Business Commons^™

Robo-Advisors - A Future Way To Invest?, Viraj Vishwarupe, Tommy Vu

Finance

Research Question: Are robo-advisors the future of investing?

As the capabilities of technology continue to advance, alternatives to conventional practices are created in an attempt to boost convenience and efficiency. This paper will focus on one such alternative, robo-advisors, an automated investment advisor platform. The technology is evaluated to answer the research question above and to assess whether it holds promise in the world of finance as well as the potential to ultimately outpace traditional forms of investment advice. To accomplish this goal, in-depth research is provided covering a broad range of topics concerning robo-advisors including the platform’s history, analysis …

Discussion Of The Potential Of Blockchain In Finance, Andrew Kincaid

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper analyzes the current application of blockchain technology to demonstrate its disruptive potential has across different financial industries. This paper analyzes the potential difficulties that blockchain technology must face and overcome to realize this potential. Blockchain is currently in a stage in its development where there has not been enough research done to provide empirical answers to its benefits or added costs; however, there have been many early innovations that have helped propel blockchain forward. Blockchain in corporate finance is primarily used in corporate governance where blockchain has the ability to increase transparency and reduce possible corruption. Blockchain has …

How Gender Norms Impact Women's Access To Financial Inclusion, Caitlyn Goodman

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this paper is to determine if there is a relationship between gender norms and women's access to financial resources. Using data from the World Bank and the World Values Survey, I use a linear regression model to assess how attitudes toward education, jobs, and over-all equal rights impact women's account ownership.

A Comparative Analysis Of Personal Financial Literacy, Connor Davey

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a comparative analysis of the financial state of modern American college graduates to similar groups of graduates. From this comparative analysis, we can see which aspects of Personal Financial Literacy need to be emphasized to achieve success as a new college graduate. First, a comparison was made between modern American graduates and American graduates from Generation X. It was found that modern graduates have just slightly more student loan debt than Gen X graduates, despite having significantly higher tuition rates. This debt amount, over time, would not be a huge concern for …

A Financial Epidemic: How Financial Literacy Affects College Students’ Financial Management Practices And The Debt Crisis In America, Mikala Styles

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Debt levels are rising significantly in America. More and more people are accumulating debt in the forms of mortgages, student loans, credit cards, and car loans. Basic financial principles such as saving, budgeting, investing, and paying bills are not being utilized consistently by the average individual. This is because of financial illiteracy. The vast majority of Americans do not have the basic knowledge and understanding of these financial concepts to adequately put them into practice in their daily lives. This study focuses on the levels of college students’ financial literacy, how that pertains to the rising debt crisis, and explores …

Three Essays On The Effects Of The Exchange Act Rule 12h-6 On Cross-Listings Of Foreign Firms In The U.S. Market, Pratanphorn Piriyakul-Frye

ETD Archive

The 2007 Exchange Act Rule 12h-6 relaxes the deregistration requirements for the U.S.-listed foreign firms to leave the U.S. market, opening an opportunity to examine the benefit and costs of listing in the U.S market for foreign firms. Using a sample of all U.S.-exchange cross-listing events during 1998-2012, the results document that the U.S. exchanges are more likely to attract a larger pool of foreign listing activities in the post-Rule 12h-6 period. This increased attractiveness of the U.S market, however, is worrisome as the post-Rule 12h-6 listings appear to be more pronounced among firms from countries with weaker investor protection. …

The Influences Of Locus Of Control, Debt Overhang, And Framing On Saving For Retirement, Patrick Ilcin

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

This study evaluates locus of control, debt overhang, and framing effects as potential drivers of retirement savings decisions. We use a hypothetical scenario administered through an online survey to analyze how much an individual will save for retirement. The study finds that individuals who measure as having an external locus of control (based off the Rotter I-E scale), contribute significantly less to their retirement savings than individuals with an internal locus of control. Interestingly, this study finds no significant relationship between debt overhang and initial contributions. To measure framing effects, participants were given the choice to change their initial contribution …

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 …

Finance Day At Ua, Shelby Amatangelo

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Financial stability cannot be built overnight. It takes years of working, saving, investing and planning to develop and maintain financial stability. However, one poor financial decision can destroy a person’s financial stability that they spent years creating. Over 25% of high school students believe that they will be unprepared to manage their finances upon high school graduation (Cooley, 2013). While 43 states require that K-12 standards in financial literacy, only 35 of them are required to be implemented (Heath, 2016). Furthermore, only 17 states require that a high school course in personal finance be taken to graduate and only 6 …

Do President Trump’S Tweets Increase Uncertainty In The Us Economy?, Michael Simpson

Honors Theses and Capstones

When President Trump tweets, does it change uncertainty in the economy? This study gathers President Trump’s tweets off his twitter accounts from October 2016 to October 2017 and classifies each of them as either negative (expected to increase uncertainty), positive (expected to decrease uncertainty) or neutral (no effect expected on uncertainty). I find that tweets with a negative sentiment were followed by an increase in uncertainty in the VIX and S&P 500 1 and 2 minutes after the tweet. Similar results were found for positive tweets. Non-neutral tweets increase trading volume in the VIX and S&P 500 by up to …

The Department Of Labor Fiduciary Rule: How Will It Affect Financial Advisors And Their Clients?, Claire Hawkes

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.