Prof. Graeme Dean (University of Sydney)

Program

• Date: 01.10.2008
  Time: 16-18 Uhr
  Location: Seegasthof Stadler, Stockwinkel 1, A-4866 Unterach am Attersee, Austria (!)

CAMS seminar for doctoral students of the "Institut für Produktionswirtschaft und Controlling" (Prof. Küpper) guests are welcomed

Merchants’ accounts, performance assessment and decision making in mercantilist Britain and Europe

The part played by double entry bookkeeping (DEB) in the rise of capitalism in Western Europe has been the subject of academic attention and debate for more than a century. Our interest in this topic was aroused by sources of relevant comment concerning early uses of DEB identified in Chambers’ An Accounting Thesaurus (1995). In this paper, these sources, augmented by a systematic search of surviving treatises on DEB published in Britain between 1547-1799, comprise extended evidence that enable us to make “justified statements” (Napier, 2002, p. 136) in support of the notion that writers encouraged a capitalist mentality among the rising merchant class. They did this by communicating to merchants the potential of DEB for presenting economic events in a financial form that enabled them to evaluate the amount and profitability of their business investments and provided data on which to base decisions designed to enhance the “Value and Condition of his Estate” (Stephens, 1735, p. 4). Further, based on the known occupations of these writers and drawing on knowledge of the operation of an international trading enterprise, the Hudson’s Bay Company, we speculate that DEB might have played a part in helping owners manage their affairs during the major economic and social developments that are known to have occurred in Britain and Western Society more generally between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries.

Incentives for Non-disclosure by Corporate Groups

A regulatory approved Deed of cross guarantee (the Deed), introduced into Australia in December 1991, exempts nominated companies (the closed group) from having to prepare, have audited, and file with the corporate regulator (and therefore disclosing) separate financial statements. We examine the characteristics of the parent and consolidated data of firms that obtain relief from filing.. The results support the view that the decision to adopt the Deed is a function of the accounting and auditing cost savings. There is also evidence that non-disclosure within corporate groups arises when firms are in a more competitive industry and, in particular, when there is ability to retain non-disclosure at the consolidated level (i.e. where the number of segments is high). Other factors supporting non-disclosure are leverage, the proportion of foreign operations (proxying for Deed complexity). We do not find the decision to adopt the Deed is associated with the proportion of outside directors (a proxy for legal liability), the number of shares outstanding (agency costs of equity).

• Date: 24.10.2008
  Time: 08:15 - 09:45 Uhr
  Location: E 004 HGB

Insolvent corporate groups with cross guarantees: A forensic-LP Case study in liquidation

In many countries a significant method of corporate-group capital raising is cross-guarantee financing, where each company within a guarantee group guarantees the performance of the others. However, implementing cross-guarantee claims in liquidations has proved difficult and they have usually been set aside. This paper investigates the administrator’s settlement of a large Australian guarantee-group insolvency, after a seven year administration period. Desirable properties of cross-guarantee settlements are analysed and modelled as a linear programme, based on equity principles under English law or in other jurisdictions with a common law tradition. The LP solution for the case study gives an alternative notional settlement. A post-optimality analysis provides evidence of the liquidation principles of the administrator’s settlement and demonstrates inter alia that the nature of creditor protection given by cross guarantees may be unexpected, particularly if all companies are held severally responsible for the group deficiency.

• Date: 30.10.2008
  Time: 16:00 - 17:30
  Location: LS Rudolph, Schackstr.4, Bibliothek

Abacus – Getting Research Published Seminar

The seminar will explore several aspects about ‘getting research published’ in internationally recognized accounting journals. This has become a critical matter for all academics as universities world-wide have sought to have their universities ranked as one of the ‘Top Research’ Universities. Governments around the world have been engaged in research assessment exercises which have put more emphasis on gaining publications in internationally ranked journals, rather than simply in national journals. The seminar will entail a description of my experiences as editor of Abacus from 1991-2008 and my earlier assistant Editorial experiences from 1986-1991. The aims of Abacus have remained unchanged over that period.

‘Aims to publish exploratory, constructive and critical articles on all aspects of accounting and on those phases of the theory and administration of organizations and of economic behaviour generally which are related to accounting, finance and business studies.’

The submission and review process will be discussed. What is deemed as critical aspects of that process will be highlighted.