U.S. Auditors' Perceptions of the PCAOB Inspection Process: A Behavioral Examination

This study examines U.S. auditors' observations of the PCAOB inspection process, and its impact on their work, in order to understand the current U.S. regulatory audit climate. Using 20 interviews with experienced auditors, we consider behavioral factors (e.g., perceived power of and trust in the PCAOB) that can impact the level and form of auditor compliance according to theory from the slippery slope framework on audit regulation (Kirchler et al. 2008; Dowling et al. 2018). Our participants described an audit climate with a powerful regulator. They reported that their desire to receive “clean” inspection reports has had a substantial impact on audit procedures and quality control. However, our participants do not appear to have high trust in the PCAOB, as they questioned aspects of the inspection process and its expectations. Accordingly, we conclude that U.S. public company auditors operate in an antagonistic environment in which auditors perceive the PCAOB has high coercive power. In other words, they comply due to fear of enforcement rather than agreement with the PCAOB's views on audit quality. Some auditors also indicated that they consider both the costs and benefits of compliance. Theoretical intuition implies that any future increases to perceived costs relative to perceived benefits of compliance could ultimately decrease the PCAOB's coercive power and reduce U.S. auditor compliance. Our findings have implications for regulators and researchers interested in understanding behavioral factors that may influence regulatory compliance.     

The fundraiser's journey: A developmentally informed,grounded theory analysis

Fundraisers play a vital role in the success of nonprofit organizations, yet relatively little is known about the experiences, motivations, and thought processes that inform their career choice and development. This exploratory, cross-comparative case study of 3 fundraisers addresses this gap in the literature by examining some formative influences on fundraisers' careers, their professional growth aspirations and opportunities, and how, if at all, they engage in personal philanthropy. Results suggest that fundraisers' aptitudes, skills, and abilities may influence their career choice more than a sense of connection to the nonprofit sector or organizational mission. Further, fundraisers seek opportunities to exercise leadership at the individual, organizational, and community levels. Additionally, their personal philanthropy and social embeddedness play integral roles in their professional development. Although not large enough for generalization, these results suggest the need to study fundraisers holistically, including their psychological development and social embeddedness over time. We argue for the need to move beyond traditional marketing and public relations perspectives to explain fundraising. Instead, future studies should adopt a service-dominant logic framing that considers fundraisers as part of a larger philanthropic ecosystem. We conclude with several questions to guide future studies toward this line of inquiry.     

Western Households’ Water Knowledge,Preferences, and Willingness to Pay

Water conflicts are intensifying as the population grows in the American West. Stakeholders seek a better understanding of households’ water knowledge, preferences, and willingness to pay (WTP) as they contemplate various water allocation initiatives. An Internet survey provides insight into western households’ perceptions and preferences regarding water use and management, their familiarity with water terminology, and their WTP a fee in support of eight potential water initiatives regarding water acquisition, conservation, and reallocation. Further analysis identifies factors that influence the decision. Just over half of all respondents express a WTP the fee, with an estimated median WTP among survey respondents of $15.65 per summer month. Respondents with higher self-reported water knowledge are more likely to support the fee. The probability of supporting the fee is also influenced by respondents’ demographic characteristics and attitudes toward water scarcity and management. Les conflits liés à l’eau s’intensifient à mesure que la population s’accroît dans l’Ouest américain. Les parties prenantes cherchent à découvrir les connaissances sur l’eau, les préférences et le consentement à payer des ménages étant donné qu’elles envisagent divers schémas d’allocation de l’eau. Un sondage en ligne a donné un aperçu des perceptions et des préférences des ménages de l’Ouest américain concernant l’utilisation et la gestion de l’eau, de leur degré de connaissance de la terminologie de l’eau et de leur consentement à payer une taxe pour appuyer huit projets éventuels d’acquisition, de conservation et de réallocation de l’eau. Une analyse plus détaillée a déterminé les facteurs qui influençaient les décisions. Un peu plus de la moitié des répondants ont indiquéêtre prêts à payer une taxe. Chez les répondants, le consentement à payer médian s’élevait à 15,65 $ par mois durant la saison estivale. Les répondants qui ont indiqué avoir de bonnes connaissances sur l’eau sont plus susceptibles d’appuyer l’imposition d’une taxe. Les caractéristiques démographiques et les attitudes des répondants envers la rareté et la gestion de l’eau influencent la probabilité d’appuyer l’imposition d’une taxe.     

Indoor Climate Control: The Global Demand for Heating,Ventilating, and Air-Conditioning Equipment

World demand for heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment is expected to rise in absolute terms during the current five-year period, but the rate of growth is slowing. However, growth is still in excess of that recorded by both global building construction expenditures and world gross domestic product. In 2007, $63.1 billion was spent on HVAC. The Asia-Pacific region now accounts for about 45 percent of the total. The two major categories of HVAC are cooling equipment, which accounts for 71 percent of the total, while heating equipment is responsible for the remaining 29 percent. The commercial market dominates the residential market by a ratio of 65:35. There are hundreds of suppliers around the world, but the eight leading firms have about 50 percent of the market.     

Hong Kong's development: prospects and possibilities

Hong Kong's economic emergence, development and current situation have been examined and analysed from a variery of perspectives, and its adaptative systems, entrepreneurship and human resources have been outlined in detail. A number of points and themes have emerged and these have implications for Hong Kong's prospects and possibilities. First, Hong Kong's internationally impressive economic record is under threat. Second, some of the factors and structures seen as growth inducing in the past are now viewed as inhibiting. Third, there is a need to develop alternative means of competing, which include production and human resource upgrading.     

The Macroeconomic Consequences of Financing Health Insurance

Employer-financed health insurance systems like those used in the United States distort firms’ labor demand and adversely affect the economy. Since such costs vary with employment rather than hours worked, firms have an incentive to increase output by increasing worker hours rather than employment. Given that the returns to employment exceed the returns to hours worked, this results in lower levels of employment and output. In this paper, we construct a heterogeneous agent general equilibrium model where individuals differ with respect to their productivity and employment opportunities. Calibrating the model to the U.S. economy, we generate steady state results for several alternative models for financing health insurance: one in which health insurance is financed primarily through employer contributions that vary with employment, a second where insurance is funded through a non-distortionary, lump-sum tax, and a third where insurance is funded by a payroll tax. We measure the effects of each of the alternatives on output, employment, hours worked, and wages.     

The optimal sequencing of carrots

When aid organizations contract with local agents aid funds have the potential to be diverted to purposes other than the intended project. A multi-stage game is presented where the benefit from the project is cumulative, with the application of funds in each stage increasing both the agent's and the organization's benefit from the project. As the agent's utility of diversion increases, the allocation in each stage decreases and the project takes more stages to complete. When contracting with agents with high utilities of diversion the optimal contract involves bloated projects and a side payment to the agent upon completion. If the organization's commitment to the contract is not credible both the agent's and the organization's benefit is reduced.     

Communicating culture change

Using a case study of a large public sector department the relationship between communication and change in a public sector department and the human resource implications of that relationship are considered. Senior administrators of the department signified their intention to change the culture from one that was considered to be bureaucratic, technically oriented and inward-looking to one more outward-looking, continually learning, more relationship-oriented internally and inclusive of broader ‘whole of government’ objectives such as commercialization, the environment, social justice and community relations. Findings from the research indicate that, despite an objective of shifting to a state of continual change with the mode of communication becoming two-way and dialogic, the communication mechanism has faltered due to a failure to address the need of lower-level staff for a set vision and stated future direction. Implications of these findings are drawn for public sector organizations in general.