggest that, in fact, investors may associate greater risk with an absence of industrial customers.
Ph. D.

Explica y analiza el problema de la estimación del costo de oportunidad del capital (COK) para la evaluación privada de proyectos de inversión. Busca demostrar que el problema central radica en la falta de consistencia metodológica de estimación, ya que el error más común consiste en estimar el valor del costo de oportunidad del capital sin prestar atención al riesgo específico de cada proyecto de inversión. Para lograr el objetivo, se muestra que mediante el método denominado Portafolio Alternativo de Inversión (PALI), es posible comparar el proyecto de inversión que se desea evaluar con una inversión bursátil alternativa en el mercado de capitales; esto implica que el inversionista deberá decidir en cuál de las dos alternativas invertir sobre la base de aquella que le proporcione la mayor rentabilidad para el mismo nivel de riesgo.

This bachelor thesis aims to study the relationship between higher capital costs and the households' ability to repay their loans as well as how this affects the housing market. The work studies three areas in three different municipalities in the Stockholm region. The limitations for this report were that it primarily focused on areas that have relatively new housing developments where the interest rate was the sole alternating variable. Today, the interest rates for housing loans are very low which has resulted in that Swedish people has record breaking high leverages. Recently, a new amortization requirement was adopted. This will affect all households when they take new loans with an LTV of 50 percent. House prices in Sweden are at a historically high level, especially in the Stockholm region. Households’ expectations play a large impact on prices, and some experts believe that the market today is overvalued and that we are in a housing bubble, which, if it bursts, can bring negative impact on the housing market. Consequently, migration and housing demands has not previously been seen at these levels in Stockholm. In this paper, we intend to examine how rising interest rates will affect households with different leverage ratios in three different municipalities in the Stockholm county region. Utilizing data from sources such as InsightOne and Konsumentverket among others a spreadsheet was created comparing four different typical households that reflect the most common household composition within the selected municipalities. The disposable income, after all expenses for accommodation and necessities accounted for, will be examined. We will also analyze how these households would cope in a scenario where changing fundamentals give households higher housing costs and further how the selected municipalities, all of which have a relatively high rate of construction, would be affected by a sudden drop in prices on the market. A spreadsheet with data from Statistics Sweden was also set up to investigate the percentage of all households in Stockholm that have the same capital costs as a custom range of the selected mosaichouseholds’. Our results show that not all households could cope with increased housing costs such as higher interest rates among other factors. According to the calculated budget estimate for each typical household, it was concluded that some households would be unable to cover their monthly necessities. In a scenario where this would become reality, the households with a high leverage and a high interest rate would have a much smaller amount of money to live on each month. This would lead to a reduction in consumption and a decrease in demand for housing, which would result in a less secure position in the housing market and force households to reassess its choice of timing for this type of investment. Ultimately this could lead to vacancies in the municipalities we investigated that are located quite a bit outside the city center. Based on our results, we consider the hypothesis proven; due to half of the mosaic households in the study reflecting a deficit in their budget when the leverage and interest rates peaked at high levels. Based on the income statistics from SCB, we could also deduce that 49.8 percent of all households in the Stockholm region displayed a lower annual income than the investigated mosaic households. Consequently, these households would demonstrate a greater deficit in their budget if their housing costs rose.
Kandidatarbetet syftar till att studera hur högre kapitalkostnader påverkar hushållens betalningsförmåga och vilka effekter det kan få på bostadsmarknaden. I arbetet undersöks tre områden i tre olika kommuner i stockholmsregionen. I rapporten finns begränsningen att räntorna är den enda variabeln som ändras och att det i de områden som undersöks finns relativt nyproducerade bostäder. I dagsläget är räntenivåerna väldigt låga för bostadslån och det har medfört att svenskarna aldrig någonsin har varit så högt belånade. Nyligen har även ett nytt amorteringskrav antagits, vilket kommer att påverka alla hushåll som tar nya lån med en belåningsgrad över 50 procent. Bostadspriserna ligger idag på en historiskt hög nivå och speciellt hög är prisutvecklingen i Stockholmsregionen. Hushållens förväntningar har en stor inverkan på priserna och vissa experter menar att marknaden idag är övervärderad och att vi befinner oss i en bostadsbubbla som, om den spricker, kan innebära stora negativa konsekvenser för bostadsmarknaden. Samtidigt har inflyttningen och efterfrågan på bostäder aldrig varit så hög som nu inom Stockholms län. I denna uppsats avser vi att undersöka hur en stigande ränta kan påverka hushåll med olika belåningsgrader i tre olika kommuner inom Stockholms län. Med hjälp av data från bland annat InsightOne och Konsumentverket har en kalkyl för fyra olika typhushåll ställts upp som speglar den vanligaste hushållssammansättningen i de valda områdena. Här kommer sedan den disponibla inkomsten efter att alla utgifter för boende och nödvändigheter är betalade att undersökas. Vi kommer därefter att analysera hur dessa hushåll skulle klara sig i ett scenario där förändrade fundamentala faktorer ger hushållen högre boendekostnader och vidare hur de valda kommunerna, som alla har en relativt hög nybyggnadstakt, skulle komma att påverkas av ett plötsligt prisfall på marknaden. Dessutom har en kalkyl med data från SCB satts upp för att undersöka hur många procent av alla hushåll i Stockholms län som har samma årsinkomst som ett anpassat intervall av de valda mosaichushållen. Våra resultat visar att inte alla hushåll skulle klara av ökade boendekostnader, exempelvis som en följd av högre räntor. De skulle alltså gått med underskott varje månad enligt den budget vi ställt upp för varje mosaichushåll och som redovisar de viktigaste utgifterna ett hushåll med denna sammansättning har. I ett scenario där detta blir verklighet skulle alltså hushåll med en hög belåningsgrad och höga räntor få en betydligt mindre summa pengar att leva på varje månad efter att alla nödvändiga kostnader är betalde, vilket skulle leda till en minskad konsumtion och minskad efterfrågan på bostäder. Detta skulle i sin tur leda till ett osäkrare läge på bostadsmarknaden, vilket skulle få ytterligare hushåll att omvärdera sitt val av tidpunkt för denna typ av investering. I slutändan skulle detta kunna komma att leda till vakanser i de kommuner vi valt att undersöka och som ligger någon eller några mil utanför innerstaden med dess ständigt höga efterfrågan på bostäder. Utifrån våra resultat kan den uppställda hypotesen styrkas. Detta då hälften av de mosaichushåll vi utgick ifrån i undersökningen visade ett underskott i sin budget då ränta och belåningsgrad låg på en hög, om än inte orimlig, nivå. Utifrån inkomststatistiken från SCB kunde vi även utläsa att hela 49.8 procent av alla hushåll inom Stockholms län har en lägre årsinkomst än de undersökta mosaichushållen, vilket innebär att dessa hushåll skulle visa ett större underskott i sin budget om deras boendekostnader ökade.

