Yes / While research on factors driving corporate investment decisions has blossomed, knowledge related to the Chief Executive Officer’s (CEO’s) market sentiment on investment decision outcomes is lacking. In this study, we extend the existing corporate finance literature by examining the underexplored issue of how CEOs’ market sentiment drives firms’ investment decisions. Capitalising on a large sample of US firms for the period 2004-2014, we uncovered some crucial observations. First, we found empirical support for our theoretical contention that market sentiment drives corporate investment decisions. Second, we established that, while financial flexibility induces managers to overinvest, the expectation of future profitability leads firms to underinvest during high sentiment periods. In addition, we uncovered that the 2007/08 financial crisis significantly impacted firm behaviour and realigned managerial decision-making. Thus, the sentiment-investment relationship is more pronounced during the crisis and the post-crisis periods. Our results are robust after accounting for the possibility of endogeneity and using alternative measures of both CEOs’ market sentiment and firm investment.

Increased demand for barley has changed the proportion of crops grown in Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic USA. Winter wheat is the predominant small grain crop, but barley can be a direct substitute, although much less of it is grown. Soybean is grown full-season and double-cropped after both small grains. Historically, wheat was the primary small grain in the soybean double-crop rotation because of its greater profitability. The barley-soybean cropping system is not a new concept in the region, but the literature is outdated. New agronomic and economic data that directly compares full-season soybean, barley-soybean, and wheat-soybean systems using modern cultivars and management practices is needed. The objectives of this research were to: i) determine soybean yield and compare cropping system profitability of the three cropping systems; ii) perform a breakeven sensitivity analysis of the three cropping systems; and iii) determine the effect of planting date and previous winter crop on soybean yield and yield components. Soybean grown after barley yielded more than full-season soybean in two of six locations and more than soybean double-cropped after wheat in three of six locations. Net returns for the barley-soybean system were the greatest. These data indicate that soybean double-cropped after barley has the potential to yield equal to or greater than full-season soybean or double-cropped soybean following wheat, but its relative yield is very dependent on growing conditions. The profitability comparison indicated that the barley-soybean cropping system was generally more profitable than the full-season soybean and double-cropped wheat-soybean systems. This conclusion was supported by the breakeven sensitivity analysis, but remains dependent on prices that have been extremely volatile in recent years. In another study, soybean yields declined with planting date at two of four locations in 2009, a year that late-season rainfall enabled later-planted soybean to yield more than expected. In 2010, soybean yield decline was affected by the delay in planting date at both locations. Winter grain did not affect soybean yield in either year. Yield component data reinforced these results and indicated that the lower seed yield in the later planting dates was due primarily to a decrease in the number of pods. / Master of Science

