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The conventional wisdom is that (i) the published accounts of British registered companies fulfilled a narrow stewardship role from inception (1844) through to 1947 when the Companies Act added significantly to statutory disclosure requirements, and (ii) the 'decision useful' role of published financial reports is the creation of 'golden age' accounting thinkers in the 1950s and 1960s. Our paper challenges this version of the history of stewardship and decision usefulness based on an in‐depth study of the archives of the Staveley Coal and Iron Co. Ltd for the period 1863–1940. In so doing, the idea that stewardship and decision usefulness served as competing objectives of financial reporting is rejected as a false dichotomy. Our findings are consistent with Bryer's (1993) proposition that modern financial reporting developed in the late‐nineteenth century to provide useful information for purposes of investor decision making. Further, we find that financial reporting practices were based on a conceptual framework within which prudence (or conservatism) served as a fundamental accounting principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the case law concerning adherence to bookkeeping principles for storage of books, records and documents in electronic and data access form for profit determination purpose in purview of Abgabenordnung (AO) fiscal code of Germany. It mentions of non-tax accounting and recording obligations for tax law under the Handelsgesetzbuch (HGB) commercial code and accounting standards for how companies must prepare and financial reports.

How are job satisfaction and firm value linked? I tackle this long-standing management question using a new methodology from finance. I study the effect on firm-level value, rather than employee-level productivity, to take into account the cost of increasing job satisfaction. To address reverse causality, I measure firm value by using future stock returns, controlling for risk, firm characteristics, industry performance, and outliers. Companies listed in the "100 Best Companies to Work For in America" generated 2.3% to 3.8% higher stock returns per year than their peers from 1984 through 2011. These results have three main implications. First, consistent with human resource management theories, job satisfaction is beneficial for firm value. Second, corporate social responsibility can improve stock returns. Third, the stock market does not fully value intangible assets, and so it may be necessary to shield managers from short-term stock prices to encourage long-run growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use randomized interest rates, offered across eighty geographically distinct regions for twenty-nine months by Mexico's largest microlender, to sketch the adjustment from a price change to a new equilibrium. Demand is elastic, and more so over the longer run; e.g. the dollars-borrowed elasticity increases from |$-$| 1.1 in Year one to |$-$| 2.9 in Year three. Credit bureau data do not show evidence of crowd-out, although this and other null results are imprecisely estimated. The lender's profits increase, albeit noisily, starting in Year two. But competitors do not respond by reducing rates. These findings, together with other results, suggest that informational frictions are important, and that cutting rates furthered Compartamos Banco's "double bottom line" of improving social welfare subject to a profitability constraint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a case law concerning determination of profits and business assets for assessment of business tax in purview of Section 5a of the Einkommensteuergesetz (EStG) income tax law and the Gewerbesteuergesetz (GewStG) trade tax law in Germany. Topics include liquidation of the plaintiff, a ship fund company; inclusion of the operation of merchant ships in international traffic as economic assets; and request by the plaintiff for profit determination by comparing business assets.

A debate in Marxist literature concerns the methodology for measuring the profit rate. This paper investigates this question computing the rate of profit at historical cost, current cost, constant prices, and constant GDP price for Brazil in the 1955-2008 period. Like many developing countries, Brazil experienced medium to high inflation during this period. Inflation determined the trend and cyclical movements of the profit rate at historical cost. It increased in years of rising, and declined in years of falling, inflation. The profit rate at historical cost was at odds with Brazilian economic history. The profit rate at current costs remained unaffected by the inflation rate, and its movements correspond to the historical phases of the Brazilian economy. The same is true for the profit rate at constant prices and at constant GDP price. However, the profit rate at constant prices does not account for changes in relative prices, while the profit rate at constant GDP price is computed using a weighted average of the current and past relative prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the most popular measures of technical efficiency, Farrell measures have not been incorporated explicitly in the decomposition of profit efficiency. By synthesizing existing measures of profit efficiency, the paper "A Unifying Framework for Farrell Profit Efficiency Measurement" establishes a general oriented model that includes many existing profit efficiency measures as special cases. Furthermore, the oriented measures generated from this model have consistent meaningful interpretation. This is also perhaps the first time in the literature that the Farrell technical efficiency and allocative efficiency are included as multiplicative components of profit efficiency. A new component is introduced to help decision makers distinguish input changes from output changes in improving profit efficiency. Measuring profit efficiency is a challenging task, and many different approaches have been suggested. This paper synthesizes