THE DEMAND FOR BEER,WINE AND SPIRITS: A SURVEY OF THE LITERATURE

Abstract The demand for alcohol literature is vast and much conflicting information about the nature of the demand for alcoholic beverages has been published. This paper presents a survey of the literature, and then uses the technique of meta‐regression analysis to establish insights into the nature of the demand for beer, wine and spirits. Unlike previous meta‐studies of the demand for alcoholic beverages this study adjusts for the precision of each elasticity estimate. The analysis presented suggests reported elasticity estimates will be influenced by such factors as estimation technique, data frequency and time period under consideration. With respect to time, the findings suggest that the demand for alcoholic beverages has become less inelastic since the mid‐1950s and that the income elasticity has been falling since the mid‐1960s. The analysis also found support for the idea that alcohol as a commodity group is a necessity, and that consumers respond to price discounting with inventory behaviour rather than true substitution behaviour. Little support is found for the idea that the demand for alcoholic beverages varies fundamentally across most countries, although wine may be an exception.     

Early regulatory actions by the SEC: An institutional theory perspective on the dramaturgy of political exchanges

It has been urged that research be directed at understanding the development of political institutions, particularly administrative institutions, in the American governance structure, as well as their role in providing order and change in American politics. Toward this end, the purpose of this paper is to examine the development of one specific administrative institution, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the effect of its regulatory actions in establishing the SEC's own legitimacy with Congress, the press and regulatees, particularly in terms of the McKesson and Robbins enforcement action. Our archival analysis, using primary and secondary material, probes the SEC's efforts at developing a dramaturgy of exchange relations with its external constituents in terms of its:

• 1. 

  (a) conformity to sanctioned language forms;

• 2. 

  (b) use of both the acquiescence and compromise strategies in dealing with external constituents and in balancing needs for the appearance of regulation with de facto inaction in regulating audit practice;

• 3. 

  (c) development and application of a ritualistic pattern of interacting with regulatees. We conclude that in order to understand the SEC as a political institution, it is necessary to incorporate an appreciation of its self-interested behavior in terms of the form, content and rhetoric of its regulatory actions. A critical facet of early SEC efforts and success did not concern whether it did good in terms of applying effective regulations, or bad in terms of preserving the status quo in power relations among the business and political communities. The ability of the SEC to legitimate its existence and institutionalize its role in the financial markets and in the financial reporting and auditing communities proved more essential.

     

The Impact of Accounting Education Research

Abstract

This paper presents an exploratory study into the nature and patterns of usage of accounting education research. The study adopts the most accessible metric, Google Advanced Scholar citations, to analyse the impact of research published in the six principal English-language accounting education journals. The analysis reveals a global readership for these journals but evidence of relatively low citation levels. However, papers tended to be cited more than expected in cross-disciplinary education journals, discipline-specific education journals, and non-education journals. Guidance is offered to authors seeking to maximise the impact of their research, and issues of concern are identified for editors and publishers. This is the first paper to look beyond content at the usefulness of research in accounting education as indicated by citations. In doing so, it contributes to the current debate on the quality of this research, and of research in accounting and finance in general.     

The return to Australian fine wine

This paper uses auction data and the adjacent period hedonicprice regression approach to estimate the return to storingpremium Australian wine during the period 1989Q4 to 2000Q4.The results indicate that the return to storing premium Australianwine is probably superior to the return to Bordeaux wine. Therisk-return profile of premium Australian wine is shown to bebroadly comparable to that of Australian equities.