Essays on Financial Markets

<p><b>This thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter 1 is the preliminaries. Chapter 2 to chapter 4 are the three main chapters of this thesis, which covers the U.S. market, international market, and the Chinese market, respectively. Chapter 5 is the discussion.</b></p> <p>Chapter 1 is the preliminaries. It introduces the setting and motivations for the three topics covered in this thesis.</p> <p>Chapter 2 investigates how equity exchange-traded fund (ETF) ownership affects the cost of debt. I find that, by facilitating short-selling activities to execute disciplinary effects, equity ETF ownership decreases a firm's cost of debt. This negative association between equity ETF ownership and the cost of debt is more pronounced for firms with weaker information environments and lower bond ratings. The disciplinary effect works through a more active short-selling market provided by equity ETF ownership. However, I fail to establish the corporate governance channel, which is consistent with Schmidt and Fahlenbrach (2017) and Heath, Macciocchi, Michaely, and Ringgenberg (2021).. Those results are also robust to endogeneity.</p> <p>Chapter 3 studies the predictive power of the trend strategy in the international stock market. Using data from 49 markets, I find that a trend signal exploiting the short-,intermediate-, and long-term price information can predict stock returns cross-sectionally in the international market. The significance of the trend strategy is associated with market-level characteristics such as macroeconomic conditions, culture, and the information environment. The trend premium is more pronounced in markets with a more advanced macroeconomic status, a higher level of information uncertainty and individualism, and better accessibility to foreign investors. Nevertheless, the trend strategy only outperforms the momentum strategy in a relatively short horizon.</p> <p>Chapter 4 investigates whether margin-trading in the Chinese stock market reflects information or sentiment. At the aggregate level, I find no evidence of information-driven or sentiment-driven margin-trading behavior. At the individual stock level, both information-driven and sentiment-driven margin-trading exists, which are relevant to firm characteristics. I also find the likelihood of sentiment-driven margin-trading significantly declined after the regulator enforced tighter rules for margin-trading in 2015.</p> <p>Chapter 5 summarizes the main findings of the three topics, discusses the implications of the findings, and points out the future direction for research.</p>

Assessing the Efficiency of Venture Capital Functioning in the Transforming Economy in UAE and China by a Mathematical Model

This article examines the evolution of approaches to the content of venture capital based on the evolution of venture capital and venture capital investment, post-industrial society, institutional theory, and experience of forming the venture capital market in developing economies. Hypotheses of the functioning of venture capital in the transforming economy of the UAE and China are proposed and tested. An economical and mathematical model for assessing the efficiency of venture capital functioning has been developed. It was found that there is a particular relationship between the national characteristics of the country’s venture capital industry and the capital invested in innovative industries, as well as the production efficiency of these industries. Moreover, the attractiveness of venture capital investments somehow increases with investments in other sectors in both countries. Since the Chinese market evolved earlier than UAE, it has the most remarkable characteristics, including higher capital workforce ratios and higher exports of science and technology-intensive products. In addition, the Chinese market has a high level of development and focuses on a sustainable financing cycle than UAE.

China’s Consumers Have Different Purchase Motivations for International Enterprises and Chinese Enterprises

Many Chinese consumers believe the service attitude of salespeople is very important for consumers to buy a product. However, compare with many local China enterprises, many international enterprises do not seem to realise it. Which generals the question: are consumers’ motivations for purchasing from these two types of enterprises different? The paper describes using an international shopping mall (A) and a Chinese shopping mall (B) as examples. The researchers randomly distributed a questionnaire survey to 110 consumers and analysis questionnaire result via the stepwise regression model. The researchers found consumers purchase goods from international enterprises (A) because of gender, and consumers buy goods from Chinese enterprise (B) as their age and the service attitude of salespeople. This paper confirms that the service attitude of salespeople may not the advantage of international enterprises, but the drawback of the research does not consider consumers to have different purchase motives for different enterprises. In the conclusion, the researchers posit that future research should examine whether consumers’ purchase motivations affect international companies to make profit in the Chinese market

An analysis of trade cooperation: Central region in China and ASEAN

China-ASEAN are the two huge markets in trade world, they can bring out greater dynamism from within their economies and contribute to regional economic development. This study explores the present situation on the trade between the Central region of China and ASEAN through empirical assessment and try to find the potential effects and trade flows between them. Firstly, we analysis the trade integration index, HM index, explicit comparative advantage index, and trade complementarity index. Finally, we use the gravity model of international trade and data on 2006–2018. The bilateral trade relations between the central region and ASEAN are getting closer, but the central region has not yet become the major trade area of ASEAN countries in the Chinese market. The bilateral economic development level plays a positive role in promoting the export trade between the Central region and ASEAN, while the bilateral distance plays a negative role in difficulty. The empirical results show that trade potential between the Central region and Indonesia and the Philippines is huge, and there is still opportunity for the development of the trade potential with Thailand. The trade prospective with Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam is limited, and new approaches need to be developed to achieve further trade cooperation.

