Business Commons^™

Identifying Board Of Director Network Influence For Firm Characteristics, Aparna Gupta, Abena Owusu, Lei Zou

Department of Accounting and Finance Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We utilize multiplex network analysis to evaluate the relationship between firms’ characteristics and board of director networks. Studying a sample of 384 board members of 20 largest US energy and utility firms, 10 from each sector, the firms are differentiated by a clustering analysis on their firm-level characteristics. The firms’ board member connections are represented in a multiplex network consisting of two layers, one for the board members’ direct connections and another for their indirect connections. Four additional sub-layers are identified for each major layer of the multiplex network to represent corporate, non-profit organization, education and government/military connections between the …

Does Innovation Explain The Skewness Of Stock Returns?, Ahmed Baig, Hassan Anjum Butt, Abrar Fitwi, Joey Smith

American Business Review

This paper investigates the impact of firm-level innovation on the skewness of stock returns. Using data on a broad sample of equities from the major US stock exchanges, we find that innovative companies exhibit strong positive skewness. Our results are robust to both input and output measures of innovation as we find that increases in both firm-level research and development expenditure (R&D), as well as the number of patents, are positively associated with future stock return skewness. Our results hold using both systematic and idiosyncratic measures of skewness while controlling for various stock characteristics, time, and industry-fixed effects.

A Bibliometric Analysis Of Behavioral Finance And Behavioral Accounting, Bharati Singh

American Business Review

This paper presents a bibliometric analysis of relevant publications in the field of behavioral finance and behavioral accounting. The analysis shows that the emerging themes of research in recent years in behavioral finance is on investors’ sentiment, social media, investors’ attention, and financial literacy. In the field of behavioral accounting, biases such as  overconfidence, framing effects or cognitive constraints on information processing, have been explored in greater detail. Other than cognitive biases, this field includes studies such as behavioral tax, organizational ecology, and performance evaluative style of organization, among others. Interestingly, our analysis suggests that research in behavioral accounting …

Asia Embraces Digital Currency And Cryptocurrency, David Kuo Chen Lee

Asian Management Insights

A decade ago, everyone was sceptical about cryptocurrency. Today, Asian governments are harnessing its technology to raise payment efficiency and improve financial inclusion. Initially, the technology was advocated and harnessed by ‘cypherpunks’, that is, individuals who advocate the use of cryptography and other strong encryption technologies to promote social and political change. At that time, being a cypherpunk meant standing on the opposite side of the government; today, I see cypherpunks, otherwise more appropriately known as cryptopunks, working closely with governments.

Algorithmic Transparency, Jian Sun

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

I study the optimal algorithmic disclosure in a lending market where lenders use a predictive algorithm to mitigate adverse selection. The predictive algorithm is unobservable to borrowers and uses a manipulable borrower feature as input. A regulator maximizes market efficiency by disclosing information about the statistical properties of variables embedded in the predictive algorithm to borrowers. Under the optimal disclosure policy, the posterior belief consists of two disjoint regions in which the borrower feature is more relevant and less relevant in predicting borrower quality, respectively. The optimal disclosure policy differentiates posterior lending market equilibria by the equilibrium data manipulation levels. …

The Influence Of United Arab Emirates National Culture On Leadership Styles In Higher Education Institutions, Hamsa Saleh Al Ammari

Dissertations

Academic institutions and universities are complicated organizations led by professionals and academics who owe their knowledge and skills to their experience in education and leadership. In a country like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), education leaders who come from different cultural backgrounds practice their daily duties within a context where the local national culture imposes certain assumptions, beliefs, norms, and attitudes on them, thereby controlling their understanding of leadership and shaping their behavior. There has been little academic research into what constitutes the national culture of the UAE, a young, cosmopolitan amalgamation of seven Emirates, viewed internationally as an Arab, …

Making Money From Cryptocurrency? The Taxman May Call On You, Hern Kuan Liu, Vincent Ooi

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Miners, forgers, hobbyists, traders – different rules apply. Just don’t assume crypto investment is somehow immune to taxation.

