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Full-Text Articles in Business

Better Corporate Management: What, Why And How?, Shyam Sunder Dec 2009

Better Corporate Management: What, Why And How?, Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

No abstract provided.


Value Of The Firm, Shyam Sunder Dec 2009

Value Of The Firm, Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

No abstract provided.


Role Of Accounting In Global Financial Crisis: Research And Open Questions, Shyam Sunder Dec 2009

Role Of Accounting In Global Financial Crisis: Research And Open Questions, Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

No abstract provided.


Equilibrating Corporate Financial Engineering And Report, Shyam Sunder Nov 2009

Equilibrating Corporate Financial Engineering And Report, Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

No abstract provided.


Better Corporate Management: What, Why And How, Shyam Sunder Nov 2009

Better Corporate Management: What, Why And How, Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

No abstract provided.


Restructuring In Voluntary Administration - Evidence From Australian Listed Public Companies, James Routledge, David Gadenne Nov 2009

Restructuring In Voluntary Administration - Evidence From Australian Listed Public Companies, James Routledge, David Gadenne

James Routledge

Introduction of the statutory voluntary administration (VA) process in mid 1993 represented a significant change to corporate insolvency law in Australia in providing greater opportunity for companies to attempt to resolve their financial distress. The final decision regarding the administration outcome is determined by company creditors, who can conclude the relatively short administration period by supporting a deed of company arrangement (DOCA) or have the company wound-up in a statutory liquidation. The focus of this paper is on the relationship between financial information available at the time a company enters VA and the VA outcome. In particular, we explore how …


The Company Dividend Restriction: Does It Promote Good Corporate Governance?, James Routledge, Peter Slade Nov 2009

The Company Dividend Restriction: Does It Promote Good Corporate Governance?, James Routledge, Peter Slade

James Routledge

This article considers aspects of the development of the law associated with the dividend payment restriction. The motivation for the article is to assess whether the existing substantive law is effective in promoting sound decision-making by corporate officers who are required to determine the timing and quantum of dividend payments. Our analysis suggests that the existing provision in s 254T of the Corporations Act 2001 is unlikely to have a significant positive effect on dividend decisions. This is due to its failure to provide meaningful guidance to decision-makers; its divergence from contemporary accounting practice; and its imposition of unnecessary complexity …


Assessing Solvency For Financially Distressed Companies, James Routledge, Ray Mcnamara Nov 2009

Assessing Solvency For Financially Distressed Companies, James Routledge, Ray Mcnamara

James Routledge

This article reviews past and recent authorities that have addressed the definition and application of the solvency test in s 95A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). The discussion highlights that, when faced with financial distress, company directors need to carefully consider the solvency implications of their decisions. To generate cash to pay debts as they become due, directors may attempt to realise company assets, obtain additional secured or unsecured debt finance or reorganise the timing of payments with creditors. The discussion of relevant cases shows that the solvency implications associated with realisation of assets, use of assets as security …


The Effect Of Changing Firm Characteristics On Capacity To Restructure, James Routledge, David Gadenne Nov 2009

The Effect Of Changing Firm Characteristics On Capacity To Restructure, James Routledge, David Gadenne

James Routledge

This paper examines whether changes in financial characteristics over the time prior to a firm entering insolvency administration will affect its reorganisation prospects. Prior research shows that an insolvent firm’s ability to rectify the mismatch between currently available liquid assets and current financial obligations is critical to the reorganisation outcome. Accordingly, a multivariate analysis of financial characteristics which reflect the firm’s ability to address this mismatch is presented. The results show that changes in operating performance and liquidity prior to a firm entering insolvency administration have a bearing on administration outcomes.


