Acta Oeconomica Pragensia, 2014 (vol. 22), issue 6

Influence of IFRS on Earnings Manipulation: Evidence from the European Union

Tereza Miková

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2014, 22(6):3-18 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.455  

This paper analyzes the influence of one uniform accounting rule on accounting quality by investigating the effect of IFRS on earnings management. The paper examines whether IFRS adoption is associated with lower earnings manipulation measured by discretionary accruals, a commonly used method. It focuses on European Union membership among countries with both the common-law tradition and the code-law tradition. It investigates a sample of 603 companies (10,251 firm-year observations) during the years 1992-2013. The finding contributes to current accounting debate with the empirical evidence that earnings management did not decline after IFRS adoption....

The U.S. Competitiveness: Definition, Factors, New Opportunities (Case of Shale Gas)

Pavel Neumann

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2014, 22(6):19-34 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.456  

Using the example of the USA, the article deals with the issue of competitiveness. It defines various approaches to this phenomenon and analyses its individual factors. Additionally, it focuses on the differences in the USA evaluation with regards to their competitiveness in "external" and "internal" dimension. Furthermore, the paper tries to asses the growing influence of the U.S. new production factor: shale gas utilization. The cheap gas could play an important role by cost reduction. Based on the Global Competitiveness Index the country competitiveness has decreased, e.g. measured by the export performance of knowledge-intensive branches. However,...

Fines for Administrative Offences in Public Procurement: An Econometric Model

Martin Schmidt

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2014, 22(6):35-50 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.457  

This paper examines the fines for administrative offences in public procurement to consider whether their extent can be explained using an econometric approach. These fines, in the Czech Republic, are imposed by the Office for the Protection of Competition. The Public Procurement Act specifies only the maximal level of the fine, however, its actual value depends on the discretion of the Office. This paper analyses the decisions of the Office since 2010 and using multiple linear regression tries to explain the amount of fines. The study examines the significance of parameters such as the size of the contracting authority, the type of award procedure,...

The Minimum Wage and Its Impact on Unemployment in the Czech Republic

Michal Pícl, Petr Richter

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2014, 22(6):51-65 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.458  

Minimum wage remained unchanged for many years. Politicians and even a large part of the business sector could not agree with previously spoken rule that raising the minimum wage has a negative impact on the overall unemployment rate of the country. The article therefore initially concentrated on the development of the minimum wage in the Czech Republic, its comparison with other European Union member states and tries to find the answer by empirical methods whether the raising of the minimum wage in the Czech Republic has a really economic impact on the unemployment in this country.

Problem of Missing Data in Questionnaire Surveys

Iva Pecáková

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2014, 22(6):66-78 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.459  

Almost any data set can be encountered to the problem of missing data; it is well known in the phenomena relating to people populations and researched in sample surveys. In recent decades, the issue of missing data received considerable attention, because the simple omission of units, for which data are lacking, from the analysis may lead to erroneous conclusions. The approach that accepts the existence of missing data through the modification of the probabilities of units selection with probabilities of obtaining data on them, leads to the construction and use of the weights. Different solution lies in filling in missing data. Using the arithmetic...

Compound Adjectives in Business German in Names of Products Properties

Věra Höppnerová

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2014, 22(6):79-89 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.460  

In German, compounding is a very productive type of word formation used for creating names of product properties. Circa 500 compound adjectives are divided into five structural groups. The frequency of both constituents of compound adjectives is examined, and their semantic relationships are characterized. The individual structural types are assigned Czech equivalents, in which compound adjectives are relatively rare. The most frequent counterparts are phrases whose core - an adjective - is determined by an adverb, a noun or a prepositional phrases in apposition.

Utilitarianism According to John Stuart Mill

Martin Janíčko, Pavel Janíčko

Acta Oeconomica Pragensia 2014, 22(6):90-97 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aop.461  

The article discusses utilitarianism in the form elaborated by John Stuart Mill. Although utilitarianism has been variously employed by philosophers and economists, Mill is the figure most closely associated with this theory. His ideas deeply influenced economists of the 20th century and continue to shape the postulates of contemporary economics and other social sciences. We demonstrate how seminal utilitarianism was to Mill's work, explore what influenced his thoughts on it, and place our analysis in the socioeconomic context of the time Mill was writing. We argue that utilitarianism has eclipsed Mill's other contributions to economics, yet is often...