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We examine whether dividends serve as substitutes or complements to accounting information in firm valuation. Consistent with dividends substituting for earnings information, we find that dividend paying firms have 11%–15% lower earnings response coefficients (ERCs) than non-payers. We find more substitution when the dividend provides a stronger signal of permanent earnings: when the firm is less likely to cut the dividend, when the firm is likely to fund the dividend out of earnings rather than cash reserves, or when the dividend is larger. We then show that dividend payers have lower absolute returns, less trading volume, and fewer analyst forecasts at the earnings announcement (EA), suggesting that dividend payers attract less attention to their less informative EAs. Finally, we show that the lower EA attention translates into less earnings management and fewer earnings-related disclosures for dividend payers relative to non-payers. Collectively, this evidence suggests that dividends supply information about permanent earnings and, although costly, could be an efficient way for some firms to satisfy investors’ demand for earnings information.

he information services of the branch databases (DB) of Rosinformagrotekh for the formation of a digital environment for monitoring and recording the results of intellectual activity (RIA) in the implementation of the state task in the field of science are described. Algorithms of database information services for systematizing and extracting data, the results of the analysis of industry RIA are presented. Proposals for the development and improvement of the use of intellectual property and the commercialization of R&D results are provided. The structure of a united open information platform for systematization and analysis of R&D results of scientific and educational institutions subordinate to the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia is proposed.

The publication considers the main features of the development of the modern information space and the formation of information technologies, which today are being directly combined with the formation of a risk-oriented system of financial provision. The role of information technologies in society is constant and incessantly extends to further areas of application – science, education, business, transport, communication, public administration, defense, political life, culture, everyday life, etc. However, at the methodological level, some questions arise regarding the identification and adaptation of potential information technologies to ensure positive economic development. An important influence on the development of the world market of IT technology is carried out by non-governmental organizations, in particular, associations of national associations of IT companies – the World Alliance of Information Technologies and Services, as well as others. Thus, the permanent deployment of scientific and technical progress and the impact of globalization on the IT industry determine the need to improve the mechanisms of economic, organizational and legal regulation of the global information technology market. In this direction, the universality of regulatory economic and legal norms of the world IT industry does not always work when used by a separate country as market participant due to the imperfection of its national legislative framework together with the economic and organizational regulators in the information base. At this, the countries that join the process of harmonizing their economic and legal IT regulatory mechanisms with the world standards must implement three important groups of measures: 1) measures in the sphere of information services development, 2) measures for the development of information technologies as such; 3) measures to protect and provision producers of IT products and services. Risk-oriented management in the process of ensuring the development and implementation of information technologies for the enterprise is aimed at ensuring the implementation of the company’s strategy and its sustainable development with integration into business processes and managerial decision-making. The above-described directions of integration of a risk-oriented approach into the activities of enterprise make it possible to specify steps to implement this approach with maximum efficiency for an economic entity.

Media dissemination plays an important role in facilitating price discovery. Political pressure that restricts media dissemination can hinder this function and affect investors’ perceptions. This paper studies the magnitude of newspaper censorship in China and its economic consequences using a setting of tunneling scandals. We find significant evidence of censorship of tunneling-related negative news at the national and local levels. We further show that news that survives censorship reduces information asymmetry and improves pricing efficiency. Censorship blocks informative tunneling news and delays incorporation of tunneling reporting into prices. This paper was accepted by Brian Bushee, accounting.

We explore how managers with foreign experience affect corporate fraud in China. By employing a bivariate probit model with partial observability, we find that returnee managers significantly reduc...

