An international assessment of the comprehensibility of material safety data sheets (MSDSs)

Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) are an integral component of occupational hazard communication systems. These documents are used to disseminate hazard information to workers on chemical substances. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the comprehensibility of MSDSs by workers at an international level. ^ A total of 117 employees of a multi-national petrochemical company participated; thirty-nine (39) each in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Overall participation rate of those approached to participate was 82%. These countries were selected as they each utilize one of the three major existing hazard communication systems for fixed workplaces. The systems are comprised of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Hazard Communication Standard in the United States, the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) in Canada, and the compilation of several European Union directives addressing classification, labeling of substances and preparations, and MSDSs in Europe. ^ A pretest posttest randomized study design was used, with the posttest being comparable to an open book test. The results of this research indicated that only about two-thirds of the information on the MSDSs was comprehended by the workers with a significant difference identified among study participants based on country comparisons. This data was fairly consistent with the results of previous MSDS comprehensibility studies conducted in the United States. There was no significant difference in the comprehension level among study participants when taking into account the international hazard communication standard that the MSDS complied with. Marginally, age, education level and experience level did not have a significant impact on the comprehension level. ^ Participants did find MSDSs to be satisfactory in providing the information needed to protect them regardless of their views on the readability and formatting of MSDSs. The health-related information was the least comprehended as less than half of it was comprehended on the basis of the responses. The findings from this research suggest that there is much work needed yet to make MSDSs more comprehensible on a global basis, particularly regarding health-related information. ^

Analysis of the LIFO inventory valuation method during the onset of IFRS

I propose that the Last in, First out (LIFO) inventory valuation method needs to be reevaluated. I will evaluate the impact of the LIFO method on earnings of publically traded companies with a LIFO reserve over the past 10 years. I will begin my proposal with the history of how the LIFO method became an acceptable valuation method and discuss the significance of LIFO within the accounting profession Next I will provide a description of LIFO, the First in, First out (FIFO), and the weighted average inventory valuation methods and explore the differences among each. More specifically, I will explore the arguments for and against the use of the LIFO method and the potential shift towards financial standards that do not allow LIFO (a standard adopted and influenced by the International Financial Accounting Standards Board). Data will be collected from Compustat for publicly traded companies (with a LIFO Reserve) for the past 10 years. I will document which firms use LIFO, analyze trends relating to LIFO usage and LIFO reserves (the difference in the cost of inventory between using LIFO and FIFO), and evaluate the effect on earnings. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the accuracy of LIFO in portraying earnings and to see how much tax has gone uncollected over the years because of the use of LIFO. Moreover, I will provide an opinion as to whether U.S. GAAP should adopt a standard similar to IFRS and ban the LIFO method.

Financial Cooperation in East Asia

This paper addresses the rationale for financial cooperation in East Asia. It begins by giving a brief review of developments after the Asian currency crisis, and argues that enhancing regional financial cooperation both quantitatively and qualitatively will require: (1) upgrading surveillance capabilities in the region, and (2) creating a clear division of labor between regional institutions and the IMF. It also mentions the issue of membership and the background forces that have led to the duplication of similar forums in East Asia. Although the concern over crisis management is the central issue in East Asian financial cooperation, other issues such as exchange rate policy coordination and fostering regional capital markets are discussed as well.

Activity based costing, time-driven activity based costing and lean accounting: differences among three accounting systems' approach to manufacturing

Choosing an appropriate accounting system for manufacturing has always been a challenge for managers. In this article we try to compare three accounting systems designed since 1980 to address problems of traditional accounting system. In the first place we are going to present a short overview on background and definition of three accounting systems: Activity Based costing, Time-Driven Activity Based Costing and Lean Accounting. Comparisons are made based on the three basic roles of information generated by accounting systems: financial reporting, decision making, and operational control and improvement. The analysis in this paper reveals how decisions are made over the value stream in the companies using Lean Accounting while decisions under the ABC Accounting system are taken at individual product level, and finally we will show how TD-ABC covers both product and process levels for decision making. In addition, this paper shows the importance of nonfinancial measures for operational control and improvement under the Lean Accounting and TD-ABC methods whereas ABC relies mostly on financial measures in this context.

