The political economy of corporate governance in developing economies: The case of Bangladesh

The paper investigates the influence of concentrated shareholding, boardroom politics and interest group politics in the quality of corporate governance in listed firms. It finds that the controlling shareholders exert influence in boardroom politics through family-aligned board and executive management. The evidence shows that concentrated ownership, family-aligned board and management, and political connection(s) of the controlling shareholder(s) tend to be inversely associated with the quality of corporate governance in a firm. The findings of the study suggest that the broad-based interest group politics which influence both political preference and corporate control politics contribute significantly to the current state of corporate governance in developing economies.     

Day-of-the-Week Autocorrelations, Cross-Autocorrelations, and the Weekend Phenomenon

This study examines whether autocorrelations or cross-autocorrelations are more closely associated with the weekend phenomenon. Our results show a significant day-of-the-week pattern in autocorrelations associated with the weekend phenomenon. However, we find no marginal influence of a day-of-the-week pattern in cross-autocorrelations on the weekend phenomenon.     

Corporate strategy financialized: Conjuncture,arbitrage and earnings capacity in the S&P500

The conjuncture that ushered in the era of shareholder value served to embed capital market expectations into corporate governance aligning management and shareholder interests. Market arbitrage focussed on modifying contractual relations with stakeholders to extract a (higher) return on invested capital. In this article we focus on cash earnings on capital employed generated by the S&P 500 survivor group of firms covering the period 1990–2008. We use this financial data to construct three complementary perspectives on corporate financial performance: firm, firm-relative and macro. Within this framework the financial numbers and perspectives are analogous to a ‘hall of mirrors’ where ambiguity and contradiction are in play frustrating straightforward performative narratives that connect purpose with financial transformation an era of shareholder value.     

Asymmetric Adjustment in the City of London Office Market

Earlier estimates of the behavior of the City of London office market are extended by considering a longer time series of data, covering two full cycles, and by explicitly modeling asymmetric space market responses to employment and supply shocks. A long run structural model linking real rental levels, office-based employment and the supply of office space is estimated and then rental adjustment processes are modeled using an error correction model framework. Rental adjustment is seen to be asymmetric, depending both on the direction of the supply and demand shocks and on the state of the space market at the time of the shock. Vacancy adjustment does not display statistically significant asymmetries. There is also a supply adjustment equation. Two three-equation systems, one with symmetric rental adjustment and the other with asymmetric adjustment, are subjected to positive and negative shocks to employment. These illustrate differences in the properties of the two systems.     

Budgeting and standard costing practices in New Zealand and the United Kingdom

The findings of a survey of budgeting and standard costing practices in New Zealand (NZ) and United Kingdom (UK) manufacturers are reported. The results suggest that some commentators' predictions of a demise in standard costing and variance analysis are overstated. It has been found that standard costing systems continue to be popular and that the majority of accountants surveyed do not envisage abandonment of standard costing and variance analysis in advanced manufacturing technology environments. Comparisons between budgeting and standard costing practices used in NZ and the UK reveal a high degree of consistency. In the case of the few differences that have been observed, it appears that there is a greater lag behind prescribed practice amongst NZ manufacturers. The main differences noted are: a greater proportion of performance reports used in NZ budget centers fail to distinguish between controllable and non-controllable costs; NZ manufacturers are more reliant on historic data when setting standard costs; when distinguishing between variable and fixed costs, there is a greater tendency in NZ to simply treat direct costs as variable and overhead costs as fixed.     

Domestic Regulation and the WTO: The Case of Water Services in Developing Countries

Trade liberalisation of environmental services, and water services in particular, under the current WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), has been widely advocated as a means of increasing private sector participation in the water sector in developing countries. Recognising that effective regulation is needed to ensure that the potential gains from private sector involvement are fully realised, the paper considers the relationship between national regulatory autonomy and GATS liberalisation in water services. The empirical evidence on the impact of private sector involvement in the provision of water services in developing countries is reviewed, and a number of reasons why water privatisation has been problematic in lower‐income countries are identified, including transaction costs and regulatory weaknesses. The study concludes that developing countries with limited regulatory resources should adopt a cautious approach to services liberalisation, by sequencing market liberalisation measures to match the development of their regulatory institutional capacity.