Business Commons^™

Spacs And The Macroeconomy: An Empirical Examination Of Real Interest Rates' Impact On Spacs, Ryan A. Jacobs

Doctoral Dissertations (DBA)

Special Purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) are an alternative way private entities enter public markets through reverse merger of a publicly listed pool of capital. Price discovery is more transparent than the traditional IPO process, as valuations are negotiated between the SPAC Sponsor and the firm’s management team before shareholders approve through a shareholder vote. I conducted an OLS regression test for a relationship between SPAC activity, using capital invested in SPAC IPOs as a proxy, and various macroeconomic variables. I did not find evidence of a linear relationship. I examined the impact of the real interest rates on monthly pre-merger …

Esg Scores Impact On U.S. Insurance Companies’ Financial Performance, Franceska Xhafa

Doctoral Dissertations (DBA)

This paper examines the impact of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scores on U.S. insurance companies' financial performance and is among the first to do so. The existing literature has sundry conclusions on whether there is any impact; this study intends to add to the existing literature to elucidate an answer. In this study, the financial ratio, net profit margin, is used as the dependent variable. The ESG score, governance score, and governance metrics such as the number of independent directors on the audit committee, size of the compensation committee, board size, and the number of executives are used as …

The Fair Market Value-Fair Value Dichotomy: Valuation Discounts In Recent Shareholder Dissent Cases, Danny A. Pannese, Benoit Boyer, Paul N. Iannone

WCBT Faculty Publications

Many business owners offer some form of minority equity—real equity, not phantom arrangements (e.g., stock appreciation rights)—in their companies either in exchange for investment funding or as awards to key employees or important independent contractors.

Low-Cost Pm2.5 Sensors Can Help Identify Driving Factors Of Poor Air Quality And Benefit Communities, Tim Keyes, Rea Domingo, Samantha Dynowski, Royal Graves, Martha Klein, Melissa Leonard, John Pilgrim, Alison Sanchirico, Kate Trinkaus

WCBT Faculty Publications

Air quality is critical for public health. Residents rely chiefly on government agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States to establish standards for the measurement of harmful contaminants including ozone, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), and fine particulate matter at or below 2.5 μm. According to the California Air Resources Board [1], “short-term PM2.5 exposure (up to 24-h duration) has been associated with premature mortality, increased hospital admissions for heart or lung causes, acute and chronic bronchitis, asthma attacks, emergency room visits, respiratory symptoms, and restricted activity days”. While public agency resources …

Cultural Distance And Momentum Effect—The Case Of Cross-Listed Companies In The United States, Ling Liu

Doctoral Dissertations (DBA)

This paper examines the momentum effect in U.S. cross-listed companies, exploring the relationship between cultural distance and momentum portfolio formation, and how cultural distance affects momentum portfolio returns for US cross-listed firms. The study selects cross-listed companies from January 2001 to December 2022 and create momentum portfolios (Chui, Timan, & Wei, 2010) to test the momentum effect of cross-listed companies in the United States. The cultural distance for cross-listed companies is then calculated using the within-group cultural diversity method (Frijns, Dodd, & Cimerova, 2016) and the Hofstede (2001) dimensional method to find the momentum effect in cultural distance sorted groups. …

Does Herding Behavior Exist In The Cryptocurrency Market?, Anis Mnif

Doctoral Dissertations (DBA)

This paper examines herd behavior in the cryptocurrency market using data of the top 15 large cryptocurrencies and the CCi30 Index as a proxy for market return. The idea that investors mimic and follow the behavior of others in the cryptocurrency market rather than conducting their own research has received attention in the finance literature. The CSAD results in the static model detected herding but given the existence of structural breakdowns and nonlinearities in the data series, we opted to conduct a rolling window analysis. The results indicate strong herding behavior that fluctuates over time. Furthermore, results from the logistic …

Assessing Diversification Of S&P500 And Cdx Indexes, Jeffrey A. Palma

Doctoral Dissertations (DBA)

In this paper, I conduct a study of comovement between equity and corporate bonds using S&P500 and Investment Grade and High Yield CDX Indexes to evaluate the diversification benefits of holding these assets in portfolios. I assess comovement and diversification potential using DCC-GARCH and copulas. This approach allows for a review of equity and credit linkages through multiple lenses and evaluation of how these relationships have evolved over time. In general, I find only modest potential for diversification between equity and CDX markets and strong evidence of increased comovement over time.

