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Full-Text Articles in Finance and Financial Management

Seasonal Affective Disorder And The Pricing Of Ipos, Steven D. Dolvin, Mark K. Pyles May 2011

Seasonal Affective Disorder And The Pricing Of Ipos, Steven D. Dolvin, Mark K. Pyles

Steven D. Dolvin

Purpose - It has been found that stock market returns vary seasonally with the amount of daylight, and they attribute this effect to seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which is a psychological condition that causes depression and heightened risk aversion during the fall and winter months. The goal of this study is to examine whether this effect also manifests itself in the pricing of initial public offerings (IPOs). Design/methodology/approach - The authors conduct an empirical analysis on IPO data collected over the period 1986-2000. Specifically, we examine potential pricing differences between IPO that go public during the fall and winter months, …


“Off The Rack” Versus “Savile Row” The Value Of Custom Tailoring For Equity Investors, Steven D. Dolvin, Brent W. Ambrose, John Gonas May 2011

“Off The Rack” Versus “Savile Row” The Value Of Custom Tailoring For Equity Investors, Steven D. Dolvin, Brent W. Ambrose, John Gonas

Steven D. Dolvin

Equity asset managers within professional investment advisory firms will often manage both discretionary fee-based accounts as well as open-ended mutual funds - using comparable domestic equity investment disciplines. When retail and institutional investors choose between these products, their decision often hinges on performance and portfolio customization. After reconciling each product’s gross performance for calculation methodology, management and trading costs, and systematic risk measures, we find that concurrently-managed (where the same personnel manage a separately managed account and an open-ended mutual fund over the same time period using identical investment disciplines) small-cap separately managed accounts outperform small-cap actively-managed open-ended mutual funds …


Further Examination Of Equity Returns And Seasonal Depression, Steven D. Dolvin, Mark K. Pyles, Qun Wu Apr 2011

Further Examination Of Equity Returns And Seasonal Depression, Steven D. Dolvin, Mark K. Pyles, Qun Wu

Steven D. Dolvin

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) induces investors to shift resources away from risky investments (such as equity) and towards safer alternatives (such as fixed income) during the Fall, while stimulating the opposite action in the Winter. Existing studies, however, fail to account for the possibility that SAD could further motivate investors to shift exposure among different subsets of equity, rather than simply across broad asset categories. We explore this possibility by examining the impact of SAD on the returns of “safe” and “risky” equity sectors (i.e., industries), as well as on equity at different levels of market capitalization. We find the …


The Effect Of Instructional Technologies On The Finance Classroom, Steven D. Dolvin, J. Michael Morgan, Mark Pyles Oct 2010

The Effect Of Instructional Technologies On The Finance Classroom, Steven D. Dolvin, J. Michael Morgan, Mark Pyles

Steven D. Dolvin

Using a survey technique, we evaluate the effect of PowerPoint, online lecture notes, financial calculators, and machine readable forms (MRF) on students' assessment of the quality of instruction, perceived knowledge level, satisfaction, post-course interest in the subject, and average grade in introductory finance courses. We also examine these opinions on a relative basis by comparing the responses of Finance majors versus non-Finance majors. The results suggest that certain technologies are received better than others and further, that the perceived quality of instructional techniques is largely contingent on the student's choice of major.


Reit Ipos And The Cost Of Going Public, Steven D. Dolvin, Mark Pyles Oct 2010

Reit Ipos And The Cost Of Going Public, Steven D. Dolvin, Mark Pyles

Steven D. Dolvin

We examine Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) that went public between 1986 and 2004. Consistent with previous studies, we find that REIT IPOs are associated with lower levels of underpricing relative to traditional issues. We also find that REITs are associated with smaller file price revisions. Both findings are potentially attributable to the lower level of uncertainty associated with pricing REITs. In contrast, using an alternative measure of issuance costs that incorporates the share retention decision by preexisting owners, we find no significant difference between REIT and non-REIT issues, suggesting the results of previous studies …


Reit Ipos And The Cost Of Going Public, Steven D. Dolvin, Mark Pyles Oct 2010

Reit Ipos And The Cost Of Going Public, Steven D. Dolvin, Mark Pyles

Steven D. Dolvin

We examine Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) that went public between 1986 and 2004. Consistent with previous studies, we find that REIT IPOs are associated with lower levels of underpricing relative to traditional issues. We also find that REITs are associated with smaller file price revisions. Both findings are potentially attributable to the lower level of uncertainty associated with pricing REITs. In contrast, using an alternative measure of issuance costs that incorporates the share retention decision by preexisting owners, we find no significant difference between REIT and non-REIT issues, suggesting the results of previous studies …


Market Efficiency At The Derby: A Real Horse Race, Steven D. Dolvin, Mark K. Pyles Jun 2010

Market Efficiency At The Derby: A Real Horse Race, Steven D. Dolvin, Mark K. Pyles

Steven D. Dolvin

Using race data from each Kentucky Derby from 1920 to 2005, we examine whether the horse wagering market is efficient. Most prior studies in this arena test potential betting strategies that rely on posted odds, generally finding that it is extremely difficult to devise and implement any consistently successful wager (i.e., market efficiency). We extend these studies by examining underlying determinants of posted race odds, specifically focusing on the experience of auxiliary members (e.g., jockey, breeder and trainer) associated with each entrant. We find that past Derby experience is an important determinant of posted odds and that the odds-making system …


Prior Debt And The Cost Of Going Public, Steven D. Dolvin, Merk K. Pyles Jun 2010

Prior Debt And The Cost Of Going Public, Steven D. Dolvin, Merk K. Pyles

Steven D. Dolvin

Previous studies find that firms with prior debt, particularly publicly rated, have lower information asymmetry and experience a lower opportunity cost of going public, as measured by underpricing. Subsequent research suggests that underpricing may be an inaccurate measure of indirect issuance costs. Thus, we replicate and extend existing studies to examine whether previously issued debt reduces the true opportunity cost of issuance. We find that private debt issues have little effect; however, firms with public debt (particularly rated) have both significantly lower levels of underpricing and lower issuance opportunity costs, as well as narrower filing ranges and smaller price revisions, …


Underpricing, Overhang, And The Cost Of Going Public To Preexisting Shareholders, Steven D. Dolvin, Bradford D. Jordan Jun 2010

Underpricing, Overhang, And The Cost Of Going Public To Preexisting Shareholders, Steven D. Dolvin, Bradford D. Jordan

Steven D. Dolvin

IPO underpricing has been extensively studied; however, its impact on the wealth of preexisting shareholders has not been closely examined. We address the question of whether or not periods of high underpricing adversely affect preexisting shareholders. We find that high levels of underpricing are associated with increased share retention, which effectively offsets much of the potential cost. Overall, we find that the percentage of shareholder wealth lost is surprisingly stable over time, unlike underpricing itself. We also find that many factors known to be related to underpricing are not significant determinants of the cost of going public to preexisting owners.


Prior Debt And The Cost Of Going Public, Steven D. Dolvin, Merk K. Pyles Jun 2010

Prior Debt And The Cost Of Going Public, Steven D. Dolvin, Merk K. Pyles

Steven D. Dolvin

Previous studies find that firms with prior debt, particularly publicly rated, have lower information asymmetry and experience a lower opportunity cost of going public, as measured by underpricing. Subsequent research suggests that underpricing may be an inaccurate measure of indirect issuance costs. Thus, we replicate and extend existing studies to examine whether previously issued debt reduces the true opportunity cost of issuance. We find that private debt issues have little effect; however, firms with public debt (particularly rated) have both significantly lower levels of underpricing and lower issuance opportunity costs, as well as narrower filing ranges and smaller price revisions, …


Asset Allocation For Retirement: Simple Heuristics And Target-Date Funds, Steven D. Dolvin, William K. Templeton, William Rieber Apr 2010

Asset Allocation For Retirement: Simple Heuristics And Target-Date Funds, Steven D. Dolvin, William K. Templeton, William Rieber

Steven D. Dolvin

We examine common asset allocation strategies for retirement investing, considering both static and dynamic approaches, as well as those allocation policies used by leading target-date fund providers. We studied the average performance of each strategy over historical rolling periods (that is, bootstrapping), using actual annual returns starting in 1926. Then we applied the simulation method to review potential future results, as well as to provide additional insight into the structure and characteristics of each approach. We find that, over time, certain static approaches are essentially equivalent to dynamic strategies that reduce equity exposure through time. Further, we find that most …


Financial Education And Asset Allocation, Steven D. Dolvin, William K. Templeton Apr 2010

Financial Education And Asset Allocation, Steven D. Dolvin, William K. Templeton

Steven D. Dolvin

We conduct a clinical study on a firm that restructures its 401(k) plan and simultaneously offers financial education seminars to its employees. The restructuring requires each employee to restate allocation percentages, thus we are able to analyze the specific benefits of retirement planning seminars on the asset allocation decision. We find that seminar attendance is associated with increased portfolio diversification and improved risk management. When combined with changes in return, the overall result is that seminar attendees create more efficient portfolios, which implies a better understanding of the retirement planning process.