The link between corporate social performance and financial performance: Evidence from Indonesian companies

This study examines the relationship of corporate social performance (CSP) to corporate financial performance (CFP) to determine if CSP is related to firm performance. Additionally, it examines whether firm size or industry affects the relationships between CSR and CSP. This study advances the literature as it examines this relationship for companies in a developing country, Indonesia, along with examining the impact of moderating variables on this relationship. Two models were developed: the first model was derived using slack resource theory and the second model was developed using the good management theory. Through the examination of 383 firms, the result of the study failed to find a significant relationship between CSP and CFP in either model. Further analysis, using the slack resource theory, did find that company size had a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between CSP and CFP

Are CSR activities associated with shareholder voting in director elections and say-on-pay votes?

When making investment decisions, many investors now regularly consider a company’s CSR activities along with traditional financial performance measures (Elliott et al., 2014). Our study considers whether shareholders may also consider CSR activities when voting in director elections and say-on-pay votes. We find that CSR performance is associated with shareholder support in both director elections and say-on-pay votes. In particular, we find higher support for both director elections and executive compensation when there are more CSR strengths. Additionally, we find that the social strength aspect of CSR is the most important component in the relationships between CSR and director elections and that the environmental strengths aspect is the most important component in the relationship between CSR and executive compensation. Our results suggest that shareholders may value certain types of CSR and are more supportive of boards and management when CSR performance is stronger

Expanding the clinical phenotype of individuals with a 3-bp in-frame deletion of the NF1 gene (c.2970_2972del): an update of genotype–phenotype correlation

Purpose: Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is characterized by a highly variable clinical presentation, but almost all NF1-affected adults present with cutaneous and/or subcutaneous neurofibromas. Exceptions are individuals heterozygous for the NF1 in-frame deletion, c.2970_2972del (p.Met992del), associated with a mild phenotype without any externally visible tumors. Methods: A total of 135 individuals from 103 unrelated families, all carrying the constitutional NF1 p.Met992del pathogenic variant and clinically assessed using the same standardized phenotypic checklist form, were included in this study. Results: None of the individuals had externally visible plexiform or histopathologically confirmed cutaneous or subcutaneous neurofibromas. We did not identify any complications, such as symptomatic optic pathway gliomas (OPGs) or symptomatic spinal neurofibromas; however, 4.8% of individuals had nonoptic brain tumors, mostly low-grade and asymptomatic, and 38.8% had cognitive impairment/learning disabilities. In an individual with the NF1 constitutional c.2970_2972del and three astrocytomas, we provided proof that all were NF1-associated tumors given loss of heterozygosity at three intragenic NF1 microsatellite markers and c.2970_297

An Investigation of the Interpretation of Uncertainty Information Displays by Decision Makers

This research study examines the use of uncertainty information in decision making. Specifically, user accuracy and efficiency are examined for three uncertainty information formats: probability density, cumulative distribution, and selected moments displays. This study also examines whether the nature of the task (symbolic versus spatial), the characteristic of the data (skew), and the characteristics of the decision maker (cognitive ability and experience) affect accuracy and efficiency. The relationships are tested by a regression model. Over 180 professionals and students participated in the experiment. The results suggest that users are more accurate and efficient when interpreting selected moments displays for symbolic tasks. Though no evidence is found to suggest a difference in accuracy between probability density and selected moments for spatial tasks, the results indicate that users of probability density presentations are more efficient. Further results provide limited evidence that users are less accurate when interpreting skewed information. In addition, results indicate that professionals with higher GEFT scores are more accurate but less efficient than individuals with lower scores. Finally, professionals are more accurate but less efficient than students for all tasks

A preliminary investigation into the association between Canadian corporate social responsibility and executive compensation

If you are like most CPAs, you are more proficient with an Excel spreadsheet than a database. So when you are faced with the challenge of analyzing database information, you probably reluctantly bite the bullet and go through the tortuous steps of converting and importing it into Excel. This article details the steps in automating the process easily using Microsoft Access

Click . . . and the database loads into Excel

The study provides a detailed overview of the past and present state of collection on sales tax on e-commerce transactions. It examines the ways in which e-commerce influences taxation, the implications for not taxing e-commerce, and the potential for other mechanisms to collect revenue from online sales such as use tax and sales tax. The study analyzes how sales tax was calculated in the past by providing a background on the Internet Tax Freedom Act, Court rulings and Governmental decrees, Streamlined sales tax initiative and the Rule of permanent establishment for calculating tax jurisdiction. Further, the study provides an overview of the software available to track sales tax by states and concludes that it is extremely unlikely that e-commerce will not be taxed in the near future. The study throws some light on the emerging issues related to sales tax on e-commerce sales in the US. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT

Creating XBRL instance documents in Excel

The teacher-scholar model was proposed in Boyer (1990) and defines four dimensions of scholarship: 1) discovery, 2) integration, 3) application, and 4) teaching. In this paper, we describe the characteristics of scholarship, the theory of the scholarship of teaching, the excellent teacher, and undergraduate research and scholarship. We then show how the teacher-scholar model is applied at one University for annual faculty evaluations. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT

Collaborate on spreadsheets

The events surrounding the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Sarbanes) offer an opportunity to reflect on the influences of public pressure and possible public policy shifts on CSR behavior in a capital market experiencing excessive moral debt. Using the passage of Sarbanes to symbolize a potential public policy shiftdriven by public pressure, we examine the influence of social legitimacy variables on corporate social responsibility (CSR) behavior before (1991-2001) and after (2002-2005) the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. We posit that changes in CSR strategies surrounding the passage of Sarbanes were used to maximize stakeholder interests by addressing social legitimacy involving corporate accountability issues. Our findings support that CSR behaviors were significantly influenced by the public pressure variables of Sarbanes and company size, but were not significantly influenced by our economic legitimacy control measures, with the exception of a positive significant interaction between Leverage and Sarbanes for CSR Strengths. It appears that post- Sarbanes CSR behaviors were used to address social legitimacy concerns. Further, as CSR Weaknesses ratings exceeded CSR Strengths ratings post-Sarbanes, it appears that transparency of actual CSR performance may have improved post-Sarbanes. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT