Investing in private higher education in developing countries: recent experiences of the International Finance Corporation

Higher education, which provides mainly‘private goods,’is being opened to private investment in many parts of the world. The paper describes the pioneering efforts of the International Finance Corporation in this field. The IFC has approved investments in nine universities, two specialised training centres and two student loan programmes. It is too early to draw firm conclusions about the case for this form of investment, but the paper deals with some of the issues which have arisen and provides some‘guideposts’for evaluating future investments.     

Customer value analysis in financial services

This study investigates what creates value for customers and how providers can improve value for their customers. A comprehensive analytical model with a four-step approach is presented and applied in the field of financial services. In a first step, the main customer value drivers are identified and five value dimensions are derived, based on qualitative interviews with customers. These results are then compared to value assumptions made by customer-contact employees, and gaps between customer and employee perceptions are analysed. Based on these identified gaps, a multitude of implications for managing company customer value at the normative, strategic, and operational level of management are derived, and finally implications of findings for service marketing practice and research are discussed.     

Sustainability Targets in Executive Remuneration: Targets,Time Frame,Country and Sector Specification

Existing remuneration plans for CEOs still mainly focus on financial performance and do not necessarily promote sustainable value creation for their firms. By way of reaction to this, a growing number of academics and practitioners are acknowledging the need for the inclusion of sustainability targets in executive remuneration. This study examines the current status of the use of sustainability targets in executive remuneration specified by country, sector and targets. Based on a sample of 490 listed firms from 11 countries and different sectors, the use of targets related to sustainability in executive remuneration is assessed. The targets are specified by kind of target (short term and long term) and content of target (environmental, social or a combination of both). The results of this study show that (a) in 2010 on average 33% of the firms used sustainability targets in remuneration, (b) mainly the ‘dirty’ industries use targets, (c) the targets used are mainly short‐term targets and (d) they focus on social issues. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Talk the Walk: Measuring the Impact of Strategic Philanthropy

Drawing a framework from institutional and legitimacy theory, supplemented by concepts from the accounting literature, this study uses longitudinal cross-sectional and cross-national data on over 500 firms listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) to empirically test whether these firms are strategic in their philanthropy as indicated by their measurement of the impact of their philanthropic activities along three dimensions – society, business, and reputation and stakeholder satisfaction. It is predicted that the variables’ company size, amount of philanthropic expenditure, region and industry influence the extent to which the various impact dimensions of philanthropy are measured. Though unexpected considering the lack of common practice in impact measurement, it is found that between 62 and 76% of the DJSI firms measure some sort of impact of their philanthropic activities, mostly impact on society and impact on reputation and stakeholder satisfaction. The number of firms that measure impact increases over the years and so does the number of firms that measure multiple dimensions of impact. Consist with our predictions, we find that larger firms and firms with relatively higher philanthropic expenditures are more likely to measure impact. Moreover, firms in the financial sector and firms from Europe and North America are also more likely to measure impact of their philanthropic activities.     

A rotten deal for schools? An assessment of states’ success with the National School Lunch Program’s in-kind food benefit

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is one of the United States’ largest domestic food aid programs. The NSLP provides states with both cash and commodity foods for school meals. This research assessed the success of the school commodity program by comparing states’ available annual funding to the value of foods that states actually received from 2001 to 2009. Results indicate that an in-kind food funding system is not desirable for schools; states failed to receive entitled commodity food value in most years, resulting in annual funding losses for schools of $35–87 million. Inconsistent funding inhibits schools’ ability to improve meals and, ultimately, child nutrition outcomes. In light of these results, it is recommended that a cash benefit should replace the National School Lunch Program’s commodity food program.     

Disclosure Checklists and Auditors’ Judgments of Aggressive Accounting

This study investigates if auditors who feel accountable to management (as opposed to the audit committee) are more susceptible to pro-client bias after using a disclosure checklist. We theorize that the use of a disclosure checklist, even though it is uninformative about the aggressiveness of the accounting methods used, can influence auditors’ judgments of the acceptability of aggressive reporting by inducing a less critical state of mind. We propose that this less critical state of mind is reflected in higher levels of pro-client bias, particularly when management is the appointing party. Our experimental data for two cases, obtained from experienced auditors working at a Big Four audit firm, support this prediction. Our findings imply that threats to auditor independence are more subtle than has often been assumed.