Rangarajan K. Sundaram

Bio: Rangarajan K. Sundaram is an academic researcher from New York University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Incentive & Debt. The author has an hindex of 33, co-authored 99 publications receiving 5406 citations. Previous affiliations of Rangarajan K. Sundaram include University of Rochester.

A First Course in Optimization Theory

Abstract: This book, first published in 1996, introduces students to optimization theory and its use in economics and allied disciplines. The first of its three parts examines the existence of solutions to optimization problems in Rn, and how these solutions may be identified. The second part explores how solutions to optimization problems change with changes in the underlying parameters, and the last part provides an extensive description of the fundamental principles of finite- and infinite-horizon dynamic programming. Each chapter contains a number of detailed examples explaining both the theory and its applications for first-year master's and graduate students. 'Cookbook' procedures are accompanied by a discussion of when such methods are guaranteed to be successful, and, equally importantly, when they could fail. Each result in the main body of the text is also accompanied by a complete proof. A preliminary chapter and three appendices are designed to keep the book mathematically self-contained.

Pay Me Later: Inside Debt and its Role in Managerial Compensation

Abstract: Though widely used in executive compensation, inside debt has been almost entirely overlooked by prior work. We initiate this research by studying CEO pension arrangements in 237 large capitalization firms. Among our findings are that CEO compensation exhibits a balance between debt and equity incentives; the balance shifts systematically away from equity and toward debt as CEOs grow older; annual increases in pension entitlements represent about 10% of overall CEO compensation, and about 13% for CEOs aged 61 to 65; CEOs with high debt incentives manage their firms conservatively; and pension compensation influences patterns of CEO turnover and cash compensation.

Pay Me Later: Inside Debt and Its Role in Managerial Compensation

Abstract: Though widely used in executive compensation, inside debt has been almost entirely overlooked by prior work. We initiate this research by studying CEO pension arrangements in 237 large capitalization firms. Among our findings are that CEO compensation exhibits a balance between debt and equity incentives; the balance shifts systematically away from equity and toward debt as CEOs grow older; annual increases in pension entitlements represent about 10% of overall CEO compensation, and about 13% for CEOs aged 61–65; CEOs with high debt incentives manage their firms conservatively; and pension compensation influences patterns of CEO turnover and cash compensation.

Of Smiles and Smirks: A Term-Structure Perspective

Abstract: Empirical anamolies in the Black-Scholes model have been widely documented in the Finance literature. Pattern in these anamolies (for instance, the behavior of the volatility smile or of unconditional returns at different maturities) have also been widely documented. Theoretical efforts in the literature at addressing these anamolies have largely centered around extensions of the basic Black-Scholes model. Two approaches have become especially popular in this context ' introducing jumps into the return process, and allowing volatility to be stochastic. This paper employs commonly used versions of these two classes of models to examine the extent to which the models are theoretically capable of resolving the observed anamolies. We focus especially on the possible 'term-structures' of skewness, kurtosis, and the implied volatility smile that can rise under each model. Our central finding is that each model exhibits moment patterns and implied volatility smiles that are consistent with some of the observed anamolies, but not with others. In sum, neither class of models constitutes and adequate explanation of the empirical evidence, although the stochastic volatility models fair better than jumps in this regard.

Of Smiles and Smirks: A Term Structure Perspective

Abstract: An extensive empirical literature in finance has documented not only the presence of anomalies in the Black-Scholes model, but also the term structures of these anomalies (for instance, the behavior of the volatility smile or of unconditional returns at different maturities). Theoretical efforts in the literature at addressing these anomalies have largely focused on two extensions of the Black-Scholes model: introducing jumps into the return process, and allowing volatility to be stochastic. We employ commonly used versions of these two classes of models to examine the extent to which the models are theoretically capable of resolving the observed anomalies. We find that each model exhibits some term structure patterns that are fundamentally inconsistent with those observed in the data. As a consequence, neither class of models constitutes an adequate explanation of the empirical evidence, although stochastic volatility models fare somewhat better than jumps.

Numerical Optimization

Abstract: Numerical Optimization presents a comprehensive and up-to-date description of the most effective methods in continuous optimization. It responds to the growing interest in optimization in engineering, science, and business by focusing on the methods that are best suited to practical problems. For this new edition the book has been thoroughly updated throughout. There are new chapters on nonlinear interior methods and derivative-free methods for optimization, both of which are used widely in practice and the focus of much current research. Because of the emphasis on practical methods, as well as the extensive illustrations and exercises, the book is accessible to a wide audience. It can be used as a graduate text in engineering, operations research, mathematics, computer science, and business. It also serves as a handbook for researchers and practitioners in the field. The authors have strived to produce a text that is pleasant to read, informative, and rigorous - one that reveals both the beautiful nature of the discipline and its practical side.

Convergence of Probability Measures

Abstract: Convergence of Probability Measures. By P. Billingsley. Chichester, Sussex, Wiley, 1968. xii, 253 p. 9 1/4“. 117s.

The Complexity of Cooperation: Agent-Based Models of Competition and Collaboration

Abstract: A collection of seven essays that serves as an introductory text on complexity theory and computer modelling in the social sciences, and as an overview of the current state of the art in this field. The articles move beyond the basic paradigm of the "Prisoner's Dilemma" to study a rich set of issues, including how to cope with errors in perception or implementation, how norms emerge, and how political actors and regions of shared culture can develop. They use the shared methodology of agent-based modelling, a technique that specifies the rules of interaction between individuals and uses computer simulation to discover emergent properties of the social system.

The Cash Flow Sensitivity of Cash

Abstract: We model a firm’s demand for liquidity to develop a new test of the effect of financial constraints on corporate policies. The effect of financial constraints is captured by the firm’s propensity to save cash out of cash flows (the cash flow sensitivity of cash). We hypothesize that constrained firms should have a positive cash flow sensitivity of cash, while unconstrained firms’ cash savings should not be systematically related to cash flows. We empirically estimate the cash flow sensitivity of cash using a large sample of manufacturing firms over the 1971 to 2000 period and find robust support for our theory. TWO IMPORTANT AREAS OF RESEARCH in corporate finance are the effects of financial constraints on firm behavior and the manner in which firms perform financial management. These two issues, although often studied separately, are fundamentally linked. As originally proposed by Keynes (1936), a major advantage of a liquid balance sheet is that it allows firms to undertake valuable projects when they arise. However, Keynes also argued that the importance of balance sheet liquidity is influenced by the extent to which firms have access to external capital markets (p. 196). If a firm has unrestricted access to external capital— that is, if a firm is financially unconstrained—there is no need to safeguard against future investment needs and corporate liquidity becomes irrelevant. In contrast, when the firm faces financing frictions, liquidity management may become a key issue for corporate policy. Despite the link between financial constraints and corporate liquidity demand, the literature that examines the effects of financial constraints on firm behavior has traditionally focused on corporate investment demand. 1 In an influential paper, Fazzari, Hubbard, and Petersen (1988) propose that when firms face financing constraints, investment spending will vary with the availability of internal funds, rather than just with the availability of positive net present