Finance and Financial Management Commons^™

Essays On Product Market Dynamics And Corporate Cash Holdings Across Countries, Trang Thuy Thai

Finance and Real Estate Dissertations - Archive

My dissertation is composed of two essays that investigate two related yet distinct dynamics of product market and their influence on corporate cash holdings, and both are concerned with these dynamics being determinants of cash policy for international samples over the period of 1999-2015. The samples for the first and second essays respectively cover fourteen and ten countries that span not only developed countries but also emerging economies. The first essay focuses on the impact of product market competition risk on corporate cash level. I construct a composite score of competition that captures three horizontal dimensions of product pricing competition …

Cognitive Biases, Style Investing, And Stock Return Predictability, Samar Mohamed M. Ashour

Finance and Real Estate Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation consists of three distinct essays. In the first essay, “Does Credit risk explain market’s participants ‘cognitive biases - Evidence from Anchoring Bias in Analysts’ Earnings Forecasts”, using anchoring bias in analysts’ earnings forecasts, I examine the relation between credit risk and market participants’ cognitive biases. Recent findings indicate that analysts suffer from anchoring bias as they anchor their earnings per share (EPS) forecasts on the industry median without making sufficient adjustment. I show that the profitability of anchoring bias based trading strategies concentrates in the worst-rated stocks, especially around credit rating downgrades, suggesting that analysts exhibit stronger cognitive …

Three Essays On Leverage, Informative Trading, And Option Implied Information, Adam C. Harper

Finance and Real Estate Dissertations - Archive

This study will take a three-prong approach to examine the role high-leveraged option trades have in determining the informational content of options market trading. First, I closely observe the structure of the volatility spread ahead of firm-level corporate earnings events to strengthen the well documented lead-lag relationship between the option and stock markets. I find that volatility spreads driven by deep, out-of-the-money options exceed the predictability of equivalent volatility spreads that are more uniform in distribution. I then explore the differential behavioral responses of leveraged trades and earnings, such the role of the disposition effect and overconfidence. I find that …

Microloans, Macro Impact, Kelly M. Frank

Senior Honors Projects

Nearly half of today’s population is living in poverty, meaning that they are living on less than $2.50 a day. The lack of capital creates a vicious cycle for those in poverty. The less fortunate do not have sufficient access to education, healthcare, proper nutrition and loans. This forces those living in poverty to focus on getting by one day at a time instead of looking to the future. Those with a lack of sufficient income can’t get access to loans because of the risk associated with lending to subprime borrowers.

However, microfinance loans change this. They are unique because …

Determinants Of Profitability: Empirical Evidence From The Largest Global Banks, Anthony Iacobelli

Financial Analyst

This paper examines the factors determining the profitability of the top sixteen global banks according to market capitalization. Using panel data spanning the period 1980 to 2015, this study estimates several specifications to examine the impact of bank-level and country-level variables on profitability. Fixed effects and GMM results show that bank characteristics, industry structure and macroeconomics variables are important in explaining global banks’ profitability. Bank capital and productivity increase a bank’s profitability whereas credit risk and operating efficiency reduce it. With respect to the macroeconomic indicators, higher economic growth and inflation spur banks’ profitability. The study also provides evidence on …

Do Corporate Managers Time Stock Repurchases Effectively?, Michael Lorka

Financial Analyst

This study examines the performance of share repurchases completed by corporate managers, and compares the implied performance of the purchases to a mythical alternative investment in the S&P 500 index, and the company’s industry sector. The “repurchase” portfolio benefits from managers’ significant information advantage over all other market participants. The data was collected from Compustat, and return, risk and risk adjusted metrics were calculated to provide a comparison of the two portfolios. Overall, the portfolio of repurchasing companies experienced lower returns than the broad index and respective industry sector, but the volatility for repurchasers was lower as well.

Active Vs. Passive Management: The Elusiveness Of Alpha To The Modern Hedge Fund, Robert Wesley Long Jr

Senior Theses

The goal of this thesis stated off with one question: are hedge funds worth the fees? This seemed like it would simple to answer, but the measurement of hedge fund performance turned out to be far more complex than one would imagine. The first complexity that became apparent was the bias to overly weight returns as a measure of performance. This is the simplest metric to comprehend and universally can be understood by investors. It seems like common sense that the fund with the highest return would be the best investment opportunity. But this rush to judgment often overlooks other …

The Value Of Trading Relations In Turbulent Times, Marco Di Maggio, Amir Kermani, Zhaogang Song

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper investigates how dealers’ trading relations shape their trading behavior in the corporate bond market. Dealers charge lower spreads to dealers with whom they have the strongest ties and more so during periods of market turmoil. Systemically important dealers exploit their connections at the expense of peripheral dealers as well as clients, charging higher markups than to other core dealers. Also, intermediation chains lengthened by 20% following the collapse of a flagship dealer in 2008 and even more for institutions strongly connected to this dealer. Finally, dealers drastically reduced their inventory during the crisis.

The Value Of Trading Relations In Turbulent Times, Marco Di Maggio, Amir Kermani, Zhaogang Song

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper investigates how dealers’ trading relations shape their trading behavior in the corporate bond market. Dealers charge lower spreads to dealers with whom they have the strongest ties and more so during periods of market turmoil. Systemically important dealers exploit their connections at the expense of peripheral dealers as well as clients, charging higher markups than to other core dealers. Also, intermediation chains lengthened by 20% following the collapse of a flagship dealer in 2008 and even more for institutions strongly connected to this dealer. Finally, dealers drastically reduced their inventory during the crisis.

