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There are two problems when a principal invests capital and hires an agent to do the work. The problems relate to inducing the agent to exert the optimal effort and to effect an optimal risk sharing arrangement. This paper introduces the concepts and enumerates the fundamental solutions to this agency problem. This approach is very useful in the managerial accounting area of determining the value of accounting information for setting performance evaluation and incentive payment schemes.

In this paper, it is established that the error and error derivative can be reduced to zero simultaneously and in the shortest possible time with at most one switching reversal of the relay, provided the initial values of error and error derivative fall in a controllable region.

With this issue of RSR we present the first of our annual subject surveys of new reference publications. Each survey is by a librarian who is actively involved in the selection and interpretation of reference materials in his subject field and thus is conversant with recent trends in publishing, pertinent bibliographic data bases, and emerging networks. Each is especially qualified to analyze these trends and to judge which reference books of the year past are outstanding. Mr. Balachandran, a reference librarian in the Commerce Library, University of Illinois, is primarily responsible for selecting reference materials and other monographic publications. He holds a master's degree in economics and a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois. Jimmie Hoover, in addition to being Document Librarian at Louisiana State University since 1967, has edited recent editions of Bookman's Guide to Americana. In his survey of Documents reference he was assisted by Nancy demons, a colleague at LSU in the Documents Department, formerly Documents Librarian at Samford University Library in Birmingham, Alabama. Our specialist in children's reference, Alice Smith, has been until recently chair‐person of the Department of Library Science/Audio‐Visual Education at the University of South Florida. She is now devoting full time to teaching and writing. Dr. Smith has taught a wide range of courses in selection and reading guidance in the area of juvenile literature, including the History of Children's Literature, Building Library Collections, and Bibliotherapy. Jack Weigel has a B.S. in mathematics, a master's in physics and held successively the positions of Mathematics Librarian and Physics Librarian at Columbia University. He is now head of the Physics/Astronomy Library at the University of Michigan.

The purpose of the present study is to simulate the industrial hot-dip process of Zn-2.5Wt.%Mg-3 Wt.%Al and Zn-2.5 Wt.%Mg-9 Wt.%Al-0.15 Wt.%Si coatings and to study the effect of low and high Al variation on their microstructure, microhardness, adhesion and corrosion behaviour.

The hot-dip Zn-2.5 Mg-xAl coating simulation on steel substrate was carried out using a hot-dip process simulator. The microstructure of the coatings was characterized using a scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The corrosion behaviour of the coatings was studied using a salt spray test in 5% NaCl solution as well as dynamic polarization in 3.5% NaCl solution.

Microhardness of the developed Zn-2.5 Mg-xAl coatings has been found to be approximately two times higher than that of the conventional galvanized coating. Zn-2.5 Mg-3Al coating has exhibited two times higher corrosion resistance as compared to that of Zn-2.5 Mg-9Al-0.15Si coating because of formation of more homogeneous and defect-free microstructure of the former. The MgZn₂ phase has undergone preferential dissolution and provided Mg²⁺ ions to form a protective film.

The relative corrosion resistance of the two Zn–Al–Mg coatings with different Al content has been studied. The defect formed because of higher Al addition in the coating has been detected, and its effect on corrosion behaviour has been analysed.

In this paper the design of a controller for a relay controlled second order nonlinear unstable plant with fourth order nonlinearity is considered. The task of the controller is the simultaneous reduction of output and output derivative to zero with the input being at zero. It is established that, if the initial values of error and error derivative fall in a “controllable region”, it is possible to reduce error and error derivative to zero simultaneously and in the shortest possible time with at most one switching reversal of the relay. It is also shown that, through simple transformation of error and error derivative, the equation of the switching curve can be made independent of the constant gain of the plant, as well as the coefficient of the nonlinear term.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether financial information prepared and disclosed under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) has incremental value relevance vs information prepared under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) in Canada.

The authors employ a difference in differences methodology and estimate value relevance using: first, the adjusted R2 of regressions of stock price on book value and earnings; second, the adjusted R2 of regressions of stock returns on earnings and changes in earnings; and third, a time series incremental association return estimation. The authors use multiple models including a model similar to the Ohlson (1995) model and a modified Balachandran and Mohanram (2011) model to investigate value relevance in the period 2008-2013.

The authors provide empirical evidence, based on unique Canadian environment, that accounting information prepared and disclosed under IFRS exhibits higher price and returns value relevance than accounting information prepared previously under local GAAP. Sensitivity analyses and yearly trends regressions produce collaborating evidence.

