Inadequate Transparency Research Articles

Struggling to fight managerial opportunism in nineteenth- century Europe

During the second half of the nineteenth century, a growing interest in joint-stock corporations emerged. At the same time, managerial opportunism was observed in many of these corporations. Inefficient capital markets and inadequate transparency of operations as well as their results were characteristics of the time. Little was known about the means to reduce this opportunism. This knowledge grew over time out of pragmatic ideas, which foreshadow elements of present day agency theory. The important question to be answered by these pragmatic ideas was how managers could be influenced to act according to the goals of the owners of these corporations. In this paper, we draw on mostly academic literature of the nineteenth century to illustrate the developments of such pragmatic ideas. The presentation is structured by major mechanisms of agency theory. It is shown that attempts at reducing asymmetry of information by limiting corporate activities to less risky business, belief in high moral standards of managers or governmental supervision of operational activities were basically unsuccessful ideas. However, the empowerment of shareholders by introducing a supervisory board and the offering of monetary incentives showed more promise. Obviously, these ideas were not perfect. The pros and cons of any of these instruments became more visible over time, which led to better legal structures for establishing supervisory boards. With respect to monetary incentives, the contemporary debates seem to have been quite enlightened as compared with recent discussions.

Corporate Reputation: A Study of Practitioners in the Indian Context

Emerging markets face unique challenges of issues and business practices that border in the grey areas of questionable ethical norms, inadequate transparency in reporting relating to funding, financial transactions and in the appointment of business associates and partners. Market realities in emerging markets such as India impose unique challenges for organisations striving to practice their intent. Issues of governance, regulatory frameworks and transparency pose considerable roadblocks. This paper measures the perceptions of principal stakeholders, that is, corporate executives, purposively selected from across varied business sectors spanning the technology, manufacturing, consulting, financial services, consumer goods, NGOs and the educational sectors in emerging market context to identify factors and attributes considered as significant for corporate reputation (CR) building though they are not part of the reputation models developed for the western and developed markets context. The role of ethical values and practices, active boardroom management, ethical branding and corporate communication, organisation’s core values, innate culture and professed purpose and principles in CR and branding are found to be significant. The study shows that CR building is adversely affected by excessive focus on financial results and government regulations.

Good governance strategies for sustainable ecotourism in Tanzania

This article assesses the role of good governance strategies in sustaining ecotourism. Using a qualitative method through exploratory research design, 18 good governance strategies that promote sustainable ecotourism were identified. Thereafter, a specific stakeholder survey (n = 250) was conducted in the eastern and northern tourist circuits in Tanzania. Through the discrete choice binary logit model, relationships between the identified strategies and specified ecotourism sustainability indicators were analysed by looking for the strategies that are more associated with each indicator. The findings show that sustainability of ecotourism in the country is mainly jeopardised by inadequate transparency, poor accountability practices and weak integration mechanisms between ecotourism operations and the country's development plans. As a result, poor governance has led to unproductive planning, inefficiencies and mismanagement of ecotourism resources. The study concluded by recommending accountability, transparency and integration between economic activities in order to ensure that ecotourism meets the needs of both current and future generations.

The Impact of Transparency on Quality of Health Service Delivery in Bangladesh: Findings of a Field Survey of Rural and Urban Health Service Organisations

Bangladesh has gained a glorious achievement in the quantitative reduction of maternal and child mortality in the recent past. But, the quality health service delivery still needs much improvement. This is considered as a big challenge facing the Government of Bangladesh in general and the agencies providing health care services to the people. This study endeavours to explore how organisational management, electronic devices, socio-economic and political factors impact on transparency in delivering good quality health care. This study selects two health service organisations of rural and urban areas for understanding the issues surrounding transparency and quality health service provision. This study used 68 in-depth interviews and five focus group discussions for gathering the required data. The urban health service organisation provides slightly improved transparent health care delivery because of better physical communication, adequate supervision and participative civil society organisation. However, general community has limited participation to both the rural and the urban health service organisations for lack of their education, poverty and bureaucratic mis-management in the organisations. Electronic devices contribute significantly for promoting transparent health service delivery, although resource constraints have posed a big challenge. Inadequate transparency contributes to corruption and absenteeism of health professionals which has an impact on quality health care provision. Participation of local elected representatives through adequate decentralisation and strengthening information management system in health care organisations can improve transparency and quality health service delivery.

