Competing Regulatory Agencies With Conflicting Agendas: Setting Standards For Cash Flow Reporting In Australia

Financial accounting regulatory arrangements adopted in most Western countries often involve the participation of (and interactions between) public-sector and private-sector regulatory agencies. The political process associated with the development of accounting rules not only involves the efforts of interested parties seeking to secure the content of rules favourable to their interests but also the behaviours of regulatory agencies as they compete to influence or control the regulatory 'agenda'.
Regulatory agencies develop their own agendas, in light of their own perceived priorities and the regulatory initiatives of other agencies. The placing of an accounting issue on the agenda of one agency may be warmly supported by other agencies or, alternatively, be viewed as a threat to the regulatory ambitions of those other agencies.
This case study reviews the emergence and eventual resolution of an accounting issue that was initially promoted by a government agency in April 1984 but then ultimately developed as a professional accounting standard in December 1991. The study describes the activities of public and private-sector agencies during this eight-year period as they responded to proposals for the introduction of disclosure rules concerning cash flows. Evidence was obtained from public records, documents provided by interest groups, and structured and semi-structured interviews with key participants in the events described.
The analysis is underscored by our understanding of competitive regulatory interactions and formal models for analysing agenda entrance (Cobb et al. 1976). This analysis shows how the profession's standard-setting body was unable to control the global agenda for accounting rule-making as a consequence of the intervention of another body, the Australian Stock Exchange.     

Cash Flow Immediacy and the Value of Investment Timing

In a model with stochastic interest rates, irreversible investment, and two investment dates, the value of investment delay has two components: the expected gain from committing now to investment at a future date and the potential gain from the ability to reverse this commitment. Holding net present value constant, we show that the values of both these components are increasing in the proportion of project cash flows that accrue in the more distant future. Our results emphasize the importance of the interaction between cash flow immediacy and interest rate uncertainty for the optimal investment policy.     

风险资本参与、自由现金流与企业投资效率

本文研究风险资本在企业上市之后的投资决策过程中是否依然如上市之前发挥了积极而有效的作用以提高企业的投资效率。通过2002—2013年我国上市企业数据实证研究发现,无论为何种类型的上市企业,风险资本的参与以及较高的参与程度均可以显著抑制企业在面临现金流充裕情况下的过度投资倾向,缓解上市企业面临现金流短缺时的投资不足问题,从而提高企业的投资效率。本文的研究结论为政府部门不断规范和发展风险投资行业,进一步发挥风险资本在公司治理领域积极而正面的作用提供了实证支持。     

Performance Measurement and Management: Some Insights from Practice

This paper offers insights into developments in the practice of performance measurement and management through examination of three case studies. Analysis of the cases suggests a clear distinction between performance measurement and management. It clarifies the usefulness of implementing broad-based performance measurement frameworks, and the criticality of organisational culture to effective performance management.     

Financing Innovation and Growth: Cash Flow, External Equity, and the 1990s R&D Boom

The financing of R&D provides a potentially important channel to link finance and economic growth, but there is no direct evidence that financial effects are large enough to impact aggregate R&D. U.S. firms finance R&D from volatile sources: cash flow and stock issues. We estimate dynamic R&D models for high-tech firms and find significant effects of cash flow and external equity for young, but not mature, firms. The financial coefficients for young firms are large enough that finance supply shifts can explain most of the dramatic 1990s R&D boom, which implies a significant connection between finance, innovation, and growth.     

Coping with Ambiguity: Reconciling External Legitimacy and Organizational Implementation in Performance Measurement

This article reports the results of a study of the implementation of performance measurement in 74 UK public sector organizations. Performance measurement is often imposed on organizations by external stakeholders and those charged with implementation have to reconcile the demands of competing interests. These interests reflect the complex relations that 'street-level' public organizations engage in. The authors use institutional theory to make sense of how these relations, and the competing demands of performance measurement, are managed.     

