Development of financial reporting environment in Malaysia

The purpose of our paper is to examine the development of the financial reporting environment in Malaysia. We explore the influence of environmental factors such as social, political, economic, legal and cultural in the development of accounting and Malaysia’s recent move towards the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). We find that Malaysia’s colonial past and the reformation of corporate governance have significantly influenced the country’s financial reporting practices. Although there are a number of reforms in place more needs to be done in order to improve the transparency of corporate financial reporting practices in Malaysia. Our conclusion suggests the necessity to improve the quality of financial reporting practices and to build the confidence of stakeholders and potential investors. The findings of our study are particularly important to the standard-setters, regulators and accounting professionals to improve the financial reporting practices in Malaysia and other developing countries throughout the world.     

Significance of attitudes,passion and cultural factors in driver’s speeding behavior in Oman: application of theory of planned behavior

Abstract

Traffic accidents and related fatalities have become a major public health problem in the world. This study aims to identify the significant factors that play an important role in the speeding behavior of drivers. A comprehensive questionnaire was designed and conducted with the students and employees of the University of Nizwa. The questionnaire items were designed considering the theoretical background of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and local socio-cultural aspects of the driving environment. A total of 303 usable samples were obtained. The collected data were analyzed using factor analysis and structural equation modelling technique. The extracted factors of speeding passion and culture, speeding attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control are significant determinants of drivers speeding behavior in Oman. The driver’s speeding attitudes, speeding culture, and passion have positive association with the drivers’ speeding intentions and behavior, and driver’s perceived behavioral control forms negative relationship with the speeding behavior. This study confirms the application of the TPB in predicting the drivers’ speeding behavior in the context of Oman.     

贸易条件趋势与进出口波动:基于1980~2006年亚洲国家和地区的实证研究——兼论其对中国的启示

本文对亚洲国家在1980~2006年间贸易条件趋势及进出口波动的平稳性进行了实证研究。实证研究结果表明:出口增长不一定能够长期改善贸易条件,进口增长也并不一定长期恶化贸易条件,而确保进口波动的长期平稳才是促使亚洲国家贸易条件呈现长期平稳趋势的关键因素。同时,本文发现中国大陆在这期间的出口增长对其贸易条件的改善作用不足以抑制贸易条件在短期恶化的趋势,这与中国大陆在现今国际外贸市场的激烈竞争之下出口商品的单位价格逐渐下降有关。本文对此提出了几点建议。     

The unit root problem: Affinities between ergodicity and stationarity,its practical contradictions for central bank policy,and some consideration of alternatives

The initial focus in this article is the problem of mismatch between policy goals and statistical analysis, based on how data is transformed and processed. This intrinsically raises ontological issues regarding the nature of an economy within which policy is made and to which statistical analysis is applied. These are of general significance to post Keynesians irrespective of the position they take on the specifics of the ergodicity debate. However, they involve some issues that overlap with some aspects of that debate. The problem as posed in this article is specific and involves a practical contradiction regarding central bank policy and the problem of unit roots. The authors then consider some additional ways in which one can go beyond common practice based on the example of Forward Guidance in the United Kingdom and a more institutional approach to post Keynesian analysis.     

Correlation and Volatility Dynamics in International Real Estate Securities Markets

We study international correlation and volatility dynamics of publicly traded real estate securities using monthly returns from 1984 and 2006. We also examine, for comparison, the correlations among the corresponding stock markets. A multivariate dynamic conditional correlation model captures the time-varying correlation within the full period. We confirm lower correlations between all real estate securities market returns than those between the stock market returns themselves. Some significant variations and structural changes in the correlation structure happened within the sample period. We detect a strong and positive connection between real estate securities market correlations and their conditional volatilities. We also find the international correlation structure of real estate securities and the broader stock market are linked to each other. Our results have economic motivations regarding the potential integration of international real estate securities markets and the possibility of including information on changing correlations and volatilities to design more optimal portfolios for international real estate securities.