bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Thoughts on Management Accounting and Strategy
Authors: Bromwich Michael
Published: January 2008

I welcome the opportunity to write in the Millennium edition of the Pacific Accounting Review. The opportunity to write a non‐referred article is an added bonus. This allows me to write a more speculative and less technical piece than I normally seek (or am forced) to write. Additionally, my choice of title allows self‐quotation without all the usual embarrassment. The article first reviews the take up of strategic management accounting (SMA). It then discusses briefly an argument for extending the scope of SMA.
Future Disclosures
Authors: Brown Philip
Published: January 2008

In my short lifetime, just the last 60 years of the millennium now ending, Homo sapiens has harnessed atomic energy for peaceful and not so peaceful means, built computers that at first occupied whole buildings and then began shrinking them to miniscule proportions, landed on Earth's moon and soon after began scouring the depths of outer space for evidence of other life forms, and launched the human genome project, in a voyage of self‐discovery of a different kind. Knowledge is exploding in a chain reaction facilitated by new ways of organising and communicating information to others. Accounting inevitably will be bound up in this information revolution.
Management Accounting — Beyond 2000
Authors: Fong Chua Wai , Baxter Jane
Published: January 2008

In this essay we consider the future of management accounting in the new millennium. We draw on the themes of postindustrialism to highlight the major discontinuities emerging in management accounting work. In particular, these discontinuities are discussed in the context of the following themes: the recession of the real; the rise of rival voices; the cyber‐centred democracy; risk, trust and time‐space; and the erosion of the bi‐polar. We argue that management accounting will emerge as a paradoxical form of practice in the 21st century — management accounting work will continue, but it may not be undertaken by professionals bearing the management accounting brand; reports will be produced for managing, but these reports will have an increasingly diverse authorship; financial representation will remain central to the internal reporting process, but there will be a growing need to represent activities and outcomes that do not have a material referent; management accounting will enter the ‘business’ of building trust, whilst enabling new forms of risk to emerge in more complex organisational and inter‐organisational relationships. We conclude by arguing that postindustrialism creates significant opportunities for researchers in the 21st century.
Accounting Education in the New Millennium: The Internet Challenges
Authors: Debreceny Roger , Lymer Andy , Stevenson Smith G. , White Clinton
Published: January 2008

The methodologies and the mode of delivery for accounting courses are undergoing dynamic changes as Internet‐based teaching techniques continue to expand into higher education. Private, for‐profit organisations are developing accredited courses and degrees that can be completed at any location, at any time and that compete directly with university programmes of study. The Internet has provided these organisations with an easier entry into the educational market because the infrastuccture of a large campus, required for a resident population, is no longer necessary. It has been found that educational institutions with a tradition of providing accounting education courses and degrees to a resident student population have been slow to adopt new Internet teaching methods. This essay examines several issues facing university programmes in accounting as these environmental changes and challenges continue to accelerate in the new millennium.
The Future of Financial Reporting: Removing It from the Shadows
Authors: Dyckman Thomas , Zeff Stephen
Published: January 2008

Future developments in financial reporting, we believe, will need to be in the form of expansions beyond the basic financial statements, as we now know them. Any meaningful reform of the income statement and balance sheet alone is made difficult, if not impossible, by the constraints imposed by contractual provisions, information production costs, the always‐sensitive relationship between the auditor and the client, and top‐management's desire for smoothed and controllable earnings figures.
Accounting Expertise as the Millennium Turns
Authors: Gibbins Michael
Published: January 2008

This essay focuses on accounting expertise and what is happening to it as the millennium turns, drawing some speculative conclusions about developments we might expect in the near future. The positions taken are drawn from my research and teaching experiences. As this is an essay, citations are not made in the text but a bibliography is appended. Those sources gave me ideas, but they are not responsible for where I have taken the ideas!
Issues Facing New Zealand Standard Setters Going Into the 21st Century
Authors: Hickey Liz , Westwood Mark
Published: January 2008

Achieving statutory backing of accounting standards was one significant issue for New Zealand standard setters going into the 1990s. Now, with statutory compliance status of accounting standards in full force since 1994, new and equally significant issues face us as we head into the new millennium.
Financial Reporting: The Case for a New Global Model
Authors: Moore Nicholas
Published: January 2008

Traditional financial reporting has long been the cornerstone of investor confidence. Until now, it has served us well in global capital markets. Yet recent dramatic changes in technology and in the global environment are giving rise to the preeminence of knowledge as both a business cost and asset, thereby, redefining the game, and calling on us to develop a new reporting model to reflect this change and to keep investor confidence strong.
Corporate Reporting and the Internet: Vision, Reality, and Intervening Obstacles
Authors: Richardson Vernon , Scholz Susan
Published: January 2008

