http://hdl.handle.net/2123/1983 2013-05-21T11:50:16Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/6655 Title: Commitment Mechanisms and Blood Donation Authors: Craig, Ashley Abstract: The Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS) recently introduced a policy of compulsory appointments for blood donations. This thesis examines the effect of these appointments on donor satisfaction and donation behaviour. Overall, aggregate tests indicate that the policy transition initially had a negative effect. However, conditional on having donated once after the transition, donors are more likely to return. In order to isolate individual mechanisms that contribute to these results, a survey of blood donors is used to test two specific theories from behavioural economics. On the positive side, appointments are found to increase the likelihood that a donor will return, possibly by circumventing a problem of time-inconsistent preferences. However, the results also support a theory from the marketing literature that appointments change donors' expectations, causing wait time to be more negatively perceived. Furthermore, this is found to cause a significant change in donors' intended actions. 2009-10-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/6614 Title: Asset Prices, Monetary Policy and Macroeconomic Stability Authors: Stone, Sophie Abstract: A focal point of macroeconomic policy analysis over the past decade has been whether central banks should respond to changes in asset prices. This thesis addresses the question from the distinct perspective of equilibrium determinacy. By obtaining the conditions for equilibrium determinacy, it is possible to ascertain whether a central bank could induce additional volatility in an economy by adopting a monetary policy rule which incorporates asset prices. This thesis employs a New Keynesian model with a nancial accelerator developed by Bernanke, Gertler and Gilchrist (1999) to analyse the e¤ects on equilibrium determinacy. In contrast to most of the related literature, the principal finding of this thesis is that a central bank can respond to asset prices without inducing additional volatility in the economy. Moreover, responding to asset prices actually decreases the likelihood of indeterminacy. This can be attributed to the substitutability between responding to inflation and asset prices present in a New Keynesian model with a financial accelerator. The key implication is that central banks should take asset prices into account when designing monetary policy. 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/6613 Title: The Hold-up Problem in the Presence of Free Trade Agreement Negotiations Authors: Wei, Wenjie Abstract: This paper examines how the underinvestment that results from the hold-up problem is affected when there is some probability of reaching a free trade agreement (FTA). This paper examines the canonical domestic hold-up problem in an international context. It considers an input supplier undertaking one-sided cost-reducing relationship-specific investment to produce an input for a final-good producer. Once the FTA is reached, both the final-good producer and input supplier face foreign competition. This study finds that it is possible for the presence of FTA negotiations to either aggravate or alleviate the domestic hold-up problem. The total effect of the presence of FTA negotiations on ex-ante investment incentives can be decomposed into an “output competitive effect” and an “input substitution effect”. Both effects can be further decomposed into a “strategic effect” and a “cost effect”. The fundamental driving forces behind the “strategic effect” and “cost effect” are the characteristics of the cost function for the non-standardised input, the characteristics of the final-good’s demand function, and the relative efficiency of the two final-good producers in the two countries. In addition, the probability of reaching the FTA serves as an “intensifier” of the aggravation or alleviation. The modification cost of the foreign input serves as a “protector” for the domestic non-standardised input against competition from the cheaper foreign substitutes. 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/6441 Title: Ethnic Conflict: A Model of Concessions Authors: Samuel, Thampapillai Abstract: The Coase Theorem suggests that the ability of completely informed agents to make transfers should generally avert conflict. This thesis considers a complete information model of ethnic conflict where the dominated group consists of heterogeneous agents, but the dominant group can only bargain with the dominated group as a whole. This broadly captures a political system with race-based parties and coalitions. Moreover in this thesis the dominant group can make credible ex-ante transfers to the dominated group outside a standard bargaining framework. Then conditions arise where conflict occurs. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/6440 Title: Equilibrium Price Dispersion: A Model of Intermediated Search with Repeated Interaction Authors: Cusbert, Thomas Abstract: This thesis develops a model in which homogeneous producers and merchants interact repeatedly in a search market. Merchants are able to reduce the cost of search by o ering trading certainty to pro- ducers with whom they have a preexisting relationship. Equilibria are characterised in Markov strategies, and it is found that price- dispersed equilibria exist in asymmetric strategies. Conditions in which a price-dispersed equilibrium can be welfare improving com- pared to a single-price equilibrium are found, and two extensions to the basic model are provided. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/6439 Title: Pricing Decisions by Australian General Practitioners Authors: Gilboud, Elina Abstract: In the Australian market for primary healthcare, some General Practitioners (GPs) bulk bill patients while others charge them a direct fee. The prevalence of these two fee structures means that patients are paying different prices for the same service. From a policy perspective, universal bulk billing is preferred since this leads to more equitable access to free primary healthcare. The empirical observation that bulk billing and fee charging GPs can exist in a single location has not been explained in the literature. This thesis seeks to explain the observation by differentiating GPs into those who provide long consultations and those who provide short consultations. Given the nature of policy in the market, these two types of GPs have different incentives when deciding whether to bulk bill or charge a fee. The hypothesis put forward in this thesis is that GPs who have long consultations will prefer to charge a fee while GPs who have short consultations will prefer to bulk bill. 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/6274 Title: THE FORGOTTEN SECONDS: EXAMINING PRIMARY AND SECONDARY 457 Authors: Joanne, Winning Abstract: Over the past decade workers employed under the temporary skilled 457 visa category have aroused much controversy in Australia. Indeed a recent Australian Government inquiry proposed some significant changes to the 457 visa category. However while there has been discussion of 457 visa holders in the popular press over the years, there has been a dearth of academic research in the area. In order to build on this limited knowledge, this thesis analyses both primary and secondary 457 visa holders within the Australian labour market, and in particular, within the Australian beef industry. Taken together this thesis seeks to give a voice to a group of male and female non- English speaking background (NESB) migrant workers employed in what is often regarded as ‘dirty’ and undesirable work. Analysis is particularly directed to secondary 457 visa holders, who have been virtually forgotten by key government organisations including the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC). The research analyses the experiences and attitudes of primary and secondary visa workers undertaking slaughtering, boning, and meat packing work within one large abattoir in the Australian state of Queensland. In doing so, it seeks to fill both an empirical and theoretical ‘gap’ through exploring how migration status and gender shape migrant entry into specific labour markets, as well as the attachment of migrants to particular jobs, and the future intentions of migrants to seek permanent residency. The thesis argues that migrant networks, both in Australia and Brazil, have played an important role in encouraging temporary migrant workers into the Australian beef industry. Similarly, the study highlights the strength of (gendered and occupational) network ties which have ultimately shaped NESB migrant women’s location within this unskilled segment of the labour market. Further the thesis identifies that the majority of 457 visa workers in the study reported a strong desire to remain in Australia. 