An Empirical Analysis on the Dissimilation of Independent Audit Relationship

Under the situation where the ownership is split up, existing shareholders might occupy potential shareholders＇ interests, and similarly, controlling shareholders might occupy the interests of minority shareholders. This is called interests entrenchment effect, which leads to the dissimilation of independent audit relationship. That is to say, existing shareholders and controlling shareholders have the probabilities to utilize auditing commission to manipulate audit opinions with the purpose of interests entrenchment, which forces auditors who should be independent ＂third party＂ to become audit clients or accessories of ＂interests coupling between audit clients and auditees＂. According to the argument above, this paper proposes the owners＇ interests entrenchment hypotheses. It also proves that existing shareholders occupy potential shareholders＇ interests, and controlling shareholders occupy minority shareholders＇ interests on the basis of the data of A-share companies in Shenzhen and Shanghai Exchanges.     

Are Mainstream and Heterodox Economists Different? An Empirical Analysis

We explore the differences between mainstream and heterodox economists based on the responses to a questionnaire from a representative sample of Italian economists. Using different definitions for mainstream and heterodox economics, we compare the individual and academic characteristics of the economists belonging to these groups. We measure the within and between disagreement for each group and we test whether belonging to one or the other group predicts differences in economists' opinions on economic policy. Results show that: 1) mainstream and heterodox economists differ as to individual and academic characteristics and political views; 2) the disagreement within heterodox economics is lower than within mainstream economics; 3) some of commonly used ways of grouping heterodox and mainstream schools of thought have little explicative power in relation to individual opinions; 4) on critical economic policies, the opinions of heterodox and mainstream economists are significantly different even after controlling for a number of individual characteristics, including political opinions.     

What Makes a Paper Influential and Frequently Cited?

Social trends that raised the value of esoteric expertise, stimulated the creation of knowledge‐intensive firms and so created an opportunity to study some organizations that academics had overlooked. A lack of presuppositions, a useful research method, and thoughtful experts in these firms helped to uncover some surprising behaviours. The resulting paper attracted citations and may have stimulated research about knowledge as a business resource and a managerial challenge. However, the topic continues to pose questions for further research.     

What Makes a Good Mediator? Insights from a Mediation Training Program Participant

Mediation is a popular form of alternative dispute resolution for settling conflicts occurring in employment settings. Such workplace conflicts handled by mediation, for example, include discrimination, wrongful termination, as well as various labor-management issues. Defined as a structured process where a neutral third party assists the two conflicting parties in arriving at a voluntary resolution, individuals have undergone mediation training in order to become mediators. While research exists on how mediation-training programs should be structured, the purpose of this research is to determine the key attributes required to develop good mediators and whether such characteristics can be acquired through mediation-training program participation. Utilizing an autoethnographic methodology as a mediation training program participant, it was discovered that effective mediators demonstrate strong communication skills, flexibility, neutrality, composure and ethicality during the mediation process which can be attained through participation in mediation-training programs.     

How Do Outside Experts Evaluate Team Performance? An Empirical Analysis of Harris Poll Voting Behavior

How do outside experts evaluate different group performance? Using Harris Poll voter behavior for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Football Bowl Subdivision teams under the previous Bowl Championship Series (BCS) system, we created a model of voter behavior and found that team performance and team quality affect voting behavior, but not equally. We further investigated these voting differences and found that Harris Poll voters view some conferences more favorably than others. Before drawing a conclusion of discrimination, we also investigated whether differing non-conference team performance was statistically different and found supporting evidence that different conferences perform at differing levels.     

The Policy Effects of Capital Flow on Foreign Trade： An Empirical Analysis

Today, intemational capital flows faster and faster. Thus, the supervision of capital flow becomes one of the key problems need to be solved every country, and how to supervise it is the focus in theoretical circle. Especially, China is currently facing international pressure to revalue the RMB, and a large number of free foreign capitals is flowing into China. So it is much more important to supervise it. By using the theory of foreign trade, we analyze the policy effects of foreign trade in the process of capital flow, and hope that the policy of foreign trade will exert positive effects on the supervision of capital flow.     

What does a Monetary Policy Shock Do? An International Analysis with Multiple Filters*

What does a monetary policy shock do? We answer this question by estimating a new‐Keynesian monetary policy dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model for a number of economies with a variety of empirical proxies of the business cycle. The effects of two different policy shocks, an unexpected interest rate hike conditional on a constant inflation target and an unpredicted drift in the inflation target, are scrutinized. Filter‐specific Bayesian impulse responses are contrasted with those obtained by combining multiple business cycle indicators. Our results document the substantial uncertainty surrounding the estimated effects of these two policy shocks across a number of countries.     

