Sustainability Northwest: An Integrative Case of a Not‐for‐Profit Organization

Sustainability Northwest (SNW) is a fictional not‐for‐profit organization (NPO) that seeks to develop thought leaders for a sustainable future. This instructional case allows professors to assign students with up to six different roles, including SNW's chair of the board, executive director, volunteer treasurer, and the external auditor. Unique learning objectives include (i) the application of the CPA Canada Handbook, Accounting—Part III to prepare an NPO's financial statements using fund accounting, (ii) the development of recommendations to improve an NPO's board of directors, (iii) the analysis of system flow documents to identify control weaknesses, and (iv) the preparation of an audit planning memo. Instructors can use this case in several milieus. First, professors can foster a student's ability to integrate technical knowledge by (i) assigning students all six roles in a capstone course to promote integration within an individual course or (ii) assigning multiple roles across multiple courses to promote integration across a program of studies. Second, instructors can focus on a particular technical skill by assigning specific roles. This case is ideal for senior‐level undergraduate students or graduate students.     

铬掺杂对硅酸铁锂电学性能影响的计算机仿真研究

硅酸铁锂是一种锂离子电子的正极材料,由于其晶胞在理论上可允许可逆脱嵌两个锂原子,使得其理论比容量有巨大的提升空间,加上原料易得、无污染及成本低的优势,受到了人们的重视。正极材料掺杂被认为是改善其导电性能的有效途径。论文通过运用基于第一性原理方法的计算机仿真技术,对铬掺杂硅酸铁锂的结构和导电性能的影响进行了计算机仿真研究,结果表明未掺杂的硅酸铁锂其带隙快读为2.44eV,掺杂铬之后硅酸铁锂带隙减小为2.31eV,表明铬掺杂可提高硅酸铁锂的导电性能。     

Behaviour‐Based and Outcome‐Based Control Systems: A Meta‐Analytic Study

Sales control systems are instruments used by firms to improve performance and other organizational outcomes. To understand their antecedents and consequences, this paper conducts a meta‐analysis based on 104 studies. The results showed significant relationships between behaviour‐ and outcome‐based control systems and the complexity of the products, bonuses, financial performance, sales innovation, organizational support and satisfaction with supervisors. The outcomes revealed that behaviour‐based control systems were the most effective mechanism in turbulent markets and for determining financial performance. However, outcome‐based control systems were the most efficient instrument for complex products.     

Aid,collective action and benefits to smallholders: Evaluating the World Food Program's purchase for progress pilot

Agricultural commodity markets in developing countries often operate in a constrained environment of prohibitive transaction costs. Consequently, smallholder farmers are only partly integrated into these markets, a situation that keeps them in a lower level of development equilibrium (poverty trap). Although cooperative institutional alternatives such as Farmers’ Organizations (FOs) may reduce transaction costs and revitalize agricultural production and commercialization, they rarely have been successful in fully delivering on these promises. Against this backdrop, the World Food Programmed (WFP) has recently implemented a multi-year and multi-country pilot to increase smallholder participation in commodity markets. The projects involved investing in physical and human capacities of Farmer Organizations (FOs) to aggregate commodities and add value, as well as locally purchasing food aid from the same. The combination of interventions was expected to increase the relative price of agricultural products, particularly staple crops. In this study, using Ethiopian panel survey data, we estimated the causal income and investment effects of the Ethiopian P4P intervention among smallholders. Using an entropy balancing (EB) model and semi-parametric difference-in-difference (DID) model, we show that the P4P intervention has increased per capita consumption by smallholders. Our additional analysis confirms that this effect is heterogeneous owing to elite capture within Farmer Organizations. We also find evidence of increased food consumption scores, increased investments in child schooling, and increased asset holding among program-participating smallholders relative to comparison farmers. Policy implications are discussed.     

Spatial price mimicking on Airbnb: Multi-host vs single-host

This paper studies the existence of two different supply operators in the peer-to-peer accommodation rental market for the city of Madrid. We specifically analyse spatial dependencies in price formation and whether the so-called professional hosts (i.e. those who have several Airbnb listings) set prices differently from single-property hosts. To this end, hedonic price models are estimated with and without spatial price dependence. Listings’ structural characteristics and accessibility measures to transportation hubs and sightseeing spots are considered in the regressions. Results provide clear evidence that price mimicking is higher among non-professional hosts whereas professional hosts set prices more independently.     

Biases in fiscal multiplier estimates

The size of fiscal multipliers is intensively debated as large (small) multipliers provide arguments to expand (cut) public spending. We use data on multiplier estimates from over a hundred scholarly studies, and ask whether the national imprint and various incentives that the authors face can help explain the large observed variance in these estimates. We complement this meta-analytical data with information on economists’ personal characteristics collected from their biographies and through a self-conducted survey. Our evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that national background and policy orientation of researchers matter for the size of multiplier estimates. We only find weak support for the hypothesis that the interests of donors financing the research are relevant. Significant biases largely disappear for teams of international co-authors.     

