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Title: Application of reference point theory to merger activity and characteristics.
Creator: Chira, Inga., College of Business, Department of Finance
Abstract/Description: In Essay I, I analyze the impact of the target and bidder reference points on the probability of acquisition under general economic conditions as well as in strong/weak economic periods. I find that the target and the bidder reference points have a significant impact on the probability of a firm becoming a bidder or a target. While the target reference point also has a significant impact on the successful completion of the merger, the bidder reference point does not. In addition, I find that...
Show moreIn Essay I, I analyze the impact of the target and bidder reference points on the probability of acquisition under general economic conditions as well as in strong/weak economic periods. I find that the target and the bidder reference points have a significant impact on the probability of a firm becoming a bidder or a target. While the target reference point also has a significant impact on the successful completion of the merger, the bidder reference point does not. In addition, I find that the target reference point is a significant determinant of management-led buyout mergers, while the bidder reference point has a significant impact on the probability of the bidder launching a hostile bid. In Essay II, I focus on the impact of the target and bidder reference points on the method of payment in the context of what the target seeks, what the bidder offers, and what the two parties use as their final method of payment. The analysis is performed under general economic conditions and in strong/weak economic periods. I find that while the target reference point has a strong impact on the method of payment agreed upon between the two parties, the bidder reference point does not. This is especially important given that the bidder reference point influences the consideration offered by the bidder but does not translate into a significant impact on the final method of payment. In essay III, I examine the impact of bidder reference point on public targets and the impact of bidder and target reference points on private firms. I analyze the aforementioned relationships under different economic conditions. Consistent with the literature on premium and public targets, I find that the target reference point has a strong and positive relationship with the premium paid for private firms. The relationship is stronger in weak economic times., At the same time, I do not find any evidence that the bidder reference point exerts a significant influence on the premium paid for public firms. Interestingly, the relationship between the bidder reference point and the premium paid for private firms is negative and significant.
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Date Issued: 2013
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3360773
Subject Headings: Consolidation and merger of corporations, Market segmentation, Negotiation in business, Industrial management
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Asset securitization by non-financial firms: motivation and market valuation.
Creator: Huang, Qianyun., College of Business, School of Accounting
Abstract/Description: This dissertation examines several research questions relating to securitization by non-financial firms. Finance theories suggest securitization is most beneficial when there is high demand for liquidity. On the other hand, empirical studies have shown that firms engage in securitization to manage earnings. I find that liquidity demand, not the incentive for earnings management motivates securitization transactions by non-financial firms. I also evaluate whether earnings management in...
Show moreThis dissertation examines several research questions relating to securitization by non-financial firms. Finance theories suggest securitization is most beneficial when there is high demand for liquidity. On the other hand, empirical studies have shown that firms engage in securitization to manage earnings. I find that liquidity demand, not the incentive for earnings management motivates securitization transactions by non-financial firms. I also evaluate whether earnings management in securitization is indeed undesirable from a shareholder's perspective by examining the economic consequences of the practice. Because securitization creates a large infusion of cash, one way to evaluate the economic consequences of earnings management is to examine whether securitization proceeds encourage overinvestment. I find that earnings management in securitization (i.e., recording non-zero securitization income) is unrelated to firms' suboptimal) overinvestment in the post-securitization period. Thus, it appears that earning management in securitization has no negative economic consequence in terms of generating excess securitization proceeds that encourage overinvestment. I also examine the market's valuation of securitizable assets in the accrual components of earnings and the use of securitization proceeds. Because securitizable assets can be converted into cash through securitization, I test whether the market valuation reflects the source of liquidity in securitizable assets that is similar to the cash component of earnings. I find that, for securitization firms, the market valuation of securitizable assets is similar to that of the cash component of earnings., Lastly, I find some evidence supporting the assertion that firms' liquidity prior to securitization influences the market valuation on securitization proceeds retained on the balance sheet, in that the market assigns a discount to retained proceeds for firms with excess liquidity prior to securitiaztion.
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Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3183122
Subject Headings: Asset-backed financing, Securities, Mortgage-backed securities, Debt financing (Corporations)
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Essays in corporate restructuring.
Creator: Murdock, Maryna., College of Business, Department of Finance
Abstract/Description: This essay focuses on firms that have publicly issued announcements that they were seeking a buyer. Managers of the firms in this unique sample display an idiosyncratic behavior by expressing a willingness to relinquish private benefits of control. The essay investigates the possible factors that may lead managers of these firms to issue such announcements, the effects of issuing "seeking buyer" announcements on shareholders' wealth, and the probability that such firms are later acquired....
