A Review of the Proposals for Reform of Independence of Australian Company Auditors

The Ramsay Report on the Independence of Australian Company Auditors, released in October 2001, contains a review of the current Australian requirements and proposals for reform of the rules and regulations governing auditor independence. In this paper we provide a critical examination of these proposals, in conjunction with any underlying rationale offered in the report. Assuming the onus of proof rests with the proponents of change, we argue that the justification for regulatory change is not well made. We pose a series of questions about the proposals and their potential economic consequences. Many of these questions are empirical and provide opportunities for further research.     

对当前柳州市金融业推动区域经济发展出路的思考

近年来,金融业在支持柳州区域经济发展方面贡献卓著,但是也面临着如何实现金融业自身做大做强与促进区域经济协调发展的问题,这是发展中的问题,要在发展中解决.本文通过对当前柳州市金融业面临的改革困境与创新障碍进行分析,就如何通过金融改革和金融创新来促进柳州市经济实现又好又快发展,提出了自己的粗浅看法和具体建议.     

An Analysis of the Content of Corporate Submissions on Proposed Accounting Standards in the UK

In this paper, ‘content analysis’ is used to investigate corporate submissions on proposed accounting standards on two levels. First, the written submissions of companies on 28 of the first 31 UK Exposure Drafts (EDs) are examined in detail for any economic or political references. A moderate level of evidence is found to support the hypothesis that some potential economic and political consequences of ED proposals are a major interest of corporate management. The second ‘content analysis’ endeavours to identify the relative significance to corporate management of 27 EDs by simply comparing the absolute and relative numbers both of respondents and also of lines in their ‘comments’. This approach could be used to derive ‘weights’ for analytical models that consider the economic and political consequences of groups of ED ‘comments’ together. It is found that there are statistically significant high positive correlations between the results of the two content analyses. That is, EDs that in their ‘comments’ received the most (least) frequent references to economic and political consequences, also tended to be the most (least) significant in terms of volume of submissions. This indicates that the EDs included in the study were remarkably consistent in their overall economic and political impact on corporate commentators.     

非寿险业实施《企业会计准则解释第2号》的预期经济后果分析

保险业全面实施<企业会计准则解释第2号>,是中国保险业和保险会计准则发展史上新的里程碑,它的实施必然会产生一定的经济后果.人们在对经济后果思考的同时,也对新准则的执行效力和是否能推动中国保险业持续与稳定发展表示担忧.本文首先归纳和总结非寿险业实施保险新会计准则的预期正面经济后果,其次探讨其实施新准则的预期负面经济后果,...     

The current economic crisis and international business. Can we say anything meaningful about future scenarios?

The paper starts with a list of stylized facts on economic trends in the last few decades with particular attention to international elements. A very brief analysis of the current economic crisis is then attempted. The root cause, the causa causans, of the excessive growth of the financial sector and the inevitable current crisis is identified in the lack of profitable investment opportunities in advanced capitalist systems. The short-term remedies include a shift in income distribution to increase the consumption component of effective demand; it also includes serious regulation of the financial sector at both national and international levels. In the medium to longer term governments should consider engaging in large investment projects such as alternative sources of energy, transport as well as in public services. This might help to improve conditions for profitable private sector investment, thus benefiting both the workers and the capitalists operating in the real sector at the expense of the rent-seekers. The paper then draws some inference on key elements likely to impact on futures, particularly with respect to internationalization and the two types of innovation identified in the stylized facts: organizational and technological. Inference is drawn with respect to the economic system as well as to economics as a scientific and academic field. The final discussion draws these various elements together.     

