Institutional Change of Accounting Systems: The Adoption of a Regime of Adapted International Financial Reporting Standards

Richard Mattessich, New York: Garland Publishing (New Works in Accounting History), 2000, £43.00, xii +179pp. ISBN: 0-8153-3445-1     

欧债危机以来意大利经济改革措施

欧债危机以来,为了摆脱困境,意大利实施了一系列经济改革措施。文章从实施财政紧缩政策和经济结构性改革两个方面对意大利近年来经济改革措施进行了梳理,并对意大利债务形势和经济前景进行了展望。     

Proposition of a framework for interpretation of complex problems and initiatives focused on sustainability： The food, energy and biofuel crisis

The world faces a double crisis： the food crisis and energy crisis. The agribusiness is at the center of this societal dilemma, involving aspects from the volumes of production and productivity up to the way to produce them. Furthermore, there is a discussion about the need for establishing a trade-off between production of food and energy. A central aspect regarding the way of production is on how existing resources to be used and, especially, when its degradation occurs. These discussions indicate the need for interpretation and for proposition of solutions, under a complex perspective, for this double crisis. Accordingly, this paper proposes a framework for the interpretation of complex problems and for initiatives focused on sustainability that was applied to the context of food, energy and biofuel crisis. The theoretical background comprises two theories. The first is the complexity theory, which enabled the proposition of a system to understand the reality, distinguishing and combining the several existing realities without losing the global notion; The second is the sustainability theory, which enabled the systematization of stages for the planning of more sustainable actions to operate in that context; Lastly, it was possible to infer desirable characteristics that other theories could also be included, aiming to propose solutions that are more appropriated for this specific context.     

An ideal Kyoto protocol: emissions trading, redistributive transfers and global participation

We demonstrate that an interregional policy scheme featuringtrading of carbon dioxide emissions, redistributive resourcetransfers and global participation, a scheme which we call ‘IdealKyoto Protocol’, yields an efficient equilibrium allocationfor a global economy. An altruistic international agency—say,the Global Environment Facility—should operate the resourcetransfer mechanism. In addition, regional governments shouldbe able to make independent policy commitments regarding howto control regional emissions of carbon dioxide in anticipationof the redistributive transfers. Our efficiency result suggeststhat the USA should be ‘bribed’ to reverse its decisionof not participating in the Kyoto Protocol.     

How industrial salespeople gain customer trust

This study investigated how industrial salespeople gain the trust of their customers. Results show that trust increases as the customer gains the impression that the salesperson is dependable, honest, competent, customer oriented, and likeable. Based on the results, a general model of trust building is suggested.     

Understanding the microenterprise sector to design a tailor-made microfinance policy for Cape Verde

Two of the central challenges faced by Cape Verde at the present are the high level of unemployment and the increasing proportion of the population living in (relative) poverty. Microenterprise development can be an effective means of addressing both problems in a developing country like Cape Verde, where microenterprises account for about 50% of employment. In this paper we provide a detailed profile of Cape Verdean microenterprises and microentrepreneurs and investigate the relationship between their characteristics and the resort to outside seed capital. We find a cluster of factors—the microentrepreneur’s age, gender, level of education and reason for being self-employed—which influence significantly the probability of being in need for external start-up capital. The policy implications of these findings for the design of a specific microfinance program for Cape Verde are discussed.

Chaotic Exchange Rate Dynamics Redux

This article generalizes the results shown in De Grauwe, Dewachter, and Embrechts (1993) in a more sophisticated framework. In their model, the speculative dynamics resulting from the interaction between chartists and fundamentalists are incorporated into a Dornbusch-style model to generate a chaotic nominal exchange rate. Here the model of Obstfeld and Rogoff (1995, 1996) replaces the Dornbusch model, and chaotic solutions are still shown to be possible for sensible parameter values.     

Eco-Frontier and Place-Making: The Unexpected Transformation of a Sustainable Settlement Project in the Amazon

An important issue today is the compatibility of agricultural frontiers, which are driven by economic objectives, with conservationist views. In the Amazon, family farmers are concerned with this issue since they are at the same time actors of the agricultural frontier and considered as potential actors of the preservation of the forest. Through the study of a highly symbolic settlement project in the State of Pará, this paper focuses on the role that family farmers can play in meeting sustainability goals. The central argument which is developed in this paper is that this objective may be achieved when projects do not presuppose social and spatial relationships; rather, it advocates an approach which is attentive to place-making processes.     

The Impact of Timing on Bidding Behavior in Procurement Auctions of Contracts with Private Costs

We provide a comparison of bidding behavior between multi-round and single-round auctions considering bid lettings for asphalt construction contracts that are known to have primarily private costs. Using a reduced-form difference-in-difference approach as well as the nonparametric estimation technique that was proposed by Racine and Li (J Econom 119(1):99–130, 2004) we find that bidding is more aggressive in a sequential multi-round setting than in a simultaneous single-round format. We explore potential causes for the bidding difference across formats that are related to synergies and the level of bidder participation.     

Taxation of shareholder capital gains and the choice of payment method in takeovers

From December 1999, shareholders who disposed of shares in Australian takeovers in exchange for scrip could elect to defer capital gains taxation until the disposal of the shares received. We investigate payment method choice by acquiring firms before and after this regulatory change to assess whether target shareholder capital gains tax liabilities became an important factor considered in choosing the form of payment. The results show that, subsequent to the regulatory change, there is a significantly higher probability that equity will be offered as consideration where target shareholder capital gains are greater. This finding confirms the importance of shareholder level taxation in explaining corporate acquisition structure and adds to previous European and US evidence on factors associated with payment method choice in takeovers.