The Impact of the Internet on Professional Relationships: The Case of Health Care

This paper considers the impact of the internet on professional services, specifically healthcare services which have been characterised as asymmetrical in information and power distribution. For complex professional services the internet is primarily an information resource offering perceived parity with professionals. Based on interviews with healthcare professionals and website managers, this paper considers how professionals perceive the internet to be changing patterns of professional–consumer interaction and the nature of professional–consumer relationships. Manifest at service encounter level and health policy level, professionals perceived the evolving parameters of the consumer role to be generating a requirement for a fundamental revision of models of service delivery and professional roles.     

Insurance loss coverage and social welfare

Restrictions on insurance risk classification may induce adverse selection, which is usually perceived as a bad outcome, both for insurers and for society. However, a social benefit of modest adverse selection is that it can lead to an increase in ‘loss coverage’, defined as expected losses compensated by insurance for the whole population. We reconcile the concept of loss coverage to a utilitarian concept of social welfare commonly found in the economic literature on risk classification. For iso-elastic insurance demand, ranking risk classification schemes by (observable) loss coverage always give the same ordering as ranking by (unobservable) social welfare.     

R&D AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN A CASH‐IN‐ADVANCE ECONOMY

R&D investment has well‐known liquidity problems, with potentially important consequences. In this study, we analyze the effects of monetary policy on economic growth and social welfare in a Schumpeterian growth model with cash‐in‐advance (CIA) constraints on R&D investment, consumption, and manufacturing. Our main results can be summarized as follows. Under the CIA constraints on R&D and consumption (the CIA constraint on manufacturing), an increase in the nominal interest rate decreases (increases) R&D and economic growth. We also analyze the optimality of Friedman rule and find that Friedman rule can be suboptimal due to a unique feature of the Schumpeterian model.     

Modeling the Impact of Genetics on Insurance

The role of probabilistic models in the debate over genetics and insurance is discussed. A Markov model is used to show that, under quite extreme assumptions, adverse selection in life insurance ought to be controllable. The statistical problems of estimating small differences in mortality are discussed; these might limit the use of many genetic disorders as rating factors. The influence of the insurance industry on policy-making, especially through its support of research, is discussed. It is suggested that participating contracts are suitable and simple vehicles to carry the genetic risks in life insurance.     

Adult Polycystic Kidney Disease and Insurance

Abstract

Adult Polycystic Kidney Disease (APKD) is a single-gene autosomal dominant genetic disorder leading to end-stage renal disease (ESRD, meaning kidney failure). It is associated with mutations in either of two genes, APKD1 and APKD2, and although diagnosis is still mostly by ultrasonography rather than DNA-based tests, this may change in the future. Recent studies have shown that the rates of onset of ESRD associated with APKD1 mutations are much greater than those associated with APKD2 mutations, a form of genetic heterogeneity that differs from, for example, familial breast cancer. In this paper we model the the impact of mutations in APKD1 or APKD2 on critical illness insurance, extending the work of Gutiérrez and Macdonald (2003), which was based on studies predating DNA-based tests. We then extend the model to life insurance and show that the financial impact is strongly dependent on the availability of treatment (dialysis and transplant), but that if it is available, extra premiums for life insurance are modest. We show that genetic heterogeneity introduces a novel problem, because carrying an APKD2 mutation is less risky than having a family history of APKD. Thus, in jurisdictions where family history may be used in underwriting but genetic tests may not, it may be illegal to use knowledge that benefits the applicant.     

A note on the psychometric properties of the Learning Styles Questionnaire (LSQ)

The objective of this study is to examine some psychometric properties of Honey and Mumford's (1992 The Manual of Learning Styles. Maidenhead: Peter Honey) Learning Styles Questionnaire (LSQ) and therefore its potential utility for accounting education research. Prior research in other cognate disciplines (managers; US business undergraduates) suggests that the LSQ may be preferable to Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI) and Revised LSI. However, little measurement information exists regarding the application of the LSQ in higher education. The present study uses samples of undergraduate accounting students (N = 127) at a UK university. Evidence of only modest internal consistency reliability is reported. The construct validity of the scores produced by the instrument is not supported by the results of the present study. Limitations and implications for the use of the LSQ by accounting education researchers are discussed.     

Psychometric methods in accounting education: a review,some comments and implications for accounting education researchers

Psychometric instruments are widely used in accounting education research (Herring et al., Issues in Accounting Education, 4(1), 48–57, 1989; Benke and Street, Accounting Education: an international journal, 1(1), 33–45, 1992). Problems with the reliability of scores produced by such instruments have led to difficulties in interpreting the results of applied research (Schriesheim et al., Journal of Management, 19, 385–417, 1993). This paper has three aims. The first is to present a rationale for including information about the measurement properties of research instruments used in published accounting education research. Information regarding the reliability and validity of item scores is useful to readers, journal editors and reviewers - especially when the research topic addresses changes in educational policy and processes. Second, problems encountered with questionnairebased research are presented and current practice in accounting education is reviewed. Third, construct validation is discussed in respect of measurement validity and factor analytic methods. The paper concludes with suggestions for improving contemporary practice in accounting education research.