This thesis examines how industry differences affect both corporate financial policies and valuation. Chapter 1 studies the impact of a firm‟s product market power, through the channel of business risk, on its dividend policy. Using three measures of market power – the Herfindahl-Hirschman...

We jointly study the impact of financial constraints on Australian companies' investment decisions and demand for liquidity. By examining a large sample of Australian firms over the period 1990–2003, we find that financial constraints not only reduce the sensitivity of investment to the...

Using panel data methodology, the determinants of capital structure in 34 Australia listed property trusts (A-REITs) are investigated for the period 2003-2008. Empirical results reveal that profitability, growth opportunity, and operational risk are negatively related to leverage while size is...

Past literature attempts to resolve the issue of the motivation behind managers' choice of a given capital structure. Despite several decades of intensive research, there is still no consensus about which theory dominates capital structure decisions. The present study empirically investigates...

This study examines the divide between finance theory and practice by analysing thesignificance of the determinants of capital structure choice among 123 listed firms on the JSE, todetermine whether these firms follow the trade-off theory or the pecking-order theory.Data obtained from...

Academicians and practitioners are becoming increasingly interested inthe economics of Information Technology (IT). In part, this intereststems from the increased role that IT now plays in the strategicthinking of most large organizations, and from the significant dollarcosts expended by these...

The aim of this paper is to explain Australian R&D capitalisation and voluntary disclosure. It is argued that the discretionary choices available to management in Australia with respect to the accounting for and the disclosure of R&D expenditure and activities can be explained by the reduction...

The theory of Agency, specifically that developed by Jesen and Meckling (1976), will be the subject of examination. Agency theory has been the subject of extensive research since its introduction in modern form by Jensen and Meckling (1976). The generality of the theory of Agency appears...

The marketing and operations management arms in a firm must work in coordination – marketing efforts to create demand go to waste if supply is suboptimal, and vice versa. However, achieving this coordination has remained a long-standing problem, because in most firms these units are managed in...

Two complementary sources of information are studied in a multiperiod agency model. One is an accounting source which partially but credibly conveys the agent’s private information through accounting recognition. The other is an unverified communication by the agent (i.e., a self-report). In a...