Ebook Transparency, Ownership, and Financing Constraints in Private Firms

An intended purpose of financial accounting information is to reduce information asymmetry by allowing external providers of capital to better assess the firm’s investment opportunities and monitor managerial actions (e.g., Fama and Jensen 1983; Diamond and Verrecchia 1991; Bushman and Smith 2001; Healy and Palepu 2001; Beatty, Liao, and Weber 2008). In other words, financial accounting transparency should ease financing constraints by reducing the adverse selection or moral hazard costs associated with information asymmetry. However, in certain settings, financial accounting may serve a limited role in reducing information costs.

This could occur for a variety of reasons, such as alternative sources of information being available, weak institutional features protecting external providers of capital, close relations between managers and external providers of financing, and lower-quality financial information. We examine the association between the firm’s financial reporting transparency (i.e., firms that subject their financial statements to an external audit) and financing constraints (i.e., more difficult access to external financing and higher financing cost), as well as the mediating role of ownership concentration, for an extensive sample of private firms from 68 countries.

Private firms make up the vast majority of economic activity around the world, yet they have received very limited attention in academic research. Thus, examining the role of accounting information for private firms is economically important in its own right. An interesting feature of a sample of private firms is that these firms have a limited information environment compared with the relatively richer disclosure environment of public firms (e.g., Burgstahler, Hail, and Leuz 2006).

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Secured Credit Card Marketing Scams

Your major credit card is waiting. October 1996 … you a credit card, legitimate credit providers … A call to a ‘900′ number for a credit card.

FTC Facts
F o r C o n s u m e r s Federal Trade Commission
For The Consumer
www.ftc.gov 1-877-ftc-help
Secured Credit Card Marketing Scams
Ads like this may appeal to you if you have
a poor credit history or no credit at all.
Beware: while secured credit cards can be an
effective way to build or re-establish your credit
history, some marketers of secured cards make
deceptive advertising claims to entice you to
respond to their ads.
Secured vs.
Unsecured Cards
Secured and unsecured cards can be used to pay
for goods and services. However, a secured card
requires you to open and maintain a savings
account as security for your line of credit; an
unsecured card does not.
The required savings deposit for a secured
card may range from a few hundred to several
thousand dollars. Your credit line is a percentage of
your deposit, typically 50 to 100 percent. Usually, a
bank will pay interest on your deposit. In addition,
you also may have to pay application and processing
fees-sometimes totaling hundreds of dollars.

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KnowYour Enemy - A Profile

Returns URLs of sites known to be vulnerable to credit card fraud from a … Obtains a credit card number from a database forwarded through the IRC …

THE HONEYNET PROJECT & THE HONEYNET RESEARCH ALLIANCE

Know Your Enemy - A Profile
Profile: Automated Credit
Card Fraud
Assessment Date: 6 June, 2003
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Automation of Credit Card Fraud
For several years the Honeynet Project and
Alliance members have been monitoring
individuals using the Internet to trade or deal
in stolen credit card information. In the past,
these individuals (commonly called “carders”)
typically acted on their own without significant
organization or automation. Recently, the
Project has identified an organized exchange
for stolen credit card information linking
hundreds of carders worldwide through
specialized IRC channels and related web
sites. This network provides far greater
automation of a number of illicit activities
contributing to credit card fraud and identity
theft, including: compromising merchant sites,
validating and verifying stolen credit card
information, and the sale or exchange of
stolen information. As with the automation
and dissemination of exploit code in the
vulnerability cycle, this implies a significant
capacity for increased criminal activity.
WHAT IS HAPPENING
Stolen credit cards and related identity
information (name, address, phone, etc.) have
long been a popular form of illicit “currency”
among cyber-criminals and within the blackhat
community. However, the skill.

http://old.honeynet.org/papers/profiles/cc-fraud.pdf

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SHOP - The Card You Pick Can Save You Money

This guide provides tips on picking the right credit card that meets your spending and repayment habits. It focuses on key costs and terms to consider such as the annual percentage rate (APR), the cash advances, the annual fee, and the grace period, to name a few.

When you’re looking for a credit card, be sure to consider the costs and terms. They can make a difference in how much you pay for the privilege of borrowing. Compare them with the costs and terms of the cards you already have to find the plan that best fits your spending and repayment habits.

Table of Contents:

* Introduction
* Credit Card Interest Rate
* How Much Will You Pay
* Deciphering the Information in a Credit Cars Solicitation or Application
* Credit Card Shopper’s Checklist
* Cracking the Credit Code

http://www.frbsf.org/publications/consumer/shop.pdf

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Ways to Save Money

For most kinds of purchases, you can get valuable advice and comparisons on the Internet. Ask a librarian or friends which Internet sites they think are helpful, or you can use a search engine like Google or Yahoo. Be aware that information you find is often biased. At many websites, the only products or sellers listed are ones that pay to advertise. Before buying anything on the Internet, check several websites and make sure you deal with reputable dealers.

