Business Commons^™

Scarcity In The Twenty-First Century: How The Resource Nexus Affects Management, Simon J. D. Schillebeeckx, Mark Workman, Charles Dean

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Since theadvent of the 21st century and especially since the food andfinancial crisis in 2008, concerns about natural resource availability haveresurfaced. While scarcity concerns date back hundreds of years and arefoundational to economics, how scarcity is interpreted or framed has evolved significantlyin the last two centuries. In this chapter, we recount the evolving scarcity discourseand specifically address the most recent iteration that centres on the idea ofa resource nexus. While significant attention to the nexus has been paid bypolicy-makers and scholars interested in especially water, management scholarshave so far remained absent from these debates. Given recent calls to address grand …

Securitization Ten Years After The Financial Crisis: An Overview, Steven L. Schwarcz

Faculty Scholarship

This symposium issue examines securitization a decade after the 2008 financial crisis. Prior to the crisis, securitization was one of America’s dominant means of financing. Many observers, however, blamed securitization for causing the crisis, sparking regulation that arguably has been overly restrictive and, in some cases, even punitive. Where are we now?

Singapore Approach To Develop And Regulate Fintech, Sai Fan Pei

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper starts with a brief introduction of the recent organizational support established by The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to promote the fast developing FinTech (financial technology) sector. Basing on its existing “balanced” approach in promoting financial development and ensuring a safe and sound financial sector, and in sync with its objective to harness technology to improve the efficiency of the financial markets, the paper elaborates on the insights of MAS' policy intent in regulating the FinTech sector. The paper then focuses on MAS' proposed “Regulatory Sandbox” – an innovative regulatory framework which helps to strike a good balance …

Mean-Swap Variance, Portfolio Theory And Asset Pricing, Jhan Wang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The primary focus of this dissertation is a new risk measure, Swap Variance (SwV), and its applications to expected utility maximization, portfolio theory, and capital asset pricing models (CAPM) with loss aversion and gain preference. Superior to the classical mean-variance (MV) model, the mean-swap variance (MSwV) efficiency is consistent with expected utility maximization for all concave utility without any restriction on the form of either utility function or return distributions. Specifically, the MSwV efficiency is necessary and sufficient to the second-degree stochastic dominance (SSD). Thus, the SSD optimization can be consistently replicated by the SwV minimization for given means. The …

Behavioral Household Finance, John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian

Faculty Publications

This chapter provides an overview of household finance. The first part summarizes key facts regarding household financial behavior, emphasizing empirical regularities that are inconsistent with the standard classical economic model and discussing extensions of the classical model and explanations grounded in behavioral economics that can account for the observed patterns. This part covers five topics: consumption and savings, borrowing, payments, asset allocation, and insurance. The second part addresses interventions that firms, governments, and other parties deploy to shape household financial outcomes: education and information, peer effects and social influence, product design, advice and disclosure, choice architecture, and interventions that directly …

Three Essays On Ceo Risk Preferences, And Ability, Corporate Hedging Decisions, And Investor Sentiment, Sonik Mandal

Finance Theses & Dissertations

The derivative hedging research has looked at why firms and how firms hedge and if it increases value for their shareholders. In this dissertation we investigate the relation between CEO risk preferences and ability and whether if affects their hedging decisions and firm value.

In our first essay, we challenge the theory and previous empirical evidence that showed CEO risk preferences affects hedging. Using a sample of Fortune 500 firms and 5 years of panel data, and using inside debt (i.e., CEO pension and deferred compensation) and the CEO Vega and CEO Delta, as proxies of CEO risk preferences, we …

A Smart Beta Approach To Fama-French And Profitability, Joseph Malgesini

CMC Senior Theses

The Fama and French five-factor model is molded into a smart beta investment strategy with strong exposure to the profitability factor. This constructed portfolio outperforms the market significantly despite an unintentional negative correlation with profitability that can be attributed to the intra-factor return correlations. The second portfolio, constructed by investing directly in profitability as represented by gross profit over total assets, outperforms both the market and the first portfolio.

