The implications of ineffective internal control and SOX 404 reporting for financial analysts

The mandatory reporting of firms’ internal control effectiveness continues to be debated by equity market participants, U.S. regulatory agencies and oversight committees. We investigate the implications of material weaknesses in internal control and SOX 404 required reporting of such for financial analysts because analysts are important intermediaries in the U.S. capital market and it is not known whether analysts’ forecasts or coverage decisions are affected by firms’ internal control problems or reporting, respectively. Results of our empirical tests indicate that analysts provide less accurate forecasts and there is greater forecast dispersion for firms with ineffective internal control. We also find that firms that disclose internal control problems have less analyst coverage and that analyst following declines after the material weakness in internal control is disclosed. The results are robust to controlling for potential self-selection bias and management earnings guidance. Our study documents the consequences of ineffective internal control for an important class of financial statement users and suggests the required reporting on the effectiveness of internal control is beneficial to understanding the properties of analysts’ forecasts.     

An analysis of the implications of discontinued operations for continuing income

We examine the extent to which changes in the accounting for discontinued operations affects the usefulness of disaggregated income components in predicting an entity’s future continuing income. Our study is motivated by the joint FASB/IASB convergence project which seeks to define the scope of transactions reported in discontinued operations. To examine our question, we compare the properties of continuing income and discontinued operations reported under SFAS 144 and APB 30, where APB 30 closely parallels IFRS 5. We find that the broader scope of the rule under SFAS 144 results in more persistent continuing income among firms reporting discontinued operations, and that this is concentrated among single-segment firms, which previously were less likely to fall within the scope of APB 30. Because we find no evidence of increased opportunism, we conclude that the broader scope of the rule results in a finer partitioning of recurring and nonrecurring income. Overall, our results support the broader scope of discontinued operations.     

Price integration in the Australian rock lobster industry: implications for management and climate change adaptation

Rock lobster fisheries are Australia's most valuable wild fisheries in terms of both value of production and value of exports. Different states harvest and export different lobster species, with most of the landings being sent to the Hong Kong market. A perception in the Australian lobster industry is that the different species are independent on the export market, such that a change in landings of one species has no impact on the price of the others. This study investigates the market integration of Australian exports to Hong Kong for the four species and different exporting states. Our results indicate all four species and producers/export states are perceived to be substitutes for one another, so that, in the long run, prices paid to operators in the industry will move together. The integrated nature of the Hong Kong export market for Australian lobster suggests that the potential impacts of alternative fisheries management and development strategies at state and species levels cannot be considered in isolation, at least from an economic perspective. In addition, impacts of external shocks affecting production in one state (e.g. climate change) can be expected to affect all Australian lobster fisheries.     

广西国内旅游发展的区域差异研究

文章利用Theil指数、标准差及变异系数等方法分析2003-2011年广西各市及桂东、桂南、桂西、桂北、桂中等五个区域的国内旅游收入之间的差异,研究发现广西国内旅游区域发展差异逐年缩小,区域内的差异大于区域间的差异,区域内的差异是总差异的主要影响因素。针对目前广西国内旅游发展的差异分析结果,提出了相应的对策。     

对我国西部地区建立生态环境补偿机制的思考

我国西部地区自然条件恶劣、生态环境脆弱、基础设施落后、经济相对滞后,生态环境建设是西部大开发战略的一个重点,需要大量的资金投入。目前,在我国国力有限的情况下建立生态环境补偿机制有着十分重要的现实意义。为推动我国西部地区生态环境建设,本文从生态环境对经济的影响、我国西部生态环境现状分析和建立生态环境补偿机制思路等方面展开了讨论。     

论教育自由与人才培养的关系

本文横向解剖了以美国哈佛大学为例的自由教育,纵向分析了教育史上的几个重要时期,同时探讨了人的自由本性;通过对教育自由与人才培养之间关系问题的多角度分析,首次提出了教育的自组织理论。该理论认为：只有独立的、自由的、开放的教育才能够充分发挥其自组织功能,才能够培养出原创性人才;中国的教育要想能够培养出创造性人才,必须改变对人的生命和人的教育以及政治理性与教育理性关系的基本理念。     

Evidence of Place: Becoming a Region in Rural Canada

The purpose of this article is to investigate whether place is emerging in practice as a critical dimension in the development of Canadian rural regions. Recently, Jones and Paasi set regional researchers the task of better understanding how regions ‘become'. In researching this question, we are particularly interested in the definition and expression of place‐based identity as a mobilizing force for regionalism. Our findings suggest that, while identity plays a critical role in fostering regional development processes, it is either too emergent or actively resisted within our research sites to be a significant force for place‐based regional development.     

Probing cultural differences in product design and consumer evaluation using repertory grid analysis

International Journal of Technology and Design Education - Culture plays an essential role in the success of product design, especially in the age of a global economy where there is a high...