Business Commons^™

A Variational Inequality Approach For Marketable Pollution Permits, Anna Nagurney, Kathy Dhanda

Kathy K Dhanda

In this paper, we present a variational inequality framework for the modeling, qualitative analysis, and computation of equilibria in markets in pollution permits. The models developed herein allow for different modes of competitive behavior, including oligopolistic behavior, while taking into account the cost of polluting plus the prices of the licenses to pollute at different receptor points. The models deal explicitly with spatial differentiation and also ensure that the imposed environmental quality standards are met through the initial allocation of licenses. An algorithm is proposed, along with convergence results, to compute the profit-maximized quantities of the firms' products and quantities …

Some Empirical Evidence On The Non-Normality Of Cost Variances On Defense Contracts, Robert J. Conley Iv

Theses and Dissertations

This study tested the hypothesis that defense cost variances reported on the Cost Performance Report are normally distributed. The DOD requires that all defense cost variances which breech a pre-specified threshold be investigated. The present variance investigation model has been criticized because it can prompt frivolous investigations. In theory, statistical models could reduce the number of frivolous investigations, but they are not used because they require too much information about the cost variance, including its distributional form. Often such models assume a normal distribution, but researchers have shown that the models do not work properly if the assumption is fallacious. …

Is The “Dominant Firm” Dominant? An Empirical Analysis Of At&T’S Market Power, Simran K. Kahai, David L. Kaserman, John W. Mayo

Economics & Finance

In this article, we estimate the degree of market power held by AT&T in the interstate long-distance market in the postdivestiture period. Our approach makes use of the dominant firm/competitive fringe model to impose the structure needed both to obtain estimates of the relevant structural parameters and to translate these parameters into an estimate of AT&T's residual demand elasticity and associated Lerner index. Because of the continued presence of regulation and other considerations, however, a direct estimation of the residual demand elasticity is not feasible. Consequently, we take a more indirect approach that combines estimation of the elasticity of fringe …

Money Supply, Inflation And The Nigerian Economy, Paul A. Ogwuma

Bullion

Experience in many countries, including Nigeria, show that fiscal policies, in particular, intended primarily to stimulate output growth and enhance real income often end up as a major source of financial imbalances and macro-economic instability. The accompanying high inflation has critical allocative and distributional implications that can be detrimental to the growth process. It is against this background that, this short paper attempts, to identify the relationship between monetary growth and inflationary developments in Nigeria and the implications for economic growth. Following this Introduction, Thus, the challenge of maintaining monetary stability has often been a difficult one, the world over, …

The Impact Of Operating And Financial Risk On Equity Risk, Richard Lord

Department of Accounting and Finance Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This paper empirically investigates a complete theoretical model relating the operating characteristics of a firm to the total, systematic, and unsystematic risk of its equity. The degree of operating leverage, the ratio of net profits to firm value, and the variability of unit output are all found to be positively correlated with each of the three risk measures. The degree of financial leverage, while positively related to total and unsystematic risk, does not appear to be related to systematic risk. After controlling for the business risk of the firm, no evidence can be found of an interaction between the degree …

The Design Of A Financial Management Database System, Edward G. Leszynski

Theses and Dissertations

This research led to the design and development of a financial management database system for the Aeronautical Systems Center (AS C) Environmental Management (EM) Systems Program Office (SPO), which has the responsibility of managing the environmental contracts for the Government-Owned, Contractor-Operated (GOCO) plants that are owned by the Air Force. This thesis investigated the various 'development strategies' and 'methodologies' described in the Management Information Systems literature in order to devise an end-user development strategy capable of meeting the EM SPO's requirements. In addition, the information requirements, conceptual design and prototyping, and procedures phases of the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) …

An Evaluation Of U.S. Air Force Aviation Fuel Consumption Factors To Accurately Predict Aviation Fuel Costs By Aircraft Mission, Design, And Series, Jodi A. Clayton

