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    The financial impacts of climate risk : the dissertation presented in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, PhD in Finance at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2025-11-13) Trinh, Hai Hong
    Drawing on state-level data on temperature anomalies, the dissertation contributes to the growing literature on the financial impacts of climate change on US-headquartered firms. Benchmarking long-term climate change, the first two chapters are empirical corporate finance papers examining the impacts of statewide climate change risks on corporate payout policy and the value of firms' financial flexibility. The third chapter is an asset-pricing paper that predicts corporate climate sensitivity of firms’ stocks to state-level climate change as a new systematic risk factor. The first chapter shows that long-term climate change adversely affects corporate dividend payout policy. With state-level temperature anomalies (SLTA), the impacts of climate change on corporate payout are severely persistent when firms are exposed to abnormally warmer temperatures. Cash holdings, trade credit, and market leverage present statistically significant mediating roles in the impacts of long-term climate change on corporate payout policy. The impacts of SLTA on corporate payout are pronounced for firms with higher vulnerability to climate transition risk (e.g., polluting firms) since the Paris Agreement (COP21). Smaller and younger firms and firms with higher tangibility are sensitive to the long-term impacts of climate change across US states. The contributions of the study to related literature are threefold. First, the study shows that the consequences of climate change on firms are chronically severe. With the persistent predicted decrease in dividend policy, climate change affects firms’ growth prospects, with its geographical complexity, escalating earnings uncertainty for firms. Second, the long-term systematic risks of climate change imposed on firms are multifaceted, with high geographical divergence, for which firms might face great challenges in opting for flexible and reliable financing choices in the long-term period. The impacts of SLTA on corporate dividends are persistently robust when the study controls the mediating effects of corporate financial policies and the moderating effects of other climate risk factors. The geographical complexity of long-term climate change impacts on firms is investigated in the second chapter through the lens of corporate financial flexibility. The second chapter shows that long-term climate change is adversely associated with the value of corporate financial flexibility (VOFF). Using the forward-looking and market-based measure, the predicted decrease in VOFF supports evidence from the first chapter by showing that long-term climate change systematically affects firms’ growth opportunities across the US states. The impact of SLTA on firms’ VOFF is persistent for firms with higher market-to-book values and larger firms. The impacts of long-term climate change on the VOFF are robust when the study controls the mediating effects of financial policies and the joint effects of other climate-related externalities. The third chapter estimates the state-level corporate climate sensitivity (SL-CCS) to temperature anomalies. Using the predicted SL-CCS for each firm’s stock, the study examines whether the financial market is pricing the SL-CCS betas as a new systematic risk factor. The broad findings show that the pricing of financial markets to the SL-CCS betas is conditional on the levels of global warming across the US states. Investors demand a premium when firms’ stocks are exposed to abnormally warmer temperatures; otherwise, there is a negative association between SL-CCS betas and firms’ stock returns (RET). The varying associations between SL-CCS betas and RET are aligned with our predictions when the study tests for other endogenous and exogenous climate-related risk factors.
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    The social construction of housing tenure in Aotearoa New Zealand, 1900 to 1990 : crisis, place, and the path to a dual tenure regime : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography at Massey University, Manawatū, Aotearoa New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2023) Ryland, Daniel Brian
    Over the 20th Century and beyond there have been repeated urban housing crises which have negatively impacted the welfare of many households. Discussions and solutions for these crises have centred on binaries of homeownership and renting or State versus market within a pre-determined housing trajectory. However, the academic housing literature has argued for a more nuanced view of tenure to engage with housing effectively. This thesis aims to contribute to this project by exploring Aotearoa New Zealand’s pathway toward a dual tenure regime. I explore tenure as a relational concept created by the intersection of economic, legal, and cultural dimensions in place and across time. Exploring tenure beyond broad categorisations emphasises the need to imagine it differently. I used document analysis drawing on Parliamentary debates, political cartoons, archival documents, newspapers, statistics, and community organisation reports. They were analysed with a social constructivist approach inspired by a critical realism lens to explore the interdependence of tenure, place, and housing crisis. A core feature is that housing crises necessitating solutions drive tenure change. To explore Aotearoa New Zealand’s pathway to a dual tenure regime, I focused on the social construction of tenure during three housing crises. I argue that Aotearoa New Zealand’s dual tenure regime valorising freehold ownership with an individual title over other tenure options took shape over the 20th Century. Housing policy and economic decisions in the first quarter of the century to deal with housing crises embedded freehold ownership with an individual title as the most desirable tenure and end point of a housing trajectory. These would be reinforced through later housing crises as the social construction of tenure created opportunities and constraints for housing. By 1990, tenures were understood through their relation to freehold with an individual title and how they fit within a pre-defined housing trajectory, limiting the ability to experiment with other tenure forms. The thesis concludes that tenure needs to be imagined holistically as a multiply-determined, dynamic, and relational concept intertwined with crises, and that the latter can highlight opportunities to imagine other tenures.
