Accounting standards, disclosure requirements and foreign company listings on stock exchanges

Some have claimed that there would be more foreign companies listed on American stock exchanges if foreign companies could use International Financial Reporting Standards （IFRS） instead of American generally accepted accounting principles （GAAP） and could be exempted from some of the disclosure requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission and of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. In spite of these requirements, as of December 31, 2007, there are approximately 421 non-U.S, companies valued at $11.4 trillion listed on the New York Stock Exchange （NYSE）. Of these 421 companies, 41 companies are from China. This study examines the reasons for Chinese companies choosing to list on the New York Stock Exchange and their experiences with incremental disclosure and listing requirements on the Shanghai, Hong Kong, London, and New York stock exchanges. The lesson for foreign companies everywhere should be that foreign companies should search for those cross listings adding value and not be searching for countries and stock exchanges with weak disclosure and listing requirements.

Segmental reporting by Malaysian companies： IAS 14 versus MASB 22

This paper reports on the effects of a local standard, MASB 22, on disclosure practices among Malaysian companies and whether the introduction of MASB 22 has resulted in greater level of disclosure with respect to segmental reporting in Malaysia compared to its predecessor segmental reporting under IAS 14. Based on the Annual Reports of top 53 by market capitalization companies listed on the main board of Bursa Malaysia in 2003, findings indicate that MASB 22 has improved segment disclosure practices of sample companies compared to IAS 14 regime, with greater number of line of business and geographical segments reported by sample companies.

Entrenched Board in New Public Firms： An Empirical Study of Chinese IPOs

This study empirically investigates the impact of managerial entrenchment on firm financial performance of Chinese firms initial public offerings （IPOs）. Using 142 firms listed in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange （SZSE）, which was collected from the Guotaian Research Service Center （GTA-RSC） databases, this study uses two proxies to measure firm performance and three proxies to measure managerial entrenchment. The two proxies for firm performance are Tobins＇ Q and return on assets （ROA）, and the three proxies for managerial entrenchment are entrenchment 1, entrenchment 2, and entrenchment 3. These three entrenchment proxies are derived from the principal component analysis （PCA）. Though previous studies of managerial entrenchment and firm performance variables suffer from endogeneity, with respect to the corporate governance it is unclear as to which variables are endogenous and which are exogenous. This study confirms that the data are linear and no endogeneity issue should be address in this study, but only heteroskedasticity, non-normality for Tobins＇ Q are a problem, therefore, the regression method employed for Tobins＇ Q is the generalised least square （GLS） and the ordinary least square （OLS） between estimators for ROA. The regression result for Tobins＇ Q reveals that managerial entrenchment is negatively impact on firm performance. The results are in contradiction to the stewardship theory for new firms whereas the managerial entrenchment for new firms is positive. Furthermore, only one entrenchment proxy yields a significant coefficient. In conclusion, the negative results of entrenchment proxies were caused by the different institutional structures and legal systems which are the Chinese corporations that are still largely owned and controlled by a state and hence the centralised state controlled was responsible for all managerial actions.

Factors affecting profitability of multi-finance company in Indonesia

The aim of this study is to examine the profitabilily of multi-finance companies. This study uses macroeconomic determinants and fundamental variables as factors that affected profitability. The samples of the study was multifinance company in Indonesia over period 2005-2007. The study uses an unbalanced panel data as a methodology. The result suggests that, the ownership of financial assets doesn＇t significantly affect multi-finance performances. This result indicates that multi-finance face difficult situation to generate profit from the credit given. And the result also suggests that all macroeconomic determinants affect multi-finance profitability, with more concern on inflation that have negative significant.

Cross-Listing and Valuation Effects＂ Evidence From Nairobi Securities Exchange

The purpose of this study is to analyze the valuation effects of cross-listing. The study has conducted a univariate analysis of the Tobin＇s Q and the market-to-book ratio for the period before and after the cross-listing by using paired tests. Non-cross-listed firms are then included in multivariate regressions by using pooled Time Series Cross Section （TSCS） and Panel Corrected Standard Error （PCSE） regressions for a period of 13 years to find out if there is a difference in the valuations between cross-listed firms and non-cross-listed firms. The study＇s results indicate that the Tobin＇s Q of cross-listed-firms increases two years prior to cross-listing and that it continues to increase two years after cross-listing. The market-to-book ratios also show an increase two years prior to cross-listing and up to one year after cross-listing, then decrease in the second year after cross-listing. When non-cross-listed firms are included in the analysis, results indicate that cross-listed firms are valued higher than non-cross-listed firms. When data are portioned for positive earnings per share （EPS） and dividends, results indicate that valuation is the highest when EPS is positive. Since segmentation theories cannot be ruled out, the study＇s findings are more in support of the growth opportunity hypothesis.

Audit Committees： How They Affect Financial Reporting in Nigerian Companies

This study examines whether audit committees are associated with improved financial reporting quality for a sample of Nigerian listed companies prior to and after a corporate governance code mandated new regulations for audit committees in 2003. Using a sample of 70 companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, this study uses archival data in the form of companies＇ annual reports to measure the association between audit committees and improved financial reporting quality. Dechew and Dichev （2002）＇s model was used to measure earnings as a proxy for financial reporting quality. The results indicate that formation of audit committees was positively associated with improved financial reporting quality. It was also found that audit committees having an independent chair and audit committee expertise were positively associated with financial reporting quality. Other audit committee characteristics examined were found to be insignificantly related to financial reporting quality.