Sustainability for Virginia dairy farms requires balancing phosphorus (P) imports and exports at the farm-gate level. Balancing P helps prevent further accumulation of P in farm soils through routine applications of manure, which over time contributes to surface water quality issues. The objectives of this research centered on guiding dairy farms in Virginia toward lower, more sustainable P balance, and without adversely impacting profitability. First, the state of P balance had to be determined for a sample of dairy farms, including risk factors for excessively high P balance. Second, a repeated assessment of P balance on those dairy farms sought to determine any key factors of change in P balance between years. Lastly, a small Virginia dairy farm was used as a case farm to evaluate whether or not it could reduce its P balance while maintaining or improving farm profitability. An initial assessment of 58 dairy farms in Virginia showed that 75% of farms could operate with a P balance less than 18.7 kg ha-1. The two risk factors that led to excessively high P surpluses were the use of poultry litter and excessive P imported with purchased feed. The repeated assessment included 30 of the 58 original dairy farms. Increases of 1.0 kg P ha-1 of total P imports and exports were respectively correlated to a mean P balance increase of 0.76 kg ha-1 and a mean P balance decrease of 0.43 kg ha-1, suggesting that changes in P imports affect changes in P balance more than changes in P exports. Reduced poultry litter use was highly correlated to reduced P balance, and increasing cow manure exports also reduced P balance for the farms with the opportunity. As a significant portion of the farms assessed were small (less than 200 milking cows), a case farm of 105 cows on 100 acres was used to explore how farm profitability could be affected as P balance was reduced through additional acres, increased crop production, and with a grazing-based farming strategy. Results from partial budget analysis showed that after expanding the land base from 100 to 150 acres for crop production, the change in potential net return ranged from $-0.90 to $1.26/cwt of milk, with accompanying changes in P balance ranging from -9.0 to -14.7 lbs/ac. The analysis also showed that changes in potential net returns after converting to a grazing-based system ranged from $-2.14 to $1.39/cwt, with greater change in P balance ranging from -9.7 to -17.8 lbs/ac. The most profitable strategy, generally, for this farm seemed to be expanding the land base and growing a cash crop. Phosphorus balance on Virginia dairy farms can be reduced, potentially without negative impacts on farm net return, though challenges remain for farms with limited land or areas with high density of animal agriculture. / Doctor of Philosophy / Phosphorus (P) is a vital nutrient for crops and livestock, but too much of it in soils leads to surface water quality problems. Sustainability for Virginia dairy farms requires balancing P imports and exports at the farm level. This research centered on guiding dairy farms in Virginia toward lower, more sustainable P balance. An initial assessment of 58 dairy farms in Virginia helped establish a zone of operation, a feasible target toward which the 25% of farms with high P balance could aim. Avoiding poultry litter as a fertilizer choice and limiting P imported with purchased feed were both ways in which some of these farms could lower their P balance. A repeated assessment in a second year showed that reductions in P imported were more likely to reduce P balance than were increasing P exports. In this, reducing the use of poultry litter as a fertilizer was again an effective way of lowering P balance. As a significant portion of the farms assessed were small (less than 200 milking cows), a case farm of 105 cows on 100 acres was used to explore how farm profitability could be affected as P balance was reduced through various management changes. Results showed that after expanding the land base by at least 50 acres for additional crop production, P balance could be significantly reduced while maintaining or increasing the potential net return to the farmer, especially if the farmer can ensure a high milk yield grazing-based operation or if they grow a cash crop like corn or soybeans. Overall, the research suggests that P balance on Virginia dairy farms can be reduced, and that these farms can operate more sustainably, though challenges remain for farms with limited land or areas with high density of animal agriculture.

"Customer Profitability Analysis in the Service Industry" aims to describe the practical application of customer profitability analysis techniques in holding XYZ, which provides ICT services to the hospitality industry. The thesis starts with a theoretical part. It describes several management accounting techniques for measuring customer profitability. The second part of the thesis demonstrates the application of some of these techniques in a real-life environment. Implementing management accounting tools, business processes and changing the accounting data structure are described step by step.

Continuing dental education is a necessity for the dental professional. In dentistry, a profession described as a life-long learning endeavor, dental professionals are challenged with keeping up-to-date with the ever-changing scientific and technological advances of their profession. Continuing dental education plays an important role in providing dental practitioners with the opportunity to keep abreast of the latest advances in the dental industry. University-based continuing dental education programs, that provide the professional development needed by dental professionals to maintain and upgrade their skills and knowledge-base, have grown from their early origins as a primary service to dental school alumni members, to playing a pivotal role in regulating and professionalizing the dental industry as well as contributing to the financial well-being of their dental schools and universities. As educational funding continues to shrink while the cost of educating competent dental practitioners continues to rise, continuing dental education has developed revenue generating opportunities for their dental schools. This study was designed to analyze the current financial and revenue generating practices of continuing dental education units within both public and private dental schools, with a goal of providing a conceptual framework to develop a standardized financial model for determining the profitability of programs. Employing a cross-sectional survey method approach, this study obtained quantitative and qualitative data through the use of an electronic survey that was sent to both private and public dental school members of the Association for Continuing Dental Education (ACDE). The results of the findings of this study summarized data into several categories and compared the data between public versus private dental schools including the CDE unit's size, programs, revenue generation, program and unit expenses, corporate funding, net income, institutional overhead fees, gifts-in-kind, surplus revenue, and other factors considered when calculating profitability of CDE programs. These findings helped to create a framework for the development of a financial model, the Comprehensive Program Budget that may be used to more accurately project program profitability, thereby insuring that CDE units are self-sufficient and positive contributors to the financial well-being of their institutions.

