The Work Program and Priorities of the AASB

The workload of the AASB has not diminished since adoption of the IASB's standards and will not diminish in the foreseeable future. However, the nature of the AASB's work has changed, with a particular focus on the public-sector and private not-for-profit sector priorities.     

The Financial Milieu of the IASB and AASB

This paper considers the implications of the convergence of the accounting standards of the International Accounting Standards Board with those of the Australian Accounting Standard Board. Australia seems well placed to comply with the international accounting standards in 2005, but not quite in the way the boards would have us imagine. While actively seeking funds from large multinational corporations and elite accounting firms, the AASB is dominated by stakeholder groups with what are described as "corefinancial" and "partial-financial" interests. This financial milieu may offer cosy deals for the key stakeholders, but does little in the way of civic responsibilities and accounting service for the wider public .     

GAAP,GFS and AASB 1049: perceptions of public sector stakeholders

Efforts by Australian standard‐setters to harmonise public sector financial reporting resulted in AASB 1049, which sought to bridge the divide between generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP)‐based and government finance statistics (GFS)‐based financial statements. However, whether AASB 1049 has resulted in information that is considered appropriate for the public sector has not been examined. We explore this issue by comparing the requirements of AASB 1049 with the responses from a survey of public sector stakeholders on the appropriate accounting treatment and presentation of selected financial items. The analysis suggests consensus with AASB 1049 on presentation issues but less consensus on accounting treatments.     

Understanding participation in accounting standard-setting: the case of AASB ED 192 Revised Differential Reporting Framework

This paper explores the motives of participants in the standard-setting process, based on the premise that standard-setters strive for standards that are useful for decision-making by a wide range of financial statement users. Our setting is the development of a contentious but contained Australian accounting standard, Reduced Disclosure Requirements. A consultative process initiated by the Australian Accounting Standards Board to create a specific Australian accounting standard for differential reporting provided an opportunity for interested parties to participate. We analyse the motives of participants through semi-structured interviews with members of the Australian Accounting Standards Board and comment letter writers who responded to the relevant exposure draft. Our findings identify participants’ economic and political motivations and question the ability of the current standard-setting process to extract decision-making requirements from a wide range of users of financial statements and to reflect these in financial reporting standards. We find that the perspectives gathered are homogenised and that the process privileges the voices of powerful elites.     

入世后市场营销环境的变化及企业营销对策研究

入世后，我国企业所处的市场营销环境将发生重大变化，企业决策者应站在新的起点，以全新的思想观念和视野，接受入世后市场营销环境变化所带来的机会和挑战，制定与之相应的营销对策。     

系统性金融风险成因、度量及监管研究综述

在当今经济社会中,防范系统性金融风险,提高金融业抗风险能力,受到了国内外政府机构和学者的空前关注.本文从系统性金融风险的成因、度量、监管三个角度,对国内外文献进行了分析整理.其中,系统性金融风险的成因有溢出效应、金融业的过度创新、信息不对称和金融市场的高杠杆性;系统性金融风险的度量办法主要有指标法和模型法;系统性金融风险的监管措施则主要包括监管主体、监管手段和宏观审慎监管三个方面.最后,就系统性金融风险成因的识别、度量和监管的优化以及宏观审慎框架的建立健全方面提出了建议.     

担保准备金公允价值计量方法研究

目前我国担保公司担保准备金按固定比例提取,有悖于其或有性。担保准备金实质上是一种或有负债,应采用公允价值计量。对未到期责任准备金的提取,短期担保合同采用未赚保费法,长期担保合同采用三因素法。担保赔偿准备金提取采用逐案估算法、平均值估算法、损失率法,并增加理赔费用准备金。     

论智力资本会计计量方法

论文在前人研究成果的基础上,对智力资本的内涵、构成要素等进行梳理和总结,对已有测度方法进行分析和评述,最后对智力资本的研究中存在的问题及未来研究方向进行了展望。     

The Impact of AASB 8 Operating Segments on Analysts’ Earnings Forecasts: Australian Evidence

This paper evaluates the impact of firms’ adoption of AASB 8 segment disclosure rules on analysts’ earnings forecasts. It examines whether providing more disaggregated segment information following the adoption of AASB 8 is associated with an increase in analysts’ ability to forecast earnings. We find that analysts’ earnings forecasts have not improved significantly after adopting AASB 8 in Australia, regardless of whether firms disclosed more disaggregated segment information. Our use of control firms provides assurance that the results are due to AASB 8 and not to some other events concurrent with the adoption of AASB 8. Overall, our results imply that the benefits associated with the management approach as experienced by financial analysts in the United States have not been realised by financial analysts in Australia. This suggests that the successful adoption of an accounting standard in one country should not be the justification for recommending adoption in other countries. Further, our results raise questions about whether the enhanced disclosures required in the new standard are more for the other users of financial statements, such as investors, rather than analysts.     

