Finance and Financial Management Commons^™

Thinking Finance - The Comic Book, Dimitrios V. Siskos

Dimitrios V. Siskos

Thinking financially results in the best possible outcome and establishes a secure foundation for the future as an independent man. In contrast, thinking emotionally leads to short-sighted financial decisions and usually, deep regrets. However, thinking financially is not pleasant for the people around us. This comic book presents a guy, whose dream is to become an accountant. When he finally succeeds in this, he realizes that thinking financially may be effective for his boss but it is irritating for everyone else, even for his family.

Impact Of Life-Cycle Costs Threshold Criteria In The Alternate Design Pavement Bidding Practices Of Public Transportation Agencies, Ilker Karaca, Douglas Gransberg, Ashley F. Buss

Ilker Karaca

This paper proposes a model that enables Department of Transportation (DOT) policy makers to quantify the expected volume of projects that will qualify for letting in their alternate design/alternate bid (ADAB) pavement bidding programs. Current guidance on alternate bidding recommends a fixed percentage as the life cycle cost (LCC) threshold criterion to determine whether pavement selection decisions should be made through ADAB bidding practices. The paper’s analysis shows that the fixed LCC threshold percentage approach may have considerable shortcomings. Instead, a dynamic threshold value is proposed that can subsequently be calibrated by agencies, based on the desired size of their …

Coporate Governance, Institutional Ownership, And The Decision To Pay The Amount Of Dividends: Evidence From Usa, John Obradovich, Amarjit Gill

John Obradovich

The decision to pay dividends is influenced by many financial factors. The purpose of this study is to find the relationships between corporate governance, institutional ownership, and the decision to pay dividends in American service firms. A sample of 296 American firms listed on New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for a period of 3 years (from 2009-2011) was selected. This study applied a co-relational and non-experimental research design. The findings of this study indicate that the decision to pay dividends is a positive function of board size, CEO duality, and internationalization of the firm, and a negative function of institutional …

The Impact Of Corporate Governance And Financial Leverage On The Value Of American Firms, John Obradovich, Amarjit Gill

John Obradovich

This study examines the impact of corporate governance and financial leverage on the value of American firms. This study also seeks to extend the findings of Gill and Mathur (2011a). A sample of 333 firms listed on New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for a period of 3 years from 2009-2011 was selected. The co-relational and non-experimental research design was used to conduct this study. Overall, findings show that larger board size negatively impacts the value of American firms, and CEO duality, audit committee, financial leverage, firm size, return on assets, and insider holdings positively impact the value of American firms. …

Additional Evidence On The Impact Of The International Financial Reporting Standards On Earnings Quality: Evidence From Latin America, Mauricio A. Melgarejo

Mauricio Melgarejo

Post-Jgtrra Dividend Planning, Danny A. Pannese, Paul N. Iannone

Danny Pannese

The JGTRRA reduced the tax rate on dividends for individuals and lowered the accumulated earnings and personal holding company taxes for corporations until 2008. This article reviews some of the planning techniques corporations and shareholders can use to take advantage of the temporarily lower rates. One of the key provisions of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (JGTRRA), if not the prime emphasis of the legislation, is Section 302's reduction in the individual tax rate on corporate dividends received to 15% (5% for individuals in the 15% and 10% brackets). In an emerging trend, the lower …

The Interrelationships Between Reit Capital Structure And Investment, Jamie Alcock, Eva Steiner

Eva Steiner

Financial Intermediaries In The United States: Development And Impact On Firms And Employment Relations, Eileen Appelbaum, Rosemary Batt, Jae Eun Lee

Rosemary Batt

[Excerpt] Private equity (PE), hedge funds (HFs), sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), and other private pools of capital form part of the growing shadow banking system in the United States, where these new financial intermediaries provide an alternative investment mechanism to the traditional banking system. PE and HFs have their origins in the USA, while the first SWF was created by the Kuwaiti Government in 1953. While they have separate roots and distinct business models, these alternative investment vehicles have increasingly merged into overarching asset management funds which encompass all three alternative investments. These funds have wielded increasing power in financial …

Project Finance: Transactional Evidence From Australia, Michael Regan

Michael Regan

The international project finance market is experiencing a period of significant change. The new Basel III capital adequacy rules will make it harder for banks to provide long-term project finance, and alternative sources of finance such as the shadow banking sector, fund managers, sovereign wealth funds, and institutional investors will take time to bridge the financing gap. In the meantime, it is difficult to source project finance for tenors beyond seven years, risk premiums are higher, and finance is difficult to source. Recent innovations in the form of the European Investment Bank’s Project Bond Initiative, and the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund …

Intangible Investments And The Pricing Of Corporate Sga Expenses, Rongbing Huang, Gim S. Seow, Joe S. Shangguan

Rongbing Huang

This study examined whether the market fully prices the reported Selling, General, and Administrative (SGA) expenses when this item includes an intangible investment component. For a sample of intangible investment-intensive firms, we showed that their SGA expenses benefit future operating performances. Evidence suggests some degree of market inefficiency in the pricing of SGA expenses and the intangible investment component. Furthermore, the financial analysts do not appear to appreciate fully the future benefits of the component in their earnings forecasts. Finally, the pertinent disclosures in firms’ annual reports are so inadequate as to attenuate the market mispricing, suggesting a significant room …

Acquisitions Driven By Stock Overvaluation: Are They Good Deals?, Fangjian Fu, Leming Lin, Micah Officer

Micah S. Officer

Theory and recent evidence suggest that overvalued firms can create value for shareholders if they exploit their overvaluation by using their stock as currency to purchase less overvalued firms. We challenge this idea and show that, in practice, overvalued acquirers significantly overpay for their targets. These acquisitions do not, in turn, lead to synergy gains. Moreover, these acquisitions seem to be concentrated among acquirers with the largest governance problems. CEO compensation, not shareholder value creation, appears to be the main motive behind acquisitions by overvalued acquirers.

Assessing The Financial Failure Using Z-Score And Current Ratio: A Case Of Sugar Sector Listed Companies Of Kse, Muhammad Shahzad Ijaz, Ahmed Imran Hunjra, Rauf I. Azam

Ahmed Imran Hunjra (PhD)

Since 1968, after the development of multivariate model, financial health of the corporate sector to predict their financial failure is heavily studied. Altman Z-Score is the most efficient model to judge the financial failure of the companies. This study uses Altman’s Z-Score and current ratio to assess the financial status of sugar sector companies listed at Karachi stock exchange. Sugar sector is the second largest slice among all sectors listed at Karachi stock exchange. Total population sampling technique was used in this study and all thirty five sugar sector listed companies at KSE were included in this study to get …

Impact Of Affect Heuristic, Fear And Anger On Decision Making Of Individual Investor: A Conceptual Study, Ehsan Ul Hassan, Fahad Shahzeb, Maryum Shaheen, Qamar Abbas, Zahid Hameed, Ahmed Imran Hunjra

Ahmed Imran Hunjra (PhD)

Financial theories support the efficient market hypothesis, which assumes that prices are fair in the market and investors behave rationally while taking any investment decision. Individual Investors of the stock market are therefore thought to take rational decisions while making judgments and investment decisions. However, a lot of studies on behavioral finance have criticized the phenomenon of market efficiency and investor’s rationality. The empirical evidences of these studies conclude the involvement of behavioral biases and psychological impacts on investor’s judgments and decision making. Keeping this in mind the present study has focused on studying the impact of affect heuristic, fear …

Impact Of Psychological Factors On Investment Decision Making Mediating By Risk Perception: A Conceptual Study, Lubna Riaz, Ahmed Imran Hunjra, Rauf I. Azam

Ahmed Imran Hunjra (PhD)

Every individual is different from others due to various factors which include demographic factors, age, race and sex, education level, social and economic background; same is the situation with the investors. The most critical challenge faced by them is the investment decision; they act in a rational manner and usually follow their instincts and emotional biases while making investment decisions. The investigation of previous studies reveals the importance of various psychological factors which affect their investment decision. Keeping this in view, a study model has been developed to describe the impact of risk propensity, asymmetric information and problem framing on …

Factors Affecting Investment Decision Making Of Equity Fund Managers, Salman Ali Qureshi, Kashif Ur Rehman, Ahmed Imran Hunjra

Ahmed Imran Hunjra (PhD)

Traditional theories of finance assume that investors use all available information and make rational investment decision but in reality the scenario is different. Based upon the growing importance of behavioral finance the present study is an attempt to investigate the effect of behavioral factors such as heuristics, risk aversion, use of financial tools and firm level corporate governance on the decision making of equity fund managers of Pakistan. The study collected response from 327 equity fund managers of insurance companies, commercial banks, and equity investment companies applying stratified random sampling technique. The results of the study demonstrate that a positive …

Governance And Corporate Control: Compliments Or Substitutes, Atreya Chakraborty

Atreya Chakraborty

In this paper we test for the motives for adopting golden parachutes and Anti Takeover Amendments (ATAs). Firms that exhibited financial characteristics that were associated with a greater probability of hostile raids were also more likely to adopt golden parachutes or ATAs. We also find evidence to support the hypothesis that the adoption of golden parachutes and poison pills may in fact be complement each other.

