Accounting Commons^™

A Study Of The Civil Justice Reform Act Of 2003: Can Tort Reform Benefit Arkansas?, Scott Jackson

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

Without question, reforming America's civil justice system has become a hot button issue in today's political landscape. While most Americans move about their daily lives without giving the subject a second thought, politicians ranging from aspiring state assemblymen to the recently reelected George W Bush have placed tort reform at the forefront of American political affairs. Although problems plaguing American courts have been discussed for years, criticism of America's current system for adjudicating tort cases has reached a fever pitch. Among the more vocal critics are powerful lobbyist groups, such as the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Tort …

Internet Gambling: Fair Game In The United States?, Brandice N. Wells

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Women In The Workplace In Accounting: Perspective Vs. Reality, Stephanie Lynn Cuningkin

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

No abstract provided.

An Investigation Of Electronic Tax Filing In Arkansas, Angela Lerae Adams

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

As a part of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, Congress set a goal for the IRS to have at least 80 percent of federal tax returns filed electronically by 2007. During the last tax filing season, electronic filing of tax returns increased by around 9 percent, up to 41 percent of individual returns filed, with over 18 million taxpayers filing state and federal returns simultaneously. While the number of electronic returns is increasing, the IRS is unlikely to reach its 80 percent mandate by 2007. Government taxing agencies are actively pursuing ways to use technology to increase …

New Business Initiatives And Financial Performance, Douglass Cagwin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the relationship o f improvement in financial performance with use o f new business initiatives such as JIT, TQM, and ABC. The investigation is organized into three areas o f inquiry that telescope from the general to the specific to reach a conclusion regarding the efficacy of initiatives. The first two studies contain regression analyses o f the association between the use of the initiatives and change in industry mean-adjusted ROI. The third study develops and test a comprehensive structural model that incorporates factors postulated by previous researchers to affect the efficacy of ABC. Data are obtained …

Accounting Expertise And Ill-Structured Problems: Cognitive Reasoning Abilities And Performance In Business Valuation Tasks, Wray Bradley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the linkage between cognitive reasoning abilities and performance in ill-structured tasks. Prior accounting research shows that the broad construct known as general problem-solving ability is directly related to performance in ill-structured audit tasks (Libby and Tan 1994). General problem-solving ability has been defined as having sub-components comprised of verbal, quantitative, memory, and cognitive reasoning abilities (Libby 1995). Most prior accounting studies have either controlled for performance differences associated with the subcomponent abilities or have just ignored them. This has created a gap in behavioral accounting research (Shanteau 1995; Bouwman and Bradley 1997). This study seeks to partially …

Lobbying Activity In The Standards Setting Process: Fasb Statement On Financial Accounting Standards No. 106, "Employers' Accounting For Postretirement Benefits Other Than Pensions", Christine Schalow

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explain and classify the behavior of corporate managers in the accounting standards setting process as it related to Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 106. Evidence from this study provides readers a better understanding of participation of corporate managers in the accounting standards setting process. To accomplish the objective, this study surveyed corporate representatives who responded to the Financial Accounting Standards Board's, February 1989, exposure draft, "Employers' Accounting for Postretirement Benefits Other Than Pensions," (OPEB). A sample of corporations whose representatives did not respond to the OPEB exposure draft, although the corporations did …

A Comparison Of The Classification Accuracy Of Linear And Quadratic Statistical Discriminant Models Versus Linear And Quadratic Programming Discriminant Models, Jerry William Ferry

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to compare the classification accuracy of two mathematical programming models versus traditional statistical discriminant analysis. Monte Carlo techniques were used to compute population 1, population 2, and average misclassification rates for the linear discriminant function (LDF), the quadratic discriminant function (QDF), a linear programming discriminant model (LPDM), and a quadratic programming discriminant model (QPDM) for specific values of several parameters which affect discriminant analysis. This study was restricted to the two group, two variable discriminant problem.

