Finance and Financial Management Commons^™

Lobbying – A Financial Perspective, Sean Byrne

Theses and Dissertations

U.S. based bank holding companies (BHCs) exert influence at every step in the legislative process where financial regulatory reforms are enacted into law, such as the Dodd-Frank Act, to promulgation of regulations. In Chapter II, we maintain that BHCs, upon facing salient regulation, lobby regulators to have their opinions heard with the goal of favorable regulatory change and to increase non-traditional revenues. We undertook a novel collection of political and financial data from 2003 to 2018, matching 180 pairs of parsed proposed and final regulations. BHCs that participated in commenting on proposed rules are highly successful at having their views …

The Pressure To 'Do More With Less': Exploring Donor Misconceptions About Nonprofit Financial Health And Performance, Emily Dalton

Undergraduate Theses

As the nonprofit sector has grown in size and importance over the years, so has competition for donations and attention to the financial behaviors of organizations. Donors and information intermediaries have long expected nonprofits to remain financially lean - there is an expectation for organizations to direct all revenues directly to program areas, and any other spending is viewed as a misappropriation of funds. Nonprofit organizations attempt to satisfy this widely held donor expectation at the expense of organizational infrastructure and growth potential. I reviewed the Economic Research Institute’s Form 990 data and NCCS CORE data for 2013/2014 and 2018/2019 …

Survey Of Professional Forecasters 2023, Singapore Management University

Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics

Forecasters Maintain Their Expectations for Growth in 2023 The forecasters see the U.S. economy in 2023 expanding at the same pace as they predicted three months ago, according to 38 panelists surveyed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The forecasters predict annual-average over annualaverage growth in real GDP of 1.3 percent in 2023, unrevised from their estimate of three months ago. The panelists are also maintaining their forecast for growth in the second quarter at an annual rate of 1.0 percent, unchanged compared with their previous projection. However, while their predictions for the second quarter and for 2023 remain …

Money Laundering In The Global Art Market, Arran Walton

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

It is no secret that money laundering has seeped into the art market for years, but veils of anonymity and lack of regulation have kept many of those who foster the illegal operations immune from justice. As criminal operations permeate the art market on a regular basis, what can be done? This thesis will approach this question through an examination of qualitative data and studies, including investigating applicable recent cases, to understand four unique vulnerabilities of the art market and how these weaknesses are exploited. Additionally, the major groups who use the art market as a means of money laundering …

Money Laundering In The Global Art Market, Arran Walton

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

It is no secret that money laundering has seeped into the art market for years, but veils of anonymity and lack of regulation have kept many of those who foster the illegal operations immune from justice. As criminal operations permeate the art market on a regular basis, what can be done? This thesis will approach this question through an examination of qualitative data and studies, including investigating applicable recent cases, to understand four unique vulnerabilities of the art market and how these weaknesses are exploited. Additionally, the major groups who use the art market as a means of money laundering …

Turmoil On The Mississippi River: Harnessing Green Infrastructure To Accommodate Drastically Changing Environmental Patterns, Edouard Ballett

Supply Chain Management Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Mississippi River is one of the most important commercial waterways in the world. It connects the United States’ agricultural and manufacturing centers with the rest of the country and the global supply chain while also being the economic engine for developments up and down the river. Over the past four years, the Mississippi River has experienced its worst drought and flood on record. Climate change is increasing the commonality of extreme weather events, and we must alter outdated concrete or “gray” infrastructure. Traditional river engineering of levees, locks, and dams increases the severity of river flow or lack thereof, …

An Analysis Of The Housing Affordability Crisis: Private Equity Or Legislation Issue, Jack Polk

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

The aim of this thesis is to explore the claim that private equity investment is the cause of the modern unaffordability in the single family housing market. Through empirical study and historical research we found that the footprint of institutional investors in this space is insignificant. However, legislative errors which have artificially inflated demand and suppressed supply over the past decade have greatly contributed to the crisis and must be corrected for the long term health of the housing space. These corrections will focus primarily in the alleviation of supply pressures for new development and the continuation of the low …

How The Finance Industry Is Shaped By Technology – A Corporate Experience, Max Pabin

