bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Profitability and capital accumulation in British industry during the transwar period, 1913–1924
Authors: Arnold A. J.
Published: March 2003

This article provides new information on profitability, taxation, and capital accumulation across the transwar period, based on an analysis of the accounting records of 30 companies in a range of industrial sectors. The main findings, that apparently high profitability in the war period was largely an illusion, and that the subsequent slump was very severe in its effects on business profitability, are consistent with views of the period as one of low capital accumulation. In effect, the generosity of the state's negotiating position towards capital owners during the war was cancelled out by the combined effects of inflation and of the severe postwar slump.
The grain trade in northern Europe before 1350
Authors: Hybel Nils
Published: March 2003

A network of interregional grain routes extended across northern Europe in the century before 1350. With an interlude from c . 1310 to 1330 English grain was shipped to western Norway and the last decades before 1350 witnessed increasing English deliveries to the Netherlands. The most important of these commercial links were the grain routes from Mecklenburg, Pomerania, and Prussia to Norway, England, and the Netherlands established on a regular basis c . 1300. In western Europe the Baltic grain deliveries were an alternative source of supply which affected prices, urbanization, and the profitability of arable farming.
The Independence of the Bank Of England: an Update
Authors: Hall Stephen , Hall Brian
Published: March 2003

In this article, Stephen Hall and Brian Henry reconsider the arguments for further coordination of fiscal and monetary policy in the UK. The recent inflation‐unemployment performance in the UK has been good, but it appears mainly the result of beneficial developments in the world economy. Further improvement in the policy‐making framework in the UK is called for. Many of the present drawbacks could be dealt with by treating fiscal policy on a par with monetary policy. There are arguments that further cooperation is not needed but these are unpersuasive. They recommend the setting up of an independent committee charged with reviewing fiscal decisions, and coordinating these with monetary decisions by the MPC.
Inequality in Five Countries in the 1980s: The Role of Demographic Shifts, Markets and Government Policies
Authors: Jätti Markus
Published: March 2003

This paper uses Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) data to examine levels of and trends in income inequality in Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Inequality increased in Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States but did not increase in Canada and the Netherlands. Increased inequality of household head’s earnings and increased shares of spouse’s earnings in family income account for much of the observed increases in income inequality. The public sector can, in general, be assigned a moderating effect on these changes. Demographic shifts are not assigned any major role in inequality changes.
A Theory of Growth, Financial Development and Trade
Authors: Blackburn Keith , Hung Victor T. Y.
Published: March 2003

This paper presents an analysis of the joint determination of real and financial development. Privately informed designers obtain external finance for their research projects through incentive‐compatible loan contracts. Contracts are enforced through costly monitoring activity which lenders may either undertake themselves, or delegate to a financial intermediary. The analysis establishes a positive, two‐way causal relationship between growth and financial development. In addition, using a multi‐country version of the model, it is shown how both financial and trade liberalization can accelerate the development of intermediation; only trade liberalization has a direct positive effect on growth, however.
The Core–Periphery Model and Endogenous Growth: Stabilizing and Destabilizing Integration
Authors: Baldwin Richard E , Forslid Rikard
Published: March 2003

We present a model where long‐run growth and industrial location are jointlyendogenous by introducing Romerian product innovation growth into Krugman'score–periphery model. We focus on stability, showing that growth is apowerful centripetal force, but that knowledge spillovers are a powerfulcentrifugal force. Integration policies that lower the cost of tradingideas are shown to encourage dispersion of economic activity while thosethat lower the cost of trading goods encourage agglomeration. Agglomerationis shown to be favourable to growth in both regions. The pro‐growth effectsmitigate the periphery's static welfare loss from agglomeration.
Family Matters: Impacts of Family Background on Educational Attainments
Authors: Ermisch John , Francesconi Marco
Published: March 2003

The analysis uses new data matching parents and their young adult children to study the impact of family background on young people’s educational attainments. The data is derived from the first seven years (1991–97) of the British Household Panel Study. Parents’ educational attainments are found to be very strongly associated with their children’s educational attainments, and for an important part of the population these associations can be given a causal interpretation. In addition, young adults who experience single parenthood as children and those who come from families in the bottom income quartile have significantly lower educational attainments.
Sanctions and Civil Conflict
Authors: Gershenson Dmitriy
Published: March 2003

Using a formal general equilibrium framework, this paper analyses how sanctions imposed on the contestants in civil conflict affect the welfare of these contestants and the allocation of resources to conflict. It is shown that weak sanctions can hurt the contestant they are supposed to help, while strong sanctions augment the expected welfare of their intended beneficiaries. Moreover, sanctions are more likely to be successful if the contestant who is subject to sanctions can expect to derive a positive income in case of compliance. The likelihood of success rises as this income increases.
Money, Debt and Prices in the United Kingdom, 1705–1996
Authors: Janssen Norbert , Nolan Charles , Thomas Ryland
Published: March 2003