The impact of shareholders and creditors rights on IPO performance: An international study

This paper examines the impact of cross-country variation in shareholders' and debt holders' rights on post-IPO performance and survival of newly listed stocks across the globe. Using a sample of 10,490 initial public offerings (IPOs) in 40 countries between 2000 and 2013, we find that post-IPO performance and survival is better in countries with stronger shareholder protection, but the impact of creditor protection is negative i.e. stronger creditor protection leads to poor post-IPO performance and survival. This effect is driven by rules requiring creditors’ consent for company reorganization and the mandatory replacement of incumbent managers. Reputable IPO advisors exacerbate the positive impact of shareholder rights and the negative impact of creditor rights.     

芪柏塌渍治疗小儿静脉炎的疗效及对TLR-4/核因子-κB信号通路的影响

目的观察芪柏塌渍对静脉炎的疗效,同时探讨其对TLR-4/核因子-κB信号通路上标志蛋白表达的影响。方法选取2018年1月至2019年6月大连市中心医院收治的40例静脉炎患儿作为研究对象,按随机数字表法分为常规组和试验组,各20例,另取20例健康儿童为对照组。对照组患儿取50%硫酸镁溶液浸湿的无菌纱布敷于发生静脉炎处,面积以超过静脉炎范围1~2 cm为宜,并用保鲜膜包裹于纱布外,每2小时换药1次,3 d为一个治疗周期。试验组用无菌棉签蘸取适量芪柏塌渍膏涂于发生静脉炎处,面积以大于静脉炎范围1~2 cm为宜,厚度0.2~0.5 cm,予以无菌纱布覆盖,最后用胶布固定,每4~6小时换药1次,3 d为一个治疗周期。于治疗前及治疗2个周期时,采用蛋白免疫印迹法检测外周血中TLR-4和核因子-κB水平变化,酶联免疫吸附试验(ELISA)检测患儿血清肿瘤坏死因子-α(TNF-α)、白细胞介素-11(IL-11)、白细胞介素-4(IL-4)、白细胞介素-33(IL-33)蛋白表达。结果治疗后两组患儿数字评分法(NRS)评分、红肿面积有所改善,且试验组改善程度优于常规组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05);静脉炎患儿血清TLR-4、核因子-κB、TNF-α、IL-11、IL-4、IL-33水平明显高于健康对照组(P<0.05);治疗后,常规组和试验组患儿TLR-4、核因子-κB、TNF-α、IL-11、IL-4、IL-33水平明显下降(P<0.05),且试验组上述指标明显低于常规组(P<0.05)。结论静脉炎患儿存在TLR-4/核因子-κB信号通路表达紊乱,芪柏塌渍可明显调节TLR-4/核因子-κB信号通路上标志性蛋白的表达,该效应可能是芪柏塌渍从机体炎症方面改善静脉炎患儿的作用机制之一。     

Joint audits and mutual ties of audit firm networks

There has been a lively debate following the 2007 financial crisis regarding the role of joint audits. Prior research argues that joint audits may improve audit quality because of shared audit efforts. However, empirical evidence has been inconclusive. To gain insight into how Big 4 audit firm imprimaturs have become a source of legitimacy in the audit industry, this article investigates how audit networks drive the audit industry in Saudi Arabia. Based on the application of quantitative and qualitative research methods, we conclude that the Big 4 audit firms have strong mutual ties, but ties with other local and international audit firms are weak. We also find the oligopolistic nature of the Big 4 audit firms and international audit firms. Specifically, Ernst & Young, KPMG, PwC, and PKF are controlling over 68% of the audit market. Interviews with accounting professionals suggest that several benefits of joint audits exist, but certain additional costs are also implicated. Our findings are particularly relevant for regulators and local and international policymakers in rethinking and evaluating the appropriateness of either the mandatory or voluntary nature of joint audits in developing countries.     

Environmental Multi‐dimensionality and Staff Localization in Multinational Enterprises: The Case of Korean Firms

The person–environment fit theory posits that the term “environment” can be defined at different levels. This study delineates two environmental dimensions (strategic and organizational) and empirically examines the potential moderating effects of two strategic factors (intra‐ and inter‐regional diversification) on the relationship between two organizational factors (subsidiary ownership and host‐country experience) and MNE subsidiary staffing composition. The results indicate that strategic and organizational dimensions have impacts on subsidiary staffing composition. This study also finds that the interaction effects between strategic and organizational factors are significant only when there is congruence between demands from different environmental dimensions.