You can save money from various transactions below, by doing some research first:

* Transportation: Airline Fares, Car Rental, Used Cars, Auto Leasing, Gasoline, Car Repair
* Insurance: Auto Insurance, Homeowner/Renter Insurance, Life Insurance
* Banking/Credit: Checking Accounts and Debit Cards, Saving Products, Credit Cards, Auto Loans, First Mortgage Loan, Mortgage Refinancing, Home Equity Loans
* Housing: Home Purchase, Renting a Place to Live, Home Improvement, Major Appliances
* Utilities: Heating & Cooling, Telephone Service
* Other: Food Purchased at Markets, Prescription Drug, Funeral Arrangements

http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/money/66ways/66ways.pdf

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A Guide to the ATM and Debit Card Industry

Taken from Overview of the ATM and Debit Card Industry: ATM and debit card transactions take place over a complex infrastructure. To the consumer and merchant, they appear seamless and nearly instantaneous. But, in fact, a highly complex telecommunications infrastructure links consumers, merchants, ATM owners, and banks. The common attribute of all ATM and debit card transactions is that the transaction is directly linked to the consumer’s bank account, that is, the amount of a transaction is deducted (debited) against the funds in that account.

An ATM transaction typically involves withdrawing cash from an ATM machine.The consumer presents an ATM card, which is issued by the bank holding his checking account, at an ATM terminal, which may or may not be owned by the same bank. He or she enters a personal identification number (PIN) to verify identity, the checking account is checked for adequate funds, and if everything is satisfactory, cash is issued. All of this is routed across one or more ATM networks.

A debit card transaction involves the purchase of a good or service. In this case, the consumer presents a debit card (which again was issued by the bank holding the checking account) to a merchant, and the consumer either enters a PIN (online debit) or signs a receipt (offline debit) to verify the consumer’s identity. The merchant, in turn, sends information about the transaction across one or more debit card networks, and if the transaction is approved, the consumer receives the good or service and the checking account is correspondingly debited. The merchant is reimbursed by a credit to its bank account. An ATM card is typically a dual ATM/debit card that can be used for both ATM and debit card transactions. Many ATM/debit cards offer the consumer both types of debit card transactions, online and offline.

Author: Fumiko Hayashi, Richard Sullivan, and Stuart E. Weiner.

Contents:

* 1 INTRODUCTION [ RECENT CHANGES IN THE ATM AND DEBIT CARD INDUSTRY ~ ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS ~ SCOPE AND ORGANIZATION ]
* 2 OVERVIEW OF THE ATM AND DEBIT CARD INDUSTRY [ GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF ATM AND DEBIT CARD TRANSACTIONS ~ INDUSTRY INFRASTRUCTURE ~ BRIEF HISTORY OF THE INDUSTRY ]
* 3 ATM [ INTRODUCTION ~ TRANSACTION VOLUME, TERMINAL GROWTH, AND TERMINAL FUNCTIONALITY ~ INDUSTRY STRUCTURE ~ INDUSTRY PRICING ~ HOMY.ASIA ~ ATM AUTHORIZATION, FEE, AND SETTLEMENT ROUTING ARRANGEMENTS ]
* 4 DEBIT CARD [ INTRODUCTION ~ TRANSACTION VOLUME, DEBIT CARD ISSUANCE, AND TERMINAL GROWTH ~ INDUSTRY STRUCTURE ~ INDUSTRY PRICING ~ FATIHFIRDAUS ~ EMERGING PAYMENTS ~ DEBIT CARD AUTHORIZATION, FEE, AND SETTLEMENT ROUTING ARRANGEMENTS ]
* 5 ECONOMIC AND POLICY ISSUES [ INTRODUCTION ~ MARKET CONCENTRATION ~ VERTICAL INTEGRATION AND ECONOMIES OF SCOPE ~ ONLINEFREEEBOOKS.NET ~ PRICING ~ ACCESS ~ RISK ]
* 6 FUTURE RESEARCH

Figures, Tables etc:

* ATM Transactions
* ATM Terminals
* Number of Shared ATM Networks
* Top 10 ATM Networks by Number of Transactions
* Concentration of ATM Transaction Volume
* Concentration of EFT Switch Volume
* Top 10 ATM Networks by Share of Total ATM Transactions
* Top National and Regional Networks by Number of ATM Terminals
* Ownership Structure of Top 20 Regional ATM Networks
* Concentration of EFT Transactions Among the Top Five Processors
* Ownership Concentration of ATM Terminals
* Types of ATM Fees
* Retail ATM Fees
* Trends in Wholesale ATM Fees
* ATM Transaction—Network on-us
* Debit Transactions
* Online Debit Share of Total Debit
* Cards with a Debit Function
* Online Debit Terminals
* Number of Online Debit Networks
* Concentration of Online Debit Transactions Among the Top EFT Networks
* Concentration of Debit Card Transactions Among the Top 10 Debit Card Issuers
* Concentration of Debit Cards in Circulation Among the Top Debit Card Issuers
* Top 10 EFT Networks by Number of Online Debit Transactions
* Top 10 EFT Networks by Share of Online Debit Transactions
* Top 10 Online Debit Networks by Number of Cards
* Online Debit Card Coverage Among the Top EFT Networks
* Types of Debit Card Fees
* Trends in Switch Fees for Online Debit Transactions
* Acquirer and Card Issuers Responsibility for Online Debit Switch Fees
* Online Debit Interchange Revenue to Card-Issuing Bank
* Online Debit Card Transaction—Network on-us
* Offline Debit Card Transaction

