Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Auditor’s Downward Switch, Governance, and Accounting Conservatism

This study demonstrates that the firms that switch from Big N auditors to non-Big N auditors use less accounting conservatism in the post-switch year relative to the year before switch. Our analyses further show that the decline in conservatism is mainly evident for the firms that switch to smaller non-Big N auditors, but not when the firms switch from Big N to second-tier national auditors, such as BDO Seidman and Grant Thornton (BDO/GT). In addition, we find that the firms experiencing switches from Big N to smaller non-Big N firms exhibit less accounting conservatism in the post-switch year when they have relatively weaker corporate governance. We also observe that both auditor resignation and auditor dismissal events lead to a significant decline in post-switch conservatism, especially among the firms with weaker governance mechanisms that experience switch to smaller non-Big N auditors. Furthermore, the smaller and younger firms with weaker governance adopt less conservatism in the post-switch period relative to the pre-switch period. Our findings complement prior research in this area and have policy implications that the quality of audits provided by smaller auditors may continue to remain a matter of concern in the post–Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) and post–Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) periods, especially when the firms have weaker governance.
The Organization of Hypocrisy: Talk, Decisions and Actions in Organizations

Part 1 Organizations and inconsistent norms: institutional environments inconsistent environments. Part 2 The political organization principle: the ideal type of action organization the ideal type of political organization organizations in the real world - politics and action politics in organizational processes. Part 3 Politics in practice: attempts at action produce politics politics again inconsistencies in ideologies and roles the dominance of politics. Part 4 Decisions as transition between politics and action: the case of Greaton decision-makers as defensive scrutineers opinion-making implementation decision-makers as bearers of responsibility. Part 5 Responsibility as an impediment to influence - the case of budgeting: budgeting budgeting under stagnation roles and actors in the budget process the allocation of responsibility control - supply and demand budgeting as an instrument for external financing. Part 6 The responsible organization: society as hierarchy implementation or legitimation an illustration Stanby - implementation or legitimation? the role of politics. Part 7 Projects and organizations: two projects strategies for meeting external demands - delegation, rationality and ideology. Part 8 Ideas, decisions and actions in organizations: ideas and actions alternative interpretations of organizational decision-making decision-making and the allocation of responsibility decisions as legitimation four roles of decisions. Part 9 The dynamics of hypocrisy: the paradoxes of presentation and result public organizations and the publicness of organizations implications for organizational stakeholders.
REIT excess dividend and information asymmetry: evidence with taxable income

Purpose – US real estate investment trusts (REITs) typically distribute more dividends than required by tax regulations. This paper aims to focus on discretionary dividends, and examines the impact of information asymmetry on this excess component of dividends.Design/methodology/approach – This paper considers a set of US REITs with reported taxable income figures over the 2000‐2007 period, and employs regression analysis to examine the influence of information asymmetry on the excess component of dividends. The explained variable is specified as excess dividends scaled by total assets. Excess dividends are dividends paid over the mandatory dividend payments calculated with taxable income, instead before‐tax net income. Following the REIT studies of Hardin and Hill and Han, this study employs Tobin Q as the proxy for asymmetric information.Findings – Contrary to Hardin and Hill's conclusion, but consistent with dividend signaling theory as well as agency cost explanations, the results indicate that REITs .
International Equity Valuation: The Relative Importance of Country and Industry Factors Versus Company‐Specific Financial Reporting Information

The relative importance of country- and industry-specified factors vis-a-vis company-specific financial-statement-based information in explaining equity valuation multiples in an international setting is examined. Both country-specific effects via previously identified variables and an indicator variable approach are analyzed. While company-specific factors are predominant in explaining cross-sectional differences in valuation, country and industry factors have sizable incremental explanatory power over them; the latter are not independent so their relative importance is influenced by how we adjust for this commonality. Using country-indicators provides larger incremental explanatory power than using country-specific factors suggesting that previously identified factors may be measured with sizeable error or omitted factors are important.
Dominant negative mutants of the Cdc2 kinase uncouple cell division from iterative plant development.

