The influence of change agents' behavioral intention on the usage of the activity based costing/management system and firm performance: The perspective of unified theory of acceptance and use of technology

This study adopts the viewpoint of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model to examine the change agents' behavioral intentions in the implementation of an activity based costing/management (ABC/M) system. ABC/M is an important management system that emphasizes the allocation of overhead costs on the basis of cost drivers, in order to provide relevant information for improved decision-making. A change agent is a person chosen to cause organizational change. Senior managers and often chief executives usually play the role that implements change. The behavioral intentions have been identified as a proactive attitude and action for promoting the ABC/M system in this study. Since there is little evidence of ABC/M adoption outside the United States and European countries, this research used Taiwanese companies as the sample. Questionnaires were used to investigate the factors influencing change agents' behavioral intentions to promote ABC/M systems and the type of facilitating conditions that affected the extent of usage of ABC/M systems. The questionnaires were carried out through the perspective of user acceptance of information technology (IT). Furthermore, the aim of this paper is also to explore whether use of the ABC/M system will produce an improved effect on performance. The empirical results from 100 valid responses collected indicate that performance expectancy and social influence directly affect change agents' behavioral intentions. Both change agents' behavioral intentions and facilitation conditions are important constructs that affect the extent of usage of ABC/M systems. The extent of ABC/M usage is also significantly associated with relative financial and non-financial performance. The results demonstrate that the adaptive UTAUT model is applicable for measuring change agents' behavioral intentions in current implementations of ABC/M systems. The study also reveals the positive effect of change agents on the performance of ABC/M systems.     

Overhead cost allocation changes in a transfer pricing tax compliant multinational enterprise

This paper addresses how overhead cost allocation system design in multinational enterprises (MNEs) is affected by transfer pricing tax regulation. Using a case study research strategy we find that the implementation of a transfer pricing tax compliance strategy gives rise to a number of changes to the overhead cost allocation system design. Findings suggests that a contingent relationship exists between overhead cost allocation and transfer pricing tax compliance. We argue that when seeking to understand and explain MNEs’ overhead cost allocation system design for intra-company services, the MNEs’ response to its tax regulatory environment is a significant explanatory variable.     

Cost Management in Sri Lanka: A Case Study on Volume,Activity and Time as Cost Drivers

Despite its theoretical superiority, the activity-based costing (ABC) model has had only moderate success in replacing the traditional volume-based absorption costing models in complex organizations worldwide. Even in organizations that have launched ABC projects, the implementations often do not sustain. In response to this general lack of enthusiasm worldwide for ABC, accountants developed the time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) model as an alternative cost allocation model. This paper presents a comparison of the TDABC model with ABC, and considers if this alternative cost allocation model (1) is easier to implement from an international perspective and (2) provides comparable cost information for decision making. We use a case study in a country outside the model's country of origin to understand the similarities and differences in absorption costing systems that use ‘volume,’ ‘activities,’ and ‘time’ as the drivers of indirect cost allocations. We also use the case study to ascertain if any country‐specific factors impede ABC implementation. We conclude the following: the TDABC model has similar implementation complexities to ABC if modelling conditions are strictly adhered to; these complexities are independent of country‐specific factors; and in its simplest form, the model generates the same decision information errors of traditional costing.     

Overhead allocation: a cautionary tale!

This paper examines the behavioural consequences of charging/allocating central overheads to profit centres within a UK public sector institution. It is based on actual events at a UK university and the issues are set out in a case study format using correspondence from the profit centre manager to highlight issues of contol and measurement. A number of student tasks are suggested that require students to think beyond accounting numbers and consider the potentially conflicting roles of accounting information. In particular there is a conflict between the need to recover full costs from the University/Head Office perspective and the potential alienation of profit centre managers with only crude models for overhead recovery. The problems caused by inappropriate communication of accounting data and reactions to that data are also considered and instructors may use the case to introduce students to the differences between profit and not-for-profit organizations.     

