The rise and fall of WebTrust

While prior research mainly focused on the impact of third-party-certified web assurance seals on consumers' perceptions and purchasing behaviors, little research has been conducted on the managerial decision-making process about the selection, implementation, and the abandonment of such seals. Of particular interest here is the WebTrust seal, jointly developed by the AICPA and the CICA. We take a qualitative case study approach to understand the motivations and rationale of a large North American telecommunications firm's management behind the decisions about the selection, implementation, and abandonment of its WebTrust seal. Our case firm was one of the first to obtain the seal on its online shopping website. Semi-structured interview results suggest that the implementation and the subsequent abandonment of WebTrust may be explained by several theoretical frameworks — the managerial accounting perspective, organizational slack theory, innovation theory, and institutional theory. First, the case firm's leader attitude in innovation, its extra resources available, coupled with the endorsement of the accounting profession led to the implementation of WebTrust. Second, when the benefits of WebTrust versus its costs were questioned and other companies increasingly abandoned the seal, our case firm decided to follow this trend.     

The rise and fall of subsidiarity

The concept of subsidiarity is examined as a possible golden rule to be applied in restructuring the federal balance, ie the relationship between the EC, the member states and the regions. The concept of subsidiarity is used broadly to include an examination of the kind of institutional rearrangement that the EC is trying to define for itself. Four deficits (capacity, policy, implementation and democracy) of the present institutional set-up are reviewed in order to determine what kind of innovative arrangements need to be designed to enable the EC to face the challenges of the next decade. On the assumption that the process of integration has indeed become irreversible, two options in the institutional development towards political union are evaluated.     

Putting Humpty Dumpty back together again? The structures of knowledge and the future of the social sciences

Fifty years ago it was clear what the social sciences were, what they did and where they were going. This consensus was the product of the long-term construction of the structures of knowledge that resulted in the institutionalization of a set of disciplines that would function to guarantee ordered change in the social sphere in the name of “progress” through scientific control, exercised by “experts” and based on “hard facts”. After 1945, the scholarly legitimacy of the premises underlying the partitions separating the disciplines and the practical usefulness of the distinctions declined and from 1968 were overtly contested. It is contended that the structures of knowledge, including the social sciences, have entered into secular crisis and thus a period characterized by the heightened transformative capacity of agency typical of transitions. Since no outcome may be predetermined for the organization of future knowledge forms, this paper ends by considering modes of scholarly participation in the transformation of the social sciences.

“Don’t you think you’d be safer down on the ground?” Alice went on, not with any idea of making another riddle, but simply in her good-natured anxiety for the queer creature. “That wall is so very narrow!” Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There

Fifty years ago a serious discussion focused on the future of the “social sciences” collectively might have sounded at best like self-reflexive narcissism or simply a waste of time. At worst it might have seemed merely absurd. That is not to say that there were not significant disagreements within and across the social science disciplines. There was, however, a widely held consensus on the intellectual and institutional organization of knowledge that recognized boundaries among the humanities, the social sciences and the sciences, and the singular disciplines of which they were composed.The exposition that follows will begin with a sketch of the historical construction of this relational structure, both constitutive of and constituted by material reality, which left open the possibility for theoretical and methodological innovation and substantive development but at the same time disciplined the trajectory of such developments.This sketch will be followed by an overview of how the upheavals of the 1960’s dramatically foregrounded the premises of disciplinary autonomy (indeed, that had never been totally devoid of controversy). As the foundational principles of theoretical approaches, methodological practices, and proprietary subject-matters underwent radical change and race, gender, and class constraints on the make-up of faculties and student-bodies were opened up through a combination of critical reflection and direct action, questions concerning the future intellectual and institutional centers for the production of legitimate and authoritative knowledge of human reality emerged dramatically.Finally, the crisis in the long-term evolution of the internal contradictions of the “two cultures” structure of knowledge and thus also of the social sciences suggests imminent structural transformation. No outcome is predetermined for the organization of future knowledge forms and their institutional organization, but elective agency will be a vital ingredient in their construction and in imagining the possible alternative social structures of which they will be an inseparable part. The last question to be addressed, then, concerns the modes of scholarly participation in this transition.     

The rise and fall of normative control

Widely-publicized breaches of professional norms among accountants in the United States have kindled their interest in the problem of norms and normative control. This article discusses the current literature on norms. It suggests that normative control, which is always problematic, is especially so when agents are subject to the control of two or more principals having divergent interests. It is argued that the agent’s compliance will tend to flow to that principal upon whom the agent is most dependent. The analysis is illustrated by the case of the rise and fall of the Arthur Andersen accounting firm.     

The rise and fall of William Bassett Chinnery

The purpose of this article is to explain how William Bassett Chinnery, who was appointed Agent for New South Wales on 1 May 1787, was enabled to embezzle more than £80,000 of Treasury funds prior to his dismissal on 17 March 1812. In this chronicle attention is concentrated on Chinnery's duties and peculation rather than his private life and his love of music which has been exposed elsewhere ( Yim, 2004 ). Attention is paid to accounting and control systems used at the British Treasury and the function and operation of the Audit Office which was established in 1785. In conclusion, it is argued that Chinnery was able to avoid detection because contemporary charge and discharge reporting, cash control and auditing were inadequate.     

