In the United States, the number of female entrepreneurs who receive venture capital funding is significantly lower than the number of male entrepreneurs who receive venture capital funding. This thesis explores some of the economic, sociological, and psychological principles behind why this gender disparity in venture capital might exist. This thesis then surveys the current efforts in place to lessen the disparity, and lastly prescribes future ways in which female entrepreneurs can gain more access to capital for their businesses.

The effective and efficient management of personal finances is critical for everyone, particularly in a world where uncertainties prevail. Owing to continuous change, new financial challenges frequently confront individuals that culminate ultimately in uncertainties concerning individuals’ financial position and future. Having low levels of debt, an active savings and retirement plan, as well as following an expenditure plan, will lead to financial wellness, which demonstrates an active state of financial wealth. A comprehensive financial plan makes individuals attentive when dealing with financial issues, and acts as a guide when making financial decisions. Owing to insufficient financial literacy and skills, personal financial management is challenging and often results in erroneous financial decisions. Financial knowledge forms the basis for financial skills and competence, which are influenced by personal attitudes in both spending and saving. Therefore, in order to plan effectively, and control and manage financial risks and opportunities in the future, financial skills and abilities are essential. Adequate financial knowledge and skills lead to effective personal financial management and sound financial decisions in the short-term as well as in the long-term. Planning for financial independence should start as early as possible during the financial life cycle, usually at 18 years of age. Students are a rewarding market for financial institutions such as banks, insurance companies, pension funds and brokerage companies, potentially leading the way forward to establish brand-loyalty throughout adulthood. However, the lack of financial management and planning experience, as well as financial literacy and financial skills, make students particularly susceptible to the aggressive marketing tactics of financial institutions, which may be harmful to students’ financial freedom. As such, financial institutions and professionals have to gauge effective ways to convey financial knowledge and product information to a target market to deliver improved financial service as well as understand the relevant consumer behavioural aspects of a target market when developing marketing strategies. Published literature on the South African Generation Y consumer behaviour is limited and none that is focused specifically on attitudes towards personal financial planning, financial literacy and perceived personal financial management skills of the significantly sized black Generation Y cohort. This cohort is defined as individuals born between 1986 and 2005. In South Africa, Generation Y individuals accounted for 38 present of the South African population, with the black Generation Y individuals representing 83 present of this generational cohort. Additionally, the black Generation Y cohort of South Africa account for approximately 32 present of the total population, resulting in a highly salient market segment. Of particular interest to marketers and professionals, including financial institutions and those involved in financial management, especially financial planning, are those individuals attaining tertiary qualifications, and as such they are likely to enjoy higher earnings and a higher social standing, which together is likely to make them opinion leaders and trendsetters amongst their peers. The primary objective of this study was to investigate black Generation Y students’ knowledge of and attitudes towards personal financial management within the South African context. The target population, relevant to this study, was defined as full-time undergraduate black Generation Y students, aged between 18 and 24 years, enrolled at South African registered public higher education institutions (HEIs). From the sampling frame, comprising 23 registered South African public HEIs, one traditional university and one university of technology located in the Gauteng province, were selected using a judgement sampling method. A convenience sample of 400 full-time black Generation Y students, who were enrolled at these two South African HEIs during 2013, was drawn for this study. To conduct this study, a structured format was applied where lecturers of the applicable classes were contacted and permission was requested to carry out the survey. Thereafter, during the scheduled class times of the full-time undergraduate students, hand delivered self-administered questionnaires were distributed for completion, which were collected thereafter. The students’ attitudes towards personal financial planning were measured on a six-point Likert scale, whereby participants were requested to indicate the extent of their agreement/disagreement with items pertaining to personal financial planning. The students’ financial literacy was measured, using multiple-choice questions, whereby the students were asked to choose one of the four alternatives provided. The students’ perceived personal financial management skills were measured on a six-point Likert scale, whereby the participants were requested to indicate the extent of their agreement/disagreement with items pertaining to personal financial management skills. Additionally, certain demographical data were requested from the participants. The findings of this study indicate that South African black Generation Y students exhibit a positive attitude towards personal financial planning, have low levels of financial literacy and perceive themselves as being equipped with having the necessary personal financial management skills. More specifically, students’ attitudes towards estate planning were ranked the highest, whereas attitudes towards the financial planning process were raked the lowest. In terms of financial literacy, students scored the highest in general financial knowledge and the lowest in spending related financial literacy questions. Students’ perceptions towards decision-making skills were rated the highest, whereas stress management skills were rated the lowest. Insights gained from this study will help academics, government, financial institutions and other economic role players understand current black Generation Y consumers’ attitudes towards personal financial planning, their level of financial literacy and their perceived personal financial management skills. / MCom (Business Management), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

