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- Title
- The impact of IT security psychological climate on salient user beliefs toward IT security: an empirical study.
- Creator
- Warner, Janis A., College of Business, Information Technology and Operations Management
- Abstract/Description
-
There is a growing need to better understand what influences user behavior for developing comprehensive IT security systems. This study integrates two prominent bodies of research, the theory of planned behavior used to frame the factors influencing user behavior and individual level climate perceptions used to frame organizational environment influences, to develop a multidimensional IT security user behavior model. The model is then used as the basis for a survey based research to...
Show moreThere is a growing need to better understand what influences user behavior for developing comprehensive IT security systems. This study integrates two prominent bodies of research, the theory of planned behavior used to frame the factors influencing user behavior and individual level climate perceptions used to frame organizational environment influences, to develop a multidimensional IT security user behavior model. The model is then used as the basis for a survey based research to empirically test the hypotheses whether the perceived IT security climate of an organization significantly influences the users beliefs regarding the use of IT security. The intent of the study is to extend the theory of planned behavior and IT security literature by investigating salient IT security beliefs and environmental influences on those beliefs. First, anti-spyware was identified as an appropriate target IT security artifact, and then incorporated into a multi-phased research approach. Second, a semi-structured interview process was used to elicit salient beliefs regarding use of the IT security artifact. Third, IT security psychological climate was conceptualized based on the extant literature on organizational climate, safety climate and IT security in order to examine the organizational environment influences on these beliefs. Finally, a survey was used to collect data to validate the constructs and test the hypothesized relationships., The study found that there was a significant positive relationship between IT security psychological climate and 1) the belief that anti-spyware will protect organizational interests such as privacy and data, 2) the belief that anti-spyware will prevent disruptions to work, 3) the belief that the approval of anti-spyware use by the technical support group is important, 4) the belief that monetary resources are needed to enable the use of anti-spyware, and 5) the belief that time is a facilitating condition for the use of anti-spyware. A discussion of the findings and their implications for theory and practice is provided.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/186772
- Subject Headings
- Security (Psychology), Electronic commerce, Security measures, Web sites, Design, Consumer behavior, Mathematical models, Organizational effectiveness
- 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.
Show less - 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
- Marketing music in a digital age.
- Creator
- Amedeo, James Rocco., College of Business, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Music
- Abstract/Description
-
The physical sale of music and the effectiveness of traditional media are expected to continue to decline, challenging marketers to develop new methods to create awareness about music. Although music sales are declining, interest in music is healthy, and strongest amongst the American young adult market - between the ages 18-34. This marketing plan uses traditional and innovative techniques to capture the attention of the target market, which is more culturally diverse and technologically...
Show moreThe physical sale of music and the effectiveness of traditional media are expected to continue to decline, challenging marketers to develop new methods to create awareness about music. Although music sales are declining, interest in music is healthy, and strongest amongst the American young adult market - between the ages 18-34. This marketing plan uses traditional and innovative techniques to capture the attention of the target market, which is more culturally diverse and technologically advanced than any previous demographic.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/192980
- Subject Headings
- Music and the Internet, Music trade, Marketing, Internet marketing, Popular music, History and criticism
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Developing and protecting the "golden idea" in new high-tech ventures: entrepreneurs and advisors.
- Creator
- Fanimokun, Abiola Omoyeni., College of Business, Department of Management
- Abstract/Description
-
The preoperational stage of a new venture is characterized by concept definition, idea enhancement, and strategy formulation. Entrepreneurs consult advisors in knowledge sharing activities. Trust is dominant in these entrepreneur-advisor relationships as entrepreneurs rely on an advisor's judgment to keep venture ideas away from competitors. However, the relationships between trust, knowledge sharing, and knowledge security during the preoperational stage of a new high-tech venture are not...
