Effects of Assets Structure on the Financial Performance： Evidence From Sultanate of Oman

The main objective of this study is to examine the effects of assets structure （fixed assets and current assets） on the financial performance of some manufacturing companies listed on Muscat Securities Market （MSM）. The methodology of the study is content analysis of annual reports of a sample of 28 out of 70 （40%） companies for the period 2008-2012. The assets structure is measured by fixed assets turnover and current assets turnover while the financial performance is measured by return on assets （ROA） and return on equity （ROE）. The study examines two main hypotheses. The first one examines the effects of total assets turnover on ROA whereas the second one examines the effects of total assets turnover on ROE. The overall result for the study is that the structure of assets does not have a strong impact on profitability in terms of ROE. This result means that if the structure of assets is changing then the ROA will not change. Another result of the study indicates that only the fixed assets have impact on ROE unlike ROA. Another result of the study suggests that the effect of asset structure has an impact on ROE only in petro-chemical sector.     

关于待处理财产损溢的几点认识

本文阐述了待处理财产损溢账户产生的必要性、名称的由来,对待处理财产损溢账户的适用范围、账户性质做了探讨,分析了其计价和涉及的税收处理及是否应有期末余额等。     

Social capital as a policy resource

Existing studies of social capital have provided ample evidence of its pervasiveness and offered useful impressions of its political, economic, and social influence. That it can be also a resource for the implementation of public policies is less well understood. This paper considers how leaders use it to accomplish objectives that are exogenous to the purposes of those that originally contributed to it. Since social capital is usually a by-product of group behavior, its existence should be observed as a separate feature of a groups assets. It is most frequently observed indirectly through its influence on social systems and their policies, but it may also perform the reverse role by becoming an instrument of policy. This paper examines some of its uses in mobilizing public support through appeals to unrelated loyalties.     

Civil Servants, Economic Ideas, and Economic Policies: Lessons from Italy

Building on theoretically oriented and empirically grounded research on two key macroeconomic institutions in Italy, this article explains how and why civil servants can engineer major policy changes, making a difference in a country's trajectory. Italy provides a challenging testing ground for this kind of analysis, as it is generally portrayed as a highly politicized system in which political parties and politicians fully control public policies. Three general lessons can be learned, the first being that the role of civil servants in changing modes of economic governance depends on the resources that they master in the system in which they operate. "Intangible assets" are of primary importance in complex and perceived technical policies, such as monetary and exchange rate policy, which have high potential for "technocratic capture." Second, in these policies, certain intangible assets, such as specific bodies of economic knowledge or policy paradigms, have a considerable impact on policy making. Third, besides interactions in international fora, the professional training of civil servants is a mainstream way through which economic policy beliefs circulate and gain currency, laying the foundations for policy shifts. By highlighting the importance of the intangible assets of macroeconomic institutions, this research makes an unorthodox contribution to the primarily economic literature on central bank independence.     

Banking regulation (amendment) ordinance, 2017: A resolute ordinance?

This paper is a write up on the recent Banking Regulation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017, which is yet another step in a series of initiatives taken to resolve stressed assets in the Indian banking system. An ordinance to this effect was promulgated over a “bad bank” idea as such an entity would itself be a warehouse of stressed assets and not a resolution mechanism. The paper provides an overview of stressed assets, aim of the ordinance, immediate steps taken by RBI after the promulgation of ordinance, and the looming questions that still remain pertaining to resolution of stressed assets.     