This paper constructs a consistent series for the market value of UK government debt over almost 300 years, analysing how monetary and fiscal policy affect the path of the UK price level. Specifically, it examines the interactions between debts, deficits, the monetary base and the price level. Overall, the price level has been closely related to the evolution of the base money supply. Across different sample periods, there is little econometric evidence that fiscal policy has affected the course of the price level (or of the exchange rate under the Gold Standard). Government debt has not significantly affected the base money stock, either.
Welfare Comparisons: Sequential Procedures for Heterogeneous Populations
Authors: Lambert Peter J. , Ramos Xavier
Published: March 2003

Some analysts use sequential dominance criteria, and others use equivalence scales in combination with non‐sequential dominance tests, to make welfare comparisons of joint distributions of income and needs. In this paper we present a new sequential procedure which copes with situations in which sequential dominance fails. We also demonstrate that the recommendations deriving from the sequential approach are valid for distributions of equivalent income whatever equivalence scale the analyst might adopt. Thus, the paper marries together the sequential and equivalizing approaches, seen as alternatives in much previous literature. All results are specified in forms that allow for demographic differences in the populations being compared.
Children and Career Interruptions: The Family Gap in Denmark
Authors: Gupta Nabanita Datta , Smith Nina
Published: March 2003

An analysis of the effect of children and career interruptions on the family gap is based on Danish longitudinal data covering the years 1980–95. The estimated model controls for unobserved time‐constant heterogeneity. The results show that, when controlling for unobserved heterogeneity, the negative effect of children on mothers’ wages disappears. The main effect of children seems to be loss of human capital accumulation during childbirth periods; apart from this, there is no indication that children have long‐term effects on the earnings potential of their mothers, holding experience constant.
German Debt Traded in London During the Second World War: A British Perspective on Hitler
Authors: Brown, Jr William O. , Burdekin Richard C. K.
Published: March 2003

Two series of German bonds, issued in 1924 and 1930, traded on the London Stock Exchange throughout Hitler’s 1933–45 regime in Germany. We isolate both structural breaks and turning points in these bond series. Major turning points follow Hider’s reintroduction of conscription in 1935, the outbreak of war in 1939 and the D‐Day invasion of June 1944. The German bonds’ sustained downward trend after 1935 suggests that bondholders recognized the risks posed by Hitler’s programme. Bond prices recovered during the war, however, and appear to have anticipated the overthrow of Hitler and the postwar settlement of foreign bondholders’ claims.
Do Gatt Rules Help Governments Make Domestic Commitments?
Authors: Staiger R. W. , Tabellini G.
Published: March 2003

We investigate empirically whether GATT rules may have helped the US government make trade policy commitments to its private sector. We study choices under two distinct environments. One environment is the determination of sectoral exclusions in the Tokyo Round of GATT negotiations. The other is the determination of tariff responses under GATT’s escape clause. In each environment the US government was faced with a similar decision, but only in the former environment did GATT rules serve as a potential commitment device. Comparing decisions made across these two environments, we find evidence that GATT rules did help the US government make domestic trade policy commitments that it could not have made in the absence of these rules.
Information and Common Knowledge in Collective Action
Authors: Gavious Arieh , Mizrahi Shlomo
Published: March 2003

The paper suggests a theoretical game framework to explain collective action dynamics by learning processes. When a certain fact becomes common knowledge due to a certain event, people accumulate knowledge about the state of the world and act accordingly. We concentrate on a conceptual example of the bandwagon dynamic showing the insights which this approach adds to existing studies. We analyze two other conceptual examples showing that the accumulation of information does not always bring people to know the truth about the state of the world. On the other hand, it may make them aware of their ignorance. Several practical implications follow.
Political Determinants of Intergovernmental Grants: Evidence From Argentina
Authors: Porto Alberto , Sanguinetti Pablo
Published: March 2003

This paper explores the determinants of federal grants allocation across provincial states in Argentina. Our analysis suggests that the redistributive pattern implicit in the federal system of intergovernmental grants cannot be explained on normative grounds exclusively. In order to understand the rationale behind federal grants distribution, a positive approach could render better results. Specifically, we claim that the distribution of federal grants could be associated with political variables such as the political representation of jurisdictions at Congress. The econometric analysis suggests that the significant disparity observed in the per capita representation across different provinces is an important factor explaining the allocation of those transfers. In this respect, overrepresented provinces, both at the senate and at the lower chamber, have received, on average, higher resources from the national government compared to more populous and less represented states. These results are consistent with those observed in other countries.
Ownership, exit and voice after mass privatization
Authors: Anderson James H. , Korsun Georges , Murrell Peter
Published: March 2003

Exit (owners selling their shares) and voice (owners active in corporate activities) are important ingredients in the process by which mass privatization changes managerial behaviour in transition countries. We examine the structure of ownership and the extent of exit and voice in one such country, Mongolia. We document the size of ownership changes since privatization (through mergers, spin‐offs, and stock sales) and examine which owners are changing in importance. We scrutinize enterprise governance, examining patterns of violations of companylaw and deviations from reasonable criteria for effective governance. We show that ownership changes and the quality of governance are correlated.

JEL classification: P11, P21, O53, H70, H20.
Restructuring the Innovation Capacity of the Business Sector in Estonia: Business Survey Result
Authors: Paasi Marianne
Published: March 2003

The growth prospects of the Estonian economy depend on transforming the former ‘socialist’ industrial R&D into competitive business‐sector innovation activities, establishing interactions between firms and other research units, and accelerating international diffusion. An additional task, specific for a transition country, is intensive utilization of the inherited human capital. The results of a business survey conducted in Tallinn in the summer of 1996 indicate that favourable restructuring of industrial R&D and the development of new innovation capacities are indeed taking place. The regression models indicate, however, that while the results seem to be mostly successful, some detailed support is needed. Firstly, further qualitative changes seem to be necessary in the state‐owned and privatized electronics firms. And secondly, newly emerging firms need easier access to the capital market and management expertise.
Capital Stock and Economic Development in Hungary
Authors: Darvas Zsolt M. , Simon András
Published: March 2003

This paper introduces a method of calculating physical capital stock figures in transition countries and derives data for Hungary. On the basis of international experience, we set investment and saving paths for future income levels. Confrontation of savings prospects of different sectors with investments needs leads to an economic policy analysis of the fiscal policy needed to catch up to 70 per cent of Austrian per capita income by 2030.
Foreign Direct Investment and Enterprise Restructuring in Central Europe
Authors: Barrell Ray , Holland Dawn
Published: March 2003

Foreign direct investment is at the forefront of economic policy decisions in Central Europe, as it is expected to accelerate enterprise restructuring and aid in the successful transition to a market economy. This paper contains a panel data study of the effects of FDI in 11 different manufacturing sectors within three Central European economies: Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. We find evidence that FDI has increased labour productivity levels in most manufacturing sectors. We are able to differentiate between sectors with a high elasticity of substitution between labour and capital and those that are inelastic. We have also presented evidence to support the theory that the impact on labour productivity is predominantly due to the intangible assets introduced by foreign firms, rather than simply the fixed capital investment associated with FDI.
The Choice of the Working Secto in Transition: Income and non‐income determinants of sector participation in Kazakhstan
Authors: Verme Paolo
Published: March 2003

This study compares the individual, household and location characteristics of private employees, the self‐employed, the unemployed and the economically inactive in Kazakhstan making use of a 1996 World Bank Living Standards Measurement Survey. The purpose is to understand whether the process of transition has determined a selection of workers exiting the state sector and entering the three relatively new ‘pools’ of private employees, self‐employed and unemployed. An ‘occupational choice’ model is used to explore the determinants of sector participation. It is found that income opportunities are similar between the private and self‐employment sectors, that the private sector is not necessarily the workers' first choice and that non‐income determinants including local economic and labour market conditions and household related factors explain better than income the choice of the working sector. Self‐employment seems to be a key sector in understanding the mechanisms of sector choice and the reallocation of labour. Unemployment appears as a choice of last resort and made by truly ‘rationed’ individuals.
Consumption and nutrition: Age–intake profiles for Czechoslovakia 1989–92
Authors: Miquel Ruth , Laisney Franois
Published: March 2003

This paper provides non‐parametric estimates of the relation between nutrient intake and age for Czechoslovak individuals, as a function of both the characteristics of the individual and of their household, on the basis of household purchases. Results show no significant difference between the age‐energy intake profiles of men and women. The decomposition of this intake between carbohydrates, lipids (i.e., fats) and proteins shows a lack of balance in the diet in Czechoslovakia, but significant progress toward a more balanced diet has taken place over the period. Finally, household characteristics such as the woman's level of education, or household income, have at most a marginal impact on these profiles.
The impact of foreign direct investment on the relative return to skill
Authors: Wu Xiaodong
Published: March 2003

Since the early 1980s, China has adopted favourable economic policies to attract FDI in order to facilitate technology development. Since inward FDI induces either sector‐ or factor‐biased technical progress, the impact of FDI on the distribution of income between skilled and unskilled labour is not trivial. This paper introduces vertical product differentiation to analyze the impact of FDI on the return to skill and concludes that, for a labour abundant country, this impact depends on whether the FDI‐induced technology transfer is skill‐ or labour‐biased, regardless of which sector receives FDI. The analysis shows that FDI with relatively labour‐biased technology will decrease the wage gap while FDI with relatively skill‐biased technology will increase the profit margin of the host country’s exports as well as its wage gap. The findings provide policy insights for FDI recipient countries in balancing wage growth between skilled and unskilled workers by managing inward FDI with relatively labour‐biased and skill‐biased technologies. This is particularly important for China given the expected further increase of inward FDI following its imminent membership of the WTO.

