The effect of institutional settings on accounting conservatism – Empirical evidence from the Nordic countries and the transitional economies of Europe

The purpose of the dissertation is to investigate how different institutional settings affect accounting conservatism. These aspects are of interest because prior studies show that accounting quality is influenced not only by accounting standards, but also by incentives from the financial reporting environment. Accounting quality could be defined as the usefulness of financial reporting to investors and other parties in contractual relationships with the firm. In this thesis it is measured by a single, but important attribute, accounting conservatism. Conservatism is understood as asymmetric timeliness of loss and gain recognition. The study examines the role and the users of financial statements, and how changes in both respectively affect accounting conservatism. These two questions are explored in two different research environments, the Nordic countries and the transitional economies of Europe. The results of the dissertation indicate that the degree of accounting conservatism increases the closer the financial statement comes to fulfilling the informational role of financial reporting. Secondly, it is also implied that foreign investors demand conservative accounting numbers in order to mitigate the problem of information asymmetry. Overall, the findings suggest that earnings conservatism is useful and increases the quality of financial information for the purpose of decision-making and contracting. These results are of relevance to managers, investors and other users of financial reporting information, as well as to standard setters.

Timing and the holding periods of institutional real estate

Literature on investors' holding periods for securities suggests that high transaction costs are associated with longer holding periods. Return volatility, by contrast, is associated with shorter holding periods. In real estate, high transaction costs and illiquidity imply longer holding periods. Research on depreciation and obsolescence suggests that there might be an optimal holding period. Sales rates and holding periods for U.K. institutional real estate are analyzed, using a proportional hazards model, over an 18-year period. The results show longer holding periods than those claimed by investors, with marked differences by type of property and over time. The results shed light on investor behavior.

Timing and the holding periods of institutional real estate

The literature on investors’ holding periods for equities and bonds suggest that high transaction costs are associated with longer holding periods. Return volatility, by contrast, is associated with short-term trading and hence shorter holding periods. High transaction costs and the perceived illiquidity of the real estate market leads to an expectation of longer holding periods. Further, work on depreciation and obsolescence might suggest that there is an optimal holding period. However, there is little empirical work in the area. In this paper, data from the Investment Property Databank are used to investigate sales rate and holding period for UK institutional real estate between 1981 and 1994. Sales rates are investigated using the Cox proportional hazards framework. The results show longer holding periods than those claimed by investors. There are marked differences by type of property and sales rates vary over time. Contemporaneous returns are positively associated with an increase in the rate of sale. The results shed light on investor behaviour.

Evaluating the impact of institutional logic on the corporate Internet reporting by Egyptian listed companies

This study explores the institutional logic(s) governing the Corporate Internet Reporting (CIR) by Egyptian listed companies. In doing so, a mixed methods approach was followed. The qualitative part seeks to understand the perceptions, believes, values, norms, that are commonly shared by Egyptian companies which engaged in these practices. Consequently, seven cases of large listed Egyptian companies operating in different industries have been examined. Other stakeholders and stockholders have been interviewed in conjunction with these cases. The quantitative part consists of two studies. The first one is descriptive aiming to specify whether the induced logic(s) from the seven cases are commonly embraced by other Egyptian companies. The second study is explanatory aiming to investigate the impact of several institutional and economic factors on the extent of CIR, types of the online information, quality of the websites as well as the Internet facilities. Drawing on prior CIR literature, four potential types of logics could be inferred: efficiency, legitimacy, technical and marketing based logics. In Egypt, legitimacy logic was initially embraced in the earlier years after the Internet inception. latter, companies confronted radical challenges in their internal and external environments which impelled them to raise their websites potentialities to defend their competitive position; either domestically or internationally. Thus, two new logics emphasizing marketing and technical perspectives have emerged, in response. Strikingly, efficiency based logic is not the most prevalent logic driving CIR practices in Egypt as in the developed countries. The empirical results support this observation and show that almost half of Egyptian listed companies 115 as on December 2010 possessed an active website, half of them 62 disclosed part of their financial and accounting information, during December 2010 to February 2011. Less than half of the websites 52 offered latest annual financial statements. Fewer 33(29%) websites provided shareholders and stock information or included a separate section for corporate governance 25 (22%) compared to 50 (44%) possessing a section for news or press releases. Additionally, the variations in CIR practices, as well as timeliness and credibility were also evident even at industrial level. After controlling for firm size, profitability, leverage, liquidity, competition and growth, it was realized that industrial companies and those facing little competition tend to disclose less. In contrast, management size, foreign investors, foreign listing, dispersion of shareholders and firm size provided significant and positive impact individually or collectively. In contrast, neither audit firm, nor most of performance indicators (i.e. profitability, leverage, and liquidity) did exert an influence on the CIR practices. Thus, it is suggested that CIR practices are loosely institutionalised in Egypt, which necessitates issuing several regulative and processional rules to raise the quality attributes of Egyptian websites, especially, timeliness and credibility. Beside, this study highlights the potency of assessing the impact of institutional logic on CIR practices and suggests paying equal attention to the institutional and economic factors when comparing the CIR practices over time or across different institutional environments in the future.

Matrix Support And Institutional Support: Analyzing Their Construction.

This is an analysis of the theoretical and practical construction of the methodology of Matrix Support by means of studies on Paideia Support (Institutional and Matrix Support), which is an inter-professional work of joint care in recent literature and official documents of the Unified Health System (SUS). An attempt was made to describe methodological concepts and strategies. A comparative analysis of Institutional Support and Matrix Support was also conducted using the epistemological framework of Field and Core Knowledge and Practices.

Brazilian foreign policy: Old and new paths as regards institutional aspects, multilateralism and foreign policy towards the South

This paper emphasizes the important changes in Brazilian foreign policy after Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took tip the power in 2002. The paper defends the idea that it is not possible to argue that there were deep changes in comparison to Cardoso's administration. However, evidence shows that new things are happening as regards the design of a more active and clear foreign action line which led to institutional changes and to more incisive multilateral paths. This results both from the political profile of the direct operators of foreign policy and the aims of lite presidential diplomacy, The hypothesis dealt with on this paper consists on the fact that Lula's administration has not fully broken with the old administration practices, however the aims of global and regional integration are being plotted more clearly and with a higher degree of activism. This becomes clear in three aspects of the Brazilian foreign policy: the institutional framework, the practice of multilateralism and the foreign policy towards the South, the three topics analyzed in this paper.

A Computational Framework for Institutional Agency

This paper provides a computational framework, based on Defeasible Logic, to capture some aspects of institutional agency. Our background is Kanger-Lindahl-P\"orn account of organised interaction, which describes this interaction within a multi-modal logical setting. This work focuses in particular on the notions of counts-as link and on those of attempt and of personal and direct action to realise states of affairs. We show how standard Defeasible Logic can be extended to represent these concepts: the resulting system preserves some basic properties commonly attributed to them. In addition, the framework enjoys nice computational properties, as it turns out that the extension of any theory can be computed in time linear to the size of the theory itself.

INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH POLICY-MAKING A Case Study of the Brazilian Central Bank

A number of contemporary studies rightly emphasize the notion that policy outcomes result from institutional determinants. But as a growing literature on institutional development notes, these institutions are themselves impermanent. Sometimes, in crisis moments, institutions are replaced wholesale. More frequently, institutions evolve gradually over time. Using the Brazilian Central Bank as a case study, this article illustrates that the policy-making process itself can be a central driver of gradual institutional development, with institutions evolving through the accumulation of policy choices made over many years and under different policymakers in response to contemporaneous events and unforeseeable economic and political challenges.

Salvage Radical Prostatectomy for Radiation-recurrent Prostate Cancer: A Multi-institutional Collaboration

Background: Oncologic outcomes in men with radiation-recurrent prostate cancer (PCa) treated with salvage radical prostatectomy (SRP) are poorly defined. Objective: To identify predictors of biochemical recurrence (BCR), metastasis, and death following SRP to help select patients who may benefit from SRP. Design, setting, and participants: This is a retrospective, international, multi-institutional cohort analysis. There was amedian follow-up of 4.4 yr following SRP performed on 404 men with radiation-recurrent PCa from 1985 to 2009 in tertiary centers. Intervention: Open SRP. Measurements: BCR after SRP was defined as a serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) >= 0.1 or >= 0.2 ng/ml (depending on the institution). Secondary end points included progression to metastasis and cancerspecific death. Results and limitations: Median age at SRP was 65 yr of age, and median pre-SRP PSA was 4.5 ng/ml. Following SRP, 195 patients experienced BCR, 64 developed metastases, and 40 died from PCa. At 10 yr after SRP, BCR-free survival, metastasis-free survival, and cancer-specific survival (CSS) probabilities were 37% (95% confidence interval [CI], 31-43), 77% (95% CI, 71-82), and 83% (95% CI, 76-88), respectively. On preoperative multivariable analysis, pre-SRP PSA and Gleason score at postradiation prostate biopsy predicted BCR (p = 0.022; global p < 0.001) and metastasis (p = 0.022; global p < 0.001). On postoperative multivariable analysis, pre-SRP PSA and pathologic Gleason score at SRP predicted BCR (p = 0.014; global p < 0.001) and metastasis (p < 0.001; global p < 0.001). Lymph node involvement (LNI) also predicted metastasis (p = 0.017). The main limitations of this study are its retrospective design and the follow-up period. Conclusions: In a select group of patients who underwent SRP for radiation-recurrent PCa, freedom from clinical metastasis was observed in > 75% of patients 10 yr after surgery. Patients with lower pre-SRP PSA levels and lower postradiation prostate biopsy Gleason score have the highest probability of cure from SRP. (C) 2011 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.