Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1978. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 165-172). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1930.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1938. / Vita. Published also without thesis note.

Thesis--University of Pennsylvania. / Bibliography: p. 109-112.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Louisville, 2008. / Department of Chemistry. Vita. "December 2008." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 55-59).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1985. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 296-302).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2006. / Title from title screen. Shaun Wang, committee chair; Sam Cox, Omesh Kini , Eric Ulm, committee members. Electronic text (135 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed July 18, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-94).

A partial equilibrium valuation model for a security, based on the idea of contingent claims analysis, was first developed by Black & Scholes. The model was considerably extended by Herton, who showed how the approach could be used to value liability instruments. Valuation models for default-free bonds, by treating them as contingent upon the value of the instantaneously riskfree interest rate, have been developed by Cox, Ingersoll & Ross, Brennan & Schwartz, Vasicek and Richards. There has, however, not been much attention directed towards the empirical testing of these valuation models of default-free bonds. This research is an attempt in that direction. Our attention is confined to retractable and extendible bonds. Central to arriving at any equilibrium model of bond valuation is the assumption about the instantaneously riskless interest rate process, since the bond value is treated as contingent upon it. These bond valuation models are partial equilibrium models, since the interest rate is assumed as exogenous to them. The choice of the interest rate process is made subject to some restrictions on its behaviour which are based on expected properties of interest rates. The interest rate process adopted in this study is a generalization of that used by Vasicek and Cox, Ingersoll & Ross., The properties of the chosen mathematical model are investigated to ascertain whether it conforms to those expected of an interest rate process based on economic reasoning. We go on to develop alternate estimation methods for the parameters of the interest rate process, using data on a realization of the process. One "exact" method and two others based on approximations are outlined. It is observed that the "exact" method is not available to the complete family of processes included in the continuous time stochastic specification assumed to model interest rates. The asymptotic properties of the estimators from the "exact" method are known from the existing literature. However, since we would have to adopt one of the approximate methods, we need to know something about the properties of the estimators based on these approaches. This could not be derived analytically and so a Monte Carlo study is conducted. The results seem to indicate that the properties of the estimators from the three methods are not very different. The yield to maturity on 91-day Canadian Federal Government Treasury bills, on the date of issue, is chosen as the proxy for the instantaneously riskfree interest rate. The impact of using such a proxy is briefly investigated and found to be negligible. The bond sample chosen is the complete issues of retractable and extendible bonds made by the Government of Canada. There were 20 issues between January 1959 and October 1975, and weekly prices on all these bonds are available in the Bank of Canada Review. To arrive at the final bond valuation equation, some assumptions are made about the term structure of interest rates. This study first assumes a form of the pure expectations hypothesis and it is shown that the performance of the model in predicting market price movements, is considerably improved when we assume a specific form of term/liquidity preference on the part of investors. Incorporating taxes into the model results in similar improvements. The hypothesis that the bond market is efficient to information contained in these models is tested and not rejected. Finally, an ad hoc regression based model is developed to serve as a bench mark for evaluating the performance of the partial equilibrium models. It is observed that these models perform atleast as well as the ad hoc model, and could be improved by relaxing some of the restrictive assumptions made. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

Municipal Bonds represent an important but understudied source of funds for governments. This paper seeks to shed light on the previously hidden political choices that influence the choices of governments to pursue bonds, as well as to act as a springboard for future bond research. / text

This dissertation describes the experimental study of the electronic-structural relationships of selected mononuclear transition-metal sulfur dioxide, cyclopentadienyl and carbonyl complexes and the application of the information gained from these to the study of quadruply-bonded dimetallic complexes. These pertinent observations result from the application of photoelectron spectroscopy (p.e.s.) as a probe into the bonding, charge-distribution and excited state effects which contribute to the specifics of the ground and excited state molecular structures. The first part of this discussion centers around a specific study of the exemplary bonding probe, SO₂, with the well characterized ArM(CO)₂ metal fragment, where Ar = Bz and Cp and M = Cr, Mn and Re. A comparison of the ionization information with the structural details and molecular orbital calculations reveals not only the surprising coordinating similarity of SO₂ and CO in these complexes, but also the electronic origin for the counter-intuitive SO₂ bonding configuration. This work then moves to a more dramatic example of electronic control of ground state molecular structure; the crystallographically determined distortion of the coordinated Cp ring in Cp*Rh(CO)₂. The electronic origin of this distortion is graphically shown with the aid of two and three dimensional experimental and theoretical electron density maps. The structural effects of removing bonding electrons from quadruply-bonded dimetallic complexes is then investigated. This study incorporates the use of high-resolution p.e.s. for the novel observations of metal-metal vibrational structure in the predominantly metal ionizations providing direct information of the bonding influence of specific metal electrons. Particular attention is focused on the delta-ionization process of MO₂(O₂CCH₃)₄. The final chapter presents a comprehensive study of the valence and core ionizations of the series of quadruply-bonded M₂(X₂CR)₄ complexes, where M₂ = Cr₂, Mo₂, MoW, and W₂, X = O and S, and R = H, CH₃, CD₃, CF₃, CH₂CH₃, CH₂CH₂CH₃ and C(CH₃)₃. The changes in the electronic structure in both the ground and excited states of these molecules is presented and, where appropriate, compared to structural changes. The study of this series not only demonstrates how p.e.s. can be used to monitor the electronic effects of specific chemical modifications, but also reveals surprising excited state features related to facile charge-reorganization processes.