Business Commons^™

Two Essays On Investor Sentiment, Amin Amoulashkarian

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

The body of literature on investor sentiment underlines its impact on future stock returns, with general consensus that investor sentiments and future returns are negatively correlated (Baker and Wurgler, 2006; Brown and Cliff, 2004). This extends to the notion that a bullish investor would expect returns to be above average, while a bearish investor anticipates below-average returns (Brown and Cliff, 2004).

The first essay proposes a model to examine the influence of unexpected volatility of investor sentiment on the equity risk premium. Assumptions underpinning the model include risk-averse investors, homogeneous expectations regarding asset returns and price changes, and sentiment-influenced expectations …

Two Essays On Retail Trading, Qiqi Liang

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Essay 1: Retail investors from the discount broker Robinhood swarm into stocks with pending earnings announcements and stay away from them immediately after the announcements. We study four competing explanations for this phenomenon: liquidity provision, informed trading, lottery preference, and attention-induced herding by noise traders. We find strong evidence that, immediately around earnings announcements, Robinhood investors’ behavior is primarily driven by attention-induced noise trading. Our results offer new insights into retail traders’ motivation for trading when they face heightened uncertainty from earnings announcements. Our study also goes beyond Barber et al.’s (2022) limited focus on the top 0.5% of the …

Two Essays In Real Estate Dynamics, Navid Safari

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Real estate dynamics encompass a multifaceted interplay of various factors that shape the market. This dissertation presents two distinct essays that delve into critical aspects of real estate dynamics.

In the first essay, we investigate the influence of short-term rentals, specifically Airbnb activity, on neighboring house prices in Hampton Roads, Virginia. By employing robust measures such as active listings, reservations, and their cumulative impact over different periods, we uncover a positive association between prior Airbnb rental activity and housing sales prices. Moreover, we observe a spatial decay effect, where the localized impact diminishes with increasing geographic distance, particularly beyond 500 …

Two Essays On Industry Tournament Incentives, Sarah Almisher

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

A large body of literature has developed on the disparities in compensation among chief executive officers. Financial media has highlighted the fact that CEOs in the United States receive excessive pay and that the gap among executive compensation is soaring. High compensation creates incentives for CEOs to take higher risk in firm policies to land a more attractive position managing another firm and attaining higher pay which is considered the ultimate prize (Kale, Reis, and Venkateswaran 2009; Coles, Daniel, and Naveen 2006). This creates a tournament in the managerial labor market. We define this tournament as the pay differential between …

Firm Capabilities, Great Power Competition, And The Structural Reshaping Of Globalization, Samuel Wilson

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

The changing nature of modern globalization has given rise to strategic competition between great power states, who utilize global firms and policy interventions in commercial markets to pursue state-level objectives. Multinational executives operating in global markets must contend with the consequences of great power competition between countries like the US and China, developing novel strategies and capabilities to defend firm performance in the face of trade wars and geopolitical confrontation. Through the analysis of risk factor disclosures of foreign multinational firms operating in China, as well as cases of Chinese economic and industrial espionage against US firms, this study utilizes …

Two’S A Crowd? Implications Of Economic Geography For Corporate Governance, Matthew Farrell

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Although literature on corporate governance and economic geography often explores similar constructs, theories, and other matters, little work has been done examining their joint effects. This two-essay dissertation integrates these literatures in order to partially fill this gap by asking the following research questions:

1.) Do geographic proximity and multiple directorships function as substitutes or complements?

2.) How is the governance of highly innovative firms affected by the presence of Marshallian externalities?

While some scholars suggest that multiple directorships lead to board members neglecting their advisory and monitoring obligations, others have embraced the idea that holding multiple board seats can …

Two Essays On The Role Of Empathy In Consumer Response To User-Generated Content, Mohammadali Koorank Beheshti

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Empathy is known to be the basis of all human interactions and an essential component of human psychology. Empathy includes a cognitive component (perspective-taking) and an affective component (e.g., emotional contagion). The two essays of my dissertation investigate how each of these components of empathy affect consumer responses to user-generated content.

Essay 1: Although both price and online review ratings are important cues in consumers’ product quality judgment, most previous studies have treated price and review ratings as separate inputs into consumer decision-making. The current research shows that the two cues are intertwined, such that consumers’ perception of the same …

Three Essays On Stock Price Informativeness, Stock Price Momentum, And Firm Investment Efficiency, Chen Chen

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Scholarly studies documented that stock price informativeness plays a critical role in market efficiency. In this dissertation, we participate this stream of literature by investigating the effects of stock price informativeness on the magnitudes of stock price momentum and the outcomes of corporate merger and acquisition decisions.

