Development of accounting regulation in Jordan

This study examines the development of accounting regulation in Jordan with emphasis on the dominant environmental factors that influence it. In order to have a better understanding of Jordan's present accounting practices, and its future development tendencies, we examine the path of accounting in Jordan since the early days of the nineteenth century, and analyze how Jordan's accounting environment — political, economic, legal and cultural — influenced the development of accounting in Jordan. We also examine Jordan's recent move towards full adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and find that Jordan's colonial past has exerted a strong influence. In addition, we conclude that political and economic factors, through privatization and the resulting accounting reforms, contributed more to the development of accounting practices than other environmental factors. Privatization led to reforming Jordan's disclosure regulation and laying down of the corporate-governance policy framework. Our conclusions could be of interest to other countries, particularly developing countries, who want to improve the quality of their accounting disclosures and practices.     

An international investigation of associations between societal variables and the amount of disclosure on information technology and communication problems: The case of Y2K

This study examines the association between five societal variables—political and civil system, cultural values, type of legal system, level of economic development, and equity market features—and the amount of corporate disclosure on the Year 2000 (Y2K) technological dilemma. Data are collected from the 1997/1998 fiscal-year annual reports of 1618 publicly listed firms spanning 17 nations. Empirical findings indicate the amount of Y2K disclosure varied significantly across national boundaries. Statistical analysis indicates a strong positive association between the amount of Y2K disclosure and the level of (a) political rights and civil liberties and (b) economic development. Results also imply publicly listed firms in Common Law nations disclose more Y2K information than counterparts in Roman-German Law nations. Of Hofstede's [Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture's consequences: International differences in work-related values. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications] four cultural dimensions, only power distance is a significant explanatory factor of variations is the amount of Y2K disclosure.     

Integrated modeling for exploring sustainable agriculture futures

Sustainable agriculture meets human needs for food, enhances the quality of life of people, protects the integrity of natural systems, and is economically profitable. Making a transition to agricultural sustainability involves difficult choices and an understanding of the complex trade-offs associated with different agricultural pathways. In this paper, we describe the development and application of a decision support tool—AgFutures—for exploring alternative futures for agricultural sustainability in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. The main core of the model is simulation of future land-use changes in different scenarios and assessment of social, economic and environmental consequences under these scenarios. Evolution of land-use is simulated as a result of not only biophysical conditions but also as a result of human behaviour and choices, specifically related to lifestyle, agricultural management practices and institutional policies. Eight different scenarios are generated and compared for their impacts on sustainability in the Lower Mainland.AgFutures helps users to identify desirable future scenarios and the set of choices and trade-offs that they are willing to accept. Identification of these allows decision-makers to formulate policies that would lead to achieving the goals of sustainable agriculture. The novel aspect of this model lies in its design and methods, which represent a balance between the need for rigour and the need for a tool that can be used by a wide array of users.     

吉林省九市州综合经济实力比较研究

吉林省九个市州经济发展亟待解决的矛盾和问题是:经济总量不大,结构不优,区域经济发展不平衡;经济发展活力不足;自主创新能力不强,科技成果转化不快;节能降耗、环境保护问题依然存在。提高各地区经济发展实力,在认清本地区的综合经济实力、发展潜力和发展环境的前提下,各地应重点抓好以下几方面工作:把提升工业水平作为经济发展的头等大事来抓;把加大投资力度、扩大招商引资作为今后一段时间经济工作的主线;把大力发展旅游产业作为带动本地第三产业发展的突破口;不断增强中心城市产业辐射功能,促进地区经济的整体发展。     

A new Bandung? : Economic growth vs. distributive justice among emerging powers

The demographic weight and the scale and magnitude of economic growth in China and India—as well as in Brazil and South Africa—marks a seismological transformation in world politics. However, despite their economic clout, the emerging powers of the global South have done little to challenge the Euro-North American domination of the international stage—leaving that task to Bolivia, Venezuela, and Iran. The reluctance of the large states of the global South to challenge the contemporary world order—and the widening income and wealth inequalities within their borders—suggests that they are increasingly complicit in this new world order. However, as growing inequalities unleash greater political instability, it is in the interests of states in the global South to cooperate with each other to change the rules of the game.     

