The effects of experience and explicit fraud risk assessment in detecting fraud with analytical procedures

This paper reports the results of an experiment that examined the effects of audit experience and explicit fraud risk assessment instructions on the effectiveness of analytical procedures in detecting financial statement fraud. The results of this study suggest that audit managers are more effective than audit seniors in assessing the risk of fraud with analytical procedures. Additionally, explicit fraud risk assessment instructions resulted in more effective assessments of the presence of fraud. These results have implications for the assignment of auditors to tasks and the structuring of these tasks.     

Social Enterprises and the Timing of Conception: Organizational Identity Tension,Management, and Marketing

Nonprofit organizations that engage in social enterprises can have difficulty reconciling the social service and business identities of their organization. In this exploratory qualitative interview study, we examine how social enterprises affect this organizational identity tension and how executive directors of nonprofits manage these multiple identities. Findings suggest that identity tension varied dependent upon the timing of conception of the social enterprise. Nonprofit leaders used different approaches to identity management and identity marketing for social enterprises: after conception and social enterprises: at conception. Initial guidance is provided about how nonprofits engaged in social enterprises can manage identity tension issues.     

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF ON-FARM SOLUTIONS TO DRAINAGE PROBLEMS IN IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE

Agricultural production in many semi-arid areas over the world is affected by poor drainage and saline conditions. Optimal agricultural management can be considerably different under these conditions than in locations where these problems do not occur. A long-run steady-state model is developed to analyse several management strategies for a farm with limited natural drainage and no access to off farm facilities. The model is applied to a representative farm in California. Under optimal management, the results suggest relatively small evaporation ponds, a reduction in water application, and little change in cropping patterns. Some drainage reuse is optimal when only variable reuse costs are considered. Returns to land and management are positive in all cases considered and benefits from a free off-farm facility are approximately $260/ha.     

Implications for food production, land use and rural development of the European Union’s Single Farm Payment: Indications from a survey of farmers’ intentions in Germany, Portugal and the UK

The 2003 reform of the European Union’s (EU) Common Agricultural Policy introduced a decoupled income support for farmers called the Single Farm Payment (SFP). Concerns were raised about possible future land use and production changes and their impact on rural communities. Here, such concerns are considered against the workings of the SFP in three EU Member States. Various quantitative studies that have determined the likely impact of the SFP within the EU and the study countries are reviewed. We present the results of a farm survey conducted in the study countries in which farmers’ responses to a decoupling scenario similar to the SFP were sought. We found that little short-term change was proposed in the three, rather different, study countries with only 30% of the farmers stating that they would alter their mix of farm activities. Furthermore, less than 30% of all respondents in each country would idle any land under decoupling. Of those who would adopt a new activity, the most popular choices were forestry, woodland and non-food crops.     

On the existence,uniqueness and stability of spatial equilibrium in an open city with externalities

This paper deals with the existence, uniqueness and stability of a spatial equilibrium in an open city with external diseconomies like air pollution generated by manufacturing activities. First, assuming that both production functions and utility functions are Cobb-Douglas, we prove the existence of a spatial equilibrium under some reasonable assumptions. It is shown, however, that the uniqueness and stability of the equilibrium may not be obtained, unless the degree of externality is sufficiently small. In fact, none of the equilibria will be stable for a certain set of speeds of adjustment in the labor market and the land market, if the degree of externality is relatively large. Finally, some implications of our results are derived in regard to the application of the hedonic price concept within the context of a spatial equilibrium model.     

The impact of mean reversion of bank profitability on post-merger performance in the banking industry

This research study examines the tendency for serial correlation in bank holding company profitability, finding significant evidence of reversion to the industry mean in profitability. The paper then considers the impact of mean reversion on the evaluation of post-merger performance of bank holding companies. The research concludes that when an adjustment is made for the mean reversion, post-merger results significantly exceed those of the industry in the first 5 years after the merger.     

Adult labour market implications of antisocial behaviour in childhood and adolescence: findings from a UK longitudinal study

While antisocial behaviour in younger age groups is largely viewed as a public externality issue, there are also reasons for expecting less favourable life-course outcomes for those individuals who follow antisocial developmental pathways. Data from a UK longitudinal study of delinquent development in a cohort of working class boys are used to model the adult labour market implications of different antisocial developmental pathways to age 32. A series of probit estimations suggests that children identified as troublesome by peers and teachers at an early age, and who subsequently engaged in delinquent behaviour throughout their adolescence, had a significantly higher probability of experiencing long periods of time out of the workforce prior to age 32 and lengthy periods of unemployment and/or low paid work at both age 18 and at age 32. A Heckman selectivity model estimated on weekly earnings at age 32 does not provide evidence that antisocial development in children and adolescents is associated with a lower wage. However, the findings from a two-part model suggest that antisocial boys will have significantly lower levels of expected earnings from employment at 32 years––an effect that is almost entirely the result of lower rates of workforce participation. While a full causal, structural model of labour outcomes is not developed, there is tentative evidence that relatively poor employment outcomes for antisocial boys are mediated through poor educational attainment at secondary school and higher rates of criminal conviction in early adulthood.     

What is the Chance of Yuan Revaluation?

From a Chinese perspective, chances of any change in the Yuan exchange rate look pretty slim. If you were an official in Beijing, would you stick your neck out even recommending this idea? If the status quo looks fairly acceptable, and it is ‘stability oriented’ (a very Chinese preference), why go rocking the boat? You certainly do not make any changes just because Japan or the US tell you to. And financial markets are not that persuasive – after all they wanted a devaluation only a short while ago. In this article, Vanessa Rossi and Simon Knapp assess the likelihood of a Yuan revaluation and its implications for the economic outlook.     

Relief and Redress for Targets of Workplace Bullying

Workplace bullying is a particularly insidious form of counterproductive workplace behavior that results in significant costs to both targets and organizations. We explore existing and potential avenues of relief and redress available to targets. Relief refers to activities focused on eliminating the bullying as well as the mechanisms used to treat those who have been bullied. Redress refers to third-party remedies that involve the financial and/or non-financial compensation of targets. The optimal strategy for dealing with workplace bullying involves both effective organizational interventions to help prevent and address bullying incidents and strong legislative mechanisms to allow for restitution and compensation. This two-pronged strategy provides targets of bullying with multiple sources of relief and redress.