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Esg Significance In Relation To Corporate Bankruptcy Prediction, Sama Elkady

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aims to enhance corporate risk assessment through studying ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) significance in modeling bankruptcy. Through using artificial intelligence’ natural language processing (NLP), we develop a proxy for ESG scoring based on companies annual reporting retrieved through EDGAR. We integrate the derived ESG score with traditional financial ratios used to calculate Altman’s Z-score (1968) in predicting bankruptcy. Through S&P’s Compustat, we obtain a sample of 108 healthy & bankrupt firms -spanning 14 years of fiscal observations- and match them through time and industry. We use stepwise GLM regression to estimate bankruptcy probability observing that ESG and …

Revolutionizing Lithium Extraction: Analysis Of Factors Affecting Commercialization Timelines With Insights From The Shale Gas Boom, Bilge Tayyar

CMC Senior Theses

This study draws parallels between Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) and hydraulic fracturing to highlight the transformative potential of DLE technology in the lithium industry. The comparative analysis supports the hypothesis that DLE might expedite commercialization timelines, similar to the effect hydraulic fracturing has had on traditional shale gas extraction. The study includes a regression analysis to determine the factors affecting the commercialization of conventional lithium brine extraction methods, thereby better understanding the potential changes DLE will create. The regression model, based on data from 11 projects, examines the impact of variables such as temperature range, tax rates, royalty rates, regulatory …

Owning Green: Evaluating The Effects Of Actively Managed Sustainability Fund Ownership On Esg Scores, Caleb Young

CMC Senior Theses

The growing trend of acknowledging ESG performance as a material concern when conducting due diligence on investment opportunities has exacerbated the number of assets being managed by investors with sustainability-oriented goals. At the same time, as social and climate-related issues have become more intense, investors want to use their agency as shareholders to influence companies to act in ways that align with their values. Frequently, this can be most effectively achieved through proxy voting and corporate engagement, particularly if the fund is an active manager. This thesis explores the interaction between ESG-focused ETFs and mutual funds and their management style …

Navigating Uncertainty: The Role Of Gold, Silver, Oil, Cryptocurrency, And Esg Indices In The Mena Region, Rahaf Zakaria Sakr

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the effectiveness of various financial instruments as hedges and safe havens during different market conditions in the MENA region. It compares traditional safe-haven investments ( gold, silver, and oil) and non-traditional safe-havens (cryptocurrencies and ESG stocks) to determine which investments function better as hedges and safe havens during different market conditions. The data covers eight years, starting in 2015 and ending in early 2023. DCC GARCH is utilized to examine time variation in conditional correlations. This study finds that Gold, Silver, and cryptocurrency can be considered strong hedges to the MENA market on average and weak safe …

Strategies To Improve Minority Business Enterprises’ Access To Capital For Competitive Positioning And Profitability, Darlene Hill

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some minority business enterprises (MBEs) have limited capital for setting up their businesses, which often leads to business failure. Grounded in entrepreneurship theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore strategies MBEs used to access capital to improve their competitive positioning and profitability. The participants were six MBE owners from Alabama who demonstrated success at maintaining and securing working capital to maintain a profitable business for a minimum of 5 years. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and reviews of organization documents and websites. Using Yin’s five-step data analysis process, four themes emerged: owner financing, government loans …

Strategies To Improve Minority Business Enterprises’ Access To Capital For Competitive Positioning And Profitability, Darlene Hill

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some minority business enterprises (MBEs) have limited capital for setting up their businesses, which often leads to business failure. Grounded in entrepreneurship theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to explore strategies MBEs used to access capital to improve their competitive positioning and profitability. The participants were six MBE owners from Alabama who demonstrated success at maintaining and securing working capital to maintain a profitable business for a minimum of 5 years. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and reviews of organization documents and websites. Using Yin’s five-step data analysis process, four themes emerged: owner financing, government loans …

Financial Strategies For Sustainability Of Small- And Medium-Sized Enterprises In Nigeria, Okey Okoro Udo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although small and medium enterprises (SMEs) contribute significantly to Nigeria’s socioeconomic and political development, most of the country’s SMEs no longer operate by their fifth anniversary. Many owners lack knowledge of the financial strategies required for the long-term performance and growth of their enterprise. The aim of this qualitative multiple case study was to gain an in-depth understanding of financial strategies that SMEs owner-managers can adopt to enhance the sustainability of their business operations in Nigeria. This study was grounded in entrepreneurship theory and Porter’s model of competitive strategy. Qualitative data from multiple sources, including semistructured interviews, scholarly works, and …