Frågeställning: Hur tillämpas god ekonomisk hushållning i kommuners styrning utifrån kommunallagen? – Finns det skillnader mellan Eskilstuna kommun, Nyköpings kommun och Strängnäs kommun? Vad blir konsekvensen om god ekonomisk hushållning inte uppfylls? Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur kommuner förhåller sig till god ekonomisk hushållning i deras styrning, om det är någon skillnad mellan Eskilstuna kommun, Nyköpings kommun och Strängnäs kommun i förhållande till kommunallagen. Metod: Deduktiv ansats har använts i studiens framställande. Informationen har samlats in, den har analyserats och av den teoretiska referensramen och empirin har en slutsats dragits. Respondenter valdes ut genom ett strategiskt urval och dessa kontaktades via mejl. Slutsats:  Eskilstuna kommun, Nyköpings kommun och Strängnäs kommun är styrda av de uppsatta mål som kommunfullmäktige sätter. Dessa mål är direkt kopplade till kommunallagen. Genom att arbeta med mål och riktlinjer, och att ha en ekonomi i balans tillämpas god ekonomisk hushållning utifrån kommunallagen. En skillnad som kan ses mellan kommunerna är att de har olika mål vilket i sin tur leder till att en god ekonomisk hushållning uppnås på olika grunder. Gemensamt är strävan efter att uppnå alla de mål som är uppsatta av kommunfullmäktige för att följa god ekonomisk hushållning. Den stora skillnaden som finns mellan kommunerna är att Nyköpings kommun har haft svårigheter under år 2011 och år 2012 med att uppnå en god ekonomisk hushållning i deras verksamhet. Vad konsekvenserna blir av inte uppnådd god ekonomisk hushållning är lite svårare att svara på då det inte finns några riktlinjer om vad som händer. Det som framkom under studien är att det är politikerna som hålls som ansvariga för inte uppnådd god ekonomisk hushållning men att inga repressalier utdelas. / Research questions:  How to apply good financial management in municipalities control based on the Local Government Act? - Are there differences between Eskilstunas Municipality, Nyköpings municipality and Strängnäs municipality? What are the consequences if good financial management is not fulfilled? Purpose:  The purpose of this study is to examine how municipalities are related to good financial management in their management, if there are any differences between Eskilstunas Municipality, Nyköpings municipality and Strängnäs municipality in relation to the Local Government Act. Method: Deductive approach has been used in this study. The information has been collected, it has been analyzed and from the theoretical framework and empirical a conclusion has been drawn. Respondents were selected through a strategic selection and these were contacted by email. Conclusion: Eskilstuna municipality, the municipality of Nyköpings and Strängnäs are guided by the goals that the City Council sets. These objectives are directly linked to the Local Government Act. By working with the objectives and guidelines and to have a balanced economy good financial management is applied by the Local Government Act. One difference can be seen between the municipalities is that they have different goals, which in turns leads to good financial management is achieved on different grounds. The common denominator is striving to achieve all the goals set by the City Council to follow good financial management. The major difference found between municipalities is to Nyköpings Municipality has had difficulties in the year 2011 and 2012 to achieve good financial management in their economics. What consequences are not reached by good financial management is a bit more difficult to answer as there are none guidelines about what will happen. What emerged during the study is that it is the politicians who are held responsible for not achieved a good economic management, but no reprisals inflicted.

This paper researches the relationships between sub-center cities, satellite cities and core cities in Jingjinji Area, Huninghang Area and Pearl River Delta. It also covers the connections between Chinese housing market and stock market. It uses an unique dataset called China Real Estate Index System (CREIS) to measure the Chinese housing prices. Through correlations, Granger causality tests and regression models, this paper concludes there are indeed connections for the movements in housing prices in the surrounding cities relative to Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen in the three city groups, and there is no sufficient evidence to show the existence of the connection between Chinese housing market and stock market.

