Current cost accounting: its role in regulated utilities

Current cost accounting (CCA) was an important issue in financial accounting in the 1980s. In the UK, an accounting standard (SSAP 16, 1980) required supplementary CCA disclosures by large companies, but widespread noncompliance led to its being made non-mandatory in 1986 and completely withdrawn in 1988. The forces behind this failure were partly a decline in the rate of inflation, which made the effects of changing prices less important, and partly changes of government policy which meant that tax reliefs were not given on the basis of CCA and CCA was no longer needed as a means of justifying price increases.2 The US had a similar experience, a standard requiring CCA disclosures (FAS 33) being introduced in 1979 and withdrawn at about the same time as the UK standard. Since the withdrawal of SSAP 16, UK financial accounting has typically represented an uneasy mixture of historical costs and current values, which the Accounting Standards Board (ASB) is currently attempting to regulate (Accounting Standards Board, 1993a and 1993b). However, companies are still permitted to produce full CCA information if they so wish. In practice, the only companies that have chosen to do this are regulated utility companies.

The Thermal, Metamorphic and Magmatic Evolution of a Rapidly Exhuming Terrane: the Nanga Parbat Massif, Northern Pakistan.

The Nanga Parbat-Haramosh Massif (NFHM) is the most northerly outcrop of Indian Plate rocks in the Himalayan orogen, exposed by rapid recent exhumation through the structurally overlying Kohistan Island Arc in northern Pakistan. Exhumation has been achieved by erosion in the apparent absence of extensional tectonics. Metabasaltic dykes intruded into polymetamorphic basement rocks provide time markers that distinguish early from late fabrics that probably correlated with Precambrian and Himalayan deformation respectively. Nanga Parbat is anomalous within the Himalayan orogen for both the timing and nature of metamorphism and anatexis. A multidisciplinary approach allows the thermal history to be tightly constrained. Metamorphism is characterised by cordierite growth during near-isothermal decompression. Garnet inclusion assemblages record P-T conditions of 720 ± 50°C and 7.5 ±1.5 kbar, while spinel-cordierite intergrowths unique to the massif interior formed at 710 ± 60°C and 5.0 ± 1.1 kbar. Lower grade assemblages are exposed towards the massif margins. Tourmaline leucogranite plutons and sheets are characterised by similar trace element geochemistry to Miocene High Himalayan granites, indicative of vapour-absent crustal melting as would result from rapid decompression, but were emplaced more than 10 million years later. More recently, fluid infiltration into conjugate shear zones accommodating vertical stretching in the core of the massif resulted in anatexis and the formation of restitic cordierite-bearing pods. 40Ar-39Ar studies indicate regional cooling below 400°C as recently as 1 Ma, and the distribution of excess 40Ar in basement samples is indicative of magmatic/metamorphic fluids at depths > 10 km. One-dimensional thermal modelling indicates that increasing cooling rates through time do not require increasing exhumation rates because advection of heat results in a steepened near-surface geotherm. These models predict both the style and timing of metamorphism and anatexis in this rapidly exhuming terrane, and are consistent with petrological and geochemical constraints determined from the NPHM basement

Deprival Value and Fair Value: a Reinterpretation and a Reconciliation

Two alternative measurement bases that have appeared in accounting standards, Deprival Value (sometimes called Value to the Business) and Fair Value, are explained and compared. They are then reconciled by making the following three adjustments to their conventional definitions. (1) In the case of Deprival Value, situations in which net realisable value exceeds replacement cost imply that there is a profitable redevelopment or redeployment opportunity, so that net realisable value is regarded as the appropriate measure of Deprival Value. (2) In the case of Fair Value, transactions costs (including installation and removal costs) are added to acquisition values and deducted from disposal values. (3) In the case of Fair Value, it is assumed that net realisable value represents the “highest and best use”, except when it is exceeded by both replacement cost and value in use. In the latter case, “highest and best use” (and therefore Fair Value) is inferred by assuming profitmaximising behaviour by the owner. It is suggested that the resulting synthesis represents a method of current valuation which is consistent with the objective of measuring the asset in terms of the economic opportunities that are available to its current owner in the condition and location in which it is currently to be found

The Size and Growth of Firms

This paper is a sequel to the analysis of the growth process of firms presented in Chapters 4 and 5 of our book Growth, Profitability and Valuation. The relationship between size and growth of firms is explored using a more comprehensive set of data than was used in the book. In particular, the book was based on data relating to individual quoted companies in the UK in only three large industries, whereas, in this paper, we extend the analysis to cover all major industrial groups in manufacturing, construction and distribution. This paper explores the relationship between size and growth of firms, and particularly stochastic models based on the Law of Proportionate Effect or Gibrat's Law

The Size and Growth of Firms

This paper is a sequel to the analysis of the growth process of firms presented in Chapters 4 and 5 of our book Growth, Profitability and Valuation. The relationship between size and growth of firms is explored using a more comprehensive set of data than was used in the book. In particular, the book was based on data relating to individual quoted companies in the UK in only three large industries, whereas, in this paper, we extend the analysis to cover all major industrial groups in manufacturing, construction and distribution. This paper explores the relationship between size and growth of firms, and particularly stochastic models based on the Law of Proportionate Effect or Gibrat's Law

The N-terminal TOG domain of Arabidopsis MOR1 modulates affinity for microtubule polymers

