Business Commons^™

A Path To Conventional Equity For Cdfis: Cdfi Equity Project Report, Charles Tansey, Michael E. Swack

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this report designed to serve the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) sector, authors Charles Tansey and Michael Swack describe a step-by-step blueprint for accessing private equity in Stage One and conventional equity in the public market in Stage Two through participating CDFIs. In addition to providing a blueprint, the report documents the affirmation that a portion of CDFI equity can be—and should be—self-sustaining. It also demonstrates how this equity can be widely accessible by the broader CDFI industry over time.

On The Road Lending Program Evaluation: Final Report, Michael E. Swack, Jolan Rivera, Sanjeev Sharma

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this report, Michael Swack, Jolan Rivera, and Sanjeev Sharma discuss the results of the On The Road Lending (OTRL) program evaluation.

OTRL and its sister CDFI, On the Road Sustainability Funds (OTRSF), share a common mission to promote prosperity within America’s working families through transportation and financial innovation. While OTRL and OTRDF measure and report on many environmental, social, and financial outcomes, the most important are economic mobility measures and improvements in quality of life, namely, greater agency, and control of options through more wealth and time (OTRL, 2021).

OTRL clients work with a coach who provides vehicle purchase …

Nba Tean Valuation: What Drives Value?, Jackson Cleary

Honors Theses and Capstones

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has slowly become one of the most popular professional sports leagues in the United States as well as growing its reach in European and Chinese ties. With this growth, we have seen the value of NBA teams climb significantly. Mark Cuban, a well-known entrepreneur and Shark on ABC’s Shark Tank, purchased the Dallas Mavericks for $285 million in 2000. They are now worth a staggering $2.5 billion (as of 2021). In 20 years since Cuban bought the Dallas Mavericks, they have seen close to ten times increase in their value. This begs the question, what …

The Historic Returns Of Gold: Is It The Best Hedge Against Inflation?, Jack William Gillis

Honors Theses and Capstones

The world of investing is rapidly changing as technologies advance. In the past few years especially, we have seen many investors shifting toward decentralized digital money, or what is known as cryptocurrencies. Even with these new asset classes coming out, there has always been one commodity that has stuck around. Gold has been used as a store of value for millenniums. Investors tend to rely on gold because it’s believed to be a safe-haven asset, in times of economic uncertainty. This paper aims to determine whether or not this traditional mindset is still effective in today’s ever-changing investment environment. To …

Index Funds And Etfs: Simplifying Investing For Better Returns, Patrick J. Cotton

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Modeling The Impact Of Adding Cryptocurrency In A Portfolio, Ashley Pineault

Honors Theses and Capstones

This study examines the backgrounds of Bitcoin and Ethereum. How they came about, where they differ from one another in functions, and what investors believe will be a better cryptocurrency stock as an investment to include in an optimized portfolio. It will also study the impact of adding two leading cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum, into a hypothetical, optimal investment portfolio. Data collection includes the adjusted closing price of 30 diversified stocks from 2016 to 2021. Those adjusted closing prices are the beginning of determining the optimal portfolio for three separate portfolios. One has the Ethereum cryptocurrencies, the other has Bitcoin …

Crime And The Effects It Has On Business Development, Alexis Pimental

Honors Theses and Capstones

This reading highlights the topic of crime through exploring what crime is as well as the different types of crimes in our everyday lives. Specifically, this research paper wants to highlight the crimes that may affect businesses, as well as the relationships between crime and business development. By using facts and statistics, we will dive into the relationship between the two and see why certain businesses may find success while other businesses struggle. We will also be looking at different pieces of literature, reviewing them, and drawing conclusions from the literature being discussed. The literature review as well as assessments …

Should Cryptocurrency And Nft’S Be Used As Collateral?, John M. Helmanis

Honors Theses and Capstones

Nothing has captured the attention of modern finance quite like cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFT), whether it’s the massive skyrocketing price or the next day's sudden drop wiping out millions of dollars seemingly overnight. This paper seeks to understand cryptocurrencies and NFT's position in modern finance in terms of collateral. Specifically, the question that will be answered is should cryptocurrencies and NFTs be used as collateral? This question has relevance because widespread use as collateral would signify validation as an asset class that holds value. Some cryptocurrency brokers are making loans backed by cryptocurrency, but currently, no major banks are …

