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A common cliché found in annual reports is "our employees are our most important, valuable asset." While many companies claim human capital is an important asset and source of valuable earnings, there is nary a human asset found in financial statements. This research paper investigates the usefulness and importance of voluntary human capital disclosures. The 2 X 2 X 2 experiment manipulates firm financial performance, non-GAAP voluntary disclosures, and disclosure attestation to identify the extent to which human capital disclosures influence investor decision-making related to assessments of management credibility and firm value. The research described in this dissertation also investigates the interactive effects of auditor attestation on voluntary disclosure. The primary hypothesis examines whether firms providing strong human capital disclosures will have higher credibility ratings and stock price associations than firms not providing such disclosures. I find that when presented with human capital metrics, investors' assessments of credibility and firm stock price are attenuated by human capital disclosures, especially during periods of strong financial performance. Results also suggest investors key in on both non-financial and financial human capital metrics. Based on cognitive processing time, analyses indicate investors spend more time processing strong human capital disclosures. Another important hypothesis examines if firms receiving attestation services over voluntary human capital disclosures will have higher credibility ratings than firms not receiving such services. I find some evidence investors cognitively acknowledge the presence of auditor attestation reports when they are presented, and both credibility and stock price assessments are impacted by attestation services. Overall, the original research described here makes a contribution to the existing literature by providing unique insight as to how human capital information is viewed by investors. Current reporting standards focus on financial assets, physical assets, and technological/intellectual property. This can result in significant transparency issues when publicly traded firms fail to adequately disclose human capital risks. Organizations undoubtedly have substantial unreported human capital benefits and risks, which can have a potentially significant market valuation impact. The research conducted and reported in this paper illuminates the potential benefits of human capital disclosures to both internal and external firm stakeholders. / Ph. D.

Richard Florida's Creative Class Theory made a significant mark on economic geography. Upon initial publication in 2002, reviewers lacked sufficient data to test this theory in the contemporary economy. However, 20 years have elapsed. Statistical analysis of an operationalized creative class theory in relationship to growth in real per capita GDP does not show a statistically-significant, positive relationship. In fact, depending on the variable, most analysis shows either no statistically- significant relationship or a statistically-significant and negative correlation. Instead, in keeping with endogenous growth theory and the arguments of Glaeser, presence of non-manufacturing high-technology economic activity, overall levels of higher education, and immigration bear a substantial, positive, and statistically-significant relationship to growth in real per capita GDP. While Florida's theories consider these variables, Creative Class Theory depicts them as part of a broader construct with significant cultural components. The present analysis does not find evidence to support this theory in all of its details. However, the broader construct of "talent, technology, and tolerance" contributing to economic development remains valid. However, its components vary significantly from Florida's model. Findings suggest policy focus on generating creativity through culture may create less benefit than policies focused on increasing education supply, attracting and retaining educated workers, attracting and growing technology firms, and encouraging immigration. Additional research is needed to identify specific policies. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning / Why do some cities grow and others do not? Regional leaders have long sought to identify levers to help strengthen their economies. In the 21st century United States, most economies do not revolve around farming or manufacturing. Instead, technology and professional services represent some of the most significant sectors. A disagreement exists in the scholarly literature as to how to accelerate these industries development in different places. Scholars agree education, innovation, and diversity represent important drivers. Views differ as to how to define these ideas. In the early 2000s, an urbanist named Richard Florida advanced his "Three T's" model: talent, technology, and tolerance. He focused on a group called the "Creative Class". These creative thinkers were supposed to attract technology firms to a city. Those creative thinkers were thought to like places with specific cultural characteristics. This study examines 20-years of economic data to evaluate his theory. It confirmed talent, technology, and tolerance do matter for economic outcomes. However, it finds a different way to define these ideas. Rather than "creativity", education levels represent the most important talent factor. In terms of technology, it confirmed the importance of economic output in information, professional services, and scientific services. Regarding tolerance, the most important correlation to economic growth comes from immigration from outside the United States. It did not find support for focus on a bohemian cultural milieu (among other factors). Future research should focus on what factors (such as quality of life, infrastructure, access to capital, and federal regulation) can help enhance these effects.