2009-10-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/5316 Title: A New Paradigm of Entrepreneurial Leadership: the mediating role of influence, vision and context Authors: Huynh, Lancy Abstract: Abstract This research project explores Entrepreneurial Leadership as a new way of understanding the entrepreneur. By exploring this phenomenon, the project aims to help the field of entrepreneurship move from a position of fragmentation to consolidation. A review of the both the entrepreneurship and leadership fields will conclude that entrepreneurship focuses on the individual entrepreneur/leader whereas leadership literature explores the significance of context and followers. A hypothetical case of the sports leader who is also an entrepreneur is utilized to provide insight into the literature. From the review, the emerging themes of influence, vision and contextual boundaries were uncovered. These themes were the foundation for a case study research strategy whereby the experiences of Aqua, Wheeler and Batter were sought to understand the emerging themes. It was found that the ability to influence other people in an entrepreneurial business context was stronger then that of a sports leadership role. Secondly, the individuals believed they created their own vision while the realisation of their goals was more self-influenced in the business context. Lastly it was shown that contextual boundaries were not restricted to a leadership environment as stated in the literature, but also existed in the entrepreneurial business context. The study of Entrepreneurial Leadership is in need for further development before an indepth synthesis of the field can be established. 2009-07-23T12:10:44Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/5315 Title: Large Pure Internet Firms and Theories of International Business: Australia as a Foreign Internet Market Authors: Nairn, Hamish Abstract: ABSTRACT: Large pure internet firms challenge key assumptions in international business theories. This paper considers the relevance of the eclectic paradigm and ‘born global’ theories to large purely internet based multinationals. By researching four case studies of firms operating in the Australian market, evidence is found for a need to update the theory. Specifically, there is a need to consider the elevated importance of the consumer as a critical resource. Secondly, these firms operate in a market that is borderless and where market entry is a spectrum. Third, complex networking relationships break down boundaries between internal and external. Theory must be developed to analyse the post-born global firm. 2009-07-23T12:08:34Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/5314 Title: Unlikely Marriages: An Examination of Customer-Visible Partnerships Between Prestige Brands and Mass-Market Distributors Authors: Fetherstone, Julia Abstract: The prestige goods industry is founded on exclusivity and premium pricing. The challenge for the industry is extracting that premium from the greatest possible number of consumers (the mass-market), while retaining the exclusivity that permits the extraction of that premium. Prestige / mass-market partnerships (PMMP) – one-off, co-branded partnerships between prestige designers and mass-market clothing retailers are increasingly used by participants in the industry to negotiate that precarious balance between volume sales and premium pricing. Exclusivity is the key source of competitive advantage for prestige brands; that exclusivity would appear to be prima facie compromised by undertaking a PMMP. A review of the literature in branding, strategy and organisational research, it was found that none of these schools would direct a prestige partner to undertake a PMMP. Yet PMMPs persist and proliferate in the fashion industry. Either the prestige partners need a new strategy or researchers need a new paradigm, or both. The question is: which is it? This thesis has used a single case narrative to get inside a PMMP through the voice of the designer. It then provided three separate expert readings of that narrative. Those expert readings were found to have some explanatory power in relation to PMMPs but were unable to capture the rich tapestry of drivers on the prestige partner side. The dominant paradigms neglect the entrepreneur as a unit of analysis, over-rely on rational, linear models to explain a phenomenon that defies such categorization, and fail to appreciate the highly-specific context of the prestige fashion industry. iv To achieve this end, the literature on entrepreneurial opportunism was introduced. From the prestige side, PMMPs can be conceived of as four related opportunity events – creative, business, learning and personal. Next, structuration theory was introduced as a means to analyse the context surrounding PMMPs. It was found that the designers is both constrained and enabled by the prestige fashion context; some counter-orthodox behaviour is permitted, and indeed encouraged, but the limits of acceptability are still clearly defined by the community of practitioners. To capture the interaction between the entrepreneur, the opportunity and the context analysis, a model of drivers based on Sahlman’s (1996) PCDO model was proposed. This thesis has found that the drivers motivating prestige designers to enter PMMPs are significantly more nuanced and less linear than convention structure-strategy analyses might wish. Starting with the entrepreneur as the central unit of analysis is the most effective way to capture the range of drivers that stimulate a designer towards a PMMP. 2009-07-23T04:21:04Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/4115 Title: Drama, Narrative and Charismatic Leadership Authors: Sharma, Abhimanyu Abstract: Since the 1970s, management scholars have been captivated by the emotional and symbolic aspects of leadership, particularly charismatic leadership — a form of influence independent of tradition and formal authority. More recently, dramaturgical scholars have sought to augment orthodox understandings of charisma by examining leadership as a ‘performing art’: a ‘front stage’ social interaction between ‘actor’ (leader) and ‘audience’ (followers). Whereas existing research has examined the nature of charismatic leadership through, for example, impression management and social constructionism, this thesis suggests that dramaturgical scholars have largely neglected to demonstrate the value of the theatrical metaphor by testing, evaluating and building on extant theory through a case study leader. The thesis seeks to augment extant theory by revealing the importance of i) ‘narrative and storytelling’, and ii) the ‘stage management’ of leader performance to the audience’s attribution and maintenance of what constitutes a ‘charismatic’ leader. Accordingly, this thesis develops a narratologically informed dramaturgical framework of analysis to examine six public performance texts by a case study ‘charismatic leader’ — Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. The framework is tendered as a useful device through which narrative and storytelling, impression management, organisational outcomes, and the social construction of charismatic leadership may be further examined. 