Observing the deficiencies of traditional methods in meeting the demands of today&rsquo / s infrastructure development has been motivating countries towards privatization of these sectors. However, due to the differences in these sectors as compared to other businesses, privatization can not be performed without strict regulations. Today, concession agreements like BOT models seem the best way for solving the problems. Financing of concession agreements plays a key role. In Turkey, most BOT projects are financed by capital structure that has a maximum debt ratio, which is allowed by the law. The objective of this study is to examine whether the maximum amount of debt ratio is the optimum amount of debt ratio. Optimization is carried out by analyzing the trade off between benefits of tax shield and the loss due to financial failure as a result of change in leverage, assuming other things are the same. A theoretical framework is developed for the analysis by selecting Adjusted Present Value Method as a financial tool. Energy generation sector in Turkey is analyzed, stock market data in Turkey is used for the analysis, and a bankruptcy prediction model is proposed for BOT projects in Turkey. Finally, by using the theoretical framework, an actual BOT model hydro electric power plant proposal is analyzed for optimization of capital structure.

Report (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. M.S. 1993. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 91-93). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-126). Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.

Master-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2007.

Zugl.: Köln, Universiẗat, Diss., 2003.

M.Ing. (Engineering Management) / Revenue Assurance is an emerging discipline in the Communication Service Provider (CSP) industry. It is a fast changing and maturing field driven by proactive CSPs and industry providers of Revenue Assurance technology and services. Two practice guideline bodies, the TeleManagement Forum and the Global Revenue Assurance Professions Association (GRAPA), have issued various practice guidelines, maturity assessment models, and the first attempts to certify practitioners in this discipline. The discipline, however, lacks a working set of definitions. Industry writing is of commercial value with little contribution from an academic perspective. This study provides a provisional taxonomy as basis for introducing a working' set of definitions to support academic enquiry into the discipline of Revenue Assurance. The study employed Grounded Theory and document analysis techniques to code and analyse data available in the public domain. The result is a set of grounded concepts, re-conceptualised into a taxonomy, which provides structure to academia as primary users. It is hoped that the proposed taxonomy will provide a common base of understanding, which will guide future dialogue and expansion of the field, with contributions from both industry and academia.

D.Ing. / It is said that the development of innovative new products is set to become the economic battleground of the twenty-first century. Specifically, the innovative identification, development and subsequent marketing of financial products designed in order to allow organisations to manage their financial risk profiles will assume increased importance as volatility within the global business environment and capital markets increases. The discipline responsible for the development of such financial products, financial engineering, will increase in importance as financial services organisations compete to be the first to satisfy the needs of the market. The ultimate aim of financial engineering, as with any product development process, must be to develop the required product in an optimal manner at a minimised economic life-cycle cost to the organisation. Simultaneously, if correctly applied, the process of financial engineering can be a significant source of competitive advantage to the financial services organisation in an industry characterised by intense competitive pressures and exponentially increasing complexity and volatility. The financial services organisation which is able to successfully combine these two elements will have the capability to position itself as a leader in the identification and development of innovative financial products, a capability critical for success within the financial services industry. The science of engineering has within it a special subset devoted to the optimisation of the process of product development. This discipline, known as system engineering, has been extremely effective in the enhancement of product development processes within a traditional manufacturing environment. Tangible benefits of the application of system engineering include a reduced product development cycle, increased product adherence to client specifications, and a reduction in the economic life-cycle cost of the product. Within this thesis the author suggests that the optimal development of financial products in an increasingly competitive environment requires a two-pronged approach. In the first instance the financial services organisation must choose to develop the product which best promotes the medium to long-term strategic aims of the organisation. This is the concept of strategic fit. In the second instance the financial services organisation must have the capability to develop this product more effectively, and more efficiently, than its competitors. As an implementation mechanism the author develops a Financial Product Development Model based on system engineering principles chosen for their applicability to the process of financial product development. Simultaneously, the author develops a Competitive Strategy Framework, a collection of five strategic elements designed to ensure that the financial product development decision displays a measure of correlation to the strategic aims of the organisation. This Competitive Strategy Framework is implemented within the Financial Product Development Model via the use of a Strategic Circuit Breaker, a concept developed by the author and based on the concept of trading circuit breakers as used on the world's major stock exchanges. The aim of the Financial Product Development Model proposed within this thesis is to enhance the process of financial engineering and in so doing provide the financial services organisation with a means of improving its strategic competitiveness within the financial markets. The proposed Financial Product Development Model is validated via the practical application of the model. The results of this validation indicate that significant benefits may be obtained by correctly implementing the model. In addition the author conducts a limited scope industry survey designed to determine the opinion of financial services professionals to the major concepts underlying the model. The favourable results of this survey indicate that (1) the proposed model is practical and applicable within the financial services industry, and (2) the financial services industry in general is unaware of the importance of the process of product development and the manner in which system engineering can be used to enhance this process. By implication the financial services organisation that is able to differentiate its financial product development process from its competitors stands to achieve a significant competitive advantage.

We consider the finite difference method applied to a class of financial problems. Specifically, we investigate the properties of the Du Fort and Frankel finite difference scheme and experiment with adaptations of the scheme to improve on its consistency properties. The Du Fort and Frankel finite difference scheme is applied to a number of problems that frequently occur in finance. We specifically investigate problems associated with jumps, discontinuous behavior, free boundary problems and multi dimensionality. In each case we consider adaptations to the Du Fort and Frankel scheme in order to produce reliable results. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Mathematics and Applied Mathematics / unrestricted

<p>Technological advances in computer processing, information systems, and communication links have allowed individual investors market access. This has resulted in an injection of capital into the U.S. financial markets which fuels various segments of the economy and creates new capital requirements. A near real time ability to both access information and execute trades is traditionally limited to professional investors. As the volume of trading increases, however, investors desire a corresponding increase in the markets accessibility.</p> <p> This paper analyzes methods that brokerage houses can employ new technologies to provide individual investors near real time access to financial markets. This includes obtaining market, news and personal portfolio information as well as submitting securities trades. Feasibility study results indicate that a handheld, two-way wireless device is the optimum solution. A life cycle cost and technical analysis trade-off is performed using the implementation of Cellular Digital Packet Data and Radio Packet Data. Based on the results, a Radio Packet Data system is proposed.</p> / Master of Science

By analyzing the information provided by analyst recommendations in the banking industry, I find that analyst recommendations trigger an immediate impact on the value of banks (Essay 1), they profitably guide the investment decisions of investors for periods of up to three months (Essay 2), and they also have an immediate impact on the values of rival banks (Essay 3). In addition, I find that analysts’ ability to provide new information depends on the information environment of the bank. The degree of information asymmetry, the degree of complexity, the risk of the bank, the risk of the time period, as well as regulatory reforms that affect these characteristics, have a significant impact on the analyst’s ability to provide new information to the investors. Specifically, I find that analyst recommendations are more informative when banks suffer from a high degree of information asymmetry. In addition, regulatory reforms that reduced the information asymmetry of the banking industry also diminished the analyst’s ability to provide new information. Similarly, I find that analyst recommendations have a greater impact on the values of the rated and the rival banks when these banks operate in a risky environment. This result is robust to several measures of bank risk, period risk, and regulatory events that affected the risk of the banking industry. However, the results of Essay 2 show that positive recommendations that occur during riskier periods or after regulatory events that increased the risk of the banking industry result in lower value for the investors over the following 1-month or 3- month periods. Lastly, I find that as banks become more complex, analyst recommendations have a smaller immediate impact on the value of the bank, deliver a smaller investment value for the investors, and also have a smaller immediate impact on the value of the rival banks. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection