Industry Norms Research Articles

Tax Incentives for Green Burial

Every living being is doomed to decay and die and decay some more. Death is inevitable, and the disposal of our dead is a fundamental global activity with the potential to have significant environmental impact. In the United States, the environmental toxicity of “traditional” modern burial is stark. A cosmeticized body is pumped with three gallons of embalming fluid (containing chemicals such as formaldehyde) that eventually leaches through metal and wood and into the ground. An estimated 5.3 million gallons of embalming chemicals are buried annually in what are essentially luxury landfill-slash-golf-courses, with landscaping and grass to maintain and mow, in coffins that are typically constructed of nonbiodegradable chipboard. And while cremation is a more environmentally friendly alternative, incineration cremation falls short of being labeled “green.” Fire-based cremation utilizes significant resources and energy, attributable to the substantial quantity of fossil fuel required to burn human remains at 1,562° F (850° C) to reduce a corpse to ash. Pollutants are generated in doing so, including an average of 250,000 tons per year of carbon emissions and an estimated 320 to 6,000 pounds of mercury (from incineration of dental fillings) per year. This tradition-steeped industry has projected domestic annual revenues of $68 billion (by 2023) and, interestingly, the industry has slowly started to “go green.” Changing the way in which one is buried will not solve the problem of climate change, but it does respect the notion that one’s last act on earth should not be to harm it. Industry norms are on the brink of disruption: the alt-death or death positive movement seeks to infuse the human experience back into death; there is capital investment into new innovative death service technologies, e.g. Funeralocity, WeCroak; and green death care tech startups are dramatically broadening available options for reintegrating human remains back into the environment in an eco-friendly manner. Unfortunately, a myriad of market failures and obstacles are impeding that disruption. This Article explores our modern disconnection from death, the transitioning of human remains in an environmentally friendly manner, the importance of pre-need or pre-death planning and prepayment to protect the grieving consumer, and the way in which tax incentives may be utilized to weave these ideas together in a cohesive plan for a green tax credit. A Pigouvian subsidy is proposed in the form of a refundable tax credit for qualified expenditures related to the nonrefundable prepayment of expenses arising from “sustainable disposition or transition of human remains.”

Compensation and Benefits Survey 2019

Compensation and Benefits Survey 2019

The consequences of deviating from financial reporting industry norms: Evidence from the disclosure of foreign cash

This study examines how investors respond to firms’ disclosure practices that deviate from the majority of industry peers (i.e., industry norms). The SEC has made repeated calls for the disclosure of foreign cash in order for investors to have more information in determining firms’ liquidity positions. We examine the association between firm value and the non-disclosure of foreign cash in industries where the majority of firms choose to disclose foreign cash. We define partial disclosure as disclosing permanently reinvested earnings (PRE), but withholding the disclosure of foreign cash, and find that when the majority of industry peers disclose foreign cash, investors discount the firm-specific partial disclosure of foreign operations. This finding suggests that investors have similar information demands as the SEC, and that withholding foreign cash results in a valuation discount. We also find that this discount is more pronounced for firms predicted to have higher levels of foreign cash and higher levels of PRE. The discount in firm value is also concentrated among firms with managers who have more career concerns, suggesting that managers shift the cost of partial disclosure to shareholders instead of bearing the personal reputational cost of full disclosure. Our results are robust to multiple matched samples and entropy balancing. While previous literature has considered the valuation implications of foreign cash disclosures, we reveal the consequences of opting to withhold the disclosure of foreign cash. Our findings should be of interest to both managers and policy-setters in forming their disclosure protocols.

Examining Gallery-Supported Art Exhibitions

For-profit art galleries are making news for the donations they provide to nonprofit art organizations to support exhibitions of artists represented by such galleries. Yet nonprofit art organizations are committed to advancing art for the public interest, not for private profit. This Article examines whether there are any meaningful limits on gallery donations that support art exhibitions at nonprofit arts organizations, focusing on the legal framework governing federal tax-exempt status, as well as the self-regulatory rules and informal norms of the art industry. Does the existing regime allow gallery-supported art exhibitions or are they activities that do not further nonprofit art organizations’ missions? What short-term and long-term solutions are available and appropriate in light of the causes and context of gallery-supported art exhibitions? These questions are animated by the broader dialogue about equitable access to publicly funded resources, with the answers having important implications for what it means to promote art that is representative of American society.

