The beginning of the 21st century was plagued with unprecedented instances of corporate fraud. In an attempt to address apparent non-existent or “broken” corporate governance policies, sweeping measures of financial reporting reform ensued, having specific requirements relating to the composition of audit committees, the interaction between audit committees and external auditors, and procedures concerning auditors’ assessment of client risk. The purpose of my dissertation is to advance knowledge about “good” corporate governance by examining the association between meeting-or-beating analyst forecasts and audit fees, audit committee compensation, and audit committee tenure and “busyness”. Using regression analysis, I found the following: 1) the frequency of meeting-or-just beating (just missing) analyst forecasts is negatively (positively) associated with audit fees, 2) the extent by which a firm exceeds analysts’ forecasts is positively (negatively) associated with audit committee compensation that is predominately equity-based (cash-based), and 3) the likelihood of repeatedly meeting-or-just beating analyst forecasts is positively associated with audit committee tenure and “busyness”. These results suggest that auditors consider clients who frequently meet-or-just beat forecasts as being less “risky”, and clients that frequently just miss as being more “risky”. The results also imply that cash-based director compensation is more successful in preserving the effectiveness of the audit committee’s financial reporting oversight role, that equity-based compensation motivates independent audit committee directors to focus on short-term performance thereby aligning their interests with management, and that audit committee director tenure and the degree of director “busyness” can affect an audit committee member’s effectiveness in providing financial reporting oversight. Collectively, my dissertation provides additional insights regarding corporate governance practices and informs policy-makers for future relevant decisions.

This master thesis deals with the design and creation of a geographic information system focusing on cyclists. For the purpose of this thesis was processed southern part of the Znojmo wine trail. GIS will be used for display during route according to various criteria and interesting tourist destinations that are located on the route. The individual objects photographs were taken and information collected in the field. Cyclists GIS was created in ArcGIS 10.1 for Desktop from ESRI, which allows to perform analysis of these data.

Warren Buffet started an investment partnership of $100 in 1956 and has gone on to accumulate a personal net worth of over $60 billion. He started primarily as a value investor, and gradually changed over time to a strategy which uses the PEG ratio as its main tool. Peter Lynch, one of the most successful fund managers in history and had a compound annual growth rate of 29% for 13 years, was the man to first introduce the world to the PEG ratio. With such prominence, however, widespread use of previously successful strategies tend to render them ineffective due to everyone using them, and today the PEG ratio’s effectiveness as a valuation tool remains a topical debate between market commentators.This study sets out to determine if the PEG ratio adds value using JSE Main Board data from 2002 to 2012. Returns from five portfolios constructed directly from share quintiles based on PEG ratio magnitude are compared to returns of a portfolio constructed from the optimum quintile of value shares. The PEG ratio portfolio returns are examined based on 3 rebalancing period strategies, and on relative performance between the quintiles within each strategy.It is found that a 24 monthly rebalancing strategy provides superior returns to that of 3 or 12 monthly rebalancing for PEG quintiles of selected stocks. Furthermore, the lowest PEG ratio quintile in this strategy outperforms the value portfolio by a compound annual growth rate of 4.3%. The second lowest PEG ratio quintile portfolio performs slightly better to ensure that 40% of stocks selected based on the PEG ratio produced sustained superior returns to the optimum quintile value portfolio. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This study examines whether financial analysts produce larger amounts of research output and whether their research is more valuable for investors following a debt covenant violation (DCV, hereafter). After a DCV, investor uncertainty about firm value and information asymmetry among stakeholders likely increases. It is therefore difficult for investors to assess firm prospects, resulting in increased demand for firm-specific information. Sell-side analysts, as sophisticated information intermediaries, are skilled at gathering and processing information; thus they are well-suited to provide more research output in response to increased investor demand. I predict and find that equity analysts provide a larger amount of research, proxied by recommendation revisions and earnings forecast revisions, after a DCV. I also document an incremental association between a DCV and analyst research production for firms with less financial flexibility, firms with low institutional ownership, and firms covered by more experienced analysts. In addition, I find evidence that analyst research becomes more valuable and that uncertainty-adjusted analyst forecast errors decrease following a DCV. These results suggest that a change in a firm’s information environment associated with a DCV has significant influence on investors and equity analysts besides the economic consequences documented in prior literature.

