Students' Perception of the Ethical Business Climate: A Comparison With Leaders in the Community

Although undergraduate students are exposed to ethical issues through class assignments, discussions, and readings, they typically do not have first hand experience with business dilemmas. Student opinions on ethical standards and behavior in American business have received scant attention in the literature. The purpose of the study is to provide additional information to both educators and organizations about the ethical perceptions of students. Furthermore, the study contrasts student responses to business and community leaders' responses obtained in a prior study conducted by Touche Ross (1988). The findings from this study are based on an opinion survey about ethics in American business, completed by 476 liberal arts and business students attending a private, religiously affiliated college in New York State. The data indicate numerous differences in perceptions between students and business and community leaders. Differences were also found when students were classified by school (Arts &; Science versus Business) and by gender. Overall, students appear to place a strong value on education. Students are the source of new entrants to the business world and the foundation for ethical structures being built by organizations. The findings from this study should assist both educators and employers in the development of necessary programs to maximize the ethical potential of their constituents.     

Y2K costs & compliance: A perspective from the United Kingdom

This paper examines the costs and risks associated with Year 2000 issues and compliance in a sample of footnote disclosures for companies listed on the UK Stock Exchange. Given news releases of significant underreporting for these issues and the reports that the United States is six to twelve months ahead of British firms, the UK Accounting Standards Board issued new guidance for these disclosures in the form of Urgent Issues Task Force Abstract 20. The paper discusses the new standard and examines disclosures before and after the effective date of the standard (March 23, 1998) to gain further insight into costs, risks, and other compliance issues unfolding in UK stock exchange companies. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Fostering Ethics Research: An Analysis of the Accounting, Finance and Marketing Disciplines

This study compares the level of ethics research published in 25 business-ethics journals and the Top-40 journals for the accounting, finance, and marketing disciplines. This research documents an increasing level of ethics research in the accounting and marketing disciplines starting in 1992. While the level of finance doctorates reported by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) has increased at a higher rate (40.4%) than accounting (18.4%) and marketing (32.2%) since 1995, this increase has not been reflected in the level of ethics scholarship in finance. The level of ethics scholarship in finance remained relatively constant between 1987 and 2005 at an average of seven coauthor-adjusted articles per year. However, both the accounting and marketing disciplines now regularly publish approximately 50 coauthor-adjusted articles each year. Richard A. Bernardi, Professor of Accounting at Roger Williams University, is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who flew B-52s and FB-111s. Dr. Bernardi received a PhD in Accounting from Union College in 1992. He has published over 80 articles as well as receiving Teaching Excellence Awards from Roger Williams University and the State University of New York. Michael R. Melton, Associate Professor of Finance at Roger Williams University, received a PhD in Finance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is currently the Director of the Center for Advanced Financial Education in the Gabelli School of Business at Roger Williams University. Scott D. Roberts is the Associate Dean and an Associate Professor of Marketing at Saint Edwards University. Dr. Roberts received a PhD in Marketing from the University of Utah in 1988; since then, he has published 50 articles in marketing and consumer behavior journals and proceedings. David F. Bean, the Senior Research Consultant at B. D. & C. Academic Consultants, has extensive public and private accounting experience. In academia he attained the rank of Full Professor and has published numerous journal articles. He was granted his PhD in Accounting from Temple University in 1994. The authors are involved in several research projects and alternate lead author responsibilities; the authors contribute equally to all of their published work.     

The New UK Monetary Arrangements: A View From the Literature

This paper considers the likely operating characteristics of the new UK monetary arrangements introduced in May 1997. The paper first argues that the time inconsistency of policy is not an issue provided the Bank of England is properly independent. However, the current inflation remit from the Chancellor to the Bank specifies a numerical target for the inflation rate, but does not specify how quickly deviations from the target are to be corrected. It is thus an incomplete contract, and there is a danger that the Bank may choose to stabilise inflation at the cost of excessively volatile movements in output, or vice versa . We estimate the optimal policy frontier for the UK economy and show that in practice it is close to rectangular. Consequently all the Bank needs to assume is that the government's preferences are 'reasonable' in order to know approximately where to locate on this frontier; the incompleteness of the remit therefore need not be a cause for concern.     

大稳健、大恐慌和大收缩

本文为英格兰银行负责货币政策的副行长查尔斯·比恩(Charles Bean)先生在2009年8月25日欧洲经济学协会熊彼特讲座上的主题演讲。与其他对于本轮危机的分析相比,本文有两个最显著的特点:一是视野更加开阔、观点更加平衡:二是分析框架更加规范、逻辑性强。本文所涉及的问题正是国际金融监管改革的核心。     

Accounting Students as Surrogates for Accounting Professionals When Studying Ethical Dilemmas: A Cautionary Note

A challenge in performing empirical research isdetermining appropriate research subjects.Laboratory experiments are noted for their useof student subjects. The issue of interest inthis research is whether student subjectsrespond to a contextual ethical dilemma in thesame manner as working professionals.An experiment was conducted with 110 studentsand 169 experienced accounting practitioners,who are CPAs, utilizing six different financialreporting dilemmas. Students were assigned tothree different organizational categories interms of tone at the top – ethical, not ethicaland neutral. Experienced accountingpractitioners provided information about theperceived tone at the top in their ownorganizations using a questionnaire. The t-tests disclose significant differencesbetween CPAs and students for each of the sixdilemmas at the p < 0.001 level.     

Minority membership on boards of directors: the case for requiring pictures of boards in annual reports

Affirmative action and diversity continue to be contentious issues in the United States. Financial markets are still reeling from the effects of Enron, WorldCom and other corporate exemplars of corruption and malfeasance. The role of the board of directors in these scandals is the subject of serious and ongoing concern. Weak and/or ineffectual boards are often the consequences of “old-boy networks” and a lack of diversity in membership. This research study argues for an increased presence of gender and race diversity on boards of directors. Empirical evidence is presented that shows a significant increase in the presence of ethnic minorities and females when pictures of board members are included in annual reports. We suggest that requiring pictures of board members in annual reports and regulatory filings would result in a larger presence for gender and race diversity on boards of directors. This requirement is not a significant burden and merely represents compliance with the spirit and intent of the “full disclosure” principle.