Business Commons^™

Australia: Financial Claims Scheme, Ezekiel Vergara

Journal of Financial Crises

Following the collapse of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008, the Australian government intervened in its own banking system, both to support domestic depositors and to keep its banking system competitive with those in countries whose regulators had already intervened. On October 12, 2008, the Australian government announced the Financial Claims Scheme (FCS) to insure bank depositors. The deposit guarantee automatically insured depositors at all authorized deposit-taking institutions and covered a range of deposit accounts. As initially announced, the FCS would provide a blanket guarantee to all depositors with no fee for participation. This blanket guarantee, however, prompted a migration …

Mobile Banking Adoption By Senior Citizens In Australia, Madugoda Gunaratnege Senali

ECU Posters

Mobile banking is technological innovation provided by banks to its customers to do their banking activities such as, viewing account balances, paying bills, transfer of funds and checking new offers and products through their smart phones by using mobile banking application. Though mobile banking has raised high expectations in research and practice, it neither experienced broad adoption nor allows it banks to realize additional earnings yet. This research aims to investigate the factors affecting the mobile banking adoption by senior citizens in Australia by using technology acceptance models. It's important to improve the mobile banking amongst senior Australians to enhance …

Can The Financialised Atmosphere Be Effectively Regulated And Accounted For?, Patty Mcnicholas, Carolyn Windsor

Carolyn Windsor

Purpose – This paper aims to carry out a critical analysis of the proposed Australian emissions trading scheme (ETS) as a complex market solution to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs). Specifically it seeks to examine the financial regulatory infrastructure that will more than likely oversee the Australian ETS, the same regulatory infrastructure which failed to prevent the global financial crisis.Design/methodology/approach – A critical examination of the financialisation of the atmosphere that follows the growth of the financialisation of capitalism when economic activity shifted from production and service sectors to finance. Financialisation of capitalism is supported by capitalist regulation influenced by neo-liberal …

Do Investors Herd Intraday In Australian Equities?, Julia Henker, Thomas Henker, Anna Mitsios

Thomas Henker

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to consider whether market wide herding occurs intraday.

Design/methodology/approach – Using the 1995 Christie and Huang and the 2000 Chang et al. models, the paper tests whether market wide and industry sector herding occurs intraday in the Australian equities market.

Findings – Neither market wide nor industry sector herding occurs intraday.

Research limitations/implications – Both herding measures focus on one specific type of herding, herding evidenced by changes in the cross-sectional return distribution. Therefore the herding measures are ill suited to capture the effects of period specific abnormally high or low market …

Modelling Exchange Rate Pass-Through In Australia, China And India, Shrabani Saha, Zhaoyong Zhang

Research outputs 2011

Exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) has attracted a ttention of many researchers in the last three decades due to the adoption of flexible exchange rate system by many countries. The objectives of this study are to make a comparative study by exploring the literature relating pass-through for import prices and domestic prices in Australia, China and India. In particular, we test whether the exchange rate pass-through to import prices is complete, estimate the pass-through to CPI to investigate whether there is any association between the pass-through and the average inflation rate across these countries. Using a structural VAR model we test …

Bank Risk And Return: The Impact Of Bank Non-Interest Income, Barry Williams, Laurie Prather

Laurie Prather

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the impact on bank risk of portfolio diversification between traditional margin income and fee-based income for banks operating in Australia.Design/methodology/approach – Considering several performance variables, this analysis compares the benefits of diversification across different bank types relative to margin income and fee income. Further, regression analysis considers bank risk and revenue concentration.Findings – This paper documents that fee-based income is riskier than margin income but offers diversification benefits to bank shareholders. While improving bank risk-return trade-off, these benefits are of second order importance compared to the large negative impact of …

Bank Risk And Return: The Impact Of Bank Non-Interest Income, Barry Williams, Laurie Prather

Barry Williams

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the impact on bank risk of portfolio diversification between traditional margin income and fee-based income for banks operating in Australia.Design/methodology/approach – Considering several performance variables, this analysis compares the benefits of diversification across different bank types relative to margin income and fee income. Further, regression analysis considers bank risk and revenue concentration.Findings – This paper documents that fee-based income is riskier than margin income but offers diversification benefits to bank shareholders. While improving bank risk-return trade-off, these benefits are of second order importance compared to the large negative impact of …

Foreign Bank Efficiency In Australia: What Makes A Difference?, Jan-Egbert Sturm, Barry Williams

Barry Williams

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that affect differences in measured efficiency of foreign-owned banks operating in Australia. The relevance of both comparative advantage theory and new trade theory to multinational banking in Australia will be tested.