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

For this paper, I want to analyze how new technology affects the financial industry for individual clients. My internship at Fidelity Investments provided me with a back-end view of the technology used for clients, while my Chase experience has provided me with an in-depth view of how clients use technology daily. I believe that the financial services industry is being taken over by new technology. This has created a new experience for customers that has made it easier for them to bank, apply for credit, and invest their money. I find this subject to be very interesting as someone who …

Internship Experience At Accenture, Drew Keatts

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper discusses my internship experience at Accenture and all of the things I learned from it. I worked out of Dallas, Texas, and it was a 10-week internship. Some of the things I discuss include financial management, financial analysis, profit margins, and professionalism. I cannot express how amazing this experience was and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work for Accenture. I hope you enjoy my experience and the key takeaways I had from it.

Company Provided Retirement Plans: Key Distinctions And Impacts For Employers And Employees, Ashley Valentine

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

Employee retirement plans vary from company to company as a result of organizational goals to attract and retain employees and drive overall company performance. This thesis will explore the differences between key retirement plans offered in the United States, including 401(k) plans, pension plans, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP), and profit-sharing. By understanding and evaluating each, a company can determine the ideal structure of retirement plans for the benefits of both their employees and the company’s growth. This review will provide insights on the financial and productivity benefits to employees and employers from offering each of the various retirement options. …

Assessing The Impact Of Impact Investing: Practices, Challenges, And Opportunities Towards The Standardization Of Impact Assessment Mechanisms, Taylor Poe

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research project focuses on gathering information on which impact measurement mechanisms are currently used in the impact investing industry, and how these mechanisms are standardized across various firms, geographic locations, and fund types. The overarching goal of the study is to provide an assessment of the impact investing industry and the use of standardized impact assessment practices. The specific goal of this research study is to collect and present information on the current state of impact measurement standardization. Research is separated into three large components: interviews with industry leaders, findings from social finance conferences, and research of scholarly sources. …

Cost Of Capitol: Analyzing Congressional Insider Trading Regulation, Hannah Levy

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

The United States Congress has involved itself with the financial regulation of big business for decades. The legislative body has passed a multitude of laws over time which foster greater transparency and trust between individual investors and big business. Until recently, legislators have avoided passing laws which regulate their own financial activity. Recent investigations revealing that dozens of federal lawmakers have violated financial disclosure laws and made stock trades on insider information has successfully angered the public and forced Congress to consider tighter restrictions. But can Americans trust their legislators to effectively regulate themselves? If no legislative action is taken, …

The Role Of Disclosure In Defi Markets: Evidence From Twitter, Amanda Aw Yong

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) platforms use self-executing smart contracts to provide financial services and are programmed to automatically post all transactions on the public blockchain. Notwithstanding this public availability of blockchain information, DeFi platforms also aggregate these transactions and disclose the summarized blockchain information on their Twitter accounts. This paper studies whether and how voluntary disclosure of blockchain information plays a role in the transparent DeFi market. I find that the number of blockchain-related tweets is associated both with an increase in the platform’s Total Value Locked (TVL) and with an increase in the unique number of platform users. The relationship …

Man Vs. Machine: The Future Of Financial Advising, Rylee Driggs

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research evaluates the potential impact of artificial intelligence on the financial advising industry, particularly regarding the demand for human financial advisors within the industry as artificial intelligence rapidly evolves. With the recent launch of ChatGPT, a cutting-edge AI chatbot, the role of financial advisors, which previously seemed mostly exempt from any technological alternatives due to the essential emotional intelligence of a human financial advisor, is potentially at risk for replacement. This research provides an in-depth analysis on the feasibility of artificial intelligence replicating necessary humanlike characteristics of a human financial advisor and utilizes results of an anonymous survey where …

Exploring Social Media Sentiment Analysis In Relation To Common Stock, Landon Johnson

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

Many institutions, investors, and researchers have sought to gain insights into consumer attitudes and behaviors by leveraging social media. However, trading strategies utilizing social sentiment have been observed to often provide returns roughly equivalent to or less than those of standard market indexes. This observation raises several questions: does the efficacy of social sentiment analysis vary from firm to firm? Are price or volume directly correlated with social sentiment? Does social sentiment display any predictive ability? The following analysis attempted to answer these questions by comparing one week’s worth of data from Twitter users to price and volume data from …

