Thesis (M. Div.)--St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, 2008. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 25-26).

Thesis (M. Div.)--St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, 2008. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 25-26).

This thesis aims to identify the status of management accounting practices in the Jordanian financial sector in terms of both its usage and sophistication level and to examine the contingency factors that influence that status. The main objectives of the research are: to obtain a broad overview of management accounting practices in general, including the extent of usage of management accounting practices; examine the sophistication level of management accounting practices and at which phase, based on the IF AC model, the Jordanian financial sector is currently placed; investigate the effect of the contingent variables upon both the extent of usage and the sophistication level of management accounting practices. To attain these objectives, a combination of research methods has been conducted, namely, questionnaire and semi-structured interview; 64 valid questionnaires were returned, giving a 67.3% response rate, followed by 14 interviews. Several statistical analyses were used to analyse the responses, namely, descriptive analysis, bivariate correlation analysis (KendalFs tau test and Kruskal-Wallis test), and multivariate statistical tests. The results of the life cycle stages revealed that 67.2% of the respondent companies are located in the first two stages. In terms of the usage of management accounting practices, the research reported that traditional practices are still widespread and highly used, rarely using the more sophisticated or advanced practices, and that there is a diversity of practices used in the financial sector context. In general, the research revealed that budgeting practices and financial measures are heavily used, and there is a lack of usage of decision making practices and strategic analysis practices. Concerning the sophistication level of management accounting practices, the research revealed that almost all of the Jordanian financial sector companies are located in the first stage by 64.1% and 29.7% of companies in the second stage based on the IF AC model, thus indicating the simplicity of information that they require. This, in turn, reflects the simplicity of practices that are used in the Jordanian financial sector. In terms of the association between each contingency variables and the extent of usage of management accounting practices, the research reveals that the age of the company (number of years since establishment), net sale growth, number of employees, sophistication of operations, professional certificates, life cycle stages, and business type have a significant impact on the extent of usage of management accounting practices. In addition, it reveals that the age of the company, sophistication of operations, attendance of training courses, professional certificates, life cycle stages, and business type are the main contingency variables that influence the sophistication level of management accounting practices. The research's findings provide a broad overview of management accounting practices in the Jordanian financial sector. This overview is vital in improving the understanding of management accounting practices, particularly contemporary practices within the Jordanian financial sector in order to encourage practitioners to adopt contemporary practices of management accounting. In addition, the research informs practitioners of the main variables that influence the usage and sophistication level of management accounting practices and of those variables that need to be taken into account when planning the adoption or development of management accounting systems. Finally, the research's findings attempt to fill the gap between theory and practice in management accounting in Jordan.

This study offers some empirical insight into the problems and possibilities of economic integration in West Africa with particular reference to Ghana and the Entente Council States (i.e. Ivory Coast, Upper Volta, Niger, Dahomey and Togo). Recent developments in integration analysis have shown that the traditional theory of integration is largely inapplicable to the economies of LDCs. Economic integration in the case of LDCs should be treated as a strategy of economic development rather than a mere tariff issue. As a background to the study, the historical evolution of the current problems of intra-regional trade and development is discussed with special attention to the economic structures and geo-political configuration of divisions and fragmentations inherited from the colonial past. These have affected recent integration schemes in the region whose performances are appraised and their failures highlighted. Notwithstanding the structural problems of the economies of the area, the study sees a possibility of economic integration. It selects and applies a revised version of the Andics-Dosser model in evaluating the impact effects (gains) of market integration based on selected, existing regional industries (i.e. cement, chemical fertiliser, footwear and petroleum products) in central-west Africa, comprising Ghana and the Entente states. These are industries in which the economies of scale exist, which would justify an arrangement for gradual trade liberalization in the products of such industries within a regional context. Based on the aforementioned products the welfare benefits derivable from market integration in terms of four chosen variables, (domestic value added, national income, foreign exchange and capital cost) are quantified. The estimates, which utilise 1969 data, indicate that integration-induced improvement in the region's growth rate of GNP will be of the order of 0.796 in 1975, increasing to by 1980. Integration by itself does not ensure an automatic equitable distribution of the benefits it generates. The text discusses the possible polarization effects of integration as well as the revenue-loss aspects of tariff disarmament and goes on to make policy suggestions as to how these problems might be solved. The inherent political instability in the region is underlined as a major obstacle to integration but the limited scheme which the. study proposes, since it will entail a minimal loss of political sovereignty from the standpoint of prospective member states, is seen as likely to work if given the chance and policy guideposts are offered to this end.

No description available.

The study begins by examining the orthodox theory of discrimination as a possible model with which to evaluate the socio-economic basis of race relations in Rhodesia. It is argued that it is inadequate because the theory is not grounded in the settler-colonial system, its historiography and the peripheral capitalist social formation in Rhodesia in which a complex articulation between modes of production is found. A critique is then undertaken of the principal theories hitherto used to explain the course of Rhodesian economic development - namely, dualism and those termed neo-marxist. It is argued that Barber's modification of the dualistic model of W. A. Lewis is deficient particularly because of the absence of a theory of 'primitive accumulation' and also the lack of an analysis of the political economy of the 'labour transfer', the basis of peripheral capitalist development. Arrighi's 'neo-maraist' analysis of Rhodesian development is also criticized for its inadequate theory of 'primitive accumulation' and the lack of attention paid to the labour mobilization process. An analytical alternative is proposed, based on an explanation of 'primitive capital accumulation' and the specific forms of-labour utilization found in Rhodesia in association with particular modes of production existent during the period under review. An attempt is made to specify these modes and the social relations related thereto. The labour structures found in the economic system are then examined in the context of the income distribution pattern, the class structure of the social formation and the primary 'dynamic' of Rhodesian postwar development - industrialization. It is suggested that changes in labour policy in various modes of production were essentially concerned with ensuring the maintenance of a system of cheap labour whereby employers acquired labour-power below the cost of its own reproduction. The development of peripheral capitalism under conditions of settler colonialism required changes to labour policy. These modifications left the basic structures of the socio-economic system intact, although they gave rise to substantial pressures for change, e. g. from unions and African nationalism. The State has been particularly significant in containing these socio-economic and political pressures, especially in the field of labour policy. An attempt is made to identify the changes in labour mobilization that have taken place, to assess their impact on the nature of discrimination and underdevelopment, and to point out some of the more important features of the class formation process that have resulted from the development of capitalism in Rhodesia.

This research has three main purposes. First, it discusses the differences between the conventional and the Islamic perspectives of accounting in terms of the accounting definition, objectives, principles, rules, measurements and disclosure requirements. Second, it discusses and formulates the accounting measurements and the disclosure requirements, which should be applied in Islamic banks for Murabahah and Mudarabah operations.Third, to provide insight into the current practice of these measures and requirements, the study reports the results of a survey which aims at identifying the gap between the suggested measures and requirements and the current practice of the Dubai Islamic Bank and the Jordan Islamic Bank. The analysis reveals that there are differences between the conventional and the Islamic perspectives of accounting. It also indicates the need for specific accounting measures for Murabahah and Mudarabah operations as well as the need to disclose more information about these operations and their accounting measurement methods in an Islamic bank's annual reports as well as in other disclosures.Finally, the direction for future research on Islamic banks operations and their accounting measurement problems are presented / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

No description available.

This study explores the prospects for the emergence of democratic regimes in developing countries in general and in Muslim countries in particular. This question has both intellectual and policy relevance for the 1990s and beyond. The optimistic view about the future of democracy has been challenged by Samuel Huntington who sees the status of democracy in the world in 1984 as not very different from what it was about ten years earlier. Huntington further claims that among the Islamic countries, "particularly those in the Middles East, the prospects for democratic development seem low." Huntington attributes this to the recent Islamic revivalism, particularly Shi'ah fundamentalism, and the poverty of many of the Muslim countries. This study will test and reject the thesis that Islam is directly responsible for the absence of democracy in the Muslim countries. A model to measure the society-state power index is proposed, with a control for Islam, to observe whether Islam plays a neutral role in the process of democratization or it is a force hindering the inauguration of democracy in Muslim countries. Support for a structural explanation of democratization is found. The failure by the developing countries to inaugurate democracy is due to the uneven distribution of socioeconomic and political power resources. The cultural explanations, e.g. the role of religion, are thus rejected. A total of 87 countries are included in a cross national regression analysis, consisting of 31 Muslim countries, 17 newly inaugurated democracies, and 39 other developing countries. The period under investigation covers 1970 through 1988. This study also has implications for the U.S. and other developed Western countries that are concerned with the persistence of authoritarianism in the developing countries. Some policy proposals are offered as to help establish democracy in developing countries.

Thesis (M.A. in Security Studies (Defense Decision Making and Planning))--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2006. / Thesis Advisor(s): Anne L. Clunan, Thomas H. Johnson. "June 2006." Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-136). Also available via the World Wide Web.