Chemical analysis, FTIR and microhardness study to find out nonlinear optical property of l-asparagine lithium chloride: a semiorganic crystal

In recent times semiorganic nonlinear optical material is a forefront of current research because of its importance to providing key functions of frequency conversion, light modulations and optical memory storage. Most of the organic materials have inadequate transparency, poor optical quality and low laser damage threshold. Inorganic materials have excellent mechanical and thermal properties but they possess relatively modest nonlinearity. Semiorganic materials which have combined properties of both organic and inorganic materials. In this coordination complex the organic ligand plays an important role for the nonlinear optical property. Nowadays, amino acids are more suitable organic materials for nonlinear optical applications because they contain dipolar nature due to the presence of a protonated amino group (NH3+) and deprotonated carboxylic group (COO−). In the present study l-asparagine lithium chloride (LALC) was grown from aqueous solution by slow evaporation method. The crystalline perfection of the material was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction. The lattice parameters were calculated by single crystal X-ray diffraction and it was found to be the LALC crystallized in orthorhombic crystal system with noncentro symmetric space group of Pna21 which is one of the essential parameters in nonlinear optical materials. The optical transparency was analyzed by UV–vis transmission spectral study and it was found to be of lower cut off wavelength of the grown crystal which is 234nm. The presence of functional groups was identified by FTIR spectral analysis. The percentage of carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen in the crystal was calculated by chemical analysis and compared with its theoretical values. The mechanical strength was calculated by Vickers microhardness tester. The nonlinear optical efficiency of the crystal was estimated by using Kurtz Perry powder technique and it was found to be 2.08 times that of potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) due to noncentro symmetric space group of good nonlinear optical material. Hence, LALC crystal is more suitable for the fabrication of optoelectronic devices.

The Role of Financial Institutions in the Corporate Governance of Listed Chinese Companies*

This paper explores the role of Chinese financial institutions in the corporate governance of listed companies through interviews with both senior managers of financial institutions and board directors of listed companies. Our results show that, while most securities companies are passive investors, a good proportion of the active mutual funds help their portfolio companies prepare financial forecasts, standardize their operations, raise external funds, strengthen their company image in the capital markets, and sometimes intervene in corporate issues. This limited role can be attributed to a number of factors specific to the Chinese context including highly concentrated state ownership, an immature regulatory environment, inadequate transparency and disclosure of financial information, and weak corporate governance within financial institutions themselves. It could also be affected by several other factors that are considered to cause institutional passivity in developed countries such as conflicts of interest, monitoring costs and lack of expertise.

Growing Calls in United States, Europe to Improve Regulation of Genetic Testing

ALTHOUGH THE NUMBER OF GEnetic tests available has exploded in the past decade and a half, clinicians and patients are often on their own to try to assess whether such tests might help improve care. Tests were available for only about 100 genetic diseases in 1993, a number that soared to more than 1700 in 2008, according to GeneTests, a resource operatedby theUniversityofWashingtonand funded by the National Institutes of Health that includes information on genetic tests (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov /sites/GeneTests/). But governments in the United States and Europe provide limited oversight of such tests, and there is inadequate evidence on the extent to which genetic tests improve patient care. Suchconcernshave led tocalls for enhancedregulationofgenetic tests,andrecent actions suggest growing consensus amongsomegovernmentalagencies,nonprofitorganizations,andcommercialclinical laboratories that action is needed. The current regulatory framework is complex. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires a premarket review of test kits sold to outside laboratories, but so far it has not required such premarket review for tests that are made by a laboratory for its own use. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provides some oversight for quality of clinical laboratory testing under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) of 1988. There are also some voluntary certification and oversight programs operated by professional organizations. The American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) offers both technical and clinical guidelines, which laboratories may choose to follow. InanApril2008reportbyanadvisory committee to theSecretaryof theUSDepartment of Health and Human Services (DHHS)reviewedandpointedoutmany flaws in this system of oversight (http: //oba.od.nih.gov/oba/SACGHS/reports /SACGHS_oversight _report.pdf). The committee identified gaps in the regulation of laboratory quality and test validity, inadequate transparency about testing, insufficient knowledge about the whether the tests are clinically useful, and a lack of education among clinicians and consumers about such tests. It also outlined recommendations for improvement. Now there is a growing chorus of individuals, advocacygroups,government agencies,andcommercialgroupswhosay thatthispatchworkofoversightdoesadisservicetoall stakeholdersandmustberevamped.ManyofthecallsurgeimplementationofstepsrecommendedintheDHHS committee’s report. In April, the Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University, the Coalition for 21st Century Medicine—a group that represents genetic testing companies and other groups—and more than 100 patient advocacy groups, genetic test manufacturers, and other interested parties sent a letter to the newly appointed DHHS Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, calling on her to revamp regulation of genetic tests. “Accurate, reliable, and timely advanced diagnostics offer enormous promise, but poor quality testing can harm patients and waste scarce resources,” according to the letter. The letter calls for government oversight of all genetic tests, including those created and used by the same laboratory, prioritized according to the potential risk associated with a test. It also urged establishment of a mandatory national registry of laboratory tests and stronger regulation of testing laboratories, to ensure test accuracy.

