Business Commons^™

An Econometric History Of Philippine Trade: 1810–1899, Luisito C. Abueg

DLSU Business & Economics Review

An econometric “verification” of historical accounts of Philippine international trade and economic liberalization during the 19th century using econometric analysis to correlate historical accounts from official and other historical sources from Spanish era of Filipinas (majority of Luzon and Visayas trading centers). This paper also aims to assess macroeconomic trends and institutional analyses of Philippine colonial trade of the 19th century (with consequences to the 20th century Philippine economic development experience) using the perspective of econometric methodology.

Effects Of Affluence On Rising Household Carbon Emission In The Philippines: An Application Using Quantile Regression Approach, Moises Neil V. Seriño

DLSU Business & Economics Review

This study investigates whether rising affluence affects carbon emission differently by considering the distribution of households based on the level of emission. Whereas there are several empirical studies that examine this issue with mean based regression approach, limited studies have investigated the effect of affluence on the quantiles of household emission controlling for several household characteristics. Employing the methods of quantile regression, results show that rising affluence affects household emission differently. The effect is more pronounced among households in the upper emission quantile as compared to households in the lower emission quantile. This suggests that an increase in income translates …

Another Look At Demand-Side Digital Piracy, Andrea L. Santiago

DLSU Business & Economics Review

Technological improvements made it easier for individuals to download files for personal use. From one end, the clear message is that piracy is wrong and attention should be drawn to crushing piracy with education and disincentives. On the other end of the spectrum is the view that anything that can be accessed online is free. This paper encapsulates the major discussions on digital piracy thus far. It also looks at alternative ways to approach the debate so that more creative solutions can be developed without compromising on the basic principle that the creator of an idea or product deserves to …

A Quantitative Examination Of The Relationship Between Age, Gender, And Burnout In Public Accounting Professionals In A United States National Firm, Jamie Stowe

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Scholars and practitioners agree burnout is a significant problem plaguing the public accounting industry. Burnout is a condition that results from long periods of excessive strain on personal resources, and is often found in public accounting professionals due to the high stress and deadline-driven environment. As the causes for burnout are better understood, the focus has turned to why some individuals are more likely to burnout than others. Identifying who has a tendency to burnout can only help in the quest for solutions. The purpose of this correlational quantitative study was to test the theoretical framework of Maslach and Jackson …

A Commitment Contract To Achieve Virologic Suppression In Poorly Adherent Patients With Hiv/Aids, Marcella Alsan, John Beshears, Wendy S. Armstrong, James J. Choi, Brigitte C. Madrian, Minh Ly T. Nguyen, Carlos Del Rio, David Laibson, Vincent C. Marconi

Faculty Publications

Objective—Assess whether a commitment contract informed by behavioral economics leads to persistent virologic suppression among HIV-positive patients with poor antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence.

Design—Single-center pilot randomized clinical trial, plus a non-randomized control group.

Setting—Publicly-funded HIV clinic in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Intervention—The study involved three arms. (i) Participants in the provider visit incentive arm received $30 after attending each scheduled provider visit. (ii) Participants in the incentive choice arm were given a choice between the above arrangement and a commitment contract that made the $30 payment conditional on both attending the provider visit and meeting an ART adherence threshold. (iii) The …

Determinants Of Cash Holding Of Listed Manufacturing Companies In The Indonesian Stock Exchange, Muhammad Arfan, Hasan Basri, Risma Handayani, M. Shabri Abd. Majid,, Heru Fahlevi, Azimah Dianah

DLSU Business & Economics Review

This study is primarily aimed at identifying significant factors that affect the level of cash holding of 77 manufacturing companies listed in the Indonesian Stock Exchange for the period 2009 to 2013. Factors normally identified in the literature that affect cash holding, including the levels of growth opportunity, networking capital, and financial leverage of firms, are examined in the study. Other than these variables, this study also incorporated the profitability and capital expenditure of the firms as controlled variables. Out of 138 manufacturing companies, 77 companies were selected as sample of the study using the purposive sampling technique. Secondary data …

Short And Long Run Uncertainty, Jose Maria Barrero, Nicholas Bloom, Ian Wright

Faculty Publications

Uncertainty appears to have both a short-run and a long-run component, which we measure using firm and macro implied volatility data from options of 30 days to 10 years duration. We ask what may be driving uncertainty over these different time horizons, finding that oil price volatility is particularly important for short-run uncertainty, policy uncertainty is particularly important for long-run uncertainty, while currency volatility and CEO turnover appear to equally impact shortand long-run uncertainty. Examining a panel of over 4,000 firms from 1996 to 2013 we find that R&D is relatively more sensitive to long-run uncertainty than investment, and in …

