ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE

The increasing interest in the measurement of the performance and efficiency in non-profit public organisations, has led to the development of performance indicators, each of which attempts to measure the output (input) of a group of nearly homogeneous products (factors of production). The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology enables to aggregate performance indicators in order to obtain an overall performance measure through the comparison of a group of decision units. This paper conducts an application of the DEA methodology in the assessment of the performance of the Zaragoza University's departments (Spain). The indicators included concerns both the teaching and the research activity of the departments. The results reveal those departments that more efficiently carry out these activities. Finally, we discuss about the existence of differences in the strengths and weaknesses between departments of different areas.

Research question: This study assesses the performance of the Spanish Sports Federations in the Olympic Games of Beijing 2008 and London 2012 from the point of view of their efficiency in the use of the available resources. The research aims to identify the possible existence of a behaviour pattern in the performance of these sports federations and, particularly, the influence of the different funding sources on the results. Research methods: The measurement of the relative efficiency of the 22 federations that participated in both editions is carried out by applying the Data Envelopment Analysis methodology. The Malmquist index is used to analyse the evolution of the efficiency and, a persistence study, to evaluate the consistency of the results. Finally, correlations are estimated to verify the possible links between the efficiency of the federations and their funding sources. Results and findings: The study captures the relative efficiency of the federations in the sample, a deceleration in the performance being observed between Beijing 2008 and London 2012. It finds little relation between the relative efficiency of the federations and their different funding sources. Implications: This study may be especially relevant in a context where an important amount of public resources is earmarked for elite sports, without clarifying the "value for money" of such investments. It hopes to contribute to the existing literature with regard to the measurement of efficiency in sports through the introduction of indicators which can capture the performance of sports federations more precisely.

The objective of this study is to analyze, from a multi-theoretical framework, whether the managers of the Spanish National Sports Federations (NSFs) apply earnings management using accounting accruals as a measure of managerial discretion; secondly, whether these practices are associated with both the level of dependence on external resources, and the economic and financial control mechanisms exercised by the Superior Sports Council (Consejo Superior de Deportes, CSD) for the granting of public subsidies. The study provides evidence that long-term debt levels and the size of sports federations are determinants of earnings management, with a more accentuated relationship in the case of Olympic and Paralympic sports federations.

Actualmente, la mayoría de países desarrollados utilizan sistemas de pago prospectivos para financiar a los hospita les vinculados a la sanidad pública. Aunque estos sistemas favorecen el control del gasto hospitalario, pueden dar lu gar a respuestas indeseadas por parte de los hospitales en detrimento de la calidad del servicio. Este trabajo describe las características de las distintas variantes de sistemas de pago prospectivo más comunes y los resultados de su im plementación en algunos sistemas sanitarios con el objetivo de averiguar si alguno de ellos consigue compatibilizar los objetivos de eficiencia y calidad. Aunque no existe una solución óptima, la combinación de un método de pago prospectivo con una parte fija y otra variable parece la mejor alternativa para alinear los intereses económicos de fi nanciadores y hospitales sin dañar los intereses de los pacientes.

La integración de la cultura de la responsabilidad social constituye uno de los ejes centrales de la Estrategia Universidad 2015 como elemento fundamental del compromiso de la Universidad española con la sociedad y con su tiempo. Entre las acciones a acometer, las universidades responsables deben garantizar la rendición de cuentas mediante el establecimiento de mecanismos de comunicación que satisfagan las necesidades de información de los distintos grupos de interés.

La integración de la cultura de la responsabilidad social constituye uno de los ejes centrales de la Estrategia Universidad 2015 como elemento fundamental del compromiso de la Universidad española con la sociedad y con su tiempo. Entre las acciones a acometer, las universidades responsables deben garantizar la rendición de cuentas mediante el establecimiento de mecanismos de comunicación que satisfagan las necesidades de información de los distintos grupos de interés. Este trabajo trata de medir, mediante la ...

Resumen: La integración de la cultura de la responsabilidad social constituye uno de los ejes centrales de la Estrategia Universidad 2015 como elemento fundamental del compromiso de la Universidad española con la sociedad y con su tiempo. Entre las acciones a acometer, las universidades responsables deben garantizar la rendición de cuentas mediante el establecimiento de mecanismos de comunicación que satisfagan las necesidades de información de los distintos grupos de interés. Este trabajo trata de medir, ...

