Finance and Financial Management Commons^™

Variational Inequalities For Marketable Pollution Permits With Technological Investment Opportunities: The Case Of Oligopolistic Markets, Anna Nagurney, Kathy Dhanda

Kathy K Dhanda

In this paper, we develop a variational inequality framework for the modeling, qualitative analysis, and computation of equilibrium patterns in multiproduct, multipollutant oligopolistic markets with marketable pollution permits along with opportunities for investment in production technology and/or emission-abatement technology. The model deals explicitly with spatial differentiation and also guarantees that the imposed environmental standards are met through the initial allocation of licenses. An algorithm is proposed, with convergence results, to compute the profitmaximized quantities of oligopolistic firms' products and the quantities of emissions, along with the equilibrium allocation of licenses and their prices, as well as the optimal investments in …

Stock Market And Macroeconomic Policies: New Evidence For The Pacific Basin Countries, Unro Lee

Eberhardt School of Business Faculty Articles

This article investigates whether the stock markets of the Pacific Basin countries of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan are informationally efficient with respect to macroeconomic policies. Granger causality tests are utilized in the context of a Vector Error Correction Model to test the relationship between aggregate stock prices and monetary and fiscal policies. The findings indicate that the stock markets of all four countries are not efficient with respect to both macroeconomic policies. These findings are different from those of other articles focusing on major industrialized countries. Rejection of market efficiency may be attributed to the unique structure …

Accounting For Biases In Black-Scholes, David Backus, Silverio Foresi, Kai Li, Liuren Wu

CRIF Working Paper series

Prices of currency options commonly deffer from the Black-Scholes formula along two dimensions: implied volatilities vary by strike price (volatility smiles) and maturity (implied volatility of at-the-money options increases, on average, with maturity). We account for both using Gram-Charlier expansions to approximate the conditional distribution of the logarithm of the price of the underlying security. In this setting, volatility is approximately a quadratic function of moneyness, a result we use to infer skewness and kurtosis from volatility smiles. Evidence suggests that both kurtosis in currency prices and biases in Black-Scholes option prices decline with maturity.

Ua3/9/2 Wku Institutional Review, James L. Fisher, Ltd.

WKU Archives Records

Institutional review conducted during Barbara Burch's interim presidency of WKU and presidential search.

Western Kentucky is a good university essentially trapped in time and therefore unable to change significantly. Until these constraints are eliminated or modified, the University will not be able to effectively address major issues of focus, enrollment, organization, personnel, curriculum, governance, athletics, planning and increased public and private support. Rather, it will continue to drift with occasional peripheral and cosmetic changes, none of which will be sufficient to successfully relate to Kentucky's new plan for post-secondary education.

The problems that prevent significant institutional transformation are several, but …

Breaking Trends And The Money-Output Correlation, David Fernandez

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper examines the impact on the money-output correlation of a univariate specification that allows time series to be characterized as stationary around a broken trend function. Though pretesting suggests that U.S. real output (industrial production) can be described as broken-trend stationary, this result has only limited impact on the money-output correlation. Before 1985 there is a strong Granger causal relationship between money and broken-detrended output (hut not first-differenced output), even when different short-term interest rates are used as regressors. However, after 1985 this relationship weakens significantly, whether or not one determines that output has a unit root.

Vertebrate Damage Management: The Future Of An Evolving Profession, Robert H. Giles Jr.

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

The author argues that an objective of a new group of people taking a systems approach to large wild animal problems should be to manage damage as a cost-reducing role within a total, profitable, long-term system, not necessarily to control the "pest." The needs are for well-grounded financial analyses both for customers, the public, the resources, and the well-being of the profession. A point of view is advanced for the need for evolving pest-related operations into a new, unique profession that is involved in a profound way as an element of a cost-effective total land and human resource production system.

Are Salaries In The National Hockey League Related To Nationality?, William (Bill) H. Williams, David A. Williams

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Coexistence Of Multiple Distribution Systems For Financial Services: The Case Of Property-Liability Insurance, Allen N. Berger, J. David Cummins, Mary A. Weiss

Faculty Publications

Property-liability insurance is distributed through a direct-writer system, where agents represent one insurer, and an independent- agency system, where agents represent several insurers. Independent-agency insurers have higher costs than direct writers. The market- imperfections hypothesis attributes the coexistence of the two types of insurers to impediments to competition, while the product-quality hypothesis holds that independent-agency insurers provide higher-quality services. We measure cost efficiency and profit efficiency for property-liability insurers and find strong support for the product-quality hypothesis, implying that independent-agency insurers produce higher-quality outputs and are compensated by higher revenues.

As Easy As Abc - An Introduction To Activity Based Costing, Mark E. Pickering

Mark E Pickering

This article is an introduction to the concepts and mechanics of Activity Based Costing and how it can be used to provide different views of the costs and profitability of organisations to support management decisions.

