Although thermionic emission has been studied for more than 100 years, recent interest in novel electron devices for military and civilian use has led to a surge in demand for cathodes with enhanced ...emission properties (e.g., higher current density, more uniform emission, lower operating temperatures, or extended in-service longevity). Sc-containing "scandate" cathodes have been widely reported to exhibit superior emission properties compared to previous-generation thermionic cathodes, including oxide, B-, and M-type cathodes. Despite extensive study spanning several decades, the mechanism by which the addition of Sc enhances cathode emission remains ambiguous, and nonuniform emission, low reproducibility, and inconsistent longevity continue to prevent widespread commercial integration of scandate cathodes into electron devices. This second part of a two-part review explores the various mechanisms proposed for how Sc enhances electron emission and summarizes ongoing scientific challenges relating to the development and deployment of scandate cathodes.
Prior research emphasizes the centrality of audit offices in understanding auditing practices, and documents significant interoffice variation in audit outcomes based on industry expertise and office ...size. Our study examines how two city‐specific labor characteristics also affect audit offices and local audit markets: the city's average educational attainment, and the number of accountants in a city, which proxy for a city's human capital. Our argument draws on the urban economics literature and predicts that the level of human capital in a city is positively associated with an audit office's ability to conduct high‐quality audits. As expected, there is a positive association between audit quality (quality of audited earnings and accuracy of going‐concern reports) and average education level in the city in which the lead engagement office is located. This association is generally significant for both Big 4 and non‐Big 4 offices, but is relatively stronger for non‐Big 4 firms that are more tied to local labor markets. A company is also more likely to choose a non‐Big 4 auditor in cities with higher educational levels and relatively more accountants, and there is evidence of higher non‐Big 4 audit fees as a city's education level increases. Collectively, these results suggest that local labor characteristics affect audit offices, audit quality, and the ability of non‐Big 4 auditors to compete with Big 4 auditors in the audits of public companies.
Audits des sociétés cotées et caractéristiques de la main‐d’œuvre propres à la ville
Les études antérieures sont axées sur la centralité des bureaux d'audit dans la compréhension des méthodes d'audit et font état, preuves à l'appui, de variations importantes des résultats de l'audit entre les bureaux, selon les compétences sectorielles et la taille des bureaux. Les auteurs se penchent ici sur la façon dont deux caractéristiques de la main‐d’œuvre propres à la ville influent également sur les bureaux d'audit et les marchés d'audit régionaux : le niveau de scolarité moyen et l'effectif comptable de la ville, indicateurs servant de variables de substitution au capital humain de la ville. Les auteurs fondent leur argumentation sur la documentation en économie urbaine et posent l'hypothèse selon laquelle le niveau de capital humain d'une ville serait en relation positive avec la capacité d'un bureau d'audit de mener des audits de qualité supérieure. Leur analyse confirme l'existence d'un lien positif entre la qualité de l'audit (qualité des résultats audités et exactitude des rapports sur la continuité de l'exploitation) et le niveau de scolarité moyen de la ville où se trouve le bureau responsable de la mission. Ce lien est généralement significatif tant pour les bureaux des Quatre Grands cabinets que pour les bureaux des cabinets n'appartenant pas à ce groupe, mais il est relativement plus marqué dans le cas des cabinets ne faisant pas partie des Quatre Grands qui sont liés de plus près aux marchés du travail régionaux. Une société est également davantage susceptible de choisir un auditeur n'appartenant pas aux Quatre Grands dans les villes où le niveau de scolarité est plus élevé et où l'effectif comptable est relativement plus grand, et certaines données révèlent que les honoraires d'audit des cabinets n'appartenant pas aux Quatre Grands augmentent avec la hausse du niveau de scolarité d'une ville. Dans leur ensemble, ces résultats semblent indiquer que les caractéristiques de la main‐d’œuvre régionale influent sur les bureaux d'audit, sur la qualité de l'audit et sur la capacité des auditeurs n'appartenant pas aux Quatre Grands de rivaliser avec les auditeurs des Quatre Grands dans les audits des sociétés cotées.