Renegotiating the Food Aid Convention: Background, Context, and Issues

The current global agreement governing aid--the Food Aid Convention (FAC)--has been subject to annual renewals since it expired in 2002. Critics have pointed to some serious limitations, but negotiations over a new FAC have become entangled in US-European agricultural trade disputes. Other issues in renegotiation include the patchwork quilt of aid governance, in which the FAC's mandate overlaps with those of several other institutions; inadequate transparency; the nature of commitments--whether to express them in tonnage, value, or nutritional terms; the level of commitments and their distribution among donors; monitoring and enforcement of commitments; stakeholder representation on the FAC governing body; and the convention's institutional home. Also problematic is whether the FAC should have an instrument focus--food aid--or a problem focus, such as food security. KEYWORDS: Food Aid Convention, World Trade Organization, aid, local purchase, humanitarian assistance. The governance of international aid flows is a patchwork quilt of institutions and agreements that have emerged over the last fifty years. These are characterized by overlapping mandates, differing degrees of authority and legitimacy, varied levels of transparency in decision-making, and problematic stakeholder representation--so much so that one recent analysis described them as dysfunctional and outdated and thus ineffective. (1) One component of this governance structure is the Food Aid Convention (FAC). First signed in 1967, and renewed five times since then, the FAC is unique in that it is the only treaty under which signatories have a legal obligation to provide international development assistance. The current FAC dates from 1999. It was due to expire in 2002, but members have agreed to a series of ad hoc extensions that have kept it in operation since then. Given the dramatic changes in global security since 1999, most notably the rise in global prices, there is a good chance that negotiations on a new convention are likely to begin soon. The purpose of this article is to identify key issues surrounding FAC renegotiation. Understanding these issues requires familiarity with a considerable body of background information, including the origins of the FAC, its current objectives, and a description of the principal controversies that surround it. We therefore begin with a brief review of these topics, followed by a description of other important elements of aid governance. Our final background component is a short discussion of the world situation and outlook and the implications for aid needs. We then examine the key questions that may arise in the FAC renegotiation: the objectives; the nature of commitments--tonnage, value, nutritional aspects; the level of commitments and their distribution; monitoring and enforcement of commitments; representation on the FAC governing body; and the FAC's home base. Background History and Current Status The FAC is one component of the International Grains Agreement, along with the Grains Trade Convention. The London-based International Grains Council (IGC--formerly the International Wheat Council) has served as the FAC's host agency and secretariat since its inception in 1967. This intergovernmental organization provides a forum on world grain trade information. It monitors markets and ocean freight rates and also provides monthly and annual reports on production, consumption, stocks, and prices. The IGC compiles member reports on aid shipments as well. (2) Its data are not publicly available; only signatory governments receive them. In the years prior to the first FAC, the United States supplied most international aid. In the mid-1960s, changes in domestic US farm policy and weather- and war-induced crop failures in developing countries led to a tightening of global grain stocks. The United States was also concerned about growing grain surpluses generated by the European Community's Common Agricultural Program, while the Europeans wanted to secure their newfound role as a significant grain exporter via a new international wheat agreement. …

Fatores técnicos intervenientes na realização do exame de eletrorretinograma multifocal (ERGmf)

