A Financial Force to be Reckoned With?

Author(s):  
Veljko Fotak ◽  
Xuechen Gao ◽  
William L. Megginson

This chapter introduces the 35 funds that meet the authors’ definition of SWFs, discusses their evolution from stabilization funds to SWFs and illustrates the differences and similarities between the various types of funds. The authors discuss the documented importance of SWF funding sources and survey the normative literature describing how SWFs should allocate funds. They then summarize the empirical literature studying how SWFs actually do allocate funds across asset classes, geographically, and across industries. An assessment of empirical studies examines the impact of SWF stock investments on target firm financial and operating performance, and finds universal support for a positive announcement period stock price increase. Finally, the authors point out the unresolved issues and possible extensions in SWF research, and assess how the massive decline in oil export revenues by major SWF sponsor nations such as Abu Dhabi, Russia, Kuwait, and Norway is likely to impact SWF investment levels in coming years.

2021 ◽  
pp. 097491012110616
Author(s):  
Natalia I. Doré ◽  
Aurora A. C. Teixeira

The factors required to achieve sustainable economic growth in a country are debated for decades, and empirical research in this regard continues to grow. Given the relevance of the topic and the absence of a comprehensive, systematic literature review, we used bibliometric techniques to examine and document several aspects in the empirical literature related to growth, from 1991 to 2020. Five main results are worth highlighting: (a) the share of empirical articles on economic growth show a clear upward trend; (b) among all the groups of countries considered, the emerging economies (EEs) have received the most scientific attention; (c) the economic growth processes of the Latin American and Caribbean EEs have observed negligible scientific attention; (d) the very long-run studies comprise a residual share among the empirical literature on growth; (e) the extant empirical studies on economic growth have addressed mainly the impact of “macroeconomic conditions.” Our findings suggest there is a need to redirect the empirical growth agenda, so as to encourage more scientific attention devoted to the analysis of key determinants of economic growth in the very long run. There should also be increased scrutiny of the processes of economic growth in Latin American and Caribbean EEs


2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 18-26
Author(s):  
Gaël Le Floc’h ◽  
Laurent Scaringella

Purpose Literature on business models (BMs) has grown ve ry rapidly since the beginning of the twenty-first century, and although the theoretical and empirical literature has developed significantly, the number of practical and management-oriented studies remains relatively low. A recent debate in the field has focused on the definition of BM invariants: sensing customer needs, creating customer value, sustaining value creation and monetizing value. Extant empirical studies have mainly focused on multinational enterprises (MNEs) and successful BMs; however, this study concentrates on the failure of BMs in the case of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). An important source of a BM’s failure is the misalignment between MNE and SME involved in an acquisition. Design/methodology/approach Looking through the lens of the four BM constants, the aim of this study is to examine the case of the acquisition Domestic Heating (an SME) by Ventilair (an MNE). Findings Although both separate entities were achieving good results and each had a specific BM, the acquisition produced poor results mainly due to the misalignment of the two BMs. The findings lead the authors to make recommendations to practitioners on avoiding BM misalignment during an acquisition. Originality/value The authors encourage practitioners to enhance communication, promote organizational experiments, acknowledge specificities of both entities, foster employee commitment and ensure homogeneity in IT system usage.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 643-655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominik Zimon

Research background: ISO 9001 with its requirements gives a company a guidance on the definition of the quality management system architecture, based on the process approach and the indications for its continuous improvement. Despite the general emphasis to the benefits of implementation of ISO 9001 in the literature, there is a still lack of research concerning the actual impact of quality management systems for improving specific logistics processes. The research is focused on the Polish market because there is no research in the subject literature which concerns the impact of the implementation of quality management systems on the improvement of logistic processes in Polish enterprises. Purpose of the article: The focus of this publication was to examine the impact of the implementation of the requirements of ISO 9001 for process improvement supply logistics. Methods: Empirical studies were carried out in September and October 2014 on a group of 17 companies with implemented and certified quality management systems according to ISO 9001. The research tool was a questionnaire survey sent to management representatives (25 respondents) and workers (140 respondents). The surveys were supplemented with direct interviews with employees of the companies. Findings: Based on the survey it can be stated that the quality management systems, accord-ing to ISO 9001, had a fairly large impact on improving procurement processes. This is particularly evident in areas including relationships with suppliers, quality control, workflow and communication, both internal and external. The positive aspects achieved through the implementation of quality management systems due to the fact that the ISO 9001 standard in its commitments puts great emphasis on the organization of the procurement process.


Author(s):  
Michael Klausner

This chapter examines the empirical literature on corporate law and governance in the United States. Four areas of the US corporate governance literature are discussed: (i) state competition to produce corporate law, (ii) independent boards, (iii) takeover defenses, and (iv) the use of corporate governance indices. The chapter concludes that these areas of research reflect varying degrees of success. The literature on state competition has been a major success. We know much more in this area as a result of empirical analysis in this area than we did on the basis of theory alone. At the other extreme is the literature on takeover defenses and the related literature that uses governance indices as measures of governance quality. Those empirical literatures are plagued by misunderstandings of how takeovers and takeover defenses work, and many results are therefore not as informative as they appear to be. In between is the literature on the impact of an independent board. Here, empiricists faced perhaps insurmountable challenges in proving causation, but nonetheless exposed informative associations.