During the last decade, international immigration has experienced significant changes along with adjustments in migration policies. Based on previous research, this paper aims to replicate a statistical investigation of immigration’s effect on economic growth, by also incorporating labor participation and labor force with advanced education into the model. Furthermore, the study explores if different levels of migration policies lead to various impacts on economic growth. The analysis uses data from 20 OECD countries from 2000 to 2020 through a division into five subperiods. To conduct the examination, an OLS regression analysis and logarithmic regression are applied. Furthermore, the regression results indicate that immigration has no statistically significant effect on economic growth. The study also concludes that there is no evidence implying that more developed migration policies contribute more to economic growth than those of low levels. Various research findings conclude different outcomes of immigration's effect on economic growth. Yet, it seems that this question goes beyond the scope of the current study, necessitating additional research to explore the correlation between these two variables and whether there exists a causal relation.

As the leader of an audit team, the audit partner can have a significant impact on the outcomes of an audit engagement. One hitherto unexplored aspect of partner assignments to audits is cases where they handle clients in multiple audit offices. I examine factors associated with the assignment of audit partners to multiple offices (henceforth multi-office partners or MOPs) and the implications of such assignments for audit quality. I document that audit firms assign partners to multiple offices to match partner expertise to client needs and to manage resource constraints in audit offices. Specifically, partners specializing in the financial sector, who report more skills on LinkedIn profiles, and have more professional experience, are more likely to be MOPs. Audit offices with fewer partner resources are more likely to share partners among the network of offices to mitigate resource constraints. In the audit quality analyses, I find that MOPs are, on average, associated with an increased likelihood of restatements, suggesting the negative impact of audit office resource constraints dominates the positive influence of partner expertise on audit quality. The negative effect of MOPs on audit quality exists for both local and non-local clients and is concentrated in MOPs who (1) are not industry specialists, (2) face greater information friction as the distance between different audit offices increases, and (3) have limited knowledge-sharing opportunities from audit offices. / Business Administration/Accounting

Background and Problem: Sustainability reporting is a growing interest in today’s organizations and it is essential to report on non-financial matters. Many of the existing frameworks have been criticized for being used only of symbolical reasons which is why the concept of integrated reporting and the <IR> framework have been developed. One of the cornerstones in the <IR> framework is human capital which is one of the most valuable assets in an organization. Traditionally, employee costs have only been treated as an expense and there have been limited disclosures in corporate reports. In the current business world it is instead seen as an investment in human resources. Since previous studies have shown an increase of human capital disclosures when corporate reports become integrated, integrated reporting might be the solution to this problem. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine if there are differences in human capital disclosures between integrated reports and separate annual and sustainability reports in companies listed at OMXS30. Delimitations: This study’s empirical examination is limited to include the companies listed at Stockholm OMX30. Only corporate reports issued for the year 2014 are treated. Methodology: For this study a self-constructed disclosure scoreboard with human capital- related items has been used to collect data from the companies’ corporate reports. Also additional information beyond the pre-determined items has been collected to extend the data collection. Empirical Results and Conclusion: The results show that human capital seems to be a subject that is relatively little reported about. The integrated reporting companies do not disclose more information compared to non-integrated reporting companies. However, the results show that integrated reporting companies seem to have a more future-oriented focus and that the disclosures are more dispersed throughout the reports. It can be concluded that company sector and size do not affect the amount or type of information.