Az Europai Uniot fenyegető biztonsagi kihivasok osszetettsege es az uj keletű veszelyek elkerulhetetlenne teszik, hogy a hirszerző es biztonsagi kozosseg altal beszerzett informaciok gyorsan, biztonsagosan es feldolgozottan keruljenek a politikai donteshozok asztalara. A szinergiak a fuzios kozpontokban csucsosodnak ki, amelyek eredetileg allami szervekkent jottek letre. Az EU akkent tud leghatekonyabban hozzajarulni a tagallamok es az integracio egesze biztonsaganak fenntartasahoz, ha maga is műkodtet informacioegyesitő kozpontokat. Az unios intezmenyrendszert, az ugynoksegek feladat- es hataskoreit megvizsgalva arra a kovetkeztetesre juthatunk, hogy tobb EU-s szerv is magan viseli a fuzios kozpontok jellemzőit. Mindamellett az EU alkotmanyos berendezkedeseből es az egyuttműkodes jelenlegi melysegeből fakadoan e fuzios kozpontok szamos tekintetben kulonboznek a nemzeti rendszerektől. A kozos biztonsag kerdese egyre inkabb befolyasolja az unios agendakat, holott a tagallamok e teruleten joval ovatosabban műkodnek egyutt egymassal. Ez a kettősseg feszultseget es az integracio iranyarol kulonbozően gondolkozo (foderalista vagy szuverenitasparti) tagallamok kozott torespontot is eredmenyezhet, amelyet az erdek osszeuropai karakterere tekintettel kivanatos volna elkerulni.Alternate abstract:Due to hybrid activities below the thresholds of traditional conflicts, the civil sphere and the surrounding information environment has become part and, in some cases, the tool for conflicts between states or certain groups. Disinformation activities, which have been part of social deception for centuries, have become increasingly prominent in recent years but are also gaining prominence at the political level due to globalisation and changes in technological and information consumption patterns that have accelerated in recent times. The spread of disinformation is a serious challenge for democracies and recent lessons have shown that it poses a direct threat to human health and life. Due to the rapid development of technology and the low cost of the dissemination of disinformation, state-sponsored activities have unprecedented proportions capable of influencing democratic discourse and a state's internal affairs, as well as escalating conflicts between states on the international level.

The present paper analyses the aspects of investigations of crime involving cryptocurrencies as a payment instrument. Ever since their emergence, cryptocurrencies have come to be actively used by criminals in all types of illegal activities, such as drug trafficking, money laundering, illegal arms trade, payments for criminal services and many other crimes. The paper aims to establish the methods of crime investigation to track data on cryptocurrency transactions and identify and show up the participants of illegal operations. The author shows that the development of computer and digital information technologies and the Internet has brought about the ever-increasing prevalence of cryptocurrencies in all social domains, including the shadow sector, i. e., the criminal world. Figures are provided illustrating the overall circulation of cryptocurrencies in the world and its illegal segment. Explaining the attractiveness of cryptocurrencies for criminal structures, the author points at its anonymity and inadequate regulation of various aspects in laws. An analysis is provided of the practice of countries where cryptocurrency circulation is not only permitted but regulated to a maximum possible extent. The impact of such regulation for the state of the shadow cryptocurrency market is shown. The research further concerns the potential for bringing international expertise to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Potential methods of crime investigation concerning shadow cryptocurrency transactions are outlined, helping to identify and show up the participants involved. Forecasts are provided as to the development of modern forensics and the emergence of new forensic methods helping to uncover cryptocurrency-related crime; proposals are drawn for amending criminal and criminal procedure laws to facilitate investigations in the new context.

Regulators and standard setters strive to enhance the transparency of corporate disclosures. To address concerns regarding the improper use of non-GAAP financial measures, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) implemented Regulation G and related amendments in 2003. US firms that report non-GAAP earnings must now reconcile them with the most directly comparable GAAP earnings, which are presented with equal or greater prominence than non-GAAP earnings. This paper examines the effect of Regulation G on analysts’ information environment for non-GAAP reporting firms. Before Regulation G, non-GAAP earnings reporting is associated with less accurate, more positively biased, and more dispersed analysts’ earnings forecasts. By contrast, the quality of analysts’ earnings forecasts for non-GAAP reporting firms is enhanced by higher accuracy, less bias, and lower dispersion after Regulation G. The case for Regulation G making non-GAAP disclosures more transparent may be relevant for regulators and standard setters when considering future disclosure regulations.

This paper studies the predictive power of the trend strategy in the international stock market. Using data from 49 markets, we find that a trend signal exploiting the short-, intermediate-, and long-term price information can predict stock returns cross-sectionally in the international market. The significance of the trend strategy is associated with market-level characteristics such as macroeconomic conditions, culture, and the information environment. The trend premium is more pronounced in markets with a more advanced macroeconomic status, a higher level of information uncertainty and individualism, and better accessibility to foreign investors. Nevertheless, the trend strategy only outperforms the momentum strategy in a relatively short horizon.

This paper investigates the effect of mandatory disclosure requirements for private firms on their decision to go public. Using detailed project-level data for biopharmaceutical firms, we explore the effects of a legal reform---the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act (FDAAA)---which exogenously required that firms publicly disclose information regarding clinical trials. Exploiting cross-sectional heterogeneity in firms' exposure to the regulation based on their internal development portfolios, we find that affected firms are significantly more likely to transition to public equity markets following the reform. We also find that firms that go public due to the increased disclosure requirements subsequently reduce the size of their project portfolios while shifting to safer investments acquired externally. The results suggest that private firms' general information environment and disclosure requirements influence the propensity of going public, and the nature of their subsequent project decisions.