Ever since the financial crisis, there have been calls for increased regulation of the banking industry. The Basel Accord took immediate action and introduced the third version of their Basel framework shortly after the crisis hit, increasing demands on bank capital and liquidity. The banking industry responded with a report claiming that the costs of the Basel III regulation would be high. This as banks would face increased cost of capital due to them being required to hold more expensive capital, as opposed to cheaper debt. This increase in the cost of capital would end up on the lenders bill as banks increase their lending spreads, eventually resulting in a reduction of economywide lending growth, a mechanism that later has been supported by several studies. While the theoretical impact of regulation has been widely discussed, little work has been done on an empirical level. There is thus a need for empirical evidence on what happens to banks following increased regulatory standards.Given this background, the study aims to answer the following question:“What effects have the increased capital ratios of Basel III had on Swedish, Danish and Finnish banks’ lending growth, cost of capital and default risk?”Through a quantitative study using paired T-tests as well as regression analysis, the study finds that increased capital ratios does indeed lead to lower lending growth. The extent to which is however smaller than anticipated by most other studies. Increased capital ratios were also shown to have a positive effect on banks in that it reduced their cost of capital. This shows that there are two counteracting forces on banks cost of capital following increases in capital ratios. One where cost of capital increases due to increased cost of financing, and one where cost of capital decreases as bank risk and investor expectations are lowered. The study also finds empirical evidence that the Basel risk-weighted capital ratios does not help reduce bank risk. Instead, banks reduce their risk by increasing their total capital to assets ratio. This implies that the Basel capital ratios only work through a secondary effect of banks increasing their capital to assets ratio following a regulatory tightening.The main contributions of the study are showing that regulators need to be mindful when implementing new regulation, as there are negative effects on economies lending growth. Additionally, the fact that lower bank risk results in lower cost of capital is a fact that has been mostly ignored by scholars in the field, something this study may be able to change. Lastly, the inability of the risk-based capital ratios to reduce bank risk is significant in that it puts into question whether the Basel Accord are able to produce a reliable framework for minimizing risk in the banking industry.

