Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 68-70).

Auditing is common in many organizations and a legal requirement for all limited liability companies in Sweden (ABL 9:1). In directives from the government it is clearly stated that small firms will be exempted from the statutory audit requirement. In light of this forthcoming change in regulations, this thesis is used to analyze which factors are associated with a demand for auditing. Analysis in this thesis is based on a national survey including 900 Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). Around 2/3 of respondent’s (CEO or CFO) state that the firm will choose to have audited accounts even in the absence of such a legal requirement. Based on responses from 421 firms, logistic regression results indicated that firms purchasing advisory services from an audit firm will choose to have their accounts audited to a higher extent than those firms not receiving advisory services. This finding, not identified in prior studies, is linked to advisory services being of higher quality when the audit firm also performs audit work. The demand for auditing is further positively associated with firm size, use of a Big 4 audit firm and firms located in the county of Småland. From these findings it follows that the traditional view of auditing as merely a control mechanism needs to be complemented by consideration of aspects of the internal value of auditing. The approaches of SME’s when engaging an audit firm for different types of advisory services is examined in this study based upon survey data. It is shown that the majority of advisory services provided are related to core competencies of an auditor such as tax, accounting and law. Logistic regression results show a positive association between firms purchasing advisory services and the length of the relationship with the provider as well as with the respondent’s perception of the audit quality. The latter association further confirms the close connection between audit and advisory services. It should be noted that when an audit firm recommends advisory services their use is significantly higher. There is also support for the demand for advisory services being positively related to firms that are corporate subsidiaries and located in Småland and Norrland, but negatively associated with the respondent’s level of education. It follows that factors related to demand for advisory services on an aggregate level could be categorized as being dependent on firm characteristics, audit firm characteristics and the relationship between the parties. Provision of non-audit services (NAS), such as different types of advisory services, to audit clients and the potential consequences for auditor independence and audit quality have been discussed in public debates and research as well as being subject of regulation. OLS regression results show that reporting quality is higher when the audit firm provides advisory services as well as preparing accounts. These findings hold for both discretionary accruals and a respondent’s perception of reporting quality. The provision of NAS improves the reporting quality due to better knowledge of the client and its operations. From the perspective of reporting quality this finding implies that there is no necessity to further restrict the possibility for an audit firm to provide advisory services as well as preparing accounts for audit clients.

Cette recherche est essentiellement motivée par deux idées : dépasser le débat entre le cosmopolitisme et l’étatisme, et mettre de l’avant des mesures concrètes visant l’éradication de la pauvreté. Je crois qu’il existe des théories convaincantes de la justice globale, qui défendent l’existence de principes de justice au niveau mondial sans avoir à défendre l’implémentation d’un État global ou d’une institution mondiale à caractère étatique. Afin d’examiner ces positions, cette recherche sera structurée autour d’une distinction, celle entre les approches de justice qui dépendent des pratiques qu’elles cherchent à réguler (practice-dependent) et les approches qui sont justifiées indépendamment des pratiques (pratice-independent). J’évaluerai les versions les plus plausibles de ces approches afin de déterminer quelles mesures concrètes visant l’éradication de la pauvreté peuvent y être associées. Parmi les nombreuses objections que l’on peut faire à toute théorie de la justice globale, deux retiendront particulièrement mon attention. D’une part, j’examinerai la justification, la portée et le contenu des théories de la justice globale afin de démontrer que certaines d’entres elles peuvent surmonter la charge du traitement inégal. D’autre part, j’identifierai les agents responsables et les mesures de la justice qu’on peut leur associer, afin de surmonter la charge de l’indétermination des agents. / This research is mainly driven by two ideas: to overcome the debate between statism and cosmopolitanism, and to put forward concrete measures targeting poverty eradication. I believe that there are convincing theories of global justice, which endorse principles of global justice without having to argue for a global state or world government of sorts. In order to examine these positions, this research will be structured around the distinction between accounts of justice that depend on the practices they intend to regulate (practice- dependent) on the one hand and accounts whose justifications do not depend of any practice (practice-independent) on the other. I will assess the more convincing examples of these approaches in order to determine concrete measures targeting poverty eradication that we could derive from them. Of the many objections that can be addressed to any theory of global justice, two will retain my attention in particular. On the one hand, I will examine the justification, scope and content of theories of global justice so as to show that some can overcome the charge of unequal treatment. On the other hand, I will analyse the agents and measures of justice that we could associate with these views in order to surmount the charge of agents’ indeterminacy. / Cette recherche a bénéficié du soutien de plusieurs organismes. D’abord, je remercie le Conseil de recherche en sciences humaines du Canada (CRSH) de m’avoir accordé la bourse J.A. Bombardier – bourse de recherche pour la maitrise. Je remercie également le département de philosophie pour les quelques bourses de recherche et de voyage qui m’ont été offertes au cours de mes études de deuxième cycle au département. Je tiens finalement à exprimer ma gratitude envers le Groupe de recherche interuniversitaire en philosophie politique (GRIPP) pour son soutient financier ainsi que pour l’expérience enrichissante qu’il m’a promulgué. Une partie de ce mémoire a été présentée en avril 2012 à la Graduate Conference on Global Justice, tenue à la Gallatin School, New York University.