An Exploratory Study Of The Company Reorganisation Decision In Voluntary Administration, James Routledge, David Gadenne Nov 2009

An Exploratory Study Of The Company Reorganisation Decision In Voluntary Administration, James Routledge, David Gadenne

James Routledge

A primary purpose of the voluntary administration legislation is to provide a flexible procedure by which a company can attempt to reorganise its affairs and continue trading. Informed decision-making regarding which companies should attempt reorganisation is critical to the efficient operation of company rescue legislation. This paper explores decision-making associated with the voluntary administration process, with a focus on the relevance of financial information to the reorganisation decision. Statistical models are developed to provide some insight into the reorganisation decision and the problem of identifying suitable (successful) reorganisation candidates from a pool of distressed companies. Additionally, insolvency experts’ decisions regarding …


Financial Information And Voluntary Administration Outcomes: Evidence From Australian Listed Public Companies, James Routledge, David Gadenne Nov 2009

Financial Information And Voluntary Administration Outcomes: Evidence From Australian Listed Public Companies, James Routledge, David Gadenne

James Routledge

Introduction of the statutory voluntary administration (VA) process in mid 1993 represented a significant change to corporate insolvency law in Australia in providing greater opportunity for companies to attempt to resolve their financial distress. The focus of this paper is on the relationship between financial information available at the time a company enters VA and the VA outcome. In particular, we explore how financial information that indicates a company's capacity to restructure its debt and assets relate to the VA outcome. Our analysis indicates that a company's ability to restructure its debt contracts is critical to the fate of companies …


The Decision To Enter Voluntary Administration: Timely Strategy Or Last Resort?, James Routledge Nov 2009

The Decision To Enter Voluntary Administration: Timely Strategy Or Last Resort?, James Routledge

James Routledge

One of the options available to directors of financially distressed companies is to place their company into voluntary administration (VA). The decision to enter VA should enhance corporate governance because it allows for informed decision-making about a company's future, and ensures that administration of a company's affairs proceeds in an orderly manner. Once in VA, a company has a short 'breathing space' during which it can develop a strategy to address its insolvency. The strategic options available will be significantly affected by past performance and current financial position. If the company's position has deteriorated significantly, the VA process will merely …


Innate And Discretionary Accrual Quality And Corporate Governance, Pamela Kent, James Routledge, Jenny Stewart Sep 2009

Innate And Discretionary Accrual Quality And Corporate Governance, Pamela Kent, James Routledge, Jenny Stewart

James Routledge

The empirical analysis presented in this paper provides further insight into the important issue of the association between corporate governance structures and the quality of reported company earnings. The analysis uses the measure of accrual quality developed by Dechow and Dichev (2002) which provides a direct measure of the quality of current accruals. We derive measures of the innate and discretionary components of accrual quality following Francis et al. (2005), and subsequently include these measures in regressions against corporate governance characteristics. The results show that sound governance structures have a positive association between the innate and discretionary components of accrual …


Keeping Up Appearances: The Quest For Governance Legitimacy, Graham Bowrey Aug 2009

Keeping Up Appearances: The Quest For Governance Legitimacy, Graham Bowrey

Graham Bowrey

An effective corporate governance structure is as crucial to a public sector organisation as it is to a private sector organisation. This paper reviews the profile of directors on governance boards of government controlled organisations and finds that, while the governance structures are similar with those in the private sector, the real power to set the strategic, financial and operational directions of these organisations is not in the hands of the directors, as it is in the private sector, but in the hands of the responsible ministers. This de-coupling, it is argued, is due to the perception that private sector …


The New Researcher, Graham Bowrey Aug 2009

The New Researcher, Graham Bowrey

Graham Bowrey

Purpose This poem is a reflection of the processes and associated emotions early career academic researchers may experience in preparing, presenting and publishing their research. Design/methodology/approach: Fictional poem Findings: This poem highlights that the processes an early career academic researcher undertakes to publish his/her research isn’t necessarily the hardest lesson to learn. Rather the hardest lesson is learning to cope with the mix of emotions they will experience during the process. Research Implications: Provides early career academic researchers, and their supervisors, a guide of what they can expect to experience during the first few years during their research. Originality/Value A …


Submission To The Independent Review Of The Environment Protection And Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, Graham Bowrey, Ciorstan J. Smark Aug 2009

Submission To The Independent Review Of The Environment Protection And Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, Graham Bowrey, Ciorstan J. Smark

Graham Bowrey

Please find following a submission to the Independent Review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999. This submission focuses on reviewing the level of compliance with Section 516A (Annual reports to deal with environmental matters) of the EPBC Act 1999 by addressing the following questions raised in the Independent Review of the EPBC Act’s Discussion Paper: Question 37 – Does the Act contain sufficient comprehensive and appropriate range of enforcement mechanisms? Are those mechanisms capable of deterring and responding to contraventions of the Act? Question 40 – Does the Act provide sufficient guidance for decision makers in …


