Philanthropy Under The Microscope: A Cost-Benefit Analysis Of Small Nonprofits Conducting Financial Statement Audits,
2017
Liberty University
Philanthropy Under The Microscope: A Cost-Benefit Analysis Of Small Nonprofits Conducting Financial Statement Audits, Sarah Samaniego
Senior Honors Theses
External audits are conducted by Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) and ensure the reliability of financial reporting and internal controls of a given organization. Publicly traded corporations are required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to conduct a yearly external audit. In addition, some large or government funded not-for-profits must produce audited financial statements upon request. If an organization is not required to conduct an audit, it may still choose to undergo an independent audit. Among those that may voluntarily conduct an audit are small nonprofit organizations. Due to the unique characteristics of small nonprofits, some elements of an external …
Leviathan Inc. And Corporate Environmental Engagement,
2017
National Tsinghua University
Leviathan Inc. And Corporate Environmental Engagement, Po-Hsuan Hsu, Hao Liang, Pedro Matos
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
In a special report in 2010, The Economist called the resurgence of state-owned mega-enterprises, especially those in emerging economies, “Leviathan Inc.”, and warned about the dangers of the state capitalism model. Traditionally, state-owned firms have been criticized for poor governance and questionable efficiency. In fact, they may be better positioned to deal with market failures and externalities. Our findings based on publicly-listed firms in 45 countries suggest that government-controlled companies engage more in environmental issues, and this engagement does not come at a cost to shareholder value. The effect is more pronounced among firms in emerging market economies and in …
Short Selling And Economic Policy Uncertainty,
2017
Singapore Management University
Short Selling And Economic Policy Uncertainty, Xiaping Cao, Yuchen Wang, Sili Zhou
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
We study the trading behavior of short sellers in the presence of economic policy uncertainty (EPU). Daily short selling activity at either the aggregate level or the individual stock level is increasing in the EPU index (Baker, Bloom and Davis, 2016). EPU has great explanatory power for short trading. Cross-sectional tests show that the increase in short interest under high political uncertainty is from shorting stocks characterized by higher mispricing, greater policy sensitivity, higher illiquidity, greater volatility or analyst dispersion. Short sellers earn abnormal profits by trading on public information related to EPU.
Ethnic Social Network In Public Housing Market In Singapore,
2017
Georgetown University
Ethnic Social Network In Public Housing Market In Singapore, Sumit Agarwal, Hyunsoo Choi, Jia He, Tien Foo Sing
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
This paper investigates the ethnic social network in Singapore's resale public housing market using a unique dataset containing the Cash-Over-Valuation (COV) information for a sample of 73,107 resale public housing transactions from 2007 to 2012. We find that the COV per square meter (psm), which represents a premium above the "objective" housing value, significantly increases with the concentration of buyers' own ethnic group at a housing block level. The results imply that buyers value housing blocks with higher concentration of the same ethnicity group of households. However, the convexity in COV premium suggests that the premium is too large to …
Mutual Fund Trading Costs And Diseconomies Of Scale,
2017
Emory University
Mutual Fund Trading Costs And Diseconomies Of Scale, Jeffrey Busse, Tarun Chordia, Lei Jiang, Yuehua Tang
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
Larger mutual funds underperform smaller funds even though they have lower percentage transaction costs. Larger funds hold and trade a larger fraction of bigger, more liquid stocks, which leads to lower percentage transaction costs than smaller funds. Smaller funds outperform larger funds primarily when small cap stocks outperform large cap stocks. Overall, we find that it is not trading costs but fund holding characteristics, especially the market capitalization of stock holdings, that drive diseconomies of scale in the mutual fund industry.
Upper Bounds On Return Predictability,
2017
Singapore Management University
Upper Bounds On Return Predictability, Dashan Huang, Guofu Zhou
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
Can the degree of predictability found in data be explained by existing asset pricing models? We provide two theoretical upper bounds on the R2 of predictive regressions. Using data on the market portfolio and component portfolios, we find that the empirical R2 are significantly greater than the theoretical upper bounds. Our results suggest that the most promising direction for future research should aim to identify new state variables that are highly correlated with stock returns instead of seeking more elaborate stochastic discount factors.