Pricing Kernel Monotonicity And Conditional Information, Matthew Linn, Sophie Shive, Tyler Shumway

Faculty Publications

A large literature finds evidence that pricing kernels nonparametrically estimated from option prices and historical returns are not monotonically decreasing in market index returns. We argue that existing estimation methods are inconsistent and propose a new nonparametric estimator of the pricing kernel that reflects the information available to investors who set asset prices. In simulations, the estimator outperforms existing techniques. Our empirical estimates using S&P 500 index option data from 1996 to 2014 and FTSE 100 index option data from 2002 to 2014 suggest that the "pricing kernel puzzle'' is due to flaws in existing estimators rather than a behavioral …

Bankruptcy Spillovers, Shai Bernstein, Emanuele Colonnelli, Xavier Giroud, Benjamin Iverson

Faculty Publications

How do different bankruptcy approaches affect the local economy? Using U.S. Census microdata at the establishment level, we explore the spillover effects of reorganization and liquidation on geographically proximate firms. We exploit the random assignment of bankruptcy judges as a source of exogenous variation in the probability of liquidation. We find that within a five-year period, employment declines substantially in the immediate neighborhood of the liquidated establishments, relative to reorganized establishments. Most of the decline is due to lower growth of existing establishments and, to a lesser extent, reduced entry into the area. The spillover effects are highly localized and …

Behaviorally Informed Policies For Household Financial Decisionmaking, Brigitte C. Madrian, Hal E. Hershfield, Abigail B. Sussman, Saurabh Bhargava, Jeremy Burke, Scott A. Huettel, Julian Jamison, Eric J. Johnson, John G. Lynch, Stephan Meier, Scott Rick, Suzanne B. Shu

Faculty Publications

Low incomes, limited financial literacy, fraud, and deception are just a few of the many intractable economic and social factors that contribute to the financial difficulties that households face today. Addressing these issues directly is difficult and costly. But poor financial outcomes also result from systematic psychological tendencies, including imperfect optimization, biased judgments and preferences, and susceptibility to influence by the actions and opinions of others. Some of these psychological tendencies and the problems they cause may be countered by policies and interventions that are both low cost and scalable. We detail the ways that these behavioral factors contribute to …

Three Essays On The Compensation, Structure, And Decision Making Of The Board Of Directors, Duong Pham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My first essay examines compensation of newly formed boards of directors following tax-free corporate spin-offs. The empirical results show newly formed spin-off boards are paid significantly more than peer boards in the same industry with similar firm size. Higher compensation is observed for spin-off firms where the CEOs are not formerly employed by the parent firms but not for spin-off firms with parent related CEOs, indicating that new directors demand higher compensation for the work involved in setting up the new governing system for the spun-off firms especially when there is a brand new CEO managing the spinoff firm. Differences …

Three Essays On Market Efficiency And Corporate Diversification, Fawzi Jaber Hyder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In my first essay, I use additions to the S&P 500 index as a laboratory to investigate how the interaction between arbitrageurs and arbitrage risk affects security prices. I find that the price effect is strong when there is high arbitrage risk (as measured by the lack of close substitutes) and low presence of arbitrageurs (as measured by low ownership by active institutions). Furthermore, a strong presence of arbitrageurs moderates the effect of arbitrage risk on the post-addition price reaction of added stocks. I also find a significant decrease in arbitrageurs' ownership in the added stocks post addition. More importantly, …

Strategies And Processes For Implementing Financial Analysis For Business Success, Dawn Theona Alexander-Joseph

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The early failure of startup businesses is a concern for many local communities, including the Virgin Islands, with about half of startups failing within the first 5 years of their life cycle. Besides the social and economic impact on communities, these failures have a personal effect on small business owners. Grounded in decision-making theory and the theory of financial management, the purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies and processes Virgin Islands retail business managers use to implement financial analysis for decision making to help sustain their operations. Data were collected using company records and semistructured interviews …

Multigenerational Financial Values: Differences Between Leaders In The Workplace, Terrence S. Ransom

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Company leaders in the workplace represent all generations with diverse values, and those values influence their financial decisions in the workplace. The problem is that multigenerational company leaders and their employees possess different values from one another, which in turn creates different financial priorities for the company. The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain a better understanding of how the financial values of company leaders from different generations are developed, and how those values influence their financial decisions in the workplace. The key research question for this qualitative study examined how the financial values and decisions of company …