A preliminary survey of Chinese ceramics in Champa archaeological sites | Khảo sát sơ bộ về đồ gốm sứ Trung Quốc tại các địa điểm khảo cổ học Champa

The Champa Kingdom was recognized popularly as a typical maritime polity in premodern Southeast Asia. Thanks to its strategic location between the Chinese market and Southeast Asia and South Asia, the Champa coast became a frequent destination of foreign traders and merchant ships for centuries. Ceramics was among the essential commodities in trade between Champa and international traders. This article relies on archaeological records and field surveys at Champa sites in central Vietnam to provide an overview of the distribution of Chinese ceramics in central Vietnam from the 7th to 10th centuries. Based on this primary data set, the author will discuss the trade and diplomatic relations between Champa and China and their implication to Champa’s state development. Vương quốc Champa được ghi nhận như một vương quốc biển điển hình ở Đông Nam Á thời kỳ cổ trung đại. Nhờ vị trí chiến lược giữa thị trường Trung Quốc với các nước Đông Nam Á và Nam Á, bờ biển Champa trở thành điểm đến thường xuyên của các thương nhân và tàu buôn nước ngoài trong nhiều thế kỷ. Gốm sứ là một trong những mặt hàng thiết yếu trong giao thương giữa Champa và các thương nhân quốc tế. Bài viết này dựa trên các dữ liệu khảo cổ học và kết quả khảo sát thực địa tại các địa điểm khảo cổ học Champa ở miền Trung Việt Nam để cung cấp một cái nhìn mang tính tổng thể về sự phân bố của đồ gốm sứ Trung Quốc ở miền Trung Việt Nam từ thế kỷ thứ 7 đến thế kỷ thứ 10. Dựa trên bộ dữ liệu cơ bản này, tác giả sẽ thảo luận về quan hệ bang giao và thương mại giữa Champa với Trung Quốc thời Đường và ý nghĩa của mối quan hệ này đối với sự phát triển nhà nước của Champa.

Chinese consumers' selection of wine purchasing channels: influence of demographic characteristics, perceived value factors, social factors and wine knowledge

PurposeThe selection of purchasing channels by wine consumers indirectly affects buying experience and satisfaction, therefore, it is of great practical significance to study consumers' preference on channel selection. The purpose of this study is to investigate the current state of consumer selection for purchasing channel and the corresponding influencing factors.Design/methodology/approachA total of 2,976 valid questionnaires were collected by convenience sampling from 34 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions of China in 2020 via the Internet, yielding a response rate of 82.2%. A categorical statistical approach was used to understand consumer's selection for each channel. Besides, binary logistic regression model was used to analyze the factors affecting consumers' channel selection.FindingsThe results show that Chinese wine consumers' main purchasing channels are as follows: supermarket/mall, wine specialty stores, comprehensive e-business flagship stores, comprehensive e-business individual stores, restaurants and short video and live streaming platforms. Estimation results showed that among the 12 influencing factors in 4 categories, consumers' education and some other factors significantly influenced consumers' decision on wine purchasing channels.Research limitations/implicationsLimited by time and experimental conditions, this study did not analyze the trend of wine consumers' purchasing channel selection. Future work would concentrate on multi-year data and conduct longitudinal comparative analysis.Originality/valueThis study innovatively subdivides the currently popular wine sales channels in Chinese market and conducts research related to consumer channel selection. The results of the study can provide reference for wine producers and distributors to update their strategic layout and also help various channels to understand the characteristics of their customer groups for targeted marketing.

Tempting the Chinese Dragon: Political Economy of Chinese Tourism to New Zealand

<p>This thesis explores the international political economy (IPE) of outbound Chinese tourism within the context of New Zealand. New Zealand as a case study shows the impact of tourism changes on a nation reliant on tourism. It demonstrates the growing impact of China as an international economic and political power. It utilizes a mixed method approach to conduct a document-based and literature-based investigation and concludes Chinese tourism is reshaping the New Zealand political economy. New Zealand marketing strategies have shifted to cater to the Chinese market but could expand to meet these different interests, including culturescapes and collectivism. The economic impact of Chinese tourism has been broadly positive for New Zealand but far more could be done to leverage tourism. New Zealand is an expensive destination and could target high value tourists. This would require more quality offerings and making full use of the linkages between tourism and trade. More can be done to maximise the value added by e-commerce post visitation. The growth of Chinese tourism has uncovered deficiencies in New Zealand and stimulated debates around how to ensure the New Zealand tourism industry is sustainable. New Zealand policymakers and commentators are debating how to shift tourists to the shoulder seasons and the regions and how to maintain sustainable tourism numbers. The rise of Chinese inbound tourism to New Zealand has also uncovered an infrastructure deficit. By examining the overall state of Chinese tourism to New Zealand, this thesis creates a comprehensive assessment of how Chinese outbound tourism is shaping New Zealand’s political economy.</p>

Tempting the Chinese Dragon: Political Economy of Chinese Tourism to New Zealand

<p>This thesis explores the international political economy (IPE) of outbound Chinese tourism within the context of New Zealand. New Zealand as a case study shows the impact of tourism changes on a nation reliant on tourism. It demonstrates the growing impact of China as an international economic and political power. It utilizes a mixed method approach to conduct a document-based and literature-based investigation and concludes Chinese tourism is reshaping the New Zealand political economy. New Zealand marketing strategies have shifted to cater to the Chinese market but could expand to meet these different interests, including culturescapes and collectivism. The economic impact of Chinese tourism has been broadly positive for New Zealand but far more could be done to leverage tourism. New Zealand is an expensive destination and could target high value tourists. This would require more quality offerings and making full use of the linkages between tourism and trade. More can be done to maximise the value added by e-commerce post visitation. The growth of Chinese tourism has uncovered deficiencies in New Zealand and stimulated debates around how to ensure the New Zealand tourism industry is sustainable. New Zealand policymakers and commentators are debating how to shift tourists to the shoulder seasons and the regions and how to maintain sustainable tourism numbers. The rise of Chinese inbound tourism to New Zealand has also uncovered an infrastructure deficit. By examining the overall state of Chinese tourism to New Zealand, this thesis creates a comprehensive assessment of how Chinese outbound tourism is shaping New Zealand’s political economy.</p>