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Start date: 2022Subject: search.filters.subject.Financial services industry

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    Corporate labour practices and fintech development : evidence from China : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Finance at Massey University, Manawatu campus, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2025) Chen, Junshi
    This thesis studies corporate labour practices and financial technology (Fintech) development in China and contains six chapters. Chapter one introduces my PhD thesis. It discusses the motivation and contribution for each chapter. Chapter two contains a comprehensive literature review, which systematically reviews the current state of knowledge related to the theory, impact and determinants of employee treatment in the firms, based on a review of 150 research papers. We observe a growing trend of firms enhancing employee treatment, suggesting that employee treatment functions as an important mechanism that enhances firm value. Chapter three investigates the impact of employee medical welfare on firm productivity. We find that such welfare significantly enhances firm performance by improving employees’ psychological security, which increases work efficiency. This effect is more pronounced in non-state-owned firms, firms with a higher proportion of low-skilled employees and lower R&D intensity. Additionally, firms offering better medical welfare demonstrate stronger resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. These results underscore the role of organizational caregiving (Vijayasingham et al., 2018) and stakeholder theory (Titman, 1984) in shaping firm outcomes. Chapter four investigates the relationship between new financial technology, digital finance (DF), and corporate employee treatment. We find that DF enhances employee conditions through corporate digital transformation and increased demand for skilled labour. This effect is stronger in regions with lower marketization and severe pollution, where disadvantaged firms leverage DF to attract talent. Moreover, government support, corporate governance, and financial flexibility amplify DF’s positive impact. DF also contributes to workforce expansion and long-term firm performance, reinforcing its role in shaping corporate labour strategies in line with human capital theory (Sweetland, 1996). Chapter five presents the last essay focusing on how DF affects people’s fertility behaviour. We find that DF negatively influences birth rates by increasing investment opportunities, promoting consumption-driven individualism, and raising women’s economic independence and opportunity cost of fertility. Notably, only DF coverage significantly reduces birth rates, whereas its depth and digitalization have weaker effects. More importantly, government’s support in education, healthcare, and religious policies can mitigate DF’s adverse impact on fertility. Chapter six concludes by outlining the main findings, the implications of each essay, the limitations of the thesis, and potential avenues for future research.
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    Determinants and effects of the internal audit function in microfinance institutions : a global perspective : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Accountancy at Massey University, Manawatu Campus, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2022) Omidiji, Abiodun
    This research investigates the determinants and effects of the internal audit (IA) function in microfinance institutions (MFIs) using data from the World Bank’s Microfinance Information Exchange database. The sample is comprised of 1,025 MFIs during the period 2010–2018. MFIs are specialised financial institutions established to provide vital financial services to the poor, and it is of particular interest to identify and understand the determinants of their IA function. Moreover, IA has wider implications for the microfinance industry which is reported to lack effective governance and control mechanisms. This thesis therefore consists of two distinct studies: (i) the study of the determinants of IA function in MFIs; (ii) the study of the association between IA function, loan losses, and financial performance in MFIs. In the first study, I find that as MFIs increase outreach, proportion of female board directors, and level of financial performance, the existence of the IA function in MFIs is advanced. I also find that sensitivity to operational costs can deter MFIs from investing in the IA function. In the second study, I find that the IA function reduces the rate of loan loss occurrence in MFIs. I also find that the IA function improves the financial performance of MFIs through its significant positive effect on institutional operational self-sufficiency. Furthermore, I find that the negative association between loan losses and financial performance is not significantly higher in MFIs without IA, than in those with IA. The IA function therefore both reduces the risk of writing off bad loans and improves profitability, but it cannot solitarily eliminate the adverse impact of loan losses on MFI financial performance. This thesis extends the corporate governance and IA literature by identifying the factors that determine IA existence from the MFI perspective. It also provides evidence of the effect of the IA function on MFI loan losses and financial performance. This thesis reveals the potentiality of the IA function for improving governance and risk management in MFIs and its findings provide policy and practice implications for the microfinance industry, development agencies and governments to consider.