The rapid evolution of Internet technology has created the ability to disseminate new information nearly instantaneously to a world‐wide audience. Many business and finance organisations have already applied this capability. Examples are real‐time stock quotes, on‐line news wires and e‐commerce.
Desperately Seeking Synergy: Interdisciplinary Research in Accounting and Business History
Authors: Ville Simon , Fleming Grant
Published: January 2008

In a recent report into new research directions in management accounting a geographically and philosophically diverse group of eight scholars argued for a convergence of different and complementary approaches to the subject. They concluded that, “[n]ew directions and advances in management accounting research depend on researchers actively seeking synergy among different research methods and disciplines” (Atkinson et al. 1997, p. 98). The authors argued specifically that management accounting research can benefit from integration with advances in economic, organisational, and social theory. In another recent assessment, Foster and Young (1996, p. 75) have called for “management accounting academics to gain broader and deeper institutional knowledge [and]…a longer term perspective”. In this essay we particularise these general calls by arguing that powerful synergies exist between the study of accounting and business history in Australasia. Historical evidence can be usefully employed to further our understanding of how management accounting systems (hereafter MAS) develop in our leading contemporary corporations.
A Japanese Way for 2000 Beyond the Bubble Crash
Authors: Yamazaki is Shozo
Published: January 2008

During the bubble economy and its resulting collapse in the 1990s, the Japanese accounting and auditing system was under scrutiny and was accused of having a lack of confidence. There were several critical comments such as “Japan confused financial reporting goals with national fiscal policy and the Ministry of Finance and central bank seemed ready to measure only what was politically managed” and “the reputations of the big international firms enjoyed some protection from audit liability thanks to a Japanese corporate culture that imposed strong non‐contractual bonds of loyalty and integrity”. The problems existed not only in accounting and auditing but also in many other areas of the economy. As a result, in the late 1990s the Japanese economy has started to struggle to adapt to the so‐called “global standard”. Former Prime Minister Hashimoto announced in 1996 that Japan would implement a big bang approach to its financial industry until 2000. These efforts are made not to cope with the long depression but to reshape the Japanese economy to enable survival in the global economic arena in the next century. In public accountancy, many measures have been implemented to reshape the whole system.
The Relation Between Annual Report Disclosures, Analysts' Earnings Forecasts and Analyst Following: Evidence From Singapore
Authors: Li Eng Li , Kiat Teo Hong
Published: January 2008

This study examines the impact of annual report disclosures on analysis' forecasts for a sample of firms listed on the Stock Exchange of Singapore (SES). We examine the relation between the level of corporate disclosure and accuracy of analysts' earnings forecasts, dispersion in analysts' earnings forecasts, and the size of analyst following. The results reveal that the level of annual report disclosures is positively related to the accuracy of earnings forecasts by analysts, provided there is no big earnings surprise, and is also positively related to analyst following. We also find that the level of corporate disclosure is negatively related to dispersion in analysts' earnings forecasts provided there is no big earnings surprise. Tints, this study shows that more corporate disclosures by Singapore firms lead to more accuracy and less dispersion in the earnings forecasts among analysts. Furthermore, greater corporate disclosure can also lead to greater analyst interest in the firm.
Environmental Accounting in the New Zealand Contracting Industry: Comments on the Use of Mail Survey Method
Authors: Tung Samuel
Published: January 2008

Many accounting researchers use direct mail survey questionnaires as a means of data collection. There are many advantages in using mail surveys. For example, surveys are a cost‐effective and efficient means of collecting research data and they provide a means of obtaining data from a geographically diverse population. However, there are several potential problems associated with the use of questionnaires in general and mail survey questionnaires in particular. These include sampling bias, low response rates, response bias, and poor questionnaire design. Numerous suggestions and procedures have been proposed in the literature to reduce the impact of these factors — unfortunately, most of these suggestions have gone unheeded. A study recently published in this journal (Guilding and Kirman, 1998) is critiqued in order to point out the potential limitations associated with using survey questionnaires, and to indicate what researchers can do to mitigate the effects of these problems.
A Test of a Two‐Factor ‘Market and Oil’ Pricing Model
Authors: Faff Robert , BRAILSFORD TIMOTHY J.
Published: January 2008

In this paper we employ a GMM‐based approach to test the restrictions imposed by a two‐factor ‘market and oil’ pricing model when a risk‐free asset is assumed to exist. We examine the Australian market which has several interesting features including self‐sufficiency in relation to oil, a large concentration of natural resource companies, susceptibility to the ‘Dutch disease’ and a diverse industry base. We extend previous literature by examining industry sector equity returns as different industry groups are likely to have different exposures to an oil factor, particularly in Australia. In the formal tests, we find evidence in favour of the model, particularly for industrial sector industries. The preferred model includes a domestic portfolio proxy for market returns in addition to the oil price factor and we find evidence of a positive market risk premium as well as a significantly priced oil factor.
Accounting Variables and Stock Returns: The Impact of Leverage
Authors: Hodgson Allan , Stevenson‐Clarke Peta
Published: January 2008

