Distance Education

ABSTRACT

This article examines management of accountancy education in Zambia and Zimbabwe, two countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Both programs are collaborative efforts to manage the link between the accounting profession, governments of emerging economies and in-country postgraduate training facilities. Both programs are designed to promote the study of accounting at a level recognized by the international accountancy profession.

The programs are being developed in the context of World Bank research, which confirms linkage between economic growth and an appropriately trained accounting profession, and recognizes the need for economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Six principal program characteristics are examined: the challenge facing the accountancy profession in Sub-Saharan Africa; funding sources; details of the programs; delivery of the programs; program costs, and graduation outcomes. This article reports on the struggle faced by the accounting profession in emerging economies to make the managers of the global accountancy profession, donor agencies, and multinational commercial enterprises aware of this aspect of the developing SSA market.     

Reglementierte Berufe: Wettbewerbsindikatoren der EU-Kommission auf dem Prüfstand

The European Commission — in line with its mandate given by the member states — places an emphasis on the enhancement of the internal market for services. One area of focus is the specific regulation of the so-called regulated professions. According to the EU Commission, restrictive professional regulation such as mandatory qualification requirements could hinder the internal market for services. Whilst the Commission does not urge for the abolition of all regulation concerning the area of profession, it does call for a stronger harmonisation. To identify appropriate and inappropriate regulatory approaches in the member states and further need for reforms, the Commission uses economic indicators. This article shows by the sample of the regulated architecture profession which difficulties may be associated with this approach.     

实践教育体制下财经类专业人才评价体系研究

经济和信息的全球化,给我国经济快速发展带来了新的机遇,同时也给我国财经类人才培养带来了全新的挑战。财经类专业作为应用型和实践性很强的专业,应侧重于高层次、应用型经济管理类人才的培养。在实践教育体制下,构建财经类专业人才培养评级体系必须突破现行评估体系结构性问题限制。高校应加快推进教育改革,优化人才评价方式,更新人才评价内容,扩大人才评价主体,建立科学的评价过程,使学生的知识、实践能力和综合素质满足经济社会发展需求。     

湖北省能源消费与经济增长的关系研究

能源是经济和社会发展的重要物质基础,和经济发展息息相关。文章对湖北省能源消费的现状和特点进行分析,然后利用湖北省1980-2010年的年度数据对湖北省能源消费和经济增长之间的关系进行检验。研究结果显示,湖北省能源消费与经济增长之间存在长期稳定的关系,但不存在因果关系。通过对湖北省能源消费弹性系数的测算,发现湖北省能源弹性系数较高,能源利用率有待提高。     

独立学院非会计学专业会计学课程教学改革的研究

为适应社会经济的发展需求,会计学课程已成为各独立学院经管类非会计专业学生的必修课程。但非会计专业的会计学课程作为专业基础课设置,其课程存在着教学目标不明确、教学内容不合理、教学方法不适当、考核方式单一等问题。基于独立学院以培养专业的应用型和复合型人才为目标的特点,应完善非会计专业会计教学目标定位、教学内容设计及考核方式等,让学生既学到有关会计知识,又培养学生应用会计信息分析、解决问题的能力。     

我国科技中介组织管理模式的定位及对策建议

通过对我国科技中介组织管理模式发展历程的分析,根据新时期对科技中介组织发展的方向和特点．运用“选择棒”的分析方法对我国科技中介组织管理模式进行了重新定位,指出应采取以行业协会为主体、政府综合经济管理部门进行宏观调控的行业自律管理模式．并提出了相应的对策建议。     

德国专业化创业服务对我国的若干启示——以柏林经济技术促进机构柏林伙伴组织（BPBT）为例

柏林经济技术促进机构柏林伙伴组织是德国创业服务平台的成功典范,通过提供选址、创新、金融、人才以及国际化发展等专业化服务,加速企业创立、创新和壮大的过程,促进了柏林经济社会的发展。通过文献梳理,提炼其成功经验,提出要将专业化服务本身视作一种创新和创业,专业化服务应体现强大的战略判断能力、专注度和预见性,持续链接更广阔和更高价值的资源,形成更具普遍性的创业文化等若干观点。     

