e Application of USB Interface in Da

示的电路中,通过使I/O引脚在高电平、低电平和高阻态三种状态间切换,就将电源分别设在上限、下限和额定输出电压三个值。为便于图解说明,此例中的电阻阻值是经计算得出的,而非标准阻值。若反馈电压V FB为0.8V,则只需求解出R FM1的阻值(必须在现有设计的R F1上并联一个电阻R FM1     

Is the social representation of nanotechnology anchored in that of GMOs?

The use of nanotechnology (devices/materials composed of parts less than 10 nanometres) in the development of new products is rapidly expanding. Industrialists and decision-makers consider nanotechnology to be the next industrial revolution, but fear they risk the same resistance to nanotechnology that their counterparts experienced with genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Although risk perception studies have shown that perceived risk of GMOs is quite high compared to that related to nanotechnology, no study to date has explored a potential direct social representation link between the two. The present study aims to fill that gap by comparing the social representations of nanotechnology and GMOs among a population of non-experts. This study was conducted with 282 students in human and social sciences and natural sciences. Using a free association task with the inductive words ‘nanotechnology’ and ‘GMO (genetically modified organism)’, we identified the existing social representations of the two based on a structural approach. While the representation of GMOs is objectified in the field of agriculture, objectification for nanotechnology seems to still be lacking, although its possible objectification likely lies in computing and robotics. Our calculation of the rate of similarity of associative words with nanotechnology and GMOs indicated no present, direct link between their social representations. We discuss the possible evolution of the social representation of nanotechnology over time.     

Processes of auditability in sustainability assurance – the case of materiality construction

This study examines how financial audit-styled concepts such as materiality are transferred to non-financial audit arenas. Drawing on a case study of assurors working within a Big 4 professional services firm, we uncover a number of interrelated features of the materiality determination and assessment process within sustainability assurance (assurance on sustainability reports). We illustrate how assuror flexibility, underpinned by assuror intuition, is central to uncovering assurance technologies deemed capable of addressing the materiality of ambiguous sustainability data. Assurors with no financial audit background retrospectively rationalise their intuition using the assumed authority of structured financial audit methodologies. This facilitates the tentative translation of financial audit knowledge to the sustainability assurance domain. Collaborative, holistic decision-making processes inform the assurors’ continual construction of materiality and are characterised by alliances of (accountant and non-accountant) ‘expert’ assurors merging formal and tacit knowledge. These alliances seek social cohesion within sustainability assurance teams in order to establish a social consensus among assurors around the materiality determination and assessment process. Our analysis develops and extends Power’s theorisation of how new areas are made auditable and advances our understanding of the more practical aspects of non-financial assurance services offered by Big 4 professional services firms.     

Students’ conceptions of learning in the context of an accounting degree

Students' conceptions of learning (CoL) play an important role in the learning process leading to the development of generic skills. This paper investigates whether CoL of accounting students can be developed by incorporating high-level cognitive skills progressively within the accounting curriculum. First, the study explored, using phenomenography, the variation in accounting students' CoL. The findings highlighted some nuances in accountings students' CoL and that lower-order CoL were prevalent among accounting students. However, more (less) third-year students than second-year students adopted higher- (lower-) order CoL. Upon examining the learning objectives, teaching methods and assessment of all units comprising the accounting major of the host university, evidence was found that CoL are progressively developed and shaped, albeit in a limited way, based on the levels of cognitive domain emphasised within the curriculum. The findings highlight the need for accounting educators to take a whole of the programme approach to developing higher-order CoL.     

The consumerism of ‘voice’ in Norwegian health policy and its dynamics in the transformation of health services

The policy of voice consumerism in Norwegian health policy has enabled patients to be involved in discussions about professional practice. Principles of openness have been successfully introduced in services bound by professional autonomy and discretion. This article demonstrates the influence that Norwegian patients and their representatives have been able to have on service provision in brain injury rehabilitation and mental healthcare.     

The measurement of harmonization in the form and content of the auditor’s report in the European Union

This study attempts to determine the degree of harmonization in the form and content of the auditor’s report in the European Union. To accomplish this goal, audit reports from 1995 annual reports of the largest industrial companies in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom are analyzed. The analysis uses the basic elements of the auditor’s report listed in the International Standard on Auditing, “The Auditor’s Report on Financial Statements” as the control. Comparability is tested using the chi-square statistic which tests for equality of the proportions of the various elements in the auditor’s report across the Member States. The results reveal that harmonization exists in three of the five elements in the auditor report relating to form (appropriate title, the dating of the report and the listing of the location of the auditor’s office). Harmonization does not exist for the remaining two elements related to form, nor does it exist for any of elements related to content.     