JEL classification: F23, J31, P33.
How should emerging economies float their currencies?
Authors: Larraín Felipe , Velasco Andrés
Published: March 2003

Floating exchange rates seem to be gaining ground in Latin America, East Asia and the transition economies. The recent crises left many economies with no alternative but to float. Others have moved toward floating, searching for greater flexibility and insulation from external shocks. The question for most emerging market economies, then, is no longer to float or not to float, but how to float. Four issues arise in this regard. The first is how to float and have low inflation. The second is whether floating provides as much insulation as conventional theory predicts, especially in the presence of dollarized liabilities. Which leads to the third point: the relationship between the stability of the exchange rate and that of the financial system. The fourth is how to conduct monetary policy under a float, and the role of inflation targeting. We consider each of these points in turn, and conclude that a workable model of how to float seems to be emerging from the so‐far successful experience of countries like Chile and Brazil. It involves the adoption of an inflation target as the main anchor for monetary policy, coupled with a monetary policy reaction function that — aside from reacting to the output gap and other determinants of the inflation rate — reacts also partially to movements in the nominal exchange rate.

JEL classification: F3, F4, E4, E5
Structuring Deposit Insurance for a United Europe
Authors: Santomero Anthony M. , Trester Jeffrey J.
Published: March 2003

This paper analyses the difficulties associated with imposing a unified deposit insurance scheme in a unified Europe. Specifically, it investigates the determinants of optimal deposit insurance in light of the Commission's 1994 decision requiring mandatory minimum coverage and encouraging a single unified deposit insurance structure. Issues of deposit insurance premiums and tax burden are analysed in the context of a general equilibrium‐type model. The results indicate that taxes, the optimal degree of deposit insurance, and societal risk aversion are all interrelated in such a structure. Therefore, a common insurance system may not be feasible nor appropriate for a first best solution; co‐ordination and even unified taxation may be necessary. At the minimum, exceedingly close macroeconomic policy co‐ordination will be necessary for the single market for financial services to come to fruition and achieve stability.
Contestability and Pay Differential in the Executive Suites
Authors: Ang James S. , Hauser Shmuel , Lauterbach Beni
Published: March 2003

In comparison to the abundant evidence on CEOs' compensations, little is known about the compensation of other senior executives, and on how the pay differential between CEO and other senior executives affects firm performance. We examine several potential explanations of the pay differential in the executive suite, using a sample of 367 Israeli firms listed on the Tel‐Aviv Stock Exchange. The empirical results fail to support the tournament and pay equity models. Instead, our evidence suggests a model where senior executives are encouraged (by the structure implied in their pay contract) to cooperate with each other (the team playing model). In a subset of firms managed by their owners we observe greater pay differentials between the owner‐CEO and other senior executives. Interestingly, only in this subset of owner‐managed firms, higher pay differentials can be associated with better firm performance.
Long‐run stock performance of German initial public offerings and seasoned equity issues
Authors: Stehle Richard , Ehrhardt Olaf , Przyborowsky René
Published: March 2003

We estimate the long‐run stock performance after initial public offerings (IPOs) in the German capital market with a larger sample than prior studies and alternative benchmarks (the equally and the value‐weighted market portfolio, size portfolios and matching stocks). In addition we present the first results on the long‐run performance after seasoned equity issues (SEOs) in Germany. We conclude that size portfolios and matching stocks are better benchmarks than market portfolios. Using buy‐and‐hold abnormal returns, we estimate that German stocks involved in an IPO or in a SEO, on average, underperform a portfolio consisting of stocks with a similar market capitalization by 6% in three years. This is considerably less than the underperformance after IPOs and SEOs in the US market reported by Loughran and Ritter (1995) and the underperformance after IPOs in Germany reported by Ljungqvist (1997). We also show that the apparent underperformance of the 1988–1990 IPO cohort discussed by Ljungqvist (1997) disappears when the abnormal performance estimate is based on size instead of market portfolios.
Yield Spread and Term to Maturity: Default vs. Liquidity
Authors: Díaz Antonio , Navarro Eliseo
Published: March 2003

