Determinants of audit fees in Bangladesh

This paper reports the results of an analysis of the determinants of audit fees of both financial and non-financial companies in Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi audit services market is unusual in that there is no direct involvement of international audit firms in it. The results of the regressions show that the size of the auditee has the greatest influence on audit fees. Whilst there was no international Big Six grouping, it was possible to construct a group of Bangladeshi audit firms which commanded a price premium, based on their size and whether they had a link with an international firm of auditors. Financial services companies were found to have higher audit fees relative to non-financial companies. Subsidiaries of multi-national holding companies also had higher audit fees. The surprising result was that auditees which employed at least one qualified accountant had higher audit fees.     

Viewpoint: An extended class of instrumental variables for the estimation of causal effects

Abstract We examine how structural systems can yield observed variables instrumental in identifying and estimating causal effects. We provide an exhaustive characterization of potentially identifying conditional exogeneity relationships and demonstrate how structural relations determine exogeneity and exclusion restrictions that yield moment conditions supporting identification. This provides a comprehensive framework for constructing instruments and covariates. We introduce notions of conditioning and conditional extended instrumental variables (XIVs). These permit identification but need not be traditional instruments, as they may be endogenous. We distinguish between observed XIVs and proxies for unobserved XIVs. A main message is the importance of sufficiently specifying causal relations governing the unobservables.     

Tourism development and environmental degradation in the United States: evidence from wavelet-based analysis

The recent literatures indicate that the tourism development (TD) has significant influence over the environmental degradation of both high-tourist-arrival and low-tourist-arrival countries. This study investigates the empirical influence of TD on environmental degradation in a high-tourist-arrival economy (i.e. United States), using the wavelet transform framework. This new methodology enables the decomposition of time-series at different time–frequencies. In this study, we have used maximal overlap discrete wavelet transform (MODWT), wavelet covariance, wavelet correlation, continuous wavelet power spectrum, wavelet coherence spectrum and wavelet-based Granger causality analysis to analyse the relationship between TD and CO₂ emission in the United States by using the monthly data from the period of 1996(1) to 2015(3). Results indicate that TD is majorly having the positive influence over CE in short, medium and long run. We find the unidirectional influence of TD on CE in short run, medium and long run in the United States.     

Exploring the role of perceived external prestige in managers' turnover intentions

Employee turnover is an important topic in the human resource management literature. Several researchers have sought to analyse its multiple determinants and to model the turnover process. The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of employees' perception of the external image of the company they work for on their intentions to leave. It is based on a questionnaire survey of 801 French managers that attempted to incorporate the notion of perceived external prestige (PEP) within the literature's classical model of turnover. The results show that the impact of PEP on intentions to leave is partially mediated by the two determinants of turnover in the model: organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Yet there still remains a direct effect of PEP on intentions to quit. Our research also attempted to confirm the existence of a possible moderator effect, but was unable to find such an effect.     

Oil income shocks and economic growth in Iran

The aim of this paper is to study the relationship between oil revenue shocks and output growth in Iran by Adopting an SVAR model over the period 1959–2008. The results indicate that positive and negative oil revenue shocks significantly affect output growth positively and negatively respectively and these effects are asymmetric. While negative oil revenue shocks adversely affect the economic growth, the resource curse impedes the expected positive effects of positive oil shocks. In order to overcome the harmful effects of oil booms and busts, the establishment of oil stabilization and saving funds, diversifying economy, delinking government expenditure from oil revenues and introducing fiscal rules into the budget seems crucial for Iran economy.     

‘No strings attached?’: How attribution of disinterested support affects employee retention

Appearance of disinterestedness is a social norm that has long been recognised by social scientists as essential to the development of social exchange relationships. Despite the predominance of social exchange theory within the field of management, management scholars have so far largely overlooked the role of this norm in their models. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating how employees' attribution of disinterested organisational support (i.e. support perceived by employees as not resulting from an underlying calculation) is related to employee retention. The hypotheses were tested in a longitudinal study of 151 management‐level employees. Results showed that perceptions of disinterested support decrease employee voluntary turnover through enhancing perceptions of organisational support and organisational commitment, and lessening turnover intention.     