Strategies For Effective Financial Management In Vincentian Small Businesses, Kishore Nalin Shallow

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The lack of strategies for effective financial management has been an impediment to the survival and growth of many small businesses in Saint Vincent (St. Vincent), an island in the Caribbean. Inadequate adoption of strategies by small business owners is a prime contributing factor to small business failure. The purpose of this research was to identify strategies that small business owners use for effective financial management. Institutional theory served as the conceptual framework for this multiple case study. Participants consisted of 4 St. Vincent small business owners who had demonstrated effective financial management strategies in the operation of their businesses. …

The Effectiveness Of Funding Sources On Agricultural Projects In Yobe State, Nigeria, Umaru Galadima Tela

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study examined the effectiveness of the Fadama III, National Program for Food Security and International Fund for Agricultural Development programs in reducing poverty and income inequality in Yobe State, Nigeria. Agricultural funding in the state has increased by 670.7% between 2004 and 2013. Despite this trajectory, the state ranks among the worst in Nigeria in terms of poverty and income inequality according to UNDP report, reinforcing the need to investigate the impact of agricultural funding on the state's welfare. Previous studies in this area have been on a country-wide basis and have not disaggregated the funding sources. This study …

Effect Of 2007-2009 Economic Crisis And Dodd-Frank Legislation On The U.S. Banking Industry, Steven D. Simpson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This correlation research study was used to investigate the impact of the Dodd-Frank legislation on the U.S. bank industry. The economic crisis of 2007-2009 had a global and significant financial impact, some of which still reverberates. In the United States, the reaction was The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which took effect July 21, 2010. This act has recently been the subject of academic research and remains debated in congress, with discussion focused on its repeal. The publicly available, secondary data set from banks' quarterly filed regulatory reporting provided the data used in this study. Every FDIC …

Hedging Exchange Rate Risks, Godwill George Wanga

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Risks associated with fluctuating exchange rates affect investment cost and investor profitability. Approximately 50% of firms in emerging markets have significant exposure to fluctuating exchange rates. Grounded in principal-agent theory (PAT), the purpose of this case study was to explore hedging strategies to mitigate risks of fluctuating exchange rates. The population comprised a census sampling of 12 bank hedgers (risk managers and controllers) in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, East Africa. Data collection involved semistructured interviews, casual observations of the work environment, and analysis of reports including risk management, internal control, and compliance policies. Data were analyzed by coding and …

Management Strategies To Improve Employee Engagement In The Credit Union Industry, Joy Keiondra Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Employee engagement is the main topic of discussion among researchers and managers for over 24 years. Managing employee engagement is critical to the success of an organization, but 85% of manager's struggle with engaging employees. The purpose of this single case study was to explore employee engagement strategies that credit union managers use to increase productivity and organizational effectiveness. Expectancy theory was used to explore employee engagement, performance, and motivation of people in the workplace. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and observations with 6 credit union managers and company documents using thematic coding. Analysis of the data revealed that, …

The Impact Of Corporate Governance On Working Capital Management In Nigerian Organizations, George Chibuzo Njoku

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many Nigerian firms have faced working capital management (WCM) inconsistencies, which have remained a source of tremendous concern in the face of high competition. In this study, the research problem explored was how inefficient working capital policies are still negatively affecting shareholders' wealth several years after the economic crisis, constraining sustainable development. The purpose of this quantitative research study was to examine how corporate governance has affected WCM within Nigerian organizations. The research question was about how corporate governance practices expand WCM efficiency. A random sample of 89 Nigerian organizations was used, and publicly available ethical ratings and financial information …

Ghanaian Bank Performance And Ownership, Size, Risk, And Efficiency, Rebecca Attah

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ghanaian banks struggle to maintain sufficient capital after the Bank of Ghana increased the minimum capital requirement as a buffer against the 2008 financial crisis. Grounded in the efficient structure theory (EST), the purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationships between efficiency, size, risk, and ownership structure on banks' performance when minimum capital requirement increases. Archival data were collected from PricewaterhouseCoopers website covering all Ghanaian banks with available data for the 5-year period ending 2013. Initial one tail paired sample t tests revealed significant increases over time for efficiency, t(21) = 3.849, p -?¤ .001, net interest …

The Impacts Of Credit On Small Business Financing In Florida, Ike Chukwuma

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the United States, small businesses represent 99.7% of firms that provide employment and account for over 50% of all private sector employment. Nevertheless, the rationing of small business borrowing is an indicative of acute credit constraints emanating from poverty, lack of collateral, lack of cosigners for bank loans, high administrative fees associated with processing credit loans, and information asymmetry along with other socioeconomic factors. In a 4-year study from 2004-2008, it was determined that small businesses suffer tremendously from credit rationing. The purpose of this study was to determine the induced effect of loan guarantee scheme, collateral, and leverage …