Does Wage-Inflation Targeting Complement Foreign Exchange Intervention? An Evaluation Of A Multi-Target, Two-Instrument Monetary Policy Framework,
2017
Singapore Management University
Does Wage-Inflation Targeting Complement Foreign Exchange Intervention? An Evaluation Of A Multi-Target, Two-Instrument Monetary Policy Framework, Taojun Xie, Jingting Liu, Joseph D. Alba, Wai-Mun Chia
Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business
We assess the inclusion of wage inflation as an intermediate target of an emerging central bank using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with sticky wages and prices calibrated for the South Korean economy. The model includes wage inflation as an additional target jointly with domestic price inflation and the output gap in a Taylor- type interest rate rule operating with a sterilized foreign exchange (FX) intervention rule. Our results show a complementary relationship between wage inflation targeting and price inflation targeting. That is, by supplementing price inflation targeting with wage inflation targeting, welfare improves for cases with and without …
Utah County Housing Trends From 2000-2016: A Quantitative Research Analysis,
2017
Brigham Young University - Provo
Utah County Housing Trends From 2000-2016: A Quantitative Research Analysis, James C. Brau, Jeremy R. Endicott, Barrett A. Slade, David N. Wilson
Faculty Publications
We examine the Utah County housing market using a sample of over 70,000 single-family residential transactions from 2000 through 2016. To measure the strength of the Utah County residential market, we examine selling price, transaction volume, and number of days the house is on the market. We compare housing prices using two models: a naïve model that calculates the average transaction price over a period, and a hedonic pricing model that gives a detailed, holistic view of how homes are priced. The latter incorporates characteristics of homes not priced in the naïve model. Characteristics include total square feet above and …
The Equity-Financing Channel, The Catering Channel, And Corporate Investment: International Evidence,
2017
Singapore Management University
The Equity-Financing Channel, The Catering Channel, And Corporate Investment: International Evidence, Yuanto Kusnadi, K.C. John Wei
Research Collection School Of Accountancy
We examine how stock market mispricing affectscorporate investment in an international setting. We find that investment ismore sensitive to stock prices for equity-dependent firms than for non-equity-dependentfirms in our international sample. Investment is also more sensitive to stockprices for firms located in countries with more developed capital markets (i.e.,lower costs of raising capital), higher share turnover (i.e., shortershareholder horizons), and higher R&D intensity (i.e., more opaque assets). More importantly, the positive relation between equitydependence and the sensitivity of investment to stock prices is more pronouncedfor firms located in these same countries. These findings are consistent withthe equity-financing hypothesis and the …
A Note On K-Price Auctions With Complete Information When Mixed Strategies Are Allowed,
2017
Kennesaw State University
A Note On K-Price Auctions With Complete Information When Mixed Strategies Are Allowed, Timothy Mathews, Jesse A. Schwartz
Faculty Articles
Restricting attention to players who use pure strategies, Tauman (2002) proves that in a k-price auction (k> 3) for every Nash equilibrium in which no player uses a weakly dominated strategy: (i) the bidder with the highest value wins the auction and (ii) pays a price higher than the second-highest value among the players, thereby generating more revenue for the seller than would occur in a first- or second-price auction. We show that these results do not necessarily hold when mixed strategies are allowed. In particular, we construct an equilibrium for k > 4 in which the second-highest valued …
The Subprime Mortgage Collapse And Its Effects On The Economy,
2017
Liberty University
The Subprime Mortgage Collapse And Its Effects On The Economy, Joseph Krmpotich
Senior Honors Theses
The subprime mortgage crisis occurred due to a number of factors. Included in these factors were the issuance of subprime loans, the securitization of mortgages in the investment banking system, and the deregulation and ultimate failure of the shadow banking system. These causes were evident in both historical trends in the stock market as well as the macroeconomic data leading into the crash. They were perpetuated by investors, mortgage brokers, and banks taking on an abnormal amount of risk in the early 2000s for both psychological and behavioral reasons. These causes, while less than obvious at the time, have, with …
Taxation Of Income On Professional Team Athletes,
2017
Liberty University
Taxation Of Income On Professional Team Athletes, Crystal M. Williamson
Senior Honors Theses
Taxation of income for the average person can be a daunting task. However, for professional athletes, this task becomes even more tedious. Professional athletes face the jock tax. This means that athletes have to pay taxes in every state in which they play a game, practice, and perform a service that is part of their contract. Professional athletes, like every United States (U.S.) citizen, are required to pay both federal and state income taxes. Since professional athletes are constantly traveling, their state of residence becomes even more important when allocating their income to the respective state. Many question the constitutionality …
Asset Owner Governance And Fiduciary Effectiveness: The Case Of Public Pension Plans,
2017
Marquette University
Asset Owner Governance And Fiduciary Effectiveness: The Case Of Public Pension Plans, Christopher Kinne Merker
Dissertations (1934 -)
Purpose: The U.S. and many developed countries are currently facing a retirement savings crisis. The governance of institutional funds, such as public pension plans, is coming under greater scrutiny in light of systematic chronic underfunding, declining investment returns and shifts into higher risk asset classes. A disconnect exists between an organization’s process under the standards, and the outcome of this process, the overall effectiveness of the organization and, in particular, its investment performance and funding status. Methodology: In 2012, there were approximately 6,300 public retirement systems in the United States with over $3 trillion in assets. We collected financial, governance …
Modeling In Finance And Insurance With Levy-It'o Driven Dynamic Processes Under Semi Markov-Type Switching Regimes And Time Domains,
2017
University of South Florida
Modeling In Finance And Insurance With Levy-It'o Driven Dynamic Processes Under Semi Markov-Type Switching Regimes And Time Domains, Patrick Armand Assonken Tonfack
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Mathematical and statistical modeling have been at the forefront of many significant advances in many disciplines in both the academic and industry sectors. From behavioral sciences to hard core quantum mechanics in physics, mathematical modeling has made a compelling argument for its usefulness and its necessity in advancing the current state of knowledge in the 21rst century. In Finance and Insurance in particular, stochastic modeling has proven to be an effective approach in accomplishing a vast array of tasks: risk management, leveraging of investments, prediction, hedging, pricing, insurance, and so on. However, the magnitude of the damage incurred in recent …
Essays On The Tax Policy And Insider Trading,
2017
University of South Florida
Essays On The Tax Policy And Insider Trading, Han Shi
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
In the first essay I examine the relation between firm advertising and tax aggressiveness. Advertising increases firm visibility in both the product and the financial market. While investors would appreciate more tax savings, they are aware of the negative impact of tax aggressiveness on consumers’ views of the firm and hence its competitive positions in the product market. We find that firms that spend more on advertising have fewer tax sheltering activities, lower book-tax differences, and higher cash effective tax rates. Specifically, an increase of 1% on Advertisingi,t (ADVGPi,t), the firm pays an additional tax of $0.70 …
The Impact Of Government Loan Expansion On Post-Graduation Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study,
2017
Brigham Young University
The Impact Of Government Loan Expansion On Post-Graduation Outcomes: A Longitudinal Study, Mark Johnson, Taylor Nadauld
Journal of Undergraduate Research
The availability of higher education is linked to more affluent and prosperous societies. In the United States, policy makers have attempted to make post-secondary education readily available through grants and loans. In the past two decades student loans have exploded to become the second largest segment of consumer debt nationally. The effect that higher loan balances has on students has not been examined extensively. We perform a statistical analysis to demonstrate that when the government increases the supply for federal loans, students take on more credit to pay off more expensive forms of credit. All other effects of loans on …
A Cost Benefit Analysis Of Emerging Led Water Purification Systems In Expeditionary Environments,
2017
Air Force Institute of Technology
A Cost Benefit Analysis Of Emerging Led Water Purification Systems In Expeditionary Environments, Alicia D. Binggeli
Theses and Dissertations
The Air Force is a rapid mobile force responsible for national defense and reaction to calls for humanitarian aid across the globe. Rapid Global Mobility is a major tenant of the Air Force strategy. It provides the nation its global reach, underpins its role as a global power, and ensures that tomorrow, just as today, the United States can respond quickly and decisively to unexpected challenges to its interests. The ability to produce or acquire potable water is an essential piece of this tenant. Reverse Osmosis Water Purifications Units (ROWPUs), the workhorse for all military units, provide all the necessary …
Using Multiple And Logistic Regression To Estimate The Median Will-Cost And Probability Of Cost And Schedule Overrun For Program Managers,
2017
Air Force Institute of Technology
Using Multiple And Logistic Regression To Estimate The Median Will-Cost And Probability Of Cost And Schedule Overrun For Program Managers, Ryan C. Trudelle
Theses and Dissertations
The main concern of a program manager is to manage the cost, schedule, and performance triad of a program. Historically, programs tend to meet the performance aspect at the expense of cost or schedule, or both. This research gives the acquisition community a set of tools that enables them to impartially analyze the cost and schedule of their programs, helping to mitigate these issues. Five regression models encompass this toolset; one to estimate the median program cost and four to identify the probability of realizing a given overrun. The cost model explains 81% of the variation in program acquisition using …
Engineering Change Orders And Their Impact On Dod Acquisition Contracts,
2017
Air Force Institute of Technology
Engineering Change Orders And Their Impact On Dod Acquisition Contracts, Ian S. Cordell
Theses and Dissertations
Cost growth is a problem DoD wide. Cost Estimators attempt to remedy this problem by accounting for uncertainty in the estimates they complete. They use tools such as Engineering Change Orders (ECO’s) to account for the uncertainty, by applying a percentage to the final amount estimated. The following research gives the acquisition community a more precise tool to predict whether a DoD Acquisition Contract will have an Engineering Change Order, which can then be used also during programmatic cost estimating, and also a method for predicting the proper amount of ECO to apply when certain variables are present. The study …
A Longitudinal Study And Color Rating System Of Acquisition Cost Growth,
2017
Air Force Institute of Technology
A Longitudinal Study And Color Rating System Of Acquisition Cost Growth, Cory N. D'Amico
Theses and Dissertations
different angles have been looked at to try and discover how to better estimate cost, what causes cost growth, and how to mitigate it. This research addresses this through examining cost growth from a longitudinal perspective, evaluating cost growth factors at major program reviews, and assessing the cost growth by applying color rating metrics. The results of this analysis show that breaking cost growth into longitudinal segments of a programs lifecycle allows the true behavior of cost growth to be seen, when it can often be masked in the traditional approach of evaluating lifecycle cost growth. Additionally, when applying the …
