Economics Commons^™

Mixed-Signal Stock Splits, Ahmed M. Elnahas, Pankaj K. Jain, Thomas H. Mcinish

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

We investigate CEOs who combine insider selling with stock splits, which is suspicious, because dumping stocks is inconsistent with the positive stock-split signal. Our empirical results indicate that, compared with other splits, these mixed-signal splits perform poorly and are followed by much lower buy-and-hold abnormal returns and much higher likelihoods of announcing an earnings restatement and CEO turnover in the post-split period. Our results are robust to entropy balancing and controlling for CEO characteristics, incentives, and corporate governance and highlight previously ignored agency issues around stock splits. Attention to insider trades is essential to properly interpret a stock-split signal.

A Unified Characterization Of The Randomized Strategy-Proof Rules, Souvik Roy, Soumyarup Sadhukhan

ISI Best Publications

We show that a large class of restricted domains such as single-peaked, single-crossing, single-dipped, tree-single-peaked with top-set along a path, Euclidean, multi-peaked, intermediate (Grandmont (1978)), etc., can be characterized by using betweenness property, and we present a unified characterization of unanimous and strategy-proof random rules on these domains. As corollaries of our result, we show that all the domains we consider in this paper satisfy tops-onlyness and deterministic extreme point property. Finally, we consider weak preferences and provide a class of unanimous and strategy-proof random rules on those domains.

Increasing Consumer Opportunities For Self-Employment In Vocational Rehabilitation, University Of Montana Rural Institute

Employment

Self-employment is an important option for people with disabilities, especially for those living in rural communities where economic choice and opportunity may be more limited. Although people with disabilities are self-employed at higher rates than people without disabilities, few vocational rehabilitation (VR) consumers become self-employed partly due to lack of knowledge and barriers within VR systems. This research report explains some reasons for low rates of self-employment within the VR system, and presents the Vocational Rehabilitation Self-Employment Guide-an online resource providing guidance and tools to assist people with disabilities and VR counselors with the self-employment process. This guide was …

College Street Journal (October 2021), College Of The Holy Cross

College Street Journal

College Street Journal serves as a student platform for business-related news, opportunities and resources at Holy Cross. Readers will discover a broad range of topics including relevant news and economic issues, career development opportunities and advice, as well as Ciocca center and campus-wide opportunities to grow outside of the classroom.

This edition includes student and professor articles on macroeconomic topics, market-moving issues, inflation, semiconductor shortage, ESG investing and government regulation as they relate to the environment and crypto, and research surrounding capital flows, U.S. foreign debt, and pension reforms around the globe.

Skill Downgrading Among Refugees And Economic Immigrants In Germany: Evidence From The Syrian Refugee Crisis, Plamen Nikolov, Leila Salarpour, David Titus

Economics Faculty Scholarship

Upon arrival to a new country, many immigrants face job downgrading, a phenomenon describing workers being in jobs below the ones they have based on the skills they possess. Moreover, in the presence of downgrading immigrants receiving lower wage returns to the same skills compared to natives. The level of downgrading could depend on the immigrant type and numerous other factors. This study examines the determinants of skill downgrading among two types of immigrants – refugees and economic immigrants – in the German labor markets between 1984 and 2018. We find that refugees downgrade more than economic immigrants, and this …

Income And Happiness: A Philippine Context, Rosalina Palanca-Tan

Economics Department Faculty Publications

This paper adds to the relatively scant developing country perspective in the economic literature on happiness by investigating the relationship between income and happiness in the context of Koronadal, a low-income city in Mindanao, Philippines. Subjective happiness and potential contributory factors to happiness (demographic, economic, and social capital variables) are elicited through a survey and analyzed using descriptive and regression analyses. The study provides empirical evidence for the “happy poor” image of the Filipinos, with its survey data revealing that despite high poverty incidence and generally low-income levels, people in Koronadal are pretty happy with a mean self-reported happiness score …

Ucimco Endowment Semi-Annual Presentation, Fall 2021, Kareem Elghawy, Kyle Blaze, Jeremy Calabro, Ryan Carkhuff, Jacob Connelly, Christopher Craven, Zachary Crebbin, Olivia Defusco, Colin Holtzman, Brooke Hurley, Matthew Mcmahon, Jared Minnichbach, Zoey Nikolaou, Jared O'Connell, Erik Ojert, Thomas Pancheri, Christopher Porzelt, Tyler Sargent, Scott Sloan, Storm Snape, Matthew Snyder, Matthew Tuley

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. This presentation, by the endowment team, examines performance and investment philosophy while discussing selections in the portfolio including: developed and emerging market equities, U.S. equities, corporate bonds, U.S. treasuries and U.S. real estate.

