Professionalization in Action: Accountants' Attempt at Building a Network of Support for the WebTrust Seal of Assurance*

This paper examines the attempts by the North American accounting institutes to develop a new market in e‐commerce assurance based on their claims to professional expertise through the WebTrust project. Employing actor‐network theory in an in‐depth longitudinal field study, we investigate how WebTrust was originally developed and promoted as a seal of business‐to‐consumer assurance, which largely failed to generate support in the marketplace. Proponents were subsequently able to generate more interest in the eyes of managers of online organizations by reshaping WebTrust as a flexible set of principles and criteria for systems advice and business‐to‐business assurance. Our analysis suggests that attempts to expand the accounting profession's domain of expertise reflect a trial‐and‐error process where the outcome achieved may be far from the vision that motivated the institutes into undertaking the project in the first place. We further show that the initial network of support for such projects can be quite fragile and dynamic as various actors reposition themselves around the shifting meanings attributed to the project.     

JIT Adoption: The Effects of LIFO Reserves and Financial Reporting and Tax Incentives*

Using matched samples of JIT adopters and nonadopters, we examine the association of JIT adoption with firms' financial reporting and tax incentives, earnings‐management histories, and LIFO reserve levels. We find evidence that adoption decisions are influenced by the interaction of firms' LIFO reserves with their income smoothing, debt covenant, and tax incentives. We also find that adoption is less likely for firms historically engaging in high degrees of earnings management, particularly when such firms have no substantial LIFO reserves. Our study extends earlier research demonstrating a relation between inventory valuation method and year‐end inventory transactions, and documents a relation between earnings‐management incentives and a fundamental supply‐chain design choice.     

A Labour Monopolies Commission to Reduce Unemployment

Mr Tebbitt's proposals to reduce union obstructiveness have not taken account of their power as monopoly suppliers of labour. A pressing priority for the current session of Parliament should be the introduction of legislation to eradicate legal privilege which does not reflect market reality.     

Efficient Estimation: The Rao-Zyskind Condition, Kruskal's Theorem and Ordinary Least Squares*

The paper emphasizes the practicability and accessibility of the necessary and sufficient condition for ordinary least squares to yield best linear unbiased estimators in several problems that are available in econometrics Two convenient equivalent alternative forms of the condition are presented It is shown that the condition is useful for analyzing different problems and is especially relevant for pedagogical purposes Several practical economic examples are presented