The aim of this paper is the analysis of the yield spreads between Treasury and non–Treasury Spanish fixed income assets and its relationship with the term to maturity. We find a downward sloping term structure of yield spreads for investment–grade bonds that seems to be contrary to the ‘crisis at maturity’ theory. However, we claim that this outcome is caused mainly by the effect of liquidity on yield spreads. Once the effect of liquidity and other factors are removed we find that there is a positive relationship between default premiums and term to maturity. That result is now consistent with the existing literature.
The Lamp of Memory
Authors: Savile Anthony
Published: March 2003

Book reviewed in this article:

John Ruskin, The Seven Lamps of Architecture
The Legal Community: Judges, Lawyers, Officials and Clerks in the Writing of Europe
Authors: Schepel Harm , Wesseling Rein
Published: March 2003

This article argues that EU legal studies whould pay more attention to the legal discourse that sustains the conceptions of law and legal politics underlying European law. Drawing loosely on Bourdieu’s concept of ‘legal fields’, it offers a social and intellectual reconstruction of European legal thinking by way of empirical analysis of European legal writing. The article argues that the autonomy, technicality and specificity of European law should be seen at least in part as consequences of the social and professional structure of the community of EU laywers.
The Rise of Committees
Authors: Vos Ellen
Published: March 2003

Abstract: Committees are of increasing importance in the process of EC policy‐making, particularly in regulatory fields which touch upon politically sensitive issues. This article discusses the problems which have arisen due to the unforeseen emergence of committees within the institutional framework of the Community. It examines the main institutional conflicts in relation to committees and argues that parliamentary disdain for Comitology notwithstanding, the use of committees in the area of social regulation may be explained through a ‘Member State‐oriented’ understanding of the institutional balance of powers. Committees may thus not only contribute to more effective decision‐making, but may also secure a degree of subsidiarity. The increasing reliance on committees, however, might nonetheless be argued to detract from the general legitimacy of Community decision‐making, especially since committees remain creatures of pragmatism. This article accordingly argues that the lack of transparency within committees, and the absence of general procedural rules upon the activities and composition of committees, should now be compensated for through the evolution of formal and generalisable procedural rules.
Europe’s ‘Democratic Deficit’: The Question of Standards
Authors: Majone Giandomenico
Published: March 2003

Arguments about Europe’s democratic deficit are really arguments about the nature and ultimate goals of the integration process. Those who assume that economic integration must lead to political integration tend to apply to European institutions standards of legitimacy derived from the theory and practice of parliamentary democracies. We argue that such standards are largely irrelevant at present. As long as the majority of voters and their elected representatives oppose the idea of a European federation, while supporting far‐reaching economic integration, we cannot expect parliamentary democracy to flourish in the Union. Economic integration without political integration is possible only if politics and economics are kept as separate as possible. The depoliticisation of European policy‐making is the price we pay in order to preserve national sovereignty largely intact. These being the preferences of the voters, we conclude that Europe’s ‘democratic deficit’ is democratically justified.

The expression ‘democratic deficit,’ however, is also used to refer to the legitimacy problems of non‐majoritarian institutions, and this second meaning is much more relevant to a system of limited competences such as the EC. Now the key issues for democratic theory are about the tasks which may be legitimately delegated to institutions insulated from the political process, and how to design such institutions so as to make independence and accountability complementary and mutually supporting, rather than antithetical. If one accepts the ‘regulatory model’ of the EC, then, as long as the tasks delegated to the European level are precisely and narrowly defined, non‐majoritarian standards of legitimacy should be sufficient to justify the delegation of the necessary powers.
Market Processes, Standardisation, and Tort Law
Authors: Spindler Gerald
Published: March 2003

Private standards play a decisive role in tort law and in administrative law. Although they seem to be a perfect tool to achieve the goal of European integration, they tend to substitute democratic legitimacy with uncontrolled private governance. The loss of democratic control is accentuated by the failure of markets to provide sufficient incentives for standardising organisations to behave in a non‐opportunistic manner. The dangers of cartelisation and oligopolistic behaviour are obvious. The approach to overcome these deficits is complex: on the one hand, an institutional governance of private organisations is necessary to incorporate third party interests in the process of enacting private standards; on the other hand, the legal effects of private standards have to be restricted to mere assumptions dependent on the democratic quality of their enacting process. The problem of democratic legitimacy is aggravated by the parallel substitution of state authorities' control by means of private certification organisations which control only the management procedures of firms. As these management systems are difficult to be evaluate, the opportunities for opportunistic behaviour amongst firms and certifiers increases. Moreover, markets themselves fail to discipline certifiers by virtue of a lack of observable factors which might indicate the quality of certification. Tort law, too, cannot fulfil that gap by providing liability for damages caused by undue certifications because tort law suffers from a variety of shortcomings such as missing protection of public goods and difficult assessments of causation linkages. In sum, the author argues for a mixture of market incentives, tort law and administrative law. Each sector must fill in the gaps left by the others.
Socio‐Cultural Differences and International Competition Law
Authors: Pape Wolfgang
Published: March 2003

