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1 – 10 of 97Nabil S. Mansour and Kevin F. Brennan
We compare two approaches of incorporating the long‐range Coulomb electron‐electron interaction into Monte Carlo simulations of bulk, degenerate GaAs, i.e., the semi‐classical…
Abstract
We compare two approaches of incorporating the long‐range Coulomb electron‐electron interaction into Monte Carlo simulations of bulk, degenerate GaAs, i.e., the semi‐classical approach of solving the Poisson equation self‐consistently, and the first order quantum mechanical treatment in which the electron‐plasmon interaction is included as an additional scattering mechanism. The critical issues involved in the semi‐classical, direct approach are the mesh size, charge assignment to the mesh nodes, and interpolation of the field at the particle location. All of these factors determine the stability of the system, the accuracy and computational time required in the calculation. The steady‐state electron drift velocity in bulk GaAs calculated using the direct, semi‐classical approach for the electron‐plasmon interaction is significantly less than the corresponding bulk drift velocity in the absence of the electron‐plasmon interaction. The alternative approach of treating the electron‐plasmon interaction as a scattering mechanism is attractive since it is computationally easier to include and is, at least to first order, quantum mechanically based. It is found that the calculated steady‐state electron drift velocity in bulk GaAs based on this model is affected in the opposite way, i.e., the velocity is greater than in the absence of the electron‐plasmon interaction. The cause of the discrepancy in the calculated results of the two approaches is not too surprising since they attack the problem from very different directions. Neither model can at present be considered complete. Further detailed investigations are required to achieve a better model for the electron‐plasmon interaction.
The following is an introductory profile of the fastest growing firms over the three-year period of the study listed by corporate reputation ranking order. The business activities…
Abstract
The following is an introductory profile of the fastest growing firms over the three-year period of the study listed by corporate reputation ranking order. The business activities in which the firms are engaged are outlined to provide background information for the reader.
Civil engineering index ‐ The latest major file of trade catalogues in microform to be published is ‘Construction and civil engineering index’ by Technical Indexes Ltd (NLW…
Abstract
Civil engineering index ‐ The latest major file of trade catalogues in microform to be published is ‘Construction and civil engineering index’ by Technical Indexes Ltd (NLW February 1982). Although some of us are more familiar with the very efficient ti cartridge catalogues, this new index comes on microfiche on a reduction of 24x. The file is updated quarterly, contains over 4000 product references, and is classified by the CI/sfB—that is the widely used construction industry classification imported in the early 'sixties by the Royal Institute of British Architects from Sweden; the ‘sfB’ comes from the Swedish ‘Samar Betskommitten Sör Byggnadsfragor’ which is the name of the committee set up in Sweden in 1947 to produce the scheme. Technical Indexes have published a brochure giving further details of the index and catalogues. The total annual cost of the service is about £1500, but it is possible to purchase particular sections separately. For further information, contact Kevin Brennan, Technical Indexes Ltd, Willoughby Road, Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 4DW, tel 034426311, tx 849207.
Sara Trucco, Maria Chiara Demartini, Kevin McMeeking and Valentina Beretta
This paper aims to investigate the effect of voluntary non-financial reporting on the evaluation of audit risk from the auditors’ viewpoint in a post-crisis period. Furthermore…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the effect of voluntary non-financial reporting on the evaluation of audit risk from the auditors’ viewpoint in a post-crisis period. Furthermore, this paper analyses whether auditors perceive that voluntary non-financial reporting impacts audit risk differently for old clients as compared with new clients.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is conducted on a sample of Italian audit firms through a paper-based questionnaire. Both Big4 and non-Big4 audit firms have been included in the sample.
Findings
Results show that integrated reporting is perceived to be the most relevant reporting method and intellectual capital statement the least relevant. Surprisingly, empirical findings over the sample period show that auditors do not perceive statistically significant differences between old and new clients.
Practical implications
Auditors can identify opportunities to adapt their assessment model to include voluntary non-financial report information. Moreover, they can use different assessment models regarding the research variables in the case of new and old clients.
Originality/value
Empirical findings highlight the growing role of voluntary non-financial reporting in the auditors’ perception of their client’s audit risk. All the observed voluntary non-financial reporting forms, except for intellectual capital, are considered as relevant by auditors in the evaluation of their client’s audit risk when compared to an indifference point. In addition, findings reveal that female auditors perceive a reduced gap in the relevance between integrated reports and intellectual capital reports compared to their counterparts.
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Thomas M. Keck and Kevin J. McMahon
From one angle, abortion law appears to confirm the regime politics account of the Supreme Court; after all, the Reagan/Bush coalition succeeded in significantly curtailing the…
Abstract
From one angle, abortion law appears to confirm the regime politics account of the Supreme Court; after all, the Reagan/Bush coalition succeeded in significantly curtailing the constitutional protection of abortion rights. From another angle, however, it is puzzling that the Reagan/Bush Court repeatedly refused to overturn Roe v. Wade. We argue that time and again electoral considerations led Republican elites to back away from a forceful assertion of their agenda for constitutional change. As a result, the justices generally acted within the range of possibilities acceptable to the governing regime but still typically had multiple doctrinal options from which to choose.