The National Basketball Association’S (Nba) Digital Transformation: An Explanatory Case Study, James Santomier, Harald Dolles, Reinhard Kunz

WCBT Faculty Publications

Purpose. Digital transformation in the global sport industry has resulted in digitally focused business strategies, innovative business models, targeted social media marketing strategies, increased consumer, and sponsor demand, accelerated growth in women’s sports, and streaming media (OTT) worldwide. This paper aims to study the case of the U.S.-based National Basketball Association’s (NBA) digital transformation, including multiple interactions of actors in the digital transformation process. A key aim is understanding the synergies resulting from the league’s integration of digital technologies, its business strategy, the evolution of its hybrid business model and the increase in revenue and global branding.

Design/methodology/approach. An explanatory …

The Influence Of Gender And Social Attention To Gender Equality On Applicant Acceptance Into Venture Development Programs: Competing Perspectives, Christopher R. Reutzel, Carrie A. Belsito, Jamie D. Collins

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to add to the small but growing body of research examining the influence of founder gender on new venture access to venture development programs.

Design/methodology/approach: Hypotheses were tested utilizing a sample of 482 nascent technology ventures which applied for admittance into a venture development organization headquartered in the southern region of the United States from March 2004 through February 2016.

Findings: Findings suggest that female-founded applicant ventures experience a higher likelihood of acceptance into venture development programs than male-founded applicant ventures. Results further suggest that social attention to gender equality reduces this effect …

Transitional Entrepreneurship: Unleashing Entrepreneurial Potential Across Numerous Challenging Contexts, Golshan Javadian, Anil Nair, David Ahlstrom, Kaveh Moghaddam, Li-Wei Chen, Younggeun Lee

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Transitional entrepreneurship refers to the practices of entrepreneurs from communities facing adversity who navigate substantial life transitions as they launch and manage new ventures in response to various changes and challenges in their environment. Entrepreneurship is not only a critical driver of economic growth and social development (Ahlstrom et al., 2019; McCloskey, 2010) but can also represent a life-changing transition for most, if not all, of the entrepreneurs themselves. Transitional entrepreneurship entails strategic pivots or transformations that enable entrepreneurs to adapt and thrive in evolving circumstances. In this regard, transitional entrepreneurship research focuses on entrepreneurs from veterans, minorities, immigrants, refugees, …

Effect Of Nascent Entrepreneurs' Training On Their Stress: The Role Of Gender And Participants' Interaction, Etienne St-Jean, Maripier Tremblay, Franck Barès, Monica Simionato

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Purpose: A career in entrepreneurship is stressful, especially during the start-up phase. Training programs for these nascent entrepreneurs are designed to improve entrepreneurial competencies and, more generally to generate learnings. Although learning outcomes can reduce stress, the conditions under which this can happen are not fully understood. The study looks particularly at the effect of learning, interaction with other participants and gender.

Design/methodology/approach: A six-month three-wave longitudinal study of 120 nascent entrepreneurs has been conducted to investigate the before-and-after effects of training on stress reduction. The training is specially designed to develop competencies, share knowledge about business creation and support …

Jump To Platform Faster? Gender, Institutional Change, And Pre-Entrant Entrepreneurial Attempt, Lei Xu, K. Praveen Parboteeah, Hanqing Fang

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Purpose – The authors enrich and extend the existing institutional anomie theory (IAT) in the hope of sharpening the understanding of the joint effects of selected cultural values and social institutional changes on women’s pre-entrant entrepreneurial attempts. The authors theorize that women are culturally discouraged to pursue pre-entrant entrepreneurial attempts or wealth accumulation in a specific culture. This discouragement creates an anomic strain that motivates women to deviate from cultural prescriptions by engaging in pre-entrant entrepreneurial attempts at a faster speed. Building on this premise, the authors hypothesize that changes in social institutions facilitate the means of achievement for women …

Advancing The Model Of Social Entrepreneurial Intention: The Role Of Perceived Financial Security, Minhajul Islam Ukil, Muhammad Shariat Ullah, Dan K. Hsu

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Purpose: Although few studies indicate that financial concerns matter to social entrepreneurs, the literature is unclear about the extent to which a financial motive affects the intention to start a new social enterprise. Moreover, prior research suggests that the intention to start a new enterprise heavily depends on the societal context in which the enterprise operates. Therefore, this study aims to examine the seminal model of social entrepreneurial intention (SEI) developed by Hockerts (2017) in a different social context; additionally, it proposes a new antecedent of SEI – perceived financial security.

