Do goodwill impairments affect audit opinions? Evidence from China

There has been a steady growth of goodwill impairments in the Chinese stock market since the adoption of the impairment approach in accounting. The influence of goodwill impairments on a firm’s financial position and profitability give reason to doubt its current and future performance. We examine whether auditors, as a crucial external monitor, identify the information risks of goodwill impairments and express their concerns about financial reporting quality in their audit opinions. Using a sample of firms listed on China’s A-share market from 2007 to 2017, we test the association between goodwill impairments and the type of audit opinion received in the same financial period. Our findings are as follows. First, the probability of receiving a modified opinion increases with the amount of goodwill impairments. Second, the positive association between goodwill impairments and modified audit opinions is driven primarily by earnings management risks. Third, this positive association is more salient when auditors are industry experts and there is no auditor–client mismatch. Fourth, auditors are more sensitive to the amount of goodwill impairments than to their mere existence. Overall, we document that auditors perceive goodwill impairments as a signal of information risks and communicate their concerns to investors to avoid litigation.     

高分1号冬小麦解译面积核算方法研究

[目的]以高分1号(GF-1)融合2m卫星遥感影像为基础数据源,结合土地利用现状数据、高分多源遥感影像和地面样方等数据,对冬小麦分类提取中存在的面积误差问题进行研究和分析。[方法]文章以河南省永城市为研究区,在冬小麦提取结果聚类处理基础上,基于线性地物缓冲区数据,采用GIS空间运算实现线性地物面积扣除,接着分析了样方数据和土地利用现状数据再扣除零星地物面积比例上的差异,并采用样方零星地物平均扣除系数对全市各乡镇耕地与非耕地中冬小麦提取面积进行了相关统计和误差分析。[结果]永城市冬小麦最终解译面积11. 29万hm~2,其中线性地物和零星地物扣除面积分别为6 613. 08hm~2和3 875. 22hm~2,占研究区冬小麦解译面积的5. 86%和3. 32%,与统计上报数据相比,其处理前后误差由14. 12%降低至4. 41%,有效地提高冬小麦提取面积精度。[结论]误差来源分析与修正对冬小麦解译面积核算精度具有重要影响,该研究为县级区域尺度下冬小麦面积提取核算提供了思路和借鉴。     

企业社会责任报告与公开债务融资

本文以2016—2018年沪深两市A股非金融类上市公司为样本,研究企业社会责任报告与公开债务融资的关系.研究发现,披露企业社会责任报告显著提高了企业公开债务融资的成功率和规模;企业社会责任报告质量越高,对企业公开债务融资选择、规模的正向影响越大;相较于民营企业而言,国有企业披露社会责任报告对公开债务融资的影响更为明显.进一步研究发现,相较于应规披露、未披露企业社会责任报告的上市公司而言,自愿披露对公开债务融资具有显著正向影响;市场化水平较高的地区,披露企业社会责任报告对公开债务融资具有显著促进作用,市场化水平较低的地区则不具有明显影响.     

跨越竞争丛林与范式重构：全球治理改革进程中的疫苗产业创新治理

疫苗作为新冠疫情防控的最关键手段之一，已在各国抗疫中发挥积极影响。疫苗研发、生产、注射意愿以及全球分配的公平性与可及性等一系列问题日益受到世界关注。分析全球治理改革中，疫苗作为一种全球公共产品的创新治理问题，讨论疫苗产业发展特征与创新规律演化，剖析西方国家疫苗产业创新治理困境以及“竞争丛林”逻辑，阐释中国行动方案及对全球治理改革的贡献。最终提出疫苗产业创新治理机制对推动全球治理改革的政策含义。     

Evaluation method of benefits and efficiency of grid investment in China: A case study

The existing evaluation system for power grid investment in China has not combined measures of the investment benefits and investment efficiency very well and it lacks practical reference value. This article proposes an improved evaluation index system of the benefits and efficiency of power grid investment projects. The system divides the evaluation method into indexes. This includes the basic indexes, modification indexes, and appraisal indexes that evaluate the economic and environmental benefits of the investment projects comprehensively. It considers the overall efficiency in terms of the economy, technology, and society. It combines an absolute efficiency evaluation model with a data envelope analysis relative efficiency evaluation model. Finally, the benefits and efficiency of investment of an actual power grid project are evaluated through a case study. The results show the practical value of the proposed efficiency evaluation method for evaluating investment projects in a power grid.     

When Do Qualitative Risk Disclosures Backfire? The Effects of a Mismatch in Hedge Disclosure Formats on Investors' Judgments

Disclosure standards mandate the quantitative disclosure of hedging‐instrument‐related risks but not the disclosure of hedged‐item‐related risks. We examine how a match (mismatch) in formats, caused by making quantitative (qualitative) hedged item disclosures alongside quantitative hedging instrument disclosures, affects investors' integration of information from these two related disclosures. Our first experiment varies the hedged item disclosure format (quantitative or qualitative) and the portion of risk hedged (small or large). We find that when disclosure formats are mismatched, the less comparable nature of the two disclosures caused investors to neglect the offsetting relationship when assessing net risks. As a result, risk and investment judgments were influenced by the more prominent quantitative hedging instrument disclosures. Our second experiment finds that the use of a qualitative debiaser that clarifies the relationship between the two disclosures led to the integration of information and mitigated this effect.     

Economic Impacts of the Possible China–US Trade War

This article uses a multi-country global general equilibrium (GE) model to numerically simulate the effects of possible China–US trade wars. We introduce an endogenous trade imbalance structure with trade cost into the model which helps to explore both tariff and non-tariff trade war effects. Our simulation results show that China will be significantly hurt by the China–US trade war, but negative impacts are affordable. The US can gain under unilateral sanction measures to China, but will lose if China takes retaliation measures. Comparing the effects under mutual trade war, China will lose more than the US. Introducing non-tariff barrier trade wars will intensify the negative effects, and comparatively negative effects to China are larger than to the US. Mexico’s involvement in trade war with the US will strengthen the negative effects and comparatively hurt the US more. Under non-cooperative and cooperative Nash bargaining equilibrium, the US can gain more than China in trade war negotiation, which means the US has stronger bargaining power than China. Additionally, trade wars between China and the US will hurt most countries and the world especially in GDP and manufacturing employment, but benefit their welfare and trade.     

煤运吃紧暴露铁路运力不足

铁路运输纷纷告急 由于冬季以来气温急剧变化,2003年用电高峰提前到来,发电用煤需求随之剧增,而运力一时难以提高,导致许多电厂煤炭库存减少,煤炭中转港口场存减少.2003年11月份秦皇岛港日均到车较10月份日均减少346辆,由于煤炭调入不足,79种内贸煤炭绝大多数都出现短缺,煤炭运输持续迟滞.     

论中小企业对管理胜任力的基本要求和培育途径

文章指出,管理胜任力是企业核心竞争能力的一个重要方面,中小企业的健康成长取决于其竞争能力的提高,竞争能力的关键是提高企业的管理胜任力,文章还分析了中小企业对管理胜任力要求的主要方面。     

开拓进取培养应用型人才

高等职业教育发展到今天已经取得了显著的成果，教育工作者总结出了许多成功经验。我们认为以市场为导向、全力开拓办学领域是高等职业教育持续发展的源泉；“产学研”结合可增加教育效益；办学特色决定人才的竞争力和专业发展的生命力。高等职业教育只有全力开拓办学领域和不断扩大市场，才具有旺盛的生命力，才能健康、快速地向前发展。