Staying One Step Ahead Of The Growing Electric Vehicle Market, Russell Molter

Honors Projects

Electric vehicles are becoming more popular among drivers as they become more affordable and as people become more aware of the benefits of electric vehicles. Because of this, the demand for electric car chargers is quickly increasing across the country. This includes BGSU’s campus. Right now, there are seven chargers available on campus, but with the trends in how the electric vehicle market is growing, BGSU should create a plan to install many more chargers to meet the increasing demand for charging stations. This strategy will allow BGSU to keep up with the growing electric vehicle market, which will additionally …

Essays On Green Finance, Elsa Allman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Chapter 1: Pricing Climate Change Risk in Corporate Bonds

Using a firm’s geographic footprint to measure its exposure to sea level rise (SLR), I find that corporate bonds bear a climate risk premium upon issuance. A one standard deviation increase in firms’ SLR exposure is associated with a 7 basis point premium, representing a 3% increase in average yield spread. This effect is more pronounced for geographically concentrated firms, within industries vulnerable to extreme weather conditions, and after the Paris Agreement. I do not find evidence that credit rating agencies account for SLR exposure at bond issuance. Results are robust …

How Companies Can Overcome The Barriers To Sustainability In The Fashion Industry, Madison Perreault

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

The primary intent of this paper is to explore existing case studies on the barriers to sustainability in the fashion industry as well as incorporate my own contributions by crafting and analyzing the results of a survey. This survey will give insight to the attitudes and behaviors of respondents towards sustainable fashion. I will also investigate government policies on this topic, or the lack thereof. Finally, I will offer my recommendation on how businesses can overcome the barriers to sustainability in the fashion industry.

Nonprofit Strategies For Alternative Revenue Generation And Sustainability, Aretha Lepearl Day

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractIn the post-2008 Great Recession era of a highly volatile global business environment of increased competitiveness, diminishing predictable revenues, and depleting philanthropy, many nonprofit leaders struggle to sustain their organizations. Volatility is important to nonprofit leaders because such fluctuations create unpredictability, which threatens their organizations' financial stability for short-term survivability and long-term sustainability. Grounded in Elkington's triple bottom line conceptual framework, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore nonprofit leaders' strategies for short-term survivability and long-term sustainability. The participants comprised 3 senior leaders in a nonprofit located in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States who …

Funding Strategies For Small Business Sustainability, Ayokunle O. Iyanda

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

About 50% of small businesses fail within the first five years of operation, lacking access to capital being a contributing factor. The high failure rate is of great concern to the business owners; their livelihood and employees are jeopardized. Through the pecking order theory lens, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies small business owners use to access capital to sustain the business past the first five years. Eight small business owners who successfully operated for more than five years in Georgia and Illinois participated in the semistructured interviews. Through thematic data analysis, four themes …

Essays On Corporate Sustainability, Aditya Malateesh Kashikar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The dissertation provides an extensive literature review of topics in Corporate Sustainability. It further examines two key topics: ESG Pay and ESG Investing. For ESG Pay, I examine Bloomberg’s ESG linked pay measure using the largest panel (to date). I confirm several important results from the nascent literature on ESG Pay. Firstly, I find that Country and Industry play a major role in determining ESG Pay adoption. Secondly, among firm characteristics, Big and Value firms tend to have a greater probability of adopting ESG Pay. Thirdly, higher ESG scores increase the chance of ESG Pay adoption in the subsequent year. …

An Examination Of How Environmental, Social, Governance (Esg) Investing Influences A Company's Stock Return, Sam Marty

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Using a random sample of 184 companies traded on the New York Stock Exchange in 2019, this paper investigates the impact of Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) investing on a company’s stock return. The results show that ESG investing has a positive and statistically significant impact on a company’s stock return. An increase in one ESG rating leads to an increase between 0.4% and 3.6% in the return of a company’s stock. Additionally, the results show that individual ESG factors are each statistically insignificant. This indicates that the three ESG factors need to be viewed together rather than individually. Lastly, the …

Corporate Social Responsibility And Corporate Financial Performance: An Examination Into Fortune 500 And Djsi Firms Within Consumer-Facing Industries, Samantha Lee

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the relationship between a firm’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its Corporate Financial Performance (CFP) in nine consumer-facing industries classified by the Fortune 500. Unlike prior research on the matter, the firms investigated in this study consist only of firms on both the Fortune 500 for the year 2018 and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) between the years 2005-2018 in order to define a clear measurement of CSR. In order to gauge investor and market sentiment, CFP is measured primarily by the firm’s stock performance in comparison to the S&P 500 as a basis. The results …

