Financial Market of Montenegro： Evidence of Crisis and Beyond

The financial sector has played a small role in the restructuring of the manufacturing sector in transition economies, and in some cases, financial liberalization may have undermined real sector development. However, stable and stimulating business environment is crucial for economic development. The aim of this paper is to show the main changes that have been implemented in Montenegro so far, and guidelines for changes in the financial market in Montenegro, for further harmonization in accordance with the requirements of European Union （EU） accession. Also, the ability of governments of transition economies to enforce contracts and to achieve fiscal and monetary responsibility is of great importance for economic and financial development. By adopting the new Constitution of Montenegro, in the field of regulation of the financial system, there have been significant changes, recognizing the Central Bank as an institution responsible for financial stability. The authors will give a review of the actual state of the financial market in Montenegro, as well as recommendations for further changes in order to create a favorable climate for entrepreneurship and to strengthen the overall financial system.     

Simulation Models for Evaluation and Selection of Depreciation Policy for Agricultural Companies in the Republic of Bulgaria

In the present paper, the results from research on the influence of criteria （factors） such as depreciation method, materiality threshold, and inflation rate on the selection of depreciation policy are shown. The research has been carried out with the help of specifically devised simulation models. The simulation is realized in accounting for the unevenness of money in time and the profitability of the company, the tax rates for corporate tax, and the inflation rate. The models have been devised after analyzing methodology issues, related to depreciation policy and investigating current practices in its implementation in specific agricultural companies in present-day Bulgaria. It has been determined that there is a clear-cut relation between the profitability of the companies and the materiality threshold and depreciation method chosen. The main conclusion is that when the companies develop their depreciation policy, at ceteris paribus they should select higher materiality thresholds and diminishing balance depreciation methods due to the inequality of money in time, the acceleration of obsolescence, and the inflation processes.     

Board independence, ownership structure, audit quality and income smoothing activities： A study on Malaysian market

The 1997 economic crisis faced by many East Asian economies has generated a substantial amount of debate largely focused on issues such as the roles and functions of good corporate governance （CG）. Lack of transparency has been singled out as the major culprit of the crisis and it has been alleged to cause management to indulge themselves in unhealthy activities such as income smoothing （IS） act. The paper extends Nasuhiyah, Hian, Sob and WEI （1994） by incorporating contextual variables that proxy for CG, ownership structure and audit quality. The empirical analysis is conducted on a sample of Bursa Malaysia listed companies for a period between 1991 and 2000. The main intention of taking this time span is to observe to what extend has previous business operations inculcated the feature of CG in the running of their companies＇ activities despite not being obligatory for them to uphold. The results showed that the existence of non-executive directors and the presence of brand name auditors to be significant in hindering the management from indulging in IS. The study opens the way for a richer understanding of the links among CG, ownership structure, audit quality and IS in Malaysia.     

An Exploratory Study on Value Relevance of Sustainable Growth Rate—— Evidences from Chinese and American Listed Companies

Based on relevant researches, it can be said that it is a development of valuation perspective to determine sustainable growth rate （SGR） as an accounting variable for study on value relevance. The author selects samples from Chinese and American listed companies. The finding includes： the SGR of Chinese listed companies has value relevance and SGR is more significant than EPS, BV and EVA; the SGR of American listed companies does not have value relevance, with possible reason of timeliness of data that are selected after 2001, and the most significance of EVA.     

A Panel Data Analysis of Corporate Attributes and Stock Prices for Indian Manufacturing Sector

Stock prices have always been considered as unpredictable phenomena due to their dynamic patterns. Identifying the forces that contribute to variations of stock prices is probably one of the most researched areas in finance. This study relates stock prices to the stock volatility （measured by beta） and to corporate attributes, i.e., size, liquidity, profits, leverage, and returns. The study is based on manufacturing sector in India, and it is based on a sample of 3,027 manufacturing companies during the periods from 1991-1992 to 2006-2007 collected from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy （CMIE） database. The regressions were performed with the dummies for time effect and firm effect separately and then for both effects together. Panel data models have been used to estimate the stock prices equation. The model finds out fixed and random effects between independent and explanatory variables and analyzes them through Hausman test. The paper also studies multicollineairity that may exist amongst the selected variables. The study shows that volatility （represented by Beta）, profit （represented by earnings per share （EPS））, and size （represented by market capitalization （MCAP）） significantly influence the stock prices （at the level of 5%）. Panel data analysis using Hausman test supports the fixed effect model.     

The Role of Accountants in Decision-Making in Lebanese Firms

The issue of accountants＇ role in decision-making has been the center of attention of lots of studies in the last decade but never did it get the adequate coverage in Lebanon. This paper studies to what extent accountants are involved in the managerial decision-making in Lebanon. Two hundred experienced accountants from all over the country were randomly selected for a questionnaire survey. This survey provides evidence as to what factors contribute to the variance of influence accountants have in managerial decision-making. The results from the questionnaires varied, but we conclude that accountants＇ involvement in new product development （NPD）, the skills that accountants have, their role in the financial analysis of the firm, and how much the finn they work for encourages them to advice on business decisions affect the degree of contribution an accountant has to decision-making. The findings of this research could be used as a reference to help in understanding the role of accounting in Lebanon by various finns and organizations.     

The Terminal Value （TV） Performing in Firm Valuation： The Gap of Literature and Research Agenda

The uncertainty about the future of firms must be modeled and incorporated in the valuation of enterprises outside the explicit period of analysis, i.e., in the continuing or terminal value （TV）. There is a multiplicity of factors that influence the TV of firms which are not being considered within current evaluation models. This aspect leads to the incurring of unrecoverable errors, thus leading to values of goodwill or bad will far away from the substantial value of intrinsic assets. As a consequence, the evaluation results will be presented markedly different from market values. There is no consensus in the scientific community about the method of computation of the TV as a forecast in an infinite horizon. The size of the terminal, or non-explicit period, assumed as infinite, is never called into question by scientific literature, or the probability of business bankruptcy. This paper aims to promote a study of the existing literature on the TV, to highlight the fragility of the evaluation models of companies that have been used by the academic community and by financial analysts, and to point out lines for future research to minimize these errors.     

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises （SMEs） in Personal Services

Entrepreneurship has become an attribute of the current growth without business activities. Entrepreneurship is a global world. It is not possible to think about economic driving force of technological development and scientific research. It materializes knowledge and involvement of people and society. Expansion of business activities is a source of individual country＇s economic performance. It contributes to the development of people＇s living standards. In every market economy, it represents an irreplaceable role for small and medium-sized enterprises （SMEs）. A strong representation of＂micro-enterprises＂ can be found in the field of personal services. Companies within the course of their existence go through particular stages of their development--from their foundation through the stage of steady development. After this stage, there comes their decline that can develop even into their termination. We indicate this process as a company life cycle. The aim of the submitted project is to map the life cycle of particularly chosen companies providing accommodation and catering services and to find a mutual relation among observed quantities and their stable economic positions in the market. The analysis is based on the data of macro-economic character, the data about development of receipts in the sector, development of inflation, tempo of economic growth, and development of consumer prices. Out of a company, non-financial factors will also be considered. The core of the analysis is the stage of sustainable stability of the assessed companies. The point of the findings is revelation of the causes of risks of possible transition into the stage of termination due to the decline of services volume, decline of profitability, and long-lasting payment insolvency. The contribution of the project is to draw our attention to possible risks of critical situation development and to propose how to avoid them so that the company will not occur in financial straits. Achieved information could assist the company managem     

Impact of mergers on the corporate performance of acquirer and target companies in India

Mergers and acquisitions become the major force in the changing environment. The policy of liberalization, decontrol and globalization of the economy has exposed the corporate sector to domestic and global competition. It is true that there is little scope for companies to learn from their past experience. Therefore, to determine the success of a merger, it is to be ascertained if there is financial gain from mergers. It is very important to study the liquidity performance of those companies to test whether those companies have sufficient liquid assets to meet its current obligations. The present study is limited to a sample of companies which underwent merger in the same industry during the period of 2002-2005 listed in one of the Indian stock exchange namely Bombay Stock Exchange. It is proposed to compare the liquidity performance of the thirteen sample acquirer and target companies before and after the period of mergers by using ratio analysis and t-test during the study period of three years. The study found that the shareholders of the acquirer companies increased their liquidity performance after the merger event.     

Positional statement of companies＇ corporate governance rating reports： Evidence from Turkey

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development （OECD） defines corporate governance as, ＂the way in which boards oversee the running of a company by its managers, and how board members are in turn accountable to shareholders and the company.＂ In recent years the issue of corporate governance and committees related to it and their impacts on corporate performance have continued to gain widespread prominence in the capital market economy. Corporate Governance Rating is meant to indicate the relative level to which an organisation accepts and follows the codes and guidelines of corporate governance practices. The purpose of the paper is to examine the rating reports of 27 companies which have obtained the corporate governance rating by rating agencies. The study highlights that the ＂stakeholders＂ sections of the reports are the most powerful part of the reports whereas the ＂board of directors＂ sections are the weakest. Potential areas for improvements are also identified.     

