Corporate Finance Commons^™

Acquisitions Driven By Stock Overvaluation, Leming Lin

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Overvaluation might drive a firm to use its stock to acquire another firm whose stock is not as overpriced. Though hypothetically desirable, these acquisitions create little, if any, value for acquirer shareholders. Two factors impede value creation for acquirer stockholders from these transactions (despite large differences in relative overvaluation at announcement): acquirers paying large premiums to targets, and investors' correction of acquirer overvaluation during the bid period. Furthermore, acquirer CEOs obtain a large amount of new stock and option grants after acquisitions and realize a net gain in wealth, further suggesting that equity overvaluation increases agency costs and the resulting …

Venture Capital Firm's Reputation Effect On Its Start-Up Company's Long Term Operating Performance And Survivorship, Huei Siang Yap

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In this paper, I tested the effects of three proxies for venture capitalist(VC) reputation on its invested company's long term industry-djusted operating performances (ROA , ROE), market-to-book ratio and survival time (time to delisting) in the aftermarket. VC's market share and VC's IPO share have strong and positive association with the post-IPO long-term performance metrics, and the effects are statistically significant even after accounting for self-selection bias. For long term survivorship of start-up companies, I applied hazard analysis to the IPO company's time to delisting with accelerated failure time (AFT) model as the baseline hazard function, and found that start …

Stakeholder Influences On Diversification: Implications For Shareholders And Stakeholders, Partiban David, Jonathan P. O’Brien, Toru Yoshikawa, Andrew Delios

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The article presents the results of research into the relative influence of stakeholders and shareholders on corporate strategic planning in terms of diversification and performance, focusing on concepts such as opportunity cost and rent appropriation. An overview of related previous studies is provided, along with details of the research protocol, which involved data analysis drawn from a sample of Japanese firms and their corporate profits from the years 1990 through 2004. A distinction between transactional and relational ownership is described, which can lead to different priorities in terms of profit and growth.

Asking Tougher Questions In Tough Times, Irving Low, Claudia Eio, See Liang Foo, Yang Hoong Pang, Kwong Sin Leong, John Joseph Williams

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

The recent wave of corporate governance disasters globally raises many eyebrows and burning questions whether audit committees (ACs) are doing the right things to effectively discharge their roles and responsibilities. To further test the integrity and reputation of the Singapore market as a listing gateway for foreign companies in turbulent times like these, the headlines are also reporting a spate of suspected and actual corporate fraud and scandals involving China-based, Singapore listed companies (commonly referred to as “S-chips”). Many angry investors and the public question whether ACs and independent directors are doing their jobs.

Does Size Matter In The Hedge Fund Industry?, Song Wee Melvyn Teo

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We document a negative and convex relationship between hedge fund size and future risk-adjusted returns. Small hedge funds outperform large hedge funds by 3.65 percent per year after adjusting for risk. This over performance is not driven by fund age, leverage, serial correlation, or self-selection biases. The capacity constraints manifest across various investment styles and regions. In particular, they are strongest for funds managed by multiple principals who trade small, illiquid securities, suggesting that the observed diseconomies can be traced to price impact and hierarchy costs (Stein, 2002). While investors direct disproportionately more capital to smaller funds, they do not …

A Review Of Academic Literature On Internal Control Reporting Under Sox, Arnold Schneider, Audrey A. Gramling, Dana R. Hermanson, Zhongxia Shelly Ye

Faculty Articles

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) mandates reporting on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting (ICFR) by public company management and auditors. Such reporting began for fiscal years ended Nov 15, 2004 for accelerated filers and is scheduled to be fully implemented for non-accelerated filers in mid-2010. Section 404(a) of SOX requires public company management to include an assessment of the effectiveness of the company's ICFR in its annual internal control report, and Section 404(b) requires attestation by the company's auditor. The authors review the literature on internal control reporting under both Sections 302 and …

A Panel Data Analysis Of Working Capital Management Policies, Mian Sajid Nazir, Talat Afza

Business Review

The present study investigates into the traditional relationship of working capital management and firm’s profitability. Using panel data set for the period of 1998- 2005, the impact of aggressiveness of working capital investment and financing policies have been evaluated on return on assets as well as Tobin’s q. Managers can create value if they are adopting for a conservative approach towards working capital investment and working capital financing policies. However, if firms are having aggressive approach to manage the short term liabilities, investors give more value to those firms in stock markets.

