Surveillance of interpersonal violence in Kingston,Jamaica: an evaluation

Injuries are among the leading causes of death in Jamaica. Homicide rates have been sharply increasing since 1991. In 1997, the rate of homicide (45/100 000) in Jamaica was over five times the US rate in 1997 (7.9/100 000). In response to this problem and the alarming increase in non-fatal assaultive injuries, the Jamaican Ministry of Health together with the CDC established a Violence-Related Injury Surveillance System (VRISS) using patient registration data from Kingston Public Hospital. The VRISS was evaluated for usefulness, and for system attributes: system acceptability, simplicity, flexibility, sensitivity, and predictive value positive (PVP). System-identified cases were compared with clinical records and data from direct patient interviews. The surveillance system was flexible, acceptable to clinical staff and Ministry officials, and moderately sensitive, detecting 62% to 69% of violent injuries identified from clinical records and a patient survey. The system's predictive value positive was high, with 86% of potential cases confirmed as actual cases. Although adequate, system sensitivity was reduced by incomplete or no registration of patients during periods of staff shortage. In conclusion, despite some logistic shortcomings, the system appeared promising for collecting limited information on non-fatal interpersonal violent injuries. With modification and expansion, the system may be capable of collecting unintentional-injury data also.     

Voluntary Disclosures of Emissions by US Firms

This paper examines voluntary disclosures about greenhouse gas emissions by the US S&P 500 firms to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). Trends in three disclosures (answering the questionnaire, disclosing emissions and disclosing accounting methodology for emissions) are examined from 2006 to 2008. The frequencies of all three disclosures increased over this period. The finding that many firms answer the questionnaire, but do not disclose their emission amounts or how they account for them, is consistent with a prediction from the legitimacy theory literature that firms will disclose the minimum to avoid scrutiny. Disclosure patterns are routine since previous disclosures are the most significant variable in explaining subsequent ones. The research contributes to the understanding of emission disclosures, in particular, and voluntary disclosures, in general, by highlighting the importance of considering previous disclosures in understanding subsequent ones. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

A POST-KEYNESIAN AGE MODEL TO FORECAST ENERGY DEMAND IN SPAIN

This paper develops an extended input–output model for the estimation of energy demand and related issues. It is built on the last Spanish Symmetric Input–Output Table (IOT, 2005). It has been tested for the period 2005–2008 and used for forecasting energy demand for the years 2009–2012 under different economic scenarios. The model shares some traits of the computable and applied general equilibrium models where quantity and price systems are interwoven. The differences lie in the theories explaining output and prices. Our quantity system is based on Keynes’ principle of effective demand (broad energy multipliers are derived). The price system is based on the classical (Sraffian) theory of prices of production, akin to post-Keynesian full-cost prices. The general price system can be manipulated to account for the specificities of energy prices. Historical trends of energy coefficients are computed by extrapolation of past IOTs and calibration.     

The Effect of Educational Level on Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment: A Case Study in Hospitality

ABSTRACT

The hospitality industry is characterized by the close personal interaction between employees and customers. Consequently, the study of certain constructs that influence this relationship, such as organizational commitment and job satisfaction, is a key factor in ensuring business success. Furthermore, there are a number of variables that can, in theory, help to explain the levels reached by these constructs, one of the most important being educational level. Using this as our starting point, this article aims to determine the effect of educational level on the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of hotel employees in the province of Cordoba, Spain. As such, the study found that educational level does not influence job satisfaction. However, it does have an inverse effect on organizational commitment where the lower the educational level of employees, the higher their commitment. This result is consistent with the temporal component of both constructs, since job satisfaction is related to more ephemeral influences while organizational commitment is related to job security. In this respect, the study determined that employees with a lower educational level are more affected by the lack of job opportunities and more likely to express higher levels of gratitude for the job they have been able to secure and maintain. Knowledge of this relationship can be useful in designing more successful ??human resource strategies, such as employee recruitment, job profiles, and training schemes.     

Is the Current Accounting Treatment of Education and Training Costs Appropriate?

This paper addresses the apparent disconnect between the economic consequences of firm‐sponsored education and training and the accounting and disclosure treatment of those costs. Research suggests that firm‐sponsored education and training enhances firm productivity and performance, yet accounting standards require firms to treat education and training costs as expenses. This study discusses not only the rationale for this accounting treatment, but also what firms and accounting standard setters can do to enhance the information provided to capital market participants about firm‐sponsored education and training.     

