Corporate Finance Commons^™

Budget Gaming: Politics, Ethics, And Compensation, Gretchen Decker

Dissertations

Practitioners are frustrated with the budgeting process, frequently complaining that budgets cause undesirable and political behaviors in the organization (Jensen, 2001). One of the most frequent problems is budget gaming, which critics consider non-value added and frustrating. In a 2010 survey, over 95% of respondents acknowledged that budget gaming exists at least “occasionally” (Libby & Lindsay, 2010). Previous studies indicate budget gaming is frustrating, prevalent, and wasteful (Hansen et al., 2003; Libby & Lindsay, 2007; Neely et al., 2003).

I conducted an experiment to investigate organizational influences (organizational politics, compensation condition, ethics attestation) and their impact on budget gaming. The …

College Of Business Dean's Report: 2020-2021, Ryan Butt

College of Business Dean’s Reports

No abstract provided.

Essays On Managerial Attributes And Corporate Finance, Juntai Lu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In my dissertation, I explore how managerial attributes affect corporate policies.

In my first essay, I examine the effects of public firm CEOs’ prior private equity (PE) target experiences on corporate policies. Based on difference-in-differences and propensity score matching analyses, public firm CEOs previously serving as CEOs in PE targets reduce investment by about 15 percent while enhancing patent values by over 7 percent after taking office compared to CEOs without such experiences. The effects are stronger if these CEOs (1) worked in targets invested by more reputable PE firms, (2) worked in targets invested by PE firms known for …

The First Sign: Detecting Future Financial Fraud From The Ipo Prospectus, Lisa Spadaccini Anderson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I examine whether it is possible to predict future financial statement fraud using disclosure content prior to the fraud. Specifically, I employ a machine learning algorithm to construct a unique measure based on the lexical cues embedded within a firm’s first public disclosure, the Management’s Discussion and Analysis section of the S-1 filing, during the Initial Public Offering process. I use this measure to predict whether a firm that is not already committing fraud will commit fraud within five years of the Initial Public Offering (IPO) that results in an Accounting or Enforcement Release (AAER). I find …

Stock Markets Performance During A Pandemic: How Contagious Is Covid-19?, Yara Abushahba

Theses and Dissertations

Background and Motivation: The coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic, the subsequent policies and lockdowns have unarguably led to an unprecedented fluid circumstance worldwide. The panic and fluctuations in the stock markets were unparalleled. It is inarguable that real-time availability of news and social media platforms like Twitter played a vital role in driving the investors’ sentiment during such global shock.

Purpose:The purpose of this thesis is to study how the investor sentiment in relation to COVID-19 pandemic influenced stock markets globally and how stock markets globally are integrated and contagious. We analyze COVID-19 sentiment through the Twitter posts and investigate its …

Firm-Level Analysis Of The Tax Cuts And Jobs Act On Capital Expenditures, Mason Westphal

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study investigates the firm-level consequences to capital expenditure levels from the passing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA). It theorized that favorable tax provisions in the TCJA would cause firms to increase their levels of capital expenditures. To test this hypothesis, the study analyzed the capital expenditure levels of public firms from 1986-2019 controlling for factors such as national gross domestic product (GDP) growth and used a dummy variable of reporting periods after 2018 to represent the effects of the TCJA. In contrast to the original hypothesis, the results demonstrate that the TCJA had a …

Effect Of Information Technology Capital: Technology Infrastructure, Database, Software, And Brainware Toward Optimize The Use Of Information Technology (Case Study : Uin Sunan Ampel Of Surabaya), Rismawati Br Sitepu, Ilham M.Said, Tanti Handriana, Praptini Yulianti

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This research was conducted to determine the extent of the influence of technology infrastructure costs, software costs, database costs and brainware costs to increase the information technology budget of the Sunan Ampel State Islamic University in Surabaya and efficient use of the budget. The purpose of this study is to prove that there is a positive and significant influence of technology infrastructure costs, software costs, database costs and brainware costs to increase information technology budgets by using validity and reliability tests and classic tests such as the Normality test, Multicollinearity test, autocorrelation test, Heteroskedasticity test , and Linearity test. This …