Hdtv Division Of Global Electronics, Inc., Alan J. Kirkpatrick, Leonard K. Gashugi

Faculty Publications

CASE DESCRIPTION: The primary objective of this case is to describe realistic capital budgeting issues within a large organization. The case illustrates ways that staff inside a corporate finance department (and in related departments) position themselves in the capital planning process. The case also stresses steps that a large firm can take to leverage its size to gain the maximum benefit of investment projects. Further,, the case demonstrates sensitivity analyses in the capital budgeting process, and the resulting internal rates of return. We suggest the case be used to follow the related case “HDTV Systems”, which shows the firm as …

Wherefore Art Thou Guidelines? An Empirical Study Of White-Collar Criminal Sentencing And How The Gall Decision Effectively Eliminated The Sentencing Guidelines, S. Patrick Morin

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “Until the passage of the U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines in 1984, federal judges had relatively wide discretion in sentencing federal offenders up to the statutory maximum. This judicial discretion led to a disparity in the sentences of similarly situated offenders, particularly in white-collar cases. The Guidelines attempted to eliminate this disparity by establishing maximum and minimum sentences for certain offenses based on the characteristics of the crime. An important feature of the Guidelines system was its mandatory nature, which decreased and structured the judiciary‘s discretion within bounds set by Congress.

The mandatory application of the Guidelines resulted in stiff …

Central Bank Communication And Monetary Policy: The Case Of Central Bank Of Nigeria, Egbuna N. E.

Bullion

The importance of concise communication in monetary policy making cannot be over emphasised . A g o o d communication of policy definitely strengthens the institutional independence of central banks and enhances the effectiveness of monetary policy. However, no one single method could fit all when it comes to designing good communication strategies because central banks face different constraints as they try to fine-tune their messages. With current reforms and financial liberalization, there is added impetus for increased communication between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), market operators, stakeholders and the public in general. Monetary policy needs to be explained …

Electronic Banking In Nigeria: Problems And Prospects From The Consumer's Perspective, Agbada A.O

Bullion

This paper explores the adoption of electronic banking [e-banking] in Nigeria. It examines the problems and prospects of e-banking in Nigeria from the consumer's perspective. The research findings show that a number of problems ranging from human, operational and technical constraints hinder the maximum utilization of services provided through e-banking channels in Nigeria. However, the results from the study have also revealed that despite these problems, the rate of adoption of e-banking services in Nigeria is phenomenal as banks have recorded outstanding successes in some areas. Nigeria is a consuming nation and based on the experience from other sectors of …

Five Decades Of Agricultural Policies In Nigeria: What Roles Has Statistics Played?, Akinboyo O. I

Bullion

All over the country and internationally, the publications of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) such as the Annual Report and Statement of Accounts, the Statistical Bulletin, Economic and Financial Review, the Bullion and Nigeria: Major Economic and Banking Indicators and those of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) have become a veritable source of data and reference materials on Nigeria. Without basic i n f o r m a t i o n o n e c o n o m i c developments, it would be very difficult for policy makers to assess economic performances. The f o …

Nigerian Stock Market Reflection Of The Global Finance Crisis: An Evaluation, Sere- Ejembi A. A.

Bullion

With its roots in banking, the sub-prime mortgage crisis that commenced in the United States in 2007 soon resonated in other sectors of its financial system, and the economy, at large. It spread quickly to the developed economies in Europe, including the United Kingdom, and Asia. In the case of the Nigerian stock market, following initial relative insulation, the speed of contagion and response was comparatively slower. However, the effects began to manifest in the first quarter of 2008. The objective of this paper, therefore, is to review the global financial crisis, in the context of its recent effects on …

Investing Africa's External Reserves In Africa: Issues, Challenges And Prospects, Onwioduokit A. E.

Bullion

The paper underlined the challenges and opportunities for managing Africa's external reserves by Africans after identifying several pre-conditions for an African currency to emerge as international currency and noted that these conditions have not yet crystallized in Africa. Although African external reserves have grown over time the benefits of such growth in terms of facilitation of domestic financial markets and even the earning are not commensurate with the reserves growth rate. The non-convertibility of African currencies, volatile macroeconomic and sometimes volatile political environment coupled with the shallowness of the domestic markets are the main challenges that are faced by the …

Managerial Ownership And Firms' Information Environment, Soongsoo Han, Tony Kang, Gerald Lobo

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We examine the relation between managerial stock ownership and the firm’s information environment. We focus on three dimensions of the information environment: total, public, and private information precision (Barron, Kim, Lim and Stevens 1998). Our results suggest that firms’ total and public information precision are positively related to managerial ownership. In contrast, there is no clear pattern in private information precision across different levels of managerial ownership. We also observe that managerial ownership has a greater impact on the firm’s public information environment after the implementation of Regulation Fair Disclosure, suggesting that the regulation was effective in improving the firms’ …

Profitability Analysis Of Chinese Listed Firms: 1992-2004, Jianjun Niu, Heng Yue, Guohua Jiang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This research collects and analyses the profitability data of Chineselisted companies from 1992 to 2004. Results show that, on average, theprofitability of Chinese listed companies has declined over the period. Post-IPOearnings also exhibit a downward trend. A further analysis reveals that changes inlisted firms’ profitability ratio follow a strong mean reversion pattern.

Managerial Ownership, Corporate Monitoring And Audit Pricing, Soongsoo Han, Julia Higgs, Tony Kang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We study whether managerial ownership and corporate monitoring (board quality and analyst coverage) relate to audit pricing. Managerial ownership has been identified as a fraud risk factor under SAS 99. However, the role of ownership is not clear. Under an alignment view, high levels of stock ownership align management with shareholders. Under an entrenchment view, high levels of ownership may motivate management to be self interested. Corporate monitoring, as measured by analyst coverage and overall board quality (Gomper’s index), are associated with information quality. Audit pricing will be affected to the extent that auditors perceive monitoring as being relevant to …

The Enduring Ambivalence Of Corporate Law, Christopher M. Bruner

Scholarly Works

Prevailing theories of corporate law tend to rely heavily on strong claims regarding the corporate governance primacy and legitimacy of either the board or the shareholders, as the case may be. In this article I challenge the descriptive power of these theories as applied to widely held public corporations and advance an alternative, arguing that corporate law is, and will remain, deeply ambivalent - both doctrinally and morally - with respect to three fundamental and related issues: the locus of ultimate corporate governance authority, the intended beneficiaries of corporate production, and the relationship between corporate law and theachievement of the …

Sox Section 404 Material Weaknesses Related To Revenue Recognition, Dana R. Hermanson, Daniel M. Ivan, Susan H. Iva

Faculty Articles

The article analyzes disclosures of material weaknesses in internal control after the implementation of U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) 404 and summarizes the efforts of firms to remediate such material weaknesses. According to SOX section 404, management must issue a report on the effectiveness of the internal control of the firm over financial reporting. It notes that a report must be issued by the external auditor expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting.

Engineering Value Into Enterprise Risk Management; Six Sigma Techniques Can Improve The Quality Of Erm Processes And Enable Organizations To Manage Risks More Successfully, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Marcia Weidenmier Watson, Mark Zabel

Accounting Faculty Publications

Organizations should not only recognize and minimize traditional downside risks, but also embrace upside risks, or opportunities, as a strategy for success. According to a 2005 survey by management consulting firm Booz Allen, 87 percent of the market value lost by large companies with market capitalizations over US $1 billion was the result of strategic and operational blunders. Compliance failure, typically the focus of downside risk, destroyed only 13 percent of market value during the five-year study. Faced with this counter-intuitive finding, companies may wish to pursue a more balanced and positive approach to risk management. Enterprise risk management (ERM) …

After The Acquisition: Here Are Seven Steps To Successfully Integrating Finance And Accounting Functions After A Merger Or Acquisition, Barbara M. Tarasovich, Bridget Lyons, John Gerlach

WCBT Faculty Publications

Although much has been written regarding the factors critical to successful integration after a merger or acquisition, very little research has focused on the particulars of integrating the finance and accounting functions of the companies involved. As with overall business integration, detailed planning, effective communication, and speed of execution are critical. The authors recommend a seven-step process that will help balance the needs of the business during an acquisition as well as ensure financial controls are established. The overall steps provide the key activities to be accomplished and provide specific and explicit guidance. This seven-step process includes: 1. Begin planning, …

Ceo Characteristics, Ceo-Firm Match And Corporate Refocus Value, Sheng Huang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper investigates how CEO characteristics affect firm value through divestiture. Using a novel dataset tracking CEO’s career path, from which CEO’s talent and expertise are reasonably inferred, I find when CEOs have differing abilities across divisions of conglomerates, they more likely divest divisions that they are less qualified to manage, and focus on divisions of better match with their talents and expertise. The better match of their talents with firms’ retained assets is the source of value creation from refocusing divestiture. Divestitures that increase corporate focus but not improve the talent-asset match do not create value in long run. …

Consolidated Supervision Of Banks: Concept And Practices, U. Kama

Bullion

The paper has considered two basic issues in financial supervision. These are the separation of financial supervision from central banking and the rationale and challenges of establishing an integrated supervision structure in Nigeria. lt identified three basic functions of financial supervision as micro prudential, macro prudential and conduct-of-business supervision, which address systemic stability, financial soundness of individual institutions and consumer protection respectively . The paper is divided into six sections. Following this introduction is section ll which examines the conceptual and theoretical issues in consolidated supervision. Section lll reviews the experience of other jurisdictions in the practice of consolidated supervision. …

