The impact of firm-type dominance on regional manufacturing growth

Availability of financial capital and location decisions are variables that influence regional manufacturing output. This study maintains that a region’s manufacturing growth depends upon the region’s firm-type dominance. That is, the type of firms that dominate the region’s manufacturing output can be classified as non-local (national or foreign - NF) vs. local and large vs. small. Accordingly, for policy analysis, regions can be classified by firm-type dominance. This distinction is important since, invariably, location decision options and availability of financial capital are more favourable for the larger NF firms than for local firms. In an attempt to assess the impact of firm-type dominance, this study draws upon the dominant industry model[Salvary 1987]which has established that, in any given region, there is a dominant industry (the driving force of the region) to which a region’s manufacturing growth is linked. The information on the impact of firm-type dominance on a region's manufacturing output may enable policy-makers to design workable (or revise existing) manufacturing diversification policies

ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL REPORTING IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT: HISTORICAL AND THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

Over time, a changing environment has produced changes in the types of accounting information and in the dissemination of such information (financial reporting). Certain changes in the environment do impel changes in accounting. This paper examines various theoretical issues in accounting in a historical setting and provides some insight on the manner in which the accounting profession has responded to problems.evolution of the manorial system; manorial revenue; the manorial establishment; the joint stock company; 'business reporting'; financial profitability; static theory and dynamic theory.

ON FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING MEASUREMENT: A RECONSIDERATION OF SFAC 5 BY THE FASB IS NEEDED

This paper attempts to reinforce by means of social theory the procedure and property (attribute) of financial accounting measurement advanced by Salvary [1985,1989,1992]. The procedure entails estimating the amount of cash flows derivable from existing investment projects; and the measurement property (attribute) is identified as recoverable cost. The 'cash-in and cash-out' principle establishes financial capital maintenance as the appropriate capital maintenance concept to be followed in the measurement of periodic income. An analogy between a bank savings account and an equity security is used to identify the measurement property (attribute) and validate the additivity of financial accounting numbers. Problems with the monetarist model were used to demonstrate the appropriateness (stability) of the measurement scale (monetary unit). The logical analysis developed in this paper makes a compelling case for a reconsideration of Statement of Financial Accounting Concept No. 5 by the FASB.capital maintenance; 'cash-in and cash-out' principle; organizing of economic activities; cost efficient means of transacting; uncertain purchasing power; price mechanism; intertemporal transfer of risks; Replacement of non-monetary assets; a venture approach; intersavers' transfer of risks; storage of financial capital;savings account; effectiveness and efficiency in cash management; Hicksian consumption model.

THE NEOCLASSICAL MODEL, CORPORATE RETAINED EARNINGS, AND THE REGIONAL FLOWS OF FINANCIAL CAPITAL

Regional capital expenditures, which reflect regional flows of financial capital, are a function of the aggregate of individual firms' behavior. Hence, the allocational efficiency of the regional flows of financial capital may be affected by the manner--internal versus external--in which financial capital becomes available to manufacturing firms. Allocational inefficiency (sub-optimal allocation of financial capital) could obtain since corporate retained earnings - the amount of funds that are internally available to large firms - are only minimally subject to the market rationing process. Even though the capital market is cleared, it may do so without providing for the efficient allocation of financial capital. The existence of differential rates in regional financial markets may reflect the costs associated with the use of funds in a truncated or discontinuous national capital market. Accordingly, equilibrium experienced in the capital market may exist under non- Paretian conditions. This paper attempts to determine whether the allocation of regional financial capital flows is efficient as suggested by the neoclassical model (NCM). Specifically, the study attempts to ascertain whether corporate retained earnings model (CREM) is a better predictor of the regional flow of financial capital than the NCM. In accordance with the NCM, for the period under study, it is hypothesized that: regions with high rates of return are regions with high growth rates of corporate income that experience lower variability of annual capital investments than regions with low rates of return. In accordance with the CREM, it is postulated that regions with high average annual capital investment-output ratios are regions with high corporate income and low average rates of return on corporate assets. Surrogate measures of financial capital flows and the volatility of such flows were used. The test results, which may not be generalizable beyond the study period, suggest that the CREM may be a better predictor of the regional flow of financial capital than the NCM and that the financial capital rationing process for regional manufacturing investments may be inefficient. The finding, that the corporate earnings retention influences the flow of financial capital, does suggest that the NCM does not always hold. This study should enhance the understanding of regional flows of financial capital and the models (revolving around the state- region and industry region) used in the study refine and extend the scope of regional economic analysis.internal and external financing; allocational efficiency, industry regions, dominant industry; universal investment opportunity set (UIOS); firm’s investment opportunity set (FIOS).

