Regroupements d'entreprises et IFRS: le cas de GlobeCom Corporation et Synthetics Inc.

This case addresses the accounting for mergers and acquisitions in Canada. Since January 1, 2011, any new transactions from mergers and acquisitions made by a public company must be recorded in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). In the case of a partial acquisitions, two theoretical approaches to accounting is allowed under IFRS 3: the approach of a separate entity and the modified approach of the parent entity. For mergers and acquisitions that occurred before this date, firms could either be early adopters to IFRS or firms could apply the Canadian standards that were allowed at the time of reunification. Under Canadian GAAP (CICA, Chap. 1581), partial acquisitions are accounted for using the approach of the parent entity. Canadian public companies that have chosen to recognize their business combinations which occurred before January 1, 2011, according to the approach of the parent entity, may continue to do so even after the enforcement of IFRS. Thus for years to come, we can see in the financial statements of various Canadian public companies business combinations presented in three different ways: according to the separate entity approach, the parent entity approach and, the modified approach of the parent entity. We also include in the case the U.S. GAAP for mergers and acquisitions. In this case, we strongly draw on an acquisition that actually happened, which we adapted to illustrate the three theoretical approaches to account for mergers and acquisitions. In particular, we have changed the name of the company.     

Queueing models for full-flexible multi-class call centers with real-time anticipated delays

In this paper, we consider two basic multi-class call center models, with and without reneging. Customer classes have different priorities. The content of different types of calls is assumed to be similar allowing their service times to be identical. We study the problem of announcing delays to customers upon their arrival. For the simplest model without reneging, we give a method to estimate virtual delays that is used within the announcement step. For the second model, we first build the call center model incorporating reneging. The model takes into account the change in customer behavior that may occur when delay information is communicated to them. In particular, it is assumed that customer reneging is replaced by balking that depends on the state of the system in this case. We develop a method based on Markov chains in order to estimate virtual delays of new arrivals for this model. Finally, some practical issues concerning delay announcement are discussed.     

Constituting the Academic Performer: The Spectre of Superficiality and Stagnation in Academia

Abstract

Journal rankings and performance measurement schemes tend to become increasingly influential within many fields of research, thereby consolidating the prevalence of performativity on the life and research endeavours of many academics. The latter are nowadays often pressured to publish in ‘top’ journals to ensure they have a displayable level of performance. Drawing from literature on identity, this paper introduces and details the construction of the academic performer – a representation of identity which is increasingly typical of what it means today to be an actor in academia, in terms of attitudes and behaviour. Fundamentally speaking, this paper constitutes a critique of a detrimental tendency in academia, that is to say the excessive spread of performance measurement practices and the flow of superficiality and conformity they consolidate.     

IFRS: On the Docility of Sophisticated Users in Preserving the Ideal of Comparability

This paper questions the ideal of comparability, which is often mobilized by standard setters when justifying new – or ‘improvement’ to existing – accounting standards. The target of our analysis is constituted by the thoughts of sophisticated users of financial statements when reflecting about International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) implementation in Europe. Drawing on the work of Mary Douglas on purity and Michel Foucault on docility, it is argued and shown that sophisticated users tend to interpret aberrations – that is to say indications of incomparability which confront users in the flow of their professional lives – in ways that allow the ideal of comparability to be preserved. Important consequences ensuing from the docility of users in purifying aberrations are discussed.     

Withholding investments in energy only markets: can contracts make a difference?

