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1 – 10 of 338This paper's purpose is to show how literary texts can be used as a source for gaining insights into social practices, including accounting. It aims to deepen our understanding of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper's purpose is to show how literary texts can be used as a source for gaining insights into social practices, including accounting. It aims to deepen our understanding of such social practices in their cultural, social, economic and political contexts by examining portrayals of business and accounting transactions and of reflections of social and economic concerns in two German novels set during a time of economic and political crisis, namely the Weimar Republic's hyperinflation period.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper analyses, against the historical, social and economic backgrounds of the inflation period, the novels' authors' social and political perspectives as reflected in the novels; the literary devices employed; the way in which the description of business and accounting matters aids our understanding of everyday inflation period transactions and underlying economic and social concerns; and the links made between accounting/business, money and inflation on the one hand, and morality and rationality on the other hand.
Findings
The paper finds that in this exceptional economic situation, the relationship between accounting and morality as explored by Maltby is reversed. The portrayal of (often unusual and creative) economic transactions is used to illustrate the lack of economic, legal and moral certainty experienced by individuals and to evoke and critique the damage caused by the hyperinflation on German society and on human relationships, including the commoditisation of all aspects of life and the resulting moral decline.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the literature exploring the role of representations of business/accounting and finance in narrative fiction. The novels examined here provide an alternative means for observing, interpreting and critiquing social phenomena, specifically in a setting where financial considerations dominate human interaction and social relationships.
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The purpose is to market a reinterpretation of Brazilian economic history highlighting the importance of non-tradable goods to understand major historical developments such as the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose is to market a reinterpretation of Brazilian economic history highlighting the importance of non-tradable goods to understand major historical developments such as the lack of industrialization in the mining boom; the rise and contribution of industries to development in the early 20th century; indexation as hyperinflation in the late 20th century; growth and cycles in the early 21st century.
Design/methodology/approach
Section 2 introduces analytical perspectives on the relationship between non-tradables, transport costs and external shocks. Section 3 presents a historical overview of the gold and coffee cycles in the Brazilian economy, which highlights the crucial role played by transport costs in the genesis of industrialization. Thus, in a more precise way, industrialization was not an import substitution process but the substitution of non-tradables by the domestic tradable manufactures.
Findings
Section 4 shows that Brazilian statistical records and historiography disregard this characterization and, to that extent, underestimate economic growth in the primary export phase (1872–1920) and overestimate growth rates in the industrialization period (1920–1940). Section 5 shifts to the end of the 20th century to analyze the relationship between non-tradables, indexation and hyperinflation. Section 6 concludes with a brief discussion of the role played by the terms of trade and non-tradables in the unfolding of the 2014 economic crisis.
Originality/value
Distance from international markets and a continental geographic size made transport costs in Brazil historically prohibitive: the relevance of non-tradables in the Brazilian economic history. While the theme is not new, it seldom received proper attention in the historiography.
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Fernando Nascimento Oliveira and Myrian Petrassi
The purpose of this paper is to analyze empirically if financial crises have decreased potential output for a selected group of economies.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze empirically if financial crises have decreased potential output for a selected group of economies.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors estimate different country-specific stylized Phillips curves to verify if inflationary pressures were stronger on the recovery periods after financial crises, relative to the recovery periods after recessions.
Findings
The results, in general, do not show any clear empirical evidence that financial crises erode potential output. Moreover, there are no apparent differences in terms of the effects of financial crises over potential output between emerging and industrial economies.
Research limitations/implications
This paper sheds light on the widely debated issue of whether financial crises constitute adverse supply shocks that lead to impairment in an economy’s productive potential. In interpreting the results, the authors must first recognize that all of them are based on the reduced-form relationships. Thus, they are about correlations and not necessarily about true structural relationships.
Practical implications
The study is very important for policy makers and specially Central Banks worldwide.
Social implications
The loss of potential output is a very serious economic and social phenomenon. This paper sheds light on the debate if financial crisis lead to losses of potential output.
Originality/value
The paper is original in using more Phillips curves and because it studies also the behavior of emerging economies.