Auditor Orientation, Strategies, And Tactics In Audit Negotiations, Janice Hollindale, Pamela Kent, Ray Mcnamara Aug 2009

Auditor Orientation, Strategies, And Tactics In Audit Negotiations, Janice Hollindale, Pamela Kent, Ray Mcnamara

Ray McNamara

This paper establishes the tactics that auditors use in negotiations with their client-management. It analyses those tactics to determine whether they are related by some underlying dimensions and their relevant strategies. Auditors performed a sorting task on 38 audit-specific tactics and assembled the tactics into groups of similar tactics. We used the auditors’ own cognisant representations of those tactics to determine their underlying structure. Multidimensional scaling found that there are four dimensions to the tactics that auditors use. During negotiations with their clients, auditors employ tactics representing core dimensions which can be interpreted as “Concern for Self”, “Concern for Client”, …


Income Strategies Of Listed And Unlisted Companies: An Empirical Study Of Accounting Method Choices, Keith Duncan Aug 2009

Income Strategies Of Listed And Unlisted Companies: An Empirical Study Of Accounting Method Choices, Keith Duncan

Keith Duncan

This paper explores whether the political and contracting environments for listed and unlisted companies gives rise to different wealth incentives for management to judiciously select a portfolio of accounting procedures for the firm. The analysis indicates significant differences in the method choices made by the managers of listed and unlisted firms. For the listed firms, size as a proxy for political costs is negatively related to portfolio choice, supporting the political cost hypothesis. In addition, leverage and directors' percentage ownership are positively related to portfolio choice and thus support the debt contracting cost hypothesis. In contrast, none of the contracting …


Innate And Discretionary Accrual Quality And Corporate Governance, Pamela Kent, James Routledge, Jenny Stewart Aug 2009

Innate And Discretionary Accrual Quality And Corporate Governance, Pamela Kent, James Routledge, Jenny Stewart

Pamela Kent

The empirical analysis presented in this paper provides further insight into the important issue of the association between corporate governance structures and the quality of reported company earnings. The analysis uses the measure of accrual quality developed by Dechow and Dichev (2002) which provides a direct measure of the quality of current accruals. We derive measures of the innate and discretionary components of accrual quality following Francis et al. (2005), and subsequently include these measures in regressions against corporate governance characteristics. The results show that sound governance structures have a positive association between the innate and discretionary components of accrual …


Auditor Orientation, Strategies, And Tactics In Audit Negotiations, Janice Hollindale, Pamela Kent, Ray Mcnamara Aug 2009

Auditor Orientation, Strategies, And Tactics In Audit Negotiations, Janice Hollindale, Pamela Kent, Ray Mcnamara

Pamela Kent

This paper establishes the tactics that auditors use in negotiations with their client-management. It analyses those tactics to determine whether they are related by some underlying dimensions and their relevant strategies. Auditors performed a sorting task on 38 audit-specific tactics and assembled the tactics into groups of similar tactics. We used the auditors’ own cognisant representations of those tactics to determine their underlying structure. Multidimensional scaling found that there are four dimensions to the tactics that auditors use. During negotiations with their clients, auditors employ tactics representing core dimensions which can be interpreted as “Concern for Self”, “Concern for Client”, …


Droughts And Big Baths Of Australian Agricultural Firms, Pamela Kent, Reza Monem, Glenn Cuffe Aug 2009

Droughts And Big Baths Of Australian Agricultural Firms, Pamela Kent, Reza Monem, Glenn Cuffe

Pamela Kent

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether Australian agricultural firms display big bath behaviour during droughts by recognising extraordinary and abnormal losses. It is hypothesised that Australian agricultural firms are more likely to report big bath losses in drought years than in non-drought years and, in a given drought year, agricultural firms are more likely to report big bath losses than firms in other industries.

