Development in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Statistics at the Australian Bureau of Statistics

This paper outlines the ICT statistical developments that the ABS has undertaken over recent years. These developments have been on both the supply side (ICT industry) and the demand side (use of IT by sector). The content of ABS ICT surveys has changed significantly over the last few years and are expected to develop further in line with industry changes and emerging policy needs.
Recent developments in household collections have been the inclusion of IT use questions in the 2001 Census of Population and Housing and in various ABS social surveys such as Children's Participation in Culture and Leisure Activities. Annual business IT use surveys are now conducted and include topics such as Internet commerce and IT security. Biennial ICT industry surveys are conducted to provide data on ICT production, imports and exports, ICT industry employment, performance and structure information. An Internet activity survey is run every six months and provides regional Internet access details and infrastructure details on Internet service providers.
A major development for 2002–03 will be the compilation of an ICT satellite account. ABS intends to produce an ICT Information Development Plan to guide its future statistical development work in the ICT field.     

The development of the group accounts disclosure system in Japan

The Japanese disclosure system of consolidated statements was introduced in 1977 and extensively revised in 1997. The role of the bureaucracy has been significant in these developments and seems to be part of Japan's closed culture. However, other explanations could also be applied. In particular, although Japanese firms opposed such disclosures on the basis of preparation costs, the Japanese government had to modernize the disclosure system, including consolidation, in order to develop the securities market regardless of an individual company's interests.     

THE LAST MILE: AN EXAMINATION OF EFFECTS OF ONLINE RETAIL DELIVERY STRATEGIES ON CONSUMERS

The Internet has increased the level of importance of the end‐consumer market to transportation carriers. In two between subject experiments, carrier disclosure on retail merchant websites is examined as a strategic differentiation strategy. Predictions are offered concerning effects of carrier disclosure strategies on product delivery‐related expectations, consumer attitudes, and intentions to purchase a product online. Results from Study 1 reveal significant differences between disclosure and nondisclosure of the carrier for numerous product delivery‐related variables, as well as many differences between the six carriers examined in this first study. Study 2 extends these findings by showing that providing consumers with a choice of carrier leads to increased levels of satisfaction with the online experience and greater willingness to buy, relative to nondisclosure and disclosure strategies.     

AN EVALUATION OF PROCESS‐ORIENTED SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORKS

Supply chain management (SCM) is implemented by integrating corporate functions using business processes within and across companies. Several process‐oriented frameworks for SCM have been proposed but only two of these provide sufficient detail to enable implementation. We evaluate the Supply‐Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) framework and The Global Supply Chain Forum (GSCF) framework using four criteria and identify their relative strengths and weaknesses.     

The impact on stock prices of deferral and elimination of internal control audit requirement for small firms

This paper examines the cumulative market reaction to the events related to deferral of internal control audit requirement under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and its elimination under the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 for nonaccelerated filers (small firms). We document that small firms experienced negative cumulative abnormal returns around these events; and the differences between the cumulative abnormal returns for small firms and the two control groups (accelerated and large accelerated filers) were negative and significant at the 1% level. These results support the notion that market participants value the reliability of financial information irrespective of the firm size. Within the small firms, we find no firm characteristic significantly explains the market reaction to the events considered. That is, all small firms lost market value in reaction to the events that delayed and eliminated their internal control audit requirement.     

Strategies to prevent economic recessions from causing business failure

An average of more than 500,000 businesses failed in the United States during each of the 10 recessions that have occurred since the end of World War II. Yet, scholar and practitioner understanding of how to prepare for and respond to the challenges of an economic downturn remains extremely limited. This article analyzes and synthesizes the information from academic theory and business experience on managing through an economic recession. To assist firms in successfully navigating economic recessions, we suggest a program that involves positioning by investing in multiple markets and geographies, planning by developing a turnaround plan for facing sharply declining sales, promoting by maintaining marketing initiatives, and preparing by acting in anticipation of economic recovery.     

谈政府在民族地区特色产业孵化中的作用

发展少数民族地区的特色产业,是解决少数民族地区经济发展问题的有效途径,是解决我国民族问题的方法之一。我国少数民族地区特色产业作为一种相对较新的产业模式,仍然存在着许多亟待解决的问题。将企业孵化的模式引入少数民族特色产业中来,可以有效的解决特色产业发展初期面临的困难。本文以促成少数民族特色产业与企业孵化相结合为目的,从政府的角度出发,剖析了政府在民族地区特色产业孵化的过程中应起的作用,需扮演的角色以及要注意的问题。     

加大利用政府外债工作力度 促进新疆经济社会发展

近几年,新疆政府外债管理工作取得了一定成效,对新疆的经济社会发展起到了积极的促进作用,特别是对能源工业、交通、通信、农业、城市基础设施等领域的发展作用巨大。但同时也存在利用外债缺少规划、项目执行力度不够、还贷意识不强等突出问题。本文在此基础上提出了"十二五"期间新疆加大政府外债管理工作的总体思路,即以推动科学发展为主题,以加快转变发展方式为主线,适应新疆大开发、大发展、大建设的需要,稳步扩大利用国际金融组织贷赠款和外国政府贷款规模,逐步拓宽工作领域,有序开展非主权业务合作,加大知识合作力度,深化区域合作,加强在建项目管理,重视自身能力建设,充分发挥政府外债的宏观调控功能。     

竞争对手随机进入具有随机寿命创新项目价值评估

在考虑了行业内不完全市场竞争条件下,竞争对手的随机进入及新技术随机出现对项目投资机会的价值影响,假设标的资产服从跳--扩散过程,获得了技术创新成果转化项目的投资机会的价值的模型.研究结果表明,若忽视行业中不完全市场竞争、竞争对手随机进入及新技术随机出现的影响,将会造成投资项目价值的不合理的估计.     

经济波动对城乡居民的间接福利效应差异研究

本文将经济波动对经济增速的负面影响引入福利损失模型,构建了量化经济波动对居民福利的间接影响模型,并采用1985-2007年全国以及28个省市区的城乡居民消费数据对异质居民在经济波动过程中承受的间接福利损失进行测度。研究结果表明,经济波动通过负面影响经济增速给居民带来了不容忽视的间接福利损失,忽略经济波动与经济增速的联系得到的福利损失估算值存在低估问题;无论是全国层面,还是省级层面,农村居民承受的间接福利损失都倾向于大于城镇居民。因此,为了切实提高居民的福利水平,中国政府应在保持经济增长的同时,更要重视保持城乡差异化经济的平稳性。