Show moreThis essay focuses on firms that have publicly issued announcements that they were seeking a buyer. Managers of the firms in this unique sample display an idiosyncratic behavior by expressing a willingness to relinquish private benefits of control. The essay investigates the possible factors that may lead managers of these firms to issue such announcements, the effects of issuing "seeking buyer" announcements on shareholders' wealth, and the probability that such firms are later acquired. Results indicate that firms in poor financial condition, as well as larger and more homogeneous firms are more likely to issue a "seeking buyer" announcement. The interpretation of such results is that firms resort to issuing the announcement when a sale seems to be the means for survival, and when the sale is less likely without such an aggressive sale strategy. The announcements have a positive impact on shareholders' wealth, though they do not increase the probability of an acquisition. Essay 2: Shifts in risk as the result of corporate divestitures. The second essay investigates the effect of corporate divestitures on risk, while previous research focused exclusively on changes in shareholders' wealth. Specifically, this study explores changes in systematic, total and idiosyncratic risk as the result of spin-offs, carve-outs and asset sales. Additionally, I study factors that may explain the variation in risk changes as the result of the three types of divestitures. I document an increase in total and idiosyncratic risk for all types of divestitures, an increase in one of the measures of systematic risk for spin-offs and carve-outs and a reduction in systematic risk for asset sales. Change in risk is negatively correlated with the degree of focusing as the result of divestitures, and positively correlated with change in financial leverage.
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Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2978988
Subject Headings: Consolidation and merger of corporations, Corporate reorganizations, Strategic alliances (Business)
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Earnings management around IPO lockup expiration and the role of auditors.
Creator: Hao, Lizhong., College of Business, School of Accounting
Abstract/Description: I examine the presence of earnings management at pre-IPO and lockup periods. Motivated by significant post-lockup insider sales documented in prior research, I investigate whether insiders (managers and venture capitalists) inflate earnings around the lockup period in order to increase share price and maximize personal wealth from selling shares at lockup expiration. I also compare levels of earnings management in the pre-IPO and lockup periods with those in the post-lockup period. Prior...
Show moreI examine the presence of earnings management at pre-IPO and lockup periods. Motivated by significant post-lockup insider sales documented in prior research, I investigate whether insiders (managers and venture capitalists) inflate earnings around the lockup period in order to increase share price and maximize personal wealth from selling shares at lockup expiration. I also compare levels of earnings management in the pre-IPO and lockup periods with those in the post-lockup period. Prior research also documents that auditor quality mitigates earnings management behavior. I explore the impact of auditor quality in the unique setting of IPO lockups. ... Cross-sectional analysis reveals that my sample IPO firms also utilize real-activities manipulation, but only in the early pre-IPO period. The results are robust with respect to alternative abnormal accruals and real-activities measures. I also find that IPO firms that hire prestigious auditors experience less earnings management in the lockup period than firms with lower-quality auditors, after controlling for the monitoring role of venture capitalist and underwriter reputation.
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Date Issued: 2013
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3362378
Subject Headings: Going public (Securities), Business forecasting, Organizational effectiveness, Investment analysis, Portfolio management
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: What is old is new again: the role of discontinuity in nostalgia-related consumption.
Creator: Rutherford, Jana., College of Business, Department of Marketing
Abstract/Description: A 'wave of nostalgia' has gripped the US leading to nostalgic fashions, furniture, television programming and even food. The marketing literature suggests that nostalgic-related consumption is the result of an aging population. It has been proposed that the purchase of nostalgic-products and services is an attempt by mature consumers to return psychologically to the ease, certainties and conflict free periods that existed or seemed to exist during their childhood or adolescence. This paper...
Show moreA 'wave of nostalgia' has gripped the US leading to nostalgic fashions, furniture, television programming and even food. The marketing literature suggests that nostalgic-related consumption is the result of an aging population. It has been proposed that the purchase of nostalgic-products and services is an attempt by mature consumers to return psychologically to the ease, certainties and conflict free periods that existed or seemed to exist during their childhood or adolescence. This paper proposes that discontinuity, as argued by Davis (1979), is a better explanation for why people develop a preference for and consume nostalgic goods. Although some insights have been developed, research focused only on mature consumers and is rather limited in offering alternative explanations for the evocation of nostalgic feelings. MANCOVA was the primary method used to test hypotheses. Findings of this study indicate that discontinuity does not necessarily lead to nostalgia and preference for nostalgic products varies.
