A survey of commercial laundry detergents — how effective are they? Part II: liquids

The effectiveness of 11 unbuilt liquid detergents and eight built liquid detergents, of varying formulations, in cleaning a standard soiled fabric in soft water (5 ppm) were evaluated. It was found that in soft water there were no significant differences between washing in warm or hot water with either type of detergent, except for a melaleuca oil based detergent which was significantly better in hot water. However, although not significant, in general, washing with unbuilt liquid detergents did give somewhat better results in both warm and hot water.     

The Use and Abuse of Accounting in the Public Sector Financial Management Reform Program in Australia

Accrual accounting has been central to financial management reforms designed to promote greater efficiency, effectiveness and accountability in the Australian public sector. This is the setting for the article; however, the issues covered apply to all nations that have reformed their public sectors over recent years. The results of the reforms have been mixed. While accrual accounting has had some beneficial results for the above purposes, the benefits have been offset by aspects of accounting misuse resulting largely from adoption of the business model of accrual accounting, termination of the former cash accounting system, and adoption of some questionable marketization reforms which appear to be more driven by the objective of reducing the size of government rather than enhancing efficiency of operations. Because Treasury believed that the business model was not appropriate for budget fiscal policy purposes, it introduced a second combined accrual and cash accounting system—the Government Finance Statistics system. The use of two accrual accounting systems reporting different results caused much confusion in parliament.     

Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Society of Australia, 2006: Maureen Brunt

This paper briefly outlines the many achievements of Professor Maureen Brunt, who was elected Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Society of Australia in 2006. It describes both her academic career, and her major contributions to competition law in Australia and New Zealand.     

To What Extent Does the Financial Reporting Process Curb Earnings Surprise Games?

Managers play earnings surprise games to avoid negative earnings surprises by managing earnings upward or by managing analysts' earnings expectations downward. We investigate the effectiveness of the financial reporting process at restraining earnings surprise games. Because the annual reporting process is subject to an independent audit and more rigorous expense recognition rules than interim reporting, it provides managers with fewer opportunities to manage earnings upward. We document that, relative to interim reporting, annual reporting reduces the likelihood of income‐increasing earnings management and, to a lesser extent, of negative surprise avoidance, but increases the magnitude of downward expectations management. Our findings suggest that regulatory attempts to monitor corporations' internal checks and balances are likely to be more effective at curbing upward earnings management than at mitigating negative surprise avoidance.