Design/methodology/approach – The authors analyse 405 firm-years data for agricultural firms over 1980-1995. For comparison, they also analyse matched-pair samples of 17 and 30 non-agricultural firms for the drought years of …


Forensic Accounting And Benford's Law, Sukanto Bhattacharya, Kuldeep Kumar Aug 2009

Forensic Accounting And Benford's Law, Sukanto Bhattacharya, Kuldeep Kumar

Kuldeep Kumar

Discusses how forensic accounting can use Benford's Law (BL) to detect financial fraud.


True And Fair As The Moral Compass Of Financial Reporting, Shyam Sunder Aug 2009

True And Fair As The Moral Compass Of Financial Reporting, Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

No abstract provided.


Accounting Common Knowledge And The Dynamics Of Stock Markets, Shyam Sunder Jul 2009

Accounting Common Knowledge And The Dynamics Of Stock Markets, Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

No abstract provided.


Perspectives And Questions On Corporate Financial Reporting, Shyam Sunder Jul 2009

Perspectives And Questions On Corporate Financial Reporting, Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

No abstract provided.


Multi-Perspective Performance Reporting, Continuous Improvement And Organisational Performance, Errol Iselin, John Sands, Mia Lokman Jul 2009

Multi-Perspective Performance Reporting, Continuous Improvement And Organisational Performance, Errol Iselin, John Sands, Mia Lokman

Errol Iselin

The use of multi-perspective performance reporting systems (MPRS), such as the balanced scorecard (BSC), has become widespread. The BSC reports performance about four perspectives (learning and growth, internal business processes, customer, and financials). Although these systems are important (Libby et al., 2004), research in the area has only just scratched the surface, hence the motivation for this study. Continuous improvement systems (CIS) are another management accounting innovation. These systems constantly look for ways to improve performance and, if implemented, will be used in conjunction with performance reporting systems. This research studies the effectiveness of CIS in organisations using MPRS. The …


Gas Reserves And Equity Valuation: Implications For Accounting Standards, Keith Duncan, Simone Kelly, Ray Mcnamara Jun 2009

Gas Reserves And Equity Valuation: Implications For Accounting Standards, Keith Duncan, Simone Kelly, Ray Mcnamara

Simone Kelly

The coal seam gas industry is an important and rapidly developing sector of the Australian mining industry. This sector provides an excellent site to test the relevance of the Hotelling Valuation Principle (HVP) in explaining the market capitalisation of this industry sector. Currently, the majority of listed firms in this sector do not have positive cash flows from the sale of gas. The HVP posits that market values are a function of company reserves. We test five measures of firm reserves as explanations of market capitalisation. After controlling for scale differences, we find that 2P Reserves have the highest explanatory …


Gas Reserves And Equity Valuation: Implications For Accounting Standards, Keith Duncan, Simone Kelly, Ray Mcnamara Jun 2009

Gas Reserves And Equity Valuation: Implications For Accounting Standards, Keith Duncan, Simone Kelly, Ray Mcnamara

Keith Duncan

The coal seam gas industry is an important and rapidly developing sector of the Australian mining industry. This sector provides an excellent site to test the relevance of the Hotelling Valuation Principle (HVP) in explaining the market capitalisation of this industry sector. Currently, the majority of listed firms in this sector do not have positive cash flows from the sale of gas. The HVP posits that market values are a function of company reserves. We test five measures of firm reserves as explanations of market capitalisation. After controlling for scale differences, we find that 2P Reserves have the highest explanatory …


Gas Reserves And Equity Valuation: Implications For Accounting Standards, Keith Duncan, Simone Kelly, Ray Mcnamara Jun 2009

Gas Reserves And Equity Valuation: Implications For Accounting Standards, Keith Duncan, Simone Kelly, Ray Mcnamara

Ray McNamara

The coal seam gas industry is an important and rapidly developing sector of the Australian mining industry. This sector provides an excellent site to test the relevance of the Hotelling Valuation Principle (HVP) in explaining the market capitalisation of this industry sector. Currently, the majority of listed firms in this sector do not have positive cash flows from the sale of gas. The HVP posits that market values are a function of company reserves. We test five measures of firm reserves as explanations of market capitalisation. After controlling for scale differences, we find that 2P Reserves have the highest explanatory …


Better Corporate Management: What, Why And How, Shyam Sunder May 2009

Better Corporate Management: What, Why And How, Shyam Sunder

Shyam Sunder

No abstract provided.