SUB‐NATIONAL GOVERNMENT CAPITAL SPENDING IN INDONESIA: LEVEL,STRUCTURE, AND FINANCING

Sub‐national government capital spending is important for both public service delivery and economic development. Currently, Indonesian sub‐national public capital spending appears barely sufficient to cover the annual depreciation of its fixed assets. A substantial proportion of local government investment spending goes to create relatively unproductive assets, such as administrative office buildings. Sub‐national governments finance their capital acquisitions out of gross operating budgets and have thus far not used, to any great extent, either borrowed funds or their significant cash reserves for such purposes. Indonesian sub‐nationals need to spend more on capital than they do now and also need to focus that spending on more useful types of infrastructure. The major constraints to increasing capital spending at the sub‐national level are not related to a dearth of finance, but regulatory rigidities in budget preparation and implementation and, most importantly, a lack of capacity to plan, design and implement investment projects. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Citizenship values and asset accumulation: the case of Argentine migrants

Using diverse conceptualisations of citizenship, this article analyses the effect of the accumulation of civic and political assets on the transformation of citizenship values among Argentine migrants to Spain and returnees. Focusing on the transnational spaces, this article analyses important civic and political capabilities accumulated by a group of migrants and explores the impact of the assets accumulated in the transnational context. This research uses data drawn from 19 Argentine immigrants to Barcelona and 30 Argentine returnees from the cities of Madrid, Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca. Findings indicate that the migratory experience generated gains in the civic and political capabilities of this group of migrants and returnees and that living in Spain promoted the development of a more responsible, analytical and, in some cases, active citizenship. As holders of ‘multiple-perspectives’, interviewees were in a privileged position to critically analyse both the sending and receiving societies. Moreover, respondents implemented a number of practices acquired in the host society, in their home society, although this transfer generally remained at an individual level.     

Public-Value Failure: When Efficient Markets May Not Do

The familiar market-failure model remains quite useful for issues of price efficiency and traditional utilitarianism, but it has many shortcomings as a standard for public-value aspects of public policy and management. In a public-value-failure model, I present criteria for diagnosing values problems that are not easily addressed by market-failure models. Public-value failure occurs when: (1) mechanisms for values articulation and aggregation have broken down; (2) "imperfect monopolies" occur; (3) benefit hoarding occurs; (4) there is a scarcity of providers of public value; (5) a short time horizon threatens public value; (6) a focus on substitutability of assets threatens conservation of public resources; and (7) market transactions threaten fundamental human subsistence. After providing examples for diagnosis of public-values failure, including an extended example concerning the market for human organs, I introduce a "public-failure grid" to facilitate values choices in policy and public management.     

Beyond acceptable risk: On the social acceptability of technologies

The social acceptability of large-scale technologies depends upon a wide range of things, some related to safety and economics, but also some factors of cultural, social and psychological significance. However, many risk analysts assume that public opposition to technologies is mostly due to unfounded fears of their risks and, that there can exist quantitative criteria of acceptable risk that could allow the acceptability of technologies to be judged. This paper traces the emergence of the acceptable risk problem formulation and reviews critically some of the approaches that have been put forward to solve it. It concludes by discussing the problem of acceptable technology returned to its wider political and cultural context.Paper written in the framework of a collaboration with the FAST Programme (Forecasting and Assessment in the Field of Science and Technology) of the Commission of the European Communities. We wish to thank Donald Bain, Ward Edwards, Howard Kunreuther, John Lathrop, Riccardo Petrella and Jerry Ravetz for their comments. Any opinions expressed or values revealed are solely those of the authors.     

Conversion from nonprofit to for-profit legal status: Why does it happen and should anyone care?

The conversion of a nonprofit firm to the for-profit form is commercialism carried to an extreme. Conversion is increasingly common, most notably in health care. We seek to advance understanding of why nonprofit conversions occur and what public policy should be toward them. A transfer of control—the essence of a conversion—over nonprofit assets can be accomplished in various ways. Thus, it would be a public policy mistake to focus narrowly on formal legal conversions or outright sales. We explore the possible motives for conversion, and speculate about the reasons for the flurry of conversion activity in hospitals and health maintenance organizations (HMOs). We conclude that there are three central public policy questions raised by conversions: (1) under what circumstances is conversion appropriate—when does it represent an efficient reallocation of resources and when only a redistribution of wealth?; (2) how should the nonprofit's assets be valued?; and (3) what should happen to the financial assets that remain after a conversion?     

