abstract: This dissertation assesses the impact of revenue diversification on state revenue growth and volatility and then, the economic, political and institutional factors that predict diversification. Previous studies, taking advice from modern portfolio theory, argue that diversifying a revenue portfolio can stabilize volatility and even lead to faster rates of growth over time. However, levels of diversification are not assigned randomly. Rather, differences among states in diversification might be a consequence of differences in states such as electoral cycles and the presence and strictness of tax limitations. Thus, the research question is: Whether or to what extent has diversification increased revenue growth and decreased volatility when the endogeneity of diversification is considered? Using two-stage least squares and fixed-effects regression models with the data of the 50 states from 1980 to 2011, I examined the impact of diversification, reflecting a state's own political and institutional characteristics (i.e., endogeneity), on growth and volatility. I found diversification was positively related to growth, but a diversified portfolio does not smooth volatility. Furthermore, I found that the level of revenue diversification increased in each year of legislators' terms and decreased in every year of governors' terms. These findings imply that legislators and governors have different preferences for diversification, perhaps due to different opportunities to enhance their reelection prospects. I then investigated the relationship between political leaders' year of the terms and changes in specific revenue sources, the biggest set of reelection opportunities. Selective sales and income taxes were negatively related to every year of legislators' terms. General sales taxes, corporate income taxes, and charges are positively related to every year of governors' terms. The results suggest that legislators focus on their districts or specific interest groups, closely associated with selective sales taxes. In contrast, governors' constituency-driven preferences lead them to be responsible for broader issues such as balancing the state budget, thereby using general sales taxes and charges as methods to do so. As a consequence of these political factors, levels of diversification will change, thereby influencing revenue growth and volatility. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Public Administration 2013

In recent decades, revenue diversification has become a prevalent practice in state and local government finance. The trend of revenue diversification, according to the portfolio theory, has far-reaching implication for public financial management as it may change revenue stability, which has been an important policy objective for state and local government administrators. This study explores how revenue diversification affects revenue stability from both empirical and theoretical perspectives. Drawing on portfolio theory and regional science literature, this study develops a theoretical framework to explain how the effect of revenue diversification on revenue volatility of sub-national governments varies in terms of its economic base instability. To empirically test the theoretical framework, an econometric model that explores a series of factors that could affect revenue stability is estimated using socioeconomic and fiscal data of 156 Georgia county governments and 47 state governments during the years 1986-2004. The findings indicate that revenue diversification affects revenue stability conditional on the instability of a jurisdiction’s economic base. The county level analysis suggests revenue diversification significantly increases the revenue instability of a county that has a stable economic base and the revenue stabilizing effect of diversification is enhanced as an economic base becomes more unstable. However, the state level analysis shows that revenue diversification significantly reduces revenue volatility for a state that has a stable economic base and the revenue stabilizing effect of diversification decreases when an economic base gets more unstable. An important policy implication of the dissertation is that the degree of revenue diversification should be gauged by the condition of its corresponding economic base in order to achieve the goal of revenue stability.

This work explores the relationship between municipal government debt and revenue diversification using a prism of institutional and fiscal interactions, concentrating on revenue fungibility effects over time and on the role of state-imposed constraints. A diversified revenue structure tends to stabilize revenue levels by balancing income-elastic and inelastic revenue sources. The impact of such diversity has been the subject of much research on expenditure and service levels among state and local governments. Considerably less research has been conducted on its potential relationship with debt, although capital financing is a necessary and often-utilized mechanism for funding capital and operational spending for local governments. Since it is well known that debt payments are fixed in the short run, they require sufficient revenue adequacy through economic highs and lows. It is thus argued that local governments with more diversified revenue structures are better able to utilize debt financing since revenue diversity mitigates the risk of borrowing by providing for greater fiscal predictability in the long run. This hypothesis is tested on two samples - a large sample of cities in Massachusetts from 2000 through 2009, as well as a cross-state sample, encompassing the cities from the majority of U.S. states. The findings of both studies provide preliminary evidence on the influence of revenue diversification on the levels of municipal indebtedness. While the Massachusetts study reveals that revenue diversification is, indeed, a statistically significant determinant of debt per capita, which also has an indirect effect on property tax burdens, the cross-state study suggests that revenue diversification has a mitigating impact on certain state-imposed fiscal rules, further adding to its weight as a strategic financial management tool. Both studies also reiterate the importance of such fiscal capacity factors as fund balances, intergovernmental revenue, and the size of government, while also revealing some new interaction patterns among various state-imposed debt limitations.

