CFVG 2012
CFVG 2012
CFVG 2012
March 19th – 20th 2012 in New World Saigon Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Chào Buổi Sáng!* Welcome to the International Conference on Business, Economics and Information
Technology in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
We are pleased that you have chosen to join us in the next two days in what we anticipate will be a wonderful
opportunity to exchange ideas in the spirit of scholarship and professional growth.
We have prepared a conference packet for you with our environment in mind. For your convenience, we have
printed the Conference Program, but all other documents, including the Conference Proceedings, are made
available to you electronically in the enclosed USB-flash drive.
If there is anything else we can do to enhance your experience at this conference, please let us know.
We sincerely thank you for your participation. We look forward to meeting you in person and welcome the
opportunity to speak with you in the next two days. Cám ơn rất nhiều!**
1030-1200 Session 1: International Issues in Business and Economics (Fort San Jose)
Chaired by Dr. Ansito Walter, University of Guam-School of Business and Public Administration
MAURITIUS AS A SUCCESS STORY FOR FDI: WHAT STRATEGY AND POLICY LESSONS CAN EMERGING
MARKETS LEARN?
Dr. Rajeev Sooreea (presenter) at the School of Business and Leadership, Dominican University of
California (U.S.A.) and co-author Dr. Brinda Sooreea-Bheemul at the Department of Economics and
Statistics, University of Mauritius (Mauritius)
This study uses a policy approach to examine the role of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the
‘Mauritian economic miracle’ years of 1970-2000. In the early stage of industrialization, the Mauritian
government turned the island into an Export Processing Zone. The objective was to attract foreign direct
investors in the textile and clothing industry who would then export the finished manufactured products to
European and North American markets. This study analyzes how the spillover and linkage effects between
FDI, productivity, domestic investment, and exports impacted economic growth. The results indicate that it
was FDI stock, rather than FDI inflows, that led to the growth success. In addition, it was the heavily FDI-
driven export sector which was the driving force of economic growth. The study also highlights the
challenges that Mauritius faced during its development path, lessons that emerging countries can learn from and policy
recommendations on how to reposition Mauritius going forward.
THE ONE VILLAGE ONE PRODUCT (OVOP) MODEL AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ON GUAM
Dr. Ning Li at the School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam (U.S.A.)
The unique strategic location and the impending military build-up have offered Guam great
opportunities of rapid economic growth in the near future. However, Guam still needs proper public
policy and strategies to build up its indigenous capability to ensure sustainable development. The one
village one product (OVOP) model seems to be a good strategy that Guam can adopt for its rural
development and for the island's tourism industry. The uniqueness of the OVOP strategy in Guam is
the tight connection between agriculture and tourism industry. By pursuing a specialization strategy,
each village will not only identify an agricultural product or serve that will eventually lead to successful
import substitution but also create a specific image to attract visitors and investments. Research
methods are mainly qualitative, including descriptive reasoning and case studies. This paper examines
a bunch of criteria to see whether Guam is ready to adopt the OVOP model for its regional
development. These criteria include: (1) a common recognition of reformation; (2) existence of local
characteristics; (3) persistence with the OVOP strategy; (4) identification of products of high value-
added; (5) marketing channel; and (6) human resource development. This paper also scrutinizes local government incentives and
existing programs in different villages, such as Inarajan Coconut Festival, Chamorro culture Fest, Agat Mango Festival, etc. The
author argues that Guam is ready for the OVOP model and will benefit from implementation of such a development strategy.
Accordingly, the local governments on Guam need to work closely with agriculture and tourism industry to develop public policies
that promote the OVOP movement.
THE EFFECT OF GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS ON THE PHILIPPINES’ EXPORT SECTOR: A VECTOR AUTO-
REGRESSION ANALYSIS
Prof. Cynthia P. Cudia of the Accountancy Department, De La Salle University-Manila (Philippines)
The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) caused the collapse of large financial institutions around the world;
and contributed to the failure of various businesses that led to significant downturns in economic
activities. This study assesses the impact of the financial crisis on the Philippine export sector. Using
vector auto-regression analysis, we analyze the effect on the Philippine export sector with respect to the
changes on the Philippine Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Philippine currency movement in terms of
exchange rate from Philippine Peso (PHP) to US Dollar (USD), and change in US GDP and US
imports, being US as the major trading partner of the Philippines. This study further determines the
performance of Philippine exporters linked with the GFC. Hence, this study derives policy implications
on the development of the Philippines’ export sector given the external shocks associated with a
financial crisis.
