The primary goal of this study is to identify the influence of auditor incentives in audit quality and how and why it influences the auditor in practice in south Asian countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. This research will be relevant to authorities like audit firms, regulators, practitioners, and academics and it will be helpful to make the standard setup to establish the methods or procedures to offer the incentives which can be matched with the global context.  Theoretical concepts are based on previous research and publications regarding incentives, technological use in audit, auditor motivation, auditor behaviour, audit report and audit quality. Literature was used to derive the research gap and research questions. According to the literature, there is no universal definition to define the audit quality and presently, it is applying the standard frameworks to overcome that requirement. In this study, the authors also identified such frameworks and were mainly concerned about the Knechel et al, (2013) and IAASB (2014). According to the Knechel et al, (2013), the authors recognized the audit quality indicators under input, process, context, and outcome.  The study is conducted based on the Interpretivism paradigm as qualitative research concerning subjective viewpoints of ontology and humanist ways. For this thesis purpose the authors use semi-structured interviews with auditors from big four, private firm and large local audit firm in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as it helps to develop the findings, because these sorts of interviews provide detailed answers to the questions, interviewer can change the questions during the interview session according to the answer of the interviewee. From each country six participants have been chosen to conduct the interview.  The findings shows that auditor incentives have influenced on audit quality. Auditors who are highly motivated with incentives can produce audit report with free of misstatement. Moreover, Bangladeshi audit firms are not using technology and automation for auditing and accounting system except big four, whereas Sri Lankan audit firm are conducting their auditing and accounting through automation. Finally, the authors found that the Incentives, it may be financial or non-financial, are motivating the auditors and then auditors are doing their best effort to deliver the quality audit report.

Résumé: Problématique : En réponse à la prévalence accrue de la maladie du diabète et au fardeau économique important que représente cette maladie sur le système de santé international, des programmes incitatifs pour les maladies chroniques furent instaurés à travers le monde. Ces programmes visent à inciter les médecins à appliquer les lignes directrices chez leurs patients avec besoin complexe en vue d’améliorer la santé des patients et par la suite de réduire les coûts incombés par le système de santé. Les programmes incitatifs étant nombreux et différents d’un pays à l’autre, les études actuelles ne semblent pas s’entendre sur les répercussions de tels programmes sur la santé des patients atteints de diabète. L’objectif de cette étude est d’évaluer les retombées d’un incitatif financier sur le contrôle glycémique de la population atteinte de diabète du Nouveau-Brunswick, au Canada. Méthodes : Cette étude transversale répétée et de cohorte a été menée grâce à des bases de données administratives du Nouveau-Brunswick contenant des données sur dix ans pour 83 580 patients adultes atteints de diabète et 583 médecins de famille éligibles. La santé des patients a été évaluée au niveau du contrôle glycémique, en mesurant les valeurs moyennes d’A1C annuelles à l’aide de régressions linéaires multivariées. Afin d’évaluer si les médecins changeaient leur pratique avec l’implantation du programme incitatif, nous regardions au niveau de la probabilité de recours annuel à au moins deux tests d’A1C en utilisant des régressions logistiques multivariées. Résultats : La probabilité de recours annuel à au moins deux tests d’A1C était plus élevée dans quatre sous-groupes étudiés : les patients nouvellement diagnostiqués après l’implantation du programme avaient des cotes plus élevées comparées aux nouveaux patients avant l’implantation du programme (OR=1.23 [1.18-1.28]); les patients pour lesquels un médecin avait réclamé l’incitatif comparés aux patients pour lesquels aucun médecin n’avait réclamé l’incitatif (OR=2.73 [2.64-2.81]); les patients pour lesquels un médecin avait réclamé l’incitatif avaient des cotes plus élevées après l’implantation du programme comparé à avant (OR=1.89 [1.80-1.98]); et finalement, les patients suivis par un médecin de famille qui a déjà réclamé l’incitatif avaient des cotes 24% plus élevées (OR=1.24 [1.15-1.34]). Il n’y avait pas de différence dans les valeurs d’A1C annuelles entre les 4 sous-groupes étudiés. Conclusion : L’implantation du programme incitatif a démontré que les médecins ont une meilleure probabilité de prescrire au moins deux tests d’A1C, ce qui suggère une meilleure prise en charge des patients. Cependant, le manque de changement au niveau du contrôle glycémique du patient suggère que l’étude des répercussions de l’incitatif devra être poursuivie afin de voir si elle mène à une amélioration d’issues cliniques chez les patients. / Abstract: Background: Diabetes prevalence does not stop increasing with time and the economic burden this disease represents for the international health care system is unmistakable. Governments worldwide have implemented financial incentives based on guideline achievements for physicians treating people living with diabetes in hopes that these improve the health of their patients and in return lower healthcare costs. Current incentive programs implemented are different from one country to another and studies to date are inconclusive as to their repercussions on the health of diabetic patients. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of an incentive on glycemic control at a population level in New Brunswick, Canada. Methods: We conducted repeated cross-sectional and cohort-based analyses using administrative databases with ten years of data on 83 580 adult diabetic patients and 583 eligible family physicians. The study outcomes included patients’ glycemic control, using annual A1C means (multivariate linear regressions) and the probability of delivering at least two A1C tests annually (multivariate logistic regressions). Results: The probability of prescribing at least two A1C tests annually was greater in four sub-groups: patients newly diagnosed with diabetes after the implementation of the program compared to new patients before the implementation (OR=1.23 [1.18-1.28]); patients for whom a physician had claimed the incentive compared to patients for whom no physician claimed the incentive (OR=2.73 [2.64-2.81]); patients for whom an incentive was claimed after the implementation of the program compared to before (OR=1.89 [1.80-1.98]); and finally patients followed by a family physician who claimed the incentive at least once compared to patients followed by a family physician who never claimed the incentive (OR=1.24 [1.15-1.34]). There was no difference in mean A1C between all four sub-groups. Conclusion: Implementation of an incentive program in New Brunswick was associated with greater odds of delivering at least two A1C tests, suggesting that follow-up of care by family physicians was improved. However, as no difference between A1C means was observed, this suggests that the assessment of this incentive program needs to be evaluated further to determine if it helps improve patients’ health outcomes.

Variation in health care, whether it be in terms of the utilisation of resources, observed health outcomes, costs, quality or access to health care is a well recognised and ever present feature of the modern day health care system. Health care variations challenge basic assumptions about the nature of the health care economy and raise questions about efficiency, equity and where best to direct policy instruments in health care markets. Despite the vast literature documenting variation, and the many discussions around ways to reduce variations in health care markets, the field of dental care has received little interest, in comparison to that of general medical care. This thesis will address this gap and will analyse the variation observed in a specific dental care treatment (dental radiographs) within NHS Scotland, with particular emphasis on the contribution of both dentist and patient unobserved heterogeneity. The thesis takes its focus from two strands of the literature; the underlying theoretical aspect draws on the literature concerning the theory of incentives and physician agency, whilst the empirical component makes use of recent advances in micro-econometric methods, documented in the labour economics literature. Although the thesis is predominantly an empirical analysis, the estimation strategy combines ideas from both the theoretical and empirical literature. A matched patient provider dataset from NHS Scotland is used to conduct an analysis of the variation in dental radiographs, in the presence of, and controlling for unobserved dentist and patient heterogeneity. The results indicate that the remuneration structure alone has little or no impact on the treatment decision to provide a radiograph. When a dentist changes from being on a fixed salary contract to being paid on a fee-for-service basis, they are in fact less likely to provide a radiograph. This result changes in the presence of insurance (identified as being when patients are exempt from the patient charge) and indicates that when the self employed dentist can identify the patient as being exempt, they are more likely to provide a radiograph. This result provides some support for the theory that in the presence of insurance, financial incentives do influence the treatment decision. A final result of the study highlights the importance of accounting for unobserved patient and provider heterogeneity, a factor that has had little attention in the healthcare literature. The results suggest that patient variation, as opposed to the variation across dentists, is much more important in explaining total variation. This is a similar result to that found in both the labour and education literatures.

