Do regulations limiting management influence over auditors improve audit quality? Evidence from China

We use data from China to examine whether regulations that limit management influence over auditors improve audit quality. China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) issued two rules in 2004 aimed at improving audit quality for state-owned enterprises ultimately controlled by the central government (CSOEs). These rules limit management influence over auditors by mandating that SASAC assign auditors for CSOEs and by requiring management to retain auditors for at least 2 years and at most 5 years. Since these rules apply only to CSOEs, we use a difference-in-difference design to study the impact of these regulations on audit quality. We find that audit quality for CSOEs relative to other companies improves after the enactment of these rules. Our results are robust to a battery of sensitivity analyses. Our findings suggest that limiting management influence over auditors helps improve audit quality.     

Investor legal protection and earnings management: A study of Chinese H-shares and Hong Kong shares

Under the unique “one country, two systems” arrangement, the more stringent investor protection rules in Hong Kong are not enforceable in firms that are incorporated in China but listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange (H-shares). As such, H-shares and other local Hong Kong firms are subject to different investor protection regimes in the same stock market. We find that H-shares are associated with higher earnings management than local Hong Kong firms after controlling for disparity in economic development, types of controlling shareholders and other factors. More importantly, this relationship is weaker after China implemented the Securities Law in 1999. The results are robust after considering the dual-listing status of H-shares and board characteristics. These results provide direct evidence showing the effect of investor legal protection on financial reporting quality.     

Identifying reference companies using the book-to-market ratio: a minimum spanning tree approach

There is substantial evidence to suggest that the book-to-market (BM) ratio is an important factor in explaining stock market returns. Its role has proved difficult to isolate, however, due to statistical problems in its construction and to its observational equivalence to a number of risk and behavioural explanations. In addition, now widely recognised complex behaviour in financial markets has called into question modelling approaches that are limited in their ability to uncover relationships that are possibly masked during financial crises, for example. As one response, our research explores the value of a newly applied technique which examines the topological properties of minimum spanning trees as applied to both the BM ratio and market returns. Our intention is to identify and report investment signals as determined by the BM ratio and to assess the relationships of these signals to returns outcomes. The approach enables highly nonlinear behaviour to be addressed and the relationships we set out to capture to be reported in novel ways. We motivate and evidence a previously unreported role for BM as an investment signal which is effective over varying stock market conditions, including the financial crisis that began in 2008.     

The efficiency of IPO issuing mechanisms and market conditions: evidence in China

This study conducts a comparison analysis on the efficiency of bookbuilding and secondary market proportional offering (hereafter, SMP offering) in the China stock market. SMP offering as described in this paper is not a follow-on offering, but an initial offering applicable to investors in the secondary market. Specifically, as a unique type of fixed price offering, SMP offering only allows the existing investors who are holding shares (of any listed firms) in the secondary market to subscribe to IPO shares. The amount of IPO shares available to be subscribed by the existing investors is proportional to market value of shares held by them in the secondary market. We find some interesting evidence showing that, compared with bookbuilding, SMP offering is more efficient for pricing IPOs, particularly, in a volatile market. SMP offering leads to lower underpricing and lower cross-sectional variation of short-run returns of IPOs. Also, SMP offering is better able to counteract adverse market conditions in the form of low market return and/or high market volatility. Our results are robust to various alternative tests, e.g., the Heckman (Econometrica 47:153–161, 1979) two-stage procedure and an out-of-sample test, after controlling for the problem of endogeneity and for the influence of the exchange of listing, respectively.     

Using meta‐analytic structural equation modeling to advance strategic management research: Guidelines and an empirical illustration via the strategic leadership‐performance relationship

This paper demonstrates how meta‐analysis can be combined with structural equation modeling (MASEM) to address new questions in strategic management research. We review this integration, describe its implementation, and compare findings from bivariate meta‐analyses, a direct‐effect structural equations model, and two mediating frameworks using data on the strategic leadership and performance relationship. Results drawn from 208 articles that collectively included data on 495,638 observations demonstrate the new insights available from MASEM while also suggesting a revision to conventional thinking on strategic leadership. Whereas some theories posit that boards of directors influence firm performance through monitoring and disciplining the top management team, MASEM provides more support for the view that boards mediate the top management teams' decisions. Implications for applying MASEM in strategic management are offered. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

我国矿产资源有偿使用制度的改进与建议

分析了我国现行的矿产资源有偿使用制度的框架,对其存在的问题进行了分析,并提出我国矿产资源有偿使用制度的改进建议:对开发矿产资源的企业除了征收国家和地方通用税种外,不设矿业专门税种;企业所得税应允许矿产资源勘探投资折耗计入成本在税前回收;对矿业专门的费用有:探矿权使用费和采矿权使用费,优质资源采矿权转让费。     

2005年国外大石油公司经营状况及发展动向

2005年,埃克森美孚、BP、壳牌、雪佛龙和道达尔的净利润总额达到1131亿美元,比上年上涨了29%;油气产量同比下降了3%,原油加工量和油品销售量也出现明显滑坡;受天然气储量增长的拉动,年末剩余可采油气储量为739亿桶油当量,与上年基本持平,油气储量接替率为107%,比上年增加了46个百分点,但石油储量接替率仅为62%;单位油气生产成本为4.92美元/桶,比2004年增加了20.4%.在新的经营环境下,五大石油公司对经营战略进行了调整.一是在加大投资力度的同时,保持审慎的投资原则,资本支出增幅小于国际原油价格上涨幅度.二是为利润的长期增长进行战略性投资,继续推行向上游倾斜的政策.三是进行资产优化组合,剥离成本高、缺乏发展潜力的非战略核心资产,提高资本回报率.四是选择符合发展战略、资产匹配性好的中型石油公司进行并购,以实现近期产量增长目标.五是为了减少再投资的风险,增加派息和股份回购,将高油价所带来的超额盈利回报股东.六是发展替代能源和可再生能源.     

基于可编程控制器的自动抛光机控制系统

介绍了可编程控制器、触摸屏和变频器在抛光机自动控制系统中的应用,给出了实现系统控制流程的硬件和软件的设计,并简述了在系统开发过程中出现的5个技术问题的解决办法。     

文化传播中的汉语语义场效应

语义场不同义位在组合的动态过程中产生的语境意义,和由这样的意义所形成的话语意义,是语义场理论在语言学系统中具有价值的关键,也是这一理论具有生命力和张力的关键。笔者称之为场效应。汉语使用地域广阔,使用汉语的地域也存在一定文化差异,如意识形态、地理气候、经济、风俗习惯和方言等,这些语境因素都对汉语语义场发生影响。本文拟通过对文化传播中具体个案的话语研究,描述文化传播中汉语语义场效应。     

台湾农业金库的运作模式及其对内地农信社改革的启示

本文首先分析了台湾农业金库的发展历程、股权结构及其职责作用,然后从法律制度、政府角色、业务开展等方面概括了台湾农业金库运行模式的特点,并参照台湾农业金库的模式,提出内地农村信用社改革发展的建议,包括建立相应法律体系、强化省政府在农信社改革进程中的作用、强化农信社省级联社的行业管理和服务职责等。