With a dramatic decrease in oil prices over the past few years, the opportunity for increased profitability within transportation companies has become a relevant topic of discussion. Oil is a commodity that influences the price of gas and jet fuel. As commodity prices, and oil prices in particular, have collapsed, one would expect transportation companies to benefit from a decrease in operating expenses and experience an increase in profitability. Through this thesis, I seek to prove that despite a dramatic decline in the price of oil, airline companies have not benefited due to their engagement in hedging activities, and therefore have not experienced an increase in profitability. My dataset includes a collection of operating expenses and operating profit for the four major domestic airline companies over the past seven years. These companies include Southwest, Delta, United, and American Airlines. I tested my hypothesis through regression analysis, and used fuel derivative gains or losses as the independent variable and operating profit as the dependent variable. Although my results are not significant, my analysis indicates that operating profit has, in fact, decreased through this recent period of declining oil prices, due to an increase in operating expenses through airline companies’ hedging activities.

El proceso de restitución arancelaria – Drawback es implementado en la empresa RAM industries s.a.c. la cual actualmente pierde rentabilidad por no realizar el proceso de solicitud para gestionar el Drawback y hacerle seguimiento a esta. En el primer capítulo se expone la realidad problemática de la empresa, que a pesar de haber crecido y seguir en crecimiento aún tiene falencias y procesos nulos que impiden que mayor rentabilidad sea absorbida por esta. Por esto llegamos a la formulación del problema que nos enfoca en el proceso de implementación de restitución de derechos arancelarios – Drawback y que se desglosa en dos problemas secundarios, el proceso de vinculación entre áreas, modelo Drawback y el proceso de orden documental contable, modelo Drawback. El enfocar nuestro problema principal y problemas secundarios nos permite generar objetivos claros para la resolución de estos en el capítulo “objetivos de la investigación” para que después del análisis de la investigación lleguemos al capítulo 2.6 con la hipótesis de la investigación y así plantear el mejor camino a la mejora en la rentabilidad. La presente investigación nos permite conocer las falencias que tiene la empresa y como poder corregirlas viéndolo en los resultados obtenidos, comenzando por el organigrama de la empresa. El resultado de un correcto proceso para la restitución del derecho arancelario genera un tres por ciento de efectivo como devolución de los derechos de importación del material usado extra en la ganancia final de la operación, esto es traducido en un cinco por ciento extra sobre la rentabilidad de la exportación. The tariff refund process – drawback is implemented in the company RAM industries S.A.C. which currently loses profitability for not performing the request process to manage the drawback and follow up. In the first chapter presents the problematic of the company, that despite having grown and continue growing, it still have failures and zero processes that prevent greater profitability being absorbed. That’s why we come to the formulation of the problem that focuses in the implementation process of customs tariff – drawback and which is divided in two secondary problems: the linkage process between areas and the documentary accounting process, model drawback. Focus the main and secondary problems allows us to generated clear objectives for the resolution of these in the chapter “objectives of the investigation” so that after the analysis of the investigation we arrived at the chapter 2.6 with the hypothesis of the investigation and propose the best way to the profitability improvement. This investigation allows us to know the failures of the company and how correct them by seeing it in the results obtained, starting with the organization chart. The result of a correct process for the restitution of the customs tariff generates a three percent of cash as a refund of the import rights of the material used extra in the final profit of the operation, this is translated in an extra five percent on the profitability of the export.

Islamic banking system is one of the fastest growing segments of the international financial industry. This system has been receiving a growing attention nowadays especially after the global financial crisis which gave Islamic banks an opportunity to prove their resilience and contribution to financial and economic stability. The beginning of the Islamic banking in its contemporary mode was in the sixties of the past century by the first modern Islamic banking experiment which was undertaken in Egypt in 1963 by Ahmad Al-Najjar. Islamic financial institutions are established to operate commercial banking activities within an Islamic teaching perspective which depends on the elimination of any prohibited element in Islamic Shariah jurisprudence such as interest, gambling, speculation, dealing in pork or alcohol. The very distinct nature of Islamic banking led to a growing interest in determining the success factors of such type of banks especially that in most of the cases they operate with conventional banks vis a vis within the same market and sometimes under the same regulatory framework. The aim of this research is to make a comparative study between the performance of Islamic banks and conventional banks in the Egyptian financial market. The study is an attempt to determine the internal and external contingent factors that affect the profitability of Islamic banks in Egypt in comparison to conventional banks while taking into consideration the fact that both types of banks operate under the same rules and regulations. The goal is to discover whether the different nature of operations between the two types of banks is likely to affect their determinants of performance. The main motivation for undertaking this research is to fill the gap in literature and provide some information that might benefit both academics and practitioners in this field. A thorough revision of the literature suggested contingency perspective as the most suitable and appropriate theoretical framework for this type of research (Thomas, 1991; Schweikart, 1985; Otley, 1980). Data were gathered in this research through the collection of annual financial reports for the two Islamic banks working in Egypt and a sample of eleven conventional banks registered in the stock market. The study covered the period from 2002 to 2010. The findings indicate that in general, the performance of conventional banks in Egypt outweighed that of their Islamic counterparts. Moreover, it can be concluded from the results of the study that there are differences between the profitability determinants of Islamic banks and conventional banks. And eventually, it can be inferred that the nature of operations has an effect on the determination of profitability in Islamic banks and conventional banks.

