Bill Marcum

• Wake Forest University

This study examines the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) decoupling on firm value across firms that understate versus overstate CSR. We also analyze the moderating impact of a firm's regulatory environment on the relationship between CSR decoupling and firm value. Using longitudinal analysis across 20 developed countries for the peri...

This study assesses the relative financial performance of firms operating in an environment in which economic freedom is protected by effective institutions. To do this, we examine the moderating effect of economic freedom on the relationship between board structure and financial performance. Using longitudinal data across 30 European countries, we...

This study examines emerging market firms that adopt corporate governance standards similar to those in the US. The investigation highlights the impact governance standards may have on corporate risk taking, as measured by stock return volatility, under varying political and socioeconomic regimes. In a cross-sectional time-series setting, the analy...

This study provides an examination of the effect of various corporate governance factors on the management of the risks inherent in business and the potential divergent impact of these factors on US firms and firms in emerging countries. In particular, the study scrutinises corporate governance and corporate risk-taking behaviour across different p...

A number of reports from the business press have suggested that corporate cash hoarding may have served as the motivation for the recent rise in inversions. While access to cash may motivate some inversions, it is difficult to differentiate the importance of corporate cash availability from other influences such as business environment shocks or re...

Lenders can employ a variety of strategies, from additional borrower equity and increased payback ratios to market evaluations, to ease the uncertainty of lending to condo developers.

AbstractU.S. firms have been accumulating cash fairly steadily since the 1980s. Has this changed four years after the “official” end of the recession? And are both large and small firms continuing to retain cash? © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Besides lessons learned, the CMBS market offers investors opportunities to purchase securities at values below the historical "full price" in terms of the underlyng commercial property.

Article summarizes the importance of the Herfindahl Index in CMBS risk assessment and introduces the use of the Hirschman-Herfindahl Index in a real estate market risk assessment context.

RMA Journal Newsletter, Fall 2012. Are self-storage facilities recession-proof?

In this final chapter, the real estate investment trust (REIT) will be discussed. These special investment vehicles can serve as a portfolio diversification strategy for investors seeking an investment which provides return possibilities in a variety of property types and locations. The REIT, while of relatively recent creation, has roots which tra...

One of the most significant financial innovations of the twentieth century was the introduction of securitization. Securitization involves pooling individual, usually illiquid, assets and using the pool as collateral for the issuance of an entirely new set of financial securities. People that invest in the new securities are promised a proportionat...

The review of commercial leases is a key component of an investor’s (or a lender’s) due diligence prior to purchase (or financing) of an investment real estate property. The length of the lease income, in conjunction with the amount of competing, available space in the market, represents the durability of the income stream in our aforementioned QQD...

During the height of the “Yes Era”, retail and office property was constructed based on the growth in new housing starts in various markets across the United States. Speculative home construction may have led to speculative retail and office properties being constructed nearby. While the level of speculative construction was not as prevalent during...

In the aftermath of the “Yes Era”, we believe that investors must return to fundamental analytical tools in order to help ensure that a property has the desired characteristics which allow an investor to achieve their required rate of return. Investing in non-speculative properties will help the investor in obtaining financing at a bank, as lenders...

The next three chapters of the book will elaborate on characteristics specific to the “four food groups” of investment property as was defined in Chap. 1. Chap. 8 will discuss multi-family (or residential apartment) projects, Chap. 9 will discuss retail and office properties, and Chap. 10 will discuss the various types of industrial and warehouse p...

A traditional step in the evaluation process for investment real estate is the completion of an appraisal by an independent appraiser. The investor may desire an unbiased valuation for purposes of agreeing on a fair sales price for the property. If the buyer of the property requires financing by a bank, the bank will utilize the appraisal in order...

In this chapter, we will explore the benefits and possible pitfalls of taxation reduction and deferment strategies in investment real estate. We will discuss the effect that interest expense and non-cash expenses can have on investment return, and we will introduce the after tax internal rate of return. We will then discuss the various forms of rea...

The topic of real estate investing has made worldwide headlines in recent years in both good and bad ways. During the economic expansion years from 2002 to 2007, real estate investment received much good press from everyone from government officials encouraging real estate ownership, to central banks encouraging bank lending via low interest rates,...

In Chap. 10, we complete our analysis of the primary investment property sector considerations with a discussion of industrial and warehouse property. These properties are generally classified as industrial property given that their function relates to manufacturing, production, or storage of industrial products. A relatively new subsection of indu...

In Chap. 1, two of the market participants that were introduced were investors and lenders. In this chapter, these two market participants come to the forefront. When structuring loan documentation and amortizations for investment property indebtedness, the types of arrangements provided often depend on the motivation for investment by the investor...

In this chapter, the various forms of risk in real estate investment will be described. These forms of risk will be outlined in light of the recent financial crisis. The chapter discussion will elucidate various statistical analyses that the individual investor can perform in quantifying the level of risk in a particular property. As a component of...

US companies are stockpiling cash, despite the economic downturn. But why are they doing this? And are they holding too much cash? The authors of this article investigate the reasons for this trend, the effect on a company's value, and how a firm can tell if it is indeed holding too much cash. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Purpose: To estimate the relation between consumer wealth and the demand for the most common elective and reconstructive plastic surgical procedures. Methods: A retrospective analysis was done on the five most common plastic surgery procedures within three categories (cosmetic surgical procedures, cosmetic minimally invasive procedures and recons...

Deferring capital gains taxes on property sales can have unforeseen consequences.

RMA Journal Sept. 2011. Article discusses pros and cons of like-kind exchanges

RMA Journal, March 2011 (Cover article). Cap rate derivation models; their strengths and weaknesses with discussion about an alternative to using market-based determinants for cap rates when sales dry up or when the recent past is no longer indicative of the near term.

Researchers have documented an abundance of evidence that stock returns are predictable ex post facto. In this study, we address the ex ante predictability of the cross section of stock returns by investigating whether a real-time investor could have used book-to-market equity, firm size, and one-year lagged returns to generate portfolio profits du...

This study presents and tests a method for capturing employee reactions to specific potentially troubling situations. The data for the study are based on responses to specific ethical scenarios from the employees of a large U.S. insurance company. The method presented here not only allows the ethical judgments of employees toward ethical scenarios...

Is your firm still using outdated capital budgeting techniques? They tend to be overly conservative in evaluating alternatives—and may reject a project that should have been accepted. Instead, the authors suggest a simulation method that will help you make better decisions. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Priceline.com was thought to be the ideal e-Commerce company in that a simple reverse auction pricing mechanism was wedded to the unique opportunities of the Internet. At its inception, Priceline.com was considered a sure thing, because it provided participating firms the opportunity to better implement yield management while giving consumers acces...