Effects of financial and non-financial information disclosure on prices’ mechanisms for emergent markets: The case of Romanian Bucharest Stock Exchange

The issuance of the European Union Regulation (EC) 1606/2002 and the 2007 adoption of the Markets and Financial Instruments Directive in Romania determined us to sett the goal of the present study at investigating the impact of public information disclosure on market values in the case of the Romanian companies listed on Bucharest Stock Exchange. Our focus is mainly on comparing the value relevance of Internet disclosed information provided by annual and interim financial reports and other non-financial news in the decision making process of investors. Consistent with the literature, we anticipate a positive and significant incremental relevance of such information items, even if an important non-uniformity of prices’ adjustments can be expected. In order to have a benchmark for our results, we compare these with the ones specific to a more developed market, the Madrid Stock Exchange. Empirical tests support our research hypothesis according to which there will be a relative incremental value of a higher volume and a better quality of information, reflecting prices’ overreactions even in the case of a market with imperfect trading mechanisms.KEY WORDS Disclosure, Valuation, Bucharest Stock Exchange, Madrid Stock Exchange

National legislative systems and foreign standards and regulations: The case of International Financial Reporting Standards adoption

This study is focused on the linkages between the legislative families as descriptors of national legislative systems and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). We consider such analysis as a case study for the more general issue of explaining the preferences of national regulators in the adoption of foreign norms, rules, standards and practices. By using a dataset of 162 jurisdictions and dummy variables designed to capture the current stage of IFRSs adoption and, respectively, the taxonomy of their legislative systems, we find that a full IFRSs adoption is more likely to occur in countries which have principles-based on legislative mono-systems. In addition, we observe that a strong rule of law, with an effective mechanism of property rights reinforcement, as well as the pre-adoption existence of a pro-growth set of public policies can contribute to the encouragement of IFRSs adoption.IFRSs adoption• Legislative families

A web of intercorrelations: culture, financial reporting and social output

In the context of a growing literature on the connection between cultural variables and accounting regulations, the general objective of the paper is to provide a theoretical framework and empirical evidence on the recent trends in financial reporting and on their impact on the dynamics of the social output. Thus, the specific objectives are: 1) to provide an operational definition of culture; 2) to advance a model of the interactions between culture, design of accounting regulations and the economic growth; 3) to test some of these interactions at the European based on an empirical pool data model. The dependent variable are: a dummy aiming to capture the specificity of the IFRSs endorsement in EU; the average real GDP rates of growth; and the explanatory variables which are represented by the cultural descriptors derived from World Values Survey questions. The main results of the paper consist in the following theses: the culture is relevant for the national characteristics of IFRSs implementation in European Union; and the accounting framework matters for the outcomes of social decisions.Accounting harmonization, culture, financial reporting, social output, world values survey, IFRSs

Carry-Over Effects After Magnetic Stimulation - A Mechanistic Study

Magnetic stimulation is widely used for clinical neuromodulation, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation and peripheral nerve stimulation. Normally, neurons are expected to resume pre-stimulation states and functions immediately after the magnetic stimulation. However, the effects of magnetic stimulation still last after the termination of the magnetic stimulation (named “carry-over effects) and could generate profound outcomes in clinical magnetic stimulation. Using experimental and modeling methods, we investigate cellular and molecular mechanisms of carry-over effects during magnetic stimulation. Delineating these mechanisms is essential for the further development of the magnetic stimulation technology for quick, reversible neuromodulation

Early childhood and primary education efficiency in Europe: a data envelopment analysis approach

This study explores the use of data envelopment analysis with bias correction of technical efficiency scores to measure ‘efficiency’ in early childhood and primary education. It also advances a potential framework derived from the ‘human capital paradigm’ to support the selection of inputs and outputs in efficiency assessment. Finally, it illustrates some specific features of early childhood and primary education in Europe (as well as the United States and Japan as referential countries) and provides empirical evidence on the heterogeneity of ‘education technologies’ and their performances among these countries. It is found that Nordic countries have the highest output-based technical efficiency

Credit analysis policies in construction project finance

This paper aims to illustrate a revolutionary approach to bank financing of extensive investment projects developed by major corporations. The new approach pertains to corporate banking and is applied to corporate projects developed by special purpose vehicles. The theoretical framework highlights general aspects of project finance and of construction projects management in general, with special focus on residential constructions. The second part adds to the theoretical structure the example of a project finance policy implemented by a Romanian subsidiary of a foreign bank and places the emphasis on the credit analysis in case of residential construction projects. The final objective of the paper is to bridge the corporate banking field with project finance, regarded as a banking field of its own, in line with the vision of the bank subject to this article.credit analysis, project finance, banking institutions.

Design-led approach for transferring the embodied skills of puppet stop-motion animators into haptic workspaces

This design-led research investigates the transfer of puppet stop-motion animators’ embodied skills from the physical workspace into a digital environment. The approach is to create a digital workspace that evokes an embodied animating experience and allows puppet stop-motion animators to work in it unencumbered. The insights and outcomes of the practical explorations are discussed from the perspective of embodied cognition. The digital workspace employs haptic technology, an advanced multi-modal interface technology capable of invoking the tactile, kinaesthetic and proprioceptive senses. The overall aim of this research is to contribute, to the Human-Computer Interaction design community, design considerations and strategies for developing haptic workspaces that can seamlessly transfer and accommodate the rich embodied knowledge of non-digital skillful practitioners. Following an experiential design methodology, a series of design studies in collaboration with puppet stop-motion animators led to the development of a haptic workspace prototype for producing stop-motion animations. Each design study practically explored the transfer of different aspects of the puppet stop-motion animation practice into the haptic workspace. Beginning with an initial haptic workspace prototype, its design was refined in each study with the addition of new functionalities and new interaction metaphors which were always developed with the aim to create and maintain an embodied animating experience. The method of multiple streams of reflection was proposed as an important design tool for identifying, understanding and articulating design insights, empirical results and contextual considerations throughout the design studies. This thesis documents the development of the haptic workspace prototype and discusses the collected design insights and empirical results from the perspective of embodied cognition. In addition, it describes and reviews the design methodology that was adopted as an appropriate approach towards the design of the haptic workspace prototype