Although there are mechanisms to control market power in the spot market, withholding investments can still increase profits and hamper adequate capacity expansion. We examine the effect on investment of one suggested approach to reducing market power, contracting longer term. We construct a stylized model of an energy-only market where two firms, each specializing in one technology, invest in a first stage, contract part of their production in the second stage and sell the rest in the spot market in the third stage. We compare this model to one of an energy-only market having two stages, investment and a spot market. We find cases where the contracts change neither capacity nor peak prices, where the foreclosing effect of one player blocking the other from contracts markets increases investments and reduces prices, and where the opportunity to foreclose the market can incentivize one firm to lower its investment and increase its pricing power to the detriment of consumers. The model relies on the simplest possible assumptions of imperfect competition (subgame perfect equilibria with Cournot agents). We illustrate the different outcomes in a numerical example with two load steps (peak and off-peak) where we change one parameter, the height of the off-peak time segment. We find cases with increased and decreased capacity as well as no change in capacity. Since there is no general characterization of the consequences of contracts in this simple example, there can be no characterization in more complicated models that contain the market structures included here, and regulators or competition authorities cannot rely on contracts to induce sufficient capacity expansion by reducing market power. One other market mechanism that has been proposed to induce investment, a capacity auction with predetermined capacity requirements, is a potential alternative to limit market power that deserves further exploration to determine the extent to which it can provide an adequate incentive to invest in the presence of market power.     

On the stability of nonsunspot equilibria

This paper analyzes the stability of the (Pareto efficient) nonsunspot equilibria as a function of the constraints faced by consumers in their ability to transfer wealth between states of nature. Equilibria that are stable for the certainty economy define nonsunspot equilibria that are stable in the following two polar cases: 1) All consumers are unconstrained; 2) All consumers are fully constrained. Furthermore, the stable certainty equilibria with small trade vectors define nonsunspot equilibria that are also stable independently of the constraint levels. Instability can develop only at intermediate constraint levels and for nonsunspot equilibria that feature sufficiently large trade vectors.     

RACIAL BELIEFS,LOCATION, AND THE CAUSES OF CRIME*

This article provides a unified explanation for why blacks commit more crime, are located in poorer neighborhoods, and receive lower wages than whites. If everybody believes that blacks are more criminal than whites—even if there is no basis for this—then blacks are offered lower wages and, as a result, locate further away from jobs. Distant residence increases even more the black–white wage gap because of more tiredness and higher commuting costs. Blacks have thus a lower opportunity cost of committing crime and become indeed more criminal than whites. Therefore, beliefs are self‐fulfilling.     

Job matching, social network and word-of-mouth communication

Workers can find a job either directly or through personal contacts. From this micro scenario, we derive an aggregate matching function that has the standard properties but fails to be homogeneous of degree one. We show that, when the network size increases, on average, the unemployed workers hear about more vacancies through their social network. However, above a certain critical value, job matches decrease with network size. We then establish existence and uniqueness of the labor market equilibrium and study its properties. Finally, we demonstrate that the decentralized market equilibrium is not efficient because of both search and network externalities.     

Labor market adjustment under transition in Laos

Laos has engaged in an ambitious program of economic reforms, the New Economic Mechanism. Yet little attention has been devoted to the impact of the reform process on the functioning of the labour market and to the role of the labour market in mobilizing human resources. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of reform policy on the labor market and to show how a better adjustment of the labor market can facilitate the success of the New Economic Mechanism. The purpose of the paper is also to show how a better use of the information generated in the labor market can contribute to transforming the reform process into a process of sustained economic growth in Laos.     

Sampling Procedures for Coordinating Stratified Samples: Methods Based on Microstrata

The aim of sampling coordination is to maximize or minimize the overlap between several samples drawn successively in a population that changes over time. Therefore, the selection of a new sample will depend on the samples previously drawn. In order to obtain a larger (or smaller) overlap of the samples than the one obtained by independent selection of samples, a dependence between the samples must be introduced. This dependence will emphasize (or limit) the number of common units in the selected samples. Several methods for coordinating stratified samples, such as the Kish & Scott method, the Cotton & Hesse method, and the Rivière method, have already been developed. Using simulations, we compare the optimality of these methods and their quality of coordination. We present six new methods based on permanent random numbers (PRNs) and microstrata. These new methods have the advantage of allowing us to choose between positive or negative coordination with each of the previous samples. Simulations are run to test the validity of each of them.