Stock Return Prediction Using Financial News: A Unified Sequence Model Based On Hierarchical Attention And Long-Short Term Memory Networks, Haoling Chen, Peng Liu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Stock return prediction has been a hot topic in both research and industry given its potential for large financial gain. The return signal, apart from its inherent volatility and complexity, is often accompanied by a multitude of noises, such as other stocks’ performance, macroeconomic factors and financial news, etc. To better characterize these factors, we propose a new model that consists of two levels of sequence: an NLP-based module to capture the sequential nature of words and sentences in the financial news, and a time-series-based module to exploit the sequential nature of adjacent observations in the stock price. In this …

Volatility Timing Under Low-Volatility Strategy, Poh Ling Neo, Chyng Wen Tee

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The authors show that the slope of the volatility decile portfolio’s return profile contains valuable information that can be used to time volatility under different market conditions in the United States. During good (bad) market conditions, the high- (low-) volatility portfolio produces the highest return. The authors proceed to devise a volatility timing strategy based on statistical tests on the slope of the volatility decile portfolio’s return profile. Volatility timing is achieved by being aggressive during strong growth periods and conservative during market downturns. Superior performance is obtained, with an additional return of 4.1% observed in the volatility timing strategy, …

Joint News, Attention Spillover, And Market Returns Predictability, Li Guo, Lin Peng, Yubo Tao, Jun Tu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We analyze over 2.6 million news articles and propose a novel measure of joint news coverage of firms. The measure strongly and negatively predicts market returns, with a monthly R-squared of 3.93% in sample and 6.52% out of sample. The relation is causal, robust to existing predictors, and is especially strong when market uncertainty is high or when market frictions are large. At the firm level, joint news coverage is associated with a 20.3% increase in EDGAR downloads by new IPs from the investor bases of the other covered firms. Our evidence suggests that joint news triggers investor attention spillover …

Accounting And Finance Lessons In The Time Of Covid-19: Views From The Pacific Basin: Part 2, Kuan Yong David Ding, Julie Harrison, Martien Lubberink, Chris Van Staden

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The global COVID-19 pandemic is now in its second year, and we are fast approaching the third. The year 2021 has brought some hope that vaccination will lead to the end of the pandemic. But it has also brought a more infectious variant of COVID-19 and multiple waves of surging cases that show no immediate sign of disappearing. As the pandemic continues to impact global societies and economies, it is imperative that we study its impact to try and understand how it will affect us in both the short-term and long-term. While the longer-term impacts are still unknown, there is …

Socially Responsible Corporate Customers, Rui Dai, Hao Liang, Lilian Ng

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Corporate customers are an important stakeholder in global supply chains. We employ several unique international databases to test whether socially responsible corporate customers can infuse similar socially responsible business behavior in suppliers. Our findings suggest a unilateral effect on corporate social responsibility (CSR) only from customers to suppliers, an evidence further supported by exogenous variation in customers’ close-call CSR proposals and by product scandals. Customers exert influence on suppliers’ CSR through positive assortative matching and their decision-making process. Enhanced collaborative CSR efforts help improve operational efficiency and firm valuation of both customers and suppliers but increase only the customers’ future …

Projected Versus Actual On-Campus Student Enrollment During The Covid-19 Pandemic For Fall 2020 At Purdue University: A Quantitative Analysis Of Purdue Office Of Enrollment Management Data, Max Bebekoski

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Fall/Winter 2021

Business Exchange

Flexibility Is Our New Norm; $8 Million Bequest Supports Student Scholarships; Women in Entrepreneurship Institute Partnership Supports Business Founders of Color; College Named a Bloomberg Experiential Learning Partner; MacArthur Foundation Grant Supports Housing Research; Navigating the New Workplace Norms; Professor Introduces Students to Fintech Innovations; Accounting Graduate Brews Coffee Business with Soul

Investing In Financial Literacy Education: Purdue Libraries’ Quest To Promote Financial Wellness, Zoeanna A. Mayhook

Midwest Business Librarian Summit (MBLS)

Many information challenges that people face in their lives will relate to managing their own personal finances. Whether they are buying a house or looking to make wise investments, attaining a combination of financial and information literacy skills can promote sound financial decision-making practices and result in long-term financial independence and well-being. Business information professionals can aid in this endeavor by providing resources and programming to develop these skills further. With the generous support of the Purdue Federal Credit Union, the Purdue Libraries have prioritized financial literacy education by fostering strategic partnerships, developing instructional materials, and incorporating personal financial competencies …

Syllabus For Financial Management, Maura Dowling

Resources

This course deals with the financial management of the business enterprise and the role of the financial manager in value creation. The focus of this course is the increasing global dimension that the financial managers must address. Major topics include the time value of money, risk and return, security valuation, capital budgeting, cash and liquidity management, management of current liabilities, dividend policy, cost of capital, capital structure policy and the evaluation of alternative methods of financing. While this course deals with common finance problems, these problems are analyzed in a broader context with an international emphasis.

