A Retrospective Look at Wholesale Gas: Industry Restructuring

The purpose of this paper is to identify lessons learned from the restructuring of the natural gas industry. We draw a number of conclusions including that the billions of dollars of savings typically attributed to gas industry restructuring resulted not from competition but because restructuring stranded billions of dollars in contractual purchase obligations, costs that were absorbed by producers and pipelines. The replacement of regulated wholesale merchants by new entrants did not occur because of competitive efficiencies. Competition in wholesale gas marketing has produced consumer benefits in the form of innovation, new product development, broader choices and possibly reduced costs. Bi-lateral contracting led to the development of gas markets, which in turn, produced market-wide diffusion and integration of pricing information.     

The Role and Current Status of IFRS in the Completion of National Accounting Rules – Evidence from Ireland

Abstract

We examine the extent to which International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) are used as a reference point and as a basis for the development of accounting standards in the Republic of Ireland (ROI). In particular, the focus is on accounting standards applicable to entities other than those listed on a regulated EU market. The objective is to provide a deeper understanding of the direct and indirect effect of IFRS on accounting standards applicable predominantly to private companies limited by shares in ROI. We illustrate how the historical links between the UK and ROI continue to influence accounting standards applicable in ROI. The enactment of the Companies (Accounting) Bill 2016 into ROI law will maintain the traditional alignment of UK and ROI accounting regulation, whilst simultaneously bringing into force the remaining aspects of the EU Accounting Directive 2013/34/EU, not currently applicable in ROI.     

Effects of foreign product names and country-of-origin attributions on advertisement evaluations

In an effort to correct methodological problems with previous research on effects of country-of-origin attributions, two experiments examined college students' reactions to brief oral or written ads for products with English, French, German, or Spanish names. Subjects rated how much they liked the ad and liked the product name and rated their likelihood of purchasing the product. Results showed that, overall, English names were generally favored over the foreign names. This finding, however, varied tremendously with the product; for several products one or more of the foreign names was preferred. Country of origin also frequently interacted with either sex or modality of the ad. In general, written ads were preferred over oral ones. Results were interpreted as arguing for great care and caution in interpreting country-of-origin effects. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.