The purpose of this study is to explore socio‐cultural divergence¹ among contracting parties, members and potential candidates that could favour or complicate the establishment of an effective² set of common competition rules at World Trade Organisation (WTO) level. Therefore, the focus is on historical, religious, ideological and systemic differences in relation to competition rules that might otherwise be overlooked during the negotiations, but later prove crucial or even detrimental to the actual implementation of thus only formally common international rules.
The sorting techniques: a tutorial paper on card sorts, picture sorts and item sorts
Authors: Rugg Gordon , McGeorge Peter
Published: March 2003

Although sorting techniques (e.g. card sorts) are widely used in knowledge acquisition and requirements acquisition, they have received little formal attention compared to related techniques such as repertory grids and laddering. This paper briefly describes the main sorting techniques, then provides a detailed tutorial on one variety (repeated single‐criterion sorts), using a worked example. Guidelines for choice and sequencing of techniques are given, both in relation to varieties of sorting technique and in relation to other techniques. It is concluded that the sorting techniques are a valuable part of the elicitor's methodological toolkit.
Knowledge‐based system for telecontrol of anaerobic wastewater treatment plants
Authors: Flores J , Arcay B , Dafonte J.C
Published: March 2003

This paper describes the design and implementation of an intelligent real‐time supervision system for the monitoring and control of wastewater treatment plants. The system presents a hybrid structure which integrates knowledge engineering techniques and methodologies (an expert system based on production rules embodying non‐mathematical or semiquantitative knowledge of unit operation) and algorithmic process‐related methods (data acquisition, signal preprocessing, calculation of plant operation parameters etc.). The fundamental design aspects consist of temporal information treatment, artifact detection and a client‐ server structure which allows the telesupervision of various plants by a central system.
A connectionist inference model for pattern‐directed knowledge representation
Authors: Mitchell I , Bavan A.S
Published: March 2003

In this paper we propose a connectionist model for variable binding. The model is topology dependent on the graph it builds based on the predicates available. The irregular connections between perceptron‐like assemblies facilitate forward and backward chaining. The model treats the symbolic data as a sequence and represents the training set as a partially connected network using basic set and graph theory to form the internal representation. Inference is achieved by opportunistic reasoning via the bidirectional connections. Consequently, such activity stabilizes to a multigraph. This multigraph is composed of isomorphic subgraphs which all represent solutions to the query made. Such a model has a number of advantages over other methods in that irrelevant connections are avoided by superimposing positionally dependent sub‐structures that are identical, variable binding can be encoded and multiple solutions can be extracted simultaneously. The model also has the ability to adapt its existing architecture when presented with new clauses and therefore add new relationships/rules to the model explicitly; this is done by some partial retraining of the network due to the superimposition properties.
Comparing response latency and self‐report methods for estimating levels of certainty in knowledge elicitation for rule‐based expert systems
Authors: Feinstein Jerald L.
Published: March 2003

Many practitioners and theoreticians feel uncomfortable in using classic self‐report, knowledge acquisition methods for assessing an expert’s feelings of confidence or certainty about rules, choices or decisions. This paper proposes and tests an alternative approach using response latency, or the time it takes an expert to respond to a paired choice inquiry. The question is to learn if there is any merit in considering the response latency approach as a replacement for the classic method. This investigation is concerned with using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to compare two methods for estimating a subject’s feeling of certainty or confidence about their rule, choice or decision. One method is the older or classic method where a subject self‐reports both the choice selected and the level of certainty associated with a choice‐pair on the 1‐to‐9 scale used with the AHP. The second is proposed by the authors and based on using only the choice and decision time or response latency. In the second case, the inverse of response latency is used to estimate a subject’s degree of certainty or confidence in the selected choice in a paired comparison experiment. The response latency method has the advantage of being unobtrusive, less prone to conscious censure, quicker to perform, requiring less effort, and possibly being less expensive to administer. Employing AHP methodology, priorities are used to represent the degree of confidence among choices or rules, and consistency ratios are used to estimate the degree of consistency detected by each method. To compare the two methods, 21 subjects were evaluated in a paired sample design. Employing a computer‐administered questionnaire, subjects expressed relative levels of confidence for a set of potential recommendations and the time for each subject to respond was recorded unobtrusively. Using paired sample t tests, sufficient evidence was found to reject the null hypothesis (α= 0.025) that the mean of the difference in the priorities between the two methods was zero (p < 0.0001). In a second test, there was sufficient evidence to be at least 95% confident of accepting an alternative hypothesis that response latency produces a lower consistency ratio (higher consistency of the reports) than the self‐report method (p < 0.0001). In addition to the tests of significance, the results were found to be practically significant and are discussed in the paper.
I‐DSS: an intelligent diagnostic support system
Authors: Morpurgo R. , Mussi S.
Published: March 2003

