Digital Commons Network^™

Stock Markets And Income Inequality: A Cross-Country Study, Elizabeth Mathew

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This paper conducts a comprehensive analysis to understand how stock market ratios affect net income inequality. The study of how finance impacts income distribution is relevant as the income distribution of a nation influences savings decisions, resource allocation, innovation incentives and public policy and hence impacts the process of economic development. Using a cross-sectional data set of 68 countries and panel data set of 61 countries from 1975 to 2005, I apply cross-sectional OLS and panel regressions to look at how stock market size, liquidity, and activity impact income inequality. While stock market size is found to strongly impact income …

Test For Infinite Variance In Stock Returns, Xian Ning Yan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The existence of second order moment or the finite variance is a commonly used assumption in financial time series analysis. We examine the validation of this condition for main stock index return series by applying the extreme value theory. We compare the performances of the adaptive Hill's estimator and the Smith's estimator for the tail index using Monte Carlo simulations for both i.i.d data and dependent data. The simulation results show that the Hill's estimator with adaptive data-based truncation number performs better in both cases. It has not only smaller bias but also smaller MSE when the true tail index …

Benchmarking The Board-Executive Director Relationship Of The Fayette Foundation, Jodie Butler Markey

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The Fayette Foundation is a young, nonprofit organization in Lexington. Although it has only been incorporated for four years, it has already raised over one million dollars to fulfill the organization’s mission. The executive director has been with the organization for two years and believes that a strong relationship with the board is important for the success of the organization. As a result, the executive director would like to find out how to maximize the effectiveness of the board-executive director relationship.

The research question asks what makes an effective board-executive director relationship, as well as which elements of the organization …

Cheating With Honor, Christian A. Pfeiffer

Business and Economics Honors Papers

The intent of this paper is to understand what leads a student to cheat within the context of a small (enrollment below 2,000 students) liberal arts college. The development of a model will examine cheating from three categories highlighted in the literature: demographics, college culture, and the perception of cheating. Demographics capture relevant personal attributes of a student such as gender, GPA, and major. Cultural variables include variables for the presence of an honor code and participation in a sport or social organization, which provide that student with a unique cultural experience. Perception variables deal with the perceptions the students …

Service Dimensions Of Service Quality Impacting Customer Satisfaction Of Fine Dining Restaurants In Singapore, Ko King Lily Harr

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This paper is an exploratory study of customer satisfaction of fine dining restaurants in Singapore. Since there is a causal relationship between customer satisfaction and service quality and services literature and studies have shown that service quality is an antecedent of customer satisfaction, this paper seeks to find out the service dimensions of service quality, which lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction. This study suggested that the service dimensions of assurance, empathy and tangibles are the most important to customers’ evaluation of service quality, and thus, may have a positive influence customer satisfaction. The service aspects of each of …

The Enhancement Of Operational Safety Of Engine Room Machinery Through Training On Cbt Type Of Engine Room Simulator On Board Ships, John F. Harvey Jr.

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Phenomenological Study Of Couples Who Pursue Infertility And The Impact On Their Lives, Mary Catherine Fontenot

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the lived experience of couples residing in Southeastern Louisiana who were diagnosed with infertility and underwent infertility treatments. The study was a phenomenological qualitative research design, with researcher-developed guiding questions to help direct interviews. The sample was purposeful and was drawn from the patient base of a local endocrinologist. The couples who participated were greater than 18 years of age and had discontinued treatment one year prior to implementation of the study. Two married couples participated in the study while only the women of the other three couples agreed to be …

Factors That Influence Traditional-Age College Students To Re-Enroll In Their Third Year At A Research Extensive University In The Southern Region Of The United States, Joseph M. Lutta

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Student retention is of policy significance to higher education systems. In the United States, student retention is a major problem in higher education affecting students, universities, and society. Most of the research on student retention has focused on first-year students. Little is known about the retention of college students after their first year. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the influence of selected demographic and academic characteristics on the decision of traditional-age, undergraduate students to re-enroll at a research-extensive university. The population was defined as all traditional-age undergraduate students who entered the selected university during the fall …

Textbook Bundling : Is It Really Worth The Sum Of Its Parts, Kati Simmons

Honors Theses

Studies have been conducted examining the impact of commodity bundling on company profits and the premium prices charged for these bundles. With recent news of the skyrocketing costs of higher education, it is critical to highlight the specific effects of commodity bundling on the prices of textbooks. A study performed by the Government Accountability Office in 2005 cited that a main cause of increasing textbook prices is the recent inclusion of textbook supplements such as software and workbooks. This paper investigates the impact that different types of supplements have on the overall price paid for the bundle. Aggregate sales data …

Employee Performance Assessment In Quality Assurance, Rahul Jain

Master's Projects

Employee performance often determines the progress of a company. Poor appraisals and improper assessment directly effects employee satisfaction and impair company results. Many managers rely primarily on behavioral impressions without appropriately including factual information of the actual work done. There is clear benefit from procedures that elicit and use both factual and subjective criteria for assessment. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a methodology that can be applied to complex decisions with multiple criteria [29]. AHP has the capability to combine both subjective and objective evaluation factors, thereby minimizing bias in decision making [29]. The methodology also allows subjective measures from …