Design/methodology/approach: This study used two different measurement scales and …

Decoding Underperformance Of Entrepreneurship At The Bottom Of The Pyramid: A Literature Review Of The Field, Amber Y. Chang, Yalan Xu

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Purpose – Driving economic development at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) is an enduring global challenge. While the market-based approach places hope on entrepreneurship as a major impetus to drive the underdeveloped economy, the performance of entrepreneurial businesses and their impact on poverty reduction are sometimes below expectations. This paper seeks to examine the factors that may be hindering entrepreneurship within the BOP context. This paper presents preliminary answers and provides research suggestions related to this question.

Design/methodology/approach – In order to identify the reasons behind the underperformance of entrepreneurship at the BOP, a comprehensive literature review was conducted …

Entrepreneurial Support Organization (Eso) Narratives And Transitional Entrepreneurship In Detroit, Allison Lucas, Rahul Mitra

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Purpose – To understand how narratives used by entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs) in Detroit’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem shape transitional entrepreneurs’ social reality. We offer theoretical and practical insights to elicit critical support, formulate policies and programs and guide ongoing empirical examination of transitional entrepreneurship.

Design/methodology/approach – We adopt a multi-case study approach, looking at two ESOs in Detroit: one focused on promoting high-growth entrepreneurship and securing financial capital for technology entrepreneurs, the other focused on promoting everyday entrepreneurship (especially among underserved communities) and amassing a more diverse array of resources. We conduct a thematic analysis of organizational texts and interview …

Ideology And Ethics Of Transitional Entrepreneurs: Legitimacy, Soft Law, And Overcoming A Distressed Economy, Maryam Khosravi, Mojtaba Amiri, Nezameddin Faghih

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Purpose – Transitional entrepreneurship in distressed economies is a fairly new concept with respect to new ventures in such challenging economic environments. Formal institutional voids are sometimes held up as a reason for the difficulties present in distressed economies, along with exogenous shocks and other upheavals. In this research, the authors seek to contribute empirically and theoretically as to ways in which formal institutions voids can be filled by a culture developed by transitional entrepreneurs. Indeed, in transition economies, formal institutions need to be enhanced by informal institutions to control corruption and other misbehavior by authorities. Iranian economists emphasize these …

Thinking Local With Original Data In Ai And Machine Learning Research, David G. Taylor, Robert Mccloud

WCBT Working Papers

Sacred Heart University spent significant funds to establish an AI lab. Initially there is no ongoing research and no real plan for a research agenda. This paper details how the Jack Welch College of Business and Technology created and implemented an active meaningful research plan. It involves two key elements: thinking local and using business connections to foster active, impactful research. Surrounding communities, business connections, area environment, and other Sacred Heart University departments all played a part. The research plan also identifies a specific issue in working with local and business contact sources: the AI researcher almost never gets data …

The Entrepreneurial Cognitive Adjustment Mechanism: Transitional Entrepreneurship As A Solution To Mitigate Illegal Migration, Jorge Arteaga-Fonseca, Yi (Elaine) Zhang, Per Bylund

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Purpose

In this paper, the authors suggest that Central Americans can use entrepreneurship to solve economic uncertainty in their home country and that entrepreneurship can contribute to reducing the number of undocumented migrants to the USA.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors first illustrate the context of Central American illegal migration to the USA from a transitional entrepreneurship perspective, the authors address the economic drivers of illegal migration from Central America, which results in marginalization in the USA. Second, the authors build a theoretical model that suggests that Central Americans can improve their entrepreneurial abilities through the entrepreneurial cognitive adjustment mechanism.