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    Public value creation : exploring partnerships in value capture projects in China : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Resource and Environmental Planning at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2022) Wang, Xinning
    The urban planning literature has identified a positive relationship between public transport investment and the land value of adjacent properties. In many cities worldwide, the increase in land value has been captured (called value capture (VC)) to fund public transport infrastructure and services. However, the key issue for the planning and implementation of VC is the complexity of the multiple stakeholders’ collaboration and coordination in the process, and few studies have investigated this complexity. This research aimed to fill this gap and explore how different stakeholders have worked together to plan and implement VC policies and projects in China. This research developed a theoretical framework based on public value and partnership theories. These theories provide a comprehensive strategic triangle framework to explore interdependent processes of enabling environment, operational capabilities, and goals to create public value of VC development. Based on the framework, this research proposed three types of partnerships for investigating the VC process. The political–institutional partnership analysed how government organisations and local transport agencies create an enabling political and institutional environment to take the initiative and plan for VC projects. The financial partnership focused on how local transport agencies develop partnerships with other public and private organisations to share the risks, responsibilities, and benefits of developing real estate in VC projects. The social partnership examined what role culturally sensitive communication and trust play in building relationships between local government and local communities. This research used a qualitative research approach by applying the case study method. Two Chinese VC projects, the Qianhai project in Shenzhen and the Luxiao project in Chengdu, were selected as case studies in this research. Data were collected from 55 semi-structured interviews with relevant stakeholders, and from policy and planning documents produced at the central, provincial, and local government levels, supplemented by enterprise reports, media information, and research papers. Firstly, the research found that stable and sustained political–institutional support is crucial to the initiation planning, and implementation of a VC project. Because of continuous political support, Shenzhen initially adopted the Hong Kong model but later developed its own model and institutional capacity for VC projects. In contrast, VC projects in Chengdu suffered as a result of uncertain political support, a fragmented planning framework, an insufficient land exchange market, and a lack of experience and knowledge of VC projects. Both case studies showed that creating a partnership between local government and local transport agency is vital for mobilising land resources, sharing planning power, and generating institutional innovation in land transactions. Secondly, the research illustrated that a financial partnership between local transport agencies and developers is fundamental for implementing VC projects. In Shenzhen, the local transport agency established proactive working relationships with developers, creating a flow of the resources necessary for implementing the projects. In contrast, the local transport agency in Chengdu ignored developers and worked directly with the district-level government without a competitive selection process. This process created concerns for real estate development in the later stages of implementation. Thirdly, the research identified that developing a trustworthy social partnership between the local government and the local communities is beneficial for enhancing the legitimacy of VC projects. Shenzhen adopted both top-down and bottom-up public participation processes to engage local communities. In comparison, weak communication in Chengdu led to limited community involvement and a lack of public awareness of the VC project. Both case studies showed a strong emphasis on expert opinions and little contact with non-governmental organisations in China’s VC projects. This research concluded that political–institutional, financial, and social partnerships have contributed significantly to VC planning and implementation in China. These partnerships worked together and developed an enabling environment, promoted legitimacy, and established operational capacities to deliver the VC projects. However, these partnerships were not developed in a vacuum, and macro and contextual factors played an essential part in the planning and implementation of the VC projects.
