Agenda formation and accounting standards setting: lessons from the standards setters

There are many studies on lobbying of accounting standards, but the technical agenda of regulators is taken as ‘given’ and why a particular topic was admitted to the agenda is not investigated. Agenda formation is important as control of the agenda determines which topics get regulated and the form of the regulatory response. A few studies have explored agenda formation across regulatory institutions but are largely silent on the role of individual decision makers and technical staff. However, the standards setters have sought to explain their agenda processes. This paper reviews statements by the members of accounting standards setting agencies about their experiences of agenda formation. It identifies insights gained from standard setters and makes some suggestions for future research.     

Longevity and Life‐cycle Savings*

We add health and longevity to a standard model of life‐cycle saving and show that, under plausible assumptions, increases in life expectancy lead to higher savings rates at every age, even when retirement is endogenous. In a stationary population these higher savings rates are offset by increased old age dependency, but during the disequilibrium phase, when longevity is rising, the effect on aggregate savings rates can be substantial. We find empirical support for this effect using a cross‐country panel of national savings rates.     

Non-Parametric Regression Models of Deviations from Othogonality in the Expectations Theory of the Term Structure

Regression tests of the expectations theory of the term structure typically reject the null hypothesis of orthogonality between implied forecast errors and the yield spreads. In the statistical literature on the term structure, these rejections are sometimes attributed to time-varying liquidity premia, and Engle et al . (1987) suggest that the ARCH-M model of time-variation in the liquidity premium may be sufficient to account for rejections of the expectations theory. We use non-parametric (kernel) regression to explore the regression test results on a number of data sets, and find some evidence of a persistent deviation from orthogonality for large absolute values of the spread. Incorporating ARCH-in-mean into models of the term premium indicates that this specification does explain significant time variation in liquidity premia, but the effect does not apepar to be sufficient to account for all of the deviations from orthogonality of forecast errors and spreads.     

REALITIES OF HEALTH POLICY IN NORTH AMERICA: GOVERNMENT IS THE PROBLEM,NOT THE SOLUTION

Healthcare systems in North America are sometimes criticised as being expensive or socially irresponsible relative to comparable systems in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development) countries or regions. These perceived health system failures are often mistakenly attributed to greater private sector involvement in the delivery of medical care or the provision of medical insurance in Canada and the USA. However, the exact nature and scope of state involvement in the healthcare sector in Canada and the USA is also often misunderstood and underestimated. This paper presents a fact‐based context for evaluating health policy in North America.     

Long-run Relationships Between World Vegetable Oil Prices

In the international edible oil markets, there is believed to be high substitutability between vegetable oils and fats produced under different conditions. In light of this, we consider the question: what is the nature of the long-run relationships between vegetable oil prices? Long-run co-movements among oil prices are analysed, based on a multivariate cointegration model. The empirical finding is that most co-movements are consistent with the predictions of market theory. Prices of oils tend to be grouped according to their different end-uses. Some policy implications of a buffer stock scheme are discussed.     

Travel information online: navigating correspondents,consensus, and conversation

Travel information exists in paper guides, word of mouth, and countless websites. Organizing a trip has never been more accessible and simultaneously riddled with doubt. Professional journalists produce travel journalism while often anonymous reviewers on TripAdvisor provide their commentaries, and in between, there are blogs, wikis, tourism boards, vendors, and a host of other information sources available. How does the twenty-first-century tourist make sense of all of this information? Through a study of tourists in Paris, this study seeks to understand the methods and strategies that they employ in order to identify trustworthy and useful information. Interviews with a sample of travellers reveal that each person has his/her own unique process guided by their personal motivations, but they also share several practices along the way. This research reveals that tourists ultimately exhibit a multistep process of verification using both professional and non-professional sources. No one type of author or website appears to be a unique or singular influencer when it comes to primary or trustworthy sources. These findings will lead to larger discussions about destination management and transparent practices among information providers.     

卓有成效的技术创新

<正>苹果公司推出的新款iPod音乐 摇放器已被业内公认为是现代技术工 艺和设计创新的绝对典范。这款播放 器从外观、功能甚至使用的便捷性都 成为了美国的专利,然而它能受到如 此广大用户的青睐还是源于它的新颖 独特。     

Circuit Breakers with Uncertainty about the Presence of Informed Agents: I Know What You Know … I Think

This study conducts experimental asset markets to examine the effects of circuit breaker rules on market behavior when agents are uncertain about the presence of private information. Our results unequivocally indicate that circuit breakers fail to temper unwarranted price movements in periods without private information. Agents appear to mistakenly infer that others possess private information, causing price to move away from fundamental value. Allocative efficiencies in our markets are high across all regimes. Circuit breakers perform no useful function in our experimental asset markets.