The post-SOX comparative dynamics of public accounting firm efficiency

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the differences in the efficiency of public accounting firms across both firms and countries in the post-Sarbanes-Oxley world. It also investigates the issues surrounding the dynamics of their efficiency gaps. Design/methodology/approach This study uses four-stage data envelopment analysis to estimate the efficiency of public accounting firms in the USA, the UK and Canada over the period 2008–2015. The ß- and σ- convergence tests are applied to analyze the dynamics of the efficiency gaps across firms and countries. Findings The results show that market competition in the accounting sector increases efficiency. Gross domestic product growth also increases it while inflation decreases it. The analytical results indicate that the lagging public accounting firms are catching up to the leading public accounting firms within the same country, within the Big 4 group and within the non-Big 4 group. They also show that the non-Big 4 groups are catching up to the Big 4 group and that the countries with less efficient accounting firms are catching up to the country with the more efficient accounting firms. Originality/value This study accounts explicitly for the effect of business environmental factors on public accounting firm efficiency. Furthermore, the research also adds to the literature by investigating the comparative dynamics of the efficiency gaps of public accounting firms.

STUDY OF INVESTMENT POTENTIAL OF CIRCULAR BUSINESS' COMPANIES

In the last decade, a number of scientists around the world have been considering the transition from the traditional linear to circular economy, seeing it as part of the fourth industrial revolution, which should result in significant improvements in the sustainable use of natural resources. Many large international corporations are gradually beginning to engage in this transition by developing and implementing technologies for circular business in their production chains. The article considers the investment potential of shares of such companies; how attractive shares of corporations working with circular business technologies may be for investors. In order to achieve the aim of the research the authors consider several from major international corporations operating in technologies of both old linear economy and circular economy. Using the technical possibilities of the Internet resources a number of charts reflecting comparative dynamics of share prices of each of the studied companies with the Standard & Poor's – 500 index of the stock market have been constructed and analysed. It also studied the comparative dynamics of each from those companies’ share price with the relevant sector indices. It is concluded that, in the current environment, the circular business of large international corporations does not yet have any significant impact on the change in the share price of the relevant company. The company's core business is still decisive. Therefore, when looking for stocks with significant investment potential, the extent of a company's involvement in the circular economy may be taken into account, but this factor should not be decisive for the investment decision. The development of the circular economy is very important from the point of view of the social and environmental impacts of human economic activity, but there is currently no reason to claim that circular business companies have high investment potential. This issue requires further research.

Current trends in paediatric infections in the Russian Federation

The onset of 2020 clearly demonstrated that infection agents pose a major threat to mankind. Current infectiology is shaped by resurrection of “old” seemingly forgotten infections, emergence of “new” infection agents, unusual combinations of known agents, evolving resistance of microorganisms to antibacterial drugs, transformation of human microbiome leading to distortions in herd immunity and, ultimately, emergence of healthcare-related infectious diseases, not letting alone threats of bioterror. Infection agents evolve together with mankind. Novel facets emerge in infectiology, alongside with trends in diagnosis, treatment and prevention of infectious diseases that become more diverse as the list of pathogens grows. Human and infection agent links extend beyond antagonistic relations towards symbiosis. Microorganisms adapt quickly in the new technogenic environment giving rise to novel pathogens and making it unlikely for the mankind to get free from infections any time soon.The total economic damage from infectious diseases increases by year, despite continuous improvement in therapy. Infectious mortality in children aged 0 to 14 years is the top fourth among other causes of death. The work assesses comparative dynamics of “common” childhood infections in the Russian Federation during 2018–2020. We analyse official statistics on paediatric infectious morbidity, comparative dynamics of main infectious diseases (acute respiratory diseases, intestinal infections of bacterial and viral nature, neuroinfections, anthropozoonotic infections, viral hepatitises), assess trends in morbidity of vaccine-preventable infections in children and adults in the Russian Federation, with greater detail towards selected regions, from January 2018 to April 2020.

Comparative Dynamics of Individual Ageing among the Investigative Type of Professionals Living in Russia and Russian Migrants to the EU Countries

The goal of this study was to uncover the influence of professional activity, migration, and gender on dynamics of subjective age and ageing biomarkers. We examined the representatives of investigative types of professions (ITP), 30–75 years old in Russia, (101/62 women), and Russian migrants to the European Union, (101/56 women). ITPs appeared to be ageing slower than statistical standards; men age faster than women; the pre-retirement group (51–65 years old) showed acceleration of relative biological ageing in the Russian sample (women +4.5 years, men +10.7 years) against the EU sample, suggesting a boost of pre-retirement stress in Russia; subjectively, Russian people (51–65 years old) feel close to their chronological age, while EU people perceive themselves far below their calendar age (men—lower by 20.4, women—lower by 10.9 years). The subjective ageing depends on the country of residence, while biological ageing depends on occupation, gender, and negative expectations of retirement.

Russian retail trade: institutional differences of trading companies as a factor of industry dynamics

The article establishes: a) the fact of significant institutional differences between groups of companies in the Russian retail trade; b) the trend of increasing these differences in recent years. Criteria for structuring a sample of large companies in the form of a number of clusters that differ in their institutional strength and compete with each other are identified and tested. Among the criteria — presence in ratings, market coverage, participation in business associations, size and complexity of companies, etc. The mechanism of dominance of market leaders over other companies is revealed on the basis of the concept of institutional rent received by a group of leading companies from the income of «lagging» companies; the conditions for the transition of companies from one group to another are revealed. Based on the analysis of information about retail chains included in the selected clusters, estimates of their integrated financial and economic indicators are given; the comparative dynamics of the latter is revealed. The hypothesis about the significance of institutional differences in clusters for the dynamics of the industry as a whole and individual groups of companies is confirmed. The article substantiates proposals for forecasting such institutional transformations of markets, scenarios of which take into account the existing market hierarchies of dominant and other companies. Recommendations are put forward to improve state regulation of industry development, taking into account the existing market architecture.