No / This paper investigates the impact of corporate risk levels on aggregated, voluntary and mandatory risk disclosures in the annual report narratives of UK non-financial listed companies. We find that firms characterised by higher levels of systematic, financing risks and risk-adjusted returns and those with lower levels of stock return variability are likely to exhibit significantly higher levels of aggregated and voluntary risk disclosures. The results also show that firms of large size, high dividend-yield, high board independence, low (high) insider (outsider) ownership, and effective audit environments are likely to exhibit higher levels of aggregated and voluntary risk disclosures than other firms. Similarly, mandatory risk disclosures are influenced positively by firm size, dividend-yield and board independence and negatively by high leverage. The results suggest that managers of firms exhibiting greater compliance with mandatory regulations have a greater propensity to make voluntary risk disclosures. When we distinguish between high- and low-risk firms, we find that high-risk firms appear to be more sensitive to underlying risk levels, resulting in more disclosure of both voluntary and mandatory risk information than in the case of low-risk firms. The results generally support the present UK emphasis on encouraging rather than mandating risk disclosure. Nevertheless, under this regime, the voluntary risk disclosures of some firms, e.g., those characterised by higher-volatility market returns, do not reflect their underlying risk levels.

Yes / This paper provides a wide-ranging and up-to-date (1997-2016) review of the archival empirical risk-reporting literature. The reviewed papers are classified into two principal themes: the incentives for and/or informativeness of risk reporting. Our review demonstrates areas of significant divergence in the literature specifically: mandatory versus voluntary risk reporting, manual versus automated content analysis, within-country versus cross-country variations in risk reporting, and risk reporting in financial versus non-financial firms. Our paper identifies a number of issues which require further research. In particular we draw attention to two: first, a lack of clarity and consistency around the conceptualization of risk; and second, the potential costs and benefits of standard-setters’ involvement

Freedom of contract is one of the fundamental principles of private law. Most pronounced is the principle of contractual freedom in business contractual relationships, in which is admitted the highest degree of contractual freedom. Contractual freedom is often generally associated with the rule that what is not forbidden is allowed, ie. if the legal regulation does not prohibit any contractual arrangement, is such an arrangement allowed. This understanding of freedom of contract is very simplistic and misleading and thus in many cases incorrect. Given that freedom of contract is seen as a rule or principle, approach to it is fairly spontaneously and in search of answers to the question of legality or illegality of certain contractual arrangements, the progress is often intuitively and based on ad hoc reasoning the contractual freedom is in individual cases either accepted or rejected. One reason for this approach is the fact that there have been no more precise rules for a differentiation of non- mandatory and mandatory legal rules. Their differentiation is for the recipients of legal rules crucial because it gives an answer to the question, how far reaches their liberal sphere, in particular, if the contractual freedom is in the particular legal issue enabled or not. A lack of structure and...

L’émergence depuis quelques années de nouvelles lois de police pour protéger certaines parties faibles au sein des contrats internationaux a été identifiée sous l’appellation de lois de police protectrices. En tant que renouvellement du mécanisme traditionnel des lois de police, cette émergence interroge, notamment quant à son bien-fondé. Cela suppose d’envisager les lois de police protectrices à la fois en tant que nouveau concept, et en tant qu’objet s’intégrant dans un environnement plus général. Ces nouvelles lois de police se sont imposées pour répondre à un besoin de protection sur la scène internationale. Cependant, la philosophie des lois de police apparaît difficilement conciliable avec l’objectif de protection d’une partie faible. Dès lors, il conviendrait de modifier certaines caractéristiques du mécanisme afin qu’il soit en mesure d’atteindre cet objectif de protection. Mais alors, se crée une déformation du concept initial de l’outil des lois de police. En outre, envisagées au sein de leur environnement, à savoir le droit européen des contrats, les lois de police protectrices sont susceptibles d’être limitées par des concepts propres au droit de l’Union. Elles peuvent aussi être dépassées par des outils d’inspiration européenne qui mettent en œuvre un autre lien entre l’impérativité d’une norme et l’exigence de protection de la partie faible. / These past few years, the advent of new mandatory provisions to protect certain weaker parties within the realm of international contracts have been identified as protective mandatory provisions. As a renewal of the traditional mandatory provisions mechanism, it raises several questions with regards to its merits. This requires to consider protective mandatory provisions as a concept in itself, as well as an object integrated in a more global legal environment. These new mandatory provisions have appeared as an answer to a need for protection on the international level. However, the philosophy of mandatory provisions can be considered to be incompatible with the objective of the protecting the weaker party. Therefore, it is necessary to change certain characteristics of the mechanism in order for it to effectively attain its protection objective. It would then, however, amount to a deformation of the initial concept of mandatory provisions. Finally, considered within their environment, i.e. European contract law, protective mandatory provisions can be limited by EU-specific law concepts. They can also be surpassed by other tools, of European inspiration, putting into effect another link between the imperative character of the norm and the protection requirement of the weaker party.