The fundamental relationship between accounting variables and firm valuation is a recurring theme in capital market research. This paper investigates this relationship within a balance sheet context and highlights the importance of controlling for relevant economic factors. We do this by conditioning explanatory power on the firm's relative financial leverage position, after controlling for cashflows and firm size, and using an arctan regression model to take account of temporary components in cash and earnings flows. Using data for 743 firm‐years for Australian Stock Exchange listed stocks, we find that for firms which are ‘above optimal leverage’: (i) earnings contain a greater level of transitory items, particularly when firm size is small; and (ii) cashflows provide higher incremental information. Our results are consistent with investors perceiving earnings as progressively less informative as the probability of failure increases, and the likelihood of earnings manipulation for the purpose of reducing proximity to debt covenants increases.
Developing the Socio‐Political Skills of Accounting Students: A Mixed Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning Strategy
Authors: Tinker is at Tony , Feknous Barbara
Published: January 2008

The litmus test of asynchronous learning lies not in supporting small groups of elite groups, who are well endowed with computer and communications resources, but in providing for oversized classes, whose students are stretched by competing demands of work, family, and academic life, and who have — at best — modest experience and access to computer technology. This case study shows that a hybrid design — of synchronous and asynchronous methods — improves the quality of learning among large classes of undergraduate accounting students. Far from auguring the end of “education‐as‐we‐know‐it” (where a face‐to‐face community is replaced by a server‐in‐a‐box) this mixed strategy provides a useful tool in augmenting traditional learning methods.
The Interactive Effects of Emphasis on Tight Budget Targets and Cost Control on Budgetary Performance
Authors: Lau Chong M.
Published: January 2008

Prior research suggests that goal setting with an emphasis on accurate and tight budget targets may influence the extent of subordinates' performance. This study, however, argues that such goal setting alone is not sufficient. The implementation of other accounting controls is needed before improved performance is possible. Specifically, this study investigates: (i) if budgetary performance is increased only when an emphasis on accurate and tight budget targets is complemented with a high extent of cost control; and (ii) if these effects are found only for the production function, but not for the marketing function. The results, based on a sample of 104 senior Australian managers, support a significant two‐way interaction between an emphasis on tight budget targets and cost control affecting budgetary performance. Budgetary performance is high only when both emphasis on tight budget targets and cost control are high. These results are applicable to both the production and marketing functions.
Costing Counting and Comparability: Aspects of Performance Measurement in a Pathology Laboratory
Authors: France Necia , Francis Graham , LAWRENCE STEWART , Sacks Sydney
Published: January 2008

The motivation for this paper is to better understand the strengths and limitations of quantitative performance measures in a changing environment. The context is one of organisational change and innovative management. Using a case study approach, the paper presents a history of organisational change and focuses on attempts to drive and assess efficiency through performance measures in a public hospital‐based pathology laboratory. The various financial and non‐financial performance measures used in the laboratory are presented. A discrepancy between accounting reports and laboratory management analyses of costs is reported. The notorious difficulties of costing health services are examined through the dispute that arose about whether the mean cost‐per‐test was increasing or decreasing over a three‐year period. Competing representations of performance are analysed. Whilst the case study looks at a New Zealand example, many of the pressures facing pathology services are typical of medical laboratories worldwide. General issues of performance measurement are discussed.
Unspecified Operating Expense Disclosure Requirements in New Zealand. Has FRS 9 Made a Difference?
Authors: Lont David
Published: January 2008

This paper examines the effect that the introduction of the FRS 9, the general disclosure standard in New Zealand, has on the level of disclosure of certain unspecified operating expenses. Generally, a low level of operating expense disclosure was found with no overall improvement recorded after the introduction of FRS 9. In many cases, companies did not disclose any unspecified operating expenses. Firm size and overseas listing/ownership appeared to be positively associated with the disclosure of unspecified operating expenses. Most companies did disclose the mandatory expenses monitored (depreciation, audit and directors' fees). Commentary is provided on the inadequacy of the discretionary aspects of accounting standards such as FRS 9, and the inadequacy of regulatory enforcement. Given the move to international harmonisation, and the level of disclosure seemingly at odds with international practice, the adoption and enforcement of International Accounting Standard 1 (IAS 1) would provide a simple solution.
The Adoption and Use of the Balanced Scorecard in New Zealand: A Survey of the Top 40 Companies
Authors: BLUNDELL BENJAMIN , Sayers Hannah , Shanahan Yvonne
Published: January 2008

This paper presents the results of a survey of the use of the balanced scorecard in New Zealand companies. The top 40 companies on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZSE40) were chosen as the survey population. A 62.5% response rate was achieved. One hundred percent of respondents indicated that they have knowledge of the balanced scorecard. Sixty‐one percent and 65% of the respondents reported that they use a balanced scorecard at organisational and divisional level, respectively. The results indicate that financial performance measures continue to dominate non‐financial measures in terms of importance. In addition to further developing the literature on the balanced scorecard, the research provides opportunities to investigate balanced scorecard implementations in New Zealand in more depth.
HOW TO PRODUCE better SERVICE
Authors: Romeijn Arthur , Hardjono Teun
Published: January 2008

Services are of growing competitive importance but many people have difficulty with managing their provision. Adopting a production‐based perspective shows more clearly how the process can be modelled and managed. The key to long‐term success is using this approach to identify, understand and prioritize customer needs and expectations.
the chief executive's INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY challenge
Authors: Callahan Charles V. , Nemec jr. Joseph
Published: January 2008

Information technology has emerged as a key component of competitive advantage. In assessing how and where to invest senior executives must realize that the past few years have witnessed a fundamental change in what IT can do for a company that adds a revolutionary new factor to their decision‐taking.
SELECTION CRITERIA FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICE PROVIDERS
Authors: Jeanne Hill C. , Garner S.J. , Hanna Michael E.
Published: January 2008

This study examines the importance of nineteen selection criteria consumers might use in their choice of a professional service provider. Factor analysis reduced the variables to five factors—knowledge, comfort, time, social reputation, and accessibility. The results present strong implications for competitiveness of professional service providers, with knowledge and comfort items representing those most important to individuals.
Clinical Pathology Accreditation: a quality system for diagnostic pathology services
Authors: Lilleyman J.S. , Blair C.
Published: January 2008

Clinical Pathology Accreditation is a UK‐based scheme for the accreditation of pathology services. It was established 5 years ago and has now been adopted by over two thirds of UK laboratories. It offers a complete system for quality assurance and differs from standards such as EN 45001:1989 by focusing on the pre‐ and post‐analytical aspects of pathology, as well as the actual analysis. Tangible benefits for participants have included staffing and accommodation changes, together with a fresh focus for laboratory management and quality assurance activities. Problems with clinical pathology accreditation are inherently part of its reliance on peer review, but these are thought to be outweighed by the benefits. It seems that the scheme is capable of producing a real improvement in service.
Taking on the Welsh initiative: an innovative collaborative venture
Authors: Cervetto Susan , Savage Jeremy
Published: January 2008

In response to the Welsh Clinical Effectiveness Initiative, Carmarthen and District NHS Trust, UK, has established a series of innovative partnership agreements with six pharmaceutical companies to employ a pharmacist as a clinical effectiveness coordinator. This article describes the process by which this was achieved and outlines the progress made in taking evidence‐based medicine forward in a practical way.
GOLD AS AN INFLATION HEDGE?
Authors: GHOSH DIPAK , LEVIN ERIC J. , MACMILLAN PETER , WRIGHT ROBERT E.
Published: January 2008

This paper attempts to reconcile an apparent contradiction between short‐run and long‐run movements in the price of gold. The theoretical model suggests a set of conditions under which the price of gold rises over time at the general rate of inflation and hence be an effective hedge against inflation. The model also demonstrates that short‐run changes in the gold lease rate, the real interest rate, convenience yield, default risk, the covariance of gold returns with other assets and the dollar/world exchange rate can disturb this equilibrium relationship and generate short‐run price volatility. Using monthly gold price data (1976–1999), and cointegration regression techniques, an empirical analysis confirms the central hypotheses of the theoretical model.
DECOMPOSING TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY AND WINDOW ANALYSIS
Authors: AVKIRAN NECMI K
Published: January 2008

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) and window analysis are used to follow the changes in Australian trading banks' pure technical efficiency, scale efficiency, and the nature of returns to scale. The main findings indicate declining average efficiency scores until 1991, followed by a steady rise thereafter. Pure technical inefficiency emerges as a greater source of inefficiency than scale inefficiency. Overall, regional banks exhibit increasing returns to scale and major trading banks exhibit decreasing returns to scale. Also worthy of note is the mixed size of banks operating at optimal returns to scale.
Feltham — Ohlson Framework: The Implication of Corporate Tax
Authors: Zeng Tao
Published: January 2008