Time-driven activity-based costing

In the classroom, activity-based costing (ABC) looks like a great way to manage a company's limited resources. But executives who have tried to implement ABC in their organizations on any significant scale have often abandoned the attempt in the face of rising costs and employee irritation. They should try again, because a new approach sidesteps the difficulties associated with large-scale ABC implementation. In the revised model, managers estimate the resource demands imposed by each transaction, product, or customer, rather than relying on time-consuming and costly employee surveys. This method is simpler since it requires, for each group of resources, estimates of only two parameters: how much it costs per time unit to supply resources to the business's activities (the total overhead expenditure of a department divided by the total number of minutes of employee time available) and how much time it takes to carry out one unit of each kind of activity (as estimated or observed by the manager). This approach also overcomes a serious technical problem associated with employee surveys: the fact that, when asked to estimate time spent on activities, employees invariably report percentages that add up to 100. Under the new system, managers take into account time that is idle or unused. Armed with the data, managers then construct time equations, a new feature that enables the model to reflect the complexity of real-world operations by showing how specific order, customer, and activity characteristics cause processing times to vary. This Tool Kit uses concrete examples to demonstrate how managers can obtain meaningful cost and profitability information, quickly and inexpensively. Rather than endlessly updating and maintaining ABC data,they can now spend their time addressing the deficiencies the model reveals: inefficient processes, unprofitable products and customers, and excess capacity.     

The Interpretation of Cash Flow Reports and the Other Allocation Problem

Allocations continue to be a cause of concern to accountants. Allocations may be distributional (i.e. allocation of resources through budgets) or metrical (e.g. overhead costs to departments). Cash flow accounting is often advocated because it avoids metrical allocations. However, the interaction effects of cash flows may nullify their claimed advantages.     

Activity-Based Costing in Universities—Five Years On

This article describes the current state of costing within the higher education sector, reviewing recent published literature and analysing the progress made by institutions in implementing activity-based costing (ABC). It draws on the findings of two cross-sectional surveys of all UK universities, undertaken in 1993 and 1998/99. The data collected suggests that while implementation of ABC systems has been slow, this might be about to change because of pressures being exerted by funding bodies and central government.     

作业成本法在商业银行集中采购中的应用

本文在对现阶段商业银行集中采购的特点及存在的问题进行分析的基础上,就作业成本法在商业银行集中采购中应用的可行性和必要性、应用的程序及供应商选择评价模型等问题进行了探讨.本文还通过案例说明作业成本法在集中采购中的应用可以为商业银行在供应商的选择、评价及对供应商管理决策上提供相关可靠的信息.最后作者通过商业银行采购部门角色的转换、构建优秀的采购团队、供应商的入围选择、供应商的绩效评估及持续改进等方面对作业成本法在商业银行集中采购中的应用进行了总结,以期能对商业银行集中采购的成本管理控制提供有益的借鉴.     

Factors influencing the performance of activity based costing teams: a field study of ABC model development time in the automobile industry

This paper examines how the group dynamics of activity based costing (ABC) development teams and the level of organizational resources devoted to model development affect model complexity and development time. A theoretical framework is developed based on the organizational literature on teams. The framework is tested using objective data from 18 ABC projects in two automobile manufacturing firms and survey data from ABC team members. Results show that ABC team cohesion is the key determinant of the time it takes to develop the first ABC model. Further, ABC models become more complex in the presence of an external consultant and as the level of competition increases.     

Weather Derivative Risk Measures for Extreme Events

We consider pricing weather derivatives for use as protection against weather extremes by using max-stable processes to estimate risk measures. These derivatives are not currently traded on any open markets, but their use could help some institutions manage weather risks from extreme events. The central challenge is to model the dependence of payments, which increases the risk of holding multiple weather derivatives. The method described utilizes results from spatial statistics and extreme value theory to first model extremes in the weather as a max-stable process, and then simulate payments for a general collection of weather derivatives. As the joint likelihood function for max-stable processes is unavailable, we use two approaches: The first is based on the composite likelihood, and the second is based on approximate Bayesian computing (ABC). Both capture the spatial dependence of payments. To incorporate parameter uncertainty into the pricing model, we use bootstrapping with the composite likelihood approach, while the ABC method naturally incorporates parameter uncertainty. We show that the additional risk from the spatial dependence of payments can be quite substantial, and that the methods discussed can compute standard actuarial risk measures in both a frequentist and Bayesian setting.     