The adoption of IFRS in Australia: The case of AASB 138 (IAS 38) Intangible Assets

AASB 138 Intangible Assets, adopted by reporting entities in Australia for annual reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2005, required derecognition of internally generated intangible assets. Prior to its adoption, the standard was widely expected to have a substantial impact on the reports of affected listed entities. On the basis of information available in the 2004/05 annual reports, this paper projects the expected effects of AASB 138 on reported intangible assets and on key financial measures. It compares these projected measures to the realised measures, reported under both Australian GAAP and AIFRS in the 2005/06 reports. While reported intangible assets and the debt to equity ratio were expected to change significantly as a result of AASB 138, the reported AIFRS results show a significant change in only the debt to equity ratio. The paper considers reasons why the pre-adoption expected changes did not eventuate, and also how the actual changes were reported to stakeholders in the management discussion sections of the annual reports. The conclusion draws implications regarding the transparency of communication in annual reports.     

目标企业潜在价值的理论解析与测度方法

尽管目标企业潜在价值决定企业购并的成败,但到目前为止,理论界却很少对其作深入研究。本文开拓性地解析了目标企业潜在价值的基本特性、形成原因、决定因素以及实现前提,创建了测度目标企业潜在价值的若干方法(效率比较法和资源利用法),从而填补了目标企业潜在价值理论研究与技术分析的空白。     

The response of Australian firms to AASB 138 disallowing the recognition of internally generated identifiable intangibles

This paper responds to a call by the Australian Accounting Standards Board to investigate how Australian firms responded to a perceived loss of information pursuant to AASB 138 (IAS38) which mandated the de-recognition of previously recognised internally generated identifiable intangibles, from its effective date of 1 January 2005. We find that the sample firms did not choose to provide alternative or substitute disclosure elsewhere in their annual report or financial statements anytime during our sample period (2005–2010). Prima facie, this is surprising given prior evidence from the value relevance literature that disclosures relevant to the value of internally generated intangibles are correlated with firm value and presumably informative for investors. However, we caution against the drawing of simple conclusions that this finding implies alternative disclosure may not be valuable. Rather, it is important to understand the forces or frictions that contribute to this result. Schipper (The Accounting Review, 82, 2007, 301) and Skinner (Accounting and Business Research, 38, 2008, 191) offer valuable insights into the potential issues such as the costs of alternative disclosure including proprietary costs of disclosing competitive information and, the lower credibility of financial disclosures outside of audited financial statements. These are important considerations in the on-going standard-setting debate on recognition versus disclosure of value relevant information on intangible assets.     

Closed-End Funds: A Survey

This survey reviews the evolving literature on closed-end fund discounts. Many studies have attempted to explain the existence and the behavior of the discount to net asset value, emphasizing biases in the calculation of NAV, agency costs, tax-timing options and market segmentation. None has been able to provide a full explanation. As a result, some researchers have found it necessary to resort to models of limited rationality. This gives rise to potential opportunities for exploiting the discount. We summarize the findings from over 70 studies of closed-end funds, and present directions for future research.     

Operational Risk: A Survey

Operational risk has, in a relatively short period of time, risen from non‐recognition to prominence as the culprit for spectacular corporate collapses. This paper surveys the mushrooming literature on the subject, covering the definition, classification, characteristics, modeling and management of operational risk. It is concluded that operational risk is a controversial topic that will generate a significant amount of research in the years to come.     

Research Into the Aging Process: A Survey

Abstract

We are in the midst of a revolution in biological knowledge. Although research into the aging process was begun long before the Human Genome Project, it has benefited greatly from the powerful tools and techniques spun off from that endeavor. Current research is providing knowledge about life processes that may offer the prospect of slowing the aging process. Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, has predicted that “By 2030, major genes responsible for the aging process in humans will likely have been identified, and clinical trials with drugs to retard the process may well be getting underway” (Collins 2000). A growing number of scientists recognize extension of the maximum life span as a possibility.

The actuarial profession cannot lay claim to expertise in the area of mortality while ignoring scientific research into the causes of aging. This paper provides a brief overview of the subject and a bibliography for those interested in pursuing the matter further. It offers a brief historical perspective, a survey of current research, and a glimpse of future possibilities.?