Accounting for human rights: The challenge of globalization and foreign investment agreements

The triumph of neoliberalism has promoted trade and investment as the dominant routes to economic and social development. This has further enhanced the power of transnational corporations. Developing countries are increasingly expected to secure foreign investment to stimulate their economies and lift the local population out of poverty. However, foreign investment also has implications for protection and enjoyment of human rights. Transnational corporations manage their risks by imposing stabilization clauses on host countries that constrain their ability to protect and enhance human rights. Conventional accounting and corporate social responsibility reports seem to be unable to respond to the emerging agenda on human rights. This paper seeks to stimulate debates about the protection and enjoyment of human rights by drawing attention to the way corporations constrain governments and people through clauses in investment agreements. Some evidence is provided through an examination of an investment agreement relating to the Chad–Cameroon oil and pipeline project. The paper calls for the production of counter accounts to challenge the hegemony of corporations and create spaces for the enjoyment of human rights.     

Public Choice and Accounting Standard Setting in New Zealand: An Exploratory Study

Recent studies in accounting regulation have used either the capture argument or the pluralistic notion to describe the enactment of accounting regulations. This paper explores the nature of the impact of public choice in accounting standard setting in New Zealand using the pluralistic notion. To provide an insight into the standard-setting process, this paper involves an examination of the establishment, withdrawal and re-establishment of New Zealand's most controversial standard after current cost accounting — the standard on investment property accounting (SSAP 17). The investigation considers the nature of public choice in the agenda entrance, demand and supply factors influencing standard setting in New Zealand. The results indicate that the New Zealand accounting standard-setting process is pluralistic in a limited way. Like most other English-speaking countries, the scope of participation for certain groups has been institutionalized on the supply side by way of membership of standard-setting committees of the New Zealand Society of Accountants. On the demand side, however, consumers of accounting have been provided with only limited scope for participating in the formal process of standard setting. Nevertheless, other means (i.e., exogenous and informal ones) may be used to influence the process. Overall, from both the demand and supply perspectives of regulation, the Big-8 accounting firms (as they were previously known) followed by the preparers of financial statements, seem to have greater participatory capacity in the New Zealand standard-setting process.     

Goodwill Accounting in Selected Countries and the Harmonization of International Accounting Standards

Economic and financial markets interpenetrate and national economies are increasingly interdependent. This results in a growing need for comparability of accounting procedures internationally. Accounting for goodwill illustrates this phenomenon. By specifying the recommended asset treatment for purchased, positive goodwill, and the five-year amortization period, IASC has taken a significant step towards harmonization of goodwill accounting. As noted in the article, however, the implications for consolidated income may be quite drastic. This is especially so with respect to the implications of the revised IAS 22 (following IAS ED 32) for potential leveraged corporate buy-outs.     

试论我国银行业风险的会计因素及其防范措施

本从会计角度出发，分析我国国有商业银行会计核算不实、内部监督乏力、政策运用不当和社会监督机制不健全等银行业风险产生的因素，并从宏观和微观两个层面来探讨防落银行业风险的会计政策与措施。     

公司治理结构中会计目标的法律经济学解释——兼论我国会计法律制度的完善

公司治理涉及各种利益相关者责权利的划分和制衡。会计是连接权利和利益的纽带,会计信息质量在公司治理结构中扮演着重要的角色。公司治理中对各种利益相关者的约束与制衡机制需要以会计信息作保障。会计目标与公司治理目标具有内在的关联性,在我国公司目前所处的经济环境下,公司目标是影响公司治理结构的重要因素.会计法律制度的完善对我国公司治理具有重要的意义。     

Examining the differences between United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP) and International Accounting Standards (IAS): implications for the harmonization of accounting standards

Current trends indicate continued movement towards the harmonization of accounting standards, but not without difficulty and concern. At times, the political and financial market pressure, push the movement in opposite directions. The paper discusses the conceptual framework used in establishing Global Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) (International Accounting Standards, IAS) and U.S. GAAP. Numerous transactional examples are illustrated under both Global GAAP and U.S. GAAP treatment. Several country specific references are presented demonstrating the difficulty in achieving harmonization. Implications for harmonization of accounting standards include arguments “for” and “against” Global GAAP.     

