Business Commons^™

Numerical Methods For Option Pricing Under The Two-Factor Models, Jiacheng Cai

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Pricing options under multi-factor models are challenging and important problems for financial applications. In particular, the closed form solutions are not available for the American options and some European options, and the correlations between factors increase the complexity and difficulty for the formulations and implements of the numerical methods.

In this dissertation, we first introduce a general transformation to decouple correlated stochastic processes governed by a system of stochastic differential equations. Then we apply the transformation to the popular two-factor models: the two-asset model, the stochastic volatility model, and the stochastic interest rate models. Based on our new formulations, we …

An Examination Of U.S. Restaurant Firms' Internationalization In A Risk Context, Soyeon Jung

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this dissertation is to advance the theoretical and practical understanding

of the relationship between publicly traded U.S. restaurant firms’ internationalization as a

corporate strategy and risks using a comprehensive set of risk measures: 1) market-based risk (i.e., systematic and unsystematic risk) and 2) accounting-based risk (i.e., standard deviation of return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), and earnings per share (EPS) during the period of 2000-2013. This dissertation further investigates linear, nonlinear, and lagged effects of internationalization on restaurant firms’ risks. In summary, the findings of this dissertation reveal that internationalization tends to mitigate systematic risk, …

The Effect Of Florida’S Timeshare Resale Accountability Act And Securitization Announcements On Vacation Ownership Shareholder Wealth, James R. Drake, Iii

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The focus of this study deals with the vacation ownership, or timeshare, industry, and is two-fold. First, it examines the passage of a criminal law in Florida that deals with the resale of timeshare properties and measures the law’s effects on the timeshare industry in terms of shareholder wealth. Second, the study examines the effect of the announcement of the sale of asset-backed securities in the timeshare industry, also in terms of shareholder wealth. The cumulative abnormal returns of publicly traded lodging corporations that operate in the timeshare industry are calculated and analyzed for both studies.

The passage of Florida’s …

Considerations For Implementing A Hotel Revenue Management System, Akram Mahesh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

To fully understand and implement a revenue management system, hotel managers will need to research all aspects of a system, its requirements, and the hotel’s requirements to ensure that they are implementing a system that will work best for their property. This kind of research requires finding information in literature that is scattered in many locations. An owner or manager of a small to midsize hotel would need to invest a lot of time and energy into this process. Unlike giant companies like Marriott or Hilton, small to midsize independent hotels do not have the manpower to research and implement …

International City/County Management Association 1999 Revenue Estimation Survey Revisited, Benjamin Bond

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In 1899 the National Municipal League declared that it was the duty of the Mayor to submit to the Council the annual budget of current expenses of the city, for almost as long, the budgeting process has been researched (Hou, 2006). Researching budgets is important and needed but comparatively little attention has been paid to revenue forecasts or to those responsible for the generation of revenue forecasts. Professional public administrators responsible for generating revenue forecasts have largely been overlooked in research. Judging by the lack of scholarly material available in academic journals, it appears the political process in which budget …

Empirical Studies On Interest Rate Derivatives, Xudong Sun

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Interest rate models are the building blocks of financial market and the interest rate derivatives market is the largest derivatives market in the world. In this dissertation, we shall focus on numerical pricing of interest rate derivatives, estimating model parameters by Kalman filter, and studying various models empirically. We shall propose a front-fixing finite element method to price the American put option under the quadratic term structure framework and compare it with a trinomial tree method and common finite element method. Numerical test results show the superiority of our front-fixing finite element method in the aspects of computing the option …

Lattice Methods For The Valuation Of Options With Regime Switching, Atul Sancheti

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In this thesis, we have developed two numerical methods for evaluating option prices under the regime switching model of stock price processes: the Finite Difference lattice method and the Monte Carlo lattice method.

The Finite Difference lattice method is based on the explicit finite difference scheme for parabolic problems. The Monte Carlo lattice method is based on the simulation of the Markov chain. The advantage of these methods is their flexibility to compute the option prices for any given stock price at any given time. Numerical examples are presented to examine these methods. It has been shown that the proposed …

Assessing Revenue Managers' Level Of Trust In Information Systems: An Exploratory Study Of Las Vegas Casino Resorts, Landon Taylor Shores

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examined revenue managers' level of trust in their revenue management system (RMS) at Las Vegas casino resorts. The study utilized an e-mail interview to measure revenue managers' attitudes about their RMS's degree of reliability and dependability, the degree to which they trust their RMS's pricing recommendations, and if a revenue manager's level of trust in technology had any effect on their likelihood of trusting their RMS.