Large-scale participatory co-shaping of technological developments: First experiments with PARDIZIPP

A future-oriented participatory procedure on the basis of the Delphi method was developed and empirically tested a first time with the goal to improve the shaping of technological developments. The technology under study here was micro-electronics or rather their relationship with labor and the test took place in NorthRhine–Westphalia.Today problems exist in all walks of life. There is a lot of talk about today's problems as if they were new, though one has heard similar arguments throughout history. How do we assess if we are really in danger of bringing the world to an end? Although this danger appears real, it would not be the first time in history that people have thought and felt like this—However, one thing that is new are the consequences of modern sciences and technology, which are not suited to given social and environmental requirements. They have given rise to questions concerning the quality of the decision-makers. The questioning of many of these decisions has increased for some time and is now getting more and more specific, with a demand for quality and information rather than managerial skills and competitiveness from the decision-makers. The term `decision-maker' describes those who determine the application of technology, science and technical equipment which has either existed for a long time already or has recently been developed.—It is not easy to change the structures and processes of decision-making so that new structures and processes will be more suited to social and environmental requirements. We have tested our ideas as to how this could be done, in an empirical project. Although we called it `Project NRW–2000', it would probably be better described as an experiment.²—We persuaded 90 ordinary people to participate in this project as `experts on daily life and work'. This group was asked to work in six regional sub-groups and discuss, with reference to three given normative societal scenarios for the year 2020, the relationship between microelectronics and labour markets of the year 2020, on the basis of a participatory Delphi procedure. Before we elaborate on the concept of our project in Section 3, we would like to outline it in terms of the mainstream of the sociology of technology as well as with research on `acceptance' in Section 1. In Section 2we will briefly illustrate the framework of the research programme `Socially Oriented Shaping of Technology' of the state of Northrhine–Westphalia, which funded our research project. Section 4particularly deals with the participatory elements of our project, while Section 5is devoted to the development of the scenarios. Section 6sums up the results of the `scenario-construction'. Regarding specific elements, we restrict ourselves to topics concerning technology, labour, and the relationship between women workers/employees and technology. As a final outlook we deal with the political implications of our approach. All that is left is to remind our readers that we regard this project as a first application or experiment within our overall approach.     

加快内蒙古各民族大团结与社会和谐发展

在统一多民族的中国,民族团结是政治稳定、经济发展、社会进步的基础,也是巩固民族区域自治制度,实现民族地区的快速发展的关键.本文通过回顾内蒙古历史上各民族友好交往的历史,总结内蒙古自治区成立以来各民族团结奋斗所取得的成就,并探索进一步巩固和发展民族团结,加快内蒙古经济社会发展的对策建议.     

Sustainability in the prospective scenarios methods: A case study of scenarios for biodiesel industry in Brazil,for 2030

In order to build prospective scenarios for biodiesel industry in Brazil, with a sustainable perspective, it was necessary to develop a cross-disciplinary work to include Sachs’ dimensions of sustainability into the scenarios method. This meant linking concepts from different disciplines, without transforming it in a new discipline. In order to support the proposition for the new method, a study case is presented, the framework for the biodiesel scenarios in Brazil, by 2030. An in-depth interview was used to test the proposition of having the sustainability dimensions as driving forces. The result was the identification of a critical uncertainty composed of various aspects related the response to climate change and environmental conservation. The scenario storylines that were developed based on the critical uncertainties showed that sustainable options for the future are possible if the mental maps are enlarged to see beyond the business as usual.The results show that the scenarios storylines go through social, environmental and economic aspects, supported by other aspects like the territorial and political. Also it showed that sustainable options are possible if the mental maps are enlarged to see beyond the business as usual.     

Progress, nature and technology in late-modern transition

New experiences and observations, strange enough to awaken our attention, are emerging and accumulating in our time. They range from societal tremors and spreading poverty to the formation of a global world economy, and from economic and political crises and changes of earthly conditions of life to the fast development of technology. Researchers and philosophers in almost every field of study are talking about the present time as a transition between two eras, or as a major shift of our worldviews and basic ideas.     

