Measurement of formal harmonization progress:: The IASC experience

As a result of globalization, the accounting profession has become increasingly aware of the need to establish a single set of accounting standards that would be valid in the international arena. Recent events highlight the timeliness of this study, which provides an empirical measurement of International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) progress throughout its harmonization history. The purpose of this article is twofold: first, a new measure of the advances achieved through formal harmonization and second, to use this methodology to evaluate the IASC achievements all through its standard-setting activity. Our results prove that the IASC has made great progress in regard to the level of harmony achieved through the accounting standards it has issued or revised. Nevertheless, we conclude that the IASC needs to continue working towards greater formal harmonization. Our study also indicates research directions that could advance the study of formal harmonization. This specific area of research has generally been disregarded in the existing literature, a trend we would like to see reversed, considering that its application can provide valuable insight for standard-setting processes, especially now that the accounting community is so conscious of the need to advance the harmonization process.     

Can R&D-inducing green tariffs replace international environmental regulations?

This paper investigates the link between trade and environment by exploring the effects of green tariffs on innovation, location of production and the environment. It shows that tariffs levied on polluting goods could result in less world pollution than global harmonization of environmental standards by inducing more pollution-abatement R&D effort and generating lower unit emissions from production. Specifically, green tariffs reduce pollution by (1) shifting production to the region where environmental standards are respected, (2) inducing the firm in the clean country to engage in more abatement R&D by granting it a higher market power/share in its home market, (3) instigating green R&D investment by deterring delocation. When these outweigh the R&D-creating effect of environmental harmonization in the dirty country, green tariffs bring about a cleaner environment.     

中国GDP最终消费的长期均衡与短期波动的协整分析

本文依据协整理论和误差修正模型 ,测定了我国GDP最终消费与国内生产总值、价格水平及利率之间的长期均衡关系和短期波动效应 ,并对当前消费需求疲软做出了新的解释     

我国石油天然气会计准则国际协调探讨

以我国石油天然气会计准则《石油天然气开采》和国际财务报告准则《矿产资源的勘探与评价》为研究对象，从范围框架和内容方面对两个准则进行对比分析，并结合我国石油：无然气会计准则国际协调情况，对我国石油天然气会计准则国际协调策略进行探讨。     

Efectividad del proyecto de convergencia contable mexicano emprendido a partir de 2005: evidencia empírica (1997-2010)

The purpose of our study is to know whether the efforts carried out by the Mexican Council for Financial Information managed to reduce the differences in the calculation of the Mexican accounting reports and those calculated under American principles (US GAAP) in the period 1997-2010. To achieve the objectives set out, we analyzed 230 20-F reports that correspond to 27 Mexican companies listed in the New York Stock Exchange. The results obtained in the implementation of the linear regression models show the existence of certain factors that explain the degree of comparability of fundamental accounting variables obtained under Mexican GAAP and US GAAP.     

区域一体化、地方利益冲突与利益协调

由于区域利益与地方利益之间存在一致性与差异性、群体性与集中性、中观性与微观性的矛盾属性,导致区域合作中的地方利益冲突无法避免,且利益冲突涉及到社会、政治、经济和自然环境等诸多领域,阻碍了区域合作和经济一体化进程。为了协调利益冲突,亟待树立合作共赢理念,完善利益分配协商、利益分享与补偿、利益争端调解、利益共享等机制。     

构建和谐社会发展是硬道

党的十六届六中全会通过的《中共中央关于构建社会主义和谐社会若干重大问题的决定》强调：“社会要和谐,首先要发展。”社会和谐在很大程度上取决于社会生产力的发展水平,取决于发展的协调性。贯彻落实科学发展观,坚持用发展的办法解决前进中的问题,大力发展生产力,为构建社会主义和谐社会夯实坚实的物质基础。一个不争的事实：构建和谐社会,发展是硬道理。     

中国会计准则国际协调效果的实证研究

自改革开放以来,我国进行了一系列旨在加强会计准则国际协调的改革,会计信息编报者和使用评价者都十分关心会计准则国际协调的效果。本文在借鉴国内外相关研究的基础上,采用实证研究方法从纵向上比较和分析AB股公司的净利润差异与会计信息价值相关性的变化,以期对我国会计准则国际协调的总体效果做出经验性评价。     

Global Trends and Issues in Value Added Taxation

Since the late 1960s, the VAT has become one of the mainstays of the tax systems in over one hundred countries. Apparently, its revenue raising and neutrality properties make it an attractive tax in a rapidly integrating, high-tax world. Following an overview of VATs throughout the world, this article examines various VAT structure and policy issues under the following headings: tax coverage features, tax base aspects, hard-to-tax sectors, rate structure issues, and interjurisdictional coordination problems. It is shown that the normative requirements of a good VAT are often met only in the breach.     

Convergence of accounting standards and foreign direct investment

Since the development of the eclectic paradigm by Dunning (1977, 1988, 1993), many studies have investigated different forms of location advantages that attract foreign direct investment (FDI). In this study, we consider accounting standards as a component of the institutional infrastructure of a location and hypothesize that the convergence of domestic and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) promotes FDI as it reduces information processing costs for foreign investors.² We also hypothesize that the effect of reduced information costs is stronger for partner countries whose accounting systems showed greater pre-convergence differences because they magnify the facilitating role of accounting standard convergence for FDI. Using bilateral FDI data from 30 OECD countries between 2000 and 2005, we find evidence generally consistent with these hypotheses.