2009-03-11T05:40:34Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/4083 Title: Performance of Active Extension Strategies in the Australian Equities Market Authors: Turner, James Abstract: This dissertation examines the performance of active extension strategies, also known as ‘130/30’, in the Australian equities market. This strategy involves introducing short positions to 30% of the value of a fund while increasing the number of long positions to 130%, providing 100% net exposure to the market while giving the ability to take a larger number of active positions. A detailed analysis of the factors affecting performance is explored using a simulation approach based on eight years of historical returns for the constituents of the S&P/ASX 200 index and a variety of realistic cost assumptions. This study builds on previous analysis by using a simulation approach that allows a larger number of contributing factors to be analysed with greater precision. There is also a unique advantage to using active extension strategies in the Australian market, as a higher level of benchmark concentration relative to other major developed market indexes should lead to a higher performance increase from active extension strategies over traditional long-only portfolios. This is also one of the first analyses of this kind in the Australian market and should have a high degree of relevance to institutional investors considering active extension strategies. This study finds a statistically significant increase in performance from active extension strategies over equivalent long-only portfolios, holding all other factors constant. This increase is greatest for managers with higher levels of skill, where the manager is equally skilled at picking long or short positions. The performance increase from active extension portfolios is greatest where any tracking error limit is high and costs are low. Volatility and cross-sectional dispersion of returns, two factors hypothesised in the literature to affect the relative advantage of active extension strategies, are found to have no discernable effect. Similarly, there is no measurable difference in relative performance in rising or falling markets. Overall, this study concludes that there is a performance gain in relaxing the long-only constraint, provided costs are low, any tracking error target is not extremely low, and the manager has a reasonable degree of skill in selecting stocks both long and short. 2009-02-26T03:25:09Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/4082 Title: Development of a Forecasting Model for Hedge Fund Failure: A Survival Analysis Approach Authors: Ng, Michael Siu Fung Abstract: Well-known biases associated with hedge fund data have created difficulties in analysing the factors behind the failure of hedge funds. This study was interested in quantifying the factors influencing hedge fund failure and to construct a framework for forecasting the time varying probability of survival for individual hedge funds. Based on a robust filter for the identification of failure times, a Cox proporational hazards model was used to determine the effects of historical performance and fund characteristics on true hedge fund failure. Covariates included fund size, return measures, leverage , strategy, liquidity, minimum investment, fee structure and domicile. By adopting an evaluation procedure developed from the theory of signal detection, it was found that the specification of the Cox proportional hazards model incorporating fixed factors had predictive skills for forecasting the occurrence of failure in individual hedge funds. Importantly, the model is robust against variations in covariate definition, evaluation timing, data filter as well as the thresholds used to identify failure times. 2009-02-26T03:25:01Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/4081 Title: Effects on Fragmentation and Market Quality When ASX Moves Towards a More Anonymous Market Authors: Teo Shi Ni, Cecilia Abstract: This thesis addresses the question of whether the anonymization of broker identifiers has an effect on market quality through the natural experiment on the Australian Securities Exchange. We show that the removal of broker identifiers on the ASX has a significant impact on the market quality measures. We confirm that the removal of broker identifiers effects on a fall in traded value, an increase in transaction costs and an increase in intraday volatility. Results indicate that the large special crossings exhibit the best market quality measures in the anonymous regime. Specifically, there is a strong signal that the better informed institutions and their brokers, who are mostly active in the larger stocks gain more advantage from their position after the market reform. Further, we obtain strong results that larger firms benefit more from a transparent market. We conclude that there is value in greater pre-trade transparency in the form of the disclosure of broker identification. 2009-02-26T03:24:55Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/4080 Title: Illegal Insider Trading and its Differential Impact on Liquidity on the CBOE, NYSE, and NASDAQ Authors: Rahman, Rizwan Tanvir Abstract: This study examines the differential impact of illegal insider trading on liquidity in the alternative market structures of the NYSE (specialist), NASDAQ (dealer), and the CBOE (hybrid). Using US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) prosecuted insider trades, we investigate changes in bid ask spread measures. This study contributes to, and extends, the literature on insider trading in several ways. Firstly, by specifically examining SEC prosecuted insider trading cases, this thesis utilises a direct measure of informed trading and adverse selection risk. Secondly, literature in the field has mainly focused on event studies. This is the first study to examine the impact of illegal insider trading on liquidity in a cross-sectional framework. Thirdly, it is also the first study to examine the impact of illegal insider trading on the liquidity of option contracts, in addition to investigating the relationship between informed trading in the options and underlying stock of a company. Finally, since the identification of informed traders by market makers is dependent on the implicit trader anonymity built in to the alternative market structures, this study also contributes to literature on trader anonymity, by examining the level of trader anonymity - the extent to which a trader is recognized as informed – afforded to illegal insider traders on each market. Results indicate that bid ask spreads are greater on the NYSE on insider trading days, but narrower or unchanged on NASDAQ, which suggests that the specialist system offers less trader anonymity than the competitive dealer system. However, our cross-sectional regressions reveal that it is the trade characteristics of the informed trades which possibly signal the presence of informed traders to market makers. In addition we also find that paired option trades of NASDAQ underlying stocks experience an improvement in liquidity, while NYSE underlying stock options experience no significant change. These findings suggest that the hybrid market structure is in fact fragmented like the NASDAQ dealer system and offers greater trader anonymity than the NYSE specialist system. Furthermore, we find that the main determinant of option spreads is the quoted spreads of the underlying stocks, which lend further support to Cho and Engle’s (1998) derivative hedge theory. 2009-02-26T03:24:49Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/4079 Title: THE IMPACT OF BLOCKS TRADES IN THE UNDERLYING MARKET ON OPTION PRICES: EVIDENCE FROM THE ASX Authors: MENDEZ, MELISSA Abstract: This dissertation examines the impact a block trade in the underlying stock market has on options listed on that stock in the options market. There is significant debate in previous literature in regards to which market leads, and which market is preferred by informed traders. This thesis contributes to, and extends previous literature, by examining the relationship between stocks and options around block trades in a different geographical setting. Furthermore, by using a combined dataset provided by SIRCA and the Australian Securities Exchange, this dissertation is able to identify individual brokers executing block trades and analyse their activity in the options market. This unique dataset allows a direct test of the “inter-market front-running” hypothesis proposed by in prior literature. Results from this dissertation are consistent with previous literature, and indicate that the stock market leads the options market by as much as fifteen minutes. Analysis of Broker ID’s confirms that there is no evidence of any inter-market front-running. 