An intelligent diagnostic support system (I‐DSS) for decision‐making support in diagnostic processes is presented. I‐DSS can be placed between diagnosis carried out by a human diagnostician, without any automatic support, and diagnosis carried out in a fully automatic way. Fully automatic diagnosis may be appealing if used in very complex domains and if the user is non‐expert. However, in the case of an expert user, a fully automatic approach is not suitable. In the fully automatic approach the system should be equipped with a strategic knowledge base (the knowledge needed for making the ’best’ choice) and as a consequence the expert user is prevented from making decisions on the basis of his or her own experience. This restriction causes, in general, a sort of psychological rejection, on the part of the expert user, of the traditional fully automatic approach. This is particularly true in those domains, such as medicine, where there is more than one approach to the solution and it is seldom that one approach can be considered ’right’ and the others ’wrong’. Experience related to diagnostic expert systems applications shows that, whenever trade‐off problems arise in choosing between alternative actions, it is preferable to leave decisions to the expert. Starting from these considerations we present a system (I‐DSS) which, without being ’intrusive’, aims to be an effective support for the decision‐maker during the diagnostic process.
The Decentralisation Debate and Accounting Controls in the New Zealand Public Sector
Authors: Jacobs Kerry
Published: March 2003

Miah and Mia (MM) (1996) suggest that increased decentralisation in New Zealand government departments is associated with a greater use of accounting control systems which, in turn, is associated with improved performance in these agencies. This paper provides a fuller description of the forms that decentralisation took in New Zealand, explains their significance for government departments and provides an analysis of how the accounting control systems which were introduced differed from those suggested by MM.
The State of Charity Accounting – Developments, Improvements and Continuing Problems
Authors: Williams Stephen , Palmer Paul
Published: March 2003

This paper is based on a survey of charity accounts undertaken for the Office for National Statistics during the period 1995–1996, and reviews current charity accounting practices of some of these charities in 1994/5 prior to the inception of the new accounting regime from 1996. We look at the accounting practices identified by Bird and provide a comparison between the original Bird analysis in 1981 and current practices in 1994/5. We also consider smaller surveys undertaken in 1989 and 1990. The paper concludes that whilst there has been some progress – particularly among larger charities – since the Bird study there are still major accounting anomalies and examples of poor practice. The paper calls upon auditing firms to be less tolerant of inadequate sets of accounts and points to their pivotal role in improving charity accounting pratices.
Accrual Accounting, Politics and Politicians
Authors: Brorströım Bjöırn
Published: March 2003

Ten years ago, the Swedish Association of Local Authorities presented a new model for financial budgeting and accounting based on the idea of accrual accounting. Since the model was introduced, a set of accounting principles and regulations confirming the ambition to establish an accounting model based on accrual principles has gradually been developed. The dominant actors in the change process have been the accountants and the financial officers. However, recently the politicians interfered and decided that pension expenses and pension liability shall be calculated and reported in a very different and special way. The paper includes a description of the change process and comments on what we can learn from the Swedish case about how and why financial accounting models change. The questions which we focus on are: why did the politicians interfere? and why could the professionals not manage to defend the established norms and the financial accounting model based on accrual principles?
>Conversion Ratios in Charities in England and Wales: An Investigation of Economies of Scale
Authors: Hyndman Noel , McKillop Donal
Published: March 2003

This study examines ways in which the scale economies of charities can be measured and investigates the use of conversion ratios as indicators of scale efficiency. Problems and difficulties inherent in the use of these ratios are detailed. The analysis then employs nonparametric tests (Mann‐Whitney and Kruskal‐Wallis tests), based on the identified conversion ratios, to examine for the existence of scale economies in the operation of the 500 largest fundraising charities in England and Wales. The statistical analysis provides evidence of scale economies and suggests that scale efficiency gains have not as yet been exhausted. The charity sector therefore appears to be characterised by increasing returns to scale with further growth necessary before optimal size, as indicated by constant returns to scale, is achieved.
An Examination of ERR and Asset Allocation in Public Pension Plans
Authors: Eaton Tim V. , Nofsinger John R.
Published: March 2003