An Inquiry Into The Accounting Principles And Reporting Practices Followed By Selected State University Hospitals, Rameshwar Dass Gupta

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Because of their unique position as component units of other governmental organizations, the accounting and reporting practices of hospitals owned and operated by state supported university medical centers have been subject to several conflicting guidelines. The purposes of this study were to investigate the accounting and reporting practices of selected university hospitals, to determine the deviations between their practices and the principles recommended by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' Hospital Audit Guide and other guides, and to recommend changes that should be made by these hospitals to achieve the objectives for financial reporting by nonbusiness organizations as stated …

An Empirical Investigation Of Personal Characteristics Significantly Affecting Employment Offers From International Accounting Firms To Accounting Graduates, John M. Alvis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The basis for this study was the desire of many accounting students to gain employment with international accounting firms and to know which personal characteristics affect employment offers. Some issues addressed by this thesis follow. (1) What student characteristics had significant effects on employment offers? (2) What were significant differences in characteristics of female/male students receiving offers? (3) What were significant differences in successful/unsuccessful male students? Female students? (4) Which characteristics were important predictors of salary-offer size? (5) Were reasons for selecting accounting careers related to receiving employment offers? (6) Was there discrimination because of sex regarding employment offers? (7) …

A Study Of Standard Setting And Productivity Measurements Using Learning Curves, Don William Finn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Performance standards encompass information characteristics which decay over time. Consequently, it is worthwhile to identify factors affecting information decay. In Chapter I, the objectives of this study were discussed. They are restated: (1) determine if production worker performance has changed over time, (2) provide broad guidelines and recommendations for production type industries concerning performance evaluation of employees during training, (3) find evidence that standards and environmental factors for production workers can be linked and provide information to the firm for budgeting and planning purposes, and (4) provide a basis for further research associated with identifying variables related to improving worker …

An Empirical Investigation Of The Characteristics Of Publicly-Held Corporations That Change To Private Ownership, Alan Kent Ortegren

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Disenchantment with public ownership during the decade of the 1970's contributed to the emergence of a trend for publicly owned corporations to change to private ownership by deregistering under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The primary purpose of the study was to investigate whether firms which changed to private ownership possessed attributes during the time leading to the change that differentiated them from selected firms which remained publicly held. The attributes included in the study contained financial data from published corporate financial statements, stock distribution information, and stock market data. The study included firms which changed o private ownership …

Self-Regulatory Processes In The Accounting Profession As They Relate To The Professional Competence Of The Individual, Kyle Henn Klein

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The accounting profession has traditionally enjoyed a relationship of trust with the community, receiving certain advantages in return for the benefits it offered to society. However, in recent years the increasing litigation, regulation, and investigations involving accountants and the accounting profession indicate that the relationship between the profession and society is deteriorating. Indications are that society feels the profession has violated the trust placed in it by failing to effectively regulate itself and protect the public interest. The purpose of this study was to provide a situational analysis of the current status of self-regulation in the accounting profession as it …

An Analysis Of The Impact Of Property Tax Credit/Rebate Programs On State Revenues And Tax Equity, Robert Barry Rogow

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primary aim of this study was to examine the impact of shifting tax burdens between income groups following the implementation of alternative real residential property tax credit/rebate programs. Specifically, the objectives of this study were:

1. To analyze the real residential property tax level and vertical equity between income groups before and after implementing alternative credit/rebate programs;

2. To determine the potential total revenues lost to the state after implementing a credit/rebate program;

3. To analyze the tax level and vertical equity of three state-levied taxes—the personal income, sales, and motor fuel tax— and the property tax before and …

An Empirical Study Of Selected Causes And Effects Of Semirigid Prices In The Petroleum Refining Industry With Emphasis On The Period 1963 Through 1972, Robert Eugene Feller

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The premise of this study is that certain policies within and without the petroleum industry have interacted to produce semirigid industry prices. One effect of this price rigidity is the inflexibility that is passed on to costs whenever the traditional joint-cost-accounting allocation (based on relative market value) is used in conjunction with these prices.

In studying the problem, activities and policies which combined to cause artificial price restraints in the petroleum-refining industry from 1963 to 1972 were reviewed. The accounting and economic implications and the effect on refinery investment of the resulting semirigid prices were investigated.

Published wholesale gasoline prices …

An Evaluation Of The Entity Theory As A Partial Solution To The Non-Comparability Enigma Of Inter-Firm Income Statement Analysis, Lester Lee Schmidt Jr.

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study has been to evaluate on deductive grounds the proposition that income as determined according to the entity theory would be more comparable among firms than income as determined under contemporary generally accepted accounting principles, and to investigate whether or not empirical support exists among two professional groups for the propositions inherently contained in the entity theory.