Catherine Plante and Linda Ragland
The purpose of this paper is to add to the stream of research examining the difference between the amount of taxes waived for nonprofit hospitals and the amount of charity care…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to add to the stream of research examining the difference between the amount of taxes waived for nonprofit hospitals and the amount of charity care they provide.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is an archival study.
Findings
Almost all nonprofit hospitals in the sample provide enough charity care to cover their waived taxes. Almost none provide enough charity care at the level that has been proposed to the federal government for hospitals to maintain their nonprofit status.
Research limitations/implications
As with most hospital research, a limitation is this study’s focus on a single state to control for regulatory differences among states.
Practical implications
The data on the new Form 990 allow better measurement and transparency regarding a nonprofit hospital’s charity care. For legislators, regulators, and taxpayers, the results from this study raise questions about: the large variations in the amount of charity care provided among nonprofit hospitals and whether enough is being done in terms of providing charity care.
Social implications
There is great variation among nonprofit hospitals as to the amount of charity care provided. Relying upon a nonprofit hospital’s altruistic nature may not be enough to ensure that they act in the best interest of society.
Originality/value
This study is unique because, for the first time, a true measure of taxes waived is used in the analysis. All previous research has had to proxy taxes.
Details
Keywords
Yunshil Cha, Catherine Plante and Linda Ragland
In this study, we examine regulated public accessibility to municipalities’ financial reports and bond interest cost. In particular, we examine whether there is information…
Abstract
Purpose
In this study, we examine regulated public accessibility to municipalities’ financial reports and bond interest cost. In particular, we examine whether there is information content in a component of a constrained filing period that is useful to municipal bond market participants. The component of a filing period that we focus on is the period of time between an audit report date and a regulated public accessibility date.
Design/methodology/approach
To explore our research question, we collect a sample of observations from municipalities that: (1) are required to post annual/audit financial reports on a centralized state-level repository that includes a “transparent” date stamp on when reports are made publicly available and (2) have issued general obligation bonds. Our sample is limited to one observation per municipality. The sample period is 2006–2019. In terms of approach, we use an ordinary least square (OLS) regression model to empirically test whether the time period between municipalities’ audit report date and state-required repository filing date is associated with general obligation bond interest cost.
Findings
We find support for the idea that there is information content in a component of a constrained filing period. In particular, we hypothesize and find a positive association between the time period between an audit report date and a state filing date and general obligation bond interest cost. Seemingly, this component of time may provide something unique or not available in other components of a constrained filing period (e.g. the fiscal year-end date to the audit report date). In post hoc analyses, we also find that both components of the constrained filing period in our setting (i.e. the audit report date to state filing date and the fiscal year-end date to audit report date) need to be considered for either of the components to be significant. Moreover, although both components are necessary, the audit report date to state filing date component appears to have a slightly stronger association (in terms of statistical significance) with general obligation bond interest costs.
Research limitations/implications
To our knowledge, Illinois is the only state that provides a date stamp on when municipalities’ financial information is made publicly available on a centralized repository. As such we focus on municipalities in Illinois. While this increases the internal validity of our research, it potentially limits generalizability across other states. Also, as a reflection of the sample constraint, the number of observations in our study is relatively small. As part of post hoc analyses, we take a closer look at our sample, model and variables used to test our hypothesis.
Practical implications
For stakeholders, each component of a constrained filing period may provide unique information. For example, the time period between an audit report date and a regulated filing date may send a positive signal about the quality of financial management to investors. For regulators, requiring some sort of centralized public access to municipal financial reports that have transparent time constraints may help states provide stronger governance and help lower municipalities’ borrowing costs.
Originality/value
We use a novel approach (with the Illinois date stamp filing information) to examine our research question. Most prior research has often relied on an assumption that the time between fiscal year-end and the audit report date is the component of time that provides useful information to investors (e.g. Henke and Maher, 2016). In our setting, we explore and find that a component of a constrained filing time period (i.e. the date from an audit filing to a required public accessibility filing) may also provide impactful information to investors.
Details
Keywords
Menderes Tarcan, Yusuf Çelik, Catherine Plante and Mustafa Younis
The purpose of this study is to estimate economies of scale in Turkish Ministry of Health hospitals. Turkey is in the process of changing their healthcare system. Estimating…
Abstract
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to estimate economies of scale in Turkish Ministry of Health hospitals. Turkey is in the process of changing their healthcare system. Estimating economies of scale for Turkish hospitals will help funding decisions as Turkey determines whether to build, expand, or consolidate hospitals. The structural changes currently taking place provide an opportunity to revamp the way healthcare is provided so that access to and efficiency within healthcare can be increased in a cost effective manner. Data are collected from the Ministry of Health. The results suggest there is an optimal size for Turkish hospitals. Also, this study shows that hospitals in certain regions of Turkey are more efficient than other regions. Determining the characteristics of efficient hospitals is important if Turkey is to properly allocate scarce healthcare funding.
