Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.

Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.

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Description
This thesis details our experience assisting BASE Equity Partners, a private equity firm based in New York City, on three prospective agricultural dealership deals over the course of this past academic year. The firm is currently structured as a Fundless Sponsor. This distinct structural trait is common for a type

This thesis details our experience assisting BASE Equity Partners, a private equity firm based in New York City, on three prospective agricultural dealership deals over the course of this past academic year. The firm is currently structured as a Fundless Sponsor. This distinct structural trait is common for a type of private equity firm known among practitioners as pledge funds. This creates an interesting element for our experience as there is very limited academic research on these types of firms, which, since the Great Recession, have become popular players in middle-market private equity deals. We, first, provide some historical context on pledge funds and identify their primary differences with traditional private equity. The remainder of the paper documents our experience working on the agricultural dealership deals. We have organized this portion after the manner in which we received assignments. We go into detail on the specific projects with which we were tasked, our interactions with the partners and the major takeaways we had from this learning experience. This thesis paper will enrich the academic knowledge regarding pledge funds—and private equity generally—by documenting a real experience of what it is like performing analyst-level tasks at a real firm. Additionally, we were privy to information that is highly confidential, and though we have protected the confidentiality of the companies through pseudonyms and redaction of confidential material, all of the financial data shown, models provided and qualitative discussion is real.
ContributorsTang, Ivan (Co-author) / Johnson, Bradley (Co-author) / Panosian, Tro (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Bonadurer, Werner (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2015-05
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DescriptionThis paper takes a comprehensive approach to evaluate Arizona’s conformity process after the passage of TCJA in December 2017.
ContributorsBowman, Anika (Author) / Frost, Donald (Thesis director) / Dallmus, John (Committee member) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
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Description
The Value-Added Tax (VAT) is a broad based consumption tax on goods and services. Similar to a Retail Sales Tax, the VAT has the final burden of the tax fall on the end consumer. However, the tax is collected throughout stages of production, which means the government collects it sooner

The Value-Added Tax (VAT) is a broad based consumption tax on goods and services. Similar to a Retail Sales Tax, the VAT has the final burden of the tax fall on the end consumer. However, the tax is collected throughout stages of production, which means the government collects it sooner and the retailer is not the only company remitting tax to the government. As of this writing, the VAT is used in over 150 countries around the world. The United States is the only developed nation that does not have a federal VAT. While there are several plans for VAT implementation in the U.S., one of the more promising is the Competitive Tax Plan by Michael Graetz. In it, Graetz suggests a 10 to 14 percent VAT in order to pay for reduction in corporate income tax and an increase of the individual tax filing thresholds to $50,000 for single taxpayers and $100,000 for married taxpayers. As the nation goes further into debt, it is important that the United States looks for alternative sources of revenue. A VAT could prove to be the best option, as it is a proven solution used by many other nations.
ContributorsBlodgett, Laura Ann (Author) / Frost, Donald (Thesis director) / Dallmus, John (Committee member) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05