The study invited 11 property and corporate revenue managers from Las Vegas casino resorts to participate in an e-mail interview, with nine revenue managers agreeing to participate. The main findings of the …

Analysis Of Bank Failure And Size Of Assets, Guancun Zhong

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The financial health of the banking industry is an important prerequisite for economic stability and growth. Bank failures in the United States have run in cycles largely associated with the collapse of economic bubbles. The number of bank failures has increased dramatically over the last thirty years (Halling and Hayden, 2007). In this thesis, we try to address the following two questions: 1) What is the relationship, if any, between a bank's asset size and its likelihood of failures? 2) How can we use statistical tools to predict the numbers of bank failures in the future? Various modeling techniques are …

A Training Manual: To Increase Performance In Cost Management Of A Las Vegas Nightclub For Operations Managers, Mark F. Staudinger

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this paper is to write a training manual on cost management for operating managers in the Las Vegas nightclub industry. The manual will be designed to be used as a tool to control and manage costs for managers responsible for making decisions that directly affect controllable costs. These decisions include but are not limited to staffing and par levels, price points, purchasing, and staff training and monitoring.

To Start A Hospitality Student Investment Club At Schenectady County Community College, Regina A. Mintzer

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Statement of objective

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the needs for investment knowledge at an early age, understand the power of financial independence for a successful future, explore the employment opportunities associated with participation in a campus investment club, and implement an investment club on a college campus targeted to hospitality industry students.

Credit Fluctuations And Lodging Firms: An Investigation Of The Differing Capital Structures In The Us Lodging Industry, Dipendra Singh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study empirically investigates the effect of credit availability and firm size on the leverage of lodging industry in United States using a 3 X 2 factorial Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). Three time points of differing credit availability (Low, High, and Average) were identified using Case-Shiller home price index. Leverage, Net Leverage, and Short-to-Long-Term debt ratios of large and small US lodging firms were analyzed at these differing credit availability time points to assess any significant differences. Specifically, this study attempts to find whether there is an interaction effect of credit availability and firm size on the leverage of …

Development Of A Sustainable Water Resource Financing Mathematical Model For Donors And End-Users, Sahar Zavareh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Rural villages and underdeveloped communities represent the largest group challenged by poor water supply and sanitation with inequalities in resources to adequately implement potential solutions and even more with their high risk level of financing, funding is particularly challenging for water projects. Innovative financing alone will not eliminate the burdens of rural villages and underdeveloped communities. The purpose of this thesis is to address the lack of sustainable water financing of water projects in rural areas using a novel framework of a mathematical model based on "system dynamics" using optimal feedback control theory to maximize the performance of a water …

Arima Models For Bank Failures: Prediction And Comparison, Fangjin Cui

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The number of bank failures has increased dramatically over the last twenty-two years. A common notion in economics is that some banks can become "too big to fail." Is this still a true statement? What is the relationship, if any, between bank sizes and bank failures? In this thesis, the proposed modeling techniques are applied to real bank failure data from the FDIC. In particular, quarterly data from 1989:Q1 to 2010:Q4 are used in the data analysis, which includes three major parts: 1) pairwise bank failure rate comparisons using the conditional test (Przyborowski and Wilenski, 1940); 2) development of the …

Exploring The Feasibility Of Converting The Mardi Gras Hotel And Casino Into A Casino Boutique Hotel, Patrick Brennan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Introduction:

The topic of my Professional Paper will be the feasibility study of renovating the Mardi Gras Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Currently the Mardi Gras is operating as a Best Western and is looking to expand into the boutique hotel market. With the maturation of the Las Vegas hotel market, it is vital to think forward in new methods of design and marketing to attract the next generation of convention attendees and visiting tourist.

Purpose:

The purpose of this study is to determine the feasibility of converting the Mardi Gras hotel and casino into a destination casino …

Sustainability’S Correlation To Profit, Cheryl Annissa Drummond

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Sustainability and its correlation to profits in hospitality institutions is the subject of this paper. The lack of knowledge about sustainability and the benefits of sustainable practices are discussed. The evaluation of a GreenSeal (2010) Bronze certification G46-Restaurant audit is also examined. Research includes the review of industry experts’ findings on the subject and the social costs and benefits are evaluated based on the goal of economic, ecological, and social sustainability.

