The level of achieved accuracy in design cost estimating is generally accepted by researchers as being less than desirable. Low accuracy has been attributed to the nature of historical cost data, estimating method and the expertise of the estimator. Previous researchers have suggested that the adoption of resource based estimating by designers could eliminate data and method-related problems. The work in this thesis has shown that this will not solve the problem of inaccuracy in estimating. A major problem in assessing accuracy in design cost estimating has been the absence of a generally agreed definition of the'true cost' of a construction project. Hitherto, studies of accuracy in design cost estimating have relied solely on the assessment of errors using the low bid as a datum. Design cost estimators do not always focus on predicting the low bid. Rather, they may focus on the lowest, second lowest, third lowest or any other bid, mean/median of bids, or sometimes, on just being'within the collection'. This has resulted in designers and researchers having different views on the level of achieved accuracy in estimating. To resolve this problem, an analysis package, ACCEST (ACCuracy in ESTimating), was developed to facilitate 'fair' assessment of accuracy in design cost estimates. Tests - using cost data from 7 offices, the ACCEST package and the OPEN ACCESS II package on an IBM PS/2 - have shown that error in design cost estimating (averaging 3.6% higher than the predicted parameter) is much lower than portrayed in construction literature (averagel3% higher than the low bid). Also, false associations between project environment factors (such as geographical location, market conditions, number of bidders, etc.) and the level of achieved accuracy has been developed by researchers through using the low bid as a datum. Previous researches have also demonstrated that design estimators do not learn sufficiently from experience on past projects. A controlled experiment on design cost estimating information selection was designed to explain this occurrence. Failure to learn, and the persistent use of information on one project for estimating, has been shown to result from the method of information storage in design offices, the illusion of validity of inaccurate rules and over-confidence resulting from inaccurate assessment of individual expertise. A procedure for aiding learning from experience in design cost estimating has been suggested. Finally, the work has shown that by distinguishing between different trades, and selectively applying different estimating strategies, based on the objective evaluation of the uncertainty associated with cost prediction for ear h trade, error in design cost estimating could be further reduced. Two formulae for predicting tender prices using data generated from historical cost estimating experience are represented.

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Objective: To estimate national prevalence and direct incremental expenditures in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and asthma using 2007 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data. <br>Methods: COPD and asthma were identified using ICD-9 codes and were the main independent variables. Covariates included age, gender, race, income, region, insurance and marital status. Dependent variables were total health care, office-based, outpatient, inpatient, emergency room and prescription expenditures. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were used to fulfill the study objectives. <br>Results: Prevalence of COPD and asthma was 1.3 million and 28.3 million, respectively. Total direct incremental health care expenditures per person for COPD and asthma were $1,739.27 and $2,133.83, respectively. High cost categories among COPD and asthma included office-based, inpatient and prescription expenditures. Age, gender, region, insurance and marital status were significant predictors for health care expenditures. <br>Conclusion: Results highlight socio-demographic disparities and high health care expenditures due to COPD and asthma in the United States. <br>Keywords: Asthma, COPD, Medical Expenditures Panel Survey (MEPS), incremental health care expenditures, retrospective analysis / Mylan School of Pharmacy and the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences / Pharmacy Administration / MS / Thesis

Thesis (PhDAccountingandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2002.