Outperforming The Stock Market Using Market Anomalies, Brett Bennett

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

The objective of this study is to explore the use of well-researched market anomalies to generate higher risk-adjusted returns than the overall stock market. Four specific market anomalies are examined: the small-firm effect; price reversals; the January effect; and the momentum effect. It focuses on historical evidence, anomaly characteristics, and potential risks. This study also explores the use of anomaly detection techniques, such as machine learning, in identifying market mispricings. It finds that a selective approach, combining market anomalies with traditional investment strategies, is crucial for effective implementation. This study provides insights for investors seeking to capitalize on market anomalies …

Benefits Of Impact Investments For Financial Advisors And Their Clients, Jacob Eason

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

As society has become more focused on addressing environmental and social issues, interest in impact investing has grown dramatically to a total asset value of $444 billion dollars (Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, 2021). As a result, financial advisors could benefit from incorporating these investments into their service offerings. However, like all financial questions, there is no universal answer for all clients. By exploring existing academic literature, this review seeks to highlight the benefits of impact investments, reveal the downsides, and discover strategies to manage them. Ultimately, this literature review will demonstrate how offering impact investments can be beneficial for both …

Multinational Corporations Use Of Operational And Financial Hedging For Foreign Exchange Risk – Walmart Global Treasury, Zachary Hassan

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper examines how multinational corporations can leverage different types of hedging tools to avoid foreign exchange risk. We look at two different hedging methods, financial and operational hedging. Weighing the costs benefit relationship of both of these methods we come to a resolution that a balance of both of these methods is most optimal for multinational corporations.

Boutique Staffing Firm Internship: How Ai Is Changing The Staffing Industry, Garrett Larsen

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper explores my experience as an Accounting, Finance, and Recruiting Intern for a boutique staffing firm in Memphis, Tennessee during the summer and winter of 2022 and my research on the current uses and future implications of artificial intelligence in the staffing industry. Specifically, it delves into my goals for the internship, my weekly tasks during the internship, and my observations of the internship. Based on my use of artificial intelligence for email marketing during the winter portion of the internship, I research the current uses of AI in the hiring process and the potential uses for the future. …

The Opportunities And Challenges Of Automation: Insights From An Internship Experience At Ultrasource Llc, Olivia Madden

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis provides insight into Olivia Madden's time as an intern at UltraSource LLC. UltraSource LLC is a Kansas City company that produces meat manufacturing equipment and operational supplies. Olivia worked as a finance intern, where she was tasked with automating processes for the accounts receivable and payable teams and also did ad hoc projects for the finance department as a whole. These insights are recorded through weekly journal entries describing what was done and what was learned every week.

These insights are translated into research on the opportunities and challenges of automation, and the impact automation has on worker …

Financial Advising Experience, Joshua Wittenauer

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

Building wealth can be easier with the help of a financial advisor. Wealth consists of assets and savings, and while there are many ways to save, there are some basic steps to get started:

1) Earn enough money to live and have some left over for saving. 2) Control your spending so you can save. 3) Invest your money in different assets – “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

Do U.S. And International Stock Returns Depend On The Presidential Election Cycle Year?, Paul Peragine

Financial Analyst

This paper aims to determine if U.S. and international stock returns are dependent on the U.S. four-year Presidential election cycle (PEC). Additionally, it expands on past literature by confirming past results and extending them to the present. It implements an economic integration variable, which is a measure of how correlated a country is economically to the U.S. The markets that are highly integrated with the U.S. follow a very similar pattern to that of the U.S. PEC, while weakly integrated countries are less likely to follow the U.S. return cycle. A Chow test confirms that economic integration status influences a …

Exploring The Viability Of Gold Jewelry As A Diversifying And Safe-Haven Investment, Monica Pydipati

Honors Scholar Theses

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the potential benefits of the inclusion of gold jewelry in a traditional investment portfolio. A popular commodity investment choice, gold has been lauded for its various diversification and safe-haven characteristics. Popular investment forms include paper gold, gold bars and gold coins. However, gold jewelry, although officially categorized as a retail purchase, is often bought with the intention of investment as well. This paper examines the diversification benefits of gold jewelry by measuring the performance of a portfolio in which gold jewelry is present, using multiple performance measures to determine its risk and …

