Empirical Essays in Finance, Growth and Institution

Abstract

Thesis is a compilation of four essays looking at various current issues. In the first essay, using industry-level data on firmsa?? dependence on external finance and firmsa?? asset tangibility for 27 industries in 42 countries, it is found that economies with higher levels of financial development have higher export shares and trade balance in industries with more intangible assets. Second essay provides empirical evidence to support the hypothesis that the level of economic development matters in the estimation of the effect of the financial sector on industry growth. Third essay using sample of 1441 firms from 28 industries found that firms with smaller size and with business-relation with government are more likely to appoint retired directors in Japanese boardrooms. Fourth essay using 161 IPOs in Singapore Stock Exchange tests the hypothesis that IPO underpricing could be influenced by herd behaviour which gets rationalized in the long run.