European Financial and Accounting Journal, 2012 (vol. 7), issue 2

Introduction

How (not) to Improve the Quality of Universities

Petr Dvořák

European Financial and Accounting Journal 2012, 7(2):4-6 | DOI: 10.18267/j.efaj.6  

Dear readers, in recent years, we have heard about the need to improve the quality of our universities in differently strong waves virtually continuously. How many suggestions have been made on how to reform universities, how much time a lot of people have spent on them, how much has it cost - and the results? The annual cosmetic changes in the funding of schools associated with limitation of number of students in public schools, which only complicate schools' considerations exceeding one-year horizon and bring no benefits. All of this variegated by occasional disputes concerning the granting, or not granting the accreditation. There are a number of...

Articles

Hedge Funds and their (Non)regulation

Petr Musílek

European Financial and Accounting Journal 2012, 7(2):7-23 | DOI: 10.18267/j.efaj.7  

The objective of this contribution is not only to explain the position of institutional investors on global capital markets, but also evaluate their impact on the operation of financial systems. The core of this contribution is dedicated to hedge funds that in the period before the outbreak of global financial crisis were not subjected to almost any regulation, except for some dishonest practices. Institutional response to the global financial crisis however changed significantly the regulatory-supervisory approach also to hedge funds. The Dodd-Frank Act introduced quite promptly sensitive registration of important investment managers of hedge funds...

Strategic Management Accounting Development during Last 30 Years

Libuše Šoljaková

European Financial and Accounting Journal 2012, 7(2):24-35 | DOI: 10.18267/j.efaj.8  

This paper analyses some reasons why strategic management accounting was not widely accepted. After initial boom of strategic management accounting there is stagnation in recent year. Application of strategic management accounting in practice does not exceed pilot case study. Strategic management accounting lessons are not commonly included in educational programs. Finally researches on strategic management accounting have only limited results. Paper is based on literature review and empirical research.

Term Structure Modelling by Using Nelson-Siegel Model

Hana Hladíková, Jarmila Radová

European Financial and Accounting Journal 2012, 7(2):36-55 | DOI: 10.18267/j.efaj.9  

Zero coupon rates are not observable in the market for a range of maturities. Therefore, an estimation methodology is required to derive the zero coupon yield curves from observable data. If we deal with approximations of empirical data to create yield curves it is necessary to choose suitable mathematical functions. We use parametric model of Nelson and Siegel. The current mathematical apparatus employed for this kind of approximation is outlined. This theoretical background is applied to an estimation of the zero-coupon yield curve derived from the Czech coupon bond market. There are many methodologies and each can provide surprisingly different...

Different Perspectives on Business Performance and Impact on Performance System Design

Zbyněk Halíř

European Financial and Accounting Journal 2012, 7(2):56-81 | DOI: 10.18267/j.efaj.10  

Currently, increasing emphasis is placed on performance measurement and management. The paper is concerned with the connection between the performance of an enterprise in general and financial performance. This connection has been naturally sustainably changing over time. Question of performance measurement is observed by a variety of functional disciplines. The paper emphasizes the necessity to bring a diverse body of knowledge of performance measurement issues into a coherent whole. In subsequent part it deals with summarizing the most important developmental tendencies of financial performance measurement and management accounting and with analysing...