Accounting Choice and Theory in Crisis: The Case of the Victorian Desalination Plant

This paper traces the financial developments of the desalination plant in the State of Victoria in Australia. The desalination plant was built via a public–private partnership (PPP) vehicle, and commissioned at a time when water storage levels in the state were low. Subsequent rainfall has meant that no water has yet been ordered by the Victorian Government from the plant. In the paper an analysis is undertaken of the impact of the manner in which accounting treatment has been used in valuing this infrastructure asset. It is concluded that the applied accounting policy choices and treatments for this infrastructure asset are not consistent with conventional accounting theory, the Conceptual Framework for accounting or generally accepted accounting principles.     

The argument against a reductionist approach for measuring sustainable development performance and the need for methodological pluralism

Both sustainability and sustainable development continue to remain elusive concepts even now, 20 years after the Brundtland Commission report that brought them into prominence. This situation most likely stems from the fact that sustainability science encompasses the need to address a wide set of issues over different time and spatial scales and thus inevitably accommodates opinions from diverse branches of knowledge and expertise. However, despite this multitude of perspectives, progress towards sustainability is usually assessed through the development and utilisation of single sustainability metrics such as monetary tools, composite sustainability indices and biophysical metrics including emergy, exergy and the ecological footprint. But is it really justifiable to assess the progress towards sustainability by using single metrics? This paper argues that such a choice seems increasingly unjustifiable not least due to these metrics’ methodological imperfections and limits. Additionally, our recent awareness of economies, societies and ecosystems as complex adaptive systems that cannot be fully captured through a single perspective further adds to the argument. Failure to describe these systems in a holistic manner through the synthesis of their different non-reducible and perfectly legitimate perspectives amounts to reductionism. An implication of the above is the fact that not a single sustainability metric at the moment can claim to comprehensively assess sustainability. In the light of these findings this paper proposes that the further elaboration and refinement of current metrics is unlikely to produce a framework for assessing the progress towards sustainability with a single metric. Adoption of a diverse set of metrics seems more likely to be the key for more robust sustainability assessments. This methodological pluralism coupled with stakeholder involvement seems to offer a better chance of improving the outcome of the decision making process.     

The emergence of Human Resource Management in China: Convergence,divergence and contextualization

This article aims to use the emergence of Human Resource Management (HRM) in China to shed light on the dynamism of convergence, divergence and contextualization in the broader field. It argues that the ways used to manage people in China have diverged or converged with Western or foreign-developed theories and practices, in different institutional contexts and at different periods of time. Overlapping with this intellectual narrative, it looks at HRM in China in its contemporary historical setting, to show how theories such as the US-inspired Scientific Management and Human Relations and the Soviet model of Personnel Administration have influenced and shaped various ways of managing people. The bibliometric review of the unfolding of HRM in China presented in the article will, we argue, also shed further light on wider issues of convergence/divergence and contextualization.     

Integrating crop modelling and production economics to investigate multiple nutrient deficiencies and yield gaps

A method is described for integrating crop modelling and production economics to quantify optimum applications of multiple nutrients and yield gaps. The method is demonstrated for crop production in the high‐rainfall zone of southern Australia. Data from a biophysical crop model were used to overcome the persistent problem of inadequate experimental data. The Mitscherlich function was expanded to accommodate four variable inputs – nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulphur – and the expansion path was used to determine the economic optimum application of all four nutrients. Modelling revealed the state‐contingent yield potential and the extent to which unrealised yield could be explained by profit‐maximising behaviour and risk‐aversion by growers. If growers and their advisors were guided by the methods described, they would be better equipped to assess crop nutrient demands and limitations, predict yield potential, additional profit and the risks associated with high input systems in a variable climate. If scientists were more aware of the extra profits and the risks involved (as well as the quantitative relationships between inputs and outputs) when thinking about what to produce and how to do so, they would be more circumspect about the net benefits to be obtained from closing yield gaps.     

Work-to-family enrichment and voice behavior in China: The role of modernity

There is a lack of knowledge in the literature regarding the effects of the work-family interface on employees’ behaviors while taking into consideration of cultural values in developing countries. This study investigates the impact of work-to-family enrichment on employees’ voice behavior by focusing on the moderating role of modernity in a Chinese setting. Results from a survey of 230 Chinese married managers indicate that work-to-family enrichment positively influences voice behavior. In addition, the enrichment-voice relationship is weaker when modernity is high rather than low. The findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications for human resource management.     

Does it matter that the prosecutor is also the judge? The administrative complaint process at the Federal Trade Commission

Firms seeking to merge face antitrust scrutiny from either the Department of Justice (DOJ) or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Unlike the DOJ, the FTC litigates its cases in front of its own administrative law judges (ALJs), and then hears the appeal itself, rather than using federal district courts. This study focuses on the formal decisions made by the FTC after an ALJ has conducted a full trial for a particular case. We find that while the ‘merits’ of a matter, as implied by the case law, affect the FTC's decision, institutional factors also have an impact. In particular, the firm's chances of prevailing in litigation are influenced by the number of commissioners who both vote to prosecute and then vote as a judge as well as the political affiliations of the commissioners. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.