Finance and Financial Management Commons^™

Growth And Stability Of Local Government Taxes: An Analysis Of The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government’S Tax Revenue Portfolio, Nathan Phelps

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Adequate tax revenues are critical for a government to operate and maintain the delivery of services that its citizens depend. The stability of these revenues is necessary for a government to accurately forecast future revenue growth and to ensure that balanced-budget requirements are met. The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG) depends upon five primary tax sources for nearly 95% of its tax revenue. These taxes comprise the city’s tax revenue portfolio and include the business net profits tax, employee withholdings tax, franchise tax, insurance premiums tax, and the property tax. Each of tax possesses unique characteristics that dictate their susceptibility …

International Evidence On Analyst Monitoring And Earnings Management: The Roles Of Corporate Disclosure And National Culture, Soongsoo Han, Tony Kang, Gerald Lobo, Yong Keun Yoo

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We examine country-level determinants of private information search incentives, and whether analysts’ role in constraining managers’ opportunistic earnings management varies across countries. In a sample of 31,312 firm-year observations originating from 30 countries, we document that: (1) analyst coverage is negatively (positively) related to the level of corporate disclosure (how secretive the national culture is); (2) the negative association between analyst coverage and earnings management is observed in stronger investor protection countries but not in weaker investor protection countries; and (3) analyst monitoring fails to mitigate culturedriven earnings manipulations in countries with more individualistic and uncertainty-tolerant cultures. Taken together, financial …

Mills B. Lane, Jr. And Enterprise In A New South, Randall L. Patton

Faculty Articles

For a century, Citizens & Southern Bank was a fixture in Georgia. In 1991, the C&S brand name disappeared in a merger with North Carolina National Bank. This was one of the bittersweet consequences of the slow, confusing swirl of bank deregulation after 1970, when institutions such as C&S simply disappeared, swallowed by the "winners" in the new competitive environment of interstate banking in the 1980s and 1990s. Even earlier, however, the Lane family had ceased to control the bank started by Mills Lane, Sr. in 1891. Mills B. Lane, Jr. was the last member of the Lane family to …

Hedging: Scaling And The Investor Horizon, Jim Hanly, John Cotter

Articles

This paper examines the volatility and covariance dynamics of cash and futures contracts that underlie the Optimal Hedge Ratio (OHR) across different hedging time horizons. We examine whether hedge ratios calculated over a short term hedging horizon can be scaled and successfully applied to longer term horizons. We also test the equivalence of scaled hedge ratios with those calculated directly from lower frequency data and compare them in terms of hedging effectiveness. Our findings show that the volatility and covariance dynamics may differ considerably depending on the hedging horizon and this gives rise to significant differences between short term and …

Manchester Center: A Comparative Analysis Of Similar Local Nonprofits Using Financial Ratios, Brittani Wilson

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The Manchester Center is a nonprofit agency located in Lexington, KY whose mission is "to enrich lives in our neighborhood through educational, recreational, and social activities." A project team from the University of Kentucky studied the Center's finances, internal business processes, employee development, and services to customers to develop a balanced scorecard. It became evident to the team that the center was strained financially and additional funds would be beneficial to the organization However, before any suggestions could be made it was important to determine where the Manchester Center stood financially compared to similar nonprofit organizations in the Lexington area. …

Evaluating Earnings Management With Derivatives And The Use Of Accounting Accruals: A Quasi Experimental Approach, Margot S. Geagon

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Most companies listed on the S&P 500 index have reported smoothed earnings since the 1990s inspiring questions from regulators about the accuracy of financial statements. In 1998, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued SFAS No. 133 (Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities) to establish accounting and reporting standards for derivative instruments. In 2002, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was issued to eradicate earnings management activities and improve transparency in financial reporting. Although many studies have been conducted to evaluate changes in reporting requirements, much less is known about the effectiveness of these regulations on earning smoothing with discretionary accruals (DA) …

Regenerative Patterning In Swarm Robots: Mutual Benefits Of Research In Robotics And Stem Cell Biology, Michael Rubenstein, Ying Sai, Cheng-Ming Chuong, Wei-Min Shen

Finance Faculty Works

This paper presents a novel perspective of Robotic Stem Cells (RSCs), defined as the basic non-biological elements with stem cell like properties that can self-reorganize to repair damage to their swarming organization. "Self" here means that the elements can autonomously decide and execute their actions without requiring any preset triggers, commands, or help from external sources. We develop this concept for two purposes. One is to develop a new theory for self-organization and self-assembly of multi-robots systems that can detect and recover from unforeseen errors or attacks. This self-healing and self-regeneration is used to minimize the compromise of overall function …

