A growing concern among investors for social responsibility in relation to the business world and its effect on the environment, society, and government has increased and therefore different types of stock indices and funds that incorporate socially responsible ideals have been developed. However, a literature review revealed that there does not seem to be much information about the volatility of Green Funds or Socially Responsible Investments (SRI). Volatility is an important part of understanding the financial markets and is used by many to understand asset allocation, risk management, option pricing and many other functions. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to investigate the volatility performance of SRIs, REFs and Conventional Indices by using different models CAPM, SR, JA and EGARCH, and monthly and daily data from the US, UK, Japan and Eurozone financial markets to compare results.   This thesis has been conducted by following an objective ontological and positivist epistemological position, because the data used for analysis in this thesis is independent from the author and has studied what actually exists, not what the author seeks to interpret. The research approach is functionalist, because this thesis sought to explain how the investments function in relation to volatility comparisons in different financial markets and if this volatility can be predicted through a framework of rules designed by previous researchers. The design is a deductive study of quantitative, longitudinal, secondary data, because hypotheses are derived from theory to test the volatility of time series data between the year 2007 and 2012 through empirical evidence.   Statistical evidence was found to suggest that the EGARCH model for volatility measurement is the best fit to model volatility and daily data can give more information and better consistency between results. SRIs were found to be less volatile than CIs in all financial markets; REFs were found more volatile than CIs in the US and Eurozone markets but not in the UK and Japan markets; REFs were found to be more volatile than SRIs in all markets except the UK; REFs were also found to be more volatile than SRIs and CIs during a recession in all markets except the UK. Evidence also indicated that the correlations between REFs and SRIs in the US and Eurozone were significant, but not significant in the UK and Japan market samples. The correlations were low between the UK and Japan SRIs, Japan and Eurozone SRIs and Japan SRI and Eurozone REF, which suggest that an investor may consider to diversify between these investments. However, all other statistically significant correlations between financial markets were high and could consequentially deliver poor long term investment performance.

The purpose of the study was to determine the perceptions of Ball State University graduates who participated in Guaranteed Loan Programs regarding the experience of borrowing through these programs. Specifically the study was concerned with: (1) Identifying the individual's perceptions of the influence of borrowing on selected areas related to the borrower's financial affairs; (2) identifying the individual.'s perceptions of the influence of borrowing on selected areas related to the borrower's personal life; and (3) determining the borrower's opinion about participation in the Guaranteed Loan Program(s) as related to the appropriateness of the amount of money borrowed, criteria for eligibility for participation, criteria for repaying the amount borrowed, advice that would be given to prospective borrowers, and the rating that would be given to the overall experience of borrowing.

What explains the shift towards greater direct public oversight of financial markets in international financial regulation that has characterized the response to the global financial crisis of 2007-2010? Over this period, the main international financial regulatory bodies have abandoned the market-based mechanisms that had informed their approach towards the regulation of different financial domains in the years before the crisis and significantly expanded the perimeter of state-based regulation. However, the extent and the timing of this shift cannot be regarded only as the by-product of the crisis, nor they can be explained by the existing interpretations of the political determinants of international regulatory policies. This study builds upon existing state-centric explanations of international regulatory policies, but it goes beyond these works by exploring how the preferences of the most influential countries in response to the crisis have been influenced by variations in the degree of public salience of different financial domains. More specifically, this study argues that the lasting increase in the public salience of financial regulatory policies in the US and different European countries since the last quarter of 2008 has created strong incentives for elected officials in these countries to challenge the market-based approach that had emerged in the decade and half before the crisis and to directly interfere in the international regulatory agenda. In order to explain this shift, this study will analyse the evolution in the international governance of three sets of markets and institutions that have occupied an important position in the international regulatory agenda in recent years: 1) OTC derivatives; 2) rating agencies; 3) hedge funds. Besides making an empirical contribution to the literature on the politics of international financial regulation, this study also contributes theoretically to this literature by deepening our understanding of the nexus between international regulatory coordination and domestic public opinion.

This dissertation starts by examining the evolution of the Canadian payments system from a historical perspective by reviewing the institutional evolution, as well as the development and adoption of some of the newest payment instruments. Two major trends in recent Canadian payment history are revealed, i.e., cash payments are being replaced by non-cash payments and paper-based payment instruments are being replaced by electronic payment instruments. / Next, we adopt a model proposed by Snellman et al. (2000) to conduct a Canadian study of the retail cash payment flows. The estimated results imply that the share of cash, as well as cheques, in overall retail payments in Canada has declined quite considerably. We then investigate the cash substitution process, as well as the electronification of payments in Canada using S-shaped growth curve models. Our results indicate that although the card payments will continue to further substitute for cash, cash will still remain the preferred medium of retail payments in Canada. However, approximately 80% of all payments are forecasted to be electronic in just 20 years. / This dissertation then extends the existing literature on the long-run money demand relationship in Canada by employing information on the payment technology development as an instrument variable to account for financial innovations that might have caused structural shifts in the money demand equation. The econometric methodology employed is cointegration and error-correction modelling. It is found that our measure of financial innovations removes most of the structural breaks in the money demand equation over the sample period. A unique and significant long-run money demand relationship is detected. The short-run dynamic specifications of the VECM system imply the weak exogeneity of output and interest rates.

Thesis (PhDComputerSystemsEng)--University of South Australia, 2004.

Thesis (DBA(DoctorateofBusinessAdministration))--University of South Australia, 2001.

This thesis examines the degree to which alternative funds deviate from their style-benchmark and how this is related to past performance and fund size, and how it impacts future risk and returns. Additionally the thesis examines how security selection and market timing skills differ across varying degrees of deviation from the benchmark. The thesis uses data for hedge funds, funds of funds, and CTA funds from the Center for International Securities and Derivatives Markets and employs fund???s tracking error relative to their style-benchmark to estimate the level of drift. The style-benchmarks used are the median return for all reporting funds that follow a particular style and funds are assigned a benchmark based on their self-reported style. First, this thesis documents statistically significant differences in the tracking errors of portfolios of funds with the highest tracking error versus funds with the lowest tracking error, implying that some managers drift from their self-reported style-benchmarks. Second, funds??? benchmark-inconsistency is less severe in the case of funds that have a regulatory obligation to disclose their performance, suggesting that the absence of regulation fosters an environment where managers can be more flexible with their investment approach. Third, the tendency to drift from the benchmark is most prevalent amongst funds with superior past performance as well as small funds. Fourth, future total portfolio risk increases as funds display more benchmarkinconsistency, suggesting that managers adopt riskier strategies as they attempt to enhance returns. Fifth, the thesis demonstrates that CTA funds that display drift from their benchmark produce higher absolute and relative returns in subsequent periods regardless of the direction of the general market. In contrast, the findings show for hedge funds and funds of funds, benchmark-inconsistent funds are likely to outperform in bull markets and underperform in bear markets. Finally, this thesis shows that more benchmark-consistent managers have better security selection skill. The main contribution of this thesis is in identifying the group of hedge funds, funds of funds, and CTA funds that are likely to deviate from their self-reported style-benchmark and the risk-return consequences of such deviations. The findings have implications for investors and regulators.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 1966. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-69). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Economics, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Diss. Stockholm : Stockholms universitet, 2007.