Integrated Financial Supervision For Nigeria: Emerging Issues And Challenges., Anachi Arua

Bullion

In the supervisory architecture of financial institutions have been of interest to policymakers and the academic. It began to be discussed in the late eighties when the Scandinavian countries were establishing a single supervisory authority in their country. The discussion heated up in the late nineties when the United Kingdom created the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and continued in this decade as many developed and developing countries consider the adoption of more integrated supervision structures. The paper considers the issues of separation of financial supervision from central banking and the rationale and challenges of establishing on integrated supervision structure in …

Is Nigeria Ready For Inflation Targeting, Mbutor O. Mbutor

Bullion

Inflation Targeting as a framework for monetary policy implementation simply describes a policy framework in which central banks accept and announce the realization of certain forecast targets of inflation, over a given time period, as the measure policy anchor and are accountable for deviations from actual inflation from the said target. The primary goal of the paper was to expose the prospects and challenges facing the implementation of inflation targeting in Nigeria. To put the subject in proper perspective, common terminologies often used in discussing lT were defined. The preconditions for effective lT were also highlighted. The paper has argued …

Analyst Coverage And The Cost Of Raising Equity Capital: Evidence From Underpricing Of Seasoned Equity Offerings, Robert M. Bowen, Xia Chen, Qiang Cheng

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Theorists have long recognized that information asymmetry among investors adversely affects the cost of raising equity capital (e.g., Diamond and Verrecchia 1991). When there is information asymmetry, relatively uninformed investors are reluctant to trade because of higher potential loss from transacting with informed investors (e.g., Glosten and Milgrom 1985; Kyle 1985). To trade, uninformed investors demand compensation for the risks of trading with informed investors (O’Hara 2003). In the case of issuing new equity, firms must issue shares at a discount to overcome the reluctance of uninformed investors. Such discounting leads to smaller proceeds to the firm and a higher …

Earnings Restatements, Changes In Ceo Compensation, And Firm Performance, Qiang Cheng, David Farber

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Prior research finds that earnings restatements are linked to CEOs' excessive option-based compensation and equity holdings. In this paper, we investigate whether firms that experience earnings restatements recontract with their CEOs to reduce their option-based compensation and if so, whether this leads to improved firm performance. Based on 289 restatement firms over the period 1997–2001, we find that the proportion of CEOs' compensation in the form of options declines significantly in the two years following the restatement. Furthermore, we document that this reduction is accompanied by a decrease in the riskiness of investments, as reflected in lower stock return volatility …

Managerial Ownership And Firms' Information Environment, Soongsoo Han, Tony Kang, Gerald Lobo

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We examine the relation between managerial stock ownership and the firm’s information environment. We focus on three dimensions of the information environment: total, public, and private information precision (Barron, Kim, Lim and Stevens 1998). Our results suggest that firms’ total and public information precision are positively related to managerial ownership. In contrast, there is no clear pattern in private information precision across different levels of managerial ownership. We also observe that managerial ownership has a greater impact on the firm’s public information environment after the implementation of Regulation Fair Disclosure, suggesting that the regulation was effective in improving the firms’ …

Does Earnings Quality Affect Information Asymmetry: Evidence From Trading Costs, Nilabhra Bhattacharya, Hemang Desai, Kumar Venkataraman

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

The adverse consequences of poor earnings quality have been the subject of significant debate among academics, practitioners and regulators. However, the empirical evidence on pricing implications of earnings quality is sparse and controversial. We examine one potential consequence of poor earnings quality - its impact on information asymmetry. We document that poor earnings quality increases the adverse selection risk as manifested in trading costs and lowers liquidity in financial markets. Both innate and discretionary components of earnings quality contribute significantly to information asymmetry. Further, poor earnings quality exacerbates information asymmetry around earnings announcements, especially for firms where earnings represent the …

Search For Optimal Ceo Compensation: Theory And Empirical Evidence, Melanie Cao, Rong Wang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We integrate an agency model with dynamic search equilibrium to study three important issues concerning executive compensation. We show that 1) the equilibrium pay-to-performance sensitivity depends positively on a firm’s specific risk, and negatively on its systematic risk, which offers a plausible explanation for the inconclusive empirical relationship between the pay-to-performance sensitivity and a firm’s total risk; 2) a growing economy simultaneously induces the growth in executive compensation and firm size; 3) the faster growth of executive compensation relative to the growth of firm size in the past decade is mostly due to the increase in firms’ specific risks.