Economics - Theses
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ItemManagement accounting in Australia: an investigation into the reasons for the gap between theory and practice( 1991)Even a brief glance at a cross-section of the many text-books dealing with cost and management accounting makes it evident that there is almost universal agreement among academics as to the "body of knowledge° which constitutes the area known as Cost and Management or Managerial Accounting. Furthermore, an examination of the contents of any of these major textbooks, such as Horngren and Foster (1987) and Shillinglaw (1982), through their sequence of revised editions over more than twenty years will reveal very little substantial change in their Table of Contents. In fact, this remarkable consensus of material has led Scapens(1983a), who had compared the topics covered in twenty four management accounting textbooks published in the previous six years, to coin the phrase the "Conventional Wisdom" of management accounting, at least as it is understood by academic textbook writers. (From Introduction)
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ItemEmployee participation and industrial democracy in Australian government employment: 1983-1988( 1990-05)The subject of employee participation in the public sector has been neglected in the academic literature of Australia. The present research aims to redress this deficiency. Its explicit focus is employee participation in Australian Government Employment (AGE) in the first six years of the Hawke Labor Government, that is, the period 1983-1988. The choice of this period is an important one. The election of the Hawke Government marks a turning point in Australian public administration: this was a government committed to the thoroughgoing reform of the public sector and employee participation was integrated into its reform agenda, albeit in the guise of industrial democracy. In the first part of the thesis the discussion clarifies the meaning and relationship between the concepts of employee participation and industrial democracy. This is followed by a review of the overseas literature on employee participation in public employment. In the second part, the development of employee participation in AGE is dealt with at a general level. This account spans the period 1901-1988, however, the account of the sub-period 1983-1988 is more detailed. In the third and fourth parts, the exposition becomes more specific. Detailed case studies of Australia Post and the Australian Taxation Office, which provide an account of the development of employee participation ranging from the national to the workplace level of each organization, are presented. In the final part, the discussion is drawn together and the lessons of the recent experience of employee participation in AGE are spelt out.
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ItemA strategic analysis of takeover behaviour in Australia, 1977-1982( 1987-12)The study aims to increase our understanding of takeover behaviour in Australia by using a strategic framework to analyse a sample of 152takeovers of publicly-listed firms made between 1977 and 1982. A two-level model of takeover strategies is developed to explain how the three general theories of takeover - the economic, the financial and the managerial theory - are each useful in explaining takeover behaviour under certain circumstances. The model classifies takeovers based on analysing four factors, namely the pre-takeover strategy of the acquirer, the industry relationship of the target to the acquirer, whether the acquirer is pursuing shareholder aims or managerial aims primarily, and the pre-takeover competence of the target. Nine takeover strategies are developed from the first-level of the model. These are named after the relationship between the acquirer and its target. They are called the Dominant-Existing, Dominant-Related, Dominant-Unrelated, Related-Existing, Related-Related, Related-Unrelated, Unrelated-Existing, Unrelated-Related and Unrelated-Unrelated acquirer strategies. Pre-takeover financial profiles are developed for each strategy and these profiles are used to infer corporate competencies of the acquirers and their targets. The major questions which are addressed are: Do there appear to be different acquirer strategies occurring in practice? Do different acquirer strategies have different financial profiles, and, by inference, different strategic competencies prior to the takeover? Do different acquirer strategies have different post-takeover outcomes and what is the nature of these outcomes for each strategy? The answer to each question is an emphatic yes. The results clearly identify several different strategies. Pre-takeover financial profiles vary for the major strategies. Post-takeover outcomes differ for the strategies, in accord with the expectations derived from both the strategic theory behind the model and also the empirical pre-takeover data for the particular takeovers in the sample. The outcomes show how the three general theories of takeover behaviour are complementary explanations, when perceived within a strategic framework.
