Measuring accounting disclosure in a period of complex changes : the case of Egypt

Significant changes in accounting disclosure are observed in periods of economic change such as those relating to emerging capital markets and programs of privatization. Measurement of the level of accounting disclosure should ideally be designed to capture the complexity of change in order to give insight and explanation to match the causes and consequences of change. This paper shows the added interpretive value in subdividing the disclosure checklist to reflect the requirements of national accounting regulations, the location of disclosure items in the annual report, and limitations on the availability of regulations in official translation to the local language. Defining targeted disclosure categories leads to significance testing of specific aspects of changes in accounting disclosure in the Egyptian capital market in the 1990s. Strong correlation of disclosure with the presence of majority government ownership of the company and the relative activity of share trading supports the applicability of political costs and capital need theories, respectively. The relation between International Accounting Standards (IASs) disclosure and the type of audit firm points to additional theoretical explanations, including relative familiarity with the legislation and compliance features identifiable with the emerging capital market. The approach described in this paper has the potential for enhancing understanding of the complexity of accounting change in other emerging capital markets and developing economies.

What does endogenous growth theory tell about regional economies? Empirics of R&D worker-based productivity growth

What does endogenous growth theory tell about regional economies? Empirics of R&D worker-based productivity growth, Regional Studies. Endogenous growth theory emerged in the 1990s as ‘new growth theory’ accounting for technical progress in the growth process. This paper examines the role of research and development (R&D) workers underlying the Romer model (1990) and its subsequent modifications, and compares it with a model based on the accumulation of human capital engaged in R&D. Cross-section estimates of the models against productivity growth of European regions in the 1990s suggest that each R&D worker has a unique set of knowledge while his/her contributions are enhanced by knowledge sharing within a region as well as spillovers from other regions in proximity.

Multifunctional bioactive glass scaffolds coated with layers of poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) and poly(n-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) microgels loaded with vancomycin

A new family of multifunctional scaffolds, incorporating selected biopolymer coatings on basic Bioglass® derived foams has been developed. The polymer coatings were investigated as carrier of vancomycin which is a suitable drug to impart antibiotic function to the scaffolds. It has been proved that coating with PLGA (poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)) with dispersed vancomycin-loaded microgels provides a rapid delivery of drug to give antibacterial effects at the wound site and a further sustained release to aid mid to long-term healing. Furthermore, the microgels also improved the bioactivity of the scaffolds by acting as nucleation sites for the formation of HA crystals in simulated body fluid. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Measuring accounting disclosure in a period of complex changes:the case of Egypt

Significant changes in accounting disclosure are observed in periods of economic change such as those relating to emerging capital markets and programs of privatization. Measurement of the level of accounting disclosure should ideally be designed to capture the complexity of change in order to give insight and explanation to match the causes and consequences of change. This paper shows the added interpretive value in subdividing the disclosure checklist to reflect the requirements of national accounting regulations, the location of disclosure items in the annual report, and limitations on the availability of regulations in official translation to the local language. Defining targeted disclosure categories leads to significance testing of specific aspects of changes in accounting disclosure in the Egyptian capital market in the 1990s. Strong correlation of disclosure with the presence of majority government ownership of the company and the relative activity of share trading supports the applicability of political costs and capital need theories, respectively. The relation between International Accounting Standards (IASs) disclosure and the type of audit firm points to additional theoretical explanations, including relative familiarity with the legislation and compliance features identifiable with the emerging capital market. The approach described in this paper has the potential for enhancing understanding of the complexity of accounting change in other emerging capital markets and developing economies.

Estimating the impact of R&D on productivity using the BERD-ARD data

The UK has a relatively low ratio of business R&D to GDP (the BERD ratio) compared to other leading economies. There has also been a small decline in UK’s BERD ratio in the 1990s, whereas other leading economies have experienced small rises. The relatively low BERD ratio cannot be explained solely by sectoral or industry-level differences between the UK and other countries. There is, therefore, considerable interest in understanding the firm-level determinants of investment in R&D. This report was commissioned by the DTI to analyse the link between R&D and productivity for a sample of firms derived from merging the ONS’s Business Research and Development Database (BERD) and the Annual Respondents Database (ARD). The analysis estimates the private rates of returns to R&D, and not the social rates of return, since it is the private returns that should drive firms’ decisions. A key objective of this research is to analyse the productivity of R&D in small and medium sized enterprises (SME). The analysis is intended to allow comparisons to the results in Rogers (2005), which uses publicly available data on R&D in medium to large UK firms in the 1990s.

Evaluation of Pareto/D/1/k Queue by Simulation

The finding that Pareto distributions are adequate to model Internet packet interarrival times has motivated the proposal of methods to evaluate steady-state performance measures of Pareto/D/1/k queues. Some limited analytical derivation for queue models has been proposed in the literature, but their solutions are often of a great mathematical challenge. To overcome such limitations, simulation tools that can deal with general queueing system must be developed. Despite certain limitations, simulation algorithms provide a mechanism to obtain insight and good numerical approximation to parameters of queues. In this work, we give an overview of some of these methods and compare them with our simulation approach, which are suited to solve queues with Generalized-Pareto interarrival time distributions. The paper discusses the properties and use of the Pareto distribution. We propose a real time trace simulation model for estimating the steady-state probability showing the tail-raising effect, loss probability, delay of the Pareto/D/1/k queue and make a comparison with M/D/1/k. The background on Internet traffic will help to do the evaluation correctly. This model can be used to study the long- tailed queueing systems. We close the paper with some general comments and offer thoughts about future work.

The Darboux Problem for a Class of 3-D Weakly Hyperbolic Equations

Недю Попиванов, Цветан Христов - Изследвани са някои тримерни аналози на задачата на Дарбу в равнината. През 1952 М. Протер формулира нови тримерни гранични задачи както за клас слабо хиперболични уравнения, така и за някои хиперболично-елиптични уравнения. За разлика от коректността на двумерната задача на Дарбу, новите задачи са некоректни. За слабо хиперболични уравнения, съдържащи младши членове, ние намираме достатъчни условия както за съществуване и единственост на обобщени решения с изолирана степенна особеност, така и за единственост на квази-регулярни решения на задачата на Протер.

Singular Solutions of Protter’s Problem for a Class of 3-D Hyperbolic Equations

Недю Иванов Попиванов, Алексей Йорданов Николов - През 1952 г. М. Протър формулира нови гранични задачи за вълновото уравнение, които са тримерни аналози на задачите на Дарбу в равнината. Задачите са разгледани в тримерна област, ограничена от две характеристични конуса и равнина. Сега, след като са минали повече от 50 години, е добре известно, че за безброй гладки функции в дясната страна на уравнението тези задачи нямат класически решения, а обобщеното решение има силна степенна особеност във върха на характеристичния конус, която е изолирана и не се разпространява по конуса. Тук ние разглеждаме трета гранична задача за вълновото уравнение с младши членове и дясна страна във формата на тригонометричен полином. Дадена е по-нова от досега известната априорна оценка за максимално възможната особеност на решенията на тази задача. Оказва се, че при по-общото уравнение с младши членове възможната сингулярност е от същия ред като при чисто вълновото уравнение.

Application of the D-Fullness Technique for Breakdown Point Study of the Trimmed Likelihood Estimator to a Generalized Logistic Model

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 62J12, 62F35