The Effects Of Positive And Negative Environmental Responsibility On Financial Performance, Anna Gurr

CMC Senior Theses

As environmental responsibility (ER) gains momentum in the corporate and stakeholder world, it is imperative to understand the relationship between ER and financial performance. While there is prior research looking at this relationship, this study provides further insight into the specific effects of negative and positive ER. In addition, it looks over the years 2008-2011 having implications for companies about the effects of their ER even through financial hardships. This study uses a widely respected corporate social responsibility database, in which ER scores were separated from. In this study, 287 firms in the S&P 500 are examined through times-series regression …

Returns To Buying Winners And Selling Losers: A Look At Cryptocurrencies, Daniel Walker

CMC Senior Theses

This paper is, to my knowledge, one of the first ever to examine the effectiveness of price momentum trading strategies applied to cryptocurrencies. Using aggregate OHLCV (Open, High, Low, Close, Volume) data on cryptocurrency pairs from Poloniex, Bittrex, and Bitfinex, I apply Jegadeesh and Titman’s classic -month/-month momentum trading strategy, reporting annual returns with and without incorporating trading fees. Portfolios are resampled daily, weekly, and monthly, testing lookback and holding periods ranging from one day to one year. The results show that trading cryptocurrencies using momentum strategies derives returns that rapidly increase the more often portfolios are resampled, with the …

The Effects Of Bringing An Nba Franchise To A City On Employment: A Case Study Of Memphis, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Sacramento, And Salt Lake City, Ravi Shah

CMC Senior Theses

This paper utilizes a case study approach to explain the impact of having a franchise from the National Basketball Association (NBA) move to a city where a team from the four major American sports league had not existed on employment levels. This paper utilizes the synthetic control method to examine employment in Memphis, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Sacramento, and Salt Lake City. Applying the synthetic control method, this paper finds that employment is not impacted positively as the stadium proposals suggest they will when putting forth subsidy bids. Due to the large costs imposed on taxpayers as a result of the …

Institutional Ownership In Relation To The Mandatory Audit Firm Rotation Rule And Its Effect On Audit Quality, Latisha Shah

CMC Senior Theses

Previous studies have concluded that mandatory audit firm rotation (MAFR) has not been successful in controlling the outcomes of the auditor-client relationship. Additionally, the literature concludes that high institutional ownership enhances audit quality through monitoring the management-auditor relationship. This paper hypothesizes that better corporate governance in terms of high institutional ownership percentage will enhance audit quality during a MAFR regime. Since countries that have implemented MAFR in the past have their data in their local languages, I use the special case of Arthur Andersen clients based in the US as my treatment group. I carry out a descriptive statistical analysis …

The Effect Of Mandatory Adoption Of Ifrs On Transparency For Investors, Crystal Anderson

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the effect of the mandatory adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on transparency for investors by measuring the increase in earnings management during the post-adoption period of IFRS. One sign of earnings management is current year earnings being only slightly higher than the previous year’s earnings. An increase in earnings management means a decrease in accounting quality and a decrease of transparency for investors. By comparing firms that mandatorily adopted IFRS to similar benchmark firms in terms of strength of legal enforcement, book-to-market ratios, market values and net incomes, I am able to run empirical …

The Balance Between Financial And Quality Performance In For-Profit Hospitals Versus Non-Profit Hospitals, Blake Seidner

CMC Senior Theses

Recent trends of financial distress for non-profit hospitals and the uptick in acquisition of these hospitals by for-profit entities indicate different focuses from the management of each type of hospital. Using data on hospital quality and basic financial measures, this study examines shift in the balance of financial and quality performance. The dataset focuses on private non-profit and for-profit hospitals with low bed counts, ranging from 50-200 total beds. Results indicate a positive relationship between for-profit status and basic financial performance measures, such as profitability, and a negative relationship with patient experience, cost reduction for the patient, and overall quality. …

Microcredit And Survival Microenterprises: The Role Of Market Structure, P.V. Viswanath

Faculty Working Papers and Articles

Poverty remains a pervasive problem all over the world, but the problem is worst in underdeveloped areas like Africa. While microfinance is supposed to address this problem through the promotion of viable businesses, it has not been very successful in helping survival microenterprises, i.e., businesses that the very poor with limited human capital have access to, in sectors with low barriers to entry and selling undifferentiated products. In this paper, I examine the role of market structure in mediating the impact of micro-lending to such survival enterprises. While there have been many evaluations of microfinance institutions (MFIs), there have been …

A New Business Incentives Database, Timothy J. Bartik

Presentations

No abstract provided.

