A New Paradigm of Financial Market Behaviour. The project contributes to the development of a newly emerging paradigm for describing financial market behaviour. It will model financial markets as adaptively evolving systems that are the outcome of the interaction of boundedly rational economic agents with heterogeneous beliefs. The new paradigm will seek to explain aspects of financial market behaviour not well explained by the standard finance paradigm. The project outcomes will be of benefit ....A New Paradigm of Financial Market Behaviour. The project contributes to the development of a newly emerging paradigm for describing financial market behaviour. It will model financial markets as adaptively evolving systems that are the outcome of the interaction of boundedly rational economic agents with heterogeneous beliefs. The new paradigm will seek to explain aspects of financial market behaviour not well explained by the standard finance paradigm. The project outcomes will be of benefit to financial market researchers and regulators by providing a better framework for understanding and managing financial market volatility.Read moreRead less
Impacts of International Financial Reporting Standards adoption on cost of equity capital, financial statement value-relevance, and firms' financing and investment strategies. The project's insights will assist policy makers to assess, progress and promote approaches to global economic and governance policy reforms. AIFRS adoption disturbs the financial markets equilibria previously struck under Australian accounting standards. Understanding this impact helps underpin micro- and macro- economi ....Impacts of International Financial Reporting Standards adoption on cost of equity capital, financial statement value-relevance, and firms' financing and investment strategies. The project's insights will assist policy makers to assess, progress and promote approaches to global economic and governance policy reforms. AIFRS adoption disturbs the financial markets equilibria previously struck under Australian accounting standards. Understanding this impact helps underpin micro- and macro- economic strategies and policy developments relying upon the role of financial reporting. It also assists capital markets to adapt to the new reporting environment, thus increasing capital allocation effectiveness and efficiency.
Australia's position as an early IFRS adopting nation enables the project to facilitate Australia's international leadership in global economic policy development. Read moreRead less
A Synthesis of Agency and Managerial Power Theories and Its Applications to Corporate Governance, Management Compensation, and Firm Performance. The existing models of corporate governance in economics and finance based on agency theory do not successfully portray all modern corporations. Thus the importance of a new and rigorous way to study corporate governance can be hardly exaggerated. This project will provide a synthesized theory of corporate governance and is expected to produce highest- ....A Synthesis of Agency and Managerial Power Theories and Its Applications to Corporate Governance, Management Compensation, and Firm Performance. The existing models of corporate governance in economics and finance based on agency theory do not successfully portray all modern corporations. Thus the importance of a new and rigorous way to study corporate governance can be hardly exaggerated. This project will provide a synthesized theory of corporate governance and is expected to produce highest-quality research publishable in top-tier journals. This will, among others, enhance Australia's standing as a knowledge nation. This project is also expected to contribute to the discussions on how to improve corporate governance and regulation of management compensation both in Australia and abroad. Read moreRead less
Cycles and Size: Long Term Valuation and Investment Performance. This project will significantly enhance our understanding of the cyclical variation in the returns and volatility of size-related equity classes. A better understanding of these cyclical phenomena may also lead to improvements in the asset allocation process, in particular the investment in medium- and
small-sized enterprise shares. The current neglect by analysts and reluctance of institutional investors to research and invest in ....Cycles and Size: Long Term Valuation and Investment Performance. This project will significantly enhance our understanding of the cyclical variation in the returns and volatility of size-related equity classes. A better understanding of these cyclical phenomena may also lead to improvements in the asset allocation process, in particular the investment in medium- and
small-sized enterprise shares. The current neglect by analysts and reluctance of institutional investors to research and invest in this sizable market segment offers significant opportunities for linkage research. This project will focus on the valuation, (il)liquidity, and macroeconomic sources of momentum profits as they related to the economic cycle, across the size spectrum.