Introduction: Financial incentives increase smoking abstinence among pregnant and postpartum women. They have also been reported to reduce psychological symptoms using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) in women at risk for perinatal depression. This prospective study aims to replicate and extend these findings using the BDI and Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS). Methods: Participants were 169 pregnant cigarette smokers who were assigned to one of two treatment conditions: Best Practices only (n=88), which entails brief counseling and a referral to a pregnancy-specific quit-line, or Best Practices + Incentives (n=81). Participants were categorized as at increased risk (Dep+; n= 91) or lower risk (Dep-; n= 76) for depression based on history of depressive symptoms and baseline symptom scores. Treatment effects on smoking status and BDI/EPDS scores were examined across nine perinatal assessments using repeated measures analyses of covariance. Results: Financial incentives increased rates of biochemically-verified abstinence through 12-weeks postpartum independent of depression risk (ps ≤ .01) but did not differentially decrease BDI or EPDS scores (ps > .05). Scores decreased with both interventions for the Dep+ women (p = .001). Conclusions: These results replicate earlier evidence that financial incentives increase perinatal smoking abstinence in Dep+ women but not their efficacy in differentially reducing depressive symptoms at levels greater than Best Practices. The failure to replicate effects on depressive symptoms may be due to use of different control conditions in the current and prior study or increased screening and intervention for perinatal mental health during routine obstetrical care.

<p>Financial incentives have become important in health care all over the world. This thesis compares one council implementing a new payment system based on performance based reimbursement (PBR) with ten councils retaining an annual budget system. </p><p>The aim of this thesis was to study the effects of PBR on physicians’ attitudes and behaviours, that may affect the conditions for cost effective care. Aspects highlighted are efficiency, cost awareness, quality of care, professional autonomy and power, job satisfaction and leadership.</p><p>This thesis is based on data from seven studies, questionnaires, interviews and register based studies. One instrument, Incentive, Effectiveness, Environment (IEE) was developed within the framework of this thesis. It measures self-reported behavioural changes related to daily clinical work, judgements about work environment factors and the quality of care, and attitudes towards and existence of financial incentives.</p><p>Physicians in the council with PBR experienced a greater pressure to improve their efficiency and they did so. The average length of stay decreased more both in relative and absolute numbers. Much of the efficiency increase, however, seems to emanate from "running faster", not from working more rationally. Cost awareness increased in all councils studied although more so in the council with PBR. PBR was found to create a different financial incentive than an annual budget, stronger and more positive. Effects on quality of care were judged to be negative. Financial reductions were claimed to be the main reason for quality losses, but PBR was found to be more time consuming and therefore contributed to the negative outcome. Work environment factors, especially professional autonomy and power were judged to have deteriorated in all councils studied although more so in the council with PBR. Good leadership was shown to make a difference for quality of care as well as for professional autonomy and job satisfaction, regardless of context.</p><p>The results seem, at least partly, to depend on the new payment system, creating an increased efficiency pressure. Additional reasons discussed in this thesis are financial reductions, repeated organisational changes and a size effect.</p>

Financial incentives have become important in health care all over the world. This thesis compares one council implementing a new payment system based on performance based reimbursement (PBR) with ten councils retaining an annual budget system. The aim of this thesis was to study the effects of PBR on physicians’ attitudes and behaviours, that may affect the conditions for cost effective care. Aspects highlighted are efficiency, cost awareness, quality of care, professional autonomy and power, job satisfaction and leadership. This thesis is based on data from seven studies, questionnaires, interviews and register based studies. One instrument, Incentive, Effectiveness, Environment (IEE) was developed within the framework of this thesis. It measures self-reported behavioural changes related to daily clinical work, judgements about work environment factors and the quality of care, and attitudes towards and existence of financial incentives. Physicians in the council with PBR experienced a greater pressure to improve their efficiency and they did so. The average length of stay decreased more both in relative and absolute numbers. Much of the efficiency increase, however, seems to emanate from "running faster", not from working more rationally. Cost awareness increased in all councils studied although more so in the council with PBR. PBR was found to create a different financial incentive than an annual budget, stronger and more positive. Effects on quality of care were judged to be negative. Financial reductions were claimed to be the main reason for quality losses, but PBR was found to be more time consuming and therefore contributed to the negative outcome. Work environment factors, especially professional autonomy and power were judged to have deteriorated in all councils studied although more so in the council with PBR. Good leadership was shown to make a difference for quality of care as well as for professional autonomy and job satisfaction, regardless of context. The results seem, at least partly, to depend on the new payment system, creating an increased efficiency pressure. Additional reasons discussed in this thesis are financial reductions, repeated organisational changes and a size effect.

