Informal Financial Networks: Theory and Evidence

We develop a model of informal financial networks and present corroborating evidence by studying the role of professional property brokers in the U.S. commercial real estate market. Our model demonstrates how service intermediaries, who do not supply finance themselves, can facilitate their clients' access to finance via repeated informal relationships with lenders. Empirically, we find that, controlling for endogenous broker selection, hiring a broker strikingly increases the probability of obtaining a bank loan from 40 to 58 percent. Our results demonstrate that even in the U.S., with its well-developed capital markets, informal networks play an important role in controlling access to finance.

Bank Mergers and Crime: The Real and Social Effects of Credit Market Competition

Using a unique sample of commercial loans and mergers between large banks, we provide microlevel (within-county) evidence linking credit conditions to economic development and find a spillover effect on crime. Neighborhoods that experienced more bank mergers are subjected to higher interest rates, diminished local construction, lower prices, an influx of poorer households, and higher property crime in subsequent years. The elasticity of property crime with respect to merger-induced banking concentration is 0.18. We show that these results are not likely due to reverse causation, and confirm the central findings using state branching deregulation to instrument for bank competition.

Confronting Information Asymmetries: Evidence from Real Estate Markets

This paper studies the role of asymmetric information in commercial real estate markets in the U.S. We propose a novel and exogenous measure of information based on the quality of property tax assessments in different regions. Employing direct and indirect information variables, we find strong evidence that information considerations are significant in this market. We show that market participants resolve information asymmetries by purchasing nearby properties, trading properties with long income histories, and avoiding transactions with informed professional brokers. The evidence that the choice of financing is used to address information concerns is mixed and weak.

Instructional Resources for BBA Business Communication

This project involved the creation of six new and innovative learning resources for Sheridan\u27s students studying business writing: two Slidedocs and four instructional videos. These materials are intended primarily for the Bachelor of Business Administration Business Communication class (COMM10000D), but are also designed to be usable for diploma Business Communication and Reports and Presentations (RAP) students as well.https://source.sheridancollege.ca/pilon_uniq_poster/1001/thumbnail.jp

Do Liquidation Values Affect Financial Contracts? Evidence from Commercial Loan Contracts and Zoning Regulation

We examine the impact of asset liquidation value on debt contracting using a unique set of commercial property non-recourse loan contracts. We employ commercial zoning regulation to capture the flexibility of a property's permitted uses as a measure of an asset's redeployability or value in its next best use. Within a census tract, more redeployable assets receive larger loans with longer maturities and durations, lower interest rates, and fewer creditors, controlling for the current value of the property, its type, and neighborhood. These results are consistent with incomplete contracting and transaction cost theories of liquidation value and financial structure.

Implementation of an Online Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Reducing Stress Amongst Undergraduate Nursing Students

Background & Purpose: Nurses and nursing students have notoriously high levels of stress, which can lead to burnout, depersonalization, deterioration of mental or physical health or exiting the profession. A pilot educational mindfulness-based intervention was implemented online amongst undergraduate nursing students to decrease stress and increase mindfulness. Mindfulness is an evidence-based self-care skill that has proven effective in reducing stress in student populations and amongst nurses. Methods: Students in an online nursing theory course engaged in the mindfulness-based intervention online. Stress and mindfulness were measured pre-, immediately post-, and 4 weeks post-intervention and were analyzed using linear regression. Students were also surveyed regarding feasibility and challenges with the program. Results: Sixty students participated in the 5-week training and completed pre- and post-test measurements. Students with the highest adherence to the program reported a decrease in stress with mild statistical significance in this sample (M=-1.678, SE=.943, p=.075), while an increase in mindfulness was observed across all adherence levels (M=3, SE=.846, p≤.001). Twenty-nine students participated at follow-up, and the results were sustained. After five weeks of exposure to mindfulness, a majority of students valued this new skill (58%) and would share it with a colleague (53%) or a future client (60%). Conclusion: Integration of an abbreviated, online mindfulness program is effective at decreasing students’ stress and increasing mindfulness. A slightly longer version of this intervention should be considered. Digital delivery addresses an important health equity concern for nursing students, who must be better equipped with self-care tools to effectively cope with stress

Information, the Cost of Credit, and Operational Efficiency: An Empirical Study of Microfinance

We provide direct evidence on the impact of asymmetric information on both financing and operating activities through a study of credit evaluations of microfinance institutions (MFIs). We employ a regression discontinuity model that exploits the eligibility criteria of an evaluation subsidy offered by a non-profit consortium. Evaluations dramatically cut the cost of financing. This effect is strongest for commercial lenders and for short-term MFI-lender relationships. The impact of evaluations on the supply of finance is mixed. Evaluated MFIs lend more efficiently, extending more loans per employee

Environmental security planning : an application to the Longwood Medical Area

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture; and, (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1982.MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH.Bibliography: leaves 100-107.The thesis is a study of the security problems due to street crime in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston. The first part of the thesis defines the theories and practices of environmental security .planning, the urban design synoptic approach to crime prevention. The environment is examined in its totality -- the physical, social, economic, and psychological characteristics, all of which are considered. The synoptic approach incorporates some of the traditional forms of crime prevention: the punitive (minimally), corrective and mechanical approaches with emphasis on the spatial perspective and the utilization of physical design strategies to deter crime. A "crime analysis model" is developed which focuses on five components: the offender, the journey to crime, the target, natural surveillance and organized surveillance. The second part is the case study of the Longwood Medical Area (LMA) for which the crime analysis model forms the structure. The currently practiced monolithic approach to crime prevention which primarily restricts itself to the utilization of organized surveillance (private security guards) and limits itself to the defined geographical boundaries of the LMA is examined. This monlithic approach is aggravated by the lack of inter-institutional-community tensions all of which result in an unsatisfactory security planning strategy. The main recommendation of the thesis focuses on a basic conceptual change to a synoptic approach in the security planning of the Longwood Medical Area. A number of recommendations applying to specific situations are given.by Miriam Gail Garmaise.M.C.P.M.S

Non-compete covenants, litigation and garden leaves

We develop a dynamic model which assesses non-compete covenants (NCC) and garden leaves (GL) and examine the effect of the uncertainty, embargo period and severance payment on the manager's behavior and the reimbursement amount that is due to the firm if there is a violation of the NCC. We find that if the firm wants to deter the manager from leaving, the NCC is more effective than the GL when the industry uncertainty is low, or the embargo period is long, or the salary of the manager now or when working outside the industry is low, or the salary of the manager when working for the competitor or the gain of the competitor due to the arrival of the manager is high. Otherwise, the GL is more advisable. However, contrary to the usual higher tolerance about GL, our results show that, overall, NCC are less harmful than GL