Effectiveness Of Event Risk Covenants In High Yield Bonds: Evidence From Long-Run Stock Performance, Manish Tewari

Manish Tewari

We examine the post-issue long-run performance of the common stock of the firms issuing nonconvertible high yield bonds with event risk covenants (ERCs) over the period five years after the issue date. Using Fama French (1993) four factor regression model to analyze a sample of 217 issues issued between 1986 and 2004, we find statistically and economically significant monthly average abnormal returns between 0.36% and 0.55%, which compounds to 24% to 39% over the five year period. The evidence suggests strong long-run overperformance after the issuance. This result is in contrast to the evidence of underperformance after the straight debt …

Cause Related Marketing And Its Impact On Sales: Mediating By Brand Loyalty And Customer Purchase Intention, Ahmed Imran Hunjra, Rauf I. Azam, Asad Afzal Humayoun

Ahmed Imran Hunjra (PhD)

The objective of this study is to test CRM and sales in their direct relation and examine the impact of CRM campaigns on brand loyalty, consumer purchase intention and ultimately on sales. The questionnaire was distributed among students and employees at different universities and organizations. This study concludes that cause related marketing campaigns have positive influence on sales activities of companies. This link is also mediated by brand loyalty and consumer purchase intention that eventually have positive effect on sales.

The Impact Of Trust And Cabin Crew Performance On Customers’ Satisfaction, Nadeem Safwan, Ahmed Imran Hunjra, Mohammad Ashfaq, Syed Qasim Haroon Naqvi

Ahmed Imran Hunjra (PhD)

In this research, the case of AIRBLUE has been taken to examine what people think about its performance, whether they trust this airline or not, and are they satisfied or not? Further, this study measures the impacet of cabin crew performance and trust on customer satisfaction. The data was collected by distributing questionnaires to the domestic travelers of AIRBLUE. The sample size of the research was of 180 people. The result shows that majority of people are satisfied with the performance of AIRBLUE and they trust on its service, but at the same time they have positive expectation that AIRBLUE …

Marketing Ethics And Pharmaceutical Industry, Khurram Mirza, Majed Rashid, Ahmed Imran Hunjra

Ahmed Imran Hunjra (PhD)

Does marketing practices of pharmaceutical companies in developed and third world countries are same? This book gives a perspective of Unethical Marketing and Promotional activities done by Pharmaceutical Companies.Pharmaceuticals internationally are under scrutiny, for conducting their business on high ethical grounds but this would seem to be a wild goose chased, when we actually evaluate the business conduct of those organizations in developing countries. There is a substantial difference of ethical conduct in doing business in third world countries like Pakistan. In this book the author tries to elaborate these differences for understanding the Unethical Marketing and Promotion of Pharmaceutical …

Investment Appraisal Techniques And Constraints On Capital Investment, Ahmed Imran Hunjra, Iram Batool, Ghulam Shabbir Khan Niazi, Ijaz Ur Rehman

Ahmed Imran Hunjra (PhD)

The objective of this study is to determine the level of application and perception of finance executives and analysts regarding the investment appraisal techniques in Pakistani corporate sector in the light of theory. This study also investigates the major constraints on capital investment. Total 63 questionnaires were distributed in different cities of Pakistan (Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan and Faisalabad) but only 37 properly filled questionnaires were processed; the potential respondents were the finance executives and Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) of the companies. The companies listed at KSE related to ten leading sectors were the population of this study. It is …

Individual Investors Perception Of Dividends: Pakistan's Perspective, Muhammad Naeem Akhtar, Ahmed Imran Hunjra, Arifa Andleeb, Babar Zaheer Butt

Ahmed Imran Hunjra (PhD)

This research paper argue that there exists a strong preference for dividends among investors. The main purpose is to find the factors that lead individual investors to reveal their preference for either cash or stock dividends. The most important dividend theories are employed to test the behavior of Pakistani individual investors towards dividends. The results reveal strong evidence that individual investors in Pakistan want dividends either in the form of cash or stocks. They also have a strong preference for dividend even if a company has to pay it by borrowing.

