Compétence et qualité des décisions de vérification*

Résumé. L'auteur étudie l'incidence de la compétence sur la qualité de la prise de décisions de vérification dans le contexte de la planification de la vérification. Contrairement aux chercheurs qui se sont, jusqu'à maintenant, penchés sur cette question, il mesure la compétence par rapport à des champs de connaissances précis. Il évalue la qualité de la prise de décisions de vérification en fonction de trois critères: la conformité aux normes de la profession, la conformité aux normes du cabinet et le degré de consensus parmi les vérificateurs. Dans l'ensemble, les résultats de l'analyse permettent de conclure que la qualité de la prise de décisions, au sens que lui donne l'auteur, est supérieure chez les vérificateurs expérimentés par rapport aux vérificateurs inexpérimentés. Plus particulièrement, il semble, en premier lieu, que les vérificateurs expérimentés comme les vérificateurs inexpérimentés possèdent un bagage de connaissances minimum et se conforment aux normes de la profession. En second lieu, les vérificateurs expérimentés se conforment davantage aux normes du cabinet, tant en ce qui a trait aux décisions relatives à la confiance à accorder au contrôle interne qu'aux décisions de corroboration, ce qui indique que les connaissances des vérificateurs expérimentés seraient plus approfondies que celles des vérificateurs inexpérimentés. Enfin, le degré de consensus chez les vérificateurs expérimentés est supérieur à celui qu'on retrouve chez les vérificateurs inexpérimentés en situation de vérification normale, bien que dans les situations plus inhabituelles, le degré de consensus soit plus faible chez les vérificateurs expérimentés.     

Clarifying the Relationship between Involvement Variables and Advertising Effectiveness among Young People

Previous research has indicated the need for an in-depth investigation of the role of involvement variables in advertising information processing among young people, in view of the unsuitability of existing adult persuasion models for a young population, the inadequate consideration of involvement variables among young people and the unique characteristics of this population. This study examined the effects of advertising involvement and product involvement on advertising effectiveness among young people, using a quantitative study of 252 4–15-year olds. Results show that advertising involvement and product involvement had a positive direct effect on ad effectiveness. In addition, all endogenous variables—subjective product knowledge, peer and parent influence and age—had an indirect effect on ad effectiveness, via advertising involvement and product involvement. Interestingly, subjective product knowledge and peer influence had no direct effect on ad effectiveness, but rather only an indirect effect. This study presents a more accurate depiction of the complexity of the process and shows that advertising involvement and product involvement contribute to a better understanding of the process among young people.     

The law and economics of sycophancy

Tullock (in: Rowley (ed) The selected works of Gordon Tullock, Liberty Fund, Indianapolis, pp 399–455, 2005) was skeptical of the presumed economic efficiency of the common law, as adversarialism, apparently inherent to common law procedures, allowed for and was prone to litigiousness. Common law litigations accord to patterns of rent-seeking, as litigants invest ever more resources to assure victory. This paper asks if viable institutional solutions can emerge to resolve the problem Tullock identified. I survey the historical development of the term sycophancy within ancient Greek law as a revealing case study. Though a relatively innocuous pejorative in contemporary parlance, the term’s etymological roots stem from a formative process of ancient legal and institutional change within Athenian Greece. In the wake of specific legal reforms that expanded the scope of governmental authority under Solon (born 638–558 BCE), citizens were given explicit financial incentive to report violators of newly implemented public laws. Thereafter, social stigma surrounding third party legal representation leveraged the term sycophancy in reference to prosecutors motivated by private interests over the public welfare. Forgone social status and eventually formal criminal sanction emerged as offsetting differentials against the incentives of sycophancy.     

Analyzing social policy alternatives through modeling and forecasting of the consumption,composition, and incomes of the population

The article continues researches started under the guidance and with active participation of E.Yu. Faerman, Dr. Sci. (Econ.), within the framework of the RAS Central Economics and Mathematics Institute Population, Incomes, and Consumption system, aimed at modeling and forecasting the population composition, incomes, and consumption using a number of methods (including the multilevel complex structuring of the population and its incomes and consumption, modeling and forecasting shadow employment and incomes, and so on) and a complex statistical database. Comparative analysis of the results of four variants of inertial forecasts of socioeconomic indicators of different levels (the population as a whole, its functional layers, and their social and socioeconomic constituent groups) has been performed, including official and unofficial incomes and shadow employment; scenarios of social policy have been studied, including the income policy, labor compensation problems, and the social transfer policy; and economic consequences of the income legalization scenario have been evaluated.     

The Pension Age as a Factor Regulating the Deficit of the State Pension System

Contrary to the widely held attitude towards the necessity of immediately raising the retirement age, this article demonstrates the absence of demographic conditions for changing the existing regulations in granting pension insurance. The demographic factors are recognized as the basic development conditions of the state pension system; however, they have a multichannel impact on it, which requires a holistic and qualified analysis of all the relevant parameters for the governmental regulation. The pension age is viewed from the perspective of achieving the objectives of pension reform and strategic benchmarks in the long-term development of the Russian Pension system.     