Ethics and the accountant

Every profession requires special knowledge and skills, and each professional is expected to possess certain essential personal qualities. Likewise, in the accounting profession, accountancy students need to possess certain essential personal qualities that their employers look for. The growing concern over the ethics of professionals makes it important consider the perceptions of the public, students, and accountants of the values of accounts in the working world.A questionnaire was given to a sample population of 500 which included the public, accounting students, and accountants. The questionnaire was designed to examine the personal qualities of accountants. From this study, the perceptions of the personal qualities of accountants are that accounts should be ethical and have integrity. These perceptions reflect the importance of ethics in the accounting profession. On other qualities, the public differ in perception from that of the students and accountants.James Poon Teng Fatt is a lecturer in Business Communication in the School of Accountancy and Business, Nanyang Technological University. His areas of research and interest are accounting education, entrepreneurship, and English for specific purposes.     

Integrating lifecycle asset management in the public sector

Lifecycle management of assets is essential for cost-effective maintenance and long-term economic viability. Properly maintained infrastructure provides significant economic advantages. Neglecting maintenance leads to lower productivity and imposes costs on users. Furthermore, delayed maintenance significantly increases total costs associated with repair or replacement. Lifecycle asset management should be used in the public sector to manage large-scale assets such as transportation infrastructure in a cost-effective manner. Yet, state governments have had little incentive to provide proactive maintenance. To address the infrastructure capital investment backlog, particularly acute in transportation, government priorities need to be coupled with long-term economic accountability. In addition, funding and financial reporting mechanisms should be created to ensure effective and efficient lifecycle asset management decisions. Public-private partnerships (PPP) also need to be fostered to help address regional deficiencies in infrastructure.     

实施节约优先的国家能源战略

改革开放后的二十多年,我国在提高经济效益方面取得了令人瞩目的成绩,但同时,高耗能产业快速成长,居民消费结构升级以及高耗能产品、低效能生产能力淘汰迟缓,使能源消费总量快速扩张,导致能源、资源的对外依存度迅速上升,生产要素低价格政策和环境监管不到位又提供了一种资源依赖型发展环境,这使我国站在了一个发展的十字路口。节约能源必须发展清洁能源,使能源结构得到改善和升级;要通过法律约束、政策导向和经济激励等手段,推动大范围采用节能装备、节能建筑和节能产品,进而发展循环经济,提高能源的转换效率。改善产业结构和提高能源效率,必须使各市场主体的行为主要受经济力量的驱动,使政府的政策包括价格、技术标准、政策法规、经济激励等措施通过市场起作用,并着重建立全社会的节能环保机制。     

独立学院国贸专业拓展服务贸易方向探讨

随着我国对外贸易增长方式的转变和服务贸易人才需求的增长,服务贸易人才培养正在成为独立学院国贸专业建设的紧迫问题。但长期以来国贸专业课程体系设置以“货物贸易”为中心,服务贸易课程呈现“空白”状况。无法适应我国服务贸易发展的需求。对独立学院创立国际服务贸易专业的学科基础与依据进行阐述,从人才培养机制改革、国家中长期教育规划安排、加入WTO后我国经济环境变化和我国贸易增长方式转变等角度论述了独立学院培养服务贸易人才的趋势及机理,并对拓展服务贸易方向的课程体系、师资队伍、实习基地和学生就业渠道等问题提出了对策思路。     

论商务文化对国贸专业英语教学的影响 ——以高职院校为例

伴随经济全球化进程加深,国际贸易的发展跌宕起伏,亟待重新整合社会需求,培养更具商务文化意识的复合型国贸人才。以高职院校为例,从国贸专业英语教学的理论与实践切入,发掘商务文化的内涵,思考商务文化嵌入对英语教学的影响。语言教学需以传授语言文化背景为基础不断深化学生对语言结构形式的语用能力,国贸专业英语教学则应建构以商务文化为框架的丰富化、高效化、交际式、品质化教学模式。商务文化对国贸专业英语教学发挥基础性、多元化的作用,自觉树立商务文化意识、处理商务交际障碍、辩证把握母语文化与目的语文化关系是促进教学成果、提升学习效率、灵活商务交际、对标能力素质的必由之路。     