In this paper, I provide an empirical work in order to test the tax‐adjusted market valuation (residual income) model. Feltham‐Ohlson's (1995) residual income model can be extended by adding corporate tax: firm market value is a function of the bottom line after‐tax accounting data, e.g., book value and after‐tax earnings. Under this tax‐adjusted framework, certain issues are examined: the information from the firm's operating activities is not enough to measure the firm's market value; financial activities also affect firm market value. In particular, abnormal financial earnings are not equal to zero, due to the tax deduction on interest expenses. An empirical analysis, using the financial reporting data of Canadian firms for the years 1994–1999, demonstrates that the current book value of financial assets and operating assets, abnormal operating earnings, and abnormal financial earnings are all relevant to firm market value. The sensitivity tests, which define the corporate tax rates in different ways, do not change the results. The sensitivity test, which uses the financial analysts' forecasts, does not change the results, either. Furthermore, the empirical analysis shows that abnormal financial earnings enhance firm share price more when the firm has lower non‐tax costs, i.e., firm business risk (financial distress) and bankruptcy costs. It supports the previous research on capital structure to the extent that debt financing benefits a firm more when non‐tax costs are lower.
Modeling the Early Adoption Decision: The Case of SFAS 96
Authors: Gujarathi Mahendra R. , Hoskin Robert E.
Published: January 2008

This study investigates whether management's choices of adoption timing and transition method are associated with factors influencing their economic incentives in the case of early adoption of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 96 (SFAS 96), Accounting for Income Taxes. SFAS 96 provides an interesting setting for this model because firms needed to make a choice of not only whether to adopt the standard earlier than required, but also of the transition method (cumulative effect versus retroactive restatement). The results support the political cost hypothesis and the debt and compensation contract hypotheses for both the early adoption decision as well as the transition method choice decision. The results also indicate the superiority of the interactive effects models thus confirming the results of Ali and Kumar (1994).
Intra‐Industry Transfers of Earnings Related Information
Authors: Jin Jongdae
Published: January 2008

The purpose of this study is to examine the direction of intra‐industry information transfers assuming a monopolistic competition within the industry and profit maximizing behaviors of each firm. Accounting earnings are decomposed into expenses and revenues. Both expenses and revenues are again broken down to industry common factors and firm specific factors. And the effect of these four income components of a firm on profits and hence security returns of that firm as well as those of other firms in the same industry are addressed. The main conclusions are: the first, announcing firm's firm specific costs have a negative association with its own security returns but a positive association with silent‐competing firms' security returns. The second, announcing firm's firm specific revenues have a positive association with its own security returns but a negative association with silent‐competing firms' security returns. The third, industry common cost factors (e.g. industry average cost) have a negative association with security returns of announcing firm and silent‐competing firms. The fourth, industry common revenue factors (e.g. industry average revenue) have a positive association with security returns of announcing firm and silent‐competing firms.
The Information Content of Stock Prices and Earnings of Non‐U.S. Firms: A Simultaneous Equations Approach
Authors: Alam Pervaiz , Báez‐Díaz Anibal
Published: January 2008

This study uses a simultaneous equations approach to examine the price‐earnings relationship of non‐U.S. firms that directly list their securities in U.S. capital markets or trade as American Depository Receipts (ADRs). The Hausman test shows that price changes and earnings changes are endogenously determined, thus the simultaneous equations approach is used to estimate the earnings response coefficient (ERC) and the returns response coefficient (RRC). Under the ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation, the parameter estimates are biased downward because the OLS fails to correct for endogeneity. In general, our results show that the joint estimation procedure mitigates some of the single‐equation bias. The estimated ERC and the RRC are higher under the three stage least regression (3SLS) than under the OLS regression. In addition, the product of the ERC and the RRC coefficients approaches its theoretical value of one when using the 3SLS estimation. The evidence also shows that institutional factors affect the way the market value information for these firms. We find that the ERC and RRC are insignificant for the common law non‐ADR firms and significantly positive for common law ADR firms.
Long‐Term Effects Following Voluntary Move From American Stock Exchange to Nasdaq
Authors: Chan Kam C. , Wong Annie
Published: January 2008

This study examines the effects of exchange listing change on firms that voluntarily switched from American Stock Exchange to Nasdaq. Prior studies find increased bid‐ask spreads in the short‐term period for these firms after the listing changes. This study extends the literature by examining the long‐term effects of the listing change from American Stock Exchange to Nasdaq. The results suggest that there were no significant changes in bid‐ask spreads, number of trades, and percentage of shares traded from the immediate period after the listing change to the much later periods. This study also finds that there was no significant change in the number of shareholders after the switch. The findings suggest that there is no improvement in liquidity and investor recognition for the switching firms.
Italian Accounting Research in the First Half of the 20th Century
Authors: Galassi Giuseppe , Mattessich Richard
Published: January 2008