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Richard Mattessich and Hans‐Ulrich Küpper
After some introductory words about the preeminence of German accounting research during the first half of the 20th century, the paper offers a survey of the most important…
Abstract
After some introductory words about the preeminence of German accounting research during the first half of the 20th century, the paper offers a survey of the most important theories of accounts classes that still prevailed during the first two decades or longer. Following World War I, the issue of hyperinflation in Austria and Germany stimulated a considerable amount of original accounting research. After the inflationary period, a series of competing Bilanztheorien, discussed in the text, dominated the scene. Two figures emerged supremely from this struggle. The first was Eugen Schmalenbach, with his “dynamic accounting”, a series of further important contributions to inflation accounting, to the master chart of accounts, to cost accounting, and to other areas of business economics. The other scholar was Fritz Schmidt, with his organic accounting theory that promoted replacement values and his emphasis on the profit and loss account, no less than the balance sheet. The gamut of further eminent personalities, listed in chronological order, contains the following names: Schär, Penndorf, Leitner, Gomberg, Nicklisch, Rieger, Prion, Osbahr, Passow, Dörfel, Sganzini, Walb, Calmes, Kalveram, Meithner, Lion, Töndury, Mahlberg, le Coutre, Geldmacher, Max Lehmann, Leopold Mayer, Karl Seidel, Alfred Isaac, Mellerowicz, Seyffert, Beste, Gutenberg, Käfer, Seischab, Kosiol, Münstermann, and others. Separate Sections or Sub‐Sections are devoted to charts and master charts of accounts in German accounting theory, as well as to cost accounting and the writing of accounting history.
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Akintayo Opawole and Godwin Onajite Jagboro
The purpose of this paper is to develop compensation mechanisms against risks factors that impact private party’s costs in concession-based projects as a basis for minimizing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop compensation mechanisms against risks factors that impact private party’s costs in concession-based projects as a basis for minimizing failure rate of concession contracts.
Design/methodology/approach
The study extended earlier work on the factors that impact private party’s costs in concession-based projects by developing compensation mechanisms against the risks factors. It commenced with semi-structured face-to-face interviews which were launched with different stakeholders organizations that had been involved in PPP contracts in the Southwestern Nigeria. Responses from the interview were analyzed using interpretative phenomenal analysis via ATLAS.ti6/7. The mechanisms identified from literature review were assessed through structured questionnaire which were administered on professionals selected from governmental-based organizations (ministries, agencies, corporations/parastatals, etc.), private developers/concessionaires, law firms, banks among others, using the respondent-driven sampling technique. The robustness of the quantitative data was achieved by including the initial respondents to the interview in the questionnaire survey. The quantitative data were analyzed using percentile for better understanding of the flexibility between “most” and “more” preferred mechanisms. The criterion for the selection of appropriate mechanism(s) for the factors was based on minimum average of 20.0 percent (the ratio of maximum percentage (100 percent) of the respondents to total number of variables) suggesting the five identified mechanisms. The results in both cases of qualitative and quantitative assessments were compared. Based on the convergences of the findings, preferred compensation mechanisms were developed against concession contract risk factors.
Findings
Options of mechanisms were developed against specific investment risks that are consequent to the defaults of the public party in PPP contracts. The findings indicate that the mechanisms in extant literature with respect to administration of traditional models are relevant for PPPs. The study, however, identified new concepts, including “compensative” “zero compensation,” “equitable sharing” and “adjustment of concession period,” which are suitable in specific cases of PPP contracts.
Practical implications
The study contributes to the body of knowledge on mechanisms for improving PPP project performance. Moreover, insights were provided on mechanisms that satisfy private investor in case of specific risk factors investigated. The findings are therefore expected to guide private party in the preparation of concession contract package that minimizes investments risks and thereby attracting more private investors both from local and international environments. The findings of the study would also contribute to the body of information for documenting standard conditions of concession contract in Nigeria.
Originality/value
Studies on critical performance factors on PPP were extended by developing compensation mechanisms against the investment risks that impact private party’s cost.
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Ida Musialkowska, Agata Kliber, Katarzyna Świerczyńska and Paweł Marszałek
This paper aims to find, which of the assets: gold, oil or bitcoin can be considered a safe-haven for investors in a crisis-driven Venezuela. The authors look also at the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to find, which of the assets: gold, oil or bitcoin can be considered a safe-haven for investors in a crisis-driven Venezuela. The authors look also at the governmental change of approach towards the use and mining of cryptocurrencies being one of the assets and potential applications of bitcoin as (quasi) money.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected the daily data (a period from 01 May 2014 to 31 July 2018) on the development of the following magnitudes: Caracas Stock Exchange main index: Índice Bursátil de Capitalisación (IBC) index; gold price in US dollars, the oil price in US dollars and Bitcoin price in bolivar fuerte (VEF) (LocalBitcoins). The authors estimated a threshold VAR model between IBC and each of the possible safe-haven assets, where the trigger variable was the IBC; then the authors modelled the residuals from the TVAR model using MGARCH model with dynamic conditional correlation.
Findings
The results show that that gold is a better safe-haven than oil for Venezuelan investors, while bitcoin can be considered a weak safe haven. Still, bitcoin can perform (to a certain extent) money functions in a crisis-driven country.
Research limitations/implications
Further research after the change of local currency from VEF into bolivar soberano might be looked at on the later stage.