Corporate Social Disclosures By Indonesian Listed Companies, Juniati Gunawan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The issue of corporate social disclosure (CSD) has been of growing concern among businesses and communities globally, including those in Indonesia. As one of the big developing countries which offers a large domestic market and workforce. lndonesia is exposed to this issue. This study examines the extent of CSD in Indonesian listed companies by applying the content analysis method to company annual reports for the years 2003 to 2006. Prior studies have focused on exploring the theoretical framework, seeking the motivation for disclosures and obtaining certain stakeholder's opinions regarding CSD. However, those studies were limited to developed countries and to …

The Impact Of Natural Disasters On Employee Turnover: The Shocks And After-Shocks Of Hurricane Katrina On It Professionals, James Davis

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Hurricane Katrina was the most destructive natural disaster in American history and created the need for organizations along the Gulf Coast to employ disaster management and recovery plans. With the ubiquitous nature of computers and technology, IT professionals were critical organizational assets in executing those plans in order to insure the safety and recovery of valuable information. The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the impact natural disasters have on IT professionals and their subsequent turnover decisions. The theoretical guide for this study was the Unfolding Model of Turnover (Lee and Mitchell 1994) that identifies …

The Hotel Guest Questionnaire: An Assessment Of Its Role As A Service Encounter Interface, Alfred W. Ogle

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This exploratory study on hotel stakeholder behaviour uses a 'service innovation' approach to investigate how the hotel guest questionnaire can function in a way not previously considered in the hospitality management literature. viz as a remote service encounter interface between the hotel management and guest. The paper-based guest questionnaire. also commonly known as comment card. is an old hotel tradition that is the most widely used method or guest feedback elicitation by hotels. Primarily a method of measuring guest satisfaction. studies show that its inherent limitations as a survey Instrument result in inaccurate and ungeneralisable data. The trend for e-based …

Dimensions Of Information Technology Governance: A Study Of Theory And Practice, Pui S. Ko

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The emergence of corporate governance is the response to recent high profile collapses of organisations such as Enron and WorldCom. Because of the ubiquitous nature of Information Technology (IT) and its influence on organisational activities, IT governance is increasingly seen as an integral part of corporate governance. However, existing literature shows the lack of a common understanding of IT governance due to various perspectives held amongst academics and practitioners. For example, schools of thought group IT governance according to structure with an emphasis on control and co-ordination or process with an emphasis on capability and continuity. The purpose of this …

Old Company Records: The Effect Of Custodial History On The Arrangement And Description Of Selected Archival Collections Of Business Records, Donna Leanne Holmes

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis takes up Terry Cook's idea that through their work, archivists are active shapers rather than passive keepers. In taking this idea further, this thesis discusses case studies comparing the custodial history of the records of four companies that were created in the seventeenth century. Consideration is given to how archival practitioners influenced the arrangement and description of the records of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), the English East India Company (EIC), the Royal African Company (RAC) and the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) during critical periods of their custodial history.

Exploring The Relationship Between Organisational Culture And Planning Processes In Selected Western Australian Sport Associations, Sooyoung Sul Tcha

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study explored the effects of organisational culture on the planning processes of three state sport associations in Western Australia. Using the competing values framework of organisational culture and Chapman' s planning model, this study aimed to explore three research questions: (i) What are the demographic and organisational cultural profiles of the selected sport organisations? In particular, do professionals and volunteers share similar or different perceptions of the organisational cultures?; (ii) Wh~t are the development planning processes for each sport association? How does each association perceive the development planning processes?, and; (iii) How does organisational culture influence planning processes? To …

Factors Affecting The Level Of Trust And Commitment In Tops Supermarket Supply Chain Management, Bangkok, Kamolchanok Saisomboon

Theses Digitization Project

This research's objective is to find out and analyze the factors that affect level of trust and commitment in supply chain management in Tops Supermarket, Bangkok.

Analysis Of The Benefits For Implementing An Employees Stock Option Plan (Esop), Ashraf Selim Mekhael

Theses Digitization Project

This project will show through literary analysis, and by presentation of tax laws and the governing ESOPs, how ESOPs can be used as both tax shelters and management tools. The paper illustrates how ESOPs can fund and shelter operating income, and how companies have used ESOPs to motivate employees to achieve higher performance and efficiency.

Upgrade Tracking System From Paper To Digital For Brazilian Parcel/Post Delivery Company, Sennex Express, Keith Walter Witzel

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project was to aid in the development of improved service of an existing small package and document delivery service in Belém, Brazil. This company, Sennex, makes its deliveries by bicycle and motorcycle due to extreme traffic congestion in the city. In order to keep a leading edge on the competition, this project after stating existing conditions, proposes using a barcode tracking system comparable to that used by American companies such as UPS and FedEx.

The Development Of A Framework For Enterprise Security Architecture And Its Application In Organizations, Yi-Ting Shen

Theses Digitization Project

The main purpose of this study is to develop an enterprise security framework that is based on a comprehensive following the Zachman EA architecture. The enterprise architecture (EA) is a long-term view or blueprint for an organization. It is a very important blueprint for balancing business and IT technology and for adding value to an organization. Security is also an essential dimension for enterprises nowadays. This paper will incorporate the security dimension with the Zachman EA framework, which intends to serve as an enterprise security framework in assisting an organization to successfully and effectively implement security.

Victoria's Secret Gets Into Chinese Market Business Plan Proposal, Luyan Zhang

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project is to develop a business plan for Victoria's Secret to enter the Chinese market. Currently, Victoria's Secret doesn't operate any stores in China. This project will discuss the following aspects of the Chinese lingerie textile market: the distinct backgrounds of Chinese and United States' lingerie markets, the potential advantages and risks for entering the Chinese market.