The purpose of this book is to offer a small token in memory of Ken Hilton, who died prematurely at the age of 52 in February 1990. The book contains contributions from a number of 1eading academics; some were close c- leagues of Ken's at the University of Southampton, some have been at other universities but knew Ken fair1y well, and still some who never met Ken but who knew of him through bis work. The unifying motivation for all of them, however, was their immense sense of loss of an extremely proactive and excellent academic. Having led the research group on the Southampton Econometric Model project for three years, Ken was appointed to the Chair of Financia1 Control at the University of Southampton in 1970; at that time this was one of only a handful of similar Chairs in the UK. Most of Ken's subsequent academic career was devoted to contributing to the study of financial control, initially in the private sector and subsequently in the public sector. The breadth of bis interests was demonstrated by bis enviable ability to contribute to the areas of industrial economics, accounting, and management science. We hope therefore that this volume which embraces contributions from leading academics in each of these three fields is a fitting tribute to Ken's work.

The first two decades of the twenty-first century have witnessed an influx of innovations and reforms in public financial management. The current wave of reforms is markedly different from those in the past, owing to the sheer number of innovations, their widespread adoption, and the sense that they add up to a fundamental change in the way governments manage public money. This book takes stock of the most important innovations that have emerged over the past two decades, including fiscal responsibility legislation, fiscal rules, medium-term budget frameworks, fiscal councils, fiscal risk management techniques, performance budgeting, and accrual reporting and accounting. Not merely a handbook or manual describing practices in the field, the volume instead poses critical questions about innovations; the issues and challenges that have appeared along the way, including those associated with the global economic crisis; and how the ground can be prepared for the next generation of public financial management reforms. Watch Video of Book Launch

Using a variety of theoretical frameworks drawn from the social sciences, the contributions in this edited collection offer a critical perspective on the dominant paradigms used in contemporary financial activities. Through a detailed study of the organisation and functioning of financial intermediaries and institutions, the contributors to this volume analyse ‘finance in the making’, by shedding light on the structuring of banking and financial systems, on their capacity to prescribe action and control, on their modes of regulation and, more generally, on the process of financialisation. Contributions presented in this volume have been written by authors working within the ‘social studies of finance’ tradition, a research programme that emerged twenty years ago, with the aim of addressing a diversity of financial fieldworks and related theoretical questions. This book, therefore, sheds light on different areas that are representative of contemporary financial realities. Specifically, it first studies the work of financial employees: traders, salespeople, investment managers, financial analysts, investment consultants, etc. but also provides an analysis of a range of financial instruments: financial schemes and contracts, financial derivatives, socially responsible investment funds, as well as market rules and regulations. Finally, it puts into perspective the organisations contributing to this financial reality: those developing and selling financial services (retail banks, brokerage houses, asset management firms, private equity firms, etc.), and also those contributing to the regulation of such activities (banking regulators, financial market authorities, credit rating agencies, the State, to name a few). Each text can be read without any specific knowledge of finance; the book is thus addressed to anyone willing to better understand the intricacies of contemporary financial realities.

`The book provides an excellent wide and stimulating set of readings and would be useful to anyone taking forward Unit 3 or the Accelerated Route of SQH′ - SQH Newsletter `This is a useful addition to the literature on finance and resource management in education.... Those whose work involves managing resources and finance in schools and colleges will find this a useful or even indispensable addition to their bookshelves, whether they are heads, principals or middle managers′ - Mentoring and Tutoring This book will provide readers with knowledge and understanding of the theory and practice of managing finance, resources and stakeholders in schools and colleges. Written specifically for those studying for an academic qualification at Masters level in educational management, it provides self-study material and links to other key texts in the field. The authors deal with the links between finance, resources and stakeholders in the context of school and college self-management. Examples are drawn from international settings as well as from the United Kingdom. Building on an examination of theoretical perspectives, practical considerations and applications are examined in a format which encourages the reader to explore the context of their own educational institution. This book is a core text for the University of Leicester MBA in Educational Management.

As there is no current book that deals extensively or exclusively with survey research in corporate finance Survey Research in Corporate Finance is the only one of its kind. For even while there are numerous books on survey methodology, none focus on this methodology as specifically applied to corporate finance. In the book, Baker, Singleton, and Velt do nothing less than provide an overview of survey methodology useful to financial researchers, synthesize the major streams or clusters of survey research in corporate finance, and offer a valuable resource and guide for those interested in conducting survey research in finance. Thus this volume will be an essential reference for practitioners, academics, and graduate students - who all must know the methodology of finance survey research. In addition to methodology, the book identifies areas that will be best served by survey-based research. Researchers will have a wealth of information regarding past surveys and will be aware of suitable candidates for future surveys. Several chapters are devoted to synthesizing survey results on major issues in finance. These will help decision makers in finance and in non-finance firms to acquire knowledge learned from years of communications between academics and practitioners.

Designed for those who want to gain an understanding of the fundamental concepts and techniques used in financial management. An underlying premise of the book is that the objective of the firm is to maximize value or wealth. Drawing on a wealth of experience in the academic and professional worlds, the authors discuss how firms can accomplish this objective by making appropriate investment and financing decisions. Bridging the gap between financial theory and practice, the authors present fundamental concepts in an intuitive and nontechnical way, and provide numerous practical financial tips to readers. The focus is on current practice, using results from recent surveys to show the most popular techniques and approaches used by financial managers today. A range of instructor’s resources are available at the accompanying website. Visit www.blackwellpublishing.com/baker for full details.

An introduction to financial tools and concepts from an operations perspective, addressing finance/operations trade-offs and explaining financial accounting, working capital, investment analysis, and more. Students and practitioners in engineering and related areas often lack the basic understanding of financial tools and concepts necessary for a career in operations or supply chain management. This book offers an introduction to finance fundamentals from an operations perspective, enabling operations and supply chain professionals to develop the skills necessary for interacting with finance people at a practical level and for making sound decisions when confronted by tradeoffs between operations and finance. Readers will learn about the essentials of financial statements, valuation tools, and managerial accounting. The book first discusses financial accounting, explaining how to create and interpret balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements, and introduces the idea of operating working capital—a key concept developed in subsequent chapters. The book then covers financial forecasting, addressing such topics as sustainable growth and the liquidity/profitability tradeoff; concepts in managerial accounting, including variable versus fixed costs, direct versus indirect costs, and contribution margin; tools for investment analysis, including net present value and internal rate of return; creation of value through operating working capital, inventory management, payables, receivables, and cash; and such strategic and tactical tradeoffs as offshoring versus local and centralizing versus decentralizing. The book can be used in undergraduate and graduate courses and as a reference for professionals. No previous knowledge of finance or accounting is required.