P/E Changes: Some New Results, Thomas S. Zorn, Donna M. Dudney, Benjamas Jirasakuldech

Department of Finance: Faculty Publications

The P/E ratio is often used as a metric to compare individual stocks and the market as a whole relative to historical valuations. We examine the factors that affect changes in the inverse of the P/E ratio (E/P) over time in the broad market (S&P 500 Index). Our model includes variables that measure investor beliefs and changes in tax rates and shows that these variables are important factors affecting the P/E ratio. We extend prior work by correcting for the presence of a long-run relation between variables included in the model. As frequently conjectured, changes in the P/E ratio have …

Chaos And Uncertainty, M. Thulasidas

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The end of 2008 in the finance industry can be summarized in two words – chaos and uncertainty. The subprime crisis, where everybody lost; the dizzying commodity price movements; the pink slip syndrome; the spectacular bank busts; and the gargantuan bail-outs all vouch for it.

Does Vc Reputation Affect Function Of Lockup Agreement?, Kejia He

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Instead of perceiving lockup agreement and VC-backing as exogenous variables, this paper employs the VC-backed IPO data and takes a closer examination on the specific effect of VC reputation, which impacts the choice of lockup length and return and volume abnormality around lockup expiry. Contrary to the commitment hypothesis proposed by previous literatures, the data suggests that less VC-backed companies tend to choose a longer lockup agreement as a compensation device and those companies backed by more reputable VC experience less negative abnormal return and less abnormal volume around lockup expiry.

Illiquidity, Stock Return And Corporate Capital Structure: Evidence From Seasoned Equity Offering, Zhao Yu

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The post-issue underperformance of seasoned equity offering (SEO) is generally explained by asymmetric information and deteriorating operating performance. We complement these traditional explanations with a new parameter, the liquidity, which results from the change of capital structure due to equity offering. The new issuing of equity lowers the debt to asset ratio, lowers the information asymmetry, thus increasing stock liquidity, which is in accordance with the hypotheses presented by Kyle(1985)'s model; Evidence that stocks become more liquid after SEO, thus lower the expected return, resulting to underperformance, combined with the high stock illiquidity before SEO, which coincides the high return, …

The Effect Of Concentrated Institutional Portfolio On Stock Returns, Hao Li Zhang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This paper examines whether stock return is related to the extent of portfolio concentration on the part of institutional fund managers. There is evidence that large firms are preferred for both concentrated and well-diversified funds. Also, a trading strategy based on concentrated ownership generates positive abnormal return. This implies that informational effect (implied in an increase in concentrated capital) has significant impacts and predictability on returns. Meanwhile, we do not find diversified ownership has predictability on future stock returns.

Reducing The Complexity Costs Of 401(K) Participation Through Quick Enrollment, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian

Faculty Publications

Previous research has shown that 401(k) participation increases dramatically when companies switch from an opt-in to an opt-out (or automatic) enrollment regime (Madrian and Shea 2001; Choi et al. 2004; Choi et al. 2006). Although automatic enrollment has been widely touted as an effective tool for encouraging saving, it has its detractors. Some libertarians dislike automatic enrollment because they view it as coercing individuals into the company-chosen default contribution rate and asset allocation. Indeed, the vast majority of automatically enrolled employees passively accept all of the defaults in the short run, and many remain at those defaults for years (Choi …

Foreign Direct Investment (Fdi) - Destination India, Muhammad Shakil Khan

Business Review

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is becoming more and more revolutionary and happening phenomenon across the globe. The FDI is giving new hope and height to the economy of the nations across the frontiers of the countries. It is adding extra pace of economic growth and sustainability in terms of capital, human skills, machineries and equipment. FDI is not only enriching the Balance of Payments (BOP) but at the same time helping the nations in establishing the social bonds with other nations. The recent approval made on March7’2008 by the Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India, clearing 18 FDI proposals worth …

Customer Perception Of The Commercial Banks’ Services In Kano Metropolis, Ahmed Audu Maiyaki

Business Review

It is a general belief that business is changing and will continue to change the way we work and live in the twenty- first century. For instance, technology shrinks time and space, customers can be anywhere in the globe and they can transact business at anytime of the day. The business environment in the present time is practically undergoing a major revolution in the way customers buy, shop, and decide to come back or to take their business elsewhere. Companies are increasingly realising that the balance of power is shifting from sellers to buyers. The customers need exactly what they …