A New Business Incentives Database, Timothy J. Bartik

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Pre-Management? How To Best Prepare: A Brief Overview For Potential Accounting, Finance, And Information Systems Students, Ammon Kou

Marriott Student Review

Many pre-management students are curious about the accounting, finance, and information systems majors offered at BYU. This article features an overview of each major and how best to prepare for those majors’ programs.

What Bitcoin Is, And How It Can Change Commerce, Jeffrey Bukhari

Capstones

The use of the digital currency Bitcoin has spiked dramatically over the last several years. Spurred by interest from investors and those excited about its commercial and banking potential, the value of the cryptocurrency has seen its value greatly increase since its beginning in 2009.

This project explains the underlying technology behind Bitcoin, how Bitcoin is and will change commerce, and what potential lies ahead for the digital currency.

A Study Of Undergraduate Personal Finance Courses At Public Universities In The Pacific Northwest Using An Action Research Approach, Melody Bell

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The purpose of this action research study was to examine undergraduate personal finance course instruction with a specific focus on student loan debt instruction at public universities in Oregon. This study focused on the central research question: What is the scope, sequence, and emphasis on the curriculum in undergraduate financial education courses and how could it be improved? Four personal finance professors from four public universities in Oregon participated in the study; with one of the universities serving as the focus. The first stage after the proposed study was to audit the personal finance course at the focus university. The …

The Market At Work, Patrick Flynn

Honors Projects

I believe my project will be the best project for me using both of my majors. It is a great way for me to take some of the knowledge I learned here at BGSU and apply it to a real life scenario I could pursue in future years. Investing at a young age is very important to help raise a lot of money for my retirement, something that I am learning right now in class. People coming out of college usually aren’t very concerned with investing at such a young age. I want to take advantage of this opportunity that …

The Retainer-Based Model Of Financial Planning, Savannah Stone

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Through attending my classes and working part-time at a financial planning firm, I have learned about many different types of compensation for financial planners, the most common being commissions and fees. Western Kentucky University allowed me to travel to San Diego in January of 2017 to attend the TD Ameritrade LINC 2017 conference, and it was there that I was introduced to the concept of a monthly retainer model of compensation. This grabbed my attention because it was a relatively new and unusual form of payment for financial planning services. Through curiosity, this topic encouraged my study of the past, …

Financial Synergies And Systemic Risk In The Organization Of Bank Afþliates, Elisa Luciano, Clas Wihlborg

Business Faculty Articles and Research

We analyze theoretically banks’ choice of organizational structures in branches, subsidiaries or stand-alone banks, in the presence of public bailouts and default costs. These structures are characterized by different arrangements for internal rescue of affiliates against default. The cost of debt and leverage are endogenous. For moderate bailout probabilities, subsidiary structures, wherein the two entities provide mutual internal rescue under limited liability, have the highest group value, but also the highest risk taking as measured by leverage and expected loss. We explore the effect of constraints on leverage and policy implications. The conflict of interests between regulators, who minimize systemic …

Are Disagreements Agreeable? Evidence From Information Aggregation, Dashan Huang, Jiangyuan Li, Liyao Wang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Most studies on disagreement focus on cross-sectional asset returns and well-recognized disagreement measures generally cannot predict the stock market with a horizon less than 12 months. This paper proposes three aggregate disagreement indexes by aggregating information across 20 disagreement measures. We show that disagreement measures collectively have a common component that has significant power in predicting the stock market both in- and out-of-sample. Consistent with the theory developed by Atmaz and Basak (2017), the indexes asymmetrically forecast the market with greater power in high sentiment periods. Moreover, the indexes negatively predict economic activities, and positively predict market volatility, illiquidity, and …

The Impact Of Culture On Hispanic Entrepreneurs As Mediated By Motivation, Challenge, And Success, Valerie V. Ballesteros

