Journal of Contemporary Issues in Business and Government

As a way of evaluating the successful implementation of a national research assessment, this study measures the individual research performance of 1,572 UK and Irish accounting and finance academics in the period 200405, twenty years after the implementation of the increased research focus in the UK through the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). The findings show surprisingly low levels of research productivity with the average accounting and finance academic publishing less than one half of one publication per annum. Using two measures of quality—Journal Impact Factors and the existence of Social Science Citation Index articles— the results reveal an even sparser picture with only 11 percent of these academics publishing their research in the most prestigious journals over a two year period. Doctoral-trained male professor or associate professor level academics from older universities were found to be more likely to produce high quality publications. These demographic data should raise concerns for research policymakers and research academics alike as they demonstrate a disparity in favour of an already well funded, high performing minority. The overall low level of accounting and finance academic productivity in the UK, after 20 years of regular scrutiny, raises major concerns about the efficacy of such all-encompassing national RAEs. Advocacy of a simpler, less intrusive approach such as the Dutch system is advanced.

This paper quantifies the impact of Foodbank WA, a private not-for-profit organisation that provides a logistical and distributive interface—the bridge of support—between food producers with surplus or non-retailable foodstuff stocks and community agencies which access food products in large volumes. In 2007 this involved the collection and distribution of 1.5 million kilograms of food across Western Australia (WA) including regional centres. As a result these foodstuffs were not sent to landfill, at considerable savings to producers, and community agencies have been able to reduce the cost of sourcing food for their clients. The scale of Foodbank WA’s operations means that each week approximately 8,300 households (or 1% of all households in WA) are provided with at least part of their food supply. The total economic impact of Foodbank WA’s operations is AUD$18.4 million in a calendar year

This study compares the performance of local and overseas accounting students studying in a West Australian university with respect to a written and a practical component of an examination question associated with a second year level accounting unit. An analysis of the results, using an analysis of variance, indicated that the language background for these two groups of students was a significant discriminating variable with respect to the written, but not the practical, component. This result suggests that the standard of written English language skills of overseas students is below that of their local counterparts, and this outcome lends support to the assertion that English language difficulties contribute to overseas graduates being less likely to gain professional employment than their local counterparts. Notwithstanding the extreme importance and implications of this research for concerned stakeholders including educators, educational institutions, graduates, employers and regulators, the research findings are tentative and further research is needed in relation to both academic performance and professional employment outcomes.

Retail tourism is a niche retail market of importance in Australia to both business and government with international students comprising a significant proportion of this market. A convenience sample of 216 international higher education (IHE) students at a West Australian university revealed that demographic characteristics showed statistically significant differences in authentic souvenir attributes and intention to purchase. Whilst female IHE students tend to buy arts, paintings or jewellery, IHE students from the Asian region tend to buy collectables or accessories. Older IHE students are more likely to purchase authentic souvenirs as gifts for other people. Overall, Australian souvenirs made in Australia were considered as being of high quality, expensive, authentic and prestigious compared with Australian souvenirs made elsewhere. Additionally, factor analysis showed that features influencing souvenir purchases could be grouped according to the four attributes of innovativeness, portability, symbolism and popularity.

Following major corporate collapses, the US Government introduced the SarbanesOxley Act of 2002 requiring, among a number of issues, management of listed companies to carry out risk assessment procedures and report this to their shareholders. This article focuses on tax risk management (TRM) and examines its evolution in Australia through the Australian Stock Exchange Principles of Good Corporate Governance provisions and the Corporations Act of 2001. In light of the recent focus by the Australian Commissioner of Taxation on TRM of large corporations, this article explores the benefits of TRM and considers how technology can assist in managing tax risks.

Government policies in Australia are heavily directed towards local communities developing their civil society networks to solve complex social, economic and environmental problems. In response, rural communities in Australia have mobilised around principles of sustainability to adapt towards regional self reliance. While decentralised governance is a key mechanism aimed at facilitating local empowerment and community resilience, devolution of responsibility to the local levels also enables governments to distance themselves from decision-making processes that deliver inequitable outcomes. This case study examines the impetus for community engagement and the effectiveness of social mobilisation approaches in delivering socially just outcomes. It is argued that mandatory mechanisms of accountability are vital to ensure that decentralised governance structures are inclusive and facilitate the inter- and intragenerational justice concerns of all community members.