De-Fi Protocol Token Valuation By Projecting Token Flows And Estimating An Appropriate Risk Premium, Anders C. Brucker

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Pcaob Inspection Reports And Perceived Audit Quality, Coleman Michael Russell

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Weather Effects On Stock Market Returns In The United States, Maria Virginia Chandra

Honors Theses and Capstones

This study examined the correlation and impact of weather changes and average monthly temperature in the United States on the returns of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ). Data collection includes average monthly temperature from four regions in the United States: Eastern, Central, Southern, and Western, excluding Alaska and Hawaii from the period of 2010 - 2020. Average monthly returns from the year 2010 – 2020 will also be used, which were collected from two stock exchanges in the United States: the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the National …

What Is The Effect Of The Cares Act On Public Companies’ Pension Plan Contributions?, Kyle Joseph Norman

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Behavioral Finance Of Impact Investing: The Case Of Donor-Advised Funds, Eric Hangen, Michael E. Swack, Jordan Hensley

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

Undeployed charitable assets in donor-advised funds (DAFs) reached $121.4 billion in 2018‒including $33.9 billion at Community Foundations. Most of these undeployed funds are invested in conventional financial instruments. However, DAFs present a unique opportunity to promote impact investing into the local community, including Community Development Financial Institutions that serve their local communities. In this report, authors Eric Hangen, Michael Swack, and Jordan Hensley discuss the results of their study to see whether DAF donors’ choices of how to invest undeployed funds can be influenced by a change in how donor choices are presented, with the intention of increasing the percentage …

Healthcare Stocks And Presidential Elections, Jake Yennaco

Honors Theses and Capstones

In this study I examine the impact presidential elections have had on health care stock returns. Through my own data collection and analysis, I sought to examine the performance of stocks across election cycles in addition to the performance of healthcare stocks across election cycles. Using data from 1998-2019 I find that 1.) In election years, the stock market underperforms relative to non-election years; 2.) Healthcare stocks underperform the broader market during election years; 3.) The impact on healthcare stocks is consistently poor in election years yet contained to only that year; 4.) The Presidential Election Cycle, stating that stocks …

The Effects Of Csr And Female Presence In Corporate Governance On Firm Tax Avoidance, Madeline Karlberg

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Future Of Actively Managed Funds, Oliver M. Botthof

Honors Theses and Capstones

This study analyzes the relationship between actively managed U.S. equity funds and passively managed U.S. equity funds over the past 20 years. This study concludes with a prediction as to where these markets are headed based off related literature and regression based tests run a a sample of funds.

What Drives Prices In Financial Markets?, Sinead Brid Mcdonagh

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Tax Breaks & Incentives For Corporations On Local Economies, Chad Supranowicz

Honors Theses and Capstones

One of perhaps the most pressing political debates since the 2016 Presidential election has been centered around the impacts of the many tax breaks and incentives given to large corporations. These breaks, used most often to draw a company to a certain geographic area, are typically granted with good intention. For example, a local or state government will pursue a company by enticing them to relocate to their area in order to help boost their economy because people, jobs, and money will come with them. This can also lead to spin-off development, meaning even more people could flock to the …

The Effect Of Gender On Ethical Investing, Delaney J. Housley

Honors Theses and Capstones

Prior literature related to gender and risk propensity would suggest that females are risk-averse, compassionate, and value ethics over return. This ideology of traditional gender norms stereotypically implies that females may be more likely to engage in ethical investing, as there is inherently less risk in investing in companies with strong corporate social responsibility. On the other hand, males are often portrayed as risk-seeking, competitively motivated, and valuing profits over principle, thus may be more willing to compromise ethics if the ends justify the means. The following paper seeks to investigate this relationship between gender and ethical investing, as examined …

How Efficient Is Market Pricing: Can Investors Beat The Market? Further, Are Prices Always Right As Stated In The Efficient Market Hypothesis?, Porter M. Mcmanus

Honors Theses and Capstones

The Efficient Market Hypothesis is a widely accepted economic theory developed by economist Eugene Fama. The theory states that at any given time, an asset’s price reflects all available public information and will always trade at fair value. The motivation for this research is derived from the content taught in undergraduate finance courses. In undergraduate academia finance students are introduced to the idea of market efficiency, as it is a building block for future theory and application. However, this theory is rarely questioned in the world of undergraduate academia, rather just taken as fact by students.

