The Use and Usefulness of Performance Measures in the Public Sector

The paper focuses on the empirical evidence on the use and usefulnessof performance measures in the public sector. It begins withconsideration of the features of the public sector which makethe use of performance measures complex: the issues of multipleprincipals and multiple tasks. It discusses the form that performancemeasures may take, the use made of these measures, and the responsesthat individuals may make to them. Empirical examples from thefields of education and health, with a focus on the USA andUK, are examined. There is clear evidence of responses to suchmeasures. Some of these responses improve efficiency, but othersdo not and fall into the category of ‘gaming’. Generally,there has been little assessment of whether performance measuresbring about improvements in service. The paper ends with considerationof how such measures should be used and what measures are usefulto collect.     

论信息技术产业在美国新周期中的作用

历史经验表明，主导产业的发展变化决定着经济周期的演变特征。信息技术产业已经上升为美国经济的主导产业，因而其发展变化成为美国新周期变动和调整的主导力量，新周期的产业波动模式也变为信息技术产业主导型。     

企业业务单元数量与作业成本制衡作用辨析

近年来作业成本在部分企业的适用走入到了一个瓶颈状态,笔者认为企业边界的内在制衡是其重要原因之一;同样,作业成本管理的核心问题似乎也为企业边界提供了调整方向。本文即运用作业成本管理演变历程和成本动因作用双视角,在前人相关研究基础上辨析企业业务单元数量与作业成本两者之间的制衡作用。     

The International Synchronisation of Business Cycles: the Role of Animal Spirits

Business cycles among industrial countries are highly correlated. We develop a two-country behavioral macroeconomic model where the synchronization of the business cycle is produced endogenously. The main channel of synchronization occurs through a propagation of “animal spirits”, i.e. waves of optimism and pessimism that become correlated internationally. We find that this propagation occurs with relatively low levels of trade integration. We do not need a correlation of exogenous shocks to generate synchronization. We also empirically test the main predictions of the model.     

Performance of Core Inflation Measures

This paper assesses the performance of core inflation measures based on the structural VAR approach. Since core or monetary inflation is not directly observable, we develop a monetary general equilibrium model that fits real aggregated European data and we use this model to generate time series for headline as well as core inflation. For five different schemes which attempt to identify core inflation within a VAR framework it is investigated whether the estimated core inflation series recover the true series sufficiently precise in order to be useful for monetary policy.     

The Role of Happiness in Financial Decisions: Evidence from Financial Portfolio Choice and Five European Countries

This paper investigates the role of happiness in portfolio choices. Previous literature has only emphasized the reverse association. An additional novelty of the paper is that the analysis focuses on a wider country sample, while the literature has mainly focused on the U.S. and U.K. economies. Based on micro data from five European countries, i.e., France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and the U.K., spanning the period 2009–2014, the results show that higher levels of happiness lead to higher shares of risky assets in financial portfolios. The findings survive a number of robustness tests. When asset holdings are disaggregated by the extent of the risk associated with them, this effect remains only for safe and low-risk assets, whereas the effect for assets with higher risks is the reverse.

     

The Impact of Internal Auditor Compensation and Role on External Auditors' Planning Judgments and Decisions*

This paper reports the results of an experiment that investigates how external audit planning is affected when internal auditors have incentives and the opportunity to bias their evaluations. Specifically, we draw on attribution theory to examine how internal auditor eligibility for incentive compensation and participation in consulting (i.e., two factors that provide incentives to bias audit evaluations) affect external audit planning. In addition, we examine the effects of incentive compensation and a consulting role across two routine internal audit tasks — an objective tests of controls task and a subjective inventory valuation task — to evaluate whether their effects are contingent upon task subjectivity (i.e., opportunity to bias audit evaluations). Seventy‐six external auditors from four Big 5 public accounting firms participated in an experiment that manipulated internal auditor compensation (fixed salary versus incentive compensation), the type of work that the internal auditors routinely perform (primarily auditing versus primarily consulting), and audit task subjectivity (objective tests of controls versus subjective inventory valuation). Our results suggest that the nature of internal auditors' compensation and work affect audit planning recommendations differently. The opportunity to receive incentive compensation results in less reliance on internal auditors' work and greater budgeted audit hours, but only for the subjective task. Although a consulting role decreases perceived internal auditor objectivity, it has a limited effect on planning recommendations. Specifically, consulting has no effect on reliance, and leads to greater budgeted audit hours only when incentive compensation is available. We discuss potential explanations for the results as well as implications for audit research, practice, and regulation.     

角色扮演在《商务交际俄语》课堂上的运用

角色扮演是在外语课堂上组织集体教学活动的一种形式,旨在最大限度贴近现实交际条件的情况下形成和发展言语技能和熟巧。《商务交际俄语》课是经贸基本知识课程的延伸和补充,为其实际应用提供了一个模拟交际舞台。学生通过角色扮演等课堂模拟活动,达到基本运用俄语沟通、协调和解决问题的能力。     

商业银行中间业务发展现状及创新对策

随着经济全球化的深入,国内金融改革步伐的加大,如何在日趋激烈的金融竞争中最大化的创造价值成了各大商业银行面临的一致问题。在传统的资产、负债业务之外,本文试图分析作为新的利润增长点中间业务的现状,剖析存在的差距,提出加快中间业务发展的创新对策。     

我国企业集团化与企业绩效风险研究

对企业集团的研究是最近学术研究的热点。文章选取2005年在沪、深两地上市的制造业企业作为研究样本,对于我国企业集团化与企业绩效风险的关系进行了理论与实证分析,研究结果表明：我国的企业集团具有分散企业绩效风险的功能。