Finance and Financial Management Commons^™

4th And 205: How A Rush Of Global Comments Blocked The Sec’S First Attempted Punt Of Attorney-Client Privilege Under Sarbanes-Oxley, John Paul Lucci

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Traditional Vs. Roth Ira, Steven D. Dolvin

All Chapters

Aside from company sponsored 401(k) plans, investors can use either traditional or Roth IRAs to invest for retirement.investors. In a more recent development, companies have also begun offering the choice between traditional or Roth 401(k)s. So, it is important to understand the relative advantages of each type of account. See a good summary article here, WSJ.

Market Structure-Driven Discrimination And The Earnings Of Subordinate Managers: An Analysis By Union Density, Richard U. Agesa, Jacqueline Agesa

Economics Faculty Research

Recent work examines the market structure/racial earnings relationship for union and nonunion workers and finds that standardized union earnings protect black workers from market structure–driven earnings discrimination. This study examines the market structure/racial earnings relationship for low and mid-level managers in high- and low-union density industries. Our findings indicate that there is less market structure–driven discrimination of managers in highly unionized industries. We suggest that there is a spillover effect of reduced market structure–driven discrimination of managers in highly unionized industries that stems from standardized, more racially equitable wages of union workers.

Employee's Participation: A Critical Success Factor For Justice Perception, Wai Kwan (Elaine) Lau

Accounting Faculty Research

The present study proposed and tested a model that examines the relationship between leadership style, employee’s participation, and justice perceptions. The paper extended the literature of the justice by connecting three major research areas (leadership style, employee’s participation, and organizational justice), and examined the influences of leadership style and employee’s participation in shaping employee’s perception of justice. Results indicated that transactional, transformational, and dynamic leadership have positive impact on distributive, procedural, and interactional justice. Moreover, the effect of leadership style on organizational justice was indirect through employee’s participation. This study synthesized previous leadership studies and argued that leadership style can …

More Evidence For Efficient Markets, Steven D. Dolvin

All Chapters

The market's performance this year has surpassed that of most professional money managers. In fact, this is the worst (relative) year in three decades for professionals (see post here, The Reformed Broker). The level of competition and the high level of fees prevent meaningful outperformance. The result -- a large influx of capital into index funds.

Index-Based Insurance And Risk Management Among Nomadic Mongolian Herders , Kelsey Larson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Mongolian herders must contend with the risk of dzuds, harsh winters that can kill large numbers of livestock. To do so, they use a mixture of formal financial tools and traditional risk mitigation techniques. This paper is a study of the interaction between the Mongolian Index-based Livestock Insurance Program and traditional informal risk mitigation techniques. The researcher interviews herders in Bulgan soum, Arhangai aimag and Galuut soum, Bayanhongor aimag to compare the IBLI program’s impact in a community that has had IBLI since 2006 and one that only received IBLI in 2012. This study finds that insurance purchase is positively …

Curbing Corporate Inversions: A Study Of National And International Efforts To Establish Corporate Tax Equity, Scott Novak

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In recent years, the number of U.S. companies trying to merge with a foreign company and thereby reincorporate themselves in countries with a lower corporate tax rate – a practice known as corporate inversion – has skyrocketed. The public outcry in 2014 against corporate inversions led the U.S. Treasury to release a series of new anti-inversion regulations, and more policy changes are in the process of being debated. At the same time as this national discussion on the harmful effects corporate inversions have on the U.S. tax base is progressing, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is in …

Financial Literacy And Financial Inclusion Of Women In Rural Rajasthan, Emily Levi-D'Ancona

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Financial inclusion is an important step in development, as access to finances can help the poor build money and lift themselves out of poverty. In many parts of the developing world, and especially in India, microfinance is seen as a new approach to fighting poverty by bringing financial services, including low-interest loans, to the poor so that they can afford to start a business or invest and eventually gain self-sufficiency – in other words, a method of financial inclusion for the poor. However, microfinance in India cannot sufficiently reach the poor populations, especially those in rural India, and many of …

Two Essays On Governance At The National And Corporate Level, Laura Savory Miller

HCBE Theses and Dissertations

ESSAY 1
We examine the effect of governance environment on the composition of a country's external capital structure, specifically foreign equity investment. In addition to the absolute quality of the host country's governance environment, we consider the host country's governance quality relative to that of the source (investor) country. Unlike previous studies, which utilize country totals, we examine foreign investment positions between pairs of individual countries. Our sample includes 3,891 bilateral investment positions among 49 source countries and 69 host countries for years 2009 through 2011. We find that relative governance, rather than absolute governance, plays a role in foreign …

Essays On Moral Hazard, Bank Size, Influence, And Risk At The Federal Home Loan Banks, James Cash Acrey

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Two chapters of research on the Federal Home Loan Bank advances, bank risk, and influence are presented. Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) advances are a growing source of debt financing for US banks. FHLB advances are not priced according to bank credit risk, creating potential for moral hazard. FHLB advances are positively related to contemporary bank risk, but the relation between prior advances and subsequent risk varies between large vs. small banks depending upon the risk measure used. The relation between FHLB advances and various measures of bank risk varies between pre-crisis (2005-07), crisis (2008-09), and post-crisis (2010-12) periods differently …

Financial System Stability And The Payment System., Olubukola Akinniyi Akinwunmi

Bullion

This article reviews the relationship between payments system and financial stability. lt explores the risks within the payments system and how they impact on financial system stability. Emerging issues in the payments system were highlighted and implications for the financial system stability were examined. The article also proposes sets of payments system indicators that may be adopted within the financial system stability analysis and policy making.