Master’s thesis is focused on evaluation of financial health in selected company. The thesis consists of theoretical definition of the problem, description the company and its business. The following are the individual analysis of financial health and in conclusion there are suggestions for improvement the current situation in the company.

博士（商学） / 甲第544号 / 3, 175p / Hitotsubashi University(一橋大学)

Sustainability for Virginia dairy farms requires balancing phosphorus (P) imports and exports at the farm-gate level. Balancing P helps prevent further accumulation of P in farm soils through routine applications of manure, which over time contributes to surface water quality issues. The objectives of this research centered on guiding dairy farms in Virginia toward lower, more sustainable P balance, and without adversely impacting profitability. First, the state of P balance had to be determined for a sample of dairy farms, including risk factors for excessively high P balance. Second, a repeated assessment of P balance on those dairy farms sought to determine any key factors of change in P balance between years. Lastly, a small Virginia dairy farm was used as a case farm to evaluate whether or not it could reduce its P balance while maintaining or improving farm profitability. An initial assessment of 58 dairy farms in Virginia showed that 75% of farms could operate with a P balance less than 18.7 kg ha-1. The two risk factors that led to excessively high P surpluses were the use of poultry litter and excessive P imported with purchased feed. The repeated assessment included 30 of the 58 original dairy farms. Increases of 1.0 kg P ha-1 of total P imports and exports were respectively correlated to a mean P balance increase of 0.76 kg ha-1 and a mean P balance decrease of 0.43 kg ha-1, suggesting that changes in P imports affect changes in P balance more than changes in P exports. Reduced poultry litter use was highly correlated to reduced P balance, and increasing cow manure exports also reduced P balance for the farms with the opportunity. As a significant portion of the farms assessed were small (less than 200 milking cows), a case farm of 105 cows on 100 acres was used to explore how farm profitability could be affected as P balance was reduced through additional acres, increased crop production, and with a grazing-based farming strategy. Results from partial budget analysis showed that after expanding the land base from 100 to 150 acres for crop production, the change in potential net return ranged from $-0.90 to $1.26/cwt of milk, with accompanying changes in P balance ranging from -9.0 to -14.7 lbs/ac. The analysis also showed that changes in potential net returns after converting to a grazing-based system ranged from $-2.14 to $1.39/cwt, with greater change in P balance ranging from -9.7 to -17.8 lbs/ac. The most profitable strategy, generally, for this farm seemed to be expanding the land base and growing a cash crop. Phosphorus balance on Virginia dairy farms can be reduced, potentially without negative impacts on farm net return, though challenges remain for farms with limited land or areas with high density of animal agriculture. / Doctor of Philosophy / Phosphorus (P) is a vital nutrient for crops and livestock, but too much of it in soils leads to surface water quality problems. Sustainability for Virginia dairy farms requires balancing P imports and exports at the farm level. This research centered on guiding dairy farms in Virginia toward lower, more sustainable P balance. An initial assessment of 58 dairy farms in Virginia helped establish a zone of operation, a feasible target toward which the 25% of farms with high P balance could aim. Avoiding poultry litter as a fertilizer choice and limiting P imported with purchased feed were both ways in which some of these farms could lower their P balance. A repeated assessment in a second year showed that reductions in P imported were more likely to reduce P balance than were increasing P exports. In this, reducing the use of poultry litter as a fertilizer was again an effective way of lowering P balance. As a significant portion of the farms assessed were small (less than 200 milking cows), a case farm of 105 cows on 100 acres was used to explore how farm profitability could be affected as P balance was reduced through various management changes. Results showed that after expanding the land base by at least 50 acres for additional crop production, P balance could be significantly reduced while maintaining or increasing the potential net return to the farmer, especially if the farmer can ensure a high milk yield grazing-based operation or if they grow a cash crop like corn or soybeans. Overall, the research suggests that P balance on Virginia dairy farms can be reduced, and that these farms can operate more sustainably, though challenges remain for farms with limited land or areas with high density of animal agriculture.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce,Law and Management in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce in Finance. / Cash flow is one of the critical factors influencing the operational, investments and financing decisions of a firm. Since working capital management deals with shortterm cash flows, this research explores the interaction between working capital management and profitability. Utilising 110 South African industrial firms listed on the JSE and ALTX this study firstly investigates the impact of working capital management on the profitability of firms from 2001-2010. Secondly this study investigates the impact of different working capital policies on profitability of South African industrial firms. The results show that after removing the problems associated with panel data, the cash conversion cycle which is the main measure of working capital is negatively related to both measures of profitability (return on assets and return on equity). The results of the study have also revealed that profitable firms have less days in account receivables, days in inventory, days in accounts payables, leverage ratio and high sales revenue. Lastly the sectorial analysis was conducted and the results revealed heterogeneous working capital management patterns.

