Economic Replacement of a Heterogeneous Herd

A model was developed to determine the optimal slaughter weights of pigs with heterogeneous growth raised in a 1,000 head barn and marketed in truckload groups. Under commonly used revenue schemes, which include discounts for weight and leanness, the optimal strategy was to market one or two truckloads of the heaviest animals, to wait several days, and then to market the rest of the herd. This multiple marketing strategy allows the producer to avoid some sort losses for heavy animals, but only modestly extends the grow/finish period, reflecting the dominance of the opportunity cost of facilities in the herd replacement decision.     

Empirical foundations for the resurrection of Heckscher–Ohlin theory

We decompose the factor content of trade into Heckscher–Ohlin–Vanek trade and Ricardian trade. We measure factor content using only the United States' technology and also as Leontief advocated, using the local technology. In either case, differences in endowments are quite important in explaining the factor content of trade. If one uses raw estimated coefficients as a means of comparison, differences in endowments are ten times as important as differences in technology.     

Other lives in accounting: Critical reflections on oral history methodology in action

This paper critically evaluates the nature and practice of oral history as a narrative research methodology in accounting. Oral history allows individual subjectivity and experience to be central to the empirical data. The paper argues that such an approach allows the voices of those who have arguably been ignored, marginalised or silenced within particular contexts to be heard. Drawing on feminist approaches to research methodology, it also evaluates and problematises some of the ethical issues within an oral history methodology, arising from the interpretation and ownership of research, disclosure and reciprocity within the research relationship, and the use of friends and strangers as research participants. The paper concludes that, when approached critically and reflexively, oral history provides a sound epistemological and methodological base for understanding the meaning of events and experience to individuals, and the impact of accounting institutions and practice on their lives.     

Sharing 'worlds of risk'; improving communication with crew resource management

The risk society thesis by Ulrich Beck has been one of the more extensively discussed frameworks in environmental management. This paper tries to give an overview over Beck's extant and fragmented work and ventures to identify the main contributions and implications. It starts with a discussion of the background and principles of Beck's work and identifies the core ideas as well as the theoretical underpinnings. On that basis the paper shows the manifestation of Beck's early ideas in contemporary environmental politics revealing the influence of the risk society thesis especially for environmental management. Following on to more contemporary parts of Beck's work the paper then shows that ‘risk’ and ‘globalization’ are in fact manifestations of the same phenomenon. Both challenge and invert the role of governments on the one side and the role of various social actors on the other side. The paper concludes by discussing major consequences of Beck's thinking for the current agenda of corporate actors in particular.     

Insiders’ perspectives of the effects of recent regulation on corporate taxation

Recent legislation and standard interpretations promulgated by governmental bodies and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) have attempted to address several issues related to corporate taxation. These issues include the lack of transparency regarding specific tax transactions, the difficulty in reconciling the corporate tax return with the corporate income statement, the relative lack of disclosure of tax contingencies in the financial statements, and the impact of internal control on the reliability of the corporate tax return. While the stated objectives of several recent regulations have included improvements in the areas of corporate tax compliance and transparency of financial statements, it is unclear whether these regulations have resulted in the desired effects. This study analyzes the perceptions of 223 corporate tax executives regarding the effects of Internal Revenue Announcement 2002-63, Schedule M-3 of IRS Form 1120, FASB Interpretation Number 48 (FIN 48), and Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The findings indicate that the respondents perceive an overall increase in tax return transparency and corporate tax compliance as a result of Schedule M-3 and FIN 48; yet the ability of corporations to engage in tax planning has decreased as a result of FIN 48. The respondents also perceive that both FIN 48 and Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act have increased their reliance on outside sources for tax compliance work.     

Challenges Facing Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Kyrgyz Republic, 1996-7

Based on high quality household survey data from 1996 and 1997, this paper analyzes the challenges facing non-farm household businesses in the Kyrgyz Republic. The non-farm businesses are small, concentrated in service activities, and rely on family labour. They are new enterprises established after the transition from central planning began, rather than state enterprises formed during the planning era and subsequently privatized. High taxes, low product demand, and high input prices are the three most cited challenges, while the problems facing small businesses do not include credit availability, capacity concerns, input availability, or labour costs. Frequent mention of licence difficulties and extortion, in addition to high taxes, indicates that the grabbing hand of the government is a major obstacle to private businesses. The government is also failing to maintain law and order; in 1996 a quarter of the businesses report violence among their three main challenges.     

The internationalisation of HRM through reverse transfer: two case studies of French multinationals in Scotland

Building on existing studies of reverse transfer (RT) of HRM and work organisation practices, this article reports on an investigation of reverse transfer of HR practices within two French multinational companies operating in Scotland. The study identifies limited evidence of RT despite the firms' predisposing characteristics for RT. A number of factors inherent within the French national business system were found to create restrictions. In addition, France's history of fostering national champions presented resistance to the transfer of localised HR ideas to the domestic economy. Finally, and to a lesser degree, market relations within one of the subsidiary's locality were found to impede the RT of practices. The article discusses the theoretical implications for the conditions under which reverse transfer takes place.     

The Interpretation of Instrumental Variables Estimators in Simultaneous Equations Models with an Application to the Demand for Fish

In markets where prices are determined by the intersection of supply and demand curves, standard identification results require the presence of instruments that shift one curve but not the other. These results are typically presented in the context of linear models with fixed coefficients and additive residuals. The first contribution of this paper is an investigation of the consequences of relaxing both the linearity and the additivity assumption for the interpretation of linear instrumental variables estimators. Without these assumptions, the standard linear instrumental variables estimator identifies a weighted average of the derivative of the behavioural relationship of interest. A second contribution is the formulation of critical identifying assumptions in terms of demand and supply at different prices and instruments, rather than in terms of functional-form specific residuals. Our approach to the simultaneous equations problem and the average-derivative interpretation of instrumental variables estimates is illustrated by estimating the demand for fresh whiting at the Fulton fish market. Strong and credible instruments for identification of this demand function are available in the form of weather conditions at sea.