How Prepared was Australia for International Financial Reporting Standards? The Case of Listed Firms

We measure the preparedness of listed firms for international financial reporting standards (IFRS) by changes in explanations from Australian GAAP to IFRS between the half-year and annual accounts. About one-third of sample firms changed their explanations for earnings, cashflows or equity by averages of about −7%, 67% and 3% respectively. Most changes are less than 5% for earnings and equity, and tax is the item most commonly revised. More profitable firms and firms with more reconciling items are most likely to change an explanation. In a telephone survey of chief financial officers, 70% revealed that the change followed an incorrect application of an accounting rule in the half-year accounts.     

Predictive spatial network analysis for high-resolution transport modeling,applied to cyclist flows,mode choice,and targeting investment

Betweenness is a measure long used in spatial network analysis (SpNA) to predict flows of pedestrians and vehicles, and more recently in public health research. We improve on this approach with a methodology for combining multiple betweenness computations using cross-validated ridge regression to create wide-scale, high-resolution transport models. This enables computationally efficient calibration of distance decay, agglomeration effects, and multiple trip purposes. Together with minimization of the Geoffrey E. Havers (GEH) statistic commonly used to evaluate transport models, this bridges a gap between SpNA and mainstream transport modeling practice. The methodology is demonstrated using models of bicycle transport, where the higher resolution of the SpNA models compared to mainstream (four-step) models is of particular use. Additional models are developed incorporating heterogeneous user preferences (cyclist aversion to motor traffic). Based on network shape and flow data alone the best model gives reasonable correlation against cyclist flows on individual links, weighted to optimize GEH (r² = 0.78, GEH = 1.9). As SpNA models use a single step rather than four, and can be based on flow data alone rather than demographics and surveys, the cost of calibration is lower, ensuring suitability for small-scale infrastructure projects as well as large-scale studies.     

Non‐Recognition of Print Advertising: Emotion Arousal and Gender Effects

Research in the behavioral sciences has found that memory tends to be enhanced by exposure to emotion‐arousing stimuli. While this relationship is not fully understood, the linkage appears to be more pronounced for females than for males. While the majority of prior studies dealing with memory have relied on the use of visual stimuli in a clinical experimental setting, this research examined the impact on memory resulting from exposure to actual print advertisements of varying degrees of arousal‐producing content. Differences in the relationship between arousal and memory were explored for male and female participants. In general, females were found to exhibit higher memory levels than males. As a single combined group, subjects exposed to emotion arousing versus emotion neutral ad. stimuli exhibited no significant difference in memory. For the set of emotion neutral ad. stimuli, no difference in memory was found between sexes. However, retention was significantly higher for females than males for the set of emotion‐arousing stimuli. The study identifies opportunities for further applied memory research.     

The Beginning of the Road to Recovery?

In this most convulsive and confus- ing time in modern American finance, one point stands out: Credit market fail- ure has pushed the economy to the edge, and policymakers are scrambling to pull it back. When investors began to flee the heretofore safe harbor of money-market funds in favor of Treasury bills that guar- anteed a mere 0.04% return, it was plain that confidence in the financial system was breaking down. The government's ad hoc approach, intended to prevent failing institutions from collapsin...     

IS IT IS OR IS IT AIN'T MY OBLIGATION? REGIONAL DEBT IN A FISCAL FEDERATION*

This article studies the repayment of regional debt in a multiregion economy with a central authority: Who pays the obligation issued by a region? With commitment, the central government will use its economy‐wide taxation power in support of its objective to smooth distortionary taxes and consumption across regions. Absent commitment, this tool of the central government may be exploited to induce it to bail out regional government deficits. We characterize the conditions under which bailouts occur and their welfare implications. In particular, we show when the gains from a federation may outweigh the welfare costs of a bailout. We use these insights to comment on actual fiscal relations in three quite different federations: the United States, the European Union, and Argentina.     

Social Exclusion and Transgenic Technology: The Case of Brazilian Agriculture

Many argue that transgenic technology will have wide-ranging implications for farmers in developing nations. A key concern is that competencies may be destroyed by predominantly foreign multinational transgenic technologies, exacerbating problems of social exclusion in the case of subsistence farmers. Conversely, those that fail to adopt the technology may become uncompetitive, particularly in commodity-based export markets. Drawing on interview data conducted in Brazil and supporting data collected in North America, Europe and China, we found that the impact of transgenic technology varies. It has less impact on farmers that adapt the products to their crop systems and environment, and greater negative implications for less formally educated subsistence farmers in consequence of both complexity and compatibility. Earlier attempts at industrializing agriculture through technological innovation led to vastly improved agricultural output and exports, but the benefits of productivity was not equitably distributed [D. Lee: 2005, American Journal of Agricultural Economics 87(5), 1325–1334], nor was it designed to meet specific local environmental and socioeconomic farmer conditions, exacerbating social exclusion. Multinationals attempting to introduce transgenic technology without considering the broader social and ethical implications will invite resistance. We discuss the implications for policy makers, multinationals and small-scale farmers.     

Network science: A Review Focused on Tourism

This paper presents a review of the methods of the science of networks with an application to the field of tourism studies. The basic definitions and computational techniques are described and a case study (Elba, Italy) used to illustrate the effect of network typology on information diffusion. A static structural characterization of the network formed by destination stakeholders is derived from stakeholder interviews and website link analysis. This is followed by a dynamic analysis of the information diffusion process within the case destination demonstrating that stakeholder cohesion and adaptive capacity have a positive effect on information diffusion. The outcomes and the implications of this analysis for improving destination management are discussed.     

Accounting students’ perceptions of effective teaching and approaches to learning: impact on overall student satisfaction

This study is concerned with the ways to improve the quality of learning experiences of accounting students. Drawing on the effective teaching and student approach to learning literature, we hypothesise that effective teaching and students’ approach to learning (deep versus surface learning) are two important predictors of the quality of the learning experience. The hypotheses were tested using survey data of second-year undergraduate students enrolled in two core accounting subjects at an Australian university. The data were analysed using the partial least-squares structural equation modelling approach. The study aims to make a useful contribution to theory and teaching practice.     

Understanding issue salience,social inequality and the (non) appointment of UK public inquiries: a new research agenda

ABSTRACT

Why are public inquiries appointed and what factors are influential? Research shows that inquiry appointment is driven by issue salience, but how this occurs is unclear. The authors suggest that issue salience is driven by: (1) victim relatability, (2) visibility of failings and (3) perceived blameworthiness. This has three significant implications. First, highly salient issues may lead to the appointment of statutory-type inquiries, which might not be the most appropriate form to effectively address the causes of inequality. Second, if wrongdoing against minorities is not sufficiently relatable (as is often the case), there may be insufficient public salience to drive demands for an inquiry. Finally, inquiries may privilege the investigation of blameworthy behaviour and thereby overlook complex systemic flaws.