Project Foresight Annual Report, 2021-2022, Paul J. Speaker

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Project FORESIGHT is a business-guided self-evaluation of forensic science laboratories across the globe. The participating laboratories represent local, 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 2021-2022 performance period includes laboratory submissions for a variety of fiscal …

Northern Oil & Gas Strategic Audit, Jacob Hansen

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Northern Oil & Gas is an energy company that operates in various basins across the United States. The company utilizes a non-operating model, meaning it does not drill wells or operate rigs, but rather partners with operators and acquires fractional working interests in drilling units. This report seeks to understand Northern Oil & Gas’ business model by examining its competitive strategy, advantages, and resources. Internal and external environmental factors are also analyzed using both PESTEL analysis and Porter’s Five Forces. In addition, key challenges facing the company are explored and recommendations are given on how Northern Oil & Gas can …

Essays On Reit Founder Ceos, Michael Mcgonigle

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

I explore how founder CEOs influence the firm. In my first chapter I examine how founderCEO risk-aversion affects firm capital structure. Using book and market leverage ratios to proxy for risk aversion, I show that REITs with founder CEOs have less leverage than other REITs. This result holds when controlling for firm size, firm age, tangibility, profitability, growth potential, diversification strategy, property-type fixed effects and year fixed effects. I use a propensity score matching methodology to examine whether the reduced leverage is due to factors other than a CEO's founder status. The results do not support that notion. I use …

Asset-Rich And Cash-Poor: Which Older Adults Value Reverse Mortgages?, Joelle H. Fong, Olivia S. Mitchell, Benedict S. K. Koh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Home equity represents a substantial share of retirement wealth for many older persons, particularly in Asia where national housing policies have encouraged home-ownership. This paper explored the potential for reverse mortgages to help 'asset-rich and cash-poor' older Singaporeans unlock their home equity while ageing in place. The empirical analysis was based on a nationally representative survey of home-owners age 50+ in the 2018 Singapore Life Panel (N = 6,258). Our analyses showed that the average older home-owner holds some 60 per cent of total net wealth in housing equity, suggestive of high demand potential for reverse mortgage products. Nevertheless, actual …

Performance Classification Of Ornstein-Uhlenbeck-Type Models Using Fractal Analysis Of Time Series Data., Peter Kwadwo Asante

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation aims to assess the performance of Ornstein-Uhlenbeck-type models by examining the fractal characteristics of time series data from various sources, including finance, volcanic and earthquake events, US COVID-19 reported cases and deaths, and two simulated time series with differing properties. The time series data is categorized as either a Gaussian or a Lévy process (Lévy walk or Lévy flight) by using three scaling methods: Rescaled range analysis, Detrended fluctuation analysis, and Diffusion entropy analysis. The outcomes of this analysis indicate that the financial indices are classified as Lévy walks, while the volcanic, earthquake, and COVID-19 data are classified …

Two Essays On Industry Tournament Incentives, Sarah Almisher

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

A large body of literature has developed on the disparities in compensation among chief executive officers. Financial media has highlighted the fact that CEOs in the United States receive excessive pay and that the gap among executive compensation is soaring. High compensation creates incentives for CEOs to take higher risk in firm policies to land a more attractive position managing another firm and attaining higher pay which is considered the ultimate prize (Kale, Reis, and Venkateswaran 2009; Coles, Daniel, and Naveen 2006). This creates a tournament in the managerial labor market. We define this tournament as the pay differential between …

Investigating The Costs And Economic Impact Of Flight Delays In The Aviation Industry And The Potential Strategies For Reduction, Ashmith Anupkumar

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study addressed a critical issue in our travel life: flight delays. This study covers all aspects of a flight delay, from its causes and consequences to reduction strategies. The focused research questions were: To determine the outcome of flight delays in the aviation industry, to determine costs associated with flight delays for airlines, airports, and passengers, and to determine strategies for reducing flight delays in the aviation industry for robust findings. The findings for each question were as follows: the primary causes were overscheduling, airport hubbing, late check-ins, technical failure, etc. And the consequences were significant financial loss, the …