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to undertake a systematic, scientific study of the accuracy of Air Force published fuel factors to estimate fuel costs at MAJCOM level by mission, design, and series (MDS) since the implementation of the Fuels Automated Management System (FAMS) under the current environment of decentralized aviation fuel (AVFUEL) funding. The research found that, at MAJCOM level, the use of USAF published AVFUEL factors in estimating out-year costs would have overstated costs in both fiscal year (FY) 1994 and FY 1995 by $2.5 M (FY 1994), by $.25 M (FY 1995), and may potentially understate costs …

The Effect Of Estate Taxes On Family Business: Survey Results, Joseph H. Astrachan, Roger Tutterow

Faculty and Research Publications

A survey of 1,003 businesses examined the effect of estate taxes on family business behavior, including investment, employment, and strategic decisions. The results strongly suggest that estate taxes have marked effects on business behavior. These effects are more pronounced in larger firms where their potential impact is of a greater magnitude.

1996-1997 Operating Budget, Southern University System. Office Of Finance & Administration.

All Southern University System Budgets

The Southern University at Shreveport Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 1996-1997.

1996-1997 Operating Budget, Southern University System. Office Of Finance & Administration.

All Southern University System Budgets

The Southern University System Board and System Administration 1996-1997 Operating Budget.

The Corporate Effects Of R&D And Patent-Grants: Evidence From Intra-Industry Analysis, Steven Alan Lifland

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This study examines the intra-industry effect of announcements of technological advancement on the market valuation of both the announcing firm and the announcing firm's relative industry competitors. This paper consists of two parts. Essay I discusses firm specific and intra-industry valuation effects of a firm's Research and Development (R&D) expenditures, while Essay II concentrates on the firm-specific and intra-industry valuation effects of a firm's patent-grant announcement. Specifically, this study examines the validity of the competitive and free-rider hypotheses to explain the market response to announcements of R&D spending and the granting of patents.

While the evidence shows that the market …

Measuring Abnormal Daily Trading Volumes For Samples Of Nyse/Ase And Nasdaq Securities Using Parametric And Nonparametric Test Statistics, Cynthia J. Campbell

Cynthia J. Campbell

We extend prior research on the empirical properties of daily trading volume and methods to detect abnormal trading volume in two ways. We compare the performance of a nonparametric test statistic with the parametric test statistic used in prior research and we study samples of NASDAQ securities as well as samples of NYSE/ASE securities. Prior research has focused exclusively on NYSE securities. We find the nonparametric test statistic is more powerful in detecting abnormal trading volume than the parametric test statistic in both samples of NYSE/ASE and NASDAQ securities. We also document that abnormal trading volume will be detected more …

Exhibit - Wku Compensation Study Report, W.F. Corroon Consultants

Board of Regents Documents

Study to address issues of internal fairness and market competitiveness of salaries for all non-faculty staff below the director level performed by W.F. Corroon Consultants.

A Review Of Defensive Strategies Used In Hostile Takeovers, Chirag Shah

Honors Theses

Nineteen Ninety Five smashed all records for mergers and acquisitions at home and abroad. An unprecedented $458 billion in deals were announced by U.S. companies, up 32% from the old record of $347 billion reached in 1994, according to the Securities Data Co. Similarly, deal count, which last year came in with 7,565 announced transactions, registered a new record as 8,954 transactions were announced in 1995. Globally, a record $866 billion in transactions were struck, up 51% from the $572 billion announced in 1994. The big highlights were banking, financial services, pharmaceuticals and big transactions in media and telecommunications. From …

Technical Analysis: Connecting The Dots Or A Legitimate Investment Tool?, Daniel P. Sutter

Honors Theses

Wall Street is full of many unusual characters. They appear frequently in the newspaper headlines, on the evening news, and now on the Internet. They are portrayed both as villains such as Michael Milken or Ivan Boesky and as heroes such as Warren Buffett or Martin Zwieg. While these people may seem very distant at times they really impact each one of us every day, whether or not we are aware of it. The companies we conduct our routine transactions with are financed through them, our retirement plans our dependent on them, and even our jobs rest on the success …

Occasional Papers: Current Issues In Business, Janice Rowan

Hollybush Series

Volume 5 of The Hollybush Series contains nine essays by Rowan College of New Jersey faculty on current issues in business.