Are health insurers in multiple lines of business less profitable? An examination of scope economies in health insurance

In markets where companies can offer multiple products or services, production costs may decline, and profitability may increase as business scope expands. Using a sample of health insurers from 2015 to 2018 with data reported in the annual NAIC Supplemental Health Care Exhibit, we test whether scope economies exist among health insurers. We evaluate the relationship between scope and four profitability metrics—the medical loss ratio, the expense ratio, the underwriting profit ratio, and a profit efficiency measure obtained using a data envelopment analysis technique. We test two competing hypotheses from prior literature on scope economies in insurance. The strategic focus hypothesis states performance is higher for insurers that specialize in one line of business. The conglomeration hypothesis states performance is higher for insurers that operate in multiple lines of business. Our results provide evidence in support of the strategic focus hypothesis among US health insurers.     

Potential Business Opportunities in Construction of New Towns

A Summarized Introduction to the 6 Key Towns in Beijing:The construction of new towns in Beijing means a cut-in point to the accelerated urbanization of rural areas in the suburbs of the City, and is a stimulus to the modernization of the rural areas and the urbanization of the capital city. In order to speed up the construction of towns in the suburbs,     

Use of benchmarks in predicting earnings management?

This study conducts multiple approaches to identify whether earnings benchmarks are an indicator for earnings management within the Australian market. We investigate firms reporting small positive earnings and small positive earnings changes, referred to as benchmark beaters. Accrual quality models, earnings distributions and earnings persistence measures are applied to identify whether benchmark beating firms are manipulating earnings. Our findings suggest that the small positive earnings benchmark attracts earnings managers. However, we do not identify any evidence to indicate that the positive earnings change benchmark is a signal for earnings management.     

The Impact of Austerity in the Framework of Corporate Rescue and the Rights of Workers in the EU: A Road to Recovery?

The financial crisis and the sovereign debt crisis have been attributed to a number of causes. Whether these are economic, social, cultural or legal, they are all by and large also political. The aim of this article is not to delve into the myriad of heated political arguments that continue to dominate the scene but to assess the impact of the financial crisis on the employment protection rights and the corporate rescue regimes in Greece, Portugal, France and the UK. In light of the crisis, the rights of the workforce have been severely compromised to afford financially troubled companies a greater opportunity to recover. In order to minimise the catastrophic impact of financial turmoil on their economy and society, all four jurisdictions introduced reforms to their labour codes and corporate rescue mechanisms, often in the name of austerity. This article will offer a snapshot of the changes and their effects and an assessment whether or not the reforms of pre‐insolvency regimes have operated as an effective embankment for the protection of social and economic welfare. The purpose of this piece is to shed a light on the changes that have occurred and that have affected employment rights in the domestic legal systems of individual member states, as influenced to some extent by the EU in its expectations of improvements to increase labour market flexibility, and whether corporate rescue mechanisms in individual member states are able to provide some counterbalance to the erosion of employment rights generally. Copyright © 2017 INSOL International and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How to identify targets in the M&A banking operations? Case of cross-border strategies in Europe by line of activity

During the last decades, the European banking system has known some deep changes. They have led to mergers and acquisitions (M&As). The available studies show that the failure rate of theses M&As is relatively high. Cross-border operations are more exposed to this risk. The high failure rate is due to the cultural and contextual differences between the M&A participants, differences which make the process of integration particularly difficult. Thus, the success of M&As depends on the choice of adequate M&A targets. This choice constitutes the main challenge for company leadership. The aim of this paper is therefore to determine the factors which permit to identify the M&A targets. Our contribution compared to that of previous research is that we study M&As and the identification of targets by line of bank activities. On the basis of a sample made up of 1071 European banks, between 2000 and 2006, we use a Logit Multinomial Model. Our main results show that the target banks tend to be specialized in investment and market activities while the acquiring banks tend to approach themselves to the universal bank model.     

Particulate matter air pollution control programs in Japan — an analysis of health risks in the absence of future remediation

The objective of this case study was to assess potential health risks and productivity loss in the absence of future additional environmental control of particulate matter (PM) in Japan. Assuming a 10% decline in PM, the estimates of the numbers of possible cases of premature mortality and morbidity that could be prevented in the year 2010 were (1) 8700 long term deaths, (2) 12,000 cases of chronic bronchitis, (3) 24,000 cases of cardiovascular disease, (4) 10,000 cases of pneumonia, (5) 18,000 asthma attacks, and (6) 12,000 cases of acute bronchitis during a one year period. The best estimate of medical costs plus lost productivity in adults and children was $56 billion USD. When compared to a separately derived estimate of $31 billion USD in avoided pollution control costs, the health risk to no‐control benefit ratio of 1.8 suggests that additional future pollution control policies would successfully prevent a large expense to the society in medical care and lost productivity while imposing a lesser cost to the private sector in control equipment, to government in oversight expenses and to society in opportunity costs.     

