Relating focus to quality and cost in a healthcare setting

Focus in healthcare has been heralded as the next frontier in improving its efficiency and efficacy (Herzlinger 2004). Focus takes several different forms, ranging from standalone specialty centers to a hospital that places a strategic emphasis on a clinical area. We adopt this latter perspective and define focus as a disproportionate emphasis on a particular clinical area in a hospital. We use secondary data from hospitals providing cardiology care in New York State to examine the relationship between focus and performance. We develop two measures of focus. Proportional focus is defined to be the proportion of cases treated in a particular clinical specialty. Expertise focus is defined to be specific evidence that a hospital has taken action to build expertise in treating diseases in that specialty. We operationalize hospital performance along cost and quality dimensions, and we use hierarchical regression to examine the impact of focus on performance. Our results indicate that proportional focus, but not expertise focus, is associated with better cost performance. Quality performance, on the other hand, was associated only with the interaction between proportional focus and expertise focus, which means that only hospitals exhibiting higher levels of both proportional and expertise focus achieve better quality performance. These findings support the notion that not only is focus important in healthcare, but also that researchers and practitioners need to recognize that relationships are contingent on the performance and focus measures used and thus, findings may not be generalizable from one metric to another.     

Performance of Cross Listed Dual-Class Firms: Evidence from Chinese Firms Cross Listed on US Exchanges

We compare operating and market performance of Chinese single- and dual-class firms cross listed on US exchanges. We find evidence in line with researchers who argue that a dual-class structure allows insiders to invest in long-term value-enhancing projects. We find that dual-class firms underperform prior to their initial public offering (IPO) and then improve and have better operating performance than single-class firms in the second year after IPO. We find that dual-class firms also have better market performance than single-class firms beginning in the initial year, which is contrary to the finding in most other studies. The reason for this might be that firms that list on US exchanges show a credible commitment to shareholder rights.     

Mutual Funds and Bubbles: The Surprising Role of Contractual Incentives

This article studies one of the potential causes of the financialmarket bubble of the late 1990s: the herding behavior of mutualfunds. We show that the incentives contained in the mutual funds'advisory contracts induce managers to overcome their tendencyto herd. We argue that investing in bubble stocks amounts toherding and contracts with high incentives induce managers todiverge from the herd, thus reducing their holding of bubblestocks. The differential exposure to bubble stocks significantlyimpacted the funds' performance both in the period prior toMarch 2000, as well as afterwards.     

Freight rates and productivity gains in British tramp shipping 1869-1950

The standard source for pre-WWII global freight rate trends is the Isserliss index. We think it is time for a new look at his British tramp shipping index, especially given his sources offer vastly more information than Isserliss used. Our new estimates confirm the precipitous decline in real freight rates before World War I, but we also extend them to 1997, a long period of relative stability. In an effort to identify the contribution of transport revolutions to global commodity price convergence, we create route-specific deflators, rather than relying on the Sauerbeck index. Finally, using the price-dual and new factor price indices, we calculate total factor productivity growth for five global routes, and then identify the sources of productivity growth along them.     

On the Natural and Economic Difficulties to Fulfilling the Human Right to Water Within a Neoclassical Economics Framework

We present a neoclassical economic model of the human right to water using a nonrenewable resource model inclusive of a backstop technology. The right is interpreted as a minimum consumption requirement the government is obligated to fulfill in the event that any one household cannot do so independently. Differing by income levels, households maximize utility by purchasing a composite consumption good and water from two distinct, government-owned sources. Facing physical and financial constraints, the government uses fiscal policy to address potential human rights violations. Reducing the analysis to two periods, we develop a novel approach to compare total welfare levels from a joint human rights and neoclassical economics perspective. We define a human rights welfare standard and discuss cases in which traditional social welfare measures would exceed, violate, or meet this standard. We thus offer a unique way to merge economic analysis with human rights research.     