2009-02-26T03:24:41Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/4078 Title: How much volume will an illegal insider trade? Evidence from options markets Authors: MARAS, PETER Abstract: Modelling the volume traded by illegal inside traders is a fairly new area of research. Previous research into insider trading has focused not a comprehensive study on the determinants of volume, but empirical and theoretical work has touched the area. This thesis will aim to consolidate the scattered literature and model the volume traded by someone who has made the decision to trade on that information (i.e. we are not concerned so much with the ‘to trade or not to trade question’ but rather the how much question). The literature assists in finding factors that may cause high volumes of inside trading under the framework of the utility theory of insider trading. These factors are tested on SEC data on prosecuted insider trades for trades executed between 31 May 1994 and 17 October 2007 to find the material determinants of illegal insider trading volumes on the American option markets. Three determinants examined perform as expected: the performance of the underlying stock is negatively correlated with insider trading volumes on the option market, the act of spreading trades over multiple days increases the insider volume traded and the option liquidity on the day/s of the insider trade/s is positively correlation with insider trading volumes. Two determinants perform contrary to what is expected: higher levels of normal trading liquidity reduce insider trading volume and larger amounts of insider trading volume occur after more stringent insider trading regulations are put in place on 23 October 2000. The other factors are insignificant, not influencing the amount of insider trading volume and include: the amount of profit per option, the volume in the underlying stock, the number of relationships to other traders, working for a scrutinised firm and the type of information announcement. Finally, through robustness testing it is indeterminable whether insider trades on the option markets differ significantly from the average trade, however results are presented, which may be usefully interpreted given future research efforts. Since many of the null and unexpected results can be adequately explained, the thesis concludes with the proposition that there is not enough evidence to either prove or disprove the utility theory of insider trading. 2009-02-26T03:24:35Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/4077 Title: The Investment Value of Australian Security Analyst Recommendations: An Application of the Black-Litterman Asset Allocation Model Authors: He, Peng William Abstract: The study empirically examines the investment value of analyst recommendations on constituent stocks of the S&P/ASX 50 index. For the period from 30 June 1997 to 30 October 2007, we find that stocks with favourable consensus recommendations (“strong buy” and “buy”) on average earn a higher return than the market, whereas stocks with unfavourable recommendations (“strong sell” and “sell”) earn a lower return. An investment strategy using the Black-Litterman asset allocation model that overweights (underweights) stocks with favourable (unfavourable) consensus recommendations, in conjunction with daily rebalancing, outperforms the market in terms of raw return and risk adjusted performance measures. The investment strategy involves high levels of trading and, as a result, no significant abnormal returns are achieved after accounting for transaction costs. Less frequent rebalancing, under most situations, causes a decrease in both performance and turnover. Filtering of dated recommendations causes an increase in turnover, whilst having mixed effects on investment returns. 2009-02-26T03:24:25Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/4076 Title: The Dynamics of Bid and Ask Quotes Set by a Heterogeneously Informed Market Maker Authors: Dwyer, Gregory James Abstract: This paper studies the effects superiorly informed market makers have on the price formation process. Two models are developed in which the market maker receives some informative signal. In one version, the market maker receives an informative signal at the start of the day with which he assigns a probability to its correctness. In the other version, the market maker receives a fully informative signal at some random time throughout the day. By comparing the models to the Glosten and Milgrom (1985) model, it is shown that informed market makers are able to improve certain dimensions of market quality. Prices become more reflective of their true value, price discovery is enhanced, and trading costs for uninformed traders are decreased. These benefits to the market are further demonstrated through the development of simulations of the theoretical models. 2009-02-26T03:24:18Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/4075 Title: STATISTICAL AND ECONOMIC TESTS OF EFFICIENCY IN THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE SOCCER BETTING MARKET Authors: BRYCKI, JONATHON Abstract: This thesis investigates the weak and semi-strong form efficiency of the fixed odds English Premier League soccer betting market between 2002-03 and 2007-08. Recent structural changes – including a reduction in taxes, and the rapid growth of online bookmakers – renders this market ideal for empirical efficiency analysis. Weak form evidence indicates that favourite-longshot and home ground advantage biases exist in the quoting of bookmaker odds. In order to conduct semi-strong form analysis, a number of ordered probit models are specified, incorporating fundamental variables which are widely perceived to contain predictive power with regard to the outcome of a soccer match. The Kelly betting strategy isutilised to analyse the economic significance of their predictions, for matches played in the three most recently completed seasons, 2005-06 to 2007-08. It is found that the implementation of two methodological adjustments – the avoidance of bets on away longshots, and a staggered start and finish to betting in each season – results in the generation of significantly positive returns, providing strong evidence against semi-strong form economic efficiency. Evidence presented in this thesis indicates a strong preference for a fractional Kelly strategy and supports the technique of combining forecasts, findings consistent with previous literature. Further, it is shown that a distinct improvement to the returns from any strategy can be obtained by shopping around for the best available odds. 2009-02-26T03:24:12Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/4074 Title: Does market depth concentration matter? Evidence from the Australian Stock Exchange Authors: Avila, Kristoffer Kevin Abstract: In considering the behaviour of market participants, this paper introduces a new variable into the model for the determinants of institutional trading costs. By using an ex-ante measure of the concentration in the opposite-side of the market, this study suggests that traders on the opposite-side of the market herd against an incoming trader looking to trade a series of orders. The new variable measures the level of broker competition prevailing on the opposite-side of the market and is found to be negatively related with price impact. 2009-02-26T03:24:06Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/4073 Title: The Disposition Effect and the Ability of Investors to Learn Authors: Thomson, Nicholas Abstract: This paper provides an in depth analysis of investors’ reluctance to crystallise losses and propensity to realise gains, a behavioural bias dubbed the disposition effect. We examine a comprehensive data set comprised of trading records for individual and institutional investors within the Finnish Stock Market over an extensive ten year period. Consistent with previous studies, we find that the disposition effect exists for not only individuals, but also for institutions. We conclude that despite significantly attenuating, ‘professionalism’ (i.e. investor sophistication) is unable to provide total immunity from the disposition bias. Moreover, this study confirms the existence of an apparent asymmetric relationship between trading experience and the disposition effect. Both individuals and institutions exhibit learning effects over time, with the accumulation of trading experience inversely related to the bias. However, while investors are capable of completely eliminating their tendency to ride losses, we found that no amount of trading experience is capable of eradicating an investor’s propensity to realise gains. 