Institutional theory and accounting rule choice: an analysis of four US state governments' decisions to adopt generally accepted accounting principles

In this study, we use institutional theory to explore how institutional pressures exerted on four state governments (New York, Michigan, Ohio, Delaware) influenced the decision of these governments to adopt or resist the use of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) for external financial reporting. We identify resource dependence as a potent form of coercive institutional pressure that was associated with early GAAP adoption. We identify three factors that may lead to initial resistance to institutional pressures for change. First, if accounting bureaucrats are not active in professional associations that promote GAAP adoption, they may miss the educational process that we believe is important to early adoption of GAAP. Second, organizational printing may impede GAAP adoption. Third, powerful interests may impede GAAP if the proposed GAAP legislation is expected to alter the existing power relationships. We found that key accounting bureaucrats in New York and Michigan used “compromise” as an initial strategic response to institutional pressures to adopt GAAP, Ohio's key accounting bureaucrat adopted a “defy” strategy, although the political leadership endorsed an “acquiesce” strategy. While Delaware initially employed a “manipulate”strategy with some success. Delaware did not adopt GAAP for external reporting until a political entrepreneur for GAAP emerged in the early 1990s. Our study suggests that all strategic responses to resist institutional pressures for GAAP adoption will ultimately fail because of the potency of the institutional pressures that result from the well organized professional accounting and governmental institutional fields.     

Antecedents and consequences of tourists’ satisfaction in sport event: Mediating role of destination image

Abstract

In this study, we determined the causal relationship between some of the predictors and outcomes of sports tourists’ satisfaction using structural equation modeling. Motivation and involvement as predictors and behavioral intentions (WOM and intention to revisit) were considered as outcomes. The results indicated the significant mediating role of destination image in the relationship between involvement and satisfaction. So, Event organizers need to pay special attention to the psychological characteristics of tourists, such as their motivations and involvement. As a result, they can take some benefits in behavioral outcomes, such as word of mouths and intention to revisit.     

A productivity growth accounting approach to the ranking of developing and developed nations

Productivity growth accounting studies generally focus on productivity growth or decline in more developed countries such as the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members. In this paper, we develop a generalized efficiency index for a much larger set of 57 national governments (NGs), both developing and developed, by employing four components of gross national product and five resource-availability indicators. Using a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) linear-programming approach, we maximize the components of Gross National Product (GNP), subject to minimizing specific resource-input measures. If used with appropriate precautions, the DEA-based comparative production-efficiency measures developed here can be used by individual NGs and international organizations like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to make equitable and sustainable lending-allocation decisions in the public and private sectors of the increasingly interdependent global economy.     

Hybrid performance evaluation of sustainable service and manufacturing supply chain management: An integrated approach of fuzzy dematel and fuzzy inference system

The aim of this paper is to propose a comprehensive framework for simultaneously measuring the performance of sustainable service and manufacturing supply chain management. Application of the proposed approach also results in reduced uncertainty of the performance measurement process caused by qualitative criteria evaluation. The proposed approach consists of two main steps. First, the fuzzy decision‐making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method has been used to determine important criteria by avoiding low influences; and then a Mamdani fuzzy inference system model has been adopted and applied for performance evaluation of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). This model is employed in order to cope with the vagueness that exists in the SSCM performance investigation due to the vagueness intrinsic in the evaluation of criteria. In the proposed model, human reasoning has been modelled with fuzzy inference rules and has been set in the system, which is an advantage compared with those models in which fuzzy set theory and multicriteria decision‐making models are integrated. The proposed approach has been implemented in the pipe and fitting industry in order to highlight its application in real life. Sensitivity analysis has been carried out to determine the influence of service and manufacturing criteria on SSCM performance. The findings reveal that sustainable manufacturing criteria compared with sustainable service criteria have more effect on the performance of SSCM.     

Computational thinking embedded in engineering design: capturing computational thinking of children in an informal engineering design activity

Just as engineering and computational thinking have recently gained increased attention in pre-college school-based education, many museums and science centers have also designed exhibits and experiences to promote computational thinking and engineering learning. Recent reports suggest that computational and engineering thinking can empower each other, and engineering design can be an appropriate context for children’s engagement in computational thinking. Previous studies have documented young children’s abilities to engage in engineering thinking and other studies have collected evidence of young children’s abilities to engage in computational thinking. However, there is little research that explores how children’s engagement in both engineering and computational thinking can support each other. Hence, in this qualitative case study, we aimed to examine how 5 to 7-year-old children engage in computational thinking competencies in the context of a family based engineering design activity. This activity was conducted at a small science center exhibit. In our presented findings we map children’s enactment of at least one CT competency to children’s engagement in engineering design actions.