基于自然和社会要素影响的清江流域生态系统服务研究

清江流域生态系统作为湖北西南山区重要的生态屏障,对山地城镇的发展具有重要意义。为反映清江流域生态系统服务价值的空间异质性,运用加权求和法、层次分析法和区位熵法分析并归因。结果表明:(1)清江流域生态风险源分布在人口密集的中下游流域,受洪涝、干旱、塌荒等地质灾害影响较大,应降低灾害风险对生态系统造成的影响;(2)研究区生态环境与经济分布不协调,其中恩施市等经济发展水平与植被覆盖率较高,巴东县等经济发展水平与植被覆盖率最低;(3)研究区总生态系统服务价值为3.96×106万元,流域内生态系统服务价值分布与土地面积表现为不协调。研究结果为政府决策者在实施可持续发展战略提供科学合理的依据。     

La détection des effets de mise en scène dans les états financiers*

Résumé. Les auteurs s'intéressent ici à la nature des représentations cognitives qu'utilisent les vérificateurs en situation de fraude potentielle dans les états financiers. Ils divisent le problème de détection de la fraude en deux parties: la détection de la mise en scène élaborée par la direction pour masquer la fraude et la détection de la fraude. Ils examinent les deux méthodes de détection des mises en scène proposées par Kahneman et Tversky (1986): 1) l'utilisation de représentations multiples aboutissant à différentes interprétations possibles des données contenues dans les états financiers; et 2) l'utilisation d'une méthode permettant de transposer les données contenues dans les états financiers sous forme de représentation normalisée. Vingt-quatre associés de vérification ont participé à l'étude. Chacun d'eux devait procéder à la contre-révision d'un dossier de vérification. Tous les vérificateurs examinaient quatre cas dans lesquels la direction avait présenté une image trompeuse de l'entreprise (au moyen d'une mise en scène) et produit des états financiers frauduleux. Les résultats obtenus par les auteurs confirment la thèse de Kahneman et Tversky selon laquelle les mises en scène peuvent être décelées grâce à la transposition du problème sous forme de représentation normalisée. Les vérificateurs qui ont eu recours à une représentation normalisée sont parvenus à percer à jour la mise en scène de la direction, à totaliser les éléments correctement et à déceler la fraude dans tous les cas. Ils ont, pour cela, appliqué des procédés conformes aux normes de vérification généralement reconnues (Institut Canadien des Comptables Agréés, 1988; American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 1984) pour totaliser les éléments. Les vérificateurs qui ont eu recours à des représentations multiples ont aussi détecté la mise en scène élaborée par la direction dans les quatre cas. Ils n'ont cependant pas appliqué les procédés de totalisation recommandés dans les normes de vérification et ne sont parvenus à détecter la fraude dans aucun des quatre cas.     

Is There a Size Effect in the Pricing of Stocks in the Chinese Stock Markets?: The Case of Bull Versus Bear Markets

Size effect studies generally suggest that a return premium exists for small firms. While the size effect has mostly disappeared in recent years in mature markets (e.g., US and UK), it remains mostly strong in developing markets. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between firm size and excess stock returns in the Chinese stock markets, and to examine this effect in both a bull and bear market. No studies have previously examined these relationships in the Chinese markets. The results of the study indicate that a size effect exists in the Chinese stock markets over the 6-year period from 1998 to 2003. We find small firms have significantly greater excess returns than large firms. Moreover, small firms are found to have a stronger reaction to the direction of the market than large firms. Small firms have significantly greater positive excess returns than large firms during the bull market. However, small firms have significantly greater negative returns (using total market value), or no significant difference in returns (using float market value) during the bear market period.