Finding a lasting cure for U.S. health care

In "Making Competition in Health Care Work" (July-August 1994), Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg, Michael E. Porter, and Gregory B. Brown ask a question that has been absent from the national debate on health care reform: How can the United States achieve sustained cost reductions while at the same time maintaining quality of care? The authors argue that innovation driven by rigorous competition is the key to successful reform. A lasting cure for health care in the United States should include four basic elements: corrected incentives to spur productive competition, universal insurance to secure economic efficiency, relevant information to ensure meaningful choice, and innovation to guarantee dynamic improvement. In this issue's Perspectives section, eleven experts examine the current state of the health care system and offer their views on the shape that reform should take. Some excerpts: "On the road to innovation, let us not forget to develop the tools that allow physicians, payers, and patients to make better decisions." I. Steven Udvarhelyi; "Health care is not a product or service that can be standardized, packaged, marketed, or adequately judged by consumers according to quality and price." Arnold S. Relman; "Just as antitrust laws are the wise restraints that make competition free in other sectors of the economy, so the right kind of managed competition can work well in health care." Edward M. Kennedy "Biomedical research should be considered primarily an investment in the national economic well-being with additional humanitarian benefits." Elizabeth Marincola.     

续贷限制与企业技术创新

本文以2007年的银行续贷政策改革作为“准自然实验”,采用双重差分模型探讨了续贷限制对企业技术创新的影响。研究发现,续贷限制显著抑制了企业的技术创新,且经过一系列稳健性检验后,该结论依然成立。进一步研究发现,该政策的作用效果因专利类型的不同而存在较大差异,具体表现为,在续贷限制之后,相较于低质量非发明专利,企业高质量发明专利下降幅度更大,进而企业创新质量降低。作用机制检验发现,续贷限制会降低企业信贷规模、缩短企业信贷期限以及增加企业融资成本,进而抑制企业技术创新。上述结果表明,“一刀切”式地收紧续贷标准会强化企业的融资约束,限制信贷资金对企业技术创新的支持作用,最终不利于企业的转型升级。本文研究为当前的续贷政策提供了来自企业创新视角的理论依据和实践参考。     

Hired Guns: Local Government Mergers in New South Wales and the KPMG Modelling Report

Across the developed world, including Australia, public policymaking now rests heavily on commissioned reports generated by for‐profit consultants, contrasting starkly with the earlier customary reliance on the civil service to provide informed policy advice to political decision makers. Dependence on commercial consultants is problematic, especially given the moral hazards involved in ‘hired guns’ providing support for policy ‘solutions’ desired by their political paymasters. This paper provides a vivid illustration of some of the dangers flowing from the use of consultants by examining the methodology employed by KPMG in its empirical analysis of the pecuniary consequences of proposed municipal mergers as part of the New South Wales’ (NSW) Government's Fit for the Future local government reform program. We show that the KPMG (2016) modelling methodology is awash with errors which render its conclusions on the financial viability of the NSW merger proposals fatally flawed.     

营业税改征增值税的税率评估——基于可计算一般均衡模型的研究

营业税改征增值税是完善我国税制的一个重要举措,确定各个产业部门改征增值税后的税率是其中一个关键的环节。运用可计算一般均衡模型可以评估营业税改征增值税之后不同税率的选择对宏观经济和产业结构的影响。政策模拟的结果显示,目前正在实施的营业税改征增值税的试点方案权衡了对财政收入和经济增长以及经济结构的影响,是对经济运行影响较小的稳健选择。     

续贷限制与企业技术创新

本文以2007年的银行续贷政策改革作为“准自然实验”,采用双重差分模型探讨了续贷限制对企业技术创新的影响。研究发现,续贷限制显著抑制了企业的技术创新,且经过一系列稳健性检验后,该结论依然成立。进一步研究发现,该政策的作用效果因专利类型的不同而存在较大差异,具体表现为,在续贷限制之后,相较于低质量非发明专利,企业高质量发明专利下降幅度更大,进而企业创新质量降低。作用机制检验发现,续贷限制会降低企业信贷规模、缩短企业信贷期限以及增加企业融资成本,进而抑制企业技术创新。上述结果表明,“一刀切”式地收紧续贷标准会强化企业的融资约束,限制信贷资金对企业技术创新的支持作用,最终不利于企业的转型升级。本文研究为当前的续贷政策提供了来自企业创新视角的理论依据和实践参考。     

New approaches to the finance and delivery of health care

Radical reform of the financing of health care has emerged onto the political agenda in recent months. Any new proposals must, however, be judged in terms of their impact on the fundamental public policy objectives of efficiency, equity and choice. How do the new proposals measure up?     