A Historical Note On The Assignment Of Pesticide Common Names

Thousands of pesticides, herbicides, and related chemical products are used today to control disease-bearing insect populations and enable large-scale agricultural production that feeds much of the world. This short note traces the history of one small but important aspect of this industry—the assignment of common names to pesticides and related products. The little-known history of pesticide common names is illustrative of a few important points. First, it demonstrates the trend exhibited in many fields for the development of standards to migrate from a governmental agency to a US-based standards organization to an international standards organization. Second, it evidences the concern that many in the standards world have had over the potential capture of common names by private firms through trademark law. The anti-trademark protections built into ANSI’s Standard K62.1-1956 sought to ensure that common names for pesticides and related chemical products would remain available for all manufacturers to use. With the demise of ANSI Committee K-62, direct US participation in the development of pesticide common names has gone by the wayside. Nevertheless, it appears that industry norms, as well as unofficial oversight by WSSA and other scientific bodies, have, thus far, deterred the capture of pesticide common names through trademark law. Even so, it is worth asking whether it is in the best interests of the US industry to cede this important function entirely to international oversight, and whether increased US participation in ISO may be warranted both in this area and others.

Incorporating Culture: How Indigenous People are Reshaping the Northwest Coast Art Industry by Solen Roth

Reviewed by: Incorporating Culture: How Indigenous People are Reshaping the Northwest Coast Art Industry by Solen Roth Ellen A. Ahlness Solen Roth. Incorporating Culture: How Indigenous People are Reshaping the Northwest Coast Art Industry. Vancouver: University of British Colombia Press, 2018. 228 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $32.95 sc. Consider a truth of appropriation and colonial insertions into native and cultural industries: practices affect people differently depending on whether they claim a direct connection to the expressions being commodified. The driving intent behind Incorporating Culture is to examine how and why Northwest Coast art industry norms are slowly shifting to the greater incorporation of Indigenous individuals and a greater implementation of respect for Indigenous law and economic principles, as well as what this shift could mean in the broader Native art market and beyond. Coming from a background in cultural anthropology with training in constructing sustainable models for cultural heritage preservation, Incorporating Culture comes from Roth’s doctoral fieldwork as a descriptive and philosophical study of a novel stage for Indigenous self-determination efforts: the artware industry. In the acknowledgements of Incorporating Culture, the author shares that the book is “not an attempt to have a final word on issues hotly debated…[but a] contribution to these debates” (x). This honest introduction to an exploration of the Native art industry in the Northwest prepares readers for an examination of the systemic challenges facing the Northwest art industry, including controversies, the de-economization of the term ‘stakeholders’, and confronting symptoms of larger dynamics privileging non-Indigenous peoples even in a Natively-rooted industry. On a personal level, Incorporating Culture tells the story of an industry’s transformation from a capitalist market to a system that has greater recognition of cultural and economic sovereignty, though this process has not necessarily been linear. Art is like any other natural resource; its communities, ecosystems, and people that foster and contribute to it must be maintained. Thus, in this work, Roth demonstrates how discourses affect actual business practices in this industry as individuals construct culturally modified capital structures. The book’s organization moves from examining the roots of the Northwest coast’s culture and industry to elaborating the role of trust in artware industries. From there, Roth provides cases and process-tracing explorations of cultural and behavioral shifts in the artware industry, considering how these shifts have been prompted by Indigenous participants and ‘stakeholders’ (a term which Roth pays [End Page 119] careful attention to, given the economic roots and problematic connotations of this label). Central to Roth’s analysis is an industry need to support local approaches to sustainable resource harvesting. Producers and consumers need to nurture, rather than exploit, cultural resources. The Northwest coast is arguably a very studied region, with Vancouver as the hub. Consequently, scholars must distinguish themselves through their focus, methodological approach, or engagement with readers. Roth writes like a historian, giving considerable attention and page space to detailing the pathways and processes that have led to contemporary features in the Pacific Northwest’s Native art industry. In the area Roth lives, it is common to see art containing Native stylistics, therefore, as both a guest and witness to these artware spaces, Roth nuances activities that are traditionally understood as capitalist ventures, while elaborating challenges to art and cultural practices as commodities. It is because there are more Indigenous people in this industry that values of property, relationships, and economic principles are shifting to more accurately reflect the histories that inform the contemporary market. Through the first half of the book, Roth presents a new framework for understanding native artware industries: the interplay between Indigenous and capitalist models of economics led to concentrated and intentional efforts to create culturally modified capitalism (CMC) wherein Indigenous peoples use capitalism in value-imbued ways. CMC is not an alternative to capitalism, but presented as more of a compromise—that if one is to engage in capitalism, he or she could harness it to better reflect his or her way of life. The strongest elements of Incorporating Culture manifest throughout the text. Roth is careful to not gloss over the different styles in Northwest coast art. Terminological clarification is also communicated very well with...