Bakgrund: Innan rotationskrav för revisorer har hunnit cementeras och ge utslag, har Regeringen i ett nytt betänkande lagstadgat även krav för rotation för byråer. Krav på byrårotation uppkom som en proposition efter finanskrisen 2008, som ett led i att strama åt regelverket för revisionsbyråer. Den Europeiska kommissionen skriver i sitt betänkande att även om de huvudansvariga revisorerna byts ut med jämna mellanrum kvarstår risken för en jävsituation. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur revisionsbyråer, kunder och myndigheter förhåller sig till obligatorisk byrårotation. Vi kommer även att studera hur marknaden för revision ändras, samt studera hur en revisionsbyrå ur ”The Big Four” kommer att förbereda sig inför denna lagförändring. Frågeställningar: Hur kommer byrårotation att inverka på revisionskvalitén för börsnoterade företag och finansiella företag av allmänt intresse? Hur förbereder en revisionsbyrå ur ”The Big Four” sig inför byrårotation? Vilka effekter kan byrårotation ha på marknadsstrukturen? Metod: Studien utgörs av en fallstudie där obligatorisk byrårotation studeras ur tre perspektiv. Studien baseras på ett antal befintliga teorier, varför studiens bearbetas utifrån den deduktiva ansatsen. Primärdata samlas in genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer, där respondenterna har valts ut efter olika kriterier, beroende på perspektiv. Empiri: Tre myndigheter, tre kunder och en revisionsbyrå har varit föremål för våra intervjuer, där vi tematiskt redogör för deras uttalanden. Slutsats: Byrårotation kommer att leda till att revisorn blir mer oberoende, då mandatperioden inte tillåter att nära relationer bildas och på grund av vitesbeloppets omfattning. Revisionen kommer inte kosta mer, med anledning av att det kommer att bli en kamp mellan byråerna om uppdragen. Vi har identifierat tre möjliga marknadseffekter av byrårotation, där kartelliknande verksamheter är en möjlig utgång. Revisionsbyråernas verksamheter kommer att bli mer likt de internationellas, där rådgivningstjänster utgör den största delen. En viktig konsekvens av byrårotation kan vara att bolag roterar byrå vid kritiska tidpunkter, vilket kan skada bolaget ytterligare. Bolag bör kunna flagga vid sådana tidpunkter, för att kunna förlänga rotationen parallellt med den nytillträdda i början av uppdraget.