http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/83607/Hayashi_April2003.pdf

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Discovering Artificial Economics - How Agents Learn and Economies Evolve

Taken from Wetting the Appetite: According to the MIT economist Paul Krugman, we’re caught up in the “Age of Diminished Expectations.”l Despite the recent resurgence in U.S. growth, many other parts of the global economy are not doing well, compared with previous expectations. This unhealthy mixture of bliss and disaster has triggered a great deal of critical debate about economics. In many parts of the Western world, it’s been the age of the policy entrepreneur: that economist who tells politicians precisely what they want to hear. Thankfully, the nonsense preached by some of these opportunists has been condemned by most serious economists.2 But the fallout still lingers. In the eyes of an unforgiving public, misguided policy entrepreneurship has undermined the credibility of economics as a trustworthy discipline.

Written by: David F. Batten.

Contents:

* Chance and Necessity
o “Wetting” the Appetite
o Sandpiles, Self-Organization, and Segregation
o Power Laws and Punctuated Equilibria
o Bulls, Bears, and Fractals
o Stasis and Morphogenesis
o On Learning Curves
* On the Road to Know-Ware
o What is Knowledge?
o Finding the Road to Know-Ware
o The Age of Deception
o Seeing the Light at the El Farol
o The Emergence of Cooperation
o Coevolutionary Learning
* Sheep, Explorers, and Phase Transitions
o The Fallacy of Composition
o Irreducible Interactions
o Getting Well Connected
o Sheep and Explorers
o Are You an Inductive Graph Theorist?
* The Ancient Art of Learning by Circulating
o Pirenne’s Hypothesis
o The Mees Analysis
o Learning by Circulating
o Big Buttons and a Critical Thread
o Ephemeral Entrepots
* Networks, Boosters, und Self-Organized Cities
o The Shortest Network Problem
o Pirenne Again?
o Selective Urban Growth
o One Great Metropolis
o Networking Futures
o City-Size Distributions Obey Power Laws
o Artificial Cities
* Traffic Near the Edge of Chaos
o The Driver’s Dilemma
o In Whose Best Interests?
o Sheep, Explorers, and Bounded Rationality
o Cellular Congestion
o Coevolutionary Learning in Congested Traffic
o Edge-of-Chaos Management
* Coevolving Markets
o Are Stock Markets Efficient?
o Pattern Recognizers
o Scaling the Market’s Peaks
o Fibonacci Magic
o Market Moods
o Reading the Market’s Mind
o How Markets Learn
* Artificial Economics
o Limits to Knowledge
o Adaptive Agents and the Science of Surprise
o The New Age of Artificial Economics
o Growing a Silicon Society
o Some Final Words

http://www.econ.iastate.edu/classes/econ308/tesfatsion/Batten.EntireBook.pdf

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Financial Planning and Cashflow Management

Taken from Introduction: You have decided to go on a long car journey from London to Glasgow. What would you do to get ready for this drive? Most people would look at a map or put the details in their satnav. Top up with petrol and check the oil and water. Pack some snacks. If there are going to be children onboard, then you would take things to amuse them.

You might listen to the radio for warnings about weather and tailbacks.

Then you probably would make a rough schedule in your head so you would know when and where to stop for breaks.

Few people would just get in the car and head for the M1, hoping that the signposts would take them to their destination.

They are the sort of people you might see lost and asking directions. Or fuming because they are late. Or broken down on the hard shoulder.

If this is the type of planning you would do when travelling, why do so many businesses and individuals fail to plan, and in effect plan to fail in the crucial area of their finances?

Contents:

* How this Free Guide will benefit your business
* What is financial planning and cashflow management?
* About Shakar Elahi
* What is Financial Planning?
* Case Study 1 - Ryan Harms Archimet Architectural Metalwork
* Financial Planning and Budgets: improving the Performance Measurement Process
* Case Study 2 - Claire Fisher Ganapati Restaurant
* Cash Flow Forecasts
* A Cash Flow Model
* Case Study 3 - Tony Ferrell VauxFord
* Case Study 4 - Thames Digital Reprographics Ltd
* Conclusion
* Useful Common Financial Terms

http://www.julianjackson.co.uk/Financial-Planning-eBook.pdf

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