Growth crisis in the EU — challenges and prospects

The following article uses a production function approach to analyse the long-term trends of the European growth potential. It describes the possibility of a further significant decline in the potential growth rate and the mechanisms of this decline. EU Member States are divided into five country groups, and the potential growth rates of each of these as well as the contribution of different growth factors are analysed. The great challenges facing the “catch-up” (Mediterranean and new) Member States with regard to convergence are outlined. Finally, the paper summarises the long-term trends, the impacts of potential shock scenarios on potential growth and the new risks originating from the crisis.     

Identifying spatial interactions in the presence of spatial error autocorrelation: An application to land use spillovers

Spatial spillovers—interaction effects among neighboring agents in space—are a common characteristic of a variety of processes that are of interest to environmental and resource economists. Empirical identification of these interactions is challenging, however, due to the endogenous nature of the interactions and the inevitable unobserved spatial correlation that, if uncontrolled, can result in spurious estimates of the interaction parameters. Traditional spatial econometric models rely on maintained assumptions that impose separate structures for the spatial error and interaction processes and thus are insufficient for solving this identification problem. To identify spatial land use spillovers in a hedonic model of residential housing values, we pursue an alternative approach by exploiting a natural experiment in the data. We use exogenous physical land features that impose a direct constraint on residential development on some, but not all, of the land that falls within our study region and use this to construct a “partial population identifier.” We find that this estimation strategy solves the endogeneity problem and reduces spatial error autocorrelation, but does not fully eliminate it. Estimation of the model using a more restricted sample in combination with the partial population identification strategy is successful in eliminating the remaining spatial error autocorrelation. We conclude that less restrictive approaches to controlling for unobserved spatial correlation, such as the natural experiment pursued here, may provide a superior alternative to identifying spatial spillovers.     

The solvency of financial institutions in Spain: lessons from securitization

On analysing a sample of Spanish banks, we find that securitization has a slightly negative impact on the soundness of the issuing entity. An unbalanced dynamic panel model was estimated using the forward orthogonal deviations GMM method and used to analyse 537 traditional securitizations issued by 61 banks between 1998 and 2012. The analysis revealed that the entities’ soundness became weaker immediately prior to the crisis, but this effect became insignificant after 2007. Securitization has facilitated a process of regulatory capital arbitrage leading to lower capital requirements while, at the same time, giving rise to a slight worsening of the quality of the originators’ portfolios. It was found that profitability, liquidity and inflation positively affect solvency, while changes in short-term interest rates affect it negatively.     

National and Regional Impacts of an Increase in Value-Added Tax: A CGE Analysis for South Africa

The South African National Treasury expected a revenue shortfall of R48.2 billion in 2017/18 and proposed tax policy measures to raise an additional R36 billion in 2018/19. A key component to raise the additional revenue was a 1% point increase in the VAT rate to 15% effective from 1 April 2018. The increase in the VAT rate was not welcomed as it would increase the cost of living, especially for the poor. We investigate the potential economy-wide and regional impacts of raising VAT and increasing public spending on education and health. We do this by developing and applying a multi-regional model of the South African economy that includes detailed tax and spending features. In this model, when we increase VAT, the impacts are driven by the direct shock to the model, accompanied by differences in regional economic activity. We find that effects on GDP vary between regions but are generally negative.     

Impact of Post-restatement Actions Taken by a Firm on Non-professional Investors’ Credibility Perceptions

The frequency of earnings restatements has been increasing over the last decade. Restating previous earnings erodes perceived trustworthiness and competence of management, giving firms strong incentives to take actions to enhance perceived credibility of future financial reports [Farber, D. B.: 2005, The Accounting Review 80(2), 539–561.]. Using an experimental case, we examine the ability of post-restatement actions taken by a firm to positively influence non-professional investors’ perceptions of management’s financial reporting credibility. Our examination considers credibility judgments following two types of restatements – those resulting from fraud in which the character, ethics, and values of an organization may be called into question [cf. Copeland, Jr., J. E.: 2005, Accounting Horizons 19(1), 35–43.], and those resulting from non-fraud (i.e., aggressive accounting). Based on the information in the experimental case, non-professional investors take the role of potential equity investors and make a judgment about management’s financial reporting credibility after reviewing a set of post-restatement actions taken by a firm. The possible actions include changes in four corporate governance mechanisms (i.e., internal audit function, external audit firm, board of directors, CFO) and a buyback of company stock. Our results provide an important contribution to the literature by demonstrating that among non-professional investors, perceptions of management’s financial reporting credibility are affected both by the post-restatement action taken and the nature of the restatement. These results offer insight into the formation of a key credibility judgment made by non-professional investors following a trust-destroying event, an earnings restatement. Data Availability: The data are available upon request.