On The Compensation And Activity Of Corporate Boards, Nga Nguyen

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

Within the nexus of contracts that makes up the firm, relatively little is known about the relationship between firms and their directors. Using a unique dataset comprising director compensation and activity, I find that firms use meeting fees and equity-based compensation as substitutes. In addition, paying directors for attending board/committee meetings is associated with more active boards and more active monitoring and advising committees. In contrast, a higher proportion of equity-based compensation is positively associated with monitoring activity but negatively associated with advising activity. Furthermore, more active boards and committees are paid more. Finally, I find that the variation in …

International City/County Management Association 1999 Revenue Estimation Survey Revisited, Benjamin Bond

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In 1899 the National Municipal League declared that it was the duty of the Mayor to submit to the Council the annual budget of current expenses of the city, for almost as long, the budgeting process has been researched (Hou, 2006). Researching budgets is important and needed but comparatively little attention has been paid to revenue forecasts or to those responsible for the generation of revenue forecasts. Professional public administrators responsible for generating revenue forecasts have largely been overlooked in research. Judging by the lack of scholarly material available in academic journals, it appears the political process in which budget …

The Heterogeneous Impact Of Corporate Social Responsibility Activities That Target Different Stakeholders, Kiyoung Chang, Incheol Kim, Ying Li

Finance Faculty Publications

We aggregate different dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities following the stakeholder framework proposed in Clarkson (Acad Manag Rev 20(1), 92–117, 1995) and present consistent evidence that CSR strengths targeting different stakeholders have their unique impact on firm risk and financial performance. Institutional CSR activities that target secondary stakeholders are negatively associated with firm risk, measured by total risk and systematic risk. Technical CSR that target primary stakeholders are positively associated with firm financial performance, measured by Tobin’s Q, ROA, and cash flow returns. Our results, based on a sample of S&P 500 component firms over the …

Analyst Price Target Expected Returns And Option Implied Risk, Turan G. Bali, Jianfeng Hu, Scott Murray

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Motivated by the nature of asset pricing models, we investigate the cross-sectional relation between the market's ex-ante view of a stock's risk and the stock's ex-ante expected return. We demonstrate that an ex-ante measure of expected returns based on analyst price targets is highly related to the market's required rate of return. Using this measure, we show that ex-ante measures of volatility, skewness, and kurtosis derived from option prices are positively related to ex-ante expected returns. We then decompose the risk measures into systematic and unsystematic components and find that while expected returns are related to both systematic and unsystematic …

Empirical Studies On Interest Rate Derivatives, Xudong Sun

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Interest rate models are the building blocks of financial market and the interest rate derivatives market is the largest derivatives market in the world. In this dissertation, we shall focus on numerical pricing of interest rate derivatives, estimating model parameters by Kalman filter, and studying various models empirically. We shall propose a front-fixing finite element method to price the American put option under the quadratic term structure framework and compare it with a trinomial tree method and common finite element method. Numerical test results show the superiority of our front-fixing finite element method in the aspects of computing the option …

Fee Based Compensation Aligns Interests, Steven D. Dolvin

All Chapters

Retail financial professionals have increasingly moved away from commissions and to a standard fee-based structure. This change should better align the interests of clients and advisors. For example, there is less incentive to trade. Moreover, there is little need for advisors to select funds that charge a high load, as their compensation no longer depends on the "kickback" received from the fund companies. As a result, the fund flow to high load funds has turned negative. See article here, Investment News.

A Closer Look At The Impact Of Quantitative Easing On The Capital Markets: Garch Analysis Of The Exchange Traded Funds Market, Nicholas R. Duafala

Undergraduate Economic Review

This paper analyzes the effects of quantitative easing (QE) on the capital markets by modeling exchange traded funds (ETFs) returns using a generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) methodology. The results show that the 10-Year Treasury yields are significant in the returns of some sectors of the economy more so than others, and the Federal Funds Futures trading volume is significant in all ETFs return volatility. The implications of these results not only provide information about the reaction of the ETF market and QE, but also provide insight for developing investment strategies.

2015 Macro Trends, Steven D. Dolvin

All Chapters

While it is still early, Goldman Sachs has posted its 10 market themes for 2015. These may be useful in top-down analysis. See article here, Barrons.