CORPORATE DEBT FINANCING IN THE PHILIPPINES: EXAMINING THE ROLE OF FIRM-LEVEL FACTORS
THROUGH BINARY CHOICE MODEL
Prof. Christian Paolo E. Romagos (presenter), Ms. Karen Q. Almenar, Ms. Ana Felicia T. Singson,
and Mr. Mart Jaffiel S. Sio (Philippines)
The Pecking Order Theory, first introduced by Donaldson in 1961, states that companies prefer to
raise funds, in the order of priority, through internal sources, debt and then equity. While clearly
debt is the next best option to internally raised funds, it’s not clear whether debt should be in the
form of either bank loan or bond issuance and if there is an order of preference between the two.
This study will investigate if certain firm-level factors contribute in determining that choice. Logit
estimation will be used to process the cross-sectional data gathered from listed Philippine
companies in identifying which firm-level factors significantly affects the choice of debt financing
1330-1430 Session 2B: Marketing (Mekong 2)
Chaired by Prof. Terrie O’Brien, University of Guam-School of Business and Public Administration
ACCOUNTING ACCRUALS, AUDIT FEES AND OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM JAPAN
Dr. Naoki Kasai of the Faculty of Economics, Shiga University (Japan)
This study provides empirical evidence on how the association between accounting accruals (measured
by accrual quality) and audit fees is moderated by ownership structure. Previous research shows that
auditor independence is eroded by auditor–client economic dependence. To date, most researchers have
focused on U.S. firms in assessing the effects of audit committees or boards of directors on the
association between auditor–client economic bonding and audit quality. However, alterative
governance mechanisms exist instead of these organizations in Japan, and can provide a new
perspective on this issue. A unique feature of Japanese company ownership structure is that there exist
stable shareholdings, such as cross-shareholdings and financial institution shareholdings. This
governance structure is different from those not only in the U.S. but also in other countries that have
seen previous research on this issue, such as Australia and other Commonwealth countries. There is no
research to date focusing on the how the relationship between accrual quality and audit fees is
moderated by cross-shareholdings in the Japanese market. Thus, this study uses the accrual-quality
measure developed by Dechow and Dichev (2002) as a measure of audit quality to fill this gap. The
results demonstrate that higher audit fees are likely to have compromised auditors’ independence and thereby led to lower audit
quality. On the contrary, cross-shareholdings are negatively associated with accrual quality. This result indicates that higher cross-
shareholding led to higher accrual quality. Additionally, I find an association between audit quality and audit fees, moderated by
cross-shareholdings. This study provides the first empirical evidence that cross-shareholdings can
A SURVEY ON HANDLING BAD DEBTS: SELECTED SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN THE PHILIPPINES
Dr. Venus C. Ibarra of the School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam (U.S.A.)
The concept of bad debts expense is relevant to companies that use the accrual basis of accounting and
are heavy on credit sales. Uncollectible accounts or bad debts reduce revenue, and recognition of bad
debts is crucial in presenting the correct revenues of the company. This paper looks at selected small
and medium enterprises in the Philippines and considers what methods are used in handling bad debts,
whether these are in accordance with the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), whether
there are significant differences in the methods depending on their business location and type of
business. Findings show that SMEs in all areas surveyed were not following the generally accepted
principles of matching in handling and recording bad debts. Out of 89 respondents, 41.6% use the
direct write-off method instead of the allowance method. Only 37.1% uses the allowance method
broken down as follows: percentage of accounts receivable (22.5%); percentage of sales (5.6%); and
aging (9%). A high percentage of the respondents (21.3%) do not have any method of handling bad
debts. There are no significant differences in the methods used in handling bad debts by location or type of businesses.
THE GROWING TRENDS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION: HOW CAN
GUAM’S HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY ADOPT A REGIONAL APPROACH TO CSR
Ms. Trina Cruz and Mr. Dan Nguyen (presenter) of the School of Business and Public Administration,
University of Guam (U.S.A.)
