Integrated reporting: A structured literature review

This paper reviews the field of integrated reporting () to develop insights into how research is developing, offer a critique of the research to date, and outline future research opportunities. We find that most published research presents normative arguments for and there is little research examining practice. Thus, we call for more research that critiques ’s rhetoric and practice. To frame future research we refer to parallels from intellectual capital research that identifies four distinct research stages to outline how research might emerge. Thus, this paper offers an insightful critique into an emerging accounting practice

HRM and Firm Productivity: Does Industry Matter?

Recent years have witnessed burgeoning interest in the degree to which human resource systems contribute to organizational effectiveness. We argue that extant research has not fully considered important contextual conditions which moderate the efficacy of these practices. Specifically, we invoke a contingency perspective in proposing that industry characteristics affect the relative importance and value of high performance work practices (HPWPs). We test this proposition on a sample of non-diversified manufacturing firms. After controlling for the influence of a number of other factors, study findings support the argument that industry characteristics moderate the influence of HPWPs on firm productivity. Specifically, the impact of a system of HPWPs on firm productivity is significantly influenced by the industry conditions of capital intensity, growth and differentiation

Peeling Back the Onion Competitive Advantage Through People: Test of a Causal Model

Proponents of the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm have identified human resource management (HRM) and human capital as organizational resources that can contribute to sustainable competitive success. A number of empirical studies have documented the relationship between systems of human resource policies and practices and firm performance. The mechanisms by which HRM leads to firm performance, however, remain largely unexplored. In this study, we explore the pathways leading from HRM to firm performance. Specifically, we use structural equation modeling to test a model positing a set of causal relationships between high performance work systems (HPWS), employee retention, workforce productivity and firm market value. Within a set of manufacturing firms, results indicate the primary impact of HPWS on productivity and market value is through its influence on employee retention

Results of abundance surveys of juvenile Atlantic and gulf Menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus and B. patronus

The estuarine populations of juvenile Atlantic and gulf menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus and B. patronus) were sampled during two-boat, surface-trawl, abundance surveys extensively conducted in the 1970s. Juvenile Atlantic menhaden were sampled in 39 estuarine streams along the U.S. Atlantic coast from northern Florida into Massachusetts. Juvenile gulf menhaden were sampled in 29 estuarine streams along the Gulf of Mexico from southeast Texas into western Florida. A stratified, two-stage, cluster sampling design was used. Annual estimates of relative juvenile abundance for each species of menhaden were obtained from catch-effort data from the surveys. There were no significant correlations, for either species, between the relative juvenile abundance estimates and fishery-dependent estimates of year-class strength. From 1972 to 1975, the relative abundance of juvenile Atlantic menhaden in north Atlantic estuaries decreased to near zero. (PDF file contains 22 pages.

A Binomial Tree Approach to Valuing Fixed Rotation Forests and Flexible Rotation Forests Under a Mean Reverting Timber Price Process

NPV and LEV are established and common approaches to valuing single rotation and infinite rotation forests respectively, when the rotation age is fixed in advanced. More recently, Real Options approaches have been employed to value single and infinite rotation forests with a flexible harvest age. Under a stochastic timber price process, it has been shown that the valuation of a flexible rotation forest is equal or higher than that of a fixed rotation forest, because a flexible harvest regime delays the harvest if the timber price is not favourable, whereas a fixed harvest regime would proceed to harvest regardless of the price. Often, valuation of fixed and flexible rotation ages are compared using 2 different methods – NPV (or LEV) and Real Options. The latter tends to have higher data requirements, employ different assumptions and is much more complex to estimate. Because of these differences, it may be difficult to isolate the cause of the increased valuation. In this work, we apply a relatively simple Binomial Tree method from Guthrie (2009) to value both fixed rotation and flexible rotation forests. This method uses the same data, with the same assumptions for both valuations. By holding everything equal, the difference in valuation is solely attributable to the fixed versus flexible harvesting decisions. Original results for both single and infinite rotations are presented using New Zealand Radiata Pine data. Under a mean reverting timber price process, the Binomial Tree approach offers useful insights on the increased valuation due to flexible harvest decisions.NPV, LEV, Real Options, Optimal Harvest Decision, Agribusiness, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use,