Human Resource Allocation in a CPA Firm: A Fuzzy Set Approach

The review of existing human resource allocation models for a CPA firm shows that there are major shortcomings in the previous mathematical models. First, linear programming models cannot handle multiple objective human resource allocation problems for a CPA firm. Second, goal programming or multiple objective linear programming (MOLP) cannot deal with the organizational differentiation problems. To reduce the complexity in computing the trade-offs among multiple objectives, this paper adopts a fuzzy set approach to solve human resource allocation problems. A solution procedure is proposed to systematically identify a satisfying selection of possible staffing solutions that can reach the best compromise value for the multiple objectives and multiple constraint levels. The fuzzy solution can help the CPA firm make a realistic decision regarding its human resource allocation problems as well as the firm's overall strategic resource management when environmental factors are uncertain.     

Assessing self-selection and endogeneity issues in the relation between activity-based costing and performance

Studies investigating the relation between ABC adoption and performance are inconclusive and plagued with econometric problems. This study extends prior research to investigate the association between ABC adoption and four manufacturing plant performance measures (cycle-time improvement, quality improvement, cost improvement, and profitability) and to assess selection bias and the endogenous nature of their relationship. I use the Heckman (1979) model to assess sample selection bias and the Wooldridge (2002) 2SLS-IV approach, to investigate endogeneity. After controlling for sample selection bias and endogeneity, the coefficient of ABC under the Heckman method and ABC_fit under the 2SLS-IV method becomes significantly higher compared to the coefficient of ABC under the OLS method. In addition, both the inverse Mills ratio, under the Heckman model, and Hausman F-test, under the Wooldridge 2SLS approach, are positive and significant, confirming the presence of both sample selection bias and endogeneity. Overall, I find that controlling for sample selection bias and endogeneity is essential in properly assessing the significance of ABC-performance association.     

Strategic provision of local public inputs for oligopolistic firms in the presence of endogenous location choice

We develop a model in which two regional governments compete for a mobile oligopolistic firm by providing local public inputs. The central mechanism of our model is the interaction of an agglomeration advantage (partial nonrivalness of the local public inputs) and an agglomeration disadvantage (costs associated with the change of location of firms). We show that a central government of both regions induces an interregionally optimal allocation of firms by providing the optimal levels of local public inputs. The decentralized provision of local public inputs by regional governments, however, leads in most cases to a (interregionally) suboptimal allocation.     

The impact of contextual and process factors on the evaluation of activity-based costing systems

This paper investigates associations between evaluations of activity based costing (ABC) systems, contextual factors, and factors related to the ABC implementation process using interview and survey data from 21 field research sites of two firms. Structural equation modeling is used to investigate the fit of a model of organizational change with the data. The results support the proposed model; however, the significance of specific factors is sensitive to the evaluation criterion. The model is stable across firms and respondents, but is sensitive to the maturity of the ABC system.     

Activity-Based Pricing in a Monopoly

In this article, I study the interaction between cost accounting systems and pricing decisions in a setting where a monopolist sells a base product and related support services to customers whose preference for support services is known only to them. I consider two pricing mechanisms—activity‐based pricing (ABP) and traditional pricing—and two cost‐accounting systems—activity‐based costing (ABC) and traditional costing, for support services. Under traditional pricing, only the base product is priced, whereas support services are provided free because detailed cost‐driver volume information on the consumption of support services by each customer is unavailable. Under ABP, customers pay based on the quantities consumed of both the base product and the support services because detailed cost‐driver volume information is available for each customer. Likewise, under traditional costing for support services the firm makes pricing decisions on cost signals that are noisier than they are under ABC. I compare the equilibrium quantities of the base product and support services sold, the information rent paid to the customers, and the expected profits of the monopolist under all four combinations of cost‐driver volume and cost‐driver rate information. I show that ABP helps reduce control problems, such as moral hazard and adverse selection problems, for the supplier and increases the supplier's ability to engage in price discrimination. I show that firms are more likely to adopt ABP when their customer base is more diverse, their customer support costs are more uncertain, their costing system has lower measurement error, and the variable costs of providing customer support are higher. Firms adopt ABC when their cost‐driver rates for support services under traditional costing are noisier measures of actual costs relative to their cost‐driver rates under ABC and when the actual costs of support services are inherently uncertain. I also show that cost‐driver rate information and cost‐driver volume information for support services are complements. Although the prior literature views ABC and activity‐based management (ABM) as facilitating better decision making, I show that ABC and ABP (a form of ABM) are useful tools for addressing control problems in supply chains.     