Microtubule-associated proteins of the highly conserved XMAP215/Dis1 family promote both microtubule growth and shrinkage, and move with the dynamic microtubule ends. The plant homologue, MOR1, is predicted to form a long linear molecule with five N-terminal TOG domains. Within the first (TOG1) domain, the mor1-1 leucine to phenylalanine (L174F) substitution causes temperature-dependent disorganization of microtubule arrays and reduces microtubule growth and shrinkage rates. By expressing the two N-terminal TOG domains (TOG12) of MOR1, both in planta for analysis in living cells and in bacteria for in vitro microtubule-binding and polymerization assays, we determined that the N-terminal domain of MOR1 is crucial for microtubule polymer binding. Tagging TOG12 at the N-terminus interfered with its ability to bind microtubules when stably expressed in Arabidopsis or when transiently overexpressed in leek epidermal cells, and impeded polymerase activity in vitro. In contrast, TOG12 tagged at the C-terminus interacted with microtubules in vivo, rescued the temperature-sensitive mor1-1 phenotype, and promoted microtubule polymerization in vitro. TOG12 constructs containing the L174F mor1-1 point mutation caused microtubule disruption when transiently overexpressed in leek epidermis and increased the affinity of TOG12 for microtubules in vitro. This suggests that the mor1-1 mutant protein makes microtubules less dynamic by binding the microtubule lattice too strongly to support rapid plus-end tracking. We conclude from our results that a balanced microtubule affinity in the N-terminal TOG domain is crucial for the polymerase activity of MOR1

Lesioning of the Striatum Reverses Motor Asymmetry in the 6-Hydroxydopamine Rodent Model of Parkinsonism

In the rat several paradigms of grafting of adrenal medulla into the striatum were studied following the induction of a parkinsonian model, using a unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesion of the substantia nigra . Direct autologous grafting of adrenal medulla into the caudate-putamen complex, a radiofrequency lesion of the striatum alone, and a radiofrequency lesion followed by delayed grafting of adrenal medulla were compared by analyzing rotational behavior. Direct grafting of adrenal medulla produced an overall reduction in apomorphine induced turning behavior by 43.5% when compared with controls. Radiofrequency lesioning of the striatum without graft showed the best improvement over control animals with a 92% reduction in the total number of rotations induced by apomorphine. Delayed grafting into the caudate lesion cavity also produced a dramatic reduction in motor asymmetry but did not improve the behavioral outcome over that of the lesion alone. Animals receiving only radiofrequency lesions exhibited a band of increased tyrosine hydroxylase like immunoreactivity bordering the lesion cavity. Graft survival was limited in the nonlesioned animals but appeared enhanced in the animals whose striatum was previously lesioned. Lesion location within the striatum influenced the behavioral outcome. Large reductions in apomorphine-induced rotations could result from small lesions of the dorso-lateral striatum. These findings indicate that selective destruction of the caudate-putamen complex without tissue transplantation produces a dramatic reduction in the motor asymmetry of 6-OHDA treated rats. Suggested explanations for the decrease in induced rotational behavior with radiofrequency lesions include a decrease in the number of striatal dopamine receptors following cell destruction and lesioninduced recovery of host dopaminergic afferents. Striatal damage in critical areas can reverse some of the motor behavior associated with the 6-OHDA model and needs to be considered when evaluating the effects of neural grafting in this model

Manual práctico sobre estudios de eventos

Documento de Trabajo 12/09 perteneciente a la colección de documentos de trabajo "Nuevas Tendencias en Dirección de Empresas", dentro del Máster en Investigación en Economía y Empresa.[ES]El estudio de las características de los mercados de valores ha tenido en los últimos años un compañero imprescindible en la metodología de eventos. La necesidad de medir la reacción del mercado ante distintos acontecimientos económicos y financieros genera la necesidad de contar con herramientas analíticas suficientemente rigurosas para poder defender la validez de los resultados. Por ello es conveniente tener presente la estructura básica de la metodología y sus requerimientos. Existen algunos trabajos internacionales que en ocasiones pueden resultar demasiado genéricos y en otras innecesariamente complejos. Por ello se plantea realizar una revisión teórica de los estudios de eventos, sus supuestos de partida, las técnicas o herramientas econométricas empleadas en cada caso, los problemas a los que puede enfrentarse un investigador novel, y las posibles soluciones, pero además hacemos una especial mención al desarrollo de estos estudios en el contexto español.[EN]The study of the characteristics of stock markets has had on recent years an indispensable companion in the methodology of events. The need to measure the market reaction to different economic and financial developments generates the need sufficiently rigorous analytical tools to defend the validity of the results. It should therefore bear in mind the basic structure of the methodology and requirements. There are some international work that can sometimes be too generic and other unnecessarily complex. Therefore arises make a theoretical review of event studies, their assumptions starting econometric techniques or tools used in each case, the problems that can confront a new research, and possible solutions, but also make a special mention development of these studies in the Spanish context

Reflections on the past, present and future of the academic/professional interface in accounting

Accounting and Business Research (ABR) was first published in 1970, sponsored by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), with the objective of disseminating research in accounting and related fields. Now that more than half a century has passed since ABR was founded, this is an appropriate time to reflect on the evolution of the interface between academics and the profession, which ABR sought to foster. In this paper, I consider the state of academic accounting in 1970 and compare it with the present 2024, noting particularly how the changes have affected the academic/professional interface. I also consider the prospects for the future