Corporate Finance Commons^™

The New Economy And Its Implications To Investors, Elizabeth Misco

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

What Makes A Winner?, Linda Riddell

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

Health insurance costs are one of the unremitting pressures on corporate profits, but the pressure is not suffered evenly throughout the market. What are the differences between Company A & Company B?

The Impact Of The Operations Of The Non-Bank Financial Institutions On Financial Sector Stability, Bamisile A. Sesan

Bullion

The Banks and Other Financial institutions Act (BOFIA) defines an NBFI to mean "any individual, body, association or group of persons; whether corporate or unincorporated, other than the banks licenced under the Act which carries on the business of a discount house, finance company and money brokerage and whose principal object include factoring, project financing, equipment leasing, debt administration, fund management, private ledger services, investment management, local purchase order financing, export finance, project consultancy financial consultancy, pension fund management and such other business as the Bank may, from time to time, designate". This paper affords the opportunity to explain and …

The New Capital Accord: Challenges For The Central Bank Of Nigeria And Nigerian Banks., Imala O. Ignatius

Bullion

Capital occupies a vital position in the life of a bank, like any other business. It plays the role of a cushion for losses resulting from crystallisation of the various risks a business entity is exposed to. This paper summarises the 1988 Accord and its inadequacies. It introduces the new Accord, the need for it and its structure. It highlights the challenges to both operators and regulators, and It discusses efforts of the supervisory authorities to implement the Accord in Nigeria. The challenges highlighted in this paper are by no means exhaustive but it is believed that the attempt would …

Macroeconomics/Structural Policies And Financial Sector Stability: The Challenges, Nnanna O. J

Bullion

The financial system plays an important role in the process of economic growth and development of a country. A financial system consists of various institutions, markets, instruments and operators that interact within an economy to provide financial services. It plays the crucial roles of lubricating the payment mechanism, resource mobilisation and credit allocation. The Nigerian financial sector comprises the regulatory/supervisory authorities, deposit money banks, and other nonbank financial institutions. The objective of this paper is to examine the effect of macroeconomic/ structural policies on the financial sector, as well as the challenges of maintaining financial sector stability in Nigeria. The …

Internationalisation Of Financial Services: Challenges For Financial Sector Stability In Nigeria., Adeola Ade

Bullion

Internationalisation or Globalisation refers to the increasing integration of "economics around the world, particularly through trade and financial flows. lt is the actual movement, the capacity to move and the potential movement across nations of trade, , investment, technology, finance and labour. lt's also involves the effects of these I forces and the consequent liberalization I of the market. This paper focuses on internationalisation as it relates to the financial sector in Nigeria and its most common manifestation, which is liberalization. It aims to identify ways in which we can benefit from this process while remaining realistic about its potential …

Effects Of Board Structure On Firm Performance: A Comparison Of Japan And Australia, Ingrid Bonn, Toru Yoshikawa, Phillip H. Phan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This article compares the effects of board size, proportion of female directors, proportion of outside directors and average age of directors on firm performance in Japanese and Australian firms. We found that board size and age of directors were negatively associated with the performance of Japanese firms. For Australian firms, outsider ratio and female director ratio were positively associated with performance.

Journal Of Actuarial Practice, Volume 11, 2004, Colin Ramsay , Editor

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

ARTICLES (the entire volume)

Product Innovation in Financial Services: A Survey • Christopher O'Brien 5

Phased Retirement for Defined Benefit Plan Participants • Patricia L. Scahill and Jonathan Barry Forman . 43

The Actuarial Value of Life Insurance Backdating • James M Carson and Krzysztof M Ostaszewski . 63

Decision Tree Analysis of Terminated Life Insurance Policies • Robert Keng Heong Lian, Yuan Wu, and Hian Chye Koh . 79

A Comparative Study of Parametric and Nonparametric Estimators of Old-Age Mortality in Sweden • Peter Fledelius, Montserrat Guillen, Jens Perch Nielsen, and Kitt Skovsø Petersen 103

Estimation of Complete …

Does The Adoption Of "Economic Value Added" Improve Corporate Performance?, Matthew Louis Bell