existing approaches and develops a general Farrell-type approach of the profit efficiency measurement. Our derivations unveil new and useful relationships between existing measures and the proposed new Farrell-type measures. In addition, this helps us establish a generalized and unifying framework for studying efficiency behavior of firms, where the profit efficiency measure satisfies desirable properties and contains the conventional Farrell measures of technical efficiency and allocative efficiency as multiplicative components. A new component of the decomposition of profit efficiency, which we call the revenue-efficient allocative efficiency measure, is introduced to identify the necessary changes of input scale and input mix in addition to output changes. The proposed new approach also encompasses and is coherent with profit-maximizing behavior as a benchmark case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the importance of branding has dramatically increased on the ground that brands have the potential to be a source of long-term competitive advantages for any businesses. Although it seems that brand value, theoretically, has a significant impact on corporate profits, evaluating the brand value's influence level on corporate profits can give clear signals to both managers and investors to adopt the most accurate and probable decisions. Furthermore, another significant concern of this study is whether considering different types of business matters in such analyses. As a case study, this paper investigates the impact of brand value on corporate profit in two significant industries that operate in the Tehran Stock Exchange, i.e., petrochemical and banking industries which stand for B2B and B2C businesses respectively. To do so, the monthly data from June 2008 to June 2018 in a Panel GMM framework is applied. The results show that the effect of brand value on the profit of both the banking and petrochemical industries are positive and significant. These results also confirm that the effect of brand value on profitability in the B2C businesses (banking industry) is significantly higher, almost double, compared to the B2B (petrochemical industries) business group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a way of solving the ‘Greene Problem’ that has been termed for a technical difficulty in estimating a profit system with technical and allocative inefficiencies. As the ‘Greene Problem’ is due to the existence of unobserved technical inefficiency interactive in a nonlinear form, the article proposes a use of homogeneity in technology to untangle the nonlinear form, enabling the estimation of a profit system as well as the identification of the source of inefficiencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of Milk Producers Cooperative (MPC) is to provide services to the members and improve the performance of dairy farm of MPC members. The purposes of this study were: (1) to analyze dairy farm performance of MPC members, (2) to analyze performance of MPC services, and (3) to analyze the relationship between service performance of MPC with dairy farm performance of MPC members. The main data used were primary data. The analytical methods used included: descriptive analysis, profit analysis and R/C Ratio, and Chi-Square. The study showed that productivity and profitability of large-scale dairy farm was higher than small-scale. The performance of small-scale dairy farm of MPC members was relatively low both in terms of productivity and profitability. Most members judged that the performance of MPC services was good. There was a positive relationship between the MPC service performance (milk marketing, finance, technical assistance, and education/training) with the performance of dairy farm of MPC members. Coaching and more intensive services should continue to be given by the MPC to the members, especially the members with the small-scale dairy farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Using a sample of firms that disclose the realizations of earnings used for determining covenant compliance in loan contracts, we provide direct evidence on the informational properties of earnings used in the performance covenants included in debt contracts. We find that the earnings measure used in performance covenants does not exhibit asymmetric loss timeliness and has significantly greater cash flow predictive ability than GAAP measures of earnings. We suggest that these results reflect the idea that contracting parties design accounting rules for performance covenants to enhance their efficacy as 'tripwires.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The uniformity of the profit rates has been justified by the modern literature on long-period positions on the ground of the working of free capital mobility across sectors. However, classical economists allow for profit rates differentials also in case of absence of barriers to entry, because of specific factors affecting the investment behavior of producers in industries. We develop a linear multisectoral model in which differential profit rates are determined by such 'idiosyncratic' factors. We provide conditions ensuring the uniformity of the profit rates in the long-run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluating profit efficiency measure needs input costs and output prices as well as input-output quantities. It is important to rank production units based on relative or absolute values of their production when costs and prices are available. Ranking production units in data envelopment analysis constitutes ranking individual units based on their profit efficiency ratio measures. Two novel models are presented in this paper for evaluating units based on a profit-dominance criterion. Models consider not only self-appraisal DEA optimal weights, but also all feasible input and output weights. A novel ratio-based and complete ranking method is introduced that is based on computing upper and lower boundaries for profit performance of observed units. An illustrative application