Voluntary disclosure of financial information by French firms: Does the introduction of IFRS matter?

This paper addresses the relationship between mandatory and voluntary information. The introduction of IFRS in 2005 modified mandatory information requirements and influenced the content and level of the discretionary information disclosed by firms. This background allows us to test whether the complementary or substitution hypothesis dominates. A French firm data panel is used to empirically analyze the consequence of IFRS introduction. Referring to the 2003–2008 period gives a long-term perspective and allows us to identify discretionary communication policies by building a proprietary voluntary disclosure score. We find that voluntary disclosure policies experienced an upward swing with the introduction of IFRS, giving support to the complementary hypothesis. We also demonstrate a dynamic relationship between disclosure and the dispersion of analysts' earnings forecasts. The practical implication of the paper is to show that firms' discretionary communication policies follow both a long-term and a short-term component to meet analysts' demands for information. Our contribution is to refer to a long-term sample in one country where the environment and regulation context is homogenous. Our disclosure score index seems to be a good measure to outline that idiosyncratic communication policies are complex and strategic.     

Is there a difference in performance by the legal status of microfinance institutions?

Based on some cases of notable successes in Latin America, some microfinance practitioners advocate a transformation of non-profit microfinance organizations into private and regulated companies. The performance of the latter is supposed to be higher than those of non-profit organizations. From this point of view, there is a relationship between the legal status of MFIs and their performance. This article's main objective is to test this relationship from the comparison of performance of 202 MFIs in the period from 2001 to 2006. Rather than restricting the comparison to NGOs and private companies, cooperatives have also been taken into account to compare the performance by the dominant legal forms of MFIs. The results show that the performance of private corporations is better than that of NGOs only when portfolio quality is used as an indicator for measuring performance. Also, our results show that for profit MFIs are more socially efficient than not-for-profit MFIs. The commercial approach of microfinance does not seem inconsistent with the social mission of MFIs.     

Methodological criteria for the internal validity and utility of practice oriented research

For conducting practice oriented research different research strategies are available. In this paper a typology is developed for differentiating between practice oriented research strategies that are data based and participatory research strategies. The former category involves quantitative and qualitative data based research strategies. The latter category, participatory research strategies, includes knowledge based research and practice based research. At present, methodological criteria for assessing the quality of practice oriented research heavily rely on those developed for theory oriented research, in particular internal and external validity and reliability. However, we argue that for assessing the results of practice oriented research other criteria are necessary. In this paper, methodological criteria are formulated for evaluating the internal validity and practical utility of practice oriented research with the help of a Delphi study using research methodologists as experts. They agree upon the criteria of verifiability, comprehensibility and acceptance of the results, as well as holism. Moreover, different categories of participatory and data based research strategies are compared to these criteria. Practice based research and qualitative data based research are best equipped to fulfill these criteria. These findings may enable researchers to make a more deliberate choice for a specific research strategy in practice oriented research.     

English in Product Advertisements in Non-English-Speaking Countries in Western Europe: Product Image and Comprehension of the Text

ABSTRACT

Although English has been shown to be the most frequently used foreign language in product advertisements in countries where it is not the native language, little is known about its effects. This article examines the response to advertisements in English compared to the response to the same ad in the local language in Western Europe on members of the target group for which the ad was intended: 715 young, highly educated female consumers. The use of English in a product ad does not appear to have any impact on image and price of the product, but it does affect text comprehension: the meaning of almost 40% of the English phrases was not understood. These results were the same for all countries involved in the study, irrespective of whether the respondents’ (self-) reported proficiency in English is high or low.     

Vermont's Act 250 legislation: a citizen-based response to rapid growth and development

Unregulated land development, dramatic increases in population, soaring land prices, and environmental degradation are significant factors responsible for the widespread concern among Vermonters that the state is losing its distinctive rural character and its small, picturesque villages. The citizen legislature responded by adopting Act 250, Vermont's principal land development and land use law. This paper describes the events leading to the passage of this law, examines the major components of this progressive legislation, and analyzes its effectiveness in protecting Vermont's natural resources.