The environmental disclosures of the electricity generation industry: a global perspective

The electricity generation industry has been under close regulatory and public scrutiny for decades for the significant impacts its activities have on the environment. The industry is responsible for a large proportion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which has intensified public and regulatory scrutiny of late. Therefore, electricity generation firms face immense pressure to show environmental responsibility. Firms respond with environmental disclosures in their annual reports, in stand-alone-reports, and on websites. In this study, we use comprehensive disclosure indices to measure the quality (or comprehensiveness) of the CO₂ emissions related disclosure and the overall environmental disclosure of 205 electricity generation firms in 35 countries. We find that firms in countries with a high commitment towards the environment and a carbon emissions trading scheme (measures of social concern for environmental protection and emissions), are likely to disclose more comprehensive environmental information. In addition, we find that firm size, age of the assets, listing status, and media exposure influence disclosure. Environmental performance, measured by CO₂ emissions, is not significantly related to environmental disclosure among our sample firms. The theoretical implication of these findings is that social beliefs (that are different in different countries) prompt a legitimating disclosure response from firms that is not significantly affected by their performance against that social belief.     

The Euro deposit market in a global perspective

This paper examines whether causal relationships between Euro money markets in Germany and three other international money markets are different from causal relationships that existed amongst the German Mark in international money markets prior to the introduction of the Euro. It investigates connections between interest rate yields on Euro-denominated assets by analyzing the magnitude and direction of causal relationships across geographic markets. Anticipated similarities in behavior between the Euro and the German Mark are not confirmed, but the short period of existence for the Euro may not allow accurate determination of long run relationships.     

Learnability and monetary policy: A global perspective

The recent literature on monetary policy design has emphasized the importance of equilibrium determinacy and learnability in the choice of policy rules. This paper contains an analysis of the learnability of the equilibrium in a class of simple, micro-founded models in which the policy authority uses a Taylor-type monetary policy rule. Unlike previous analyses, the model economy is not linearized about a steady state—instead, a global perspective is adopted. Globally, the nonlinear model economy can possess rational expectations equilibria other than the steady state consistent with the inflation target of the monetary authorities. These include a second, low inflation ‘liquidity trap’ steady state, periodic equilibria, and sunspot equilibria. The main results in the paper characterize the conditions under which these alternative equilibria maybe stable under adaptive learning, even when the policy rule obeys the Taylor principle. The stability of multiple equilibria is associated with policy rules which are forecast-based. An important finding is that backward-looking Taylor-type policy rules can guarantee that the unique learnable equilibrium is the steady state associated with the inflation target of the monetary authority.     

The adoption of internet banking: An institutional theory perspective

Several models have been proposed in the literature to understand technology acceptance in which social environmental factors are not primarily addressed. Drawing upon the social contagion theory and institutional theory, this study proposes a model to examine three social environmental factors of normative, coercive and mimetic pressures within the internet banking (IB) context. The model is tested using survey data from 124 respondents. The results reveal that normative and coercive pressures significantly influence the attitude and intention of adopting IB, while mimetic pressures appear not to. Attitude plays a mediating role between institutional pressures and IB adoption. This study spearheads an institutional analysis at the individual level within the IB context. The findings also provide valuable insights for bank managers to manage the IB services.     

从国际经验看资本管制的有效性

该文从资本管制目标和手段等方面介绍了资本管制的国际经验,并以智利为例,就该国资本流人管理对实际汇率和宏观经济稳定的有效性进行实证分析,结论认为,资本管制从短期看是有效的,从长期看是无效的;在资本持续大量流人的环境下,不协调的宏观经济政策会直接影响到资本管制的有效性。     

对冲基金:全球视角下的策略与风险

近年来,对冲基金的数量与资产增长迅速。这类基金给那些财力更雄厚、金融结构更复杂的投资者提供了一种重要的投资工具。本文在全球视角下为我们介绍了对冲基金的概况,以及它给金融业带来的风险和应采取的策略。本文的第一作者杰姆斯·巴茨(James R.Barth)博士是本刊的美国特约编辑。     

Corporate social responsibility and corruption risk: A global perspective

This paper extends our knowledge on corporate corruption risk by examining whether and to what extent corporate social responsibility (CSR) affects firm-level corruption risk. Using a cross-country sample of major multinational firms, we find that firm-level CSR mitigates corruption risk. On closer examination, we find that the relationship between CSR and corruption risk is mediated by country-level variables such as institutional quality, protection of minority shareholders’ rights, stock market development and freedom of the press. Further, we find that in emerging countries, CSR mitigates corruption risk only when the country-level institutional quality is high and citizens enjoy press freedom. Our findings suggest that both formal institutions and the quality of civil society influence the effect of CSR on corruption risk. Our results remain robust to controls for endogeneity and potential sample selection bias.     

