University Audit Departments in the United States

Internal auditors of public and private universities were asked about their selection processes, supervisors, and activities. At public institutions, the governing board selects the internal auditor, the president supervises the work and more audit findings are implemented. Private institutions have more audit committees that are involved with the internal auditors' activities and their auditors perform more program audits. Thus, although public universities are following professional guidelines more closely, suggesting more accountability, private universities have greater access to audit committees and perform more value-added audits.     

Don't rest on your laurels: Reputational change and young technology-based ventures

We combine resource-based theory and social cognition theory to investigate the factors both limiting and related to between-period reputational change of young firms in a dynamic technology-based industry. An analysis of computer graphics chipmakers during the period 1992–2003 provides evidence that operational signals are related to reputational change. Specifically, receiving a product award in the current period is associated with positive change and gaps in product announcements are associated with negative change. We find little support for our hypothesis that the reputations of older firms are less likely to change.     

Do FX traders in Bishkek have similar perceptions to their London colleagues?: Survey evidence of market practitioners’ views

Do foreign exchange (FX) dealers from Kyrgyzstan, a low-income country, have similar perceptions to FX dealers from other international financial centers? Perceptions of Kyrgyz FX dealers in the interbank market are tested using detailed survey data against survey information from five major financial centers. The survey evidence finds that the FX dealers’ responses from the Kyrgyz interbank market differ from those of other international financial centers. Stark differences arise in the perceptions concerning the effectiveness of central bank interventions and the influence of speculation.     

WTO Exceptions as Insurance

The paper formalizes the notion that GATT exceptions such as antidumping and escape clause actions can act as insurance for import competing sectors affected by adverse price shocks. The authors use a general‐equilibrium model with several import competing sectors and assume incomplete markets so that agents cannot contract insurance. It is shown that sector‐specific contingent protection measures are superior to uniform contingent tariffs as an insurance mechanism. A tax‐cum‐subsidy policy (i.e., taxing all sectors in order to subsidize the shocked sector) also improves welfare and is superior to contingent protection.     

Using photography to elicit grazier values and management practices relating to tree survival and recruitment

Integrating conservation and agricultural production is a major challenge globally. The upper Lachlan catchment of Australia is dominated by livestock grazing, and is threatened because most native woodland vegetation has been cleared. A third of all remaining tree cover occurs as scattered trees in grazing pastures. These scattered trees are dying from old age and are not regenerating due to grazing pressure. Previous work has revealed management strategies that are more likely to maintain tree cover, such as low-input rotational grazing. We asked graziers to photograph significant features on their properties, and used the images as prompts in later interviews. This elicited graziers’ landscape values and other drivers of their management practices related to tree cover. The targets that our 25 case landholders chose to photograph, and the ways they discussed them in later interviews, reflected the focus of past education and incentive programs, suggesting that well-designed policies, educational messages and incentives do seem to reach landholders and result in improved practices. For example, many landholders reported management activities related to the protection of large woodland patches or the maintenance of coarse woody debris. The maintenance of scattered tree cover has not been a focus of policy initiatives in the past. Despite this, the narratives elicited by photos of isolated and scattered trees showed graziers valued them and were aware of and concerned about their decline, yet lacked knowledge about how to protect and regenerate them. Graziers urgently need unambiguous advice and practical assistance to help them adapt their practices to maintain scattered trees in the long term.     

Consumer perceptions of best practice in food risk communication and management: Implications for risk analysis policy

As a consequence of recent food safety incidents, consumer trust in European food safety management has diminished. A risk governance framework that formally institutes stakeholder (including consumer) consultation and dialogue through a transparent and accountable process has been proposed, with due emphasis on risk communication. This paper delivers actionable policy recommendations based on consumer preferences for different approaches to food risk management. These results suggest that risk communication should be informed by knowledge of consumer risk perceptions and information needs, including individual differences in consumer preferences and requirements, and differences in these relating to socio-historical context associated with regulation. In addition, information about what is being done to identify, prevent and manage food risks needs to be communicated to consumers, together with consistent messages regarding preventative programs, enforcement systems, and scientific uncertainty and variability associated with risk assessments. Cross-cultural differences in consumer perception and information preferences suggest a national or regional strategy for food risk communication may be more effective than one applied at a pan-European level.     

On the location of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship in developing countries: lessons from São Paulo,Brazil

This article empirically appraises the geographical distribution of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship (KIE) in the settings of an emerging economy. We start from the typical agglomeration approach and then introduce a set of variables related to local market conditions, distance from the economic hub, and knowledge & innovation system to explain KIE location and density on the basis of city-level data in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. Findings indicate KIE concentration in and around a few urban areas, providing support to agglomeration economies concepts. There is strong evidence that the local presence of research-oriented universities, access to capital, and business concentration are correlated to KIE emergence and density. Results also indicate the moderating effect of agglomeration diseconomies mainly related to factors of rapid and anarchic expansion of urban centers and the consequences of extreme inequalities in income distribution. This challenges the usability of concepts of entrepreneurial ecosystems from advanced economies if not adapted to the realities of developing countries.