Opaqueness is inherent to financial institutions but contributes to the fragility of the banking system. The archetypal assets held by banks, loans, have a value that cannot be properly communicated outside of a banking relationship (Sharpe 1990; Rajan 1992). Because they are relationship specific and raise adverse selection concerns, these assets are illiquid (Diamond and Rajan 2001). However, these assets are financed with liquid deposits; uncertainty about their value can cause depositors to withdraw their funds and banks to topple (Calomiris and Kahn 1991; Chen 1999). Additionally, the combination of opaqueness and leverage creates moral hazard incentives, exacerbated by government guarantees, as well as other agency conflicts that are detrimental to stability (Jensen and Meckling 1976).This dissertation presents three original contributions on the consequences of bank opaqueness. The first contribution concerns financial analysts. We show that, unlike in other industries, the most talented sell-side analysts are no more likely than their peers to issue recommendation revisions that influence bank stock prices. However, star analysts appear to maintain influence by uncovering firm-specific bad news that induces sharp negative revaluations of bank stock prices. In the second contribution, we find that the persistence of bank dividend policies increases with agency conflicts between shareholders and managers and decreases in the presence of large institutional shareholders who have an incentive to monitor banks and to mitigate agency conflicts. Our third contribution assesses the competitive distortions in bond markets since the recent reforms of the European Union bank safety net. We find that nationalized systemic banks, and those that benefit from high bailout expectations, do not benefit from funding advantages compared to their peers. Our findings also suggest that bailout expectations for these banks have diminished, consistent with new regulatory frameworks enacted after the financial crisis being effective.Overall, our findings suggest that opaqueness presents formidable challenges for public authorities but that its consequences can be mitigated by credible regulation. / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Empirical research has supported the use of general cognitive ability to predict employee performance; however, studies have accounted for only a fraction of the variance. The current study addressed whether intellectual styles, which describe how individuals habitually acquire and use information, account for a significant portion of the variance in job performance not covered by general cognitive ability. The study followed a quantitative, nonexperimental design with a convenience sample of 77 intelligence analysts from 6 U.S. government agencies and 2 online professional groups. MindTime provided the primary theoretical framework. The International Cognitive Ability Resource, MindTime Profile InventoryTM, and Self-Rated Analytic Job Performance Assessment were used to measure general cognitive ability and analytic job performance. Results of multiple linear regression analysis indicated that thinking perspectives profiles are valid predictors of job performance and contribute to the incremental validity of general cognitive ability as a predictor of analytic job performance. However, because of the high degree of collinearity, results were inconclusive. The findings add to the understanding of the relationship between intellectual styles and job performance of knowledge workers, and they reinforce links between industrial-organizational psychology and cognitive psychology.

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Limited knowledge exists of the terrain variables that have an influence on gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) burrow locations. Previous studies suggest that terrain features may play a role in preference of burrow location. LiDAR- (Light Detection and Ranging) derived terrain features can be evaluated through GIS (Geographic Information System) analysis at a fine spatial scale. LiDAR data acquired at 0.5 meter post spacing over three locations on Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, MS were used to develop DTMs (Digital Terrain Models) for use in burrow site characterization. Terrain variables (e.g. elevation, slope, aspect) were developed from the LiDAR DTM in ArcGIS. Burrows and randomly allocated non-burrow points were used in logistic regression analysis to model the relationship between burrow occurrence and terrain features. Four models correctly classified more than 83% of the burrow locations. The R2 were 34.83%, 49.31%, 28.09%, and 31.51%.

As of January 2023, there are 59,976 Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) with current licensure throughout the world. This number has substantially grown compared to the meager 392 persons so certified in the year 2000 (Behavior Analyst Certification Board, 2023) In the past 11 years, demand for Board Certified Behavior Analysts has increased by 4,209% (Behavior Analyst Certification Board, 2022). As the need for this resource has increased, the presence of BCBAs is becoming more prevalent in public schools today. A BCBA can be a beneficial and critical resource to teachers in aiding in their behavior knowledge, and classroom management. Since there is a scarcity of BCBAs in schools, it is important that a BCBA's time is spent effectively while working with teachers. To our knowledge, there is little to no research specifically targeting special education teachers and how they interact with BCBAs. A Multiperspectival Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis focus group was conducted with educators who interface with BCBAs. Findings indicated both barriers and affordances attached to special education teachers working with a BCBA. Implications for practice, implications for research, and limitations are discussed.

Understanding and improving the state of the nation's levees has become a national priority following the devastating events surrounding Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Federal legislation passed in 2007 created a new national Committee on Levee Safety and spurred the development of the National Levee Database, a central repository of information relating to the location and state of levees across the United States (Water Resources Development Act, 2007). One of the major goals in developing such a database is to improve the safety of America's levees. The National Levee Database, however, does not include features for storing seepage and slope stability data related to numerical analyses of levees. These data are critical in analyzing current levee conditions and predicting future failure scenarios, thus providing a path for further improving the safety of levees. The Levee Analyst is a new GIS data model and set of geoprocessing tools that make it possible to store and manipulate model data associated with seepage and slope stability analyses. The data model provides a concise structure for storing large amounts of levee seepage and slope stability data and also provides a structure that is expandable and compatible with the National Levee Database. The Levee Analyst combines the capabilities of various software systems in providing a data model and suite of tools that assists in further understanding and analyzing the state of America's levees.