Tolerance for uncertainty and the growth of informationally opaque industries

Hofstede's [Hofstede, Geert H. 1980. Culture's consequences: international differences in work-related values. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.] cross-country psychological survey of IBM employees finds that some countries (societies) are systematically less tolerant of uncertainty, while uncertainty-tolerance is shown by some theoretic models to be essential to the growth of emerging sectors about which less is known. This paper first uses Durnev, Morck, and Yeung's [Durnev, Art, Morck, Randall, and Yeung, Bernard. 2004. Value-enhancing capital budgeting and firm-specific stock return variation. The Journal of Finance. 59(1): 65–105.] methodology to identify these informationally opaque industries. The hypothesis is then made that countries characterized by high uncertainty aversion (measured by Hofstede's indicator, and two other alternative indicators) will grow disproportionately slower in industrial sectors where information is less available. Using the Rajan and Zingales [Rajan, Raghuram G. and Zingales, Luigi. 1998. Financial Dependence and Growth. American Economic Review. Vol. 88(3): 559–586.] “difference-in-differences” methodology, which is relatively free from the endogeneity problem, the study provides robust evidence of such an industrial growth pattern in 34 countries and 36 manufacturing industries. It also shows that national uncertainty aversion is not driven by underdevelopment of financial sector, inadaptability of civil law systems, lower level of economic or human capital development, labor market inflexibility, or any of many other institutional factors. The results remain robust when religious (Catholic vs. Protestant) composition is used as an instrumental variable for national uncertainty aversion. The international evidence presented helps explain why some countries are slower in embracing “new” (vs. traditional) industries.     

开放式基金投资风格浅析

近年来，开放式基金在我国发展极为迅速，在数量不断增加的同时，呈现出的风格日趋多样化。面对种类繁多的开放式基金，投资者很难分清哪种投资风格更适合自己的风险偏好，因而投资风格逐渐成为基金最重要的识别系统之一。本文首先介绍了开放式基金的定义，其次，根据财务指标对开放式基金的投资风格进行分类并描述不同类型基金的特点。最后分析了基金最终风格出现趋同的原因。     

基于SPC的喷漆线产品质量改善

针对汽车配件制造企业喷漆车间中的喷漆线,应用统计过程控制(SPC)技术对影响喷漆线产品质量的因素进行分析,着重对影响喷漆线产品质量的人为因素进行量化,并建立方程进行研究,找出了影响喷漆线产品质量的主要因素,并提出了相应的改进意见。     

对中国形成世界制造中心进程的冷思考

改革开放以来，我国迅速成为制造业大国，但还远远不是制造业的世界中心。只有认清我国制造业存在的预期利润低、结构不合理、产业链的低端定位、边际效应递减、研究与开发费用不足以及教育结构对制造业的瓶颈效应等问题，并对症下药，才能将我国的制造业真正做大做强。     

高职院校档案管理现代化的思考

介绍高职院校档案管理现代化的特点与内容,指出了高职院校档案管理现代化的必要性以及档案管理现代化面临的困难,提出了实现高职院校档案管理现代化的方法和步骤。     

THE EFFECT OF INVESTMENT IN INTERORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN A RETAIL SUPPLY CHAIN

The primary purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of investment in information technology in a supply chain. The results of that investigation are presented by focusing on an empirically tested supply chain relationship model containing both behavioral and operational constructs. The four behavioral constructs represented in the model are relationship trust, relationship commitment, relationship dependence, and long‐term relationship orientation. The four operational constructs represented in the model are retailer investment in interorganizational information technology, perceived supplier investment in interorganizational information technology, logistics efficiency, and logistics effectiveness. Among other findings, the results of the investigation found that perceived supplier investment in interorganizational information technology has a significant and positive effect on logistics efficiency.     

Mechanisms for controlling expenditure in the Spanish Royal Household, c.1561-c.18081

The purpose of this article is to examine the accounting and auditing in the Spanish Royal Household between 1561 and 1808. The Royal Household was the third most important item of expenditure that the State Treasury financed, after the Army and Navy and the National Debt. On studying spending control in the Royal Household, we have rejected the idea, often advanced by historiography, that there was no spending control within this institution. On the contrary, treasurers and accountants were only able to release funds for expenditure purposes on the basis of prior authorization. However, the efficiency of spending control was very limited due to technical, administrative and, above all, social and political elements.     

“100% EDI-connected suppliers” projects: An empirical investigation of success factors

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is becoming increasingly important, and new organizational forms based on EDI suppliers’ capabilities are emerging. Therefore, taking advantage of recent technological changes, especially the development of Web-based EDI systems, many big industrial buyers are seeking to get all their suppliers EDI-connected. Based on previous research on EDI adoption, we conducted a survey to study the opportunities of success of such a “100% EDI-connected suppliers” policy using data from the vehicle industry. Findings from our survey helped us to understand suppliers’ responses to such a policy and to provide recommendations to industrial buyers who are seeking to succeed in a “100% EDI-connected suppliers” project. This includes employing tailored communication strategies and selecting appropriate incentives that take into account different levels of suppliers’ EDI-capabilities and suppliers’ dependence.     

Are Securitizations in Substance Sales or Secured Borrowings? Capital‐Market Evidence*

Two standard‐setting approaches have emerged globally to guide the choice of accounting for securitizations: the control and components approach (SFAS No. 125 and SFAS No. 140) and the risks and rewards transfer approach (IAS No. 39). A lack of consensus about derecognition accounting is a major impediment to achieving convergence in global standards that must be resolved. Thus, both SFAS No. 140 and IAS No. 39 will be reexamined, and evidence pertinent to the debate is timely and important. In this study, we present evidence consistent with the view of credit‐rating analysts, who view many securitizations as, in substance, secured borrowings. Specifically, for a sample of originators applying sale accounting guidance in SFAS No. 125 / 140 during the period 1997‐2003, we show that off‐balance‐sheet debt related to securitizations has, on average, the same risk‐relevance for explaining market measures of risk (that is, CAPM beta) as on‐balance‐sheet debt. We also find that, in a returns and earnings association framework, the pricing multiple on securitization gains declines as the amount of off‐balance‐sheet debt increases, implying that investors take off‐balance‐sheet debt into account when assessing the valuation‐relevance of such gains. For those who advocate the control and components approach to securitization accounting, our results suggest that, at least for frequent securitizers, the put option arising from implicit recourse is a “missing piece” that is not currently accounted for when calculating securitization gains. Our results challenge the extant measurement standards in SFAS No. 140.     

对新疆财政工作的现实思考

在市场经济条件下,财政具有优化资源配置、调节收入分配和协调经济发展等重要功能。因此,做好财政工作对经济快速发展和社会全面进步具有重要的推动作用。本文主要对新疆财政收支的基本状况、财政工作中存在的问题及新疆财政工作的特殊性进行了分析,在此基础上提出了今后新疆财政工作的基本思路。