Disclosure of reserve quantum in the extractive industries

We explore why some firms in the extractive industries disclose mineral reserve quantum in their annual reports and others do not. We propose that the firms' reserve disclosure policies are a function of the extent of information asymmetries, as well as information production, litigation and proprietary costs. More specifically, we propose that a firm's decisions to disclose reserves in the annual report are a function of the stage of the firm's operations, use of project financing, and the cost of measuring reserves. Empirical tests are confirmatory.     

An experimental analysis of tax avoidance policies

Policies to reduce aggressive tax avoidance are increasingly being implemented or discussed in many countries around the world. Tax authorities hope that such policies will generate new tax revenue by increasing overall tax compliance. We present an experimental design to investigate the effect of a stylized anti-avoidance tax policy on tax compliance behavior. We highlight that anti-avoidance tax policies that reduce tax avoidance can also induce an increase in tax evasion (“substitution effect”), which limits the additional tax revenue these policies will generate. We show that the degree of substitution depends crucially on behavioral factors such as tax morale. Policymakers therefore also need to consider behavioral features while designing such policies and estimating their potential effects.     

Role of quality management capabilities in developing market-based organisational learning capabilities: Case study evidence from four Indian business process outsourcing firms

Business-to-business marketing literature acknowledges the value firms, including business process outsourcing firms, realise through their supplier networks. Such value realisation is often possible through a dynamic exchange of complementary organisational capabilities between a firm and its network partners. However, little is known about how outsourcing firms develop these capabilities and thus realise value. This paper addresses an unexplored theoretical gap of developing market-based organisational learning capabilities in business process outsourcing firms. Using a capabilities lens, this study assesses the impact of quality management capabilities in developing market-based organisational learning capability. Findings from a case study of four business process outsourcing firms in India suggest that effective knowledge transfer, diffusion and the development of market-based organisational learning capabilities are contingent upon the strength of a firm's quality management capabilities. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Are bygones not bygones? Modeling price-level targeting with an escape clause and lessons from the gold standard

Like the gold standard, price-level targeting (PT) involves not letting past deviations of inflation be bygones; both regimes return the price level (or price of gold) to its target. The experience of suspension of the gold standard in World War I and resumption in the 1920s (for some countries at a different parity) is reviewed. It suggests that, in practice, PT might operate with an escape clause that would allow rebasing of the price target in the face of large shocks. Using a calibrated general equilibrium model, we show that such an escape clause can produce multiple equilibria. For some parameterizations, there is a low credibility equilibrium (with high expectation of a reset) associated with high output volatility and frequent resets. These problems reduce, or reverse, the expectational advantage PT has over inflation targeting.     

Enterprise systems’ life cycle in pursuit of resilient smart factory for emerging aircraft industry: a synthesis of Critical Success Factors’(CSFs), theory,knowledge gaps,and implications

The research aims to investigate business value critical success factors (CSFs) of enterprise systems (ES) through their life cycle in pursuit of resilient smart factory for emerging aircraft industry. This article provides an extensive literature analysis of past 22 years based on conscientious criteria of authors: (i) who have published strategic content relevant to CSFs, (ii) received more than 300 citations and (iii) concurrently published two or more papers relevant to ES CSFs. The most cited strategic CSFs were termed as classical CSFs. The 22 CSFs were identified, validated and synthesised for better understanding of success across life cycle by aircraft industry experts. The top 10 empirically verified CSFs have numerous differences with past generic classical CSFs. This article canvases real insights of two distinct views: process and variance approaches of the ES CSFs. The process approach, which is a neglected research area, facilitates the researchers for identification of ES life cycle process coupled with a view of resource deployment when it is needed the most. While the variance approach facilitates practitioners and researchers in finding out which resource (CSF) is relatively more important. The significant findings for ES life cycle can help the practitioners and researchers to make rational decisions throughout the ES life cycle.     

After modernity: contemporary non-western cities and architecture

Non-western cities have gone through an extraordinary period of growth and expansion during the last half century. The urban population in Asia and Africa increased from 17 to 37% between 1950 to 2000 and is expected to reach 55% by 2030. By then, according to current projections, most of the cities with a population of over twenty million will be located in the non-western world. Common characteristics of these cities are the massive social dislocation, polarizing inequality, uneven distribution of resources and congestion, pollution and environmental degradation. The disparities and injustices in the social structure are reflected in the structures of these cities: wasteful modern enclaves and affluent suburbs juxtaposed with crumbling historic centers and the ever increasing slums and shanty towns often constituting more than half of the city's population. The paper attempts to analyze some of the underlying reasons which have shaped these cities and explore how urban development can be related to the development of the society as a whole and what governments, architects, city planners and citizens can do to save their cities from a crisis.     

Annuities and lifetime income: the Anglo-Saxon experience

A number of western industrialized nations have found themselves in a similar position to the United States today: an aging population leading to increasing, and perhaps unsustainable, expenditures on a traditional social security system. This article examines the risks that individuals face in retirement, describes the role of annuities in addressing those risks and examines why annuitization rates are so low. It then reviews the pension structures in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand--countries with similar governmental and economic structures to those of the United States--and describes how these have impacted those countries' annuitization rates.     

Roles of Public Capital in Pakistan's Economy: Productivity, Investment and Growth Analysis

This study analyzes the role of public capital in Pakistan's economy, tracing the relationship between productivity of public capital and economic growth. We estimate a production function, with public capital as an inputs. The results indicate that the productivity (output elasticity) of aggregate as well as different components of public capital are sufficiently high. We also analyze substitutability and complementarity between public and private capital by estimating investment functions, revealing that public capital has worked as a substitute for private investment. The net effect of public capital on the national economy is analyzed by estimating reduced forms, with the result that public capital has a positive net effect on national product. The growth analysis shows that the contribution of public capital is declining over time.     

The geography of output volatility

This paper examines the structural determinants of output volatility in developing countries, and especially the roles of geography and institutions. We investigate the volatility effects of market access, climate variability, the geographic predisposition to trade, and various measures of institutional quality. We find an especially important role for market access: remote countries are more likely to have undiversified exports and to experience greater volatility in output growth. Our results are based on Bayesian methods that allow us to address formally the problem of model uncertainty and to examine robustness across a wide range of specifications.