We examine the link between corporate governance, managerial incentives, and corporate tax avoidance. Similar to other investment opportunities that involve risky expected cash flows, unresolved agency problems may lead managers to engage in more or less corporate tax avoidance than shareholders would otherwise prefer. Consistent with the mixed results reported in prior studies, we find no relation between various corporate governance mechanisms and tax avoidance at the conditional mean and median of the tax avoidance distribution. However, using quantile regression, we find a positive relation between board independence and financial sophistication for low levels of tax avoidance, but a negative relation for high levels of tax avoidance. These results indicate that these governance attributes have a stronger relation with more extreme levels of tax avoidance, which are more likely to be symptomatic of over-and under-investment by managers. Abstract: We examine the link between corporate governance, managerial incentives, and corporate tax avoidance. Similar to other investment opportunities that involve risky expected cash flows, unresolved agency problems may lead managers to engage in more or less corporate tax avoidance than shareholders would otherwise prefer. Consistent with the mixed results reported in prior studies, we find no relation between various corporate governance mechanisms and tax avoidance at the conditional mean and median of the tax avoidance distribution. However, using quantile regression, we find a positive relation between board independence and financial sophistication for low levels of tax avoidance, but a negative relation for high levels of tax avoidance. These results indicate that these governance attributes have a stronger relation with more extreme levels of tax avoidance, which are more likely to be symptomatic of over-and under-investment by managers.JEL: G34, H25, H26, K34, M41

Urquhart, C., Light, A., Thomas, R., Barker, A., Yeoman, A., Cooper, J., Armstrong, C., Fenton, R., Lonsdale, R. & Spink, S. (2003). Critical incident technique and explicitation interviewing in studies of information behavior. Library and Information Science Research, 25(1), 63-88. Sponsorship: JISC (for JUSTEIS element)This article discusses two related techniques, critical incident technique and explicitation, used in a variety of social science research settings, and critically reviews their application to studies of information behavior. The current application of both techniques is compared to Flanagan?s early guidelines on the critical incident technique and is discussed in relation to recent experience in the use of (1) the critical incident technique in the JUSTEIS and VIVOS projects, and (2) explicitation in projects concerned with text entering on interactive Web sites. JUSTEIS is identifying trends, and reasons for those trends, in the uptake and use of electronic information services in higher education in the UK, and the article examines experience gained over the first two cycles, 1999/2000, and 2000/2001. VIVOS evaluated virtual health library services. Comparison of the experiences gained on the various projects suggests that critical incident methods could usefully be extended and enriched by some explicitation methods, to elicit the degree of evocation required for current and future studies of Internet use.Peer reviewe

The relationship between (a) private and public equity market valuations and (b) financial statement information is examined for a sample of 502 venture capital backed companies from six different industries over the 1993-2003 period. Financial statement information explains a sizable component of the levels of and changes in valuation in both the Pre-IPO and Post-IPO periods. The findings support prior research for Post-IPO companies that revenues are value enhancing and costs are value diminishing. For the Pre-IPO period, we find that cost of sales; sales, marketing, general and administrative; and research and development are value enhancing-even when revenues are included in the analysis. This is consistent with costs incurred by early-stage, venture-backed companies having a strong ''investment aspect'' as the companies build a platform/infrastructure to grow revenue and validate their business model(s). We document the growth of early stage companies for revenues and costs in both calendar time (by round of private equity financing) and event time (relative to their eventual IPO).

Urquhart, C., Lonsdale, R.,Thomas, R., Spink, S., Yeoman, A., Armstrong, C. & Fenton, R. (2003). Uptake and use of electronic information services: trends in UK higher education from the JUSTEIS project. Program, 37(3), 167-180. Sponsorship: JISCThe aim of the JUSTEIS project over the first three cycles (1999-2002) was to examine the uptake and use of electronic information services in higher education in the UK, so that planning of JISC services could be informed by trends in usage and evidence of specific needs. The objectives were to: 1) examine what services were used by students and academic staff, and how senior library staff planned services to purchase content and support its use; and 2) examine how library and information services promoted services through their Web pages. Results over the three years explained the growing popularity of electronic journal services, the acceptance of the search engine model for information retrieval and the important role academic staff play in the promotion of electronic information services for student learning. Conclusions and recommendations concern the need for library and information staff to make their approach to integration of information skills into the curriculum appropriate for the discipline, the type of institution, and its strategy for implementation of any virtual or managed learning environment software.Peer reviewe

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