Free Essay

Basic Concept Check

In:

Submitted By mysh007
Words 519
Pages 3
1. What do researchers mean by ‘subjective well-being’? How is this construct measured?
Researchers are referring to the overall sense of well-being as subjective because it is based on experiences – both negative and positive – and the ability the person has to adapt to them. It is also because a person’s sense of well-being is based off their own perception of it as well as what is socially acceptable. The construct is also measured by a person’s perception and socially accepted concepts of “well-being”. A person’s well-being is what they make of it. The ability to find happiness does not come from outside sources. However, the ability to equate one’s sense of well-being is influenced by outside sources. People have the tendency to trust what is shown to them through advertisements and shows of what is the proper amount of well-being. In truth, this is different for each person. Asking to give a moderation or value to it does have its psychological benefits, but it can also provide for a conflict in a person. We seek to be what we are supposed to be. Part of that is seeking to be happy and have that sense of “well-being”. Quantifying it, or trying to, in any sense will always be subjective because we are all different, having our own perceptions, and our own scales of positive and negative.

2. On p. 18 of your textbook, the authors present the hypothetical possibility of being hooked up to an ‘experience machine’ that would guarantee a constant state of happiness and positive emotion. Would you choose to be hooked up to such a machine? Why or why not? In your response, differentiate between hedonic and eudaimonic concepts of happiness.
I had to think about this for all of about two seconds before I had my answer. I would absolutely not want to be hooked up a machined that guaranteed a constant state of happiness or positive emotion. How would I be able to evaluate them? How would I be able to appreciate them? Without dark, there is no light, and vis versa. One simply cannot feel a positive emotion without knowing a negative one. I believe that hedonic happiness is a common way that most people would look at happiness. It is the overall sense of fulfillment that has come from life experiences that have been pleasurable, thus needing an outside influence to be happy. Though eudaimonic concepts, self-realization is what brings upon well-being and happiness with one’s life. It is feeling good about your life because of your choices, not what affected you negatively, but what you did about it. With both concepts, being hooked up to an “experience machine” would make the idea of having a fulfilling life null and void. There would be no self-realization to follow eudaimonic concepts because there would be no adversity to make a positive choice from. With hedonic concepts, the outside influences would all be positive, but yet they would have no relation point as to what is positive, thus making everything the same.

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Problem Set 2

...•5. Suppose a Midwest Telephone and Telegraph (MTT) Company bond, maturing in 1 year, can be purchased today for $975. Assuming that the bond is held until maturity, the investor will receive $1,000 (principal) plus 6 percent interest (that is, 0.06 × $1000 = $60). Determine the percentage holding period return on this investment. INTERMEDIATE 6.•a. National Telephone and Telegraph (NTT) Company common stock currently sells for $60 per share. NTT is expected to pay a $4 dividend during the coming year, and the price of the stock is expected to increase to $65 a year from now. Determine the expected (ex ante) percentage holding period return on NTT common stock. b. Suppose that 1 year later, NTT’s common stock is selling for $75 per share. During the 1-year period, NTT paid a $4 common stock dividend. Determine the realized (ex post) percentage holding period return on NTT common stock. c. Repeat Part b given that NTT’s common stock is selling for $58 1 year later. d. Repeat Part b given that NTT’s common stock is selling for $50 1 year later. INTERMEDIATE 7. One year ago, you purchased a rare Indian-head penny for $14,000. Because of the recession and the need to generate current income, you plan to sell the coin and invest in Treasury bills. The Treasury bill yield now stands at 8 percent, although it was 7 percent one year ago. A coin dealer has offered to pay you $12,800 for the coin. Compute the holding period return on this...

Words: 260 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Corporte Finace

...Financial Leverage And Capital Structure Policy 0 Chapter Outline       The Capital Structure Question The Effect of Financial Leverage Capital Structure and the Cost of Equity Capital M&M Propositions I and II with Corporate Taxes Bankruptcy Costs Optimal Capital Structure 1 Capital Restructuring  We are going to look at how changes in capital structure affect the value of the firm, all else equal  Capital restructuring involves changing the amount of leverage a firm has without changing the firm’s assets  The firm can increase leverage by issuing debt and repurchasing outstanding shares  The firm can decrease leverage by issuing new shares and retiring outstanding debt 2 Choosing a Capital Structure  What is the primary goal of financial managers?  Maximize stockholder wealth We want to choose the capital structure that will maximize stockholder wealth  We can maximize stockholder wealth by maximizing the value of the firm or minimizing the WACC  3      How does leverage affect the EPS and ROE of a firm? When we increase the amount of debt financing, we increase the fixed interest expense If we have a really good year, then we pay our fixed cost and we have more left over for our stockholders If we have a really bad year, we still have to pay our fixed costs and we have less left over for our stockholders Leverage amplifies the variation in both EPS and ROE 4 The Effect of Leverage Example:...

