An Examination of the Effect of Hypothesis Framing on Auditors'Information Choices in an Analytical Procedure Task

Libby (1985) contends that auditors'search for and evaluation of audit evidence, particularly during analytical procedures, is influenced by an explicitly or implicitly formulated hypothesis. Often a hypothesis may be'framed'in alternative ways. For example, an auditor may frame analytical procedure results in terms of a'misstatement'or a'non-misstatement'frame. The concern arises that alternatively framed, but otherwise identical, audit issues may be treated differently. This concern has led Kinney and Haynes (1990) to propose modifying auditing standards to direct auditors to adopt a'misstatement'frame. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether alternative analytical procedure frames affect auditors'information choices in an analytical procedure task. An experiment was conducted in which auditors listed which information cues were relevant to explain an unusual financial statement fluctuation. Half of the information cues made a misstatement explanation more plausible whereas half of the information cues made a non-misstatement explanation more plausible. The results indicate that hypothesis frame significantly affected auditors'information choices. Specifically, auditors in the misstatement (non-misstatement) frame select more misstatement (non-misstatement) cues as relevant. The hypothesis frame, however, did not significantly affect probability assessments.     

Use of forward versus backward reasoning during audit analytical procedures: evidence from a computerised-process-tracing field study

Audit judgement research has widely assumed that auditors rely primarily on backward reasoning during analytical procedures but the relative use of forward reasoning has not been directly examined. The present study explains how auditors use backward and forward reasoning during analytical procedures, discusses evidence from other research suggesting that forward reasoning could be more prevalent, and examines the relative use of forward reasoning during analytical procedures with data from a computerised process‐tracing field study. Results suggest that auditors rely extensively on forward reasoning when using analytical procedures. Findings motivate future research that examines when forward and backward reasoning are most effective.     

Putting the ‘New Open Economy Macroeconomics’ to a test

This paper explores one way to extend the New Open Economy Macroeconomics in an empirical direction. Adapting maximum likelihood procedures, it estimates and tests an intertemporal small open economy model with monetary shocks and nominal rigidities. Results offer mixed support for a benchmark model where prices are assumed to be sticky in the currency of the buyer. Price stickiness seems to be an important element, as overall results are poorer for versions of the model in which prices either are flexible or are sticky in the currency of the producer. The benchmark model does a better job explaining some variables than others; in particular, it does a poor job explaining exchange rate movements.     

存储过程在OA系统中的应用

存储过程是数据库编程中的一种常见方法,存储过程的合理使用,可以起到提高编程效率、增强系统安全性等作用.文章分析了存储过程的结构,提出了存储过程在OA系统中的几种应用方法.     

The central government grant allocation problem in the presence of misrepresentation and cheating

This study deals with the central government grant allocation problem under conditions of asymmetric information. Using a simple model, we examine herein the optimal design of random audit and incentive mechanisms to encourage the grantee (the local government authority) to report truthfully on local parameters required in the granting process. The local government authority must choose between two possibilities: a menu of contracts that could be considered as a matching grant programme with random auditing vs. a lump-sum grant without any audit mechanism. We will show that addressing the optimal grant system problem is similar to comparing slopes on the graph of the indirect local government welfare function at two distinct points.Received: January 2003, Accepted: November 2003, JEL Classification: H21, H23, H71, H77We would like to express our thanks to Howard Chernick and an anonymous referee for their extremely helpful comments.     

An experimental analysis of the effects of automated mitigation procedures on investment and prices in wholesale electricity markets

In this paper we report the findings of an economic experiment that examines the effects of an automated mitigation procedure (AMP) on prices and capacity investment choices of suppliers in a wholesale electricity market. Specifically, we examine the effects of different market power incentives on markets with and without an AMP. While we find that the AMP does not affect overall investment in capacity, the most significant determinant of long-run prices is investment in new capacity. The AMP also does not reduce long-run prices relative to markets without an AMP. Furthermore, our participants successfully manipulated the AMP’s trigger price. The data and a sample copy of the instructions are available upon request. This article reflects the opinions of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the position of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission or any individual Commissioner.     

A social procedurial approach to the Pareto optimization problematique

This article applies a variant of game theory to the Pareto multi-value problematique, that is situations where members of a group, community or society are faced with alternative allocations, institutional arrangements, or states of the world and may collectively choose an allocation, institutional arrangement or state of the world if they can agree on it. This type of multiple value decision situation is increasingly prevalent not only on the level of societal and political issues but on the level of many enterprises, particularly those advocating corporate social responsibility. Because actors hold and apply values from different perspectives, there are potential contradictory value judgments and incompatible equilibria. In a world of contradiction, incommensurability, and disequilibrium, to what extent can conflicts be resolved and social equilibrium accomplished? Force works but it is inherently unstable. Drawing on an extension of classical game theory, generalized game theory (GGT), this article addresses the multi-value problematique in terms of collective “resolution procedures.” These regulative procedures—or social algorithms—are applied to problems of conflict and suboptimality in a multiple value world such as Pareto envisioned. This paper (the first of two) outlines key elements of GGT, defines the Pareto multi-value problematique, pointing out several of the critical weaknesses, theoretical as well as empirical, of the Pareto approach. GGT is then applied in defining and analyzing several major procedures to realize improvements in a multi-value world characterized by conflict and sub-optimality. A second article conceptualizes a complex of societal games making up a social system with 2-phase multi-level game processes; it applies the conceptualization to the different societal procedures for multi-value choice under conditions of conflict. Procedures such as democratic voting, adjudication and administrative decision-making, and multi-lateral negotiation are capable of producing outcomes that in many cases are widely accepted as legitimate and become social equilibria (at least within some range of conditions). These procedures and the conditions for their activation and implementation are modelled and explicated through a generalized game approach.     

档案交接的重要性

档案是与每个公民关系最密切的一种档案,它关系到每个公民的切身利益。材料缺失最容易出现的环节就是档案交接的过程。档案具有全面性、现实性、动态性等的特点,但当前档案在交接过程中存在许多问题,应从人员素质、制度建设、工作程序与信息技术方面进行解决。     

关于工程项目预算审查方法研究

工程项目预算审查是合理确定工程造价的必要程序及重要手段。本文阐述了工程项目预算审查的意义,论述了工程项目预算审查的内容和步骤,列举了工程项目预算审查的方法,最后提出了提高工程项目预算审查质量的措施。通过对工程项目预算审查方法的研究,使工程造价得到合理的确定、得到有效的控制,最终使工程项目管理目标得以实现。     

变电站典型操作要点

倒闸操作是变电站的一项重要工作,关系到变电站及电力系统的安全运行,关系到电气设备上的工作人员的生命及操作人员的安全。为防止各类误操作事故的发生,结合驻马店变电站多年运行实际经验,根据相关文献,本文对变电站典型操作原理、方法、步骤进行了探讨。