The healthcare industry on Guam and in the Asia-Pacific region and continues to face inevitable
challenges. Negative assumptions are placed upon the industry as a whole when as little as one or two
players make poor decisions. The sensitivity of the healthcare industry requires a more personal
approach to gaining consumer truss and maintaining a positive image.
Organizations with a sensible approach to corporate social responsibility benefit when its industry is in
controversial times. This case study presents regional trends and benefits from corporate social
responsibility and ways it can be applied on Guam. As Guam’s developing healthcare industry remains
highly competitive, a corporate social responsibility plan will be essential for future success and
survival.
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT PRODUCTIVITY SPILLOVER AND THE ABSORPTION CAPACITY THROUGH
MANAGERIAL SKILL AND OWNERSHIP
Ms. Ngoc Thi - Bich Pham of the Doctoral Programme in Quantitative Economics, University of Kiel (Germany) and Hoa Sen
University (Vietnam)
Foreign Direct Investment not only brings a remarkable capital to one economy but also possibly spills the
productivity over to domestic enterprises. Using the firm-level data for the Vietnamese manufacturing
sectors in the period 2007 – 2009 under trade liberalization, the analysis finds that the productivity
spillovers from foreign affiliates in the same and in upstream industries are negative, but those from
foreign firms in downstream industries are positive. The forward and backward spillovers (inter-industry
linkages) are different in response to the foreign presence in manufacturing or in service sectors.
Moreover, the study further investigates the role of managerial skill and ownership in driving the
absorption capacity of the domestic firms. The positive horizontal spillovers are found to be associated
with the local firms which are private and/or with higher managerial skill.
END OF DAY 1
Day 2: March 20th 2012
CULTURE AND THE GLOBALIZATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS (IFRS)
IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Mr. Lasmin of the Graduate School of Management, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (Japan)
How do countries` societal values influence their attitude toward the globalization of IFRS? Inspired by
Gernon & Wallace’s (1995) Accounting Ecology framework and drawing on DiMaggio & Powell’s (1983)
Institutional Isomorphism perspective, we reveal that national culture compared to economic pressures,
have stronger impacts on developing countries` decision to adopt or not to adopt IFRS. Specifically, we use
Hofstede`s cultural dimension of power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individuality, and masculinity as
predictors to IFRS adoption in 40 developing countries during 2005-2009. Using various regression
estimations in an integrative model that includes social and economic variables, we find that countries that
have high centralization of power, high conservatism, and high self orientation are not interested in
adopting IFRS. We also confirm that national accounting ecology of developing countries is not in
equilibrium.
ACCOUNTING FOR ASSET RETIREMENT OBLIGATIONS OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTITIES AFTER THE
TOHOKU-PACIFIC OCEAN EARTHQUAKE
Dr. Mineo Tsuji (presenter) and Mr. Muneaki Fujibayashi of the Graduate School of Economics, Osaka
Prefecture University
The disastrous earthquake and Tsunami on March 11, 2011 has caused great suffering to not only
large companies but also small and medium-sized entities (SMEs) in Japan. Shortage of electric power
obliges SMEs to replace some worse energy efficient equipments in use while the Japanese Act does
not require SMEs to account for asset retirement obligations. Some Tohoku local governments are
seeking investment funds to invest SMEs because the collateral values of their destroyed real estate do
not allow banks to loan. In case of refrigerated warehouse industry, accounting for asset retirement
obligations and accounting for provisions will help SMEs to deal with these problems. However, the
differences between the financial standards and the tax rules associated with them could often prevent
SMEs from record such a provision. Because a provision in excess of allowed for tax purpose would
not be tax deductible. In s sustainable a society, it would be better that accounting treatments of SMEs are the same as large
companies to protect environment.
IMPACT OF DIVERSITY ON THE CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING PROFESSION AND THE SUCCESSES AND
FAILURES OF AICPA INITIATIVES TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM
Dr. Elizabeth Foma of the School of Business and Public Administration, University of Guam (U.S.A.)
