An analysis of the variation in billing charges of medical providers: causes and implications

The purpose of this paper is to review the billing methodology of physicians that participate in fee-for-service plans, and, using a data set of billing charges, determine the significance of the variation in fees by providers of certain kind of procedures. Providers use cost-plus pricing and take into account the medical aspects of the services and market forces. Using the Current Procedural Terminologies (CPT) established by the American Medical Association, the providers define the medical services by the six digit CPT code, and bill accordingly. The statistical evidence shows that there is some evidence that fees of providers who bill under the ‘medicine’ codes tend to exhibit more variation in charges than other procedures.     

A Sociology of Expectations: Retrospecting Prospects and Prospecting Retrospects

Future expectations and promises are crucial to providing the dynamism and momentum upon which so many ventures in science and technology depend. This is especially the case for pre-market applications where practical utility and value has yet to be demonstrated and where investment must be mobilised. For instance, clinical biotechnology (including a wide range of genetic therapeutic and engineering applications) has been at the centre of ferocious debates about whether or not promises and expectations will be realized. In some cases, the failure of expectations has severely damaged the reputation and credibility of professions, institutions and industry. The need for a better analytical understanding of the dynamics of expectations in innovation is both necessary and timely. This paper develops the basis for a sociology of expectations, drawing on recent writing within Science and Technology Studies (STS) and case studies of biotechnology innovation. In particular, we offer a model for understanding how expectations will predictably vary according to some key parameters. Such factors include the degree to which technologies and innovation relationships are either relatively established or newly emergent. Expectations will also vary according actors' relative closeness and involvement in knowledge production itself. The paper proceeds by analyzing the way expectations in clinical biotechnology have changed over time. That is, we compare the way the future was once represented with the way it has been represented more recently. The paper concludes by offering a means by which it is possible to map or model the "situatedness of expectations'.     

Corporate governance and the informativeness of disclosures in Australia: a re‐examination

We re‐examine the association between corporate governance and disclosures reported by Beekes and Brown (2006), using an extended time series of Australian data. Since the ASX corporate governance guidelines were introduced in 2003, firms generally have increased their disclosure frequency and demonstrated an improvement in the timeliness of bad news relative to good news, indicating a levelling of disclosure practices and greater transparency. Better governed firms have become more cautious in their disclosure practices. However, they continue to be more balanced with respect to good and bad news timeliness. Changes to disclosure laws have also influenced company practices.     

Flood Hazards, Insurance Rates, and Amenities: Evidence From the Coastal Housing Market

This study employs the hedonic property price method to examine the effects of flood hazard on coastal property values. We utilize Geographic Information System data on National Flood Insurance Program flood zones and residential property sales from Carteret County, North Carolina. Our results indicate that location within a flood zone lowers property value. Price differentials for flood risk and the capitalized value of flood insurance premiums are roughly equivalent—both exhibiting a nonlinear relationship in flood probability. Our results support the conclusion that flood zone designation and insurance premiums convey risk information to potential buyers in the coastal housing market.     

IFRS Conversion: The Case of a Marine Defence Company

This case is based on a privately held company that had implemented Accounting Standards for Private Enterprises (ASPE) but has now, in anticipation of a public offering, voluntarily decided to change from ASPE to Canadian IFRS for its December 31, 2013 fiscal year‐end. This case demonstrates that the fear associated with implementation of new accounting standards is often blown out of proportion, with the result that companies incur significant and unnecessary financial costs and employees experience undue stress. Although businesses can have complex IFRS issues, the approach of training staff, extensive planning, and preparing the board of directors and owners for the implications on the bottom line can be utilized by both large and small organizations to reduce the stress of IFRS implementation. Students are required to prepare a report to identify the accounts that will require changes, to analyze and recommend a course of action for those accounts for which IFRS provide options, to develop an implementation plan for parallel tracking for a 12‐month period, as well as make recommendations for project team members, budget, and timeline.     

Home Capital Group—The High Cost of Dishonesty

This instructional case presents the problems that began in the summer of 2015 when Home Capital Group (HCG) announced it had cut ties with 45 mortgage brokers for falsifying figures on mortgage applications regarding the earnings of prospective home purchasers in Canada. The case details the subsequent investigation by the Ontario Securities Commission in 2017 that resulted in a run on the bank and consequent efforts by HCG to stay afloat. While emphasizing the importance of strong corporate governance and corporate social responsibility initiatives, this case also stresses the influence of various stakeholders including short‐sellers, regulators, shareholders, management, depositors, and customers in the evolution of subsequent events. As a whole, this case provides an interesting context for the discussion of stock market efficiency.     

book reviews

THE CHANGING CONTOURS OF BRITISH INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS Nuffield College, Oxford WORK AND PEOPLE: AN ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF JOB ENRICHMENT Lodon School of Economics THE HIDDEN MEANING OF PAY CONFLICT University of Edinburgh COMPETITION AND CONTROL AT WORK Centre for Research in Industrial Democracy and Participation Glasgow University