Calibration And Validation Of The Cocomo Ii.1997.0 Cost/Schedule Estimating Model To The Space And Missile Systems Center Database, Wayne A. Bernheisel

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study was to determine the accuracy of COCOMO II.1997.0, a software cost and schedule estimating model, using Magnitude of Relative Error, Mean Magnitude of Relative Error, Relative Root Mean Square, and a 25 percent Prediction Level. Effort estimates were completed using the model in default and in calibrated mode. Calibration was accomplished by dividing four stratified data sets into two random validation and calibration data sets using five times resampling. The accuracy results were poor; the best having an accuracy of only .3332 within 40 percent of the time in calibrated mode. It was found that …

Calibration And Validation Of The Sage Software Cost/Schedule Estimating System To United States Air Force Databases, David B. Marzo

Theses and Dissertations

This research entailed calibration and validation of the SAGE Software Cost/Schedule Estimating System, Version 1.7 as a means to improve estimating accuracy for DoD software-intensive systems, and thereby introduce stability into software system development. SAGE calibration consisted of using historical data from completed projects at the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) and the Electronic Systems Center (ESC) to derive average performance factors (i.e., calibration factors) for pre-defined categories of projects. A project was categorized for calibration by either its primary application or by the contractor that developed it. The intent was to determine the more appropriate categorization for calibration. …

A Study Of Historical Inflation Forecasts Used In The Department Of Defense Future Years Defense Program, Mark S. Sweitzer

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores historical inflation forecasts used in the Department of Defense (DoD) Future Years Defense Program. The study examines historical DoD forecasts against experienced inflation as measured by the Gross National Product and Gross Domestic Product implicit price deflator (GNP/GDP IPD) from 1979 to 1996. This study also compares the accuracy of DoD forecasts with those made by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Data Resources, Incorporated (DRI). The results regarding the performance of historical DoD inflation forecasts are mixed. Upon examining budget through five year GNP/GDP IPD forecast spans, DoD short-term results do not indicate a downward bias …

Tracking Overhead Orta Costs In Technology Transfer Activities, Thomas S. Van Egeren

Theses and Dissertations

An ever shrinking Research and Development (R&D) budget, coupled with a widespread perception that the nation is not realizing an adequate return from its substantial investment in the federal laboratory system, has paved the way for an increase in the transfer of technology from the federal laboratories to the private sector. The objective of this research is to determine the indirect cost of performing technology transfer by identifying the resources consumed by several key Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA) organizations and the activities performed within these organizations. It was hypothesized that the ORTA organizations, which are considered indirect …

1997-1998 Operating Budget Request, Southern University System. Office Of Finance & Administration.

All Southern University System Budgets

The Operating Budget Request for the fiscal year 1997-1998. Southern University and A & M College Campus.

1997-1998 Operating Budget (Final Printing), Southern University System. Office Of Finance & Administration.

All Southern University System Budgets

The Southern University and A & M College Operating Budget for the Fiscal Year 1997-1998.

1997-1998 Operating Budget: Southern University Law Center, Southern University System. Office Of Finance & Administration.

All Southern University System Budgets

The 1997-1998 Fiscal Year Operating Budget for the Southern University Law Center Campus.

1997-1998 Operating Budget, Southern University System. Office Of Finance & Administration.

All Southern University System Budgets

The Southern University Shreveport-Bossier City, Operating Budget for Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1998. Southern University System.

1997-1998 Operating Budget, Southern University System. Office Of Finance & Administration.

All Southern University System Budgets

The Southern University Board and System Administration Operating Budget for the Fiscal Year 1997-1998.

Auditor Judgment Confidence: Direct Evidence For The Process View, Marshall A. Geiger, A.C. Lloyd Spurrell

Accounting Faculty Publications

Although there has been considerable research on audit judgment processes and structures, one area that has received little attention is auditor judgment confidence. Determining the nature of confidence attainment has direct implications for audit practice, particularly regarding the timing of evidence evaluation leading to final judgments. The present study extends the early work of Pincus (1991) and is the first to provide direct evidence in support of the process view of audit judgment confidence.

An Empirical Study Of Economies Of Scope In Home Healthcare, Theresa I. Gonzales

WCBT Faculty Publications

Objective: To apply the economic theory of economies of scope to the home healthcare industry. Data Sources: Data on 488 observations obtained from the Cost Report (HCFA Form 1728-86) of all Connecticut state-licensed, Medicare-certified home health agencies. Study Design: The Cost Report was the primary source of data for this study. Information on total cost, scope, and other related factors was collected. Logarithmic and nonlinear regression analyses were used to identify factors related to scope and also to test for economies of scope. Data Collection Method: Data collected were both cross-sectional and time series (from 1988-1992). Data accuracy was verified …

The Impact Of The Louisiana Lottery On Salaries In Education, Melissa Vicknair Melancon

Doctoral Dissertations

The study was undertaken to decide whether lottery revenues impacted teachers' salaries in Louisiana. Economic recession brought on by the collapse of the oil and gas industry, disgruntled taxpayers, and the lure of easy money prompted Louisiana legislators to pass a bill adopting a state lottery. Initially, all funds were earmarked for education. Subsequently, lottery revenues were deposited into the general fund. Yet many thought the lottery would be a significant source of money for education and teachers' salaries.