The rise and fall of Heilig–Meyers

This two-part instructional case examines an auditor’s reporting decision in a complex, actual situation and the auditor’s liability to shareholders under US federal securities laws. Part One of the case describes the history and operations of furniture retailer Heilig–Meyers. Students use information from Heilig–Meyers’ fiscal 2000 annual report to decide whether the auditors should have expressed substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Part Two describes a shareholder lawsuit accusing Heilig–Meyers’ auditors of violating Rule 10(b)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Students evaluate the plaintiffs’ charges and the defenses the auditors used to have most of the complaint dismissed.     

The rise and fall of technical trading rule success

The purpose of this paper is to examine the performance of an important set of momentum-based technical trading rules (TTRs) applied to all members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) stock index over the period 1928–2012. Using a set of econometric models that permit time-variation in risk-adjusted returns to TTR portfolios, the results reveal that profits evolve slowly over time, are confined to particular episodes primarily from the mid-1960s to mid-1980s, and rely on the ability of investors to short-sell stocks. These findings are demonstrated to be consistent with theoretical models that predict a relationship between TTR performance and market conditions.     

The rise and coming fall of international accounting research

This paper examines international accounting research (IAR) as a historically constituted discursive formation and argues for the post-colonial moment as its condition of possibility. The post-colonial moment is specified as comprising three aspects: decolonization, the Cold War and the Development doctrine. The latter entailed a political program to fashion a commodity-intensive world, subtended by the economic subject. The post-colonial moment also triggers a reorganization of the social sciences into policy sciences to which IAR belongs. By examining key topics in IAR such as economic development, culture, corporate capitalism, and harmonization in the context of its conditions of production, the paper conjectures the likely end of IAR.     

The rise and fall of the Big Society in the UK

This article assesses the role of the Big Society within the complex pattern of UK service provision. It is argued that the relevance of the Big Society was transient and it has had little impact on practice. Reasons for this are located within the complexity of relationships between public, private and third sectors. Such complexity is a permanent feature of contemporary service provision in which the moment of the Big Society has now passed.     

Ten years after: The rise and fall of managerial autonomy in Pompeii

In September 1997, an ad hoc law (Law no. 352/1997) gave the archaeological site of Pompeii a new status. Its previous status as a local branch of the Ministry of Culture (the Soprintendenza) was reconfigured as an autonomous entity (Soprintendenza autonoma). In July 2008, the Italian Prime Minister declared a one year state of emergency in Pompeii, appointing a special Commissioner (Commissario straordinario) in order to cope with “the serious critical situation of the archeological area” (OPCM 3692/2008). The aim of the paper is to review the process of change in Pompeii over ten years, observing major institutional transformations and analyzing the evolution of activities and human and financial resources management. Beyond the substantive elements of interest (the mis-management of one of the most important archaeological sites in the world), the paper sheds lights on the role of accountability in the cultural sector and on the distinctive features of Italian public administration, questioning the existence of a path of international convergence in public sector change.     

The rise and fall of portfolio pumping among U.S. mutual funds

This study examines how increased regulatory attention to portfolio pumping affects the trading behavior of U.S. mutual funds. Attention by regulators should increase the likelihood of fines and reputational damage, raising the cost of such last-minute price manipulation. Consistent with this assertion, we find that last-minute price spikes in aggregate fund indices, in fund holdings and in institutional trading around quarter-ends declined, the declines are largest around year-ends, for small-cap and better-performing funds, and occurred faster for funds headquartered near SEC regional offices. These findings suggest that increased regulatory attention reduced portfolio pumping by U.S. mutual funds.     

The rise of robots and the fall of cost stickiness: Evidence from Chinese manufacturers

Industrial robots are increasingly used to perform tasks traditionally assigned to humans. Using a sample of Chinese manufacturers, we examine the impact of robot adoption on firm cost stickiness. We find that robot adoption is associated with less sticky costs. The negative impact of robot adoption on cost stickiness is particularly meaningful for state-owned enterprises and firms with higher labour costs, and becomes significantly stronger after the enactment of China's Labour Contract Law, which significantly increases labour adjustment costs. These findings are consistent with the conjecture that the adoption of robots allows firms to reduce their overall labour adjustment costs.     

The rise and rise of the share premium account

Share premiums now constitute a substantial proportion of UK company equity but rarely featured on nineteenth century company balance sheets. This paper discusses when and why this changed and why the definition of the share premium account as company capital took nearly a century to reach the statute books. From 1855 to 1948 any surplus above par on issued shares could be treated at the directors' discretion, including appropriation for the payment of dividends. This freedom was removed in the Companies Act 1948 (s. 56), after the Cohen Committee recommended that share premiums should normally be treated as share capital and employed in a very limited range of transactions. The paper outlines the accounting and legal history of the share premium account and argues that the growth of share premiums was due to a tax avoidance loophole, open from 1889 to 1973, which permanently changed company practice on share issues after 1920. The effect of legal restrictions on the use of the share premium account is also addressed. One possible future consequence of the loss of economic significance of the nominal value of a share is the total abolition of both this and the share premium account by adoption of no par value (npv) shares, a change which has recently been adopted in Australia and is again under consideration in the UK.     

