Business Commons^™

Earnings Quality: It's Time To Measure And Report, Jodi L. Gissel, Don Giacomino, Michael D. Akers

Accounting Faculty Research and Publications

Earning's quality is an important aspect of evaluating an entity's financial health, yet investors, creditors, and other financial statement users often overlook it. Earnings quality refers to the ability of reported earnings to reflect the company's true earnings, as well as the usefulness of reported earnings to predict future earnings. The SEC and the investing public are demanding greater assurance about the quality of earnings. There is significant need for the development of a uniform definition and a consistent model to measure earnings quality. An Earnings Quality Assessment (EQA) is a proposed model that is consistent with this definition. The …

Local Predatory Lending Laws: Going Beyond North Carolina, Anthony Pennington-Cross, Giang Ho

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

Following the lead of federal regulations, numerous states, counties and cities have enacted laws designed to reduce predatory lending. There is at least anecdotal evidence that predatory or abusive mortgage lending is primarily concentrated in the subprime market. However, the impact of these local predatory lending laws on the subprime mortgage market is unknown. The primary questions we examine are: do these laws affect the supply and flow of subprime mortgage credit and does the experience in North Carolina, the first state to enact a local predatory lending law, apply to other local laws?

Fayetteville And Hot Springs Lead The Recovery In Employment, Giang Ho, Anthony Pennington-Cross

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Psychological Influences On Referent Choice*, Bonnie S. O'Neill, Mark A. Mone

Management Faculty Research and Publications

This article discusses the psychological influences on referent selection. The nature of contemporary work environments, ones characterized by instability and uncertainty, may create increased needs on the part of individuals for comparative information. Individuals use social comparisons for managing both uncertainty and environmental change, and for making critical decisions about one's job. Most literature on referent selection can be categorized along two basic schema: identification of the types of referents that exist and examination of the outcomes that result from referent selection. Studies have identified a multitude of potential referents, primarily drawn from the outcomes being examined, including pay …

Who Bears The Balloon Risk In Commercial Mbs?, Mark Eppli, Charles C. Tu

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

Much of the literature on the pricing of commercial mortgages underlying commercial mortgage-backed securities pools focuses on the effect of term default (default during the term of the loan), and ignores the possibility of balloon risk, the borrower's inability to pay off the mortgage at maturity through refinancing or property sale. A contingent-claims mortgage pricing model that includes two default triggers—a cash flow trigger and an asset value trigger—may be used to assess the effect of balloon risk on the pricing of CMBS tranches. Simulations of cash flows for individual loans in a CMBS framework reveal how individual tranches are …

Strategic Predictors Of Successful Enterprise Systems Deployment, John E. Ettlie, Victor J. Perotti, David A. Joseph, Mark Cotteleer

Management Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose The delivered wisdom to date has enterprise system purchase and implementation as one of the most hazardous projects any organization can undertake. The aim was to reduce this risk by both theoretically and empirically finding those key predictors of a successful enterprise system deployment.

Design/methodology/approach A representative sample of 60 firms drawn from the Fortune 1000 that had recently (1999-2000) adopted enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems was used to test a model of adoption performance with significant results.

Findings Leadership (social learning theory), business process re-engineering (change the company not the technology) and acquisition strategy (buy, do not make) …

Reasons For Working And Their Relationship To Retirement Attitudes, Job Satisfaction And Occupational Self-Efficacy Of Bridge Employees, Veronica M. Dendinger, Gary A. Adams, Jamie D. Jacobson

Management Faculty Research and Publications

Although the Baby Boomers are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population and they are quickly approaching retirement age, research has widely neglected to look at the reasons as to why many of them intend on opting for bridge employment as opposed to completely retiring. This study examined the relationships among four reasons for working (social, personal, financial, and generative) and three attitudinal responses to bridge employment (job satisfaction, retirement attitudes, and occupational self-efficacy). In a sample of 108 recent retirees holding bridge employment positions, it was found that generativity served as a reliable predictor of job satisfaction and …

Service Encounters: The Missing Link Between Service Quality Perceptions And Satisfaction, Srinivas Durvasula, Steven Lysonski, Subhash Mehta

Marketing Faculty Research and Publications

Relationship marketing emphasizes that for a firm to be profitable, it must be attentive to those factors that affect service satisfaction. Extant research in the service sector reveals two important determinants of service satisfaction. One is service quality, and the other is the service encounter, representing the interaction between the customer and the service provider. Further, it has been demonstrated that service quality is also related to customer perceptions of the service encounter. However, a question that a remains unanswered is about the precise nature of the relationship between service quality and service encounter on one hand, and service satisfaction …

Cpas' Perceptions Of The Impact Of Sas 99, Donald C. Marczewski, Michael D. Akers

Accounting Faculty Research and Publications

In November 2002, the Auditing Standards Board (ASB) issued Statement on Auditing Standard 99, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit. Although SAS 99 was developed before the recent accounting scandals, its release came in their wake. The ASB crafted SAS 99 in response to perceived inadequacies in its predecessor, SAS 82. A questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 300 Wisconsin CPAs selected from the membership of the Wisconsin Institute of CPAs, which included 150 partners and 150 managers from Wisconsin public accounting firms. The response rate was 35%, with an almost equal balance of partners and …

Seek Ways To Minimize The Mushrooming Alternative Minimum Tax, James Trebby, George Kutner