Asian Financial Crisis 1997: An Empirical Investigation, Khurshid M. Kiani

Business Review

Multinomial Asian Financial Crises are said to happen because of financial mismanagement due to post Bretton Woods era financial liberalization, enhancement in private sector debt, currency crises, investor panic as well as inept attitude of the governments in these countries after start of the crises. Since Taiwan is the only country that was not hit as hard as the other countries in the region due to the brunt of these crises we decided to analyze its firm structure to unfold the causes of its survival. Our analysis reveal evidence that manager operated firms finances their growth through external finance without …

Panel Data Models: An Appraisal Of Lead-Lag Relation In The Kse-30, Muhammad Ayub Siddiqui

Business Review

The lead-lag relation between index futures and the underlying index has been at the core of discussion of the researchers in the developing and the developed world. This study examines the lead-lag relationship between spot and future prices of 21 companies from the KSE-30 Index for the monthly data of the period from October 2004 to February 2008. It applies panel data estimation techniques of common constants, fixed effects and random effects. These estimations are considered to be the most recent and efficient analytical methods in handling econometric data. The data is balanced; therefore, no additional assumption has been employed. …

Lockups Revisited, James C. Brau, Val E. Lambson, Grant Mcqueen

Faculty Publications

Lockups are agreements made by insiders of stock-issuing firms to abstain from selling shares for a specified period of time after the issue. Brav and Gompers (2003) suggest that lockups are a bonding solution to a moral hazard problem and not a signaling solution to an adverse selection problem. We challenge this conclusion theoretically and empirically. In our model, insiders of good firms signal by putting and keeping (locking up) their money where their mouths are. Our model yields two comparative statics: lockups should be shorter when a firm is i) more transparent and/or ii) more risky. Using a sample …

The Customer Is King : Mutual Fund Relationships And Analyst Recommendations, Ping Liu

Lingnan Theses

I investigate whether the business relations between mutual funds and brokerage firms influence sell-side analyst coverage and recommendations. Using a comprehensive sample of analyst recommendations in China over the 2004-2008 period, I find that the likelihood of analyst coverage and analysts’ relative recommendations, benchmarked against consensus recommendations, are positively associated with the mutual fund business relationship. I measure the business relation by the weight of a stock in the mutual fund client’s portfolio and the commission revenue generated from the mutual fund clients. My results show that mutual funds take advantage of these optimistic recommendations by selling the stocks. I …

Exploring The Use Of Exchange Market Pressure And Rmu Deviation Indicator For Early Warning System (Ews) In The Asean+3 Region, Marvin Raymond F. Castell, Lawrence B. Dacuycuy

DLSU Business & Economics Review

Although macroeconomic and financial surveillance mechanisms have been in place both at the global level and at the Asia regional level, the results of the empirical analysis provide some evidence that a regional monetary unit (RMU) can be used to supplement existing surveillance tools for improved crisis detection and prevention. In particular, this study showed that the RMU may be useful as a tool for macroeconomic consultation.

The Functional Specification Of The Wageexperience Relationship And Male Wage Inequality In The Philippines: A Decomposition Analysis, Lawrence B. Dacuycuy

DLSU Business & Economics Review

This study analyzed the factors that have contributed to the increase in wage inequality among male workers in the Philippines. Using the Fields (2003) framework as a decomposition platform, the validity of the usual parametric specification of the wage-experience relationship to ascertain the effects of functional misspecification on wage decomposition estimates was investigated. The study found that the quadratic specification of the nonlinear relationship is inadequate, thereby favoring the use of the semiparametric partially linear model, which does not impose any functional assumption on the said relationship.

An Evaluation Of Financial And Non-Financial Environmental Disclosures Of Ten Publicly-Listed Mining Companies In The Philippines, Nimpha M. Aquino

DLSU Business & Economics Review

This study determined the environmental disclosure practices of 10 mining companies in the Philippines by examining the nature and extent of disclosures in the financial and non-financial sections of their 2006 corporate annual reports. It was found out that there was no uniformity in the environmental disclosures of the 10 mining companies. It was also discovered that there was no existing environmental reporting standards as far as environmental disclosure is concerned. The study provided recommendations to the standard-setting council to improve the firms’ environmental disclosure compliance with a discussion regarding the benefits these recommendations might offer.

An Excerpt From The Sec Commissioned Report: A Balance Sheet Disclosure Compliance Check Of Ten Publicly-Listed Companies, Ma. Gina T. Manaligod

DLSU Business & Economics Review

This study is an excerpt of a SEC-commissioned report. It investigated the extent of compliance of 10 publicly-listed finance companies with regard to the provisions of relevant PFRS/PAS on balance sheet disclosure requirements. This was accomplished by examining the balance sheet and the related note disclosures of the 10 companies. It was found the all 10 companies had deficiencies in their balance sheet disclosures. It can be implied from this study that deficiencies in disclosure requirements stem from the standards themselves. Recommendations for the improvement of disclosure compliance were provided.

