Business Commons^™

Elections And Asset Pricing: The Politically Sensitive Equity Of Us Military Contractors, Matthew Mark Ross

Wayne State University Dissertations

I quantify the relationship between political uncertainty and equity volatility in the months around US elections from 1989-2012. The Economic Policy Uncertainty Index and Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) data are employed to measure political uncertainty faced by military contractors, capitalizing on the unique monopsony-oligopoly business environment of these firms. I employ a GARCH (1,1) model with cross-sectionally correlated moments to produce daily firm-election volatility measures. Volatility increases 11% for local, 27% for midterm, and 43% for presidential elections. These measures demonstrate that all election categories: local, federal, presidential, and midterm exhibit differential effects on equity volatility. My results …

Examining The Costs Of Providing An Adequate Education For Michigan's K-12 Public School Students, Sean Haskin Wightman

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

EXAMINING THE COSTS OF PROVIDING AN ADEQUATE EDUCATION

FOR MICHIGAN'S K-12 PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS

by

SEAN WIGHTMAN

February 2014

Advisor: Dr. Michael F. Addonizio

Major: Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Because the Federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which requires students to perform at predefined proficiency levels on state standardized testing instruments, adequate school funding has become arguably the single most important factor influencing the success of children in schools. Because State legislators are the one's primarily responsible for establishing annual budgets for K-12 public education, it is essential they are made aware …