376 research outputs found
The value-added statement: An appeal for standardisation
Owing to the absence of accounting standards for the preparation of a value-added statement (VAS), a large variety of methods are used in financial statements. In this study the published value-added statements (PVAS) of companies listed on the JSE Securities Exchange during the period 1976-2005 have been standardised by the Graduate School of Business of the University of Stellenbosch (USB) in order to quantify the differences between the standardised VAS (SVAS) and the PVAS. These differences consist of the inclusion of items that do not belong in the VAS, items that are erroneously allocated among the distribution to stakeholders, and interpretation differences in whether a certain item forms part of the calculation of value added or the distribution thereof. The greatest difference quantified was the overstatement of the distribution to government that amounted to 54.4% of total differences. For users, including government, to properly calculate and compare the value added of different business entities, a standard for the preparation and presentation of VAS ought to be published. In the South African context the need of a precise measurement of each business entity's contribution to the growth of the national economy is relevant, and this need should also be addressed.Value added, Gross Domestic Product, South Africa, financial statements
Share repurchase and dividend payout behaviour: The South African experience
Share repurchases, rather than dividend payments, are increasingly becoming the globally favoured payout method. This has prompted a renewed interest in the field, and raises questions about the actual motivation for share repurchases and whether companies are now repurchasing shares in preference to investing in future growth. This study set out to ascertain whether South African company payout behaviour mirrors global company behaviour. Comprehensive data on share repurchases are, however, not compiled by South African financial data sources or by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Ltd. In preparation for this study, the authors thus compiled the first comprehensive share repurchase database for companies in selected JSE-listed sectors for the first 11 years (i.e. 1999 to 2009) since share repurchases were first allowed in this country.
Share repurchases were found to be a popular payout method, especially in the more recent periods covered in the study. Payout value was dominated by a few companies paying dividends every year and regularly repurchasing shares. Aspects unique to the South African regulatory environment, however, resulted in the South African share repurchase experience not fully mirroring current global practice. The main constraint in the South African share repurchase environment is that comprehensive, actual-time-based share repurchase data are not available. Recommendations are made on how to align the South African regulatory environment with global best practice. Regulatory changes, as well as continued research in the field, will equip stakeholders to make informed decisions
Bias in meta-analyses using Hedges’ d
The type of metric and weighting method used in meta-analysis can create bias and alter coverage of confidence intervals when the estimated effect size and its weight are correlated. Here, we investigate
bias associated with the common metric, Hedges’ d, under conditions common in ecological meta-analyses.
We simulated data from experiments, computed effect sizes and their variances, and performed meta-analyses applying three weighting schemes (inverse variance, sample size, and unweighted) for varying levels
of effect size, within-study replication, number of studies in the meta-analysis, and among-study variance.
Unweighted analyses, and those using weights based on sample size, were close to unbiased and yielded
coverages close to the nominal level of 0.95. In contrast, the inverse-variance weighting scheme led to bias
and low coverage, especially for meta-analyses based on studies with low replication. This bias arose
because of a correlation between the estimated effect and its weight when using the inverse-variance method.
In many cases, the sample size weighting scheme was most efficient, and, when not, the differences in efficiency among the three methods were relatively minor. Thus, if using Hedges’ d, we recom
The value-added statement: An appeal for standardisation
Owing to the absence of accounting standards for the preparation of a value-added statement (VAS), a large variety of methods are used in financial statements. In this study the published value-added statements (PVAS) of companies listed on the JSE Securities Exchange during the period 1976-2005 have been standardised by the Graduate School of Business of the University of Stellenbosch (USB) in order to quantify the differences between the standardised VAS (SVAS) and the PVAS. These differences consist of the inclusion of items that do not belong in the VAS, items that are erroneously allocated among the distribution to stakeholders, and interpretation differences in whether a certain item forms part of the calculation of value added or the distribution thereof. The greatest difference quantified was the overstatement of the distribution to government that amounted to 54.4% of total differences. For users, including government, to properly calculate and compare the value added of different business entities, a standard for the preparation and presentation of VAS ought to be published. In the South African context the need of a precise measurement of each business entity's contribution to the growth of the national economy is relevant, and this need should also be addressed
Dipolar ordering in Fe8?
We show that the low-temperature physics of molecular nanomagnets, contrary
to the prevailing one-molecule picture, must be determined by the long-range
magnetic ordering due to many-body dipolar interactions. The calculations here
performed, using Ewald's summation, suggest a ferromagnetic ground state with a
Curie temperature of about 130 mK. The energy of this state is quite close to
those of an antiferromagnetic state and to a glass of frozen spin chains. The
latter may be realized at finite temperature due to its high entropy.Comment: 7 pages, no figures, submitted to EP
X-ray Spectral Survey of WGACAT Quasars, II: Optical and Radio Properties of Quasars with Low Energy X-ray Cut-offs
We have selected quasars with X-ray colors suggestive of a low energy
cut-off, from the ROSAT PSPC pointed archive. We examine the radio and optical
properties of these 13 quasars. Five out of the seven quasars with good optical
spectra show associated optical absorption lines, with two having high delta-v
candidate systems. Two other cut-off quasars show reddening associated with the
quasar. We conclude that absorption is highly likely to be the cause of the
X-ray cut-offs, and that the absorbing material associated with the quasars,
not intervening along the line-of-sight. The suggestion that Gigahertz Peaked
Sources are associated with X-ray cut-offs remains unclear with this expanded
sample.Comment: 17 pages, LaTeX, including 2 Tables and 1 figure. Ap.J. in pres
A Structure for Quasars
This paper proposes a simple, empirically derived, unifying structure for the
inner regions of quasars. This structure is constructed to explain the broad
absorption line (BAL) regions, the narrow `associated' ultraviolet and X-ray
warm absorbers (NALs); and is also found to explain the broad emission line
regions (BELR), and several scattering features, including a substantial
fraction of the broad X-ray Iron-K emission line, and the bi-conical extended
narrow emission line region (ENLR) structures seen on large kiloparsec scales
in Seyfert images. Small extensions of the model to allow luminosity dependent
changes in the structure may explain the UV and X-ray Baldwin effects and the
greater prevalence of obscuration in low luminosity AGN.Comment: 35 pages, including 8 color figures (figures 4abc are big).
Astrophysical Journal, in press. Expanded version of conference paper
astro-ph/000516
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