of the models is then presented and results are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, accounting standard-setters have not been successful in defining net income. Nor have they been successful in justifying the use of other comprehensive income (OCI) and recycling. This paper proposes the definitions of net income and comprehensive income and an approach to measurement based on the proposed definitions. Net income and comprehensive income should be defined as two separate elements of financial statements, with OCI being the linkage factor that reconciles the two elements. Recycling of all OCI items is required for both elements to have the characteristic of all-inclusiveness. Net income should represent the irreversible outcomes of an entity’s business activities, and it follows that the measurement basis of current value should be used from the perspective of reporting an entity’s financial performance only when an asset (or a liability) is readily converted to cash (or settled) and the entity’s business activity does not legally, contractually, or economically restrict the entity’s opportunity to convert the asset to cash (or settle the liability). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Scientific Papers of Silesian University of Technology. Organization & Management / Zeszyty Naukowe Politechniki Slaskiej. Seria Organizacji i Zarzadzanie is the property of Silesian Technical University, Organisation & Management Faculty and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Recognizing counterparty default risk as integral part of the valuation process of financial derivatives has changed the classical view on option pricing. Calculating the bilateral credit valuation adjustment (BCVA) including wrong way risk (WWR) requires a sound model for the dependence structure between three quantities: the default times of the two contractual parties and the derivative/portfolio value at the first of the two default times. There exist various proposals, but no market consensus, on how this dependence structure should be modeled. Moreover, available mathematical tools depend strongly on the marginal models for the default times and the model for the underlying of the derivative. In practice, independence between all (or some) quantities is still a popular (over-)simplification, which completely misses the root of WWR. In any case, specifying the dependence structure imposes one to model risk and even within some parametric model one typically obtains a considerable interval of BCVA values when the parameters are taken to the extremes. In this work, we present a model-free approach to identify the dependence structure that implies the extremes of BCVA. This is achieved by solving a mass-transportation problem using tools from optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a dynamic programming algorithm for pricing variable annuities with Guaranteed Minimum Withdrawal Benefits (GMWB) under a general Lévy processes framework. The GMWB gives the policyholder the right to make periodical withdrawals from her policy account even when the value of this account is exhausted. Typically, the total amount guaranteed for withdrawals coincides with her initial investment, providing then a protection against downside market risk. At each withdrawal date, the policyholder has to decide whether, and how much, to withdraw, or to surrender the contract. We show how different policyholder’s withdrawal behaviours can be modelled. We perform a sensitivity analysis comparing the numerical results obtained for different contractual and market parameters, policyholder behaviours and different types of Lévy processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines whether the profit orientation of a microfinance institution (MFI) affects its decision to extend loans to business start-ups. Based on information from 198 MFIs in 65 countries, we show that for-profit MFIs are less likely to provide financial capital to business start-ups than their not-for-profit counterparts. This results from the adoption of a dominant ‘commercial’ logic by for-profit MFIs, which motivates them to maximize profit by extending loans to less risky ventures with mature projects. In contrast, a dominant ‘development’ logic motivates not-for-profit MFIs to alleviate poverty through supporting the creation of new ventures. The use of a propensity score matching technique to correct for any potential endogeneity problem provides us with greater confidence that the suggested association is not a spurious correlation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pastoralism in Africa faces new challenges in an era of climate change, despite some improvements in policy and legislative frameworks as well as sporadic investment in pastoral development. There are concerns that pastoralism will not be sustainable in a climate-affected world, and this is seeing the return of policies to settle pastoralists and introduce modern cropping. Pastoralism is not yet understood as a specialisation to take advantage of instability and variability, and as a result, the trend has continued towards replacing pastoralism as a livelihood strategy rather than investing in it. It is in this context that a study conducted in eastern Mauritania between 1999 and 2001 is presented here to demonstrate the economic value of ephemeral wetlands as multi-use resources for pastoralism, agriculture and biodiversity. At the time the study was conducted, governments and aid agencies across the Sahel were targeting wetlands as areas of high development potential to combat poverty and increase food security, converting them from multi-use resources to single-use, arable resources. The study assesses the benefits of multiple-use systems compared to such single-use systems through economic valuation of production from the respective systems. Arable agriculture, livestock rearing and botanical and other natural resources are valued in the case of multiple-use systems and compared to arable production from single-use systems. Multiple-use systems are found to out-perform single-use systems based on annual production values, when opportunity costs and the replacement costs of wetland resources are taken into account. The results also show that the multi-use systems are better adapted to a highly variable climate than single-use arable systems that are highly vulnerable to rainfall fluctuations. This has implications for production in a climate-constrained world where diversification and investment in pastoralism as a strategy for managing variability in drylands will be increasingly important. The methodology used to value the wetlands remains relevant 15 years later, as governments, aid agencies and international organisations develop policies to guide pastoralism in dryland systems that are becoming increasingly variable and unpredictable in the face of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops a novel micro-approach for the empirical evaluation of Marx's law of the tendency of the rate of profit to fall. Contrary to the traditional method which uses national macroeconomic data, this approach utilises data taken directly from company reports and accounts. The principal advantage of this approach is that it provides an accurate measurement of the value composition of capital, devoid of the measurement limitations of the traditional method regarding variable capital which stem from the inability to distinguish productive from unproductive labour. A disadvantage, however, is that this approach does not cover the entire national economy. The application of the proposed micro-approach to the ongoing Greek crisis yields results which are congruent with the traditional method and reinforce other recent studies linking the current crisis with low profitability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Marx's law of the tendential fall in the rate of profit predicts that the rate of profit will decline over the long term as the forces of production develop, and move cyclically in a way that explains crises and economic recoveries. This interpretation is substantiated with textual evidence, and with a method for measuring the dynamic of devaluation and revaluation which Marx uses to explain the profit rate cycle. This method is shown to be consistent with temporalism, meaning it avoids the transformation problem created by dual system interpretations, and the problem of the Okishio Theorem created by simultaneist interpretations. The article also includes a temporalist way to estimate the Monetary Expression of Labour Time, and empirical results for the effect of devaluation on the stock of fixed assets in the United States since 1930. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We review the experiences and challenges that researchers can face when conducting contingent valuation studies in developing countries. We discuss these challenges based on our own experiences of conducting field-contingent valuation studies about genetically modified rice in five developing countries that represent different regions of the world and diverse cultures; we also base our discussion on results from a survey we conducted of agricultural and applied economists regarding their own experiences. The issues covered include the selection and training of local personnel, the recruitment of participants, sampling challenges, participants' compensation, survey methods and implementation, elicitation methods, the literacy rate of the population, and security/safety issues in developing countries. We also discuss the implications of our findings to other well-established stated-preference methods such as choice experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data collection for economic valuation by using Internet surveys and pre-recruited Internet panels can be associated with severe disadvantages. Problems concerning sample coverage and sample representativeness can be expected. Representation errors may occur since people can choose whether to be part of an Internet panel and subsequently whether they wish to participate in the survey, thereby introducing two elements of potential self-selection. These elements may be correlated with preferences, thus making the respondents a non-random and non-representative sample, ultimately biasing results. This paper analyses a sample used for an Internet contingent valuation method survey eliciting preferences for improvements in water quality of a river. We find that some variables that affect the survey participation decision also affect willingness-to-pay, consequently biasing our welfare estimates. We show how adjusting willingness-to-pay for this bias can be accomplished by using a grouped data model incorporating a correlation parameter to account for selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although nonprofit organizations are expected to engage in continuous evaluation, its effectiveness is hampered by limited resources and competing and untested instruments. This paper makes the case for the creation and use of more robust measures in nonprofit evaluation. Specifically, we argue for the involvement of nonprofits in the development of reliable and valid instruments that can be used to benchmark nonprofit organizations against one another and for funders and government to support these efforts through their investment in nonprofit measurement. We cite a particular measure, The Nonprofit Capacities Instrument, as an exemplar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inventory model of type (s, S) with a discrete interference of chance is one of the most common inventory models. It is very important to know statistical characteristics such as the moments of this process. However, since the moments of this process cannot be obtained easily in many cases, it is needed to find the estimators for the moments of this process. For this reason, we focus on the estimation problem of the moments of this process. The asymptotic statistical properties of these estimators such as consistency, asymptotic unbiasedness and