The declared aim of this paper is to explore the possible effects of the need for energy conservation (and in particular the need for economy in the use of oil‐based fuels) on…
Abstract
The declared aim of this paper is to explore the possible effects of the need for energy conservation (and in particular the need for economy in the use of oil‐based fuels) on road vehicle development in the UK over the next few decades. In the absence of the author, his colleague, R J Francis, also of Harwell, presented this paper at the conference held by the Institute of Management Services in London, September 1980. He stressed the fact that the views here are those of ETSU, and may not necessarily be regarded in any way as “government policy”. ETSU is the Energy Technology Support Unit, which is based at Harwell, and was established in 1974 to formulate and manage research, development and demonstration programmes in the technology of renewable energy sources and conservation under contract to the Department of Energy. There are approximately 45 professional staff at ETSU (mainly scientists and engineers) working in three main areas: strategic planning of research and development, management of R&D on the renewable energy sources, and research, development and demonstration in energy conservation. When introducing this paper, Richard Francis said that it set out to establish the need for conservation in general, as well as to explain how this is to be achieved in practice. This subject, he commented, leads on to the special task of improving fuel economy and achieving wider fuel flexibility within road transport, which itself has wide implications for road vehicle technology. This paper reviews all the more realistic alternatives, and then attempts to identify those which seem most promising and also to quantify the impact they might have in reducing our dependence on oil‐based fuels.
This article emphasises the concern that standards in the teaching,understanding and use of the English language are in danger and that thedanger is one of confusion. The…
Abstract
This article emphasises the concern that standards in the teaching, understanding and use of the English language are in danger and that the danger is one of confusion. The importance of teaching children the structure of English is discussed. The role of the English language and its use within the European context are also discussed, as is the greater effort that should be made in teaching and learning other European languages, particularly as 1992 approaches. Within the Commonwealth English is a cohesive force but as an international language it still needs to be nurtured and developed even though it may appear to be firmly established.
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Reiner Quick and Florian Schmidt
As a consequence of the global financial and economic crisis, the European Commission recently reformed the audit market. One objective was to restore public trust in the auditing…
Abstract
As a consequence of the global financial and economic crisis, the European Commission recently reformed the audit market. One objective was to restore public trust in the auditing profession and thus to enhance the audit function. This study investigates whether perceptions of auditor independence and audit quality are influenced by audit firm rotation, auditor retention and joint audits, because regulators argue that these instruments can improve auditor independence and audit quality. Therefore, we conduct an experiment with bank directors and institutional investors in Germany. The results indicate a negative main effect for joint audits on perceived auditor independence, and that a rotation cycle of 24 years marginally significantly impairs participant perceptions of audit quality, compared to a rotation cycle of only ten years. Besides the main effects, planned contrast tests suggest a negative interaction between rotation and joint audit on participant perceptions of auditor independence. Moreover, a negative interaction effect is revealed between rotation after 24 years and retention on perceptions of audit quality. It is particularly noteworthy that we failed to identify a positive impact of the regulatory measures taken or supported by the European Commission on perceptions of auditor independence and audit quality.
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This chapter focuses on the international aspects of auditing in the context of the airline industry for the year 2018. This chapter finds that International Standards on Auditing…
Abstract
This chapter focuses on the international aspects of auditing in the context of the airline industry for the year 2018. This chapter finds that International Standards on Auditing have been widely adopted in the global context. This chapter also analyses several observations related to the composition of audit firms (Big 4 vs. non-Big 4), types of audit opinions, emphasis of matter, other matters, material uncertainty related to going-concern, and types of auditors (single or joint auditor). This chapter covers the frequency of the four elements of describing key audit matters (KAM) in the audit reports in the global and auditor context as well as the KAMs observed in the airline industry and classifies them as industry-specific KAMs and entity-specific KAMs. In addition, this chapter analyses the requirements of the expanded audit report of the UK which includes the declaration of materiality threshold and scope of the audit in connection with the materiality and KAMs considering UK and non-UK airlines.
The brief announcement that the Government had accepted that there should be regulations on open date marking of food, to come into effect in 1975, will come as no surprise. It is…
Abstract
The brief announcement that the Government had accepted that there should be regulations on open date marking of food, to come into effect in 1975, will come as no surprise. It is a timely reminder of what public pressure can achieve these days; how sustained advocacy and publicity by interested sectors of society—magistrates, local authorities, public health workers, consumer groups—can secure legislative changes which, in this case, run counter to trade opinions and the recommendation originally made by the Food Standards Committee that such a proposal was not practical and the existing law was an adequate protection. This was stated in the FSC Report on Food Labelling of 1964, although there was no indication of the evidence reviewed or that the subject had been considered very deeply; it was, after all, only a small fraction of the problem of food labelling control. It was also stated in this Report that in certain cases, date‐stamping of food could give to purchasers a false sense of security, “not justified by the conditions under which the food has been kept since manufacture”.
Tatiana Mazza, Stefano Azzali and Andrey Simonov
This study aims to examine whether national industry expertise in Italy is more dominant than local expertise. Prior studies from Australia, USA and UK show that audit fees for…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine whether national industry expertise in Italy is more dominant than local expertise. Prior studies from Australia, USA and UK show that audit fees for industry experts are priced at a higher premium at the local level than the national level. These countries have voluntary audit firm rotation, while Italy has mandatory audit firm rotation (MAFR). The authors predict that Italy has a stronger national than local level of industry expertise, to better retain and transfer industry expertise.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors compare audit fee premiums of national industry experts to local levels, using quantitative (multivariate tests) and qualitative (interviews) methodology.
Findings
Using hand-collected audit fees, the authors find that the audit fee premium for industry expertise is greater at the national level than the local level. The authors find corroborating results with audit hours. To provide further support, the authors conduct analysis for a neighboring country that does not have audit firm rotation. Using hand-collected data from Germany, the authors find that audit fee premiums from national industry expertise are no different from local industry expertise.
Originality/value
The present study study has theoretical and practical implications, for European Union countries, which recently adopted MAFR and for countries considering adoption in the future.
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Hazel Kyrk, one of the first women economists at the Economic Department of the University of Chicago and author of A Theory of Consumption (1923), conducted groundbreaking…
Abstract
Hazel Kyrk, one of the first women economists at the Economic Department of the University of Chicago and author of A Theory of Consumption (1923), conducted groundbreaking research for the Bureau of Home Economics of the US Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Kyrk made a considerable contribution to the development of standards for a “decent living,” the Consumer Price Index, and the conceptualization of what would later turn into the definition of the poverty line. This chapter evaluates Kyrk’s use of eugenic notions of gender and race that were widely used in Kyrk’s day. This chapter shows that eugenic reasoning impacts Kyrk’s theoretical work only superficially but does structure her research on consumption standards through her focus on the white middle-class family as the unit of analysis for consumer behavior. This chapter also makes clear that the American Institutionalist approach to consumer behavior, rather than marginalized and side-tracked due to a lack of theoretical progress, was relegated to the margins of economics science together with the research of women economists into Home Economics departments and policy research at government institutions.