Test for Investor Rationality for Companies Listed at the Nairobi Stock Exchange

Investors have traditionally been viewed as economically rational individuals who make decisions based on all available information. They have been assumed to use probability functions to arrive at the most optimal decision. More recent studies propose that investors are irrational and systematically overreact to good and bad information events. The concept of the rational investor has been supported by among others Efficient Market Hypothesis and Modem Portfolio Theory. Other studies opposed to the notion of rational investors have identified psychological biases that influence decision making process of an investor, and leading them to make irrational decisions. Several anomalies have been identified that deviate from rational behavior. The objective of this paper was to test for investor rationality for companies listed at the Nairobi Stock Exchange. This paper tested overreaction by investors to news and performance of companies listed at the Nairobi Stock Market as an anomaly that has been proven in other markets. The test involved forming companies into two portfolios, one of extreme good performers and the other of extreme poor performers during the base year. Performance of these portfolios was analyzed for a nine year period from the year of portfolio formation. The results are consistent with the notion of overreaction, showing that investors overreact to both good and bad news. Over the study period the loser portfolio outperformed the winner portfolio by about 35.92%. This confrere that investors are irrational and make decisions based on some biases.

The New Method to Determine Ownership Stake to Exercise Control： An Empirical Analysis on Italian Companies

The idea of this work arises from the analysis of the researches developed in the literature on topic of ownership and control that are mostly based on threshold of ownership stake to determine control equal for all companies and, in most cases, not supported by theoretical arguments and empirical evidences. In fact, the aim of this paper is to build a new method of determining the threshold of ownership stake that allows the shareholder to exercise control. In particular, this survey uses all Italian listed companies as reference, and the minutes of the Ordinary and Extraordinary General Meetings of shareholders, in 2009-2012, as database. The topic can be enriched with further and future researches aiming to adapt this new method in a cross-country investigation and so to identify the different threshold for the countries, on the basis of the different national laws regarding the ownership stakes that affect the control.

The Relationship Between Working Capital Management and Profitability of Companies Listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange

Efficient working capital management is an integral component of the overall corporate strategy to create shareholders＇ wealth. This paper seeks to extend findings regarding the relationship between working capital management and profitability. A sample of 69 companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange （JSE） for the period from 1998 to 2008 was selected. The results revealed a statistically significant negative relationship among profitability （as measured through gross operating profit）, the cash conversion cycle （CCC）, and number of days accounts receivable （AR）. The results also revealed a positive and significant relationship among profitability, the number of days accounts payable （AP）, and the number of days inventory （INV）. The results suggested that managers could increase their company＇s profitability by effectively managing the CCC and its components.

Factors Influencing the Voluntary Disclosure of Vietnamese Listed Companies

This paper aims to investigate the factors affecting the extent of voluntary disclosure by examining the annual reports of 205 industrial and manufacturing companies listing on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange （HSX） and Hanoi Stock Exchange （HNX） for the year of 2012. Those factors include company size, profitability, leverage, state ownership, managerial ownership, and foreign ownership, board independence, role duality, and type of external auditors. Evidence from this study suggests two main findings： （1） Companies with high foreign ownership have a high level of voluntary disclosure; （2） The company size is an important factor related to the increased level of voluntary disclosure in annual reports of Vietnamese listed companies. However, no significant associations are found between profitability, leverage, state ownership, managerial ownership, board independence, role duality, and type of external auditors as hypothesized in this study.

IC Reporting in Traditional Sectors of Malaysian Public Listed Firms

One of the significant effects of the knowledge economy is the introduction of new business models with resulting creation of intangible resources represented by intellectual assets. In spite of its clear contribution to a firm＇s sustainability of performance, recognition of these intellectual assets in the financial statements do not correspond with their significance as they have to rigid criteria set by conventional accounting standards. This study seeks to assess the level of intellectual capital （IC） resources reported in Malaysian companies in the traditional sectors of the economy and examine their reporting trends in the annual reports of these companies from years 2003 and 2008 Data was collected from companies listed in the main board of Malaysia Stock Exchange （or Bursa Malaysia） and content analysis was applied. Results show that the extent of IC reporting in the annual accounts of listed companies in traditional sectors is slightly above average.

Study on the Current Implementation Situation of the Independent Director System in China＇s Listed Companies

The independent director system, as an effective measure to improve the corporation governance structure of China＇ s listed companies, is focused by more and more people at the capital market. In this paper, the proportion of independent directors in the board of directors, and the actual condition, compensation, and duties performing of independent directors are analyzed by taking A-share listed companies in Shanghai Stock Exchange as an example, so that the current implementation situation of the independent director system in China＇ s listed companies is analyzed deeply through the empirical method. Finally, suggestions for its imorovement are orooosed.

重修文庙碑记

皇上以神圣文武,缵承大宝,诞敷文教,向用儒术。临御之二十三年(1684),苞蘖划除,櫜弓衅甲;扶桑日出之表,纳土置郡;六服内外,悉王悉臣;清和咸理,年谷顺成。于是循虞周盛轨,柴望岱宗,躬诸阙里,释奠先师,兼留御盖以示隆重;亲洒宸翰,题'万世师表',榜大成殿,并颁行州郡。其学宫有废壤者,所司葺治。自昔喆王尊师访道,稽古右文,罕有俪斯者也。而嘉定邑侯闻君,重修文庙,于时适成。嘉定居吴郡东偏,其水工质重,人物近朴野,然昏丧宾祭,动引古礼。士大夫喜谈节概,卑荣利。