Essay 1 explores the effect of stock price synchronicity on momentum. The momentum anomaly is widely attributed to investor cognitive biases, but the trigger of cognitive biases is largely unexplored. In this study, inspired by psychology studies linking cognitive biases to the noisiness of information, we examine whether momentum returns are associated with …

Two Essays On The Effects Of Ceo Social Activism, Habib Islam

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

The first essay theorizes and quantifies the effects of CEO activism on firms’ financial performance. We examine this relationship within the framework of screening theory. We find that CEO social activism generally leads to adverse investor reactions. This negative effect is most prominent when there is interdimensional incongruence in CEO social activism messages. In addition, we find that the negative effect of CEO social activism is moderated by organizational characteristics that resolve incongruence caused by disparate signals.

The second essay seeks to understand how a CEO’s social activism influences corporate social performance. We hypothesize that CEO social activism will have …

Three Essays On Ceo Traits, Corporate Investment Decisions, And Firm Value, Rongyao Zhang

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

More and more research has shown that the characteristics of top executives, especially CEOs, affect organizational decisions and behaviors. This dissertation primarily focuses on the role of executives’ managerial ability played in firm investment decisions, such as mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) investment, and firm value.

Essay 1 examines whether high-ability managers’ earnings smoothing is motivated by the need to mitigate the adverse effects of heightened information asymmetry triggered by M&As on managers’ reputation capital and firm value. I document that acquirers with high-ability managers engage in more pre-acquisition earnings smoothing and experience more significant announcement …

Two Essays On Antecedents And Effects Of Award-Winning Ceos, Veronika Ciarleglio

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

A vibrant stream of research in strategic management examines CEO reputation, status, media coverage, and awards on firm outcomes.

This dissertation examines antecedents that impact the likelihood of CEOs gaining higher visible status —such as winning awards — and the impact of such status on firm behavior. The dissertation addresses these issues in two essays.

In the first essay, we use signaling theory to frame the impact of industry characteristics, firm level strategic initiatives, and demographic factors on the likelihood of CEOs winning awards. Specifically, in this essay we examine how industry structure, corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, business strategies, …

Application Of Optimization Techniques In Corporate Cash Management, Venkateswara Reddy Dondeti

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

For any individual person or firm, there is a trade-off between carrying too much or too little cash on hand to meet the day-to-day transactions demand for cash. The BAT model, named after three eminent economists, Baumol, Allais, and Tobin, is the foundation for almost all cash management models in use today. The goal of the BAT model is to minimize the total costs involving the brokerage fees and the opportunity cost of interest lost on the cash held on hand. The brokerage fees are incurred in connection with the transactions for liquidating securities and converting them into cash. The …

Two Essays On The Information Embedded In Flow Of Exchange-Traded Funds (Etfs), Hamed Yousefi

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a pooled investment vehicle with shares similar to common equities, and it can be bought or sold on the stock exchanges. As more money flow into an ETF, its assets increase as do the number of shares outstanding. The demand for ETFs, especially after the 2008 crisis, has grown remarkably in the United States. Features such as intraday tradability, tax efficiency, low fees, and transparency have contributed to the ETFs’ appeal to investors. According to Bloomberg terminal data, as of January 2021, there were 2584 U.S.-registered ETFs, with over $5.5 trillion assets under management. Recent …

Two Essays On Antecedents And Effects Of Board Female Representation Non-Conformity, Fatemeh Askarzadeh

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Despite mounting societal demands for board gender diversity, some firms deviate below traditional norms, i.e., under-conform to expectations, while others adhere to them. To explain this variation within a national context, we build on insights from the emerging corporate governance deviance theory and gender role congruity theory. Using panel data on a globally-representative set of firms, Essay 1 shows that firms with higher entrepreneurial orientation are more likely to go below the national norms for board gender diversity. Our results also reveal that having more slack resources weakens the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and under-conformity. This study contributes to the …

Two Essays On Corruption, Fdi, And Digitalization, Mahdi Forghani Bajestani

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Corruption is detrimental to both society and economy and is yet prevalent in many countries. Thus, research in this field is imperative to help alleviate the problem. Drawing on institutional theory and eclectic paradigm, this dissertation seeks to first, delineate the mechanisms through which corruption influences economic decision-making, and second, identify its root causes and tools for controlling it.

This dissertation’s central research question is addressed in two essays. Essay 1 builds on insights from research on corruption in international business to advance our understanding of how perception of bribery in foreign markets shapes investment behaviors. The literature is dominated …

The Effects Of Ceo Dismissal Risk And Skills On Risky Corporate Decisions And Ceo Compensation, Son T. Dang

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This dissertation consists of three distinct essays on the effects of CEO dismissal risk on M&A megadeal decisions, the association between CEO compensation and generalist managerial ability in the presence of CEO dismissal risk, and the alignment of the initial compensation of new CEOs following CEO dismissals with their managerial ability.