The paper offers a survey of major Italian accounting scholars and their work for the period from 1900 to 1950. Apart from the late works of Rossi and Besta, the main focus is on the contributions by Zappa, who undoubtedly dominated the scene. In this period, as well as later, most Italian accountants and “aziendalisti” adopted the so‐called “income system”. Although its premises originated with Fabio Besta, master of the so‐called “patrimonial or proprietorship system”, the Italian School under Zappa gave this system a new theoretical basis that differed fundamentally from that of Besta. Zappa also developed the dynamic aspect of accounting and business economics that still prevails in Italy. The paper also devotes attention to other Italian scholars, less well‐known abroad. In the area of cost accounting it concentrates on the views of De Minico and his disciple Amodeo, but also mentions other contributors. The final Section deals with Italian contributions to accounting history during this period
The Influence of the Political Party in Power on the Dow Jones Industrial Average: 1896–2001
Authors: Keef Stephen P. , Roush Melvin
Published: January 2008

Recent research has focused on the influence of the political party of the US President on stock indices. This current paper extends this area of research by including the influence of the political party that holds the majority in Congress into the research design. The results do not support the hypothesis that there is a statistically significant relationship between the political party of the president and the return on the stock index. However, the political party with the majority in Congress is significantly related to the return on the index. The returns during Republican controlled Congresses are higher than returns during Democrat controlled Congresses.
Accounting Publications and Research in Spain: First Half of the 20th Century
Authors: Carrasco Díaz Daniel , Hernández Esteve Esteban , Mattessich Richard
Published: January 2008

In this survey we present (after an Introduction) a guide to the major doctrinal trends of Spanish accounting of the period, classified in various categories: different views of the scientific nature of accounting, dominant theories, purposes of accounting, special areas, views on classification and on the recording of transactions, views on valuation and depreciation, cost accounting, inflationary issues, auditing, accounting terminology, historical concerns, and the practical orientation of publications. A separate section offers further details about prominent Spanish scholars; it is followed by the conclusion. The latter indicates that during the period under investigation, Spanish accountants contributed little to novel accounting thought, but strongly relied on French and Italian doctrines, though neglecting German ideas. Despite of this, Spanish accountants were aware of many theoretical and instrumental novelties of the day, and applied them without substantial delay to their own environment.
Stock Return Volatility and Market Crisis In Emerging Economies
Authors: Rashid Sabri Nidal
Published: January 2008

This paper explored the new features of emerging stock markets, in order to point out the most associated indicators of increasing stock return volatility, which may lead to instability of emerging markets. The study covers a sample of five geographical areas of emerging economies, including Mexico, Korea, South Africa, Turkey, and Malaysia. It used the backward multiple‐regression technique to examine the relationship between monthly changes of stock price indices as dependent variable and the associated predicting local as well as international variables, which represent possible causes of increasing price volatility and initiating crises in emerging stock markets. The study covered monthly data for a period of forty‐eight months from January 1997 to December 2000. The study revealed that stock trading volume and currency exchange rate respectively represent the highest positive correlation to the emerging stock price changes; thus represent the most predicting variables of increasing price volatility. International stock price index, deposit interest rate, and bond trading volume were moderate predicting variables for emerging stock price volatility. While changes in inflation rate showed the least positive correlation to stock price volatility, thus represents the least predicting variable.
Transaction Costs and Asset Valuation
Authors: Jang Bong‐Gyu , Keun Koo Hyeng , Jin Choi U
Published: January 2008

We suggest the method of evaluation of illiquid assets on the market in the presence of proportional transaction costs by using two consumption/investment models. We study an investor's implicit evaluation of an illiquid asset whose trading incurs a proportional transaction cost. We show that the investor assigns an implicit value between the bid and ask price and uses it for his investment and/or consumption decisions. We also show that the implicit value is an increasing function of the investor's liquidity ratio, which is a measure of liquidity of the investor's asset holdings.
Earnings Opacity, Stock Market Wealth Effect and Economic Growth
Authors: Riahi‐Belkaoui Ahmed
Published: January 2008

This paper examines how accounting quality, as measured by earnings opacity, affects the stock market wealth effect, which in turn is shown to be linked to economic growth. Stock market wealth effect is negatively affected by earnings opacity. The data also indicate that the exogenous component of the stock market wealth effect — the component defined by earnings opacity‐ is positively associated with economic growth. The direct effect of earnings opacity on economic growth is, as expected negative, but insignificant.
Impact of Perceived National Corruption on the Returns to US Multinationals in Transactions with Foreign Governments
Authors: Gleason Kimberly C. , Malgwi Charles A. , Mathur Ike , Owhoso Vincent
Published: January 2008