The Withdrawal of Current Cost Accounting in the United Kingdom: A Study of the Accounting Standards Committee

Evidence from the archives of the U.K. Accounting Standards Committee (ASC) is used to trace the events leading to the withdrawal of the current cost accounting standard, SSAP 16, from 1980 to 1988. Three central issues are addressed. First, the ASC's role as a regulatory body is considered in the light of the failure to obtain compliance with SSAP 16 and to find an acceptable replacement. Second, the decline in support for SSAP 16 is explained in terms of changes in the economic environment. Third, the roles of different interest groups in the process are analysed.     

Walter Mahlberg's Valuation Theory: An Anomaly in the Development of Inflation Accounting

Walter Mahlberg's inflation-accounting treatise of 1921, Bilanztechnik und Bewertung bei schwankender Währung , contains the first book-length price-level-adjustment model in the literature. As the title of the book indicates, Mahlberg treated the matter of restatement technique and the matter of asset valuation during inflation as distinct topics. Mahlberg's restatement technique was not without immediate influence in Germany and has been addressed previously in English-language publications. His valuation theory, on the other hand, had little effect on contemporary developments and remains an anomaly in the literature today. In particular, Mahlberg saw the effect of certain specific price-level changes—those whose rate of change exceeded general inflation—as giving rise to unavoidable future losses; losses, he maintained, that should be recognized currently. Since Mahlberg's theory is generally unknown outside Germany, the present paper first provides English-speaking audiences with an explication of the logic that led Mahlberg to his unique conclusion. It then argues that although Mahlberg's valuation theory represents a cul-de-sac in the development of inflation accounting itself, it ironically may have contributed to Henry Sweeney's 1936 concept of 'unrealized appreciation', which is an early conceptualization of a holding gain, net of inflation.     

金融企业社会责任与财务绩效关系的实证研究

从企业社会责任的概念出发,根据利益相关者的理论框架,提出以股东、员工、消费者、政府为利益相关者的金融企业社会责任指标体系,运用极值标准化处理原始数据和层次分析法设置权重.并通过对我国上市的14家银行2003～2007年的面板数据进行相关分析和回归分析,验证了金融企业社会责任与财务绩效之间的关系,结果基本上证实了金融企业履行社会责任可以提高财务绩效等理论假设.     

影响经济发展方式转变的因素分析:各国实践及经验

本文重点分析了影响美国、日本、亚洲新兴工业化国家和地区经济发展方式转变的各方面因素,总结了市场经济国家成功实现经济发展方式转变的一些共同经验,以期对我国"又好又快"地实现经济发展方式转变有所裨益。     

中央银行介入资产证券化业务及其会计核算规则研究*--以美联储为例

介入资产证券化业务在次贷危机爆发后成为美联储实施非常规货币政策的工具。本文研究美联储介入资产证券化业务的历程、动因、方式和范围,分析美联储对持有资产证券化产品和对特殊目的实体进行会计报表合并的核算规则,指出我国中央银行要研究建立与资产证券化业务相配套的风险监控机制、救助应急机制、市场沟通机制和会计核算机制。     

Accounting research: An analysis of theories explored in doctoral dissertations and their applicability to Systems Theory

This study examined theories used in accounting doctoral dissertations and found that dissertations in this discipline test theories drawn from economics, finance, psychology, and sociology, with 53% from economics and finance and 27% from psychology. Further, a primary conclusion of this paper is that doctoral research in accounting explores subsets of organizational activity consistent with the premises of Systems Theory.     

商业类上市公司资本结构的影响因素：国际比较与实证研究

以沪深两地上市的84家商业贸易类公司为样本，对资本结构的影响因素进行实证研究，发现公司资本结构具有强烈的行业特征，商业类上市公司的负债比率与盈利能力具有呈强负相关关系、与固定资产呈正相关关系，而其他因素对公司资本结构的影响不是很明显。     

高职院校《财务会计》综合实践教学的研究和探索

基于目前国内会计专业高级技术人才匮乏的现状,为了让高职院校学生更好的学习《财务会计》理论知识,更好的培养和掌握《财务会计》专业技能,对《财务会计》专业理论与实践综合教学进行深入的探索和研究。     

Pressure and Politics in Financial Accounting Regulation: The Case of the Financial Conglomerates in the Netherlands

