Accounting for accounting's role in the neoliberalization processes of social housing in England:A Bourdieusian perspective

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Abstract This paper seeks to account for how accounting is implicated in the neoliberalization processes of social housing in England. It adopts a processual view which instead of conceptualizing neoliberalism as static and ‘end-state’, views it as a dynamic process of neoliberalization. We draw upon Bourdieu’s notions of field, capital and habitus to frame our study. We focus on reform of the regulation of social housing in England during the period 2006–2016. We show that the process of neoliberalization of social housing in England was instigated by the state’s intervention to change the structure of the field in terms of norms, power relations and positions of players on the field. These changes brought about simultaneous changes in the habitus of the field as well as the structure and habitus of Housing Associations as sub-fields. We demonstrate how these changes create and reproduce a new system of domination where the tenant is the dominated player. We highlight the role accounting played in these changes in terms of being used as a tool by the regulator to achieve social control and drive change within Housing Associations and by the Housing Associations to evidence conformity with the new norms and adaptation

“Translation in the ‘contact zone’ between accounting and human resource management:The nebulous idea of humans as assets and resources

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of the process through which ideas are translated across disciplines. It does this by focussing on how the idea that people are corporate assets was translated between the accounting and human resource management (HRM) disciplines. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on the interpretation of a historical case study of the travel of ideas between the accounting and HRM disciplines. Translation is used as an analytical lens as opposed to being the object of the study and is theorised drawing on insights from the Scandinavian Institutionalist School, Skopos theory and linguistic translation techniques. Findings Translation by individual translators involved the translator stepping across disciplinary boundaries. However, translation performed by interdisciplinary teams occurs in the “contact zone” between disciplines. In this zone, both disciplines are, at once, source and target. Ideas are translated by editing and fusing them. In both cases, translation is value laden as the motives of the translators determine the translation techniques used. Legitimacy and gravitas of the translator, as well as contextual opportunities, influence the spread of the idea while disciplinary norms limit its ability to become institutionalised. Also, differential application of the same translation rule leads to heterogeneous outcomes. Originality/value This is the first accounting translation study to use the theories of the Scandinavian Institutionalist School or indeed combine these with linguistic translation techniques. It is also the first study in accounting which explores the translation of ideas across disciplines

Nigerian Budgetary Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and its Shrinking Fiscal Space: Financial Sustainability, Employment, Social Inequality and Business Implications

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Purpose: This article aims to explore the Nigerian government’s budgetary response to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the economic and social implications of the pandemic response. Design/methodology/approach: Our analysis is based on a review of secondary evidence such as Nigerian Federal Government budget documents, policy documents, Central Bank of Nigeria circulars, news media articles, World Bank and International Monetary Fund reports, Reports from Big Four accounting firms and policy think-tanks. Findings: We highlight how increased borrowing to fund COVID-19 related economic and social interventions have significantly squeezed Nigeria’s fiscal space. We also highlight that while some interventions provide short term economic relief to the poor and small businesses, other interventions and gaps in the policy response have the potential for significant negative impact on businesses, households and unemployment. In addition, we highlight the potential for long-term benefits to the health sector and for private sector engagement in corporate responsibility and philanthropy. Originality/value: We present a comprehensive account of the Nigerian government’s budgetary response to the COVID 19 pandemic and the economic and social implications of this response

Analytical Modeling of a Novel Elastohydrodynamic Seal Design for Supercritical CO2 Power Cycles

Supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power cycles show great potential for higher plant efficiencies and power densities for a wide range of power generation applications such as fossil fuel power plants, nuclear power production, solar power, and geothermal power generation. sCO2 leakage has been one of the main concerns in such applications, penalizing the cycle efficiencies. The effect of the seal leakage on the cycle efficiency could be as high as 0.65% for a utility sCO2 power cycle. Therefore, there is a pressing need for effective sealing solutions to get the full benefit of sCO2 power generation technology. To offer a potential solution, we propose an Elasto-Hydrodynamic (EHD) seal that can work at elevated pressures and temperatures with low leakage and minimal wear. The EHD seal has a very simple, sleeve like structure, wrapping on the rotor with minimal initial clearance at 25 to 50µm levels. In this work, a proof-of-concept study for the proposed EHD seal was presented by using the Reynolds equation, Lame’s formula, Barus Equation, and Dowson-Higginson formula to model the pressure distribution along the seal clearance as well as the seal deformation. The analytical modeling of the seal was carried out in MATLAB using its built-in ordinary differential equation solver. The seal was evaluated for a 2” diameter test seal with a pressure range of 0.2MPa to 20MPa. At the high pressure of 20MPa, the clearance height at the throat (ht) was found to be 24.7µm which is about 50.6% than the initial seal clearance (h0) of 50µm, which resulted in a mass flow rate of 0.00162 kg/s. Also, a parametric study was conducted to see the effects of the seal thickness, shaft diameter, and seal length on the performance of the seal. The results showed that all three geometric parameters play a major role in the seal deformation and the mass flow rate of the seal. For the seal thickness, the mass flow rate increased as the seal thickness increased. It resulted to be 0.00161 kg/s and 0.004055kg/s for seal thickness 0.5mm and 2.0mm, respectively at 20MPa. An increase in the shaft diameter led to a decrease in mass flow rate with 0.00187 kg/s and 0.00125 kg/s for 25mm and 50mm respectively at 20MPa. For the seal length, the mass flow rate decreased with increasing seal length with 0.00255 kg/s and 0.001185 kg/s for seal lengths of 13mm and 28mm respectively at 20MPa. The presented analytical study lays a solid foundation for future model developments that could be used in the design of the proposed EHD seal

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Socio-Economic Analysis of Factors Associated with Child Labour use Among Cassava Farmers in Imo State

This study focused on the socio-economic analysis of the incidence of child labour use among cassava farmers in Imo State of Nigeria. It is designed to empirically provide evidence-based knowledge to inform and influence policies in the direction of the use of child labour in cassava production. Multistage random sampling technique was adopted to select 115 respondents used for the study. Data was collected using structured questionnaire and analyzed using percentages, arithmetic mean and logit regression econometric procedure. The study found that majority of the respondents represented by 85% employed child labour in their cassava farm production. Those in age range of 15 – 17 were the least (8 %) employed as labourers. The study further found that the children spent an average of 5 hours a day working in cassava farms, with majority (62%) working between 4-6 hours/day while 15% worked for 1-3 hours/day. From the results, family size and farm size increased the probability of child labour use. The study concluded that the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers have significant effect on child labour use. It is recommended that large family-sized households should avoid the temptation of using their children as labourers in their farmsKey word: Cassava production, family size, farm size, child labou

A strategizing-as-practice perspective of the 'advice process' of small business owners.

This study examines the processes of advice seeking by small business owners and employs a Strategy-as-Practice perspective. The analysis of the data from 33 small business owners identified eleven factors that influenced the processes. These included: cost; proximity; technical skills and knowledge; business ties; similarity of goals; business savvy; appropriateness of advice; knowledge of the other; knowledge of the business and its context; personal relationships and trust. The extent of influence of the factors was shaped by the category of the advice provider as indicated by the type of relationship and the type and extent of trust in that relationship. This study makes two major contributions to knowledge. First, it highlights the fact that advice seeking is a practice within the broader practice of strategizing and shows the different roles advice plays in small business owner strategizing. Second, it develops a descriptive framework of the advice seeking practice of small business owners which shows that the small business owners practice of advice seeking is a set of open-ended activities which are cognitively ordered and spatially-temporally dispersed. High levels of trust and personal relationships are shown to create an advisory space in which the business owner is willing to be open and vulnerable to the advisor and so enables the advisor to gain knowledge of the business owner and his business which help shape the advice given

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