Strategies To Sustain A Real Estate Small Business In Postnatural-Disaster Area, Vianka Miranda

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many small real estate business leaders lack effective strategies to resume and sustain operations in a postnatural-disaster environment. This multiple case study investigated strategies that 3 small real estate business leaders in southeastern Louisiana used to resume and sustain operations in the aftermath of a natural disaster. The chaos theory and stakeholder theory were the conceptual frameworks for this study. Data were collected from semistructured interviews, and reviews of business continuity plan documents and member checking. The themes that emerged from data analysis were leaders' strategies relating to business planning and innovation, stakeholder engagement, operations management, and disaster responsiveness. Implications …

Effective Revenue Diversification Strategies In Nonprofit Organizations, Jennifer R. Niswonger

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nonprofit organization leaders increasingly encounter social burdens and financial difficulties, jeopardizing ongoing success and organizational sustainability. The purpose of this single-case study was to explore revenue diversification strategies used by 3 leaders of a small nonprofit organization in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States through the conceptual lens of modern portfolio theory. Data were collected via in-depth semistructured interviews, and member checking was used to facilitate accuracy, consistency, and integrity. Methodological triangulation included a document review and analysis of financial statements, tax returns, strategy objectives, the organizational website, social media, and nonprofit data reports. Data from documents and interviews …

U.S. Corporate Energy Productivity, Greenhouse Gas Productivity, And Return On Equity, Terry Geonnie Tate

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Corporate leaders are expected to engage in corporate social responsibility by some stakeholders, but there is no consistent evidence that corporate social performance relates to financial performance. Grounded in instrumental stakeholder theory, the purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship among energy productivity, greenhouse gas productivity, and return on equity. The 2016 Newsweek Green Ranking U.S. 500 was the population for this study, which consisted of the largest companies in the United States with the highest corporate social performance scores. The secondary data were collected from Newsweek.com and Morningstar.com for this study. The multiple linear regression was …

Shareholder Advocacy In Corporate Elections: Case Studies In Proxy Voting Websites For Retail Investors, Robin Miller

Sustainability and Social Justice

One of the key rights shareholders retain is the right to vote on issues affecting the companies in which they invest. This voting right is seen as one of the primary means of exercising diligent corporate governance (Cole 2003, Fairfax 2009). Only 28 percent of individual investors vote in corporate elections compared with 91 percent of institutional investors. Informed voting decisions at corporate elections can be very information intensive, and theories of rational apathy and the free rider problem may explain a lack of participation from individual investors.

Many shareholders cannot attend annual corporate meetings, so they …

Food Waste At Retail, Erin G. Killeen Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food waste at retail represents forgone sales and embodies store management and disposal costs. Fresh produce is the largest contributing sector to food waste at retail and bulky, seasonal products are an added challenge when stores experience a high waste event. In order to improve, retailers need to better understand the costs of food waste, as well as how management strategies can impact these costs.

Using pumpkins as an example of bulky, seasonal products, a twofold research project was conducted to better understand contributors to, and costs of food waste at the retail level. In part one, using data from …

Research Of The Sustainability Of U.S. Public Debt And The Influence For Chinese Economy And Finance, Zikun Xu

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

In the summer of 2010, the U.S. debt ceiling dispute attracted the attention of the world, and financial markets were shocked when Standard & Poor's finally cut the United States AAA rating. But with the increase of the debt ceiling as well as the European sovereign debt crisis intensified, the U.S. national debt problem was temporarily covered up. It must be noted, however, that the U.S. national debt has ballooned to the highest level since World War II, the ratio of national debt to GDP has reached to nearly 100%, coupled with the long-term U.S. fiscal deficit and the continuing …

Development Of A Sustainable Water Resource Financing Mathematical Model For Donors And End-Users, Sahar Zavareh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Rural villages and underdeveloped communities represent the largest group challenged by poor water supply and sanitation with inequalities in resources to adequately implement potential solutions and even more with their high risk level of financing, funding is particularly challenging for water projects. Innovative financing alone will not eliminate the burdens of rural villages and underdeveloped communities. The purpose of this thesis is to address the lack of sustainable water financing of water projects in rural areas using a novel framework of a mathematical model based on "system dynamics" using optimal feedback control theory to maximize the performance of a water …

A Cost Benefit Analysis Of Utilizing Solar Panels On Bates Nut Farm, Brandon Walter Ness

Agribusiness

No abstract provided.