Ucimco Stock Selection Semi-Annual Presentation, Fall 2021, Michael Buck, Stevie Benson, Walker Hamilton, Mason Jolivette, Harrison Lorenc, Devin Molina, Stephen Schoenborn, Jack Shimer, Mohammad Sufyan, John Wagner, Riley Yee

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. This presentation, by the stock selection team, examines quarterly performance and strategy while discussing the most recent selections in the portfolio: Agios Pharmaceuticals, CubeSmart, Splunk and Nexstar Media Group.

Ursinus College Women's Investment Management Company, Fall 2021, Maddy Sorokanych, Taylor Beaumont, Shelby Boyle, Laura Bradley, Olivia Defusco, Rachel Grossbauer, Jess Gutekunst, Rebecca Lewis, Alice Nathanson, Madelyn Nau, Ketlee Staz, Marcella Thanh-Guyet, Theodora Zeibekis

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 Fall 2021 semester and analyzes the stock performance of various companies including: Anthem, Inc., American Well Corporation, Netflix, Travel and Leisure Company, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Oshkosh and the Hershey Company.

Reassessing The Case For Development Charges In Canadian Municipalities, Andrew Sancton

Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance – Publications

“Growth should pay for growth.” This slogan—the common justification for development charges—is rarely challenged in municipal circles. The principle that those who cause new urban growth should pay for the infrastructure associated with it has generally been taken for granted, at least for the last few decades. Development charges evolved from post-1945 subdivision agreements and were initially accepted by most developers as a mechanism for enhancing the likelihood that current residents in a municipality would agree to new development. They now add as much as $90,000 to the cost of a new house in some parts of the Greater Toronto …

Why Is Chester, Pennsylvania, So Poor?, John P. Caskey

Economics Faculty Works

Chester is one of the poorest cities in Pennsylvania. Chester’s poverty is often blamed on a lack of local job opportunities. But a far more important factor is the concentration of the region’s low-cost rental housing in the City. Much of this housing consists of project-based government-subsidized apartments that are restricted to low-income households. In addition, Chester has an abundant supply of antiquated private housing with low rental rates. Low-cost housing is relatively scarce in the county surrounding Chester. Poor households move to Chester, or remain in Chester, because that is where they can afford to live.

China’S Geopolinomic Goals In Argentina, Chile, And Ecuador: How Chinese Resource Extraction Is Reinvigorating The Debate On Dependency, Eric Stephen Cruz

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to identify signs of economic dependency China creates in South America. The study builds on dependency theory by challenging China's self-categorization as a periphery nation. Using the mixed-methods case study approach, this study explores the effects of China's going out policy in South America. Specifically, the focus in the study is on asymmetric trade, increased debt, and economic dependency in the context of Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador. One of the study's significant findings is that dependency begins with access. China is efficient at securing access to natural resources through its trade arrangements, which seem …

Nevada Campaign Financing: U.S. House Of Representatives, 2020, Kristian Thymianos, Olivia K. Cheche, William E. Brown Jr.

Elections & Governance

In the 2020 election cycle, Nevada’s U.S. House of Representatives delegation fundraised a combined total of $9,994,636. This fact sheet summarizes the campaign donations and expenditures of these representatives. The data are collected from the Open Secrets website.

Analysis Of Factors Influencing The Bailout Of Distressed Enterprises By Local Asset Management Companies, Houwen Li

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In recent years, the number of distressed enterprises in China has gradually increased due to radical enterprise strategies, excessive expansion, poor management, and a trend of accelerating growth. Unable to adapt to fierce market competition, a large number of “zombie enterprises” disrupt the market order, reduce the use efficiency of social resources, and aggravate market risks. However, some enterprises are
temporarily caught in financial distress due to a deterioration of their financial situation caused by factors such as debt structure or capital liquidity. If such enterprises can be bailed out in time, they can escape their distress, which not only …

Business Models For Post-Crisis Information Ecosystems, Antje Mays

Library Faculty and Staff Publications

Since early 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted activity across business, education, research, and communities. Public health safety precautions have forced drastic reductions in economic and educational activity, resulting in widespread economic uncertainty and sizeable budget cuts. With library budgets already declining since the 2001-2002 recession following the dotcom crash and more steeply since the 2007-2009 Great Recession spawned by the financial crash, the pandemic has accelerated trends that were already underway. Libraries’ reduced purchasing power places the information ecosystem at risk of contraction in the race to contain costs. While economic contexts and publishing forms have changed considerably. …