能源强度与经济增长相互制约关系分析

以我国1985-2008年的相关数据为样本,利用动力学系统均衡理论分析能源强度与经济增长的相互制约关系,实证结果表明人均GDP增长率7.5%和能源强度下降率4.2%的规划目标切实可行,但能源强度下降对经济增长的负向作用不容忽视,如果经济增长仍保持更高速增长,则进一步降低能源强度将更为困难;人力资本效率增长依赖于经济增长,加大人力资本投资有助于降低能源强度,但效果不明显,可行的降耗途径在于技术进步。因此,能源强度下降程度应以技术进步相适应,产业结构调整和市场化有利于促进技术进步。     

劳动力资源比较优势与能源安全的关系研究——基于未来的视角,而非现实的利益

廉价的劳动力资源成为改革开放以来中国经济持续增长的要素禀赋之一,这是学界的共识。经验观察证实,劳动力资源比较优势利用的另一方面,则是在它促进中国制造业和工业化快速发展的同时而产生的有限能源的大量消耗问题,这已经危及中国的能源安全。要兼顾劳动力资源比较优势和能源安全,必须反思地大物博的传统思想,吸取有关国家能源储备和利用的经验,制定能源新战略;在引用外资项目和新建项目时,将现实利益和长远利益结合起来,提高技术门槛,实现产业结构优化和升级,并将劳动力资源转化为人才资本。     

高校科技成果转化对服务社会经济的调研思考——以天津为例

实施高校科技成果转化对服务社会经济具有重要的战略意义。通过对天津市高校科技成果转化来服务社会经济的调研显示:目前,天津已处于科技创新引领为主的阶段,为进一步加快其发展创造了有利条件,但还存在部分高校成果转化率较低、思想保守、高校科研人员与企业之间缺乏信任感、资金和抗风险能力不足、信息不对称等问题。我国政府应加快理顺高校人才培养与市场需求的关系,充分把握产学研结合的关键,大力培养各类技术人才,提高业务素质,满足企业利益,从而促进我国高校科技成果转化机制的创新。     

外推型预期公式的检验与评价

经济学中的很多变量需要预测,其中的一个方法是运用外推型预期公式。由于外推型预期公式有 其自身特点和规律,即趋势值的选择是影响预测效果的一个主要变量,因此使用该公式进行经济预测时, 短期预测应选择较小的趋势值,长期预测应选取中间的趋势值。     

The economic system and economic development

An increasing number of voices have recently been claiming that an economic system based more strongly on the market should be introduced in Third World countries for reasons of efficiency. What conditions need to be met in the developing countries for this to be possible? What specific measures should be taken?     

提升经济国际化水平的难点与对策——基于江苏省发展实践的分析思考

江苏省实施经济国际化战略取得长足进展的同时,面临着速度增长与效益提高不同步、资源要素供求保障的矛盾突出、流通与服务业发展相对滞后、区域内部经济国际化发展不协调、自有品牌培育进展不快、贸易摩擦压力趋大等新的问题和挑战。应对这些问题,要针对其原因采取相应的对策,要以科学发展观为指导建立新的经济国际化指标评价体系,健全体制,通过加快产业升级、自主创新、培育品牌等转换经济增长方式,健全和完善全面转型升级的促进体系,进一步提高应对国际经济摩擦的能力,通过多种形式培养提升经济国际化水平所需要的人才。     

Measuring Effects of Trade Policy Distortions: How Far Have We Come?

After a brief review of the literature to the early 1970s, this paper assesses the contributions by economists during the past three decades to measuring the distortionary effects of trade policies. It does not pretend to be a comprehensive survey, but draws on selections from the literature that give a sense of the distance the profession has travelled from a trade policy practitioner's viewpoint since Corden's first paper on the subject in 1957. Phenomenal though that progress has been, there is ample room for further improvement in computing the economic (and other) effects of trade‐related policies and their reform. The paper concludes with suggestions of where the priorities should be in global modelling of trade policy reform, as the world moves into the next round of multilateral trade negotiations.     

Independence,Conflict of Interest and the Actuarial Profession

The actuarial profession has a long history of providing critical expertise to society. The services delivered are some of the most complex and mysterious to outsiders of all professions but little has been written about the professional responsibilities of actuaries in the academic literature beyond that of the profession itself. This paper makes the case that the issues surrounding professional independence of actuaries are, in principle, similar to those that faced the audit profession before the scandals and resultant regulatory changes early this century. It is argued that, despite the position taken by the actuarial profession and management, the status quo raises genuine concerns about conflicts of interest and independence and that the risks that arise are of sufficient magnitude that they should at least be the subject of a full debate.