Faculty of Business and Law 3

Doctor of Philosophy

BOULIS, Christopher Samir

Thesis Title

The Effects of Religion on Behaviour

Supervisors

• Professor Uwe Dulleck (Associate Supervisor)
• Professor Benno Torgler (Principal Supervisor)

Citation

This thesis explores the effect of family values, specifically religion, on household decision-making in three key areas of life: relationship stability and duration; asset and wealth accumulation, and the consumption of tobacco and alcohol. The effects are driven by religion beliefs, the composition of religious beliefs in couples, and the level of commitment to one’s religion. The results show that religious couples tend to have longer lasting relationships, lower wealth, and lower debt, and the lowest annual household expenditure on tobacco and alcohol and less likely to be a moderate or heavy user of tobacco or alcohol.

CHEN, Zihao

Thesis Title

Forecasting Realized Covariance Matrices: New Methods to Improve Financial Decision Making

Supervisors

• Professor Adam Edmond Clements (Principal Supervisor)
• Dr Stephen Robert Thiele (Associate Supervisor)

Citation

This thesis consists of three studies that centre around forecasting realised volatility based on high-frequency financial data. Accurate volatility forecasts are used extensively in many financial applications. The methods used here draw on econometric models and machine learning techniques. The empirical studies are based on fifty stocks and two stock indices. The thesis has established new perspectives on forecasting the realised volatility asset returns to improve financial decision-making.

DANG, Le Phuong Xuan

Thesis Title

Essays on Social Capital and Rural Household Credit

Supervisors

• Associate Professor Viet Ngu Hoang (Principal Supervisor)
• Adjunct Associate Professor Son Hong Nghiem (External Supervisor)
• Professor Clevo Wilson (Associate Supervisor)

Citation

This thesis presents three essays on social capital and household credit in rural Vietnam. It examines the relationships between social capital and credit access, social capital and repayment performance, and the dynamic relationship between social capital, credit, and welfare of households. Empirical results from these three studies could be useful to draw different implications for policy and decision-makers in the credit market. Furthermore, they provide helpful information on how to use social capital and credit to enhance welfare for households in rural Vietnam.

GONO, Marcel

Thesis Title

Environmental Effectiveness of Catchment Management Regimes: An Evaluation Using Difference in Differences and Stated Preference Techniques

Supervisors

• Professor Sobana Ashantha Goonetilleke (Associate Supervisor)
• Professor Clevo Wilson (Principal Supervisor)

Citation

This thesis evaluates the environmental effectiveness of catchment management regimes in relation to management outcomes. It applies difference in differences methodology and satellite data to measure the influence of various management regimes on changes to a catchment’s environment such as land cover. A choice experiment is employed to examine the influence of stakeholders’ characteristics on their catchment management regime preferences. The types of management regimes used are found to influence changes in the catchments’ environment, particularly forest cover. Stakeholders’ management regime preferences are influenced by their current circumstances and knowledge on the condition of their respective catchment areas.

KULATHUNGA, Nisansala Sandamali

Thesis Title

Managerial Overconfidence and Success in the Market for Corporate Control

Supervisors

• Professor Janice Ching Yan How (Associate Supervisor)
• Professor Benno Torgler (Associate Supervisor)
• Associate Professor Peter Verhoeven (Principal Supervisor)

Citation

The thesis examines the implications of the CEO’s psychological traits on firm outcomes in the market for corporate control. Employing a novel measure of the three facets of overconfidence (overestimation, overplacement and overprecision) using CEOs’ spoken words in interviews, I argue and find overconfidence to be significantly associated with M&A deal activity and outcomes. Specifically, CEO overconfidence leads to higher deal activity but lower deal completion and lower acquirer long-term stock performance. CEO power (Duality) strengthens this relationship.

LIU, Yang

Thesis Title

Three Experimental Studies on the Design of Contests and Auctions

Supervisors

• Professor Adam Edmond Clements (Mentoring Supervisor)
• Dr Changxia Ke (Principal Supervisor)
• Dr Gregory Scott Kubitz (Associate Supervisor)

Citation

This thesis uses the experimental method to examine how the design of contests and auctions affects the welfare of the organizer and the participants. Chapter 2 indicates that a contest organizer should disclose the number of contestants only when the cost of effort is concave. Chapter 3 shows that increasing competitiveness in a tournament by adding contestants, removing top prizes, or making prizes more unequal increases participants’ risk-taking and the skewness of the risk choice. Chapter 4 finds that indicative bidding can increase auction revenue by encouraging more bidders to participate. These findings can be used to inform future policymaking.

NUGENT, Annita

Thesis Title

Government Funding of University-Industry Collaboration: Exploring the Impact of Targeted Funding on Research Translation

Supervisors

• Dr Ho Fai Chan (Associate Supervisor)
• Professor Uwe Dulleck (Principal Supervisor)

Citation

Public funding of academic research comes with an expectation that the outcome will yield economic and societal benefit. In this thesis I investigate the effect of funding targeting university-industry collaboration on the overall objective of providing societal and economic benefit. I observe that funding schemes designed to include industry stakeholders drive university innovation, but do not necessarily seed new innovation. My study highlights the influence of the technology transfer office, and its level of sophistication, in the capture of economic value from university research.

RACHMAWATI, Farida

Thesis Title

Multi-financial Modelling Framework for Public Housing

Supervisors

• Professor Sobana Ashantha Goonetilleke (Associate Supervisor)
• Dr Ria Asih Aryani Soemitro (External Supervisor)
• Associate Professor Connie Susilawati (Principal Supervisor)

Citation

This research focussed on the development a multi-model financial framework, not only for affordable housing for low-income families, but also for ensuring the viability of public housing. This comprehensive research includes multi-stakeholder decision criteria for public rental housing and low-cost home ownership. The study extends the traditional financial analysis by using system dynamics to build an advanced investment decision model. The study outcomes suggest a range of public housing rental determinants, implementation strategies for government subsidies to strengthen the viability of mixed-housing developments in transit-oriented development projects.

SAMARATUNGA, Chamupathy Dilhantha

Thesis Title

Essays on Determinants of Climate Change Beliefs in the United States

Supervisors

• Dr Radhika Lahiri (Principal Supervisor)
• Dr Annastiina Silvennoinen (Associate Supervisor)

Citation

This thesis comprises of two sections which explore the relationship between the determinants of climate change beliefs in the United States. The first section aims to examine these determinants and their interaction effects on the beliefs about climate change. The second section of the thesis examines the regional heterogeneity in climate-related beliefs and the role of regional factors in determining these beliefs. The analysis derives evidence-based information of relevance to climate policy decision making and suggests that “framing” matters in bringing about a consensus on climate change.