Variance Risk Premiums Of Commodity Etfs, Chyng Wen Tee, Christopher H. A. Ting

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We propose a model-independent method to account for the early exercise premiums in American options on non-dividend paying stocks. We find that our estimates of early exercise premium are generally larger than the estimates by existing methods. Given the American options on the Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) of gold, silver, natural gas, and crude oil, we find strong empirical evidence of variance risk premiums for these commodities, over a volatility term structure up to 18 months. Furthermore, we show that volatility indexes constructed by using existing methods tend to overestimate the risk-neutral variance, and consequently the magnitude of variance risk premium.

Mathematical Modeling Of Financial Derivative Pricing, Kelly L. Cosgrove

Honors Scholar Theses

The binomial asset-pricing model is used to price financial derivative securities. This text will begin by going over the probability concepts necessary to understand this discrete-time model. It then develops the theory behind the binomial model and different properties that arise. It shows how to use the binomial model to predict future stock prices, and then uses this information to price derivative securities. It initially focuses on the European call option, but goes on to provide a pricing method for the American put option. However, many of the theorems developed are applicable to all derivative securities. The text wraps up …

A Changing Industry: An Analysis Of The Effects Of Direct-To-Consumer Advertising On The Insurance Industry, James Bonvicini

Honors Scholar Theses

Direct-to-consumer selling is a shift in the strategies of many companies. As technology continues to play a prominent role in business, companies need to adapt to accommodate, and take advantage of, new opportunities that become available. Many insurance companies are now focusing on improving their direct-to-consumer selling efforts and attracting consumers with new online selling platforms. This thesis looks at the changes inside and outside of the industry that led to this direct method of selling and the impact that this has on the intermediaries in the industry, with a focus on property and casualty businesses. Additionally, this thesis takes …

An Examination Of The Short Term Reversal Premium, Timothy Burgess

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The intent of this study is to explore short-term reversal effects in public securities markets.

The basis of this study is to take into consideration prior work done by economists, paying particularly attention to periods specifically before and after the decimalization of the stock market in 2001. This study finds that from years 1980-2000, there is a monthly return premium of -0.0552% or 5.5 basis points, which is quite significant with a t-statistic of 11.08. Following decimalization in 2001 through year 2012, this monthly return premium drops 44% to -0.031% or 3.1 basis points, again with a high t-statistic of …

The Business Of Dentistry: A Financial Plan, Katherine Elizabeth Stewart

Senior Theses

At the University of South Carolina, I have taken action to find different ways to be more involved in my local community and to help families and people from underrepresented societies. While it is important to have this overarching goal, I have always wondered how I will be able to finance my goal so that I can have the money, supplies, and human capital to give back to communities in need. Through my thesis I have been able to create a business plan for a future dental practice in the Charlotte, NC metropolitan region. This business plan includes a financial …

Public Fund Strategic Asset Allocation To Hedge Funds: A Time Series Analysis, Morgan Steadwell

Honors College Theses

Public funds represent some of the U.S.’ largest institutional investors. These funds are a pool of money saved for retirement by those who are still working. Boards of Directors of these funds have strict standards for their investments, as the money they are investing is not their own; rather, it comes from the thousands of workers that pay into the funds. Alternative investments such as private equity, private debt, real assets, real estate, and hedge funds are historically more risky than traditional public equities or fixed income investments. Recently, public funds’ investments in hedge funds have been called into question …

A Different Perspective On The Debate Between Nonprofit And For-Profit Microfinance Organizations, Hane E. De Oliveira Crevelari

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Microfinance for-profit organizations flooded the market in the early 2000's when microcredit demonstrated profitability. Ever since, an intense debate arose contesting the morality of profiting from the poor. Many for-profit microfinance institutions were accused of predatory lending through high interest rates and aggressive marketing and payment collection. In this paper, I examine the validity of the arguments for and against for-profits by extensively comparing the different target audiences of the charity sector and the private sector and the main arguments of each side. I conclude that, although the ability to serve the poor is compromised by profit motives, for-profit microfinance …

How To Have A Successful Retirement, Trevor Benson

The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

What is retirement? Retirement is the years that an individual is able to enjoy after spending a majority of their life devoted to their career. A successful retirement is not a birthright; it is something that an individual must earn through hard work and proper planning. This paper identifies ten important commandments that are both necessary and helpful in achieving a successful retirement.

Financial Management Issues Of College-Aged Students: Influences And Consequences, Katharine N. Widener

Selected Honors Theses

College students have acquired a reputation of irresponsibility and impulsivity, which has contributed to the perception that they are poor managers of money. This researcher sought to establish a clearer picture of the full story behind how college students handle their finances through a comprehensive literature review. Several searches were conducted on the topics of college students, finances, money management, debt levels, and other related terms. Scholarly articles were analyzed for common themes and research patterns, and the various strings of research identified were categorized into three main headings: Financial situation, financial influences, and financial consequences. The three major headings …

Gaap And Ifrs: The Convergence Phenomenon, Paul R. Walter

Selected Honors Theses

The past few decades have birthed dialogue regarding the convergence of U.S. and international accounting standards. With over a hundred countries using International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), it becomes natural to notice the purple elephant in the room in that a set of different principles serve as guide to accounting in the U.S. and for U.S. companies known as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Some see it as simply a matter of time before a convergence of sorts takes place more completely between the two accounting rule frameworks. A look at GAAP and IFRS reveals some fundamental differences produced by …

Comprehensive Overview Of Exchange Traded Funds, Their Place In Portfolio Construction, And A Short Term “Scale In” Investment Strategy, Samuel Lewis Bonnie

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.