Summary The rise of the East-German economy in the 1950s and 1960s and its decline in the 1970s and 1980s is difficult to explain by neoclassical economics. However; the observed life cycle may be explained by the inclusion of concepts from old and new institutional economics and from functional...

Purpose – Sometimes resources are badly employed because of coordination failures. Actions by decision makers that affect the likelihood of such failures are sometimes said to cause “systemic risk.” This paper seeks to consider the externality in the choice of ex ante risk management...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the market reaction to the accounting treatment of the marking‐to‐market of equity investments of Greek firms during the period 2002‐2004. Design/methodology/approach – Using data for firms listed in the ASE, a treatment effects...

Purpose – Intangible assets are regarded as the future value drivers of company performance. However, hardly anything is known about the actual importance and influence of intangible assets. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap, so the authors analyse the German stock market index DAX...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the process of organizational change undergone by a large Portuguese business group within the context of the environmental agenda and the role of accounting as a mechanism for change. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports the...

In the past two decades the public sector has experienced a transformation. A major feature of this change has been the displacement of the old style public administration by a “new public management” which focuses on results and measurement and in which accounting has a central role. This...

Purpose – Accounting research has emphasized target and bidder managers' incentives to manipulate earnings during corporate control contests. However, prior studies examining earnings management by takeover targets have obtained mixed results. Moreover, the existing evidence is mainly based on...

Since the 1980s, firms have searched for better ways to align their cost management systems with the realities of their business environments. The advent of accelerated global competitiveness, reduced product life cycles, rapid technological advancements, and inter‐organizational supply chains...

By 2005 the group financial statements of companies listed on a stock exchange in an EU member state must be prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standards (IASs). The adoption of IASs should, inter alia : facilitate the movement of capital; remove barriers to cross‐border...