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Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2683126
Subject Headings: Consumption (Economics), Social aspects, Consumer behavior, Commercial products, Psychological aspects, Nostalgia, Economic aspects, Material culture, Popular culture
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Viral advertising: conceptual and empirical examination of antecedents, context and its influence on purchase intentions.
Creator: Petrescu, Maria., College of Business, Department of Marketing
Abstract/Description: The purpose of this paper is to focus on viral advertising and study the conditions under which ads become viral, how they are intentionally transmitted by consumers to their social network and their relationship with classical advertising variables, such as attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand and purchase intention of the consumer. We first analyze studies focusing on different aspects of the viral communication, "electronic word-of-mouth", "word-of-mouse", "viral marketing"...
Show moreThe purpose of this paper is to focus on viral advertising and study the conditions under which ads become viral, how they are intentionally transmitted by consumers to their social network and their relationship with classical advertising variables, such as attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand and purchase intention of the consumer. We first analyze studies focusing on different aspects of the viral communication, "electronic word-of-mouth", "word-of-mouse", "viral marketing" and "buzz" in order to clarify the concept of viral advertising. After clarifying the viral advertising concept, the project analyzes the viral process and its main antecedents and influencers, by taking into consideration emotional and ad appeals theories. The results show that ad appeals influence attitude toward the ad and viral intentions, with humor being the most significant appeal in the context of viral advertising. The study also focuses on the social aspects of advertising and consumption , including influential differences related to the source of the message, social influencers analyzed in the socialization literature, such as family and peers, the tie strength element from the social network theory and consumer market maven traits. The findings show the significance of family communication and market maven characteristics in relation to consumers' viral intentions. We then integrate our key variable, viral intentions, in a classical advertising framework based on attitudes theory and their influence on behavioral intentions. The results confirm previously studied relationships between attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand and purchase intentions., The findings bring into attention two key new relationships: the significant effect of attitude toward the brand on viral intentions, and the positive relationship between viral intentions and purchase intentions, a very important relationship for marketing research the viral advertising concept, analyzes its key antecedents, and studies the relationship between attitudes and behavioral intentions in a viral advertising context. The paper also establishes a key positive relationship between viral intentions and purchase intentions regarding the advertised product.
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Date Issued: 2012
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3352280
Subject Headings: Viral marketing, Marketing, Management, Relationship marketing, Internet marketing, Mass media, Social aspects, Consumer behavior
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The impact of reputation orientation on marketing strategy formation and performance.
Creator: Goldring, Deborah, College of Business, Department of Marketing
Abstract/Description: This research explores the attitudes held by marketing managers about building their company's corporate reputation, and about the impact of their actions on performance. In an environment of costly brand building, declining customer loyalty, and increasing scrutiny from stakeholders who demand corporate responsibility and transparency, a concern for corporate reputation is increasingly important for everyone in the company, including marketing managers. The marketing literature, however, has...
Show moreThis research explores the attitudes held by marketing managers about building their company's corporate reputation, and about the impact of their actions on performance. In an environment of costly brand building, declining customer loyalty, and increasing scrutiny from stakeholders who demand corporate responsibility and transparency, a concern for corporate reputation is increasingly important for everyone in the company, including marketing managers. The marketing literature, however, has not explored how managers who are concerned about the reputation of their companies can effectively adapt marketing strategy for reputation enhancement. The theoretical justification for this research is grounded in stakeholder theory, dynamic capabilities theory, and strategic choice theory. The study contributes to the marketing strategy literature and the nascent field of stakeholder marketing. It makes a theoretical connection between the corporate-level construct of reputation orientation, and its impact on functional-level decisions about marketing strategy. Reputation orientation is the concern that top management and employees share about their company's commitment to nurturing a positive corporate reputation among key stakeholders. A scale for reputation was conceptually defined and empirically tested (Churchill, 1979). It consists of three dimensions: consciously created corporate identity, internal identity dissemination, and external stakeholder impact. Reputation orientation was found to be a valid and reliable construct that was further tested within the framework of how marketing managers formulate, implement, and evaluate their strategic marketing decisions. This research also tested the impact of stakeholder-conscious marketing strategy on corporate reputation and marketing performance., The results from the empirical research indicate that organizations with a reputation orientation devise and select marketing strategies that focus on the needs and concerns of customers and other key stakeholders. Reputation orientation guides a stakeholder-conscious marketing strategy, such that marketing strategy decisions take into consideration both the impacts on corporate reputation and marketing performance without sacrificing either. The implications for marketing practice is that marketing managers can deliberately choose marketing strategies that build a strong corporate reputation by considering the concerns of customers and other key stakeholders at the earliest stages of marketing strategy formulation.