This paper examined the impact of diversity in the Certified Public Accounting (CPA) profession and the
successes and failures of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) initiatives to
address this issue. This paper examined current state of diversity in the CPA profession. While the actual
head count of minorities in the profession increased, the percentage of representation dropped. The
success of AICPA initiatives to address this issue has met with both success and failure. The success of
the initiative has been the ability to convince schools to seek more diversity in recruitment. The AICPA
initiatives failed because of lack of financial resources available to minorities to further their education
as well as lack of awareness. The paper also examined ways of encouraging minority interest in the CPA
profession. The paper also examined the benefits of the initiatives, current AICPA goals as well as future
challenges. Despite the several initiatives proposals and implementations to attract minorities into the
CPA profession, minority representation is still at its lowest. However, the future looks bright because
minority owned firms are increasing even though there is a decreasing enrollment of minority accounting
students in colleges. As the number of CPA firms increase, mentorship programs can be developed to help increase minority interest
in the accounting profession.
THE CONTRIBUTION OF SOCIAL CAPITAL INTO THE ACTIVITIES OF REAL ESTATE COMPANIES IN
VIETNAM
Dr. Hoai Trong Nguyen (presenter) and Dr. Dien Thanh Huỳnh of the University of Economics Ho Chi
Minh City (Vietnam)
The study aims at exploring the structure of social capital and the activities of real estate companies in
Vietnam. It also analyzes the contribution of social capital in the activities of real estate
companies,Which suggest policies to help real estate companies use social capital to improve
performance, and assist the Government restrict the forms of negative social cohesion and help
companies develop forms of positive social cohesion. The research was conducted in two stages. The
first stage, in-depth interviews were used to build the scale and theoretical models. The second stage, a
sample of 262 real estate companies in Ho Chi Minh city of Vietnam was surveyed to test the theoretical
model. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. The research results have shown that
social capital contributes to all the activities of real estate companies. It suggests policies to improve the
performance of the company through the use of social capital, and the macroeconomic policies to
restrict the formation of negative social cohesion, and support companies to develop the forms of positive social cohesion. The
research results suggested that real estate companies should be concerned and take more time for establishing relationships with
internal, external and leaders of business networks to serve business activities. Also the Government should issue policies to regulate
social capital on the real estate market in a positive way. Moreover, the findings also suggested the Association of real estate in
Vietnam should create values from the social network to serves the interests of the participants. This study is the first of its kind in
Vietnam, which explores the relationship between social capital with the business activities of the real estate companies in Vietnam.
1415-1530 Session 8 (concurrent sessions)
Session 8A: Interdisciplinary (Mekong 1)
Chaired by Dr. Ansito Walter, University of Guam-School of Business and Public Administration
Dr. Maria Claret Mapalad-Ruane (Conference Co-Chair), University of Guam-School of Business and Public Administration (U.S.A.)
Dr. Akihiro Noguchi (Conference Co-Chair), Nagoya University-Graduate School of Economics-Economic Research Center (Japan)
Dr. Jungwoo Ryoo, on behalf of Dr. Barbara A. Wiens-Tuers (Conference Co-Chair), Penn State Altoona-Division of Business and
Engineering (U.S.A.)
END OF CONFERENCE
Dear Authors:
One benefit of presenting your paper at this conference is the opportunity to have it considered
for publication in the peer-reviewed, Cabell-listed Journal of International Business Research
(JIBR), which is published by the Allied Academies and carries ISSN 1544-0230
http://www.alliedacademies.org/Public/Journals/JournalDetails.aspx?jid=15. The JIBR
Editorial Board will give your manuscript its utmost consideration, according to the following
schedule. (Note that these deadlines are definite and no late submissions will be considered.
Also, incorrectly formatted submission will not be accepted.):
April 20th – 30th Your manuscript, formatted according to the publisher’s guidelines, must be
submitted as an MS Word file (.doc) by email to mcruane@uguam.uog.edu (subject title:
Submission for JIBR).
July 31st Authors of accepted papers must make all required revisions and submit final
manuscripts by this deadline. Also, Allied Academies requires all authors to fill out and
submit the “Author’s Warranty” form (also known as “Permission to Publish Paper”) before
it can publish your paper. In addition, all authors must become members of the Academy for
Studies in International Business (one-year membership fee $75 per author). Members will
receive a PDF version of the journal which contains their paper(s). Printed copies of the
journal must be ordered and paid for separately. For more information, visit
www.alliedacademies.org or email Executive Director, Mr. Trey Carland, at
info@alliedacademies.org.
Thank you for your participation in our conference as paper authors and presenters.