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING MEASUREMENT: INSTRUMENTATION AND CALIBRATION

In its Conceptual Framework (CF), the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has not identified the observable phenomena and was not able to identify a single measurement property in financial accounting. While identifying aspects of the observable phenomena in financial accounting, the FASB has indicated that there are five measurement attributes which are used in financial accounting and the result is a mixed-attributes model. Lacking a critical underlying theory, the FASB’s Conceptual Framework is feeble at best in providing guidance for accounting measurement. Devoid of the critical theory, the FASB focuses on prediction rather than explanation and, thereby, has adopted an ‘information perspective’ as opposed to a ‘measurement perspective’ for financial accounting standards. This condition has induced a very serious concern for legislative action on the part of the US Congress. In this paper, investments constitute the observable phenomena in financial accounting and recoverable cost, which is grounded in measurement and not prediction, is the measurement property. This measurement property, which is linked to investments and explicated by the capital budgeting model, provides the logical explanation of the apparent diverse rules in financial accounting and establishes a single attribute model.Conceptual framework; transaction costs; organizational activity; measurement attribute; present value; realizable value; lower of cost and market value; organizational efficiency; bank-centric financial system;

SOME CONCEPTIONS AND MISCONCEPTIONS ON REALITY AND ASSUMPTIONS IN FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING

This paper addresses two problematic issues arising from the importation of terms into financial accounting: (1) the nature of economic reality; and (2) the role of assumptions. These two issues have stirred a lot of controversy relating to financial accounting measurements and affect attestation reports. This paper attempts to provide conceptual clarity on these two issues.Economic reality; audit opinion; Savings and Loan Associations; aggregative analysis; planning data; simplifying assumptions; going concern; liquidating concern; realization.

ON THE HISTORICAL VALIDITY OF NOMINAL MONEY AS A MEASURE OF ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE: SOME EVIDENCE AND LOGICAL ANALYSIS

In the literature, nominal money has been decried as a reliable measure. However, before condemning money as a defective measure, it is necessary to examine in a historical context the nature and the role of money in a money economic system, and the changes over time in the types of money (commodity money versus paper money). Using historical evidence and logical analysis, this paper attempts to establish the validity of nominal money as a valid device for the measurement of organizational perfor mance. This paper reveals that: (1) the deficiencies of commodity money (and the historical arguments associated with it) are attributed to paper (fiat) money; (2) in a historical setting, there are very restrictive conditions under which paper money would be a defective measuring device; and (3) under general economic conditions, paper money is a reliable measure.organizing economic activities; commodity money; representative paper money; transaction cost reduction; extrinsic and intrinsic values; uncertain nominal value; non specified purchasing power; individual preferenc;stored entitlements.

RECOVERABLE COST: THE BASIS OF A GENERAL THEORY OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING MEASUREMENT

This paper addresses a very profound question concerning financial accounting. Is financial accounting measurement. as represented by diverse valuation rules. hodgepodge or is it logically developed? Salvary [1985. p.28. Chap. IV] advances and provides a theoretical development of the concept of 'recoverable cost' as the measurement property observed in (underlying) financial accounting measurement. Sa/vary [1989, pp.50-51] maintains that 'recoverable cost' is the center of 'economic gravity' and demonstrates that this valuation is derivable from axioms advanced. This paper provides a rigorous proof that 'recoverable cost' is the observed measurement property underlying financial accounting measurement. This analysis draws upon: (a) the concept of recovery underlying the investment decision and (b) the distinction between decision theory and measurement theory. It establishes recoverable cost as the measurement property in financial accounting and leads to the conclusion that financial accounting measurement is logically developed.measurement rules, capital budgeting, realizable value, lower of cost and market, capitalization, depreciation, decision theory, market simulation, asset specificity.

MONETARY POLICY AND NOT MONETARY CONTROL: A RETHINKING

The view that prediction is the only important concern when policy is to be developed has led to the strict adherence to a money supply rule via the Quantity Theory of Money with its debilitating consequences. The monetarists place the emphasis on the level of the money supply in the determination of price level changes and monetary control is exercised. Along with this line of thinking, statistical elegance transcends empirical reality. Thus, the ensuing consequences of monetary control are not surprising. There are continuous increases in the general level of prices and increasing problems of unemployment, which fuel the flames of business downsizing. In this paper, an alternative to the monetarist explanation of the determination of the price level is advanced. The alternative explanation does not rely on changes in the supply of money but on changes in the composition of aggregate demand and supply. Absent monetary dislocation or revaluation of the currency, change in the general price level is attributed to the net effect of the realignment of relative prices. It is argued that a rethinking of the situation would result in monetary policy that is compatible with the economic setting and not monetary control which crowds out fiscal policy.endogenous nature of money; general price level; money supply; Quantity Theory; price instability; consumer loans outstanding; Fisher effect; money supply rule.

BUSINESS CYCLES CREATION: SOME HISTORICAL AND THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

Historically, generalization about economic fluctuations in an economic system over extended periods of time has proved to be difficult. Yet, it has been even more difficult to generalize across economic systems. In a historical setting, there are many theories offered to explain the creation of business cycles. In this study it is argued that the business cycle is not caused by a single factor but by a multiplicity of factors, therefore, such competing theories constitute special cases of the business cycle. This study maintains that there are families of business cycles, with each family representing a related set of economic systems. Given a family approach to economic systems, then it is conceivable that a general theory can be developed for each family of economic systems by grouping factors identifiable with particular sets of economic systems. Data from the United Nations for 137 countries were used to establish a classification scheme for families of economic systems. US time series data were examined to assess the plausibility of the general theory for one family of economic systems as advanced in this study.cycle creation theories, families of cycles, money shocks, investment cycle, credit cycle, monetary dislocation, systems philosophies.