Long Run Relationship Between Poverty And Macro-Economic Variables In Pakistan, Muhammad Naeem Akhtar, Ahmed Imran Hunjra, Nadeem Safwan, Abrar Ahmad

Ahmed Imran Hunjra (PhD)

This research study examines the long run relationship between poverty and economic indicators in Pakistan. Data from 1972 to 2010 is used to analyze the relationship between various economic variables and poverty. The economic indicators include; consumer price index, literacy rate and population growth. Head count rate is used to measure poverty. The statistical techniques used include unit root Augmented Dickey Fuller test (for checking the stationary data) & Johansen’s co-integration test for long run relationship. The study found co-integration between all the economic factors and poverty, which means that economic performance indicators are pertinent predictors of poverty. This can …

Determinants Of Financial Management Practices: A Conceptual Study, Ahmed Imran Hunjra, Jamshed Iqbal

Ahmed Imran Hunjra (PhD)

The purpose of this study is to investigate various factors (uncertainty, corporate social disclosure and stakeholder) that impact the selection of financial management practices. Further, this study attempts to explore the impact of financial management practices and earnings management on firm performance. In order to achieve the objective, a conceptual model has been developed based on previous theories and empirical literature. The findings of the study would be quite beneficial for capital providers – lenders and shareholders – who would like to use their funds for financial practices. On the other hand, capital providers will be hesitant to provide capital …

Relationship Between Decision Making Styles And Consumer Behavior, Ahmed Imran Hunjra, Ghulam Shabbir Khan Niazi

Ahmed Imran Hunjra (PhD)

The objective of this study is to identify different factors that impact consumer behavior on the basis of a decision making style. The sample size of this study was 250 questionnaires. Correlation and multiple regression were performed to measure the relationship between independent and dependent variables. This study concludes there is a significant relationship between male and female decision making style and female respondents are more likely to assert that decision making styles influence consumer behavior. All the independent variables have significant positive relationship with consumer behavior.

Service Quality, Customer Satisfaction And Loyalty: An Empirical Analysis Of Banking Sector In Pakistan, Mohsin Zafar, Sana Zafar, Aasia Asif, Ahmed Imran Hunjra, H. Mushtaq Ahmad

Ahmed Imran Hunjra (PhD)

Effective Advertising And Its Influence On Consumer Buying Behavior, Ghulam Shabbir Khan Niazi, Javaria Siddiqui, Burhan Ali Shah, Ahmed Imran Hunjra

Ahmed Imran Hunjra (PhD)

Advertising is a way of communication to convince an audience for taking purchase decision about a product or service and delivering information to viewers. This paper examines the relationship between environmental response and emotional response which are independent variables with dependent variable i.e. consumer buying behavior. This research investigates the relationship between the variables involved, by taking the 200 responses in twins’ cities of Pakistan. Findings of this study show the moderate relationship between independent variables and dependent variable. It shows that consumer purchase those brands from which they are emotionally attached. This study reports new results in the field …

The Effects Of Uncertainty And Corporate Governance On Firms’ Demand For Liquidity, Atreya Chakraborty

Atreya Chakraborty

We find that US corporations’ demand for liquidity is sensitive to two important factors: uncertainty facing the firm and the quality of corporate governance. Following prior research, we find that both factors have important influences on firms’ cash holdings. Our results also indicate that the interactions between uncertainty and governance measures are significant. From a policy perspective, these new findings indicate that both governance and the nature of uncertainty may play an important role in managing liquidity risks. Policy recommendations may not only be limited to changes in financial policy but may also include changes in corporate governance.

Firm Location And Corporate Debt, Matteo P. Arena, Michaël Dewally

Matteo P. Arena

This study examines the influence of a firm’s geographical location on corporate debt and provides evidence that the higher cost of collecting information on firms distant from urban areas has significant implications on a wide array of corporate debt characteristics. We find that rural firms face higher debt yield spreads and attract smaller and less prestigious bank syndicates than urban firms. Rural firms attempt to reduce their informational disadvantage by relying more on relationship banking. Our results on the effect of location on corporate debt are robust to the inclusion of an extensive set of firm and issue characteristics.

Territorial Tax System Reform And Corporate Financial Policies, Matteo Arena, George Kutner

Matteo P. Arena

We examine the effect of a permanent change to a country corporate income repatriation tax system on corporate financial policies. In 2009 Japan and the U.K. switched from a worldwide to a territorial system for the taxation of repatriated foreign earnings. The new system effectively reduced the tax liabilities of most multinational firms when repatriating earnings. We find that after the change firms accumulate less cash, pay out larger amounts through dividends and share repurchases, and invest less abroad. We do not find that the tax system change has significantly affected domestic investments even when controlling for capital constraints.