Showing papers by "William W. Cooper published in 2009"

Using Malmquist Indexes to measure changes in the productivity and efficiency of US accounting firms before and after the Sarbanes–Oxley Act

Abstract: There have been many criticisms of the Sarbanes–Oxley (SOX) Act passed in July of 2002 to correct business accountability and performance practices. The act has a major emphasis on accounting and its practices. This paper attempts a response to these criticisms by investigating changes in productive efficiency for 62 of the largest US public accounting firms between the periods (2000–2001) and (2003–2004)—the periods before and after enactment of SOX in July of 2002. DEA is used to calculate Malmquist indexes of productivity and efficiency changes. This index is used because it can distinguish between changes in technical efficiency, which limit the possibilities, and changes in the performance efficiencies for each firm. Contrary to many of the criticisms, results indicate that accounting firms have exhibited significant post SOX growth in productive efficiency which is better than pre-SOX performances.

Flexibility, adaptability, and efficiency in manufacturing systems

Abstract: There are many different approaches and conceptualizations of flexibility in the present literature This lends itself to a lack of clarity and can result in confusion on the central concept Here we identify shortcomings in the existing literature To clarify some of the important concepts, we distinguish between flexibility (ability to change states), adaptability (ability to change within a state), and efficiency (resources utilized) To illustrate such distinctions, we present a capacity expansion model that takes flexibility and adaptability into consideration Numerical examples show how the concepts of flexibility and adaptability can be used in manufacturing

Measuring productivity growth, technical progress, and efficiency changes of CPA firms prior to, and following the Sarbanes–Oxley Act

Abstract: This paper investigates productivity growth, technical progress, and efficiency change for a group of the 56 largest CPA firms in the US from the period 1996–1999 through the period 2003–2006, where the former preceded, and the latter followed, enactment of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX). Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to calculate Malmquist indices of three measures of interest: productivity growth, technical progress, and efficiency change. Results indicate that CPA firms, on average, experienced a productivity growth of approx. 17% from the pre- to post-SOX period. Consistent with the finding of Banker et al. [Banker RD, Chang H, Natarajan R. Productivity change, technical progress and relative efficiency change in the public accounting industry. Management Science 2005;51:291–304], this productivity gain can be attributed primarily to technical progress rather than a change in relative efficiency. In addition, results indicate that the “Big 4” firms underperformed their non-Big 4 counterparts in both productivity growth and technical progress.