The underlying research in …

Portfolio Optimization With International Diversification, Sardar Adam Saeed Khan

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Uncertainty Across The Pond: An Evaluation Of Equity Market Returns And Currency Fluctuations In Reaction To Key Brexit Events, Sean Michael Andreasson

Honors Theses and Capstones

The citizens of the United Kingdom shocked the world on June 23^rd, 2016 when they voted in favor of leaving the European Union. The 3-year aftermath of the Referendum has created a large amount of uncertainty regarding the future of the United Kingdom economy and its post-Brexit relationship with the European Union. The purpose of this research is to explore how the financial markets react to Brexit news headlines, compare the returns of European and non-European exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and currencies, identify common themes, and ultimately shed light on how investors weigh-in on the interconnectedness of the UK, …

The Market Reaction To Trump's Trade War, Michael Mccarthy

Honors Theses and Capstones

This event study looks at the market reaction to the global trade tensions that began in the first half of 2018. The events regarding new developments around the use of tariffs are organized in chronological order, and the stocks of certain impacted companies are looked at to see if they were positively or negatively affected by the news. To summarize the market reaction to tariffs, I use a zero cost portfolio consisting of long positions in those expected to be positively impacted and short positions in those expected to be negatively impacted. If this portfolio sees a larger return on …

Girls Just Wanna Have Funds, Caley Prunier

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Flight To Quality In Cryptocurrencies, Scott Brockelbank Jr.

Honors Theses and Capstones

The topic of cryptocurrencies has been on the forefront of investors’ minds as they have seen ridiculous returns from the volatile swings in price. Its value highly debated because the asset is not backed by a hard asset. If we look back at the beginning of our country, we see how each state had its own currency and the difficulties that users faced around who would accept that as legal tender. The birth of a federal currency was accepted because it served as a medium of exchange and was backed by gold through the U.S. government. The final evolution of …

The Effect Of Remittance Inflows To India: An Empirical Analysis, Justin Poisson

Honors Theses and Capstones

This paper studies the relationship between remittance inflows and GDP in India. An empirical regression analysis is applied to India’s data to analyze the effect of remittance inflows to the level of GDP and GDP growth. Results show that remittance inflows have a positive and significant effect on the level of India’s GDP, and a positive but insignificant effect on GDP growth. Data used in this research come from the World Bank.

Do President Trump’S Tweets Increase Uncertainty In The Us Economy?, Michael Simpson

Honors Theses and Capstones

When President Trump tweets, does it change uncertainty in the economy? This study gathers President Trump’s tweets off his twitter accounts from October 2016 to October 2017 and classifies each of them as either negative (expected to increase uncertainty), positive (expected to decrease uncertainty) or neutral (no effect expected on uncertainty). I find that tweets with a negative sentiment were followed by an increase in uncertainty in the VIX and S&P 500 1 and 2 minutes after the tweet. Similar results were found for positive tweets. Non-neutral tweets increase trading volume in the VIX and S&P 500 by up to …

The Department Of Labor Fiduciary Rule: How Will It Affect Financial Advisors And Their Clients?, Claire Hawkes

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Ipo Ready? Illuminating The Dark Box Of Private Equity, Tyler Gregory Cornellier

Honors Theses and Capstones

The use of public equity data can help combat the challenges private equity funds currently face regarding data availability. The goal is to create a model to provide guidance to both investors and entrepreneurs in the decision-making process. The data gathered would provide insight on how close a private company is to a successful Initial Public Offering (IPO). The idea is that a model, showing the average financial metrics of companies within certain industries during an IPO, can provide new perceptiveness as to how the private company is performing.

Indian Microfinance Sector: A Case Study, Sean P. Gillon

Honors Theses and Capstones

In developing areas of the world with very little economic structure, many activities are not monetized. In other words, money is not used to carry out these tasks because the people in these areas do not have the expendable funds required. In order to combat this problem, micro financing has become increasingly more apparent in these areas of distress. Microfinance is an economic development strategy that allows for those in need to borrow actual money in order to start a business, go to school, or even gain access to everyday living requirements. Microfinance has made tremendous strides over the years, …