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on Accounting |
| By: | SALVADOR CARMONA (Instituto de Empresa) |
| Abstract: | (WP 16/03 Clave pdf) Regulated markets and state-owned monopolies characterized the economies of many Southern European territories around the end of the Middle Ages and during the Renaissance. Although this economic form was of considerable importance in implementing public policy at the time, investigation into the functioning of cost accounting in such contexts has been consistently neglected in accounting research. In this paper, we examine the role of cost systems in early regulated markets by focusing on the case of the soap production and distribution monopoly in the City of Seville, Spain. |
| Keywords: | Early cost accounting, Institutional sociology, Regulated markets |
| Date: | 2003–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emp:wpaper:wp03-16&r=acc |
| By: | SALVADOR CARMONA (Instituto de Empresa) |
| Abstract: | This project is supported financially by the CICYT research grants # 01-0657 and SEJ-2004-08176-C02-01. I would like to thank Jose Carlos Molina for assisting with the management of the database. Previous versions of this paper were presented at the Annual Congress of the European Accounting Association (Seville, 2003); the Accounting, Business and Financial History Conference (Cardiff, 2003); and the World Congress of Accounting Historians (Oxford, Mississippi, 2004). I am grateful to the participants at these conferences and to Garry Carnegie, Mahmoud Ezzamel, Kari Lukka, and Steve Walker for their helpful suggestions. |
| Date: | 2005–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emp:wpaper:wp05-20&r=acc |
| By: | JUAN SANTALO (Instituto de Empresa); CARL KOCK (Instituto de Empresa) |
| Abstract: | From a reactive, antagonistic stance towards environmental regulations, many firms have evolved to act in a pro-active fashion to integrate environmental issues into their core strategies. Using measures of different corporate governance instruments that proxy for the ability of managers or shareholders to implement their strategic preferences we demonstrate empirically that shareholders are indeed laggards because they lower firm environmental performance while the latter actually has positive effects on firm financial performance. Managers, however, push for better environmental and hence financial performance and thus act against shareholders preferences, but in their interest. |
| Keywords: | Corporate governance, Environmental performance, Financial performance |
| Date: | 2005–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emp:wpaper:wp05-05&r=acc |
| By: | JUAN LUIS MARTINEZ (Instituto de Empresa) |
| Abstract: | Reflecting on the question of who is the principal subject of social responsibility in the business sphere, Greenfield sets out a number of common assumptions among practitioners in the field and tries to dismantle them through a critical review of recent literature. Some of his reflections need to be nuanced from an ethical basis and elaborated upon from a practical point of view. Taking as our starting point Greenfield´s conclusion "there is no such thing as business ethics, only ethics of individual business men and women", this article aims to look in more depth at the consequences of regulating personal ethics and referring it to an institution. |
| Keywords: | Business ethics, Corporate social responsability, Strategy |
| Date: | 2005–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emp:wpaper:wp05-04&r=acc |
| By: | JUAN SANTALO (Instituto de Empresa); CARL KOCK (Instituto de Empresa) |
| Abstract: | This paper brings two important topics of corporate environmental management and corporate governance by exploring the impact of various governance mechanisms on the level of environmental performance that is realized by firms. We hypothesize that anti-takeover amendments and provisions that restrict managers´ personal liability create a sphere of "bad" discretion that allows managers to shirk by underinvesting in potentially financially beneficial levels of environmental performance. We suggest that corporate governance structures that emphasize higher levels of performance pay and lower degrees of monitoring create a degree of "good" discretion that enhances environmental firm performance. |
| Keywords: | Corporate governance, Corporate environmental performance, Managerial discretion |
| Date: | 2005–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emp:wpaper:wp05-24&r=acc |
| By: | Silvia Giacomelli (Banca d'Italia); Sandro Trento (Banca d'Italia) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the results of two surveys conducted by the Bank of Italy in 2003, respectively among 1,900 and 500 Italian firms, on ownership structures, control and control transfers of non-listed firms, building upon similar surveys carried on in 1993. The aim of the research is to assess the degree and the directions of changes in control patterns of industrial firms in Italy. The data show that ownership concentration, as measured by various indicators, is high and that direct family control of firms is prevalent. Separation between ownership and control is limited. Financial institutions (including private equity) rarely own capital stakes or play a role in controlling non-financial firms. Ownership of a firm by another firm is widespread, especially for bigger firms; ultimate owners are usually families. Foreign ownership and control of Italian firms is growing. Overall, relatively small changes in the patterns of ownership and control have occurred over the decade (1993-2003). The market for corporate control has not developed significantly; it remains based on personal contacts. Financial institutions do not play a relevant role in it; transactions are usually mediated by legal and accounting professionals. Many firms will deal with generational transfers of control in the near future. |
| Keywords: | ownership structure, control, control transfers |
| JEL: | G32 |
| Date: | 2005–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_550_05&r=acc |
| By: | Joel Fried (University of Western Ontario) |
| Abstract: | The Foreign Property Rule (FPR), limiting the holding of foreign property in pension plan assets, is scheduled to be eliminated this year. It has been rationalized on economic grounds by asserting that it improves the value of the dollar and decreases the cost of capital yet, at the time the FPR began, the government was trying to keep the dollar from rising and there were strong capital inflows. Further, evidence from the past changes in the FPR indicates it had little, if any, affect on the cost of capital and exchange rate, but cost middle income workers between one and three billion dollars per annum when set at 30%. I argue that the reason for its existence was the then common belief that governments could make better economic allocation decisions than markets. Removing the FPR provides pension plans with greater opportunity for risk adjusted returns as well as responsibilities. Relevant issues that arise include the degree of foreign currency exposure that is desirable and the degree of active management desired in foreign assets, and whether it makes sense to choose fund managers that are regionally focused rather than global. Pension boards will also have to rethink what a Canadian fund is and whether it should mimic Canadian production (as currently structured) or Canadian consumption patterns. An encouraging aspect of eliminating the FPR is the possibility that government ideology is changing to place greater emphasis on the positive benefits of using markets to allocate resources. |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwo:epuwoc:20055&r=acc |
| By: | Saku Aura (Department of Economics, University of Missouri-Columbia); Thomas Davidoff |
| Abstract: | We show that the optimal property tax rate rises with the ratio of land rents to structure and land development costs. California’s high ratio of income to property tax revenue and the distribution of Federal housing subsidies thus appear geographically misplaced. Proportional taxation of non-housing commodities is not optimal, even when elasticities with respect to wages are identical. Absent externalities, the desirability of transportation taxes and“anti-sprawl” growth controls hinge on the relative importance of time versus money in commuting costs. |
| Keywords: | Property Taxes, Henry George Theorem |
| JEL: | H21 R13 |
| Date: | 2005–07–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:umc:wpaper:0505&r=acc |
| By: | Fender, John. |
| Abstract: | Currently, local authorities in the UK raise only about a quarter of their revenues from taxes under their control. The Balance of Funding Review Report considered whether this proportion should be increased, and if so, how. This paper considers the report and possible reforms. Reasons why the balance of funding is a problem are discussed. However, there are problems with the current system apart from the balance of funding, and to solve some of these a closer link between council tax bills and property values is suggested. Whether a local income tax should be introduced as a supplement to a reformed council tax, and other possible reforms, are also discussed. |
| Keywords: | Balance of funding, property tax, business rates, local income tax |
| Date: | 2005–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bir:birmec:05-03&r=acc |
| By: | Thomas Gaube (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with second-best pollution taxation by investigating allocations instead of the corresponding tax rates. Assuming certain restrictions on utility and that the marginal revenue from environmental taxation is positive, it is shown that environmental quality is higher in second best where only distortionary taxes are used to finance public expenditures than in the first-best optimum where lump-sum taxes are available. |
| Keywords: | environmental taxation, public goods |
| JEL: | H21 H41 |
| Date: | 2005–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpg:wpaper:2005_9&r=acc |
| By: | LUIS EDUARDO SOLIS (Instituto de Empresa); ANGEL ANTONIO DIAZ (Instituto de Empresa); OSWALDO LORENZO (Instituto de Empresa) |
| Abstract: | This study aims to gain a better understanding of key business processes. The processes of the firm are analyzed, proposing a classification of eight generic intra-organizational processes, and eleven generic inter-organizational processes, as well as criteria for the determination of the criticality of these processes and key performance indicators. Using these criteria critical intra-organizational and inter-organizational processes are identified in sixteen industrial sectors. Through a better understanding of key processes and network relations enterprises can develop competitive advantages that leverage their survival and well being. |
| Keywords: | Business process, Performance measurement, Inter-organizational, Intra-organizational |
| Date: | 2004–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emp:wpaper:wp04-24&r=acc |
| By: | CONCEPCION MARTIN (Instituto de Empresa) |
| Abstract: | (WPE 05/04 Clave pdf) Las empresas tecnológicas incluyen las de la nueva economÃa y aquellas cuya base de negocio es el I + D. El objetivo de este trabajo es evaluar y determinar cuáles son los métodos más adecuados de valoración para empresas tecnológicas. En concreto, mediante la aplicación práctica a una tecnológica española, se analizan cuáles son los cambios necesarios de realizar para aplicar los métodos de valoración tradicionales a este tipo de empresas y la validez del enfoque de opciones reales como método más adecuado para valorar este tipo de empresas. En este sentido, se concluye que valorar las empresas tecnológicas implica identificar y valorar las opciones reales. |
| Keywords: | Valoración de empresas, Valoración de opciones, Empresas tecnológicas, Opciones reales |
| Date: | 2004–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emp:wpaper:wpe04-05&r=acc |