The problems of this study may be stated as follows: (1) to show the various methods used by Virginia savings and loan associations in handling their delinquent accounts, (2) to determine by research their major advantages and disadvantages, and (3) to determine which methods or procedures would serve the best interests of the associations and their customers. Information concerning the current procedures and conditions were supplied by thirty (30) savings and loan officers, who answered questionnaires mailed to them. These replies represented over 50 per cent of the associations currently doing business in Virginia. In addition, selected representative associations were visited and operating personnel interviewed. The conclusions which were reached as a result of the analysis of the accumulated information have been stated. The study shows that procedures followed by the different savings and loan associations vary to a considerable extent and that innovation in management techniques would benefit many of these organizations. / Master of Science

Thesis. 1978. M.C.P.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 150-153. / M.C.P.

The financial crisis facing the United States savings and loan industry has been steadily escalating over the last decade. During this time, accounting treatments concerning various thrift institution transactions have also attracted a great deal of attention. The specialized accounting treatments used in the thrift industry, known as regulatory accounting practices (RAP) have been blamed as one of the culprits hindering the regulators' ability to detect serious financial problems within many institutions. Accordingly, RAP was phased out, and all federally insured savings and loan associations began preparing their financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) as of January 1, 1989. The purpose of this dissertation is to compare the relative predictive values of the two historical cost based accounting conventions (RAP and GAAP) available to the savings and loar? industry during the 1980's. For purposes of this dissertation, predictive value is defined as the usefulness in assessing future financial health and viability. The sample consisted of all the institutions reporting to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas between 1984 and 1989. Year-end thrift financial report data, obtained from Sheshunoff Information Services, Inc. (Austin, Texas) was used to calculate several financial ratios. The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas provided a comprehensive listing of all institutions that failed between January 1, 1985 and March 31, 1989. The null hypothesis tested in this study was: no significant differences existed between the predictive values of RAP and GAAP financial statements. Using a dichotomous dependent variable (failed/not failed) and independent variables from prior research, several multinomial logistic models were developed to test the null hypothesis. All models developed failed to reject the null hypothesis.

Thesis advisor: Peter N. Ireland / The banking structure as it is known today in the United States largely originated in the 1930s after the onslaught of the Great Depression. The Federal Deposit Insurance Company developed deposit insurance to stabilize the industry and protect consumers. They laid down rules and regulations that shaped the banking and financial sector of the American economy into the early form of what patrons use today. Large banks were concentrated in financial centers, mostly New York, with some scattered in the west coast and other big cities. Most smaller towns had one or two state-chartered commercial banks with thrift institutions flourishing alongside. Personal and even business customers banked on a small, local scale. Sixty plus years later, the same industry structure is still in place, but its face has changed dramatically. The financial system of the United States in the 21st century is vastly different from the one that was commonly used only one generation ago. Geographic deregulation in the 1970s drastically changed the geography of the American banking industry. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2006. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics Honors Program.

Savings and loan cooperative as a business corporation Abstract This thesis deals with typical features of the savings and loan cooperative as a business corporation. The aim of the thesis is to compare the specific legal regulation of savings and loan cooperatives with the general legal regulation of business corporations and, especially, with the legal regulation of cooperatives. As a follow-up of the performed comparison, the thesis identifies features identical and, in the first place, features different, specific for the savings and loan cooperative. Such specific legal regulation is a matter of a more in-depth analysis of particular provisions and mutual relations thereof. The thesis is organised in three chapters. The first chapter includes classification of business corporations and their particular typical features, some of which are present in savings and loan cooperatives, too. The second chapter deals with historical development and importance of savings and loan cooperatives, while putting accent on the basic cooperative principles, such as cooperative democracy or an emphasize on the membership principle. Then it explains the origin of numerous restraining measures applicable to savings and loan cooperatives and making them similar to banks. The third, crucial chapter contains an analysis of...

The village-based microfinance approach Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) has been implemented in developing countries for three decades, and is found to be an effective tool in alleviating poverty and facilitating access to financial services in rural areas.  This study, done in collaboration with Vi Agroforestry, aimed to investigate the impact of VSLA activities on female empowerment in Rwanda, and more specifically, how women's access to and control over assets have been affected by VSLA participation. The term 'female empowerment' refers to the process by which women gain control and power over their own life situations and their ability to make strategic choices, that is, the capacity to turn choices into desired actions and outcomes.  A qualitative methodology has been used, where the main data collection consisted of six individual interviews with VSLA staff responsible for implementing, monitoring and evaluating VSLA groups in six different districts, and two focus group interviews with female VSLA participants in two different districts, carried out during April and May 2021.  The findings show that VSLA participation significantly accelerates the process of female empowerment in both household and community domains for women in Rwanda and that VSLA is an efficient first step in moving from a marginalised position in the society. However, women are still in many cases restricted from claiming all potential benefits from VSLA participation by structures that dictate normative gender roles and power structures. The findings highlight the importance of continued gender-related and financial training in order to further increase female access to and control over resources through VSLAs.

