Business Commons^™

Three Essays On Hedge Fund Fee Structure, Return Smoothing And Gross Performance, Shuang Feng

Open Access Dissertations

Hedge funds feature special compensation structure compared to traditional investments. Previous studies mainly focus on the provisions and incentive structure of hedge fund contract, such as 2/20, hurdle rates, and high-water mark. The first essay develops an algorithm to empirically estimate the monthly fees, fund flows and gross asset values of individual hedge funds. We find that management fee is a major component in the dollar amount of hedge fund total fees, and fund flow is more important in determining the change in fund size compared to net returns, especially when fund is shrinking in size. We also find that …

Three Essays On Hedge Fund Fee Contracts, Managerial Incentives And Risk Taking Behaviors, Gong Zhan

Open Access Dissertations

Essay One

Under the principal-agent framework, we study and compare different compensation schemes commonly adopted by hedge fund and mutual fund managers. We find that the option-like performance fee structure prevalent among hedge funds is suboptimal to the symmetric performance fee structure. However, the use of high water mark (HWM) mitigates the suboptimality, though to a very limited extent. Bothour theoretical models and simulation results show that HWM will induce more managerial efforts only when a fund is slightly under the water but it will unfavorably dampen incentives when a fund is too deep under the water and when the …

What Do We Do Now? The Role Of Absorptive Capacity And Consulting Service Firms In The Internalization Of New Knowledge Within Organizations, Sudhir Nair

Open Access Dissertations

The impact of knowledge on firm performance has been seen as one explanation of firm performance heterogeneity, which is a central question in the area of Strategic Management. However, there has been surprisingly limited research into the role of new knowledge internalization within firms. Further, the ubiquitous role of external knowledge providers, especially those that explicitly exist to provide knowledge to firms (Consulting Service Firms) has been negligibly studied. Specifically this dissertation looked at how firms first understand new knowledge and suggested that firms differ in their ability to discern the impact of this new knowledge based on the absorptive …

Controlling Urban Air Pollution Caused By Households: Uncertainty, Prices, And Income, Carlos Chávez, John K. Stranlund, Walter Gómez

John K. Stranlund

We examine the control of air pollution caused by households burning wood for heating and cooking in the developing world. Since the problem is one of controlling emissions from nonpoint sources, regulations are likely to be directed at household choices of wood consumption and combustion technologies. Moreover, these choices are subtractions from, or contributions to, the pure public good of air quality. Consequently, the efficient policy design is not independent of the distribution of household income. Since it is unrealistic to assume that environmental authorities can make lump sum income transfers part of control policies, efficient control of air pollution …

Cittaslow, Slow Cities, Slow Food: Searching For A Model For The Development Of Slow Tourism, Linda L. Lowry, Misoon Lee

Linda L Lowry

Slow Tourism, a new trend that originated in Italy, is now traversing the globe. This study traces its evolution, synthesizes existing definitions, and develops a conceptual model for the stages of Slow Tourism development. It uses a qualitative, exploratory framework situated in the paradigms of constructivism and critical theory and a critical, interpretative form of inquiry and analysis. Data sources included various types of secondary data as well as primary data collected during personal interviews conducted in November of 2010 with key leaders in the first two CittaSlow designated cities in the U.S. Findings suggest that Slow Tourism, which can …

The Impact Of Online Influence Strategies On Consumer Response And Privacy Expectations, Jason Aaron Gabisch

Open Access Dissertations

Identifying effective strategies for encouraging individuals to disclose their personal information on the Internet is important for marketers. In today's informationbased economy, access to consumer data is imperative for organizations in conducting marketing activities. However, the extant privacy literature has found conflicting results regarding the effectiveness of safety cues (e.g., privacy policies) and rewards (e.g., discounts) for encouraging consumers to provide their personal information to Web sites (Andrade et al. 2002). There is also scant research on the implications of compensating consumers for their information, and its subsequent impact on privacy control expectations.

This dissertation consists of two essays that …

Becoming A Young Professional: The Social Organization Of Career, Emily T. Porschitz

Open Access Dissertations

While careers are often conceptualized as individual paths through occupations - propelled by internal drive and (for the lucky ones) passion - this research takes a more social and political perspective, understanding careers as coordinated by forces external to people and their immediate local settings. In particular this study uncovers ways that imperatives and activities associated with contemporary regional economic development have uneven consequences for young workers depending on socioeconomic status.

