Tax accounting principles and corporate risk-taking

We analyze the role of business taxation for corporate risk-taking under different accounting principles (such as mark-to-market, lower-of-cost-or-market and historical cost). We demonstrate that conservative accounting may imply incentives to overinvest in risky assets. However, with imperfect loss offsets, the mark-to-market principle penalizes risky investment whereas more conservative accounting leaves the risk choice unaffected.     

Preparing underprepared students for higher education and beyond: the development and implementation of an integrated project

A current problem faced in South Africa is that university graduates are weak and underprepared for the work environment. The purpose of this study was to assist students in bridging the aforementioned gap and to ease the transition from theory to practice. The aim of the study was to critically analyse the development and implementation of the integrated project. This study targeted first-year (Extended Curriculum Programme) students, who had been identified as being underprepared for higher education. The factors that initiated the design and development of the integrated project were the South African Qualifications Authority, Critical Cross Field Outcomes and the University of Technology's National Diploma in Cost and Management Accounting exit level outcome, which promote lifelong learning. The integrated project was an authentic assessment which required students to transfer their theoretical knowledge obtained in the classroom to assist small businesses within the community. Academics should be encouraged to use authentic problems in the designing of assessments which will promote student-centredness and lifelong learning. With the continuous engagement of an integrated project, these first-year underprepared students will be better equipped to adjust and excel in the work environment.     

Gender and Promotion in the Academic Profession

This paper examines the possibility that the gender rank distribution observed in the academic labour market is predominantly explained by two factors. First, the differing average characteristics of male and female academics, and second, barriers to female promotion. Despite detailed controls for personal attributes, including career breaks and publication history, male academics are more likely to be found in higher grades. Promotion from researcher to lecturer is a relatively high hurdle for women. Evidence suggests that initial placement and the process of moving between universities contributes to the male advantage in rank attainment.     

Screening, Bidding, and the Loan Market Tightness

Bank loans are more available and cheaper for new and small businesses inthe U.S. in concentrated banking areas than in competitive banking areas. Weexplain this anomaly by analyzing banks' decisions to screen projects andtheir competition in loan provisions. It is shown that, by exacerbating thewinner's curse, an increase in the number of banks can reduce banks'screening probability by so much that the number of banks that activelycompete in loan provisions falls and the expected loan rate rises. This isthe case when the screening cost is low, which induces all active bidders tobe informed. The opposite outcome occurs when the screening cost is high, inwhich case there are sufficiently many uninformed banks in bidding toattenuate the winner's curse. We also examine the social optimum     

New legislative measures in South Africa aimed at combating over‐indebtedness—are the new proposals sufficient under the constitution and law in general?

The National Credit Bill codifies a number of fundamental rights of consumers in the credit market. It provides inter alia for a right to information to enable consumers to make informed choices and thereby contributes to one of the purposes of the proposed legislation, namely to provide mechanisms to combat over‐indebtedness. The main purpose of this research is to evaluate the proposed measures in the Bill aimed at combating over‐indebtedness and also to determine to which extent these measures comply with the general constitutional consumer protection demands. In order to achieve this, the relevant guidelines of the INSOL Consumer Debt Report and measures in other jurisdictions will also be considered. Since the South African Constitution does not directly obligate the state to enact specific credit laws and as the Bill seeks, in the spirit of the supreme law, to codify certain basic consumer rights, the new legislative initiatives are to be welcomed. It is, however, submitted that the Bill does not go far enough in achieving its particular aims and objectives and that more could be done to bring South African legislation in line with measures in other jurisdictions. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Working Together: Critical Perspectives on Six Cross-Sector Partnerships in Southern Africa

This paper examines six cross-sector partnerships in South Africa and Zambia. These partnerships were part of a research study undertaken between 2003 and 2005 and were selected because of their potential to contribute to poverty reduction in their respective countries. This paper examines the context in which the partnerships were established, their governance and accountability mechanisms and the engagement and participation of the partners and the intended beneficiaries in the partnerships. We argue that a partnership approach which has proven successful in one context can be used as a valuable learning resource. However, a partnership’s work, which includes all aspects of the partnership and its activities, cannot necessarily be transferred directly to another partnership without a thorough and locally informed analysis of the context in which it is implemented. In addition, we suggest that it is difficult to assess whether the good intentions behind partnerships were translated into real benefits for target groups as effective monitoring and evaluation procedures were not in place in the partnerships studied. Similarly, the absence of regularised governance and accountability systems in partnerships made it difficult to support partner and beneficiary participation and engagement. We conclude that there is a need to move beyond a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to partnerships and that partnership replication should focus more strongly on the transfer of learning about partnership processes instead of simply copying partnership activities. Moreover, the development of stronger mechanisms for assessing and ensuring accountability towards both partners and intended beneficiaries is required if partnerships are to meet their intended objectives.     

A fresh start for individual debtors: the role of South African insolvency and consumer protection legislation

During the last two decades South Africa has witnessed not only a sharp increase in consumer debt but also a strong increase in the granting of credit to individuals. This paper briefly examines the philosophy underlying the contemporary South African insolvency law and also highlights some of the practical problems stemming from its creditor oriented philosophy. In May 2001 INSOL International published a report which is of the view that the solution to over‐indebtedness is to be found, inter alia, in the idea that prevention is better than cure. This paper therefore also investigates the extent to which existing measures of the South African consumer protection law are aimed at the prevention of problematic debt situations. In conclusion we suggest that the existing insolvency and consumer protection legislation is not equal to the task of combating over‐indebtedness and overspending by individuals and that law reform is therefore essential. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Constraints on union organising in the United Kingdom

Despite increased investment by unions in organising, across much of the developed world there is at best modest evidence of a recovery of union membership. This has led to a research interest in the barriers to successful union organising and it is with this critical issue that the following article is concerned. It uses survey and interview data from trainee organisers in Britain to identify the internal and external constraints they have encountered while working on organising campaigns. The findings point to a broad range of organising constraints both within and beyond trade unions. Experience of constraints varies and is shown partly to be a function of the characteristics of organisers, the nature of the organising task in which they are engaged and the systems in place to manage their work.     

Citizen Participation in Urban Governance in the Context of Democratization: Evidence from Low‐Income Neighbourhoods in Mexico

Participation has recently been subject to renewed attention and critique in the context of neoliberal urban governance. This is especially relevant in countries where decentralization and democratization in the context of neoliberalism have led to increased promotion of local‐level participation. This article suggests that current critiques of participation's potential for democratic citizen engagement in a neoliberal context would benefit from further reflection on how participation is implemented in contexts, particularly the global South, where neoliberalism and democracy may be understood differently. Different ‘cultures of engagement’ in specific settings suggest that understandings and practices of participation draw on different traditions, including corporatism and self‐help. This article seeks to add to the debate by exploring the socio‐spatial consequences of participation structures in low‐income neighbourhoods in a provincial Mexican city. Based on qualitative research in two low‐income neighbourhoods in Xalapa, Mexico, it examines how the provisions of the local citizen‐participation framework compare with residents' experiences of it. Formalized conceptions of participation, framed as involvement in service provision, interact with and shape residents' activities in developing their neighbourhoods. This has consequences for urban development there, including the reflection and reproduction of social and spatial marginalization.