Words: 3441 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

Advanced Managerial Finance

...Question: 1. Locate the annual balance sheets for General Motors (GM), Merk (MRK), and Kellogg (K). For each company calculate the long term debt-equity ratio for the prior two years. Why would these companies use such different capitals structures? 2. Look up a company and download the annual income statements. For the most recent year, calculate the average tax rate and EBIT, and find the total interest expense. From the annual balance sheets calculate the total long-term debts (including the portion due within one year). Using the interest expense and total long term debts, calculate the average cost of debt. Next, find the estimated beta for the company on the S&P Stock Report. Use this reported beta, a current T-bill rate, and the historical average market risk premium found in a previous chapter to calculate the levered cost of equity. Now calculate the unleveraged cost of equity, then the unlevered EBIT. What is the unlevered value of the company? What is the value of the interest tax shield and the value of the levered company. Answer: |Company name/Year |Debt-equity ratio 2010 |Debt-equity ratio 2011 | |General Motors (GM) |0.28 |0.31 | |Merck (MRK) |0.28 |0.28 ...

Words: 2212 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Finance

...Executive Summary In valuing the target company Congoleum after an LBO by First Boston found the expected free cash flows generated by this firm from 1980 to 1984. These numbers were based on values provided in the case. From there, we employed the Adjusted Present Value method to discount these cash flows because we assumed that Congoleum was varying its Debt to Equity ratio during those years. We discounted these cash flows by the required return on assets that was in turn calculated through use of the Modigliani-Miller unlevering formula (to derive the Asset Beta) and the Capital Asset Pricing Model. The required return on Congoleum debt was calculated by the expected return of the average CCC-company’s debt and the expected return of debt under default. Then, the present value of financial side effects was taken into account by discounting the interest tax shield by the required return on debt. Finally, we calculated the terminal value of cash flows by assuming a constant 4.14% growth rate in perpetuity and a constant D/E ratio for the years after 1984. Thus, these cash flows were initially discounted under WACC-ME. From there, we factored in prior debt and cash that Congoleum had generated to calculate the total equity value of the firm after the LBO had taken place. Background Congoleum is a firm active in three product market segments: home furnishings, shipbuilding, automotive, and industrial distribution. In the summer of 1979, First Boston Corporation with the help...

Words: 286 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Buffett Case Solution

...BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY PURCHASES GEICO WARREN BUFFET Executive Summary Berkshire Hathaway has made a bid for the remaining portion of GEICO stock. This report reviews the offer initiated by Warren Buffett. The details of this report include: • Valuation of GEICO stock. The $70 offer made by Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway includes a 26% premium over the current GEICO stock price of $55.75. This report attempts to determine a range of appropriate stock prices for GEICO. Using the Gordon dividend discount model, along with historical dividend information and projections by Value Line, we estimate the value of GEICO stock in the range of $58 to $80. A review of historical growth rates in GEICO dividends also lends credibility to the investment’s future potential. • Review of Warren Buffett’s investment record. While our analysis lends credence to the bid price of $70 per share for GEICO, we also examine the historical record of Warren Buffett. Buffett’s investment success may add to shareholder’s comfort, as his track record is remarkable when compared to broader market results. • Buffett’s investment philosophy. A letter to shareholders gives us a unique look at Buffett’s considerations for investing. By reviewing his checklist, we attempt to gain insight as to why such a premium is included in the GEICO offer. • Other issues. Buffett’s position on GEICO’s board of directors may shed light on the amount of information Buffett had about the future prospects of GEICO. At first...