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ItemThe corporate treasury function: risk management and performance measurement( 1997-05)The Australian financial system has changed dramatically in recent years, creating both threats and opportunities for value adding activities. Many large corporations have set up a separate treasury division or department to handle their financing requirements. This thesis derives the rationale for a separate treasury function from theory of the firm. A framework has been developed by drawing upon both the old theory of the firm (transaction cost economics) and the new theory of the firm (agency theory) to determine the appropriate governance structure to manage financial arrangements. Formal analysis of corporate treasury functions and performance measurement research has not kept pace with the growth of treasury activities. Appropriate benchmarks provide management with information to manage financial risk and to more accurately assess treasury performance. A benchmark is required for core treasury tasks, including debt portfolio management. Optimal treasury benchmarks are difficult to determine, due to the complexity involved in measuring financial exposures for firms which derive income from physical, rather than financial assets. The inter-relationships between financial risks, including maturity, interest rate and currency risk, further compounds the problem. Decomposition of financial risk into these respective elements allows identification of the firm specific factors that influence financial exposure. Appropriate benchmarks for managing repricing, refunding and foreign exchange risk depend upon the trade-off between transaction costs, agency costs and information signalling costs. Theory suggests growth options in real assets within the firm's investment opportunity set provide opportunities for natural hedges that offset financial risk. However, empirical analysis of share price sensitivity to interest rates and an analysis of debt maturity structure indicates growth options and agency factors are less important than firm specific characteristics when setting up benchmark portfolios to manage financial risk. Treasuries are often classified as either active or passive managers, but a continuum of strategies is possible when managing financial risk, rather than points at either end of a spectrum. Tolerance levels around the benchmark constrain activity within a relevant range - the more active the treasury, the broader the range. Constraints allow the degree of activity to be fine-tuned. The decision to actively manage risk depends upon whether value can be added in risk-adjusted terms. This is a function not only of whether opportunities exist, but also whether value can be added consistently, compared with a passive approach. The majority of practising treasurers describe themselves as 'active hedgers'. Subject to caveats outlined in the thesis, field experiments conducted over a three year period indicate the ability of corporate treasurers to add value to the firm through outperforming a passive benchmark portfolio of debt is limited. Respondents to an international survey on corporate treasury control and performance standards cited difficulty in setting benchmarks, particularly risk-adjusted benchmarks, as the major reason for not measuring treasury performance. Empirical determinants of benchmark structures for repricing risk, refunding risk and currency risk have been identified. A better understanding of the factors that determine financial risk will assist management when they are designing or refining benchmarks to manage financial risk and measure treasury performance.
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ItemShop stewards in the Latrobe Valley( 1988)In Australia, industrial relations research has focused almost exclusively on the major industrial relations institutions and their role in the determination of the rules of the workplace. Local workplace industrial relations and the interaction between worker and representatives and enterprise management has been a neglected area of research. This study attempts to rectify this situation. By focusing attention on the workplace a number of important questions are raised that have not been systematically addressed in Australian industrial relations research. In particular, what, if any, is the role of shop stewards in a centralised system dominated by unions, employers and tribunals organised on a state and national basis? If there is a role for shop stewards, how does this role manifest itself in terms of the stewards’ relationships with members, fellow shop stewards, union officials and management? Finally, what factors explain variations in role perceptions, and how does the adoption of a particular role affect the behaviour of shop stewards? This thesis will address these questions. It examines in some detail the behaviour of shop stewards in the coal winning and power generation industry in the Latrobe Valley. After reviewing the existing literature, a model of shop steward behaviour is proposed based on the stewards' leadership style and orientation to unionism. This model, in conjunction with union and employment variables, is then used to analyse differences in levels of bargaining, shop-f1oor organisation and industrial action as well as stewards' relationships with members, management and their union. By utilizing a survey questionnaire, interviews and two case studies the thesis demonstrates that the shop stewards of the Latrobe Valley play a significant role in workplace industrial relations. Further, it is argued that variations in stewards' behaviour are, at least in part, explained by the stewards' orientation to unionism, their leadership style, the type of union they belong to and their place of work.
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ItemTariff and non-tariff barriers to trade in the beef, dairy & wheat industry in Japan, Taiwan & Thailand between 1974 & 1994;( 1995-02)This thesis results from a long interest and association with Australian export activities in the East Asian region. It has developed from an investigation into the relevance of tariffs to Australia’s export performance in East Asia into a thesis which explores the performance of Australia’s Statutory Marketing Authorities (SMA’s) in the beef, dairy and wheat sectors in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, and the influence of Non-Tariff barriers on this performance. It is hoped that the data presented in the thesis will be a useful guide to the activities of SMA’s in East Asia between 1974 and 1994 and illustrate the success, or lack of it, that Australian exporters have had in overcoming the considerable barriers to agricultural trade with the region. More detailed analysis and assessments have been made of the statistical relevance of NTB’s, and the performance of SMA’s over the past ten years. However, this thesis sets out to charter a more diverse route through the intricacies and complexities of Australia’s export performance and admonish the notion that NTB’s are the pivotal factor to export success in East Asia.
