The changing landscape of American Banking: The impact of Riegle-Neal

The Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994, which became fully operative on June 1, 1997, eliminated virtually all interstate banking and branching restrictions in the U.S. It was assumed that banks and bank holding companies would use their new geographic freedom to expand across state lines through mergers, acquisitions, and the establishment of de novo facilities. There was considerable concern that there would be fewer but more sizable banks that would abandon or increase fees for smaller customers including individuals, businesses, and rural communities. This paper provides an early glimpse at the accuracy of these predictions by studying the changes in the number and size of banks serving the Seventh Federal Reserve District since the enforcement of Riegle-Neal.     

The Demand for Money in Canada: A Cointegration Analysis

In this Paper, using the techniques in cointegration theory, we find strong support for the existence of a long-run equilibrium relationship among money demand variables in Canada. Additionally, when the conventional partial adjustment model (PAM) is compared to the two-stage error correction model (ECM), the latter approach is found to perform better, with M2+ showing better results than M2. Our results are also found to be in line with other studies from the U.K. and the U.S.A. These findings provide rationale for further in-depth studies on broader monetary aggregates to formulate sound monetary policy in Canada. [E41]     

American and British Clergy Attitudes Towards Marketing Activities: A Comparative Study

Churches, in both the US and the UK, are increasingly seen to be engaging in what have been termed marketing activities. A small of studies have investigated the degree to which clergy in the US view the use of rnarketing techniques as acceptable and appropriate. This article rnakes a contribution to the continuing debate surrounding the use of marketing in a church setting by comparing the extent to which American and British clergy views differ: Results indicate that, in general, British clergy are rnore reluctant to countenance the use of merketing techniques within a church context, although a small number of exceptions emerged. In particular; British clergy appeared to be rnore accepting of changes made to the presentation of church doctrine, given changs in society's views of acceptable behaviour.     

Professionalism, Ethical Codes and the Internal Auditor: A Moral Argument

This paper examines the case of the internal auditor from a sociological and ethical perspective. Is it appropriate to extend the designation of professional to internal auditors? The discussion includes criteria from the sociology literature on professionalism. Further, professional ethical codes are compared. Internal auditors' code of ethics is found to have a strong moral approach, contrasting to the more instrumental approach of certified professional accountants. Internal auditors are noted as using their code of ethics to help resolve professional ethical dilemmas.     

“SWEEPING THE HEAVENS FOR A COMET”: WOMEN,THE LANGUAGE OF POLITICAL ECONOMY,AND HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE US

Abstract

The importance of increased levels of education in improving the status of women throughout the world is well established. Higher levels of education are associated with lower birth rates, higher incomes, and greater autonomy for women. Yet, women's struggle to have a voice in higher education has been fraught with difficulties in the US and worldwide, particularly in overcoming widely held perceptions that limit their entrance into certain academic fields, tenured positions, and elite universities. This essay examines the role political economy has played in providing narratives that rationalize women's limited participation in higher education. By examining the representation of women in the academic culture of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century US, we can perhaps better understand women's struggle to obtain an authoritative voice in higher education worldwide.     

Investigating the Effects of Daily Inventory Record Inaccuracy in Multichannel Retailing

Inventory record inaccuracy (IRI) challenges multichannel retailers in fulfilling both brick‐and‐mortar and direct channel demands from their distribution centers. The nature and damaging effects of IRI largely go unnoticed because retailers assume daily IRI remains stable over time within the replenishment cycle. While research shows that a high level of IRI is damaging, in reality the level of IRI can change every day. We posit that daily IRI variation increases the uncertainty in the system to negatively affect inventory and service levels. Our research uses data collected daily from a multichannel retailer to ground a discrete‐event simulation experiment. Going beyond testing just the level of IRI, we evaluate daily IRI variation's impact on operating performance. What we find in our empirical data challenges extant assumptions regarding the characteristics of IRI. In addition, our simulation results reveal that daily IRI variation has a paradoxical effect: it increases inventory levels while also decreasing service levels. Moreover, we also reveal that brick‐and‐mortar and direct channels are impacted differently. Our findings show that assumptions and practices that ignore daily IRI variation need revising. For managers, we demonstrate how periods of multiday counting help assess their daily IRI variation and indicate what the causes may be.     

