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Cross-country Variations (cross-country + variation)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting75%

Selected Abstracts

International Variation in Bank Accounting Information Content

JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT & ACCOUNTING, Issue 3 2008
Ronald Zhao
This study explores the cross-country impact of financial system and banking regulations on the information content of bank earnings and book value. Test results provide empirical evidence that financial system and banking regulations have a joint effect on the association of equity price with earnings and book value components in Germany, France, the United Kingdom and United States. This effect is explainable by the objective bank function, which shows that earnings of the period determine the terminal book value, thus consistent with the clean surplus accounting approach. Cross-country variation in bank accounting information content calls for caution in interpreting international bank financial and operating ratios. [source]

TRADE OPENNESS: AN AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVE

AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC PAPERS, Issue 3 2006
SIMON GUTTMANN
Australia's external trade is relatively low compared with the size of its economy. Indeed, Australia's openness ratio (exports plus imports as a proportion of GDP) in 2002 was the third-lowest among the 30 OECD countries. This paper seeks to understand Australia's low openness by analysing the empirical determinants of aggregate country trade. We present an equation for country openness which explains a substantial amount of the cross-country variation. The most important explanators of openness are population and a measure of distance to potential trade partners. Countries with larger populations trade less, as do countries that are relatively more remote. Furthermore, after controlling for trade policy there is little evidence of a positive correlation between openness and economic development. The openness equation suggests that Australia's level of trade is relatively close to what would be expected. The most important factors in explaining Australia's low openness ratio are its large geographic size and distance to the rest of the world. [source]

Competing Rationales for Corporate Governance in France: Institutional Complementarities between Financial Markets and Innovation Systems

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, Issue 2 2008
Soo H. Lee
ABSTRACT Manuscript Type: Conceptual Research Question/Issue: This paper identifies the causes and consequences of corporate governance reform with reference to the French case. By disaggregating institutional complementarities into global and domestic dimensions, we analyze the path of institutional change compelled by financial efficiency and cooperative innovation. Research Findings/Results: Our analysis of the French case shows that both converging and diverging forces of institutional change coexist, shaping selective responses to globalization. While the adoption of the shareholder model is necessary for resource acquirement from the global capital markets, resource allocation in the cooperative innovation systems reinforces the stakeholder model. The French case confirms the sustainability of distinctive institutional complementarities, albeit with selective adaptation based on a sense-making social compromise. Theoretical Implications: The French case reminds us of the importance of distinctive institutional traditions and dominant social rationalities to understand the underlying logic of governance reform. The comparative research on corporate governance needs to address not just the cross-country variations in institutional arrangements and practices, but also the clash of competing rationales for reform explicitly in comparative terms within a single country context. Practical Implications: For foreign investors, it is vital to understand the unique institutional environment of state-centred stakeholder economies if they are to negotiate the best terms of return and to avoid unnecessary conflicts. French managers are expected to devise strategic choices responding to the competing rationales of governance. Managerial sense-making is essential for achieving sound long-term performance, upon which the legitimacy and sustainability of the constellation of selective governance rests. [source]

Towards a More Rational IMF Quota Structure: Suggestions for the Creation of a New International Financial Architecture

DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2000
Raghbendra Jha
The authors of this article argue that, in the absence of a well-founded quota formula, the very basis of the creation of the IMF as an institution at the centre of international financial arrangements was flawed; that there is no clear rationale for the determinants of quota structures and their weighting scheme; and that the quota allocation as an instrument seeks to target too many objectives. As a result, large and arbitrary cross-country variations exist in the relative impact of different determinants on the quota shares of different countries. The quota formulas therefore need to be reviewed and an alternative approach evolved, in which emphasis is placed on the size of the economy rather than its openness, along with efficiency parameters. The authors suggest some principles which might underpin redefined quota structures in support of a new financial architecture. They provide illustrative calculations using India as a case study, and trace the impact of the redefined quota structures against the backdrop of the impact of the Eleventh General Review on India's quota position. [source]