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A large number of correlation analysis studies of UK data have suggested that there is a weak relationship between student input quality (for example, “A” level performance) and degree performance. This paper re‐examines this relationship using a different statistical method, namely, a multinomial logit analysis. Unlike the earlier studies, we find strong explanatory variables for degree performance. For example, it is found that an increase of one in average “A” points, other things being equal, increases the probability of a first or upper second‐class grade (a “good degree”) by 5.8 per cent, while student dissatisfaction with a course will reduce this probability by 15 per cent. Potential students should also note that taking subjects like geography and history, other things being equal, increases the probability of a “good degree”, while taking, for example, law, reduces it.

The reformers of the UK higher education system hoped that radical reform would simultaneously result in: improvements in the quality of education provided, increases in cost efficiency and a significant expansion in student numbers. This paper takes a close look at the reforms by undertaking both a time‐series and a cross‐section econometric analysis of the data to examine the relationships between quality, quantity and efficiency. Claims that the evidence shows that there have been genuine efficiency improvements and that these can be explained by the mechanics of the principal‐agent relationship which exists between the taxpayer and the higher education sector. However, it is also found that educational quality is costly, for example it is likely to cost the taxpayer £1,200 per academic per year to gain one percentage point in the production of first‐class graduates.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether or not industry membership can explain the leverage of Shanghai listed firms prior to the 2007 financial crisis. In view of the central role that manufacturing industry played in China's rise as a global economic power, the authors are particularly interested in whether or not manufacturing is a special case.

The paper undertakes a comparative study of leverage differences between manufacturing and non-manufacturing industry firms on both a cross-section and time-series basis. This is supplemented by a pooled regression analysis that models the factors determining leverage on an industry-by-industry basis.

The authors find that leverage levels differ across industries because of industry-based differences in financial characteristics. It is also found that, despite playing a leading role in China's economic development, there is no evidence to suggest that manufacturing is a special case. Across all sectors borrowing-power-related variables were identified as being important determinants of leverage and, contrary to the expectations, factors relating to profitability were largely insignificant.

The trade off and pecking order capital structure theories found to be commonly applicable to firms in the western business environment do not appear to adequately explain capital structure in China.

The paper identify evidence to suggest that China needs to be treated as a “special case” in the context of capital structure theory due to the unique cultural and business environment.

The United Kingdom (UK) has recently published secondary education value added measures. This paper examines whether the approach used could also offer a possible method for measuring value added in higher education (HE).

Previous attempts to measure HE value added in the UK, such as comparative value added (CVA), met with criticism relating to their estimation of the “expected” degree class (DegCL). This paper examines whether the recent experiences in secondary education give any insights into solving this problem.

The paper identifies that the techniques applied in secondary education are remarkably similar to those used by CVA, and it argues that they appear to suffer from similar pitfalls. It is shown, through a statistical analysis, that in practice a whole range of factors have a significant influence on degree performance.

The data set used in the statistical analysis of HE performance is relatively old. Future research could repeat this study with recent data.

The development of an accurate measure of value added in HE will need to apply measuring techniques that are significantly more sophisticated than those used for UK secondary education.

The value of this paper is that it identifies key issues that will need to be addressed before a credible measure of value added can be developed for HE.

This research provides accounting-ethics authors and administrators with a benchmark for accounting-ethics research. While Bernardi and Bean (2010) considered publications in business-ethics and accounting’s top-40 journals this study considers research in eight accounting-ethics and public-interest journals, as well as, 34 business-ethics journals. We analyzed the contents of our 42 journals for the 25-year period between 1991 through 2015. This research documents the continued growth (Bernardi & Bean, 2007) of accounting-ethics research in both accounting-ethics and business-ethics journals. We provide data on the top-10 ethics authors in each doctoral year group, the top-50 ethics authors over the most recent 10, 20, and 25 years, and a distribution among ethics scholars for these periods. For the 25-year timeframe, our data indicate that only 665 (274) of the 5,125 accounting PhDs/DBAs (13.0% and 5.4% respectively) in Canada and the United States had authored or co-authored one (more than one) ethics article.

Purpose: The issue of whether participation in online peer-support communities has positive or negative impacts on the psychological adjustment of cancer patients warrants further explorations from new perspectives. This research investigates the role of personality traits in moderating the impact of online participation on the psychological adjustment of cancer patients in terms of their general psychological well-being and cancer-specific well-being.

Methodology: Study participants consisted of adults diagnosed with leukemia. Questionnaires were collected from 111 participants in two leukemia-related forums in China, Baidu Leukemia Community and Bloodbbs. Information regarding the personality traits, online participation, and psychological adjustment were collected using an online questionnaire. A linear regression model was used to test the moderation effect of personality traits on the relationship between online participation and psychological adjustment.

Findings: The main effect of participation in online support communities on psychological adjustment was not statistically significant. Importantly, two personality traits (i.e., emotional stability and openness to experience) moderated the relationship between online participation and psychological adjustment to cancer. Leukemia patients with high emotional stability and high openness to experience reported better psychological adjustment as they participated more in the online community. However, this was not the case for patients with low stability and low openness, who reported worse psychological adjustment as their participation in the online support community increased.

Value: This study introduces two personality moderators into the discussion of how participation in online support communities influences the lives of cancer patients. The moderation effects help to explain why there have been contradictions in the findings of previous studies. In addition, this study adds to the current literature on online support communities as little research on this topic has been conducted outside of the US and Europe. Practically, this study not only highlights the need to evaluate the personality traits of patients who are recommended to participate in online communities, but also underlines the necessity of intervention in these communities.

In this section, we will highlight three overlapping concepts that are currently used in both the motivation and emotion literatures: goals, agency and expectancy. We recognize that there are other potential overlapping constructs (e.g. interest); however, we focus on these three.

Students with disabilities consistently underperform on academic achievement tests. In part, this is due to teachers being underprepared to provide the evidence-based instruction needed to help students with disabilities succeed. Historically, professional development (PD) has been provided to educators yielding disappointing results. In this chapter, what is known about the components of effective PD and how to evaluate a PD program will be discussed. In particular, the role of coaching and the use of technology in PD models will be explored. The next steps in improving PD will be discussed.