Este trabajo analiza los aspectos más relevantes del nuevo Plan General de Contabilidad Pública (PGCP), estableciendo una compa ración con el Plan General de Contabilidad (PGC), al objeto de poner de manifiesto las principales diferencias entre ambos y las razones que las fundamentan. A este respecto, cabe señalar que la reforma de la Contabilidad Pública ha tenido como punto de referencia la reforma contable llevada a cabo en el sector empresarial tres años antes, así como las Normas Internacionales de Contabilidad del Sector Públi co. Para ello el trabajo se centra en el contenido de tres áreas de la normativa contable: marco conceptual, criterios de reconocimiento y valoración de los elementos de los estados financieros y presentación de cuentas anuales.

This paper explores the state of the art in the cryptocurrency literature, with a special emphasis on the links between financial dimensions and ESG features. The study uses bibliometric analysis to illustrate the history of cryptocurrency publication activity, focusing on the most popular subjects and research trends. Between 2014 and 2021, 1442 papers on cryptocurrencies were published in the Web of Science core collection, the most authoritative database, although only a tiny percentage evaluated ESG factors. One of the most common criticisms of cryptocurrencies is the pollution derived from energy consumption in their mining process and their use for illicit purposes due to the absence of effective regulation. The study allows us to suggest future research directions that may be beneficial in illustrating the environmental effect, studying financial behavior, identifying the long-term sustainability of cryptocurrencies, and evaluating their financial success. This study provides...

Abstract‡: Microcredit programmes have been recently started in Spain, sparked by successful experiences in developing countries. The paper reviews the outstanding features of these programmes and their differences with developing countries models. It also moves forward the impact evaluation on unemployment and finds the subsidy dependence of Spanish microcredit institutions accurate because of the good results obtained by impact measures.

This article studies the bankruptcy of US banks since 2009. It first analyses the financial symptoms that precede bankruptcy, such as low profitability, insufficient revenue or low solvency ratios. It also goes into the causes of these symptoms. It poses several hypotheses on causes of failure, such as loan growth (some of them risky), specialization (in this case concentration in real estate) and the pursuit of a turnover-driven strategy neglecting margin. It presents and tests a structural equation modelling based on partial least squares path modelling (PLS-PM) and logistic regression. Results show that, 5 years before the crisis, failed banks had, compared to solvent banks, the following: higher loan growth, higher concentration on real estate loans, higher risk ratios, higher turnover, but lower margins. A relationship is found between symptoms and causes. Failed banks present a significant relationship between the percentage of real estate loans and risk. This relationship is negative in excellent banks, confirming that they allocated less real estate loans with a high quality. Nonfailed banks compensated increases in risk by strengthening their core capital.

Le micro-crédit : deux écoles théoriques et leur influence dans les stratégies de lutte contre la p a u v reté R É S U M É: Ce travail vise à identifier les fondements théoriques du micro-crédit. La littérature reconnaît l'existence de l'École d'Ohio et un nouveau courant appelé École de Grameen Bank semble voir le jour. Les idées de ces deux courants se reflètent dans les deux approches qui relient les objectifs des programmes de micro-crédit et d'aide aux défavorisés. De la même manière, nous trouvons un point commun entre les deux utilisations du crédit dans ce domaine : promotionnel et protectionnel.

This paper presents an empirical study of e-tailers' Internet positioning. Using a sample of 138 US webbased businesses and 20 positioning variables, the paper analyzes the visibility of e-tailers' web pages, their relevance in search engines, their reputation in shopping portals and their popularity in blogs and news portals. Principal component analysis is used to conduct an exploratory examination. The relationship between Internet positioning and e-tailers' performance is also examined in two ways: web metrics in terms of the number of visitors to the website, and financial results based on sales, profits, productivity, and sales growth. The results identify two kinds of Internet positioning: people-based and search engine-based. The study finds two basic kinds of competitive advantage for e-tailers: cost leadership and differentiation. No positive relationship is found between positioning and sales growth.