In Essay 1, I study the link between CEO dismissal risk and risky M&A decisions and find that higher-dismissal-risk CEOs engage in more M&A megadeals than their counterparts. Such megadeal transactions lead to lower acquirer post-M&A abnormal returns, suggesting that risky investment decisions are driven by CEOs’ career concerns. …

Two Essays On Ceo Overconfidence In Relation To Speed Of Adjustment Of Firm Financial Policy And Ceo Inside Debt, Xiang Long

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This dissertation is a thorough examination of CEO overconfidence, and consists of two essays. The first essay focuses on the relationship between CEO overconfidence and the adjustment speed of firm financial policy. No research has examined the relationship between CEO overconfidence and firm financial policies adjustment speed. Previous studies focus solely on the adjustment speed of leverage, we are motivated to examine the adjustment of firm leverage and the adjustment of cash holdings together because there is evidence that firm leverage and firm liquidity are related. We find that CEO overconfidence places an important role in adjusting firm leverage and …

Three Essays On Ceo Characteristics And Corporate Bankruptcy, Rajib Chowdhury

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Scholarly studies have focused on the impact of managerial characteristics on various corporate activities. Following this stream of literature, this dissertation empirically examines the potential effects of three major Chief Executive Officer (CEO) characteristics, i.e., CEO ability, CEO risk taking behavior induced by compensation structure, and CEO overconfidence on corporate bankruptcies. Essay 1 examines whether chief executive officers (CEOs) are to be blamed for corporate failure. Using alternative measures of CEO ability, we document that high-ability CEOs are less likely to be associated bankruptcy. Bankruptcy-related high-ability CEOs manage to salvage their post-bankruptcy careers either with the reorganized firms or with …

Two Essays On The Microstructure Of The Housing Market: Agents' Diffused Effort And Sellers' Behavior Bias, Zhaohui Li

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

For the first essay, we generalize the classic Williams [1998 RFS] brokerage model by introducing the diffused effort. That is, the agent can cross-utilize effort spending on one listing to another one. Besides, the agent can manage heterogeneous housing assets. One counterintuitive finding in Williams’ paper is the absence of the agency problem. As a special case in our model, we recover the agency problem. We examine the positive externality due to the diffused effort and show that it depends on the agent’s inventory size. Hence there exists a trade-off between agents’ effort spending on existing listings and on finding …

The Accumulation Of It Capability And Its Long-Term Effect On Financial Performance, Jin Ho Kim

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Many scholars have been studying information technology (IT) capability and its impact on business performance. However, it has been debated whether the IT capability influences firm performance because prior literature shows mixed results. To understand this phenomenon, I performed two studies in this research, placed in two parts. First, by deploying the new concept of accumulation of IT capability, I attempted to reinvestigate the relationship between IT capability and business performance. Next, I examined what factors influence the accumulation of IT capability. In the first part, I suggested two novel constructs that measure the extent of the accumulation of IT …

Two Essays On Consumer Envy, Murong Miao

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Consumer envy, which is a two-faceted emotion (benign versus malicious), could change consumer behavior in different ways. Although research on envy is abundant in the psychology field, little attention has been paid to envy in marketing research. This dissertation composes of two essays. Based on Social Comparison Theory (SCT), these two essays examine the envy mechanism in driving consumer behavior using different contexts (social media behavior and counterfeit luxury consumption).

Essay one examines the relationship between envy and consumer’s intention to conduct different social networking sites (SNSs) activities. To test the hypothesized relationships, four experiments were conducted. Experiments 1, 2, …

The Influence Of Mating Motives On Reliance On Form Versus Function In Product Choice, Seyed Hamid Abbassi Hosseini

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Through five experiments, this research examined and supported the central hypothesis that a casual mating motive promotes higher reliance on form in product evaluation and choice, whereas a committed mating motive promotes higher reliance on function. Particularly, compared to a committed mating motive, a casual mating motive was associated with the relative preference for product options superior in form attributes as opposed to options superior in function attributes (Study 1, Study 2, and Study 4). This research applied three different operationalizations of mating motives. In studies 1 and 5, contextual priming was used. Studies 2 and 3 employed chronic mating …

Three Essays On The Roles Of Review Valence And Conflict In Online Relationships, Ran Liu