互联网大规模灾害响应中的志愿行动网络研究

近年来,基于互联网大规模灾害响应的民间志愿行动网络迅猛发展,成为救灾救援中不可忽视的重要力量。2008—2011年在灾害响应中发展起来的"华夏志愿行动网络"案例研究的基础上,试图探究这类行动网络的结构特征。研究发现网络参与者以相对固定的QQ群界定边界,高效地使用各种网络手段进行沟通和动员,异质化身份和丰富的公益资源使得它们在灾害响应时能快速而有效地协作;网络结构呈现"非层级化"和"去中心化"特点,自组织特征明显;网络的信任结构体现基于平行互动的特殊信任和一般信任所组成信任关系特点,特殊信任所组成核心志愿者网络是中心网络,起到信息沟通、资源共享中间"桥"的作用,彼此间的高联接度容易影响一般信任往特殊信任关系的转化。本文的研究将为互联网志愿行动提供理论指导,有利于政府合理的引导和管理。     

论所有制性质和公有制的实现形式

公有制经济体制改革的成功与否，是整个经济体制改革成败的关键。党的十五大召开以来，公有制经济的改革取得很大进展，目前进入攻坚阶段。要完成攻坚大任，必须在理论认识上前进一步，即对所有制问题有一个科学的认识。要分清资本和资产的关系；正确认识所有制关系特别是生产资料的占有在所有制关系中的地位；不要简单地根据生产资料归谁所有来划分企业的性质。要正确认识公有制的实现形式。公有制的实现形式大致可以分为国家所有制、劳动共同所有制、社会基金所有制三大类。     

Bias in Conditional and Unconditional Fixed Effects Logit Estimation: A Correction

In a recent paper published in this journal, Katz (2001) comparesthe bias in conditional and unconditional fixed effects logitestimation using Monte Carlo Simulation. This note shows thatwhile Katz's (2001) specification has "wrong" fixed effects(in the sense that the fixed effects are the same for all individuals),his conclusions still hold if I correct his specification (sothat the fixed effects do differ over individuals). This notealso illustrates the danger, when using logit, of includingdummies when no fixed effects are present.     

Mortality in Mexico. Some considerations on rural-urban differentials

"In this essay, certain aspects related to rural-urban mortality differentials in Mexico are analyzed....[These include] the availability, advantages, and limitations of different sources of information and the disparity of levels and tendencies according to particular indicators of acceptable reliability, especially those deriving from recent demographic surveys conducted in Mexico. The findings confirm an inverse ratio between size of settlement and mortality, and reveal a widening of the differentials over time." (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

Patterns of internationalization of Chinese firms—empirical study based on strategic approach

• In this study, firstly we provide an analytical framework for international activities, which are of theoretically significant importance to research and understand the patterns of internationalization. Then, we take 500 top Chinese enterprises as study objects and analyse deeply the behaviour of their FDI (foreign direct investment) scenario from three aspects, namely motivations, entry modes and location choices. The results reveal that: (1) Chinese companies' internationalization is still at the early stage and has not reached the upstream value chain of internationalization; (2) the internationalization business of Chinese companies is diversified in destinations; (3). Chinese companies' modes of entering overseas markets are flexible and most companies have actively tried diverse entry modes with more adaptability; (4) the rapid increase of the FDI by the transnational strategic assets‐seeking companies shows that Chinese companies are inclined to protect and improve competitive advantages through obtaining new assets rather than making use of existing competitive advantages as before. Some implications of findings are also discussed finally.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Weapons in Space: The Need to Protect Space Assets

Space assets represent the most critical undefended resource of the United States. Though the government has clearly been aware of this weakness for over a generation, little appears to have been done about it. Every day these assets become more critical, and the threats against them are growing in kind. The United States must address these threats in order to prevent potential future issues in regard to military command and control, as well as the American way of life. This article not only outlines threats to space assets but proposes means by which U.S. space assets could be protected. Such protection comes not only from technology, which has been capable for years of doing the job, but from policy choice as well. In regard to policy, increasing research and development for space-based weapons, reevaluating existing treaties, and increasing interagency cooperation are all needed to better protect U.S. space assets.     