The decline in agricultural productivity in Nigeria is linked to a host of factors ranging from unsustainable growth policies, inadequate funding and infrastructures, low levels of value added through processing, low commodity prices, unstable markets, poor extension services and low rates of literacy. It is now well recognised that there is a need to diversify Nigerian agriculture as well as improving production performances. This study investigates the potential of cassava root tuber (CRT), as a means to promote agricultural growth. It assesses cassava production, profitability, efficiency, marketing structures and channels, constraints in production, the potential to add value by processing cassava into gari (a fermented, roasted, and dried granule) and its marketing at the farm level. These were supplemented by a critical review of policies and programmes, including trend analysis of cultivated area, production, yield and prices of major crops including cassava at the national level covering the period 1970–2009. The study surveyed 315 cassava producers (including 278 gari processors), 105 marketers involved in cassava marketing and 30 stakeholders from three regions in the Delta State, Nigeria. Descriptive statistics are used to analyse the socio-economic characteristics of the sample. In addition, profitability of CRT and gari and their marketing were assessed by benefit-cost analysis. Furthermore, productivity and efficiency of CRT and gari and their determinants were analysed using non-parametric DEA followed by Tobit regressions. Results indicate that cassava production and processing is profitable in all regions and for all farm size categories. The BCR is estimated at 2.83 and 1.22 for CRT and gari, respectively. However, the yield level of CRT and gari is very low, estimated at 7.7 t/ha and 4.7 t/ha, respectively. Also, efficiency levels are very low and vary by farm size as well as regions, with large scale producers relatively more efficient. Marketing of cassava in any form is profitable and efficient (Marketing Efficiency>1 in all cases) and profitability varies widely across regions. Provision of water was identified as the main constraint in processing, followed by shortage of electricity and poor marketing infrastructure. The review of past policies and trend analysis revealed inconsistent policies and fluctuations in agricultural productivity, but also showed increases in total production mainly driven by expansion of the area cultivated during later years, for cassava in particular. The policy implications include: (a) increased provision of modern technologies, use of improved varieties and modern technology; (b) land reform policies to consolidate farm size; (c) investment in elements of marketing infrastructure; and (d) improvements in extension services. Despite inconsistencies in policies, cassava stood out as a robust and resistant crop which provides confidence that targeted investment in the cassava sector will contribute to development of Nigerian agriculture.

The Regional Council of Jämtland has a goal to increase the export of renewable energy and with that reduce the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. One of the measures used to reach this goal is to give subsidies and tax reductions for investments in photovoltaics. Photovoltaics are generally perceived as “good for the environment” and give a “good image” to companies. They are marketed as interesting for private persons and farmers from a profitability point of view. Sweden has an electricity mix with average CO2 emissions of 20-30 g/kWh. Compared to other countries in Europe this is very low. The CO2 emissions of photovoltaics during their lifetime are 46 g/kWh according to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Taking this in consideration it can be concluded that photovoltaics actually increase GHG emissions as they have higher emissions of CO2 than the average in Sweden. When the decision to invest in photovoltaics is made with profitability as a main reason, it is debatable if the subsidies and tax reductions are needed. When the decision to invest in photovoltaics is made with environmental concern as a main reason, the subsidies might be given to other environmental technologies that are better from a climate perspective. Considering this, the push for profitability of photovoltaics can be seen as just another increase in consumption.