2009-02-26T03:23:59Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/4072 Title: Pairs Trading: A Cointegration Approach Authors: Schmidt, Arlen David Abstract: This study uses the Johansen test for cointegration to select trading pairs for use within a pairs trading framework. A long-run equilibrium price relationship is then estimated for the identified trading pairs, and the resulting mean-reverting residual spread is modeled as a Vector-Error-Correction model (VECM). The study uses 5 years of daily stock prices starting from the beginning of July, 2002. The search for trading pairs is restricted to 17 financial stocks listed on the ASX200. The results show that two cointegrated stocks can be combined in a certain linear combination so that the dynamics of the resulting portfolio are governed by a stationary process. Although a trading rule is not employed to access the profitability of this trading strategy, plots of the residual series show a high rate of zero crossings and large deviations around the mean. This would suggest that this strategy would likely be profitable. It can also be concluded that in the presence of cointegration, at least one of the speed of adjustment coefficients must be significantly different from zero. 2009-02-26T03:23:53Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/4071 Title: Order Placement and Performance: A Comparative Analysis of Institutional and Retail Traders Authors: Alcock, Emma Abstract: This thesis seeks to identify systematic differences in the order placement of institutional and retail traders in the Australian market. With institutions exhibiting a greater awareness of market conditions, this analysis facilitates the comparison of informed and uninformed trading behaviour. Applying broker IDs as a proxy for trader type, the characteristics and the execution costs of institutional and retail orders are analysed to compare their order performance. Retail traders demand immediacy, accounting for a disproportionate volume of market orders and aggressive limit orders. Exposed to heightened execution risk, these traders also place a higher volume of limit orders behind the quoted spread. In comparison, institutional traders, concentrating order flow within the quoted spread. As passive investors, these traders exhibit a preference for limit orders priced at the best same side quote. Whilst institutional and retail traders exhibit distinct order placement strategies, no significant differences are observed in their order execution costs. 2009-02-26T03:23:43Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/3666 Title: The Introduction of Clerp 9 Audit Regulation and its Impact on the Auditing Profession Authors: Hecimovic, Angela Abstract: This study examines the introduction of legally enforceable Australian Auditing Standards (ASAs) and the impact on the audit profession after their first year of implementation. This study is informed by regulation theories and potential costs, benefits and other impacts of the new regulatory regime identified by the Australian government’s April 2006 Regulation Impact Statement (RIS). This study collected relevant data through semi-structured in-depth interviews with the same key stakeholders as RIS (accounting firms, professional bodies and regulatory bodies). The results indicate significant differences to the government’s pre-implementation RIS expectations, as well as differences between stakeholder groups. Overall the accounting profession does not consider that the extra burden of demonstrating compliance with the legally enforceable ASAs has changed the audit process or audit outcomes. The auditing profession does not consider the extra burden of the new regime justifiable as it has not increased audit quality or public confidence, which were the main aims of the government’s regulatory intervention. 2008-10-21T04:16:07Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2293 Title: The Sectoral Impact of Monetary Policy in Australia: A Structural VAR Approach Authors: Crawford, Claudia Abstract: In recent years, the global resources boom has had a major impact on the Australian economy. In the mining rich state of Western Australia, rapid commodity price growth has contributed to strong economic conditions. However, state economies that rely heavily on manufacturing industries have fared less well, forced to cope with higher input costs as well as the effects of a stronger exchange rate. The resulting 'two-speed economy' presents a challenge for monetary policy, which must manage the diverging performances of different sectors and regions. In light of these issues, this thesis develops a small, open economy structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model of Australia in order to examine the impact of monetary policy on sectoral output. The results suggest that monetary policy shocks have uneven impacts across different sectors. The construction and manufacturing sectors show the most sizeable and rapid responses, while the mining sector is not as interest rate sensitive as the existing literature would suggest. This thesis also adds to our understanding of the transmission mechanism of monetary policy in a small, open economy. In particular, while the results indicate that global economic conditions account for a large proportion of the variation in mining sector output, there is evidence that the exchange rate channel of monetary policy does not play a dominant role in influencing output in this sector. One implication of these findings is that the Reserve Bank of Australia will find it difficult to stabilise output across regional economies in the face of a resources boom. The model also indicates that changes to monetary policy have long, non-trivial real impacts, and there is some suggestion that the credit channel of monetary policy has an important influence in propagating monetary policy shocks. 2008-04-02T22:36:15Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2292 Title: The Implications of Sequential Investment in the Property Rights Theory of the Firm Authors: Mai, Maxim Abstract: In the property rights theory of the firm, control over assets (ownership) affords bargaining power in the case of re-negotiation, providing incentives for parties to make relationship specific investments. The models predict that property rights will be allocated so as to maximise surplus generated from investment. However, these models assume that investments are made simultaneously. In this thesis I extend the standard property-rights framework to allow for sequential investment; the model allows for two investment periods. If a party invests first (ex-ante), they sink their investment before any contracting is possible. The parties that invest second (ex-post) do so after some aspects of the project are tangible, so that they can contract on (at least some) of their investment costs. As well as being empirically relevant, sequencing has several important theoretical implications. First, if a party gets to invest second, then – ceteris paribus – it has a greater incentive to invest. Second, the investment of parties that invest first are affected by a more than one influence. Anticipating higher ex-post investment, they can have a greater incentive to increase their investments. However, higher ex-post investment leads to greater costs being borne by the ex-ante investors (via the cost sharing contracts); this reduces ex-ante incentives to invest. Overall either effect can dominate so that ex-ante investment can either increase or decrease as a result of sequential investment. Third, as noted, sequencing of investment provides the possibility to (partially) contract on ex-post investment and costs. This is an additional method of providing incentives to invest, beyond the allocation of property rights themselves. Consequently, ex-post investors can be protected (and be provided incentives to invest) via these contracts, whereas ex-ante investors –who can not contract on their investments at all – are more likely to require the protection of property rights (through the allocation of asset ownership). The addition of sequential investment alters some of the predictions of the standard models. For example, previously the literature found that if all assets are complements at the margin all agents should have access to all assets (Bel (2005)). However, when investment sequencing is possible, making a control structure more inclusive (increasing the number of agents who have access to assets) can reduce the incentives of the ex-ante investors, decreasing overall surplus; this is because increasing the property rights of ex-post investors increases the marginal costs borne by ex-ante investors, effectively reducing their claim on surplus, diminishing their incentives to invest. This result contradicts Bel (2005), and shows that even when all assets are complimentary at the margin allocating access rights can be detrimental to incentives. Furthermore, if assets are substitutes at the margin then transfer of assets from ex-ante investors to ex-post investors can increase ex-ante investment and surplus. This counter intuitive result can occur in the case when decreasing ex-post investment is necessary to provide an incentive to ex-ante investors to increase their investments. 