Environmental Smog Control Costs and proceeds of Oil and Gas Conglomerates

The study was carried out to analyse cost implications of environmental smog control costs on the proceeds of oil and gas conglomerates. Panel data were collected and organized from financial statements of selected conglomerates. Data were analysed using ordinary least square of multivariate analysis. Empirical findings revealed that environmental smog control costs have significant effect on the proceeds of the conglomerates investigated. Thus the study suggested and acclaimed that conglomerates should ensure that smog management and controls policies are formulated and implemented to avoid projecting a bad image of the establishment which could lead to loss of goodwill and reduce proceeds in the long run, there should also be effective regulations that will lead to adequate cost disclosure and appropriate financial performance reporting.

Cost Disclosure of Surgeon “Scorecards”: Effects on Operating Room Costs for Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty

Background: Rising health care costs, coupled with an emphasis on cost containment, continue to gain importance. Surgeon cost scorecards developed to track case-based expenditures can help surgeons compare themselves with their peers and identify areas of potential quality improvement. Purpose: We sought to investigate what effect surgeon scorecards had on operating room (OR) costs in orthopedic surgery. Methods: Our hospital distributed OR cost scorecards to 4 adult reconstruction fellowship-trained orthopedic surgeons beginning in 2012. The average direct per-case supply cost of procedures was calculated quarterly and collected over a 5-year period, and each surgeon’s data were compared with that of their peers. All 4 surgeons were made aware of the costs of other surgeons at the 2-year mark. The initial 2 years of data was compared with that of the final 2 years. Results: The average direct per-case supply cost ranged from $4955 to $5271 for total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and $5469 to $5898 for total hip arthroplasty (THA) during the initial 2-year period. After implementing disclosures, the costs for TKA and THA, respectively, ranged from $4266 to $4515 (14% annual cost savings) and from $5073 to $5727 (5% annual cost savings); 3 of the 4 surgeons said that cost transparency altered their practice. Conclusion: Our comparison suggests that orthopedic surgeons’ participation in a program of operative cost disclosure may be useful to them; we found a possible association with reduced per-case costs for TKA and THA at our institution over a 5-year period. More rigorous study that incorporates the effects of the scorecards on patient outcomes is warranted.

Charitable Organizations’ Cost Disclosure Mitigates Overhead Aversion

Charities face common problems in which donors tend to avoid charities with high overhead rates. This overhead aversion phenomenon forces charities to suppress their overhead spending, which impedes them from performing as best as they can. Substantial research has attempted to mitigate overhead aversion by eliminating the need to cover overhead expenses by donors. The present work takes a different approach and presents a method to reduce overhead aversion and to improve the attitude toward the charity by providing donors with details of the overhead costs. Study 1 demonstrates that disclosing the overhead cost improves donors’ attitude toward the charity. Moreover, the effect is mediated by the donor’s attitude toward the overhead. Study 2 shows that presenting cost information is more effective than the methods proposed by the existing literature (e.g., presenting a message that addresses the importance of overhead). The research contributes to the literature by demonstrating how to communicate with donors to increase their evaluations of the charity.

The Impact of Environmental and Social Costs Disclosure on Financial Performance Mediating by Earning Management

This research empirically investigated the effect of environmental cost disclosure (ECD) and social cost disclosure (SCD) on financial performance (FP) mediated by earning management (EM). To achieve this purpose, a quantitative research method was employed using secondary data sources including reports of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and annual reports. Then, the data were examined using smart partial least squares (PLS). The research sample was represented by international energy corporations during the period (2016, 2017, and 2018). The study results revealed that the environmental and social costs disclosure significantly affected financial performance. This was in agreement with theories of instrumental stakeholders, legitimacy, and agency. This means that more cost on environmental and social information disclosure can generate greater opportunities for corporations.