Biodegradability standards for carrier bags and plastic films in aquatic environments: a critical review

Plastic litter is encountered in aquatic ecosystems across the globe, including polar environments and the deep sea. To mitigate the adverse societal and ecological impacts of this waste, there has been debate on whether ‘biodegradable’ materials should be granted exemptions from plastic bag bans and levies. However, great care must be exercised when attempting to define this term, due to the broad and complex range of physical and chemical conditions encountered within natural ecosystems. Here, we review existing international industry standards and regional test methods for evaluating the biodegradability of plastics within aquatic environments (wastewater, unmanaged freshwater and marine habitats). We argue that current standards and test methods are insufficient in their ability to realistically predict the biodegradability of carrier bags in these environments, due to several shortcomings in experimental procedures and a paucity of information in the scientific literature. Moreover, existing biodegradability standards and test methods for aquatic environments do not involve toxicity testing or account for the potentially adverse ecological impacts of carrier bags, plastic additives, polymer degradation products or small (microscopic) plastic particles that can arise via fragmentation. Successfully addressing these knowledge gaps is a key requirement for developing new biodegradability standard(s) for lightweight carrier bags

Increasing convergence between the recognition of an intangible asset for financial accounting purposes and strategic management accounting and project management techniques

New management techniques such as 'just-in-time', 'lean manufacturing' and 'Six Sigma' allow management accountants to shift their focus from the management and control of production processes to the management of strategic issues. This paradigm shift resulted from shorter product life cycles, due to technological advances and a more competitive business environment. Recent revisions to the International Accounting Standards which are particularly supportive of life cycle costing and project management are likely to increase the focus on strategic management accounting further. This article describes developments in management accounting and the recent convergence of financial reporting in terms of International Accounting Standards with strategic management accounting and project management techniques. Strategic management accounting (particularly life cycle costing) involves applying project management techniques and using the calculus of investment to manage the project as a whole. This contrasts with managing only costs and revenues during the manufacturing phase of a project. The article demonstrates that project management techniques and the calculus of investment provide the information needed to account for the value of a project in terms of IAS 38: Intangible Assets. This will ultimately give rise to both improved decision-making and more relevant financial reporting

Vegas Revisited: Adaptive Monte Carlo Integration Beyond Factorization

We present a new adaptive Monte Carlo integration algorithm for ill-behaved integrands with non-factorizable singularities. The algorithm combines Vegas with multi channel sampling and performs significantly better than Vegas for a large class of integrals appearing in physics.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX (using amsmath.sty

A case study of records management practices in historic motor sport

Purpose: This paper aims to report on empirical research that investigated the records management practices of two motor sport community-based organisations in Australia. Design/methodology/approach: This multi-method case study was conducted on the regulator of motor sport, the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport Ltd (CAMS) and one affiliated historic car club, the Vintage Sports Car Club (VSCC), in Western Australia. Data were gathered using an online audit tool and by interviewing selected stakeholders in these organisations about their organisation’s records management practices. Findings: The findings confirm that these organisations experience significant information management challenges, including difficulty in capturing, organising, managing, searching, accessing and preserving their records and archives. Hence, highlighting their inability to manage records advocated in the best practice Standard ISO 15489. It reveals the assumption of records management roles by unskilled members of the group. It emphasises that community-based organisations require assistance in managing their information management assets. Research limitations/implications: This research focused on the historic car clubs; hence, it did not include other Australian car clubs in motor sport. Although four historical car clubs, one in each Australian state, were invited to participate, only the VSCC participated. This reduced the sample size to only one CAMS-affiliated historical car club in the study. Hence, further research is required to investigate the records management practices of other CAMS affiliated car clubs in all race disciplines and to confirm whether they experienced similar information management challenges. Comments from key informants in this project indicated that this is likely the case. Practical implications: The research highlights risks to the motor sport community’s records and archives. It signals that without leadership by the sport’s governing body, current records and community archives of CAMS and its affiliated car clubs are in danger of being inaccessible, hence lost. Social implications: The research highlights the risks in preserving the continuing memory of records and archives in leisure-based community organisations and showcases the threats in preserving its cultural identity and history. Originality/value: It is the first study examining records management practices in the serious leisure sector using the motor sport community

Bridging the gap between academia and standard setters

Purpose This commissioned paper reviews literature outlining reasons for a perceived gap between academics and standard setters as policy makers. The aim of this paper is to emphasise how academics and standard setters can collaborate on accounting and audit research and assist standard setters to act in the public interest. Design/methodology/approach The approach is primarily a literature and document review of relevant issues, summarising New Zealand’s standard setting arrangements, providing examples of successful policy-changing research, and making recommendations on future research topics. Findings Despite the long-held views of a gap between academic researchers and standard setters, increasingly standard setters utilise research and request input from academics in their deliberations. Standard setters can increase the likelihood of relevant research by promoting critical issues for research and connecting their practitioner networks with academics. Academics can bridge the gap by selecting topics..

Draft Financial Instruments: Expected Credit Losse

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