Christian worship: an examination of its place in a theory of Christian nurture, in the light of the Christian doctrine of man

Educational theory cannot escape the problem of man. As soon as the attempt is made to discover what are the determinants of education, one is confronted by Augustine's question: "Quis ergo sum, Deus meus. Quae natura mea?" - the same question as was asked by Job, and by the Psalmist. This is inevitable, since education, being concerned with changes in the self, must inquire into the nature of the material with which it deals. At the core of the entire educational process there is presumed the question: In the interest of what view of the person do I, the teacher, engage in this work of interference with the spontaneity of growth?It follows that the ontological question has priority over the empirological in education. To have an understanding of the psychological dimension, dealing as it does with partial aspects of human nature, is not sufficient, nor is it the primary concern. It Is necessary first, with the the help of those studies which deal with the structure and the character of being, to view man's individual life in its wholeness, and as participating in a totality. This the various forms of eraoirical enquiry, relevant though they are to a total view of man, are incapable of doing, giving us, rather, "excerpts from a larger whole.The various expressions of contemporary existentialism draw attention to the limited usefulness of objectification as a means of reaching the centre of the mystery of man's nature. They have also pointed out that significant and valid knowledge about man is derived from within his own moral and spiritual experience. "I know reality in and through myself, as man".The importance of establishing the primacy of the philosophical and theological disciplines as normative sources of educational theory has to be recognized, if only because educational writing has sometimes appeared to be over-determined by psychological considerations. It is not accidental that many of the major figures in philosophy, from Plato and Aristotle, to Locke, Rousseau, and, In our own day, Dewey, Bertrand Russell and Whitehead, have occupied themselves with the subject of education; since the fundamental questions regarding the nature of personal existence and the purpose of life are common both to philosophy and education. And it may be argued that where there is a lack of a clear directive sense in education, as has been noted by some writers, it springs either from the fact that empirological insights have usurped the place of a clear and regulative doctrine of man, or that where education has not lacked a philosophical foundation, it, like western culture as a whole, has been offered an interpretation of man that does less than justice to his full stature. Perhaps no single element in the thought of leading exponents of education more sensitively exposes the strength and weakness of their system than its implied or explicit anthropology; since this is, in fact, the crux of educational theory

Climate Change Mitigation Policy: The Effect of the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme on New Radiata Pine Forest Plantations in New Zealand

Climate change is one of the toughest challenges facing the world today. Putting a price on carbon emissions is an important step towards climate change mitigation. A cap and trade system is one of the ways to create a carbon price. The New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZETS) is the world’s first economy-wide cap and trade system that covers all sectors and all 6 greenhouse gases. Forestry is a major part of the NZETS, allowing foresters to earn carbon credits for new forests planted on and after 1st January 1990 (afforestation and reforestation). At the same time, the NZETS also makes foresters liable for harvesting new forests planted on and after 1st January 1990, and deforesting forests existing on and before 31st December 1989. In this paper, we perform an economic analysis of how a carbon price will likely affect the returns and forestry management behaviour in new forests in New Zealand. Previous works have used the NPV/LEV (fixed harvesting) analysis where the forest is assumed to be harvested (in future) at the estimated optimal rotation age regardless of timber prices at that time. Other works have employed the Real Options approaches (flexible harvesting) where sophisticated models such as Partial Differential Equations and simulations analyse the effects of bringing forward the harvest decision if timber prices are favourable, and deferring the harvest decision if timber prices are unfavourable. Often, these methods tend to have higher data requirements, employ different assumptions and are much more complex to estimate. Because of these differences, it may be difficult to compare the results of NPV/LEV analysis with Real Options. Our work here applies the binomial tree method, which is a relatively simple method that can generate both LEV (fixed harvesting) and Real Options (flexible harvesting) results on a common model with the same data requirements and assumptions. This allows for better comparability of forestry management behaviour and effects of carbon price. The forestry valuations are analysed under a stochastic timber price and a constant carbon price. This paper concludes with some implications on policy in New Zealand.Environmental Economics and Policy,