What Makes a Good Cargo Bike Route? Perspectives from Users and Planners

Cargo bikes—bicycles made to carry both goods and people—are becoming increasingly common as an alternative to automobiles in urban areas. With a wider and heavier body, cargo bikes often face problems even in the presence of cycling infrastructure, thus limiting their possibilities of route choice. Infrastructure quality and the route choices of cyclists have been well studied, but often solely based on a quantitative approach, leading to tools such as BLOS (bicycle level of service). With various designs of cargo bikes being used for a wide range of purposes, the route choice of cargo bike users is difficult to generalize. This study combines quantitative and qualitative approaches in order to explore what is important for cargo bike users’ route choice, and how this knowledge can be effectively used for planning. Our results suggest that while some general preferences exist, route choice involves complex dynamics that cannot be fully explained by quantitative measures alone: in addition to understanding “what” is important for cargo bike users, we need to understand “why” it is important. Furthermore, route choice is also influenced by the city context, making a study tailored to the local context essential.     

Follow the Crowd or Follow the Trailblazer? The Differential Role of Firm Experience in Product Entry Decisions in the US Video Game Industry

Firms take cues from their external environment under uncertainty and imitate the actions of others. However, a firm’s own experience may either substitute for these external clues because the firm can evaluate uncertain situations more accurately, or it may complement them because the firm can act more successfully on the external cues. We argue that the type of external cues determines which of the two holds in the context of product entry decisions into market niches. If firms observe a large wave of entrants, own experience conveys more information than the imprecise signal of a mass of other firms. Conversely, if firms observe trailblazers, i.e., highly successful and influential products in a niche, own experience can help firms develop a strategy as a fast follower in a growing niche. We expect the supporting role of own experience in following trailblazers to be especially pronounced in niches that have not been discovered by a large mass of other firms. We study and test our hypotheses in the context of the US PC video game industry between 1991 and 2010 and find support for both the substitutive relationship between own experience and niche popularity and the complementary relationship of own experience and niche trailblazers. However, support for the complementary relationship is limited to less populated niches.     

What is an Accountant? An Investigation of Images

Abstract

The purpose of our paper is to identify different images of accountants held by different groups of people and to understand how the different images come about. In doing so, we focus on how accountants are perceived by others as well as how they perceive themselves. Through analysis of 1,794 usable questionnaire responses by university students, newly appointed accountants, and practicing accountants, we find an image close to the beancounter stereotype, and that of a modern professional, with the highest score for success but also for honesty. We also uncover a third image including nuances that are neither favorable nor unfavorable (the plain vanilla accountant), which suggests that the extremes found in cultural representations do not always reflect the real world. In addition, we find that the greater the distance from the profession, the less attractive the image of accountants is and that different sources of influence affect perceptions of accountants. In particular, the public perception of an accountant is less favorable when constructed from media sources. Finally, we add to the existing literature by showing that the self-image of accountants may change over time as experienced practitioners, compared to new hires, exhibit a sort of disillusionment about their professionalism.     

What motivates employees? A comparison of US and Chinese responses

Differences in culture, history, economy, and political and management systems may lead to differences in employee job attribute preferences across countries. To the extent that this is true, managers and designers of motivation systems must understand the preferences of local employees. This study provides information on the job attribute preferences of Chinese employees at a major international hotel in Shanghai. Employee preference data were compared to published results from other nations. The pattern of preferences in China was unique compared to Russia, Taiwan and the United States. Chinese employees felt that good wages were most important, followed by good working conditions and personal loyalty from the boss and organization. Interesting work was relatively unimportant, especially to older employees, and 'being in on things' was not at all important. Supervisors at the hotel also provided information on the preferences which they believed characterized their subordinates. Unlike US managers who often badly misperceive the preferences of their US subordinates, Chinese supervisors accurately reported their subordinates' preferences. Expatriates in the hotel were much less accurate in ranking local subordinate preferences. Implications for motivating and managing Chinese employees are discussed.     