The United States is one of the few developed countries in the world that has not adopted the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as its primary financial reporting guidelines. Instead, most American companies prepare financial statements adhering to the United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP). In recent years, there has been much debate regarding the feasibility and impact of a US adoption of IFRS. One area of financial reporting that would be significantly impacted by a switch from US GAAP to IFRS is inventory accounting. Specifically, inventory measurement and costing methods. The goal of this research is to examine the impact that a US adoption of IFRS would have on inventory reporting practices and investor perception of inventory-related accounts. To achieve this goal, I propose several business scenarios that each highlights a different aspect of inventory accounting, then proceed to analyze how these scenarios would be financially represented under IFRS and US GAAP. Results indicate that while the two sets of accounting standards result in different annual account balances, these differences even out over time. As such, I argue that experienced investors will not be significantly impacted should the United States ultimately choose to adopt IFRS.

The present paper explores the effects of championships won and financial stability of the clubs on share price returns for publicly traded football clubs in Europe. The study uses samples from 2012-2017 of 14 publicly traded clubs on different exchanges such as Borsa Italiana, London Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, Germany Stock Exchange, Paris CAC Index, Borsa Lisbon, Copenhagen Stock Exchange as well as the Turkish Stock Exchange. The initial analysis assesses share price returns’ links with team performance and team financial variables as well as two indices: STOXX 600 Market Index and the STOXX Football Index. Further analysis includes looking at revenues and the different variables that affect returns to see the correlation and understand profitability vs win maximization due to the effect of sugar daddy owners. There appears to be a negative and significant correlation between profit margin and returns, and I also conduct event studies for the biggest transfers of the clubs and conclude that in the short term, there is a significant effect on share prices when transfers occur.

Prior to the announcement of a merger or acquisition, the stock price of the target company often experiences a price run-up prior to the announcement of the transaction. This price run-up can be attributed to information leakage and insider trading. This paper examines how changes in the SEC’s budget effects the pre-announcement price run-up of mergers and acquisitions. Furthermore, this paper explores the political processes surrounding SEC budgeting, as well as flaws in the current system. This paper finds that with a $10 million increase in the SEC’s budget, the average pre-announcement run-up ratio decreases by 0.3%. The findings of this paper suggest a concrete means of reducing insider trading, dependent on an increase in SEC budget.

Using a sample of 1007 U.S. bank holding companies from 1995 to 2015, this study investigates whether the use of financial derivatives of U.S. bank holding companies affects distance-to-default, a measure of a bank’s chance of defaulting. My results show that total derivatives and total derivatives for trading purposes do not have any statistically significant impact on distance-to-default. There is, however, a statistically significant correlation between total derivatives for non-trading purposes and distance-to-default. More exposure to total non-trading derivatives decreases distance-to- default, thus making a bank holding company riskier. Further analysis of the results shows that, after the initiation of the Dodd-Frank Act, more exposure to credit derivatives will decrease distance-to-default, therefore increasing the riskiness of a bank holding company.

The stock market crash of 1929 stands today as the largest decline in market value in the history of the United States. Consequently, the event destroyed the wealth of thousands of American families and institutions. On October 28th and 29th, the United States stock market fell 11.3 percent and 12.4 percent respectively, marking the beginning of a down market that lasted over three years, the time period known today as the Great Depression. This paper empirically analyzes the effects felt by each individual industry sector in the crash of 1929, identifying gross and abnormal returns over three major days in the crash. I then compare my findings to previous literature and economic theories, analyzing which sector returns were expected and which were abnormal.

This dissertation explores how cities achieve fiscal sustainability—the financial capacity to consistently meet basic public service responsibilities regardless of economic conditions. Two research questions arise from the interplay between the local economy and fiscal sustainability. First, what management tools do cities use to achieve fiscal sustainability given that economic conditions are largely outside their control? Second, what explains the variation among cities in the financial management tools used to achieve fiscal sustainability? The financial management tools of interest in this study are revenue diversity and the size of the fund balance. It is conjectured that financial management tools interact with each other prompting the tools to function as policy substitutes for each other. Cities achieve fiscal sustainability by strategically choosing budget-balancing tools appropriate to their economic conditions. The study utilizes a cross-state comparison from 351 Massachusetts municipal governments using panel data from 2000 to 2009 and 993 New York municipal governments using panel data from 2001 to 2010. Using theories of fiscal sustainability and revenue diversification, several models are proposed that test the interactive effects of fund balance size and revenue diversity on fiscal sustainability. The results from the empirical analyses show that cities use various financial management tools to stabilize spending during economic downturns. Cities pursue strategies that help maintain fiscal sustainability. Furthermore, it is discovered that interaction of fund balance and revenue diversity on municipal expenditures is stronger as the level of revenue diversity decreases. This interaction has a large effect during periods of economic downturns as compared to periods of economic growth.