This article examines the political process of promulgating two controversial laws which pertain to the reporting of Dutch financial conglomerates. Central to the study is the exploration of the lobbying efforts observed during the process, and the interaction between the government, the supervisors of banks and insurance companies, the industry and its associations, and the users and auditors of annual reports of financial conglomerates. Previous studies in accounting-rule development have often ignored influences that do not fall within the formal regulatory procedures. By adopting an inductive research approach, this study explores in some detail the behaviour of participants, including their use of informal lobbying methods. Pluralist theory is used to explain the nature of the political process and the behaviour of interested parties. The findings indicate that the Dutch political process in accounting matters is indeed pluralistic. Although auditors and producers of accounts seem to have greater possibilities to participate, the users of corporate reports are able to voice their opinion effectively. Overall, the users' preferences were acknowledged in the final rules governing the reporting by financial conglomerates.     

Applying the Principles of Soccer Training to the Design and Delivery of Classes in Introductory Accounting Courses

Accounting instructors face numerous challenges in structuring and teaching accounting classes. This paper describes the experience of redesigning classes in an introductory accounting course to follow the format of team training sessions in the sport of soccer. The soccer format includes six sections: warm‐up, balance/agility/coordination, skill/technique, simplified small game, game, and cooldown. We explain how the activities in each of these sections can be translated into parts of a class session. While adopting this format requires instructors to invest time in preparation and to be flexible and responsive when facilitating classes, informal results indicate that this class format is rewarding for both instructor and students and that it enhances student performance and experience. We suggest that elements of this class format could be successfully adopted for courses in other business subjects, and in nonbusiness disciplines.     

An analysis of the first ten volumes of research in Accounting, Business and Financial History

Although numerous studies have focused upon the publishing patterns of leading academic accounting journals, the area of accounting history has largely been neglected. This paper uses standard content and citation techniques to analyse the 155 articles published in the first ten volumes of Accounting, Business and Financial History across the period 1990 to 2000. It highlights the leading individual and institutional contributors to ABFH, the major foci of their studies and the journals, articles and scholars exerting the greatest influence upon ABFH authors.     

Assessing the Social Impact of Corporations: Evidence from Management Control Interventions in the Supply Chain to Increase Worker Wages

This study examines an initiative by a large multinational garment retailer (H&M Group) to increase wages at its supplier factories by intervening in their wage-related management practices. Difference-in-differences estimates based on eight years of data from over 1,800 factories show that the interventions were associated with an average real wage increase of approximately 5% by the third year of implementation. Our estimates suggest that the intervention-associated wage increase was many times greater than if the retailer's cost for the program was instead paid directly to affected workers. We find that the wage effects were driven by factories with relatively poorer supplier ratings and do not find significantly different wage effects depending on the presence of trade unions. We also examine several nonwage outcomes such as factory orders, supplier price competitiveness, overtime pay, and total employment to probe the mechanisms underlying the wage increases. These findings offer new evidence on corporate social impact in global supply chains.     

退休人口再就业决策的影响因素研究 ——基于中国健康与养老追踪调查数据

夯实财富储备,改善劳动力有效供给是积极应对人口老龄化的重要措施。本文基于中国健康与养老追踪调查数据,全面考察了退休人口再就业的动因,着重分析享受养老待遇和养老待遇水平对退休人口再就业决策的影响。实证结果表明:享受养老待遇对退休人口再就业产生负激励效应;养老待遇水平提高会明显降低退休人口再就业的可能性;个人负债占资产比重越大,退休老年人再就业概率越高;配偶退休、年龄增大、健康状况差会显著降低退休人口再就业概率。对此,本文提出以下建议:适当延迟退休年龄,增加老年人口经济收入;养老保险制度应兼顾保障性和劳动力市场功能;构建老年就业服务体系,保障老年就业权利。     

Accounting and quality control in the Royal Tobacco Factory of Seville, 1744-90: an historical perspective

Studies in the history of accounting have, to date, centred on the costs and efficiency of productive systems. However, the influence of quality assurance in management control systems is an aspect that has not been studied in detail from an historical perspective. For that, this study analyses the use made of accounting techniques as a contributory element to quality control in the case of the Royal Tobacco Factory of Seville, belonging to the Spanish Tobacco Monopoly, during the second half of the eighteenth century.