Massey Documents by Type

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/294

Browse

Subject: search.filters.subject.Financial institutions

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Savings, investment and financial development in Fiji : an econometric analysis : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Applied Economics at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2007) Edmonds, Fiona
    The vital role of savings, investment and financial sector development in the growth process has been at the heart of economic policy reforms in many developing countries. The key purpose of this study is to examine the determinants of savings (i.e. national and private), investment (i.e. private corporate and non-residential) and the relationship between finance and growth (i.e. causality, stock market development and McKinnon's complementarity hypothesis) for the case of Fiji. This study applies the Auto-regressive Distributed Lag procedure to cointegration and the modified WALD test for non-Granger causality to time series data for various models over the period 1961-2005. The study sets the economic growth literature in the historical perspectives for Fiji and undertakes a comprehensive empirical examination that will enhance the knowledge and future development of economic policies aimed at increasing economic growth. The importance of savings, investment, and the financial sector in contributing to economic growth in developing countries has been clearly highlighted in the literature. Fiji has been chosen as the case study in this analysis due to poor growth performance during the past 20 years. The military coups of 1987 led to political instability and policy failures that had a disastrous impact on the economy through low levels of economic activities. The economic uncertainty experienced by the nation led to various negative effects on capital accumulation, savings, investment and the financial sectors development. This not only diminished business activities, but also affected the household sector in terms of consumption, savings, investment, higher prices and social development. In the wake of the 1987 political and economic crisis, extensive macroeconomic, financial and trade sector reforms were undertaken which represented a revolutionary break from the past policies of import protection, high rates of inflation, agricultural dependence and financial repression. Given the devastating political, economic and social crises, and the poor performance of the economy, this study evaluates the key financial factors to enhance growth. In particular, savings, investment and financial sector development and the policy implications for long term economic growth are investigated. These considerations point to the need for undertaking in-depth investigations to bring together theoretical and empirical analysis in the context of Fiji's economic development. First, the savings-growth performance is examined using an empirical framework based on the lifecycle model. Second, the analysis examines investment and the role of capital formation in growth acceleration in the post independence period based on the theoretical considerations of the neo-classical investment theories. Third, financial sector development and economic growth relationships are examined. In particular, the direction of causality between the financial sector and economic growth, the impact of stock market and financial liberalisation, and the applicability of McKinnon's complementarity hypothesis are investigated for Fiji. The political and economic turmoil that Fiji has experienced suggest various actions required to improve the performance of the economy and also the key economic factors necessary to enhance growth. The findings initiate a number of policy implications that require attention in order to address Fiji's poor economic performance. This is particularly important to reduce the high incidence of poverty which still remains a challenge for policymakers.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    An analysis of the factors affecting customer commitment in a New Zealand financial institution : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Statistics at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2003) Blayney, Helen
    This thesis presents the results of the analysis of data collected in a postal and email survey of personal customers of the financial institution. The objective of the research is to identify various variables, which are significant in predicting commitment of a customer to their principal financial institution and to ascertain if the life stage variables contribute to the level of commitment. Two surveys to groups of personal customers a year apart provided data for analysis. The results indicate that the variables that contribute most to predicting commitment include the life stage variables. The results also point to the existence of quite different affective response rates for those customers who received an email questionnaire. No significant difference in commitment level was identified for customers common to both surveys. Although these results represent a somewhat preliminary analysis of the influence of life stage on commitment level, they do indicate that there is much to be learned about this relationship.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Performance measurement of South Asian microfinance institutions : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Banking at School of Economics and Finance, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2015) Shahzad, Uzma Bibi
    This thesis studies microfinance institutions (MFIs), which are a special type of financial institution that pursue the dual objectives of outreach and financial sustainability. The study evaluates the social and financial efficiency of a panel data set of 372 MFIs in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, covering the period 1998 to 2013, using performance ratios and other techniques. The thesis introduces two new ways of measuring the social objectives of MFIs. The comparative results show that these new outreach indicators provide a better explanation of social performance of MFIs than those commonly used in the literature. We employ these new measures alongside financial sustainability to assess the performance of different types of MFIs in achieving their dual objectives. The results show that non-regulated and profit-oriented MFIs perform relatively well in terms of the dual objectives but face higher operating expenses, creating conflict between outreach and financial sustainability. In addition, the social and financial efficiency of MFIs are evaluated using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). For DEA, to obtain more robust results, a double bootstrap approach is used and we find that the financial efficiency of these institutions appears stronger than their social efficiency. Cost efficiency estimates show that, on average, South Asian MFIs are operating with the same financial and social efficiency scores, while institutional and country differences matter more for financial efficiency than for social efficiency. The results also suggest that, on average, MFIs exhibit increasing returns to scale in financial sustainability but not when performance relative to the social objectives is measured. Similarly, improved technological progress is more evident for financial than social efficiency. The impact of women in various roles and corporate governance on the efficiency of MFIs is investigated for the first time. The presence of female loan officers is found to have a positive effect while female board members and female borrowers show a significant negative impact on financial and social efficiency of MFIs. We find a strong positive association between the governance of an MFI and its financial and social efficiency. We find similar effects of governance and gender roles on efficiency using both the DEA and SFA approaches.