Words: 3090 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Adjusted Npv

...Adjusted present value Wadia Haddaji February 20, 2008 • Topics: 1. Adjusted present value. • Readings: 1. Brealey, Myers and Allen, section 20.4. 1 The Adjusted-Present-Value Rule • Recall that we can write the value of a levered firm as the value of an otherwise identical all-equity firm and the value of its financing decisions: V = VU +NPV(financing decisions). • It is then obvious to define the APV of a project as the sum of its NPV to an all-equity firm and the PV of the associated financing decisions: APV = NPV(unlevered project) + NPV(financing decisions) • Separating the APV of a project into its NPV to an all-equity firm and the value of the associated financing decisions should be generally useful for the financial manager. 2 A Comparison of WACC and APV • Features/advantages of WACC. 1. WACC accounts for tax shield benefit of interest in discount rate. 2. WACC is widely adopted by practitioners and is easy to use. 3. WACC is applicable when D/E remains essentially constant through project life. 4. WACC is most appropriate when the project is “typical” of the firms traditional businesses (i.e., same risk), or “scale enhancing”. • Features/advantages of APV. 1. APV accounts for tax shield benefit of interest in cash flows (not discount rate). 2. APV was introduced by academics and is slowly being adopted in practice. 3. 11% of firms always or almost always use it. • APV often requires/accomodates knowledge of a particular debt repayment schedule. • APV (as opposed...

Words: 2208 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Boeing777Casestudysolution

...The Boeing 777 Darden Case Study UVA-F-1017 Case Study Assignment Subject: Cost of capital − cost of equity and cost of debt; beta risk; estimation; capital structure. The task for students is to evaluate the 777 against a financial standard, the investors’ required rate of return. The general objective of this case is to exercise students’ skills in estimating corporate (divisional/project) costs of capital – cost of equity and WACC. Case Questions, Analysis, and Directions: Read and analyze the case, and prepare an “Executive Summary” of this case. Write it as if you were writing it to the members of Boeing’s Board of Directors, who may not know much about the project or finance. Your Executive Summary will include: (1) A brief description of the firm and the 777 project – in your own words (about two-three paragraphs). (2) Which equity beta(s) did you use? Why? (3) When you used the capital-asset-pricing-model (CAPM), what equity-market risk-premium and risk-free rate did you use? Why? (4) Are the betas of other (industry similar) firms important? Why? Can they be used and how? If yes, what adjustments are needed? (5) List and briefly discuss various sources of capital used by Boeing. Evaluate the costs of these individual capital components for Boeing 777 project : (i) What is the cost-of-equity (R0), assuming all-equity financing? (ii) What is the cost-of-equity, considering the Boeing’s target leverage ratio? (iii) What is the cost-of-debt? (iv) What is the appropriate...

Words: 697 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Cap Rate Principles

...NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION Capitalization Rate Study Principles of Development Calendar Year 2012 For the 2014-2015 Secured & 2013-2014 Unsecured Tax Year Valuation In the Department’s capitalization rate study, four capitalization criteria are considered: 1.) 2.) 3.) 4.) The estimate of the equity cost of capital must comport with common sense. The company’s equity risk premium should be reasonably stable over short periods of time. The estimate of the cost of equity should apply for the long term. The estimation procedure must be sufficiently straightforward so that it can be easily understood, applied, and even adjusted by educated practitioners. “The duration of the cost of equity should approximately match the duration of the dividend stream.” “Estimating the Cost of Equity Capital” (Bradford Cornell, John I. Hirshleifer, and Elizabeth P. James, Contemporary Finance Digest, Vol. 1, Number 1, Autumn, 1997). “With the respect to the oldest and most established model, the capital asset pricing model (CAPM), the academic consensus, to the extent that there is one, is that it does not work. Furthermore, there is no widely accepted alternative that does. (Cornell, p. 7) The Department’s capitalization rate model uses comparables, and: 1.) It provides development of “pure plays*”. 2.) It uses comparables to reduce measurement error, however, there is a trade-off between the reduced measurement error that averaging makes possible and the potent bias that it introduces. “There...

Words: 1116 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Power Lotto Jackpot

...Powerball Lotto Jackpot Lump Sum or Annuity. *Historical Lump Sum Lottery Winner’s post win catastrophes and financial mismanagement aside. A few of the main factors we need to consider are inflation, income tax and interest rate. Firstly, Using the Present Value Function we can calculate the compound interest of the lump sum ($334.1m) in relation to the total value of the annuity payout ($500m). Based on the PV Formula: PV = FV/(1+i)n 334.1 = 500/(1+i)29 500/334.1 = (1+i)29 29√1.49 = 1+i 1.0139 – 1 = i Interest Rate = 1.4% To meet the $500m Future Value of the annuity payout, Lucky Ducky would have to gain 1.4% compound interest on the lump sum settlement. If Lucky Ducky feels that he can beat a 1.4% interest rate with his own investments he will benefit from taking his chances with the lump sum. Eg. If Lucky Ducky feels he can get 3% interest rate on his lump sum that would equal a FV of over $787m. FV = PV x (1+i)n FV = 334.1 x (1+.03)29 FV = 334.1 x (1+.03)29 FV = 334.1 x 1.0329 FV = $787.32m Inflation, Income tax on the lump sum vs. the annuity as well as investing the annuity differently will have to be considered as well. But for the bases of advice based on financial responsibility I would suggest Lucky Ducky to take the lump sum. Of course this does not consider...