且看资产证券化如何从创新到退化

资产证券化的引进及证券化历经20多年演变,毫无疑问,作为一个创新性的产品,它对消费者和金融机构产生了深远的影响,而且它将继续存在下去。但是,我们必须建立更多和更好的监管方法,以确保其初创的模型和部分创新产品恢复到它本应提供的能量和价值。市场将重新定位,消费者将受益,而资产证券化也能成为在银行历史上最有价值的产品和金融工具而重新获得它合法的地位.     

Requiem for a market: an analysis of the rise and fall of a financial futures contract

Futures contracts often include a variety of delivery optionsthat allow participants flexibility in satisfying the contract.These options have the potential to broaden the appeal of thecontact. However, if these options are valuable, they may reducethe hedging effectiveness of the contract. This article analyzesthe GNMA CDR futures contract that appears to have failed becauseof flaws in the contract's design. For the first 6 years followingits introduction, the contract attracted significant and increasingvolume, but, subsequently, the volume declined to almost zero.Over the years during which the volume experienced its mostdramatic decline, the Treasury-bond futures contract provideda better hedge for current coupon GNMA securities than did theGNMA CDR futures contract. And, over this same period, the valueof the quality option embedded in the contract often exceeded5 percent of the futures price and reached a level of 19 percentat one point. We interpret the evidence to indicate that thecontract failed because the delivery options reduced the hedgingeffectiveness of the contract for current coupon mortgage securities.     

The rise and rise of IFRS: An examination of IFRS diffusion

We seek to understand the ever-increasing push towards the international harmonization of accounting standards and particularly the inexorable rise of standards produced by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). While the primary justifications for the increasing recognition given to these standards (IFRS) are economic, we question whether the empirical evidence to date has yielded convincing support for these arguments. We therefore offer an alternative explanation for the origin and diffusion of IFRS that incorporates social and political factors. Outsourcing the manufacture of accounting standards to a single private agency appears to be a rational, lower cost option – lowering both economic and political costs for individual states as long as they continue to retain residual decision rights with respect to the adoption of IFRS. However, such outsourcing must also be perceived to be legitimate. IFRS confer institutionalized legitimacy because they possess three characteristics required of a technology for global governance. These are sponsorship by powerful interest groups/regulators, internationality and plasticity. We therefore conclude that the widespread diffusion today of IFRS can at best be only partially explained as an economically rational phenomenon. Rather, the demand for legitimate action in the face of tightly coupled and complex global markets is at least equally important in generating support for IFRS.     

The harder they fall

The past decade may well be remembered as the era of the high-flying, aggressive leader. Corner-office titans like Kenneth Lay, Dennis Kozlowski, and Bernard Ebbers graced the covers of business magazines. They captured the public's fascination with their bold business moves and charismatic sound bites. Then scandal set in, and the stars fell to earth. In this article, social psychologist Roderick M. Kramer asks an important question: Why do so many leaders--not just in business, but also in politics, religion, and the media--display remarkable adeptness and ability while courting power, only to engage in even more remarkable bouts of folly once that power has been secured? Kramer, who has spent most of his career researching how leaders get to the top, says there is something about the process of becoming a leader that changes people in profound ways. The systems through which we select our leaders force executives to sacrifice the attitudes and behaviors that are essential to their survival once they have reached the top. Society has learned to consider risk taking and rule breaking as markers of good leadership. As a result, CEOs and other leaders lack the modesty and prudence needed to cope with the rewards and trappings of power. They come to believe that normal limits don't apply to them and that they are entitled to any spoils they can seize. The leaders who do remain grounded--who get to the top and stay there--exhibit five common psychological and behavioral habits: They simplify their lives, remaining humble and "awfully ordinary." They shine a light on their weaknesses instead of trying to cover them up. They float trial balloons to uncover the truth and prepare for the unexpected. They sweat the small stuff. And they reflect more, not less.     

资本英雄芬克之崛起

资本市场需要大英雄。基金管理公司黑岩的第一把手劳伦斯·芬克(LarryFink)已经成为华尔街的第一大英雄或是说新霸主     

The global rise of corporate saving

The sectoral composition of global saving changed dramatically during the last three decades. Whereas in the early 1980s most of global investment was funded by household saving, nowadays nearly two-thirds of global investment is funded by corporate saving. This shift in the sectoral composition of saving was not accompanied by changes in the sectoral composition of investment, implying an improvement in the corporate net lending position. We characterize the behavior of corporate saving using both national income accounts and firm-level data and clarify its relationship with the global decline in labor share, the accumulation of corporate cash stocks, and the greater propensity for equity buybacks. We develop a general equilibrium model with product and capital market imperfections to explore quantitatively the determination of the flow of funds across sectors. Changes including declines in the real interest rate, the price of investment, and corporate income taxes generate increases in corporate profits and shifts in the supply of sectoral saving that are of similar magnitude to those observed in the data.