Practical implications
The authors provide evidence on which of analysed asset is the best safe-haven for the investors acting in the time of the crisis. The evidence goes in line with other authors’ findings, thus, the results might bring implications for investors of more universal character. Additionally, the result might be helpful for governments and/or monetary authorities while projecting institutional frameworks and conducting monetary policy.
Social implications
The unprecedented economic crisis in Venezuela was one of the factors that fuelled the mining and use of cryptocurrencies in the daily life of its citizens. Nowadays, the country is a leader in terms of the use of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in Latin America. The results show a potential application of bitcoin as a store of value or even means of payments in Venezuelan (or in other countries affected by the crisis).
Originality/value
The paper builds on the original data set collected by the authors and brings evidence from the models the authors constructed to verify, which asset is the best option for investors in hard times of the crisis. The authors add to the existing literature on financial assets, cryptocurrencies and behaviour of investors under different economic conditions.
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This is the second part of a detailed annotated chronology of significant events in the history of money in the context of social, economic, political and technological…
Abstract
This is the second part of a detailed annotated chronology of significant events in the history of money in the context of social, economic, political and technological developments from the dawn of civilization until the closing years of the twentieth century. Part 2 covers events from the start of the industrial revolution onwards. This period saw major changes in the relative importance of coinage, paper money and bank money, as well as the beginnings of electronic money. These changes, and the financial effects of the Napoleonic and World Wars, the rise and decline of the British Empire, the emergence of the United States and Japan, decolonisation and Third World debt, and moves towards a single currency in Europe, are all covered.
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This paper analyses the possibility of Latin America's (LA) major economies adopting dollarization, considering that in the last decade macroeconomic instability has once again…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper analyses the possibility of Latin America's (LA) major economies adopting dollarization, considering that in the last decade macroeconomic instability has once again challenged the ability of certain economies to properly manage their own currency.
Design/methodology/approach
To determine the feasibility of adopting the US dollar as official currency, the author uses the framework of optimum currency area (OCA) theory, since, in fact, dollarization is an incomplete monetary union. The author uses a structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) model to identify what type of structural shock — country-specific, regional or global — prevails in LA economies. For this purpose, the US output is used to represent the global output and determine how the shocks of the US influence the output trajectory of each LA nation. The higher the influence of the US product, the lower the costs of adopting the US dollar.
Findings
The results of the variance decomposition show that the influence of the US shocks in the gross domestic product (GDP) trajectory of LA countries has significantly decreased over the last two decades, even in the currently dollarized economies. The estimates for Venezuela and Argentina show that the importance of US shocks in the trajectory of their GDP is low. Therefore, the cost of adopting the US dollar as the official currency would be high.
Originality/value
In view of hyperinflation and macroeconomic imbalances in certain LA nations, the dollarization debate has resurfaced in recent years. However, the literature that empirically evaluates the feasibility of adopting dollarization as a monetary system under current economic conditions is limited.
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Ophias Kurauone, Yusheng Kong, Stephen Mago, Huaping Sun, Takuriramunashe Famba and Simbarashe Muzamhindo
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between tax evasion, political/public corruption and increased taxation in Zimbabwe’s small and medium-sized enterprises…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between tax evasion, political/public corruption and increased taxation in Zimbabwe’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Design/methodology/approach
The study as a descriptive survey used questionnaires and interviews as research instruments for collecting data.
Findings
The findings revealed that most SMEs are no longer paying some form of taxes as expected since the Government of Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Finance and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe introduced the 2% tax levy on all bank electronic transactions greater than US$10 from October 2018.
Originality/value
The paper recommends that the government should create an independent anti-corruption committee with strong monitoring and regulatory mechanism so as to fight political/public corruption; hence, creating a paradigm of trust and confidence among different economic players. Lastly, the tax authorities should engage all the key economic players when crafting the country’s tax laws/rates so as to promote a sense of equity, equality and economic transparency among citizens.
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During the 1980s Latin America’s inflation problem worsened and successive stabilization programmes failed in many countries. This led to an increasing concern about the degree of…
Abstract
During the 1980s Latin America’s inflation problem worsened and successive stabilization programmes failed in many countries. This led to an increasing concern about the degree of rigidity imposed on the economy by different labour market structures built up over many decades. Wage indexation, in particular, was often blamed for the failure of stabilization and adjustment programmes. Examines the different components of an indexing system and assesses the degree of flexibility that the systems implemented in some countries brought to the labour market. While a particular indexing system may have the effect of reducing wage flexibility in certain periods, the analysis of data at the macro level shows that in the long term wage indexation has not been insurmountable obstacle. Stresses that wage determination is just one of the key processes with a substantial influence on inflation. In the case of high inflationary countries, the existence of various key prices draw attention to the need for co‐ordination in the adjustment of different prices during the application of a stabilization programme.
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