The editor is Janice Rowan and the faculty authors are: Berhe Habte-Giorgis, Jooh Lee, Robert S. Fleming, Razelle Frankl, William J. Trainor, Jr., George C. Romeo, Daniel W. Davis, Larissa S. Kyj, Robert E. Pritchard, William L. Enslin, Carol Welsh, and Thomas A. Michael.

The Valuation Effects Of Corporate Investment Decisions: Evidence From Domestic And Foreign Plant Announcements, Bum Suk Kim

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This study examines the effects of corporate investment decisions--announcements of plants--on the value of the firm, using event-study methodology. This paper consists of two parts. Essay I discusses the valuation effects of domestic investments, while Essay II analyses the valuation effects of foreign investments undertaken by U.S. firms and compares the valuation effects between the two investments. Specifically, this study examines the validity of the overinvestment hypothesis and whether focus-increasing investments enhance the value of the firm.

First, the evidence shows that the valuation effects of the investment decision depend on the firm's investment opportunities, proxied by Tobin's q. That …

Volatility Risk Premiums In Futures Markets: Investment Prices And Commercial Bank Performance, Richard P. Gregory

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This dissertation is an in depth study of the measurement of pricing biases in futures options, and whether this bias is due to volatility risk premia, market overreaction to public information or information asymmetry. Futures options for thirteen different contracts are used. Additionally, the contracts are from three different marketplaces.

Six hypotheses are tested. The first is whether implied option volatilities from the Black (1976) futures option model is the only significant determinant of the volatility processes of the underlying futures contracts. For this estimation, we use both a GARCH (1,1) model and the Partially Non-parametric model of Engle and …

Semiparametric Exploration Of Long Memory In Stock Prices, David K. C. Lee, Peter M. Robinson

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

New or modified methods for semiparametric analysis of fractional long memory in time series are described and applied to twenty-six stock prices and two stock indices. Evidence is found that some, but not all, of the stocks have long memory, while one of the indices exhibits mean reversion.

The Influence Of Professional Investors On The Failure Of Management Buyout Attempts, Sarah Peck

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

In a sample of 111 MBO offers between 1984 and 1987, almost 30% attract new blockholders. These blockholders are primarily professional investors who act to facilitate a takeover by a higher bidder, thus increasing returns to both themselves and other public shareholders. In contrast, I find little evidence that pre-existing blockholders, particularly institutional holders, affect either the offer outcome or actively participate in the buyout contest once it begins. The overall pattern of results suggests that professional investors, particularly equity-holding companies, are 'control specialists' who provide valuable services as brokers in the market for corporate control.

Spreadsheets And Or/Ms Models: An End-User Perspective, Linda Leon, Zbigniew Przasnyski, Kala Seal

Finance Faculty Works

In 1986, Bodily stated that practitioners could use spreadsheets to model management science/operations research (OR/MS) problems. We surveyed OR practitioners to determine the extent of implementation of these OR/MS problems in a spreadsheet environment and found that end users are solving OR/MS problems using spreadsheets across many functional areas of business, though in varying degrees. Some areas show higher use than others and spreadsheet models are being used to implement various OR tools in a pattern very similar to their use in the nonspreadsheet environment.

Accounting For Derivatives, Craig Ward '96

Honors Projects

This paper will address the issue of disclosure concerning the derivative acitivities of publicly traded companies. The paper will begin by explaining the basics of derivatives and proceed to explain the current requirements in place to date. It will also detail the current developments of proposed new regulations for derivative activities. Then, the paper will present the results of how a sample of publicly traded companies currently account for and report their derivative positions in the financial statements. Finally, I will propose new requirements to account for and report derivatives in the financial statements. These requirements will combine ideas already …

A Simulation Approach To The Choice Between Fixed And Adjustable Rate Mortgages, William K. Templeton, Robert S. Main, J. B. Orris

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Presents a study which offers simulation approach model by which borrowers may more effectively evaluate fixed rate mortgage (FRM) and adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) choice. Identification of pricing variables as an important determinant of choice; Construction of model parameters comparing present value costs of ARM and FRM; Presentation of simulation outputs.

