Graduation Year
2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
D.B.A.
Degree Granting Department
Business Administration
Major Professor
T. Grandon Gill, Ph.D., D.B.A.
Co-Major Professor
Uday Murthy, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Alan Hevner, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Gert-Jan de Vreede, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Loran Jarrett, D.B.A.
Keywords
10-K, 10-Q, Fintech, Informing Science, Interest Rates
Abstract
This dissertation studied the channel of communication of 10-K and 10-Q financial reports and the effectiveness of relaying interest rate sentiment. 10-K financial reports relay information regarding a company’s financials on a yearly basis while 10-Q reports relay information on a quarterly basis. To study a newer industry of Fintech and how it may be affected by interest rates it was necessary to narrow Fintech to the United States and a coordinated public channel of communication using the 10-Q and 10-K financial reports. Fintech emerged as a relevant word and industry coming off the Great Recession of 2009. During the time (from 2010 – 2022), the United States had been in what is referred to as a low interest rate environment. This dissertation research addressed the following question: Do the confidence and tone of disclosures relating to interest rates by Fintech firms vary as a function of disclosure channel, specifically 10-K versus 10-Q reports? The study design allowed us to compare behavior in a highly regulated constrained channel versus a less regulated channel. The study discussed the implications of disclosures in 10-Q and 10-K reports for their informing value, which showed the benefits of sentiment and confidence from interest rate communication within the Fintech community. The study researched if sentiment or confidence analysis of interest rate comments produced useful insights beyond those resulting from superficial reading. The research showed results from the strength of the 10-Q versus the 10-K and whether sentiment or confidence was more relevant and resonant. The research is important as informing science has relatively little empirical research on how communication through channels is impacted by the context, for example, environment and participants.
Scholar Commons Citation
Farley, James J., "An Empirical Analysis of Sentiment and Confidence Regarding Interest Rates in Disclosures of Public Firms in the U.S. Fintech Sector" (2023). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/10037
