The economic advantages of response in the treatment of advanced breast cancer

Summary

The introduction of a new class of drugs, the taxoids, has dramatically improved the outlook for patients with advanced, metastatic breast cancer. Second-line monotherapy with the most effective taxoid, docetaxel, in patients with anthracycline-resistant metastatic breast cancer, shows an overall response rate up to 55% in this patient population. Increased response rate is associated with improved quality of life for these patients.

We carried out a cost analysis to determine the economic benefits of being in a response state compared with the other health states associated with advanced breast cancer: stable, progressive or terminal disease.

We found that the cost of care for responders is 40% of that for early progressive disease and just over a third of that for late progressive disease. The costs associated with stable disease are only a little less than those for progressive disease, and are more than double the costs for patients who have responded to chemotherapy. The costs during terminal disease are the highest, and are more than nine times those associated with caring for responders.

Our findings confirm other studies which demonstrate that the cost of chemotherapy can be offset against the reduction in costs incurred for patients who remain in healthier states for longer. The key parameter determining the economic efficiency of treatments for advanced breast cancer is response rate.     

Liquidity effects and habit formation in a sticky price model

This paper sets up a sticky price model with external habit formations. It shows that the cross-correlation between output and interest rates as well as prices match the data well when there is habit formation. Consumption as well as output display a hump-shaped response to a positive monetary shock when there is habit formation. The paper also shows that the sticky price model with Abel's (1990, 1999) external habit formation succeeds in generating liquidity effects.     

Continental European accounting model and accounting modernization in Germany

Classification techniques based on one or few dimensions are widely used in research studies and textbooks to explain and predict the development of accounting systems internationally. However, their usefulness in international accounting has been limited in today's globalized world. For example, in the context of the EU, IFRS are required for consolidated accounting, while national accounting systems continue to be the dominant system for unconsolidated accounting in many countries. Using Germany as a case study, the objective of this paper is to examine whether Germany can still be classified within the Continental European model of accounting following the Act to Modernize Accounting Law (Bilanzrechts-modernisierungsgesetz — BilMoG), which was promulgated on May 29, 2009. This Act introduced some major reforms to the German Commercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch — HGB), such as removing the close connection to tax rules and introducing new recognition and valuation regulations, which changed traditional principles of orderly accounting (Grundsätze ordnungsmäßiger Buchführung). As a result, the current German approach of financial reporting separates Germany from the traditional Continental European model of accounting and moves it somewhere on a spectrum between the traditional Continental European model of accounting and the Anglo-American model of accounting.     

ABC Inventory Management Support System With a Clinical Laboratory Application

Many manufacturing and service organizations invest a large amount of capital in inventory. For this reason, it is important for inventory managers to reduce the costs associated with inventory. Firms that carry a variety of items require a classification system for the effective management of inventory. The ABC support system is a well-established inventory planning and control method that is used to manage different classes of inventory and reduce inventory costs concurrently. This paper presents a decision support system for ABC inventory management that can be used by managers to determine the efficiency of their inventory policies and to evaluate inventory decisions. The mathematical formulas to support inventory decisions are discussed. Since managers must manage in term of dollars, the quantitative tools are explained in terms suitable for management.     

Exploring adoption difficulties in mobile banking services

Factors associated with adopting and resisting mobile banking technologies were investigated among university students in Taiwan. Adoption factors included the belief that mobile banking helps fulfill personal banking needs, provides location-free conveniences, and is cost effective. The primary factors associated with resistance included concerns over system configuration security and basic fees for mobile banking web connections. The theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed. Copyright © 2009 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

What does diversity management mean for the gender equality project in the United Kingdom? Views and experiences of organizational “actors”

There has been a shift at the organizational level away from a traditional “equal opportunity” paradigm underpinned by notions of social justice, with a specific focus on tackling gender inequalities towards a business‐led “diversity management” paradigm, with a focus on the individual and their contribution to the organization. We argue that diversity management as a concept and model has the potential to undermine the gender equality project, but drawing on a UK‐based study we conclude that whether or not it presently does so in practice is less clear. Nevertheless, our study, presenting views and experiences of multiple organizational actors, demonstrates the seductiveness of the diversity discourse, which could herald danger for the future direction and substance of the gender equality project. Copyright © 2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

军事物流的全生命周期成本控制探讨

根据全生命周期成本分析法的基本原理,分析了军事物流成本的阶段构成及相关作业,结合作业成本法,给出了军事物流成本的核算模型,并提出了几点建议。     

作业成本法在集约型物流企业会计成本核算中的应用

主要借助作业成本法来探讨物流业运行程序理论,以A公司为参考案例,对集约型物流企业如何运用作业成本法来进行会计成本核算进行诠释。     

物流中心作业成本通用模型研究

为了实现流通企业物流中心的精细化成本管理,在分析作业成本法原理的基础上,结合流通企业物流中心的业务流程及其生产成本构成特点,本文构建了物流中心作业成本通用模型,并对通用模型中资源池的建立、作业池模型设计、确认成本核算对象、成本动因模型设计四大主要环节的成本核算过程和方法进行了研究和阐述,最后通过实例说明了作业成本法的应用。     

基于ABC分类的卷烟配送中心库存量确定

通过对卷烟出库历史数据的ABC分析,提出了一种基于ABC分类的确定各个品种卷烟库存量的方法,并给出了实际的应用案例。使用结果表明,利用该种方法,在降低各个卷烟品种库存量、减少库存空间占用、加快卷烟出入库速度等方面取得了较好的运用效果。