Pb1554 Ye$ Youth Entrepreneurship, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Financial Management

The YE$ curriculum has been designed for use in three ways to strengthen 4-H programming. Extension agents may use the curriculum to:

• Teach lessons in the classroom as a visiting educator or co-teach with the classroom teacher.

• Conduct workshops for educators who would like to have a copy of the curriculum and teach the materials themselves.

• Train volunteer leaders to conduct entrepreneurial activities with members enrolled in 4-H projects. The YE$ curriculum is designed as an enrichment activity to be integrated with or to supplement existing projects.

The YE$ program has been developed to support selected TCAP …

Journal Of Actuarial Practice, Volume 4, No. 2, 1996, Colin Ramsay , Editor

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993-2006)

ARTICLES

Methodologies for Determining Reserve Liabilities in the Workers Compensation High Deductible Program • Jerome J. Siewert

Third Party Administrator (TPA) Service Pricing and Incentive Contracts • Hou-Wen Jeng

Annuity Choices for Pensioners • M. Zaki Khoransee

Pension Funding by Normal Costs or Amortization of Unfunded Liabilities • Keith P. Sharp

What We Say in the NAIC Annual Statement Blank Actuarial Opinion • Kenneth W. Faig, Jr.

Constrained Forecasting of the Number of IBNR Claims • Louis G. Doray

Editor - Colin Ramsay, University of Nebraska. Associate Editors: Robert Brown, University of Waterloo ○ Cecil Bykerk, Mutual of …

Journal Of Actuarial Practice, Volume 4, No.1, 1996, Colin Ramsay , Editor

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993-2006)

ARTICLES

An Approach to Estimating Market Value and Duration of Interest-Sensitive Whole Life Contracts • Thomas J. Merfeld

Participating GICs: Performance Attribution Analysis • Alec Stais and John P. Toohey III

Asset Allocation in Investing to Meet Liabilities • Anthony Dardis and Vinh Loi Huynh

A Possibilistic Linear Programming Method for Asset Allocation • Lijia Guo and Zhen Huang

Nonmedical Limits in Individual Life Insurance • James B. Ross and Shalini Perumpral

A Proposed New System of Financing Health Care in Singapore • Robert Keng Heong Lian and Loi Soh Loi

Concentration in American Property-Casualty Companies • Edward Nissan

Bias …

Discussion Of Theodore Konshak's "Disclosure And Confidentiality Requirements Of Corporate Pension Plan Actuaries", Richard Daskais, Brian A. Jones

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993-2006)

No abstract provided.

Constrained Forecasting Of The Number Of Ibnr Claims, Louis G. Doray

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993-2006)

We consider the problem of forecasting the number of claims incurred. After subtracting the number of claims reported to date, the number of claims incurred but not reported (IBNR) can be forecasted. The basic model assumes that the number of claims per accident period follows an autoregressive moving average time series process. Instead of assuming the data are available in the usual claim run-off triangle format, we assume that the only data available are the number of claims reported at the valuation date for each accident interval of an observation period. Box-Jenkins methods are used to forecast the ultimate number …

A Possibilistic Linear Programming Method For Asset Allocation, Lijia Guo, Zhen Huang

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993-2006)

The mean-variance method has been one of the popular methods used by most financial institutions in making the decision of asset allocation since the 1950s. This paper presents an alternative method for asset allocation. Instead of minimizing risk for a given expected return or maximizing expected return for a fixed level of risk, our approach considers simultaneously maximizing the rate of return of portfolio, minimizing the risk of obtaining lower return, and maximizing the possibility of reaching higher return. By using a triangular possibilistic distribution to describe the uncertainty of the return, we introduce a possibilistic linear programming model which …

Annuity Choices For Pensioners, Zaki M. Khorasanee

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993-2006)

We consider two ways for a retiree to obtain a pension from a retirement fund: through the purchase of a whole life annuity providing a level monetary income; and through the withdrawal of income from a fund invested in equities. Deterministic and stochastic models are used to assess the risks and benefits associated with each approach. In each case the projected cash flows are compared with those from a whole life annuity providing an income linked to price inflation. We conclude that, although each of the two options conSidered involves significant risks, each method may be attractive to certain groups …