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

Determining how to properly measure corporate performance is one of the most important problems in contemporary corporate finance. Without a sound mechanism to evaluate managerial performance, a corporation's management has no adequate standard to be judged by. This can destroy the firm's value very quickly through poor managerial decisions. For this reason, managers need to be evaluated and compensated based on a performance measure that truly demonstrates the changes in a company's value. The interests of executives and shareholders do not always coincide, as can be seen through many of the current corporate scandals. Thus, it is almost universally argued …

Journal Of Actuarial Practice - Volume 11 (2004) - Contents And Masthead

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

Contents

Editorial Policy: Topics suitable for this journal include AIDS, annuity products, asset-liability matching, cash-flow testing, casualty rate making, credibility theory, credit insurance, disability insurance, expense analysis, experience studies, FASB issues, financial reporting, group insurance, health insurance, individual risk taking, insurance regulations, international issues, investments, liability insurance, loss reserves, marketing, pensions, pricing issues, product development, reinsurance, reserving issues, risk-based capital, risk theory, social insurance, solvency issues, taxation, valuation issues, and workers' compensation

Review Process

Editor - Colin Ramsay, University of Nebraska

Associate Editors: Robert Brown, University of Waterloo ○ Cecil Bykerk, Mutual of Omaha ○ Ruy Cardoso, …

Rapid Calculation Of The Price Of Guaranteed Minimum Death Benefit Ratchet Options Embedded In Annuities, Eric R. Ulm

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

This paper presents a new method of obtaining quick and accurate values and deltas for discrete look back options using Taylor series expansions. This method is applied to the case of ratchet guaranteed minimum death benefits attached to annuity contracts, and the method is extended to include annuities where a fixed fund is attached to the variable account. Finally, both the speed and the accuracy of the method are compared to Monte Carlo simulation and the exact analytic solution. The Taylor expansion method is shown to be faster and, in most cases, more accurate than the alternative methods.

Approximating The Bias And Variance Of Chain Ladder Estimates Under A Compound Poisson Model, Janagan Yogaranpan, Sue Clarke, Shauna Ferris, John Pollard

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

We consider the problem of estimating the outstanding claims produced by a homogeneous general insurance portfolio. The specific model considered in this paper is one where the number of claims in any loss period follows a Poisson distribution, settlement delays follow the same multinomial distribution, and settlements are single lump sums that are independent identically distributed random variables. Simulations using this model reveal that the development ratios and the outstanding claims estimates produced using the chain ladder method are positively biased. We obtain approximate formulas for the biases using Taylor series expansions of the random variables about their means. The …

Decision Tree Analysis Of Terminated Life Insurance Policies, Robert Keng Heong Lian, Yuan Wu, Hian Chye Koh

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

Statistical methods such as regression and survival analysis have traditionally been used to investigate the factors affecting the duration of terminated life insurance policies. This study explores a different approach: it uses a more recently developed data mining technique called decision trees. By sequentially partitioning the data to maximize differences in the dependent variable (duration in this study), the decision trees technique is good at identifying data segments with significant differences in the dependent variable. This identification can be useful when a company is trying to understand the factors driving or associated with the termination of life insurance policies. Decision …

A Comparative Study Of Parametric And Nonparametric Estimators Of Old-Age Mortality In Sweden, Peter Fledelius, Montserrat Guillen, Jens Perch Nielsen, Kitt Skovso Petersen

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

A recent study of Swedish old-age mortality used a modified GompertzMakeham model with a linear hazard for the force of mortality. We propose an alternative model using smooth two-dimensional kernel hazard estimators and introduce a new estimator based on the multiplicative bias correction for the multivariate marker dependent hazard. The multiplicative bias correction appears to have great potential for estimating mortality rates at the highest ages. We also observe that mortality continues to increase at an exponential rate even in old-age.

Phased Retirement For Defined Benefit Plan Participants, Patricia L. Scahill, Jonathan Barry Forman

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

The demographic makeup of the U.S. workforce is changing. The population between ages SS and 64 is projected to increase significantly by 2020, but employment rates for this age group have not been increasing. Employers will likely need to encourage critical employees in this age group to delay retirement. Phased retirement is one tool for delaying retirement, while also not continuing full-time employment, so it can be a compromise for employers and employees. Both Congress and two administrative agencies have begun to consider changes in pension laws and regulations that would be needed to accommodate phased retirement for employers who …

The Actuarial Value Of Life Insurance Backdating, James M. Carson, Krzysztof Ostaszewski