2008-04-02T22:36:02Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2256 Title: Street Vendors tackle the Newsvendor Problem: An Experimental Inquiry into the Big Issue Authors: Bailey, Nicholas Abstract: The Big Issue is a not-for-profit organisation that gives homeless people the opportunity to reclaim ownership over their lives by selling a street magazine. The vendors must purchase the magazine from the Big Issue office before making sales, and may do so multiple times each day. The vendors hence face the economic problem of how to construct an order plan given multiple, costly opportunities to replenish. This paper solves the problem theoretically and conducts an experiment with actual Big Issue vendors which tests how their ordering behaviour departs from the optimal solution. The experiment reveals various types of orderers exist, and that some of these systematically perform worse than others. The results also suggest that ordering decisions are heavily influenced by an anchoring heuristic. The experiment ultimately aims to test the effectiveness of a policy recommendation in improving ordering behaviour by setting minimum order quantities and offering vendors a refund for unsold magazines. The effect of the policy is different for each behavioural grouping of vendors. Some vendors demonstrate improved behaviour, while others do not. Based on the results of the experiment, a policy is formulated that will improve the profits of some vendors, without impinging upon the profits of any other behavioural types. This policy is designed so that it is sympathetic to the non-economic goals of the Big Issue. 2008-03-16T23:13:48Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2253 Title: An Impotent Aegis: An economic analysis of the effectiveness of Australia’s anti-circumvention laws Authors: Hollis, Richard Abstract: This paper examines the degree to which anti-circumvention laws meet their policy objectives of reducing piracy and protecting copyright owners’ interests. This paper develops economic models of ‘rational contravention’ and applies them to Australian anti-circumvention laws. These models are used to analyse the impact that the laws have on potential contraveners, and the extent to which these parties may be dissuaded from engaging in their illegal activities. The results indicate that Australian anti-circumvention laws will not deter a substantial number of contraveners, nor significantly improve copyright owner protection. 2008-03-12T04:30:37Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2252 Title: Strategic Voting in TV Game Show "The Weakest Link" Authors: Yuan, Haishan Abstract: This paper utilizes the data generated from the television game show 'The Weakest Link' to study real life strategic voting with large stake payoffs. Theoretical models are built to analyse the three-player voting possibly with second move of tie breaker. With reasonable specifications, equilibria can be constructed to support all observed outcomes. When the game structure is relatively simple with single possible tie breaker, the empirical results are in line with theoretical implications. When the tie breaker is uncertain, the predictability of basic game theory analysis is largely compromised. Regression results suggest that, with the presence of increased complexity and uncertainty in the voting game, naive coordination strategies are instead adopted. Strategic untruthful performance is found as a source of inaccurate prediction of theory. 2008-03-11T22:23:31Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2251 Title: What Determines Australia's Foreign Equity Investment? Authors: Pendle, Lara Abstract: In light of the recent changes to superannuation policy in Australia, the corresponding heightened exposure to equity markets has highlighted the importance of portfolio diversification as a means to reduce income risk. The International Capital Asset Pricing Model of Sharpe (1964) and Lintner (1965) suggests that in order to obtain maximum gains from diversification, investors hold too little wealth in foreign assets. This large discrepancy between theory and data is known as the home income bias puzzle and still remains robust despite the recent liberalisation of financial markets and removals of direct barriers to investment. This thesis empirically investigates the distribution of Australian holdings of foreign equities and considers the determinants of equity home bias for a sample of 25 countries. The IMF's high quality Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey (CPIS) dataset is appropriate for this purpose and is utilised over the period 2001 to 2005. The key findings are that indirect barriers to international investment and information costs are important factors behind international investment patterns and the home bias puzzle. 2008-03-11T22:22:35Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2234 Title: A deconstruction of Cox’s proportional hazards model and an inquiry into its ability to predict the outcome of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings Authors: Hoi Fung Ng, Calvin Abstract: Set against the backdrop of Chapter 11 proceedings in the United States, a specification of Cox’s proportional hazards model proposed by Partington, Stevenson, Russel and Torbey (2001) was examined for its stability over time. Faced with findings of instability consistent with those of Wong, Partington, Stevenson and Torbey (2007), the model was respecified to only include two firm-specific covariates (capturing firm size and earnings) and a time-dependent market-wide covariate. A ‘calendar-time model’ was then introduced to enable analysis of the firm-specific covariates in abstraction from the systematic effects of time. With such effects controlled for, the suggestion was made that any remnant instability in the model was a result of non-systematic factors reflecting the changing nature of firms which filed for Chapter 11 protection during the period examined. 2008-02-21T04:23:34Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2213 Title: The Impact of Trading Halts on the Australian Equities Markets Authors: Lecce, Steven Abstract: This dissertation examines the impact of trading halts on the trading behaviour for a sample of halted stocks listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). A detailed analysis of returns, liquidity and volatility around trading halts for a sample of 18,245 halted stocks captured over the period 1 January 2005 to 26 September, 2006 allows this study to extend the literature in three main ways. First, this study re-examines the impact of ASX trading halts in a tighter regulatory environment, where companies were obliged to comply with stricter continuous disclosure requirements. Second, the availability of the largest database of trading halts in Australia, permits an investigation of the benefits of trading halts in a more rigorous manner. Finally, regression analysis is used to identify factors associated with aberrant stock volatility immediately after a trading halt. This will provide a better understanding of the trading behaviour surrounding trading halts and allow ASX exchange officials to fine-tune the market surveillance discipline. This study finds that trading halts result in abnormally high levels of trading volume and volatility in the period immediately following a trading halt. Additionally, wider bid-ask spreads and lower order depth immediately after a trading halt, suggest that information asymmetry is high during this period. Halted stock returns are persistently high for up to a full trading day after a trading halt. This suggests that trading halts do not fully allow for an efficient dissemination of new information. The impact of trading halts on stock volatility is found to be a function of firm size, and trading halt duration, but not for the announced reason for the trading halt. Overall, this study concludes that trading halts have an immediate negative impact on market quality. 