审计委员会制度与盈余质量的改善

本文采用2002年至2004年上市公司的数据.以盈余质量视角研究审计委员会制度的有效性.研究发现,基于各年截面数据,设有审计委员的上市公司均具有较高的盈余质量,同时也发现这种盈余质量上的差异已经存在于上市公司成立审计委员会的上一年.当控制这种成立前的盈余质量差异之后,本文发现,设立审计委员会前后,上市公司盈余质量没有显著变化.因此,本文结论并没有发现审计委员会在提高会计盈余质量方面已发挥了应有的作用.     

对我国现行内部控制评价主体定位的研究

内部控制评价作为企业内部控制的重要组成部分,目前已得到理论界和实务界的广泛关注.然而我国对内部控制评价的研究主要集中在内部控制鉴证方面,忽视了面向管理由内部审计实施的评价,而后者在我国现阶段更为可行,意义尤为重大.本文正是以此为立足点对评价中主体定位问题加以研究.     

The impact of labor unionization on monitoring costs

This paper analyzes the impact of labor unionization on monitoring costs. Our findings show that monitoring costs are significantly higher for unionized firms. We demonstrate that the more complex, industrial relations structures that characterize unionized firms increase monitoring risks and corporate costs. We further show that monitoring agents consider political ideology supportive to labor unions as a parameter that enhances relevant costs. Additionally, we demonstrate that monitoring costs are lower in the presence of employee share ownership. We conclude that labor unionization increases the costs of monitoring agents, a burden which is amplified or mitigated depending on the structure of industrial relations.     

英国公共部门人力资源审计及其对我国的启示

简单回顾了英国政府人力资源审计的发展历程,重点分析了英国国家审计署所采用的审计程序及其优缺点。结合中国实际,指出开展人力资源审计已成为中国政府效能建设和绩效审计发展的必然要求,并籍此提出了以合法性审计为基础、绩效审计为重心的中国政府人力资源审计发展模式以及必要的人力资源管理和审计制度创新。     

经验、努力程度对审计判断偏误的影响研究

审计质量的好坏直接影响着资本市场能否稳定运行,而影响审计质量的一个重要因素是审计判断偏误。时近效应和证实性偏误是运用锚定与调整启发法进行判断时容易产生的两种判断偏误。本文以我国注册会计师审计为背景,采用实验的方法,检验了审计人员经验、努力程度对这两种判断偏误的影响。实验结果表明:在简单任务中,审计人员的经验够消除时近效应,在复杂任务中,审计人员努力程度的提高有助于降低时近效应的程度,而且审计人员的经验和努力程度对时近效应产生了明显的共同影响;经验和努力程度对证实性偏误没有明显的影响。     

The accountability gap: The use of preliminary and evaluative research in Spain

In a context where it is of increasing importance to optimize resources, to refine the definition of the environment and to demonstrate the return on investment (ROI), preliminary research and evaluation in PR have not evolved significantly in the past two decades. There are very few publications examining the Spanish case and the results of this study indicate that these practices are uncommon. There is a slight preference for research prior to the development of the campaign at the expense of evaluative research. Furthermore, there is a notable discrepancy between the results of the Spanish study and the published studies from other countries: perception audits (outtakes) and views (outcomes) are undertaken more frequently than publicity audits (outputs).     

非标准审计意见对上市公司投资行为的影响

文章利用沪深两市A股非金融类上市公司2007—2015年数据,检验了非标准无保留审计意见(以下简称“非标意见”)对公司投资规模和投资效率的影响。结果发现,就投资规模而言,非标意见会导致公司投资规模显著降低;就投资效率而言,非标意见可以抑制公司的过度投资行为从而提高投资效率,但其也会加剧投资不足从而降低投资效率。因此,非标意见对投资过度和投资不足的影响是不同的。进一步研究表明,非标意见对投资的影响与公司产权性质、所在地区金融环境、融资约束有关。并且,非标意见对投资的影响具有长期性;此外,不同类型的非标意见对投资的影响是有差异的。其中,无法表示意见对投资的影响最为明显。     

The Auditor's Going-Concern Disclosure as a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: A Discrete-Time Survival Analysis*

The question of how an auditor's going-concern disclosure affects a client's future operations has long troubled the auditing profession. In an attempt to provide further understanding of this issue, we introduce Discrete-Time Survival Analysis (DTSA) to examine the aftermath of 231 first-time going-concern disclosures on clients' subsequent continuance. DTSA represents a significant refinement over traditional ordinary least squares (OLS) and logistic (LOGIT) regression in that it provides not only a probability estimate, but also an estimate of the timing of the event occurrence. The addition of this extra dimension (event timing) aids decision makers by providing more complete information about event probabilities. Consistent with the “self-fulfilling prophecy effect,” the risk profiles developed from DTSA indicate that the first year subsequent to the initial going-concern disclosure was the most dangerous in terms of risk of bankruptcy. However, after the first year, the incidence of bankruptcy decreases significantly. Thus, DTSA is able to provide a richer perspective on this perplexing issue than previously considered.     

Effective inter-agency collaboration to safeguard children: Rising to the challenge through collective development

Multidisciplinary strategic collaborations are becoming increasingly commonplace. This is particularly evident in relation to safeguarding children. However, whilst there is a growing body of literature on both the effective leadership of collaborations and child protection there is little that combines the two. This means that senior managers, who are members of safeguarding partnerships, have a limited evidence-base to inform their collective learning and development. This paper seeks to add to the body of knowledge by first exploring both the literature on strategic collaboration and considering the implications for safeguarding partnerships. Second, by making an argument, that in order for members to engage in the effective joint leadership of collaborations they require opportunities for reflection and ongoing collective development. Third, providing an example of a way in which this can be achieved through the use of a self-assessment and improvement tool. Finally, considering the lessons learnt from the development of such a tool, focusing specifically on the implications for members of partnerships addressing complex problems such as the multifaceted issues associated with child maltreatment.     

Effect of audit and feedback on the availability, utilisation and quality of emergency obstetric care in three districts in Malawi

BACKGROUND: Facility-based maternal death reviews and criterion-based clinical audit, were introduced in three districts in Malawi in 2006. RESEARCH QUESTION: Can audit and feedback improve the availability, utilisation and quality of emergency obstetric care (EmOC)? PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Observational study in which emergency obstetric care offered to women who gave birth in 73 health facilities (13 hospitals and 60 health centres) in three districts in Malawi in 2005 (baseline, 41,637 women) was compared to 2006 (43,729 women) and 2007 (51,085 women). RESULTS: The number of comprehensive and basic EmOC facilities did not change over the 3-year period (p for trend=1.000). Although institutional delivery rate decreased in 2006, overall it increased over 3 years (p for trend<0.001) - 31.8% (2005), 31.1% (2006) and 34.7% (2007), and Caesarean section rate was low and did not change (p for trend=0.257) - 1.7% (2005), 1.6% (2006) and 1.5% (2007). There was a significant increase in the met need for EmOC (p for trend<0.001) - 15.2% for 2005, 17.0% for 2006 and 18.8% for 2007. Maternal mortality decreased significantly from 250 per 100,000 women in 2005 to 222 in 2006 and 182 in 2007 (p for trend<0.001). Similarly, the case fatality rate decreased monotonically (p for trend<0.001) - 3.7% (2005), 3.0% (2006) and 1.5% (2007). DISCUSSION: Audit and feedback can improve availability, utilisation and quality of emergency obstetric care in countries with limited resources. CONCLUSION: There is need to increase availability of emergency obstetric care by upgrading some health centres to EmOC level through training of staff and provision of equipment and supplies.