Essays and Research Papers on Personal Finance

A 6 page paper discussing the operation and financial management of the venerable motorcycle company. At the end of 2005, the company that flirted with bankruptcy only a few years ago currently enjoys a market share of well over 50% and a 16.93% profit margin as it continues to attract younger, affluent customers. ...

A 15 page discussion of the many societal problems associated with housing discrepancies between the upper classes and those immersed in poverty. This paper identifies workable alternatives to addressing housing discrepancies, alternatives that in turn address the multifaceted issues of poverty. Bibliography lists 10 sources.

This 3 page paper examines the banking industry in Question and Answer format. The two areas addressed are the dual banking system and the Savings and Loan debacle. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

This 11 page paper examines the risk of exchange rate movements and the theories that look at how and why exchange rates move and then considers the way in which hedging may be used as a practical tool to reduce the exposure to that risk. The paper uses the example for a forwarding company, but ...

This 13 page paper examines the performance of the Greek Shipping compnay Tsakos Energy Navigation, looking at the financial performance between 2002 – 2005 and then considers the dividend policy and the use of dividend signalling. The bibliography cites 9 sources.

This 13 page paper examines the financial performance of the well known diamond jewellers Tiffany’s. The paper answers questions set by the student, starting with a short consideration of the statements made by the auditors and then looking at the liquidity and profit margins of the company between 2004 and 2006. The bibliography cites ...

This 4 page paper answers 4 questions. The first two question refer to agency theory. Question 1; Why do mangers have different interests that shareholders? Question 2; What can the shareholders do to mitigate such conflicts of interests? The next question asks what the relevance of asymmetric information on investment policy and the last ...

This 5 page paper looks at the reasons for international trade focusing on the advantages as explained by David Ricardo’s theory of comparative advantage, considering w it had been built on Adam Smiths theories and the way it was adjusted with the Heckscher-Ohlin (HO) Model. The bibliography cites 7 sources.

This 16 page paper uses a case study supplied by the student, the paper uses data supplied by the student on a range of investments to assess the optimum movements of investment for an income fund spread over 8 investments for a period of two weeks to maximise the income. The paper considers why the ...

A 4 page paper which examines the relationship between globalization and slavery. Bibliography lists 6 sources.

A 3 page paper discussing the relative merits of corporate income taxation, both in its current form in the US and as it would be were the US to adopt a value-added tax (VAT) approach. The VAT is not compatible with other tax structures, and depending on the output of the specific organization, it ...

This 16 page paper examines Exxon Mobile looking at the approach to general corporate risk management, the company’s financial structure, the market risk and the way the company deal with market risk. The bibliography cites 10 sources.

A 6 page paper discussing Google's use of the Dutch auction IPO rather than the more traditional approach, for the purpose of determining whether more companies should consider using it. Google's immense success with its IPO likely rests more with the company and investors' leaves of senses in their willingness to pay for a ...

This 5 page paper examines an article on the Dubai economy which indicates a high level of growth and an optimistic view for the future. The paper then critiques this article and considers the potential problem of inflation. The bibliography cites 5 sources.

This 3 page paper looks at the role of a financial manager and considers how the view of this role may vary between the shareholders and the employees of the company. The bibliography cites 2 sources.

This 3 page paper explains what is meant by the term currency contracts and then goes on to consider the use of futures and options in terms of currency contracts. The bibliography cites 2 sources.

This 4 page paper is written in two parts. The first part of the paper looks at how the allocation or non allocation of untraceable costs may result in a different interpretation in department performance and skew the results. The second part of the paper considers activity based costing and whether is suitable to be ...

This 12 page paper examines the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, looking at its’ performance and the risks faced by the company. Two competitors, Merck and Eli Lilly are considered in terms of performance and risk, the betas are compared with an assessment of the associated risk. The paper ends with the consideration of how investment ...

This 8 page paper answers two questions set by the student. The first considers scheduling and planning inventory purchase for a variable production demand. The second questions looks at issues a production manager may consider where there is a variable demand, such as how to forecast demand, the costs of adding in a new shift ...

This 12 page paper examines Morgan Stanley looking at issues of corporate governance and the way this has impacted on actions and reporting with specific attention to accounting and reporting. The remuneration for the CEO examined and compared with the CEO’s of Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs and areas of general corporate governance improvement are ...

A 6 page paper answering 3 questions comparing Nike and Reebok cash flow statements and profitability measures 2002 – 2004. Overall, it appears that Nike is the better managed company in terms of financial management. Its stronger financial position is not dependent only on its much higher revenues and net income, but also ...

A 5 page paper discussing the financial environment and internal controls at both of these companies. Both Nike and Reebok have been and remain well-managed from a financial perspective. Reebok's major failing likely was marketing; in the past Nike's was its rabid pursuit of profitability at all costs. Each company paid prices ...

This 6 page paper looks at the purchasing parity theories and uses annual information from the exchange rates of the Chinese Yuan and the Euro for the years 2000 – 2004 and tests the purchasing parity theories. The paper then considers whether the International Fisher Effect (IFE) could account for any deviations. The bibliography cites ...

This 4 page paper this paper compares the ideas of Richard Reich and Karl Marx to see if they are valid in relation to one another, or if they are different. Bibliography lists 3 sources.

This 36 page paper considers the use of stochastic modelling in the determination of asset allocation. The paper considers multi-stage stochastic programming and stochastic dynamic programming by comparing this to other models that may be used in assessing the contents of investment portfolios. Other models considered include models with their origins in mean variance theory ...