ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
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- All Subjects: Formal Finance
- All Subjects: Organizational strategy
- Creators: Shen, Wei
Description
Informal finance in this paper refers to the financing activities of individuals or households to borrow money through channels other than formal financial institutions such as commercial banks. Using data from China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) conducted by Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (SWUFE) and the People's Bank of China, this paper employs Probit model to analyze the factors that may influence the financing needs of Chinese households and factors that influence their likelihood of obtaining loans from formal financial institutions versus from informal channels. Results show that household wealth, family structure, and household head’s characteristics are the major factors that influence their financing needs. Moreover, the results suggest that (a) richer families are more likely to obtain loans from formal financial channels while poorer families are more likely to do so from informal channels; (b) families with stronger social ties are more likely to obtain loans from formal financial channels, but this relationship is weaker in regions where the financial market is more competitive;and (c) the increase of formal financial services is positively related to the probability of households obtaining formal finance, but has no relationship with the probability of households obtaining informal finance. These findings have important implications for finance policy making.
ContributorsZhang, Linchao (Author) / Shen, Wei (Thesis advisor) / Chen, Xiaoping (Thesis advisor) / Liu, Jun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
In this study I investigate the organizational strategies that Chinese power generation companies may use to reduce the impact of coal price increases on their profits. Organizations are open systems in that no organization possesses all the resources that it needs and all organizations must obtain resources from their external environments in order to survive. Resource dependent theory suggests that the most important goal of an organization is to find effective mechanisms to cope with its dependence on the external environments for resources that are critical to its survival. Chinese power generation companies traditionally rely heavily on coal as their raw materials, and an increase in coal price can have a significant negative impact on their profits. To address this issue, I first provide a systematic review of the resource dependence theory and research, with a focus on the strategies such as vertical integration, diversification, and hedging that organizations can undertake to reduce their dependence on the external environment as well as their respective benefits and costs. Next, I conduct a qualitative case analysis of the primary strategies the largest Chinese power generation companies have used to reduce their dependence on coal. I then explore a new approach that Chinese power generation companies may use to cope with increases in coal price, namely, by investing in an index of coal companies in the stock market. My regression analysis shows that coal price has a strong positive relation with the price of the coal company index. This finding suggests that it is possible for firms to reduce the negative impact of raw material price increase on their profits by investing in a stock market index of the companies that supply the raw materials that they depend on.
ContributorsSun, Min (Author) / Shen, Wei (Thesis advisor) / Liu, Jun (Committee member) / Pei, Ker-Wei (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015