We attempt to answer the following key questions: What are the revaluation effects and the impacts on the cost of capital, volatility, and correlation with world market returns from stock market liberalization in emerging market countries? These questions have been studied extensively at the market-level, i.e. using country indices, but not at the firm level. In the market-level analysis, there is increasing concern whether the country indices are proper means to answer those questions, for example they may not represent the real holdings of foreign portfolio investors after liberalization. Indeed, foreign portfolio investors are known to prefer investment in large and well-known firms. Hence, the opening of capital markets should have a differential impact across securities depending on foreign investors' demand. In order to take into account the potentially different impacts caused by foreign investors' demand, we use individual firm data as well as market-level indices. Our analysis is based on the cross-sectional and time-series panel regression method.
Our test results using country indices show statistically and economically significant revaluation effects, and increases in the cost of capital. While the stock market volatility increases, its correlation with world market return does not change after stock market liberalization. More important than these market-level findings, we report significantly different impacts of stock market liberalization, based on firm size, which is used as a proxy for foreign investors' demand. Large firms tend to exhibit large revaluation effects, insignificant change in the cost of capital, small increases in volatility, and increases in correlation with the world market from liberalization. Small firms show small revaluation effects, increases in the cost of capital, large increases in volatility and decreases in correlation with world market returns after liberalization. Our results have important implications for international investors seeking to manage their global exposure as well as for policy makers considering capital market liberalization.

Tesis (Magíster en gestión y dirección de empresas)
En la actualidad el valor de las empresas no se limita a sólo sus activos tangibles los que tienen una valoración más sencilla y objetiva; en la estimación de su valor se deben incluir también los activos intangibles, aquellos que son difíciles de valorar por su carácter subjetivo pero que necesitan ser identificados y cuantificados. El presente estudio hará una valoración económica de la “Empresa de Transportes y Servicios Generales S.R.L. (ETRASERGE)” una empresa que tiene como principal actividad la comercialización de productos planos de acero galvanizado en el mercado de materiales de construcción de Bolivia. Para complementar el resultado principal se identificaran las principales variables que afectan el valor de la empresa, mediante el análisis de su comportamiento histórico y de las perspectivas e influencia de su mercado; con lo que se podrá entregar una idea clara de las expectativas de la empresa a futuro. El método que se utilizará para el proceso de valoración es el de Descuento de Flujos de Caja Futuro, el que se puede adaptar a las características específicas de la empresa y a las de su entorno. El análisis interno y externo mostró que la empresa ha tenido buenos resultados en los últimos 5 años con un crecimiento en sus ingresos y en su rentabilidad, pero con una estructura de costos altamente influenciada por el precio internacional del acero, una variable que esta fuera del control de la empresa; el mercado en donde opera ha experimentado un crecimiento influenciado por el buen desempeño del sector de la construcción en Bolivia y se espera que mantenga su crecimiento; este mercado muestra pocas barreras de entrada con un nivel de competencia medio. Las proyecciones financieras de la empresa se han construido sobre la base de un escenario futuro en donde la demanda de sus productos experimentará un crecimiento de un 4% anual y el nivel de competencia se mantendrá en un nivel medio; la empresa tendrá la capacidad de mantener el volumen de sus operaciones, lo que implica que para los siguientes años podrá mantener su participación de mercado, su oferta de productos y también su margen de beneficios. El escenario propuesto esta acorde con el comportamiento histórico de la empresa y también de su mercado; para efectos de proyección numérica de las principales variables se han utilizado valores inferiores a los mostrados en el pasado, por lo que la proyección de los futuros resultados será en un escenario conservador el que le da un alto grado de confiabilidad a los resultados. La tasa de descuento que se utilizó en el presente estudio se calculó a partir del costo promedio ponderado de capital, utilizando información de la empresa; a este costo de capital se le agregó un premio al riesgo de 3,5% con el objetivo de tomar en cuenta el riesgo inherente a la empresa, obteniendo una tasa de descuento de 13,53%. La actualización de los flujos futuros de la empresa entrego un resultado de 818 M$US y la actualización del valor residual de la empresa es de 1.443 M$US; finalmente el valor de la empresa es de 2.261 M$US. Si se compara el valor obtenido en el presente estudio con los capitales propio y externo que financian a la empresa, se obtiene un excedente de un 21% que se puede considerar como el valor de los activos intangibles de la empresa.