1988 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-128
Author(s):  
W. Rayack

This article uses a microunit analysis to examine cyclical changes in the distribution of earnings. The analysis departs from earlier studies in several respects. It relies on a more cautious definition of family income class, calculates recession-induced changes in the Gini coefficient by estimating losses for each household in the sample, and measures the distributional effects of cyclical changes in wage rates. The procedures guard against a bias toward findings of regressivity. Yet the results indicate a generally regressive pattern that is complicated by substantial losses among certain high-wage categories. At the same time, the approach identifies several channels through which losses are distributed. Specifically, the analysis links the pattern of losses to allocation rules based on occupation and tenure status. Moreover, the results indicate that wage-decay effects reinforce the regressive tendencies. These tenure and wage effects have not received attention in prior empirical studies of recession incidence although theory suggests that they play a major role.


Author(s):  
Alessandra Venturini ◽  
Sona Kalantaryan ◽  
Claudio Fassio

This chapter provides an extensive review of the existing empirical literature that analyses the impact of (mostly high-skilled) migration on the innovative performances of firms, regions, and countries. The authors discuss the different features of the immigrant labour force, such as education, occupation, age, and internal ethnic diversity, that play a role in the contribution of immigrants to innovation. By categorizing the existing studies on the basis of the definition of innovation and migration that they adopt, as well as on the specific level of analysis chosen (at the firm, regional, or country level), the chapter also engages in an in-depth discussion about the policy implications that can be drawn from the existing evidence. Finally, the chapter outlines some suggestions about the implementation of appropriate immigration policies, able to truly foster innovation in European countries.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 1641-1646
Author(s):  
Mahije Mustafi ◽  
Sulbije Memeti Karemani

This paper analyzes the empirical literature that examines the effects of fiscal policy shocks on economic activity. Discussion related to fiscal policy is related to the impacts on economic growth is quite current, because the development of appropriate fiscal instruments can lead to steady and sustainable economic growth in the countries. The role of fiscal policy and the impact on economic activity are among the most controversial issues among academics and policymakers. In the absence of any "active" intervention in government expenses, tax revenues move automatically with the economic cycle. I can also say that government transfers can be considered as help for the unemployed, they grow as the economy slows down and unemployment rises, while labor tax returns, capital and consumption flows are declining. Resistive actions occur when the business cycle improves. In recent years, empirical studies have shown that private consumption and GDP have increased significantly, while government expenses have been severely reduced. Most empirical evidence suggests that fiscal expansion increases production and consumption and worsens the trade balance.The Kenzie and Neoclassical schools have different views on the impact of public spending on economic activity. This study has completed a detailed review of many important, relevant scientific havepapersthat empirically document these impacts. As a conclusion, we can state that although the fiscal policy theory is well developed, until recently has not received much attention from the (applied) economic practice. The first category is aimed at assessing macroeconomic impact from major reductions in the budget deficit, and the second study, in general, analyzes the stabilizing capabilities of fiscal policy variables. According to Blanchard and Perotti, the dynamic effects of the discretionary fiscal policy of macroeconomic variables have recently focused on the omissions of autoregressive vectors (2002). Some empirical studies have found a link between budget deficits, money growth and inflation, both in industrialized economies as well as in growing economies. For industrial economies most of these studies have come to the conclusion that there is little evidence that government debt affects the growth of money and inflation. In developing countries, it is often argued that high inflation is realized when governments face large and ongoing deficits financed by money emission. A change in taxes or public expenses (the so-called “fiscal shocks”) at any time prevents their development.


2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 558-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivo Bischoff ◽  
Peter Bönisch ◽  
Peter Haug ◽  
Annette Illy

The existing empirical literature on the impact of vertical grants on local public-sector efficiency yields mixed results. Given the fact that vertical financial equalization systems often reduce differences in fiscal capacity, we argue that empirical studies based on cross-sectional data may yield a positive relationship between grants and efficiency of public service production even when the underlying causal effect is not. We provide a simple illustrative theoretical model to show the logic of our argument and illustrate its relevance by an empirical case study for the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. We show that our main argument of an inference-disturbing effect applies to those existing studies that are more optimistic about the impact of vertical grants. Finally, we argue that it may disturb the inference drawn from studies in a number of other countries where vertical grants—intended or not—concentrate in fiscally weak municipalities.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 197-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudheer Chava ◽  
Shunlan Fang ◽  
Praveen Kumar ◽  
Saumya Prabhat

We review the recent theoretical and empirical literature on debt covenants with a particular focus on how creditor governance after covenant violations can influence the borrower's corporate policies. From the theoretical literature, we identify the key trade-offs that help explain the observed heterogeneity in covenant types, inclusion, likelihood of violation, and postviolation renegotiation flexibility. Empirically, we first review the literature that deals with ex ante evidence on covenant design and the various factors that influence covenant design; we next review the ex post evidence on the impact of technical covenant violations on the borrower. We then discuss limitations of the existing theoretical and empirical studies and conclude with some directions for future research in this burgeoning area.


Author(s):  
David Hillier ◽  
Patrick McColgan ◽  
Athanasios Tsekeris

AbstractWe examine the impact of incentive compensation on the riskiness of acquisition decisions before and after the passage of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX). Before SOX, equity-based compensation was positively related to changes in risk around acquisition decisions, but this relationship weakened after the introduction of SOX. The drop in post-SOX acquisition-related risk stems from how managers respond to compensation-based incentives in the new regulatory environment. We show that executive stock options and pay-risk sensitivity drive post-SOX managerial responsiveness to risk-taking incentives. We also document a post-SOX value-enhancing effect on long-term stock-price performance and total factor productivity through these same incentive compensation mechanisms. The results are robust to selection bias, simultaneity, measurements of risk, and the definition of incentive compensation.


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