2008-02-05T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2215 Title: THE PREDICTION OF AUSTRALIAN TAKEOVER TARGETS: A BINOMIAL AND MULTINOMIAL LOGIT ANALYSIS Authors: Arnull-Almond, Blake Abstract: This thesis provides the first attempt to predict takeover targets in the Australian context using binomial and multinomial logit models, extending the relatively small amount of work focused in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Evidence is provided concerning eight main hypothesised motivations for takeovers. Our results confirm the contention that such motivations are inconsistent both throughout time and across economies. Application of models to a true ex-ante predictive sample suggests that individual models are quite inaccurate, but that the use of certain methodological improvements can produce relatively accurate predictive classifications. Multinomial logit models are also compared to binomial logit models to examine whether theoretical benefits exist from discrimination between types of targets. Evidence is provided suggesting that the binomial model is indeed misspecified, but that it is the most appropriate model if the purpose of prediction is investment. Our main empirical finding is that a significantly positive abnormal return of 23.37 percent (68.67 percent prior to robustness adjustments) may be made from an investment in the commonly predicted targets of logit based models. This contradicts the current belief within the extant literature that such returns cannot be achieved through the use of binomial logit models for true ex-ante prediction. 2008-02-05T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2214 Title: Liquidity and Information Asymmetry Around Preliminary Final Reports Authors: Cacciola, Erin Abstract: This thesis seeks to examine changes in liquidity and information asymmetry around earnings and dividend announcements, using evidence from the Australian market. Unlike previous studies conducted, this thesis examines a market without the presence of official market makers. In Australia earnings and dividend announcements are released simultaneously in companies’ Preliminary Final Reports (PFR). Consequently these announcements are the focus of this thesis. Market participants are interested in liquidity and information asymmetry around PFR announcements to determine whether the release of these announcements provide a trading opportunity for traders with greater research and information processing skills. By partitioning the sample into anticipated and unanticipated PFR announcements this thesis finds that trading activity decreases around anticipated announcements, while trading activity increases around unanticipated announcements. This suggests that uncertainty increases around unanticipated announcements. Liquidity does not change around anticipated announcements. However liquidity decreases following unanticipated announcements. Information asymmetry is found to decrease prior to anticipated announcements and following unanticipated announcements that the market perceives to be good news. 2008-02-05T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2212 Title: The impact of a tick size reduction in Futures Markets: evidence from the Sydney Futures Exchange Authors: Alampieski, Kiril Abstract: This dissertation examines the impact of a reduction in the minimum price increment on market quality and price impact in the 3 Year Commonwealth Treasury Bond Futures contract. Prior to the tick size reduction, the minimum tick was one basis point. However, as of December 15, 2006, the minimum price increment was reduced to half a basis point. Using two data sets, the first provided by SIRCA and the second a proprietary data set provided by the Sydney Futures Exchange, this study is the first to examine how a reduction in minimum tick affects both market quality and price impact in a futures market setting. This thesis contributes to, and extends, the literature on minimum tick size reductions in several ways. First, this thesis extends the tick size literature into futures markets. Second, the proprietary data set allows an analysis of how the reduction in tick size affects the price impact of institutional trade packages. Finally, this dissertation is the first tick size study to consider both the seasonality in bond futures trading as well as the virtual round-the-clock trading of futures. Results indicate that bid-ask spreads and quoted depth are significantly reduced after the tick reduction. While the price impact of small trades is insignificantly different from zero in all periods examined, after the tick size reduction, large trade packages experience reductions in price impact. These findings suggest that overall market quality has improved after the reduction in minimum tick. The improvements in market quality are isolated to the 3 year bond futures contract, with minimal variations in control contracts. Robustness tests isolate market quality improvements to the 3 year bond futures and attribute the improvement to the reduction in minimum tick. 2008-02-04T04:57:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2166 Title: Gathering Storm: Structuring More Successful Responses to Disasters Authors: Solomons, Evan Abstract: Abstract The period between 1992 and 2005 was turbulent for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Failed responses to Hurricanes Andrew and Katrina resulted in academics questioning the efficacy of FEMA’s structure and ability to coordinate a response. The literature studying this phenomenon focuses on whether the failed responses were due to FEMA’s structure being too flexible or too hierarchical. This thesis argues this duality misses the point. First, the literature is overly focused on failure at the expense of success. This necessarily ignores half the story. Analysing successful responses will provide a more holistic view of what structures are the most appropriate in a response. Second, responses are never wholly open or closed but rather a mixture of both. FEMA’s responses need to be disaggregated into their strategic (policy-makers) and operational (implementers) components and their combinations examined. With reference to two failures, Hurricanes Andrew and Katrina, and two successes, The Great Midwest Floods and Northridge Earthquake, this thesis argues optimal response frameworks are strategically closed and operationally open. 2007-12-21T02:37:09Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2165 Title: "Dangerously Radical?" - Explaining the position of the Revolutionary Association of Women in Afghanistan in Post Taliban Afghanistan Authors: Prichard, Nisha Abstract: ABSTRACT The Revolutionary Association of Women in Afghanistan is an organisation that provides a fascinating insight into understandings of gender, national identity and universal human rights. In its construction of a universal human rights message for women in Afghanistan the group responds to the philosophical debate surrounding universal rights and cultural relativism, and the support and criticism coming from the international feminist movement. In order to understand the way that RAWA has framed itself and its message, it is imperative to examine the ways RAWA has responded both to the international principles of universalism and feminism, but also to the national history and culture they operate in. RAWA’s firm local grounding and sense of unique history mean that they control, rather than are controlled by, international principles. 