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Swee Sum Lam

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Johannes Zachhuber

University of Oxford

University of Northern Iowa

University of St Andrews

Margherita Laera

University of Kent

Nottingham Trent University

The University of Sydney

University of Vienna

Christoph Uehlinger

University of Zurich, Switzerland

Università di Pisa

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University of Iceland

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Papers by Swee Sum Lam

Theology and Qualitative Research

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Theology and Qualitative Research

Philanthropic Foundations In Asia: Insights from Singapore, Myanmar and China

This study looks at an emerging trend in which wealthy families, individuals, and corporations in... more This study looks at an emerging trend in which wealthy families, individuals, and corporations in Asia set up foundations to institutionalise their giving. This giving is motivated by a myriad of factors beyond prestige and status, including the desire to give back to society, religion, family and personal values, the desire to drive change, personal experience, and/or affiliations.This study finds that philanthropic foundations in Asia can be characterised by their operational model, governance structure, and philanthropic focus. In emerging economies in Asia like Myanmar and China, these foundations tend to give nationally and operate their own programmes. On the other hand, foundations in developed economies like Singapore and Hong Kong tend to give both regionally and nationally via grants to civil society organisations that operate programmes, as opposed to running programmes themselves. Further, families tend to retain significant control of foundations in Singapore and Hong K...

Some Evidence on Exchange Rate Fluctuations and

We study the impact of exchange rate fluctuations and exchange rate regime shifts on Asian stock ... more We study the impact of exchange rate fluctuations and exchange rate regime shifts on Asian stock prices from 1873 to the eve of the Second World War. The seven small open economies in the sample are particularly interesting as they are comparable to modern emerging markets and because they abandoned a common currency, silver, at differing times. Some significant associations between stock returns, exchange rate changes, and silver-related legislative and regulatory events are consistent with an “export competitiveness ” interpretation, and silver also appears to have been both a conditioning variable and a priced risk factor in the global risk-return equilibrium. Overall, however, silver shocks explain only a small fraction of stock returns. When combined with low correlation between the seven markets, the evidence suggests that local factors, home bias, or purchasing power hedging, rather than common factors, were predominant determinants of stock returns during this era. This echo...

Investors’ expectations and the performance of initial public offerings

New directions in finance, 2018

Kerygmatic hermeneutics : a theology and practice of theological interpretation for The Tabernacle Church and Missions

In this thesis, I develop an account of how Scripture can be read in the Spirit, in a context lik... more In this thesis, I develop an account of how Scripture can be read in the Spirit, in a context like that of The Tabernacle Church and Missions in Singapore. I begin by reflecting on a practice of attending to the Spirit in my church community. I draw from this pneumatology an account of the marks of the Spirit - intoxication, life, participation and revelation of truth - that can help readers discern when they are not only hearing human voices but also the voice of the Spirit. I locate the church’s reading of Scripture within this account of the Spirit’s working. I argue that such a Spirit-led process is the proper context for an interpretation of Scripture that can make for an embodied witness to Jesus Christ in the world. I formulate a theology for this account of interpreting Scripture in the Spirit; I call it kerygmatic hermeneutics. I develop a detailed practical proposal for kerygmatic interpretation. I adapt David Jeremiah Seah’s Participatory Active Listening Prayer Method to...

Estimation risk and the price behavior of initial public offerings of common stock

The moderating effect of bureaucratic quality on the pricing of policy instability

China Finance Review International, 2015

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how policy instability is priced in interest ra... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how policy instability is priced in interest rates. Policy instability refers to the likelihood that the current policy will be changed in the future in the absence of political power shifts. Design/methodology/approach – Chinese government’s experimental policy-making approach provides an ideal set of frequent policy flip-flops which allows us to identify the effect of policy changes. Findings – Conditional on the bureaucratic quality of policymaking, a good-quality policy reversal is related to reductions in interest rate term spread and volatility; a bad-quality policy reversal is related to increases in the spread and volatility. The bureaucratic quality is multi-dimensional and the moderating effect is stronger on interest rates when it is measured more precisely. Originality/value – First, we can use the interest rate dynamics to infer the policy risk premium, which is a more objective market indicator of the bureaucratic quali...

