Business Commons^™

Why Is A New Index Needed?, Shama Ahmed

Business Review

Stock Market, Indices, Finance

Why Do Firms Manage Their Earnings?, Zeeshan Ahmed

Business Review

The topic of corporate earnings management has not only generated a great deal of media attention but it also has become a source of serious concern to regulators and policymakers. In the wake of the events that shook investors’ confidence in the American financial reporting system in late 2001 and early 2002, the earnings management practices of firms have come under fire by shareholders groups, institutional investors and the financial press alike. To some extent, regulators have responded by proposing and enacting new rules and regulations1. Likewise, accounting and financial researchers are increasingly probing into this topic. Prior studies identify …

Adding Depth To The Discussion Of Capital Budgeting Techniques, Tom Arnold, Terry D. Nixon

Finance Faculty Publications

The subject of capital budgeting generally encompasses a significant percentage of any beginning finance course with net present value (NPV) often receiving the most attention. Even after this substantial time allotment, critical assumptions and comparisons of the different techniques (such as payback period, discounted payback period, NPV and IRR) are frequently glossed over due to time constraints. Consequently, the goal of this paper is to present these non-NPV techniques in a manner that allows the beginning finance student to expeditiously see the intuition, inherent assumptions, and any connection with the more popular NPV calculation. A small portion of this paper …

Applying Altman's Z-Score In The Classroom, Tom Arnold, John H. Earl Jr.

Finance Faculty Publications

Altman's Z-score is introduced in an Excel framework to produce a quick calculation of the Z-score with actual financial data available through the Internet. The lesson plan developed is easily introduced with topics covering ratio analysis, financial risk, bond rating changes, and bankruptcy. Given the wide use of the Z-score in practice to evaluate credit risk (or bankruptcy risk), the lesson plan produces a skill set that is very marketable.

Saving Legal Education, Daniel J. Morrissey

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

End Matter, Esr Review

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

No abstract provided.

More Than A Little Good, Kevin W. Crean

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

No abstract provided.

Front Matter, Esr Review

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

No abstract provided.

Partner Profiles, Esr Review

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

No abstract provided.

Editor's Introduction: Welcome To The New Esr Review, Paul C. Godfrey

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

No abstract provided.

Microfranchising: A New Tool For Creating Economic Self-Reliance, Jason S. Fairbourne

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

This article is developed from a presentation given by Fairbourne and Stephen W. Gibson on December 2, 2005, at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

Profitable Financial Systems, Maria Otero

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

This article is a transcription of Otero's speech entitled “The Future of Microfinance: Creating Financial Systems to Serve the Poor Majority,” given on 11 March 2005 at the Economic Self-Reliance Conference held at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
Last November I met a widow of ten years in Arusha, Tanzania. Intent on providing a better life for her children and surviving as best she could, she had started a business selling rice soon after her husband died. Sophia has little education, but with a first loan of $50 she purchased a few kilo bags of rice for on-selling to …

Creating A Dynamic Board, Paul Jansen, Andra Kilpatrick, Vishy Cvsa

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

This article is taken from a report issued in 2003 by the Nonprofit Practice at McKinsey & Company, entitled “The Dynamic Board: Lessons from High- Performing Non-Profits.”
Does a great nonprofit organization need an exemplary board of directors? If an organization has a visionary leader, a skilled staff, loyal donors, and a substantial endowment, what does the board really add? In our consulting work, we are frequently asked to help assess board performance and identify opportunities for improvement. To get a more precise view of what makes board governance effective, we interviewed the directors or board chairs of thirty-two of …

Smart Subsidies, Jonathan J. Morduch

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

This essay is a reprint of Morduch's article “Smart Subsidy for Sustainable Microfinance,” published in the December 2005 issue (Vol. 6 No. 4) of Finance for the Poor, the quarterly microfinance newsletter of the Asian Development Bank.
Smart subsidy might seem like a contradiction in terms to many microfinance experts. Worries about the dangers of excessive subsidization have driven microfinance conversations since the movement first gained steam in the 1980s. From then on, the goal of serving the poor has been twined with the goal of long-term financial self-sufficiency on the part of microbanks, aiming for profitability became part …

Contributory Pension Scheme: The Case Of Brazil., Mbatomon R. Ako

Bullion

The reform of the pension industry in Nigeria was necessitated by many problems confronting both the public and private sectors pension schemes. The public sector operated largely the Defined Benefit - Pay As You Go (PAYG) scheme, which depended on budgetary provisions from various tiers of governments for funding. This paper discuss the conceptual issues of Contributory pension scheme in Brazil, the structure of the pension system and the features of the pension scheme as well as some other pension reforms in Brazil. The study concluded that. the pension systems were introduced into the country by the colonial administrators. The …

Financial Sector Outcomes In Nigeria: A Quantitative Evaluation., Abeng M. Okoi

Bullion

Prior to the adoption of the economic reforms measures of the 1980's, most African economies were predominantly characterised by extensive public ownership, management and control of productive and social infrastructures and institutions. This paper discuss the trend of investments and pension schemes with its risks and challenges in Nigeria. The study however confirmed the non applicability of the financial reform theory hypothesized by McKinnon and Shaw in Nigeria 'This Paper quantitatively examine the outcomes of financial sector reforms in Nigeria with a view to validating the applicability of the Mckinnon Shaw hypothesis of financial liberalization. The impact of reforms on …

Asian Market Microstructure, David K. Ding, Charlie Charoenwong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Along with the rapidly burgeoning Asian economy, the financial markets in the region have seen spectacular development during the past few decades. Several recent statistics will best illustrate their success. Net capital flows to Asia and Pacific over 1999 to 2003 constituted 40% of total flows to emerging markets and about 13.9% of the world's FDI flows. Over 90% of net capital flows to the Asia Pacific region has been in the form of equity and portfolio investment. By the end of 2004, Asia's share (including Japan) in world equity market capitalization has grown to 21%, with a total market …

Protecting Directors Of Nonprofit Boards, Kathleen O. Thompson

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

This article is adapted from Thompson’s article “Directors in a post-Enron world,” published in the Credit Union Magazine in April 2003.

Calendar, Esr Review

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

No abstract provided.

Vol. 08 No. 1 Esr Review, Esr Review

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

No abstract provided.

Financial Value Of Brands In Mergers And Acquisitions: Is Value In The Eye Of The Beholder?, Cem Badahir, Sundar G.Bharadwaj, Rajendra Kumar Srivastava

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Firms frequently engage in merger and acquisition deals. In these transactions, brands account for significant but differential proportions of overall transaction value. Extant marketing literature on financial value of brands focuses on drivers of financial value only within a firm. However, in a merger and acquisition context, value of brands also depends on how their new owners might leverage them in the marketplace. This study identifies and empirically tests both the target and acquirer characteristics that affect the value of target firm’s brands in mergers and acquisitions. Furthermore, the authors examine the moderating role of deal type and target firm …

2006-2007 Revised Operating Budget: Southern University And A & M College, Southern University System. Office Of Finance & Administration.

All Southern University System Budgets

The Revised Operating Budget 2005-2006 FY 2006-2007 Budget Request. Southern University and A & M College Campus.

The Archway Investment Fund Semi Annual Report, Spring 2006, Bryant University, Archway Investment Fund

Archway Investment Fund

No abstract provided.

The Hedge Fund Explosion: Is The Bang Worth The Buck?, Arindam Bandopadhyaya, James L. Grant

College of Management Working Papers and Reports

Any casual following of the financial news would reveal that hedge funds have experienced phenomenal growth, especially over the last fifteen years. In terms of numbers, there were an estimated 8000 hedge funds in 2005, up from only 500 in 1990. During this fifteen-year period assets under management have grown from an estimated $50 billion to $1.5 trillion. Moreover, the hedgefund industry has spawned a “fund of funds” business, which has slowly become the preferred way of investing in hedge funds, especially for institutional investors. Today, the number of these combination funds is estimated at about 4000.

Until recently, hedge …

Do Accurate Earnings Forecasts Facilitate Superior Investment Recommendations?, Roger Loh, G. Mujtaba Mian

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We find that analysts who issue more accurate earnings forecasts also issue more profitable stock recommendations. The average factor-adjusted return associated with the recommendations of analysts in the highest accuracy quintile exceeds the corresponding return for analysts in the lowest accuracy quintile by 1.27% per month. Our findings provide indirect empirical support for valuation models in the accounting and finance literatures (e.g., Ohlson, 1995) that emphasize the role of future earnings in predicting stock price movements. Our results also suggest that imperfectly efficient markets reward information gatherers, such as security analysts, for their costly activities in generating superior earnings forecasts.

Loss Function Asymmetry And Forecast Optimality: Evidence From Individual Analysts' Forecasts, Stanimir Markov, Min Yen Tan

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We examine the optimality of quarterly earning forecasts issued by individual analysts. When we conduct Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Least Absolute Deviations (LAD) analyses, which assume loss function symmetry, we reject the null of forecast optimality at 5% significance level more than 5% of the time. Relaxing the symmetry assumption reduces the frequency of rejections below 5%. We demonstrate that the cross-sectional variation in the asymmetry parameter of the loss function is related to analyst employment. Overall, our evidence is consistent with the joint hypothesis of asymmetric loss and forecast optimality rather than the alternative of symmetric loss and …

Housing Price Determinants In The Lynchburg, Virginia Area, Benjamin L. Ferguson

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

The effect of certain variables on the price of a house is a subject that has been very widely studied. This paper attempts to generate a pricing model for houses in the Lynchburg VA, area using the physical characteristics of a home and other locational variables. The model will attempt to create a representation of the housing price equation for the market in the area. The results of the equation will allow the ability to predict future housing prices in the market, given certain physical and locational values that are similar for the area. 3

Information Risk In The International Currency Markets: Evidence From The Violation Of Uirp, Bill B. Francis, Kimberly Gleason, Delroy M. Hunter, Charles A. Malgwi

CRIF Seminar series

Drawing on the theoretical and empirical evidence that private information risk is priced in the expected returns of equities, we hypothesize that information risk premium is an important component of the risk premium that leads to the violation of uncovered interest rate parity (UIRP). Using an asset pricing model in which the risk factors are a world currency factor, a world equity factor, and a world private information factor, we find that UIRP is violated for 28 single currencies plus the euro and that violation is due to the existence of a significant time-varying risk premium. The component of the …

Modeling And Simulation Of Value -At -Risk In The Financial Market Area, Xiangyin Zheng

Doctoral Dissertations

Value-at-Risk (VaR) is a statistical approach to measure market risk. It is widely used by banks, securities firms, commodity and energy merchants, and other trading organizations. The main focus of this research is measuring and analyzing market risk by modeling and simulation of Value-at-Risk for portfolios in the financial market area. The objectives are (1) predicting possible future loss for a financial portfolio from VaR measurement, and (2) identifying how the distributions of the risk factors affect the distribution of the portfolio. Results from (1) and (2) provide valuable information for portfolio optimization and risk management.

The model systems chosen …

The Value Of Foreclosed Property, Anthony Pennington-Cross

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

This paper examines the expected price appreciation of distressed property and compares it to the prevailing metropolitan area appreciation rate. Whether due to individual property or local area heterogeneity in appreciation, the results show that foreclosed property appreciates less than the area average appreciation rate. The magnitude of the deviation is sensitive to loan characteristics, legal restrictions, housing market conditions and marketing time.