Does implementation guidance affect opportunistic reporting and value relevance of earnings?

In recent years, both the SEC (2003) and the FASB (2004) [Securities and Exchange Commission, 2003. Study Pursuant to Section 108(d) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 on the Adoption by the United States Financial Reporting System of a Principles-Based Accounting System. Securities and Exchange Commission, Washington, DC; the Financial Accounting Standards Board, 2004. On the road to an objectives-oriented accounting system. Financial Accounting Series: The FASB Report (August 31), 1–5.] have indicated a need for accounting standards where principles are balanced by implementation guidance (i.e., a framework for exercising professional judgment). In this study, we take advantage of a jurisdictional split during 1996–2001 whereby the same economic event (i.e., an impairment in oil and gas assets) in the extractive petroleum industry was accounted for by “full cost” firms under a SEC standard (Regulation SX 4-10) which provides extensive implementation guidance, and by “successful efforts” firms under a FASB standard (SFAS No. 121) that provided relatively little guidance for implementing the standard.     

Low-wage manufacturing and global commodity chains: a model in the unequal exchange tradition

The institutional setting of subcontracted manufacturing hasa profound impact on how the benefits of trade are distributed.This paper develops a model that combines insights from unequalexchange theorists and global commodity chain analysis to clarifythe distributive dynamics of production networks in which subcontractingand branding are defining features. In this framework, the abilityof productivity growth to increase income from exports is constrainedand depends on how the benefits of productivity improvementsare captured—as lower consumer prices or higher rentsfor brand-name multinationals. Increasing consumption in affluentconsumer markets raises export earnings. However, developingcountries, acting alone, are constrained in their ability toaffect the demand side of global commodity chains. Instead,supply-side policies to support industrial upgrading representa more viable option for raising incomes.     

控股股东和财务杠杆的激励功能

以上海证券交易所的747家上市公司2003年的横截面数据为样本,检验了财务杠杆与公司价值之间的经验关系,考察了控股股东性质对财务杠杆价值效应的影响.结果发现,财务杠杆对公司价值(成长性)具有显著的积极效应;另外,控股股东性质对财务杠杆的价值效应和激励功能具有显著的影响,财务杠杆在法人控股的公司中能够发挥更有效的激励作用.     

Extreme spectral risk measures: An application to futures clearinghouse margin requirements

This paper applies the extreme-value (EV) generalised pareto distribution to the extreme tails of the return distributions for the S&P500, FT100, DAX, Hang Seng, and Nikkei225 futures contracts. It then uses tail estimators from these contracts to estimate spectral risk measures, which are coherent risk measures that reflect a user’s risk-aversion function. It compares these to VaR and expected shortfall (ES) risk measures, and compares the precision of their estimators. It also discusses the usefulness of these risk measures in the context of clearinghouses setting initial margin requirements, and compares these to the SPAN measures typically used.     

Aggregating risk capital, with an application to operational risk

We describe a numerical procedure to obtain bounds on the distribution function of a sum of n dependent risks having fixed marginals. With respect to the existing literature, our method provides improved bounds and can be applied also to large non-homogeneous portfolios of risks. As an application, we compute the VaR-based minimum capital requirement for a portfolio of operational risk losses. JEL Classification G20 · 60E15 · 91B30     

Asymptotic behaviour of mean-quantile efficient portfolios

In this paper we investigate portfolio optimization in the Black–Scholes continuous-time setting under quantile based risk measures: value at risk, capital at risk and relative value at risk. We show that the optimization results are consistent with Merton’s two-fund separation theorem, i.e., that every optimal strategy is a weighted average of the bond and Merton’s portfolio. We present optimization results for constrained portfolios with respect to these risk measures, showing for instance that under value at risk, in better markets and during longer time horizons, it is optimal to invest less into the risky assets.This research was partially supported by the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems (MITACS) Network of Centres of Excellence.     

Role of competences in creating customer value: A value-creation logic approach

This paper addresses the issue through what kind of competences companies are producing value for their business customers. First, a value typology, clarifying the complex character of value, is constructed, together with suggestions on how the question of value creation can be framed. In order to understand and manage supplier-customer relationships, it essential to comprehend how both customers and suppliers perceive value and their roles in value creation. The matching of customers' and suppliers' perspectives is discussed by developing a framework depicting the business-to-business marketing types. Then the competences needed for creating value for customers and suppliers alike are examined by identifying what kind of competences are required in each marketing type.     

Global purchasing strategy: Conceptualization and measurement

In this paper we introduce Global Purchasing Strategy (GPS) as an explanatory construct of global purchasing performance. GPS is embedded in a contingent resource-based view. The construct is conceived as the driving force behind the strategy-organization alignment. GPS is conceptualized along four dimensions: the configuration of the global purchasing process, the standardization of the global purchasing process, the standardization of product-related characteristics and the standardization of the purchasing staff organization. We develop the GPS scale and test it on a sample of 151 internationally purchasing firms. The analytic results show evidence of both reliability and validity. We propose a general model of global purchasing performance with GPS as a central mediating construct.     

变结构／变初值准混沌滚动密钥产生器

本文首先指出传统的滚动密钥产生器，在滚动密钥生成的过程中，状态转移函数和输出函数的结构初值及其状态初值都是固定的不变的，因此，利用在道中截取足够长的数据，原则上，总是可以破译的。鉴于此，我们在数字或准混沌意义上，采用综合算法提出了变结构／变初值准混沌滚动密钥产生器，使之在滚动密钥的生成过程中，状态转移函数和输出函数每一个字节都更新一次结构初值和状态初值，且永不重复、不可预测。在未建立综合数字之前，     

Environmental market creation: saviour or oversell?

In recent years considerable attention has been paid to the notion of market creation for the conservation of environmental assets. Market creation establishes a market in the external benefit or cost in question (e.g. biodiversity or pollution reduction) and leaves the relevant parties to adjust their behaviour accordingly. While most attention has been paid to market creation through tradable permits and taxes (the polluter-pays), it is less easy to secure a perspective on beneficiary-pays initiatives. Both polluter-pays and beneficiary-pays initiatives are examples of modified Coaseian bargains in which governments intervene in the bargains to lower transactions costs, establish property rights, deal with public goods issues, or act on behalf of disadvantaged groups. This paper reviews four major initiatives in this respect - debt-for-nature swaps, bioprospecting and the Global Environment Facility at the global level, and the Costa Rican Forest Law at the local level. It finds that while there is much to applaud in initiatives in these new markets, serious questions remain about the modest flows of funds associated with such global bargains, and the extent to which they secure environmental improvements relative to the baseline of business-as-usual.JEL Classification: D49, D62, H41, O19, Q57, Q2I am indebted to members of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at Oxford University and to David Simpson of Resources for the Future and University College London for valuable comments on an earlier version of this paper. Any remaining mistakes are entirely my responsibility.