Stock Trend Prediction Using Candlestick Charting And Ensemble Machine Learning Techniques With A Novelty Feature Engineering Scheme, Yaohu Lin, Shancun Liu, Haijun Yang, Harris Wu

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

Stock market forecasting is a knotty challenging task due to the highly noisy, nonparametric, complex and chaotic nature of the stock price time series. With a simple eight-trigram feature engineering scheme of the inter-day candlestick patterns, we construct a novel ensemble machine learning framework for daily stock pattern prediction, combining traditional candlestick charting with the latest artificial intelligence methods. Several machine learning techniques, including deep learning methods, are applied to stock data to predict the direction of the closing price. This framework can give a suitable machine learning prediction method for each pattern based on the trained results. The investment …

Less Commute Miles. Decreased Tire Wear. What Would You Do?, Dylan Schwarz, Brendon M. Ford, Brandon D. Hadinger, Abbie N. Pearce, Jacinta M. Pikunas

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

With the flagrant recognition of the coronavirus as one of those most impactful viruses in the history of the world, it is important to study how the effects of such a disease can create troublesome ripple effects in the world. Covid-19 has caused the death of hundreds of thousands of individuals and has negatively impacted the lives of American’s all across the country during the nationwide lockdown. Decreased work commuters, minimal road travel, and little need for car repairs hit the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company hard. The University of Akron has teamed up with Goodyear to explore such effects …

Tree-Based Algorithm For Stable And Efficient Data Clustering, Hasan Aljabbouli, Abdullah Albizri, Antoine Harfouche

Department of Information Management and Business Analytics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The K-means algorithm is a well-known and widely used clustering algorithm due to its simplicity and convergence properties. However, one of the drawbacks of the algorithm is its instability. This paper presents improvements to the K-means algorithm using a K-dimensional tree (Kd-tree) data structure. The proposed Kd-tree is utilized as a data structure to enhance the choice of initial centers of the clusters and to reduce the number of the nearest neighbor searches required by the algorithm. The developed framework also includes an efficient center insertion technique leading to an incremental operation that overcomes the instability problem of the K-means …

Project Foresight: A Ten-Year Retrospective, Paul J. Speaker, Max M. Houck

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Project FORESIGHT is a business-guided self-evaluation of forensic science laboratories across the globe. The participating laboratories represent metro, regional, state, and national agencies. Economics, accounting, finance, and forensic faculty provide assistance, guidance, and analysis. Laboratories participating in Project FORESIGHT have developed standardized definitions for metrics to evaluate work processes, linking financial information to work tasks, and functions. Laboratory managers can then assess resource allocations, efficiencies, and value of services—the mission of Project FORESIGHT is to measure, preserve what works, and change what does not.

The benchmark data for the 2018-2019 performance period includes laboratory submissions for a variety of fiscal …

Auditor Information Spillovers And Company Operating Performance: Evidence From Targeted Auditor Switches, Tyler Kleppe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I examine whether companies realize operational benefits from making “targeted auditor switches” (i.e., engaging a new auditor recently dismissed by a competitor company). While prior work provides evidence consistent with companies perceiving that auditor information spillovers are costly, there is sparse extant evidence as to whether auditors actually do transfer operational information across companies. I find that companies that switch to a competitor’s former auditor realize significant subsequent improvements in operating performance, and I provide evidence that the association between targeted auditor switches and improvements in operating performance varies predictably with several across- and within-market factors. In …

Investigating The Effects Of Tax Cuts On Capital Expenditures As An Alternative To Restore The United States Economy From The Covid-19 Pandemic, Carlos M. Parodi

Honors College Theses

The Corona Virus has interrupted several years of strong economic expansion in the United States. In fact, it has disrupted the lives of every single person and organization in the world. After reaching its peak in mid-April, the rate of cases and related deaths has finally started to slow down. The U.S. Government passed three different pieces of legislation to address the effects of the virus. It is now considering legislation (referred to as Phase IV) to accelerate the return of the U.S. economy to its pre-pandemic level. Studies have shown that capital expenditures have been essential during periods of …

Financial Technology Usage 2017 Predictive Analytics Study, Alan D. Smith

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Csr-Contingent Executive Compensation Contracts, Atif Ikram, Zhichuan Li, Dylan Minor

