Reform of Accounting Education in the Post-Enron Era: Moving Accounting 'Out of the Shadows'

This article reflects critically on the general state of university-based accounting education. It highlights the chiding of business school educators by the President of the U.S.A., George W. Bush, in his response to the collapse of Enron and subsequent corporate failures. It draws attention to Bush's plea for corporate accounting to be moved 'out of the shadows'.
An agenda of reform for accounting education is proposed, seeking a greater responsiveness by accounting educators to three broad matters: first, the political, rhetorical and ideological nature of accounting; second, the 'poverty of discourse' in accounting curricula; and third, the merits of a better understanding of accounting history. It is suggested that responsiveness to these matters be manifest in a stronger commitment to critique of accounting. This entails implementation of four curriculum themes commencing in the first class in accounting. The benefits of reading and reflecting upon the collected life's work of distinguished intellectual forbears of our discipline are canvassed. Wide-ranging general proposals for the reform of accounting education are advanced.     

The Efficiency of Political Mechanisms for Siting Nuisance Facilities: Are Opponents More Likely to Participate than Supporters?

The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics - Public opposition often hinders the siting of nuisance and noxious facilities. However, there is often support for the siting plan within the...     

The compliance cost of taxing foreign-source income: Its magnitude,determinants, and policy implications

This paper uses survey evidence to estimate the compliance cost of the U.S. system of taxing foreign-source income. The evidence suggests that this cost is about 40 percent of the total tax-compliance cost of large U.S. corporations, which is disproportionately higher than the aggregate share of assets, sales, and employment that is abroad. It is also very high compared to the revenue raised by the United States from taxing foreign-source income, although this comparison must be qualified because arguably a principal purpose of this system is to protect U.S. revenues collected on domestic-source income. The disproportionate compliance cost of foreign-source income is not apparent in a survey of European-based multinational corporations.     

Analyzing the standard deduction as a presumptive tax

Presumptive taxes can be found in the tax system of most developing countries and make sense when the desired tax base is difficult to measure, verify, and monitor. As a substitute for the desired tax base, the presumed tax base is derived from items that can be more readily monitored. Presumed taxes can also be found in developed countries, and examples include fixed depreciation schedules in place of asset-specific measures of decline in asset value, floors on deductible expenses, and the standard deduction. The authors analyze presumptive income taxation with an ultimate goal to initiate an approach to optimal presumptive taxation. This paper begins that task by analyzing the standard deduction in the individual income tax system in the United States.     

The effect of ad blocking on website traffic and quality

Ad blocking software allows Internet users to obtain information without generating ad revenue for site owners, potentially undermining investments in content. We explore the impact of site‐level ad blocker usage on website quality, as inferred from traffic. We find that each additional percentage point of site visitors blocking ads reduces its traffic by 0.67% over 35 months. Impacted sites provide less content over time, providing corroboration for the mechanism. Effects on revenue are compounded; ad blocking reduces visits, and remaining visitors blocking ads do not generate revenue. We conclude that ad blocking poses a threat to the ad‐supported web.     

Learning remotely: R&D satellites,intra‐firm linkages,and knowledge sourcing

Firms venture abroad not only to access resources and markets but also to learn. Yet there remains limited empirical evidence that headquarters can access geographically remote knowledge by establishing a presence in the remote location. Using U.S. patent data, I show that firm headquarters disproportionately source knowledge from third parties in remote locations where they have an R&D satellite. This “satellite effect” on knowledge flow is economically significant, representing up to 60% of the knowledge‐flow premium associated with collocation. Furthermore, the effect seems to be stronger for recent knowledge, as well as in areas of satellite technological specialization, suggesting that firms can target cutting‐edge knowledge in specific sectors. In addition, the results show that firms with stronger internal linkages between headquarters and satellites, and those that staff satellites with inventors that previously patented while at other local firms, experience a larger satellite effect on knowledge acquisition.     

How do corporate tax bases change when corporate tax rates change? With implications for the tax rate elasticity of corporate tax revenues

We construct a new database of extensive margin changes to multiple aspects of corporate tax bases for OECD countries between 1980 and 2004. We use our data to systematically document the tendency of countries to implement policies that both lower the corporate tax rate and broaden the corporate tax base. This correlation informs our interpretation of previous estimates of the relationship between corporate tax rates and corporate tax revenues, which typically do not include comprehensive measures of the corporate tax base definition. We then re-examine the relationship between corporate tax rates and corporate tax revenues. We find that accounting for unobserved heterogeneity attenuates the relationship between corporate tax rates and corporate tax revenues, and increases the implied revenue-maximizing tax rate. Controlling for our new tax base measures does not substantively impact the magnitude of this relationship.     

Continuous Dependent Variables and Organizational Ecology: Toward a more Perfect Union

In this paper, I review all previously published organizational ecology research which utilizes continuous dependent variables. I unearth twenty-one such studies, half of which were published within the past four years. The broadening array of dependent variables in this field is a most welcome development. However, each of these papers has at least one methodological limitation, in specification of cross-unit effects and/or controls for autocorrelation. Perhaps the most serious problem is the assertion that the fixed effects research design solves the problem of autocorrelation. I demonstrate that this assertion is untrue. I conclude with advice on the proper way to model continuous dependent variables in organizational ecology research, as follows: (1) Consider omitting all organizations which do not exist for more time periods than the number of independent variables. (2) Test for autocorrelation, report the results, and correct for autocorrelation if the test indicates that it is a problem. (3) Use a fixed effects model, and justify it based on the nonrandomness of the data.     

Estimating tax noncompliance with evidence from unaudited tax returns

This article estimates the degree of tax noncompliance using evidence from unaudited tax returns. Measurements of noncompliance are derived from the relationship between reported charitable contributions and reported income from wages and salary as compared to alternative reported income sources such as self-employment, farm and other small business income. Assuming that the source of one's income is unrelated to one's charitable inclinations and that the ratio of true income to taxable income does not vary by income source, any difference in the relationship between charitable contributions and the source of income can be attributed to (relative) underreporting by the individual. We find that the implied amount of noncompliance is significant and that it varies by source of income, as well as between positive and negative values of each type of income.     

Network Intermediaries in International Trade

Motivated by evidence on the importance of incomplete information and networks in international trade, we investigate the supply of network intermediation. We build a general-equilibrium model in which agents with networks of foreign contacts either can use their networks themselves in support of production or can make their networks available for others to use and thereby can become network intermediaries. We use this model for comparative statics and welfare analysis. One welfare conclusion is that intermediaries may have inadequate incentives to maintain or to expand their networks, suggesting a rationale for the policies followed by some countries to encourage large-scale trading companies.