Assessing the classification of work-relatedness of fatal incidents: a comparison between Australia,New Zealand and the United States

As part of a larger study comparing work-related fatal injury of workers in Australia, New Zealand and the United States, an assessment was made of the similarities and differences between the three countries in identifying fatal incidents as work-related or not. The researchers in each country independently classified 333 brief scenarios, describing a variety of fatal incidents, into one of nine categories related to work: worker, bystander, commuter, volunteer, student, suicide, other, unknown and none of the above. Complete agreement with the classification was moderate (62%), but agreement when classifying scenarios as working, not working or unknown was much higher (full agreement for 80% of scenarios; Kappa =0.71). Only 5% of scenarios were classified differently by all three countries. Other main findings of the study were that there is variation between countries in the interpretation of what is and what is not work-related, and variation in the amount or type of information required to make a definitive classification. Common circumstances described in the scenarios for which there was some disagreement in classification included domestic violence incidents at work, volunteer workers, business trips, social functions connected to work, hobby farmers and some possible bystander incidents that occurred on farms or on the road. The results suggest that, even without the use of standard definitions, comparisons between the datasets of the countries involved in this study can be made with reasonable confidence. However, they also emphasise the importance of minimising ambiguity in the definitions used, and of understanding the manner in which the definitions are applied, when comparing results between studies.     

BOOK REVIEWSS

Gordon, John S. and Jack R. Arnold, Profitable Exporting: A Complete Guide to Marketing Your Products Abroad, New York: John Wiley &; Sons, 1988, vii + 358 pages.

Haggard, Stephan and Chung-in Moon (Eds.), Pacific Dynamics: The International Politics of Industrial Change, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1989, ix + 389 pages.

Eichengreen, Barry, and Lindert, Peter H. (Eds.), The International Debt Crisis in Historical Perspective, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1989, 282 pages.

Cohen, Richard, World Trade and Payments Cycles: The Advance and Retreat of the Postwar Order, New York: Praeger Publishers, 1989, xxiii + 229 pages.

Schaffer, Matt, Winning the Countertrade War: New Export Strategies for America, New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1989, xvii + 226 pages.

Grimwade, Nigel, International Trade: New Patterns of Trade Production and Investment, New York: Routledge, 1989, xv + 459 pages.

Salvatore, Dominick, International Economics, 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1990, xxxii + 695 pages.

Hibbert, Edgar P., The Management of International Trade Promotion, London: Routledge, 1990, x + 287 pages.

United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations, Services and Development: The Role of Foreign Direct Investment and Trade, New York: United Nations, 1989, x + 181 pages.

Friedländer, Michael (Ed.), Foreign Trade in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1990, xiii + 241 pages.

Rollo, J. M. C., The New Eastern Europe: Western Responses, New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1990, 137 pages.

Gill, William J., Trade Wars Against America: A History of United States Trade and Monetary Policy, New York: Praeger, 1990, xvi + 325 pages.

Destler, I. M., and C. Randall Henning, Dollar Politics: Exchange Rate Policy-making in the United States, Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics, 1989, xi + 174 pages.

Schott, Jeffrey J. (Ed.), Completing the Uruguay Round, Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics, 1990, x + 223 pages.     

A geographic analysis of constituents’ formal participation in the process of international accounting standard setting: Do we have a level playing field?

As a private organization, input legitimacy, being achieved when inputs received reflect the opinions of all stakeholders involved, is a key issue for the IASB’s acceptance as global standard setter. To study this input legitimacy, this paper examines the evolution of constituent participation in international accounting standard setting in terms of geographic diversity over the period 1995–2007 and examines whether biases (due to differences in institutional regimes) or unequal access (due to differences in participation costs) are present in this process. Based on an analysis of 7442 comment letters we observe an increase in participation over time. However, we also find distortions in the geographic representation of constituents, due to differences in the institutional regimes of countries and due to differences in participation costs, proxied by the level of familiarity with the accounting values embedded in IFRS, with the system of private standard setting, and with the English language. These geographic biases in constituent participation might induce criticism in relation to the input legitimacy of the international accounting standard setting process.     

Ten Years of IFRS: Practitioners’ Comments and Suggestions for Research

A growing body of research is evaluating the widespread adoption of IFRS. The aim of this paper is to link the findings of academic research with feedback from practitioners about whether the hoped‐for benefits of adoption are being realised. In addition, we present comments from practitioners about IFRS research and we identify areas that may be usefully explored in future research. Our review complements the papers included in part one of this forum (Australian Accounting Review, September 2012), which describe events in the development of global standards over the last 10 years.