Show moreThe preoperational stage of a new venture is characterized by concept definition, idea enhancement, and strategy formulation. Entrepreneurs consult advisors in knowledge sharing activities. Trust is dominant in these entrepreneur-advisor relationships as entrepreneurs rely on an advisor's judgment to keep venture ideas away from competitors. However, the relationships between trust, knowledge sharing, and knowledge security during the preoperational stage of a new high-tech venture are not directly examined in many research studies. Concerning types of trust, McAllister (1995) defines two types of interpersonal trust: affective trust, which develops from emotional bonds between individuals, and calculative trust, which is based on an individual's level of competence and reliability. The present study applies McAllister's (1995) theory of types of trust to Kale, Singh, and Perlmutter (2000) findings to examine how trust relationships between entrepreneurs and advisors affect knowledge sharing and an entrepreneur's use of NDAs. This dissertation's research primary question is, "How does trust between an entrepreneur and advisors affect knowledge sharing and choices of knowledge security mechanisms during the preoperational stage of a new high-tech venture?" I used de Koning and Muzyka's (1999) classification of the entrepreneur's social context to define three advisor types: Close Friends, Business Associates, and Licensed Professionals. Linking these types with literature on trust and knowledge, I hypothesize seven relationships dealing with trust, knowledge sharing, and knowledge security. I used structured and non-structured interview formats to collect data on 143 entrepreneur/advisor relationships in South Florida., The results confirmed that relationship length significantly contributed to affective trust and entrepreneurs were more likely to share knowledge with Business Associates than with Close Friends or Licen found t o be the dominant form of trust driving knowledge sharing but affective trust was not significantly found to impact the use of NDAs. Entrepreneurs expected all advisor types to be competent, experienced, and skilled, reporting nonsignificant differences in calculative trust across advisor types. I did not find the use of NDAs to be associated with any particular advisor type. Rather, NDAs were seldom used during the preoperational stage for reasons such as the entrepreneurs' desires to maintain positive relationships with advisors, along with their reliance on a strong institutional background.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2100577
- Subject Headings
- Interpersonal relations, Business etiquette, Organizational behavior, Entrepreneurship, New business enterprises, Creative ability in business, Disclosure of information, Knowledge management
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Two models of international country segmentation.
- Creator
- Budeva, Desislava G., College of Business, Department of Management
- Abstract/Description
-
The growth of global competition has established international segmentation as a key issue in developing, positioning and selling products throughout the world (Ter Hofstede, Steenkamp and Wedel 1999). Many international segmentation studies have used macro-level, secondary data to identify country clusters based on similarities in political, economic, geographic or cultural variables. As a result of extensive review, we identify three major gaps in the international country segmentation...
Show moreThe growth of global competition has established international segmentation as a key issue in developing, positioning and selling products throughout the world (Ter Hofstede, Steenkamp and Wedel 1999). Many international segmentation studies have used macro-level, secondary data to identify country clusters based on similarities in political, economic, geographic or cultural variables. As a result of extensive review, we identify three major gaps in the international country segmentation literature. First, no study so far has accounted for the influence of time. While researchers suggest that longitudinal analysis provides additional insight into whether situational characteristics of countries change over time (Cavusgil, Kiyak, and Yeniyurt 2004; Helsen, Jedidi, and DeSarbo 1993; Sethi 1971; Steenkamp and Hofstede 2002,), a major limitation of this body of work is that most studies address country-level segmentation at a single point in time. However, bases of segmentation are considered to be dynamic in nature (Hassan, Craft, and Kortam 2003) and global and country-specific changes in economic development are likely to result in variations in segment membership over time. We investigate the stability of factors and the stability of segments over time by performing cluster analysis at two points of time. Second, most studies use ad hoc variables without theoretical basis which may result in accidental generalizations. Instead of suggesting a proliferation of random variables, which are considered influential in the decision making process without any empirical or theoretical evidence, we propose a theoretical basis for country segmentation. We use institutional theory to distinguish between heterogeneous groups of countries. Finally, there is the issue of providing "one size fits all" solutions., In other words, existing models offer general results of country clusters meant to be useful for all firms regardless of the product they offer or the industry they belong to. Our model based on institutional theory is used to investigate whether the influence of the host-country environment changes depending on the product that is concerned.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/210364
- Subject Headings
- International business enterprises, Management, Entrepreneurship, Sustainable development, Comparative management, Globalization, Economic aspects
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Managerial incentives and auditor pricing: do auditors price risk from CEO incentives?.