ABSTRACT
Auditor credibility is important in the banking industry due to the opacity of bank assets and the use of financial statements by external parties to facilitate monitoring. Depositors ...monitor and discipline bank behavior, but they can also contribute to the spread of shocks from one bank to another. We argue that depositors perceive bank failure as an audit failure, which reduces their assessment of auditor credibility. We document that exposure to failure through the audit firm is associated with lower uninsured deposit growth following the failure, consistent with depositors perceiving failures as a negative signal of auditor credibility. We further document that this association is stronger when depositors perceive connection to failure to reflect a pervasive issue within the audit firm. Collectively, our results suggest that depositors consider accounting signals at other banks in assessing financial reporting credibility.
JEL Classifications: G21; M41; M42.
Although thermionic emission has been studied for more than 100 years, recent interest in novel electron devices for military and civilian use has led to a surge in demand for cathodes with enhanced ...emission properties (e.g., higher current density, more uniform emission, lower operating temperatures, or extended in-service longevity). Sc-containing "scandate" cathodes have been widely reported to exhibit superior emission properties compared to previous-generation thermionic cathodes, including oxide, B-, and M-type cathodes. Despite extensive study spanning several decades, the mechanism by which the addition of Sc enhances cathode emission remains ambiguous, and nonuniform emission, low reproducibility, and inconsistent longevity continue to prevent widespread commercial integration of scandate cathodes into electron devices. This first part of a two-part review explores approaches that have been used for fabricating Sc-containing thermionic cathodes and the microstructures and emitting properties that result.
We examine whether peer audit choices influence a bank's decision to obtain an audit voluntarily. We find that the likelihood of a bank voluntarily obtaining an audit is significantly associated with ...the audit decisions of peers. The relation is stronger when the peers are more salient due to closer geographic proximity, similarity in loan portfolio, and similarity in size. In addition, we find that peer influence on a bank's audit decision is moderated by the bank's existing level of assurance. Specifically, banks already obtaining a lower level of assurance are less likely to begin an audit in response to peer influence. We also find no evidence that peer influence extends to banks' decisions to cease obtaining an audit. Overall, our findings are consistent with peer influence significantly influencing banks' decisions to begin obtaining an audit.
Résumé
Faire comme les autres ? L’influence des pairs sur les audits volontaires au sein des banques
Les auteurs examinent si les choix des pairs en matière d’audit influencent la décision d’une banque de procéder volontairement à un audit. Dans le cas des banques, ils constatent que la probabilité de procéder volontairement à un audit est fortement associée aux décisions d’audit des pairs. La relation est plus forte lorsque les pairs s’avèrent plus importants en raison de leur proximité géographique, de la similitude de leur portefeuille de prêts ou de leur taille. En outre, ils observent que l’influence des pairs sur la décision d’une banque de réaliser un audit est diminuée par le niveau d’assurance fourni par la banque. Plus précisément, les banques fournissant un niveau d’assurance moins élevé sont moins susceptibles de lancer un audit en réponse à l’influence des pairs. Les auteurs ne trouvent aucune donnée indiquant que l’influence des pairs s’étend aux décisions des banques de cesser de procéder à un audit. Dans l’ensemble, les résultats de l’étude tendent à démontrer que l’influence des pairs influe de manière significative sur la décision des banques de procéder à un audit.
This article examines perceptions of how safe airline travel is and respondents’ level of concern over privacy and trust of authorities. These attitudes are then used to understand the choice to ...travel under passenger screening processes with differing levels of invasiveness. We find that travelers who are more trusting of authorities are more likely to choose to travel internationally, whereas those with low overall feelings of safety while onboard an aircraft are predisposed to not travel. Our analysis reveals what attitudes and potential screening measures are linked to this feeling of overall safety, chief among which is the presence of visible uniformed police. Our results are also novel as they study these attitudes in the context of a spate of recent air-related disasters; finding no desire to accept screening processes that invade privacy beyond what is currently practiced.