Including Spirituality in a Framework of Model Typology in Organizational Change

We present a framework of model typology in organizational change. This framework classifies orga... more We present a framework of model typology in organizational change. This framework classifies organizational change models into the following types: Top-down, bottom-up, outside-in and inside-out. Including spirituality-based models in an inside-out approach addresses the need for a holistic and dynamic mix of organizational change models in integral transformation of people multi-individuals of an organization.

Agency costs and management contracting: granting executive stock options as a strategic compensation practice?

International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 2006

This is an exploratory study on the characteristics and performance of firms that choose to grant... more This is an exploratory study on the characteristics and performance of firms that choose to grant executive stock options as a strategic compensation practice. According to the push theory of employee ownership, stock options are granted to push employees to create superior financial performance. We find that firms which grant executive stock options offer persistent abnormal firm performance. Firms that grant stock options in lieu of cash compensation do not perform differently in the long run from those that grant stock options as incentives. This finding is consistent with the proposition that the motivation for the use of executive stock options is endogenously determined for any firm given its investment opportunities and technology, risk characteristics and growth options.

Singapore Airlines: Price Effects of Restriction on Foreign Ownership

Do executive stock option grants have value implications for firm performance?

Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 2006

Consistent with predictions of agency theory, we find direct evidence that executive stock option... more Consistent with predictions of agency theory, we find direct evidence that executive stock option grants have value implications for firm performance. This inference is drawn from evaluation of various motivations for the use of such grants in executive compensation: value enhancement, risk taking, tax benefit, signaling and cash conservation. We find consistent evidence for the value enhancement motivation to reduce agency costs. As well, they signal for positive price sensitive information. Our results reject the tax benefit and cash conservation motivations. This finding is robust after controlling for the endogenous character of executive stock option grants and other equity-based grants.

A note on capital market segmentation: new tests and evidence

Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, 1993

This study applies cointegration tests for a localized form of capital market segmentation. We fi... more This study applies cointegration tests for a localized form of capital market segmentation. We find evidence of segmentation as well as integration within the same stock exchange. The experimental design for tests of a localized form of capital market segmentation avoids the shortcomings of the capital asset pricing model as well as the need to control for transaction and information costs, and institutional and regulatory differences across financial markets and therefore offers more conclusive results. Moreover, the cointegration test, as contrasted with the conventional t-test of sig 'ficance of the price premia of foreign shares over local shares, offers a more direct and powerful test of the localixed form of market segmentation in this instance.

Information asymmetry and estimation risk: Preliminary evidence from Chinese equity markets

Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, 2004

This study discusses the implication of information asymmetry between firms and investors for the... more This study discusses the implication of information asymmetry between firms and investors for the estimation risk of asset returns. We evaluate various risk measures of information asymmetry between firms and investors for China, an excellent example of a low information environment. We find a significant negative relationship between voluntary disclosure based on U.S. GAAP with certification of a credible audit firm and the variation of risk-adjusted returns. On the other hand, neither private information production nor certified voluntary disclosure is associated with any variation of asset returns in the primary markets.

