Volume 02 Number 02
Countertrade in South-East Asia: A Comment
Murray Brennan
No abstract - opening paragraph reads: Anna Czerkawska's article entitled "Growth and Development of Countertrade Activities in South-East Asia" (IJBS, 2(1), 7-13), provides a good overview of countertrade in this region. In its more basic forms, countertrade has always been present in the trading environment of the Asian region, but has grown rapidly since Indonesia adopted its official countertrade policy in 1981. Many other nations in South East Asia quickly followed, including Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia. Despite the paucity of data available on the extent of countertrade activity, Dr Czerkawska manages to survey the literature and provide illustrations for the various countertrade strategies and motivations in this region.
Public Accountants' Perceptions of Packaged Accounting Information Systems in Australian SMEs
Dieter Fink and Ken Stevens
The study investigated the user practices and design features of packaged Accounting Information Systems (AIS) installed in Australian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The evaluation of AIS was done by public accountants since they have large numbers of SMEs among their clients. In general, public accountants rated small/medium accounting software packages as satisfactory in the majority of user practices and design features. Their concerns related to acquiring and installing packaged accounting systems and various implications for public and commercial accountants as well as vendors and developers of accounting packages resulting from the study are identified.
Investment Decision in Bangladesh Read-made Garment Industry: An Empirical Investigation
M Fouzul Kabir Khan
Governments in less developed countries are trying to attract domestic private investment in industry by offering various incentives. In a few cases such efforts have been successful. This paper examines one such success story, the growth of investment in ready-made garment industry in Bangladesh. We develop a micro model to describe the ready-made garment industry in Bangladesh. Dynamic optimisation within the framework of this model suggests that investment is a function of Tobin's "q", the ratio of stock market value of capital to its replacement costs. We also develop a methodology to calculate "q" in a situation where an active stock market is lacking. Empirical results support the hypothesized positive relationship between investment and "q". The results have important policy implications for less developed countries. Investment incentive policies should target to influence "q", in industries where such relationships between investment and "q" holds, to be successful in motivating the businessman to invest.
Service Quality in Hong Kong Retail Banking
Simon SK Lam
The service quality measurement scale (SERVQUAL) has been widely used in research to measure quality of service. The aim of this research is to demonstrate the use of the SERVQUAL instrument for measuring and analysing service quality data and to examine the validity, reliability and predictive validity of SERVQUAL using data from retail banking in Hong Kong. The results indicate that SERVQUAL appears to be a consistent and reliable scale to measure service quality. However, the proposed five dimensions of SERVQUAL are not confined. The results also indicate that perceived service performance generally falls short of expectations except in the physical elements of service quality. Trouble-free, timely and competent services are what their customers expect from banks.
An Analysis of the Effects of Limiting Auditors' Liability: A Laboratory Investigation Using Experimental Markets
Gary S Monroe and Andrew J Wellington
This paper investigates the consequences of a multiple of fees statutory cap on auditors' liability in an experimental markets setting. It was hypothesised that a statutory cap on auditors' liability would result in an increase in shirking by auditors (sellers) and a decline in the average price of their services. In addition, an experiment was conducted to ascertain the risk preferences of subjects. It was expected that risk seeking subjects would shirk more than risk neutral subjects, who, in turn, would shirk more than risk averse subjects. It was also conjectured that in a limited liability regime, market forces would reduce the price of the services.
The limited liability rule resulted in a significant increase in shirking by the sellers and there was a decline in the average price of the services. A price related strategy by the sellers was observed. Under the limited liability regime, prices for contracts where a service below a due standard of care was subsequently delivered were significantly lower than contracts for which a service equal to or above a due care standard was subsequently delivered. There was an association between the contracted price of a service and the likelihood of a seller shirking.