Impact of legal institutions on IPO survival: A global perspective

Around the world, investors, practitioners, regulators and policy makers seek to understand whether, when and why recently listed stocks, initial public offerings (IPOs) are delisted rather than continue trading (survive). Using data on 7,627 IPOs issued during 2000–2008 across 32 countries, we explore the impact of the legal system on IPO survival. We find that IPOs in countries with better investor protections remain listed for longer. This suggests that better legal systems increase the net benefits companies derive from staying listed. We also provide evidence that better legal systems increase the effectiveness of IPO certification by venture capitalists, underwriters and auditors.     

The dark side of strengthened minority voting power: An innovation perspective

Based on the 2014 regulatory reforms aimed at strengthening the protection of legitimate rights and interests of minority investors in China, we investigate minority shareholders’ short-termism and how minority voting impacts firm innovation. We find that the 2014 reforms effectively motivate minority shareholders to attend shareholder meetings and greatly enhance their voting influence. We also find that enhanced minority voting power after the reforms lowers the number of firms’ patent applications, and this effect is more pronounced for the firms that see the greatest increase in shareholder attendance at shareholder meetings. Moreover, enhanced minority voting power boosts executive turnover-performance sensitivity, thereby undermining firm innovation. Finally, we show that different types of minority shareholders have distinct impacts on firm innovation, depending on their investment horizons. The negative effect of minority voting power is more pronounced for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) than for non-SOEs.     

Using Google Scholar citations to rank accounting programs: a global perspective

We conduct an assessment on accounting program research performance based on Google Scholar citations for all articles from a set of 23 quality accounting journals during 1991–2010. Our work is a new approach in accounting by directly measuring the impact of the faculty research in accounting programs. We find that the top-5 accounting programs are the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago, Stanford University, the University of Michigan, and Harvard University. These top programs produce a large number of high impact articles. In addition, using the mean citations from all articles in a journal, we find that the Review of Accounting Studies (RAST) is a top-5 journal, replacing Contemporary Accounting Research (CAR).     

Social accounting research: An Australasian perspective

This paper provides an insight into the nature and the extent of social accounting research being undertaken within Australasia. It demonstrates that Australasian researchers account for a significant amount of internationally published social accounting research, but emphasises that the research effort seems to be confined to a limited number of researchers perhaps reflecting a lack of ‘take-up’ in this area in terms of the scale of participation. Information is also presented about the relative propensity of journals within the sample to publish social accounting research, and identifies that ‘top tier’ accounting journals historically have not published social accounting research. The paper also considers various factors which seem to be impeding the ‘recruitment’ of new social accounting researchers.     

Tailored financial literacy education: An indigenous perspective

Governments around the world agree that financial literacy education (FLE) is of the utmost importance, with the current economic times having led to a ‘teachable moment’ for financial education. However, caution should be taken when viewing education as the sole solution to the world’s economic problems as there is little evidence to support a causal link between FLE and financial behaviour/decision making. Furthermore, others conclude that FLE is not a single, value-neutral curriculum, and thus current approaches must recognise gender and cultural differences. This article examines the usefulness of mainstream FLE programmes adapted to suit Indigenous communities in terms of the delivery model, the content and the logistics of the programmes. This is achieved by examining the outcomes of four FLE programmes run in Indigenous communities and explores the need for diverse approaches to be applied to FLE in this context. We find that contextualised FLE based on an experiential group-learning model provides self-reported benefits to the participants. We also report on a range of practical issues that arise in Indigenous FLE. Finally, we recommend the exploration of sustainable FLE based on these principles.     

会计假账:税收视角的分析

会计作假的原因分析 笔者认为,会计假账如此之多,不仅是会计道德问题,还是一个会计诚信缺失问题,其中巨额利润的诱惑、法律处罚的刚性不足、账务处理人员的畏怕心理与会计信息的提供者与使用者之间的信息不对称是根本原因.     

Futures of the sustainable firm: An evolutionary perspective

The response of firms to sustainable development issues needs to pass through a deep re-thinking of the strategic design, encompassing the entire organization, its functions and re-shaping its business model.This contribution proposes a frame of reference for SD oriented organizations, based on three cornerstones: principles, processes and outcomes. Based on an abductive research approach, an analysis is developed on some case studies. Special attention is devoted to the dynamics of SD oriented organizations in order to understand how firms can evolve towards progressively more challenging models of business which make compatible profitability and growth with respect for the environment and – beyond mere respect – positive proactive action to improve the planet resources.