     

Bilateral trade between China and Canada: trends,patterns, and comparisons

Using data from the United Nations Comtrade database Standard International Trade Classification Revision III, this study examined major trends of and changes in the bilateral trade between Canada and China. It investigated issues related to trade intensities, intra‐industry trade, comparative advantages, and trade complementarity in the two countries. The results showed that there has been a significant increase in bilateral trade between the two countries over the past decade or so. However, the estimated trade intensity indices suggest that Canada and China are trading less than they should. On the other hand, analysis using revealed comparative advantage indices suggests that there is no overlap in comparative advantage between two countries. Further, the trade complementarity indices show that Canada's export structure is compatible with China's import structure and at the same time, China's export structure is also compatible with Canada's import structure. Thus, there is a high potential to increase bilateral trade between Canada and China.     

Corporate governance antecedents to shareholder activism: A zero‐inflated process

Research summary: Shareholder activism has become more widespread, yet the role of corporate governance as antecedent to shareholder activism remains equivocal. We propose a new conceptual model that characterizes the stochastic of observable shareholder activism as a compound product of two latent components representing (1) shareholder activists' propensity to target a company and (2) executives' propensity to settle activists' demands privately. Our model explicitly decouples corporate governance expectations for the two latent components embedded in activism process, and thus allows us to relax assumptions of homogenous shareholder interests and constrained managerial discretion where corporate managers are expected to negotiate privately and settle only value‐creating activist demands. Bayesian analysis of zero‐inflated Poisson regression reveals that corporate governance relationships with activism vary across shareholder demands and private settlements. Managerial summary: Increasing shareholder activism has generated debates as to whether activism promotes managerial accountability and responsibility or instead encourages managerial short‐termism. Our research model allows for heterogeneous interests among a company's shareholders. We theorize and empirically investigate a broader role of corporate governance: governance mechanisms need to ensure that executives are not (1) ignoring activists' value‐increasing demands or (2) accommodating activists' value‐decreasing demands in a private, opaque manner that disenfranchises other shareholders. Our results indicate that corporate governance implications differ for visible shareholder demands in contrast with private activism. A plausible application of our model is that it provides estimates of the probability of the numbers of shareholder demands to be received by a firm and the probability of privately settling a demand. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An analysis of industrial–agricultural interactions: a case study in Pakistan

This paper empirically analyzes the relationship between Pakistan's industrial and agricultural sectors. Pakistan was chosen because of its status of a semi‐industrialized country with heavy dependence on the agricultural sector. The relationship between cotton production and industrial growth is also evaluated due to the prominence of this crop in Pakistani agriculture. The results indicate that these sectors are complementary, yet industry tends to benefit more from agricultural growth than vice versa. The timing of this information is critical, as Pakistan's policy makers now face major agricultural policy reforms in their quest for continued industrial development.     

A comparison of national and international aggregate supply and demand var models: The United States,Japan and the European economic community

Zusammenfassung Ein Vergleich von nationalen und internationalen VAR-Modellen mit Angebots- und Nachfrageaggregaten: USA, Japan und Europ?ische Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft. - Es wird gezeigt, da\ für nationale Volkswirtschaften und auch für supranationale Gebilde vektorautoregressive Modelle konstruiert werden k?nnen, die Ergebnisse liefern, welche mit einem theoretischen Rahmen für Aggregate des Angebots und der Nachfrage in Einklang stehen. Energiepreise sind in allen Modellen einigerma\en wichtig, aber Geldangebot und Zinsen sind in dem EWG-Modell ziemlich unbedeutend. Natürlich kann dieses Ergebnis auf die Unterschiede zwischen der EWG, den USA und Japan zurückzuführen sein oder auf die Aggregation innerhalb des EWG-Modells. Trotzdem stimmt dieses Ergebnis mit den theoretischen Erwartungen überein, wonach alle Volkswirtschaften gemeinsamen weltweiten Angebotsschocks gegenüberstehen, aber - bei manipulierten floatenden Wechselkursen - eine gewisse monet?re Unabh?ngigkeit besitzen.