Because plant cells do not move and are surrounded by a rigid cell wall, cell division rates and patterns are believed to be directly responsible for generating new structures throughout development. To study the relationship between cell division and morphogenesis, transgenic tobacco and Arabidopsis plants were constructed expressing dominant mutations in a key regulator of the Arabidopsis cell cycle, the Cdc2a kinase. Plants constitutively overproducing the wild‐type Cdc2a or the mutant form predicted to accelerate the cell cycle did not exhibit a significantly altered development. In contrast, a mutation expected to arrest the cell cycle abolished cell division when expressed in Arabidopsis, whereas some tobacco plants constitutively producing this mutant protein were recovered. These plants had a reduced histone H1 kinase activity and contained considerably fewer cells. These cells were, however, much larger and underwent normal differentiation. Morphogenesis, histogenesis and developmental timing were unaffected. The results indicate that, in plants, the developmental controls defining shape can act independently from cell division rates.
Gibrat, Galton and Job Generation

The proportionate growth of a company decreases with increases in its initial size, in accordance with the Galton model of regression towards the mean. Gibrat's Law of proportionate effect does not hold within size classes or within industries. In job generation accounting, actual increases in employment are even more important than proportionate ones. In the UK small and medium sized companies had larger absolute and proportionate increases in employment than did large companies and were responsible for most of the increase in jobs 1989-93. In fact large companies tended to reduce the numbers they employed.
Comparison of Vertical Distributions of Prokaryotic Assemblages in the Anoxic Cariaco Basin and Black Sea by Use of Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization

ABSTRACT Individual prokaryotic cells from two major anoxic basins, the Cariaco Basin and the Black Sea, were enumerated throughout their water columns using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with the fluorochrome Cy3 or horseradish peroxidase-modified oligonucleotide probes. For both basins, significant differences in total prokaryotic abundance and phylogenetic composition were observed among oxic, anoxic, and transitional (redoxcline) waters. Epsilon-proteobacteria, Crenarchaeota, and Euryarchaeota were more prevalent in the redoxclines, where previous studies reported high rates of chemoautotrophic production relative to those in waters above and below the redoxclines. Relative abundances of Archaea in both systems varied between 1% and 28% of total prokaryotes, depending on depth. The prokaryotic community composition varied between the two anoxic basins, consistent with distinct geochemical and physical conditions. In the Black Sea, the relative contributions of group I Crenarchaeota (median, 5.5%) to prokaryotic communities were significantly higher (P < 0.001; n = 20) than those of group II Euryarchaeota (median, 2.9%). In contrast, their proportions were nearly equivalent in the Cariaco Basin. Beta-proteobacteria were unexpectedly common throughout the Cariaco Basin's water column, accounting for an average of 47% of 4′,6′-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI)-stained cells. This group was below the detection limit (<1%) in the Black Sea samples. Compositional differences between basins may reflect temporal variability in microbial populations and/or systematic differences in environmental conditions and the populations for which they select.
Leaving Private Practice: How Organizational Context, Time Pressures, and Structural Inflexibilities Shape Departures from Private Law Practice

Numerous studies document women’s overrepresentation among those leaving the profession of law. Although research has documented high turnover among women lawyers, particularly from private practice, only a handful of studies have explored the factors precipitating the decision to leave. The main causal factors identified to date include difficulties associated with combining family life and law practice and problems of discrimination and blocked career advancement. In this paper, we analyze data from a longitudinal study of nearly 1,600 Canadian lawyers, surveyed across a twenty-year period. Using survival models to estimate the timing of transitions out of private practice, we examine factors precipitating exits from private practice. We find that women are leaving private practice at higher rates than men. These departures appear to be largely the consequence of organizational structures and a practice culture that remain resistant to flexible schedules, time gaps between jobs, and parental and other leaves. Yet, the careers of contemporary lawyers appear to be characterized by more job changes, discontinuity, and movement between sectors of practice than is commonly assumed. Our paper moves discussion beyond the work-family debate and motherhood, to examine the broader issues of institutional constraints on careers of both men and women in law and policy initiatives to encourage retention of legal talent in private practice.
The Effect of Programmable Tactile Displays on Spatial Learning Skills in Children and Adolescents of Different Visual Disability