Business Publications

Firms have increasingly started tying their executives’ compensation to CSR-related objectives. In this paper, we attempt to understand why firms offer CSR-contingent compensation and the conditions under which such compensation improves corporate social performance. Using hand-collected data from proxy statements, we find that this emerging compensation practice varies significantly across industries and across different CSR categories. Further, well-governed firms are more likely to offer CSR-contingent compensation, and such compensation does lead to higher corporate social standing. Such firms are more likely to offer formula-based, Objective CSR-contingent compensation. However, our results suggest that non-formulaic, Subjective CSR-contingent compensation also helps improve companies’ …

Collaborative Speculation And Overvaluation: Evidence From Social Media, Adam Barrett Booker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I use data from StockTwits and Twitter to provide evidence that investor attention on social media in the period before earnings is related to short-term overvaluation, consistent with bullish investors herding around common information. In the 2 to 60 days after earnings, returns for companies in the highest quintile of pre-earnings announcement investor attention are 4.2 percent lower than those of companies in the lowest quintile. I find evidence that the negative post-earnings drift result found in this study is related to investors waiting until after earnings are announced to enact costly arbitrage strategies. I further examine intra- and inter-network …

College Of Business Dean's Report: 2018-2019, Ryan Butt

College of Business Dean’s Reports

No abstract provided.

The Performance Of Military Defense Contracted Companies After September 11th, 2001: The Case Of Politically Connected Companies, Derek J. Larsen

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This paper examines the effect that the terrorist attacks on September 11^th, 2001 had on the stock prices of companies within the military defense industry. In addition, this paper studies the effect of the defense firms’ political engagement (through lobbying activities) and how this affected the stock price response to the terrorist attacks. Our study finds that the cumulative abnormal returns of these companies are positively significant and that companies who lobbied experienced higher returns relative to those who did not lobby.

An Analysis Of Millennial Attitudes Towards Car Servicing, Colwell S. Shupe, Jill M. Synek, Erin M. Chips, Eric A. Van Meter

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

When our team originally began our project, we initially held the assumption that millennials do not care about car ownership or driving. As our secondary research progressed, we found that millennials do indeed care about automobiles, but limited research existed as to any underlying issues regarding car maintenance and service. We addressed this issue in our primary research and found that millennials experience anxiety as they do not know much about car maintenance. Our recommendations were targeted towards easing both the surface anxiety and addressing the underlying issues as well as helping prepare Goodyear for future trends that may arise.

Are Women Executives Hurting Firm Performance? An Examination Of Gender Diversity On Firm Risk, Performance, And Executive Compensation, Krystal Diane Sung

CMC Senior Theses

In order to assess the continuing imbalance of top executives between genders, I examine the effects of gender diversity within top management teams on firm risk, performance, and executive compensation. Capitalizing on previous analysis, I apply three unique differentiators. First, I utilize current data from 2012 to 2017 from Compustat, CRSP, and ExecuComp. Second, I provide a unique subset view on a firm and individual performance of female CEOs to examine executive compensation. Third, my scope of analysis expands to S&P Composite 1500 companies. I use separate models to estimate the effect of gender diversity on firm risk by examining …

Ford Motor Company's Financial Analysis, Azbayar Enkhbayar

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The goals and objectives of this financial report are to value the common stock of Ford Motor Company and provide a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold. Quantitative and qualitative data about Ford Motor Company, its competitors, and the markets it operates in were analyzed for this report. A discounted cash flow model was used to forecast future free cash flows. The model estimated Ford’s common stock to be fairly valued at USD 9.81 per share. This is slightly higher than the current price of $9.41 and a hold recommendation is made.