Il est connu que ceux qui ne s’informent pas sur leur passé seront toujours condamnés à répéter les mêmes erreurs et pour déterminer où aller il faut d’abord savoir d’où on vient . La thèse se penche sur l’analyse de plus de deux siècles d’histoire de l’appareil judiciaire malgache à la lumière du concept d’indépendance de la magistrature. L’auteur porte une analyse rétrospective sur une assez longue période qui s’étend de la fin du XVIIIème siècle à nos jours au cours de laquelle il essaie de comprendre l’ensemble des situations ayant prévalu dans le pays témoin, avant, pendant et après la colonisation française. Cette thèse tente d’apporter des argumentaires nouveaux et une méthodologie d’approche nouvelle dans l’analyse de l’appareil judiciaire d’un pays anciennement colonisé. Il s’agit de mettre de côté certaines idées reçues sur les situations des systèmes juridiques des pays anciennement colonisés, notamment malgache et africains. L’étude remet en cause quelques préjugés d’antan qui marquent encore les esprits relativement aux situations précoloniales, à l’arrivée des modèles juridiques occidentaux et plus particulièrement au concept d’indépendance de la magistrature et sa consistance actuelle dans les anciennes colonies, à l’instar de la Grande Île. A travers l'étude du cas particulier de Madagascar, la thèse apporte des réponses à plusieurs questions suscitées par l’acculturation du système juridique des anciennes colonies à partir de leur contact avec les modèles juridiques occidentaux. La question spécifique de recherche consiste à déterminer si le concept d’indépendance de la magistrature est déjà entré dans le système juridique des pays anciennement colonisés comme Madagascar. Pour l’auteur, le concept d’indépendance de la magistrature tel que compris en Occident n’a jamais fait son véritable entrée à Madagascar. Le cadre théorique adopté pour la vérification de l’hypothèse combine le positivisme juridique avec les approches anthropologique et sociologique et se distingue des recherches presque exclusivement positivistes antérieures. Dans la première partie, l’auteur propose le cadre théorique de recherche et rapporte les modes de règlements des conflits à l’époque précoloniale. L’analyse anthropologique de la période a démontré que le concept d’indépendance de la magistrature fut inconnu des traditions judiciaires précoloniales même si une certaine influence occidentale imprégnait le processus de métissage spontanée diligenté par les souverains successifs. Dans la seconde partie, l’auteur livre une analyse de la période coloniale et postcoloniale jusqu’à l’époque contemporaine. Pour la période coloniale, l’ouvrage relate, d’une part, les multiples mesures prises durant les années coloniales, qui éloignèrent le modèle juridique colonial implanté à Madagascar du modèle juridique français original de la métropole. D’autre part, il mesure les impacts de l’instauration du modèle colonial sur les traditions juridiques malgaches précoloniales. Contrairement aux idées reçues, le modèle juridique français et tous ses concepts clés, notamment le concept de séparation des pouvoirs et celui d’indépendance de la magistrature ne furent pas transmis à Madagascar par le fait de la conquête. Ensuite, il a survolé la magistrature des trois républiques successives depuis l’indépendance acquise en 1960. En premier lieu, par une analyse résolument positiviste l’auteur analyse les imperfections initiales des choix et des mesures prises lors de la mise en place du nouveau système juridique de la jeune république durant les premières années de l’indépendance et dont la magistrature malgache est encore tributaire aujourd’hui. En second lieu, par une démarche à la fois positiviste et sociologique, il démontre que les valeurs du concept d’indépendance de la magistrature, reconnues par le système politique et timidement repris par le système juridique, n’ont pas réussi jusqu’ici à pénétrer le cœur de ce dernier / It is well known that those who are unaware of their past will be condemned to repeat the same mistakes in the future and that in order to determine where one should go, it is necessary to know where one comes from. This thesis analyses three hundred years of Malagasy judicial institutions in the light of the concept of independence of the Judiciary; it proposes a retrospective regard on the period extending from the end of the XVIIIth century until now in which the author proposes a reading of all the situations which have occurred in Madagascar before, during and after the French colonization period. Throughout this thesis, the author proposes new approaches as well as a methodology in analysing the judicial institutions of a country formerly colonized. He proposes to set aside certain ideas concerning the situation of formerly colonized countries, notably, Madagascar and, generally, African countries. This research challenges preconceived ideas which are still carried around by many African and Western researchers trained in the West relating to the pre-colonial situations as well as to the importation of Western legal models and their actual survival in former colonies such as Madagascar. From the particular case of Madagascar, the thesis answers many of the questions raised by the acculturation of the legal systems of former colonies after their encounter with Western legal models. The thesis’ central question seeks to determine whether the concept of the independence of the Judiciary is already present in the legal system of formerly colonized countries such as Madagascar. This thesis shows that the Western concept of the independence of the Judiciary has never really penetrated the legal system of Madagascar. The thesis’ theoretical framework combines legal positivism with sociological and anthropological approaches and it differs from the traditional positivistic analysis common to previous researches. In the first part of the thesis, the author proposes a theoretical framework and analyses the dispute resolution mechanisms during the pre-colonial era. The anthropological analysis of this period shows that the concept of the independence of the Judiciary was ignored by the pre-colonial judicial traditions even if a certain Western influence already existed which influenced the process of spontaneous mixing brought forward by the various Kings. In the second part, the author analyses the colonial and post-colonial periods until now. For the colonial era, the study demonstrates on the one hand that numerous measures put forward did distance the legal colonial model implemented in Madagascar from that of the metropolis and, on the other hand, the impacts of the implementation of the colonial model over the precolonized Malagasy legal traditions. Contrary to well received ideas, the author demonstrates that the French legal model and its key concepts, particularly the separation of powers and the independence of the Judiciary, were never transmitted to the colony after the conquest. A description of the judiciary under the three successive republics since 1960 then follows. Through a positivistic analysis, the author analyses the imperfect initial choices made during the initial years of the implementation of the new legal system of the young republic as well as their contemporary impact over the Malagasy Judiciary even today. Through a positivistic as well as sociological approach, the author shows that the values underlying the concept of the independence of the Judiciary recognized by the political system and timidly integrated by the legal system have not succeeded in being fully implemented so far

