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Copyright of Contemporary Accounting Research is the property of Canadian Academic Accounting Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The specificity of the investment process in viticulture, resulting from the long period from planting the vineyard to its transformation into a productive asset, the long operating period and the significant amount of the initial investment, had determined the relatively high degree of risk (production, market and financial) in the implementation of this activity. The market situation, revealing the interaction between the price levels of production factors and the price levels of vine-growers, had an impact on the profitability, which affected the investment interest. In this aspect, the analysis of the structure and dynamics of the costs for creating the vineyard and its cultivation during the fruiting period, as well as the evaluation of the economic effect of grape production, had been an important tool of strategic planning in the sector, both at micro- and macro- level. The application of innovative approaches to the investment and operating costs management in viticulture, based on intelligent information systems, had supported the analytical process and the forecasting of cash flows, as a means of controlling the market and financial risk in vine growing farms. The study had systematized a significant number of sources from the scientific publications and the practice in countries having well developed viticulture and wine sector. The data revealed that tools structured on the basis of computer software, aimed at the assessment of investment and operating costs, the production profitability and the return on investment decisions, had been increasingly used in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cost management strategies are considered as useful means of increasing revenue for the successful operations of manufacturing firms in which cement manufacturing companies are inclusive. The study examined the relationship between cost management strategies and profitability of quoted cement manufacturing firms in Nigeria. It used ex post facto research design with three quoted cement manufacturing firms as population of the study based on the years 2013-2022. Content analysis research method was adopted. The findings of this study were; Throughput costing (x1), lifecycle costing (x2), target costing (x3) and activity based costing (x4) strategies have positive relationship with the return on equity of quoted cement manufacturing firms with correlation coefficient: Rx1 = 0.090; Rx2 = 0.119, Rx3 = 0.429 and Rx4 = 0.438 respectively. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that target, lifecycle, throughput and activity based costing have a combined positive relationship with the return on equity of quoted cement manufacturing companies in Nigeria. But specifically, throughput accounting has weak and insignificant positive relationship. The researcher recommended that firms should confine the output to the extent of customers’ demand to locate approaches of raising customers demand to a higher level. Cement firms should exercise the inputs of specialists within and outside the organisation in pursuit of economic life-cycle cost and profitability determination of products. Firms should facilitate the identification of how individual customer influences the cost of supply so as to provide the business with better information to make value-based and more effective decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the determinants of ROE and the impact caused by the Covid-19 pandemic on public companies in Latin America. The fixed effects regression model with panel data is used to identify that factors related to sales policies and cost controls are the ones that contribute the most to ROE performance, regardless of the period. On the other hand, the level of indebtedness and macroeconomic indicators are not significant, strengthening the finding that the operational and internal decisions of the company contribute more strongly to maximizing shareholder returns. This verification helps financial managers in directing decisions and expands academic knowledge on this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate policy needs to set incentives for investors who face imperfect, distorted markets and large uncertainties about the costs and benefits of abatement. These investors decide on uncertain investments according to their expected return and risk (carbon beta). We study carbon pricing and financial incentives in a consumption-based asset pricing model distorted by technology spillovers and time-inconsistency. We find that both distortions reduce the equilibrium asset return and delay investment in abatement. However, their effect on the carbon beta and the risk premium for abatement can be decreasing (when innovation spillovers are not anticipated) or increasing (when climate policy is not credible). We show that the distortions can be overcome by modified carbon pricing by a regulator, or by financial incentives, implemented in our model by a long-term investment fund. The fund pays a subsidy to reduce technology costs or offers financial contracts to boost investment returns to complement the carbon price. The investment fund can thus pave the way for carbon pricing in later periods by preventing a capital misallocation that would be too expensive to correct, thus improving the feasibility of ambitious carbon pricing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Emergency medical services (EMS) diversion strategies attempt to limit the impact of low-acuity care on emergency department (ED) crowding, but evidence supporting these strategies is scarce.Objective: This study aims to measure the effect of a treat-in-place and alternative destination program on ED transports and EMS utilization.Methods: We used a natural experiment study design to measure effects of a pilot prehospital diversion program on ED transport, number of EMS vehicles dispatched, and