Accounting Faculty Research and Publications

The alternative minimum tax (AMT) is reaching a broader segment of individuals. Yet, many of these taxpayers are not aware of the implications of this tax. Even worse, some of their tax advisors are not as informed as they should be. By identifying items that trigger the individual AMT, taxpayers and their advisors have greater opportunities to develop strategies to avoid the special tax. The AMT is essentially a parallel tax system that involves a separate tax calculation from the regular income tax. The AMT calculation is then compared to the income tax figured under the normal manner. The taxpayer …

Effects Of Antismoking Advertising-Based Beliefs On Adult Smokers’ Consideration Of Quitting, Richard G. Netemeyer, J. Craig Andrews, Scot Burton

Marketing Faculty Research and Publications

Objectives. We examined whether specific antismoking advertising–based beliefs regarding the addictiveness of smoking, the dangers of environmental tobacco smoke, and the tobacco industry’s use of deceptive advertising practices are associated with adult smokers’ consideration of quitting. We also assessed whether interactions between such beliefs and having children living in the home were associated with consideration of quitting. Methods. We used analyses of smokers’ responses to a telephone survey conducted after completion of the Wisconsin Anti-Tobacco Media Campaign to test hypotheses associated with our study objectives. Results. Results indicated that advertising-based beliefs regarding smoking addictiveness and the dangers of environmental …

A Dynamic Look At Subprime Loan Performance, Michelle A. Danis, Anthony Pennington-Cross

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

Does delinquency have any predictive power for the future performance of a mortgage? Analysis of a sample of subprime mortgages from the Loanperformance database on securitized private-label pool collateral using a two-step estimation procedure to control for the endogeneity of delinquency reveals strong support for the distressed prepayment theory that very delinquent loans are more likely to prepay than to default and that prepayment rates increase substantially as delinquency intensity increases. While delinquency leads predominantly to termination of a loan through prepayment, negative equity leads to termination through default. Does delinquency have any predictive power for the future performance of …

Internal Audit, Sarbanes-Oxley And Athletic Departments: An Examination And Recommendations For Reform, Michael D. Akers, Gregory Naples

Accounting Faculty Research and Publications

During the past fifteen to twenty years the integrity of intercollegiate athletics has been seriously questioned as a result of an increased awareness of problems associated with institutional controls over athletic departments. Limited empirical evidence has been used in the debate regarding institutional controls pertaining to the athletic department. This paper provides empirical evidence regarding the use of the internal audit function as an institutional control. Our findings indicate that while the internal audits of athletic departments are adequate, the communication of these audit results is inadequate. We also discuss the applicability of recent legislation, Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, to …

Service Industries Keep Employment Steady In Arkansas' Capital, Anthony Pennington-Cross

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Aggregation Bias And The Repeat Sales Price Index, Anthony Pennington-Cross

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Career Rebound, Michael D. Akers

Accounting Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Borrower Self-Selection, Underwriting Costs, And Subprime Mortgage Credit Supply, Joseph Nichols, Anthony Pennington-Cross, Anthony Yezer

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

In the U.S., households participate in two very different types of credit markets. Personal lending is characterized by continuous risk-based pricing in which lenders offer households a continuous distribution of borrowing possibilities based on estimates of their creditworthiness. This contrasts sharply with mortgage markets where lenders specialize in specific risk categories of borrowers and mortgage supply is stepwise linear. The contrast between continuous lending for personal loans and discrete lending by specialized lenders for mortgage credit has led to concerns regarding the efficiency and equity of mortgage lending. This paper sheds both theoretical and empirical light on the differences in …

Interviewing The Client, Michael D. Akers, Robert Yahr

Accounting Faculty Research and Publications

This paper examines an assignment where students taking either an introductory auditing students or an accounting communications course interview a client to gain an understanding of internal control and the interview process. Students document the results of the interview in a memorandum. The paper provides detailed information regarding the design and implementation of a portion of the internal control system. The three main objectives of the assignment are 1) to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate, develop, and enhance their communication skills; 2) to convey a realistic picture of the accounting environment; and 3) to familiarize students with a …

Graduate Student Audit Project, Michael D. Akers, Jodi L. Gissel

Accounting Faculty Research and Publications

This paper discusses Marquette University’s graduate student audit project, designed to enhance student learning and retention of auditing procedures and concepts learned in the classroom.

Foundations In Wisconsin: A Directory [24th Ed. 2005], Mary C. Frenn, Rebecca Cesarz, Megan Muthupandiyan, Vance Thomas, Lisa Zongolowicz

Foundations in Wisconsin: A Directory

The 2005 release of Foundations in Wisconsin marks the 24th edition of the print directory and the 5th year of the online version (www.wifoundations.org). The directory is designed as a research tool for grantseekers interested in locating information on private, corporate, and community foundations registered in Wisconsin. Each entry in this new edition has been updated or reviewed to provide the most current information available. Most of the data was extracted from IRS 990-PF tax returns filed by the foundations. However, additional information was obtained from surveys, annual reports, and foundation Web sites.

The 2005 edition documents the significant economic …

Early Determinants Of Women In The It Workforce: A Model Of Girls’ Career Choices, Monica Adya, Kate Kaiser

Management Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose – To develop a testable model for girls’ career choices in technology fields based on past research and hypotheses about the future of the information technology (IT) workforce.

Design/Methodology/Approach – Review and assimilation of literature from education, psychology, sociology, computer science, IT, and business in a model that identifies factors that can potentially influence a girl’s choice towards or against IT careers. The factors are categorized into social factors (family, peers, and media), structural factors (computer use, teacher/counselor influence, same sex versus coeducational schools), and individual differences. The impact of culture on these various factors is also explored.

Findings …