Žiniasklaidos tyrimai – tarpdisciplininė mokslų sritis, todėl žiniasklaidos problemos, jos kaitos procesai, žiniasklaidos pranešimų poveikis bendruomenės viešosios erdvės formavimui domina ne tik komunikacijos, bet ir sociologijos, politikos, edukologijos ir kitų mokslų šakų tyrėjus. Šiuo metu viešojoje erdvėje netylančios kalbos apie žiniasklaidos transformacijas, jos pateikiamo turinio „komercialėjimo“, žiniasklaidos organizacijų vis didėjančio priklausymo nuo politikos ir verslo asociacijų problemas, paskatino atlikti dar vieną tyrimą, kurio pagrindinis tikslas buvo ištirti regioninės žiniasklaidos organizacijų veiklą ir nustatyti, kokią įtaką vietinės bendruomenės viešosios nuomonės formavimui daro vis labiau „komercialėjanti“, nuo politinių ir verslo organizacijų priklausoma žiniasklaida. Empirinis darbo tyrimas buvo orientuotas į gana nedidelio Lietuvos regiono – Alytaus miesto žiniasklaidą, gautus rezultatus lyginant su kitų regionų patirtimis. Tyrimo metu buvo atlikti 22 giluminiai kokybiniai interviu su žiniasklaidos organizacijų, jų auditorijos, žiniasklaidos stebėtojų atstovais. Buvo siekiama patikrinti, kiek žiniasklaidos tyrėjų anksčiau padarytos įžvalgos yra teisingos praktinėje nedidelio regiono žiniasklaidos veikloje bei išsiaiškinti, kokios galimos naujos problemos, grėsmės visuomenei slepiasi šiandieninėje regioninėje žiniasklaidoje. Gauti rezultatai parodė, kad regioninė žiniasklaida būdama geografiškai arčiausiai savo auditorijos gali daryti didelę įtaką... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Media studies is interdisciplinary science, so media problems, changes, influence to society is discussed between many researchers, who are specializing in Communication, Sociology, Politics, Education and many other sciences. There are a lot of talks about recent changes in media, media commercialization, growing influence by political and business organizations. This is research is yet another try to find out, how media is changing, how these changes affect society, what kind of influence businesses and political organizations have in media, how that influence changed in recent slow down in global economy. Empirical research object was media in Alytus, small region in Lithuania, and results were compared with similar regions. 22 follow-up qualitative interviews were carried out between members of media organizations, audience and experts. The main point was to check how theories and predictions, which were made by media experts earlier, work in practice in small regional media nowadays, what new problems are growing and what kind of damage they can do to local communities in near future. The results show, that regional media is very close to its audience geographically and can have a huge impact in formation of public sphere in local community, so the main problems are unclear connections between media and political, business organizations, which has influence in media reports, and media’s manipulation with ‘weakest’ audience in order to get a better sales and profit. A... [to full text]

