Finance and Financial Management Commons^™

Insider Trading As A Precursor To Modern Business Ethics, Robyn Coleman

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

There has been a recent change in business that there is more focus on the “stakeholder approach” than shareholder primacy. This can be attributed to the early actions and illegality of insider trading that expected a step beyond a solely economic approach. This attitude was then replicated to become what we see as the modern business approach. Business now includes ethical investing, environmental focus, corporate citizenship, and emphasis on multiple stakeholders that was not always there. Companies have embraced this position while others have been criticized for not doing so. As this approach develops and changes, it will be enlightening …

The Evolution Of Investing, Bradyn Papke

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

A Literature Review on how investing has changed, the companies that have have pioneered this change, and the shift in investment personality to companies that spearhead Environmental Sustainability through Impact Investing.

Analyzing The Correlation Of The University Of Mississippi Football Program's Success And Financials With That Of The University And Local Businesses In Oxford, Mississippi, Courtney C. Schaeffer

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to look at Ole Miss athletic events, specifically football games, and the success and profit of local businesses in Oxford, Mississippi and the University of Mississippi. There are several existing studies analyzed in this paper that indicate a correlation between college football programs and the University and city revenues at several other colleges and universities across the country. A historical analysis of the University of Mississippi Athletic Department’s revenues and expenses, football attendance numbers, and University enrollment trends throughout the years 2015 to 2019 indicates how important football is to the University and its …

Assessing Leadership In Business – Finance: A Critical Investigation Of Jamie Dimon, Kelly Finn

Honors Scholar Theses

Jamie Dimon became the CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase over a decade ago at age 49. Since, Jamie has earned his place as the world’s top, longest-reigning Wall Street leader. That said, Jamie Dimon was not always as successful as his title and reputation might suggest. In 1998, he was fired from his position as CEO of Citigroup by his own decade-long mentor, Sandy Weill (Dealbook, 2014). It is precisely Jamie’s ability to overcome this major career obstacle that threatened his reputation and career success. The way he handled his own firing with professionalism, strategy, and resiliency enabled his rebound …

The Impact Of Crises On The Shift In Capital Flows From Active To Passive Investment Strategies, Jordan Wang

Honors Scholar Theses

The study investigates the plausibility of an active to passive transition, the impact of crises on the potential transition, and the performance-flow relationship of both active and passive investment products, which includes US equity, open-end and ETF, funds. The analysis compares active and passive funds through the lens of fund flows, absolute returns, and risk-adjusted returns. The study shows that there seemed to be an active to passive transition from 2007 – 2019 and that 2020 – 2021 exhibits measures that could describe changes in the active to passive narrative. A performance-flow relationship exists across both active and passive funds. …

Exploring An Alternative To Ipos: Special-Purpose Acquisition Companies (Spacs), Vaishali Kanamalla

Honors Scholar Theses

The purpose of this research paper is to provide an overview of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) which has gained popularity relatively recently. First, an introduction to SPACs will be provided including its historical roots, structure, and investment process. Thereafter, the paper will walk through the current landscape of SPACs, criticisms, and comparisons with traditional IPOs. The paper will conclude with discussions on the future outlook of the investment vehicle along with a study on SPAC returns vs. those of traditional IPOs.

Ursinus College Women's Investment Management Company, Taylor Beaumont, Shannon Blessing, Olivia Defusco, Julia Ewing, Angela Gervasi, Wendy Luo, Eve Peiffer, Becca Lewis, Ellie Templeton, Emily Benning, Rebecca Lam, Maddy Sorokanych, Theodora Zeibekis, Marcella Thanh-Guyet, Delanie Rogers

Business and Economics Presentations

The Ursinus College Investment Management Company (UCIMCO) consists of groups of student analysts who manage endowment-style and stock selection funds on behalf of the college endowment. In 2020, a group of women students began to manage their own fund. This presentation reviews activities of the previous year and analyzes the stock performance of various companies including: Anthem, Inc., American Well Corporation, SNAP, Inc., Yatsen Holdings Ltd. and Yum China Holdings.