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    Essays on determinants of integration of Islamic and conventional financial markets : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Finance at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2020) Billah, Syed Mabruk
    This dissertation contains a series of essays, three in total, which examine the determinants of integration of Islamic and conventional financial markets. Academic and commercial interest in Islamic finance has increased in recent years, meaning that it is commonly seen as a reasonable alternative to mainstream finance. However, it is notable that growing awareness of Islamic finance has emerged alongside several relevant concerns surrounding the poor performance of Shariah-compliant indices. The limitations include minimal access to risk management tools, low regulatory standards in Islamic finance, and a suboptimal governance framework. With the large expansion of Islamic finance in recent years, Sukuk (Islamic bonds), which are the Shariah-compliant substitute to conventional bonds, are becoming more prominent. Although numerous studies have examined the impact of global shocks on conventional bond spreads, little attention has been paid to explore the effect of global shocks on the Sukuk spreads. Therefore, the first study's objective was to examine the impact of factors affecting the conventional bond and Sukuk markets, including financial factors, economic policy uncertainty, US and EU macroeconomic news. Using an ordinary least squares approach, the results indicated that for regions and countries such as the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, and Singapore, global shocks play a vital role in explaining Sukuk spreads. Furthermore, employing a matched sample featuring firms from these regions and countries revealed that European and US macroeconomic announcements and economic policy uncertainty have a significantly greater impact on Sukuk spreads than on conventional bond spreads. The second study builds on the directional spillovers from Sukuk markets to Shariah-compliant equity markets and vice versa. The directions and magnitudes of spillovers are quite disperse among different countries and Islamic equity markets. Novel to the literature, we find that the Islamic equity markets' profitability and liquidity positions are highly influential on the magnitude of spillovers. We create a matched sample for 38 firms that issued both Sukuk and Islamic equities. Implementing similar spillover models, we indicate that firms' firm-level profitability and liquidity positions are essential in modeling the spillovers' magnitude between Sukuk and equities. Finally, the third study explores spillovers from regional and global equity markets to sectoral equity indices for several different regions/countries. First, we investigate sectoral equity return spillovers' connectedness and explore the different patterns and magnitudes of spillovers. Next, we look for the determinants of sectoral equity return spillovers. We find the regional and global markets spillovers on sector equity indices are highly dispersed across different markets. Novel to the literature, we examine the sectors' liquidity and financial positions and find that sector positions are highly influential in explaining the extent of the spillovers. Particularly, our exploration evidence that regional and global spillovers to specific sector equity markets jump significantly when a sector has higher debt and lower interest expense coverage. Similarly, higher profit margins of the sector make it less vulnerable to global and regional shocks. We also find market capitalization of the sectors inversely affects the spillovers' extent originating from global and regional markets.
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    Essays on Shari'ah compliant equities : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Finance at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2020) Karimov, Jamshid
    This dissertation presents three essays on Shari’ah Compliant Equities. The reported work analyses the impact of Shari’ah Compliant Requirements (SCR) on the capital structure of the firms and its effect on the cost of equity capital, payout policy and mitigation of firm-level political risk. The first study examines if the adoption of SCR affects the cost of equity capital for firms. It estimates the cost of equity capital, implied by market prices and analyst forecasts, and account for changes in growth expectations around the adoption of SCR. The results of the study show that the transitional implications of Shari’ah compliance can diverge depending on information spread. The findings reveal that getting a Shari’ah compliance certificate, initially increases the cost of equity for a firm, potentially due to higher financial constraints and other burdens associated with Shari’ah requirements. However, with greater exposure and awareness in Islamic markets, Shari’ah compliance eventually leads to a fall in the cost of equity. The industry-level, SCR adoption effects are stronger in relatively tangible sectors. Robustness analyses confirm that becoming Shari'ah-compliant increases the stock liquidity of SCR adopted firms, which co-varies negatively with the cost of equity. The second study examines if and to what extent the adoption of SCR affects the payout smoothing policy of firms. More importantly, this study aims to identify and assess a possible mechanism behind such linkage and measure the amount of fluctuations of earnings absorbed by investment, borrowings, and payout policies. Variance decomposition strategy that enables to empirically analyse the adjustments of borrowings and investment policies to comply with payout smoothing in order to buffer net income fluctuations in the environment of Shari’ah compliance is employed. Using a new approach in the literature, this chapter measures the extent of intertemporal payout smoothing across business cycles to test the permanent income hypothesis for firms. Accordingly, the impacts of temporary vs. permanent net income shocks on the payout policy of firms are distinguished. The study also, documents that even though their payout ratios are mostly independent from the year by year net income growth (temporary shocks), dividends are impacted deeply by long term net income growth (permanent shocks). Interestingly, being Shari'ah-compliant makes dividends more dependent on permanent income growth. The third study, using a novel Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) firm-level political risk index as a proxy for political risk and uncertainty firms face, examines the impact of firm-level risk on the cost of equity and dividend payouts policy of firms. The paper aims to shed light on the transitional implications of Shari’ah compliance on firms exposed to firm-level political risk. It analyses if the adoption of SCR mitigates the firm-level political risk and their impact on the cost of equity and dividend policy. Benchmark results show that 1% increase in the exposure of political risk contributes to a rise in its cost of equity capital by 0.2% and in dividend payout by 13%. Shari’ah compliance eventually leads to a fall in the cost of equity and a rise in dividend payouts, despite the exposure of the firm to political risk. These findings have important policy implications that are relevant to Shari’ah compliant equities and beyond.