In this exploratory study, we investigate the influence and effects of foreign government corruption on the market value and accounting outcomes of US multinational corporations. We use hierarchical cluster analysis on Transparency International Corruption scores to identify high and low corruption in both developed and developing countries. We argue that corruption obscures the true value of assets, makes valuation difficult, and reduces the potential gains of an acquisition. We find that firms acquiring assets from governments in high corruption environments tend to be larger in size and more intangible asset‐oriented than those expanding into low corruption environments. We find that the market responds much more favorably to expansions into low corruption environments than high corruption environments for both acquisitions and joint ventures. We find little evidence that long run accounting performance is adversely affected by government‐multinational relationships in high corruption environments. However, long run market value outcomes are negative for all firms entering into relationships with foreign governments, and are especially negative for joint venture relationships in developing high corruption environments. Finally, we find that systematic risk increases substantially for firms entering high corruption environments through trust‐based modes of expansions.
Corporate Governance Factors and Auditor Going Concern Assessments
Authors: Parker Susan , Peters Gary F. , Turetsky Howard F.
Published: January 2008

When making going concern assessments, Statement on Auditing Standards No. 59 (Auditing Standards Board 1988) directs auditors to consider the nature of management's plans and ability to mitigate periods of financial distress successfully. Corporate governance factors reflect attributes of control, oversight, and/or support of management's plans and actions intended to overcome financial distress. Correspondingly, this study investigates the impact of certain corporate governance factors on the likelihood of a going concern modification. Using survival analysis techniques, we examine a sample of 161 financially distressed firms for the time period 1988–1996. We find that auditors are twice as likely to issue a going concern modification when the CEO is replaced. We also find that going concern modifications are inversely associated with blockholder ownership. We also confirm Carcello and Neal's (2000) findings with respect to the association between an independent audit committee and an increased likelihood of modification. In a repeated events setting, we find that insider ownership and board independence are inversely associated with repeated going concern modifications. Our study concludes by proposing implications for the current financial reporting environment (including the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002) and future research avenues.
PREFACE Modeling Time to Event: Applications of Survival Analysis in Accounting, Economics and Finance
Authors: LeClere Marc J.
Published: January 2008

This special issue of theReview of Finance and Accountingpresents six papers which use survival analysis as a research method to examine a wide range of research questions in accounting, economics, and finance. Although researchers have increased their use of survival analysis as a research method in recent years, its presence in the methods ‘toolbox’ of these disciplines is not comparable to the physical sciences or other social sciences. Whereas survival analysis is routinely used in biomedicine, sociology, and engineering to study questions related to patient survival, marriage, and equipment failure, the use of survival analysis in economic‐based disciplines is not comparable to other disciplines. This issue was assembled in order to highlight the use of survival analysis in economics‐based disciplines with the express purpose of encouraging its use as a research method to examine a wider range of research issues. The papers assembled in this issue are written by authors who have previously demonstrated an interest in survival analysis.
The Effects of Experience, Ownership, and Knowledge on IPO Survival: Empirical Evidence from Germany
Authors: Audretsch David B. , Lehmann Erik E.
Published: January 2008

We study the implications of ownership and its induced incentives on firm survival on the stock market for young and high‐tech firms. Using a unique data set of all 341 firms listed on the Neuer Markt, the German equivalent of the NASDAQ, our results differ from studies on more traditional firms. Ownership by CEOs has no influence on firm survival when introducing measurements of human capital and intellectual property rights. This confirms assumptions that firms in the knowledge based industries differ in their governance structure from traditional firms.
Time‐Dependent and Time‐Invariant Covariates Within a Proportional Hazards Model: A Financial Distress Application
Authors: LeClere Marc J.
Published: January 2008

Research in the area of financial distress often uses a proportional hazards model to determine the influence of covariates on the duration of time that precedes financial distress. Acritical issue in the use of a proportional hazards model is the use of time‐invariant and time‐dependent covariates. Time‐invariant covariates remain fixed while time‐dependent covariates change during the estimation of the model. Although the choice of covariates might substantially affect the estimation of the proportional hazards model, existing literature often fails to consider the potential effect of this choice on model estimation. This paper reviews the distinction between time‐invariant and time‐dependent covariates and the effect of covariate selection on the estimation of a proportional hazards model. Using a sample of financially distressed and non‐financially distressed firms, this paper suggests the choice of time dependence substantially influences model estimation and that covariate selection should be given more serious consideration in financial distress research.
The Contribution of On‐Site Examination Ratings to an Empirical Model of Bank Failures
Authors: Wheelock David C. , Wilso Paul W.
Published: January 2008

This paper investigates how well regulator examinations predict bank failures and how best to incorporate examination information into an econometric model of time‐to‐failure. We estimate proportional hazard models with time‐varying covariates and find that examiner ratings help explain the failure hazard. Both the overall rating of a bank's condition and management,i.e., the composite CAMELS rating, and ratings of specific components contain information. In addition, we find that the marginal “effect” of ratings is non‐linear, in that the impact of a rating downgrade on the hazard is larger, the weaker a bank's initial rating.
Evidence for a specific influence of the nitrergic pathway on the peripheral pulse waveform in rabbits
Authors: Nier B. A. , Harrington L. S. , Carrier M. J. , Weinberg P. D.
Published: January 2008

