The link between diet and health: an exploratory study of adolescents in Northern Ireland using foodmaps

A significant proportion of consumers in the UK continue to adopt a diet consisting largely of nutritionally unbalanced foods. The adolescent period has been identified as being formative in the development of long‐term eating habits as the individual achieves greater control over their food choice. By examining the current eating behaviour of a sample of adolescents, the aim of this study was to establish why they are not utilizing their knowledge to choose nutritionally balanced foods. A two‐stage data collecting procedure was adopted. In stage 1, respondents (n = 136) completed a questionnaire that measured demographic and social factors, knowledge, attitudes, pre‐existing behaviour with respect to food and the influence of family, peers, the media and government campaigns on their eating behaviour. In stage 2, a subsection of the respondents (n = 20) completed a foodmap, which revealed the network of relationships involved in the adolescents' decision‐making process by identifying the links among the foods consumed, the people they eat with and the places they eat in. Results emphasized the importance of the home environment and the continuing influence of parents on adolescents' eating behaviour despite the greater independence related to this stage of the life cycle. A proportion of the sample was found to have recognized the need to change their eating behaviour in order to lose weight, because of their sporting commitments or to improve their health. Recommendations from this study include the need for the various agencies involved in the promotion of balanced dietary behaviour to attend to the link among adult, family and adolescent, and the need for greater progress in enabling consumers to translate the theory of nutritional education into practice.     

Is “getting started” an effective way for people to overcome the depletion effect?

Whereas most research on depletion focuses on its effect on the overall performance of a subsequent task requiring self‐control, we examine the effect of depletion on self‐control after performance has begun. Across different manipulations of depletion and using different measures of self‐control (e.g., overriding an automatic behavioural tendency, enduring on a physically demanding task, and making healthy consumption choices), the results of three studies show that when self‐control has been initiated, the effect of depletion has little influence on subsequent behaviour also requiring self‐control: in other words, “getting started” on a self‐control task attenuates the depletion effect. The results also show that the way in which self‐control starts—that is, whether people choose to regulate, or whether this choice is forced—appears irrelevant. This research clarifies an effective way to facilitate self‐control after depletion, while providing a better understanding of the process underlying depletion. Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adjustments For 'Extraordinary Items'In Smoothing Reported Profits of Listed Australian Companies: Some Empirical Evidence

Nothing is more likely to undermine the credibility of financial reporting than the suspicion that the results reported were predetermined and that the accounting methods used were selected to produce the results desired by the preparers of the report', Solomons (1983).     

When should central bankers be fired?

In recent years, a number of countries have changed their central banking institutions. Often these reforms involve granting long terms of office to central bankers. This threatens to limit the extent to which the central bank can be held accountability. Dismissal rules can help ensure accountability, and, in the presence of inflation shocks, the socially optimal commitment policy is supported by a dismissal rule similar to a modified nominal income rule. The government's promise to follow the rule is shown to be credible in a trigger strategy equilibrium for reasonable parameter values. Received: March 26, 1999 / Accepted: September 20, 2001     

ERISA estoppel: say what you mean and mean what you say

Estoppel is rapidly becoming part of ERISA litigation. However, as employers, TPAs and other entities associated with ERISA plans learn to take precautions against erroneous representations, estoppel litigation may subside.     

FORMALIZATION AND THE ORGANIZATIONAL LIFE CYCLE[1]

The theoretical importance of formalization has often been obscured in empirical investigation. This article discusses two outcomes of formalization: administrative efficiency, and influence. As formalization contributes to administrative efficiency, it also bestows upon the administrator power and influence. While some theoretical attention has been paid to the efficiency theme, influence has been largely ignored. The article suggests that formalization as code, as channel, and as standard can be best understood in the context of the organizational life cycle. Formalization (as efficiency) is likely to contribute to effectiveness early in an organization's history. Later in the life cycle, however, formalization (as influence) may contribute to organizational ineffectiveness and decline.     

Determinants and implications of long audit reporting lags: evidence from China

Audit reporting lag is the single most important determinant influencing the timeliness of the release of financial statements. In this study, we first explore the determinants of audit reporting lags in China where the audit market for listed firms is dominated by non-Big 4 auditors. We then examine the implications of long audit reporting lags in subsequent years. We find that selected measures of audit risk and complexity, and auditor expertise are all associated with the length of audit reporting lags in China. Firms with long audit reporting lags are more likely to have the receipt of non-standard opinions in subsequent periods. There is also evidence that firms with extremely long audit reporting lags tend to have more restatements in the subsequent year. As prior research has not specifically investigated the consequences of long audit reporting lags in subsequent years, this study makes an important contribution to the literature in this area.