Financial statements in less developed countries： What do preparers demand？

This study reports on an empirical investigation of the characteristics, attitudes, and beliefs of preparers of external financial reports in a less developed country. The basic research instrument consisted of a questionnaire in two parts： the first addressing attitudes of professional accountants toward annual financial reports generally; the second, more specifically measuring the importance of the information items to preparers. Our results suggest that the independent auditor is the most influential group in decision-making processes. As in many developed countries, the auditor＇s report and the regulatory framework are considered to have a major influence on financial reporting practices. Preparers believe that a lack of knowledge of external users＇ needs and lack of reporting standards and accepted accounting principles are the main concerns with corporate financial reports in Iran. The results showed that the balance sheet, auditors＇ report, and income statement in that order are the three most important parts of the annual reports.     

基于主成分分析的环渤海技术创新能力综合评价研究

区域技术创新能力是衡量一个区域经济增长的重要标准,大力发展技术创新能力对促进本区域的经济发展和提升其区域竞争力都起到重要作用。本文通过构建区域技术创新能力指标评价体系,利用主成分分析对环渤海的技术创新能力进行综合评价,为制定地区经济发展提供科学依据。     

The geographic distribution of conferences in Jordan from 2014 to 2016 using predictive GIS modeling

Due to the continuous and rapid expansion of conference tourism and its paramount role in the economic growth of the host countries like Jordan, this study comes to track the geographic distribution of conferences for the years 2014–2016. The main goal of the study is to direct the locations of future conferences to less favored areas that are marginalized and poor. Spatial statistics and Geographic Information System Predictive Modeling (GISPM) are used to calculate the potential locations of conferences based on predefined criteria. The results indicate that the current locations of most of the conferences are concentrated in the northern and middle parts of the country. The GISPM results recommend the eastern and southern locations taking into consideration the socioeconomic development of host communities. The study offers other recommendations addressing managers, event planners, event organizers, conference stakeholders, and the enterprises as well as academic researchers in tourism planning and development.     

Incorporating Neolithic villages at Petra,Jordan: an integrated approach to sustainable tourism

Listed as a World Heritage Site since 1985, the city of Petra is well regarded as the most important attraction in Jordan that is internationally recognized for its rare archaeological remains, monuments and façades that date back to Nabataean times. This paper presents an inter-disciplinary approach, which is co-constructed by an academic archaeologist and a sustainable tourism researcher that considers the integration of three rare and significant Neolithic villages as a unique extension of the cultural and heritage tourism experience in Petra. The paper begins by deliberating the implications of World Heritage Status for iconic and flagship destinations such as Petra. From this, results of a review of secondary research and interviews with local tour operators are presented which explored the issues and challenges that may inhibit the inclusion of the Neolithic villages as part of the Petra attraction system. The authors propose that an attraction diversification strategy and a sustainable tourism-planning approach are necessary to sustain the destination’s long-term future, conserve Petra’s archaeological sites, ensure economic benefits and appropriate participation of local communities within the region, and to serve as a way to attract more appreciative visitor markets to the region.     

Optimal wages for politicians

I consider a society that has to decide on the wage that it offers for an elected official. Potential candidates differ in their abilities, which determines their effectiveness in office and their opportunity cost. They consider the wage when deciding whether to enter as candidates, and if they do, how hard to campaign. The remuneration for the official that maximizes ordinary citizens’ expected utility is a function of the proportion of competent voters who are better informed about the quality of the candidates and are not influenced by the campaign. I use the data on U.S. governor salaries over six decades to evaluate some implications of the model. Specifically, the proportion of the state's population with a bachelor's degree—a proxy for the proportion of competent voters—is negatively correlated with the governors’ salaries when controlled for other factors.     

Pattern extraction for high-risk accidents in the construction industry: a data-mining approach

Accidents involving falls and falling objects (group I) are highly frequent accidents in the construction industry. While being hit by a vehicle, electric shock, collapse in the excavation and fire or explosion accidents (group II) are much less frequent, they make up a considerable proportion of severe accidents. In this study, multiple-correspondence analysis, decision tree, ensembles of decision tree and association rules methods are employed to analyse a database of construction accidents throughout Iran between 2007 and 2011. The findings indicate that in group I, there is a significant correspondence among these variables: time of accident, place of accident, body part affected, final consequence of accident and lost workdays. Moreover, the frequency of accidents in the night shift is less than others, and the frequency of injury to the head, back, spine and limbs are more. In group II, the variables time of accident and body part affected are mostly related and the frequency of accidents among married and older workers is more than single and young workers. There was a higher frequency in the evening, night shifts and weekends. The results of this study are totally in line with the previous research.     

Assessing the Impact of Rice Import Quota Policy on the Malaysian Rice Sector

ABSTRACT

After the food crisis in 2008, the Malaysian government reintroduced their efforts to reach rice self-sufficiency and to stabilize domestic prices by using a rice import quota of 700,000 tons per year. Though with the emergence of trade liberalization and regional agreements, Malaysian government interventions should be limited. Therefore, this article attempts to assess the impact of removing the rice import quota on the rice sector in Malaysia using a system dynamics model. The simulated results showed that due to developing rice-based industry in Malaysia and its effects on the rice market situation, the rice import quota might have a negative impact on increasing farmers’ income, more affordable prices for consumers, and diversification of food in Malaysia.     

CSR and the workplace attitudes of irregular employees: The case of subcontracted workers in Korea

In recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in organizational trends to hire irregular workers. This inclination, in a time of great flux and uncertainty, exacerbates human resource issues faced by firms. We argue that corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be an important antecedent to improve the workplace attitudes of irregular workers and as a result reduce the negative impact on organizations of the increased use of an irregular workforce. Hence, we explore the relationship between perceived CSR (composite and disaggregated) and unfairness perception and social relations of subcontracted workers with regular workers. We further attempt to explain these relationships through the mediating effects of psychological contract violation and organizational identity, respectively. Our analysis supports a negative effect of composite and external CSR on unfairness perception and positive effect on social relations. Additionally, our results support partial mediating roles of psychological contract violation and organizational identity. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are also discussed.     

Tensions between politico‐institutional factors and accounting regulation in a developing economy: insights from institutional theory

The study contributes to building an understanding of the impact of political forces on the information environment of listed firms in a developing economy. Specifically, it investigates the tensions between politico‐institutional factors and accounting regulation on the prolonged and incomplete implementation of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Bangladesh from 1998 to 2010. Two phases of interviews were conducted in 2010–2011 and IFRS‐related enforcement documents from 1998 to 2010 were evaluated. The study contributes that IFRSs are being diffused to developing countries like Bangladesh, but they invariably interact with local institutions (political institutions in this case), with variable outcomes (i.e. negative outcomes of IFRS implementation). Coercive, normative and mimetic isomorphisms are low in Bangladesh. Notably, political forces have been undermining mimetic isomorphism because of the high level of government intervention and the high level of political lobbying. Political institutional pressures stand in the way of mimetic isomorphism and constitute negative forces that add further tension to accounting regulation (e.g. the implementation of IFRS) in Bangladesh. Regarding the low level of normative isomorphism, there is evidence of a ‘blame culture’, with state institutions and professional accountancy institutions in the country blaming each other for the poor progress in IFRS implementation. Although the study focuses on Bangladesh, its results have implications for international policy makers (the International Accounting Standards Board, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank), as well as the governments and regulators of other developing economies facing similar challenges in implementing IFRS.