This study investigates the impact of aspects of tax design on the operating costs of the tax system. The thesis focuses on the Australian and UK regimes for taxing the capital gains of individuals. It contends that the compliance burden faced by personal taxpayers and the administrative costs incurred by revenue authorities are directly influenced by the design of the capital gains tax ('CGT') regimes in each country. The study bridges the divide between theoretical analysis of CGT and empirical studies on tax operating costs. It uses a hybrid research design to test a series of hypotheses that emerge from a review of the literature and the experience of the researcher. It combines a technical analysis of the relevant Australian and UK legislative provisions (including an analysis of the policy and other background data that underpins those provisions) with empirical research on the views and experience of practitioners who are responsible for the operation of the legislation in the two countries. The results obtained from this combined methodology indicate that the operating costs of taxing capital gains in Australia and the UK are directly affected by the design of the legislative provisions. Moreover, the study outcomes indicate that operating costs in both countries are high (on a number of comparative measures), have not reduced over time, and are both horizontally and vertically inequitable. The research indicates that the primary factors that cause the high operating costs include the complexity of the legislation and the frequency of legislative change, together with record-keeping and valuation requirements. The thesis identifies specific legislative changes that would address operational cost concerns. These include the phasing out of the 'grandfathering' exemption together with the introduction of an annual exempt amount, and the rationalisation of business concessions in Australia; and the abolition of taper relief and its possible replacement with a 50% exclusion in the UK. More importantly, it seeks a more principled approach to the taxation of capital gains in both countries, and emphasises that legislative change can and should only be enacted with a full and clear understanding of the operating cost implications of that change.

This bachelor thesis was composed by the initiative of a large aluminium profile producer in southern Sweden. Together, the authors and the company analyzed and mapped the current production flow of a selected item. The lead time and total output for a selected article was determined in order to examine the possibility of reducing the amount of tied up capital and related costs. Findings showed that reducing tied up capital and associated costs could be done through adjustment of production layout, production efficiency as well as alterations of produced quantities. By combining these three proposals for improvement, an overall recommendation for future course of action for the company was composed.
Bakgrund: Det problem som utgör grunden för uppsatsen är förankrat i ProfilGruppens osäkerhet gällande vart i en artikels flödesväg kapitalbindning uppstår. Flödesvägar anses kunna ha onödiga delprocesser, samtidigt som använd lager- samt produktionskvantitet inte är teoretiskt förankrad. Potentiellt skulle kapitalbindning och kapitalkostnad kunna reduceras genom analys av dessa aspekter.   Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att utreda förbättringsmöjligheter i termer av reducerad kapitalbindning och kapitalkostnad inom en typartikels flödesväg.   Metod: Studien följer en kombination av de kvalitativa och kvantitativa forskningsstrategierna. Arbetet präglas av ett positivistiskt synsätt, eftersom målet är att nå en kvantitativ reduktion av företagets kostnader. Samtidigt är uppsatsen en fallstudie, en design tätt kopplad till kvalitativ forskning. Studien utmärks av ett ständig förhållande till teoretisk relevans, i syfte att kunna applicera genomförd analys på andra företag försatta i liknande situation.    Slutsats: Forskningens resultat visar att tre av de fyra analyserade förbättringsförslagen är av intresse att implementera i företagets verksamhet. Genom att kombinera samtliga förslag till en sammanställd rekommendation presenteras en övergripande framtida handlingsplan för ProfilGruppen att vidta.