Social Security: a financial appraisal for the median voter

Several explanations have been proposed for why voters continue to support unfunded social security systems. Browning (1975) suggests that the extremely large unfunded pension systems of most democracies depend on the existence of a voting majority composed of middle-aged and older people who fail to fully internalize the cost of financing the system. In fact, when voting, economically rational workers consider only their current and future contributions to the system and their expected pension benefits--not their past contributions, which they regard as sunk costs. If, for a majority of voters, the expected continuation return from social security exceeds the return from alternative assets, an unfunded social security system is politically sustainable. This article explores the validity of Browning's proposition by quantifying the returns that U.S. voters in presidential elections from 1964 to 1996 have obtained, or expect to obtain, from Social Security. Did "investments" in Social Security outperform alternative forms of investment, such as mutual funds or pension funds, for a majority of the voters? What can be expected for the future? The U.S. Social Security system redistributes income within age cohorts on the basis of sex, income, and marital status. To account for some of these features, the median voter is represented by a family unit whose members--a husband who accounts for 70 percent of household earnings and a wife who accounts for 30 percent--make joint economic and voting decisions. Thus, retirement and survival benefits paid out to the spouse of an insured worker can be included in the calculation of Social Security returns. Interval estimates of voters' family incomes from the U.S. Census Bureau were used to obtain the median voter's household earnings. The median voter's age is derived from the ages of those who voted in presidential elections, not from the ages of the entire electorate. The median voter's contributions to Social Security are the product of the joint employer/employee Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) tax rate and employee earnings. Data on actual contributions are available for median voters in the 1964 to 1976 elections; Social Security Administration (SSA) estimates are used for future tax rates and average wage growth rates. Data on actual old-age, retirement, and survivor benefits, as well as estimates of future benefits, are also available from SSA. Analysis of ex-post returns from "investing" in Social Security and from a buy-and-hold strategy applied to three alternative assets--the Standard & Poor's Composite Index (S&P), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), and U.S. government bonds--shows surprising results. In 1964 and 1968, Social Security largely outperformed the other three assets. In 1972, Social Security and the stock market performed almost equally. In 1976, however, the median voter would have been better off in the stock market. The expected returns for median voters in later elections cannot be directly compared with realized returns from alternative assets. However, estimates range from 5.7 percent in 1984 to 7.0 percent in 1996 and thus compare favorably with average returns of 5.6 percent for S&P, 5.3 percent for DJIA, and 2.1 percent for government bonds over the 1964-1996 period. Although these findings must be taken with caution since they compare ex-post returns, they show that, despite a continuous reduction in profitability, Social Security still represents a safe, high-return asset for a majority of families.     

Dyadic Federations and Confederations

This article focuses on the thirteen-odd bicommunal politiesin which two, and only two, distinct communities dominate thepolitical arena. The concept of a bicommunal polity is analyticalrather than statistical. Permanent asymmetry characterizingthe two components makes a simple majoritarian formula for decisionmakingprocesses unacceptable. What other decisional frameworks havea greater chance for success: federalism, federalism with aheavy dose of confederal ingredients, regional confederation,consociationalism or secession? A confederal modification offederalism has so far appeared as more acceptable to two asymmetricand antagonistic polities than a concept of a federal unionwith its commitment to an overarching cultural-political nationalunion. The high failure rate of bicommunal configurations pointsalso to the necessity to relate the inner working of bicommunalpolities to international balancing processes and/or supportor abstinence of "blood-related" nation-states.     

State and Corporate Cash Management: A Comparison

Public and private sector portfolio managers pursue similar goals even though they perform their portfolio management responsibilities in significantly different environments. This article compares and contrasts corporate cash management with state government practices. The comparison and analyses are based on data drawn from a survey of state government portfolio managers and an earlier study which reviewed corporate cash management practice.
The comparison and analyses consider investment objectives, permissible assets, assets held, and asset holding period, among other factors. The results suggest that portfolio management practices are quite similar even though the cash management environment is significantly different.