State grants are perceived to mitigate the fiscal disparities among local governments in providing services. However, cutbacks in state grants as a result of changes in state grant policy in different states affect local expenditures dedicated to maintaining service provisions to citizens. This dissertation constructs a theoretical model to explain the extent to which and the ways in which types of state grants, revenue diversity, and form of local government impact local spending and the provision of public programs when local governments experience cuts in state grants. The dissertation also argues that when facing state grant cuts, local governments with a council-manager form of government and with higher revenue diversity will experience reduced change in local expenditures and that decreases in state categorical grants will lead to more cuts in distributive program expenditures. Given the diversity of state and local arrangements, this dissertation conducts a comparative and panel data study to test the hypotheses in 351 and 271 municipalities in Massachusetts and Colorado, respectively, in 2000 through 2008. The empirical results indicate that the form of government and the degree of revenue diversification have a greater impact on the local spending behaviors in Colorado than in Massachusetts. Meanwhile, decreases in state categorical grants lead to more cuts in distributive program expenditures in both Massachusetts and Colorado. This dissertation concludes that the theoretical model explains the effects of state grant reductions on local spending better in Colorado than it does in Massachusetts.

In the past decade, a new entrepreneurial phenomenon aimed at seeding start-up companies has emerged across the globe: the social enterprise (SE) accelerator program. These accelerators focus on scaling social entrepreneurs by accelerating their journey to the market. Different actors like business reporters, entrepreneurs, and angel investors have expressed skepticism around the viability of the accelerator model. To research this sustainability, this thesis studied the revenue models of SE accelerators. Four semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts working at SE accelerators in Stockholm. These four identified getting revenue from partnerships, government institutions, and philanthropy and donations. Consulting contracts, equity shares and fees were not used by these four but were discussed as potential revenue streams. All respondents emphasized the importance of revenue model diversification and were currently working on strategies to act on this. Diversifying the revenue models of SE accelerators will increase the sustainability of their revenue models. This might be the first step from the focus of monetary gain towards a society where business is created to do good.

Although nonprofit organization (NPO) leaders play crucial roles in society, financial distress and vulnerability are common for many NPO leaders, with some NPOs closing as a result of these conditions. The purpose of this single-case study was to explore the diversification strategies used by 10 leaders and senior staff of an NPO in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States through the conceptual lens of Markowitz's modern portfolio theory. Data were collected through in-depth semistructured interviews and analysis of organizational documents, internal archival data, social media, literature, and online databases. Through thematic analysis, 7 revenue diversification themes emerged: adding revenue streams; establishing an operating reserve; establishing positive financial performance; achieving financial stability, sustainability, organizational capacity, and organizational resilience; using transparency; achieving efficiency and organizational effectiveness; and using a marketing strategy. Additionally, 7 key themes emerged: documenting and implementing systematic processes, developing an approach to process improvement, implementing cross-department action plans, increasing transparency, reversing the adverse trend in forum participation, building a data-management system, and increasing individual and organizational capacity. These findings have implications for positive social change, in that they may offer NPO executives new insights and strategies to support revenue diversification, thereby helping them to reduce volatility in funding, decrease financial risk, avoid dependence on sole-source revenue, and identify opportunities to increase flexibility in support of organizational goals and objectives to increase services.

Denna studie undersöker hur intäktsdiversifiering i europeiska bankverksamheter påverkar aktiemarknadens värdering och variationen i aktiepriserna. Europeiska bankverksamheter har sedan mitten på 1980-talet expanderat mot tjänster som genererar provisionsintäkter eftersom den historiska uppfattningen har varit att intäktsdiversifiering kan minska variationen i vinsterna och potentiellt öka marknadsvärderingen. Effekten av intäktsdiversifiering studeras utifrån OLS-regressioner på paneldata som består av 103 bankverksamheter från 24 länder i Europa för perioden 2005 till 2012. Aktiemarknadens värdering och variationen i aktiepriserna beräknas utifrån data över aktiepriser och från bankverksamheternas finansiella rapporter. Denna studie undersöker även resultatens ekonomiska signifikans för att utvärdera implikationerna av intäktsdiversifiering. Resultaten visar att en högre intäktsdiversifiering har en positiv effekt på aktiemarknadens värdering. Mer specifikt förväntar sig aktiemarknaden att ‘fee income’ har en positiv effekt på framtida vinster. Däremot innebär en högre intäktsdiversifiering även en högre variation i aktiepriserna. Den ekonomiska signifikansen visar att en högre intäktsdiversifiering främst har en betydande effekt på aktiemarknadens värdering och aktiens systematiska risk. Avslutningsvis framstår effekterna även ha varierat under tidsperioden och var större under den senaste finanskrisen. / This study examines how revenue diversification in European banks affects the market valuation and the total, systematic and idiosyncratic risk. Since the mid-1980s, European banks have expanded towards non-interest income generating activities. The historical perception has been that revenue diversification can reduce overall earnings volatility, potentially contributing to an increased market valuation. The effects of revenue diversification are examined by using OLS regressions on panel data containing 103 banks from 24 European countries over the period of 2005 to 2012. Stock market data and the data from banks’ financial statements are used to calculate market valuations and total, systematic and idiosyncratic risk. Additionally, this study examines the economic significance of the results in order to evaluate the implications of revenue diversification. The study finds a positive effect of revenue diversification on a bank’s market value. Specifically, the findings suggest that the stock market anticipates that ‘fee income’ can improve future profits. However, a higher degree of revenue diversification increases all types of risks. The economic significance reveals that revenue diversification has a considerable effect on the market valuation and the systematic risk. At last, the effects of revenue diversification appear to have varied over time and were greater during the recent financial crisis.