Central Bank Of Nigeria And The Developmental Function: Some Thoughts On Policy Measurement Perceptions, Xavier-Itam Antigha Okon, Igonibo D. Abili

Bullion

The developmental function is one prominent contribution of the Central Bank of Nigeria to the Nigerian economy. Routine reporting of this function focuses on volume of projects funded, disbursements, and repayments. Exploring the possibility of expanding the reporting scope, this paper conceptualized and illustrated handy measures of policy anchored on macroeconomic aggregates, to track this function relative to other macroeconomic policy ends. Descriptive and inferential analyses suggested that the financial, economic and market intensity measures were quite responsive to developments in the economy and could be useful tools for policy reporting purposes. The pricing intensity indicator suggested distortions in the …

Family Structure Variables As Proxies For Socialization And Their Effect On Cognitive Decline: An Empirical Analysis, Peter Amato

Theses and Dissertations

The risk of several common diseases causing dramatic cognitive decline (Alzheimer’s, dementia, anterograde memory loss) and short-term memory impairment are all common, even inevitable ailments as one continues to age. There is a body of literature that suggests stronger social networks reduce the chance of cognitive decline through mentally stimulating activities or socializing. This study examines the rates of cognitive decline in people with larger families by using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and a cox hazard proportion hazards model to examine the protective effects of different family structures on the rates of cognitive decline using the American Community Supplement …

A Latent Class Approach To The Utilization Effects Of The Aca, Dennis Jones

Theses and Dissertations

The dependent coverage provision of the Affordable Care Act raised eligibility for young adults to remain eligible their parents’ health care up to the age of 26. This study uses a combination of latent class analysis and difference-in-difference regression to examine the effect the intervention had on health care utilization.

Other-Regarding Expert Behavior - Economics Experiments, Erik Darwin Hille

Economics Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes two experiments where experts are facing other-regarding versus self-interested choices on behalf of their clients. The experimental models isolate and examine singular aspects of the complex varied transactions that transpire between experts and their clients every day. Prior literature modeling experts in dictator games or expert advice games shows that given a clear choice with direct culpability that experts are willing to make “fair” other regarding decisions that sacrifice some of their own monetary outcome to increase the outcome for others. However, in these same experiments with the same subject, experts are willing to hide behind many …

Implications Of Online Gambling Legalization, William M. Schmidt

Student Publications

The tradition of gambling has been around for thousands of years, but has undergone a recent evolution into what it is perceived as today. This has turned it into an industry of its own, which will only continue to grow with the ongoing legalization of online gambling. Past trends in these legislations would project further economic growth tied to the gambling industry. However, the mental health implications that have been seen to stem from the practice of gambling are as present as ever. This problem associated with the industry will also be expected to climb as gambling becomes both more …

Are Participants Good Evaluators?, Jeffrey A. Smith, Alexander Whalley, Nathaniel T. Wilcox

Upjohn Press

Managers of workforce training programs are often unable to afford costly, full-fledged experimental or nonexperimental evaluations to determine their programs’ impacts. Therefore, many rely on the survey responses of program participants to gauge program impacts.

Smith, Whalley, and Wilcox present the first attempt to assess such measures despite their already widespread use in program evaluations. They develop a multidisciplinary framework for addressing the issue and apply it to three case studies: the National Job Training Partnership Act Study, the U.S. National Supported Work Demonstration, and the Connecticut Jobs First Program.

Each of these studies were subjected to experimental evaluations that …

Investment Patterns In Mountain West States, Counties, And Nevada Cities 2005-2019, Peter Grema, Zachary Walusek, Katie M. Gilbertson, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

The purpose of this fact sheet is to summarize findings on capital flows across Mountain West states and counties, and within Nevada cities. The “Gauging Investment Patterns across the US” report by the Urban Institute present findings of overall volume of capital deployed, racial equity of investments, and income equity for each respective geographic area. The full report further breaks down these three main categories into 18 other metrics.