The research is dealing with the problem of choosing right statistical criteria in order to analyze the concrete educological research information and to interpret the received results. The practical value of the research’s results could be described as: 1- the exact evaluation of the real situation, by researching the effectiveness of use of educational computer means at the lessons of mathematics, with the help of hypothesises; 2- the statistical criteria received at the time of the research can be used at the concrete future researches.

Įmonių bankroto administravimo paslaugų teikimas yra specifinė verslo rūšis. Šia veikla užsiimantis subjektas privalo atitikti bankroto administratoriaus kandidatūrai keliamus reikalavimus. Bankroto administratoriaus veiklos specifika pasireiškia tuo, kad įmonės bankroto procese administratoriui tenka atstovauti tiek įmonės tiek ir jos kreditorių interesus. Dėl priešingų interesų konflikto administratoriaus teisinis statusas sukelia įvairių teorinių bei praktinių diskusijų. Šio darbo tikslas - išanalizuoti ir įvertinti įmonės administratoriaus atliekamas funkcijas bei vaidmenį įmonės bankroto procese. Darbe apžvelgiama bankroto administratoriaus instituto istorinė raida, detaliai nagrinėjami administratoriaus skyrimo, jo teisių ir pareigų, administratoriaus veiklos kontrolės ir atsakomybė klausimai, akcentuojami probleminiai jų aspektai. Analizuojant probleminius bankroto administratoriaus statuso klausimus, remiamasi sistemine administratoriaus veiklą reglamentuojančių teisės aktų analize, teismų praktika, periodinio pobūdžio lietuvių autorių darbais bei didesnę patirtį turinčių užsienio valstybių bankroto teisės patirtimi. / The specific deed act of bankrupt administrator assert in company bankrupt process that bankrupt administrator represent both sides of interests, the company and her creditors. The opposite interest conflict of legal administrator status raises different theoretical and practical discussion. The main paper aims – to analyze and estimate the company administrator function and role in bankrupt process. This paper analyses in detail issues the historical development of bankrupt administrator institute, the administrator’s imposition of legal proceedings and duties activity control and responsibility questions, accent main problematical aspects. / Der Verwaltungsdienst der insolventen Betriebe ist eine spezifische Art des Unternehmens. Die Person, die mit dieser Tätigkeit sich beschäftigt, muß den Anforderungen der Kandidatur des Verwalters entsprechen. Die Spezifik der Tätigkeit des Insolvenzverwalters liegt darin, dass im Prozeß der Insolvenz eines Betriebes der Verwalter sowohl die Interessen des Betriebes, als auch der Kreditgeber vertreten muß. Wegen des Konfliktes verschiedener Interessen wirft der rechtliche Status des Verwalters verschiedene theoretische und praktische Diskusionen auf. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist die Analyse und Bewertung der Funktionen des Insolvenzverwalters und seiner Rolle im Prozeß der Insolvenz des Betriebs. In dieser Arbeit wird auch eine Übersicht verschafft über die Entwicklung des rechtlichen Instituts des Insolvenzverwalters verschafft; weiterhin wird der Vorgang der Ernennung des Verwalters, seine Rechte und Pflichten, die Kontrolle und die Verantwortung der Tätigkeit des Verwalters gründlich analysiert: dabei werden die problematischen Aspekte besonders betont. Bei der Analyse problematischer Fragen zum Status des Insovenzverwalters wird als Grundlage sowohl die systematische Analyse der rechtlichen Normen in Zusammenhang mit der Tätigkeit des Insolvenzverwalters verwendet, als auch die gerichtliche Praxis und die Publikationen der litauischen Autoren, aber auch anderer Länder, die auf dem Gebiet des Insolvenzrechts Erfahrung haben.

