Macroeconomic and Capital Market Determinants of Venture Capital Investment
By Jeffrey Zeren
This thesis explores the impact of macroeconomic, equity and credit market conditions on venture capital investment. The theoretical methodology outlines the logical foundation that supports the relationships between each explanatory variable and the supply and demand of venture financing. The hypotheses suggested by theory are tested using five multi-vector ordinary least squares regression that analyze the impact of the macroeconomic and capital market variables, after adjustment for multicollinaerity and overspecification bias, on each stage of venture capital investment. The next empirical strategy uses category variables and interaction terms to vastly expand the number of observations in the dataset and provide a more robust analysis of select variables. The results show that macroeconomic conditions associated with increased economic activity and productivity growth cause an increase in venture capital investment at all development stages, though early and late stage investments are the most sensitive to growth and productivity advances. In addition, strong public equity market valuations and initial public offering successes are positively associated with venture capital investments. Finally, optimism in credit markets are found to have an indirect impact on venture capital investment, through confounding factors related to investor and entrepreneurial confidence.
Advisor: Mary Beth Fisher | JEL Codes: G2, G24, E44
Modeling Variation in U.S. Bank Holding Companies’ Net Interest Margins
By Daniel Dorchuck
This study explores variation in US bank holding companies’ (BHCs) net inter-est margins (NIMs) and the effects of interest rate risk exposure on NIMs. Interest rate risk (IRR) is intrinsic in maturity transformation and financial intermediation as banks take on short-term liabilities in the form of deposits and create assets in the form of loans with longer maturities and different repricing profiles. Accordingly, interest rate risk is necessary for bank holding companies (BHCs) to be profitable in financial intermediation, and net interest margins are chosen as a variable of inter-est because they are an isolated measure of bank’ profitability from interest earning assets. Naturally, BHCs employ maturity pairing and derivative hedging to mitigate IRR and ultimately increase and smooth earnings. Synthesizing banks’ balance sheet and income statement data, macroeconomic variables, credit conditions, and interest rate environment variables, this study hopes to expand on existing work by provid-ing insight on the determinants of NIMs as well as interest rate derivatives’ efficacy in increasing and stabilizing net interest margins. The models presented establish links between long term rate exposure, risk-averse capital positions, and increased margins. Additionally, the models suggest that banks earn smaller spreads (NIMs) in higher interest rate environments but benefit from steeper yield curves.
Advisor: Mary Beth Fisher, Kent Kimbrough | JEL Codes: E44, G20, G21 Tagged: Depository Institutions, Interest Rate Derivatives, Interest Rate Risk, Net Interest Margins, US Commercial Banking