Stock Diversification And Integer Programming, Emilina R. Sarreal

DLSU Business & Economics Review

This study shows how investors can maximize returns by preparing and monitoring their own stock portfolio by using an integer programming model with an algorithm that can be computed in spreadsheet and linear programming software. Further, the study emphasizes the importance of diversifying stockholdings to reap optimal returns and minimum volatility/risk. It also suggests employing behavioral portfolio theory where goals/aspirations of investors are combined with their reward-to-volatility profile.

Risk Management In The Indian Petrochemical Industry (With Special Reference To Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd.), Tamma K. Reddy, Subhayan Basu

DLSU Business & Economics Review

This study focuses on the identification and acceptance or offsetting of the risks threatening the profitability and existence of any petrochemical organization. It deals with the foreign exchange risk management policy of Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd. and how it could be implemented in the risk minimization or the profit maximization of the company. It applies theories about risks and offers insights and recommendations to the company regarding their management of risk exposures.

Exchange Rate Pass-Through For Selected Southeast Asian Countries, Stephanie L. Chan

DLSU Business & Economics Review

Long- and short-run exchange rate pass-through coefficients were estimated for Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines using a simple model based on absolute purchasing power parity. Results were lower than 0.30 for all four countries. Cointegration tests confirmed the existence of a long-run relationship between CPI, GDP, exchange rate, and the U.S. PPI for the countries studied. However, the post-estimation tests showed that a more comprehensive model may need to be developed. The low coefficients reflect the success of the countries in stabilizing their inflation levels, though implying that exchange rate interventions may be less effective in restoring trade balance.

Essays On Corporate Governance, Minhua Yang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is composed by two essays that explore the changes in corporate governance around the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) 2002. In the first essay, I examine the relation between board structure and compensation as a bargaining game between the board and the CEO. Bargaining game theories describe an endogenous process of determining the structure of director and CEO compensation. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) altered the equilibrium of power between the board and CEO by changing the monitoring role of the board. SOX essentially provides a natural experiment to test how a shock to the bargaining game alters the balance …

Risky Asset Substitution In The Insurance Industry: An Historical Example, Brenda Wells, Karen Epermanis, Larry A. Cox, Michael Mcshane

Finance Faculty Publications

In the 1980s, life insurers sold guaranteed investment contracts (GICs) to pension plan sponsors, then backed these contracts with portfolios heavily weighted with higher risk assets such as common stocks and junk bonds. Ultimately this caused considerable loss, and history has repeated itself in many respects in recent years via holdings of equities and mortgage-backed securities. We evaluate the risky asset substitution in the life insurance industry from an historical perspective to determine if organizational form or other factors might be rationale for managerial decisions to engage in asset substitution. We find evidence that stock insurer managers are more likely …

Evaluating Impacts Of Microfinance Institutions Using Guatemalan Data, James C. Brau, Shon Hiatt, Warner Woodworth

Faculty Publications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate microlending outcomes among Latin American non-governmental organizations (NGOs), specifically microfinance institutions (MFIs). While there is a growing movement of non-profit ventures channeling small loans to the poor worldwide, assessments of their impacts are lacking. Thus, field interviews with clients who had various degrees of involvement in the process of receiving microloans from MFIs were conducted over a summer in Guatemala.

Design/methodology/approach – Using a dataset of 393 clients from Guatemalan MFIs, microfinance impacts from two dimensions are examined and impacts measured along financial and social dimensions by surveying new clients, …

An Empirical Analysis Of Mexican And Us Closed-End Mutual Fund Ipos, James C. Brau, Javier Rodriguez

Faculty Publications

We examine 135 Mexican closed-end fund IPOs and 370 Mexican non-fund IPOs that issued between 1994 and 2003 along with 217 contemporaneous US fund IPOs and document three primary results. First, we find that Mexican IPOs in the aggregate experience no significant underpricing, unlike their US IPO counterparts. Both Mexican and US IPOs experience significantly negative long-run performance. Second, Mexican closed-end fund IPOs experience positive long-run performance, significantly better than Mexican non-fund IPOs which experience negative long-run performance. Unlike Mexican fund IPOs, US fund IPOs experience negative long-run performance. Third, we find that both Mexican and US debt-backed closed-end fund …