Venture Capital Financing: A Conceptual Framework

Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, 1991

She wishes to thank Warren Bailey of Cornell University for his useful comments on earlier drafts... more

The Relationship Between Stock Price Changes and Trading Volume

Journal of Asia-Pacific Business, 1995

This study tests Karpoff's (1987) cosUy short sales hypothesis that attempts to explain the a... more

Pricing system and the initial public offerings market: A case of Singapore

International Review of Economics & Finance, 1998

The initial public offerings (IPOs) market in Singapore offers a unique showcase for the price di... more The initial public offerings (IPOs) market in Singapore offers a unique showcase for the price discovery process of risky securities. IPOs have traditionally been offered in the primary market under the fixed price system. In July, 1991, the SES introduced an option to issuers for IPOs to be offered on a two-tier pricing system, This allows issuers to incorporate a tender tranche in the public offer. Our findings confirm the intuition that fixed pricing and tender pricing respectively induces the dominant participation of retail and institutional investors. This regulatory and institutional framework allows for the refutable implications of the information asymmetry and estimation risk hypotheses to be tested directly. Initial price performance of IPOs under the two-tier pricing system offers prima facie evidence that is consistent with the information asymmetry hypothesis. However, further analyses suggest the pricing of estimation risk in the IPO market and explains why the two-tier pricing system suffers a cutback.

Globalization and Stock Market Returns

Global Economy Journal, 2006

With increasing globalization, to what extent do stock market returns reflect global or domestic ... more With increasing globalization, to what extent do stock market returns reflect global or domestic risk factors? We find a significant relationship between stock market returns and the global market risk factor and macroeconomic factors respectively. In particular, global factors offer four times more explanatory power than domestic factors for developed market stock returns. Yet domestic factors are as important as global ones in emerging economies. Our method allows for the proxies of the state variables to be endogenously determined. The relationship between macroeconomy and stock market returns is robust after accounting for the market factor, firm size and book-to-market characteristics.

Control versus Firm Value: The Impact of Restrictions on Foreign Share Ownership

Financial Management, 1997

This study investigates the impact of foreign ownership restrictions on firm value. A unique even... more

Underpricing of initial public offerings in Singapore: A discriminating test of the information-signalling hypotheses

Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 1991

... over issuers and investors, and their origination decisions affect the aftermarket performanc... more ... over issuers and investors, and their origination decisions affect the aftermarket performance and specifi ... find that there is no significant difference between the initial returns on IPOs that are ... banker, Rock (1986) and Leland and Pyle (1977) provide some insight into the issuer's ...

Information risk and initial public offerings: an empirical investigation

Applied Financial Economics, 1992

Theology and Qualitative Research

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Theology and Qualitative Research

Philanthropic Foundations In Asia: Insights from Singapore, Myanmar and China

This study looks at an emerging trend in which wealthy families, individuals, and corporations in... more This study looks at an emerging trend in which wealthy families, individuals, and corporations in Asia set up foundations to institutionalise their giving. This giving is motivated by a myriad of factors beyond prestige and status, including the desire to give back to society, religion, family and personal values, the desire to drive change, personal experience, and/or affiliations.This study finds that philanthropic foundations in Asia can be characterised by their operational model, governance structure, and philanthropic focus. In emerging economies in Asia like Myanmar and China, these foundations tend to give nationally and operate their own programmes. On the other hand, foundations in developed economies like Singapore and Hong Kong tend to give both regionally and nationally via grants to civil society organisations that operate programmes, as opposed to running programmes themselves. Further, families tend to retain significant control of foundations in Singapore and Hong K...

Some Evidence on Exchange Rate Fluctuations and

We study the impact of exchange rate fluctuations and exchange rate regime shifts on Asian stock ... more We study the impact of exchange rate fluctuations and exchange rate regime shifts on Asian stock prices from 1873 to the eve of the Second World War. The seven small open economies in the sample are particularly interesting as they are comparable to modern emerging markets and because they abandoned a common currency, silver, at differing times. Some significant associations between stock returns, exchange rate changes, and silver-related legislative and regulatory events are consistent with an “export competitiveness ” interpretation, and silver also appears to have been both a conditioning variable and a priced risk factor in the global risk-return equilibrium. Overall, however, silver shocks explain only a small fraction of stock returns. When combined with low correlation between the seven markets, the evidence suggests that local factors, home bias, or purchasing power hedging, rather than common factors, were predominant determinants of stock returns during this era. This echo...

