Time-resolved study of the increased magnetization precession frequency in Fe wires

We have performed time-resolved pump–probe measurements on arrays of 1 μ m -wide Fe wires and on a 50 μ m -wide Fe stripe. A photoconductive switch was used as a source of fast-risetime magnetic field pulses. The magnetization dynamics were detected by the magneto-optical Kerr effect. We find that the ferromagnetic resonance frequency of the wires is about 16 GHz and twice as large as that of the wide Fe stripe. This corresponds to an oscillation period of the magnetization precession of about 60 ps at small bias field. We attribute this fast precession to the shape anisotropy of the Fe wires

Politics of Financial Reporting and the Consequences for the Public Sector

This article examines the political processes surrounding public sector accounting standard setting, in particular, the Australian decision to adopt sector-neutral International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). It contends that the history of private and public sector involvement in the accounting standard setting process to date, and recourse to regulatory theory, assist in understanding these contemporary developments. The article reveals that private sector interests have dominated accounting standard setters at all important stages of standard setting in Australia. It concludes by arguing that, given this continued neglect by standard setters, if public sector financial reporting standards are to remain relevant to the public sector, then it may be necessary for public sector regulators to set their own standards

Fair value accounting in the agricultural sector: some implications for international accounting harmonization

In a recent issue of this journal, Argiles and Slof (2001) analysed the main features of the European Farm Accountancy Database Network (FADN) against the backdrop of IAS 41, the new international accounting standard on agriculture, and arrived at the conclusion that FADN offers an excellent tool for operationalizing IAS 41 in European farms. The present study revisits some of the key issues in Argiles and Slof's paper in a wider international context and highlights their implications for the harmonization of farm accounting practices around the world. In particular, this paper contends that there are some key provisions of IAS 41 that are incompatible with the European Union Fourth Directive which Argiles and Slof (2001, p. 364) apparently overlooked by focusing only on aspects of the directive that sanction current value measurement and ignoring those that relate to the treatment of associated holding gains or losses. Furthermore, this paper also demonstrates that Argiles and Slof's argument that simplicity is another improvement of IAS 41 vis-a-vis the French Plan Comptable General Agricole is flawed. Indeed, it is shown here that it would be virtually impossible to implement IAS 41 in Francophone countries in the absence of a fundamental revision, if not complete abandonment, of the plan comptable, at least in view of major conceptual differences between the notions of income, production and value added espoused by national statisticians and those enshrined in IAS 41.

Corporate governance and disclosures on the transition to International Financial Reporting Standards

For reporting periods ending on or after 30 June 2004, Australian companies were required to disclose the expected impact of applying Australian equivalents of International Financial Reporting Standards effective from 1 January 2005. The objective of this paper is to examine the association between the level of disclosure and corporate governance quality. Using a sample of listed companies with 30 June balance dates, we find that the quantity of disclosure was positively related to some aspects of superior corporate governance, such as the frequency of board and audit committee meetings and the choice of auditor. Copyright (c) 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation (c) 2007 AFAANZ.