Finance and Financial Management Commons^™

On Collecting Social Security Benefits After Age 66, Charles J. Higgins

Finance Faculty Works

For those with expectations of a normal longevity, electing to collect Social Security benefits at or after age 66 is currently recognized as appropriate. However, the question of postponing starting payments after the age of 66 is more problematic. This article will show that discounting the various payment elections becomes moot after a 6 percent discount rate.

Even The Best Investors Can't Time The Market, Steven D. Dolvin

All Chapters

Warren Buffett is considered to be one of the greatest investors ever; however, even he is not perfect. In fact, his company (Berkshire Hathaway) is named after one of his failed investments. More recently, his timing on the purchase of GM stock has not worked so well. Fortunately, his holding period is generally very long, thus it could turn out to be a favorable investment over the long-term. See article here, Bloomberg.

A Study Of Risk-Taking Behavior In Investment Banking, Elzotbek Rustambekov

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This dissertation examines corporate risk-taking behavior by investment banks in the United States. This study was sparked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, one of the largest bankruptcy filings in U.S. history. This dissertation examines the specific factors that drove investment banks such as Lehman Brothers to take excessive risks, and how the deregulation of the US financial services industry towards the end of the 1990s contributed to risk-taking behavior.

I use four theoretical perspectives to examine corporate risk-taking behavior among investment banks. These perspectives include: institutional theory, behavioral theory of the firm, knowledge based view (KBV) of the firm, …

Three Essays On Cross-Listings From Emerging Markets, Omar Alejandro Esqueda

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

During the last two decades, the number of cross-listed firms has been rising steadily. Recently, exchange-traded cross-listings from emerging markets have outnumbered those from developed countries. Chapter I shows an introduction to cross-listings. Chapter II analyzes the implications of ownership structure on the cross-listing premium of emerging-market firms that cross-list on U.S exchanges. Insider ownership is an important determinant of the value of cross-listed firms. The spike and fall in excess-value around the cross-listing year described in the extant cross-listing literature is substantially higher if the firm has insider ownership. In fact, investors are worse-off in the long-run when they …

Gender, Behavioral Finance And The Investment Decision, Bimal Jaiswal, Naela Kamil

Business Review

As per classical economic theory, humans are completely rational decision makers who carefully evaluate all facts and evidences before taking decisions that aim at maximizing outcomes. However it has been found that in real life humans are not totally rational, rather they are influenced by various behavioural factors while making decisions. Behavioural Finance has thus emerged as an emerging field that studies the influence of psychology on financial decisions. However, it still remains to be investigated whether the impact of behavioural factors is homogenous on all individuals or whether the demographic and psychographic characteristics of the individuals in any way …

Essays On Foreign Reverse Mergers And Bond Etf Mispricing, Charles William Duval

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This dissertation examines two topics that have attracted significant attention in the financial media, but have received little academic study.

The first essay examines the characteristics and performance of foreign firms that acquire U.S. exchange listings through a reverse merger (RM). Specifically, this study focuses on Chinese companies which have accounted for over 40% of all RMs taking place on U.S. exchanges. Examination of these firms' characteristics and daily returns from 2004-2010 reveals Chinese firms that engage in RMs are private firms not listed in China, motivated by the ability to offer equity-based compensation (which has been illegal in China), …

Two Essays On Executive Pay And Firm Performance, Thuong Quang Nguyen

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Two essays of this dissertation study the relationship between executive compensation and firm performance. These essays analyze both compensation level and compensation structure, and focus not only on CEO compensation but also on Top Management Team (TMT) compensation as well as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) compensation. Methodologically, these essays use different regression techniques to explore the nature of time series over cross sections of executive compensation data in order to find a reliable relationship between executive compensation and firm performance.

The first essay investigates the TMT compensation - firm performance relationship and finds that the compensation dispersion among TMT members …

Streaks In Earnings Surprises And The Cross-Section Of Stock Returns, Roger Loh, Mitch Warachka

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The gambler's fallacy (Rabin, 2002) predicts that trends bias investor expectations. Consistent with this prediction, we find that investors underreact to streaks of consecutive earnings surprises with the same sign. When the most recent earnings surprise extends a streak, post-earnings announcement drift is strong and significant. In contrast, the drift is negligible following thetermination of a streak. Indeed, streaks explain about half of the post-earnings announcement drift in our sample. Our results are robust to more general definitions of trends than streaks and a battery of control variables including the magnitude ofearnings surprises and their autocorrelation. Overall, post-earnings announcement drift …