SUMMARY
We examine the consequences of firms' disaggregation choices for auditor effort and audited financial statements. We document a significant positive association between disaggregation and ...audit fees, our proxy for auditor effort. Using separate measures of disaggregation of smaller line items versus larger, obviously material, line items, we provide evidence that one of the avenues through which disaggregation may increase auditor effort is through changes in auditors' assessments of materiality for smaller line items, especially when financial statement scrutiny is high. We also find disaggregation (and the audit fees associated with disaggregation) constrain the ability of managers to manipulate earnings in the audited financial statements compared to the unaudited financial statements, suggesting the fee response to disaggregation is due to auditor effort. Last, we provide evidence that our results are not fully explained by client litigation risk or other client attributes driving disaggregation choices.
JEL Classifications: M41; M42.
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-specific monoclonal antibodies with extraordinary potency and breadth have recently been described. In humanized mice, combinations of monoclonal ...antibodies have been shown to suppress viraemia, but the therapeutic potential of these monoclonal antibodies has not yet been evaluated in primates with an intact immune system. Here we show that administration of a cocktail of HIV-1-specific monoclonal antibodies, as well as the single glycan-dependent monoclonal antibody PGT121, resulted in a rapid and precipitous decline of plasma viraemia to undetectable levels in rhesus monkeys chronically infected with the pathogenic simian-human immunodeficiency virus SHIV-SF162P3. A single monoclonal antibody infusion afforded up to a 3.1 log decline of plasma viral RNA in 7 days and also reduced proviral DNA in peripheral blood, gastrointestinal mucosa and lymph nodes without the development of viral resistance. Moreover, after monoclonal antibody administration, host Gag-specific T-lymphocyte responses showed improved functionality. Virus rebounded in most animals after a median of 56 days when serum monoclonal antibody titres had declined to undetectable levels, although, notably, a subset of animals maintained long-term virological control in the absence of further monoclonal antibody infusions. These data demonstrate a profound therapeutic effect of potent neutralizing HIV-1-specific monoclonal antibodies in SHIV-infected rhesus monkeys as well as an impact on host immune responses. Our findings strongly encourage the investigation of monoclonal antibody therapy for HIV-1 in humans.
•A large amount of time commuting, it is important we understand how that time is valued.•We explore values in three contexts: individual WTA, individual when partner affect and.•Hierarchical Bayes ...analysis is used to provide parsimonious decomposition of WTA values.•Rich insights into how people value commuting time are revealed allowing a better understanding.
This paper reports on an analysis aiming to understand differences across individual people in their willingness to accept increased commuting time in return for higher salary, using Hierarchical Bayes (HB) analysis of a dataset collected in Sweden. We find that socio-demographic and attitudinal differences are significant in explaining the variations in values of time for individuals, in particular income, who drives when carpooling and hours worked per week. Additionally we also examine the values of individuals when their choices also impact on the salary and commute of their partner, finding that incomes, income differentials, driving behaviour when carpooling, division of housework and car user decisions significantly explain the values assigned to others and variations in an individual’s own values once their partner is affected. The overall richness of the results reflect the benefits that posterior analysis can bring, and highlight the computational efficiency of Bayesian methods in producing such conditionals at an individual level.
•Accurate measures of attitudes are important to understanding public transit use.•Traditional ratings scales may produce biased results.•We propose new method of measuring attitudes toward public ...transport via best worst scaling.•Jointly estimate satisfaction and importance to better understand attitudes.•Produce better delineation between factors which affect attitudes.
Attitudes play an important role in determining individual transit behaviour and the measurement of attitudes is relied on by public transit authorities’ world over. Given their role in behaviour and policy making, the accurate measurement of attitudes is of critical importance. Traditional satisfaction scales are prone to bias and on their own they are only a partial measure of attitudes. Given that satisfaction scales have been used to assist with large scale transport infrastructure investment decisions, to aid policy makers examining reactions to alternative policy changes and reform, and to measure the success of new initiatives, deriving robust satisfaction scales should be of critical importance. This paper introduces a dual version of best–worst scaling as an alternative measure of satisfaction. Best–worst scaling is free of the biases inherent in traditional response scales and is ideal for handling the comparative evaluation of large amount of attributes, particularly those which are inherently qualitative. The paper makes a further innovative contribution by proposing a model structure for the joint estimation of satisfaction and importance. Our model shows a better delineation between the attributes used to measure attitudes towards bus use and a more detailed understanding of the relationship between importance and satisfaction; enabling transport operators to better understand what counts most and assess their performance.
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