In this article, we analyze the key factors that determine the net interest margin (NIM) of EU commercial banks in the current economic environment. We examine a large number of annual data samples of 252 commercial banks in EU member states from 2015 to 2020. During this period, most countries experienced extremely low or even negative interest rates. In this article we test three hypotheses. First, commercial banks committed to providing financial products and services show the highest net interest margin (NIM). Second, the net interest margin of small commercial banks has dropped significantly under conditions of negative interest rate. Third, the net interest margin of Western European countries has dropped significantly under conditions of negative interest rate. Similar to other studies, we have obtained the positive-concave relationship between interest rates and NIM, and the regression coefficients of other bank-related variables and macroeconomic variables have also achieved similar results. Compared with other studies, we innovatively consider the impact of countries with different economic levels on the net present value of commercial banks. Finally, we comprehensively regress the results and conclude what development strategies commercial banks should use in the current economic...

The problem of the present study is twofold (1) analyze the impacts of institutions and private property rights on the banking industry, and (2) the effects of property rights, contracting rights and intellectual property rights concurrent to privatization of state owned enterprises on a wide range of industries. First, it uses a sample of 37 countries to assess the effects privatization on industry growth of output, value added and establishments with regards to property rights institutions, using 3SLS technique. Consistent with the law and finance view, our results show that privatization works better in settings with better contracting, patents, and IPRs laws to foster industry growth. The results suggest that least developed countries can accelerate the growth of their industrial sector by structurally bettering their legal institutions to benefit from their privatization programs. There is strong evidence of structural unemployment in sectors that are more capital intensive; privatization has a crowding out effect channeled through financial development. The results have broad implications vis-à-vis policy choices for institutional reforms specifically in terms of control of corruption, enhancing property rights, contracting rights, and IRPs protection for privatization to bear fruits. Second, this study assumes that banks in countries with infective institutions operate in a highly risky environment, which is reflected in the interest rates spread, loan quality, and net interest margin. It investigates the relationships between banks and institutions using seemingly unrelated regressions and data from 79 countries. It shows that institutional improvements abate inefficiencies in the banking sector, reduce obstacles to external finance, and improve the quality of bank loan portfolios. Specifically, had a country in the 25th percentile of the institutional quality index, depth of credit information, and the spread improved its value to the mean sample of these variables, banks in that country would have had an annual decrease of 2.24% in net interest margin, 1.57% in unpaid loans, and 0.822 basis points in the spread. Other institutions including private and public registries are effective in improving access to external finance. Importantly, information on borrowers past loan repayment patterns significantly decreases the spreads only when controlled for predated institutional quality. This finding highlights the significance of institution-building especially in countries where sudden power shifts result into pendular swings in public policies. Third, using three independent samples to investigate the institutional factors affecting the performance of the banking sector around the world, this study finds that financial effects of three sets of institutions including private creditors’ right, property rights, and institutional quality on bank performance are strong. It uses SEM technique to show that better quality of institutions is negatively related to bank profitability while private creditors’ right and property rights institutions are positively related to bank profitability.

Companies have been known to reduce their costs by reducing their spending on employee benefits, but in the last decade there has been an increasing interest on how these decisions affect not just employee productivity and turnover, but also overall shareholder wealth and company profitability. This thesis seeks to answer whether companies that have a greater focus on their employee welfare and satisfaction are more financially stable and profitable than their competitors. The research and analysis consists of 40 companies, 20 highly rated by their employees paired with 20 of the worst companies according to employee opinion and benefits. Each pair must consist of comparable companies based on their industry and size. All companies are also part of Fortune 1000 and must be publicly traded. After conducting multiple tests on the data collected for each company and industry, the results support the hypothesis of a positive correlation between employee spending and shareholder wealth.