Deaths of older Australians related to their use of motorised mobility scooters

This study describes motorized mobility scooter (MMS) rider-related fatalities in the older Australian population during the years 2000–2011, identified from the National Coronial Information System. Seventy-seven fatalities were identified, most aged 80 years or older (74.1%) and males predominated (76.6%). Most deaths (88.3%) resulted from collisions with motor vehicles or falling from the MMS. These findings are consistent with the reported morbidity data. Challenges to MMS case identification included lack of specification in reports to Coroners and inadequate codes. Improved specificity and coding are necessary to fully describe the extent of MMS-related injury. This study raises the issue of emerging largely unregulated consumer products. Further research is required to understand the uptake and use of MMS in the ageing population. Strategies are needed to decrease rider injuries whilst meeting community mobility needs.     

Sustainability among Norwegian maritime firms: Green strategy and innovation as mediators of long-term orientation and emission reduction

This study investigates the relationships between emission reduction, long-term orientation, green strategy, and green innovation among maritime vessel-owning firms of various sizes in the Norwegian maritime sector. A change from the utilization of fossil fuels and move toward more sustainable sources of energy demand substantial financial investments and behavioral changes but are fundamental to preventing further climate change. This study examines the greening of the Norwegian fleet through a structural equation model based upon 246 survey responses. Although our model does not show a significant direct relationship between long-term orientation and emission reductions, we do find that long-term orientation is indirectly related to emission reductions because of its relationships with green strategy and green innovation. Moreover, as mediators, green innovation and green strategy share direct associations with firms' reductions of greenhouse gases and environmentally harmful emissions. Implications for practitioners and policy makers are proposed.     

Identifying Water Prices at which Australian Farmers Will Exit Irrigation: Results of a Stated Preference Survey

Among the measures taken by the Australian government to address one of the worst droughts on record in the Murray‐Darling Basin, exit package issues have rarely been investigated. A stated preference survey was designed to identify the range of water prices required for irrigators to sell all their water entitlements and leave the irrigation industry. Farmer participation responses are generally price elastic. There are large regional differences in price elasticities, but within a region there are few differences based on subgroups of farmers.     

“It’s Just Business”: Understanding How Business Frames Differ from Ethical Frames and the Effect on Unethical Behavior

Journal of Business Ethics - Unfortunately, business is often associated with unethical behavior. While research has offered a number of explanations for why business might encourage unethical...     

Exploring the Causes of Accounting Restatements by Family Firms

Prior research shows that family firms have better earnings quality than non‐family firms in common‐law countries and highly developed markets. In contrast, we do not find a significant difference in the financial reporting quality between family and non‐family firms in the context of a civil‐law system and less developed market. We show that the financial reporting quality of family firms is conditioned on: (1) the divergence between the controlling shareholders’ voting rights and their cash flow rights, and (2) the firm's reputation for integrity, while these two conditions do not explain the restatement likelihood for non‐family firms. Moreover, when accounting irregularities are detected in the case of family firms, they are associated with more serious accounting restatements. Together, these results imply that the severity of the conflict between ultimate and minority shareholders, and a lack of integrity, explain the propensity for making financial restatements among family firms in a regime characterized as having weak investor protection and concentrated ownership structures.     

Auditor economic incentives and going-concern opinions in a limited litigious Continental European business environment: empirical evidence from Belgium

Theory predicts that auditor reporting behaviour may be influenced by the perceived consequences of disclosing going-concern uncertainty in the audit report (DeAngelo 1981, Watts and Zimmerman 1986). Krishnan and Krishnan (1996) and Louwers (1998) have addressed this issue empirically in a US context. The results of Krishnan and Krishnan (1996) suggested that one of the important factors in the auditor's opinion decision is the risk of litigation. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between auditor economic incentives and the propensity to issue going-concern opinions in a limited litigious business environment, Belgium. In spite of the low risk of litigation and the fact that most Belgian companies are privately held, various regulations have been put into effect to safeguard audit quality in Belgium. However, the results suggest that the auditor's going-concern opinion decision in Belgium is associated with factors relating to the perceived consequences of disclosing a going-concern opinion. Specifically, the results suggest that auditors in Belgium are significantly less likely to issue going-concern opinions to clients that pay higher audit fees, and when the audit firm has lost a relatively high proportion of its clients in the preceding year. The auditor's going-concern opinion does not appear to be significantly influenced by the length of the auditor-client relationship, year of the auditor engagement period, and auditor type. The results of this study are to some extent different from the study by Louwers (1998), in which none of the incentive variables related to the auditor's loss function was significant.     

The Case for Secondary Buyouts as Exit Channel

Do private equity firms have a clear pecking order when deciding on exit channels for their portfolio companies? Are secondary buyouts—that is, sales to other PE firms—always an exit of last resort? And are there company‐ or market‐related factors that have a clear and predictable influence on decisions to pursue secondary buyouts? Using a proprietary dataset of over 1,100 leveraged buyouts that exited in North America or Europe between 1995 and 2008, the authors attempt to answer these questions by analyzing the returns associated with public, private, and secondary (or “financial”) exits. Based on their analysis of the realized returns, there is no clear pecking order of exit types. Secondary buyouts deliver rates of return that are the equal of those achieved through public exits. In addition, the authors assess the relationship between the likelihood of choosing a financial exit and certain company‐related as well as market‐related factors. Portfolio companies with greater debt capacity are more likely to be sold in secondary buyouts. Furthermore, increases in both the liquidity of debt markets and the amount of undrawn capital commitments to the private equity industry increase the probability of exit through secondary buyouts.     

Technology Education in Ontario: Evolution, Achievements, Critiques and Challenges. Part 1: The Context

This article, in seven sections, describes the evolution of technological education in the Canadian province of Ontario. The first section clarifies the meanings of the terms technology and technological education. The second outlines significant events in the history of technical education in the province. The third examines some of the societal factors that have created a climate for change during the past two decades, while the fourth describes the broader context of recent curriculum developments. The fifth reports on the introduction in 1995 of The Common Curriculum and the publication of Broad-based Technological Education. The sixth provides a few case studies illustrating the variety of ways in which technology education is currently implemented. The seventh section offers an evaluation and critique of some aspects of provincial curriculum policy and practice. The article is published in two parts. Part 1, in this issue, contains the first five sections, which describe the current curriculum offerings and their evolution. Part 2, containing the remaining two sections and all references, will be published in the next issue. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.