Investors’ expectations and the performance of initial public offerings

New directions in finance, 2018

Kerygmatic hermeneutics : a theology and practice of theological interpretation for The Tabernacle Church and Missions

In this thesis, I develop an account of how Scripture can be read in the Spirit, in a context lik... more In this thesis, I develop an account of how Scripture can be read in the Spirit, in a context like that of The Tabernacle Church and Missions in Singapore. I begin by reflecting on a practice of attending to the Spirit in my church community. I draw from this pneumatology an account of the marks of the Spirit - intoxication, life, participation and revelation of truth - that can help readers discern when they are not only hearing human voices but also the voice of the Spirit. I locate the church’s reading of Scripture within this account of the Spirit’s working. I argue that such a Spirit-led process is the proper context for an interpretation of Scripture that can make for an embodied witness to Jesus Christ in the world. I formulate a theology for this account of interpreting Scripture in the Spirit; I call it kerygmatic hermeneutics. I develop a detailed practical proposal for kerygmatic interpretation. I adapt David Jeremiah Seah’s Participatory Active Listening Prayer Method to...

Estimation risk and the price behavior of initial public offerings of common stock

The moderating effect of bureaucratic quality on the pricing of policy instability

China Finance Review International, 2015

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how policy instability is priced in interest ra... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how policy instability is priced in interest rates. Policy instability refers to the likelihood that the current policy will be changed in the future in the absence of political power shifts. Design/methodology/approach – Chinese government’s experimental policy-making approach provides an ideal set of frequent policy flip-flops which allows us to identify the effect of policy changes. Findings – Conditional on the bureaucratic quality of policymaking, a good-quality policy reversal is related to reductions in interest rate term spread and volatility; a bad-quality policy reversal is related to increases in the spread and volatility. The bureaucratic quality is multi-dimensional and the moderating effect is stronger on interest rates when it is measured more precisely. Originality/value – First, we can use the interest rate dynamics to infer the policy risk premium, which is a more objective market indicator of the bureaucratic quali...

Including Spirituality in a Framework of Model Typology in Organizational Change

We present a framework of model typology in organizational change. This framework classifies orga... more We present a framework of model typology in organizational change. This framework classifies organizational change models into the following types: Top-down, bottom-up, outside-in and inside-out. Including spirituality-based models in an inside-out approach addresses the need for a holistic and dynamic mix of organizational change models in integral transformation of people multi-individuals of an organization.

Agency costs and management contracting: granting executive stock options as a strategic compensation practice?

International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 2006

This is an exploratory study on the characteristics and performance of firms that choose to grant... more This is an exploratory study on the characteristics and performance of firms that choose to grant executive stock options as a strategic compensation practice. According to the push theory of employee ownership, stock options are granted to push employees to create superior financial performance. We find that firms which grant executive stock options offer persistent abnormal firm performance. Firms that grant stock options in lieu of cash compensation do not perform differently in the long run from those that grant stock options as incentives. This finding is consistent with the proposition that the motivation for the use of executive stock options is endogenously determined for any firm given its investment opportunities and technology, risk characteristics and growth options.

Singapore Airlines: Price Effects of Restriction on Foreign Ownership

Do executive stock option grants have value implications for firm performance?

Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, 2006

Consistent with predictions of agency theory, we find direct evidence that executive stock option... more Consistent with predictions of agency theory, we find direct evidence that executive stock option grants have value implications for firm performance. This inference is drawn from evaluation of various motivations for the use of such grants in executive compensation: value enhancement, risk taking, tax benefit, signaling and cash conservation. We find consistent evidence for the value enhancement motivation to reduce agency costs. As well, they signal for positive price sensitive information. Our results reject the tax benefit and cash conservation motivations. This finding is robust after controlling for the endogenous character of executive stock option grants and other equity-based grants.

