Ludek Seda

Identity theft and university students

Dr. Graciela Corral de Zubielqui
ECIC; University of Adelaide; Adelaide, Australia

Dr. Janice Jones
Flinders Business School

Dr. Pi-Shen Seet
Flinders Business School

Professor Noel Lindsay
ECIC; University of Adelaide; Adelaide, Australia
Ngee Ann Adelaide Education Centre, Singapore

Knowledge transfer between actors in the innovation system: A study of higher education institutions (HEIS) and SMEs

Purpose: To understand how and why do SMEs access knowledge from external actors in general and from HEIs in particular and what is the extent to which these knowledge access pathways affect SME innovativeness. Methodology:
The study involved both quantitative and qualitative approaches: a survey of 1226 SMEs; and a mini case study to follow up on issues arising from the survey analysis. The survey data was analysed using both non-parametric and multivariate Poisson regression analysis. The case study was based on a medium-sized manufacturing firm in South Australia. Findings: While there are significant differences between the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, the evidence suggests SMEs generally use “generic” university-industry knowledge transfer pathways (e.g. published research results) rather than university-industry links with high “relational” involvement. More significantly, the results indicate SMEs are more likely to rely on organisations other than universities and related R&D enterprises for knowledge acquisition like clients/customers or suppliers. While collaboration is most likely to occur within the same state/territory, or Australia, many SMEs also collaborate internationally, usually as part of normal supplier-customer relationships, reinforcing knowledge acquisition from organisationally proximate partners. These findings are also supported by the case study.

Liam Lenten
La Trobe University

Tournament design, prize structures and strategic effort-exertion: Evidence from the 'Field'

In some rugby union competitions, in addition to the usual awarding of (four) points for a win, there are also: (i) 'try'; and (ii) 'narrow loss' bonus points on offer. The former presents a rare opportunity in sport to sound out team-specific behaviour (resource allocation of both defensive  and attacking effort-exertion), as by conceding the bonus point, the opponent does not lose any points. We test this using ordered response models, finding that significantly more tries are scored in 2002-2012 Super Rugby matches by teams late in matches when they can earn the try bonus point with one more try.

Paul Kenny

Meeting the online competition for undergraduate business students: Innovate or detonate?

This paper examines the challenges posed to traditional methods of teaching undergraduate tax law as a reult of the proliferation of online university education providers. The paper advocates the case for innovation to accentuate teaching as well as the need to assess the effectiveness of such innovations. A case study is provided of an innovation involving ongoing individual assessment and team based learning (TBL) undertaken with undergraduate accounting and law students studying taxation law. The effectiveness of the innovation is assessed by way of student results, teacher's impressions, student feedback and a reflections assignment provided to students. The feedback demonstrated the many benefits of face to face team based learning for university students, teachers and traditional universities, as well as prospective employers.

Sigitas Karpavicius

The cost of capital and optimal financing policy in a dynamic setting

This paper revisits the Modigliani-Miller propositions on the cost of capital in the dynamic setting. I find that the firm's optimal capital structure and cost of capital depend on the time preference of the firm's manager, which is ignored by static models. The results show that the optimal captial structure always exists and the weighted average cost of capital decreases with leverage, even in the absence of taxes and bankruptcy costs. In an environment with taxes but without bankruptcy costs, the optimal capital structure is the mix of debt and equity rather than 100% debt. The results do not support the conclusions of Modigliani and Miller (1958, 1963).

Jian Liang and Yuan George Shan
University of Adelaide

The impact of mandatory international financial reporting standards in the UK and Germany on earnings quality: Is corporate governance a matter?

This study operationalizes preparer incentives using a self-constructed corporate governance score and examines the impact of accounting standards and preparer incentives on earnings quality. Our results suggest that International Financial Reporting Standards improve earnings quality in the post-adoption period. High quality standard and efficient governance mechanisms operate as complements in determining the quality of financial reporting in shareholder-oriented countries, whereas in stakeholder-oriented countries, they function as substitutes.