Ross Taplin

A Regional Study Of Listed Companies’ Compliance with International Accounting Standards

The move towards international harmonisation of accounting standards has dominated the work programme of the Australian Accounting Standards Board in the past two years. Some have expressed concern that Australia is moving too quickly towards harmonisation when compared to other countries. This paper examines the extent of compliance with International Accounting Standards (IAS) in six countries in the Asia-Pacific region. By providing evidence as to the level of compliance with IAS in financial statements, the paper also indicates the extent of de-facto harmony. The paper also examines various determinants of compliance with IAS and finds that country of location remains the clear driving force.

DISCLOSURE (DISCERNIBILITY) AND COMPLIANCE OF ACCOUNTING POLICIES: ASIA-PACIFIC EVIDENCE

This project extends the work of Tower, Hancock and Taplin (1999) on the extent of compliance with International Accounting Standards (IAS) in six Asia-Pacific countries. Sixty annual reports from companies in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand are analysed to create several compliance indices based on all universally applicable IAS rules at the time. The compliance ratio is computed as an aggregate value, split into measurement and disclosure categories. These ratios are also calculated on a standard-by-standard basis. Moreover, a new Discernibility Index is evolved to generate insights into patterns of non-disclosure. The results show higher levels of compliance with disclosure issues (95.5%) than measurement issues (77.7%). The lowest overall compliance rates were found for IAS 7, Cash Flow Statements, IAS 22 Business Combinations and IAS 28 Accounting for Investments in Associates. In terms of the Discernibilty Index, companies in the four Asian countries with British colonial links had lower levels of non-disclosure than Philippines or Thailand entities. The more profitable companies also tended to have a higher proportion of discernible (disclosures) items for measurement issues. The levels of non-disclosure have very distinctive standard-by-standard patterns. The findings have important policy implications. The level of discernibility (disclosures) is low with strong country and topical trends exhibited. Therefore, de facto harmonisation is difficult to measure and country/company variances suggest that the goal of regional comparability has not been achieved. There is a need for change in the status quo level of non-disclosure of Asia-Pacific companies. In line with public theories of regulation, a call for more direct government intervention is made.

Gene expression profiling of Japanese psoriatic skin reveals an increased activity in molecular stress and immune response signals

Gene expression profiling was performed on biopsies of affected and unaffected psoriatic skin and normal skin from seven Japanese patients to obtain insights into the pathways that control this disease. HUG95A Affymetrix DNA chips that contained oligonucleotide arrays of approximately 12,000 well-characterized human genes were used in the study. The statistical analysis of the Affymetrix data, based on the ranking of the Student t-test statistic, revealed a complex regulation of molecular stress and immune gene responses. The majority of the 266 induced genes in affected and unaffected psoriatic skin were involved with interferon mediation, immunity, cell adhesion, cytoskeleton restructuring, protein trafficking and degradation, RNA regulation and degradation, signalling transduction, apoptosis and atypical epidermal cellular proliferation and differentiation. The disturbances in the normal protein degradation equilibrium of skin were reflected by the significant increase in the gene expression of various protease inhibitors and proteinases, including the induced components of the ATP/ubiquitin-dependent non-lysosomal proteolytic pathway that is involved with peptide processing and presentation to T cells. Some of the up-regulated genes, such as TGM1, IVL, FABP5, CSTA and SPRR, are well-known psoriatic markers involved in atypical epidermal cellular organization and differentiation. In the comparison between the affected and unaffected psoriatic skin, the transcription factor JUNB was found at the top of the statistical rankings for the up-regulated genes in affected skin, suggesting that it has an important but as yet undefined role in psoriasis. Our gene expression data and analysis suggest that psoriasis is a chronic interferon- and T-cell-mediated immune disease of the skin where the imbalance in epidermal cellular structure, growth and differentiation arises from the molecular antiviral stress signals initiating inappropriate immune responses.

The measurement of sustainability disclosure: Abundance versus occurrence

Abstract Content analysis (disclosure abundance) and disclosure indices (disclosure occurrence) are popular methods for measuring the extent of disclosure. Few studies however compare the two approaches empirically or use empirical evidence to justify the use of one approach over the other. A study of sustainability reporting on Malaysian local government websites is used to illustrate how these two measurement approaches lead to different concepts of the extent of disclosure. Furthermore, hypothesised relationships between disclosure and independent variables based on theory differ substantially depending on the measurement approach for disclosure. Recommendations for the measurement of disclosure are suggested.

A unified approach to the measurement of international accounting harmony

Abstract Many indices, including the Herfindahl H index, the C index, the I index, and variants of these, have been proposed to measure the level of harmony of accounting practices. These indices can be viewed as having different properties based on several criteria and in practice choosing an index because it has a desirable property by one criterion can require accepting an undesirable property by another criterion. This paper provides a unified treatment of possible indices, which includes the commonly used indices. This clarifies the relationship between the previously proposed indices by placing them in a unified framework and provides new indices that are superior to existing ones for some situations. It also allows the user to choose an index with the desired properties based on several criteria without sacrificing one desirable property in order to achieve another desirable property. It also shows how the generalisations of the I index for more than two countries are flawed and suggests an alternative index from within this unified framework. The main criteria used to arrive at a particular index within this unified framework are (1) the weighting given to companies/countries, (2) international focus (within country, between country, or overall), (3) the treatment of multiple accounting policies, and (4) the treatment of non-disclosure. Specifying the desired properties under these criteria provides more flexibility by allowing an index to be tailored to a particular problem and more clearly articulates the consequences of using a particular index. These consequences are discussed with the assistance of an example for the accounting policy choice for goodwill.