New Zealand wood availability forecasts indicate that increases in the future wood availability significantly relies on small-scale forest owners' resources. This "small-scale" resource is poorly understood and comprises a large number of owners. It is questionable how many of these forests are established with consideration of the cost and practicality of harvesting. An improved understanding of the likelihood of this resource ever being harvested is important for understanding future wood supply. The main objective of this study is to answer a fundamental question on how much small scale forest area is economic to harvest. The study aims to estimate the basic stumpage value of the forests at modelled costs and different log price levels, and to analyse the profitability of the small scale forests by looking at the historic rate of return, as well as the net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return on existing and future forest land. The emission trading scheme (ETS) was also taken into account during the analyses and the effects of the ETS on the profitability, optimum age and future wood availability were investigated. The methodology developed for this study uses a forest growth model (Radiata Pine Calculator), Geographic Information Systems, the Visser harvest cost model, and Microsoft Excel. The growth model enables the analysis to be customised to a specific region of interest, while spatial characteristics such as slope and transportation distance of individual forests were taken into account by using GIS. The cost model allows the analysis to be customised to individual forests to some extent although a number of assumptions are made generalising the forests as whole. Developing the overall framework within Excel allows easy analysis of the results and changes to the underlying assumptions. Harvesting and transportation costs are the main drivers in determining the profitability of small scale forests. A significant increase in log prices is required for the existing forests to obtain substantial profit from log production. At current log prices 90% of small-scale forests in the Wanganui District are economically available. The other 10% small blocks on steep sites, have negative stumpage revenues because of high harvesting costs. Additional cashflows from entering the ETS have the potential to generate significant revenue for post-89 forests. However the substantial increases in optimal rotation age are likely to delay the increase in harvest volumes forecast from the small-scale estate.

A number of researcher and practitioners have identified a dramatic increase in competition and market transparency as the driving force behind the decline in customer loyalty in the financial services sector (e.g. Caruana, 2002). However, the costs for selling a product to a new customer are much higher than the costs for selling the same product to an existing customer, particularly when the customer is loyal to the company (Duffy, 2003). Due to these facts, strengthening customer relationships is necessary to achieve higher customer equity. Blodgett (2000) claims that the successful implementation of a customer equity strategy involves an organisation’s customer focus, operations, systems, and culture. Companies can offer value to customers through their services and products (added value and innovations), their personnel (service quality), and their processes (speed and quality). When the customer buys financial products and services, he creates customer equity for the company, which is in this thesis presented as company profit. Company profit is the sum of all customer profits and represents the value of each customer in the form of monetary aspects. This thesis aims at investigating if communication, price, process, product and human resource management influence company profit (customer equity) and, thus, whether they are drivers of customer equity (Chapters 5-10). In total, seven dimensions have been investigated. Recent customer equity models of value-based management are examined from the literature and based upon this, the construction of a new conceptual model for value building in competitive markets is proposed (Chapter 4). The framework identifies value propositions such as brand or product leadership, value sources for determining value creation strategies, and finally customer touch points for value delivery. Touch points are referred to as advertising, use of a logo, presence of sales persons, websites, branch outlets etc i.e. the human and physical interactions with customers over their relationship with an organisation. Together with products such touch points are designed to deliver value to customers with the objective of increasing customer equity.

In this thesis we have studied China's financial sector globalisation by analysing the determinants of Chinese banking sector profitability, and the relationship between GDP growth and FDI inflows. For estimating the Chinese banking sector profitability, we applied system GMM estimation on the annual data of 56 banks currently in China. The time period of the data is from 2002-2011. We found out that both internal and external factors have impact on the Chinese banking sector profitability. As we have expected financial sector globalisation has positive impact on the profitability of banking industry. For analysing the impacts of financial sector globalisation in terms of FDI contribution to the Chinese economy, we have tested the relationship between FDI and GDP by running the VAR model on the macro data over the time period of 1987-2011. We have found that GDP growth explains the rapid development of FDI, and FDI indirectly influences the GDP growth by influencing the domestic investments.