Enhancing European Cooperation in Financial Supervision and Crisis Management. ACES Working Papers, August 2009

To overcome the regulatory pitfalls, regulatory capacity and resources in financial markets governance need to be enhanced, not only at national but also at global levels. In order to shed light on policy issues and agendas in international financial policy cooperation, this paper focuses on the case of European financial integration and regulations. The analysis of policy developments at the European level in coordinating differing national interests, supervisory systems, and practices among EU member states highlights fundamental elements of global financial regulatory cooperation.

Official U.S. and international financing institutions : a guide for exporters and investors.

Mode of access: Internet.

Zero-non-zero patterned vector error correction modeling for I(2) cointegrated time series with applications in testing PPP and stock market relationships

Vector error-correction models (VECMs) have become increasingly important in their application to financial markets. Standard full-order VECM models assume non-zero entries in all their coefficient matrices. However, applications of VECM models to financial market data have revealed that zero entries are often a necessary part of efficient modelling. In such cases, the use of full-order VECM models may lead to incorrect inferences. Specifically, if indirect causality or Granger non-causality exists among the variables, the use of over-parameterised full-order VECM models may weaken the power of statistical inference. In this paper, it is argued that the zero–non-zero (ZNZ) patterned VECM is a more straightforward and effective means of testing for both indirect causality and Granger non-causality. For a ZNZ patterned VECM framework for time series of integrated order two, we provide a new algorithm to select cointegrating and loading vectors that can contain zero entries. Two case studies are used to demonstrate the usefulness of the algorithm in tests of purchasing power parity and a three-variable system involving the stock market.

Transplanting Anglo-American accounting oversight boards to a diverse institutional context

The introduction of accounting and auditing oversight boards (OBs) has been promoted on a global scale as a key component of the international financial architecture that has emerged over the past two decades. Such institutions, modeled on the Anglo-American tradition, are domestically organized and embedded within distinctively diverse institutional contexts. Their role is to ease agency problems, improve the quality of financial reporting, and help provide stability in the global financial system. We employ an institutional approach, located within the broader political economy framework of global capitalism, to examine the establishment and operation of the new regulatory regime in Greece. Greece, a member of the European Union, exhibits characteristics of a "delegative" democracy, i.e. a traditionally weak institutionalization, reform (in)capacity problems and a clientelistic political system. Our case study shows that the formation and operation of the newly-established system of oversight is conditioned by local political and economic constraints and, thus, does not automatically translate into concrete benefits for the quality of financial reporting. We also draw attention to the structural mismatch between a progressing globalized financial integration and the fragmented nature of the system of oversight, and illustrate that OBs' independence from local governments is an important but neglected issue.