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This chapter focuses on the common occurrence of wholesale electricity prices that fall below the cost of production. This “negative pricing” in effect represents payment to…
Abstract
This chapter focuses on the common occurrence of wholesale electricity prices that fall below the cost of production. This “negative pricing” in effect represents payment to high-volume consumers for taking excess power off the grid, thus relieving overload. Occurrences of negative pricing have been observed since the wholesale electricity markets have been operating, and occur during periods of low demand, while generators are being kept in reserve for rapid engagement when demand increases (it is expensive and time-consuming to shut down generators and then restart them, so they are often kept in “spooling mode”). In such situations power production may temporarily exceed demand, potentially overloading the system. When the federal government began subsidizing the construction of wind generation projects, with regulations in place requiring transmission grids to accept all of the electricity produced by the wind generators, negative pricing became more frequent.
Kevin Baird, Amy Tung and April Moses
This study examines the association between management control systems (MCSs), specifically the interactive and diagnostic use of controls, with the corporate social…
Abstract
This study examines the association between management control systems (MCSs), specifically the interactive and diagnostic use of controls, with the corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure-action portrayal gap (i.e. the disparity in employees’ perception of their organisation’s emphasis on CSR disclosures relative to CSR actions) and the subsequent impact on employees’ perceptions of organisational performance, both operational performance and corporate social performance. Data were collected using a survey of US lower-level managers, with the data obtained from 209 respondents and analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The results reveal that the interactive and diagnostic use of controls both exhibit a significant negative association with the CSR disclosure-action portrayal gap, that is, the use of these controls reduces the gap. In addition, the various dimensions of the CSR disclosure-action portrayal gap exhibit a significant negative association with both operational and corporate social performance, that is, lower gap, higher performance. The study contributes to the CSR literature by providing the first empirical insight into employees’ perception of both CSR disclosures and actions, and hence, the CSR disclosure-action portrayal gap. In addition, the study contributes to the MCS and organisational performance literature by providing the initial empirical insight into the role of MCSs in mitigating the gap through enhancing the interactive and diagnostic use of controls, and the negative association between the gap and employees’ perceptions of organisational performance.
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Asafa Jalata and Harry F. Dahms
To examine whether indigenous critiques of globalization and critical theories of modernity are compatible, and how they can complement each other so as to engender more realistic…
Abstract
Purpose
To examine whether indigenous critiques of globalization and critical theories of modernity are compatible, and how they can complement each other so as to engender more realistic theories of modern society as inherently constructive and destructive, along with practical strategies to strengthen modernity as a culturally transformative project, as opposed to the formal modernization processes that rely on and reinforce modern societies as structures of social inequality.
Methodology/approach
Comparison and assessment of the foundations, orientations, and implications of indigenous critiques of globalization and the Frankfurt School’s critical theory of modern society, for furthering our understanding of challenges facing human civilization in the twenty-first century, and for opportunities to promote social justice.
Findings
Modern societies maintain order by compelling individuals to subscribe to propositions about their own and their society’s purportedly “superior” nature, especially when compared to indigenous cultures, to override observations about the de facto logic of modern societies that are in conflict with their purported logic.
Research implications
Social theorists need to make consistent efforts to critically reflect on how their own society, in terms of socio-historical circumstances as well as various types of implied biases, translates into research agendas and propositions that are highly problematic when applied to those who belong to or come from different socio-historical contexts.
Originality/value
An effort to engender a process of reciprocal engagement between one of the early traditions of critiquing modern societies and a more recent development originating in populations and parts of the world that historically have been the subject of both constructive and destructive modernization processes.
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SHANTARAM P. HEGDE and SANJAY B. VARSHNEY
We argue that uninformed subscribers to an initial public offering (IPO) of common stocks are exposed to greater ex ante risk of trading against informed traders in the secondary…
Abstract
We argue that uninformed subscribers to an initial public offering (IPO) of common stocks are exposed to greater ex ante risk of trading against informed traders in the secondary market because the advent of public trading conveys hitherto private information and thereby mitigates adverse selection. The going‐public firm underprices the new issue to compensate uninformed subscribers for this added secondary market adverse selection risk. We test this market liquidity‐based explanation by investigating the ex‐post consequences of ownership structure choice on the initial pricing and the secondary market liquidity of a sample of initial public offerings on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Consistent with our argument, we find that initial underpricing varies directly with the ex post trading costs in the secondary market. Further, initial underpricing is related positively to the concentration of institutional shareholdings and negatively to the proportional equity ownership retained by the founding shareholders. Finally, the secondary market illiquidity of new issues is positively related to institutional ownership concentration and negatively to ownership retention and underwriter reputation. Thus, the evidence based on our NYSE sample supports the view that the entrepreneurs' choice of ownership structure affects both the initial pricing and the subsequent market liquidity of new issues.