Jean-Guy Degos’s research while affiliated with University of Bordeaux and other places

In this paper, we study three long-term projects, with a life cycle of several centuries, where the environment and the economic conditions change: as well as the borders and the political regimes of the countries, the behaviors and the aspirations of men, the daily life and the perception of the world. For these large projects, their life cycle, including the classic stages of beginning, maturity, and completion, the end may be far away... but sometimes it already gives an idea of the outcome of the project. To show the relativity of their success and failure, we have chosen to evoke three large projects of the same nature: whose failure or success can be appreciated nowadays. We will first study, respecting the chronology, the oldest waterway, the Canal du Midi, the most important large project of the 17 th century (1667-1682), which was a success as long as it enjoyed a natural monopoly. We will then evoke the Suez Canal, which was a success, and which remains so (1859-1869). Finally, we will study the Panama Canal, which was a resounding failure under the French government (1881-1903), but which later became an undisputed success when completed by the Americans (1904-1914). Many factors have modified the destiny of these great projects, and we will try to analyze them. For these three projects, we have used archives and testimonies somewhat forgotten in time, which raises our second objective - to inform and communicate the existence of these resources because their volume requires much more effort than ours.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on circumvolutions taken by the accounting standard-setting process in French-speaking African countries which have delayed convergence toward IFRS standards and to identify how different factors shape accounting standards in a context in which post-colonial hysteresis interact with globalization. Design/methodology/approach This study uses archival data and interviews with key individual actors. Two case studies from two successive periods are contrasted: the design of the OCAM accounting standards in the 1970s, and the development of the SYSCOA/OHADA accounting standards during the 1990s before the partial adoption of IFRS. Findings The study shows the convergence toward international accounting standards in French-speaking African countries emerged from a complex, multimodal process mingling competition with collaboration and negotiation. They have followed a different path from most English-speaking African countries, where convergence to IAS/IFRS took place earlier and faster. The evidence indicates the significance of the interaction between the ex-colonization and the indigenous accounting standards, the importance of key actors and the level of the educational institutions. Research limitations/implications No African written sources were located. Most of the sources used were French. Practical implications The paper includes implications for the standards setting in developing countries. The examination of the development of accounting rules in French-speaking African countries between 1960 and 2010 shows the complexity of the accounting standards’ diffusion dynamic. Originality/value This study provides novel insights over a 30-year period of accounting standards in French-speaking African countries. This research explains why IFRS have not yet adopted in French-speaking African countries as it was in English-speaking African countries.

Managing ongoing risks of bitcoins, and other virtual currencies The monetary and banking authorities, which for centuries have been the unaccepted guardians of individuals, representing the public power and its coercion, are often rejected with great comprehension. New currencies, or pseudo-currencies, based on cryptography, have emerged and developed with the aid of block chains, with decentralized networks of active people who no longer wish to collaborate with banks. What are the promises and threats of this new monetary approach ? Do its benefits offset its risks ? This is what we will try to clarify by combining, diachronic approach, survey data and cross-dimensional checks. The main result is that virtual currencies remain risky and do not constitute a definitive substitute for bank weaknesses.

Depuis plus d'un demi-siècle les chercheurs en finance cherchent les combinaisons optimales de financement sur fonds propres et sur dette qui allient des coûts moyens pondérés du capital faible et des performances financières élevées. De nombreuses propositions ont été faites, et les chercheurs, à chaque fois, examinent le bien fondé des hypothèses et des résultats. Dans cet article, nous avons essayé d'analyser dans quelle mesure la théorie du compromis (Trade off theory) est d'une application pertinente pour les entreprises familiales, et si elle est en concurrence ou en concordance avec la théorie du financement hiérarchique (Pecking order theory). Pour cela, nous avons comparé deux séries d'échantillons d'entreprises familiales non cotées et d'entreprises non familiales également non cotées. Nos résultats indiquent que le comportement financier des entreprises familiales diffère en général de celui des entreprises non familiales et en particulier si on examine les variables d'opportunité de croissance, de profitabilité et de matérialité des actifs et que la théorie du compromis se justifie pour les entreprises familiales et les entreprises non familiales, à l'examen de la convergence du ratio d'endettement vers un ratio optimal, sans toutefois s'appliquer intégralement à tous les déterminants traditonnels de la structure financière. Mots-clés : Coûts d'agence-Endettement-Entreprises familiales-Fiscalité-Structure du financement-Théorie du compromis-Théorie du financement hiérarchique.

The European standardization coexists with the international standardization coming from the United Nations Organization, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the International Accounting Standards Board, the European Federation of Accountants, the IFAC and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), as well as foreign standardizations with strong negotiating power, especially Anglo-Saxon, such as the American FASB -entirely exotic- or the ambiguous British ASC -at the same time exotic and integrated to the European Union. All of these standardization systems continuously evolve and it is impossible to maintain a single one without any modification or with absolute stability for more than a few years. Thus, the three evolutions of the conceptual framework of the IASC -changed to IASB- have rendered the evolution of the main European accounting directives almost inevitable and a single directive has been developed and was published on June 26, 2013. Its key characteristics are presented below.