A Study on Exhibition Evaluation System from the Perspective of Exhibitor

With the rapid development of China’s convention and exhibition industry, exhibitions have become more and more in numbers but with uneven qualities and lack of industry norms and evaluation standards. The study of the exhibition evaluation system is conducive to the sustainable development of the exhibition industry. In this study, the indexes and weight degrees of exhibition evaluation from exhibitors’ perspectives are explored. Through the literature review of exhibitors and exhibition evaluation, and in-depth interviews with relevant enterprise personnel and experts, the indexes of exhibitors’ exhibition evaluation are determined and the exhibition evaluation system is constructed. After the data processing and analysis of the questionnaires, an empirical study on the important factors of exhibitors’ exhibition evaluation is conducted, aiming to provide important enlightenment for exhibitors to improve exhibitions’ qualities.

Research on Integrated Control Platform for Intelligent Building Weak Current System

The paper follows the industry norm standards currently promulgated by the state, uses advanced design theory to integrate design and management of the weak current system of intelligent residential quarters, and designs the structure of intelligent buildings and the principles and programming of software and hardware, and closed-circuit television for intelligent communities. The monitoring system, the home intelligent system and the three-meter remote transmission system are designed in detail, and the implementation organization of the weak electricity project is given. It is confirmed that the intelligent building integrated power system integrated control system can provide a safe, comfortable, convenient and energy-saving living environment for the community, and realize the purpose of community resource sharing, unified management and control.

The Impact of Auditors’ Use of Industry Norms on Management Evaluations of Audit Quality

Interactions between auditors and client management affect audit quality on an engagement because those interactions influence and incentivize auditor behavior and decision-making. I investigate whether an auditor’s use of professional judgment or industry norms to justify proposed adjustments increases client management’s evaluation of the quality of audit work. I find evidence that, although management views industry norms to be a more credible justification method, management disregards the justification method and evaluates audit quality based on underlying accounting attributes when their client reports under an accounting standard that is more precise (i.e., more rules-based). However, when an accounting standard is less precise (i.e., more principles-based), an auditor’s use of industry norms positively influences management perceptions of audit quality. Thus, when standards are less precise, auditors may be incentivized to engage in herding behavior by defaulting to the use of industry norms when determining appropriate accounting treatment for client transactions. This study makes important contributions toward a more complete understanding of the incentives and motivations faced by auditors relative to their interactions with client management and provides insights to regulators about the impact of the level of precision in accounting standards.

Impact of IT practices and business value of IT measurement

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to measure the business value of IT (BVIT) and illustrate the relationship between IT practices and BVIT.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a case study approach to collect the subject firm data over a period of one year. The data are about various IT systems used in the firm and their associated capital and operational cost components. The derived data are then compared with industry benchmarks.FindingsThe IT practices employed by the firm enable it to achieve a BVIT which is higher than the industry norm, from both strategic and operational perspectives.Research limitations/implicationsIn this study, a year’s worth of data from a single firm is considered. The temporal frame of the research data limits the generalization of the results. To improve the generalizability, data from many years and across many firms may be used.Practical implicationsThe paper provides insights to managers to identify the measures of BVIT. Further, managers can make necessary interventions based on IT practices to derive IT capabilities which, in turn, impact the firm’s performance.Originality/valueThe contribution of the work is manifold: illustration of the relationship between IT practices and BVIT; illustration of a methodology to evaluate firm-level BVIT; and an approach to collect IT expenses – both capital and operational level.

A Two-Part Model for Mitigating Violations of Codes of Conduct: Analysis of a Case Study

Practical Applications Summary In A Two-Part Model for Mitigating Violations of Codes of Conduct: Analysis of a Case Study, from the Summer 2018 issue of the Journal of Investing, author Majed R. Muhtaseb (of California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, CA) uses a case study to illustrate violations industry norms and to explore a two-part model for mitigating those violations. The case study involves an international bank that used local media to offer prospective investors an opportunity to subscribe to shares in an IPO. The two-part model consists of Gardner and Shulman’s professional framework and the Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct developed by the CFA Institute. Muhtaseb recommends that institutions adopt the two-part model to help mitigate compliance risk.