Impact Of Financial Reporting Frameworks On The Quality Of Not-For-Profit Financial Reports, Jobra Mulumba Kisaku

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Even when clean audit reports are issued for not-for-profit organizations (NFPOs), misuse of donor resources may continue for years without detection by financial statement users. Previous research has established creative accounting, haphazard reporting, and fraud among NFPOs. As a result, aid has been reduced and some projects have been suspended. With Uganda as the study area, the key research question was the following: What is the impact of financial reporting frameworks on the quality of financial reports in Uganda, controlling for class of external auditors? The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to establish whether reporting frameworks used by …

Product Diversification To Improve Investment Returns For High-Net-Worth-Individuals In Ghana, Suzy Aku Akpene Puplampu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The population of high-net-worth-individuals (HNWIs) in Ghana is projected to increase from 2,400 in 2015 to 4,900 by 2024. HNWIs in Ghana desire to have access to alternative investment instruments to enhance diversification and improve investment returns on their portfolios. Guided by the product-market-grid-model, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore diversification strategies some fund managers use to improve returns for HNWIs. Twelve participants from 3 investment firms in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, including CEOs and fund managers with more than 5 years of professional and industry experience, participated in semistructured interviews. Observations and …

Performance Analysis Of Equity Index Universal Life Insurance, Zhixin Wu, Lei Liang

Mathematics Faculty Publications

Equity Index Universal Life (EIUL) is a variation of whole life insurance which carries a death benefit component and a cash value component. The popularity of EIUL has been growing quickly in recent years because of its promised downside protection and upside potential. However, its long-term viability can’t be directly verified since no public data of EIUL is available to check its historical performance. This paper models the stock market return, interest rate and other market variables simultaneously to simulate the potential future returns of EIUL under different scenarios. Research in the literature often only models the stock market return …

News And Social Media Emotions In The Commodity Market, Jiancheng Shen, Mohammad Najand, Feng Dong, Wu He

Finance Faculty Publications

Purpose--Emotion plays a significant role in both institutional and individual investors' decision-making process. Emotions affect the perception of risk and the assessment of monetary value. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence available that addresses how investors' emotions affect commodity market returns. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether media-based emotions can be used to predict future commodity returns.

Design/methodology/approach--The authors examine the short-term predictive power of media-based emotion indices on the following five days' commodity returns. The research adopts a proprietary data set of commodity-specific market emotions, which is computed based on a comprehensive …

The Contributors, Marites Tiongco

DLSU Business & Economics Review

No abstract provided.

Death Spiral Convertible Bonds, Austin Dwyer

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Death spiral convertibles, are a type of loan lenders give to a firm in exchange for a right to convert into equity at below market prices. This differs from traditional convertibles because there is no fixed conversion price. Instead, the price can be reset lower if the firm's stock price falls below the conversion price at the time of issuance. As the process repeats itself the stock's price spirals downwards. This process benefits the bondholders at the cost of the shareholders. Based on a hand collected sample of 23 companies issuing a total of I 97 floating price convertibles, the …

Show Me The Money: A Study Of Interrelationships Between A Regional Theatre's Revenue And Location, Rebecca Snedeker-Meier

Senior Independent Study Theses

Regional theatres are non-profit organizations that survive off earned and contributed income. In particular, contributed, or donated, income can change depending on the community a theatre is located in. However, there is no consensus whether there is a relationship between the two. This study compares Arena Stage, Guthrie Theater, Cleveland Play House and Alley Theatre to answer the question; how does geographic location relate to the ratios of revenue sources? The income ratios were based off numbers derived from 990 tax forms and the theatres’ operating budgets. Those numbers were then analyzed and compared to the other theatres’ income ratios. …

Modeling Financial Distress Of Smes In Thailand For Comparative Analysis Of Normal And Recession Periods, Chayanisa Sanehluxana

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are often viewed as backbone of countries' economy since they play a crucial role in countries' employment and growth. Credit risk analysis for SMEs has become an important task to perform since the lack of understanding and developing an effective tool to forecast the distress and default risk may lead to huge losses and affect the whole economy of a country. Therefore, this paper aims to develop the models that can predict for the probability of financial distress for SMEs in Thailand by employing both Logistic Regression Analysis (Logit) and Cox's Proportional Hazard model. Moreover, …