Pressure of Competition to Listed Companies in Commodity Market and Selection of Financial Leverage

As revealed by some competition of commodities supplied foreign experts, the financial leverage has an impact on the market by different listed companies, and low financial leverage implies a competitive edge but high financial leverage is liable to fail in business operation. Viewing from such an angle, the low financial leverage is in fact a conservative financial behavior, which means a reasonable selection. Generally, Chinese listed companies prefer financing from offering equity shares, which is regarded as a reasonable selection weighing both gains and risks. However, based on an analysis of the pressure of market competition to the listed companies of various industries and how they select their own fit/ancial leverage, it is found that there is an extremely unmatched phenomenon in China＇s capital market, i.e., the keener the commodity market competition is, the higher the financial leverage of listed companies will be. Therefore, the over-financing from offering equity shares is coexisting with under-financing from offering equity shares in China＇s capital market at present, and both lead listed companies to low efficiency.     

Audit Committee Attributes on Audit Fees： The Impact of Malaysian Code of Corporate Governance （MCCG） 2007

The evolution of corporate governance has created a competitive environment among the companies to catch the attention of investor＇s confidence. This paper aims to examine the relationship between the audit committee attributes and the audit fees. Specifically, this paper aims to examine the effects of audit committee expertise （number of financial-related director＇s trainings and experience） on audit fees. The data are obtained from annual reports of the population of Bursa Malaysia listed companies for both Main and Ace markets in year 2008. The results show that audit committee size is significant and has a positive association with audit fees. However, audit committee＇s financial related training is significant and has a negative association with audit fees. These results suggest that financial training of audit committee could have an impact on the lower audit fees. However, audit committee expertise is significant and has a positive association with audit fees. This suggests that financial-related training is needed in order to enhance the expertise of audit committee members.     

Intellectual capital and value creation in the production and assembly of vehicles and auto-parts sector in Brazil： A panel data analysis

This work investigates the relationship between intellectual capital and value creation in the sector of production and assembly of vehicles and auto-parts in Brazil. Through the access of the database from the annual industrial research conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, we gathered 865 observations, from 2000 to 2006, of public and private Brazilian companies with more than 100 employees. The database allows the estimate of relevant aggregated variables such as national accounts, gross domestic product, intermediate consumption, as well as propitiates a sectorial study of business strategies and performance, including value added by individual companies. In particular, in this study we use data on variables associated to intellectual capital. To achieve the goal of the study, we consider intellectual capital as defined by Pulic （2000, 2002）, including human capital and structural capital. For the analysis of business performance, we used Pulic＇s VAIC （Value Added Intellectual Cofficient） index as a measure of efficiency of the employed financial and intellectual capital. Regression models were run to verify the relationship among the efficiency in the use of intellectual capital and the profitability of Brazilian companies. The gross income, calculated as before selling, general and administrative expenses, depreciation expenses, amortization and interest expenses, was used as measure of the flows of value creation and the profitability was measured by the gross income to the total assets of the companies. Considering the constructs defined by Pulic （2000, 2002）, we tested, for the Brazilian sector of Production and Assembly of Vehicles and Auto-parts, the following hypotheses： （l） there is a positive relationship between value creation and intellectual capital, （2） there is a positive relationship between value creation and stock of intellectual capital, （3） there is a positive relationship between value creation and efficiency of the employed capital, （4） there is a positive relationship between value creation and efficiency of the human capital, （5） there is a positive relationship between value creation and efficiency of the structural capital. The results of the study, obtained through panel data analysis and through the use static and dynamic models, support the hypotheses that the intellectual capital of the companies, in its flow and stock dimensions, is positively and significantly related to value creation.     

Corporate governance and financing decisions by Saudi companies

This paper aims to contribute to the corporate governance literature in emerging economies by examining the effect of some corporate governance mechanisms on financing decisions in Saudi Arabian listed companies. A multiple regression model is used to examine the association between financing decisions and corporate governance mechanisms for a sample of 37 listed Saudi companies. In particular, we examine the effect of board size, ownership concentration and corporate governance reporting on the debt-to-equity ratio. Corporate governance reporting is measured by the content analysis approach. After controlling for companies＇ profitability and their growth opportunities, we found that both board size and ownership concentration are positively associated with debt-to-equity ratio. We limit our analysis to a small sample of firms that use the internet to communicate corporate governance information between October 2005 and January 2006. The findings suggest that managers are likely to choose higher financial leverage when they have stronger corporate governance （large number of directors on the board and higher ownership concentration）. However, we did not find any statistical association between corporate governance disclosure and debt-to-equity ratio. This suggests that firm＇s asymmetric information is not an important driver of the financing decision of Saudi Arabian companies. This might be due to the nature of the Saudi business environment. We strongly believe that this paper provides a novel contribution to the existing literature as we are the first to examine this issue in Saudi Arabia.     