Controlling Labor Costs In Restaurant Management: A Review Of The Internal-Marketing Concept As A Method For Enhancing Operating Efficiency, Scott Yandrasevich

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Restaurants experience many challenges, including economic uncertainty, competition, demographic shifts in target markets, changes in employee work habits, and such financial considerations as maintaining adequate cash flow. Controlling costs in the restaurant business is essential to the success or failure of the establishment. In the hospitality industry, labor costs are very high; in fact, they amount to approximately 45% of operating costs. The goal of this review is to promote further research into identifying the specific criteria that govern the relationship between the use of labor resources and the goal of operating efficiency, mainly with a focus on internal marketing …

Identify Key Business Strategies To Target The Mass Market In Macau, Chia-Li Chen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Statement of Purpose:

The purpose of this paper is to examine Macau’s present gaming environment and identify factors that will contribute to the success of a mass gaming market in Macau. The study intends to provide economic justification and tourism policy considerations which support the growth of Macau’s mass gaming market by taking advantage of the booming Chinese economy and the fast growing popularity of gaming in China. In addition, this study will examine literature supporting Macau’s transformation from a simpler gamblers’ destination into a Las Vegas style international gaming, entertainment, and tourism destination, as well as arguments for sustaining …

Recommending A Productivity Model For Singapore Hotels: A Critical Review Of Productivity Models Adopted By Researchers And Hotel Operators, Hwee Noi Goh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The business challenges and intensely competitive environment in today’s economy make productivity a key factor for organizational survival. This paper examines what productivity means to the services industry, in particular, to the hotel industry. This is underpinned by an investigation of the fundamental differences between goods and services and the implications on productivity measurement and control in the manufacturing and services industries.

The purpose of this paper is to critically review productivity measurement and control methods used by researchers and hotel operators in order to find a model suitable for the hotel industry in Singapore, taking into consideration the local …

An Analysis Of The Equity Of Utah’S Public School Funding System, Garrick Peterson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

There has not been an equity study of the public school funding allocation system, in the state of Utah, since 1990. The purpose of the study was to conduct an analysis of the equity of the Utah state funding allocation system for K-12 education including a trend analysis for the decade 2000-2009. The conceptual framework for the analysis applies four broad concepts of equity framed by Kern Alexander; (1) communitative equity, (2) distributive equity, (3) restitutive equity, and (4) positivism. The analysis of the Utah State funding system used Berne and Stiefel's methodology and included commonly used statistical measures of …

The Impact Of Rebranding On Guest Satisfaction And Financial Performance: A Case Study Of Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre, Pingshan Huang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Existing literature has shown that effective branding/ re-branding can positively impact customer purchase preferences and intentions, satisfaction and loyalty and a firm’s financial performance. Building on these links, this paper investigated if there was a significant improvement in the Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre’s guest satisfaction (OSAT) and financial performance after its rebranding. Paired-samples analyses were conducted on the hotel’s pre- and post-rebranding guest satisfaction, occupancy, average daily rates (ADR), revenue per available room (RevPAR), revenue and net operating profit (NOP). Overall, the results revealed that after the rebranding, HISOCC’s occupancy and RevPAR increased significantly; ADR and OSAT reflected …

Boulder City, Nevada Revenue Generating Analysis, Mayra A. Castro, Dolores P. Leyva, Arnetta M. Meagher, Wade Zimmerman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Boulder City (City) is unique in the State of Nevada as being a non-gaming city, maintaining a controlled growth ordinance, and steadfastly holding to its “small town” values and character. The City has been facing budgetary challenges as future expenditures are anticipated to continually exceed revenues if current services levels are maintained. Indeed, fiscal reviews indicate the City has been transferring contingency monies between funds to cover overages for the past several fiscal years. This “robbing Peter to pay Paul” methodology may offer a temporary solution to the shortage but may be detrimental as a long term solution.

Exploring Revenue Management In Spas: Yield Management Concepts In The Spa Industry Today, Elaine M. Balkoulis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The primary goal of this paper is to further explore the applications of yield management in the spa industry and identify the techniques that are currently used by spa operators. The paper will also evaluate the most popular spa software systems utilized. Furthermore, the paper will investigate the existence of yield management features in the current spa software systems. In addition an effort will be carried out to examine the spa patrons’ perception on yield management strategies in the spa environment.

Clark County School District: Bonds And Debt. Can They Be Divided Equally?, Jocelyn Izumigawa

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Clark County School District is one of the largest school districts in the nation with a student population of 203,616 for 1998-1999. Talk of deconsolidating Clark County School District has been proposed by Assembly persons. However, as recent as November 2000, another initiative for deconsolidation and reconfigurations had not been approved by the voters. One of the issues surrounding deconsolidation is the district's bond debt. An equitable division has not been reached should Clark County School District deconsolidate. This paper deals with dividing the bond debt equally among eight districts (identified in an earlier study of deconsolidation) and assessing whether …

Public Finance Of Professional Athletic Facilities: Case Studies In Stadium And Arena Finance, Larry Harala

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

During the course of the 1990s cities across the country opted to expend public monies at record levels on stadium and arena construction. The focus of this paper will be an examination of whether or not spending public money on private athletic facilities is justifiable. For the purpose of this paper “justifiable” will mean; that the overall economic benefit to the community can be clearly and quantifiably demonstrate to have a net positive economic impact on the community while benefiting all socio-economic elements of the community at large. The types of facilities that this paper will examine are arenas and …