The article is consider the problems and prospects of the accounting development for the socio-economic processes managing in conditions of uncertainty, risk and turbulence of the external environment. Partiticuarly, in the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown, arose a number of questions of reflecting objects and events in accounting, the quality and reliability of those reporting data, which are based on standard accounting principles, assumptions and procedures. In addition, the current situation has highlighted new requirements for accounting information, as the basis for the formation of a full and transparent management environment - due to the complexity of decisions made by stakeholders and the non-standard tasks of preventing and treating the crisis.

In this research, we explore the impacts of cross-modal correspondence between sound frequency and color lightness on consumers’ shopping behavior. Compared to previous studies that relied on a stable single-stage information environment, our study is based on a two-stage (i.e., elimination and choice stages) cognitive model to account for the dynamic cross-modal correspondence effect on shopping behavior. After conducting two laboratory experiments and one field experiment, we find that although consumers tend to pay more attention to light (vs. dark) products in the high (vs. low)-frequency sound condition in the elimination stage, this effect is less salient at the choice stage. We further find that consumer involvement acts as a moderator. Specifically, the correspondence effect is attenuated for highly involved consumers.

The study presents the results of exploring the training of future engineering specialists in the conditions of educational and information environment of a technical university, as well as methodological recommendations formulated on the basis of the results obtained. The research assumes that the educational and information environment of a technical university should be designed as an open dynamic and synergetic system, in which future engineers should be given a possibility to design an individual educational trajectory based on the use of educational and information resources and considering the individual psychological capabilities of students. The functioning of the educational and information environment of a technical university provides for a cyclical type of management of professional training of future specialists and adhering to the principle of feedback in student training. The results of the study, in particular a comparison of the levels of competence formation of future engineers in the control and experimental groups at the beginning and end of the study, confirmed the correctness of the hypothesis put forward.

Deepfakes are audio, video, or still-image digital artifacts created by the use of artificial intelligence technology, as opposed to traditional means of recording. Because deepfakes can look and sound much like genuine digital recordings, they have entered the popular imagination as sources of serious epistemic problems for us, as we attempt to navigate the increasingly treacherous digital information environment of the internet. In this paper, I attempt to clarify what epistemic problems deepfakes pose and why they pose these problems, by drawing parallels between recordings and our own senses as sources of evidence. I show that deepfakes threaten to undermine the status of digital recordings as evidence. The existence of deepfakes thus encourages a kind of skepticism about digital recordings that bears important similarities to classic philosophical skepticism concerning the senses. However, the skepticism concerning digital recordings that deepfakes motivate is also importantly different from classical skepticism concerning the senses, and I argue that these differences illuminate some possible strategies for solving the epistemic problems posed by deepfakes.

Nowadays the volume of information is exponentially increasing, and users have many options to access the information they need. Thus, the dissemination of information on the web needs to be done more carefully and based on specific principles. If organizations want to satisfy their websites’ users, they have to understand the needs and behaviors of users, and have a clear understanding of their business goals and the type of content they intend to present on the web. To this end, information elements must be properly organized and labeled so that they can be easily accessible and understandable by users. Such challenges are the subject of information architecture as a field of practice and research. The role of information architecture in the applicability of information environments on the one hand and the organizations’ and businesses’ needs to create information platforms for purposeful and productive interaction with their audiences and users and to serve them on the other hand, highlight the importance of applying the information architecture principles in organizations. In this regard, we first introduce and explain the different components of the information architecture system. Then, we propose a framework for evaluating information architecture for websites as the main platform for interacting with users using library research and expert panel. The proposed framework considers the information architecture system in a larger space called the information environment. The information environment consists of three components: context, content, and user. The user seeks to exploit the content, and the content generates value for the context of the information environment that represents the organization and its business. On the other hand, the context seeks to improve the content, and the content is also effective in attracting users. By recognizing each of these components and paying attention to their relationships, the needs of the information environment are identified and integrated into the information architecture system. The information architecture system consists of four subsystems namely, organization, labeling, navigation, and search systems that interact and contribute to each other. The organization system defines the information structure and classification in a website. The labeling system describes the information sorted by the organization system with the help of labels. The navigation system helps the user navigate the site and access the content and information they need. The search system refers to the search bar and its features on a web site. To evaluate each of the information architecture subsystems within the proposed framework, a checklist is provided, which is obtained by consensus of experts. Finally, the assessor can evaluate the information architecture of the website by identifying the components of the information environment and using these checklists.