For this dissertation I undertook a three-year longitudinal study of a much publicized initiative by top administrators of a state university to entice more college students to remain in …

Pricing And Preserving Unique Ecosystems: The Case Of The Galapagos Islands, Ceasar Viteri Mejia

Open Access Dissertations

This study contributes to the discussion of managing tourism to a protected area in a developing country (Galapagos, Ecuador). The first part of the analysis provides quantitative data about preferences of tourists and potential impacts on park revenues from price discrimination. It uses the data from a choice experiment survey conducted in the summer of 2009 in which these four attributes of a tour of the Galapagos were described: tour length, depth of naturalist experience, level of protection of Galapagos from invasive species, and price of the tour. On average the Galapagos tourist would be willing to pay slightly more …

Thin And Lumpy: An Experimental Investigation Of Water Quality Trading, Jordan F. Suter, John M. Spraggon, Gregory L. Poe

John M. Spraggon

Water quality trading schemes in the United States can predominantly be character- ized by low trading volumes. In this paper we utilize laboratory economics experiments to explore the extent to which the technology through which pollution abatement is achieved in uences market outcomes. Mirroring the majority of water quality trading markets, the sessions utilize small trading groups composed of six participants. To understand the extent to which abatement technology in uences trading behavior, the experimental treatments vary the degree of heterogeneity in initial abatement costs and the potential for long-lived investments in cost-reducing abatement technology.

An Experimental Analysis Of Compliance In Dynamic Emissions Markets, John K. Stranlund, James J. Murphy, John M. Spraggon

John M. Spraggon

Two important design elements for emission trading programs are whether and to what extent firms are able to bank emissions permits, and how these programs are to be enforced. In this paper we present results from laboratory emissions markets designed to investigate enforcement and compliance when these markets allow permit banking. Banking is motivated by a decrease in the aggregate permit supply in the middle of multi-period trading sessions. Consistent with theoretical insights, our experiments suggest that high permit violation penalties have little deterrence value in dynamic emissions markets, and that the main challenge of enforcing these programs is to …

Proposed Greenway Of Hatfield, Massachusetts - La497c - Senior Studio, Matthew G. Bent, Henry A. Hess, Andre E. Belperron

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

This is one of five reports submitted for the LA497C Spring 2011 Senior Studio project.

This proposed greenway plan will be assessing the features of Hatfield such as, History, natural features, and open space within the town. After a thorough assessment of the towns features the report will cover the extensive proposed greenway plan, focusing mostly on the town center of Hatfield. The town center is the hub of the town where the major community buildings are such as the elementary and high schools, town hall, the town library, and most of the public recreation fields. Once the overall greenway …

Who Should Bear The Administrative Costs Of An Emissions Tax?, John K. Stranlund, Carlos A. Chavez

John K. Stranlund

All environmental policies involve administrative costs, the costs of implementing and managing policies that extend beyond abatement costs. We examine theoretically the optimal distribution of these costs between the public and regulated sources of pollution. The distribution of administrative costs affects social welfare only if public funds are more expensive than private funds, or if the distribution of administrative costs affects the size of a regulated industry. If having the public take on a larger part of administrative costs increases the size of the industry and this does not lead to lower emissions for a given emissions tax, then it …

Unintended Consequences Of Lowering Disclosure Thresholds: Proposed Changes To Sfas No. 5, Kirsten Fanning

Open Access Dissertations

Recently, investors have asserted that firms' loss contingency disclosures are not adequate to allow them to assess the likelihood of material losses due to litigation (i.e., litigation risk), and a debate has developed over whether the threshold for disclosure should be lowered to provide investors with more information relating to litigation. Using an experiment, I investigate two unintended consequences of lowering a disclosure threshold, as the FASB has recently proposed. First, I find that adding low probability lawsuits to the disclosure of reasonably possible lawsuits lowers prospective investors' perceptions of litigation risk relating to the disclosure, even though more lawsuits …

An Investigation Into Managers' Language Use In Earnings Press Releases, Tracey Jean Riley

Open Access Dissertations

For years, researchers have examined financial data in corporate earnings announcements and their influence on market participants. More recently, a body of research has been developing recognizing the impact of narrative disclosures and managers' deliberate language choices. However, no prior studies have investigated those language choices of managers which are likely unintentional in composing such narratives; language choices which, as previous research has revealed, escape conscious access. Using an empirically-grounded model which systematically classifies different predicates, I examined whether managers use systematic patterns of language when construing the earnings press release in a likely unintentional effort to channel or direct …

The Endogenous Formation Of Coalitions To Provide Public Goods: Theory And Experimental Evidence, David M. Mcevoy, Todd L. Cherry, John K. Stranlund

John K. Stranlund

This paper examines the endogenous formation of coalitions that provide public goods in which players implement a minimum participation requirement before deciding whether to join. We demonstrate theoretically that payoff-maximizing players will vote to implement efficient participation requirements and these coalitions will form. However, we also demonstrate that if some players are averse to inequality they can cause inefficient outcomes. Inequality-averse players can limit free riding by implementing larger than efficient coalitions or by blocking efficient coalitions from forming. We test the theory with experimental methods and observe individual behavior and coalition formation consistent with a model of inequality-averse players.

A Feast Or Famine Economy: The Bay State’S Robust But Imbalanced Economic Recovery, Michael Goodman, Robert A. Nakosteen

Robert A Nakosteen

Massachusetts ’ rebound from the recession has outpaced the nation, but the Bay State’s recovery has been skewed. It has been business-led, white collar, and regionally imbalanced.

Economic Currents: Diverging Destinies, Michael Goodman, Robert A. Nakosteen

Robert A Nakosteen

The State’s overall economic recovery masks widening inequality in education, innovation, and incomes, as well as growing regional imbalances.