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

Backdating is a common (and legal) practice in the U.S. whereby a life insurance contract bears a policy date that is prior to the actual application date. This practice often results in the opportunity for some insureds to reduce the annual premium paid. Using cash flow projections and U.S. mortality, lapse, and interest rate data, we provide a model of the actuarial value of term life insurance backdating. Results indicate that the benefits to the applicant of backdating a term life insurance policy increase as the applicant age (and hence premium) increases. Increasing mortality, lapse, and interest rates, as well …

Credibility Theory And Geometry, Elias S.W. Shiu, Fuk Yum Sing

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

We present a geometric approach to studying greatest accuracy credibility theory. Our main tool is the concept of orthogonal projections. We show, for example, that to determine the Buhlmann credibility premium is to find the coefficients of the minimum-norm vector in an affine space spanned by certain orthogonal random variables. Our approach is illustrated by deriving various common credibility formulas. Several equivalent forms of the credibility factor Z are derived by means of similar triangles.

Product Innovation In Financial Services: A Survey, Christopher O'Brien

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

This paper considers product innovation in insurance and other financial services, an area where actuaries have an important role. It considers the proposition that there is no unique formula for success and that what works well in one situation may not work well in another. It first examines the sources of ideas for new products and, in particular, the role played by consumers, which is generally regarded as weak. It then looks at how ideas are implemented, with particular importance attributed to cross-functional teams and the formality of the product development process. Then it considers how success is measured (with …

Estimation Of Complete Period Life Tables For Singaporeans, Siu-Hang Li, Wai-Sum Chan

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

Complete period life tables, with death rates for every year of age, are not available in Singapore. This study constructs such tables for Singaporeans from the limited mortality information contained in the abridged life tables provided by the Singapore Department of Statistics. We find that linear interpolation, Whittaker graduation, and the Coale-Kisker method together can generate complete life tables that are smooth and continuous. The validity of the complete life tables generated by our method is further confirmed by (1) comparing the life expectancies calculated from our estimated life tables with those provided by the Singapore Department of Statistics, and …

Risk Sharing And The Market For Corporate Control: A Case For Golden Parachutes, Atreya Chakraborty

Accounting and Finance Faculty Publication Series

The predictability of security returns has received considerable attention in the literature, and yet the predictability of bond returns beyond the US markets has remained far less explored. Here we plan to remedy the shortcoming, and in that effort we analyse the ability of several predetermined information variables in predicting bond returns in the European market. We test if variables, commonly used for that matter in the context of other markets (such as inverse relative wealth, term spread, real bond yield and a January dummy) are also useful predictors of European bond returns. Due to some particularities of the sample …

Campbell Soup Company In 2004 (A), Roger R. Schnorbus

Robins School of Business White Paper Series, 1980-2022

As fiscal 2004[1] began, Doug Conant, the President and CEO of the Campbell Soup Company could take pride in the results of his 3-year transformation plan instituted in fiscal 2001 to revitalize the company. The key initiatives of the plan were to restore revenue and profitability growth and stimulate shareholder wealth.

Conant, who became President and CEO in January of 2001, called the plan, “the single most comprehensive commitment to revitalization ever undertaken in the 132-year history of Campbell Soup Company.”

The financial results achieved in fiscal 2002, the first year of the plan, were a mixed bag. Although net …

Privatizing Telecoms And Residual State Influence On Financial Performance, Burkhard N. Schrage, Paul M. Vaaler

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We test competing theoretical perspectives explaining likely shareholder returns from material investment decisions announced by privatizing telecommunications firms (telecoms) with varying levels of residual state ownership. A principal-agent perspective suggests that decrease in residual state ownership in privatizing telecoms leads to more positive shareholder returns. Over time, this effect increases. An alternative credible privatization perspective suggests that retention of substantial (though not controlling) residual state ownership leads to more positive shareholder returns, but only in the short run. Over time this ownership effect fades quickly. We examine empirical support for these competing perspectives with an event study analyzing cumulative abnormal …

Drivers Of The Value Of The Firm: Profitability, Growth, And Capital Intensity, Tom W. Miller, Richard E. Mathisen