EMS time on task for low-acuity emergency calls in a midsized urban setting characterized by a high prevalence of health disparities, concentrated poverty, and limited access to primary care between October 2018 and January 2020. We also used direct variable cost to estimate the return on investment attributable to avoided ED visits.Results: Of 3725 calls that met eligibility criteria, the program responded to 1084 (29.1%), with 56.7% of those resulting in an ED visit, compared with 64.6% of the 492 control calls that were eligible but were dispatched when program services were unavailable. Of 1084 calls receiving response, 213 (19.6%) were enrolled in the program, and 8.5% of those were transported by EMS to the ED. Adjusted results show EMS time on task was 23.4 min less for enrolled calls vs. controls. The program can achieve a positive return on investment by enrolling 2.9 patients/day.Conclusions: A prehospital diversion program reduced ED visits and EMS transport times. Improved targeting of patients for enrollment would further increase the intervention's efficacy and cost savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Software industry has adopted automated testing widely. The most common method adopted is graphical user interface test automation for the functional scenarios to reduce manual testing and increase the repeatability. Reducing execution time and redundancy to achieve quality "go/no go decisions" provides rational for the executive management to allocate funds to adopt automation and invest in the setup including people, process, and tools to achieve faster time to market. There are a variety of practices engaged by testers, like frameworks, tools, methods, procedures, models, and technologies to achieve automation. Nonetheless, the actual effectiveness in terms of return on investment (ROI) is not known, though there are various formulas to calculate ROI of test automation. The factors that determine the ROI are maturity of test automation, purpose, or intent, picking right tests for automation, knowledge of the tester to derive test coverage, domain expertise, defining right metrics like defects found by automation runs, cost versus reduction of time, labor versus quality of scripts, repeatability, and results. These factors form the base of the questions designed for the survey. The paper presents a survey and analysis to understand the ROI of test automation from industry test professionals from both product and services organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a complex and debilitating condition that requires care from a multispecialty team. The Integrated Parkinson Care Network (IPCN) is an innovative pragmatic care model that focuses on integrated care, self-management support and technology-enabled care. Objective: This study aims to estimate the costs of the IPCN and assess whether benefits gained from the intervention offset its costs based on a single center experience. Methods: We conducted a return on investment (ROI) analysis of the IPCN from a societal perspective. The ROI for the IPCN was estimated as a ratio of the net savings and the intervention cost. The intervention cost was calculated as a sum of set-up and implementation costs. Cost savings was measured as the absolute reduction in the societal costs realized by PD patients. A positive ROI indicated that savings generated from the intervention offset its cost. Results: The total cost of the IPCN for 100 PD patients was C$135,669, or C$226 per patient per month. IPCN was associated with the reduction in societal cost of C$915 per patient per month (95%CI: –2,782, 951). The ROI per PD patient per month for the IPCN was 3.08 (95%CI: –0.60, 22.93), suggesting that for every C$1 invested in the IPCN, C$4.08 is gained through reduction in societal costs. The returns were greater among advanced PD patients. Conclusion: The IPCN has the potential to offer a good return on investment for PD patients, and its value for money is higher among advanced PD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Financing is the property of Financing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: The present study sought to investigate whether tax management influences the cost of equity of Brazilian companies listed in Brazil, Methodology: The study included the analysis of the Proxie Book-Tax Differences (BTD) as a tool for identifying tax management, as suggested in the work of Moreira e Silva (2019), as well as the control variables, which are the return on equity (ROE), market value (QTOBIN), company size (LNAT) and company financial leverage (ALV). For data collection, the Bloomberg® database and the Reference Form available on the B3 website were used. For that, it was used the Multiple Linear Regression of the data type in balanced panel, resulting in a final sample formed by 630 observations. Results: Through the BTD proxie, referring to the difference between accounting profit and tax profit, and used to capture tax management in this research, it was not possible to identify any relationship with the cost of equity. Thus, for the purposes of this research, the theoretical adequacy and the statistical models used did not show that good tax management practices have a positive or negative effect on the cost of equity. Contributions of the Study: It is observed that Brazilian studies did not analyze the effect of tax management on the cost of equity in Brazilian companies using the Book-Tax Differences (BTD) indicator as a tool for identifying tax management and its influence on the cost of capital. So, this research followed the recommendation suggested by Moreira e Silva (2019), to analyze this cost with another indicator, in this case, Book-Tax Differences (BTD). According to the results, it was not possible to identify any relationship with the cost of equity, thus contributing to the consolidation of the findings by Goh et al. (2016) and Moreira e Silva (2019) who present CashETR as the best metric for tax management, given that the results presented using the variables ETR and BTD, demonstrated that the cost of capital required by investors was unrelated to the fiscal aggressiveness of companies. Bolsa e Balcão (B3) in the period from 2014 to 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are 10 commercial banks operating in Kosovo today and they make up 65 percent of the total assets of the financial sector. Their products and services include bank accounts, loans, local and international payments, bank cards, bank guarantees, letter of credit, e-banking. The structure of assets according to the first quarter of 2020 is dominated by loans totaling 4,721.9 million euros, while the structure of liabilities of the banking sector is dominated by deposits in the amount of 3,845.4 billion euros. Commercial banks in Kosovo have different shareholder structures. Eight of them are banks with foreign capital and two with domestic capital. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of cost control on the profitability of banks. The research was done through multivariate regression, where as dependent variables we have Net Profit Margin (NMF), Return on Equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA) and as independent variables we have interest expenses, salary expenses and provisions expenses. Profitability is the term that refers to the ability of the institution to maintain its profit year after year. Based on the linear regression model, it is found that in one of the dependent variables two dependent variables have a significant impact, while in the other two dependent variables only one of the independent variables has an impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Nunn-McCurdy Act, first introduced in 1982 and then made permanent law in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1983, was established to provide visibility into the cost overruns associated with defense acquisition programs. The Nunn-McCurdy Act has different requirements for defense acquisition programs that breach certain cost growth thresholds, with the most significant breach requiring termination of the program unless certified by the Secretary of Defense. Given this, the Act essentially requires the Department of Defense to report programs that breach certain cost thresholds to Congress but does nothing to actually prevent the cost overruns from happening again. This Note suggests amending the Nunn-McCurdy Act to add language that makes a program that has experienced three breaches subject to Congressional review, eliminating the possibility for the Secretary of Defense to simply certify the program again. Additionally, this Note suggests providing Congress with the option to assess a penalty on the Department of Defense's appropriations for the following fiscal year relative to the number of programs that experience multiple breaches. Finally, this Note suggests providing various termination methods that seek to receive some return on investment before a program is terminated completely [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are no studies that have specifically investigated the cost-effectiveness of cascade screening of children for heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) and treatment of affected individuals with statins to prevent coronary heart disease (CHD). This study explores the cost-effectiveness of this strategy from the perspective of the Australian public healthcare system. A lifetime Markov model with four health states (Alive without CHD, Alive with CHD, Dead from fatal CHD, and Dead from other causes) was developed to simulate the progression of ten-year-old children screened for FH and treated immediately with statins if found to have FH. The underlying prevalence of FH in this target population was assumed to be 56.8%, and the sensitivity and specificity of testing were 100%. The comparator was usual care, which assumed that subjects started statins spontaneously at a later point or when they experienced a cardiovascular event. The effect of reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) on the risk of a first event at each age assumed that risk was proportional to total lifetime exposure and was implemented using Mendelian randomisation analysis data. Cost and other outcome data were sourced from published sources. Outcome of interests were costs in Australian dollars (AUD), life years gained (LYG) and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained, as well as incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) of costs per LYG and per QALY gained. All future costs and outcomes were discounted by 5% annually. Undiscounted results showed that compared with usual care, cascade screening of ten year-old children for FH and initiation of treatment of affected individuals saved 7.77 LYG and 7.53 QALYs per person over a lifetime. With 5% annual discounting, there were 0.97 LYG and 1.07 QALYs gained per person, at net reduction cost of -$1134. The cascade screening of ten-year-old children for FH and initiation of treatment compared to usual case was a cost saving approach. In 51.2% of iterations, screening and initiation with statin were cost saving and in 48.8% of iterations were cost-effective. In most of the one-way sensitivity and scenario analyses, the ICER stayed within the accepted Australian threshold. Compared to usual care, cascade screening of ten-year-old children for FH and treating affected individuals are likely to be cost saving. Image 1 • The cost-effectiveness of screening children for familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) and treatment is unknown. • A Markov model was developed to simulate the lifetime progression of ten-year-olds. • Cascade screening children for FH and treating are likely to be cost saving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Brasileira de Agricultura Irrigada - RBAI is the property of Revista Brasileira de Agricultura Irrigada - RBAI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: Aims: To evaluate potential health and economic returns from implementing smoking cessation interventions in Hungary. Methods: The EQUIPTMOD, a Markov‐based economic model, was used to assess the cost‐effectiveness of three implementation scenarios: (a) introducing a social marketing campaign; (b) doubling the reach of existing group‐based behavioural support therapies and proactive telephone support; and (c) a combination of the two scenarios. All three scenarios were compared with current practice. The scenarios were chosen as feasible options available for Hungary based on the outcome of interviews with local stakeholders. Life‐time costs and quality‐adjusted life years (QALYs) were calculated from a health‐care perspective. The analyses used various return on investment (ROI) estimates, including incremental cost‐effectiveness ratios (ICERs), to compare the scenarios. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses assessed the extent to which the estimated mean ICERs were sensitive to the model input values. Results: Introducing a social marketing campaign resulted in an increase of 0.3014 additional quitters per 1 000 smokers, translating to health‐care cost‐savings of €0.6495 per smoker compared with current practice. When the value of QALY gains was considered, cost‐savings increased to €14.1598 per smoker. Doubling the reach of existing group‐based behavioural support therapies and proactive telephone support resulted in health‐care savings of €0.2539 per smoker (€3.9620 with the value of QALY gains), compared with current practice. The respective figures for the combined scenario were €0.8960 and €18.0062. Results were sensitive to model input values. Conclusions: According to the EQUIPTMOD modelling tool, it would be cost‐effective for the Hungarian authorities introduce a social marketing campaign and double the reach of existing group‐based behavioural support therapies and proactive telephone support. Such policies would more than pay for themselves in the long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an inflection point at which ambiguity and the definition of project boundaries have to give way to the rigor of implementation—and design's contribution has frequently been positioned to the right of that point. This tool helps bridge the disconnect between early design research and the specifics of design requirements, reducing cost and time to market while delivering a higher quality and more appropriate solution to the end user. The most successful company is not necessarily the one that spends the most on research and development; rather, it's the company that spends its limited development funds in the right areas. Design can help. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cutting costs to boost suboptimal levels of return on equity (RoE) is becoming essential for capital market firms in the current climate of tepid revenue growth and regulatory changes. Fundamental restructuring of operations through adoption of shared service and industry utilities can enable longterm cost reduction. A few financial institutions have been using internal utilities for some time now. The next stage in this evolution is the external utility model, through which banks completely outsource their technology and processes to the utility provider. External utilities are a recent phenomenon seen largely in the last 18 to 24 months. Primarily, the functions that are non-core and non-differentiating for a financial institution are best suited for outsourcing to a utility. The areas that have seen utility-type solutions include mid-back office functions such as post-trade processing, collateral management, reference data management, regulatory reporting and transfer agency service, as well as some front-office activity such as know your customer (KYC) services. While the utility model can offer significant benefits to user institutions, lack of awareness and resistance to change, lack of customisability, difficulties in establishing common governance and frameworks, and regulatory and data security issues could present challenges that may impact adoption of these utilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, due to increasing environmental concerns, the collection of used products for remanufacturing, reusing, or recycling in a closed-loop supply chain have attracted much attention from the academic and industrial communities. In this study, the decision maker is a retailer who follows the rule of the economic order quantity (EOQ) model. The EOQ decision-making retailer is assumed to sell the products to public consumers, as well as collect the used sold products from public consumers. The proposed problem for the retailer is formulated as a cost-minimization problem, where the replenishment quantity of new products and the return rate of used products are the decision variables. The optimal solution of the replenishment quantity and the return rate are obtained in closed-form under cost minimization. Furthermore, the cost-minimizing model is extended to consider the pricing decision so the total relevant profit for the retailer is maximized and an efficient iterative algorithm is provided to search for the solution. Several numerical examples are provided to illustrate the features of the proposed models and the iterative algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrical demand management is a strategy used by utility companies to manage peak consumption. For commercial customers, utility companies often include electric demand charges for the maximum power used during a specified time period, measured in $/kW. This is in addition to the charge for power consumed measured in $/kWh. Rate structures generally vary by region and utility company, but the premise is the same. Strategies designed to avoid or minimize the impact of electric demand to reduce operating cost are not a new idea; however, these designs are used primarily in facilities that are large power users where the operation of energy consuming systems can be scheduled to take advantage of the rate structure. The energy performance of a building is dependent on choices made by the occupants