The Problem of Financial Accounting Measurement in Italian Accounting Thought between the 19th and the 20th Century From “Exchange Value” to “Historical Cost”

The main subject of the paper is the theory of accounting measurement as observed in its historical development. More notably, the research concerns theoretical concepts of such discipline, as developed by the Italian doctrine in a very specific age, that is, between the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, i.e. from the theorization of the “exchange value rule” to the theorization of the “historical cost principle”. As it was impossible to examine the thought of the many scholars who gave their contribution, each one in his own way, to the development of this subject, we deemed it appropriate to focus our attention on those scholars who left their mark on the accounting history in the analyzed period. We will mention in particular such scholars as Francesco Villa, Giovanni Rossi, Fabio Besta, Gino Zappa, the latter seen in the early stage of his thinking. The analysis of the different theories devised by the above-mentioned masters, which cannot but be conducted within the limited length of this paper, led us to identify three logical steps in the evolution of the theories that have been developed on the subject in the considered phase. The results of the study can be summarized in the following considerations. In the second half of the nineteenth century, some of the best accounting experts, faced with the need to properly develop the problem of accounting measurement, thought it appropriate to rely on concepts that belonged to similar sciences, such as economics and real estate appraisal discipline, by blindly borrowing the theory of value from the former and the theory of valuation from the latter. During such age, everything hinged around the concept of “exchange value”. At the dawn of the last century, the scholars' attitude tended to become more critical. Doctrine in particular began to wonder about a subject that was crucial to the theory of accounting measurement, notably the informative purposes from which such theory takes inspiration. At the same time, a first principle took shape, which is still the basis of the theory of accounting measurement, which might be called the finalistic principle of value, which lays down that different measurement criteria must be applied to different informative purposes. An alternative criterion to that of the “exchange value” thus makes its appearance on the scene of the accounting measurement, notably, the historical cost principle. With its introduction and above all with the relinquishment of the combination of economic cost that had been initially accepted by the doctrine and the later transition to the combination of manufacturing cost, the accounting world managed to get rid, once and for all, of economic and valuative assumptions, thus becoming independent in its accounting measurements. This is mainly due to the scholars' ability to learn precious lessons from the observation of the accounting scene of the time.Accounting History, Financial Accounting Measurement, Asset Valuation, Exchange Value, Cost Principle, Combinations of Costs, Italy.

Rheological Behavior of Microemulsions

We study the stationary and transient behaviors of the microemulsion phase subjected to a shear flow. The system is described by a diffusion-convective equation which generalizes the usual Cahn-Hilliard equation. Non-linear terms are treated in a self-consistent approximation. Shear, first and second normal stresses are calculated as momenta of the structure factor. Shear thinning is observed in stationary conditions. After a newtonian regime at small values of the shear rate, the excess viscosity decreases when the shear rate becomes of the order of the inverse of the relaxation time of the system without flow. In transient regimes, when the flow is applied starting from a quiescent state, we find that the shear stress reaches a maximum before decreasing to a constant value.Comment: 10 figures, 2 of which have format jp

Eleven Years of Data on the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Medical Student Version (JSE-S): Proxy Norm Data and Tentative Cutoff Scores.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to provide typical descriptive statistics, score distributions and percentile ranks of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy-Medical Student version (JSE-S) of male and female medical school matriculants to serve as proxy norm data and tentative cutoff scores. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The participants were 2,637 students (1,336 women and 1,301 men) who matriculated at Sidney Kimmel (formerly Jefferson) Medical College between 2002 and 2012, and completed the JSE at the beginning of medical school. Information extracted from descriptive statistics, score distributions and percentile ranks for male and female matriculants were used to develop proxy norm data and tentative cutoff scores. RESULTS: The score distributions of the JSE tended to be moderately skewed and platykurtic. Women obtained a significantly higher mean score (116.2 ± 9.7) than men (112.3 ± 10.8) on the JSE-S (t2,635 = 9.9, p \u3c 0.01). It was suggested that percentile ranks can be used as proxy norm data. The tentative cutoff score to identify low scorers was ≤ 95 for men and ≤ 100 for women. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide norm data and cutoff scores for admission decisions under certain conditions and for identifying students in need of enhancing their empathy

Heat fluctuations in Ising models coupled with two different heat baths

Monte Carlo simulations of Ising models coupled to heat baths at two different temperatures are used to study a fluctuation relation for the heat exchanged between the two thermostats in a time $\tau$. Different kinetics (single--spin--flip or spin--exchange Kawasaki dynamics), transition rates (Glauber or Metropolis), and couplings between the system and the thermostats have been considered. In every case the fluctuation relation is verified in the large $\tau$ limit, both in the disordered and in the low temperature phase. Finite-$\tau$ corrections are shown to obey a scaling behavior.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. To be published in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical as fast track communicatio

Condensation and equilibration in an urn model

After reviewing the general scaling properties of aging systems, we present a numerical study of the slow evolution induced in the zeta urn model by a quench from a high temperature to a lower one where a condensed equilibrium phase exists. By considering both one-time and two-time quantities we show that the features of the model fit into the general framework of aging systems. In particular, its behavior can be interpreted in terms of the simultaneous existence of equilibrated and aging degrees with different scaling properties.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, Proceedings of the International Conference on Statistical Physics SigmaPhi, Rhodes 2014. v2: a footnote and one reference added, few typos correcte

Renormalization Group results for lattice surface models

We study the phase diagram of statistical systems of closed and open interfaces built on a cubic lattice. Interacting closed interfaces can be written as Ising models, while open surfaces as Z(2) gauge systems. When the open surfaces reduce to closed interfaces with few defects, also the gauge model can be written as an Ising spin model. We apply the lower bound renormalization group (LBRG) transformation introduced by Kadanoff (Phys. Rev. Lett. 34, 1005 (1975)) to study the Ising models describing closed and open surfaces with few defects. In particular, we have studied the Ising-like transition of self-avoiding surfaces between the random-isotropic phase and the phase with broken global symmetry at varying values of the mean curvature. Our results are compared with previous numerical work. The limits of the LBRG transformation in describing regions of the phase diagram where not ferromagnetic ground-states are relevant are also discussed.Comment: 24 pages, latex, 5 figures (available upon request to [email protected]