Soldiers don't go mad: Shell shock and accounting intransigence in the British Army 1914-18

This research examines intransigence in accounting systems. Using historical research methods and archival sources, it explores intransigence in the Royal Army Medical Corps’ accounting systems in the context of the incidence of shell shock among British Army soldiers fighting at the battlefront during the First World War. The Army did not recognise shell shock as a medical condition and made few changes to its medical accounting systems for soldiers with shell shock. The four factors of system stability of the AGIL scheme (adaptation, goal attainment, integration, latency) are used to understand the limited medical accounting response to shell shock. This research indicates that in addition to historical and internal political reasons for intransigence, intransigence will occur unless a factor in the AGIL scheme is sufficiently impaired to make the accounting system unstable and force system change. This research finding has contemporary relevance, explaining accounting intransigence in response to issues of social concern.     

Interest rate dynamics and volatility transmission in the European short term interest rate market

This paper investigates the price and volatility relationship in European short-term interest rate markets. Cointegration analysis is used to analyse the long and short run relationship and a GARCH BEKK model is estimated to analyse the volatility transmission between the markets. The stability of the long run relationship is also examined using Bai and Perron (Econometrica 66(1),47–78, 1998, J Appl Econ 18(1):1–22, 2003) structural break methodology. The results show that the relationship between the EURIBOR spot deposit rate and the EURIBOR future contract has changed significantly since 2001 and several structural breaks are present in the 13 year sample period. During periods where there is a long run relationship present the spot deposit rate generally leads the future rate in price discovery. In the short run there is bi-directional causality present between the markets. There is also significant evidence of volatility transmission from the spot market to the futures market throughout the sample period.     

‘Doing the right thing’ Organisational structure and process for democratic governance in the firm

Can businesses be viable, effective, and generally democratic organisations? Several literatures bearing on the democratic firm are reviewed, examining democratic governance, participative management, new forms of ownership and how these affect firm performance. A small, espousedly democratic grocery store in upstate New York illustrates characteristic behaviours, structures and processes consistent with financial viability and economic effectiveness.     

A Citation Analysis of Risk, Insurance, and Actuarial Research: 2001 Through 2005

The bibliographies of 17  risk  journals were evaluated to determine the relative influence of these  risk  journals on risk, insurance, and actuarial research published during the years 2001 through 2005. Tables are provided that show the frequency with which each of these journals cites itself and the other sample journals. The journals are ranked, within two groups (risk and insurance group and actuarial group), based on their total influence (total citations including and excluding self-citations) and their per article influence (per article citations including and excluding self-citations). Finally, the most frequently cited articles from each  risk  journal are reported.     

Satanic Mills?: An illustration of Victorian external environmental accounting

The paper evaluates a Victorian environmental account of the pollution of the River Wandle. This account was produced during a period of social and environmental crisis, when there were no significant industrial environmental regulations. This problematising external environmental account provides valuable insights into the historical development of social and environmental accounting. Our analysis located this account within an institutional reform programme to create systems of governance to mitigate the damage arising from unfettered industrial growth. We argue that problematising external environmental accounting has a longer tradition than previously recognised in the literature and predates corporate social and environmental reporting.     

Organizational configurations and performance: the role of statistical power in extant research

The relationship between organizational configurations and performance has been a frequent albeit controversial subject of research in the field of strategic management. Many studies have failed to find a link between configurations and performance, leading prominent researchers to question the value of the concept of organizational configurations. Before the concept can be discarded, however, other plausible explanations for the lack of findings should be examined. This paper examines the possible role of statistical power. Specifically, it may be that the sample sizes in many studies are too small to detect relationships between configurations and performance when such links are, in fact, present. Analysis of 24 tests of the configurations–performance link revealed that only 8 percent had samples large enough to detect all important relationships. Thus, there is reason to suspect that insufficient statistical power may help to explain extant results. Given these findings, suggestions are presented for improving the ability of configurational studies to detect relationships. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Timing is everything: A meta-analysis of the relationships between organizational performance and innovation

The relationship between innovation and firm performance has been uncertain. In previous empirical tests of both causal directions of the organizational performance and innovation relationship, the temporal sequence of research designs has often been flawed. We meta-analytically test both temporal sequences of this relationship using 158 effect sizes from 55 empirical studies. We find that many empirical studies hypothesized one temporal sequence (e.g. innovation and future performance), but used data based on the opposite temporal sequence (e.g. past performance and innovation). Correcting the studies based on the actual temporal sequence used reveals that while the relationship between innovation and future performance is positive (based on economic rent-seeking), the relationship between past performance and innovation is less clear, especially when the study's framing is taken into account. Focusing on temporal sequencing suggests new research avenues on the organizational performance and innovation relationship.     

THE CITATION IMPACT OF FEMINIST ECONOMICS

Abstract

Feminist economics is a transformative project. However, transformation generates resistance. Feminist economics can be deliberately excluded, co-opted through an uncritical application of rational choice theory, or ignored. And feminist economics can be listened to: when the United Nations consults feminist economists; when feminist economists publish in widely read journals; when a student finds inspiration in a Feminist Economics article. All of these are ways feminist economics can, and has, influenced the profession. After ten years of discourse, it is possible to take stock and assess the impact of feminist economics. This article provides a partial assessment through a consideration of citations of the journal Feminist Economics, describing its impact on mainstream economics, heterodox economics, and other disciplines. While the overall project of feminist economics encompasses much more than just one journal, studying the citations for Feminist Economics is a first step toward assessing the influence of the entire corpus.     

Determinants of Small Pacific Island Tourism: A Vanuatu Study

The research reported in this paper sought to identify the key determinants of small island tourism in the Pacific region. In order to investigate this research problem, 185 Australian tourists were surveyed as they returned from holidaying in Vanuatu. The sample included those who had visited outer islands such as Espiritu Santo as well as those who had not ventured beyond the main island. Findings indicated that the most important influences on the decision to visit the outer islands were the climate and the reputation as a holiday destination. When rating Vanuatu as a holiday, both those who went to an outer island and those who did not rated the three main reasons as friendliness, range of restaurants and quality of accommodation, whereas the principal reasons given for not visiting an outer island were: that the outer islands were too expensive to access; most tourists wanted a “stay put” holiday; and they did not have enough time on their holiday. From the findings of this research on the determinants of small Pacific island tourism, it is suggested that further research into the applicability of these determinants be conducted in other small island environments in other regions of the world.