Logged annual salaries were used in models for university teachers and for elementary and secondary school teachers. Variables were incorporated to …

1996-1997 Operating Budget: Southern University Law Center, Southern University System. Office Of Finance & Administration.

All Southern University System Budgets

The 1996-1997 Operating Budget of the Southern University Law Center.

1996-1997 Operating Budget: Southern University At New Orleans, Southern University System. Office Of Finance & Administration.

All Southern University System Budgets

1996-1997 Operating Budget of the Southern University at New Orleans Campus.

A Company Specific Analysis Of The Capital Budgeting Process As It Pertains To A Zero Emissions Mandate On The American Automobile Industry, Brian M. Woodcock

Honors Theses

The rapid growth of the U.S. auto industry in the 20th century has led to a fast-paced society that emphasizes the importance of convenience and time-efficiency. Consequently, the cost of this society has been high levels of emissions, causing pollution to the surrounding environment. General Motors' attempt at a solution to the problem is their introduction of the first electric vehicle known as the EV1. The EV1 has the potential to meet society's transportation demands and to create a more pollution-free environment. However, in a free market economy, the price tag for a solution such as GM's may currently be …

The Incremental Information Content Of The Cash And Cash Equivalents Definition Of Funds, Hugh Samuel Riner Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to attempt to determine the incremental information content of the cash and cash equivalents definition of funds. The cash and cash equivalents definition of funds is the mandated definition of funds for use in the preparation of a statement of cash flows. Prior to 1988, firms were able to use alternative definitions of funds; working capital was the most widely-used alternative definition.

In order to determine whether the cash and cash equivalents definition of funds has incremental information content, event analysis methodology was utilized to compare the market reaction to the release of financial …

The Pricing Behaviors Of Stock Index Futures: Some Preliminary Evidence In The Korean Market, Jaehoon Min

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This research examines the pricing behaviors of futures contract in the Korean market in its early inception period. This research is mainly organized into three parts. The first chapter investigates the mispricing of futures contract relative to its theoretical value. Consistent with earlier studies regarding futures markets in other countries, futures have been persistently underpriced in the Korean market. Even after accounting for 10 minute execution lag in the arbitrage trading, arbitrage opportunities have been largely unexploited. Market inertia caused by institutional investors' unfamiliarity is presumed to be largely responsible for underpricing of futures. Unfavorable spot market condition also hinders …

Determinants Of Currency Composition Of External Reserves In Nigeria: An Empirical Investigation, Newman C. Oputa

Economic and Financial Review

This paper discusses the determinants of the currency composition of external reserves in Nigeria. The empirical analysis reveals that the main factors influencing the currency composition of external reserves in Nigeria are international trade transactions and currency composition of external debt, while reserve adequacy aided the diversification into more currencies. Exchange and interest rates were relatively significant in the share of each currency in the reserve basket. A review of CBN's external reserves policy confirmed that vigorous diversification was embarked upon when there was remarkable increase in the level of the reserve. However, current CBN reserve management policy shows a …

Measuring External Shocks To The City Economy: An Index Of Export Prices And Terms Of Trade, Anthony Pennington-Cross

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

This paper details the construction of an index of export goods prices (the Export Price Index or EPI) for a panel of 196 metropolitan areas from 1977 to 1992. The EPI is an indicator of external demand shocks to the city economy which does not suffer from the causal ambiguity of the endogenous indicators such as income, employment or output. The creation of an index of aggregate export prices, the EPI, for the panel of areas provides both academicians and policy analysts with a new exogenous indicator that identifies demand price innovations and the terms of trade shocks …

A Variance Decomposition Analysis Of The Information In The Term Structure, Louis H. Ederington, Jeremy C. Goh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Based on a market efficiency assumption, we use variance decomposition analysis is to separate information in the term structure on expected future spot rates from information on time-varying term premia and to examine the market's ability to forecast both future rate changes and excess returns on long versus short securities. We find that fluctuations in the slope of the yield curve are due more to changing term premia than to fluctuations in expected future spot rates and that the market correctly predicts about 40 percent of the month-to-month changes in spot rates, a considerably higher percentage than that found by …

Raising Capital Overseas, John D. Gould, John P. Mcallister, Larry L. Orsini

Faculty and Research Publications

The article states that more and more companies are trying to raise capital by listing their securities for sale on foreign exchanges.More and more companies are trying to raise capital by listing their securities for sale on foreign exchanges. However, the way financial statements are prepared varies from one country to the next. U.S. companies looking to raise capital abroad must consider the myriad rules regarding financial statement presentation just as foreign companies listing stock in the United States must adhere to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Similarly, the costs of reconciling U.S. accounting standards …