Publicly traded versus privately held: implications for conditional conservatism in bank accounting

Compared with privately held banks, publicly traded banks face greater agency costs because of greater separation of ownership and control but enjoy greater benefits from access to the equity capital market. Differences in control and capital market access influence public versus private banks’ accounting. We predict and find that public banks exhibit greater degrees of conditional conservatism (asymmetric timeliness of the recognition of losses versus gains in accounting income) than private banks. We predict and find that public banks recognize more timely earnings declines, less timely earnings increases, and larger and more timely loan losses. Although public ownership gives managers greater ability and incentive to exercise income-increasing accounting, our findings show that the demand for conservatism dominates within public banks and that the demand for conservatism is greater among public banks than private banks. Our results provide insights for accounting and finance academics, bank managers, auditors, and regulators concerning the effects of ownership structure on conditional conservatism in banks’ financial reporting.

Regressive Tax Rates and the Unethical Taxation of Salaried Income

In a regressive tax system, lower-income taxpayers pay larger percentages of their incomes in taxes compared to higher-income taxpayers. Although most policymakers and citizens view regressive taxation as generally unfair and unethical, the U.S. tax system taxes wage, salary, and self-employment income in a manner that deliberately subjects lower-income taxpayers to marginal tax rates that are greater than those imposed on higher-income taxpayers. As a result, some lower-income taxpayers pay a larger percentage of their income in taxes than higher-income taxpayers. In this essay, we argue that this regressiveness in the taxation of salaried income is unfair and unethical. We then evaluate President Obama’s social security plan, which would retain most of the current tax system’s regressive structure. Finally, we offer two simple alternative proposals that are non-regressive, and thus more fair and ethical approaches to the taxation of salaried income.     

CAPITALIZATION OF INTEREST, MATERIALITY JUDGMENT DIVERGENCE AND USERS'INFORMATION NEEDS

A review of the international literature surrounding the concept of materiality yields no existing standards, no consensus of opinions, and little consistency of judgments. This study examines the initial application by auditors in the United States of SFAS No. 34 to comparative financial statements. The study finds that, relative to net income or net plant, the amount of capitalized interest judged to be material covers the same range of values as the amount judged to be immaterial. Such overlap suggests that the basis for disclosure or nondisclosure is not at all clear and that comparison of one firm's results with another may be hampered. The suggestion is made that the most immediate solution to this problem is disclosure and communication of the materiality guidelines used by the preparer of the (inancia1 statements.     

Fundraising in the usa and the united kingdom: Comparing today with directions for tomorrow

In 1995, residents of the United Kingdom — a population of 58 million — contributed £9.1bn ($14.56bn) to charities. During the same time period, $143.85bn was donated by the 265 million inhabitants in the United States. Going just by the numbers, the not-for-profit world often assumes Americans are the most philanthropic people on earth. But, a careful look at some actual indicators of charitability suggest this belief may, in fact, be more wishful thinking than reality. Here are the facts.     

On the sources of scope economies in U.S. manufacturing firms

This paper tests hypotheses on the sources of scope economies in a large sample of U.S. manufacturing firms. Federal Trade Commission Line of Business data are used to construct a new measure of scope economies that is appropriate for cross-section data. The measure and the LB data are capable of distinguishing between production and distribution economies of scope. In general, the results indicate that sharing assets is not important and that some sources of production scope economies may also be sources of diseconomies in multiproduct promotion, and vice versa. Implications for merger policy are briefly discussed.     

A Monopolist Would Still Charge More for Windows: A Comment on Werden

Even when heterogeneity of demand for computers is taken into account, Microsoft's pricing of Windows is inconsistent with the government's claim that Windows is a monopoly, protected by high entry barriers. Werden's claim to the contrary rests on confusion between local and global maxima and on his use of assumptions about thePC market that are demonstrably false.     

Repositioning fundraising in the 21st century

Albert Einstein noted ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result’.[Einstein, A., www.brainyquote.com ] Unfortunately, too many fundraisers continue to employ the same old methods even when the outcomes are disappointing. (Direct mail not working … add another mailing. Foundations not responding … up the number of proposals going out.) Because change is inevitable, those responsible for development decisions must understand the larger trends that are fuelling the paradigm shift in advancement strategies. This paper provides the background to understand the philanthropic, economic, societal and technological trends that have an impact on fundraising today. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications     

Social capital: reaching out,reaching in

This paper offers a critique of the much-vaunted claims of sports ability to integrate new migrants by generating social capital. By examining a growing literature base alongside new empirical evidence, we explore whether the experiences of new migrants actually reflect the hypothetical claims made by some policy-makers and scholars about the role of sport in tackling exclusion, promoting inclusion and constructing interculturalism. We demonstrate that the claims made about the value of sport are not found in the experiences of most of our respondents from new migrant communities living in Leeds, UK. We question whether sport truly is communicative in the Habermasian sense, contributing to identity projects, and so counsel caution in using it as a panacea to promote belonging and cohesion. This was a purpose for which leisure opportunities seemed more suited (at least for participants) in our research.