Os pressupostos da teoria do capital humano estabelecem que as pessoas se educam e que o principal efeito da educação é a mudança que ela provoca nas habilidades e conhecimentos de quem estuda. Quanto maior o nível de escolaridade alcançado, maior o desenvolvimento das habilidades cognitivas e de produtividade. A conseqüência prevista é uma melhora no nível de renda, na qualidade de vida e nas oportunidades profissionais e sociais. Tendo por base esse arcabouço teórico, o propósito geral desta pesquisa foi identificar e analisar as avaliações e percepções dos doutores em Ciências Contábeis, titulados pela FEA/USP, sobre as influências do doutorado nos seus desenvolvimentos e nas suas responsabilidades sociais. Os achados da pesquisa confirmaram as expectativas, explicações e previsões da teoria. Na percepção dos egressos, os 19 fatores possíveis de ser alterados que lhes foram apresentados, identificados na teoria do capital humano e levantados em duas aplicações da técnica Delphi, foram substancialmente influenciados com a titulação. Foram eles: respeitabilidade e reconhecimento acadêmico/profissional, diferenciação profissional, espírito acadêmico, amadurecimento pessoal, produção acadêmica, oportunidades na carreira, autonomia profissional, habilidades cognitivas, competências analíticas, empregabilidade, prestígio, produtividade, mobilidade profissional, responsabilidade social, status, remuneração, promoção social, estabilidade profissional e estilo de vida, em ordem de classificação estabelecida pelos respondentes do questionário. Todos os 19 fatores foram muito bem avaliados pelos egressos, suportando a tese estabelecida de que cursar o Doutorado em Ciências Contábeis influencia positivamente no desenvolvimento profissional e social do indivíduo, conforme preconiza a teoria do capital humano. A condução desta pesquisa resultou em um volume expressivo de dados que permitiram, ainda, traçar um perfil demográfico e profissiográfico dos egressos do Doutorado em Ciências Contábeis da FEA/USP, levantando também suas contribuições acadêmicas. Mesmo sendo poucos os possuidores do título de doutor em Ciências Contábeis quando confrontados com os mais de 700 cursos de Ciências Contábeis, 159 titulados até 31/12/2005, uma parte significativa mantém a principal atividade remunerada vinculada ao mercado. Se considerarmos que o objetivo principal do doutoramento é a qualificação para a docência e a formação de pesquisadores, este não vem cumprindo integralmente seu papel. Os resultados evidenciam que o Doutorado em Ciências Contábeis tem encontrado sua principal clientela entre homens casados que desenvolvem suas atividades junto ao mercado, em grande parte oriundos de São Paulo e do próprio Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Contábeis da FEA/USP, e que a maioria de seus egressos permanece em São Paulo atuando na academia. Titulam-se, em média, aos 42 anos e, ao ingressarem, buscavam seguir ou aprimorar a carreira de pesquisador. Parece que essa motivação foi delegada a segundo plano após a sua conclusão, pois cerca de 30,0% dos pesquisadores nunca publicaram um artigo científico em periódicos ou eventos ou, se o fizeram, foi feito antes de 31/12/2004. Mesmo motivados pela obtenção de mais conhecimento quando do ingresso no doutorado (a maioria dos doutores declarou que esse fator pesou muito nas suas decisões em fazer o doutorado), parece não ser intenção dos egressos disseminá-lo. Uma outra motivação que conduziu os respondentes ao doutorado (a maior parte deles declarou que essa motivação teve um peso de médio a alto) foi a obtenção de melhor nível de renda. E, nesse ponto, alcançaram pleno êxito. Os efeitos da titulação sobre os rendimentos são bastante acentuados. De uma forma geral, o que se percebe é que, quando almejavam a titulação, estavam em busca de aprimoramento profissional, ampliação de oportunidades e competitividade no desenvolvimento de suas atividades, prestígio, conhecimentos e melhoria na renda. Características essas que, acreditavam, a escolaridade diferenciada lhes traria, e trouxe. Os egressos demonstram grande satisfação quanto às contribuições do doutorado para as atividades que desenvolvem atualmente, dentro do escopo avaliado pela pesquisa. / The assumptions pertaining to the human capital theory establish that people study, and that the main result of education is the change it grants to the abilities and knowledge of those who study. The higher the education level, the more one is rewarded with the development of cognitive abilities and productivity results. The anticipated consequence is the improvement in income, life quality and professional and social opportunities. Based on this theoretical framework, this research aimed at identifying and analyzing the evaluations and views that holders of a PhD degree in Accounting Sciences from FEA/USP have on the influence of this degree on their social responsibilities and progress. The findings substantiate the expectations, explanations and predictions of the theory. According to graduates from this program, the 19 factors that might possibly have been altered and were presented to them, were identified by the human capital theory and recognized in two applications of the Delphi technique, were