about the proper use and maintenance of building systems. Thus, controlling and adjusting occupant behavior is important to ensuring the full potential of high performance facilities. Traditionally, the design team's role on a project ends when the building is built and all of the post-construction documentation is provided to the owner. Systems in modern-day buildings are complex, especially for users who lack training in architecture or engineering. These misunderstood systems are often incorrectly altered which ultimately impacts building energy consumption. Design, commissioning, and energy professionals can positively impact building performance by training the building occupants on how their systems work. The techniques for demand avoidance described in this article are so subtle that occupants rarely detect the changes. In this article, actual data and case studies are presented from educational facilities showing the cost of implementation and the return on investment (ROI). The ROI for these system improvements is commonly less than two years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pediatric obesity presents a significant burden. However, family-based behavioral group (FBBG) obesity interventions are largely uncovered by our health care system. The present study uses Return on Investment (ROI) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) analyses to analyze the business side of FBBG interventions.Methods: ROI and IRR were calculated to determine longitudinal cost-effectiveness of a FBBG intervention. Multiple simulations of cost savings are projected using three estimated trajectories of weight change and variations in assumptions.Results: The baseline model of child savings gives an average IRR of 0.2% ± 0.08% and an average ROI of 20.8% ± 0.4%, which represents a break-even IRR and a positive ROI. More pessimistic simulations result in negative IRR values.Conclusions: Under certain assumptions, FBBGs offer a break-even proposition. Results are limited by lack of data regarding several assumptions, and future research should evaluate changes in cost savings following changes in child and adult weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop the method of optimal portfolio choice based on the concept of cost-efficiency in two directions. First, instead of specifying a payoff distribution in an unique way, we allow customer-defined constraints and preferences for the choice of a distributional form of the payoff distribution. This leads to a class of possible payoff distributions. We determine upper and lower bounds for the corresponding strategies in stochastic order and describe related upper and lower price bounds for the induced class of cost-efficient payoffs. While the results for the cost-efficient payoff given so far in the literature in the context of Lévy models are based on the Esscher pricing measure we use as alternative the method of empirical pricing measures. This method is well established in the literature and leads to more precise pricing of options and their cost-efficient counterparts. We show in some examples for real market data that this choice is numerically feasible and leads to more precise prices for the cost-efficient payoffs and for values of the efficiency loss. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We examine overlapping regulations in electricity markets. Using an example based on a stylized model of a competitive energy market, we study cost-reduction and cost-padding incentives by “green-energy” producers in an electricity market employing an emissions tax and the simultaneous use of a green quota for the generation portfolio and a fair rate-of-return constraint implemented via a system of feed-in tariffs. We show inter alia that when subsidies are phased out, exploitation of the green technologies full cost-reduction potential is a Nash Equilibrium but emissions will increase. In addition, green-energy producers can engage in collusive cost padding to increase profits even as they satisfy the policymaker's desired green quota. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small oil fields are expected to play an increasingly prominent role in the delivery of global crude oil production. As such, the Energy Return on Investment (EROI) parameter for three small offshore fields are investigated following a well-documented methodology, which is comprised of a "bottom-up" estimate for lifting and drilling energy and a "top-down" estimate for construction energy. EROI is the useable energy output divided by the applied energy input, and in this research, subscripts for "lifting", "drilling", and "construction" are used to differentiate the types of input energies accounted for in the EROI ratio. The EROILifting time series data for all three fields exhibits a decreasing trend with values that range from more than 300 during early life to less than 50 during latter years. The EROILifting parameter appears to follow an exponentially decreasing trend, rather than a linear trend, which is aligned with an exponential decline of production. EROILifting is also found to be inversely proportional to the lifting costs, as calculated in USD/barrel of crude oil. Lifting costs are found to range from 0.5 dollars per barrel to 4.5 dollars per barrel. The impact of utilizing produced gas is clearly beneficial and can lead to a reduction of lifting costs by as much as 50% when dual fuel generators are employed, and more than 90% when gas driven generators are utilized. Drilling energy is found to decrease as the field ages, due to a reduction in drilling intensity after the initial production wells are drilled. The drilling energy as a percentage of the yearly energy applied is found to range from 3% to 8%. As such, the EROILifting+Drilling value for all three fields approaches EROILifting as the field life progresses and the drilling intensity decreases. The construction energy is found to range from 25% to 63% of the total applied energy over the life of the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]