A Study On The Federal Reserve’S Influence On The Stock Market, Patrick Mcfarland

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

With the growing age of the tech economy, post housing crash financial market, and unprecedented challenges like a global pandemic with a death toll in the millions, major financial institutions in the United States have been forced to reconsider many aspects of the old ways of doing things. The most influential institution in the U.S., the Federal Reserve (the Fed), has become more involved with the financial markets over the past several decades. Using a sample of 134 publicly-traded companies, I analyzed variables to assess the effects of the Fed’s new influence on market expectations from the past ten years. …

Mathematical Modeling In Finance, Owen Sweeney

Honors Projects

Financial tools play an integral role in the day-to-day lives of individuals and businesses. Many of these tools use predefined formulas to calculate items such as loan payments, interest and capital structure components. These tools do not usually provide the flexibility needed when new parameters are introduced. By utilizing mathematical modeling, these standard formulas can be derived and even improved to provide the needed flexibility.

Disruptive Technologies And Digital Transformation Of The Financial Services Industry In Singapore: Regulatory Framework And Challenges Ahead, Aurelio Gurrea-Martinez

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper seeks to provide a general overview of the impact of new technologies in the financial services industry in Singapore. For that purpose, it starts by emphasizing that technology has always played an important role in the financial industry. However, new disruptive technologies, as well as the increasing use of data in the financial services industry, have created new challenges and opportunities for the financial sector. While Singapore has managed to address these challenges by adopting one of the quickest and most innovative and comprehensive responses probably observed internationally, financial markets –and particularly the fintech industry– are constantly evolving. …

The Impact Of The Capital Market, The Insurance Sector And The Mortgage Finance Sector On Economic Growth In Egypt, 2005-2019, Hana Anis

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aims to explore the relationship between financial markets and economic growth in Egypt for the 15 years period, starting from 2005 to 2019. The study concentrates on the non-banking financial sector which includes the stock market, the debt market, the mortgage and the insurance sectors. The Vector Autoregressive (VAR) model is utilized to describe the relationship between GDP growth rate, as a proxy for economic growth, and a number of variables from the financial sector. Results of the analysis show that there is a significant relationship and statistical causality between the growth rate and the debt market, represented …

Using Excel To Simulate A Financial Calculator And Excel Tvm Formulas, Maura Alexander, Tom Arnold, Joseph Farizo

Finance Faculty Publications

Excel is used to build a simulation of the TI BAII-Plus financial calculator to illustrate the N, I/Y, PV, PMT, and FV inputs. Unlike other financial calculator simulators, this template also displays the corresponding Excel functions to aid in transitioning the student to using Excel for financial analysis.

Visual Timelines In Excel To Illustrate Tvm Calculations, Maura Alexander, Tom Arnold, Joseph Farizo

Finance Faculty Publications

Time value of money calculations are illustrated through developing a timeline with cash flow graphics in Excel. The cash flow graphics can be used in the live or virtual classroom and as a resource for students outside of the classroom. Further, the graphic is readily adjustable to different scenarios making it useful for multiple time value of money topics.

Technology In Finance, Bryan Herlihy

Research and Innovation Village

As a technology continues to improve rapidly, every company in all sectors must learn how to adapt or otherwise face the consequences of going bankrupt. One industry in particular that is continuously innovating is finance. In finance, technology had developed into artificial intelligence.

Knowledge Sharing Among Finance Employees In The U.S. Banking Sector, Russell Lascko

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractBanking is one of the most knowledge-intensive sectors, relying heavily on accrued knowledge and the experiences of employees. Knowledge sharing is the most crucial, yet most difficult, process in knowledge management due to human behavior. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the factors that influence finance employees in the banking sector to participate in knowledge sharing with their colleagues. The overarching research question focused on these factors. The conceptual framework included the self-determination theory, theory of planned behavior, Vroom's expectancy theory, and the socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization model. Criteria for the selected participants included more …

Improving Stock Trading Decisions Based On Pattern Recognition Using Machine Learning Technology, Yaohu Lin, Shancun Liu, Haijun Yang, Harris Wu, Bingbing Jiang

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

PRML, a novel candlestick pattern recognition model using machine learning methods, is proposed to improve stock trading decisions. Four popular machine learning methods and 11 different features types are applied to all possible combinations of daily patterns to start the pattern recognition schedule. Different time windows from one to ten days are used to detect the prediction effect at different periods. An investment strategy is constructed according to the identified candlestick patterns and suitable time window. We deploy PRML for the forecast of all Chinese market stocks from Jan 1, 2000 until Oct 30, 2020. Among them, the data from …

