Accounting and networks of corruption

This study examines the nature and role of accounting practices in a network of corruption in an influence-market setting. The study focuses on the Canadian government’s Sponsorship Program (1994–2003), a national unification scheme that saw approximately $50 million diverted into the bank accounts of political parties, program administrators, and their families, friends and business colleagues. Relying on the institutional sociology of Bourdieu, the study demonstrates the precise role of accounting practices in the organization of a corrupt network imbued with a specific telos and certain accounting tasks. The study illustrates how accounting is accomplished and by whom, and it shows how the ‘skillful use’ of accounting practices and social interactions around these practices together enable corruption. In so doing, the study builds on a growing body of work examining criminogenic networks and the contextual, collaborative and systemic uses of accounting in such networks.     

Statistical Analysis of Choice Experiments and Surveys

Measures of households' past behavior, their expectations with respect to future events and contingencies, and their intentions with respect to future behavior are frequently collected using household surveys. These questions are conceptually difficult. Answering them requires elaborate cognitive and social processes, and often respondents report only their “best” guesses and/or estimates, using more or less sophisticated heuristics. A large body of literature in psychology and survey research shows that as a result, responses to such questions may be severely biased. In this paper, (1) we describe some of the problems that are typically encountered, (2) provide some empirical illustrations of these biases, and (3) develop a framework for conceptualizing survey response behavior and for integrating structural models of response behavior into the statistical analysis of the underlying economic behavior.     

Economic Exchange Rate Exposure of U.S.-Based MNCs Operating in Europe

This study focuses on the economic exchange rate exposure of 168 U.S.-based multinational corporations (MNCs) with foreign operations primarily in Europe. The sampling plan and other refinements may improve the estimation of exposure and detection of relevant determinants. Operating characteristics that represent economic exposure are evaluated for their ability, to explain cross-sectional differences in exposure. More specifically, the degree of imbalance, which is a proxy for matching cash inflows and outflows, and proportion of export sales are able to explain differential exposure. Furthermore, shifts in the degree of imbalance and proportion of export sales are found to significantly explain shifts in exposure.     

A THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF DESIGN ISSUES IN MEDICAL SAVINGS ACCOUNTS: THE POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Abstract: Numerous methods for helping consumers deal with medical care costs have been suggested. One way that has been discussed is the use of Medical Saving Accounts. A pilot program introducing Medical Spending Accounts was passed by Congress as part of the Health Insurance Reform Act of 1996. The authors review the major points of this program and attempt to examine what impact this program could have on medical care cost.     

Review

Journal of Business Ethics -     

The Ddeterminants of Individual Wages in Australia: Competitive and Non-Competitive Influences

This work provides a test of competitive theories of wage determination by examining the wages of identical workers across industry classifications. The finding that a set of significant industry wage differentials exists would seem to contradict a purely competitive theory of wage determination. However, the apparent presence of unmeasured human capital that is correlated with industry status does provide one potential competitive explanation for the industry wage effects. Moreover, non-competitive explanations for the differences in industry wages, such as efficiency wage theory or institutional factors, appear to be inconsistent with the nature of the wage differentials.