substantially influenced by the title. They were: respectability and academic/professional acknowledgement, professional distinctiveness, academic spirit, personal growth, academic production, career opportunities, professional autonomy, cognitive abilities, analytical competence, employability, prestige, productivity, professional mobility, social responsibility, status, earnings, social improvement, professional stability and lifestyle, in accordance with the order established by the respondents. The 19 factors were very well evaluated by the PhD holders, and give support to the thesis that holding a PhD degree in Accounting Sciences influences the professional and social development in a positive manner, which goes hand in hand with the human capital theory. This research resulted in an impressive amount of data that also allowed for the drawing of the demographic and professional profile of those who had obtained the degree in Accounting Sciences at FEA/USP, together with their academic contribution. Even not being in a high number when compared to the number in some other 700 institutions ? 159 PhD holders as of December 31st 2005, a significant number still keeps their main income activity connected with the market. If we consider that the main purposes of the acquisition of the degree are teaching qualification and the building of researchers, the PhD has not been fully accomplishing its mission. The results show that the PhD in Accounting Sciences has found its place mainly among married men who perform in the market, mostly coming from Sao Paulo, and from the FEA/USP Post Graduation Program on Accounting Sciences, and the majority of its graduates remain in Sao Paulo, working in the academic area. In the average, they finish their degree around 42 years of age and intended to follow or enhance research skills when they first started. It seems this motivation decreases after the degree is a reality, for around 30% of the researchers never published a scientific article in journals or events, and if this has been done, it happened before December 31st, 2004. Even motivated by the acquisition of more knowledge when entering the program (most PhD holders declared that this fact weighed in favor of their decision toward the PhD), it seems this is not something to be disseminated by the graduates. Another motivation driving the respondents (most declared this motivation to have medium or high weight in the decision toward the PhD) was the achievement of a higher income level. This pursuit was fully satisfied. The effects of the title on income are outstanding. In general, it is possible to notice that when those people were first willing to achieve the degree, they were in search of professional improvement; expansion of opportunities and competitiveness in the accomplishment of their activities; prestige; knowledge and better income. These, they believed, would be brought by better schooling. And that was so. The findings of this research show that they demonstrate great appreciation for the contributions of the PhD degree to the activities they currently perform.

本文在分析不同改革運動中的成敗關鍵，文中分析日本明治維新、中國大躍進、文化大革命及改革開放中不同經濟因素之相互影響。文中從歷史中歸納出兩種對工業化及經濟發展最重要的因素：農業生產力及教育水平。日本明治維新及中國文化大革命時農業生產力及教育水平不斷上升，導至社會工業化及經濟發展加速；大躍進時則只有教育水平上升，農業生產力提高，故此工業化最後失敗及經濟水平低下。而把這模型套在改革開放亦同樣有效： 在改革開放時，農業生產力、教育水平、工業化及經濟發展四個指標同時上升。 / Inspired by the Meiji Restoration in Japan and Cultural Revolution in China, we constructed a theoretical model that explained economic performance of both historical episodes. We argued that the two elements: agricultural productivity and human capital are vital for industrialization and hence important for economic growth. In Meiji Restoration and Cultural Revolution, agricultural productivity and human capital both increase. The employment share moving from agricultural sector to non-agricultural sector and positive economic growth were recorded during those two periods of time. The model can also be used to explain the post-reform economic performance in China. We also find qualitative evidence that the lack of one element - agricultural productivity - will not contribute to a successful industrialization and may have adverse effect in economic growth. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Cheung, Ting Yuen Terry. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 40-45). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts also in Chinese. / English Abstract --- p.i / Chinese Abstract --- p.ii / Acknowledgement --- p.iii / Chapter I. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- Historical Facts --- p.7 / Chapter A. --- Two Historical Episodes with Both Elements --- p.7 / Meiji Restoration --- p.7 / Cultural Revolution --- p.11 / Chapter B. --- A Historical Episode Lack of one Element --- p.14 / Chapter C. --- Summary Note and Application --- p.17 / Chapter III. --- Model --- p.19 / Chapter A. --- Model without Capital --- p.19 / The Environment --- p.19 / Optimization --- p.21 / Comparative Statics --- p.25 / Chapter B. --- Model with Capital --- p.28 / Closed Economy --- p.28 / Small Open Economy --- p.34 / Chapter IV. --- Conclusion and Further Research --- p.35 / Remark for Further Research --- p.37 / Reference --- p.39 / Appendix --- p.45