This thesis explores attitudes and perceptions of the Libyan managerial class to the internal audit function focusing on the oil and gas industries.

Selling stock to the general public is one important method by which firms are able to raise new equity capital. If the firm sells stock for the first time to the general public, it is called an initial public offering (IPO). Subsequent to the IPO, firms may seek to raise further equity capital by offering to sell new shares through a seasoned equity offering (SEO). In the UK, most young/small firms initially raise equity capital from a small number of investors through private placements. If a firm prospers and needs additional equity capital, it may choose at some point to go public by selling stock through an IPO. By issuing publicly traded equity, the firm establishes both a market value for the firm and a market for its common stock. There have been many IPO studies that record the so-called “Underpricing anomaly” as a primary stylised fact of IPOs. The underpricing refers to the significance increase of the IPO market price over the first few days after the initial listing. This fact suggests that the IPO pricing is not simple very few information about the issuing firm is available to the market prior to IPO. This study is to examine the IPO valuation based on the prospectus information, which is perceived as comprehensive information about the firm prior to the IPOs. Furthermore, this study is also to observe the impact of the prospectus information on the IPO after market performances.

In 1973, leading professional accountancy bodies from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, United Kingdom and the United States of America established the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) in a bid to confront the problems of international accounting diversities. In addition to the efforts of the IASC, various other bodies such as the United Nations, the European Community, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, have at various times also attempted to address this problem. Against this background, the first main objective of this study is to assess the extent to which the accounting measurement and associated disclosure practices of five leading countries, namely: France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the USA differ in spite of the major efforts made so far to reduce or eliminate diversities in the accounting practices of different countries. The second main objective of this study is to ascertain the extent to which the accounting measurement and associated disclosure practices of multi-listed and domestic listed companies from these five countries differ. This is interesting in view of the argument that globalisation and internationalisation of capital markets provide a justification for global accounting harmonisation. In order to accomplish the study objectives, the financial statements of 413 large listed companies from France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the USA for the 1990/91 financial year and 293 large listed companies for 1970/71 financial year were surveyed to ascertain the extent to which there were significant diversities between the accounting measurement and associated disclosure practices of companies from the five countries before (1970/71) and after (1990/91).

This research focuses on the contrastive analysis of authentic persuasive business correspondence written in English by Thai speakers and native English speakers in the Thai business context. Three types of persuasive correspondence - sales promotion, request, and invitation - were analysed from contrastive text linguistic and pragmatic perspectives. The purpose was to examine, compare and contrast their rhetorical structures, functions and linguistic realisations as well as persuasive and politeness strategies, and to compare these features to those found in textbook samples of persuasive letters in order to investigate the extent to which those samples represent the authentic, real-life correspondence. The findings report on cross-cultural variations which differentiate the persuasive writing patterns and strategies of Thais and native English speakers. Despite some shared writing conventions, the findings reveal diversity in some rhetorical moves, linguistic realisations, rhetorical appeals and politeness strategies. The diversity includes some cultural-bound discourse patterns and cultural-specific textual features, many of which can be traced to interference from the Thai language and culture. An exploration of the nature of sales promotion, request, and invitation letters presented in one American and two Thai textbooks on Business English writing reveals that their letter samples reflect the characteristics of the authentic corpus in the business contexts to which they belong. The implications of this research are twofold. First, it has implications for the teaching of English business letter writing especially in the Thai context and the innovation of more advanced materials and methods for this pedagogical purpose. Second, it raises an awareness of differences in persuasive writing across languages and cultures, worth noting for developing cross-cultural understanding and communication strategies for effective intercultural business interactions in the dynamic business environment of the 21st century.

This research applied Ajzen´s theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to investigate the payment behaviour of over-indebted consumers within the German mailorder industry. Both imprisoned (N=41) and not-imprisoned (N=97) consumers´ attitudes, social norms, perceived behavioural control (PBC), its correspondent beliefs, and payment intention were analysed using structural equation modelling with the partial least squares approach. Although the sample size was small, the fit of the models were statistically valid and no statistical difference between imprisoned and not-imprisoned consumers was ascertained. The main predictor variables were analysed regarding gender specification and were enriched with moral norms and past behaviour. Subjective norm was the strongest predictor of payment behaviour of the not-imprisoned sample. Gender had a statistically relevant impact on payment intention. In sum, the main constructs of the TPB explained 35.8% of the variance in intention (R²) to pay further mail-order invoices on time. PBC increased the accuracy and the model was therefore superior to the theory of reasoned action (R² = 28.5%). The extension of the TPB with moral norms led to an increase of R² to 47.0%, with past behaviour to 39.5%, and with both to 49.0%. Therefore, this supports the extension of the basic model of the TPB in order to strengthen the explanation of the behaviour under consideration. In general, the outcome of this study identifies further related factors concerning payment behaviour, beyond those previously present within research and practice. From a practical perspective this study adds significant value to the understanding of over-indebtedness in Germany and its implication for the mailorder industry. It demonstrates the alarming debt situation of individuals over the last several years and the ambivalence regarding the normality of having debts in Germany. It emphasizes the complexity of payment behaviour and its personal influences. Payment of a mail-order invoice on time has no single specific causation, but typically is caused by more factors than previously thought.