A conceptual framework of accounting policy choice under SSAP 20

Purpose - To provide a framework of accounting policy choice associated with the timing of adoption of the UK Statement of Standard Accounting Practice (SSAP) No. 20, "Foreign Currency Translation". The conceptual framework describes the accounting policy choices that firms face in a setting that is influenced by: their financial characteristics; the flexible foreign exchange rates; and the stock market response to accounting decisions. Design/methodology/approach - Following the positive accounting theory context, this paper puts into a framework the motives and choices of UK firms with regard to the adoption or deferment of the adoption of SSAP 20. The paper utilises the theoretical and empirical findings of previous studies to form and substantiate the conceptual framework. Given the UK foreign exchange setting, the framework identifies the initial stage: lack of regulation and flexibility in financial reporting; the intermediate stage: accounting policy choice; and the final stage: accounting choice and policy review. Findings - There are situations where accounting regulation contrasts with the needs and business objectives of firms and vice-versa. Thus, firms may delay the adoption up to the point where the increase in political costs can just be tolerated. Overall, the study infers that firms might have chosen to defer the adoption of SSAP 20 until they reach a certain corporate goal, or the adverse impact (if any) of the accounting change on firms' financial numbers is minimal. Thus, the determination of the timing of the adoption is a matter which is subject to the objectives of the managers in association with the market and economic conditions. The paper suggests that the flexibility in financial reporting, which may enhance the scope for income-smoothing, can be mitigated by the appropriate standardisation of accounting practice. Research limitations/implications - First, the study encompassed a period when firms and investors were less sophisticated users of financial information. Second, it is difficult to ascertain the decisions that firms would have taken, had the pound appreciated over the period of adoption and had the firms incurred translation losses rather than translation gains. Originality/value - This paper is useful to accounting standards setters, professional accountants, academics and investors. The study can give the accounting standard-setting bodies useful information when they prepare a change in the accounting regulation or set an appropriate date for the implementation of an accounting standard. The paper provides significant insight about the behaviour of firms and the associated impacts of financial markets and regulation on the decision-making process of firms. The framework aims to assist the market and other authorities to reduce information asymmetry and to reinforce the efficiency of the market. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Measuring and assessing the effects and extent of international bond market integration

We review briefly the literature on international financial integration, especially as it pertains to bond market integration. This contextualizes the review we than provide of a number of papers contained in a special issue of this Journal. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Impression management, myth creation and fabrication in private social and environmental reporting:insights from Erving Goffman

This paper explores the nature of private social and environmental reporting (SER). From interviews with UK institutional investors, we show that both investors and investees employ Goffmanesque, staged impression management as a means of creating and disseminating a dual myth of social and environmental accountability. The interviewees' utterances unveil private meetings imbued with theatrical verbal and physical impression management. Most of the time, the investors' shared awareness of reality belongs to a Goffmanesque frame whereby they accept no intentionality, misrepresentation or fabrication, believing instead that the 'performers' (investees) are not intending to deceive them. A shared perception that social and environmental considerations are subordinated to financial issues renders private SER an empty encounter characterised as a relationship-building exercise with seldom any impact on investment decision-making. Investors spoke of occasional instances of fabrication but these were insufficient to break the frame of dual myth creation. They only identified a handful of instances where intentional misrepresentation had been significant enough to alter their reality and behaviour. Only in the most extreme cases of fabrication and lying did the staged meeting break frame and become a genuine occasion of accountability, where investors demanded greater transparency, further meetings and at the extreme, divested shares. We conclude that the frontstage, ritualistic impression management in private SER is inconsistent with backstage activities within financial institutions where private financial reporting is prioritised. The investors appeared to be in a double bind whereby they devoted resources to private SER but were simultaneously aware that these efforts may be at best subordinated, at worst ignored, rendering private SER a predominantly cosmetic, theatrical and empty exercise. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Accounting for derivatives:an evaluation of reporting practice by UK banks

In 1998 the Accounting Standards Board (ASB) published FRS 13, ‘Derivatives and other Financial Instruments: Disclosures’. This laid down the requirements for disclosures of an entity’s policies, objectives and strategies in using financial instruments, their impact on its risk, performance and financial condition, and details of how risks are managed. FRS 13 became effective in March 1999, and this paper uses the 1999 annual reports of UK banks to evaluate the usefulness of disclosures from a user’s perspective. Usefulness is measured in terms of the criteria of materiality, relevance, reliability, comparability and understandability as defined in the ASB’s Statement of Principles (ASB, 1999). Our findings suggest that the narrative disclosures are generic in nature, the numerical data incomplete and not always comparable, and that it is difficult for the user to combine both narrative and numerical information in order to assess the banks’ risk profile. Our overall conclusion is therefore that current UK financial reporting practices are of limited help to users wishing to assess the scale of an institution’s financial risk exposure.