Magistro baigiamajame darbe nagrinėjama ekonomikos magistrantūros studijų absolventų preferencijos ir finansinės paskatos, renkantis darbo vietą, naudingumo aspektu. Tyrimo empirinę bazę sudaro 200 iš 689 Mykolo Romerio universiteto, Vilniaus universiteto, Kauno Technologijos universiteto bei Šiaulių universiteto 2007/2008 m.m. ir 2008/2009 m.m. ekonomikos magistrantūros studijų absolventai. Tyrimo objektas - Mykolo Romerio universiteto, Vilniaus universiteto, Kauno Technologijos universiteto bei Šiaulių universiteto ekonomikos magistrantūros studijų absolventų preferencijos ir finansinės paskatos, renkantis darbo vietą. Tyrimo tikslas - ištirti ekonomikos magistrantūros studijų absolventų preferencijas ir pagrindines finansines paskatas, darbo vietos pasirinkimo atžvilgiu, naudingumo funkcijų pagrindu. Atsižvelgiant į tyrimo tikslą ir iškeltus uždavinius darbe atlikta vartotojų preferencijų ir paskatų įtakos ištyrimo lygio analizė; išanalizuoti naudingumo funkcijų tipai; praktinėje darbo dalyje įvertintos Mykolo Romerio universiteto, Vilniaus Universiteto, Kauno Technologijos universiteto bei Šiaulių universiteto ekonomikos magistrantūros studijų absolventų, renkantis darbo vietą, naudingumo funkcijos; to pasekoje nustatytos respondentų preferencijos bei pagrindinės finansinės paskatos, teikiančios jiems didžiausią naudingumą, renkantis darbo vietą. Pagrindiniai tyrimo metodai: mokslinės literatūros analizė ir sisteminimas, anketinė apklausa, naudingumo funkcijų taikymas... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The preferences and financial incentives based on utility aspect of graduates of master economics studies by choosing a work place is analyzed in the concluding paper of master degree. The empirical base of the research consisted of 200 from 689 graduates of Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius University, Kaunas Technology University and Šiauliai University. The object of the research was the preferences and financial stimulants of graduates of master economic studies of Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius University, Kaunas Technology University and Šiauliai University by choosing the work place. The main goal of the research was to investigate the preferences and financial stimulants of graduates of master economics studies by choosing them the work place by using the utility functions. The following findings are presented in the paper: the theoretical analyze of investigation level of preferences and incentives of customers; the analyze of the types of utility functions; weighted utility functions of the graduates of Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius University, Kaunas Technology University and Šiauliai University by choosing the work place; the preferences and major financial incentives of the respondents, which give them the maximum utility by choosing a work place. The main research methods: analyze and filing of nonfiction, survey of questionnaire, statistic analyze. The descriptive statistics was used to calculate statistical findings.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-12T20:32:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Final Mestrado Antonio Carlos.pdf: 527718 bytes, checksum: d6207c29bbf031d2f06e819094ac80a2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-11-08 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The present study aims to identify whether or not there is a correlation between using financial lines for export by small and medium companies, and its level of competitiveness. The Atletic Way company was analyzed for this study, a medium sized company located in the city of Joinville, state of Santa Catarina. The work began with the construction of the theoretical fundamentation, indispensable to give support to the research, being used the methodology proposed by Ferraz et al. (1997) that sees competitiveness as: the managerial factors, administration, innovation, production and human resources; also the structural factors, market configuration of the industry, regime of incentives; and the sistemics factors, as macroeconomics, political-institutional, infra-structure and international. There are very few research material found in this area, mainly when it aims businesses depending on finance policies to export, and also the difficulties that small and medium Brazilian companies face whenever they need a specific financing to export, which harms this sector in the international market. The study signals the low investment in this sector. / O presente trabalho tem por objetivo geral identificar se há correlação entre a utilização de linhas de financiamento para exportações pelas pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs) e o seu nível de competitividade, sendo utilizado como estudo de caso a empresa Athletic Way empresa industrial de médio porte, localizada no município de Joinville/SC. O trabalho se iniciou com a construção da fundamentação teórica, indispensável para dar sustentação à pesquisa, utilizando-se a metodologia proposta por Ferraz et al. (1997), que analisa a competitividade segundo seus fatores determinantes tais como: os fatores empresariais (gestão, inovação, produção e recursos humanos), os fatores estruturais (mercado, configuração da indústria, regime de incentivos) e os fatores sistêmicos (macroeconômicos, políticoinstitucionais, infra estruturais e internacionais). Tal estudo foi motivado pela pouca bibliografia existente na área, principalmente quando se leva em conta o financiamento para empresas vinculadas à exportação e reconhecida dificuldade das pequenas e médias empresas brasileiras em contrair linhas de financiamento específica à exportações, o que vem prejudicando sobremaneira uma maior inserção deste segmento no mercado internacional. O estudo sinaliza pelo baixo investimento nesse setor.

Background: Internet, as everybody knows, has a lot of advantages and possibilities. One of these possibilities for companies is changing their business to electronic commerce (e-commerce). Almost all companies might need this type of business to sustain in future and compete with others. Most of the traditional businesses decide to change their business to e-commerce to have more profits in the future. However, this kind of commercial (e-commerce) may have its own risks and difficulties. Therefore, financial drivers can help companies to start or change previous business to e-commerce better and more easily. Purpose: The aim of this study is to demonstrate the importance of financial drivers for business to business (B2B) companies when they are starting an e-commerce. Since financial drivers might motivate the companies to start with e-commerce. Design/Methodology/Approach: A qualitative method and two case studies in the plastic industry are used. There are six interviews with a company named Alpha and two with a company named Beta. The researcher chooses the semi-structured interview for this study. The data are collected from mentioned interviews and secondary data. Findings: The finding of this study is divided into two parts. A) The necessity of companies to start an e-commerce, B) The importance of the financial drivers for B2B companies. This study shows that the financial driver has a significant effect to start an e-commerce. The advantages of selling products through e-commerce are as follows: increasing sales and revenues, decreasing transaction costs, improving liquidity problems, introducing the company brand and reaching products in 24/7. Practical implications: The result of this study has several implications for B2B companies such as management motivation to start an e-commerce. This study introduces financial drivers as an important key to motivate management to start with e-commerce.

Veterans Affairs (VA) inconsistently distributes financial incentives, which might affect how VA employees perceived organizational justice, affecting employees’ job satisfaction and performance. The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of VA employees that informed their perceptions of their workplaces’ levels of organizational justice, their job satisfaction, and their performances due to inconsistent distribution of financial incentives by gathering data through interviews with 13 VA employees from the Southeastern United States. The research question concentrated on the lived experiences of VA employees with respect to the inconsistent distribution of financial incentives, and how these experiences shaped their perception of the level of organizational justice in their workplaces. The study was guided by the conceptual framework of social exchange theory, and data was analyzed per Moustakas 7-steps of data analysis. Four major themes emerged from the analysis of interview transcripts: financial incentives, fairness of financial incentives, organizational justice at the VA, and perceptions at VA. The study findings indicated that the allocation of financial incentives by the VA, based on performance appraisals—a product of supervisors, is skewed by supervisor’s relationship with employees, and negatively affects VA employees job satisfaction and commitment. The results of this study could contribute to positive social change by assisting managers and employees in rectifying the perception of the unfair distribution of financial incentives at the VA.