The spread of transgene expression at the site of gene construct injection

Seven 2‐day‐old golden retriever pups were given focal intramuscular injections of a first generation adenovirus–dystrophin minigene construct and adenovirus–β‐galactosidase construct as a 2:1 mixture into the left anterior tibial muscle. The spread of transgene expression within the anterior tibial muscle was compared with the spread of methylene blue dye after identical injection into the contralateral muscle. Transgene expression 5–7 days after intramuscular injection was shown to extend between 5.8 and 11.6 mm along the biopsied muscle length (range of biopsy lengths 11.1–12.2 mm). The level of transgene expression at 2–2.5‐mm intervals from the site of injection was significantly related to the distance from the site of injection (dystrophin, P = 0.009; β‐galactosidase, P = 0.015). The spread of methylene blue dye within the anterior tibial muscle ≤24 h after identical intramuscular injection demonstrated a similar pattern to the transgene expression, with dye staining measured between 5.5 and 8.5 mm along the muscle sample length (range of biopsy lengths 5.6–15.6 mm). The greatest transgene expression and dye staining was measured 2–2.5 mm proximal to the site of injection with a maximum of 23% of muscle fibers expressing the dystrophin transgene, 95.2% expressing the β‐galactosidase transgene, and 98% of the tissue section stained with methylene blue dye. These results suggest transgene expression after focal intramuscular injection is relatively localized around the site of injection. Further research is required to develop techniques that will provide transgene expression throughout the length and breadth of a muscle.

What makes a journal international? A case study using conservation biology journals

The qualitative label ‘international journal’ is used widely, including in national research quality assessments. We determined the practicability of analysing internationality quantitatively using 39 conservation biology journals, providing a single numeric index (IIJ) based on 10 variables covering the countries represented in the journals’ editorial boards, authors and authors citing the journals’ papers. A numerical taxonomic analysis refined the interpretation, revealing six categories of journals reflecting distinct international emphases not apparent from simple inspection of the IIJs alone. Categories correlated significantly with journals’ citation impact (measured by the Hirsch index), with their rankings under the Australian Commonwealth’s ‘Excellence in Research for Australia’ and with some countries of publication, but not with listing by ISI Web of Science. The assessments do not reflect on quality, but may aid editors planning distinctive journal profiles, or authors seeking appropriate outlets.

Moving beyond visitor satisfaction to loyalty in nature-based tourism: a review and research agenda.

Nature-based tourism is increasing worldwide and with it the opportunity to engage these visitors to support and advocate for the protection of natural areas. Loyalty research over the last decade provides a platform for action. Analysing loyalty as an important focus for nature-based tourism research and then proposing a research agenda are the aims of this paper. These aims are achieved by (1) reviewing the place of satisfaction and its relationship to loyalty in nature-based tourism research; (2) analysing recent loyalty and related behavioural intentions research; and (3) proposing a research agenda to further progress loyalty research. Conducting field-based experiments to determine the influence of improving service quality on loyalty and further investigating a suite of items of varying commitment for measuring loyalty (from recommending a destination to others to volunteering to work there) are pivotal to the proposed agenda. Also central are further elaborating and testing the measurement model for loyalty, with place attachment and pursuit of benefits, such as escaping from everyday life and appreciating nature, suggested as promising antecedents to loyalty. The importance of natural areas to society warrants urgent attention to the loyalty-centred research agenda detailed in this paper.

Predicting Visitor Satisfaction in Parks: Comparing the Value of Personal Benefit Attainment and Service Levels in Kakadu National Park, Australia

ABSTRACT Protected area managers are often interested in visitor satisfaction, a complex, multi-dimensional concept. This study of visitors to Kakadu National Park in Australia compares 2 approaches to predicting overall satisfaction and the intention to recommend the park. The first approach involves analyzing importance-performance measures on a range of visitor service quality items. The second approach involves measuring the desire and attainment of perceived benefits associated with a recreation experience. Results show that benefits attained by visitors are stronger predictors of an overall positive response to a park visit than visitor service quality ratings. Two types of benefits emerge from factor analysis—benefits derived from nature and benefits derived from relaxation—and these factors show varying degrees of correlation with overall response to the park depending on proximity of the respondents’ home to the park. The results suggest greater attention should be paid to the benefits people desire from their visits and increases our understanding of what benefits are dependent on the environment (biophysical, social, and managerial), the activity visitors participate in, or a combination of both. Such information can help park staff to create experiences likely to facilitate attainment of benefits that are important to visitors.

Is environmental impact assessment regulation a ‘burden’ to private firms?

The impact of environmental regulation on macroeconomic performance has been studied in some depth over the last 15 years. Similarly, impact on profit performance, investment intention and location decisions of firms has also been studied, although in less depth. There has been less academic interest, however, in the impact that environmental regulation has on the strategic objectives of companies. This article reports on a research project that focused on the impact that environmental approvals regulation (predominantly environmental impact assessment, EIA) has on proposed new development in the international mining sector. Based on a large and externally valid survey of senior mining company executives in Australia and Canada in the late 1990s, the research indicated that a significant majority of firms consider the environmental approvals process to be an important determinant of investment strategy. An initial reaction to these figures might suggest that the majority of respondents believe the environmental approvals process to be a negative influence. However, further questioning indicated that only a small proportion of companies in both countries thought of the environmental approvals process as an impediment to development. Instead, it is clear that most firms see EIA as a catalyst for integrating environmental design into the early planning of a project, thereby alleviating the need to spend money on overcoming environmental problems once a poorly designed project has been commissioned. The somewhat surprising conclusion that companies see environmental approvals regulation as important, but as an encouragement to development rather than as an impediment, goes against much previous industry and academic comment and, at least in relation to the mining sector, refutes the idea that EIA is “burdensome”.