The Diagnosis and Resolution of Emerging Issues in Corporate Disclosure Practices

This paper calls the attention of the accounting profession in the UK to a central but neglected process in accounting regulation, i.e. emerging issue diagnosis (EID). A framework for discussing EID is presented in terms of three critical components: inputs, resolution characteristics and outputs. The United States model, which may be influential for future corporate reporting in the UK, is discussed. In addition, consideration is given to a UK example—the City Code on Take-overs and Mergers—of the resolution of emerging issues.     

Public-sector pay in China: 1949–2001

Despite the quantitative and qualitative significance of the public sector in China, insufficient studies have been carried out to advance our knowledge of its pay policy and practice and any changes that may have taken place in the wake of the market economy. This paper provides an overview of the three major reforms in China's public-sector pay in the last five decades and assesses its likely impact on public-sector employees' income in relation to that of workers in enterprises. It focuses on the role of the state in the pay determination process, factors influencing the wage distribution, changes in pay structure and grading systems and causes for earning differentials. It reveals a very different approach to pay determination from those more familiarly seen in the UK and indeed Europe and the US. The exploration of the conflicts and tensions characteristic of the public-sector pay system in China will enhance our understanding of the pressures and dilemmas facing different governments.     

The Economic Benefits of the Biological Control of Rabbits in Australia, 1950–2011

Wild European rabbits are serious agricultural and environmental pests in Australia; myxoma virus and rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus have been used as biocontrol agents to reduce impacts. We review the literature on changes in rabbit numbers together with associated reports on the economic benefits from controlling rabbits on agricultural production. By using loss–expenditure frontier models in with and without biocontrol scenarios, it is conservatively estimated that biological control of rabbits produced a benefit of A$70 billion (2011 A$ terms) for agricultural industries over the last 60 years. The consequences for ongoing rabbit control and research investment are discussed.     

The Information Content of Defence Documents in UK Hostile Takeover Bids

This study examines the defence documents of 79 hostile take-over bids of publicly quoted companies in the UK during the period 1988–1990 using logit regression and discriminant analysis to determine if any of the 41 identified characteristics of the defence document and seven continuous control variables lead to a higher or lower probability of a successful defence. The study finds that managers in target companies are unable to introduce new information in their defence documents that materially affects the outcome of a bid. This suggests that managers may advise shareholders to reject a bid for other reasons, such as to drive up the offer price.     

Estimates of Food Demand Elasticities for Great Britain: 1972–1994

This paper reports the results of the estimation of Almost Ideal Demand Systems (AIDS) for UK food demand using time series data from the National Food Survey. A Bayesian approach is used to impose curvature restrictions in the model. The aim is to obtain estimates of Hicksian, Marshallian and expenditure demand elasticities for UK food which are fully consistent with static optimisation by consumers. Overall, the results concur with expectations as aggregate food demand is both price and income inelastic and individual food categories are mostly price and income inelastic. The notable exception being meat, specifically pork, beef and chicken.     

Expert judgement and lethal toxicity of inhaled chemicals

The application of formal expert judgement for assessing quantitative data of the toxicity of large amounts of inhaled chemical substances after a potential major hazards incident is described. In this particular application, the expert assessments were used to derive probit relations for the acute lethal effects of five hazardous substances: ammonia, acrylonitrile, hydrogen fluoride, sulphur trioxide and azinphos-methyl. The purpose of the study was to develop a protocol for selecting experts and the elicitation and analysis of expert assessments, to apply this protocol to generate probit relations for representative substances, and to evaluate the overall performance of the protocol. The use of formal expert judgement includes quantitative estimates of variables, calibration of experts and representation of uncertainty on the variables. This enables analysts to optimize combined experts' assessments for establishing quantitative results for further use in probit relations. Twenty-seven experts, distributed over the five substances, gave medians and 90% central confidence bands of the lethal dose-response relations under several conditions. The calculated dose-response relations are shown and compared to existing probit relations with respect to its impact on risk assessment outputs. The calculated relations can be applied in quantitative risk assessments, for example, under the Dutch law on major hazards installations. The scientific and practical efforts and costs of using the expert judgement technique are described.     

The new wave of regional innovation networks: Analysis,characteristics and strategy

Today, the number one priority for competitive advantage is innovation. A new approach to regional business development has been pioneered in Europe and the U.S.A. This involves building a regional innovation infrastructure. Learning through networking has proven to be a successful approach in some of Europe's more dynamic regional economics such as Baden-Württemberg and Emilia-Romagna. This involves maximising the complete range of regional innovation assets. The state of Pennsylvania and other older industry centres are showing that such an approach is transferable from Europe to the U.S.A. The paper assesses knowledge-transfer at the regional level and outlines the key elements for successful regional innovation networking practices. The major finding(s) are that business networking is an effective way of increasing company turnover; that not-for-profit organizations are excellent for setting up networks because they are trusted, and that innovation networks are perhaps the most difficult, thought-requiring but important of the types of business network conceivable.