A globális pénzügyi központok világgazdasági szerepének változásai (The changing role of global financial centres in the world economy)

A pénzügyi központok jelentős mértékben hozzájárulhatnak a bankok nemzetköziesedéséhez. A világgazdaság története során már évszázadokkal ezelőtt létrejött a nemzetközi pénzügyi központok többsége, amelyek szerepe és súlya folytonosan változott. A vezető globális pénzügyi központokban általában mindenféle pénzügyi művelet végrehajtható, intenzíven egy helyre koncentrálódnak a pénzügyi-üzleti műveletek és tranzakciók. Az 1990-es évekre még jellemző globális triád – amit New York, London és Tokió alkotott – napjainkra már megszűnt. A globális pénzügyi központok szerepét a 2010-es években London és New York képes betölteni. Kérdéses azonban, hogy az ázsiai térségben globális pénzügyi központtá válhat-e Hong Kong, esetleg Szingapúr. _____ Financial centres significantly contribute to the internationalization of the banks. Most of the international financial centres were founded centuries ago, but their roles and magnitudes have always changed. All kinds of financial operations can be carried out in the leading global financial centres, and a wide scale of financial operations and transactions concentrate in these places. The dominance of the global triad of New York, London and Tokyo of the 1990s, has recently ended. Only two main financial centres, London and New York, can unambiguously fulfil the role of the global financial centres in the 2010s. However, it is questionable whether Hong Kong or Singapore can become global financial centres in the Asian region of the global economy.

A számviteli érdekhordozói elméletek evolúciója és a szabályozás – klasszikus tézisek és új irányok a pénzügyi beszámolásban (Evolution of the financial accounting stakeholder theories and the regulation – classic theses and new ways in the financial report)

A modernkori számvitel egyik alapvető kérdése, hogy a pénzügyi beszámolás címzettjét – az érdekhordozókat – miként lehet azonosítani. Ez a törekvés már a klasszikus, azóta meghaladottá vált elméletekben is központi szerepet töltött be és modern, posztmodern elméletekben kulcsfontosságúvá vált. A tapasztalatok alapján az azonosított érdekhordozók köre módosult, bővült. Ennek a fejlődésnek a vizsgálata során a számvitel számos olyan ismérvét sikerült azonosítani, amely segítségével a vonatkozó szabályok tökéletesíthetők. Emellett az evolúció vizsgálata segítségével közvetlenül is megfigyelhetővé vált az, hogy a számvitelt extern módon szabályozó hatalom szükségessége milyen feltételek teljesítése mellett igazolható. A vizsgálat során azonosíthatóvá váltak olyan helyzetek, amikor a számviteli szabályozó és „kívülről irányított” pénzügyi beszámolás szuboptimális helyzethez vezet. A cikk az érdekhordozói elméletek fejlődését a klasszikus felfogásoktól indulva mutatja be. Feltárja, hogy a modern – jelenleg elfogadott – koalíciós vállalatfelfogás miben hozott újat, elsősorban miként hívta életre az extern szabályozót. _____ One of the key problems of the modern financial accounting is how to define the stakeholders. This problem was already a key issue in the already outdated classical stakeholder theories. Research and experience noted that the group of stakeholders has widened and has been modified. Through this evolution researchers identified many characteristics of financial reporting through which the regulation could have been improved. This advance pointed out which are the situations when the existence of an extern accounting regulator may be justified, since under given circumstances this existence led to suboptimal scenario. This paper deals with the stakeholder theories, starting with the classical ones. The article points out how did the currently accepted theory changed the assertions of the previous one and how was the external regulator created as an inevitable consequence. The paper also highlights the main issues raised by the post-modern theories; those, which try to fit the current questions into the current stakeholder models. The article also produces a Hungarian evidence for the previously mentioned suboptimal scenario, where the not tax-driven regulation proves to be suboptimal.