Preliminary estimates of operating costs for lighter than air transports

A preliminary set of operating cost relationships are presented for airship transports. The starting point for the development of the relationships is the direct operating cost formulae and the indirect operating cost categories commonly used for estimating costs of heavier than air commercial transports. Modifications are made to the relationships to account for the unique features of airships. To illustrate the cost estimating method, the operating costs of selected airship cargo transports are computed. Conventional fully buoyant and hybrid semi-buoyant systems are investigated for a variety of speeds, payloads, ranges, and altitudes. Comparisons are made with aircraft transports for a range of cargo densities

No, thank you : how economics may help slow the onslaught of spam e-mail

Economics

Group interventions to improve health outcomes : a framework for their design and delivery

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The use of free visual aids in the teaching of economic geography

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Earnings Management: The Effects of National Audit Environment, Audit Quality and International Capital Markets

This paper studies earnings management in an international context. More specifically, the effects of three factors on earnings management are studied: national audit environment, audit firm quality and reliance on international capital markets. National audit environments vary strongly in terms of independence rules, auditor education and auditor liability. Hence, it can be expected that the restrictions imposed by national audit environments on earnings management vary. However, there are two factors that can mitigate the national audit environment effect. First, there is strong evidence that audit firm quality, as indicated by the Big 5 and non-Big 5 dichotomy, affects earnings management opportunities for clients. In the context of this study an important issue is to what extent this quality effect overrides national differences. In other words, to what extent do the international audit firms provide a standardized high quality audit across different jurisdictions? Second, the reliance on international capital markets might reduce companies’ earnings management, irrespective of the opportunities provided by the national environment. The study uses data for the period 1991 - 1999 from listed firms in four jurisdictions: France, UK, the Netherlands and Germany. The total number of firm year observations is 17,838. The results of the study suggest that national differences in audit environments are strongly affecting earnings management. While earnings management is also affected by the audit quality of the audit firm and the reliance on international capital markets, the effect is rather small. The evidence provided in this study is relevant for the current worldwide integration of capital markets and the acceptance of international accounting standards. For the international comparability of earnings, not only the standardization of financial reporting is important but also the standardization of enforcement across jurisdictions. The results of this study suggest that the enforcement of financial reporting still varies strongly across countries.accounting and auditing ;

Knowledge-intensive services and international competitiveness: a four country comparison

The nature and consequences of services innovation remains a woefully under-researchedtopic. The paper calls into question two statements that are frequentlyrepeated in the political-economic discourse on services. The first concerns thesuggestion that Germany is a ‘services laggard’ that needs to restructure its domesticeconomy if it is to remain internationally competitive. By contrast, the UK is frequentlyheld up as an example of a successfully restructured ‘services economy’. The paperdraws an important distinction between the quantity of services in a domestic economyand the degree of connectivity between services and other economic activities. Thelatter, it is argued, is far more important in determining the size of spillovers fromservices innovation enjoyed within a domestic economy and, hence, to internationalcompetitiveness. Particular attention is paid to the role and impact of knowledge-intensiveservice sectors in this regard. In addition to the UK and Germany, data isdrawn from the Netherlands and Japan. Using these four comparative cases we explorethe distinction between a high representation of services in the domestic economy, andthe innovation spillovers facilitated by a high degree of connectivity between servicesand other economic sectors within a domestic economy.economic development an growth ;