Findings

Central …

Twenty-Five Years Of New England Journal Of Entrepreneurship: A Bibliometric Review, Younggeun Lee, Satish Kumar, Andrés Felipe Cortés, Riya Sureka, Weng Marc Lim

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Purpose: In 2023, the New England Journal of Entrepreneurship (NEJE) reached its 25th anniversary.To commemorate this major milestone as well as entrepreneurship’s growth as an academic field, the study employs bibliometric methods to provide key trends and research suggestions for entrepreneurship scholars using all original research published in the journal.

Design/methodology/approach: The authors perform two predominant bibliometric techniques, performance analysis and science mapping, using all 251 articles published by NEJE from1998 to 2022.

Findings: The authors find that the impact of entrepreneurship research published at NEJE is growing consistently and that the challenge of the future will be to maintain …

Perceived Employability Of Skilled Migrants: A Systematic Review And Future Research Agenda, Ali Farashah, Tomas Blomqusit, Akram Al Ariss, Chun (Grace) Guo

WCBT Faculty Publications

This review examines the perceived employability of skilled migrants (SMs) through an analysis of 88 management and organisational research articles published over 2009-2019 period. We find the extant literature characterised by context-specific studies featuring considerable variety in terms of levels of analysis, theory, and content. Using the notion of perceived employability, key themes in the literature are identified and presented in an integrative framework. The framework encompasses individual, organisational, occupational, and institutional components of the perceived employability of SMs, different forms of work transition and associated mediators (broadening strategies) and moderators (transition conditions). Proposing adoption of process thinking for future …

Wirecard And Potential U.S. Audit Issues, Benoit Boyer, Danny A. Pannese, Paul N. Iannone

WCBT Faculty Publications

The German company Wirecard saga is yet to be fully written. Similar in scope to Enron and others in the early 2000’s, many lessons will be learned for company executives, regulators, and especially auditors worldwide. For U.S. companies and auditors, the PCAOB (Public Company Accounting Oversight Board) has promulgated comprehensive audit standards and procedures designed for public companies, but these standards also could have ancillary application to private companies for auditors when planning the audit engagement. The red flags and audit issues that manifested in the Wirecard events will provide the financial and academic communities with robust case studies as …

Predictors Of Covid-19 Vaccination Rate In Usa: A Machine Learning Approach, Syed M. I. Osman, Ahmed Sabit

WCBT Faculty Publications

In this study, we examine state-level features and policies that are most important in achieving a threshold level vaccination rate to curve the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. We employ CHAID, a decision tree algorithm, on three different model specifications to answer this question based on a dataset that includes all the states in the United States. Workplace travel emerges as the most important predictor; however, the governors’ political affiliation (PA) replaces it in a more conservative feature set that includes economic features and the growth rate of COVID-19 cases. We also employ several alternative algorithms as a robustness check. …

Forecasting Variance Swap Payoffs, Jonathan Dark, Xin Gao, Thijs Van Der Heijden, Federico Nardari

WCBT Faculty Publications

We investigate the predictability of payoffs from selling variance swaps on the S&P500, US 10-year treasuries, gold, and crude oil. In-sample analysis shows that structural breaks are an important feature when modeling payoffs, and hence the ex post variance risk premium. Out-of-sample tests, on the other hand, reveal that structural break models do not improve forecast performance relative to simpler linear (or state invariant) models. We show that a host of variables that had previously been shown to forecast excess returns for the four asset classes, contain predictive power for ex post realizations of the respective variance risk premia as …

Empirical Studies Of Esg Scores With Corporate Credit Spreads (Insights From Popularity-Based Pricing), Eugene Okyere-Yeboah

Doctoral Dissertations (DBA)

This study examines various factors or characteristics (risk and non-risk) that determine a firm’s credit risk premium, as measured by its credit default swap (CDS) spread, with a particular focus on the impact of environment, social, and governance (ESG) scores. The framework employed is a general equilibrium asset pricing model which integrates classical and behavioral finance elements, known as popularity-based asset pricing. It treats all attributes or characteristics of an asset as ”factors” to which investors assign a degree of popularity, which changes over time. Non-risk characteristics are classified as ”tastes” or ”disagreements”, Fama French (2007). Firms’ degree of adherence …