Sinwattana: Capital Crowdfunding For Thai Smes, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

A Singaporean entrepreneur falls in love with Thailand, and creates the country’s first online equity crowdfunding platform

The Unknown Benefits Of Black Markets, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Research on the license plate market in China’s capital finds that black markets can potentially serve as an auction mechanism to redistribute limited resources to those in need

The Ursinus College Investment Management Company Newsletter, Fall 2021, Scott Deacle, Maureen Cumpstone, Zachary Crebbin, Maddy Sorokanych, Michael Buck, Kareem Elghawy

Investment Management Company Newsletter

Inside this issue:

Letter from Madelynn Sorokanych '22

Letter from Michael Buck '22

At a Glance

Investment Strategies

Endowment at Work

UCIMCO Updates

Notable Trends

Semester Investment Performance

Endowment Outlook

Stock Selection Picks

Women's Fund Picks

Our Team

Special Thanks

Supporters

How to Contribute

Active Factor Investing: Hedge Funds Versus The Rest Of Us, Jun Duanmu, Yongjia Li, Alexey Malakhov

Finance Faculty Publications and Presentations

We examine whether the success of hedge fund market timing strategies can be replicated. We develop a methodology for creating a portfolio of ETFs to capture risk factor exposures of market timing hedge funds identified using extant market timing measures. We find that the top market timing hedge funds outperform their ETF clone peers and the superior performance cannot be replicated. We show that the irreplicable market timing skills are more profound in certain hedge fund styles. Finally, we provide evidence that the success of market timing strategies is driven by non-cloneable hedge funds that possess managerial skills.

Ucimco Endowment Semi-Annual Presentation, Fall 2021, Kareem Elghawy, Kyle Blaze, Jeremy Calabro, Ryan Carkhuff, Jacob Connelly, Christopher Craven, Zachary Crebbin, Olivia Defusco, Colin Holtzman, Brooke Hurley, Matthew Mcmahon, Jared Minnichbach, Zoey Nikolaou, Jared O'Connell, Erik Ojert, Thomas Pancheri, Christopher Porzelt, Tyler Sargent, Scott Sloan, Storm Snape, Matthew Snyder, Matthew Tuley

Business and Economics Presentations

The Ursinus College Investment Management Company (UCIMCO) consists of groups of student analysts who manage endowment-style and stock selection funds on behalf of the college endowment. This presentation, by the endowment team, examines performance and investment philosophy while discussing selections in the portfolio including: developed and emerging market equities, U.S. equities, corporate bonds, U.S. treasuries and U.S. real estate.

Ucimco Stock Selection Semi-Annual Presentation, Fall 2021, Michael Buck, Stevie Benson, Walker Hamilton, Mason Jolivette, Harrison Lorenc, Devin Molina, Stephen Schoenborn, Jack Shimer, Mohammad Sufyan, John Wagner, Riley Yee

Business and Economics Presentations

The Ursinus College Investment Management Company (UCIMCO) consists of groups of student analysts who manage endowment-style and stock selection funds on behalf of the college endowment. This presentation, by the stock selection team, examines quarterly performance and strategy while discussing the most recent selections in the portfolio: Agios Pharmaceuticals, CubeSmart, Splunk and Nexstar Media Group.

Ursinus College Women's Investment Management Company, Fall 2021, Maddy Sorokanych, Taylor Beaumont, Shelby Boyle, Laura Bradley, Olivia Defusco, Rachel Grossbauer, Jess Gutekunst, Rebecca Lewis, Alice Nathanson, Madelyn Nau, Ketlee Staz, Marcella Thanh-Guyet, Theodora Zeibekis

Business and Economics Presentations

The Ursinus College Investment Management Company (UCIMCO) consists of groups of student analysts who manage endowment-style and stock selection funds on behalf of the college endowment. In 2020, a group of women students began to manage their own fund. This presentation reviews activities of the Fall 2021 semester and analyzes the stock performance of various companies including: Anthem, Inc., American Well Corporation, Netflix, Travel and Leisure Company, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Oshkosh and the Hershey Company.