The height of the dicrotic notch between the systolic and diastolic peaks of the peripheral pulse wave, expressed as a fraction of the overall amplitude of the wave, is sensitive to nitric oxide (NO) bioactivity. This phenomenon might form the basis of a simple, non‐invasive method for determining endothelial functionin vivo. We assessed whether the phenomenon is specific to the NO pathway or whether other vasoactive agents have similar effects. The relative height of the dicrotic notch (RHDN) was determined by photoplethysmography in the rabbit ear. It was dose‐dependently decreased by acetylcholine, a stimulator of endothelial NO synthesis, and increased byNG‐nitro‐l‐arginine methyl ester (l‐NAME), an inhibitor of NO synthesis. There was no effect on RHDN of the α‐adrenergic blocker phentolamine or the β‐adrenergic blocker propranolol. The cyclo‐oxygenase inhibitor indomethacin dose‐dependently decreased RHDN but this effect was blocked byl‐NAME, suggesting it was mediated by cross‐talk with the NO pathway. Changes in RHDN appeared to be independent of heart rate and of the delay between the systolic peak and the notch, but were associated with changes in the slope of the dicrotic limb. Bothl‐NAME and phentolamine produced multiple diastolic peaks, indicative of wave reflections in the vasculature. These data support the view that changes in RHDN are specific to the NO pathway and provide additional information about the mechanisms involved.
Haemodynamic effect of metaboreflex activation in men after running above and below the velocity of the anaerobic threshold
Authors: Crisafulli Antonio , Milia Raffaele , Lobina Andrea , Caddeo Manuela , Tocco Filippo , Concu Alberto , Melis Franco
Published: January 2008

Previous studies have shown that the muscle metaboreflex, along with its effect on peripheral vasculature, is capable of inducing substantial enhancement in cardiac performance, stroke volume and cardiac output. This study was designed to determine whether the metaboreflex recruited by means of postexercise muscle ischaemia (PEMI) after running at two intensities was capable of eliciting similar enhancement in these cardiovascular parameters. In eight healthy male athletes the metaboreflex was studied with the PEMI method at the start of recovery from running bouts at a velocity of 30% above (PEMI‐AVAT) or below (PEMI‐BVAT) the anaerobic threshold previously assessed. Control exercise recovery tests at the same intensities were also conducted. Haemodynamics were evaluated by means of impedance cardiography. The main results were that: (1) the PEMI‐AVAT test induced an increase in stroke volume, which was not present during the other protocol conditions; (2) the PEMI‐AVAT test also induced a blunted heart rate response compared with the control situation, but this relative bradycardia was fully compensated by the stroke volume increment so that cardiac output was maintained and even increased in comparison with the other protocol sessions; and (3) finally, there was no detectable increase in systemic vascular resistance during PEMI‐AVAT. These results provide evidence that, like what has previously been reported for small muscle mass exercise, metaboreflex activation after running is capable of enhancing cardiac performance and stroke volume. Moreover, this study strengthens the concept that the cardiovascular response to metaboreflex is not merely the consequence of an increase in systemic vascular resistance.
Novel Bacterial Artificial Chromosome Vector pUvBBAC for Use in Studies of the Functional Genomics of
Listeria
spp
Authors: Hain Torsten , Otten Sonja , von Both Ulrich , Chatterjee Som S. , Technow Ulrike , Billion André , Ghai Rohit , Mohamed Walid , Domann Eugen , Chakraborty Trinad
Published: January 2008

Bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) vectors are important tools for microbial genome research. We constructed a novel BAC vector, pUvBBAC, for replication in both gram-negative and gram-positive bacterial hosts. The pUvBBAC vector was used to generate a BAC library for the facultative intracellular pathogen
Listeria monocytogenes
EGD-e. The library had insert sizes ranging from 68 to 178 kb. We identified two recombinant BACs from the
L. monocytogenes
pUvBBAC library that each contained the entire virulence gene cluster (vgc) of
L. monocytogenes
and transferred them to a nonpathogenic
Listeria innocua
strain. Recombinant
L. innocua
strains harboring pUvBBAC+vgc1 and pUvBBAC+vgc2 produced the vgc-specific listeriolysin (LLO) and actin assembly protein ActA and represent the first reported cloning of the vgc locus in its entirety. The use of the novel broad-host-range BAC vector pUvBBAC extends the versatility of this technology and provides a powerful platform for detailed functional genomics of gram-positive bacteria as well as its use in explorative functional metagenomics.