The role of institutional investors in propagating the crisis of 2007–2008

Using novel data on investors' bond portfolios, we study the contagion of the crisis from securitized bonds to corporate bonds. When securitized bonds became “toxic” in August 2007, mutual funds retained the now illiquid securitized bonds and sold corporate bonds. Funds with negative flows or high liquidity needs liquidated more than others. Yield spreads increased more for corporate bonds whose pre-crisis bondholders were more heavily exposed to securitized bonds, compared to same-issuer bonds held by unexposed investors. The findings suggest that liquidity-constrained investors with exposure to securitized bonds played a role in propagating the crisis from securitized to corporate bonds.     

Discussion of ‘The antecedents of the use of continuous auditing in the internal auditing context’

Gonzalez et al. (2012) apply the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT, Venkatesh et al., 2003) to the issue of adoption of continuous auditing (CA) by internal auditors. The authors make a very convincing case for the slow evolution of CA and propose that this can be explained by the four factors contained in the UTAUT as well as annual sales and voluntariness of use. They find, in their revised model, that effort expectancy and social influence directly impact intentions to use the technology, while performance expectancy is moderated by annual sales and social influence is moderated by voluntariness of use. Interestingly, the authors also identify geographical differences in these influences. I offer commentary on these findings and suggest avenues for future research in the domain of technology adoption and use in accounting.     

Particulate matter air pollution control programs in Japan — an analysis of cost savings in the absence of future remediation

The objectives of this study were to assess avoided economic costs (or anticipated ‘benefits’) of not implementing new environmental policies for particulate matter (PM) in Japan and compare these future benefits to estimates of future health risks developed in a separate analysis. The estimates for the benefits of avoided PM pollution control in the year 2010 were (1) $27 billion USD for stationary source controls, (2) $2.1 billion to $3.3 billion USD for diesel motor vehicle controls, (3) $41 million USD for governmental employee salaries, (4) $470 million USD for governmental financial assistance, (5) $510 million USD for special diesel vehicle control measures in Tokyo, and (6) $31 billion USD for total costs.

Using human health and productivity risks, calculated in a separate study to be $56 billion USD, the best net ratio of benefits to costs was 1.8 to 1. Inexpensive control options include road watering or paving for unpaved dirt roads and road vacuuming for paved roads. Intermediate options include differential road pricing, retrofitting diesel particulate filters, and reformulating diesel fuel. High cost options include adding particulate controls, such as wet scrubbers, baghouses, and electrostatic precipitators on uncontrolled stationary sources.     

Governance and compliance in accounting education in Vietnam – case of a public university

Prior research suggests that despite the mass development of higher education in Vietnam recently, the quality of higher education is declining. This study aims to understand the impact of the education reform on the quality of university accounting education by investigating the involvement of different stakeholders in accounting education within one leading university in Vietnam. The findings from the interviews of key stakeholders suggest that accounting education in Vietnam is driven by reduced state control, growing institutional autonomy and increasing external guidance. This has come at the expense of reduced academic self-governance as lecturers have discretion in curriculum delivery at the individual course level, but little input into the decision-making at the school or university level and minimal participation in the curriculum development process. The findings enable regulators and decision-makers to better understand the dynamics between stakeholders in accounting education to enhance accounting graduates’ competencies and outcomes.     

Bias in the tone of forward‐looking narratives

We extend the prior literature on biased disclosure decisions by examining whether, when and how managers bias the tone of forward‐looking narratives. In order to measure tone we employ techniques of manual content analysis and we aggregate positive, neutral and negative statements into an overall measure of tone.We then analyse the frequency of positive and negative statements for firms with large impending year‐on‐year changes in sales and operating profit margin, and we regress tone cross‐sectionally on four managerial incentive variables that are unrelated to the private signal about future trading, namely loss status, sign of earnings change, business risk, and the existence of an analyst earnings forecast. We find that firms with large impending performance declines bias the tone in the outlook section upwards. Also, we find that loss firms, risky firms and firms with an analyst earnings forecast provide a more positive tone, while firms with an earnings decline provide a more negative tone. Finally, we observe that for a majority of our managerial incentive variables the main vehicle of biasing the tone is to change the number of negative statements, not the number of positive statements. Overall, our findings are difficult to reconcile with predictions from signalling models, but they are consistent with the alternative view of impression management. Our results have policy implications. In particular, they suggest that there is a need to reconsider the current largely unregulated nature of forward‐looking narratives.     

Gender stereotyping in financial advisors’ assessment of customers

This article presents the results of a comparison of male and female advisors’ assessment of their customers. The findings from the empirical material, consisting of 361 advisors’ answers to a questionnaire, show significant evidence that advisors assess their customers differently depending not only on customer gender, but also according to their own gender. The investigated variables are the advisors’ assessment of consumers’ perception of their own risk tolerance, customer satisfaction with the advisor, customer trust in the advisor, customer likelihood to follow the advice given and advisors’ ratings of customer financial literacy. Male advisors rated consumers’ answers higher than did their female colleagues for all variables, with the exception of advisors’ ratings of consumer financial literacy. Advisors and their employers in the financial services industry, as well as policymakers, should be aware of the possible association between advisor gender and potential gender stereotyping of clients.