Conjoint analysis of consumer preferences for roasted peanut products in Haiti

This study evaluated Haitian consumers’ preferences for three attributes of roasted peanuts: form (dry‐roasted vs. honey‐roasted), country of origin (Haiti vs. USA) and price (lowest vs. most common vs. highest). A sample of 199 respondents from three locations near Port‐au‐Prince revealed that price was overwhelmingly the most important attribute, although three well‐differentiated consumer segments were identified: the largest (44% of the sample) based strictly on price; a second (29%) distinguished by preference for honey‐roasted peanuts of Haitian origin; and a third (27%) preferring dry‐roasted peanuts imported from the USA. Segment membership was predicted by gender, education, household size, survey location and whether or not respondents were themselves the purchasers of the peanuts and peanut butter they consumed. Market simulation of a proposed, new domestic product (honey‐roasted peanuts from Haiti) revealed that a price near that of the currently imported product would maximize domestic revenues at about 15% above the current base.     

Modeling farm households for estimating the efficiency of policy instruments on sustainable land use in Haiti

Degradation of natural resources in Haiti has been a growing concern to foresters, environmentalists, and local populations. Various approaches based on “participatory”, “fines and taxes” and “command and control” regulations, have been unsuccessfully implemented to persuade farm households to adopt conservation measures. Negative impacts on the welfare of farmers limit the efficiency of these approaches for forest conservation. This paper investigates alternative solutions to the problem of deforestation of Haiti using linear programming (LP) models. More specifically, this study evaluates the role of various policy instruments on large-income farm households and low-income farm households’ welfare and forest conservation in Haiti. Data from 243 farmers inside the Forêt of the Forêt des Pins Reserve are used in the empirical analysis. Results suggest that agricultural subsidies tied to environmental conservation would promote a more sustainable resource use in Forêt des Pins Reserve.     

The recognition and measurement guidelines of FASB concepts no. 5

In making recognition and measurement decisions, accountants often encounter complex and controversial issues. They must decide what events to record, when to record the events, and how to properly measure the financial effects. A framework that could provide guidance for those difficult decisions would be helpful.In 1984 the FASB issued Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 5 (SFAC No. 5) titled “Recognition and Measurement in Financial Statements of Business Enterprises” to meet this need for guidance. The document bears special significance because it may be the “end of the line,” representing the culmination of the efforts of the FASB to develop a theoretical basis for accounting [Kirk, 1984, p. 20]. In this article we review the recognition criteria established in SFAC No. 5 and present a flowchart that may be helpful to accounting educators as a portrayal of those criteria. The article also may be useful in classroom discussions of theory formulation since it indicates that the adoption of SFAC No. 5 took into consideration the diverse views of accountants, statement users, and reporting firms.     

Will architecture win the technology wars?

Success today flows to the company that establishes proprietary architectural control over a broad, fast-moving, competitive space, Charles R. Morris and Charles H. Ferguson claim in "How Architecture Wins Technology Wars" (March-April 1993). No single vendor can keep pace with the outpouring of cheap, powerful, mass-produced components, so customers have been stitching together their own local systems solutions. Architectures impose order on the system and make interconnections possible. An architectural controller has power over the standard by which the entire information package is assembled. Because of the popularity of Microsoft's Windows, for example, companies like Lotus must conform their software to its parameters to be able to compete for market share. Proprietary architectural control has broader implications for organizational structure too: architectural competition is giving rise to a new form of business organization.     

Price setting, price dispersion, and the value of money: or, the law of two prices

We study models combining search, money, price posting, and preference shocks. We show how these features interact to influence the price level and price dispersion. First, price-posting equilibria exist with valued fiat currency. Second, although both are possible, price dispersion is more common than a single price. Third, we prove that generically there cannot be more than two prices. We provide intuition for this law of two prices, show it also holds in some nonmonetary search models, and discuss variations of the assumptions under which it may not hold.     

THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL PROBLEMS IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT CONSOLIDATION

This paper examines from both a theoretical and empirical standpoint the probable effects of county consolidation on county government costs in sparsely populated rural areas. Cost reduction induced by county consolidation depends primarily upon three major variables. These are: (1) the economies of scale with respect to population, (2) population density and distribution in the given area of proposed consolidation and, (3) increased private and public transportation costs induced by consolidation. The major conclusions of the study were as follows: (1) economies of population were found to be small by this study and several others reviewed. Furthermore, apparent population economies appear substantially exhausted at population levels of 10,000 to 15,000, (2) increased private and public transit costs exhausted a large part of the population economy impact of consolidation and, (3) distribution of costs and benefits of consolidation was not equal over the entire population. LE REMEMBREMENT DES MUNICIPALITéAS - Cet article considère les effets du remembrement des communes en régions peu peuplées d'un point de vue à la fois théorique et empirique. La diminution des coûts sous l'effet du remembrement dépend principalement de trois variables: (1) les économies d'échelle par rapport à la population, (2) la densité et la distribution de la population dans les regions considérées pour le remembrement et, (3) l'accroissement des coûts de transport public et privé provoqués par le remembrement. Les principals conclusions de cette étude sont les suivantes: (1) les économies de population se sont, révélées petites comme d'ailleurs d'autres études citées, de plus les économies apparentes de population semblent se réduire à zéro aux niveaux de 10,000 à 15,000, (2) l'augmentation des coûts de transport public et privé diminue de beaucoup l'effet d'économie de population dans le remembrement et, (3) dans l'ensemble de la population, les coûts et les bénéfices du remembrement ne sont pas distribués également.     

Identification of Economies of Scope in a Stochastic Production Environment

This paper extends the definition of economies of scope to multioutput firms that face an uncertain production environment. Identification of economies of scope in this environment, however, requires separability assumptions on the technology. These identification restrictions are demonstrated in the paper. For each identification restriction, the definition of economies of scope is generalized to the case of uncertain production and risk aversion.
L'article que voici élargit la définition des économies de gamme aux entreprises à produits multiples aux prises avec une situation incertaine au niveau de la production. Pour cerner les économies de gamme dans une telle situation, il faut poser l'hypothèse de la séparation des technologies. Les auteurs illustrent ces restrictions et généralisent la définition des économies de diversification pour chacune d'elles dans le cas d'une production incertaine et de l'aversion du risque.     

WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN AMERICA'S VOLUNTEER MILITARY

Since the inception of the all-volunteer force (AVF) in 1973, the U.S. military has been considered a pioneer of equal opportunity among the nation's institutions, despite its being a unique internal labor market characterized by a hierarchical structure with little lateral entry. The authors argue that this actually helped women and minorities because (1) the advancement process is both well defined and based on merit, and (2) the promotion process looks at everyone. The pay raises that accompanied the AVF made military service competitive with civilian labor market alternatives and provided women and minorities with a viable career choice. They took advantage of this freedom of choice resulting in their ever-increasing representation at all levels of the armed forces.     

Discussion of ‘The antecedents of the use of continuous auditing in the internal auditing context’

Gonzalez et al. (2012) apply the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT, Venkatesh et al., 2003) to the issue of adoption of continuous auditing (CA) by internal auditors. The authors make a very convincing case for the slow evolution of CA and propose that this can be explained by the four factors contained in the UTAUT as well as annual sales and voluntariness of use. They find, in their revised model, that effort expectancy and social influence directly impact intentions to use the technology, while performance expectancy is moderated by annual sales and social influence is moderated by voluntariness of use. Interestingly, the authors also identify geographical differences in these influences. I offer commentary on these findings and suggest avenues for future research in the domain of technology adoption and use in accounting.