Stages,Content, and Theory of Strategic Human Resource Management （SHRM）： An Exploratory Study

This study discusses ＂theory of strategic human resource management （HRM） has an impact on research topic of this study is to discuss SHRM resource management （SHRM）＂. Theory of SHRM is that human firm performance through employee performance. Therefore, the theory. Research method is literature scanning. Research findings are, firstly, that strategic HRM can be defined with employee/firm performance relationship. Secondly, this study depicts its own SHRM model. In this model, HRM practices develop individual performance of employees in organizations, and individual performance increases performance of business departments, such as supply department, finance department, marketing department, logistics department, etc., and performance of business departments has an impact on firm performance. Furthermore, this study makes its SHRM definition. So far, there have been two definitions of SHRM in literature studies. The first definition identifies SHRM with corporate strategies and competitive advantage. The second definition describes SHRM with HRM-firm performance relationship. This study makes the third definition, namely, SHRM is employee/firm performance relationship, and this definition is figured in an SHRM model in this study.     

On how to solve the problems in implementing the new Chinese accounting standards

With the execution of the new accounting standards, the standard of Chinese economic reflection has been internationalized. All the countries of economic integration in the world demand common accounting information so as to promote the multilateral effect. The new accounting standards in our country are carded out in complicated internal and external economic and political circumstances, which makes listed companies have to take a lot into consideration when they use them. This thesis mainly deals with the international and domestic accounting environment at present and how to treat the problems of the application of the new accounting standards that have appeared in the past one year. At the end of the paper, some suggestions and solutions to the problems are proposed for reference only.     

Measuring the Impact of Information Technology （IT） on Supply Chain Management （SCM） Through Indicators： An Exploratory Study

Enterprises are looking to adapt to this scenario focusing on performance, seeking to improve the level of service and reduce costs in an attempt to differentiate and increase the perceived value of their customers. A strong partner to achieve these goals is the information technology （IT）. IT has an important role in the performance of companies, providing a flow of information that makes the supply chain more robust and resilient, without compromising efficiency. To achieve the objective of this research, a survey of the literature on the four models was studied and then a field research with professionals was conducted in the areas of IT and supply chain management （SCM） of various companies of Sao Paulo. To collect the data needed for analysis, we used the exploratory research of a qualitative nature. Thus, we conclude that the use of IT impacts supply chain in five surveyed areas as planning, manufacturing, suppliers, customers, and delivery but does not impact the return area.     

Empirical Research on the Influence of the Differences between PRC GAAP and IAS/IFRS on Chinese Listed Companies

With the support and promotion of many international organizations, and quick development of accounting standards globalization, the high quality global accounting standards led by IASB are striding towards us at an astonishing speed. After continuous reform, China has made remarkable performance towards accounting standards globalization. From the analysis of the past six years （1999-2004）, the authors find out that although there are systematic differences between PRC GAAP and IAS/IFRS and the differences have significant impact on financial disclosures of Chinese listed companies, the influences have weakened. This means that the differences between PRC GAAP and IAS/IFRS have narrowed and that PRC GAAP is converging towards IAS/IFRS.     

Annual risk reporting of listed companies in Malaysia

This study examines risk reporting in annual reports of Malaysian listed companies. The mandatory and voluntary disclosures of risk information are analyzed and the authors examine whether a relationship exists between company size, leverage, and industry type and risk disclosure levels. 150 listed companies from five industries are selected as sample. Content analysis and risk disclosure index of dichotomous measurement are used in data collection. Overall the results indicate that level of risk information disclosed in the annual reports is still minimal. OLS （Ordinary least squares） regression analysis indicates that the level of risk information disclosure is positively associated with size and not with leverage. However, a mixed result has been found for industry type; where only property industry shows a significant relationship with level of risk disclosure, and not for the other industries. This study contributes to financial reporting literature in relation to risk reporting, particularly the practice of Malaysian companies. Findings from this study are also useful to regulators and accounting standard setting body to assess the level of compliance to regulations and standards relating to risk reporting by these companies. More studies are required to further understand the importance of risk information disclosure, such as risk disclosure within specific industry, cross-country studies and usefulness of risk information disclosure from the stakeholders＇ perspectives.