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    Essays on corporate cross-listing decisions : a thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Finance, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2020) Agyemang, Abraham
    The decision to cross-list and the associated outcomes on corporate structure, strategies, and decisions is well-advanced. The reported outcomes range from access to foreign capital, broader analyst coverage, better information environment, improved liquidity, better corporate governance, and enhanced revenue. Such outcomes are said to motivate the cross-listing decision and are significantly associated with corporate and market characteristics. However, studies on how dynamics in corporate and market characteristics interact to drive cross-listing decisions are limited. Again, studies on the subsequent impact of cross-listing on other corporate decisions and strategies are lacking. This thesis expands the existing literature by providing three essays on how dynamics in firm and market characteristics influence cross-listing decisions. It also shows how the associated outcomes of cross-listing impact ensuing corporate decisions and strategies. The first study focuses on the dividend smoothing strategies of foreign firms. It examines how commitment to full disclosure through cross-listing in the US influence dividend smoothing behavior. While questions on the determinants and channels of dividend smoothing are not new, how cross-listing impacts these determinants and channels have not yet been studied. The study is based on the premise that cross-listing in the US signals commitment to full disclosure. Also, it is typically associated with improved transparency and increased investor and analyst coverage: reducing information asymmetry and agency conflicts. Again, it is widely argued that the levels of information asymmetry and agency cost significantly influence dividend smoothing practices, while investment and debt are among the primary channels for dividend smoothing practices. We, therefore, examine how commitment to full disclosure and improved transparency due to cross-listing impacts the dividend smoothing strategies of foreign firms. We adopt two well-established approaches: Lintner’s partial adjustment model, and a variance decomposition approach to study the dividend policies of firms after cross-listing. The results show increased dividend smoothing after cross-listing with significant sectoral variations in dividend smoothing strategies. We also document that firms from developing economies exhibit a lower increase in dividend smoothing after cross-listing compared to firms from developed economies. Adopting a variance decomposition approach, we find evidence of essential differences in the use of debt and investment channels before and after cross-listing to smooth net income shocks. Overall, our findings suggest that managers of cross-listed firms are motivated to ensure minimal fluctuations to dividends due to the information content of dividend payment. The results also indicate that firms use financing decisions to keep dividends smooth. The second study focuses on how market characteristics interact with firm characteristics to influence cross-listing decisions and the choice of the host market. The study examines how the specialization in the output of the local and host markets impacts cross-listing decisions and the selection of the host market in the presence of other firm-level characteristics. This study builds on the existing macroeconomic literature that maintains that economies are specialized in their output, suggesting potential high competition for funding, among other forms of competition. Given this basis, we propose two arguments. One, specialization in national output could encourage firms to seek funds from other foreign markets through cross-listing. Two, specialization in national output could make the local market attractive to international firms. We implement a gravity model on a sample of 1779 firms from OECD countries for 20 years and find that specialization in output in the local and host markets significantly influences the decision to cross-list and the choice of the host market. Using firm and industry-level data, we report that firms from countries that are specialized in specific industries undertake more cross-listing compared to firms from markets that are not. Interestingly, we document that firms from specialized markets cross-list to markets that are less specialized in the same industry. While the findings suggest that firms seek diversification of funding opportunities in the cross-listing decision and the choice of the host market, they also indicate the weakening of the gravity restrictions in line with recent studies. The role of market characteristics in influencing corporate decisions and strategies is conventional. However, recent studies document a growing influence of policy uncertainty on corporate decisions. The third essay builds on this premise and examines how economic policy uncertainty (EPU) in the local and global markets impacts corporate cross-listing decisions. It employs firm- and country-level motivated by the availability of the EPU data. The examination commences with the implementation of an initial Granger Causality test. The study then adopts two contemporary approaches; a Quantile on Quantile Regression approach, and a Wavelet Coherence approach to allow a comprehensive understanding of the relationship. The results show that local and global EPU influence the cross-listing decisions of firms, with a more substantial influence on firms from smaller domestic markets. The empirical evidence suggests that firms from smaller local markets pursue more cross-listing in the face of high local EPU and reduce or avoid cross-listing during periods of high global EPU. The Quantile on Quantile Regression approach and the Wavelet Coherence approach document important dynamics between EPU and cross-listing decisions at different frequencies and periods, with a stronger relationship reported at higher frequencies of EPU. In addition to contributing to the existing literature, our findings suggest that policy transparency could have important implications for current and future corporate decisions.