Le Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU, par sa Résolution 827, institue le 25 mai 1993, un tribunal pénal international (TPIY) ayant pour but du juger les personnes présumées responsables de violations graves du droit international humanitaire commises sur le territoire de l'ex-Yougoslavie depuis 1991. Ainsi, près de cinquante ans après le procès de Nuremberg, des personnes physiques sont à nouveau poursuivies devant une juridiction pénale internationale. Toutefois, depuis ce procès mémorable l'ordre juridique international a beaucoup changé; le TPIY ne ressemble pas au Tribunal militaire de Nuremberg et les conventions relatives aux droits de l'Homme reconnaissent maintenant un droit fondamental à un procès équitable de tout accusé. Notre étude porte sur l'un des aspects du droit à un procès équitable qualifié d'équité systémique et qui comprend le droit d'être jugé par un tribunal établi par la loi, qui soit compétent, indépendant et impartial. Nous analysons les caractéristiques du TPIY à la lumière du droit comparé et plus particulièrement en examinant si cette institution judiciaire internationale répond aux exigences du principe de l'équité systémique tel que défini à l'article 6 de la Convention européenne des droits de l'Homme (CEDH) et tel qu'interprété par la jurisprudence d'une institution judiciaire supranationale, la Cour européenne des droits de l'Homme. Les conclusions de notre étude sont que le TPIY satisfait en partie aux exigences de l'équité systémique; son indépendance et son impartialité sont sujettes à caution selon les paramètres du standard de la CEDH. / On May 25th 1993, the UN Security Council, by its Resolution 827, established an international criminal tribunal (ICTY) for the purpose of prosecuting persons responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991. Thus, nearly fifty years after the Nuremberg trial, individuals are once again being prosecuted before an international criminal tribunal. However, the international legal order has changed a great deal since this memorable trial: the ICTY is not a carbon copy of the Nuremberg Military Tribunal and the international conventions on Human Rights have recognized to every accused a fundamental right to a fair trial. This thesis analyzes one aspect of the right to a fair trial - the systemic fairness requirement - which encompasses the right to be tried by a competent, independent and impartial court that is established by law. The study of the characteristics of the ICTY is done with a comparative law perspective. More particularly, this work is answering the fol1owing question: is this international judicial tribunal meeting the requirements of systemic fairness as set forth in section 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and developed in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights? It concludes that the ICTY fulfils these requirements only in part; its independence and impartiality are much dubious with respect to the ECHR standard. / 2002-10

The faith in financial reporting quality and the corresponding auditing process has suffered a lot within the last decade, due to significant accounting scandals (e.g. Enron, WorldCom, Parmalat, etc.). As an answer to these accounting scandals, the law-makers in Germany and the European Union, respectively, have strengthened audit regulations in order to improve the quality of the conducted audits. The aim of this cumulative dissertation is to provide empirical evidence on the effects of intended and already implemented regulative audit requirements in Germany. ln order to consider the wide range of different audit requirements, the dissertation is based on four different study manuscripts, highlighting various perspectives with regard to the appointment, duration, and remuneration of a statutory auditor in the German audit environment. Besides the empirical evidence for separate auditing issues, this dissertation is also aimed to provide a solid theoretical background and critical suggestions for future research.

Domestic violence against women and children is a significant international issue. There are many obstacles survivors face, and the problem is more complex than is often perceived. This interior design practicum responds by focusing on the design of a transitional housing facility that creates a paradigm shift away from the institutional approach. The key interior spaces include areas that help individuals nourish and heal from their challenging experiences; the overall approach focused on establishing community networks amongst the residents. The overarching architectural language and designs were informed primarily by Japanese Zen, Theory of Supportive Design, Lifeboat theory, and Experiential Learning Theory. Additional literature investigation on Shinrin-yoku and Therapeutic Landscapes have helped to shape the final programme and design. Along with relevant precedent studies, a design has been proposed called Hana's Place, a transitional housing facility that is aimed at being a place survivors of domestic violence can call home.