Economic Effects of Making the 2001 and 2003 Tax Cuts Permanent

All of the provisions of the landmark tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 are scheduled to expire by the end of 2010. This paper analyzes the economic effects of making the tax cuts permanent. We describe the recent tax cuts and the proposals to make them permanent, and explore the consequences of making the tax cuts permanent with regard to the fiscal status of the government, the distribution of after-tax income, and prospects for long-term economic growth.JEL Code: H24     

The Basel Committee proposals for a new capital accord: implications for Italian banks

Following a few general considerations on the recently proposed revision of the Basel Agreement on capital adequacy, this paper focuses on the first pillar of the Basel Committee proposals, the handling of capital requirements for credit risk in the banking book. The Basel Committee envisages an approach alternatively based on external ratings or on internal rating systems for the determination of the minimum capital requirement related to bank loan portfolios. This approach supports a system of capital requirements that is more sensitive to credit risk. On the basis of specific assumptions, these requirements provide a measure of the value at risk (VaR) produced by models used by major international banks. We first address the impact of the standardised and (internal ratings-based) IRB foundation approach using general data on Italian banks loans' portfolios default rates. We then simulate the impact of the proposed new rules on the corporate loan portfolios of Italian banks, using the unique data set of mortality rates recently published by the Bank of Italy. Three main conclusions emerge from the analysis: (i) the standardised approach implicitly penalizes Italian banks in their interbank funding as their rating is generally below AA/Aa, (ii) the average default rate experienced by Italian banks is higher than the one implied in the benchmark risk weight (BRW) proposed by the Basel Committee for the IRB foundation approach, thereby potentially leading to an increase in the regulatory risk weights, and (iii) the risk-weight is based on an average asset correlation that is significantly higher than the one historically recorded within the Italian banks' corporate borrowers. These findings support the need for a significant revision of the basic inputs and assumptions of the Basel proposals. Finally, in relation to the conditions that allow the capital market to effectively discipline banks, we comment on the proposals advanced in relation to the third pillar of the new capital adequacy scheme.     

Block grant: The story of a failure

The Government's proposals for the reform of local government finance should primarily be evaluated in terms of their impact on the efficiency and accountability of local budget‐making. Criticisms of their distributional implications are largely beside the point.     

国企“混改”与企业金融资产配置

本文利用2010～2017年中国沪深A股非金融类上市公司面板数据,考察了国企“混改”对企业金融资产配置的影响,并重点分析了国企“混改”过程中企业金融资产配置的动机。结果显示,非国有股东参股促进了国有企业的金融资产投资。机制检验发现,非国有股东参股通过治理效应路径和融资约束路径共同影响了国有企业的金融资产配置行为,具体表现为非国有股东参股带来的监督治理效应和融资约束强化效应均增强了国有企业配置金融资产的预防性储蓄动机,进而促使国有企业增加金融资产投资。上述研究结果表明,非国有股东参股推动的国有企业金融资产投资并非出于短期利益追逐,而是为了平滑企业投资进行的预防性储蓄。本文研究对于如何通过深化混合所有制改革引导企业“脱虚向实”有一定的借鉴意义。     

Accounting for Public Policy Actions: The Case of Motor Carrier Deregulation

An important concern of accounting policy is the provision of guidance for the reporting of relevant information related to economic events including public policy actions. In the case of motor carrier deregulation, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued a specialized accounting standard which required all regulated motor carriers to write off as extraordinary losses the intangible assets associated with their interstate operating rights. The specific focus of the present research was to investigate the extent to which these reported accounting losses reflect real economic losses. The findings provide evidence that industry-wide economic losses are unsubstantiated. The study concludes that a requirement that all firms involved in a regulatory reform to report write-offs which are unsupported by entity-specific transactions or events can result in serious economic consequences. Also discussed are the more general issues relevant to the promulgation of specialized accounting standards, the impact of accounting policy on public policy formulations, and accounting treatments for politically sensitive issues.     