- Creator
- Kannan, Yezen H., Florida Atlantic University, College of Business, School of Accounting
- Abstract/Description
-
I investigate whether and how auditors address the potential risk of CEO incentive pay and CEO incentives from their equity portfolio as an incentive to commit fraud through their pricing decisions. Using an OLS regression model I find that auditors price CEO incentive pay in the post SOX period. Also, auditors price CEOs' non-linear incentives from their holdings of stock options as a fraud risk factor but do not price linear incentives from CEO holding of stock and restricted stock....
Show moreI investigate whether and how auditors address the potential risk of CEO incentive pay and CEO incentives from their equity portfolio as an incentive to commit fraud through their pricing decisions. Using an OLS regression model I find that auditors price CEO incentive pay in the post SOX period. Also, auditors price CEOs' non-linear incentives from their holdings of stock options as a fraud risk factor but do not price linear incentives from CEO holding of stock and restricted stock. Furthermore, auditors consider CEO incentives to manipulate firm performance due to the vested portion of option holdings as a fraud risk factor which is priced, and not the unvested portion of this portfolio. Furthermore, I find evidence to suggest that auditors price CEO opportunity to commit fraud, as well as CEO rationalizing the act of committing fraud, therefore concluding that auditors price all components of the fraud triangle.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/210448
- Subject Headings
- Portfolio management, Incentive awards, Compensation management, Financial services industry, Corrupt practices
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Understanding in healthcare professional involvement in patient internet use.
- Creator
- Morton, Neil., College of Business, Information Technology and Operations Management
- Abstract/Description
-
Use of the Internet can increase patients' understanding about their medical conditions and offers opportunities to strengthen the patient-physician relationship, increase patient satisfaction, and improve health outcomes. However, physicians vary widely in the extent to which they accept patient online medical information seeking and make it part of the patient-physician relationship. This paper explores factors impacting the extent to which physicians advocate (encourage, speak in favor, or...
Show moreUse of the Internet can increase patients' understanding about their medical conditions and offers opportunities to strengthen the patient-physician relationship, increase patient satisfaction, and improve health outcomes. However, physicians vary widely in the extent to which they accept patient online medical information seeking and make it part of the patient-physician relationship. This paper explores factors impacting the extent to which physicians advocate (encourage, speak in favor, or are supportive of) patient internet use. Specifically, using social cognitive theory as a theoretical base, this study develops a model of the determinants of physician advocation of patient use of the internet for information about medical conditions and treatments. Survey data collected from a random sample of 179 physicians licensed to practice medicine in Florida is used to test the proposed model. Proxy efficacy for patient internet use, social efficacy for enlisting patient internet use, performance outcomes expectations, and personal outcome expectations are shown to be significant determinants of physician professional advocation of patient internet use. In addition to its direct impact, proxy efficacy is shown to influence intention to advocate patient internet use indirectly thru social efficacy and outcome expectations, demonstrating the key role of this construct in the proxy agency model. Self-efficacy, in contrast, is not found to be a significant factor. Overall, the results support the proposed model of technology use.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/215294
- Subject Headings
- Communication in medicine, Physician and patient, Medical informatics, Health in mass media, Evidence-based medicine
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Three essays on competitive acquisition bids.
- Creator
- Glambosky, Mina C., College of Business, Department of Finance
- Abstract/Description
-
Many factors contribute to the outcome of an acquisition; these factors arise from both the objective of the target and acquirer. This dissertation focuses on how the bidding strategy, acquirer and target characteristics impact the transaction. The first essay examines how the timing and size of the acquirer's bid for a U.S. target firm impacts their return. I find that successful first and low bid acquirers experience significantly larger returns than successful secondary and non-low bid...
Show moreMany factors contribute to the outcome of an acquisition; these factors arise from both the objective of the target and acquirer. This dissertation focuses on how the bidding strategy, acquirer and target characteristics impact the transaction. The first essay examines how the timing and size of the acquirer's bid for a U.S. target firm impacts their return. I find that successful first and low bid acquirers experience significantly larger returns than successful secondary and non-low bid acquirers. The cross-sectional analysis determines that higher levels of target institutional ownership and acquisitions completed prior to the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley result in reduced returns to the acquirer. In addition, the likelihood of a successful first bid acquirer increases with a revised bid and when the acquirer is both the first and low bid acquirer simultaneously. The likelihood of a successful first bid acquirer decreases as the number of bidders increases and as the bidding process lengthens. I also find that the likelihood of a successful low bid acquirer increases the longer the bidding process. The second essay examines how the timing and size of the acquirer's bid for an international target impacts their return. I find that successful first and low bid acquirers experience insignificant abnormal returns following the acquisition announcement. In addition, the likelihood of a successful first bid acquirer increases when the acquirer and target have similar cultures, with higher levels of target government corruption and when the acquirer is both the first and low bid acquirer simultaneously. The likelihood of a successful low bid acquirer decreases with higher levels of target government corruption. I also examine what factors affect the target premium and find that larger transactions and successful first bid acquirers increase the target premium., Conversely, similar cultures and higher levels of government corruption, rule of law, bureaucracy, expropriation and ethnic tension decrease the premium to the target. Lastly, successful first and low bid acquirers experience statistically larger long run abnormal returns than successful secondary and non-low bid acquirers. The third essay examines how a stake accumulation by a conflicted blockholder influences the target's return. I find that targets experience positive cumulative abnormal returns upon the announcement of the Family, ESOP, Management and High Profile Investor stake accumulation. The cross-sectional analysis determines that privately negotiated transactions reduce the return to the target and that higher levels of stake accumulation are positively related to the target's return. Finally, targets experience negative abnormal long run returns following all four types of stake accumulation.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/228768
- Subject Headings
- Consolidation and merger of corporations, Industrial management, Negotiation in business, Strategic planning
- 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.
Show less - 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
- 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.
Show less - 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
- 'Indie' empowerment: new media strategies and the rise of the independent artist.
- Creator
- Harris, Simone K., College of Business, Department of Management
- Abstract/Description
-
The use of new media technology which refers to digital, computerized, or networked information and communication technologies such as the Internet, mobile devices, gaming, and social networks, has come to define the music industry today, and it is this technology that has empowered independent artists in such a way that they are now free to pursue heights of success previously only available to major label artists. New media technology has affected the traditional business models of major...
Show moreThe use of new media technology which refers to digital, computerized, or networked information and communication technologies such as the Internet, mobile devices, gaming, and social networks, has come to define the music industry today, and it is this technology that has empowered independent artists in such a way that they are now free to pursue heights of success previously only available to major label artists. New media technology has affected the traditional business models of major labels, it has resulted in gross decline in recording costs, given birth to new channels of music marketing, and business models, and has created a new music clientele that requires instant gratification, personalization, and connectivity. In the face of such change, independent artists have been empowered and can access opportunities to distribute music independently, market and promote music effectively to niche markets, secure publishing deals, while building their own community of dedicated fans.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2705072
- Subject Headings
- Music, Economic aspects, Music and the Internet, Music trade, Music and globalization, Sound recordings, Marketing
- 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.
Show less - 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
- 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.
Show less - 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
- 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.
Show less - 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 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.
Show less - 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
- 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
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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.
Show less - 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
- Essays on international acquisitions.
- Creator
- Susnjara, Jurica., College of Business, Finance
- Abstract/Description
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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.
Show less - 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
- Large shareholder heterogeneity: the effect on firms' accounting quality and information asymmetry.
- Creator
- Trainor, Joseph E., College of Business, School of Accounting
- Abstract/Description
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I investigate the association between large shareholder heterogeneity and firms' accounting quality and information asymmetry. Specifically, I construct three measures of ownership heterogeneity based on the type, size, and monitoring aggressiveness of large shareholders present in a firm. Applying these three measures of heterogeneity, I examine whether large shareholder heterogeneity is associated with the variation in firms' accounting quality and information asymmetry. I also examine new...
Show moreI investigate the association between large shareholder heterogeneity and firms' accounting quality and information asymmetry. Specifically, I construct three measures of ownership heterogeneity based on the type, size, and monitoring aggressiveness of large shareholders present in a firm. Applying these three measures of heterogeneity, I examine whether large shareholder heterogeneity is associated with the variation in firms' accounting quality and information asymmetry. I also examine new block formations to provide evidence on the consequences of large shareholder investment on firms' accounting quality and information asymmetry. I find that the monitoring aggressiveness of large shareholders is positively associated with firms' accounting quality and information asymmetry. These findings suggest that large aggressive shareholders constrain earnings management, but contribute to firms' overall information asymmetry. Further, using new blockholder data, I find that investments by large aggressive shareholders are positively associated with firms' accounting quality and firms' information asymmetry in the post investment period. This finding provides additional support to my hypotheses that large shareholders play an important role in firms' accounting quality and information asymmetry.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3322515
- Subject Headings
- Investment analysis, Financial services industry, Organizational effectiveness, Measurement, Total quality management
- 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
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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.
Show less - 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
- The role of advertising and information asymmetry on firm performance.
- Creator
- Fine, Monica B., College of Business, Department of Marketing
- Abstract/Description
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Research linking marketing to financial outputs has been gaining significance in the marketing discipline. The pertinent questions are, therefore: how can marketing improve measures of firm performance and draw potential investors to the company, and where is the quantitative proof to back up these assertions? This research investigates the role of marketing expenditures in the context of initial public offerings (IPOs). The proposed theoretical framework comes from marketing and finance...
Show moreResearch linking marketing to financial outputs has been gaining significance in the marketing discipline. The pertinent questions are, therefore: how can marketing improve measures of firm performance and draw potential investors to the company, and where is the quantitative proof to back up these assertions? This research investigates the role of marketing expenditures in the context of initial public offerings (IPOs). The proposed theoretical framework comes from marketing and finance literature, and uses econometric models to test the hypotheses. First, we replicate the results of a previous study by Luo (2008) showing a relationship between the firm's pre-IPO marketing spending and IPO underpricing. Next, we extend the previous study by looking at the IPO's long-run returns, types of risk, analyst coverage, and market/industry characteristics. The results of this study, based on a sample of 2,103 IPOs from 1996 to 2008, suggest that increased marketing spending positively impac ts firm performance. We examine different measures of firm performance, such as risk and long-run performance, whose results are important to the firm, its shareholders, and potential investors. This study analyzes the impact marketing spending has on IPO characteristics (IPO underpricing in the short-run and cumulative abnormal returns in the long run); risk characteristics (systematic, unsystematic, bankruptcy risk, and total risk); analyst coverage characteristics (the number of analysts, optimistic coverage, and forecast error) and market characteristics (market volatility and industry type). We control for variables such as firm size, profitability, and IPO characteristics. In this paper, the results show that increased marketing spending lowers underpricing, lowers bankruptcy risk, lowers total risk, leads to greater analyst coverage, leads to more favorable analyst coverage, and lowers analyst forecast error. For theory, this paper advances the literature on the, marketing-financ e interface by extending the market-based assets and signaling theories. For practice, the results indicate that spending more money on marketing before the IPO and disclosing this information produces positive bottom-line results for the firm. KEYWORDS: Marketing-Finance, Risk, Financial Analysts, Marketing Spending, Firm Performance, Marketing Strategy Meets Wall Street, Long-Run Firm Performance, Underpricing, Stock Recommendations, Initial Public Offering, Marketing Strategy, Econometric Model.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3342050
- Subject Headings
- Investment analysis, Organizational effectiveness, Measurement, Advertising, Financial services industry, Marketing, Financial services industry, Computer network resources
- Format
- Document (PDF)