The study provides early empirical evidence that value relevance increases in mandatory IFRS adoption, based on unique Canadian adoption. The Canadian adoption is unique because Canada: first, is the first G7 non-European country to adopt IFRS; second, had pursued a dual strategy of harmonizing with the US GAAP while supporting IFRS convergence; third, provided information environment that mitigates the problems associated with measuring the effects of IFRS adoption in the European countries where IFRS or its predecessor – international accounting standards – had permeated the reporting environment prior to the mandatory adoption in 2005; and fourth, allowed firms listed on the US exchanges to continue to use or adopt the US GAAP for financial reporting and thus, provided a group of benchmark firms drawn from the same social-political and economic environment as the treatment firms. The study clarifies prior inconsistent results from European samples.

Recently, performance measurement and management (PMM) has received increasing attention from both the academic and industrial environments. Companies that try to use PMM systems report experiencing implementation problems including goal incongruence. Based on a discussion of the state of the art of PMM, this paper aims to provide research guidelines for building a PMM system through a reference framework, and to identify major design challenges.

At a macro level, the evolution of research is analyzed using citation and co‐citation analysis techniques. Further, the evolution of PMM systems in the last 20 years is traced. The feasibility and applicability of these frameworks/models are analyzed by considering five milestones that a performance measurement system should have. Based on this, an integrated framework is proposed as a basis for designing a cohesive PMM system.

The research on the subject is quite diverse. In fact, the research appears to be quite mature in terms of publications and citations, while PMM systems developed do not meet the PMM challenge faced in the current environment. The framework proposed for PMM system design integrates five systems: a performance system, a cost system, a capability evaluation system, a benchmarking system and a planning system. Integration among the five systems is to be viewed as the driver to address the PMM challenge.

The proposed framework is a starting point for PMM system design and it provides important guidelines for successful implementations of PMM initiatives for various types of companies in the current global business environment. However, further empirical studies are needed before the concepts described here can be assessed to ascertain its applicability.

The paper provides a literature review of PMM research, discusses the mutual consistency of models and frameworks therein, and explores how the framework proposed might be implemented and improved, as well as the major challenges facing researchers. Practical implication and benefits of the proposed framework adoption are highlighted through an example.

Research in PMM has become increasingly important given the significant impact it can have on competitive strategy and operations of firms in the present global business environment. This paper demonstrates the need of an holistic approach to PMM, which requires an intensive and deep comprehension of the key activities in the company and their related drivers.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate stock price and trading volume reactions to simultaneous interim dividend and earnings announcements by the Greek firms listed on the Athens stock exchange (ASE).

Classical event study methodology was employed to examine the share price and trading volume reaction to interim dividends and earnings announcements.

Results confirm the signaling hypothesis which predicts positive market reaction to the joint dividend and earnings announcements. However, the magnitude of the price reaction initiated by the final dividend announcement seems to be higher than the one by the interim dividend announcement.

The observations are not many, although the whole population was included, since there are no data available prior to 1998.

The findings are useful to researchers, practitioners and investors who have an interest in firms listed on the ASE for their proper strategic decision making.

For the first time, the stock price and trading volume behaviour of firms listed on the ASE around contemporaneous dividend and earnings announcement dates is examined.

The purpose of this study is the influence of various combinations of metal sulfides on the tribological performance of brake pads.

Three brake pads were prepared using the possible combination of any two of the solid lubricants from Bismuth trisulfide (Bi₂S₃); Tin disulfide (SnS₂) and Antimony trisulfide (Sb₂S₃) are chosen and blended with molybdenum disulfide and graphite. The tribological performance was compared with the brake pad containing aftermarket sulfide mixture. The tribological performance parameters such as performance coefficient of friction, fade percent, recovery percent, wear thickness loss, time is taken to reach the maximum temperature and fluctuation of friction were investigated using Chase tribometer adopting IS 2742 Part-4 (1994) test procedure.

The friction stability of the brake pad with 4Wt% of MoS₂, Bi₂S₃ and SnS₂ was observed to be better, but it showed poor wear performance and aggressive towards the rotor, whereas the brake pad contained 4Wt% of MoS₂, Bi₂S₃ and Sb₂S₃ exhibited improved wear performance.

This paper explains the influence of the combination of multiple metal sulfide in the tribological performance of the copper-free brake friction composite.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-07-2020-0249/