asymptotic normality are investigated. Finally, Monte Carlo simulation study is conducted to assess the performance of these estimators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a dynamic model of the stochastic repayment behavior exhibited by delinquent credit-card accounts. Based on this model, we construct a dynamic collectability score (DCS) that estimates the account-specific probability of collecting a given portion of the outstanding debt over any given time horizon. The model integrates a variety of information sources, including historical repayment data, account-specific, and time-varying macroeconomic covariates, as well as scheduled account-treatment actions. Two model-identification methods are examined, based on maximum-likelihood estimation and the generalized method of moments. The latter allows for an operational-statistics approach, combining model estimation and performance optimization by tailoring the estimation error to business-relevant loss functions. The DCS framework is applied to a large set of account-level repayment data. The improvements in classification and prediction performance compared to standard bank-internal scoring methods are found to be significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many applications rely on the accurate prediction of company similarity to be effective. Diversification avoids similarity for risk reduction. Hedging through equity-neutral investing seeks similarity in order to ensure risk in long positions is effectively offset by short positions, and vice-versa. Relative valuation requires formation of a ‘peer group’ to which financial ratios, such as the P/E ratio, can be compared. This article considers two data-sets that have not traditionally been used for this purpose: sell-side equity analyst coverage and news article co-occurrences. Each is shown to have predictive power over future correlation, a key measure of future similarity. It is further shown that the analyst and news data can be combined with historical correlation to form groups that are on par or even exceed the quality of the Global Industry Classification System, a leading industry taxonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper sets out to value the total public financing needed to somewhat alleviate the economic, environmental and social losses of an unprecedented human disaster using a mixed-valuation method, termed 'Contingent Loss Assessment' that integrates the economic loss assessment of the disaster with a contingent valuation of the environmental and social costs. The focus of the paper is to provide a comparison between the economic predictions of the disaster financing required, and the amount of disaster financing that will better alleviate the human suffering observed, using contingent valuation method (CVM) predictions. Using the case of the 'Lapindo' mudflow disaster in Indonesia, it is argued that the incremental financing required, an extra $200 million flowing directly to those affected, is not an amount that is beyond the scope of those who have undertaken the responsibility of providing compensation to those affected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the macroeconomic consequences of firm-level accounting conservatism. Consistent with conditional conservatism extending to the aggregate level, I demonstrate that annual estimates of aggregate corporate profits and gross domestic product compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis are more sensitive to negative aggregate news than to positive aggregate news. Next, I estimate the dollar value impact of conservatism on measurements of macroeconomic fundamentals. Finally, I show that incorporating the dollar value impact of conservatism increases the explanatory power of a monetary policy reaction function that describes U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate decision behavior. These results suggest that accounting can impact social welfare by altering the measurement attributes of key macroeconomic indicators and by shaping monetary policy decisions that regulate the money supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annals of Public & Cooperative Economics is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the roles of earnings and book value (BV) in equity valuation. Design/methodology/approach - The authors apply model's explanatory power to analyze the roles of accounting data and test the hypotheses empirically with a sample of Chinese listed companies between 2004 and 2010. Findings - The authors find that impact of accounting data on equity value is also dependent on profitability, but the behavior is non-monotonic. In the intermediate-profitability range, explanatory power of both earnings capitalization model and balance sheet model reach the peak, there are no significant differences between them. In the low-profitability range (small or negative profitability), explanatory power of balance sheet model is larger than earnings capitalization model. In the high-profitability range, explanatory power of balance sheet model is less than earnings capitalization model. Research limitations/implications - The results support that the role of BV is more stable in equity valuation. Moreover, this outcome provides reference for improving existing valuation model and setting accounting standard, and provides some empirical evidence for the practical application of BV in equity valuation. Originality/value - Existing studies treat earnings as main variable of equity valuation, and BV is only added as a supplement. This paper compares roles of accounting earnings and BV in equity valuation, especially investigates the influence of BV in equity valuation, and fills up the deficiency in the related literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The valuation of companies or their assets is at the heart of most financing and investment decisions. Over the last five decades, academics have developed several simple and sophisticated models for corporate valuation. Yet valuation