Design/methodology/approach – A three stage research method is employed. First, estimates of foreign bank efficiency are drawn from a larger sample of domestic and foreign banks in Australia. Efficiency is estimated using parametric distance functions, applying several different specifications of inputs and outputs. Second, factor analysis is used to estimate a series of common factors drawn from …

Fundamental Investment Research – Do Us Results Apply To Australian Investors?, Bruce Vanstone, Tobias Hahn, Gavin Finnie

Tobias Hahn

For many investors, the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 has sparked renewed interest in value-based investment approaches. There is much published research supporting the use of fundamental analysis for value-based investment, and much of this research comes from the US. In previous articles, we have shown that US based fundamental investment research does not translate well to the Australian market. In this paper, we show how to test a well documented US fundamental investment strategy and find that it also does not transfer well to our Australian market.

Fundamental Investment Research – Do Us Results Apply To Australian Investors?, Bruce Vanstone, Tobias Hahn, Gavin Finnie

Bruce Vanstone

For many investors, the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 has sparked renewed interest in value-based investment approaches. There is much published research supporting the use of fundamental analysis for value-based investment, and much of this research comes from the US. In previous articles, we have shown that US based fundamental investment research does not translate well to the Australian market. In this paper, we show how to test a well documented US fundamental investment strategy and find that it also does not transfer well to our Australian market.

What Drives Tbl Reporting: Good Governance Or Threat To Legitimacy?, Pamela Kent, Reza Monem

Pamela Kent

This paper provides two complementary explanations for the adoption of triple bottom line (TBL) reporting by Australian companies. The first explanation is that companies adopt TBL reporting to legitimise their relationship with society because of adverse publicity from the media. The second explanation is that TBL reporting is adopted because of the company’s desire to achieve high-quality reporting and transparency inferred by strong corporate governance. Companies with TBL reporting had significantly more adverse media coverage before implementing TBL reporting than non-TBL companies. TBL reporting is also significantly and positively related to the existence of an environmental or sustainable development committee …

Factors Determining Net Interest Margins In Australia: Domestic And Foreign Banks, Barry Williams

Barry Williams

This study tests the application of the Ho and Saunders (1981) model of bank net interest margins (NIMs), and its subsequent developments, using Australian data. The core elements of this model apply in Australia. Bank market power is found to increase NIMs, consistent with McShane and Sharpe (1985), with evidence of bank buying market share and mispricing for risk. Operating costs also have an important role in determining NIMs, together with implied payments and management quality. Bank NIMs are found to have fallen over the study period.

Tax Complexity And Small Business: A Comparison Of The Perceptions Of Tax Agents In The United States And Australia, Laura R. Ingraham, S. Karlinsky, M. Mckerchar

Laura R. Ingraham

There is ongoing pressure in both the United States and Australia to simplify their respective tax systems, particularly in regard to small business taxpayers. In the case of both regimes, if substantial progress is to be made towards simplification, the areas of greatest need and the necessary reforms will require careful evaluation. The views of tax agents (practitioners) are highly relevant to the implementation of successful reform in that both regimes rely on self-assessment. It was considered that by undertaking a cross-jurisdictional comparison a greater understanding of complexity, from the perspective of tax agents, could be gained and that, the …

Tax Complexity And Small Business: A Comparison Of The Perceptions Of Tax Agents In The United States And Australia, Laura R. Ingraham, S. Karlinsky, M. Mckerchar

