Earnings management and abnormal returns: Evidence from the 1970–1972 Price Control Regulations

We examine the association between abnormal returns and earnings management in the context of price control regulations to test the construct validity of the earnings management model. Abnormal returns are used as a market–based measure, and discretionary accruals are employed to measure earnings management. Our results support the hypotheses that (1) price control regulations affect firms' security prices negatively, (2) firms make income–decreasing discretionary accruals to increase the likelihood of price increase approval, and (3) firms that are affected most negatively by the regulations manage earnings more aggressively. We conclude that the earnings management model we use in this study is capable of predicting opportunistic discretionary accruals.     

Rent, risk, and replication: Preference adaptation in winner-take-all markets

We study the evolution of an economy where agents who are heterogeneous with respect to risk attitudes can either earn a certain income or enter a risky rent-seeking contest. We assume that agents behave rationally given their preferences, but that the population distribution of preferences evolves over time in response to material payoffs. We show that, in particular, initial distributions with full support converge to stationary states where all types are still present. Although rents are perfectly dissipated in material terms at a steady state, efficiency is greater than if everybody had been risk neutral, since risk lovers specialize in rent seeking.     

Managing Earnings with Intercorporate Investments

Abstract:  We explore to what extent firms deliberately manage their financial reports by exploiting the flexibility of generally accepted accounting principles. Using a sample of Oslo Stock Exchange-listed firms with 20–50% equity holdings in other firms, we find that firms with high financial leverage tend to maximize reported earnings from these investments through their choice between the cost method and the equity method, possibly in an attempt to reduce debt renegotiation costs or to avoid regulatory attention. In contrast, managers do not systematically bias reported earnings to extract private benefits or to signal revised expectations about future cash flows. Firms use different earnings management tools in a consistent way, as the earnings effect of the cost/equity choice is not offset by discretionary accruals.     

Decomposition of Fraud‐Risk Assessments and Auditors' Sensitivity to Fraud Cues*

Practitioners and regulators are concerned that when auditors perceive management's attitude or character as indicative of low fraud risk, they are not sufficiently sensitive to high levels of incentive or opportunity risks in their overall fraud‐risk assessments. In this study, we examine whether a fraud‐triangle decomposition of fraud‐risk assessments (that is, separately assessing attitude, opportunity, and incentive risks prior to assessing overall fraud risk) increases auditors' sensitivity to opportunity and incentive cues when perceptions of management's attitude suggest low fraud risk. In an experiment with 52 practicing audit managers, we find that auditors who decompose fraud‐risk assessments are more sensitive to opportunity and incentive cues when making their overall assessments than auditors who simply make an overall fraud‐risk assessment. However, this increased sensitivity to opportunity and incentive cues appears to happen only when those cues suggest low fraud risk. When opportunity and incentive cues suggest high fraud risk, auditors are equally sensitive to those cues whether they use a decomposition or a holistic approach. We discuss and examine potential explanations for this finding.     

复杂性管理策略:关注整体性

复杂性管理的策略首先要关注和认识复杂系统的整体性,这要通过关注系统的结构、多元化的视角、容忍模糊性和不确定性、借助直觉等手段来达到。在关注和认识整体性的基础上,需要进一步维护和促进复杂系统的整体性,这需要通过保护系统的自组织、创造自组织环境条件、发现和维护序参量、鼓励多元化以及与环境相协调来达成。     

当前我国政府绩效管理问题探析

当前,我国政府绩效管理中存在的问题,主要是政府绩效管理缺乏统一的政策指导和制度保障,对政府缋效管理的理论研究与实践发展滞后,社会参与机制不完善,激励制度匮乏等。我国应通过立法来推进政府绩效管理的制度化和规范化;学习和借鉴西方先进思想,加强政府绩效管理的理论研究,建立有效的绩效评估指标体系和完善的激励制度。从而提高我国政府效能。增强政府管理能力。     

In-hospital risk of venous thromboembolism and bleeding and associated costs for patients undergoing total hip or knee arthroplasty

Abstract

Objective:

Benefits of anti-coagulation for venous thromboembolism (VTE) prevention in total hip and knee arthroplasty (THA/TKA) may be offset by increased risk of bleeding. The aim was to assess in-hospital risk of VTE and bleeding after THA/TKA and quantify any increased costs.

Methods:

Healthcare claims from the Premier Perspective^TM Comparative Hospital Database (January 2000–September 2008) were selected for subjects ≥18 years with ≥1 diagnosis code for THA/TKA. VTE was defined as ≥1 code for deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism. Bleeding was classified as major/non-major. Incremental in-hospital costs associated with VTE and bleeding were calculated as cost differences between inpatients with VTE or bleeding matched 1:1 with inpatients without VTE or bleeding.

Results:

A total of 820,197 inpatient stays were identified: 8042 had a VTE event and 7401 a bleeding event (2740 major bleeding). The risks of VTE, any bleeding, and major bleeding were 0.98, 0.90, and 0.33/100 inpatient stays, respectively. Mean incremental in-hospital costs per inpatient were $2663 for VTE, $2028 for bleeding, and $3198 for major bleeding.

Limitations:

These included possible inaccuracies or omissions in procedures, diagnoses, or costs of claims data; no information on the amount of blood transfused or decreases in the hemoglobin level to evaluate bleeding event severity; and potential biases due to the observational design of the study.

Conclusions:

In-hospital risk and incremental all-cause costs with THA/TKA were higher for VTE than for bleeding. Despite higher costs, major bleeding occurred less frequently than VTE, suggesting a favorable benefit/risk profile for VTE prophylaxis in THA/TKA.     

基于收益共享契约的三级供应链如何应对突发事件

本文针对一个由供应商-制造商-零售商构成的三级供应链,在考虑随机性需求基础上,探讨突发事件对三级供应链的影响,同时改进了协调供应链的收益共享契约,使之能够应对突发事件。     

智力劳动的分配决定效应及模型

随着知识的积累与科技的进步 ,智力密集型劳动已经替代体力密集型劳动成为价值的最主要源泉。智力劳动的特征使得凝结在产品中的劳动含量与智力投资呈正相关 ,进而与其所形成的智力劳动力价值呈正向相关。因此 ,提高智力劳动力价值在分配决定机制中的权重 ,相对于现行以工龄为主体的工资决定体制而言 ,更能体现按“能”付酬原则 ,更能体现生产力的进步对分配的决定作用。以简单劳动力价值确定最低工资水平 ,然后依据每一阶次的智力劳动力价值差别确定工资水平差别 ,更能推动智力投资与劳动力资源的合理配置。以智力劳动力价值为基础的工资分配制度 ,可界定为一个基于贴现理论的微观静态分配模型。