Subjective Performance Measures in Optimal Incentive Contracts

Objective measures of performance are seldom perfect. In response, incentive contracts often include important subjective components that mitigate incentive distortions caused by imperfect objective measures. This paper explores the combined use of subjective and objective performance measures in (respectively) implicit and explicit incentive contracts. Naturally, objective and subjective measures often are substitutes, sometimes strikingly so: we show that if objective measures are sufficiently close to perfect then no implicit contracts are feasible (because the firm's fallback position after reneging on an implicit contact is too attractive). We also show, however, that objective and subjective measures can reinforce each other: if objective measures become more accurate then in some circumstances the optimal contract puts more weight on subjective measures (because the improved objective measures increase the value of the ongoing relationship, and so reduce the firm's incentive to renege). We also analyze the use of subjective weights on objective performance measures, and provide case-study evidence consistent with our analyses.

Early Canadian financial statement disclosure legislation

The Ontario Companies Act of 1907 was one of the earliest legislative enactments to require presentation at company annual meetings, and specify the content of, the financial statements of commercial and manufacturing companies. The study describes the background to this important event and points to the two main influencing forces: the office of the Provincial Secretary and the equally active and informed Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario. The concern for disclosure suggests that Ontario was in the forefront of accounting development in the latter part of the nineteenth and the first decade of the twentieth centuries

Some aspects of auditing evolution in Canada

A chronology of significant changes in Canadian auditing legislation, pronouncements and practices, from the late nineteenth century to the present, reveals the strong influence of English and American sources. The evolution of mandatory audits, of profit and loss audits, and of the wording of the standard audit report demonstrates these influences

Chronology of the development of corporate financial reporting in Canada: 1850 to 1983

A chronology of significant events in the development of corporate financial reporting standards and practices is presented. The introductory comments to the various sections direct attention to some of the main patterns and trends in that development and provide the framework in which the listing of events is to be interpreted. The particularly significant domestic sources of influence are the legislative and professional activities in Ontario and, in more recent times, the activities of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. External influences have been not unexpectedly the traditions of English Company law and the close professional, institutional and economic relationships with the United States. Some internationally significant developments unique to Canada are indicated

Historical vignette: Benjamin Franklin on accounting

Franklin\u27s autobiography contains an interesting reference to the knowledge of accounts. An extract from Chapter VI, Self-Educuation, of the autobiography is quoted

Isolation, via 454 Sequencing, and Characterization of Microsatellites for Vachellia farnesiana (Fabaceae: Mimosoideae)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY-NC-SA) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0).Premise of the study: We isolated 15 polymorphic microsatellite markers from Vachellia farnesiana for use in population genetic studies to determine the native range of the species. Methods and Results: Initially, 454 shotgun sequencing was used to identify and design primers for 68 microsatellite loci. Of these, we trialed 47 loci in the target species, and 42 (89%) amplified a product of expected size. Fifteen of the 47 loci were screened for variation in 21 individuals from the native range of V. farnesiana in southern Mexico and 20 from northwestern Australia. Fourteen loci were polymorphic, with observed heterozygosity ranging from 0.026 to 1.00 (mean = 0.515) and two to 12 alleles per locus (average = 5.2). Cross-amplification was successful in four to 11 loci in three other Vachellia species. Conclusions: The new microsatellite loci will be useful in understanding genetic variation and investigating the role of human-mediated dispersal in the current distribution of V. farnesiana

CHANG-ES V: Nuclear Radio Outflow in a Virgo Cluster Spiral after a Tidal Disruption Event

We have observed the Virgo Cluster spiral galaxy, NGC~4845, at 1.6 and 6 GHz using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, as part of the `Continuum Halos in Nearby Galaxies -- an EVLA Survey' (CHANG-ES). The source consists of a bright unresolved core with a surrounding weak central disk (1.8 kpc diameter). The core is variable over the 6 month time scale of the CHANG-ES data and has increased by a factor of $\approx$ 6 since 1995. The wide bandwidths of CHANG-ES have allowed us to determine the spectral evolution of this core which peaks {\it between} 1.6 and 6 GHz (it is a GigaHertz-peaked spectrum source).We show that the spectral turnover is dominated by synchrotron self-absorption and that the spectral evolution can be explained by adiabatic expansion (outflow), likely in the form of a jet or cone. The CHANG-ES observations serendipitously overlap in time with the hard X-ray light curve obtained by Nikolajuk \& Walter (2013) which they interpret as due to a tidal disruption event (TDE) of a super-Jupiter mass object around a $10^5\, M_\odot$ black hole. We outline a standard jet model, provide an explanation for the observed circular polarization, and quantitatively suggest a link between the peak radio and peak X-ray emission via inverse Compton upscattering of the photons emitted by the relativistic electrons. We predict that it should be possible to resolve a young radio jet via VLBI as a result of this nearby TDE.Comment: 45 pages, 10 figures, accepted July 2, 2015 to the Astrophysical Journa