Words: 257 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Harmonic Hearing

...Harmonic Hearing Co. was founded in 1974 by former professor of Audiology, Otis Wren. Based in Plano, Texas, the company manufactured hearing aids, and, while smaller than many of the major players in the hearing aid industry, was successful and profitable throughout its history. This was indicative of the industry- the large, publicly traded companies, such as Great Nordic, Starkey, and Siemens, often reported gross margins around 60%, and net profit margins between 10-15% (Stevenson 2). Technology in hearing aids was ever evolving, however, forcing companies to invest heavily in R&D to take advantage of the most current technology. Never was this more important than within the last decade- with baby boomers reaching retirement, the “graying of America” was sure to lead to a sales boom across the hearing aid industry. With this strong history and expected growth in mind, Harriet Burns (CEO, 2011) and Richard Irvine (Chief Designer, 2011), were excited by Wren’s offer to sell the company to them. Wren proposed a selling price of 14 times the 2010 net income, or $25.2 million. Both Burns and Irvine agreed the price was fair, but they were faced with a situation- how to raise the capital needed to purchase Harmonic Hearing. Wren gave Burns three months to complete the transaction, creating a deadline of January 2011. To further complicate the situation, Harmonic was in the midst of developing a cutting-edge hearing aid that promised strong sales. To get the product to market...

Words: 1623 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Bonds

...BONDS AND SINKING FUNDS Amortization of Bond Premiums and Discounts *APPENDIX: The origin and calculation of bond premiums and discounts were discussed in Section 15.2. We will now look at the premiums and discounts from an accountant’s perspective. The point of view and the schedules developed here provide the basis for the accounting treatment of bond premiums, discounts, and interest payments. Amortization of a Bond’s Premium Bonds are priced at a premium when the coupon rate exceeds the yield to maturity required in the bond market. Suppose that a bond paying a 10% coupon rate is purchased three years before maturity to yield 8% compounded semiannually. The purchase price that provides this yield to maturity is $1052.42. The accounting view is that a period’s earned interest is the amount that gives the required rate of return on the bond investment. The interest payment after the first six months that would, by itself, provide the required rate of return (8% compounded semiannually) on the amount invested is 0.08 ϫ $1052.42 ϭ $42.10 2 The earned interest during the first six months from an accounting point of view is $42.10. The actual first coupon payment of $50 pays $50 Ϫ $42.10 ϭ $7.90 more than is necessary to provide the required rate of return for the first six months.7 The $7.90 is regarded as a refund of a portion of the original premium, leaving a net investment (called the bond’s book value) of $1052.42 Ϫ $7.90 ϭ $1044.52 This book...

Words: 1917 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Fin Earnings

...1 Why don’t my Abnormal Earnings and Abnormal ROE model answers come out to be the same? It is mechanically not possible to do everything right and still get two different answers because ROE, Net Income and Book value are different ways of looking at the same thing. Here are some common mistakes that causes a difference to creep in.  Take a look at the second formula in Appendix B for Chapter 7.  It is a formula for Market to Book value of equity. That is, in order to get the market value of equity, one needs to multiply the answer from the right-hand side of that formula by the current book value of equity.  The ROE in this model is calculated as: o ROE = this year’s net income/last year’s book value of equity.  This is different from the normal way of using numbers from the same year in the numerator and denominator of the formula.  The growth rate in equity is not the growth from the equity value previous year to this year, it is cumulative growth from year zero to the last year.  For every year t: o GBE at t = Book value of equity at year t-1/ Book value of equity at year zero  You have to add 1 to the present value of all abnormal ROE*GBE terms before multiplying the resulting answer by the current book value. To recap, in order to get the answer from the abnormal ROE model, you do this: Market value of equity = Book value of equity today * [1+ abnormal ROE1*GBE0/(1+r)1 + abnormal ROE2*GBE1/(1+r)2 + abnormal ROE3*GBE2/(1+r)3+…+ abnormal...

Words: 1087 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Corporate Finance Formulas

...FORMULAS Expected return of a stock portfolio - E[rp]: (3 stocks) E[rp] = X1 ( E(r1) + X2 ( E(r2) + X3 ( E(r3) Portfolio variance ((P)2 : (3 stocks) ((P)2 = X12 ( (12 + X1( X2((12 + X1( X3((13 + + X2( X1((21 + X22 ( (22 + X2( X3((23 + + X3( X1((31 + X3( X2((32 + X32 ( (32 where: X1 , X2 och X3 is respective stocks amount of the total value of the portfolio. (12 , (22 and (32 is respective stocks variance (12 = (21 is the covariance between stock 1 and stock 2 (13 = (31 is the covariance协方差 between stock 1 and stock 3 (23 = (32 is the covariance between stock 2 and stock 3 CAPM: E(rj) = rf + (j ( [E(rm) -rf] where: E(rj) is the expected return of stock j E(rm) is the expected return of the market portfolio rf is the risk-free interest rate (j is the beta-value of stock j (j = Cov (rj,rm)/var(rm) = (jm ( [pic] Stock j:s contribution to the risk of the portfolio (j = [pic] MODIGLIANI & MILLER M&M Prop I. Without corporate taxes: VL = VU M&M Prop II. Without corporate taxes: rS = rU + (rU - rB) ( [pic] M&M Prop I. With corporate taxes: VL = VU + TC (B M&M Prop II. With corporate taxes: rS = rU + (rU - rB) ( [pic] ((1-TC) rWACC = [pic]rB ((1-TC) + [pic]( rS VL = [pic] where: VU = Value of the all equity financed firm (Unlevered firm) VL = Value of the Levered firm B = Value of the debt (bond value) S = Value of the equity (Stock value) TC = Corporate tax...

Words: 481 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Valuation and the Appraisal Process of Real Estate

...Income Capitalization • Under income approach, the value of real estate is the present value of all future cash inflows • The market value of property equals net operating income (NOI) divided by an appropriate market capitalization rate (R), V = NOI/R • NOI (Net Operating Income) = potential gross income – vacancy and collection losses – operating expenses • R (Market capitalization rate) is the percentage rate by which the future income stream is divided to arrive at a single figure that represents present value. The concept of net operating income • NOI is defined as the balance of cash remaining after deducting the operating expenses of a property from the gross income generated by the property. In determination of NOI, debt service on any existing or projected mortgages is ignored. Historic accounting depreciation deductions are ignored. • Gross Rental receipts reflects the appraiser’s estimate of what rental income would be if the property were 100% occupied for 12-month period. In deriving GRR, the appraiser relies on three major sources: (1) records of the subject property (2) comparables, and (3) trends in the market place. • After getting GRR, analyst must ascertain any additional income earned from sources other than rent. Examples are (1) automatic washers and dryers in the laundry room, (2) vending machines, (3) parking fees, (4) swimming pools, and (5) other amenity fees. GRR + other income represent potential gross income • Effective gross income...

Words: 715 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Restaurant Industry

...case restaurant industry Name robin kiley 1. Price-to-book multiples are a function of future abnormal ROEs, book value growth and the organisation’s cost of equity Future abnormal ROE: ROE less the cost of equity capital (ROE – re). Organisations with positive abnormal ROE are able to invest their net assets to create value for shareholders and have price-to-book ratios greater than one. Organisations’ long-term ROEs are affected by such factors as barriers to entry in their industries, change in production or delivery technologies, and quality of management. These factors tend to force abnormal ROEs to decay over time. Beginning book value growth: the magnitude of an organisation’s price-to-book multiple also depends on the amount of growth in book value. Organisations can grow their equity base by issuing new equity or by reinvesting profits. If this new equity is invested in positive value projects for shareholders – that is, projects with ROEs that exceed the cost of capital – the organisation will boost its price-to-book multiple. Of course, for organisations with ROEs that are less than the cost of capital, equity growth further lowers the multiple. Price-to-earnings multiples The driver of both current and future P/E ratios is the sum of the change in abnormal earnings, scaled by the current period’s net income. As change can be positive or negative, only the direction and magnitude of the expected change matters. Change in abnormal earnings ∆RE2 = E2 –...

Words: 563 - Pages: 3