Accountability for performance in English and Scottish fire and rescue services from 2010 to 2016

ABSTRACT

Using evidence from English and Scottish fire and rescue services from 2010 to 2016, this paper shows how divergent performance management regimes can affect public accountability. Performance management regimes enable agencies and the public to hold public sector organizations accountable by facilitating evaluation of their accomplishments. However, local as opposed to central, control over performance management can have quite different implications for public accountability.     

Connected and autonomous vehicle injury loss events: Potential risk and actuarial considerations for primary insurers

The introduction of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) to the road transport ecosystem will change the manner of collisions. CAVs are expected to optimize the safety of road users and the wider environment, while alleviating traffic congestion and maximizing occupant comfort. The net result is a reduction in the frequency of motor vehicle collisions, and a reduction in the number of injuries currently seen as “preventable.” A changing risk ecosystem will introduce new challenges and opportunities for primary insurers. Prior studies have highlighted the economic benefit provided by reductions in the frequency of hazardous events. This economic benefit, however, will be offset by the economic detriment incurred by emerging risks and the increased scrutiny placed on existing risks. We posit four plausible scenarios detailing how an introduction of these technologies could result in a larger relative rate of injury claims currently characterized as tail‐risk events. In such a scenario, the culmination of these losses will present as a second “hump” in actuarial loss models. We discuss how CAV risk factors and traffic dynamics may combine to make a second “hump” a plausible reality, and discuss a number of opportunities that may arise for primary insurers from a changing road environment.     

Faculty perspectives on international accounting topics

Given the increasing globalization of business, including the widening acceptance of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in the capital markets, the international dimension is of great importance to the accounting profession. The international accounting course plays a key role in the accounting curriculum in providing students with information about this critical area of accounting. This study examines the relative importance of various international accounting topics through a survey of members of the American Accounting Association's International Accounting Section. Results are compared with those of prior studies in order to determine whether and to what extent perspectives have changed over time. The findings should be helpful for faculty designing or updating an international accounting course or curriculum or desiring to integrate international issues into various accounting courses. They should also help practitioners identify with which areas their new hires are likely to be more familiar.     

Evaluation of a patient self-directed mealtime insulin titration algorithm: a US payer perspective

Objective To model the potential economic impact of implementing the AUTONOMY once daily (Q1D) patient self-titration mealtime insulin dosing algorithm vs standard of care (SOC) among a population of patients with Type 2 diabetes living in the US.

Methods Three validated models were used in this analysis: The Treatment Transitions Model (TTM) was used to generate the primary results, while both the Archimedes (AM) and IMS Core Diabetes Models (IMS) were used to test the veracity of the primary results produced by TTM. Models used data from a ‘real world’ representative sample of patients (2012 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) that matched the characteristics of US patients enrolled in the randomized controlled trial ‘AUTONOMY’ cohort. The base-case time horizon was 10 years.

Results The modeling results from TTM demonstrated that total costs in the base-case were reduced by $1732, with savings predicted to occur as early as year 1. Results from the three models were consistent, showing a reduction in total costs for all sensitivity analyses.

Limitations Data from short-term clinical trials were used to develop long-term projections. The nature of such extrapolation leads to increased uncertainty.

Conclusion The results from all three models indicate that the AUTONOMY Q1D algorithm has the potential to abate total costs as early as the first year.     

The Role of Private Wildlife Reserves in Nicaragua's Emerging Ecotourism Industry

Ecotourism promises to be the fastest growing segment of Nicaragua's fledgling tourist industry, which is already the country's second highest generator of foreign exchange. Development of a lucrative ecotourism industry offers a unique opportunity for Nicaragua to unify economic growth with natural resource stewardship in a single sustainable development strategy. However, as ecotourism is largely dependent on protected area systems, the current condition of Nicaragua's public protected area system is a major obstacle to the industry's development. Limited by inadequate public financing, the establishment of private wildlife reserves can compliment Nicaragua's under-developed public protected area system, further enhancing the desirability of Nicaragua as an ecotourist destination. The opportunities and constraints of private reserve establishment are examined in this study of Nicaragua's first legally recognised private wildlife reserve.     

Co-operatively re-engineering a financial services information supply chain: A case study

This paper presents a case study of the co-operative design, development, and implementation of an XBRL-enabled interorganizational system (IOS) by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, the Reserve Bank of Australia (central bank), and the Australian Bureau of Statistics to revolutionize reporting by financial institutions in Australia. The findings illustrate that the complexity of data consumption patterns drove increased interdependence within the financial information supply chain requiring the co-operative development of context sensitive data exchanges and commodity-like IT infrastructures. The paper concludes that the co-operative model to IOS development exhibited here is likely to be more suited to the development of systems for financial information supply chains than the hub and spoke model characteristic of IOS in other sectors. Copyright © 2009 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using short stories to teach critical thinking and communication skills to tax students

Researchers and numerous groups stress the importance of incorporating communication skills development into accounting curricula. Although a number of formal and informal techniques are available to instructors to incorporate writing skills into the classroom, many students have both oral and writing communication apprehension (CA). Short stories are a flexible teaching tool to overcome boredom both inside and outside the classroom. This scenario approach combines education and entertainment to make learning easier and interesting. Students can be required to develop short stories where accountants are the key characters and heroes. The better short stories may be placed on the Internet for future students to review. What may be wearisome and unexciting information can become meaningful through mystery, intrigue, humour, and adventure.