Public accounting fudges towards EMU: A first empirical survey and some public choice considerations

This paper analyses some one-off measures and other accounting tricks that EU member States have been using to qualify for EMU membership. Moving from empirical evidence to strategic goals, this investigation brings to the fore three crucial issues: the weakness of the methodological rules of the European system of accounts used to assess budgetary convergence in line with the Maastricht Treaty; the open-ended definition of the required budgetary discipline; the shortcomings of the excessive deficit procedure enforced through the Stability Pact. The conclusion urges a return to a strict annual balance requirement for governments' current accounts, to impede strategic adjustments of budgetary positions that are in fact creative accounting operations.     

Political Budget Cycles: The Case of the Western German Länder

This paper focuses on the issue of the electoral andideological cycles in state government budget for the elevenWestern German Länder. We verify this hypothesis over theperiod 1974–1994 for the following budgetary variables: totalexpenditures, surplus/deficit, administration, health care,education, roads and social security benefits. While overallour results seem to show that generally the party variabledoes not play a systematic role in spending decisions, theyprovide some support to the opportunistic cycle theory showingthat the only relevant phenomenon is the effect of theupcoming election on the government spending inclinations.     

Business group drops opposition to drug users' health centre

A legal intervention by the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users has forced the Community Alliance to abandon a petition against a health contact centre in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.     

Is immunohistochemistry a useful tool in the postmortem recognition of myocardial hypoxia in human tissue with no morphological evidence of necrosis?

Myocytes in the border zone of myocardial infarction are under severe hypoxia without characteristic morphology of necrosis, and show ultrastructural features similar to those seen within the first hours after coronary occlusion. This study was carried out to evaluate the possibility that immunohistochemical methods could be used for the early diagnosis of myocardial infarction by detecting areas of hypoxia. Nineteen human sections of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded myocardial samples showing a necrotic area and its border were submitted to immunohistochemical staining with the markers antimuscle actin, antimyoglobin, antitroponin T, antifibronectin, and anticomplement component C9. Sections were also subjected to azan trichrome and hematoxylin-basic fuchsin-picric (HBFP) staining techniques. Immunohistochemistry and azan trichrome showed that in the border zone there was a pattern of reaction intermediate between the infarcted area and the normal myocardium. The HBFP failed to distinguish these two areas. In conclusion, immunohistochemistry and azan trichrome can recognize myocardial hypoxia. Because hypoxia is an invariable condition in infarction, these techniques can be used to confirm suspected cases of myocardial infarction in which necrosis is not yet evident. However, considering that agonal states may be associated with generalized hypoxia, further studies are needed to confirm the reliability of this procedure in the earlier phases of myocardial infarction.     

Does Level of Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse Predict the Content of Family Mediation Agreements?

This study investigated whether reported levels of intimate partner violence (IPV) and/or abuse (IPV/A) victimization are related to reaching agreement and to the content of mediation agreements of parties seeking to resolve family‐ and child‐related issues. Whether or not parties reached agreement was analyzed for 105 cases at a law school mediation clinic. Agreement content was coded for the 71 cases that reached agreement. Levels of IPV and IPV/A were determined separately for males and females, using a standardized measure. Regression models were utilized to examine reports of IPV or IPV/A as predictors. Results indicated that mediation may help families with a reported history of IPV and IPV/A address a variety of concerns; levels of partner violence/abuse predicted numerous issues in mediation agreements, including arrangements regarding legal custody, parenting time, holidays, child exchanges, interparental communication, safety restrictions, counseling referrals, child support, financial arrangements, and other miscellaneous topics (e.g., relocation). However, some findings were consistent with concerns raised about the use of mediation with parties reporting IPV and IPV/A; for example, increasing levels of male‐perpetrated IPV/A predicted increased likelihood of making an agreement to share legal custody. Further research is needed to resolve the longstanding debate of whether divorce mediation is an effective and safe process for parties demonstrating IPV/A.

Key Points for the Family Court Community
• This study adds to the debate of whether divorce mediation is an effective and safe process for parties demonstrating IPV/A.
• It examines whether reported levels of IPV and IPV/A victimization are related to reaching agreement and to the content of mediation agreements of parties seeking to resolve family‐ and child‐related issues.
• Results provide some evidence that mediation may help families with a reported history of IPV and IPV/A address a variety of concerns.
• However, some findings are consistent with concerns raised about the use of mediation with parties reporting IPV and IPV/A.
• Findings have implications for the practice of family mediation with parties reporting a history of IPV or IPV/A.

     

IPSASB’s Conceptual Framework: Coherence with Accounting Systems in European Public Administrations

Accounting and reporting systems in public administrations of European countries have deeply changed in the last 20 years due to the new public management wave and the trend toward international harmonization. This research aims to examine the possibility of implementing International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board’s (IPSASB’s) Conceptual Framework (CF), by observing accounting and reporting systems in the different governmental levels of countries selected and taking into account the embedded traditional characteristics of European countries. Results highlight how many structural differences still occur within and among countries, showing that much work is still necessary to obtain harmonization as implied in the IPSASB’s CF.