Self-Dealing Among Convergence and Path-Dependency Opportunities： An Empirical Analysis of Regulatory From Six European Countries

Self-dealing refers to all kinds of transactions and operations diverting value from a company to corporate controllers. In order to tackle self-dealing, academics and regulators have emphasised the legal tools. However, there is a divergence between those supporting the existence of a benchmark model towards which to converge （convergence hypothesis） and those underscoring the importance of socio-economic factors on the efficacy of governance rules （path-dependency view）. The aim of this paper is to join in the convergence vs. path-dependency debate by focusing on the efficiency of mandatory rules and investigating their effectiveness. Considering the current market integration, the traditional cost-benefit analysis has been extended in order to embrace costs specifically associated to the issue of domestic rules in a global scenario. This analysis supports the convergence view and encourages at least a partial and gradual adjustment of national legislations towards the prevailing Anglo-Saxon model. In order to test this hypothesis, an examination of the self-dealing regulatory （on conflict of interests and self-dealing） adopted in some Western （Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom （UK）） and Eastern （Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland） European countries has been conducted.     

What is it going to cost? Empirical evidence from a systematic literature review of audit fee determinants

Management Review Quarterly - The audit market is subject to ongoing regulation to ensure or improve the quality of audit services. For this reason, international research on the audit market is...     

Excess capacity: a permanent characteristic of US airlines?

This paper examines the permanence of excess capacity in the US airline industry. To avoid the problems with the standard engineering measure of capacity utilization, load factor, we define and measure capacity as an economic concept. Two measures of economic capacity utilization are then computed—one, a demand-based measure and the other an output-based measure of capacity utilization. Both measures share little in common with the standard engineering measure (load factor) and reveal some interesting attributes of airline travel demand. This paper also provides interesting new insights into the role of deregulation and the costs of excess capacity during regulation. Specifically, it is found that deregulation with the concomitant rationalization of route structures enabled airlines to move closer to their optimal levels of capacity and facilitated substantial improvements in capacity utilization and cost reductions over the period considered. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Are Agricultural PACs Monolithic? An Empirical Investigation of Political Contributions from Agricultural Subsectors

This article analyzes donation strategies of agricultural PACs by examining and testing a variety of variables theoretically related to contributions and formally testing for equivalence of donation strategies across PACs of varying levels of aggregation. Both chambers of the 108^th Congress were modeled, with particular attention paid to the targeting of different power or influence sources within the legislature. Results showed significant heterogeneity across PAC subaggregates within a chamber, as well as between chambers, in terms of overall strategy and magnitude of marginal impacts. Evidence supporting the conditional party government hypothesis was mixed and subindustry specific, with chairmanships apparently less important in the Senate than in the House.     

Are hospitals producing quality care efficiently? An analysis using Dynamic Network Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)

This paper examines efficiency of producing quality in hospitals between 2009 and 2013 using Dynamic Network Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the hospital characteristics that contribute to this efficiency. Dynamic Network DEA was used to compute efficiency scores for hospital sub-divisions i.e. medical/surgical care (patient visits, surgeries and discharges) and quality. Pearson's correlation test was performed to assess if there are trade-offs or synergies between the efficiency of producing quality and efficiency of producing medical/surgical care. Multinomial logistic regression was performed to determine hospital and market characteristics that contribute to efficiency in production of quality outputs. Efficiency of quality production improved significantly between 2009 and 2013 with no trade-off between efficiency of producing quality outputs and efficiency of producing medical care. Urban and teaching hospitals were less likely to improve efficiency of quality production.     

Cooperation for Publication? An Analysis of Co-authorship Patterns in Leading Accounting Journals

This paper examines patterns, antecedents, and effects of (international) cooperation in accounting academia based on 7105 papers published in 15 leading accounting journals. In particular, we investigate the dissemination of different forms of cooperation, identify author characteristics that are related to the propensity of cooperation and analyze whether cooperation is associated with research performance (in terms of research impact and output). We find that scholars from Asian countries tend to be more heavily involved in international cooperation than researchers from most European countries and the USA. A Ph.D. from a leading school, a scholar's previous publication experience and a past appointment as editor or editorial board member are positively associated with the propensity for cooperation, while a researcher's current affiliation has only limited impact. Surprisingly, our findings show that cooperation is not related to a greater research impact as measured by citation numbers per paper. Finally, we find a significant negative relationship between a scholar's share of co-authored papers and his or her research output in leading accounting journals as measured by the weighted numbers of papers per author.     

The effect of oil supply shocks on US economic activity: What have we learned?

Estimated responses of real oil prices and US gross domestic product (GDP) to oil supply disruptions vary widely. We show that most variation is attributable to differences in identification assumptions and in the model specification. Models that allow for a large short-run price elasticity of oil supply imply a larger response of oil prices and a larger, longer lived contraction in US real GDP. We find that, if we condition on a range of supply elasticity values supported by microeconomic estimates, the differences in the oil price responses diminishes. We also examine the role of lag length, of using pre-1973 data, alternative measures of real economic activity and using the median response function instead of the modal structural model.