We employ the Reuters database to compare execution costs for 2,330 matched-pair securities across the top 7 equity markets in the Dow Jones STOXX Global 1800 Index. This sample encompasses a wide variety of thirteen market design features. In addition, we investigate execution costs well beyond the most heavily traded stocks to include equities in the sixth through tenth deciles of traded value. Our findings indicate that full transparency of the limit order book to investors and a composite of unique NYSE features (but not the presence of the crowd) unequivocally reduce effective spreads. In contrast, a fully transparent limit order book revealed to brokers, the presence of a market maker, or the mixture of execution systems present on the LSE sharply increase effective spreads in both thickly and thinly-traded stocks. The effect of a physical trading floor is statistically significant but relatively small; it increases effective spreads slightly for thickly-traded firms, and reduces them for thinly-traded stocks. The findings for price impact are the same with three exceptions. First, the presence of a trading floor increases costs, dramatically so for thinlytraded stocks. Second, a fully transparent limit order book for brokers raises price impact for thickly traded stocks, but lowers price impacts for thinly traded firms. Third, in thinly-traded stocks, London???s hybrid market decreases price impact, and in thickly-traded stocks, crowd trading on the NYSE and full transparency to investors decrease price impact. Finally, the results for realised spread are essentially the same as those for effective spread, with the exception that the effect of the presence of a trading floor is to reduce realised spreads. Overall, the London Stock Exchange is the highest execution cost market, and the NYSE is the lowest. This research includes a market-specific study of the effect on execution cost of the Liquidity Provider of Euronext Paris. Euronext Paris affords a natural experimental research design because a third of firms have Liquidity Providers and two thirds do not. Results indicate quoted spreads, effective spreads and realized spreads are significantly affected by the presence of a Liquidity Provider, but price impacts are not. On the one hand, this suggests that the thickly-traded stocks where the Liquidity Providers are prohibited have sufficient liquidity in their absence. On the other hand however, liquidity providers on Euronext Paris reduce effective and realised spreads in essentially all stocks. This finding suggests that the limit order book refreshes much more quickly after developing an imbalance of large size orders when Liquidity Providers can facilitate other liquidity suppliers in assessing picking off risk. The Liquidity Provider increases quoted spreads for thickly-traded firms from the first three traded value deciles while reducing quoted spreads for the lower deciles.

This thesis reports on a study examining the direct and indirect costs to volunteer carers of providing a fostering service in Australia. The study highlights the current difficulties in carer recruitment and retention, the increases in the challenging and complex needs of the children coming into care, and the growing professionalism of fostering. The study uses a budgetary approach to estimate the direct costs of fostered children. In-depth interviews and focus groups with carers are instrumental in providing a range of perspectives that assist our understanding of how the direct costs of fostered children are different from (higher than) the costs of other children. The study found the costs of fostered children were 40 per cent higher than the costs of children not in care. The thesis indicates that, to maintain and retain a volunteer workforce, an adequate carer remuneration system to meet the direct costs of fostered children is critical. To examine the indirect costs of fostering, the study uses a multi-method approach providing a monetary value of the opportunity costs (foregone earnings model) and time costs (proxy good or market replacement model) for foster carers. The emotional and psychological dimensions of fostering are also examined, though no monetary value is assigned to these costs. Carers??? vivid and contrasting stories from the interviews explain how ???money??? fits with carer motivation and fostering???s more professional role, how carers perceive the nature of fostering (job or parenting), and whether carers should be paid to foster. Revelations of fostering???s emotional and time dimensions and restricted employment opportunities (indirect costs) highlight the impact fostering has on carers and their families. The study found that the indirect costs of fostered children were around four times the value of the direct costs. In light of the growing professionalism of contemporary foster care, difficulties in carer recruitment/retention, and the demanding nature of fostering, the thesis examines whether carers should be paid for the service they provide (compensation for indirect costs). Using a number of theoretical concepts developed by feminist economists and social theorists on paying for caring labour, the thesis found support for the contention that altruism (???love???) and carer pay (???money???) are not incompatible, and ambiguities and tensions for foster mothers around money and love can be resolved. Studies of countries where carers receive a wage component as part of their remuneration package provide insights into wage levels, perceived adequacy of the wage, and the impact of wages on carer recruitment/retention. The study found that, due to the profoundly gendered nature of fostering, the compensatory aspects of remuneration (fee/wage or salary) are generally poor. The implications for government welfare spending of paying Australian carers are discussed, and the savings to governments of using a volunteer workforce are demonstrated.