Vision loss has severe impacts on physical, social and emotional well-being. The education of blind children poses issues as many scholar disciplines (e.g., geometry, mathematics) are normally taught by heavily relying on vision. Touch-based assistive technologies are potential tools to provide graphical contents to blind users, improving learning possibilities and social inclusion. Raised-lines drawings are still the golden standard, but stimuli cannot be reconfigured or adapted and the blind person constantly requires assistance. Although much research concerns technological development, little work concerned the assessment of programmable tactile graphics, in educative and rehabilitative contexts. Here we designed, on programmable tactile displays, tests aimed at assessing spatial memory skills and shapes recognition abilities. Tests involved a group of blind and a group of low vision children and adolescents in a four-week longitudinal schedule. After establishing subject-specific difficulty levels, we observed a significant enhancement of performance across sessions and for both groups. Learning effects were comparable to raised paper control tests: however, our setup required minimal external assistance. Overall, our results demonstrate that programmable maps are an effective way to display graphical contents in educative/rehabilitative contexts. They can be at least as effective as traditional paper tests yet providing superior flexibility and versatility.
Establishing a ‘physician's spiritual well-being scale’ and testing its reliability and validity

The purpose of this study was to develop a Physician's Spiritual Well-Being Scale (PSpWBS). The significance of a physician's spiritual well-being was explored through in-depth interviews with and qualitative data collection from focus groups. Based on the results of qualitative analysis and related literature, the PSpWBS consisting of 25 questions was established. Reliability and validity tests were performed on 177 subjects. Four domains of the PSpWBS were devised: physician's characteristics; medical practice challenges; response to changes; and overall well-being. The explainable total variance was 65.65%. Cronbach α was 0.864 when the internal consistency of the whole scale was calculated. Factor analysis showed that the internal consistency Cronbach α value for each factor was between 0.625 and 0.794 and the split-half reliability was 0.865. The scale has satisfactory reliability and validity and could serve as the basis for assessment of the spiritual well-being of a physician.
Labour cost disclosures: have IFRSs made a difference?

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate changes in corporate disclosures of labour‐related costs in financial statements arising from a change in the accounting regime from generally accepted accounting principles (GAAPs) to international financial reporting standards (IFRSs) in Australia.Design/methodology/approach – An archival empirical approach is taken. Data are sampled for 160 listed companies in Australia over seven years covering Australian GAAPs (2003‐2005) and Australian IFRSs (2006‐2009) periods. To measure disclosures, a classification and count is made of line items for labour‐related costs found on the face of and in the notes to financial statements. These disclosures are analysed against firm‐specific characteristics and industry categories.Findings – Results reveal companies disclosing “total labour costs” rose from about 60‐85 per cent, and the discretionary disaggregation of “total labour costs” became more prevalent. Companies providing disaggregated information in the post‐IFRSs peri.
Intradaily behavior of listed and unlisted security basket indices in the emerging Greek stock market

This paper employs three months of observations sampled at 60‐second intervals to analyze the behavior of two basket indices from the emerging Athens Stock Exchange: the General Index of the Main (Listed) Securities Market and the Index of the Secondary (Unlisted) Securities Market. The empirical analysis employs robust regression using dummy variables to uncover a rich variety of time‐of‐day regularities in the first four moments of the distribution of returns, the tail behavior, and the dynamic and cross‐dynamic behavior of the two markets. Markets tend to behave differently during their opening and closing, while results are invariably sensitive to outliers. Overall, the results are comparable to those reported for developed equity markets. However, in contrast to other studies, we find no conclusive evidence of long‐memory in either the mean or variance process. ARMA models of seasonally differenced absolute returns were used as a simple but effective way of dealing with the strong regularity in volat.
Financial Centers and Portfolio Performance: Evidence from an Emerging Market

How does location of a firm’s headquarter effect its performance? This paper answers this question by using the data from India. This paper shows that portfolio of firms headquartered in Mumbai, the main financial center of the country, outperform portfolio of firms headquartered in other cities. Our results show that average returns, Sharp ratios, Farinelli and Tibiletti ratio, and CAPM alphas for portfolios comprising of firms headquartered in Mumbai are higher than their counterpart portfolios comprising of firms headquartered in other cities. We argue that firms headquartered in the financial center have better information environment than other firms. One of the channels via which improvement in information environment takes place is the clustering of firms in the financial center. We believe that, for any given level of resources, it is relatively cost effective for stock market participants to expend their resources on clustered firms to obtain value relevant information than on dispersed firms, thereby improving information environment of firms headquartered in the financial centers relative to other firms. Our arguments claim that better information environment of firms headquartered in the financial centers helps in maintaining investors’ confidence.
The Impacts of Attribute Level Framing and Changing Cost Levels on Choice Experiments Value Estimates

