Business Commons^™

The Nfl And Trump: Did Protesting Cause The Decline?, Jameson Osmond

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This project is a study in econometric modeling of the effects of the protests of the national anthem in the NFL during the 2016-2017 seasons. The project is created to determine the accuracy or lack thereof of President Donald Trump's statement that the cause of the decline in viewership and ratings (and thus business) of NFL games was caused by protests that deterred US viewers.

Using viewership and rating data, along with various protest indexes created by collecting game-level protest data, an econometric model was constructed to allow for control over various endogenous and exogenous variables that surround NFL in-season …

A Different Perspective On The Debate Between Nonprofit And For-Profit Microfinance Organizations, Hane E. De Oliveira Crevelari

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Microfinance for-profit organizations flooded the market in the early 2000's when microcredit demonstrated profitability. Ever since, an intense debate arose contesting the morality of profiting from the poor. Many for-profit microfinance institutions were accused of predatory lending through high interest rates and aggressive marketing and payment collection. In this paper, I examine the validity of the arguments for and against for-profits by extensively comparing the different target audiences of the charity sector and the private sector and the main arguments of each side. I conclude that, although the ability to serve the poor is compromised by profit motives, for-profit microfinance …

The Affordable Care Act: Five Years Later, Andrew Dana Izatt

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The challenges facing the American health care system are well known and manifold. The United States pays substantially more for its health care than any other developed, industrialized nation. Per capita health care spending in 2012 was $8,745, up from $356 in 1970 without marked improvements in life expectancy, quality of life, or outcomes. But despite all of our health spending, large portions of our population go without health insurance. Being uninsured carries real consequences. A report published in the American Journal of Public Health, by researchers at Harvard Medical School, using statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and …

Crony Chronicles Website Redesign, Lindsey Marie Mcbride

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The policy team at the Charles Koch Institute is broken into different areas of research. During my summer internship, I was assigned to research crony capitalism with four other members of the policy team. Along with their research on crony capitalism, these team members maintained a website called cronychronicles.org. For a definition of crony capitalism, or cronyism, see Appendix C. The goal of the website was to be "the leading online resource for everything related to cronyism" (About Us). I was very interested in the research I was conducting on crony capitalism, and enjoyed contributing information to the Crony Chronicles …

Improving Financial And Personnel Management At Petsfirst! Wellness Center, Andrew Arveseth

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

A part of my coursework in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, I was able to participate in a management internship at PetsFirst! Wellness Center. This internship provided me with the opportunity to really evaluate and understand multiple elements of a management position. I specifically focused on client incentives, cost management, and human resources during the course of my internship project at this veterinary clinic. My responsibilities in each of these business functions helped me develop the skills necessary to effectively hold a management position after graduation.

A Management Buyout In The Lower Middle Market, James Kenneth Allred

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

ABC Inc., "ABC" or "The Company", is a leading manufacturer of precision rotary valves, feeders, screw conveyors, and components found in industrial material handling systems. Due to their proprietary products, exceptional durability, and custom design and manufacturing processes, ABC has developed a reputation as a premium manufacturer and supplier of choice across various industries. ABC initially targeted the wood products industry, and pulp and paper remains its largest industry segment today, but The Company has since expanded its services to mining, cement, chemical companies as well as coal and biomass burning plants. In addition to its proprietary products, ABC provides …

The Temple Recommend: A Solution To The Free-Rider Problem, Austin Bowles

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Temple worship and geographical boundaries are unique features of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Our research uses economic theory to understand how the organizational benefits of the temple recommend system and the geographical ward boundaries may solve the market failures associated with religious organizations. These features of the LDS Church will be used to create a framework for understanding how the church limits free-riding and sub-optimal participation, which would result in increased efficiency and production of large religious benefits. Because the market failures faced by the church are the same as those faced by other …

Changes In The Intertemporal Relation Between The U.S. And Japanese Stock Markets, Rustin Paul Diehl

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This paper finds a decreasing relationship between daytime trading in previous-day US equity markets and the Japanese market performance in the current period. On the other hand, the connection has increased between current US equity markets and current, after-hour Japanese markets. These changes have corrected a previous violation of the efficient market hypothesis, and suggest that as internet trading has increased volumes of off-hour trading, the Japanese equity markets have been better able to digest information from current US markets.

Public Announcement Of Analyst Recommendations And The Impact On The Common Stock Market, Kenneth Allen Zerbe

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Between 1985 and 1987, R. Foster Winans, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, received convictions for violating section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 of the Securities and Exchange Act as well as engaging in mail fraud.¹