Background: Experimental studies have shown that exposure to food advertising on television can affect children’s food preferences, choices and consumption in the short-term. However, little is known about the role of habitual television viewing (and therefore food advert exposure) and its potential relationship with brand awareness, brand requests, food preferences and weight status in children. The published research examining the UK television food advertising landscape also has a number of limitations that restrict its usefulness in assessing the potential influence of such food promotion on children’s diets. The current thesis used innovative methodologies to examine hypotheses arising from these issues in 6-13 year old children and on the UK television channels most popular with this age group. Key Findings: Effects of acute, experimental food advertising exposure (Chapter 3): Relative to toy advertisement exposure, food advertising exposure increased all children’s selection of branded and non-branded fat and carbohydrate items from food preference measures. No weight status differences in food preferences or response to advertising were found. Preferences for branded food items were particularly enhanced in high TV viewing children following food adverts suggesting that these children may have an increased susceptibility to these messages. However, all children were better able to recognise food adverts than toy adverts. Effects of habitual food advertising exposure (Chapters 3-5): Food preference differences between high and low TV viewers were evident in the absence of experimental television food advertising exposure in Chapters 4 and 5. All children were better able to correctly identify product names from brand character stimuli than vice versa. Higher habitual advertising exposure did not confer a greater ability to recognise food advertisements (Chapter 3) nor identify brand characters or products. Children with greater brand awareness did not display greater self-reported preferences for branded food items. The extent of food advertising on UK television (Chapter 6): Food advertising on television varied across channels, channel types, broadcast platforms, viewing times and recording periods (months of the year). The foods advertised on the channels most popular with young people were predominantly unhealthy items, even during periods when large numbers of children are watching, with promotions for healthy foods comprising less than a fifth of all food advertisements. The nature of food advertising on UK television (Chapter 6): Promotional characters (such as brand equity characters, licensed characters and celebrities) were often used to promote unhealthy foods to young people, although their use to promote healthier food items was greatest on dedicated children’s channels. Food adverts aimed at children principally rely on ‘fun’ as a key attribute of both the advertising experience and the use/consumption of the product. Food brand websites were most likely to be promoted during food adverts aimed at teenagers or adults. Implications: This thesis increases understanding of the effects of habitual food advertising exposure on food preferences and food preference responses to acute, experimental food advertising, in addition to providing a comprehensive assessment of the television food advertising landscape in the UK following regulatory reform.

The decline of high streets due to external factors, such as changing consumer trends, the growth of alternative forms of retail, changing economic conditions etc., is a topic that has received a great deal of political and media attention during the last decade. The performance of high streets is influenced by a multitude of complex and conflicting economic, environmental and social factors. However, despite this, existing performance measures continue to place emphasis on the retailing and economic functions of high streets. As consumer needs and expectations shift towards a preference for social and experiential high street features, the need to change the perception of high street success is increasingly important. This study has identified statistically significant differences between importance scores allocated to high street assessment criteria by a range of high street stakeholder groups. These differences reveal the varying priorities of key stakeholders when it comes to high streets, and the subsequent need to account for the varied needs and expectations of stakeholders when it comes to assessing high street performance. This research contributes new and original knowledge through the development and application of a high street sustainability assessment model that incorporates criteria weightings to reflect the needs and expectations of key high street stakeholders. Utilising Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods, the model comprises an all-inclusive set of weighted criteria that reflects a high street's economic, environmental and social functions. The model is applied to a practical example of eight English town centre high streets. The thesis presents the ranking of the high streets in terms of their relative sustainability and provides a step-by-step guide of how key stakeholders can apply the model for their own high street decision making needs. The model can inform national and local high street policy, strategies and decision making, and provides benefits to a range of stakeholders, including national and local government, town centre managers, local businesses and local communities. The model output can inform recommendations and indicate areas of improvement that would be most beneficial to improved high street sustainability.

In this industrial History of Birmingham and the Black Country, I have tried to trace the course of economic development from two points of view. In the first place, I have been concerned with the transformation which has occurred since 1860 in the general industrial character of the area and with the changes in the relative importance of the chief manufactures. This part of my work has involved a detailed description of Birmingham and District as it appeared in I860, and a consideration of the forces which have since been at work in causing the rise of some trades and the decline of others. My second object has been to examine the methods of manufacture and sale and the scale of production which has been associated with the leading industries at different times and so to indicate the general development which has taken place in industrial organisation.

To induce tax compliance, two opposite approaches are used: the coercive and the persuasive: firm action versus collaboration. Little attention has been paid to the comparative success of these two approaches – a situation this thesis seeks to remedy by investigating the effectiveness of three coercive and three persuasive instruments among large corporate taxpayers registered with the LTU of Bangladesh. Following an analysis of survey data using binary and multilevel logit and CHAID models, and an analysis of elite interviews employing an interpretivist approach, the findings suggest that coercion or persuasion are less likely to improve tax compliance when used separately than when used in combination, although coercion seems the more powerful of the two. Factors underlying the power of the coercive approach are the rationality and regularity of its application, along with its legal and financial imperatives. Reasons contributing to the appeal of the persuasive approach are a reduction in tax compliance costs, an improvement in accountability and a reduction in knowledge gaps between taxpayers and tax administrators, and coordination of the various tax laws.

The following thesis presents the results and analysis of three distinct experiments. The first features an experimental auction market designed to resemble eBay and other such peer-to-peer markets, including the presence of a reputation mechanism. The results presented suggest that the presence of a reputation mechanism will improve consumer welfare. Further, having a greater number of possible feedback ratings available leads to even further improvements in consumer welfare. The second features a repeated auction that also involves Bayesian uncertainty, about the 'type' of the seller. In addition, we present the predictions of a theoretical model that extends the existing sequential equilibrium literature into multi-player, market-based games. We find that reputational concerns remain an important consideration in such settings. The final experiment examines the role of within group heterogeneity (in the endowment and marginal return) in public goods games. The novel experimental designed allows for a full schema of relationships between the endowment and marginal return. The results presented suggest that there are significant behavioural differences depending on the relationship between the endowment and marginal return. When they are inverse, subject’s absolute contributions are not different. When the two are proportionally related, relative contributions are not different.