The future of the red metal—scenario analysis

A regional copper scenario model has been developed from the perspective of the generic Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change framework for greenhouse gas emissions scenarios for the four world regions: OECD90, ASIA, REF, and ALM. A set of three scenarios: Tech World, Green World, and Trend World, each representing the significant driving forces influencing population and economic growth, technological change and environmental consciousness, is presented. Intensities of copper use converge in the long-term in the Tech and Green World as GDP per capita level approaches $100,000. Global copper use, currently 15 Tg Cu/yr, is expected to rise to 30–130 Tg Cu/yr by the year 2100. The rate of copper use in the ASIA and ALM regions exceeds the copper use in the OECD90 and REF regions beyond 2020. A Green World corresponds to per capita global copper use of 4 kg Cu/(capita-yr) as compared to the contemporary global level of 2.6 and 10 kg Cu/(capita-yr) in developed regions, symbolizing the sustainability theme. For the OECD90 region, the results are more sensitive to the copper intensity of use variable whereas for ASIA and ALM regions, variations in GDP per capita can influence copper use.     

Poland's development dilemmas on the verge of the 21st century

This article briefly summarizes a prognostic Report, ‘Towards modern Poland—development dilemmas on the verge of the 21st century’ of the Poland 2000 Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences. It further comments on the changes of perspective that have occurred since the Report was written. The study consisted of the development and analysis of three scenarios of socioeconomic development based on societal aspirations. Key drivers influencing these scenarios and their likelihood are discussed here.     

地方政府债务、空间溢出效应与区域经济增长

在区域协调发展和城市群不断扩大的背景下,本文基于2008-2018年我国271个地级市的平衡面板数据,利用动态空间杜宾模型探究地方政府债务通过基础设施建设渠道促进区域经济增长的作用机制。研究发现:(1)地方政府债务存在空间溢出效应,即本地的地方政府债务能够促进邻近区域的经济增长。该结论不随模型设定、代理变量、估计方法更改而发生变化。(2)从时间维度上看,基础设施的服务期限较长,因此地方政府债务对邻近区域经济增长的空间溢出效应存在时间累加,即长期效应大于短期效应。(3)从空间维度上看,我国省际间存在市场分割,导致地方政府债务的空间溢出效应省内强于省外。与此同时,地方政府债务的空间溢出效应主要存在于东部发达区域。(4)机制研究发现,基础设施作为政府提供的公共品,具有正外部性,在促进本地经济增长的同时,通过提升区域内互联性,促进了邻近区域的经济增长。本文研究表明,地方政府债务发行应同时考量本地效应、空间溢出效应以及区域差异;此外,制定地方债务相关政策时应在稳增长(同时考虑本地经济增长和区域经济增长)和防风险之间寻求平衡。     

Global demographic trends and social security reform

How sustainable are the current social security systems in the developed economies, given the projected demographic trends? The most recent literature has answered this question through dynamic general-equilibrium models in a closed-economy framework. This paper provides a new quantitative benchmark of analysis for this question represented by a two-region model (South and North) of the world economy where capital flows across regions. The timing and the extent of the demographic transition—and the associated economic forces shaping capital accumulation and equilibrium factor prices—are very different in the two regions. Thus, the projected paths of interest rate and wage rate in the North diverge substantially between closed and open economy. We perform a wide range of policy experiments under both scenarios. Our main conclusion is that if one is interested in quantifying the path of the fiscal variables (e.g., the value of the payroll tax) needed to keep the social security system viable or to finance a transition towards a fully funded system, then these two benchmarks yield similar results. However, if the focus is on quantifying the path of factor prices, aggregate variables and, ultimately, welfare, then the two approaches can diverge significantly.     