Short Term Market Indicators, Steven D. Dolvin

All Chapters

For those interested in technical analysis, some traders are suggesting that the market is set for a pull back. See article and video here, Yahoo.

Mandated Personal Finance Education, Martina Peng, Souren Soumbatiants

Learning Showcase 2014

The urgency of implementation of financial literacy education has been recognized in the recent years. This study evaluates the recent progress on state financial literacy legislation and the effectiveness of personal finance education mandates in high schools. The three common approaches to the mandatory personal finance education policy take forms in setting education standards, personal finance courses, and required testing. Course mandates appear to be the most effective in raising financial literacy scores. State policy requiring testing personal finance concepts has been the least effective. The findings of this study have important implications for policymakers, educators and researchers considering personal …

Understanding The Differences Between Defined Benefit Pension And Defined Contribution, Emily G. Brown Jd, Jeanne Medeiros Jd

Pension Action Center Publications

In recent years, more and more employers are offering employees defined contribution plans instead of defined benefit plans. Although, there has been a shift away from the defined benefit pension plan, it is important for employees to understand the difference and value of both pension plans.

Each type of pension plan has both advantages and disadvantages. What may appear as an advantage to one person might seem to be a disadvantage to another person. For example, a person who spends all or most of her career with a single employer will have very different concerns from someone who changes jobs …

Understanding The Specialized Language Of Retirement Plans, Emily G. Brown Jd, Jeanne Medeiros Jd

Pension Action Center Publications

Whether you are a participant in a defined benefit plan or a defined contribution plan, the realm of pension benefits can be tricky and confusing to navigate. Some of the terminology used might be unfamiliar to the average person. This glossary of common terms associated with retirement plans is meant to serve as a helpful resource for plan participants.

Incumbent Decisions About Succession Transitions In Family Firms: A Conceptual Model, Britta Boyd, Isabel C. Botero, Tomasz A. Fediuk

Management Faculty Publications

In the family business literature, succession research has focused on the family member as they enter the leadership role or on the different issues that affect the succession process. Although researchers have acknowledged that succession in family businesses is “punctuated” by decision making events, less attention has been given to understanding how incumbents make decisions about ownership and management transitions. In an effort to continue to understand the succession process it is important to understand how incumbents make decisions about the type of transitions they intend to engage in (i.e., intra-family succession, out of family succession, or no succession). Building …

Risk Sharing In An Asymmetric Environment, Eric Fesselmeyer, Leonard J. Mirman, Marc Santugini

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

We study the effect of an asymmetric environment on risk sharing. In our model, entrepreneurs consider undertaking risky projects in the real sector as well as selling part of their projects to investors. To capture the idea of an asymmetric environment, the returns on the alternative risk-free investment are allowed to differ between the entrepreneurs and the investors, i.e., agents have different opportunity costs of participating in the risky projects. We first show that the presence of asymmetric options establishes links between the risk-free and risky sectors as well as between the real and financial sectors. In particular, an asymmetric …

Financial Advice For Professional Sportspeople, John Karaffa

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Mind The Liquidity Gap: Building A Better Capital Market For You, Kaushik Rudra

Asian Management Insights

Asian banks in most jurisdictions are currently more than adequately capitalised with respect to Basel III. However, as they are called upon to support the region’s economic growth over the next decade, they are likely to run up against capital constraints.

Singapore Exchange: Managing Investment Risk In Times Of Volatility, Geoff Howie

Asian Management Insights

Growing Asian stock exchanges, such as the Singapore Exchange, create economic value for businesses and investors, while helping to reduce volatility by offering a diversified basket of investment choices and equity derivative products.

Portfolio Manager Ownership And Mutual Fund Risk Taking, Linlin Ma, Yuehua Tang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We study the effect of portfolio manager ownership, that is, “skin in the game”, on the risk taking of mutual funds. Using a holdings-based risk-shifting measure and a difference-indifferences approach, we find that managers with greater ownership engage in less risk-shifting behavior. We also find that managers with higher ownership exhibit superior reward-to-risk (i.e., Sharpe and appraisal) ratios. Funds with greater managerial ownership attract more capital flows. Taken together, our findings indicate that managerial ownership reduces managers’ incentive to engage in risk-shifting behavior and increases shareholder wealth.

Governance Matter: Morningstar Stewardship Grades And Mutual Fund Performance, Jerry X. Cao, Aurobindo Ghosh, Jeremy Goh, Wee Seng Ng

Research Collection School Of Economics

Mutual fund investors have the arduous task of disentangling luck from ability of mutual fund managers’ performance. In this paper we investigate the role of mutual fund corporate governance (measured by Morningstar Stewardship grade) in mutual fund performance. We propose an objective data-driven corporate governance score based on principal components of Morningstar Stewardship Grades. Furthermore, we establish corporate governance scores have Granger Causality on long-term risk-adjusted returns. The findings suggest that corporate governance grades of mutual funds carry information content beyond the usual star rating measures for predicting long-term mutual fund performance and provide an effective tool for selecting funds.