Agency hazards and alliance portfolios

Prior research over several decades has catalogued many positive motives underlying firms' decisions to engage in joint ventures and other forms of alliances. In this empirical analysis, we investigate whether agency problems brought about by the separation of ownership and control also stimulate the development of firms' joint venture portfolios. By focusing on joint ventures, as opposed to diversification in general or acquisitions, we address the recent debate on agency theory's domain. Results from a sample of U.S. manufacturing firms' alliance portfolios offer supporting evidence, and comparable findings are obtained for international and domestic joint ventures. Agency hazards are also found to bring about extensions of firms' nonequity alliance portfolios in both the international and domestic settings. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Year in Review: Economics at the Antitrust Division, 2020–2021

Challenging anticompetitive acquisitions of nascent competitors is a top priority of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. It is especially important that competition agencies remain vigilant of such acquisitions in platform markets, where indirect network effects and other market forces tend to preserve the status quo at the expense of smaller, more innovative rivals and potentially final consumers. This article discusses two such attempted acquisitions: (1) Visa’s acquisition of technology firm Plaid that threatened to disrupt Visa’s monopoly power in online debit; and (2) Sabre’s acquisition of Farelogix, which is a firm that allows airlines to connect directly to travel agencies and thereby disintermediates Sabre and other global distribution systems.

     

The effect of a potential borrower's reporting reputation and financial condition on commercial loan officers' estimates of forecast bias and subsequent loan recommendations

This paper investigates whether a potential borrower's reporting reputation and financial condition affect commercial loan officers' loan judgments and recommendations after receiving an earnings forecast that predicts improved financial performance. The results suggest that the earnings forecast is perceived as more credible in the presence of (1) a reputation for objective reporting, and (2) strong financial condition. Also, a reputation for objective reporting allowed the borrower to more credibly convey the expected improvement in performance when financial condition was weak. However, while financial condition predictably affects loan recommendations (likelihood of granting the loan, interest rate), reporting reputation does not. While we find that commercial loan officers discount forecasts under similar circumstances as stock analysts, results suggest that the consequences of developing a reputation for aggressive reporting (e.g., aggressive selection of accounting methods and estimates within GAAP) may be greater in a stock valuation setting (prior research documents lower stock prices) than in a loan setting.     

Revenue Recognition and EU Endorsement of IFRS

This paper comments on a previous paper in this journal concerning EU endorsement of IFRS. It is suggested here that the previous authors should consider whether there can be more than one true and fair view even in one country and especially across European countries. It is further suggested that the previous analysis of five accounting standards does not support the claim that the European Commission wrongly endorsed them. It is also argued here that the previous analysis of the nature of most gains under IFRS is faulty.     

Global compliance with international accounting education guidelines

The International Accounting Education Guidelines (IAEG) of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) issued since 1982 specify the components for the Professional preparation to become a qualified accountant.

This paper presents the results of a survey of compliance conducted in fifty-four countries outside the USA with International Accounting Education Guidelines (IAEG), as issued by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). Its purpose is to provide a benchmark measure of compliance for current assessment of accounting education, and for reference in future studies. This study is the first attempt to examine compliance with IAEGs in all sectors of the world in which IFAC has members. The paper is divided into the following sections: international accounting education guidelines; survey questions; methodology; results; effectiveness of the guidelines, and summary and conclusions.     

Bounds on the estimation error in the chain ladder method

Buchwalder et al. (2006) have illustrated that there are different approaches for the derivation of an estimate for the parameter estimation error in the distribution-free chain ladder reserving method. In this paper, we demonstrate that these approaches provide estimates that are close to each other for typical parameters. This is carried out by proving upper and lower bounds.     

Über die verwendung von mittelwertprocessen in der bevölkerungsstatistik und in der Zinsrechnung

Abstract

Im Anschluss an die im Jahre 1916 erschienene Monographie von E. J. Gumbel: “Die Berechnung des Bevölkerungsstandes durch Interpolation” (Leipzig, Vogel) hat Verfasser dieser Zeilen den formalen Aufbau der für die Praxis einfachsten Interpolationsmethoden der mathematisch-statistischen Behandlung zugeführt; auf dieser Grundlage hat dann Gumbel die so erhaltenen verallgemeinerten Ansätze bereits auf praktische Fragen der Bevölkerungslehre angewendet. Im Folgenden sollen einige Resultate dieser Untersuchungen mitgeteilt werden, und zwar in Hinblick darauf, dass dieselben bei der Konstruktion von Volkssterbetafeln und bei der Ausarbeitung der Deckungssysteme in der Socialversicherung Verwendung finden können. Die für die Statistik und für die wirtschaftliche, Mathematik (z. B. Grundlegung der Zinsfunktionen). so wichtigen Mittelwertoperationen erscheinen erst durch die nähere methodische Bearbeitung in der für die zielbewusste Anwendung notwendigen Beleuchtung. Die mathematische Diskussion der Mittelwert-Interpolationen dünkt uns vom statistischen Gesichtspunkt als wesentlich, wenn auch der Verwaltungsstatistiker für primitivere Zwecke eine kürzere Behandlung der präcisen Auseinandersetzung bevorzugt. Dieser Standpunkt erweist sich als gerechtfertigt, sobald man — wie es z. B. in der Lebensversicherungstechnik der Fall ist — nicht nur Abschätzungen im Grossen vornimmt, sondern auf Grundlage des empirischen Materials feinere Berechnungen anstellt, deren numerisches Resultat von der Präcision der Ausgleichungsprocesse abhängt. Hauptziel der folgenden Betrachtung ist die genauere Festlegung der in der Verwaltungsstatistik üblichen rohen Interpolationsansätze, um auf diesem Wege solche Formeln zu gewinnen, die den Erfahrungen besser angepasst werden können und die es weiterhin ermöglichen, dass die Berechnung der auf den Interpolationsprocess beruhenden wichtigern Masszahlen (z. B. verlebte Zeit, Vermehrungsintensität, Fixirung partieller Bevölkerungsmassen, etc.) einer mathematjschen Kritik unterworfen werden können.     

Die sterblichkeit der versicherten in schwedischen lebensversicherungsgesellschaften während der Zeit vom 1. Juli 1918–30. Juni 1919

Abstract

Die grossen Influenzaepidemien von 1918 und den folgenden Jahren haben aus natürlichen Gründen das Interesse der Lebensversicherungsstatistiker der ganzen Welt auf sich gelenkt. Statistische Ergebnisse über den Einfluss dieser Epidemien auf die Sterblichkeit von Lebensversicherten findet man so z. B. in folgenden Abhandlungen: Dr. A. WINTER, De sterfte in de laatste jaren. Het Verzekerings-Archief, Jaargang II, No. 2; JAMES D. CRAIG and LOUIS I. DUBLIN, The influenza Epidemic of 1918. Transactions of the Actuarial Society of America, vol. 20, No. 61; R. J. BACKLUND, Dödligheten i spanska sjukan i Kaleva 1918–1920. Nordisk Försäkringstidskrift, Årg. I, n:r 4.     

On distributions of functions of samples from a normally distributed infinite population

Abstract

7. The joint distribution of the moments a ₁₁, a ₂₂,…, a_nn and a ₁₂, …, a _1n may be deduced explicitly in the case, in which the variates χ₁, …, χ _n in (1) are mutually uncorrelated. In this case we have for the population values of the moments: α_μv = 0 for μ ═ v and, consequently, A_μv = 0 for μ ═ v, so that according to (6) λ_μv = 0 for μ ═ v; the distribution (5) of the moments α_μv is then