Ownership structure and firm risk : evidence from China : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Finance at Massey University, Manawatu campus, New Zealand

Essay one was published as Xie, F., Chi, J., & Liao, J. (2016.) From share issue privatisation to non-tradable share reform : A review of privatisation in China. Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, 30(2), 90-104. https://doi.org/10.1111/apel.12149 A revised version of Essay two was published as Xie, F., Anderson, H.D., Chi, J., & Liao, J. (2019.) Does residual state ownership increase stock return volatility? Evidence from China's secondary privatization. Journal of Banking and Finance, 100, 234-251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2019.01.012This thesis investigates the effects of ownership structure on firm risk in China. The first essay of this thesis provides an overview of the Chinese privatisation programmes that profoundly shapes the ownership structure of Chinese listed firms, and it reviews and discusses the corporate governance and firm outcomes resulting from the privatisation programmes in China. In particular, it presents a detailed survey of China’s privatisation programmes from its Share Issue Privatisation (SIP) to the Non-tradable Share (NTS) reform, Overall, it reveals that the SIP has achieved limited success in China, which is mainly due to the partial trading policy and partial privatisation characteristics, while the NTS reform yields greater improvements of governance mechanisms and outcomes. This thesis then, examines the impact of ownership structure on firm risk in privatised firms. Essay two examines the effect of residual state ownership on stock return volatility following the NTS reform. The empirical evidence shows that residual state ownership mitigates the stock return volatility. It indicates that state ownership retention in the aftermath of sudden privatisation reform can signal the government willingness to bear the firm risk. The mitigating effect is especially pronounced in firms controlled by the government agents. Furthermore, firms with higher government ownership reduce stock return volatility through implementing more conservative corporate policies. However, the volatility-mitigating effect appears to be temporary, lasting only for three years after state shares become fully tradable. Essay three investigates the relationship between the shareholdings of the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFIIs) and stock price crash risk. This essay adopts a governance mechanism, threat of exit, to examine the role of QFIIs on stock price crash risk. The evidence shows that long investment horizon and existence of multiple QFIIs exert credible exit threat to discipline management, and in turn, reduce stock price crash risk. Further, it shows that the corporate site visits of portfolio firms by QFIIs is a channel through which the credible exit threat works effectively

On dynamics of semiconjugated entire functions

Let $g$ and $h$ be transcendental entire functions and let $f$ be a continuous map of the complex plane into itself with $f\circ g=h\circ f.$ Then $g$ and $h$ are said to be semiconjugated by $f$ and $f$ is called a semiconjugacy. We consider the dynamical properties of semiconjugated transcendental entire functions $g$ and $h$ and provide several conditions under which the semiconjugacy $f$ carries Fatou set of one entire function into the Fatou set of other entire function appearing in the semiconjugation. We have also shown that under certain condition on the growth of entire functions appearing in the semiconjugation, the set of asymptotic values of the derivative of composition of the entire functions is bounded.Comment: 6 pages, accepted for publication in J.Ind.Math.Soc. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1307.578

Some relationships between perceived control and women’s reported coping strategies for menopausal hot flushes

Objectives: This questionnaire study compared the patterns of reported coping strategies of women high and low in perceived control over hot flushes. Method: A volunteer sample of 38 women fully completed a postal questionnaire. Perceived control was measured by a standardised scale (Reynolds 1997a) and respondents provided qualitative accounts of coping. Results: Consonant with previous findings that higher perceived control is associated with lower distress, the data indicated that women high in self-rated perceived control tended to describe more numerous coping strategies to manage both the physical and socio-emotional discomfort of flush episodes. Preventive strategies were infrequently adopted in both groups. However, the links between distress, control and coping were complex and subject to several influences. Those feeling low in control tended to report rather more numerous flushes (although the differences did not quite reach significance). Also qualitative analysis of coping strategies suggested that it is not always coping behaviour per se that differentiates more and less distressed women, but attitudes towards these behaviours. A coping strategy (such as wearing cotton fabrics) that seems satisfactory to one woman may fundamentally challenge the body-image of another, increasing distress by making her feel drab and different from her pre-menopausal self. Also women often make reference to situational influences on their coping choices. Conclusion: The data support further enquiry into the role of psychological interventions to enhance strategies for coping with hot flushes

