Data Fixation and the Use of Traditional Versus Activity-Based Costing Systems

An important debate in the contemporary accounting literature relates to the relative merits of activity-based versus volume-based product costing methodologies. Traditional volume-based costing systems are said to be flawed and may seriously mislead strategic decision making. Such arguments assume that decision makers use such information in an unproblematic way. This article reports on an experiment designed to investigate whether decision makers are able to overcome data fixation in a setting involving the use of product cost information. In response to criticisms of previous accounting studies of data fixation, subjects received some feedback after each decision, and were rewarded based on performance. The experiment involved subjects making a series of production output decisions based on detailed case information of a hypothetical firm facing different market conditions for each decision. A between-subjects design was utilized with two cost system treatments: activity-based costing (ABC) and traditional costing (TC). It was hypothesized that the group provided with ABC cost data would make 'optimal' decisions and the group provided with TC cost data would overcome fixation. The results of the experiment indicated that there was, in general, evidence of data fixation among TC subjects, but a small number of subjects did adjust to ABC costs. These results are discussed in the light of previous research and some future directions are outlined.     

Ill-behaviour of transformation-frontiers with environmental quality versus pollution

If one looks at environmental quality N as a renewable natural resource (with its own natural dynamics) which is changed by emissions Z, then one gets a better understanding of the shape of the damage function. In the case of a logistic growth dynamics one obtains a well-shaped transformation frontier N(Z), even in a two-species natural dynamics. For a more general natural interaction in the framework of a prey-predator model one obtains the possibilities of a cusp catastrophe which makes the transformation frontier N(Z) ill-shaped for the standard arguments of economists and their most favoured environmental policy instruments.     

基于DSRC和CDPD的先进公交系统

本文首先讲述了ITS中的2种通信技术——专用短程通信（DSRC）和蜂窝数字分组数据网（CDPD）的基本概念、工作原理及系统特点等，然后提出了一种基本这2种通信技术的先进公交系统，并对各个子系统的功能结构进行了描述。     

The approach to transforming the traditional agricultural economy: a research on the multiple paths of poverty alleviation and transformation in rural China

Transforming a traditional agricultural economy into a modern economy is one of the main themes in economic development. Through theoretical and empirical analysis, this paper finds out that the key to transformation is to raise the economic value of people, to improve human capital investment and to match the stocks of physical and human capital. China’s rural economy is on the edge of economic take-off, and different zones may pursue different paths for transformation. The source of rural poverty is not the scarcity of income or consumption, but the deficiency of education, social security, medical care and economic opportunity, which we define as “capability poverty”. __________ Translated from The Journal of World Economy (世界经济), 2005,(2) (in Chinese)     

利用OLE技术实现Excel与dBase的通信

论述了一种基于OLE自动化技术、利用Excel的OLE对象实现Excel与dBase数据库之间进行通信的方法，并给出了在VB下实现该技术的主要代码。     

RESEARCH NOTE: ERRORS IN THE OCTOBER HOUSEHOLD SURVEY 1994 AVAILABLE FROM THE SOUTH AFRICAN DATA ARCHIVE1

The on‐line electronic documentation supplied with the 1994 October Household Survey by the South African Data Archive (SADA) appears to be incorrect. In particular, the electronic version of the questionnaire does not correspond to the hard copy in the possession of the author. The most serious error is that the race classification in the electronic copy is different from the classification on the hard copy. Researchers relying on the electronic copy will erroneously interchange the categories “Coloured”, “White” and “Black”. This could lead to seriously misleading analyses. The reason for this mistake can probably be attributed to a retyping of the questionnaire using the 1993 OHS as a template.     

晶化时间对CoAPO-11分子筛合成过程中转晶的影响

本文研究了晶化时间对低钴含量(x=0.1)的CoAPO-11分子筛合成过程中转晶现象的影响,并采用XRD、SEM对产物进行表征。结果表明,200℃下晶化48 h,可获得纯相CoAPO-11;当晶化时间超过48 h时,产物便开始向[Co-Al-P-O]-GIS型分子筛转化;晶化延长至72 h时,产物已全部转化为[Co-Al-P-O]-GIS型分子筛,该转化过程不可逆。从分子筛骨架结构单元出发,阐述了转晶现象的内在影响因素。     

Hypothesis tests using data envelopment analysis

A substantial body of recent work has opened the way to exploring the statistical properties of DEA estimators of production frontiers and related efficiency measures. The purpose of this paper is to survey several possibilities that have been pursued, and to present them in a unified framework. These include the development of statistics to test hypotheses about the characteristics of the production frontier, such as returns to scale, input substitutability, and model specification, and also about variation in efficiencies relative to the production frontier.     

"转化"理论在马克思劳动价值论中的地位及其局限

本文认为,马克思的劳动价值论是以“简单商品经济”为基础构建起来的,“转化”理论是马克思劳动价值理论由“简单商品经济”通向资本主义现存生产方式的桥梁,它使马克思劳动价值论不再仅仅局限于“简单商品经济”的范围,而是其全部理论的支点。然而它在马克思的劳动价值理论中并非是一种完全自洽的存在,它在解释资本主义社会现实经济活动方面,本身也存在一些局限,留下了一些值得思考的问题。     

Use of Statistics in the Monetary Policy of the Czech National Bank: The Case of a Country in Transition

In the presented text the authors judge the importance of statistics in the monetary policy of the Czech National Bank (CNB) over the course of the economic transformation process, with particular consideration of changing statistical needs and the possibilities and limits of statistical data exploitation in the monetary analyses. The importance of statistics lies on the level of collection and processing of statistical information and on the level of use of statistical methods to analyse data. Since the start of the 1990s the requirements for statistics were significantly influenced by monetary policy. In the period 1990–1997, monetary targeting was the primary influential factor. Since 1998, the monetary policy is influenced by inflation targeting. Statistical priorities switched from monetary data to economy and financial market data. Much progress has been made in the use of statistical methods for analysing data. Statistics available at present cover the CNB's standard monetary-policy requirements and are on par with those in developed countries. Its further development will reflect the standard changes taking place in the more advanced countries.