The Impact We Can Make Through Investment: Securing Financial Freedom By Serving Others, Miles A. Flett

Honors Projects

Wage disparity is a major political issue in the United States, but it has far more to do with the health of the economy as a whole. Statistically speaking, it is very difficult for women to participate equally in an economy where they are systematically marginalized. This hurts businesses, it hurts global markets and it damages overall GDP. Statistical data drawn primarily from the Bureau of Labor Statistics underline the differences that women face from various standpoints. Race is a primary influencer, but across the board all women make significantly less than men of the same background for the same …

Avis Budget Group: A Financial Analysis, Tralonie Perkins

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This paper presents a financial analysis behind Avis Budget Group, Inc. (CAR), a leading global provider of vehicle rental and car sharing services, operating three of the most recognized brands in the industry: Avis, Budget and Zipcar. Utilizing both qualitative and quantitative analysis, this report encompasses comprehensive data regarding the industry in which CAR competes, the company’s recent financial results, and forecasts of its future growth with five-year pro forma financial statements used to build a valuation model.

Marriott International, Inc: A Financial Analysis, Lai Wei

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Marriott International, Inc: A Financial Analysis

Cultural Disparity And The Impact On Work Life Balance, Bryan Campbell

Senior Theses

This research examines the differences in work life balances between varying countries around the world. In order to do so, a proxy index was created by investigating a portion of questions from respondents of the World Values Survey. Comparing this to Hofstede's Insights on National Culture allowed for a unique perspective as to whether the country individualism ratings could then be used to assert a relationship between these metrics.

Productivity And The California Global Warming Solutions Act: An Examination Of Cost Of Compliance Utilizing Plant Level Data In The Portland Cement And Manufacturing Industry, Richard Ardito

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation examined the effect of California environmental regulation, AB32 on the Portland Cement Mining and Manufacturing industry which was directly targeted by the legislation. The researcher examined the effect of productivity on the Portland Cement industry operating within California by comparing changes specific labor and fuel use productivity measures to changes in the same measures for organizations operating outside of California. These differences were examined using an independent sample t-test to determine if any changes were statistically significant. The results showed statistically significant increases in productivity for direct labor, total employee labor, and combustible fuel use when analyzed to …

The Emerging International Taxation Problems, James G. Yang, Victor N.A. Metallo

Department of Accounting and Finance Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The problems of tax evasion and tax avoidance are as old as taxes themselves. Between 2015 and 2016 alone, many U.S. multinational corporations were involved in tax disputes with the European Commission. From a historical perspective, these disputes are unprecedented as they have resulted in tremendous amount of tax penalties. The most notable case was Apple for €13 billion of unpaid tax. This article discusses what tax strategies these corporations used that caused such disputes. It specifically investigates seven corporations: Apple Inc., McDonald’s, Starbucks, Fiat, Amazon, Google, and Ikea, and elaborates on the following tax strategies: high royalties, intercompany transfer …

Wealth Effect Of Mergers & Acquisitions In Emerging Market: A Case Of Pakistan’S Banking Sector, Sana Tauseef, Mohammad Nishat

Business Review

This study investigates the short-term market response associated with the announcement of seven merger and acquisition deals in the banking sector of Pakistan during the period 2003 to 2008 using the event study methodology. The results indicate statistically significant investor reactions around the merger announcements. For individual target and bidder banks, the cumulative abnormal returns (CARs) range from significant positive to significant negative. The combined mean CAR for the bidder group is significant positive and for target group, the mean CAR is significant negative. The mean CAR for the combined banks in the domestic mergers is also positive but is …

Paul M. Klekner (B), Roger R. Schnorbus

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

This is a fictitious case study, including the name of the restaurant and the people involved.

Paul Klekner graduated first in his class from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in 1998; his fellow students named him the chef most likely to succeed in the future. After graduation, he and his wife, Sarah, moved back to his home in Richmond, Virginia where he was employed as a chef at several restaurants including Bottega and Old Original Bookbinders. In 2003, he decided to open his own restaurant, Rogerios, in the Tobacco Row section of Richmond. With an inheritance of $300,000 he …

A Panel Data Analysis Of Working Capital Management Policies, Mian Sajid Nazir, Talat Afza

Business Review

The present study investigates into the traditional relationship of working capital management and firm’s profitability. Using panel data set for the period of 1998- 2005, the impact of aggressiveness of working capital investment and financing policies have been evaluated on return on assets as well as Tobin’s q. Managers can create value if they are adopting for a conservative approach towards working capital investment and working capital financing policies. However, if firms are having aggressive approach to manage the short term liabilities, investors give more value to those firms in stock markets.