The Long Run Abnormal Performance of UK Acquirers and the Free Cash Flow Hypothesis

Abstract:   Evidence from recent US and UK studies reveals a pattern of poor long run post acquisition performance by acquiring firms. One explanation, due to Jensen (1986) is that acquirers with an excess of free cash flow (FCF) will have a propensity to squander this on wasteful investments, including take‐overs. In this paper, using a dataset of UK take‐overs and proxies for free cash flow similar to those used by Lang, Stulz and Walking (1991) , we find no support for the FCF hypothesis and show that this conclusion is robust to the model of long run returns employed. Contrary to the free cash flow hypothesis there is evidence that acquirers with high free cash flow perform better than acquirers with low free cash flow. Although not consistent with the Jensen hypothesis, this evidence is compatible with the emerging UK evidence that shows cash flow‐to‐price measures are associated with market returns.     

能力性经济租金:国有企业绩效评价新体系

国有企业的绩效评价体系无疑已经成为国有企业改革过程中一个关键环节 ,可谓是牵一发而动全身。本文从传统的绩效评价体系出发 ,系统比较了三种评价体系的优劣 ,并在比较分析的基础上提出了一个国有企业绩效评价的新体系 ,也就是能力性经济租金评估体系 ,本文最后就以上海市大型国有企业为样本的试算结果进行了简要总结 ,试算结果表明 :能力性经济租金在衡量企业绩效和管理层能力方面有非常大的实际应用价值。     

保值点分析对保本点分析的发展和完善

本文提出对以价值极大化为目标的企业而言，单纯进行保本点分析已经不能完全适应决策的需要，有必要进行保值点分析，并给出了进行保值点的一种方法。     

Free Cash Flow,Shareholder Value,and the Undistributed Profits Tax of 1936 and 1937

In 1936, the Federal Government unexpectedly imposed a tax on undistributed corporate profits. Despite the direct costs of the tax, its announcement produced a positive revaluation of corporate equity, particularly among lower-payout firms. We interpret this as evidence of a divergence between managerial and shareholder preferences regarding dividend payout policies, consistent with the presence of agency costs. We also find that despite the incentives created by the tax, the actual growth in dividends during 1936 was lower among firms judged more likely to be subject to higher agency costs after controlling for liquidity, debt, and the growth in earnings.     

管理层业绩报酬敏感度、内部现金流与企业投资行为——对自由现金流和信息不对称理论的一个检验

本文考察了业绩报酬敏感度对企业内部现金流与投资行为之间关系的影响。文章发现投资现金流敏感度不仅受到内外部信息不对称导致的融资约束的影响,而且受到了股东-经理代理问题的影响,但是信息不对称理论的解释力度相对较强。另外,投资现金流敏感度和管理层业绩报酬敏感度之间的关系受到公司控股股东所有权性质的影响。     

Cash Flow Estimation and Cost of Capital for Overseas Projects

Several issues concerning foreign project evaluation are critically examined. The paper suggests that the point of view for analysis, cost of capital and cash flow estimation be internally consistent. Three points of views of analysis, local, global, and parent specific, are identified and various inconsistencies in the estimation of the initial outlay and project cash flows are identified. The elimination of the inconsistencies is discussed. It is argued that the treatment of blocked funds is relevant only from the parent specific point of view. A number of alternatives for the estimate of the terminal value is also suggested. The differences between the parent specific point of view and the global and local views are sharply drawn. An integrated scheme is also presented to underscore the need for consistency in evaluating foreign investments.     

用差额现金流折现法计算机器设备经济性贬值的案例探讨

经济性贬值是进行资产评估时需要考虑的重要因素之一。在当前技术更新日新月异的时代,设备和行业的发展更新速度较以前大大加快,本文通过对某公司评估实务中,尝试运用的差额现金流折现法确定机器设备的经济性贬值,以期对资产评估实务中如何确定设备的经济性贬值做一些有益的探讨。