Accrual accounting does not necessarily mean accrual accounting: Factors that counteract compliance with accounting standards in Swedish municipal accounting

The regulation of Swedish municipal accounting has undergone fundamental changes over recent decades. Municipal accounting became regulated by law the 1st of January, 1998 after having been merely voluntarily regulated in the past. In accordance with the legislation, a standard-setting body was formed, with responsibility for development and interpretation of generally accepted accounting principles for municipal accounting. Important aims of the legislation and reform were to suppress ‘creative’ accounting and to increase the level of harmonization and comparability. Using the lens of positive accounting theory as well as institutional theory, this paper describes and explains the impact of the legislation and standard setting in the Swedish municipal sector. We have used a triangulation approach, collecting data through a survey, documentary study and interviews. The overall results show that the reform has had a very limited impact on accounting practice. Compliance with accounting standards was in general poor. This result is in line with the assumptions of positive accounting theory. However, the study also shows that there are differences among the preparers which can be explained by institutional theory. Large municipalities produce better accounting information (i.e. more in line with generally accepted accounting principles) than the municipalities in general. Weak audit quality seems to be another important factor that explains the poor compliance with accounting standards.     

Utopian thought and the politics of sustainable development

This article argues that utopian thought is a necessary condition for the politics of sustainable development. Since utopian thought has so far been constrained by some typically Western features from the era of modernity, this requires a shift that transcends the following three fundamental aspects: the notions of fixed truth, fixed territoriality and fixed final goals for politics. The article argues that the concept of global sustainable development can entail three new elements of utopian thought: the disintegration of fixed territoriality, a never-ending story, and prismatic blueprints. Using these elements, utopian thought can provide transformative power, so that politics and policymaking can meet contemporary global challenges to development and the environment.     

Type space on a purely measurable parameter space

Summary. Several game theoretical topics require the analysis of hierarchical beliefs, particularly in incomplete information situations. For the problem of incomplete information, Harsányi suggested the concept of the type space. Later Mertens and Zamir gave a construction of such a type space under topological assumptions imposed on the parameter space. The topological assumptions were weakened by Heifetz, and by Brandenburger & Dekel. In this paper we show that at very natural assumptions upon the structure of the beliefs, the universal type space does exist. We construct a universal type space, which employs purely a measurable parameter space structure.Received: 12 August 2002, Revised: 1 March 2004, JEL Classification Numbers: C70, C79, D80, D82.Miklós Pintér: The author wishes to thank Péter Tallos, Tamás Solymosi, and an anonymous referee for their suggestions and comments. This work was supported by OTKA grant T046194.     

College Choice and Subsequent Earnings: Results Using Swedish Sibling Data*

Using data on 19,000 whole siblings, it is shown that earnings vary significantly among students who have graduated from different colleges. The cross‐section estimates are up to twice the within‐family estimates, indicating that a regression estimator of college effects that does not adjust properly for family characteristics will overestimate the earnings premium of college. This study also shows that the effects of college choice vary between sisters and brothers and that there is a relationship between teacher quality and the college effects. These findings suggest that there is no straightforward interpretation of college in individual earnings equations.     

Der Ausbau der Hochschulen muss zügig kommen

Die Bedeutung des Humankapitals für das künftige Wirtschaftswachstum ist allgemein anerkannt. Gleichzeitig sto?en steigende Studienanf?ngerzahlen auf knappe Bildungsbudgets in den Bundesl?ndern. Wie wird sich die Zahl der Studienanf?nger bis 2020 entwickeln? Wird es eine entsprechende Nachfrage nach Hochschulabsolventen geben? Welcher Kapazit?tsaufbau ist an den Hochschulen erforderlich und was wird er kosten?     

Design of economic information. A pilot study of accounting information in decision-making processes

Accounting information is developed for an analytic decision-making process, whereas many farmers use an intuitive process. The aim is to determine the decisions and parts of the decision-making that farmers use for accounting information, and to what extent accounting information would be more useful if it was designed to fit the decision-making process used. A limited sample of milk-producing farmers in Uppsala County, Sweden, was studied. For detecting scale problems, the values of the financial statement were of primary importance and the design of the profit and loss statement was of secondary importance. For detecting efficiency problems, the values of the profit and loss statement were most important, the content of the commentary information was the second most important, and the design of the financial statement was the third most important. Farmers using an intuitive decision-making process perceived problem detection to be easier if the information was designed to fit the intuitive process. However, farmers using an analytic decision-making process did not perceive problem detection to be easier if the accounting information was designed to fit the analytic process. Also they valued the information designed for the intuitive process.     

An algorithm for resource allocation with constraints in an input-output framework

In a large corporation or at the national level, planning involves a large number of inter-related activities competing for the same resources. In spite of its rather restrictive assumptions, Leontief's Input-Output model is still one of the best tool for the study of physical and financial flows between activities or economic sectors. A simple algorithm to find its solution when the available resources are limited is presented in this paper. The properties of that algorithm that was incorporated in an inter-industrial model built in Venezuela are proven and are followed by examples of application.r>

Riassunto In grandi imprese o in sistemi economici nazionali la pianificazione riguarda un numero elevato di attività interrelate che fanno uso delle stesse risorse. Nonostante le ipotesi di base piuttosto restrittive, il modelloinput-output di Leontief è ancora uno degli strumenti più efficaci per lo studio dei flussi fisici e finanziari tra attività o settori economici.In questo lavoro viene presentato un semplice algoritmo per individuare la soluzione d'un problema di pianificazione quando sono limitati gli ammontari delle risorse. Sono dimonstrate alcune proprietà di questo algoritmo, che fu impiegato su un modello di relazioni interindustriali costruito in Venezuela e sono fornite alcune applicazioni esemplificatrici.

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Versione definitiva pervenuta il 14-2-1983