Senast den 17 juni 2016 ska Sverige ha implementerat regleringar kring obliga- torisk byrårotation i nationell rätt vilket då kommer kräva att noterade bolag och finansiella företag roterar revisionsbyrå i huvudregel var 10:e år. Målet från EU:s sida med att införa obligatorisk byrårotation i dess medlemsländer är att regleringen ska ha positiva effekter på revisorns oberoende, revisionskvali- teten och konkurrenssituationen på revisionsmarknaden. Syftet med vår studie är att ge ökad förståelse om hur revisionskvaliteten och revisorns oberoende påverkas av ett införande av obligatorisk byrårotation utifrån den forskning som finns internationellt. Eftersom studier kring obliga- torisk byrårotation ännu har kunnat genomföras i Sverige vill vi också bidra med kunskap om hur väl dessa internationella studier kan appliceras i ett svenskt sammanhang. Studien är baserad på inhämtning av sekundärdata där vi utgått från existe- rande forskning kring obligatorisk byrårotation. Val av vårt tillvägagångssätt kan motiveras med att en stor mängd forskning redan existerar och vi har velat samla in data som är så neutral som möjligt. Vår studie visar att resultaten från internationellt genomförda studier tyder på att revisionskvaliteten sjunker vid ett införande av obligatorisk byrårotation. Forskningen visar även att regleringen kan få en motsatt effekt på marknads- dynamiken än vad som önskas. Majoriteten av forskningen visar också att revi- sorns oberoende inte påverkas vid ett införande av obligatorisk byrårotation. I den del av vår studie som behandlade hur väl internationell forskning skulle kunna tillämpas i Sverige fann vi inga belägg på att skillnaderna mellan de un- dersökta länderna och Sverige skulle vara tillräckligt stora för att kunna ifråga- sätta dess applicerbarhet i ett svenskt sammanhang. / June 17, 2016, is the final date for Sweden to implement the new rules regard- ing mandatory audit firm rotation which will require listed and financial com- panies to change their current audit firm every 10 years. The aim of the intro- duction of mandatory audit firm rotation is that the regulation should have positive effects on the independence of auditors, audit quality and the compet- itive situation within the audit market. The aim of this study is to provide a better understanding of how auditor in- dependence and audit quality is affected by the introduction of the regulation on the basis of the available international research. Since there isn’t any Swe- dish research on the subject, we want to contribute knowledge about how well these international studies can be applied in a Swedish context. The study is based on secondary data which is collected from already existing research on mandatory audit firm rotation. The choice of approach in the study can be justified by the fact that much research already exists on the sub- ject and we wanted the data to be as neutral as possible. Our study shows that the results from international research suggest that audit quality will decrease with the introduction of such regulation and that the regu- lation may have an adverse effect on the dynamic of the audit market. A ma- jority of the research suggests that auditor independence is not affected by the introduction of mandatory audit firm rotation. In the part of our study, which dealt with how well international research is applicable in Sweden, we found no evidence that the difference between the examined countries and Sweden would be large enough to allow us to question the research applicability in a Swedish context.

Doctor of Education / Department of Educational Leadership / W. Franklin Spikes / As individuals, we rely on the expertise of professionals to help us navigate the complex problems of modern life in areas such as medicine, accounting, social work, teaching, and the law. Although each profession has its own unique knowledge base, lexicon, and culture, they all share the need to keep members’ knowledge and skills current through continuing professional education. Driven by concerns like frequent law change, increasingly complex clients, and eroding public opinion, 46 states have instituted mandatory continuing legal education (MCLE) requirements for attorneys. The Kansas Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Commission administers MCLE in the state of Kansas by monitoring attorney compliance and accrediting CLE programs. In this study, the researcher used a mixed-methods approach to evaluate two existing data sets--survey outputs and focus groups transcripts--that were captured during the Kansas CLE Commission’s Education Initiative. The 260 CLE providers completing the survey and 22 focus group members varied demographically by structure (for-profit, nonprofit) and size (number of employees or course offerings). Using quantitative statistical tools and qualitative grounded theory methods, the researcher identified the current program planning and design, delivery, and evaluation practices of CLE providers in Kansas and evaluated these practices against best practices for any learning effort, as established by CPE research and theory. Study findings indicated that most Kansas providers plan, deliver, and evaluate CLE programs using more traditional, didactic, update-oriented approaches. Most participants reported CLE curricula that were focused on keeping attorneys up-to-date, delivering classes in traditional formats using speaker presentations, and evaluating programs with Level 1 reaction methods. Only some evidence existed of providers determining attorney needs using methods such as competency models or performance evaluations, refining course delivery according to learning styles, or evaluating programs at higher levels. Still, evidence was found of providers using creative ways to incorporate some best practices into their programs, such as partnering with the other stakeholders in the Kansas MCLE space (attendees, employers, and regulators) to plan and evaluate programs. Similarly, some providers are finding new ways to incorporate more interactive learning methods into their classrooms such as discussion groups, Q&A sessions, panels, mock trials, and networking. This research also provided important insights into the contextual realities and limitations that influence MCLE provider capabilities, priorities, or choices. Cultural norms of the legal profession such as a preference for traditional educational experiences, fierce opposition to any form of testing, and a focus on billable hours affect which best practices the providers are able to implement. Likewise, the diversity that exists across learning events, law practices, and providers in this space creates challenges to implementing new practices consistently across all programs. Finally, the fragmented, multistakeholder ownership of all Kansas MCLE processes means that providers alone are not able to implement fully the recommended best practices without the help of employer partners. This study added to the general body of knowledge concerning CLE programs with contemporary research, a new focus on providers as the source of data, and a context-specific assessment of current best practices application.