Do Large Losses Loom Larger Than Gains? Salience, Holding Periods, And The Disposition Effect, Vladimir Kotomin, Abhishek Varma

Faculty Publications – Finance, Insurance, and Law

Individual investors are more likely to sell stocks with nominal gains and losses that are large relative to their brokerage portfolio value. The salience of nominal gains and losses affects stock sales in both taxable and tax-deferred accounts and across investor groups, but the effect of nominal losses is weaker for stocks with high valuation uncertainty. The effect has a time dimension: at short holding periods, individuals are more likely to sell stocks with large nominal losses than gains of the same size, mitigating the disposition effect. Investors may be compelled to revisit their beliefs after incurring large losses quickly.

Analysis Of Factors Influencing The Bailout Of Distressed Enterprises By Local Asset Management Companies, Houwen Li

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In recent years, the number of distressed enterprises in China has gradually increased due to radical enterprise strategies, excessive expansion, poor management, and a trend of accelerating growth. Unable to adapt to fierce market competition, a large number of “zombie enterprises” disrupt the market order, reduce the use efficiency of social resources, and aggravate market risks. However, some enterprises are
temporarily caught in financial distress due to a deterioration of their financial situation caused by factors such as debt structure or capital liquidity. If such enterprises can be bailed out in time, they can escape their distress, which not only …

A Biblical, Culturally Relevant, And Contextually Applicable Financial Literacy Curriculum, Wallace Kanyuira

Doctor of Leadership

Poverty in Kenya is high, and the church should respond by economically empowering the people to be self-reliant. People are in poverty, not for lack of opportunities and resources, but because they lack the knowledge and skills to exploit these opportunities, make decisions they are ill-equipped to make, and lack financial literacy. Many people who are financially struggling tend to seek solace in churches. Consequently, pastors need to master and teach biblical financial literacy and reshape the church culture to be responsive. In Hosea 4:6 God says: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. . . .” Biblical financial …

Investment Patterns In Mountain West States, Counties, And Nevada Cities 2005-2019, Peter Grema, Zachary Walusek, Katie M. Gilbertson, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

The purpose of this fact sheet is to summarize findings on capital flows across Mountain West states and counties, and within Nevada cities. The “Gauging Investment Patterns across the US” report by the Urban Institute present findings of overall volume of capital deployed, racial equity of investments, and income equity for each respective geographic area. The full report further breaks down these three main categories into 18 other metrics.

Gender Differences In Self-Attribution And Overconfidence In Financial Decisions, Aine M. Ford

Student Publications

Behavioral finance and the study into biases is a rapidly increasing area of interest for finance professionals and academics alike. Understanding the sources of overconfidence and the self-attribution bias from a gendered framework can provide insight for managers and industry leaders to insulate their firms from underperformance losses due to these biases. Education and relevant financial experience are key controllable variables that impact overconfidence and self- attribution. Using a survey sent to around 130 students and finance professionals, gender, education, and relevant experience were tested against overconfidence and self-attributional scores to determine if there were any meaningful relationships. The results …

Digital Only Banks The Changing Face Of Global Banking: Challenges, Opportunities And Aml/Cft Implications For Nigeria, David N. Odu

Bullion

The drastic digitization brought about by evolution of technology in the world has changed almost every sphere of human life with the most recent effect being moved to cashless economy, while the role of digitization in the banking sector is altering customer demand and preferences, banks are becoming digitally oriented to meet the forces of demand and supply. This has led to the birth of digital-only also called challenger bankers or branches banks as they operate without a physical location, only have a location for admin purposes or hosting their servers. This growing wave of consumer oriented banking institutions focuses …

Institutional Investors And Bank Governance: An International Analysis Of Bank Earnings Management, Steve M. Miller, Rabih Moussawi, Bin Wang, Tina Yang

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

Despite the growing importance of institutional investors in global capital markets and the link between bank earnings management and financial crash risk, little is known about the role of institutional investors in mitigating bank earnings management. We conduct the first international analysis of this issue using a broad sample of banks and institutional investors. We find a negative relation between institutional ownership and bank earnings management, after controlling for the stringency of a country's bank regulations and other relevant bank and country characteristics. Additionally, institutional ownership is more negatively related to earnings management in countries with more-stringent bank disclosure requirements …