Financial scandals: a historical overview

I examine the incidence of fraud from c.1720 to 2009 and relate it to the occurrence of significant financial scandals. Focusing on the UK, and US prior to Enron, and using a detailed dataset of significant events and news content, underpinned by examination of specific watershed scandals, the paper highlights the regulatory response to scandals and the implications for accounting and financial reporting. The evidence reveals the incidence of fraud and financial scandal to be historically contingent and skewed towards certain sectors, particularly banking and finance, facilitated by complex group structures and international capital mobility, and mediated by managerial incentives and ownership concentration. Financial reporting and auditing can mitigate fraud opportunities in all sectors and businesses without complex group structures, and the accounting profession achieved some success in this respect up to the mid-1970s. Since then, the profession has been increasingly challenged by, and to some degree implicated in, the development of interconnected and international business networks, which, combined with wider financial deregulation, has led to a resurgence of fraud and financial scandal not previously experienced since the mid-nineteenth century.     

“三国演义”，麈战纺织

9月5日中国与欧盟经过长达48小时的唇枪舌战，终于达成协议，圆满解决了中欧纺织品贸易的滞港争端。9月1日紧急进行的中美纺织品第四轮磋商依然未果，“拉锯战”被拖至9月下旬，而且前途未卜，恰似给美国造成巨大损失的“卡特里娜”飓风，近期内依然“挥之不去”，令业内人士揪心。     

What Role Taxes and Regulation? A Second Look at Open Market Share Buyback Activity in the UK

This paper re-examines the evidence on open market share repurchase activity reported by Rau and Vermaelen (2002) for the UK. Using data from the Securities Data Corporation (SDC), Rau and Vermaelen conclude that the level of repurchase activity is trivial. They attribute the low repurchase volume to regulatory restrictions that limit companies' ability to take advantage of an undervalued stock price and conclude that the bulk of repurchase activity that does occur is driven by the desire to generate tax credits for pension funds. Using data collected from a variety of sources, we find that the SDC substantially understates UK open market buyback activity. Based on our more comprehensive dataset we conclude that (a) pension funds' tax considerations are not the primary cause of UK share repurchases and (b) despite the prevailing regulatory environment, underpricing still represents an important determinant of repurchase activity.     

外理公司拓展东疆港区理货服务业务的分析和探索

在东疆港区开展理货服务相关业务的设想是在国务院《关于推进天津滨海新区开发开放有关问题的意见》中关于“推动天津滨海新区进一步扩大开放。设立天津东疆保税港区”精神的激励下提出的。总面积达30平方公里的东疆港区的开发建设，为天津外理公司主动适应天津港加快发展的要求，满足港口功能的拓展和客户多方位的需求，加快自身发展创造了难得的历史机遇。     

银行经济行为选择中的伦理取向——基于“斯密难题”的理性分析

在中国经济转型背景下,银行经济行为选择中的伦理缺失带给人们极大的现实困惑。斯密难题并不昭示某种矛盾,斯密认为经济人和道德人是内在的统一的。基于此的理性分析表明银行兼具营利性和社会性双重属性,离不开利益相关者的合作与支持,必然要寻求经济目标与伦理价值取向的统一,实现伦理经营。     

No Chinese Capitalism without Property Rights

The speed with which communist China has embuaced markets has surprised Western analysis and observers, But Chinese economic progress will founder in corruption and inefficiency, argues Professor Steven Cheung of the university of Hong Kong, untess she insitutes a well-defined system of private property rights to safeguord investment and stimulate trade.     

Day-of-the-Week Effects in the Long-Run Performance of Initial Public Offerings

This study examines the influence of day-of-the-week patterns in security returns on long-run IPO underperformance. Comparisons are made between the IPOs in Ritter's [20] database, and a constructed set of matching firms based on SIC code and size, using NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ securities. It is found that virtually all of the IPO underperformance occurs on Mondays and Tuesdays and that the degree of underperformance significantly differs from other days. Thus, a common explanation may exist for the general day-of-the-week pattern in security returns and IPO long-run underperformance.     

江苏居民收入分配差距及其治理分析

改革开放以来,江苏居民收入普遍提高,人民生活得到很大改善,但近年来居民收入开始出现差距并且日益扩大,已成为影响社会稳定和经济发展的重要问题。文章首先分析了江苏居民收入分配的现状,然后剖析了影响居民收入分配差距过大的成因,在此基础上提出了防止居民收入差距过大的治理对策。