Adjustment costs of institutional tax changes from the audit pricing perspective: Empirical evidence from the VAT reform

Institutional changes inevitably impose adjustment costs on firms while also generating benefits. However, empirical evidence regarding the adjustment costs of institutional changes is limited, with much of the focus centered on benefits. Using data on China’s A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2018 and the nation’s staggered adoption of the “business tax to value-added tax reform” (hereafter, “VAT reform”) as a natural experiment, we examine the impact of this reform on a particular corporate cost: audit fees. We find audit fees to be 8.11% higher for VAT reform firms than for non-VAT reform firms. This difference does not exist before or after the reform year. That is, it is only observed in the year of VAT reform implementation. This indicates the existence of an adjustment cost specifically related to the VAT reform. Furthermore, we observe larger fee increases among firms audited by Big 4 international audit firms, firms that require more audit work, firms that are more complex, and firms with weak internal controls. From the audit pricing perspective, we provide evidence of the economic consequences of tax reform. The corporate adjustment costs that arise from institutional changes deserve more attention from decision-makers.     

What Can America Learn from the British Tax System?

This paper examines elements of British tax policy and discusses their implications for the US, where several recent proposals would mirror aspects of the British system. These include reducing filing requirements under the individual income tax, indexing capital gains for inflation, cutting mortgage interest deductions, enacting a value added tax, and integrating the corporate and personal income taxes. The paper also discusses implications of the poll tax for tax reform. Britain and America have made different choices involving equity, efficiency, simplicity and other goals. These choices offer the chance to help identify the impact of tax policy. JEL classification: H20.     

“乡财县管”改革、基层政府治理与经济发展

县乡两级政府处于我国政府层级的最末端，是大量公共事务的最终承担者，科学合理的县乡财政管理体制，是提升基层治理能力的重要制度保障。2004年以来，我国一些省份相继推行了乡财县管改革，由县级政府直接管理并监督乡镇财政，乡镇财政管理权被大幅度上收到县。本文利用2000-2019年的县域面板数据和双重差分模型，评估了乡财县管改革对经济发展的影响。结果显示，乡财县管促进了县域经济发展。机制分析显示，乡财县管减少了行政管理支出比重，抑制了财政供养人员规模膨胀，降低了税费负担。这些结果表明，加强上级政府对基层政府的财政管理与监督，有助于改善治理水平、促进经济发展。本文也发现，在地形较为复杂的人口大县及经济较发达地区的县，由于改革一定程度上提高了县级政府获取信息的难度，不利于发挥乡镇政府的积极性，乡财县管对经济发展的提升效果相对较弱，这说明，乡财县管不宜“一刀切”地实行。     

Comparing the top and the bottom income earners: Distribution of income and taxes in the United States

Tax reform is again at the center stage as Congress grapples with ideas to reduce the US budget deficit and the country readies itself for another election year. Given this unusually charged tax reform season, populist and party rhetoric appears to the general population to have largely replaced reasoned debate as politicians, economists and pundits “cherry pick” facts to justify their claims. Our contribution to the current debate on tax equity is that this is one of the very few studies that jointly consider the impact of payroll and income taxes. Most tax equity studies focus only on the federal income tax and as such issue misleading implications. It is important to jointly consider payroll and income taxes because (a) for taxpayers in lower income ranges, the payroll tax burden outweighs the income tax burden, while (b) for higher income taxpayers income from wages above $106,800 ($110,000 in 2012) are payroll-tax free, and (c) other sources of income, namely dividends and capital gains, are not subject to payroll taxes at all. Thus, we provide a more comprehensive picture of the overall progressivity (or lack thereof) exhibited by the current tax laws. In addition, we also consider how some often-raised tax proposals would prospectively affect income inequality and tax progressivity.