Role of Industry Factors in Financing the Outward Foreign Direct Investment by Indian Multinational Enterprises

The article investigates the impact of industry environment of the home country (in which Indian parent firms operate) on financing their outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) for the period 2008–2009 to 2013–2014. Due to difficulty in empirically examining the flows within a multinational system there exists scant literature in this area. By employing random effects probit model we find that size and growth rate of the industry have important implications for OFDI financing by parent firm. Second, by including time effects, uniqueness of the industry to which the parent firm belongs significantly shapes the OFDI financing. Third, parent firms are found to significantly rely on their own strengths than industry environment in financing the OFDI, lending support to the ownership advantage theory of international business. Finally, parent firm is found to follow industry norms in financing their OFDI. The study has implications for supply-side factors determining capital structure of firm and internal capital available to a multinational.

Gendered Entrepreneurialism and the Labour of Online Consumption in the Independent Fashion Sector

In the intersecting space between contemporary economic models, social media, and fashion and the body, it has been suggested that women are performing emotional and esthetic labor with increasing scrutiny, intensity and impact. This article considers interactions between and within two Instagram accounts from the perspective of these intersecting issues, using the labor they perform within the context of online consumption as a case study. The purpose is first to understand how these interactions occur in online contexts; and secondly, to examine what insight these interactions can offer into gendered labor and entrepreneurialism in fashion. Data was collected over a 12-month period in which the Instagram accounts of the fashion label Elizabeth Suzann and an Instagram community dedicated to her clothing were observed. Findings highlight the centrality of the body in their interactions and it is proposed that the accounts studied reflect a type of gendered entrepreneurialism in which esthetic and emotional labor is performed in order to create a welcoming, safe and useful space - especially for women whose bodies do not conform to social and industry norms.

Assessment of key airline selection indicators in a strategic decision model

Purpose Fierce competition in the airline industry compels airline companies to offer various services. Yet, while companies strive to become preferable, customers confront numerous airline selection indicators, and as such causes vagueness in human thinking that needs to be systematically and normatively resolved. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is initially to establish a strategic decision model that incorporates key selection indicators, among hundreds of criteria, through a systematic approach. Subsequently, it also aims to investigate the relative importance of these indicators for passengers. Design/methodology/approach This research first utilises a comprehensive literature review to uncover key indicators used in airline selection. Afterwards, the outcome obtained from the first phase initiated the phase of determining the prioritisation of these key selection indicators, through the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method, based on passengers’ judgments. Findings The outcome of structuring a strategic decision model reveals 32 key selection indicators to be mainly considered by passengers and these indicators are grouped under five dimensions in this paper. Then, the prioritisation results given by the AHP indicate that “price-related factors” and “customer satisfaction-related factors”, respectively, are more important dimensions for passengers while selecting the best airline company. Originality/value The proposed approach provides a novel way to identify and prioritise key airline selection indicators for different passengers, through using the AHP, as a response to the need of adopting a systematic and comprehensive manner with the inclusion of general industry norms. Within this scope, the established model and the prioritisation results can be used as a reference by both airline passengers during their decision-making processes and airline companies which aim for becoming more competitive.

The gap between academy and industry - A qualitative study in Turkish aviation context

Following the rapid growth of aviation industry in Turkey, the number of universities offering aviation management programs and enrolled students have substantially increased. The aim of these programs is to meet the demand of qualified personnel needed by the growing aviation industry and to contribute to its development. However, the extent to which these departments fulfill their missions is unknown. Universities and industry face different public pressures, regulatory expectations, and industry norms. In addition, both sides have different cultures, policies, and institutional logics. These differences affect how the academy and the industry form and manage their relationship. The aim of this study is to explore the current relationship between Turkish aviation industry and aviation management departments of Turkish universities and to understand how their expectations and values are shaped by the institutional dynamics and institutional logics. The findings reveal that different institutional logics of the aviation industry and aviation management programs result in a gap between what the aviation industry managers value and what aviation management programs offer. This gap causes graduates to face difficulty in finding job in the aviation industry and it also hinders the effective collaboration between industry and academy.

Governance of ICT Standardization: Due Process in Technocratic Decision-Making

In the world of continuous globalization, technical standards and industry norms play a crucial role in transnational economic development. For the past few decades, increased digitalization and emergence of new technologies gave due prominence to ICT standards: our future is closely linked to the Internet of Things and 5G technologies that are expected to penetrate an enormous range of economic sectors and by this means affect our quotidian life. At the same time, the introduction of these new technologies is accompanied by concerns such as privacy and security. Especially the latter has been recently subjected to a wider political debate, which was largely fueled by national security concerns voiced by Western governments regarding the involvement of China-based companies, Huawei and ZTE, in standardization of 5G technologies. In this context, the paper discusses whether the current regulatory landscape can address the variety of concerns raised in relation to the development of ICT standards through the well-established procedural principles for standard-setting, such as openness, transparency and consensus, and whether these principles ensure that ICT standardization, while delivering cutting-edge technological solutions, remains balanced and inclusive.