Flexible organic thin film transistors for high-performance biosensors

Solution-gated transistors have shown promising applications in biosensors due to the high sensitivity, low working voltage and the simple design of the devices. Solution-gated transistors normal have no gate dielectric and the gate voltages are applied directly on the solid/electrolyte interfaces or electric double layers near the channel and the gate, which lead to very low working voltages (about 1 V) of the transistors. On the other hand, the devices can be easily prepared by solution process or other convenient methods because of the much simpler device structure compared with that of a conventional field effect transistor with several layers. Many biosensors can be developed based on the detection of potential changes across solid/electrolyte interfaces induced by electrochemical reactions or interactions. The devices normally can show high sensitivity due to the inherent amplification function of the transistors. In this talk, I will introduce several types of biosensors studied by our group recently, including DNA[1], glucose[2], dopamine, uric acid[3], cell[4], protein [5] and bacteria sensors, based on flexible solution-gated organic thin film transistors. The biosensors show high sensitivity and selectivity when the devices are modified with functional nano-materials (e.g. graphene, Pt nanoparticles) and biomaterials (e.g. enzyme, antibody, DNA) on the gate electrodes or the channel. Furthermore, the devices are miniaturized successfully for the applications as sensing arrays [6]. The solution-gated organic devices are also used for voltage-controlled drug release in aqueous solutions [7]. It is expected that the solution-gated organic transistors will find more important applications especially wearable electronics for healthcare in the future [8,9]. Reference [1] Lin P., Yan F., et al. Adv. Mater. 23, (2011) 4035-4040. [2] Tang H., Yan, F. et al. Adv. Funct. Mater. 21, (2011) 2264-2272. [3] Liao C. Z., Yan F., et al. Adv. Mater. 27, (2015) 676-681. [4] Lin P., Yan F., et al. Adv. Mater, 22, (2010) 3655-3660. [5] Fu Y., Yan F., et al. Adv. Mater. (2017) DOI: 10.1002/adma. 201703787. [6] Liao C. Z., Yan F., et al. Adv. Mater. 27, (2015) 7493-7527. [7] Liu S. H., Yan F. et al Adv. Mater. 29, (2017) 1701733. [8] Yang A. N., Yan F. et al. dv. Mater. 30, (2018) 1800051. [9] Wang N. X., Yang A. N., Fu Y., Li Y. Z., and Yan F., Acc. Chem. Res. (2019)

Accuracy of spike-train Fourier reconstruction for colliding nodes

We consider Fourier reconstruction problem for signals F, which are linear combinations of shifted delta-functions. We assume the Fourier transform of F to be known on the frequency interval [-N,N], with an absolute error not exceeding e > 0. We give an absolute lower bound (which is valid with any reconstruction method) for the "worst case" reconstruction error of F in situations where the nodes (i.e. the positions of the shifted delta-functions in F) are known to form an l elements cluster of a size h << 1. Using "decimation" reconstruction algorithm we provide an upper bound for the reconstruction error, essentially of the same form as the lower one. Roughly, our main result states that for N*h of order of (2l-1)-st root of e the worst case reconstruction error of the cluster nodes is of the same order as h, and hence the inside configuration of the cluster nodes (in the worst case scenario) cannot be reconstructed at all. On the other hand, decimation algorithm reconstructs F with the accuracy of order of 2l-st root of e

Distress and coping with hot flushes at work: Implications for counsellors in occupational settings

This study explored whether mid-life women regard hot flushes at work as a substantial stressor. A sample of 29 working women reporting hot flushes for at least 12 months rated the degree to which each of ten work situations influenced flush distress or discomfort. Ratings were compared with qualitative accounts of coping with flushes at work. Results showed that women differed markedly in the work situations that they regarded as most problematic, but flush distress was commonly magnified during formal meetings, in hot enclosed spaces and in the presence of male colleagues. A substantial minority viewed colleagues as conveying negative attitudes towards menopausal problems, which jeopardised general confidence at work as well as creating specific difficulties during flush episodes. Flush distress was higher among those reporting embarrassment and difficulties disclosing menopausal status to others. Respondents made suggestions for ways in which the working environment could be improved to assist women in managing hot flushes. Coping with flushes was largely seen as an individual rather than organisational responsibility. Other stigmatising health problems may present similar subjective problems at work and this needs further study. Some implications for counsellors working in organisational settings are explored

A Conjugate Gradient Method with Global Convergence for Large-Scale Unconstrained Optimization Problems

The conjugate gradient (CG) method has played a special role in solving large-scale nonlinear optimization problems due to the simplicity of their very low memory requirements. This paper proposes a conjugate gradient method which is similar to Dai-Liao conjugate gradient method (Dai and Liao, 2001) but has stronger convergence properties. The given method possesses the sufficient descent condition, and is globally convergent under strong Wolfe-Powell (SWP) line search for general function. Our numerical results show that the proposed method is very efficient for the test problems

Narrow band amplification of light carrying orbital angular momentum

We report on the amplification of an optical vortex beam carrying orbital angular momentum via induced narrow Raman gain in an ensemble of cold cesium atoms. A 20\% single-pass Raman gain of a weak vortex signal field is observed with a spectral width of order of 1 MHz, much smaller than the natural width, demonstrating that the amplification process preserves the phase structure of the vortex beam. The gain is observed in the degenerated two-level system associated with the hyperfine transition $6S_{1/2}(F=3)\leftrightarrow 6P_{3/2}(F^{\prime}=2)$ of cesium. Our experimental observations are explained with a simple theoretical model based on a three-level $\Lambda$ system interacting coherently with the weak Laguerre-Gauss field and a strong coupling field, including an incoherent pumping rate between the two degenerate ground-states.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure