Business Commons^™

Essays In Financial Economics: Announcement Effects In Fixed Income Markets, James J. Forest

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT ESSAYS IN FINANCIAL ECONOMICS: ANNOUNCEMENT EFFECTS IN FIXED INCOME MARKETS PHD IN FINANCE MAY 2018 JAMES J FOREST B.A., FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY M.S., NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS – AMHERST Directed by: Professor Hossein B. Kazemi This dissertation demonstrates the use of empirical techniques for dealing with modeling issues that arise when analyzing announcement effects in fixed income markets. It describes empirical challenges in achieving unbiased and efficient parameter estimates and shows the importance of modelling a wide range of macroeconomic announcement effects to avoid omitted variable bias. Employing techniques common in Macroeconomics, financial market researchers are better …

Optimization For Lng Terminals Routing In North China, Shuting Wang

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

How Chinese Enterprises Evaluate The Investment Value Of Seaports Along The “One Belt One Road”, Ziyang Zhang

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Study On The Fluctuation And Forecasting Of Capsize Bulk Carrier’S Freight, Kelun Wei

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Empirical Analysis Of Climatic, Geographic, And Cultural Determinants Of International Tourism, Ethan Straus

Honors Theses

Each year, billions of people visit different countries all around the world. For many of those countries, tourism is their primary industry, leading to millions of jobs and dollars in revenue. It is expected that by 2020 total International Tourism Receipts will reach 2 trillion US dollars annually. Currently, tourism employs an estimated 200 million people around the world. With the continued progression of climate change, the tourism industry is facing a newfound threat. Global temperatures and the seal level are both expected to rise significantly by the end of the century. Additionally, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has …

Re-Evaluating Performance Measurement: New Mathematical Methods To Address Common Performance Measurement Challenges, Jordan David Benis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Performance Measurement is an essential discipline for any business. Robust and reliable performance metrics for people, processes, and technologies enable a business to identify and address deficiencies to improve performance and profitability. The complexity of modern operating environments presents real challenges to developing equitable and accurate performance metrics. This thesis explores and develops two new methods to address common challenges encountered in businesses across the world. The first method addresses the challenge of estimating the relative complexity of various tasks by utilizing the Pearson Correlation Coefficient to identify potentially over weighted and under weighted tasks. The second method addresses the …

Initial Evidence Of Construct Validity Of Data From A Self-Assessment Instrument Of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (Tpack) In 2-Year Public College Faculty In Texas, Kristin C. Scott

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) has been studied in K-12 faculty in the U.S. and around the world using survey methodology. Very few studies of TPACK in post-secondary faculty have been conducted and no peer-reviewed studies in U.S. post-secondary faculty have been published to date. The present study is the first reliability and validity of data from a TPACK survey to be conducted with a large sample of U.S. post-secondary faculty. The professorate of 2-year public college faculty in Texas will help their institutions meet the goals of the state’s higher education strategic plan, 60x30TX. In order to do …

Some Applications Of Higher-Order Hidden Markov Models In The Exotic Commodity Markets, Heng Xiong

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The liberalisation of regional and global commodity markets over the last several decades resulted in certain commodity price behaviours that require new modelling and estimation approaches. Such new approaches have important implications to the valuation and utilisation of commodity derivatives. Derivatives are becoming increasingly crucial for market participants in hedging their exposure to volatile price swings and in managing risks associated with derivative trading. The modelling of commodity-based variables is an integral part of risk management and optimal-investment strategies for commodity-linked portfolios. The characteristics of commodity price evolution cannot be captured sufficiently by one-state driven models even with the inclusion …

Mixture Models With Grouping Structure: Retail Analytics Applications, Haidar Almohri

Wayne State University Dissertations

Growing competitiveness and increasing availability of data is generating tremendous interest in data-driven analytics across industries. In the retail sector, stores need targeted guidance to improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of individual stores based on their specific location, demographics, and environment. We propose an effective data-driven framework for internal benchmarking that can lead to targeted guidance for individual stores. In particular, we propose an objective method for segmenting stores using a model-based clustering technique that accounts for similarity in store performance dynamics. It relies on effective Finite Mixture of Regression (FMR) techniques for carrying out the model-based clustering with …

An Analysis Of Equity-Linked Insurance Pricing, Clara C. Ortgies

Honors Program Theses

This comprehensive study of equity-linked insurance options will explore the pricing of certificates of deposit and life insurance options using a present value method. With this study, I will be able to construct and price various equity-linked insurance products, with a focus on life insurance, that insurance companies could then sell to prospective customers. I will use concepts and formulas based in actuarial math, probability theory, and financial engineering in order to construct, price, and analyze new equity-linked insurance products. The fundamental methodology I will use involves applying pricing theory based on the expected value of the insurance payoff present …

Estimating The Optimal Cutoff Point For Logistic Regression, Zheng Zhang

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Binary classification is one of the main themes of supervised learning. This research is concerned about determining the optimal cutoff point for the continuous-scaled outcomes (e.g., predicted probabilities) resulting from a classifier such as logistic regression. We make note of the fact that the cutoff point obtained from various methods is a statistic, which can be unstable with substantial variation. Nevertheless, due partly to complexity involved in estimating the cutpoint, there has been no formal study on the variance or standard error of the estimated cutoff point.

In this Thesis, a bootstrap aggregation method is put forward to estimate the …

Forensic Detection For Earnings Management In Selected Code Law Nations Of Europe, Jef Lee Garner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study investigated earnings management in European firms. The private investors became victims of manipulated earnings where few laws offered regulatory oversight. The study forensically examined the attributes of earnings management identified using a discretionary accrual model published in Jones' work and Schippers' work. The firms' managers should fulfil agency theory when they made reporting decisions, and they should act in the investors' best interests to fulfil stewardship theory. The managers failed as they seemed to favor insiders when they reported manipulated earnings to outsiders like small investors even though the managers published financial reports conforming to the International Financial …

Location Optimization Of A Coal Power Plant To Balance Coal Supply And Electric Transmission Costs Against Plant’S Emission Exposure, Najam Khan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research is focused on developing a location analysis methodology that can minimize the pollutant exposure to the public while ensuring that the combined costs of electric transmission losses and coal logistics are minimized. Coal power plants will provide a critical contribution towards meeting electricity demands for various nations in the foreseeable future. The site selection for a new coal power plant is extremely important from an investment point of view. The operational costs for running a coal power plant can be minimized by a combined emphasis on placing a coal power plant near coal mines as well as customers. …

Mlb Rule Iv Draft: Valuing Draft Pick Slots, Anthony Cacchione

Dissertations and Theses

This study explored the Net Present Value (NPV) in dollar terms of draft pick slots in the Major League Rule IV Draft. In order to accomplish this, the cumulative performance of players selected in each slot within the draft was evaluated and brought to the Present Value of the time they were selected using a discount rate. The performance of the players was determined using the baseball-reference Wins Above Replacement (WAR) metric. It is intuitive that earlier draft picks are the most valuable; however, it is unclear how quickly the value of draft picks decline. This research demonstrates that the …