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ItemA history of the Institute of Public Affairs( 1989)This thesis covers the history of the Institute of Public Affairs (the IPA) from its formation late in 1942 to the end of 1988. Some significant events in the early part of 1989, such as the resignation of director Rod Kemp, have of necessity had to be omitted.
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ItemAn appropriate financial reporting framework for small companies( 1986)The purpose of this thesis is to examine the implications of the Australian financial reporting framework for small companies operating in Australia, and to consider whether the framework is appropriate for these companies. The study necessarily contains discussion of Australian companies legislation and accounting standards. As far as possible, recently issued accounting standards and legislative changes have been considered. However, the revisions to Schedule 7 of the Regulations to the Companies Act 1981, which are effective from October 1986, are not discussed. Although a draft of the proposed revisions was released in December 1985, at the time of writing the substantive part of this thesis it was not apparent that the revisions would be introduced. Accordingly, it was considered inappropriate to review the proposals in detail, and brief mention only is made of the "draft revised Schedule 7" in Chapter Seven.
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ItemThe growth of large mining firms in Australia: case-study: C.R.A. Ltd.( 1981)To discuss the issue of the growth of business firms fully would carry us through the whole economic theory and practice. Rather than pursuing the question through all its ramifications, I intend to deal with some aspects of the integration of business enterprise which have immediate bearing on the characteristics of firms and their relationships with one another. Regardless of the method used to integrate business activities, such method must be flexible, that is, being capable of accommodating a changing population of firms performing changing operations. To achieve such flexibility, more than one flexible method of integration may be used. There are three basic methods which may be mixed in varying proportions in any particular situation, namely, integration by administration, by market transactions and by co-operation, Since we do not have one firm within which all business activities are integrated by administration, we have to face the problems of what determines the boundaries of firms boundaries of geography, of processes of products and of size and what determines the choice between the other two basic methods of integration, the market and co-operation, which are used to co-ordinate activities beyond the boundaries of firms. In this part an attempt will be made to discuss briefly the following issues: (a) Why do firms specialise in particular processes and products? (b) Why are some firms more specialised than others? (c) What determines the size of the firm? (d) What are the merits of the three basic ways of integrating business activities? (From Introduction)
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ItemThe evolution of Australian Treasury thought since 1945( 1982)This thesis aims to provide an understanding of the changing economic philosophy of the Australian Treasury, an institution of undoubted importance in influencing the nature of post-war economic policy but one which has been largely neglected by economic historians. As a corollary, the thesis aims also to make some (though of course a very limited) contribution to an even more significant gap in Australia's post-war economic history: an analysis of the contours of Australian economic thought in general. Recently, Fred Gruen has provided a survey of Australian economics from 1968 to 1978 and Geoff Harcourt has discussed the leading schools of economic thought in Australia - monetarist, bastard Keynesian, and post- Keynesian - and has related them to some key economic institutions, including the Treasury. Both of these are valuable contributions but are notably brief. Barry Hughes's Exit Full Employment is much more comprehensive and discusses Treasury thought in some detail but, as with Gruen and Harcourt, is concerned essentially with the 1970s. This thesis, by contrast, covers not only the 1970s but stretches back to the 1930s in an attempt to show how Treasury thought has evolved over more than four decades (with emphasis on the post-war period). To be more specific, the thesis is not a history of how the Treasury has influenced policy but aims to piece together the various elements of the Treasury's outlook - the way it views the economy and economic agents - to show how this view has changed over time, and to explain why it has changed. Given these aims, it seems essential to abandon a narrative style for an explicitly analytical and hermeneutical approach. For narrative would tend to obscure the extent and nature of the changes which have occurred in Treasury thought and obscure also the interrelatedness of the department's ideas. Liberal (but hopefully not excessive) use has been made of quotations. Such quotations are essential for giving flavour to the ideas discussed. More importantly, in an interpretative essay language is crucially important. Finally, some mention should be made of possible complaints concerning the style of the thesis. Perhaps the main complaint which could be raised is that the thesis is overly relativistic, in that it concentrates on tracing the evolution of Treasury thought and says little about the validity of the department's views. This is openly acknowledged. Nevertheless, before one can criticise (or support) the Treasury it seems essential to know something about what the department really thinks. It seems essential also to know why the Treasury thinks the way it does. In both these respects the thesis has some value. Hopefully, the thesis will convince the reader of an important fact: ideas about the world are not static but variable and assumptions made about human nature are of fundamental importance in determining one's view of the world and the economy. One has to be quite clear of these assumptions before one can engage in debate over which is more realistic.