2007-12-21T02:35:54Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2164 Title: Women and Work in Contemporary Japan: Deconstructing the "Crisis" of the Gender Order Authors: Mai, Lillian Abstract: ABSTRACT The 1990s saw important developments in the employment practices of Japanese women as necessitated by economic recession. Japanese women are increasingly postponing their traditional roles of wife and mother in lieu of expanding education and employment opportunities, suggesting that we are approaching or witnessing a period of redefinition of the prevailing gender structure. This thesis offers a theoretical exposition of this “crisis” in the gender structure utilising Connell’s concept of “hegemonic masculinity” and Finnemore and Sikkink’s “norm life cycle model”. This thesis will be presented as follows: i) hegemonic masculinity will be applied to the Japanese context to argue for the centrality of masculinity defined through the corporation, and for its significance in an understanding of femininity; ii) discussion of the “feminisation” of part-time work in Japan will test whether a challenge to the gender order from within of this nature represents a profound redefinition of the hegemonic gender structure; and iii) discursive study of Japanese state legislation and policy will reveal government commitment to ensuring continuity in gender norm dynamics. The findings suggest that we are not witnessing a period of “crisis” or profound transformation in the gender structure for greater gender equality. The pervasiveness of gender norm ideology in Japan is such that once established these norms have maintained an internal momentum so that changes in the material sphere are constrained by these ideational structures and not vice versa. The current period is marked by cooptation of gender norm challenges by corporations and government in an effort to neutralise gender norm challenge. 2007-12-21T02:35:13Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2163 Title: Filling the Void: Hizbullah's State Building in Lebanon Authors: Davis, Peita Abstract: Abstract Hizbullah is a militarised sub-state group that challenges Lebanon's authority by establishing a parallel power-structure within the state. This thesis argues that the failure of the Lebanese government to provide for its citizens, particularly the disenfranchised Shiite population, has allowed Hizbullah to fill the void of Lebanon's absent government by creating a parallel state-like structure. Hizbullah’s state building is driven by domestic politics, as it strives to “democratically” restructure the political system in its favour rather than take the state by force. Hizbullah occupies a political, social and military position within Lebanon that extends far beyond any traditional definition of a sub-state group. In analysing Hizbullah as a state-building movement, this thesis will shed light on the organisation’s autonomy, strength and objectives in Lebanon and also provide a holistic approach to further study of militarised sub-state groups. iii 2007-12-21T02:34:40Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2159 Title: Prostitution, Pornography and Islamic Law Authors: Andren, Kim Abstract: ABSTRACT This thesis examines how increasing conservatism in Indonesia has affected Indonesian women. In order to avoid presenting them as passive victims of a conservative Islam ideology, the thesis examines women’s NGO responses to this increasing conservatism. This thesis focuses on three legal measures that embody this state-sponsored and local authority enforced conservatism: the Anti-Pornography Bill, Islamic or syariah law in Aceh, and syariah-inspired regional bylaws. The thesis uses Muslim feminist theory and techniques that are employed by Indonesian women’s NGOs in their efforts to repeal these patriarchal legal measures and analyses the nature of the Indonesian state and its relationship with Islam to discern how the state and Indonesia’s history have impacted on Indonesian women. The thesis makes use of open-answer survey responses from selected women’s NGOs to examine the responses of women’s NGOs to the conservative Islam inspired legal measures it examines. These organisations have been vocal defenders of women’s rights and have had some successes in refuting discriminatory policies. Description: Hon Thesis 2007-12-19T03:32:15Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2158 Title: Second-Strike Nuclear Forces and Neorealist Theory: Unit-Level Challenge or Balance-of-Power Politics as Usual? Authors: Lombard, Alex Abstract: ABSTRACT: What are the implications of second-strike nuclear forces for neorealism? The end of the Cold War yielded a unipolar structure of international politics defined by the military, economic, and political preponderance of the United States. According to balance-of-power theory, which lies at the heart of neorealism, unipolarity has a short life span as secondary states waste little time in rectifying the global imbalance of power. Thus far, America remains unbalanced. Are we to take this as a refutation of balance-of-power theory? My thesis argues that second-strike arsenals render void the need to balance superior American military power. But because state survival is contingent not only upon military invulnerability (for which nuclear weapons are a sure guarantee), but also upon economic invulnerability (for which there is no absolute remedy), nuclear-weapon states are impelled to balance superior economic power for security reasons. By recasting balance-of-power theory in light of these assumptions, one can make sense of the great-power politics of the post-Cold War era. Description: Hons Thesis 2007-12-19T03:31:58Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2157 Title: Presidential Encores: International Entrepreneurship in Health Policy Authors: Bennett, Chloe Abstract: ABSTRACT Ex-Presidents Carter and Clinton are forging new paths for post-presidential activities. With their respective action-oriented public policy institutions, the Carter Center and the Clinton Foundation, they have introduced vehicles through which they can establish independent and influential roles as former presidents. Their activities in the global health arena, specifically Guinea Worm Disease and HIV/AIDS, demonstrate that their influence is a function of their ability to act as international policy entrepreneurs. This thesis argues that the influence of ex-Presidents Carter and Clinton has been strengthened by their respective foundations and that they function as unique policy entrepreneurs, namely, ex-president entrepreneurs. They are successful in advocating for policy change through using the attributes of ex-president entrepreneurs: skills, the ability to mobilise resources and the ability to operate in a social arena. The thesis has forged a new path by considering theory originally developed to examine domestic policies in an international context. Presidential Encores: Description: Hons Thesis 2007-12-19T03:31:44Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2156 Title: Anatomy of State Failure Authors: Townshend, Ashley Abstract: Abstract In the 1990s, failed states emerged as a pernicious threat to both regional security and the wellbeing of millions of people worldwide. While this phenomenon has been welldocumented, explaining why and how states fail has proved to be a complex analytical task. As most scholars have viewed state failure as an anarchic and idiosyncratic occurrence, there has been little attempt to develop theoretical explanations for state failure. This study seeks to reverse this trend. In contrast to existing research, it contends that there was an underlying causal logic to all instances of state failure in the 1990s. To this end, it proposes an analytical model for understanding the causes and the process of state failure in general theoretical terms. There are two main components to this model. First, it claims that four common factors caused state failure in the 1990s: a flawed political structure; an economic crisis; a loss of state legitimacy; and systemic pressures. Second, it argues that the process of state failure represents a profound decrease in and decentralisation of state capital and coercive power. Through a comparative study of state failure in Zaïre, Afghanistan and Yugoslavia, the utility of this model as a theoretical tool for understanding why and how states fail is established. Description: Hons Thesis; The author has requested that the file not a available for open access. 2007-12-19T03:31:22Z http://hdl.handle.net/2123/2154 Title: Old Traditions new Perspectives Authors: McGuinness, Stephen Abstract: This thesis looks at the discord between asymmetric warfare and just war theory. Specifically, it looks at the place of just war theory in political science, and the competing theories that analyse war. Consequently, it looks at the specific problems that face just war theory in an asymmetric warfare context, by looking at the three parts of just war theory. The first is jus ad bellum, the justice of war, and looks at the decision to go to war. The second is jus in bello, the justice in war, and looks at the conduct of war. The final is jus post bellum, and looks at the conclusion of war. By the end of this thesis, I aim to have provided a basis for reconciling asymmetric warfare and just war theory. 2007-12-14T00:00:00Z