Zoom In, Class Out: An Event Study On Publicly Traded Ed Tech Firm Valuations During Covid-19, Matiss Ozols

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines how publicly traded Ed Tech firms reacted to negative announcements regarding COVID-19. Using an event study method, I document how an international portfolio of Ed Tech firms react across multiple event windows. The results show that Ed Tech firms reacted positively to the announcement of the first US death and negatively to the World Health Organization’s declaration that COVID-19 was a pandemic. Additionally, differences in geographical location did not impact cumulative abnormal returns across event windows. Finally, firm-specific characteristics such as volatility and financial leverage had little or no significance on stock returns.

Strategies For Sourcing Funding For Startup Businesses In Nigeria, Nelly Nwabuisi Adiawari Oburo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some small and medium enterprise (SME) owners are challenged with sourcing adequate funds to start and continue in business. Financing SMEs is critical to their owners to ensure they can remain financially viable and continue contributing to Nigeria’s gross domestic product and economic growth. Grounded in the pecking order theory and the financial growth cycle theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies owners of startup SMEs in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nigeria, can adopt to source funds required to start and sustain a business beyond 5 years. Data were collected through semistructured interviews from …

Impact Of Covid-19 On Cryptocurrencies: Evidence On Information Transmission Through Economic And Financial Market Sentiments, Irfan Haider Shakri, Jaime Yong, Erwei Xiang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This paper investigates the relationship between the COVID-19 crisis and the two leading cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum, from 31 December 2019 to 18 August 2020. We also use an economic news sentiment index and financial market sentiment index to explore the possible mechanisms through which COVID-19 impacts cryptocurrency. We employ a VAR Granger Causality framework and Wavelet Coherence Analysis and find the cryptocurrency market was impacted in the early phase of the sample period through economic news and financial market sentiments, but this effect diminished after June 2020.

Stock Market Correlations To Economic Indicators, Anthony K. Quandt

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

For this project, I researched how representative the S&P 500 (a common index of choice to represent the market) is of the economic well-being of the US. I found that stock market data can be used an as indicator of the economic well-being of the U.S.. The results do not indicate that the stock market leads to recovery, but it does suggest that it is correlated with recovery. In my analysis, I compared the S&P 500 performance to four different economic indicators: Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), The Consumer Price Index (CPI), Average Weekly Private Wages, and Unemployment Rate. A …

A Bibliometric Analysis Of Islamic Accounting Research Indexed By Dimensions.Ai, Aam Rusydiana, Muhamad Taqi, Irman Firmansyah, Aisyah Assalafiyah, Nanik Kustiningsih

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This bibliometric study investigated the current state of documents on Islamic accounting published by digital object identifier equipped journals from 1990 to 2020 listed in Dimension. The analysis focused on the trends of the keywords, authors and journals. The data analyzed were 556 publications of research publications in Dimension (https://dimension.ai). Search terms were 'Islamic accounting'. The searches used to establish the study dataset were last updated on November 13, 2020. Descriptive statistical methods were used, and a bibliometric analysis was conducted using the R Biblioshiny to find out the bibliometric map. The number of articles discussing the theme of Islamic …

Walmart Impact On The Finance And Insurance Industry, Steven C. Hall, Suzanne K. Hayes, Laurie Swinney

Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Technology

Purpose

This paper investigates the effect of Walmart presence on professional service firms within the finance and insurance sector. This paper also discusses the finance and insurance industry’s place within the Walmart ripple effect—changed retail sector leads to changed professional support services resulting in altered levels of social capital within the community.