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Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3357426
Subject Headings: Communication in marketing, Communication in organizations, Corporate image, Management, Business communication, Corporate governance, Industrial management
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The impact of the informal economic GDP growth in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Creator: Wedderburn, Chantal., College of Business, Department of Economics
Abstract/Description: The informal, underground or shadow economy is a significant, growing force throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, contributing to overall output, yet diminishing productivity, congesting public services, and depriving developing nations of potential fiscal revenues. This paper discusses the various definitions and methods of measurement of the informal sector, with the aim of showing the importance of collecting taxes in informal economies. Informal economy participants engage in tax...
Show moreThe informal, underground or shadow economy is a significant, growing force throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, contributing to overall output, yet diminishing productivity, congesting public services, and depriving developing nations of potential fiscal revenues. This paper discusses the various definitions and methods of measurement of the informal sector, with the aim of showing the importance of collecting taxes in informal economies. Informal economy participants engage in tax evasion and avoidance of governmental regulations, therefore the implications of excessive tax burdens and onerous bureaucracy are studied, with a focus on their impact on GDP growth. Informal sector enterprises can greatly contribute to the official, recorded GDP measures if they have significant incentives to joining the formal sector. These incentives are presented and must be considered seriously by policymakers concerned with capturing additional tax revenues and improving economic growth in their nations.
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Date Issued: 2009
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/186773
Subject Headings: Gross domestic product, Gross domestic product, International economic relations, Economic conditions, Economic conditions
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The effect of income-increasing earnings management on analysts' responses.
Creator: Sankara, Jomo., College of Business, School of Accounting
Abstract/Description: As a consequence of financial analysts' joint role as information intermediaries and firm monitors, I investigate analysts' responses to opportunistic corporate earnings management as firm mispricing increases. While firms' management have capital markets and executive equity incentives to manage earnings, financial analysts have trading volume, investment banking, and management information incentives which result in analysts' optimism bias. However, prior research also finds that analysts...
Show moreAs a consequence of financial analysts' joint role as information intermediaries and firm monitors, I investigate analysts' responses to opportunistic corporate earnings management as firm mispricing increases. While firms' management have capital markets and executive equity incentives to manage earnings, financial analysts have trading volume, investment banking, and management information incentives which result in analysts' optimism bias. However, prior research also finds that analysts have reputational incentives, which motivate them to provide accurate and profitable outlooks. Using a generalized linear model (GLM), I estimate analysts' stock recommendation (price targets) responses for earnings management firms. I use the residual income model to compute fundamental value and I add proxies for earnings management to my analyst-responses models.... The main implications of my findings are that analysts use corporate earnings management and firm fundamental value in their stock recommendations (price targets) responses. In addition, my results provide evidence that, after controlling for earnings quality, analysts' stock recommendations (price targets) are consistent with strategies based on residual income models. These findings will be of interest to shareholders, regulators, and researchers as well as to finance and accounting practitioners.
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Date Issued: 2012
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3355872
Subject Headings: Investment analysis, Portfolio management, Earnings per share, Accounting, Financial statements, Corporations, Finance
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Investment bank role in corporate restructuring.
Creator: Cao, Kien., College of Business, Department of Finance
Abstract/Description: In essay 1 (Investment bank role in acquisition of private targets), using a sample of private targets from January 1992 to December 2010, I find that special information asymmetry when bidders prusue private targets alters the factors used by bidders and targets to decide whether to hire an investment bank.... It appears that the investment bank has a significant impact on the outcome of the acquisition of a private target. In essay 2 (Investment bank role in asset sell-off transactions), I...
Show moreIn essay 1 (Investment bank role in acquisition of private targets), using a sample of private targets from January 1992 to December 2010, I find that special information asymmetry when bidders prusue private targets alters the factors used by bidders and targets to decide whether to hire an investment bank.... It appears that the investment bank has a significant impact on the outcome of the acquisition of a private target. In essay 2 (Investment bank role in asset sell-off transactions), I also find that special information asymmetry when a buyer pursues divested assets alters the factors used by the buyer and seller to decide whether to hire an investment bank. ...I find that when the seller empoloys an investment bank, the increase in unsystematic and total risk of the buyer is greater than in cases when the seller does not use an investment bank.
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Date Issued: 2012
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3359289
Subject Headings: Banks and banking, Consolidation and merger of corporations, Corporate reorganizations, Reengineering (Management)
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Essays on international acquisitions.
Creator: Susnjara, Jurica., College of Business, Finance
Abstract/Description: The purpose of the current manuscript was to examine acquirer and market behavior surrounding a sample of international mergers and acquisitions. The first essay examined the existence of a private company discount and its connections to liquidity. It found that unlisted targets sell for less than their public counterparts, confirming earlier findings. The examination of a connection between the discount and liquidity mostly contradicted earlier studies (Officer 2007), depending on which...
Show moreThe purpose of the current manuscript was to examine acquirer and market behavior surrounding a sample of international mergers and acquisitions. The first essay examined the existence of a private company discount and its connections to liquidity. It found that unlisted targets sell for less than their public counterparts, confirming earlier findings. The examination of a connection between the discount and liquidity mostly contradicted earlier studies (Officer 2007), depending on which subsample was selected. The second essay examined the existence of a target price runup preceding acquisitions announcements, existence of a substitution effect between runup and premium, and whether investor protection influenced the two. It confirmed the earlier findings of a significant runup preceding acquisition announcements, with the runup being more pronounced in those targets from weaker investor protection countries. Contrary to Schwert (1996), the study found a significant substitution effect between runup and premium, with the effect stronger if the acquirers are from countries with weak investor protection. The third essay examined acquirer stock price reaction to the three different components of the offer price: target's stand-alone valuation, pre-announcement runup and the offer premium. Each component was found to have an overall insignificant effect on the acquirer stock price in the overall sample. When the targets were from the countries with the weakest investor protection, the study found that the reaction to both the runup and stand-alone target valuation depend on both target and acquirer country investor protection. The study also found that when the targets were from the countries with the weakest investor protection, and only from those countries, acquirer stock price reacted negatively to any individual component of the offer price being higher., Overall, the three studies confirm that behavior of both acquirer management and their stock markets i affected by the variance in investor protection among countries.
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Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3320104
Subject Headings: Consolidation and merger of corporations, Negotiation in business, Strategic planning, International business enterprises
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The impact of director monitoring role on ownership: the anti-agency theory.
Creator: Incardona, John., College of Business, Accounting
Abstract/Description: I investigate the association between independent directors' monitoring roles as distinguished by whether they reside on the audit committee (ACs) or not (NACs) and their respective ownership and whether Section 301 or a proxy for alternative independent monitoring (the percentage of institutional ownership) affects this relation. Specifically, I examine whether the objectivity required of serving as an AC (consistent with their audit function role) or alignment with investors (consistent...
Show moreI investigate the association between independent directors' monitoring roles as distinguished by whether they reside on the audit committee (ACs) or not (NACs) and their respective ownership and whether Section 301 or a proxy for alternative independent monitoring (the percentage of institutional ownership) affects this relation. Specifically, I examine whether the objectivity required of serving as an AC (consistent with their audit function role) or alignment with investors (consistent with agency theory) dominates in determining independent directors' level of share ownership. Using generalized estimations of equations I provide evidence that ACs hold less ownership than NACs that suggests differences with respect to independence in appearance/ alignment with shareholder interests not previously documented amongst independent directors. I also find evidence that Section 301 may contribute to this differential ownership while the presence of institutional ownership moderates this relationship.
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Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2683129
Subject Headings: Industrial management, Corporations, Management, Directors of corporations, Legal status, laws, etc
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The impact of technology on the music industry.
Creator: Valencia, Jazmine A., Florida Atlantic University, College of Business
Abstract/Description: This thesis examines the impact technology has on the music industry. Despite decrease in physical sales and piracy, statistics indicate that consumer requests for music content are strong. Although sales of physical product have decreased, the demand for digital music has dramatically increased. The current market players and technology innovations provide new opportunities to deliver music to the consumer. It is imperative to balance the divergent interests of consumers and artists, while...
Show moreThis thesis examines the impact technology has on the music industry. Despite decrease in physical sales and piracy, statistics indicate that consumer requests for music content are strong. Although sales of physical product have decreased, the demand for digital music has dramatically increased. The current market players and technology innovations provide new opportunities to deliver music to the consumer. It is imperative to balance the divergent interests of consumers and artists, while ensuring profits for all parties involved.
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Date Issued: 2008
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/58013
Subject Headings: Music and technology, Sound recording industry, Popular music, History and criticism
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: An empirical investigation of personal and contextual factors involved in employee creativity.
Creator: Collins, Jennifer M. (Bowers)., College of Business
Abstract/Description: Researchers have proposed several theoretical explanations of how employee creativity is fostered and developed in organizations. The early literature attributed creativity to personal factors, such as personality and cognitive ability. Researchers also examined the role of environmental factors, such as role models, support and feedback in creativity. More recent research suggests that when individuals lack creativity-relevant skills, there are certain contextual factors that can provide...
Show moreResearchers have proposed several theoretical explanations of how employee creativity is fostered and developed in organizations. The early literature attributed creativity to personal factors, such as personality and cognitive ability. Researchers also examined the role of environmental factors, such as role models, support and feedback in creativity. More recent research suggests that when individuals lack creativity-relevant skills, there are certain contextual factors that can provide support for the development of the necessary skills. However, there is a dearth of empirical research investigating these relationships. This dissertation summarizes extant research and advances the field by empirically testing the individual and collective roles of personal and contextual factors in employee creativity.
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Date Issued: 2008
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3337207
Subject Headings: Creative ability in business, Employee motivation, Success in business, Interpersonal relations, Performance standards
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Are the regulatory reforms working?: evidence from audit committee members' selection of auditors.
Creator: Looknanan-Brown, Veena., College of Business, School of Accounting
Abstract/Description: The Sarbanes-Oxley Act made audit committees directly responsible for the appointment, compensation, and supervision of companies' auditors. Limited research in the auditor selection process and PCAOB inspections suggest that managers, not audit committees, may still be selecting the auditors, and that inspection reports are not useful. This study addresses both of these areas. This paper considers two theories of governance, Agency Theory and Institution Theory, to analyze the audit...
Show moreThe Sarbanes-Oxley Act made audit committees directly responsible for the appointment, compensation, and supervision of companies' auditors. Limited research in the auditor selection process and PCAOB inspections suggest that managers, not audit committees, may still be selecting the auditors, and that inspection reports are not useful. This study addresses both of these areas. This paper considers two theories of governance, Agency Theory and Institution Theory, to analyze the audit committee members' auditor selection process. The study examines whether Audit Committee Members use two specific types of audit quality indicators, other than managers' recommendation, in evaluating auditors. In a setting where the manager recommends the auditor, the auditors' inspection results (favorable/unfavorable) and a prior manager/auditor affiliation (absent/present) are manipulated in a between-subject research design, using financially literate professionals as a proxy for audit committee members. The study finds that audit quality perception and auditor selection are jointly determined. Inspection results are positively associated with audit quality perception and auditor selection. The nature of a manager-auditor affiliation is directly associated with audit quality perception and inversely related to auditor selection. Further, controlling for perception, audit committee members are more likely to recommend auditors with unfavorable inspection results, if a prior affiliation with management is present than if an affiliation is absent. Overall, the results indicate that audit committee members are diligent in evaluating auditors, and PCAOB inspection results are useful. The results of this study contribute to the audit committee effectiveness and PCAOB literature.
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Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3318671
Subject Headings: Financial services industry, Management, Financial institutions, Law and legislation, Corporate governance, Law and legislation, Auditing, Standards, Corporations, Auditing, Standards
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Antecedents and consequences of pay disparity between CEO and non-CEO executives.
Creator: Pissaris, Seema., Florida Atlantic University, College of Business, Department of Management
Abstract/Description: This dissertation investigates the antecedents and consequences to pay disparity between the CEO and non-CEO executives from an equity-based perspective. While the principles of agency theory suggest that CEOs are granted higher compensation packages to better align their motives to those of the firm's shareholders, empirical research has not supported a positive relationship between rising CEO pay and firm performance. Some results even suggest a negative relationship. This dissertation...
Show moreThis dissertation investigates the antecedents and consequences to pay disparity between the CEO and non-CEO executives from an equity-based perspective. While the principles of agency theory suggest that CEOs are granted higher compensation packages to better align their motives to those of the firm's shareholders, empirical research has not supported a positive relationship between rising CEO pay and firm performance. Some results even suggest a negative relationship. This dissertation argues that if organizational outcomes are determined by the integrated skills and talents of its dominant coalition, and if the management of a firm's trajectory is a shared process, then, the disparity in rewards between the CEO and those that work closest to him becomes an important area of study., The dissertation investigates the antecedents of pay disparity and proposes that the quality of a firm's governance marked by independent boards as well as higher levels of blockholders will be more likely to temper and better align the CEO's compensation and thereby reduce pay disparity. Empirical results support the major propositions as firms with independent Chairman of the Board, fewer interlocking directors, and higher levels of blockholders were found to have lower levels of pay disparity between the CEO and non-CEO executives. Pay disparity was tested both at the firm level and at the individual executive level and both were found have a significant effect on non-CEO executive turnover for up to two years., Central to the dissertation is a moderation model which proposes that pay disparity has a profound effect on an executive team's ability to integrate its diverse experience and educational background, and consequently, its capacity to respond strategically to its changing competitive landscape. The study examines the education, age, tenure and functional background of top management teams of Fortune 500 firms and finds support for the assertion that the positive relationship between heterogeneously composed teams and firm performance is contingent on rewards equality between the CEO and balance of the top team membership. The findings suggest that higher levels of pay disparity attenuate the negative aspects of cognitive diversity serving to impede the firm's competitive performance.
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Date Issued: 2008
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/58009
Subject Headings: Chief executive officers, Salaries, etc, Corporate governance, Compensation management, Managerial economics
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Communication and interactivity in B2B relationships.
Creator: Murphy, Micah, Sashi, C. M., College of Business, Department of Marketing
Abstract/Description: This research explores the impact of interactive communication on business-to business (B2B) relationships. In the past decade the internet and especially social media as a mode of communication has grown rapidly in both consumer and business markets. Drawing on marketing channels and communications literature this paper identifies the dimensions of interactive communication and develops a theoretical framework to examine their impact on satisfaction, commitment, and advocacy. Media...
Show moreThis research explores the impact of interactive communication on business-to business (B2B) relationships. In the past decade the internet and especially social media as a mode of communication has grown rapidly in both consumer and business markets. Drawing on marketing channels and communications literature this paper identifies the dimensions of interactive communication and develops a theoretical framework to examine their impact on satisfaction, commitment, and advocacy. Media synchronicity theory and the concept of the internet as an alternative to the real world are used to distinguish between digital and non-digital modes of communication. Relationship marketing is used to identify the dimensions of interactivity: rationality, social interaction, contact density, and reciprocal feedback. The framework developed is usedto explore the influence of face-to-face (F2F), digital, and traditional, impersonalcommunications on the dimensions of interactivity.Hypotheses linking the mode of communication: personal, digital, and impersonal with the dimensions of interactivity and relational outcomes are empirically examined with data from the commercial printing and graphic design industry. Confirmatory Factor Analysis is used to analyze the measurement and structural model. Personal, F2F communication has the greatest impact on social interaction, reciprocal feedback, and number of contacts. Digital communication has a weaker effect on these dimensions and impersonal communication has the weakest effect. Personal and Digital have equal impacts on rationality and rationality is the only dimension of interactivity positively associated with relationship satisfaction. Contact density has a negative impact on relationship satisfaction and this negative impact is greater with personal communication that it is with digital. The study shows that affective commitment leads to advocacy in a B2B channel, but trust and calculative commitment have no impact on advocacy. The findings of the study have implications for both managers and researchers regarding the mode and content of communications in B2B relationships.
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Date Issued: 2013
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA0004040
Subject Headings: Business logistics -- Management, Customer relations, Marketing -- Social aspects, Sales management, Web services -- Management
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Essays on bond exchange-traded funds.
Creator: Evans, Charles W., College of Business, Department of Finance
Abstract/Description: This dissertation investigates two fundamental questions related to how well exchange-traded funds that hold portfolios of fixed-income assets (bond ETFs) proxy for their underlying portfolios. The first question involves price/net-asset-value (NAV) mean-reversion asymmetries and the effectiveness of the arbitrage mechanism of bond ETFs. Methodologically, to answer the first question I focus on a time-series analysis. The second question involves the degree to which average returns of bond...
Show moreThis dissertation investigates two fundamental questions related to how well exchange-traded funds that hold portfolios of fixed-income assets (bond ETFs) proxy for their underlying portfolios. The first question involves price/net-asset-value (NAV) mean-reversion asymmetries and the effectiveness of the arbitrage mechanism of bond ETFs. Methodologically, to answer the first question I focus on a time-series analysis. The second question involves the degree to which average returns of bond ETF shares respond to changes in factors that have been found to drive average returns of bond portfolios. To answer this question I shift the focus of the analysis to a cross-section asset pricing test. In other words, do bond ETF share prices track the value of their underlying assets, and are they priced by investors like bonds in the cross-section? The first essay concludes that bond ETF shares exhibit mean-reversion asymmetries when price and NAV diverge, along persistent small premiums. These premiums appear to reflect the added value that bond ETFs bring to the fixed-income asset market through smaller trading increments, greater liquidity, and the ability to buy on margin and sell short. The second essay concludes that market, bond-specific, and firm-specific risk factors can help to explain the variation in U.S. bond ETF average returns, but only size seems to be priced in the cross-section of expected returns. This is not surprising as the sample used in the asset pricing tests is limited to the period 2007-2010, which corresponds to the "great recession", and size has been interpreted in the asset pricing literature as a state variable that proxies for financial distress and is highly dependent on the phase of the real business cycle., The two essays together suggest that bond ETFs can be used in trading strategies based on taking long and short positions in fixed-income assets, especially when trading in portfolios of fixed-income assets directly is not feasible.
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Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3175017
Subject Headings: Exchange traded funds, Portfolio management, Hedge funds, Stock index futures
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Essays on investing.
Creator: Johnson, William Fount III, College of Business, Department of Finance
Abstract/Description: The Market Timing - Buy and Hold (MT-BH) is introduced, tested against widely accepted performance models of market timing and tested if implamentation is possible. The MT-BH metric measures the condition of engaging in market timing strategies relative to buy and hold investing across an equity market. The metric provides an alternative explanation to why market timing results of investors and managers vary through time and across different equity markets. This dissertation examines how the...
Show moreThe Market Timing - Buy and Hold (MT-BH) is introduced, tested against widely accepted performance models of market timing and tested if implamentation is possible. The MT-BH metric measures the condition of engaging in market timing strategies relative to buy and hold investing across an equity market. The metric provides an alternative explanation to why market timing results of investors and managers vary through time and across different equity markets. This dissertation examines how the is correlated with traditional market timing measures of the Treynor and Sharpe ratios over the 1995-2010 time period and how it affects widely used measures of regression based market timing models of Treynor- Mazuy and Henriksson-Merton. The Market Timing - Buy and Hold (MT-BH) metric can be applied to any equity market over any time period to condition the market timing skill of money managers in any equity market around the world. The final accomplishment of this dissertation is to determine if readily available finance and macro-economic variables can help investors determine which years are more favorable to pursue market timing strategies and which years favor buy and hold investing. When real GDP growth rates, inflation rates and PE ratios were low or negative and when dividend yields were high, market timing strategies were favorable across 44 country market indexes from 1994-2008. These results were robust to country level of development, negative market return years and other control variables. The conditions for pursing market timing strategies were time variant and detectable with macro-economic and finance variables. The MT-BH metric allows investors and brokers to determine when to switch from buy and hold investing to a market timing strategy using macro-economic and financial variables and helps to explain why market timing skill of managers is rarely found to be persistent.
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Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3183131
Subject Headings: Investment analysis, Stock options, Portfolio management, Finance, Personal, Asset allocation, Assets (Accounting), Prices, Forecasting, Econometric models
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Consequences of real earnings management and corporate governance: evidence from cash holdings.
Creator: Greiner, Adam J., College of Business, School of Accounting
Abstract/Description: I examine the impact of real earnings management (REM) and corporate governance on cash holdings. Extant research documents an increase in both cash holdings and REM activity in recent years and shows that agency conflicts influence both the levels and valuations of cash holdings. Motivated by agency problems of REM and Jensen's (1986) arguments concerning the free cash flow problem, I investigate whether opportunistic asset sales and reductions in discretionary expenditures are associated...
Show moreI examine the impact of real earnings management (REM) and corporate governance on cash holdings. Extant research documents an increase in both cash holdings and REM activity in recent years and shows that agency conflicts influence both the levels and valuations of cash holdings. Motivated by agency problems of REM and Jensen's (1986) arguments concerning the free cash flow problem, I investigate whether opportunistic asset sales and reductions in discretionary expenditures are associated with levels and valuations of cash holdings. Prior research also shows that strong corporate governance mitigates opportunistic earnings management behavior and enhances the valuation of cash holdings. Using empirical models from prior research, I document that REM is positively associated with cash holdings, investors discount cash holdings of high REM firms, and, among high REM firms, valuations of cash holdings of weak corporate governance firms are discounted significantly lower relative to those of strong corporate governance firms. My study unites two lines of research by incorporating agency problems concerning REM with levels and valuations of cash holdings.
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Date Issued: 2013
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3360788
Subject Headings: Econometrics, Corporate governance, Corporations, Corrupt practices, Corporations, Finance, Accounting, Industrial management
Format: Document (PDF)

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