The goal of this research is to determine the importance of location factors influencing the spatial distribution of capital formation in U.S. manufacturing. The uneven distribution of manufacturing activity across space suggests that geographical location matters. In addition, factors...

This dissertation consists of three studies of the applications of financial hedging in the hospitality and tourism industry. In the first study presented in chapter 2, the author proposes a novel approach to mitigate the cash flow volatility arising from snowfall fluctuation in ski resorts:...

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is essential in international business and FDI in China has experienced rapid growth in the past three decades. The objective of this thesis is to analyze the political, economic, and cultural influences on FDI development at four stages of China's economy growth:...

A comprehensive needs assessment method was used in this empirical and evidence base research. The design, development and implementation of this study focused on answering two overarching questions: (1) What finance knowledge do HPT practitioners possess? and (2) How do HPT practitioners use...

Although economists have long noticed that mergers occur in waves, the wave pattern of mergers is an old and still unresolved issue. No unified theories can predict merger waves accurately. This dissertation seeks to model the wave behavior at United States pharmaceutical industry level by using...

The first chapter explores the determinants of people's decisions to take 401(k) loans. We model factors that rationally would induce people to borrow from their pension plans, and we explain why people do not often use 401(k) loans to replace their more expensive credit card debt. Next we test...

Building on A Behavioral Theory of the Firm and on A Network Theory of Social Capital, this dissertation develops a theory that serves as the basis to understand what guides firm search, particularly, why ex ante alternative assessment drives exploration by focusing the attention of the firm on...

In this paper, we substitute anecdotal with empirical evidence regarding the publication behavior of German business administration professors. We find that in particular the publication behavior of accounting researchers differs strongly from the publication behavior of researchers in other...

This dissertation consists of three essays on corporate pension plan underfunding and securities valuation. The first essay presents evidence that sell-side stock analysts systematically underreact to pension underfunding information when they forecast firm earnings and such underreaction is...

In human society, people encounter various deontic conflicts every day. Deontic decisions are those that include moral, ethical, and normative aspects. Here, the concern is with deontic conflicts: decisions where all the alternatives lead to the violation of some norms. People think critically...