Charges in the Industrial Water Sector: Comparison Between Ireland and Spain

The European Treaty supports the application of the polluter pays principle in all environmental policies including the Water Framework Directive. This paper assesses the efficiency of water-charging systems in two European regions. The regions examined are the South west region of Ireland and the Navarre region in Spain which were selected because they are similar in terms of economic indicators but different in terms of water pricing structures. The paper describes the development and application of a simple model to analyse data on water-charging systems from these two regions. We present the results of a detailed scenario-based investigation illustrating the differences between experience, composition and basis, impact and constraints on the application of water charges for both regions. The key findings are that existing water charges do not provide incentives for users to use water efficiently and thereby do not contribute effectively to the environmental objectives of the Water Framework Directive.     

The Interaction of Learning Styles and Teaching Methodologies in Accounting Ethical Instruction

Ethical instruction is critical for trainee accountants. Various teaching methods, both active and passive, are normally utilised when teaching accounting ethics. However, students’ learning styles are rarely assessed. This study evaluates the learning styles of accounting students and assesses the interaction of teaching methods and learning styles in an ethics instruction environment. The ethical attitudes and preferred learning styles of a cohort (137) of final year accounting students were evaluated pre-instruction. They were then subject to three different teaching methods while studying ethics during an auditing course. When ethical attitudes and preferred learning styles were re-assessed post-instruction, the teaching methods were found to have influenced active learners more than passive ones. Furthermore, when learning styles matched teaching methods used, usefulness was assessed as high but when learning styles and teaching methods differed, usefulness deteriorated significantly. Students displayed a preference for passive learning styles, despite being so advanced in their education. The implications are that instructors should consider learning styles before deciding on appropriate teaching methods, in accounting ethics environments.     

地域功能视角下旅游引导山地城乡一体化发展策略研究——以河南鲁山县为例

旅游业已经成为中国城乡发展的新动力,在城乡地域功能演化中起到的作用越来越显著。山地丘陵地区在旅游业驱动下,多种地域功能交互重叠,构成了多类型复杂耦合空间,面临着区域可持续发展的模式抉择。本研究以河南鲁山县为例,探讨山地丘陵地区在旅游引导下的城乡一体化发展策略。研究发现：（1）山地丘陵地区的地域功能正在从传统单一的“居住-农业非农业生产”向综合功能的“生态保障-居住-农业非农业生产-休闲文化服务”转变,多类型空间交互特征明显。（2）鲁山县由农业经济主导向旅游经济主导转变,可划分为旅游服务承接平台区、山地生态旅游发展区、特色林业旅游融合区、平原高效农旅融合区,进行中心城区-中心镇-一般镇-中心村的层级划分和产业方向优化。（3）发展策略应强调分层实施、分类引导,优化城乡利用空间,做好城乡地域分类引导,实现资源要素合理配置。研究成果为认识山地丘陵地区地域功能演化规律、制定城乡一体化发展策略提供了科学案例。     

Managerial Views of Corporate Impacts and Dependencies on Ecosystem Services: A Case of International and Domestic Forestry Companies in China

A line of research is emerging investigating the private sector impacts and dependencies on critical biodiversity and ecosystem services, and related business risks and opportunities. While the ecosystem services narrative is being forwarded globally as a key paradigm for promoting business sustainability, there is scarce knowledge of how these issues are considered at managerial level. This study thus investigates managerial views of corporate sustainability after the ecosystem services concept. We analyse interviews conducted with 20 managers from domestic and international forestry companies operating with a plantation-based business model in China. Content analysis was employed to analyse the data, with a focus on four key areas: (1) interviewee familiarity with the ecosystem services concept; (2) their views of corporate dependencies and impacts on ecosystem services; (3) related business risks and opportunities; and (4) viability of existing instruments and practices that can be employed in detecting and addressing business impacts and dependencies on ecosystem services. Through an inductive approach to the empirical findings, we refined a framework that holds operational value for developing company response strategies to ecosystem services impact/dependence assessment, ensuring that all issues are addressed comprehensively, and that related risks and opportunities are properly acknowledged.     

Structural reform,intra-regional trade,and medium-term growth prospects of East Asia and the Pacific—Perspectives from a new multi-region model

This paper analyses the potential benefits from reforms aimed at promoting domestic demand in the region, as well as the effects of slower growth in the US and the G3 (US, euro area, and Japan) on the members of the Executives’ Meeting of East Asian-Pacific Central Bank (EMEAP). The analysis is based on simulation scenarios using an expanded version of the IMF Global Integrated Monetary and Fiscal (GIMF) model which is particularly useful for conducting medium-term policy analysis, as it incorporates rich layers of intra-regional trade, production, and demand allowing the transmission mechanism of structural reforms and external shocks to be fully articulated. The simulation results show that reforms to rebalance the pattern of demand in regional economies (such as Mainland China) more towards domestic demand could entail non-negligible benefits for the EMEAP. These benefits could be even larger for those economies that more flexibly adjust to the shift in China's trade pattern. The simulation results also demonstrate that structural reforms in EMEAP economies will allow them to reduce vulnerabilities to economic downturns in major economies.