Statistical inference using the T index to quantify the level of comparability between accounts

The extent to which the accounts of companies are comparable is considered important to users and regulators. However, prior research has been restricted by a lack of appropriate statistical methods for testing comparability indices. This has made it difficult to assess the true level of comparability from sample data and to test research hypotheses such as whether the level of comparability (a) differs by policy, (b) differs by country, and (c) changes over time. This paper fills this gap by exploring the statistical properties of the T index. The T index generalises the H, C, I and various modifications of these indices and represents a unified framework for the measurement of the extent to which the accounts of companies are comparable. Formulae for the bias and standard error for any index under this framework are provided and proved. The bias is shown to equal zero or be negligible in most practical situations. Using historical data, the standard error is used to illustrate the accuracy with which comparability is estimated and to perform formal statistical inference using confidence intervals and p‐values. Furthermore, the sampling distribution of the T index is assessed for normality. Implications for research design and sample size determination are also discussed.     

Ownership and production efficiency: Evidence from Taiwanese banks

In the early 1990s, Taiwan began her deregulation trend in order to enhance competition and economic efficiency across all industries. We derive a theoretical framework to predict possible rankings in technical efficiencies of public, mixed, and private banks. A panel data set with 43 Taiwanese banks during 1997–1999 is used for empirical analysis. We then apply a translog distance function to estimate technical efficiencies. The relationship between technical efficiency and government shareholding is also examined. Empirical results show that a public bank in Taiwan can improve its technical efficiency by mixed ownership at a diminishing rate. Moreover, banks in Taiwan on average performed worse after the 1997 Asian financial crisis.     

Shutting up shop: understanding the international exit process in retailing

Internationalisation is a much-studied phenomenon. Exit from international markets has been less analysed. Where it has been studied, most work has been on motives and causes, with relatively little on processes. This article explores the process of international exit in a retail context. It examines the run-up to, announcement of and fall-out from the decision by Marks and Spencer (one of Britain's leading retailers) to close its French stores. The article concludes that understanding the process of market exit is at least as important both for theoretical and practical reasons as understanding the decision to exit or divest. Further research needs to be undertaken on market exit and the processes involved, in order to contribute further to the theory and practice of internationalisation.     

The impact of a gasoline crisis on retail sales

The gasoline crises of the 1970s demonstrated the need for including gasoline prices and gasoline shortages in models explaining retail sales. In this article, a model is constructed that incorporates the aforementioned variables, other variables, and a lagged sales figure as independent variable. The results indicate a high degree of explanatory power in predicting retail sales for a specialty store chain with a preponderance of their stores in large regional malls that sell a product which lends itself to unplanned purchase behaviour.     

国际制度对国内政治的影响机制——来自理性选择制度主义的解释

近些年来,理性选择制度主义者为国际制度的国内影响发展了几种重要的因果机制。理性选择制度主义主要探讨了在行为体偏好给定的条件下,国际制度如何改变了国内行为体在信息、权力和利益分布上的既有均衡状态,从而影响了国内政治的结果。如果国内制度具有集权的特点,国际制度就可以作为信号和承诺装置;如果国内制度具有分权的特点,国际制度就可以用来对权力资源进行再分配。但这两种效应往往发生在国际制度对国家行为的约束力较强时。当国际制度对国家行为的约束力较弱时,国际制度可以作为社会集团的政治动员工具。