In this paper, we examine the usefulness of expected rates of return (ERR) for public pension plans. Specifically, we test the correlation between the expected rate of return on plan assets and asset allocation. We also examine the predictive power of ERR on the actual returns of the pension assets. We find that the correlation between expected return and the percentage of assets that are equity securities is relatively weak. Further, we find that the percentage of assets that are equity securities is a much better predictor of actual returns than the disclosed expected return in public pension plans. These results provide evidence to support SFAS No. 87, which requires the disclosure of plan assets and against recently promulgated SFAS No. 132, which eliminates this disclosure requirement. The evidence also supports GASB 25'sStatement of Net Plan Assets.
Measuring Productivity and Quality Changes Using Data Envelopment Analysis: An Application to Catalan Hospitals
Authors: Solà Magda , Prior Diego
Published: March 2003

This paper focuses on hospital performance using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Malmquist index numbers. We present a new approach that restricts achievement in productivity if quality is reduced. Results present an apparent negative evolution in productivity. The decomposition on the Malmquist index shows a clear improvement in technical quality, a convergence in efficiency between frontier and non‐frontier hospitals and a theoretical fall in technical change (drop of the best practice frontier between years). The conclusions present reasoning justifying these results and propose the use of this methodology for the appraisal of effectiveness in the public sector.
Accountability Disclosures by Queensland Local Government Councils: 1997–1999
Authors: Ryan Christine , Stanley Trevor , Nelson Morton
Published: March 2003

The annual report is promoted and regarded as the primary medium of accountability for government agencies. In Australia, anecdotal evidence suggests the quality of annual reports is variable. However, there is scant empirical evidence on the quality of reports. The aim of this research is to gauge the quality of annual reporting by local governments in Queensland, and to investigate the factors that may contribute to that level of quality. The results of the study indicate that although the quality of reporting by local governments has improved over time, councils generally do not report information on aspects of corporate governance, remuneration of executive staff, personnel, occupational health and safety, equal opportunity policies, and performance information. In addition, the results indicate there is a correlation between the size of the local government and the quality of reporting but the quality of disclosures is not correlated with the timeliness of reports. The study will be of interest to the accounting profession, public sector regulators who are responsible for the integrity of the accountability mechanisms and public sector accounting practitioners. It will form the basis for future longitudinal research, which will map changes in the quality of local government annual reporting.
Optimal Dynamic Order Submission Strategies in Some Stylized Trading Problems
Authors: Harris Lawrence
Published: March 2003

This study derives optimal dynamic order submission strategies for trading problems faced by three stylized traders: an uninformed liquidity trader, an informed trader and a value‐motivated trader. Separate solutions are obtained for quote‐ and order‐driven markets. The results provide practicable rules for how to trade small orders and how to manage traders. Transaction cost measurement methods based on implementation shortfall are proven to dominate other methods.

Since investors demand liquidity when they submit market orders and supply liquidity when they submit limit orders, the results improve our understanding of market liquidity. In particular, the models illustrate the role of time in the search for liquidity by characterizing the demand for and supply of immediacy.
Capital Allocation and Risk Performance Measurement In a Financial Institution
Authors: Turnbull Stuart M.
Published: March 2003

This paper provides an analytical and practical framework, consistent with maximizing the wealth of existing shareholders, to address the following questions:

What are the costs associated with economic capital?

What is the tradeoff between the probability of default and the costs of economic capital?

How do we take into account the time profile of economic capital when assessing the performance of a business?

What is the appropriate measure of profitability, keeping the probability of default constant?

It is shown that the capital budgeting decision depends not only on the covariance of the return of a project with the market portfolio, but also on the covariance with the bank's existing assets. This dependency arises from the simple fact that the economic capital is not additive.
A Comparative Literature Survey of Islamic Finance and Banking
Authors: Zaher Tarek S. , Kabir Hassan M.
Published: March 2003

There has been large‐scale growth in Islamic finance and banking in Muslim countries and around the world during the last twenty years. This growth is influenced by factors including the introduction of broad macroeconomic and structural reforms in financial systems, the liberalization of capital movements, privatization, the global integration of financial markets, and the introduction of innovative and new Islamic products. Islamic finance is now reaching new levels of sophistication. However, a complete Islamic financial system with its identifiable instruments and markets is still very much at an early stage of evolution. Many problems and challenges relating to Islamic instruments, financial markets, and regulations must be addressed and resolved. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive comparative review of the literature on the Islamic financial system. Specifically, we discuss the basic features of the Islamic finance and banking. We also introduce Islamic financial instruments in order to compare them to existing Western financial instruments and discuss the legal problems that investors in these instruments may encounter. The paper also gives a preliminary empirical assessment of the performance of Islamic banking and finance, and highlights the regulations, challenges and problems in the Islamic banking market.