The state of research on sovereign wealth funds

The new global economic and political environment brings new challenges to sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and forces them to adopt new strategies to adapt to the environmental changes. This study is a sequel to Fotak, Gao, and Megginson (2017). We focus on the newly produced research on SWFs and confirm the impact of new environmental changes on SWFs' asset allocations and decision-making process. Recent studies on cross-border SWF investments show that SWFs are different from other private institutional investors although no evidence explicitly proves that SWFs have exerted political influence on recipient countries through their cross-border deals. SWFs are improving their transparency. However, the variations in transparency and institutionalization are attributed to the disparities in national culture, political regime, and internal political dynamics. We re-examine the long-term impact of SWF investments on target firms and industries and affirm the necessity to consider the heterogeneity among SWFs. We also survey the research investigating the government's motivations to establish new SWFs.     

Emerging Stars and Developed Neighbors: The Effects of Development Imbalance and Political Shocks on Mutual Fund Investments in China

This paper examines the influence of regional economic development on mutual funds investment decisions. Using fund holdings from 2003 to 2008, we find that Chinese mutual funds that collectively reside in the developed coastal region have the ability to select “star” firms from neighboring inland areas and overweight them in their portfolios. However, they present a clear local bias within the coastal region. Such investment behavior is robust to political interventions. In particular, changes in political climate make mutual funds seek fundamentals like growth prospects and diversification benefits. Overall, economic and political factors significantly influence mutual funds investment decisions in emerging China.     

The environment in an ‘information society’: A transition stage towards more sustainable development?

Social scientists and futurists have suggested that societal development is advancing to a novel stage, to an ‘information society’. However, the crucial qualifiers of this ‘new’ society are ambiguous. Furthermore, environmental goals have created new challenges for information society studies. This paper examines the interaction and dynamics between the information society and sustainable development, which most often manifest themselves as competing scientific and socio-political discourses. On the one hand, there is the potential for reducing the stress on the environment: the emergence of information technologies and services can lead to a dematerialisation of production and immaterialisation of consumption. On the other hand, there are risks: positive environmental effects might be overcome by the ‘rebound effect’ caused by excessive economic growth. It is concluded that further theoretical and empirical studies are needed in order to examine the complex and contradictory relationship between the information society and environmental issues.     

海洋经济可持续发展及金融支持问题研究

烟台市是最早开放的沿海城市之一,实现海洋经济的可持续发展是带动社会经济持续发展的现实需要,也是更好地服务胶东半岛城市群、山东省"一体两翼"乃至全国经济发展的战略需要.本文从海洋经济理论研究的一般状况出发,研究分析了烟台市海洋经济发展现状和金融支持情况,并对其可持续发展提出具体对策和建议.     

养老保险与教育投资

目前我国地方政府面临着养老保险支出日趋增加的压力,这也给地方经济发展形成了一定阻力。因而地方政府不得不对财政支出进行调节,以满足地方经济发展的需要。教育支出虽然对经济当期的增长贡献不大,但却是经济长期发展的主要推动因素。在养老保险支出比例增加的形势下,地方政府是否会因此而减少教育投资比例是一个值得思考的问题。本文正是基于这种考虑,以2007-2011年我国31个省市自治区的面板数据为样本,从教育的正外部性以及对经济发展影响的角度分析了不同经济水平的地方政府的调控行为。结果显示养老保险支出对教育投资确实存在挤出效应,但对于不同经济水平地区挤出效应力度不同。教育的正外部性并没有较大的阻碍经济落后地区对教育的投资;教育对经济的促进作用是地方政府考虑是否减小教育投资比例的主要因素,这也促成了经济发达地区的减小幅度较大,而经济落后地区的减小幅度较小的结果。     

Political-economy of pension plans: Impact of institutions,gender, and culture

National pension systems are an important part of financial intermediation and worker welfare in most countries, but how and why do they differ internationally? Controlling for important political, economic and social institutions, we document that international differences in pension progressivity, or how pensions reflect lifetime earnings, are negatively related to masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, long-term orientation, employment rights, average pension levels, social trust and economic inequality. We also find that pension progressivity is positively related to the economic and societal role of women, the extent of Catholicism; as well as political voice and accountability. These results provide important insights for both public policy and MNC managers.