10 Good Reasons Why Llcs Should Not Elect To Be S Corporations, Paul N. Iannone, Danny A. Pannese

WCBT Faculty Publications

Since 2004, the IRS has administratively made S elections for limited liability companies (LLCs) very easy. An LLC that is otherwise eligible to be an S corporation that is classified as a partnership or a disregarded entity can simultaneously elect to be classified as both a corporation and an S corporation by timely filing Form 2553, Election by a Small Business Corporation, without the need to also file Form 8832, Entity Classification Election. The Treasury regulations treat the "one-stop-shop" rule as a "deemed election" under the entity classification regulations.

Securing Repo: Counterparty Risk And Collateral Supply Effects In The Tri-Party Repo Market, Stephen H. Frank

Doctoral Dissertations (DBA)

I examine the co-variance between tri-party repurchase agreement (repo) spreads and proxies for collateral values and counterparty risk. Since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 (GFC), the Federal Reserve (Fed) has taken measures to mitigate repo market instability. These measures have collectively placed the Fed astride repo markets as ongoing borrower, lender and purchaser of US Treasury and Agency securities. By analyzing the relationships between repo spreads, the US 10-year yield and the TED spread, I assess the effectiveness of Fed measures to mitigate repo market instability. Using multiple breakpoint Bai-Perron regression and Markov Switching tests, I find that these …

National Culture And Attitudes’ Impact On Diffusion Of Sustainable New Technology-Based Products, Mayank Jaiswal, Lee Zane

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Purpose – Sustainability is increasingly becoming an essential aspect of technological innovations. In addition, the diffusion of sustainable new technology-based products appears to be uneven across the globe. The authors examine the effect of three country-level Hofstede measures of culture and two national-level innovation characteristics on the diffusion of Sustainable New Technology-based Products (SNTP).

Design/methodology/approach – Regression and Necessary Conditions Analysis were used to analyze a panel dataset of electric and hybrid vehicles sales from 2008 to 2017 across 89 countries.

Findings – Results suggest Long-Term Orientation (LTO) was correlated with SNTP diffusion, Indulgence (IVR) was partially correlated with SNTP …

Demystifying Entrepreneurial Name Choice: Insights From The Us Biotech Industry, Irina Stoyneva, Veselina Vracheva

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Purpose – Drawing from legitimacy entrepreneurship theory, this study assesses the naming patterns of entrepreneurial firms in the US biotechnology industry.

Design/methodology/approach - The authors use a mixed-methods design of content analysis and regression to analyze a sample of 441 entrepreneurial biotechnology firms, for which data were obtained from Net Advantage. The authors track changes to the proportion of firms with naming attributes, such as name length and type of name. The authors also examine variability in those characteristics during the industry’s evolution, comparing freestanding to acquired start-ups.

Findings - Start-ups select names that are longer, more descriptive, begin with …

Gender Differences In The Impact Of Worklife On Executives’ Psychological Health, Marcus B. Mueller

WCBT Faculty Publications

The Impact of Worklife on Executives’ Psychological Health Purpose: This is the first scientific research studying the impact of worklife factors on executives’ psychological health by gender. The study has a particular focus on the factors of ‘Community’ and ‘Work-life balance’.

Design: Survey data were collected from N=481 senior executives to measure seven worklife factors and psychological health. Standardized regression analysis was performed for each worklife in a regression model predicting psychological health by gender.

Findings: Results showed significant differences between female and male senior executives in the profiles of seven worklife factors in terms of their relationship with …

Architectural Dimensions Of Socially Driven Venture Capital Firms: Social Innovation In The Capital Markets, Raymond Jones, Manjula S. Salimath

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Purpose – Private equity and venture capital (VC) firms in the capital markets sector invest capital with the primary goal of delivering economic value. However, some firms in the capital markets sector have started to shift this focus to create (i.e. invest in) social value. More specifically, traditional VC firms are starting socially oriented funds, while other firms have emerged to focus solely on investments in social enterprises. These VC firms are contributing to an interesting paradox – performance metrics are not measured by profit alone but also by social innovation. From an architectural perspective, the authors examine the implications …