Organizational Legitimacy and the Strategic Bridging Ability of Green Alliances

Alliances with environmental non‐governmental organizations may benefit multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in developing countries where uncertain socio‐cultural and institutional conditions present higher investment risks. Such ‘green alliances’ can provide strategic bridging services by interceding between MNCs and distant, yet important, stakeholders. From an institutional perspective, strategic bridging success may depend on stakeholder perceptions of alliance legitimacy. In this study the relationship between alliance legitimacy and strategic bridging ability is explored through the case of the Turtle Village Trust in Trinidad and Tobago. Findings suggest that bridging success occurs when organizational legitimacy peaks; that new alliance partners temporarily weaken legitimacy; and bridging with every new targeted stakeholder requires continued acquisition of legitimacy based on their respective values. MNC decisions to form alliances that bridge targeted stakeholders on their behalf should therefore consider the potential of the alliance to acquire and accumulate organizational legitimacy without which strategic bridging efforts may be futile. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Willingness to Pay for Pesticide Free Fruits: Evidence from Pakistan

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes factors influencing consumption decision of pesticide free fruits (PFF) and estimates the willingness to pay (WTP) price premium for PFF in Pakistan. A contingent valuation survey of 200 households was conducted using face to face interview and payment card method. Results suggested that 93.5% respondents were WTP higher prices for PFF. Remarkably, around 35% respondents were WTP 16–20% higher prices and 24% respondents were WTP 6–10% higher prices for PFF than the existed conventional price. In addition, our ordered logit regression suggests that demographic and socio-economic variables such as age, education, income, household’s size and perception about health benefits are significantly associated with higher WTP for PFF.     

Disappearing and Reappearing Dividends in Emerging Markets: Evidence from Indian Companies

This article examines the empirical determinants of dividend payout policy for 947 sample firms listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in India from 1995 to 2013. The author identifies three distinct trends in the propensity to pay dividends between 1995 and 2013. The regression analysis suggests that most of the decline is due to the dividend payout policies of smaller, less profitable, younger firms and firms with comparatively more investment opportunities, high financial leverage, high business risk, and high dividend distribution tax. The author finds significant positive impact of catering incentives on the propensity to pay dividends, thus supporting catering theory of dividends.     

The Era of Cross‐Border M&A: How Current Market Dynamics are Changing the M&A Landscape

Rising equity volatility, surging energy prices, a weakening dollar, and widening credit spreads are influencing both tactical financing decisions and long‐term financial strategy. Amid this turbulence is a quickly changing global M&A landscape that portends long‐term opportunities to deliver value to shareholders. In this environment, the authors offer the following suggestions for U.S. multinationals: (1) continue looking overseas for well‐positioned targets, especially in emerging markets, even in the context of a weak U.S. dollar; (2) consider using their financial flexibility for opportunistic deals today now that asset values are contracting; and (3) critically evaluate non‐core assets at home or abroad that might be valuable to cross‐border acquirers. For multinationals in Europe and developing economies, the time may be right to consider transformational cross‐border “megadeals.” Emerging‐market companies have the opportunity to buy low and sell high by using high‐valued equity as an acquisition currency, particularly to gain access to developed markets. Companies in need of new capital should consider the financial and strategic benefits of selling minority stakes to a sovereign wealth fund or other foreign partner.     

Why is Assortment Planning so Difficult for Retailers? A Framework and Research Agenda

When retailers conduct product assortment planning (PAP), they determine (1) The variety of merchandise, (2) The depth of merchandise, and (3) Service level or the amount of inventory to allocate to each stock-keeping unit (SKU). Despite longstanding recognition of its importance, no dominant PAP solution exists, and theoretical and decision support models address only some of the factors that complicate assortment planning. This article simultaneously addresses the variety, depth, and service level aspects of PAP to provide a more thorough understanding. A review of current academic literature and best trade practices identifies open questions and directions for further research and applications.