Wind energy production uncertainty associated with wind assessments of various intervals

While wind assessment periods commonly range from 1 to several years, this is typically based on experience and industry norms. In this investigation, we perform an analysis of the error that can be expected in a wind resource assessment of various lengths of time. In contrast to earlier work measuring the uncertainty of predicted wind speeds, the uncertainty in this evaluation is measured directly in terms of energy and revenue production. As the wind assessment period increased from 30 days to 1 year, the average error increased slightly. However, when the wind assessment period was increased to 2 years, the average error decreased significantly. Simultaneously, the standard deviation of the error distributions decreased and the magnitude of the maximum experimentally obtained error decreased. By understanding how the energy production uncertainty decreases with increasing assessment time, the length of the assessment period can be tailored to match a developer’s risk tolerance.

A tax compliance risk profile of guesthouse owners in Soweto, South Africa

Background: A conceptual framework to assess the particular tax situation of small business owners identifies three key aspects that distinguish small business owners’ perceptions of their tax obligation. These aspects are: they are likely to perceive more opportunities not to comply than employed taxpayers; they are likely to lack meaningful taxation knowledge and they are likely to frame the paying of taxes as a loss.Aim: The aim of this article was to sketch a tax compliance risk profile of guest house owners in Soweto to suggest strategies to negate those factors that may negatively influence their compliance behaviour.Setting: Tax compliance is a priority for tax administrations, especially in developing countries such as South Africa where small businesses are a high compliance risk group. Small guest houses’ income is usually variable and/or cash-based and not easily verifiable against third-party data, which creates a high risk of non-compliance.Methods: A mixed methods research approach was followed. Empirical evidence in the form of semi-structured questionnaires administered face-to-face with 23 guest house owners in Soweto was statistically and thematically analysed to compile a profile of the tax compliance risk according to the framework for tax compliance behaviour of small business owners.Results: Factors such as age, gender and tax morale show favourable results for tax compliant behaviour. However, perceptions of fairness, perceived opportunity for non-compliance, knowledge deficits, decision frames, industry, business size and social norms embrace a high risk of non-compliance for this population.Conclusion: Information pointing out the factors that could negatively influence tax compliance behaviour in this population was obtained. Strategies for empowering small business owners to comply voluntarily with their tax obligations are suggested and include, for example, taxpayer education and improved communication efforts from the revenue authority.

Becoming Gamesworkers: Diversity, Higher Education, and the Future of the Game Industry

Higher education qualifications and the training of talent have become increasingly important in game industry and policy discourse in the United Kingdom. This heightened rhetoric and dedicated pots of funding referencing the significance of the games talent pipeline may represent the opportunity to cultivate greater inclusion in the workforce, which continues to be largely homogenous in terms of gender and race. Drawing on qualitative research with stakeholders in five case study institutions, this article highlights the ways in which the production of gamesworker subjectivity by institutions, instructors, and students hinders this possibility. Transparency about the exploitative working conditions and exclusionary norms of the game industry instead becomes the grounds for aggressive and conservative performances of labor bravado, foreclosing collective action, moral arguments about addressing inequalities, and creativity. The article closes by addressing the tension between team-based collaboration and competitive individualism as a site of potential intervention.

Bridging proprietary modelling and open-source model management tools: the case of PTC Integrity Modeller and Epsilon

While the majority of research on Model-Based Software Engineering revolves around open-source modelling frameworks such as the Eclipse Modelling Framework, the use of commercial and closed-source modelling tools such as RSA, Rhapsody, MagicDraw and Enterprise Architect appears to be the norm in industry at present. This technical gap can prohibit industrial users from reaping the benefits of state-of-the-art research-based tools in their practice. In this paper, we discuss an attempt to bridge a proprietary UML modelling tool (PTC Integrity Modeller), which is used for model-based development of safety-critical systems at Rolls-Royce, with an open-source family of languages for automated model management (Epsilon). We present the architecture of our solution, the challenges we encountered in developing it, and a performance comparison against the tool’s built-in scripting interface. In addition, we use the bridge in a real-world industrial case study that involves the coordination with other bridges between proprietary tools and Epsilon.