Mandatory Minimum Reforms, Sentencing, And Racial-Ethnic Disparities, Terry Ann Craigie, Mariyana Zapryanova

Economics: Faculty Publications

Over the last 20 years, numerous states and the federal government enacted mandatory minimum reforms, especially for drug offenses. Yet little is known about how effective these reforms have been at the state-level in lowering drug sentences. Using quasi-experimental methods and administrative data, this study evaluates the impact of state-level mandatory minimum reforms on drug sentences and their concomitant racial-ethnic disparities. We find that state-level mandatory minimum reforms do not lower drug sentences in general or change racial-ethnic disparities statistically significantly. These findings suggest that the profound racial-ethnic bias sparked by state-level mandatory minimums are not fully ameliorated by subsequent …

Going Virtual: A Step-By-Step Guide To Taking The In-Person Experimental Lab Online, David Danz, Neeraja Gupta, Marissa Lepper, Lise Verterlund, K. Pun Winichakul

Economics: Faculty Publications

This guide provides a detailed account of procedures for conducting traditional in-person laboratory experiments in a “virtual setting.” The main objective of these procedures is to maintain the control of traditional in-person lab studies when conducting studies over the internet. Using the participant pool of the in-person lab the key procedural steps include participants having their webcams on throughout the experiment, technical screenings and attention pledges, playing pre-recorded instructions out loud, upholding clear experimenter roles and communication protocols when interacting with participants, and finally detailed and scripted procedures for managing participants throughout the session. The described procedures have been used …

Paso Del Norte Economic Indicator Review, October, Hunt Institute For Global Competitiveness

Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Supporting Renewable Energy Market Growth Through The Circular Integration Of End-Of-Use And End-Of-Life Photovoltaics, Erika Marsillac

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

Energy demand continues to grow with the world’s burgeoning population. Meeting energy needs through renewable sources allows for market growth with limited environmental impact, but sourcing constraints can limit production, creating industrial and environmental problems. The exploitation of end-of-use and end-of-life photovoltaic (PV) options that are traditionally treated as waste offers a valuable opportunity to support renewable energy market growth with fewer sourcing constraints and minimal environmental impacts, but this circular investment has not yet been broadly implemented, nor is broad guidance widely available to aid its implementation. From a business perspective, this paper discusses the technical issues, assesses the …

Technological And Disruptive Innovations In A Nation's Industrialization And Leadership Development, Jeffrey Yi-Lin Forrest, Zhen Li, Roger A. Solano, David J. Doorn

Economics & Finance Faculty Publications

The turn of this new century has been witnessing the effort of various leading developed and developing countries in their attempt to materialize next round of industrialization by emphasizing on innovations. To potentially provide guidance to such national efforts, this paper explores the relationship between technological innovation and industrialization and the importance of disruptive innovation in the development of a nation's international leadership. By employing the rigor of game theory, this work first looks at key conditions under which an established market invites competition and innovation. On top of such generally true results, it is consequently shown that technological innovation …

Digital Only Banks The Changing Face Of Global Banking: Challenges, Opportunities And Aml/Cft Implications For Nigeria, David N. Odu

Bullion

The drastic digitization brought about by evolution of technology in the world has changed almost every sphere of human life with the most recent effect being moved to cashless economy, while the role of digitization in the banking sector is altering customer demand and preferences, banks are becoming digitally oriented to meet the forces of demand and supply. This has led to the birth of digital-only also called challenger bankers or branches banks as they operate without a physical location, only have a location for admin purposes or hosting their servers. This growing wave of consumer oriented banking institutions focuses …

An Empirical Examination Of The Impact Of Economic Structural Change On Income Inequality: Dynamic Heterogeneous Panel Approach, Maha Elhini, Rasha Hammam

Economics

This paper employs structural growth perspective to the analysis of income inequality in 43 countries over the period 2003-2017.The study utilizes two different panel estimation techniques. First, the panel least squares regression examines the relevance of Kuznets effect of the different economic sectors; agriculture, manufacturing and services on income inequality. Second, the pooled mean group (PMG) estimation of dynamic heterogeneous panels gauges the long run impact of the change in sectoral value added as a proxy for structural change on inequality. PMG presents short run adjustments to be country-specific due to the widely different impacts of macroeconomic conditions and vulnerability …

Corporate Cash Holdings, Agency Problems, And Economic Policy Uncertainty, Siamak Javadi, Mohsen Mollagholamali, Ali Nejadmalayeri, Saud Al-Thaqeb

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

Consistent with the agency view of cash holdings, we document a strong negative relationship between economic policy uncertainty and corporate cash holdings for non-U.S. firms from 19 countries. Our results are robust to different measures of cash holdings and model specifications and survive after addressing endogeneity. We provide evidence that the decrease in cash holdings is moderated by shareholders' ability to force managers to disgorge cash that fits consistently within the agency framework. Overall, results suggest that lowering cash holdings help alleviate agency problems in the presence of policy uncertainty and underscore the significance of country attributes in corporate finance.