---

Resumen Comparación de modelos autoregresivos de oferta y demanda agregada nacionales e internacionales: EE.UU., Japón y la Comunidad Económica Europea. - Se demuestra que los modelos VAR pueden ser construidos para economias tanto nacionales como supranacionales con resultados consistentes con el marco teórico de oferta y demanda agregadas. Los precios de energia tienen una cierta importancia en todos los modelos; la oferta monetaria y las tasas de interés no son importantes en el modelo para la CEE. Sin embargo, este resultado es consistente con expectativas teóricas segiín las cuales todas las economias enfrentan shocks de oferta globales comunes, pero disponen de un cierto grado de independencia monetaria en el marco de una flotatión administrada del tipo de cambio.

---

Résumé Une comparaison entre des modéles VAR nationaux et internationaux d’offre et demande agrégée: les E.U., le Japon et la CEE. - Les auteurs demontrent que les modéles vecteurautorégressifs peuvent etre construits pour des économies nationales aussi bien que supranationales et que ces modeles produisent des résultats qui s’accordent avec le cadre théorique de l’offre et de la demande agrégée. Les prix d’énérgie sont importants dans tous les modéles jusqu’a un certain point, mais la masse monétaire et les taux d’ interet sont moins importants dans le modéle CEE. Naturellement, ce résultat peut etre expliqué par les différences entre la CEE et les E.U. et le Japon ou par l’agrégation dans le modéle CEE. Cependant, ce résultat est consistant avec des expectatives théoriques car toutes les économies sont confrontees avec des chocs d’offre communs globaux mais disposent de quelque independance monétaire grace au systéme de changes flottants dirigés.

     

The pattern of trade in individual products: A test of simple theories

Zusammenfassung Der Handel mit einzelnen Produkten: ein Test einfacher Theorien. — Der Zweck dieses Aufsatzes ist es, die Leistungsf?higkeit von drei einfachen Theorien zur Prognose des Handels mit einzelnen Produkten zu testen. Wenn wir diese Theorien nacheinander prüfen, so stellen wir fest, da\ die Skalenertrags-Hypothese nichts erbringt, aber sowohl die Faktorproportionen-Hypothese als auch die Neotechnologie-Hypothese signifikante und konsistente Erkl?rungen für die Wahrscheinlichkeit des Exports einzelner Produkte liefern. Die Arbeit zeigt auch, da\ die beiden erfolgreichen Hypothesen sinnvoll zu einer kombinierten Hypothese verbunden werden k?nnen, in der die Exportwahrscheinlichkeit sowohl von neo-technologischen Aspekten als auch von Faktorproportionen abh?ngt. In diesem kombinierten Erkl?rungsansatz beeinflu\t die Kapitalintensit?t — sei sie aggregiert oder in physisches und Humankapital disaggregiert — den Handel nur, wenn es sich um standardisierte Produkte mit einfacher Technologie handelt.

---

Résumé La structure de commerce extérieur avec des biens individuels: un test des théories simples. — Le but de cet article est de tester la performance de trois simples théories qui prédisent le commerce extérieur avec des biens individuels. En testant ces théories, pour la même période, nous trouvons que les approches des proportions de facteur aussi bien que les approches néo-technologiques donnent une explication significative et consistante de la probabilité d’exporter les biens individuels pendant que l’approche des économies d’échelle ne la donne pas. Cet étude aussi trouve que les deux explications couronnées de succès peuvent être productivement combinées dans une approche composite, dans laquelle la probabilité d’exportation dépend des considérations néo-technologique et des proportions de facteur. Dans cette approche explicative l’intensité de capitaux, ou bien agrégée ou bien desagrégée dans l’intensité de capitaux humaine et physique, influence le commerce extérieur seulement avec des produits standardisés et de technologie basse.

---

Resumen El perrón de commercio en productos individuales: un test de teorías simples. — El propósito de este estudio es investigar el desempe?o de tres teorías simples para predecir el comercio de productos individuales. Probando estas teorias, una tras otra, encontramos que mientras la explicación de las economías de escala no es satisfactoria, las explicaciones de proporciones de factores y neotecnológica, respectivamente, proveen una explicación significativa y consistente de la probabilidad de exportar productos individuales. En este estudio también se encontró que las dos explicaciones satisfactorias pueden combinarse exitosamente en una explicación compuesta, en la que la probabilidad de exportación depende de consideraciones neo-tecnológicas como también de consideraciones de proporciones de factores. En esta explicación compuesta, la intensidad de capital, agregada o desagregada en intensidad de capital física o humana, influencia el comercio solo de productos estandarizados de baja tecnología.