In der Bundesrepublik hat sich die Überzeugung durchgesetzt, angesichts des bevorstehenden demographischen Wandels sei eine Stärkung kapitalgedeckter Elemente in der Altersvorsorge notwendig. Die Riestersche Rentenreform des Jahres 2001 stellt einen Schritt in diese Richtung dar. Zunächst wird dargelegt, dass die demographisch induzierten Schwierigkeiten der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung (GRV) wahrscheinlich ebenso überschätzt werden wie das Problemlösungspotential einer verstärkten privaten Vorsorge. Daher wird anschließend untersucht, wie sich die Gewissheit von der Notwendigkeit kapitalgedeckter Vorsorge politisch durchsetzen konnte. Hierbei wird auf theoretische Ansätze einer Wissenssoziologie der Politik zurückgegriffen. Anhand ausgewählter rentenpolitischer Bundestagsdebatten der Jahre 1957 bis 2001 werden die Deutungen politischer Akteure hinsichtlich der Probleme der GRV, der Problemlösungen und der dabei vorgesehenen Rolle kapitalgedeckter Elemente untersucht. Gezeigt werden soll, dass die Rentenreform 2001 nicht einfach auf Grund demographischer oder ökonomischer Zwänge verstanden werden kann. Entscheidend sind vielmehr die politischen Deutungen solcher Sachverhalte und deren langfristiger Wandel. Erst aus der Verknüpfung von spezifischen Deutungen der langfristigen demographischen Entwicklung, der kurzfristigen Wirkung der Lohnnebenkosten auf die Arbeitslosigkeit und der Funktionsgrundlagen der GRV ergibt sich im politischen Prozess die „Notwendigkeit“ einer zusätzlichen privaten kapitalgedeckten Altersvorsorge.

Master of Science / Department of Computer Science / Daniel A. Andresen / New to K-State??? No worries!!! This app will be your first friend and help you with everything you may need. Every new incoming student to K-State has to do a set of mandatory activities before they start their classes. Many times they use a pamphlet or word of mouth by students or faculty around, on what to do and whom to visit. But, this information may not be reliable or could have been expired/updated, and students miss on certain crucial things which delays their work. The same follows with various events organized by the college to welcome new students. This app will be a solution for all these problems. It will provide students with all the details they need before they actually become familiar with the school and even after that. Each student gets to see the To-Do's which are a set of mandatory activities, he/she has to do before they enroll for the classes and also, he can know about various events happening around the university. Students can also suggest new events if they are not already updated in the events list. All these activities are monitored and controlled by the Admin.

This thesis deals with technologies of SELinux security policy writing. Furthermore the thesis analyzes userspace of GNU/Linux operating system with special focus on KDE desktop environment. On the basis of this analysis a bottom-up methodics to create a security policy is devised. Acquired knowledge is then used in practice when realizing the main goal of the thesis, which is to create example security policies for chosen KDE applications. When describing technologies of security policy writing the thesis draws information from available sources of information. Input for userspace analysis are available electronic sources of information and author's own experience with analyzed applications. This is used with common philosophic principles to devise bottom-up methodics of policy writting. Following act of policy building draws from defined security goals, acquired knowledge, created methodics and defined usecases. Theoretical contribution of the thesis is devised methodics of userspace policy building. Main practical contribution are then created example SELinux policies for chosen KDE applications. The structure of the thesis follows its goals. For them three parts are created: background research of available resources, author's own theoretical contemplations and practical output of the thesis. Those parts are then devided into sections according to needs of each topic.