Faculty Publications

There is ongoing pressure in both the United States and Australia to simplify their respective tax systems, particularly in regard to small business taxpayers. In the case of both regimes, if substantial progress is to be made towards simplification, the areas of greatest need and the necessary reforms will require careful evaluation. The views of tax agents (practitioners) are highly relevant to the implementation of successful reform in that both regimes rely on self-assessment. It was considered that by undertaking a cross-jurisdictional comparison a greater understanding of complexity, from the perspective of tax agents, could be gained and that, the …

Are Sri Funds Different From Non-Sri Funds, From A Financial Asset Perspective?: Evidence From Some Australian Sri Funds, Ingebjørg Kristoffersen

Theses : Honours

Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) has seen a remarkable growth in recent years – primarily in the US and UK, but also in other markets including Australia. This growth, along with the development of corporate social responsibility, is suggested to be a result of increased awareness in social, environment and human rights issues. The literature offers several suggestions as to how SRIs and SRI funds may differ from other investments, as financial assets. It has been suggested that SRIs are more likely to represent smaller stocks, and also more likely represent growth rather than value stocks compared to non-SRIs. Furthermore, different …

Finding The True Performance Of Australian Managed Funds, Victor Soucik

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

When making conclusions about the performance of managed funds, it is critical that the framework in which such performance is measured provides an accurate and unbiased environment. In this thesis I search for true performance of the two major classes of funds- equity as well as fixed interest managed funds. Focusing, first on the former class, I examine five measurement models across three risk-free proxies, nine benchmarks proposed by the extant literature (covering conditional and unconditional as well as single and multi factor definitions) and over three independent periods in an effort to identity (in a consistent setting) the most …

M-Garch Hedge Ratios And Hedging Effectiveness In Australian Futures Markets, Wenling Yang

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study deals with the estimation of the optimal hedge ratios using various econometric models. Most of the recent papers have demonstrated that the conventional ordinary least squares (OLS) method of estimating constant hedge ratios is inappropriate, other more complicated models however seem to produce no more efficient hedge ratios. Using daily AOIs and SPI futures on the Australian market, optimal hedge ratios are calculated from four different models: the OLS regression model, the bivariate vector autoaggressive model (BVAR), the error-correction model (ECM) and the multivariate diagonal Vcc GARCH Model. The performance of each hedge ratio is then compared. The …

An International Survey Of Free Banking Periods: Us, California, France, Australia, Switzerland, And Scotland, Frank Doti, David Cassell

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

This article studies free banking periods worlwide.

Determinants Of Accounting Policy For Identifiable Intangible Assets, Yuan Chew

Theses : Honours

This research replicates with modifications the previous study by Coombes, Otto and Stokes (1993) which examines the economic determinants of the amortisation of identifiable intangible assets (lIAs). The study focuses on the published consolidated annual reports of a sample of top 150 listed Australian companies, ranked by market capitalisation, as at June 1989, over the period 1989 to 1990, whereas the previous study by Coombes et al. (1993) concentrates on the top 150 listed Australian companies, ranked by market capitalisation, as at 30 June, 1988, over the period 1986 to 1989. The empirical evidence of the present research using contracting …

The Systematic Interest Rate Risk Of The Returns On Australian Bank Shares, Michael Shanahan

Theses : Honours

This paper examines the relationship bank share returns have with interest rate changes. Specifically, what is the systematic interest rate risk of Australian bank share returns. The reasons why bank shares and interest rates possibly have a relationship with interest rates are numerous, interrelated and complicated. Shares and interest rates generally have a relationship because of the comparison made between interest bearing securities and dividend paying shares. However, the relationship is compounded with banks, because of their exposure to interest rate risk. This paper involves two separate analyses. The firp.t part involves attempting to measure a bank share's interest rate …

Determinants Of A Firm's Approach To Accounting For Goodwill, Christine E. Taylor

Theses : Honours

The purpose of this study is to ascertain factors that may explain an Australian firm's approach to accounting for goodwill and to examine the diversity that existed in accounting for goodwill in the pre-standard era. Utilising a costly contracting framework, determinants of the accounting policy choice are proposed and three separate groups of hypotheses are formulated. The ex ante hypothesis in this study utilises industry as an explanatory variable that would be expected to explain the motivations of accounting choices by firms. It was found that there is no significant association between industry classification and the choice of method in …