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

In the context of online marketing, product reviews and online relationships have played essential roles in determining consumer's decision making. The three essays examine how valence and volume of online reviews affect consumers' perceived relationships with a firm, as well as the boundary effect of the causal link. Previous literature has been focusing on the direct effects of word-of-mouth (WOM) on consumers' short-term purchase decisions and treating WOM solely as an outcome of a relationship. Consequently, the role of online reviews has been underestimated by contemporary literature and how electric WOM (eWOM) changes consumers' perception with an exchange partner is …

Essay 1: How We Feel: The Role Of Macro-Economic Sentiment In Advertising Spending-Sales Relationship; Essay 2: It Was The Best Of Times; It Was The Worst Of Times: The Effect Of Emotional Uncertainty And Arousal On Healthy Food Choices, Leila Khoshghadam

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Essay 1: Controversies regarding the advertising spending-sales relationship have spawned many studies in marketing. Previous research on macroeconomic influencers of this relationship has focused mostly on objective macroeconomic indicators such as cyclical contraction and expansion. Extending these previous studies, the current research argues that sales response to advertising is also contingent upon the pervasive feelings present in the macroeconomic environment, above and beyond the influence from objective macroeconomic factors. Specifically, it argues that future outlook negativity and uncertainty in macroeconomic sentiment can affect the ad spending-sales relationship. Analyzing sales and advertising spending data for salty snacks in conjunction with macroeconomic …

Pricing The Cloud: An Auction Approach, Yang Lu

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Cloud computing has changed the processing and service modes of information communication technology and has affected the transformation, upgrading and innovation of the IT-related industry systems. The rapid development of cloud computing in business practice has spawned a whole new field of interdisciplinary, providing opportunities and challenges for business management research.

One of the critical factors impacting cloud computing is how to price cloud services. An appropriate pricing strategy has important practical means to stakeholders, especially to providers and customers. This study addressed and discussed research findings on cloud computing pricing strategies, such as fixed pricing, bidding pricing, and dynamic …

Two Essays On Negotiations Between Entrepreneurs And Angel Investors, Aydin Selim Oksoy

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This dissertation has two essays examining negotiations between entrepreneurs and angel investors. In Essay 1, I study the dual roles of equity from the angel investor’s perspective, where the equity position sought in an embryonic firm creates two concerns. The first concern relates to the risks involved in generating returns from the initial capital investment. The second is a governance concern due to the challenges involved in managing future interactions between the firm and its environment. Because the angel investor is beholden to the entrepreneur for the proper execution of the embryonic firm’s strategy, this governance concern involves incentivizing the …

Two Essays On The Effects Of Organization Capital On Firm Behavior, Andrew Root

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

A growing stream of finance literature involves measuring the effects of organization capital (“OC”) on investment decisions, financial policy, and firm value. Li, Qui & Shen (2018) use the exogenous event of a merger or acquisition to determine whether high OC acquirers perform better. We extend the OC literature by considering economic policy uncertainty (“PU”)(Baker, Bloom & Davis, 2016), which is also exogenous to the firm, to determine the effect of OC on firms in the face of PU. Univariate tests show that high OC firms take more investment risk, have lower leverage, higher cash, lower total shareholder payouts, and …

Success Factors Impacting Artificial Intelligence Adoption --- Perspective From The Telecom Industry In China, Hong Chen

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

As the core driving force of the new round of informatization development and the industrial revolution, the disruptive achievements of artificial intelligence (AI) are rapidly and comprehensively infiltrating into various fields of human activities. Although technologies and applications of AI have been widely studied, and factors that affect AI adoption are identified in existing literature, the impact of success factors on AI adoption remains unknown. Accordingly, the main study of this paper proposes a framework to explore the effects of success factors on AI adoption by integrating the technology, organization, and environment (TOE) framework and diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory. …

Two Essays On Bitcoin Price And Volume, Mohammad Bayani Khaknejad

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Bitcoin is a decentralized peer to peer digital transactions system that was introduced in 2009 in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Since its introduction, it has had a volatile journey, being adopted by computer programmers, cyber punk enthusiasts, criminals, and financial investors. While the future of bitcoin is still not clear, it has been widely adopted by many, not necessarily as a new method of transactions, but rather as a new investment vehicle. Being a new asset class, there are many unknown financial characteristics to be investigated about bitcoin and in this dissertation, we try to explore two of …

Two Essays On Investor Attention, Investor Sentiment, And Earnings Pricing, Qiuye Cai

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This dissertation proposes novel direct measures for both firm-level and market-level investor attention and investor sentiment and provides new empirical evidence on the effects of investor attention and investor sentiment on earnings pricing.

The first essay proposes novel direct measures for both market-level and firm-level attention using user activity data from StockTwits.com. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first direct measure of market-level attention. By measuring market-level and firm-level attention separately, I am be able to not only distinguish between attention allocated on market level and firm level but also detach attention from equilibrium outcomes. I document …