Faculty Articles

Value-based management systems focus on wealth and the wealth creation process and promote the generation of value for the shareholders. A valuation model for the firm is extended analytically to focus explicitly on profitability, growth, and capital intensity as drivers of the value of the firm. The extended model provides information about the sensitivities of the value of the firm to changes in the firm's profitability, growth, and capital intensity. These sensitivities are presented in terms of changes per dollar of sales and actual dollar changes. The changes per dollar of sales show the relative sensitivities of the changes in …

Procurement Fraud & Data Analytics, Sridhar Ramamoorti, Scott Curtis

Accounting Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article is to bolster the government auditor's ability to detect procurement fraud through the use of information technology (IT) tools in performing more sophisticated data analytics and effective audit testing. The article primarily focuses on fraud detection. The government auditor should customize the application of general fraud detection principles to specific facts and circumstances and use sound professional judgment. Procurement fraud detection tests may help identify fraudulent activity and also inefficiencies, waste and abuse.

Why Toyota And Honda Topped The 2002 J.D. Power Quality Study, Susan Lightle, Kenneth Yale Rosenzweig, John Talbott

Accounting Faculty Publications

Toyota again topped the annual J. D. Power and Associates quality study released in late May of 2002. Toyota scored the highest mark ever with l 07 defects per l 00 vehicles, while Honda came in second with 113 defects. The study was based on responses of approximately 65,000 new car owners queried during their first 90-days of ownership.

These results do not surprise us, as we have been fortunate to make numerous sojourns to the Toyota plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, and observe the manufacturing processes. These trips were normally facilitated by a former Japanese student of ours, Minako Yanke, …

The Performance Implications Of Ownership Driven Governance Reform, Toru Yoshikawa, Phillip H. Phan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper explores the performance impact of recent changes in foreign shareholdings and boardroom reforms in Japan. Empirical research on the impact of reform on the Japanese corporate governance system could provide useful lessons for their European counterparts who are themselves facing similar pressures to reform. We found that although participation of outside directors in strategic decision-making was associated with positive stock returns, the increase in the ratio of outside directors, the separation of the board members and executive officers, and the reduction of board size were not related to firm performance.

Assessing The Relative Informativeness And Permanence Of Pro Forma Earnings And Gaap Operating Earnings, Nilabhra Bhattacharya, Erv Black, Ted Christensen, Chad Larson

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This study investigates whether market participants perceive pro forma earnings to be more informative and more persistent than GAAP operating income by analyzing a sample of 1,149 actual pro forma press releases. We find that pro forma announcers report frequent GAAP losses and are mostly concentrated in the service and high-tech industries. Our analyses of short-window abnormal returns and revisions in analysts’ one-quarter-ahead earnings forecasts indicate that pro forma earnings are more informative and more permanent than GAAP operating earnings. Our evidence suggests that market participants believe pro forma earnings are more representative of “core earnings” than GAAP operating income.

The Impact Of The Costs Of Subscription On Measured Ipo Returns: The Case Of Asia, Joseph K.W. Fung, Louis T. W. Cheng, Kam C. Chan

GFCB Working Paper Series

Asian initial public offerings (IPOs) require investors to pay subscription funds up-front upon submission of applications, and these funds are locked-up for one to three weeks without interest. Hence, the IPO process entails an explicit financing cost (opportunity cost) whether investors borrow funds or use their own funds to apply for IPO shares. The IPO subscription costs are not trivial, especially in a high interest rate environment or when an IPO is highly oversubscribed. These costs should be considered in any comparison of IPO returns across countries.

Research Opportunities In Internal Auditing, Sridhar Ramamoorti

Accounting Faculty Publications

Focuses on the book Research Opportunities in Internal Auditing, edited by Andrew D. Bailey Jr., Audrey A. Gramling and Sridhar Ramamoorti. History, evolution and prospects of internal auditing; Internal audit function; Auditing risk assessment and risk management processes.

Estimating Credit Risk Premia, Kian Guan Lim

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper investigates the nature of the credit risk premium adjustments in the Jarrow-Lando-Turnbull model of credit risk spreads. The adjustments relate the equivalent martingale measures to the empirical measures of unconditional transition probabilities. We provide a modi ed version of the risk adjustment that allows a linear partition of the credit spread into an unconditional default component, a recovery component, and the risk premium adjustment. The risk adjustments are related to conditional default risk, illiquidity risk, and other factors not related to recovery e ects. The log-transform of these risk adjustments can be speci ed as linear regressions on …