This dissertation is a theoretical and empirical investigation of the actual changes in Federal S&L asset portfolios following the deregulation of the 1980's which loosened the restrictions on the amount of non-housing related lending that Federal S&L's could undertake. In particular the study focuses on the effects of deregulation and the forces promoting and constraining the individual S&L's expansion into non-housing related assets. The theoretical model provides a framework for the empirical examination of the deregulation in the DIDMCA of 1980 and Garn-St Germain Act of 1982. The theoretical model is an adaptation of the Mingo and Wolkowitz (1977) banking model. The peculiarities of the S&L industry are embodied through adaptations of the Mingo and Wolkowitz (1977) model which emphasize after-tax profit maximization (tax laws reward specialization in housing related assets), constrain diversification into non-housing related assets, and differentiate between mutual and stock associations. Using the method of Lagrange multipliers, an expression is obtained for the effect of a change in after-tax profits for a relaxation of the constraint on diversification which becomes the focus of the analysis. By integrating the Lagrange multiplier with economic and regulatory controls, systems of regressions are developed which examine the changes in asset portfolio composition for Federal associations using balance sheet and income statement data between 1979 and 1983. The findings and implications of the empirical analysis are summarized as follows: 1. The tax laws do not appear to have constrained the diversification. 2. Specialization effects with respect to housing related assets appear to have constrained the diversification into non-housing related assets. 3. Non-housing related assets and liquid assets appear to be substitutes. 4. Stock associations, on average, have expanded into non-housing related assets to a greater extent than mutual associations. 5. The changes in liability legislation appear to have restrained the diversification into non-housing related assets. 6. Large associations appear more able to acquire the expertise needed to diversify. 7. Profitability appears to be correlated with the expansion into "new products." / Ph. D.

This thesis has examined the fluctuations (or lack thereof) of bank deposits within Montgomery County, Virginia, during the years 1956 through 1966. The three major bank accounts chosen for this purpose were: Loans and Discounts; Time and Savings Deposits; and Demand Deposits. Fluctuations of deposits are of concern to bankers because, among other reasons, (1) the size of demand and time deposits determine the bank's primary and secondary reserves, and (2) the content and nature of the bank's investment portfolio will be affected by these variations in bank deposits. The objectives of this thesis were carried out by: (1) examining the daily financial statements of four representative banks of the county for deposit growth and deposit patterns; (2) searching banking literature for causes of deposit fluctuations; (3) overviewing the economy of the county and the Fifth Federal Reserve District for clues to variations in deposits, and; (4) interviewing county bankers in an effort to determine their thoughts concerning the fluctuations of deposits. The results indicated that there is little deposit variation within the county from year-to-year. This is because (1) the agricultural factor has played such a minor role during the time period; (2) the Radford Arsenal's production has played a stabilizing role in the county, especially since the early 1960s, and; (3) the continuing steady growth of the economy of the Fifth District has had an important effect upon the economy of Montgomery County, helping it to grow in a steady manner. / M.S.

In the field of International Development, increased attention has been given to the concept of women’s empowerment as it has been recognized as a potential driver for change. Classified as a global struggle, commitments to this concept have been at the core of many development interventions, whether they be a small NGOs working in a single community or large-scale international aid agencies with presence all around the world. Despite its international recognition, women’s empowerment has been largely left unquestioned within development practices and especially with regards to the impact it may have on local beneficiary communities. This thesis will address how universal ideas such as this one become meaningful in the local setting through a case study of CARE-International’s Women’s Empowerment in Zanzibar project that was implemented from the years 2008-2011. In applying Sally Merry’s (2006) concept of vernacularization, as a theoretical framework, it will be shown that international aid organizations do not simply adapt women’s empowerment to the local arena. Instead, various local actors are involved in a dynamic process of translating, negotiating, and making the concept more meaningful to the beneficiaries and, thus, cause a new hybrid understanding of women’s empowerment to emerge. This new concept draws more extensively on local institutions, knowledge and practices that have been inter-weaved with Islamic practices which play an important role in the lives of Zanzibaris. This thesis will illustrate how NGO culture converges with and diverges from the local communities and expose the realities that exist within the greater development discourse.

In the field of International Development, increased attention has been given to the concept of women’s empowerment as it has been recognized as a potential driver for change. Classified as a global struggle, commitments to this concept have been at the core of many development interventions, whether they be a small NGOs working in a single community or large-scale international aid agencies with presence all around the world. Despite its international recognition, women’s empowerment has been largely left unquestioned within development practices and especially with regards to the impact it may have on local beneficiary communities. This thesis will address how universal ideas such as this one become meaningful in the local setting through a case study of CARE-International’s Women’s Empowerment in Zanzibar project that was implemented from the years 2008-2011. In applying Sally Merry’s (2006) concept of vernacularization, as a theoretical framework, it will be shown that international aid organizations do not simply adapt women’s empowerment to the local arena. Instead, various local actors are involved in a dynamic process of translating, negotiating, and making the concept more meaningful to the beneficiaries and, thus, cause a new hybrid understanding of women’s empowerment to emerge. This new concept draws more extensively on local institutions, knowledge and practices that have been inter-weaved with Islamic practices which play an important role in the lives of Zanzibaris. This thesis will illustrate how NGO culture converges with and diverges from the local communities and expose the realities that exist within the greater development discourse.