FDI生产效率、配置效率的非对称性与中国区域经济收敛

不同用途之间的生产与配置效率的对称即能实现资本的帕累托最优。基于此理,本文对中国FDI生产与配置效率的区域特征及其区域经济收敛含义进行实证分析。本文主要发现是:(1)我国FDI边际生产效率从东部、东北、中部和西部依次递减;FDI区域经济贡献则按中部、东部、东北和西部依次递增。(2)FDI促进了中部向东部经济的收敛,但继续拉大东北、西部与东部之间的经济差距。(3)四大区域作为整体,具有较高的FDI配置效率,但区域间并无显著差异。(4)FDI配置与生产效率呈非对称性特征:除中部之外,其它三大区域FDI配置效率均不显著且与生产效率不匹配。基于区域间FDI配置与生产的对称性目标,本文提出优化FDI区域配置、促进区域经济收敛的政策建议。     

An Examination of Budgetary Inefficiency in Education Using Data Envelopment Analysis

The generally weak association between educational spending and performance is a source of ongoing debate. This study examined size, type and source of educational operating expenditures as potential explanators of this weak relationship. Using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and publicly available input-output performance metrics, budgetary efficiency was measured across school districts. Budgetary inefficiency was found to be significantly and positively associated with (1) budget size (2) administrative overhead and (3) local revenue accountability. These findings offer a partial explanation for the weak relationship traditionally found between educational spending inputs and performance outcomes. The results are suggestive of how school districts might improve their budgetary goal setting, performance auditing and resource allocation practices.     

The Association Between Activity-Based Costing and Manufacturing Performance

This study examines the association between activity-based costing and manufacturing performance. Results using a cross-sectional sample of manufacturing plants indicates that extensive ABC use is associated with higher quality levels and greater improvements in cycle time and quality, and is indirectly associated with manufacturing cost reductions through quality and cycle time improvements. However, on average, extensive ABC use has no significant association with return on assets. Instead, we find weak evidence that the association between ABC and accounting profitability is contingent on the plant's operational characteristics.     

银行资产配置趋势与中央银行流动性管理——基于动力系统模型的模拟分析

近年来,我国宏观流动性投放逐步由以前的被动投放(外汇占款)向主动投放转变,银行业资产配置结构更趋多元化,金融创新更加活跃,这些都在一定程度上改变了金融体系流动性传导的渠道和机制,迫使我们重新审视流动性在金融体系中消长、转移的内在逻辑,探讨新形势下流动性管理的合理方式和路径。本文运用动力系统模型来分析和论证银行资产配置结构变化对市场流动性状况的影响机制,以及中央银行流动性管理工具的有效性。研究表明,银行资产配置趋势的同质化容易导致市场流动性状况的恶化;中央银行需要进一步完善利率传导机制,强化货币政策与宏观审慎评估政策的协同配合,以提升流动性管理的有效性。     

Methoden der risikobasierten Kapitalallokation im Versicherungs- und Finanzwesen

The present contribution is intended to serve as a survey of techniques of risk based capital allocation for (aggregated) insurance and/or financial positions. The starting point is the determination of the risk based capital for the aggregated position, which in turn requires the specification of the existing risk exposure and as well the risk measure used. After this the basic capital allocation procedures (absolute, incremental and marginal capital allocation) are explained. A discussion of postulates for a reasonable absolute capital allocation follows. Especially the axioms of coherent capital allocation developed by Denault are treated. Then central principles of capital allocation (proportional capital allocation, covariance principle, conditional expected value principle, conditional value-at-risk principle, Euler-principle) are introduced and their properties are discussed, especially regarding coherence. Finally firm value based approaches and as well game theoretic approaches are mentioned.