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Investment Opportunities and the Impact of Interaction Between Global Integration, International Capital Flows and Price Movements in Emerging Stock Markets. Emerging stock markets now represent an integral component of international investment portfolios comprising billions of dollars. But stocks in these markets are perceived as excessively volatile and frequently inconsistent with economic fundamentals. This project investigates the linkage between emerging stock prices and both local and glo ....Investment Opportunities and the Impact of Interaction Between Global Integration, International Capital Flows and Price Movements in Emerging Stock Markets. Emerging stock markets now represent an integral component of international investment portfolios comprising billions of dollars. But stocks in these markets are perceived as excessively volatile and frequently inconsistent with economic fundamentals. This project investigates the linkage between emerging stock prices and both local and global economic influences; develops quantifiable time-varying measures of capital market integration based on fundamentals allowing ranking across markets; and explores how integration levels are affected by capital flows. The project will benefit the investment community and governments in understanding, and modelling, the impact of policy and trade flows on market integration and the consequent effect on stock markets.Read moreRead less
MANAGING AND MODELLING RISK AND COMPLEXITY IN THE INVESTMENT AND HEDGE FUNDS INDUSTRY. The project will develop an evolutionary learning algorithm for modeling non-linear financial asset price movements and conduct simulations to gain a better understanding of price formation in securities markets with a focus on the equity market. We will focus on extreme market conditions to calibrate the benefits and efficiency of risk management techniques. The models will be applied to benchmarking and eval ....MANAGING AND MODELLING RISK AND COMPLEXITY IN THE INVESTMENT AND HEDGE FUNDS INDUSTRY. The project will develop an evolutionary learning algorithm for modeling non-linear financial asset price movements and conduct simulations to gain a better understanding of price formation in securities markets with a focus on the equity market. We will focus on extreme market conditions to calibrate the benefits and efficiency of risk management techniques. The models will be applied to benchmarking and evaluating portfolio decisions of hedge funds; investment risk management and dynamic portfolio selection strategies. The research will result in new theoretical approaches and empirical methods to study price movements and evaluate fund performance.Read moreRead less
Three Decades of Financial Distress and Corporate Restructuring in Australia. Corporate financial distress is costly and disruptive to Australia's economy. While shareholders are the first to lose, the flow-on effects include bankruptcies, unemployment, and a negative impact on economic growth. By analysing three decades of Australian experience we aim to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics underlying financial distress and corporate restructuring. The potential benefits include improvem ....Three Decades of Financial Distress and Corporate Restructuring in Australia. Corporate financial distress is costly and disruptive to Australia's economy. While shareholders are the first to lose, the flow-on effects include bankruptcies, unemployment, and a negative impact on economic growth. By analysing three decades of Australian experience we aim to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamics underlying financial distress and corporate restructuring. The potential benefits include improvements to corporate practice in responding to financial distress, improvements to ASX governance (regarding listing rules and transparency in particular for small-capitalization firms), and ultimately to economic policy by elucidating the corporate sector's dynamic response across the business cycle. Read moreRead less
Investment Evaluation and Price Formation in Markets for Oil and Mineral Resources. The project will examine and quantify price movements and the associated risk of mineral and oil prices leading to the development of better risk management models. The findings will help Australian exporters and importers understand and manage price risks more effectively. The investment community also benefits from the quantification of these risks, in particular, managers of large pension and mutual funds. The ....Investment Evaluation and Price Formation in Markets for Oil and Mineral Resources. The project will examine and quantify price movements and the associated risk of mineral and oil prices leading to the development of better risk management models. The findings will help Australian exporters and importers understand and manage price risks more effectively. The investment community also benefits from the quantification of these risks, in particular, managers of large pension and mutual funds. The aim of the proposed models is better forecasting of global mineral and oil price movements leading to improved management of economic policy in this important sector. Read moreRead less
Complexity, Risk Management and Dynamic Portfolio Selection in Investment Management using Advances in Evolutionary Parallel-computing Artificial Intelligence. With over $1 trillion of investors' monies in the hands of fund managers, the health of the Australian economy is critically dependent on the investment decisions of these managers. However, the majority of the funds are invested in risky assets with histories of volatile price movements about which we do not possess a deep understanding. ....Complexity, Risk Management and Dynamic Portfolio Selection in Investment Management using Advances in Evolutionary Parallel-computing Artificial Intelligence. With over $1 trillion of investors' monies in the hands of fund managers, the health of the Australian economy is critically dependent on the investment decisions of these managers. However, the majority of the funds are invested in risky assets with histories of volatile price movements about which we do not possess a deep understanding. This project draws upon a set of inter-disciplinary concepts and models centred in neural networks that allow for learning over time to advance our understanding of complexity, leading to superior quantitative tools and models to allow for improved decision-making in respect of risk management and asset allocation.
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Storage and the Hotelling Valuation Principle: Understanding the Dynamics of the Oil Industry. Understanding the economics of the oil market is important for understanding the shift toward smaller, more fuel-efficient motor vehicles and less fuel-intensive farming techniques. A better understanding of fundamental oil price processes will lead to more accurate oil price forecasting and hence more accurate pricing of oil derivatives (options, futures and swaps) and improved risk management (e.g. ....Storage and the Hotelling Valuation Principle: Understanding the Dynamics of the Oil Industry. Understanding the economics of the oil market is important for understanding the shift toward smaller, more fuel-efficient motor vehicles and less fuel-intensive farming techniques. A better understanding of fundamental oil price processes will lead to more accurate oil price forecasting and hence more accurate pricing of oil derivatives (options, futures and swaps) and improved risk management (e.g. airlines hedging the cost of their jet fuel needs). Read moreRead less