estimates of a firm or its assets appear to vary widely among practitioners. It is unclear whether these differences arise from practitioners' use of different valuation models or from differences in their assumptions about the inputs used in those models. To provide some insights into this issue, the authors recently surveyed 365 European finance practitioners with CFAs or equivalent professional degrees. They find that almost all survey respondents use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model (along with some version of Relative Valuation that relies on the use of 'comparables'). But the estimation methods of such practitioners for almost all inputs in the DCF model, including beta, the equity market risk premium, leverage, cost of debt, and terminal value, vary widely. This can be a serious problem because even small differences in inputs can cause huge variations in valuations. Such differences arise primarily because theory provides little guidance on how to estimate parameters, leaving practitioners to make their own assumptions and judgments. In sum, the authors' findings suggest that the process of estimating valuation parameters can be as important as the choice of the valuation model itself, and requires the serious attention of academics and practitioners. The authors recommend that key valuation parameter estimates be disclosed in financial and valuation reports. Their findings are also relevant to policy makers because the concept of 'fair value' plays such a central role in post-crisis regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decision-making in spatial planning is often based only on administrative regulations and procedures. This approach does not guarantee an efficient allocation of scarce financial resources. Consequently, the present paper discusses the practical relevance of an approach to incorporate results of economic valuation into strategic spatial planning for the example of green infrastructure. For this, a contingent valuation was conducted at a reference site in Esslingen, Germany. Here, participants of the survey stated their willingness to pay for different green infrastructure investment categories. Build on the survey results, the possible future foci of regional green infrastructure planning are derived and impacts on regional green infrastructure policy for the case of the Neckar region are investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examines marketing strategies for small-scale producers by comparing the risk and return properties of direct (farmers' markets) and wholesale marketing channels. Farmers' market prices for fresh produce were collected at sixteen markets in Utah and Colorado. San Francisco terminal market prices were used to represent wholesale prices. A simulation model combined price, yield, and market risk to construct probability distribution functions showing the likelihood of differing levels of profit for eleven marketing options. The results show that risk-averse producers prefer a combination of channels (40% direct/60% wholesale), while risk neutral producers prefer to market exclusively through farmers' markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While having been the object of numerous studies, the link between ERP implementation and SMEs performance still requires understanding. This paper documents the effect of investments in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems on a firm's sales performance and profitability measure such as return on sales (ROS). The models are based on a sample of 240 during time of defined activities in the sales process realized during the each month by 40 knowledge workers in each of 5 Polish SMEs announcements of ERP implementations. Our analysis of the financial benefits of these implementations yields mixed results. Our results are encouraging that we find the business activity that can persistent evidence of sales performance associated with ERP investments. This should help alleviate the companies that some have expressed about the viability of ERP given the highly publicized implementation problems at some firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many empirical studies have shown negative abnormal returns to occur shortly after a once promising merger is consummated. There are few consistent explanations for the poor performance of so many mergers. This article considers mergers of concern to antitrust authorities to examine how structural factors, including market concentration and R&D intensity, as well as valuation metrics, such as merger premiums and merger waves, affect abnormal returns. Our results suggest that acquirer R&D intensity, market concentration of the deal premium, and deal size have a negative impact, whereas the target's intangible asset intensity and the presence of a merger wave positively influence merger performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stock returns unexplained by “fundamentals,” such as cash flow news, are more likely to reverse in the short run than those linked to fundamental news. Making novel use of analyst forecast revisions to measure cash flow news, a simple enhanced reversal strategy generates a risk-adjusted return four times the size of the standard reversal strategy. Importantly, isolating the component of past returns not driven by fundamentals provides a cleaner setting for testing existing theories of short-term reversals. Using this approach, we find that both liquidity shocks and investor sentiment contribute to the observed short-term reversal, but in different ways: Specifically, the reversal profit is attributable to liquidity shocks on the long side because fire sales more likely demand liquidity, and it is attributable to investor sentiment on the short side because short-sale constraints prevent the immediate elimination of overvaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY Most empirical studies in the banking literature assume that the alternative profit function is linearly homogeneous in input prices. We show that such an assumption is theoretically unwarranted and that its use may yield misleading results. We use Koetter et al. ( Review of Economics and Statistics 2012; 94(2): 462-480) as a benchmark to showcase how empirical results can be sensitive to the linear homogeneity assumption. Contrary to Koetter et al., we find a positive relation between market power and profit efficiency when this assumption is dropped. This relation is slightly weakened after the wave of intrastate and interstate deregulation but not enough to support the 'quiet life' hypothesis. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Industry / Industrija is the property of Economics Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this study, we analyzed the system with three dissimilar repairable units with two failure modes: normal and total failure. Mean Time to System Failure (MTSF), steady state availability, steady state busy period and the profit function of the system is analyzed using the Kolmogorov's forward equations method. We analyzed graphically the reliability characteristics MTSF and the profit function of the system and the certain important results have been derived as special cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study aims to evaluate the heat and mass transfer of two kinds of multilayer adult incontinence briefs (diapers for short) in the dry condition and dynamic heat and moisture transfer processes in the wet condition in computational simulations and objective measurements. A commercial disposable brief (PROTEC) with polyethylene, superabsorbent polymers (SAP) and polypropylene, and another kind reusable brief (Reusable) with waterproof breathable fabric, full cotton inner pad and moisture management treatment nonwoven were evaluated. A software platform (S-smart system) with user friendly interfaces was employed in computational simulations. Wear trials were conducted by asking young female adults between 20 and 26 years old to wear incontinence briefs. Objective measurements revealed that there was significantly higher liquid moisture management capacity, water vapor permeability, thermal conductance and maximum value of heat flux in the Reusable than in PROTEC briefs. The simulation and wear trial results showed that there were significantly lower temperatures and humidity at the skin in the diaper area and diaper inner surface fabric in the Reusable briefs compared to the PROTEC ones. The good agreement between simulations and wear trials were observed. The 2D and 3D directly visualizes the changes of fabric temperature/humidity gradient and capacity of absorbing moisture etc. in each layer. The results indicate that the superior fabric’s heat/moisture transporting properties, when incorporated into diapers, is the main mechanism for reducing heat and wetness of the diaper area. The results provide guidance for the optimal design of Eco-friendly diapers with reusable, breathable, biodegradable materials. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Exacta is the property of Exacta - Engenharia de Producao and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article analyzes the determinants of firm migration in the Swedish wholesale trade sector using a unique dataset covering over 10,000 Swedish wholesale trade firms during the years 2000–2004. The results indicate that there are negative correlations between profits, firm age, and firm size and the probability of firm migration. There is a positive correlation between firm growth in the previous year and firm migration, indicating that growth opportunities that cannot be realized at the present location are an important motivation for migration. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Traditional project evaluation is based on discounted cash flow method (DCF) with Net Present Value (NPV) as the main measure. This approach sometimes leads to the abandonment of profitable projects, because the DCF method does not take into account the role of managerial flexibility. The Real Options Valuation (ROV) method takes into account future situations in the valuation, assuming that the project is properly managed. The Project Manager shall have the right to take action as appropriate. A widely used method for the valuation of real options is the binomial tree method (CRR), proposed by Cox, Ross and Rubinstein. It takes into account one state variable. In many real problems, however, many factors should be considered. This leads to a multi-criteria decision-making problem. This paper presents an extension of the CRR method for several state variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Employing an adaptive agent-based modeling approach, the present study explored the evolvement of firms’ environmental behavior and influencing factors. Using empirical data from 167 firms in China, the simulation results revealed that firms’ environmental behavior followed this evolvement path: defensive behavior, preventive behavior, and enthusiastic behavior. Computational experiments indicated that with increased financial ability and level of environmental preparedness, the number of firms in all three categories of environmental behavior increased and so did their profits. With increased public pressure, the number of firms with defensive environmental behavior and their profits decreased, but the number of firms with preventive and enthusiastic environmental behavior and their profits increased. On the other hand, when managers’ education level increased, the number of firms with defensive behavior deceased, but their profits increased slightly, though the number of firms with preventive and enthusiastic behavior and their profits increased sharply. In addition, with the increased regulation level, the number of firms with a different category of environmental behavior and their profits decreased. Finally, with increased financial subsidy and market share, the number of firms with different behavior and their profits were modified slightly. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]