A note on capital market segmentation: new tests and evidence

Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, 1993

This study applies cointegration tests for a localized form of capital market segmentation. We fi... more This study applies cointegration tests for a localized form of capital market segmentation. We find evidence of segmentation as well as integration within the same stock exchange. The experimental design for tests of a localized form of capital market segmentation avoids the shortcomings of the capital asset pricing model as well as the need to control for transaction and information costs, and institutional and regulatory differences across financial markets and therefore offers more conclusive results. Moreover, the cointegration test, as contrasted with the conventional t-test of sig 'ficance of the price premia of foreign shares over local shares, offers a more direct and powerful test of the localixed form of market segmentation in this instance.

Information asymmetry and estimation risk: Preliminary evidence from Chinese equity markets

Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, 2004

This study discusses the implication of information asymmetry between firms and investors for the... more This study discusses the implication of information asymmetry between firms and investors for the estimation risk of asset returns. We evaluate various risk measures of information asymmetry between firms and investors for China, an excellent example of a low information environment. We find a significant negative relationship between voluntary disclosure based on U.S. GAAP with certification of a credible audit firm and the variation of risk-adjusted returns. On the other hand, neither private information production nor certified voluntary disclosure is associated with any variation of asset returns in the primary markets.

Venture Capital Financing: A Conceptual Framework

Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, 1991

She wishes to thank Warren Bailey of Cornell University for his useful comments on earlier drafts... more

The Relationship Between Stock Price Changes and Trading Volume

Journal of Asia-Pacific Business, 1995

This study tests Karpoff's (1987) cosUy short sales hypothesis that attempts to explain the a... more

Pricing system and the initial public offerings market: A case of Singapore

International Review of Economics & Finance, 1998

The initial public offerings (IPOs) market in Singapore offers a unique showcase for the price di... more The initial public offerings (IPOs) market in Singapore offers a unique showcase for the price discovery process of risky securities. IPOs have traditionally been offered in the primary market under the fixed price system. In July, 1991, the SES introduced an option to issuers for IPOs to be offered on a two-tier pricing system, This allows issuers to incorporate a tender tranche in the public offer. Our findings confirm the intuition that fixed pricing and tender pricing respectively induces the dominant participation of retail and institutional investors. This regulatory and institutional framework allows for the refutable implications of the information asymmetry and estimation risk hypotheses to be tested directly. Initial price performance of IPOs under the two-tier pricing system offers prima facie evidence that is consistent with the information asymmetry hypothesis. However, further analyses suggest the pricing of estimation risk in the IPO market and explains why the two-tier pricing system suffers a cutback.

Globalization and Stock Market Returns

Global Economy Journal, 2006

With increasing globalization, to what extent do stock market returns reflect global or domestic ... more With increasing globalization, to what extent do stock market returns reflect global or domestic risk factors? We find a significant relationship between stock market returns and the global market risk factor and macroeconomic factors respectively. In particular, global factors offer four times more explanatory power than domestic factors for developed market stock returns. Yet domestic factors are as important as global ones in emerging economies. Our method allows for the proxies of the state variables to be endogenously determined. The relationship between macroeconomy and stock market returns is robust after accounting for the market factor, firm size and book-to-market characteristics.

Control versus Firm Value: The Impact of Restrictions on Foreign Share Ownership

Financial Management, 1997

This study investigates the impact of foreign ownership restrictions on firm value. A unique even... more

Underpricing of initial public offerings in Singapore: A discriminating test of the information-signalling hypotheses

Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 1991

... over issuers and investors, and their origination decisions affect the aftermarket performanc... more ... over issuers and investors, and their origination decisions affect the aftermarket performance and specifi ... find that there is no significant difference between the initial returns on IPOs that are ... banker, Rock (1986) and Leland and Pyle (1977) provide some insight into the issuer's ...

Information risk and initial public offerings: an empirical investigation

Applied Financial Economics, 1992