The effect of corporate governance on stock repurchases: evidence from Sweden

Research Question/Issue: The paper examines whether corporate governance differences affect firms' stock repurchasing behaviour. Previous hypotheses on stock repurchases, well-supported by US data, are based on assumptions of managerial autonomy that might not be descriptive in corporate governance systems characterised by influential controlling shareholders such as the Swedish. Firm-level corporate governance arrangements may also affect firms' incentives to repurchase stock. Research Findings/Insights: Stock-repurchasing patterns among Swedish firms differ from those previously observed among US firms. The findings indicate that Swedish firms do not repurchase stock to distribute excess cash, signal undervaluation or fend off takeovers. Stock repurchases are made in addition to dividends and thus do not substitute for them. Firm-level corporate governance arrangements directly affect stock repurchasing behaviour. Firms without a dominant controlling owner seem to use stock repurchases to increase leverage. The existence of a dominant controlling shareholder diminishes the propensity for stock repurchases, while cross listing on a US or UK stock market increases that propensity. Theoretical/Academic Implications: The findings suggest that corporate governance differences affect stock repurchasing behaviour. The agency-theoretical view of the firm, on which the leading hypotheses on stock repurchases are based, accurately predicts stock repurchases only in certain institutional and governance settings. Practitioner/Policy Implications: The study suggests that differences in national and firm-level corporate governance must be taken into account in order to accurately assess outcomes of regulatory reforms and/or harmonisation attempts

Using computer decision support systems in NHS emergency and urgent care: ethnographic study using normalisation process theory

Background: information and communication technologies (ICTs) are often proposed as ‘technological fixes’ for problems facing healthcare. They promise to deliver services more quickly and cheaply. Yet research on the implementation of ICTs reveals a litany of delays, compromises and failures. Case studies have established that these technologies are difficult to embed in everyday healthcare.Methods: we undertook an ethnographic comparative analysis of a single computer decision support system in three different settings to understand the implementation and everyday use of this technology which is designed to deal with calls to emergency and urgent care services. We examined the deployment of this technology in an established 999 ambulance call-handling service, a new single point of access for urgent care and an established general practice out-of-hours service. We used Normalization Process Theory as a framework to enable systematic cross-case analysis.Results: our data comprise nearly 500 hours of observation, interviews with 64 call-handlers, and stakeholders and documents about the technology and settings. The technology has been implemented and is used distinctively in each setting reflecting important differences between work and contexts. Using Normalisation Process Theory we show how the work (collective action) of implementing the system and maintaining its routine use was enabled by a range of actors who established coherence for the technology, secured buy-in (cognitive participation) and engaged in on-going appraisal and adjustment (reflexive monitoring).Conclusions: huge effort was expended and continues to be required to implement and keep this technology in use. This innovation must be understood both as a computer technology and as a set of practices related to that technology, kept in place by a network of actors in particular contexts. While technologies can be ‘made to work’ in different settings, successful implementation has been achieved, and will only be maintained, through the efforts of those involved in the specific settings and if the wider context continues to support the coherence, cognitive participation, and reflective monitoring processes that surround this collective action. Implementation is more than simply putting technologies in place – it requires new resources and considerable effort, perhaps on an on-going basis

Euro Corporate Bond Risk Factors.

This paper investigates the determinants of credit spread changes in euro-denominated bonds. We adopt a factor model framework, inspired by the credit risk structural approach, as credit spread changes can be easily viewed as an excess return on corporate bonds over Treasury bonds. We try to assess the relative importance of market and idiosyncratic factors as an explanation of movements in credit spreads. We adopt a heterogeneous panel with a multifactor error model and propose a two-step estimation procedure, which yields consistent estimates of unobserved factors. The analysis is carried out with a panel of monthly redemption yields on a set of corporate bonds for a time span of 3 years. Our results suggest that the euro corporate market is driven by observable and unobservable factors. The unobservable factors are identified through a consistent estimation of individual and common observable effects. The empirical results suggest that an unobserved common factor has a significant role in explaining the systematic changes in credit spreads. However, in contrast to evidence regarding US credit spread changes, it cannot be identified as a market factor

The credit spread dynamics of Latin American euro issues in international bond markets

This paper investigates two important relationships using the sovereign issues made by major Latin American economies in the international bond market: the determinants of credit spread changes using variables derived from structural and macroeconomic theory and the impact of a default episode on the underlying equilibrium dynamics. We find four significant determinants of credit spread changes: an asset and interest rate factor&mdash;consistent with structural models of credit spread pricing; the exchange rate&mdash;consistent with macroeconomic determinants and the slope of the yield curve&mdash;consistent with a business cycle effect. Also, an intra-regional analysis of sovereign yields reveals a shift in the long-run equilibrium dynamics around the Argentine default on the 23 December 2001.<br /