Research Methodologies: Finance Resources

A total of eleven papers in this volume represent recent research on important topics in finance. The contributions include analyses of issues relating to asset prices, the behaviour of stock returns, and capital-raising activities. Hodges, et al employ stochastic dominance arguments to show that the efficiency of time diversification depends on the degree of autocorrelation in security returns. In their study of the announcement effects of ninety-three minority equity investments, Chan, et. al find a neutral stock price response on average for acquiring firms but a significantly positive response for selling firms. Nguyen, et al provide evidence on the returns structure of U.S. information technology stocks surrounding the bursting of the internet bubble in early 2000. In a study of the informational effects of auditor reputation, Godby and Mahar, Jr. find that implied volatilities for firms audited by Andersen have increased relative to those for firms audited by other Big Five firms. Charaput and Chang find that the usage of installment receipts enhances liquidity in Canadian secondary equity offerings. The contributions to this volume also examine important issues in international finance and financial institutions. Brailsford, et al use a VECM technique to examine Purchasing Power Parity and causality between the yen and the dollar. Sarmas studies the impact of Hong Kong's fixed exchange rate system and Singapore's floating exchange rate system on the correlation between the US and the two respective countries'stock markets. Povel develops a theoretical model to explain multiple banking as a commitment device. Baer, et al develop a model and empirically examine how the creation of a futures clearinghouse can reduce the need for margin in bilateral and multilateral settings. Roberts and Siddiqi provide an empirical analysis of the link between collateralization and the number of lenders in private debt contracts. Finally, Tripp et al empirically examine the relative efficiency of single versus multiple common bond credit unions.

Finalist in the Business/Personal Finance category of the 2019 International Book AwardsEvery day, people around the world make financial decisions. They choose to invest in a stock, sell their holdings in a mutual fund or buy a condominium. These decisions are complex and financially tricky—even for financial professionals. But the literature available on financial research is dated and narrowly focused without any real practical application. Until now there's been a gap in the literature: a book that shows you how to conduct a step by step comprehensive financial investigation that ends in a decision.This book gives you that how.Investing in Financial Research is a guidebook for conducting financial investigations and lays out Cheryl Strauss Einhorn's AREA Method—a research and decision-making system that uniquely controls for bias, focuses on the incentives of others and expands knowledge while improving judgement—and applies it to investigating financial situations. AREA is applicable to all sorts of financial sleuthing, whether for investment analysis or investigative journalism. It allows you to be the expert in your own life.The AREA Method provides you with:•Defined tasks that guide and focus your research on your vision of success;•A structure that isolates your sources, giving you insight into their perspectives, biases and incentives;•Investigative resources, tips and techniques to upgrade your research and analysis beyond document-based sources;•Exercises to foster creativity and originality in your thinking;•A sequence and framework that brings your disparate pieces of research together to build your confidence and conviction about your financial decision.

The theme of this volume is'Recovering from Financial Crisis'. The lead chapter sets the theme by giving insight into the recent surge in going-private transactions (and the corresponding reduction of Initial Public Offerings). The author develops evidence (reaching back 25 years) that going-private transactions tend to be inversely related with the return on diversified equity portfolios, suggesting that the recent upswing in going-private transactions in the United States is not simply the result of the Sarbanes - Oxley Act of 2002. The second chapter offers insights into the recent round of hedge fund failures. Then, the third chapter offers new insights into some of the more controversial aspects of private equity arrangements - when private equity arrangements are expressed as real options, the actions of the managing partners are more readily understandable. The fourth chapter offers insights into why commodity producers (such as oil companies) choose not to hedge, so that their stock can offer shareholders the opportunity to gain valuable diversification benefits using the stock as a pure play in the commodity. Remaining chapters offer further insights into recent trends in IPO activity, lease versus purchase decisions, agency costs, project risk, and emerging markets.

There is a void in the literature on how to conduct research in the finance and economics of higher education. Students, professors, and practitioners have no concise document that examines the field, provides history, definitions of terms, sources of data, and research methods. Higher Education Finance Research: Policy, Politics, and Practice fills that void. The book is structured in four parts. The first section provides a brief history and description of the general organization of American higher education, the sources and uses of funds over the last 100 years, and who is served in what types of institutions. Definitions of terms that are unique to higher education are provided, and some basic rules for conducting research on the economics and finance of higher education are established. Although in some ways, conducting research in higher education funding is similar to that for elementary/secondary education, there are some important distinctions that also are provided. The second section introduces guiding philosophies, sources of data, data elements/vocabulary, metrics, and analytics related to institutional revenues and expenditures. Chapters in this section focus on student oriented revenues, institutionally-oriented revenues, and funding formulas. The third section introduces accountability-related concepts by first examining the accountability movement in higher education and performance-based approaches applied in budgeting and funding, then looking at methods to determine public and private returns on investment in postsecondary education, and closing with an examination of finance from the perspective of the primary consumer: students. The fourth and last section of the book focuses on presenting postsecondary finance research to policy audiences to assist in connecting academic research and policy making. Chapters focus on accounting for time considerations in analysis, the placing of data in context to make the data and findings relevant, and ways to effectively communicate findings to various policy-making audiences.

There is a void in the literature on how to conduct research in the finance and economics of higher education. Students, professors, and practitioners have no concise document that examines the field, provides history, definitions of terms, sources of data, and research methods. Higher Education Finance Research: Policy, Politics, and Practice fills that void. The book is structured in four parts. The first section provides a brief history and description of the general organization of American higher education, the sources and uses of funds over the last 100 years, and who is served in what types of institutions. Definitions of terms that are unique to higher education are provided, and some basic rules for conducting research on the economics and finance of higher education are established. Although in some ways, conducting research in higher education funding is similar to that for elementary/secondary education, there are some important distinctions that also are provided. The second section introduces guiding philosophies, sources of data, data elements/vocabulary, metrics, and analytics related to institutional revenues and expenditures. Chapters in this section focus on student oriented revenues, institutionally-oriented revenues, and funding formulas. The third section introduces accountability-related concepts by first examining the accountability movement in higher education and performance-based approaches applied in budgeting and funding, then looking at methods to determine public and private returns on investment in postsecondary education, and closing with an examination of finance from the perspective of the primary consumer: students. The fourth and last section of the book focuses on presenting postsecondary finance research to policy audiences to assist in connecting academic research and policy making. Chapters focus on accounting for time considerations in analysis, the placing of data in context to make the data and findings relevant, and ways to effectively communicate findings to various policy-making audiences.