Timely loss recognition and termination of unprofitable projects

Ideally,firms should discontinue projects that become unprofitable.Managers,however,continue to operate such projects because of their limited employment horizons and empire-building motivations(Jensen,1986; Ball,2001).Prior studies suggest that timely loss recognition in accounting earnings enables lenders,shareholders,and boards of directors to identify unprofitable projects; thereby,enabling them to force managers to discontinue such projects before large value erosion occurs.However,this conjecture has not been tested empirically.Consistent with this notion,we find that timely loss recognition increases the likelihood of timely closures of unprofitable projects.Moreover,managers,by announcing late discontinuations of such projects,reveal their inability to select good projects and/or to contain losses,when projects turn unprofitable.Accordingly,thereafter,the fund providers and board of directors are likely to demand improved timeliness of loss recognition and stringent scrutiny of firms' capital expenditure plans.Consistently,we find that firms that announce large discontinuation losses reduce capital expenditures and improve timeliness of loss recognition in subsequent years.Our study provides evidence that timely loss reporting affects "real" economic decisions and creates economic benefits.

Effect of obesity on perioperative outcomes after laparoscopic hepatectomy

Aim:Laparoscopic hepatectomy is increasing in utilization,however the procedure has not been adequately examined in the obese patient.This study aims to analyze the effect of obesity on perioperative outcomes after laparoscopic hepatectomy.Methods:Retrospective analysis of 396 laparoscopic hepatectomies in normal[body mass index(BMI)<25],overweight(BMI≥25),obese(BMI≥30),and severely obese(BMI≥35)patients using multivariate regression models to determine the risk factors for post-operative complications.Results:Normal BMI(n=78;20%),overweight(n=209;52%),obese(n=86;22%),and severely obese(n=23;6%).Demographics were similar except for a higher American Society of Anesthesiologists(ASA)score in the obese group.Estimated blood loss and operating time were greatest in the overweight group,while length of stay and complications were statistically similar between groups.Univariate analysis identified that complications were associated with weight class,ASA score,blood loss,and resection;multivariate analysis revealed ASA and transfusion were best correlated with complications.Conclusion:Obese and overweight patients have similar complication profiles to normal BMI patients while severely obese patients have a higher incidence of complications that are primarily limited to Clavien-Dindo class I and II.

Managing Discretionary Services: A Review and Research Opportunities

Discretionary services typically refer to professional work and complex service work by physicians,software developers,web designers,lawyers,or financial analysts,where there are no standard working processes and customer perceived quality of service increases with the time spent on it.Recently,research on these services,especially the corresponding speed-quality tradeoff problem,has gained more and more attention.This paper reviews both the analytical models and the empirical studies in this area,highlighting their contributions and pointing out potential directions for future research.