Executive Compensation And Horizon Incentives: An Empirical Investigation Of Corporate Cash Payout, Sheng Huang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The recent financial crisis has renewed the interest in executives’ compensation-related horizon incentives. This paper examines how the short-termism in CEO compensation affects corporate cash payout through share repurchases using a new measure of compensation horizon incentive. In contrast to the conventional wisdom that firms buy back shares after poor stock performance, we find that CEOs with short compensation horizons are more likely to buy back shares after good performance. To bolster already high stock price, they have incentives to repurchase to boost up reported EPS towards analysts’ expectations, and to cater to investors with short investment horizons. This short-termism …

Mutual Fund Industry Selection And Persistence, Jeffrey A. Busse, Qing Tong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We analyze mutual fund industry selectivity — the performance of a fund’s industry allocation relative to the market. We find that industry selection accounts for a full third of fund performance based on two-digit SIC codes, with the remaining attributable to the performance of individual stocks relative to their own industries. We find that industry-selection skill drives persistence in relative performance, particularly over longer investment horizons. Unlike individual-stock-selection ability, industry selectivity is not eroded by increasing fund assets. Our results suggest that accounting for a manager’s ability to pick outperforming industries provides information beyond standard performance measures that can enhance …

2011-2012 Operating Budget: Southern University And A & M College, Southern University System. Office Of Finance & Administration.

All Southern University System Budgets

The 2011-2012 Fiscal Year Operating Budget of the Southern University and A & M College Campus.

2011-2012 Revised Operating Budget: Southern University At New Orleans, Southern University System. Office Of Finance & Administration.

All Southern University System Budgets

2011-2012 Revised Operating Budget of the Southern University at New Orleans campus. This and the accompanying forms, statements and explanations comprising of 51 sheets numbered from 1 to 51, each of which has been approved by me, constitute the Operating Budget for the Fiscal Year 2011-2012.

2011-2012 Revised Operating Budget: Southern University And A & M College, Southern University System. Office Of Finance & Administration.

All Southern University System Budgets

The 2011-2012 Revised Operating Budget of the Southern University and A & M College Campus.

Municipal Bond Risk, Steven D. Dolvin

All Chapters

While municipals generally carry lower yields due to their tax benefits, beware that they are more risky than comparable Treasury securities. Municipals can default since, unlike the federal government, they do not have the ability to print money. The most recent (and largest ever) city to declare bankruptcy is Stockton, CA. See the article here, Fox News.

Actively Managed Etfs, Steven D. Dolvin

All Chapters

ETFs were originally designed as alternatives to index funds, but ones that could be actively traded like stocks -- meaning continuous trading and the ability to short and margin. As ETFs have developed, however, they are now moving into active (as opposed) to passive management. This may increase costs, but it provides another avenue for potential investors. See the article here, Index Universe.

Mutual Fund Oversight, Steven D. Dolvin

All Chapters

Like corporations, mutual funds have board of directors. However, they often exhibit much less oversight and control. Thus, there is debate whether they actually provide any value or simply serve as figureheads. See article here, Smart Money.

Reputational Capital, Steven D. Dolvin

All Chapters

Ratings agencies are supposed to provide an independent view on a firm's (or country's) financial outlook. However, their involvement in the subprime crisis (i.e., their AAA rating on defunct MBS securities) revealed that the rating agencies are often more reactive than proactive. Thus, they seem to have lost much of their respect and influence. See article here, Breakout.

Step On The Gas, Steven D. Dolvin

All Chapters

With the economy hitting a "speed bump," market participants increasingly believe the Fed will "step on the gas" to get it going again. Similar thoughts seem to exist in regards to potential action by the Chinese central bank. As a result, markets around the world were up. See the articles here (xinhuanet) and

It Pays To Be Young, Steven D. Dolvin

All Chapters

The model is changing, as wealth management firms may need to increasingly hire younger advisors.

Is Diversification Dead?, Steven D. Dolvin

All Chapters

Diversification (primarily based on asset correlation) is a key component of Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT). However, the recent financial crisis illustrated an increase in correlation across asset categories. Thus, many debate whether diversification still helps. Even with increasing correlations, diversification still provides benefit (possibly just not as much). However, the more relevant issue is that increasing correlation across the typical asset categories suggests that diversification is now more critical across "non-typical" categories -- such as commodities, hedge funds, and private equity funds. .