Dramatically increased accessibility to recording technologies and participatory nature of today’s information environment certainly have emancipatory potentials. Perhaps, we live in an era that Dz...

This article presents the results of the analysis of the concept of "modern information environment", and also defines its place in the ethno-cultural space. The purpose of the analysis is to study the influence of modern information processes on the traditional musical folklore culture of the small peoples of Siberia. On the materials of field research and the study of online communities, created ethnic groups, the analysis of the influence of "modern information environment" for the life of the indigenous peoples of Siberia. Also, the characteristic features of musical folklore are determined by the example of the analysis of interviews taken from representatives of such ethnic groups as Dolgan, Ents, Nenets. A study of recordings of ethnic festivals and TV shows that promote the popularization of folk song art of the small peoples of Siberia was conducted. The analysis methods used made it possible to formulate the value and semantic meaning of musical folklore culture for the life of a modern person, to determine the place of musical culture in the "modern information environment", as well as to trace cross-cultural ethnic ties. As a result of the analysis of the information space, the following was revealed: first, thanks to information resources, traditional and modern musical culture goes beyond territorial borders and becomes accessible to an audience from different regions of the country and not only; secondly, the broadcast of musical art in online mode allows for the inclusion of the largest number of performers of national music in this process.

В статье рассматриваются принципы формирования информационной среды обслуживания судовых механизмов. Показывается перспективность разработки для этих целей и ведения с актуализацией на всех основных этапах жизненного цикла изделия его Электронного паспорта. Обосновывается структура паспорта, включающая три основных составляющих: 1. Состояние изделия; 2. Эксплуатационный журнал; 3. История изделия и структура обслуживающей такой паспорт базы знаний, включающей в свою очередь следующие основные группы данных: 1) общие данные; 2) данные для принятия решений на этапе ремонта; 3) критерии для принятия решений на этапе эксплуатации; 4) регламенты. Отмечается, что обеспечение действительности данных Электронного паспорта должен осуществляться через единый Регистрационный центр, функции которого сводятся к проверке наличия регистрационных данных и их целостности, хранению последних действительных копий электронных паспортов изделий и хранению данных о этих паспортах. The article deals with the principles of formation of the information environment for the maintenance of ship mechanisms. the prospects of development for these purposes and maintenance with updating at all main stages of the product life cycle of its electronic passport are shown. The structure of the passport, which includes three main components, is justified: 1. Product status; 2. Operational log; 3. Product history and structure of the knowledge base serving such a passport, which in turn includes the following main data groups: 1) general data; 2) data for decision-making at the repair stage; 3) criteria for decision-making at the operational stage; 4) regulations. It is noted that ensuring the validity of Electronic Passport data should be carried out through a single Registration Center, whose functions are limited to checking the availability of registration data and their integrity, storing the latest valid copies of electronic product passports and storing data on these passports.

Air pollution is the single largest environmental risk and one of the largest global risk factors. The adverse effects of air pollution on health call for efforts to reduce the pollution in the air. However, since that is a long-term goal that requires the successful engagement of multiple stakeholders, efforts are also necessary to reduce the adverse health effects of air pollution on an individual level. Even though risk reducing behavior is possible (and recommended), the majority of people don’t take such action. Through a series of studies, factors related to risk reducing behavioral intention and the relation with the information environment were explored. Study I examined how air pollution is covered in the media, utilizing a content analysis of two national (the New York Times and the Washington Post) and two local newspapers (the Fresno Bee and the Bakersfield Californian). Newspapers report on the potential health impacts of air pollution, but lack efficacy information, suggesting that the reporting is not conducive to risk reducing behavior. Study II modelled the integrative model of behavior prediction (IM) using data from an online survey of emerging adults (n = 938) living in the SJV. Attitude, social norms, and self-efficacy consistently predicted behavioral intentions in the three primary risk reducing behaviors: staying indoors, limiting physical activity, and using air filters. The information environment was found to be an inconsistent predictor of components in the IM. Exposure to the air quality index – the primary air quality communication tool – was low and was found to have limited effect on determinants of risk reducing behavioral intentions. Attention to media was related with attitude and social norms, but not with self-efficacy. The emphasis of health communication efforts focused on increasing behavioral intention should be on increasing awareness and self-efficacy of the primary risk reducing behaviors.