To describe the main intervening factors observed during the acquisition and analysis of multifocal electroretinogram (mfERG), that could affect the recorded signal, the obtained responses and their analysis. The error factors observed during the acquisition of 100 sequential multifocal electroretinogram tests, in the period of May to July, 2005 were analyzed. The examinations of multifocal electroretinogram were carried out in agreement with international guideline recommendations, taking into account the established parameters of equipment, with 61 elements, and visual angle of 30 degrees. All patients had been submitted to complete ophthalmologic examination, excluding those with inadequate transparency of ways, flat corneas and those incapable to visualize a central fixation target. The intervening factors, that could cause artifacts and errors in the interpretation of the obtained results, observed and corrected during the acquisition of multifocal electroretinogram were: eccentric or poor fixation, eye movements, orbicular contraction, cervical muscle contraction, inadequate transparency of the corneal electrode, electrode displacement, lens support decentralization, inadequate viewing distance in patients with high refractive errors, eye height inadequacy in relation to the center of the screen, electrical noise in 60 HZ frequency and electromagnetic field and high impedances. Excessive use of filters in wave processing for noise and artifact removal can interfere with the analysis of the obtained results. Simple observational cares during signal acquisition are of significant importance to ensure accuracy of the topographical electroretinogram information, good waveform morphology and low noise level register. Through their ready correction, the correct and adjusted analysis of the amplitude and of implicit time of peaks N1, P1 and N2 is reliable. Digital smooth system with specific frequency peak removal supply waves with more defined morphology with lower amplitude reduction than other available resources.

A post-reform assessment of the Indian banking sector: profitability, risk and transparency

This paper critically evaluates the performance of Indian banks by examining quantitative data on bank profitability and risk subsequent to the market-oriented reforms in 1991. A bank transparency indicator is also constructed to appraise the performance of Indian banks with respect to the quality of their disclosures. The assessment indicates deteriorating profitability, heightened risk exposure and inadequate transparency of accounting disclosures. The study underscores an urgent need for an improvement in the risk management skills of Indian banks and their supervisors. Such practices may necessitate more rather than less governance in areas of corrective action, financial transparency, and risk management.

Revenue-raising by UK Devolved Administrations in the Context of an Expenditure-based Financing System

This contribution discusses the main features of the UK devolved financing system, the operation of the Barnett formula and the local government financing system. Policy at the UK level is then examined for its effect on the devolved administrations, including the impact of expenditure changes for England that generate formula consequences for the devolved administrations. In a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the UK system, one important strength to emerge is continuity from the pre-devolution arrangements. More problematic are the system's inadequate transparency, geographical inequity and the absence of institutional machinery to regulate intergovernmental fiscal relationships.

Erfahrungen der Schweiz mit der Kreditplafondierung

Swiss Experience with Credit Ceilings In Switzerland the instrument of credit restriction was applied on a voluntary basis, except for the period from 1964 to 1966. Since such voluntary action magnifies the weaknesses inherent in every measure to check economic activity, the Swiss examples can only indicate approximately the effectiveness of this instrument when applied autonomously. In principle, the efficiency of autonomously applied credit restriction should be greater than the efficacy of credit ceilings set on a voluntary basis. In this regard, however, allowance must be made for the general, empirically established fact that the inclination or compulsion to circumvent such restrictions grows disproportionately faster than the growing effectiveness of the cyclical policy checks. Hence, monetary authorities operating with credit restrictions are confronted with an alternative which is fatefully bound up with unconformable means: reduced efficiency or increased official controls. On the other hand, the Swiss examples demonstrate with all clarıty that, with the current state of trade cycle statistics and in a small country closely linked with the world economy, direct credit restrictions are not a precision instrument of cyclical policy. The reason lies partly in the inadequate transparency of the interrelationships between bank credit and the remaining monetary magnitudes, and partly in the fact that the setting of credit ceilings in accordance with the bookkeeping practice of continental banks is not based on the credit flow, but on the credit level. Hence the usability of credit restrictions for cyclical policy purposes depends to a decisive extent on the state of development of trade cycle statistics, especially monetary statistics. A thorough and regular analysıs of the relationships between bank credit on the one hand and net credit creation, liquidity preference and the domestic quantity of money on the other would be the primary prerequisite for enhancing the efficiency of credit restrictions. The problems are similar in the case of the secound source of uncertainty. Due to the fact that credit restrictions are oriented to the credit level instead of the credit flow, the volume of additional credits relevant for current economic activity is an unknown monetary quantity. If in one period, for example, old bank credits in the amount of 100 are repaid and simultaneously new bank credits are granted in the same amount, there is no change in the level of credits. But the monetary authorities have only vague ideas about the magnitude and temporal distribution of these fluctuations.