Theses & Dissertations

In the modern economic environment, demographic shifts in U.S. population resulting from changing immigration, changing economic policies and environments, and growing socioeconomic disparity, scholarly research examining the business behavior of specific groups and the impact of behavior on the broader marketplace is valuable and necessary. Hispanic entrepreneurs, when compared to both minority and non-minority business-owners, started and flourished in successful business ownership at a greater growth rate than any other group (Davila, Mora, & Zeitlin, 2014). Since the beginning of the 21st century, Hispanic entrepreneurs have become a measurable economic force. The cultural experience of the Hispanic entrepreneur is important …

2017 Q4 Private Capital Access Index Report, Craig R. Everett

Pepperdine Private Capital Access Report

The Pepperdine Private Capital Access Index (PCA) is a quarterly indicator produced by the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University, and with the support of Dun & Bradstreet. The index is designed to measure the demand for, activity, and health of the private capital markets. The purpose of the PCA Index is to gauge the demand of small and medium sized businesses for financing needs, the level of accessibility of private capital, and the transparency and efficiency of private financing markets.

Proxy Access And Optimal Standardization In Corporate Governance: An Empirical Analysis, Reilly S. Steel

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

According to the conventional wisdom, “one size does not fit all” in corporate governance. Firms are heterogeneous with respect to their governance needs, implying that the optimal corporate governance structure must also vary from firm to firm. This one-size-does-not-fit-all axiom has featured prominently in arguments against numerous corporate law regulatory initiatives, including the SEC’s failed Rule 14a-11—an attempt to impose mandatory, uniform “proxy access” on all public companies—which the D.C. Circuit struck down for inadequate cost–benefit analysis.

This Article presents an alternative theory as to the role of standardization in corporate governance—in which investors prefer standardized terms—and empirical …

Eva: An Indicator Of Corporate Bankruptcy?, Amanda (Jinxian) Lu

Honors College Theses

Economic value added (EVA) analysis is one of the most common methods to evaluate company’s performance in terms of value creation, which involves ROIC (Return on Invested Capital) and WACC (Weighted Average Cost of Capital) as key drivers. Past studies evaluate the superiority of EVA over other measures of performance and relationship between EVA and stock returns. This paper analyzes the relationship between EVA and bankruptcy on 373 public traded companies in U.S. of which 178 companies filed for bankruptcy between the year of 2015 to October 2017. We present descriptive statistics, conduct univariae grouping tests and correlation between ROIC, …

Assessing The Current Efficiencies Of Farm Credit Of Western Arkansas, Hailey Paulsen

Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Undergraduate Honors Theses

Farm Credit is a unique banking structure, as it is a cooperative which pays patronage dividends to its members. As such, the rates for loans (nominal interest rates) that Farm Credit offers can be slightly higher than larger commercial banks because the patronage payment can offset some, all or more of interest rate difference, which results in an effective rate. Farm Credit, like other globally evolving industries, must continuously look for ways to differentiate themselves to compete for new customers and retain existing ones. Thus, this study sets out to survey the members of Western Farm Credit of Arkansas to …

Developing And Assessing The Drivers Of Usage Of Computer-Assisted-Audit-Techniques (Caats) And The Factors That Impact Audit Quality Perceptions In Government Internal Audit, Ashraf Alhabsi

Doctoral

This research aims to develop two models, the first of which is capable of predicting the internal auditor’s intention to adopt audit technologies, and second of which is to predict the factors that impact on the internal auditor’s perception of internal audit quality in the context of public sector auditing in Oman. The models proposed by this research are developed from existing research on technology adoption in general, as well as research on technology adoption specific to the internal audit context (Curtis & Payne, 2014; Dowling & Leech, 2014; Mahzan & Lymer, 2014). Given that Oman is only in the …

Bank Lending Channel And Changing Credit Standards In The Residential Mortgage Market, Salman Tahsin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation examines the relationship between bank conditions and the residential mortgage market. The first essay investigates the effect of bank distress on the residential mortgage market during the 2007-09 financial crisis. We use the county-aggregated change in the ratio of jumbo to nonjumbo mortgage acceptance rate as an instrumental variable to control for endogeneity between bank distress and county economic conditions. The median decrease in the instrumental variable explains an additional 1.5 percentage point decline in county home prices and a 20 basis point rise in the county unemployment rate, which represent 15% and 5%, respectively, of their median …