Choice Experiments (CE) are increasingly used to estimate the values of environmental goods and services. CE questionnaires represent the environmental good under valuation by varying levels of non-market attributes. Inclusion of a cost attribute enables the estimation of monetary values for changes in the non-market attributes presented. The ways in which the levels of the attributes are described in the survey - the ‘attribute frame’ - may affect respondents’ choices. Furthermore, varying levels of the cost attribute may impact CE value estimates. The challenge for CE practitioners is to identify the ‘appropriate’ attribute frames and cost levels. In this paper, the impacts of changing cost levels and the impacts of describing non-market attributes as absolute levels or in relative terms are assessed. These tests were performed using data from a CE on catchment management in Tasmania, Australia. Contrary to a priori expectations, including explicit information cues about relative attribute levels in the choice sets is found not to affect stated preferences. However, comparisons between different split samples provide evidence that respondents’ preferences are impacted by changing the range in cost attribute levels, with higher levels leading to significantly higher estimates of WTP for one of the three environmental attributes.
Patterns of Firm Survival in Estonia

This paper examines patterns of firm survival in Estonia using a discrete time estimation approach with a complementary log-log hazard function. A firm is defined as sound if it meets the minimum capital requirement set by the law and distressed otherwise. Firms in default not only fall short of the required capital, but also exit. Evidence confirms the findings from other countries that firms face a higher risk of being distressed or in default during their start-up period than in later stages. Manufacturing firms are more robust than trade and services companies. Most important, however, firm survival depends positively on sales mark-up, high and stable asset returns, low leverage, and a large asset base.
From boom to bust: the challenges of managing people in Thailand

This article critically analyses the theory and practice of human resource management (HRM) in Thailand. Thailand emerged against all expectations as the most impressive of the 'tiger economies' with unprecedented growth rates of 8 per cent and above in the 1980s and early 1990s. This paper examines the human resource challenges associated with the industrial expansion during the period of transition from the boom era to the subsequent economic downturn that saw the collapse of the economy in 1997. Based on in-depth interviews with managers across eleven major industrial sectors, observations of office and factory practice, this paper attempts to characterize the diversity of approaches available and how they reflect the social-cultural and economic realities in Thailand today. Three generic HR models are identified: traditional , transitional and progressive . We assess the key definitive features of these models, identify some major thematic differences, and examine the relative importance of these models in the commitment to develop a competent and innovative workforce. Finally, we identify some possible avenues for further research, and set out a number of managerial and policy implications.
Informal investors - A categorization, with policy implications

A number of studies concerning informal investors have been carried out over the last two decades. One main conclusion from previous research has been that the informal venture capital market is very heterogeneous, and that classifications for informal investors are needed in order to more accurately depict the informal venture capital market. In this paper we propose that the market could be divided in accordance with the informal investors' investment activity and competence. The study is based on a sample of 425 active informal investors, divided into four different categories: (1) Lotto investors; (2) Traders; (3) Analytical investors; and (4) Business angels. The empirical findings show that there are considerable differences between the four categories of informal investors; differences regarding the information sources used, the level of firm involvement, co-investing, investment horizons, and geographic preferences, to name some examples. As a consequence, each of the various informal investor types responds differently to private and public prospects or motivators. It is suggested, therefore, that the informal venture capital market could be more effectively analysed and depicted by using the proposed classifications and applying differing measures to each informal investor category.
Forecasting Nonlinear Functions of Returns Using LINEX Loss Functions

This paper applies LINEX loss functions to forecasting nonlinear functions of variance. We derive the optimal one-step-ahead LINEX forecast for various volatility models using data transformations such as ln(y2t) where yt is the return of the asset. Our results suggest that the LINEX loss function is particularly well-suited to many of these forecasting problems and can give better forecasts than conventional loss functions such as mean square error (MSE).
A framework for advanced social media exploitation in government for crowdsourcing

Purpose – This paper aims to develop and evaluate, in “real-life” pilot applications, a framework for advanced social media exploitation by government agencies in their policy-making processes to promote public participation and conduct crowdsourcing. Design/methodology/approach – This framework has been developed through cooperation with public sector employees experienced in public policy-making, using both qualitative and quantitative techniques: semi-structured focus group discussions, scenarios development and questionnaire surveys. The evaluation of the framework has been conducted through semi-structured focus group discussions with public sector employees involved in the pilot applications. Findings – A framework has been developed for advanced social media exploitation by government agencies, which is based on the automated posting of policy-related content to multiple social media, and then retrieval and processing of citizens’ interactions with it (e.g. views, likes, comments and retweets), usi.