The economic cost of insider trading - culture, legislation, governance, gender and crisis impacts: comparative evidence from around the globe. Does a country's culture and firm governance affect returns to insiders and/or general trading costs? Do uninformed insiders benefit at the expense of outsiders? By extending research internationally on these important equity issues, feedback is provided on best practice to increase information availability and reduce unscrupulous gains to insiders.
Surviving financial crises: a study of the Australian Government securities market. This project assesses the capacity of the Australian Government securities market to meet investor demand in times of financial crises. The outcomes will provide governments in Australia and other countries with the necessary tools to enhance the efficiency of securities markets and to flag liquidity problems in a timely manner.
The Role of Directors in CorporateTakeovers. This research deals with one of the causes and consequences of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) for boards of directors of companies involved in M&As. The Federal Government's Corporate Law and Economic Reform Program (CLERP), Paper No:3 states that corporate governance practices by Australian companies should be continuously monitored by the Australian Stock Exchange and relevant industries and professional bodies. Our research on the extent to which ....The Role of Directors in CorporateTakeovers. This research deals with one of the causes and consequences of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) for boards of directors of companies involved in M&As. The Federal Government's Corporate Law and Economic Reform Program (CLERP), Paper No:3 states that corporate governance practices by Australian companies should be continuously monitored by the Australian Stock Exchange and relevant industries and professional bodies. Our research on the extent to which directors get penalised and/or rewarded for acquisition decisions depending on the outcomes of the M&A, contribute towards this monitoring.Read moreRead less
Corporate governance, corporate disclosure policies and the timeliness of price discovery: How competitive is the Australian equity market? This project will help reduce the economic cost of poor corporate governance. It will facilitate more liquid financial markets and potentially it will increase the number and value of worthwhile investment opportunities by lowering the cost to finance them. It will assess Australia's competitive standing in the world's equity markets and establish whether ou ....Corporate governance, corporate disclosure policies and the timeliness of price discovery: How competitive is the Australian equity market? This project will help reduce the economic cost of poor corporate governance. It will facilitate more liquid financial markets and potentially it will increase the number and value of worthwhile investment opportunities by lowering the cost to finance them. It will assess Australia's competitive standing in the world's equity markets and establish whether our market is indeed transparent and a good place to raise risk capital. It will add needed credibility to corporate governance regulation. And it will enhance Australia's standing in the international research community because its research methods can be applied to almost any public capital market.Read moreRead less
Schemes of arrangement versus takeovers: implications of the choice for shareholders and directors. This project examines the use of schemes of arrangement in acquisitions. Do they disadvantage target shareholders through lower takeover premiums and less takeover competition? The results of the project will indicate whether reforms are needed to Australian takeover legislation to create a level playing field between takeover bids and schemes.
Shareholder voting at Australian annual general meetings. The Australian Corporations Act requires public companies to hold an annual general meeting (AGM) of shareholders. This project aims to address several important issues regarding the integrity, transparency, effectiveness and consequences of voting at Australian AGMs in relation to: show of hands voting, AGM characteristics and technology use, and director elections. As there is limited prior research on these matters this project expects ....Shareholder voting at Australian annual general meetings. The Australian Corporations Act requires public companies to hold an annual general meeting (AGM) of shareholders. This project aims to address several important issues regarding the integrity, transparency, effectiveness and consequences of voting at Australian AGMs in relation to: show of hands voting, AGM characteristics and technology use, and director elections. As there is limited prior research on these matters this project expects to generate significant new knowledge. The project outcomes will provide significant benefits as the findings will support moves towards best practice in governance and thereby enhance public confidence in the integrity of the Australian financial market.Read moreRead less
Stochastic Index Numbers and Their Application in Accounting, Economics and Finance. Index numbers of prices, such as the Consumer Price Index and the All Ordinaries Index, are among the most important economic statistics for the whole economy. But despite their importance, currently constructed price indexes do not use all the information available in the underlying price data, namely the dispersion among the individual prices. This project will develop and apply a methodology for a new approa ....Stochastic Index Numbers and Their Application in Accounting, Economics and Finance. Index numbers of prices, such as the Consumer Price Index and the All Ordinaries Index, are among the most important economic statistics for the whole economy. But despite their importance, currently constructed price indexes do not use all the information available in the underlying price data, namely the dispersion among the individual prices. This project will develop and apply a methodology for a new approach to index numbers that incorporates this information and leads to tractable ways of estimating the whole distribution of the index value, rather than just one number. The practical usefulness of this mthodology will be demonstrated with applications in accounting (sustainable earnings), economics (real exchange rates) and finance (share prices).Read moreRead less
Share trading by corporate insiders: effects and implications. The project examines trading by corporate insiders in Australian firms. The project's findings will provide evidence to corporate regulators on firms' disclosure practices and the effect of non-disclosure of insider trades on transparency in the market and investor confidence through the firm's cost of capital.
Quantifying Country Credit Risk Ratings and Volatility, and Measuring the Impact of Fundamentals. National/community benefits include developing a superior quantifiable ratings method to the qualitative rankings produced by leading international country credit risk ratings agencies, measuring the impact of economic/financial fundamentals on risk ratings, and analysing their fluctuations across countries and risk categories over time. The project provides a solution to the major problems underlyi ....Quantifying Country Credit Risk Ratings and Volatility, and Measuring the Impact of Fundamentals. National/community benefits include developing a superior quantifiable ratings method to the qualitative rankings produced by leading international country credit risk ratings agencies, measuring the impact of economic/financial fundamentals on risk ratings, and analysing their fluctuations across countries and risk categories over time. The project provides a solution to the major problems underlying qualitative country risk ratings, namely the irregularity and infrequency of their measurement, and emphasizes the practicality of the results. Expected outcomes include a clearer understanding of how to quantify qualitative rankings and their fluctuations, using information intelligently, and promoting an innovation and knowledge culture.Read moreRead less
Modelling non-linear price dynamics of primary commodities that are affected by seasonality, significant storage costs, and slow adjustment. Australia's economy relies substantially on exports of commodities. However, recent volatility of commodity prices has created tremendous uncertainties for traders, producers and consumers of those commodities. This adversely affects our national economy through the disruption of agricultural and mining production, and also more broadly impacts on investmen ....Modelling non-linear price dynamics of primary commodities that are affected by seasonality, significant storage costs, and slow adjustment. Australia's economy relies substantially on exports of commodities. However, recent volatility of commodity prices has created tremendous uncertainties for traders, producers and consumers of those commodities. This adversely affects our national economy through the disruption of agricultural and mining production, and also more broadly impacts on investment, employment and gross domestic income. This research will model more accurately the complex dynamics of primary commodity prices and their inter-market linkages, which will allow traders, producers and consumers to better forecast commodity price movements and protect themselves through inventory management, hedging and long-run production planning.Read moreRead less