Leaders of nonprofits businesses adopt revenue diversification strategies to create innovative program services, creative ways to source materials, utilize volunteers and community partnerships, and identify business solutions related to solving societal problems. To continue providing services, it is crucial for nonprofit leaders to maintain adequate financial resources. The purpose of this single-case study was to explore revenue diversification strategies used by 3 leaders of a nonprofit organization in western California of the United States using Markowitz's modern portfolio theory as the conceptual lens. Data were collected through in-depth semistructured interviews and examination of organizational documents, internal archival data, and online databases. Through thematic analysis, 8 revenue diversification themes emerged: adding income streams; establishing practical financial performance measures; establishing operating reserve; achieving financial health, sustainability, and resilience; building organizational capacity; adopting transparency; achieving efficiency and effectiveness; and conducting active surveys. Additionally, 10 recommendations were identified: developing written procedurals, developing a process improvement strategy, engaging in contingency planning, increasing transparency and governance, using metrics for donor attrition and retention, developing and upgrading technology, increasing staff capacity, creating an employee handbook, conducting active surveys to reinforce additional services, establishing performance measures. These findings may have implications for positive social change, including the potential to contribute to nonprofit leaders' models of effective strategies with processes to grow income sources to support organizational sustainability and support a leader's ability to improve and maintain service offerings, while avoiding dependence on single source of revenue.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This dissertation consists of two essays on nonprofit finance. Nonprofit finance concerns obtaining and managing financial resources to support the social purposes of nonprofit organizations. A unique feature of nonprofit finance is that nonprofits derive revenue from a variety of sources. Nonprofit finance thus involves answering two fundamental questions: What is the optimal combination of revenue sources that supports a nonprofit to achieve its mission? Where and how to obtain the revenue sources? The two dissertation essays address these two questions respectively. The first essay, titled “Modern Portfolio Theory and the Optimization of Nonprofit Revenue Mix,” is among the first to properly apply modern portfolio theory (MPT) from corporate finance to nonprofit finance. By analyzing nonprofit tax return data, I estimate the expected return and risk characteristics for five nonprofit revenue sources as well as the correlations among these returns. I use the estimates to identify the efficient frontiers for nonprofits in different industries, based on which nonprofit managers can select an optimal portfolio that can minimize the risk given a preferred level of service provision or maximize the return given a level of risk. The findings also pose a challenge to the predominant approach used in previous nonprofit finance studies (Herfindahl-Hirschman Index) and suggest that MPT is theoretically and practically more helpful in guiding nonprofit revenue management. The second essay, titled “Charitable Giving in Nonprofit Service Associations: Identities, Incentives, and Gender Differences,” concerns nonprofit resource attainment, specifically, how do decisionmaking contexts and framing affect donations. Membership in a service club is characterized by two essential elements: members’ shared interest in the club’s charitable mission; and private benefits that often come as a result of social interactions with other members, such as networking, fellowship, and fun. A laboratory experiment was designed to examine 1) whether membership in a service club makes a person more generous and 2) the effect of service club membership—stressing either the service or socializing aspects—on individual support for collective goods. The study finds that female individuals are the least generous when they are reminded of the socializing aspect of service-club membership.

The subject of this thesis is to introduce the reader to the issue of possible financial investment in the virtual economy with real funds and design strategies to maximize the initial capital appreciation. The introduction describes the analysis of virtual PED currency, the economy and the system of publicly traded shares. The main part is focused on presenting the results of practical traded investment based on fundamental analysis, speculation about the intrinsic value of the shares and evaluating applied strategies, including the benefits of work.