Auditing, Audit delay, Timeliness

Findings do not indicate poorly-managed firms are more likely to be acquired than well-managed firms. The analysis uses a sample of 1, 046Texas banks that existed in 1970, out of which 201 were acqui red during the period 1970-82. A multinomial logit procedure is used to estimate the relationship between the likelihood of acquisition and the characteristics of the target firm and its market. Additional results suggest that firms with la rge market shares, low capital/asset ratios, and operations in urban areas are r elatively likely to be acquired but not firms with low profits or low growth.

Governments sometimes impose price controls and nonprice rationing-by-queuing. Profit-seeking firms occasionally ration by putting their customers on “allocation.” Following Barzel [1974] and Deacon and Sonstelie [1985], we take the decision to ration as a given and analyze it, employing standard microeconomics and applied welfare economics. This paper adds to the literature by focusing on optimally rationing a good across markets. Further, we estimate the actual welfare cost of improper allocation across markets in the U. S. gasoline crises of 1973–1974 and 1979.

The business cycle analysis of Arthur F. Burns and Wesley C. Mitchell and the National Bureau of Economic Research presumed that aggregate economic variables evolve on a time scale defined by business cycle turning points rather than by months or quarters. Do macroeconomic variables appear to evolve on an economic rather than a calendar time scale? Evidence presented here suggests that they do. However, the estimated economic time scales are only weakly related to business cycle time scales, providing evidence against the view underlying traditional business cycle analysis.

The commodity pattern of comparative advantage across countries is a central concept in international trade theory. Since the concept is based upon autarkic prices which are not observable in post-trade equilibria, its use in empirical research is most difficult. The literature reports numerous alternative indices that purport to comparative advantage. This paper examines the extent to which various measures are consistent using a large sample of trade flows. The results have important implication for judging empirical studies based upon particular choices of a measure for comparative advantage.

In 1981, Congress enacted a "safe harbor" lease law that permitted firms to sell unneeded tax depreciation deductions and tax credits to other firms. During the effective life of the law, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) did not establish reporting or disclosure requirements for firms entering the safe harbor transactions. Because of this, many policies were followed. This paper examines the impact of this lack of reporting and disclosure guidance on the comparability and Interpretability of financial statements across firms involved in leasing. This study provides examples of problems the FASB might need to address when analyzing changes under the new tax bill.