International lease accounting reform and economic consequences: the views of UK users and preparers

In response to perceived difficulties with extant lease-accounting standards in operation worldwide, the G4+1 issued a discussion paper which proposes that all leases should be recognized on the balance sheet [ASB (1999). Leases: Implementation of a new approach, discussion paper. London: Accounting Standards Board]. Leasing is now on the active agenda of the IASB. A major difficulty faced by standard setters lies in overcoming the preparer/user lobbying imbalance and obtaining ex ante evidence on the likely impact of regulatory reform. This paper contributes to the ongoing international debate by conducting a questionnaire survey of U.K. users and preparers to assess their views on proposals for lease-accounting reform and on the potential economic consequences of their adoption. The results, based on 132 responses, indicate that both groups accept that there are deficiencies in the current rules, but they do not agree on the way forward and believe that the proposals would lead to significant economic consequences for key parties. The impact on respondents' views of familiarity with the proposals, level of lease usage, and company size, is also examined

IMPLICATIONS OF TAXING QUOTA VALUE IN AN INDIVIDUAL TRANSFERABLE QUOTA FISHERY

Taxing pure rents is usually considered the least distortionary method for raising revenues. In the literature on fishery economics, the term "rent" is regularly employed, suggesting that pure rents exist in that sector. Indeed, with the recent development of individual transferable quotas, the resulting market value of quota has been treated as reflecting pure resource rents. In this paper, the view that the market value of quota represents a pure rent that can be readily extracted in a nondistortionary manner by the taxing authority is challenged because that argument ignores both economic incentives and political realities.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Marketing implications of traditional and ICT-mediated leisure activities

This study investigates the role of traditional and information and communication technology (ICT)-mediated leisure activities in consumer behaviour. An online survey of 558 members and 1319 ex-members of an Australian DVD rental company gathered preferences for nine traditional leisure activities and seven ICT-mediated leisure activities. The results of a cluster analysis showed four clusters with significant cluster differences across leisure activities and across demographics and consumer behaviours. For practitioners, the study illustrates how profiling customers on their leisure preferences can increase advertising effectiveness, reflect loyalty and help predict customer lifetime value. For academia, the results reveal how another consumer dimension, leisure activities, relates to demographic and behavioural characteristics

Evaluating cost taxonomies for information systems management

The consideration of costs, benefits and risks underpin many Information System (IS) evaluation decisions. Yet, vendors and project-champions alike tend to identify and focus much of their effort on the benefits achievable from the adoption of new technology, as it is often not in the interest of key stakeholders to spend too much time considering the wider cost and risk implications of enterprise-wide technology adoptions. In identifying a void in the literature, the authors of the paper present a critical analysis of IS-cost taxonomies. In doing so, the authors establish that such cost taxonomies tend to be esoteric and difficult to operationalize, as they lack specifics in detail. Therefore, in developing a deeper understanding of IS-related costs, the authors position the need to identify, control and reduce IS-related costs within the information systems evaluation domain, through culminating and then synthesizing the literature into a frame of reference that supports the evaluation of information systems through a deeper understanding of IS-cost taxonomies. The paper then concludes by emphasizing that the total costs associated with IS-adoption can only be determined after having considered the multi-faceted dimensions of information system investments

The use of a family agency in relocation for urban renewal.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Milwaukee County-Funded Parks and Cultural Institutions

The Public Policy Forum's role in the Audit of Greater Milwaukee's Regional Cultural Assets was to examine the fiscal condition of those cultural assets owned and/or funded by Milwaukee County: the Milwaukee Public Museum, Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, Milwaukee County War Memorial Center, Milwaukee County Historical Society, Charles Allis Museum, Villa Terrace Decorative Art Museum, Milwaukee County Cultural Artistic and Musical Programming Advisory Council, Milwaukee County Zoo and Milwaukee County Parks

Twitter: Businesses Increasing Their Revenues 140 Characters at a Time

With the consumer market becoming more competitive by the day, businesses must find innovative yet cost effective means of reaching their target markets and steadily increasing their revenues. While businesses compete with one another to remain the best, they must have a strategic market plan that differentiates their products and/or services from their competitors. In an effort to do this, many businesses have begun using social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn as a means of reaching their target markets. Such sites have opened businesses to a new level of advertising where they reach consumers faster, have the ability to be more innovative, and spend less money than they would with conventional means of advertising. In addition to these social networking sites, Twitter has emerged, gaining interest from businesses looking to get their products and/or services out to consumers through a new medium. With the number of users increasing daily and the ease of passing information along from one user to the next, businesses have begun to see their new found means of advertising on Twitter as the way to increase their revenues 140 characters at a time. This project highlights how the understanding of the benefits of social media marketing is essential to businesses venturing into the use of Twitter. This understanding allows businesses to frame the use of Twitter to successfully fit their business strategies, while the Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) shows the connection between the use of social networking sites by businesses and how it relates to the manner in which consumers are receptive to the information such sites provide. Various studies conducted on the use of Twitter by companies along with a case study on FM Global, a mutual insurance company, highlight how Twitter can be used by businesses as a marketing tool for branding purposes and increasing revenues

REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS AND THE IMMOVABLE PROPERTY MARKET IN ALBANIA

The experience of other Eastern and Central European countries would suggest that in Albania, as the market for real property develops, there should also be developments in services that support real property transactions. A competitive and transparent market is usually facilitated by the presence of real estate professionals who bring buyers and sellers together to maximize the opportunities of both. These specialists work primarily through the collection and management of market information relating to real estate and profit through the administration of the process of submitting offers, acceptances, and contracts of sale. The appearance of such real estate professionals began in Albania in 1991, immediately following legal reforms allowing individuals and groups of individuals in society to own real property. This report examines the development of the real estate profession in Albania from 1991 to 1996 and is based on interviews and meetings with representatives of the key actors in any real property market: realtors, builders, urban planners, architects, lawyers and notaries, appraisers, and construction companies. The study was sponsored by the Land Market Development Project for the combined purpose of (a) providing insight on the evolution of Albania's urban real property market prior to full implementation of the Immovable Property Registration System and (b) assisting with the establishment of an Association of Real Estate Professionals, which could improve the professional expertise of realtors and encourage nongovernmental legal and policy research relating to real estate market development.Real estate business--Albania, Real estate development--Albania, Land markets--Albania, Land Economics/Use,

Moving from a Product-Based Economy to a Service-Based Economy for a More Sustainable Future

Traditionally, economic growth and prosperity have been linked with the availability, production and distribution of tangible goods as well as the ability of consumers to acquire such goods. Early evidence regarding this connection dates back to Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776), in which any activity not resulting in the production of a tangible good is characterized as unproductive of any value." Since then, this coupling of economic value and material production has been prevalent in both developed and developing economies throughout the world. One unintended consequence of this coupling has been the exponential increase in the amount of solid waste being generated. The reason is that any production and consumption of material goods eventually generates the equivalent amount of (or even more) waste. Exacerbating this problem is the fact that, with today's manufacturing and supply chain management technologies, it has become cheaper to dispose and replace most products rather than to repair and reuse them. This has given rise to what some call a disposable society." To put things in perspective: In 2012 households in the U.K. generated approximately 22 thousand tons of waste, which amounted to 411 kg of waste generated per person (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, 2015). During the same time period, households in the U.S. generated 251 million tons of waste, which is equivalent to a person generating approximately 2 kg of waste every day (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2012). Out of these 251 million tons of total waste generated, approximately 20% of the discarded items were categorized as durable goods. The disposal of durable goods is particularly worrisome because they are typically produced using material from non- renewable resources such as iron, minerals, and petroleum-based raw materials