http://hdl.handle.net/10179/2540 2018-01-23T17:19:16Z http://hdl.handle.net/10179/2584 Claims for wrongful pregnancy and child rearing expenses Thomas, C. M. Wrongful birth claims relate to the birth of a child as a consequence of medical negligence. There has been general acceptance by courts in various jurisdictions that costs relating to the pregnancy and birth may be recovered. However the more contentious issue is whether there is liability for the costs of rearing such a child. The English courts have held there is no such liability with respect to a healthy child, while in Australia, the Queensland Court of Appeal has taken the opposite view2. In New Zealand the issue has yet to be decided. The Accident Compensation scheme has limited the development of the law relating to personal injury in general, but the High Court has found that the scheme does not prevent claims for wrongful birth. It is argued that the New Zealand courts should follow the Australian decisions, as the English approach is based on the views of ordinary people on this moral question as perceived by judges. This requires the individual judge’s sense of the moral answer to a question to prevail, albeit in light of the judge’s view of the opinions of ordinary people. It is argued that this is a subjective approach in that, in such a complex and emotionally difficult area of the law, there is unlikely to be uniformity of opinion among the public, or even among judges. As such, this is arguably a matter better resolved by legislation than by the courts. Subsequently published as Cordelia Thomas, ‘Claims for wrongful pregnancy and damages for the upbringing of the child’ (2003) 26 University of New South Wales Law Journal 125. With permission of the UNSWLJ 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10179/2583 Kiwi talent flow : a study of chartered accountants and business professionals overseas Hooks, J. J.; Carr, S. C.; Edwards, M. F.; Inkson, K.; Jackson, D. J. R.; Thorn, K. J.; Allfree, N. New Zealanders have always had a propensity to travel overseas. The globalisation of the world has seen an increase in the number of people who, having completed their education and gained some work experience, set off on their overseas experience. Concern has been expressed as to the potential “brain drain” that would result should these well-educated and talented citizens remain overseas permanently. This research considers the propensity to return of over 1,500 expatriate Kiwis working in the areas of accounting and finance. It examines their demographics, attitudes, values, motivations, factors of attraction to, and repulsion from, New Zealand and their concerns for change in New Zealand. It therefore provides insights into the nature and purpose of this significant group of professionals resident mainly in the United Kingdom and Australia. We find that less than half are likely to return to New Zealand. This is because of the lack of career and business opportunities despite the “pull” of family and relations in New Zealand. 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10179/2582 Has IFRS resulted in information overload? Morunga, M.; Bradbury, M. E. The move to NZ IFRS has been surrounded by complaints of too much information being provided. This is not simply a matter of the cost of providing the information, but the possibility of data overload. Data overload is an important issue as it impacts information search strategies and decision outcomes. This relevant for the current debate on differential reporting and for assessing whether NZ IFRS has achieved its goals of reducing the cost of financial analysis. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the move to international financial reporting by New Zealand listed entities on the quantity of data provided in the annual report. Our analysis shows that the annual report increased for 92% of our sample firms. The average increase in size was 29% of the prior years‟ annual report and arose through notes to the accounts and accounting policies. Even after transitional information (e.g., accounting policies and reconciliations) the increase is 15%. 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10179/2581 The determinants of the accounting classification of convertible debt when managers have freedom of choice Bishop, Helen E. This study examines the accounting classification of convertible debt in an environment where there is the choice of debt, other capital funds or equity. Contracting theory suggests possible determinants of accounting choice. These are leverage, as a proxy for closeness to debt covenants, the relative size of the convertible financial instrument issued and the contractual terms of the instrument. Two measures of leverage are used. One is debt to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA). This variable has been included as it is the most commonly used ratio in debt covenants. The second measure is debt to net tangible assets as this ratio, or similar ratios, have been used in previous accounting studies to proxy for closeness to debt covenants. As leverage ratios tend to vary between industries I identify whether each firm is above or below their industry average. I find that the best predictor of the accounting classification choice is the contractual terms of the instrument. The two debt covenants derived hypotheses are not supported. The leverage of the issuer and the relative size of the issue have no significant influence on the choice of classification. 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z