S. Allen Hartt, Jonathan Nash and Catherine Plante
Local governments use taxes on future increases in property values to pay for current economic development through tax incremental financing (TIF). TIF is a powerful tax tool used…
Abstract
Local governments use taxes on future increases in property values to pay for current economic development through tax incremental financing (TIF). TIF is a powerful tax tool used to spur improvements to a designated area. Proponents of TIF argue that it allows local governments to make investments without affecting previously established government and school district programs. Detractors argue that because the TIF designation denies existing overlapping districts (e.g., schools) the benefits of increases in property values, TIF can have a negative impact on a community. Empirical evidence on the economic and fiscal effects of TIF is mixed. This paper describes the potential costs and benefits associated with the use of TIF and then summarizes prior research on outcomes associated with this widely used property tax program.
Details
Keywords
John F. Sacco and Gerard R. Busheé
This paper analyzes the impact of economic downturns on the revenue and expense sides of city financing for the period 2003 to 2009 using a convenience sample of the audited end…
Abstract
This paper analyzes the impact of economic downturns on the revenue and expense sides of city financing for the period 2003 to 2009 using a convenience sample of the audited end of year financial reports for thirty midsized US cities. The analysis focuses on whether and how quickly and how extensively revenue and spending directions from past years are altered by recessions. A seven year series of Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) data serves to explore whether citiesʼ revenues and spending, especially the traditional property tax and core functions such as public safety and infrastructure withstood the brief 2001 and the persistent 2007 recessions? The findings point to consumption (spending) over stability (revenue minus expense) for the recession of 2007, particularly in 2008 and 2009.
What is it about academia anyway? We profess to hate it, spend endless amounts of time complaining about it, and yet we in academia will do practically anything to stay. The pay…
Abstract
What is it about academia anyway? We profess to hate it, spend endless amounts of time complaining about it, and yet we in academia will do practically anything to stay. The pay may be low, job security elusive, and in the end, it's not the glamorous work we envisioned it would be. Yet, it still holds fascination and interest for us. This is an article about American academic fiction. By academic fiction, I mean novels whosemain characters are professors, college students, and those individuals associated with academia. These works reveal many truths about the higher education experience not readily available elsewhere. We learn about ourselves and the university community in which we work.
This study aims to explore the calculations and valuations that unfold in everyday practices within social care settings. Specifically, the paper concerns the role of accounting…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the calculations and valuations that unfold in everyday practices within social care settings. Specifically, the paper concerns the role of accounting in dealing with multiple calculable and non-calculable spaces within the case management process. The study sheds light on the multiplicity produced in constructing the client as an object through the calculations and valuations embedded in the costing and caring practices in social work.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a qualitative case study in a Swedish social care organisation, with a specific focus on the calculations and valuations within the case management process. The data have been gathered from 20 interviews with social workers, team leaders, managers and a management accountant, along with more than 36 h of on-site observations and internal organisational documents, including policy documents, guidelines and procedural lists.
Findings
The case management process involves interconnected practices in constructing the client as an object. While monetary calculations and those associated with worth are embedded in costing and caring practices, they interact and proliferate in various ways. Three elements are found: transforming service units into centres of calculation, constructing the accounts of calculation and establishing the cost-value calculations. Calculations and valuations are actuated in these elements in describing the need, matching the case with the unit and caseworker and deciding on the measure. The objectification of the client entails the construction of accounts, for example, ongoing qualifications, categorisations and groupings of units, juridical frameworks, case types, needs and measures. As an object multiple, the client becomes different objects at different stages, challenging the establishment accounts, and thus producing a range of calculations and valuations. Such diversity in calculations concomitantly produces more calculations to represent the present and absent multiple facets of the client, resulting in a multiplicity of costing and caring.
Practical implications
The study might flag up for practitioners the possible risks and unintended consequences of depending too much on fixed guidelines and (performance) indicators since social work involves object multiples, which are always in diversity and changeable in situ. Considering the multiple dimensions within the specific contexts could thus be helpful to mitigate such risks in the evaluation of social care processes and the design of (performance) metrics.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on accountingisation by extending the concept as a part of ongoing organisational practices, materialised within the calculations of money and worth in everyday social care. Besides demonstrating their reconsolidation, this study shows a multiplicity of costing and caring practices depending on the way the client is constructed, resulting in the proliferation of accounting(s) and ultimately accountingisation of social work.