Design/Methodology

The study uses county-level data from the state of Nebraska to examine the relationship between cumulative Walmart exposure and the number of firms, number of employees, and payroll levels within the finance and insurance (F&I) sector. These same variables are also investigated within two specific F&I industries—insurance …

Behavioral Finance For The Individual Investor, Drake Gens

Senior Honors Theses

The Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) has been generally accepted in academia despite its well-researched flaws; by understanding how and when markets deviate from efficiency, investors have an opportunity to not only better understand their investing habits, but also possibly generate higher investment returns. Various market anomalies, such as the Value Effect (De Bondt & Thaler, 1985), the Monday Effect (French, 1980), and the January Effect (De Bondt and Thaler, 1958 & 1987), attest to the fact that markets experience periods of deviation from efficiency. Fiévet and Sornette (2016) finding that markets experience inefficiency during periods of significant volatility is confirmed …

Influence Of Moody’S Rating Downgrade And Upgrade On The U.S. Equity Market: A Case Study Of Ibm, Ford, And Boeing, Qianhe Zhang

Honors College Theses

The main purpose of my thesis is to determine the current influence of credit rating downgrades and upgrades made by Moody's on the U.S. equity market. Previous literature has already talked about the effect of credit ratings on stock or bond price, however, my paper is different from previous works. I will focus on a single nationally recognized credit rating organization; I will talk about the both downgrade effect and the upgrade effect; I will do a case study of the credit rating effect on Ford, IBM, and Boeing. The results indicates that overall, Moody’s rating announcements have an important …

Investor Behavior In The Midst Of A Global Pandemic, Abigail N. Bates

Honors Projects

Investors partaking in portfolio and asset management through the stock market and other avenues do so with certain reasoning and methods in hand. Each investor may have different interests and risk tolerances that guide their choices for investment. Behavioral finance allows for an in-depth look at an investor’s actions and the influencing psychology behind it. Before this approach was popularized, early studies of finance assumed that investors were always rational in their decision making and put resources only into opportunities that would increase their utility or happiness. The behavioral finance approach takes a more comprehensive look at these behaviors and …

The Warren Buffett Project: A Qualitative Study On Warren Buffett, Christian G. Koch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Engaged scholarship focuses on real-world problems. The purpose of my research is to understand why Warren Buffett and his investment principles are not taught systematically in institutions where people are being prepared as investment and finance professionals. The rationale for the study was to answer the research question: What major themes can be extracted from the Warren Buffett Archive?

I used a qualitative research analytic method called thematic analysis used by Braun and Clarke (2006). The research includes 11 years of coded transcripts from Buffett speaking at his annual shareholders meetings. An interval of every two years was selected, which …

Artificial Intelligence Create Value To Investors, Jing-Yang Huang

Marriott Student Review

Artificial intelligence provides personalized assistance and solves tedious tasks in our daily lives. One of the applications of this technology is about investing. This article summarizes some basic knowledge of artificial intelligence and how it assists investors to create value.

Contemporary Investment Strategies And Comparison Applications Of Bitcoin, William Gregg Vi, Thanh Nguyen

University of South Carolina Upstate Student Research Journal

Bitcoin is an effective component to any investor's portfolio. The purpose of this research paper was to study the capabilities Bitcoin has to investors and anyone interested in learning more about cryptocurrencies. What are the strategic applications of Bitcoin and why should it be used over other types of assets? Bitcoin offers diversification capabilities to commodities, equities, bonds, the U.S. dollar, and most stock market indices. It can offer hedging capabilities against the U.S. dollar, Ethereum, stock market indices, and commodity uncertainty. The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 (FTSE100) is an example of an index that Bitcoin can hedge against. …

Beyond A Tube Of Red Lipstick: An Economic Valuation Of Estee Lauder And The Beauty Industry, Aisea Odencrantz, David Offenberg

Honors Thesis

The current valuation of the beauty industry is approximately $532 billion, yet this industry is not commonly suggested by investment professionals as a way to add diversification into their investors’ portfolios. The current craze of the market is technology and fossil fuels, but the beauty industry has remained a major player in consumer spending patterns throughout time. Through examining the historical financial statements of the publicly-traded cosmetic conglomerate Estēe Lauder, as well as several of its competitors, I modeled the future valuation of Estēe Lauder using the Discounted Free Cash Flow and Comparable Firm Multiples models. This analysis demonstrated how …

Research Project In Finance: Nve Corporation (Nvec), Houston Little

Student Scholarship

This project gives an overview of the well-being of the economy as a whole and also does a deep dive into the historical performance of the company while projecting future growth. Each of the future estimations are subject to change, based on numerous factors including but not limited to, US economic growth, international market development, management at NVE, and product innovation. There are many moving parts, but as an analyst, I will use the historical patterns, future expectations, and current financial well-being of NVE Corporation to decide whether this would be a good place for investors to rest their hard-earned …