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To analyze the changes to the FINRA equity research rules and evaluate concerns that may be important to and have an impact on equity research activities following the effective date.

This article provides an overview of the changes reflected in FINRA Rule 2241 pertaining to equity research analysts and research reports, as well as changes to licensing requirements for equity research analysts. It highlights potential issues for firms and provides some commentary on how these issues should be considered in light of FINRA’s articulated position and assurances FINRA has given to the SEC.

This article concludes that firms should anticipate these changes and begin a comprehensive review of research policies and procedures, the personnel who prepare research reports and the scope of their research products so as to be compliant with Rule 2241 from its effective date. Firms should also begin an investigation of technologies used to gather, produce and disseminate research and required disclosures to ensure they meet the new requirements when they are effective.

This article provides insight into the new FINRA Rule 2241 and practical guidance from experienced securities lawyers.

To describe some of the challenges that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will face in requiring that high-frequency traders register as dealers.

This paper provides a brief overview of the dealer-trader distinction, an analytical framework under which some high-frequency traders have avoided registration with the SEC as dealers. It then explains the difficulties the SEC will encounter in bringing high-frequency traders within its regulatory umbrella as dealers. In particular, the paper outlines some of the interpretive challenges the SEC encounter as well as challenges to justifying the economics of any proposal.

While the SEC has yet to formally propose rules in this area, the interpretive vehicle it uses could have repercussions for other market participants that rely on the dealer-trader distinction to avoid having to register as dealers with the SEC.

The paper provides practical insights into the issues the SEC will have to address if it proposes to bring high-frequency traders within its regulatory umbrella as dealers. In addition, it provides a concise overview of the dealer-trader distinction based on statements by the SEC and its staff.

The purpose of this study is to determine if an earnings forecasting model based on factors hypothesised to result in differential profits across firms (industries) reduces model error relative to the model developed by Ou (1990). Initial research attempting to forecast earnings found that the random walk model, where current year's earnings are the prediction for next year, provides the best forecast of annual earnings (Ball and Watts 1972; Foster 1973; Beaver, Kettler, and Scholes 1970; Albrecht, Lookabill, and McKeown 1977; Brealey 1969). Ou (1990) developed an earnings forecasting model using financial statement information beyond prior years' earnings as the explanatory variables that outperformed the random walk model in predicting annual earnings.

Based on the Current Population Survey, 46.6 million Americans did not have health insurance in 2005 (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2006). Lack of insurance is often associated with lower utilization rates, which may in turn adversely affect health status (Ayanian, Weissman, Schneider, Ginsburg, & Zaslavsky, 2000). Since universal health insurance is not provided for in the US, uninsured individuals must either self-pay or rely on charity care provided by hospitals and health clinics. The majority of charity care is produced in the public sector, either at the state, county, or local level (federal hospitals primarily serve a particular segment of the population – e.g., veterans in the case of Veterans Administration hospitals). Public hospital provision of “safety net” hospital services is particularly prevalent in large urban areas (Lipson & Naierman, 1996). These safety net hospitals are defined by the Institute of Medicine as having an “open door policy to serve all patients regardless of their ability to pay and provide substantial levels of care to Medicaid, the uninsured, and other vulnerable patients” (IOM, 2000). Private not-for-profit (NFP) hospitals also provide charity care but to a lesser extent than public providers, especially since the imposition of cost cutting measures both by Medicare and Medicaid (federal programs that fund health care for the elderly and indigent, respectively) and by managed care. Given that approximately 15% of US GDP is allocated to health care, cost cutting measures are laudable; however, care still needs to be provided for individuals who cannot afford it, and the burden of providing this care has to be borne somewhere in the health care system.

This chapter problematizes the body politics of American liberalism, as viewed through the lens of health policy. The author suggests that American efforts to pursue basic health goals are undercut by the particular way in which American liberals – and their state – conceptualize bodies. To understand the theoretical basis of this body politics, the chapter examines policy preoccupations such as the institution of informed consent, malpractice reform, and efforts to establish a Patients’ Bill of Rights. Finally, considering the ideological contexts that have given rise to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the author gestures toward the establishment of a stronger liberal – and possibly post-liberal – health care system that takes the embodiment of its subjects seriously.

The purpose of this paper is to report on an action research project carried out in an Italian university hospital that was facing a strategic challenge. The role of intellectual capital (IC) for university hospital strategic management is discussed after developing and applying an IC framework to enhance the visualisation of strategic IC elements.

An action research process has been applied in the studied setting based on Susman and Evered’s (1978) definition of the engaged research cycle.

The action research process allowed a gap between theory and practice to be bridged; the strategic control process resulted supported by new measures; a different approach to strategy management was launched, and other organisations perceived the relevance of the IC representation and wished to import it.

Research limitations are related to those recognised for the interventionist research approach.

The paper contributes to the improvement of managerial and accounting technologies for practitioners managing university hospitals and discusses a university hospital’s strategic goals.

The paper represents a methodological contribution related to the interventionist research stream of literature, and enriches the limited studies focused on IC in health care organisations. Furthermore, the paper enables appreciation of the role of academics in the convergence of theory and practice.

Researchers recommend a reorganization of the medical profession into larger groups with a multispecialty mix. We analyze whether there is evidence for the superiority of these models and if this organizational transformation is underway.

We summarize the evidence on scale and scope economies in physician group practice, and then review the trends in physician group size and specialty mix to conduct survivorship tests of the most efficient models.

The distribution of physician groups exhibits two interesting tails. In the lower tail, a large percentage of physicians continue to practice in small, physician-owned practices. In the upper tail, there is a small but rapidly growing percentage of large groups that have been organized primarily by non-physician owners.

While our analysis includes no original data, it does collate all known surveys of physician practice characteristics and group practice formation to provide a consistent picture of physician organization.

Our review suggests that scale and scope economies in physician practice are limited. This may explain why most physicians have retained their small practices.

Larger, multispecialty groups have been primarily organized by non-physician owners in vertically integrated arrangements. There is little evidence supporting the efficiencies of such models and some concern they may pose anticompetitive threats.

This is the first comprehensive review of the scale and scope economies of physician practice in nearly two decades. The research results do not appear to have changed much; nor has much changed in physician practice organization.

To reduce the smoking rates and alleviate societal problems associated with smoking, health administrators and policy makers have attempted to promote and implement statewide smoking free policy. The present study examined how adults' awareness of and attitude toward the smoke-free air law, their perceived risks of secondhand smoke and current smoking status were associated with smoking attitude and behaviors.

As part of the Indiana Adult Tobacco Survey, 2,027 respondents participated in cross-sectional telephone surveys. A series of independent sample t-test and binary logistic regression analyses were performed.

Awareness of the state law was inversely related to negative attitude toward smoking behaviors. Individuals who reported favorable attitude toward the state smoke-free air law and higher risk perceptions of secondhand smoke showed negative attitude toward smoking behaviors. Non-smokers and former smokers were significantly different from current smokers with regard to attitude toward smoking. Negative attitude was significantly related to intention to quit smoking. Awareness of the state law, perceived risk and current smoking status were key determinants for anti-smoking attitude and behavior.

Findings highlight the importance of effective dissemination of the state law and recommend a strategic intervention design that invokes risk perceptions of secondhand smoke.

Purpose – The purposes of this chapter are to describe both the within-group and between-group variance in Black Americans’ (Blacks’) prevalence of mental illness. This chapter also comments on the impact that poorer mental health has on this group's subsequent social mobility and explores recommendations for the reduction of these inequities.

Methodology/approach – This chapter reviews Black's history in America. It also outlines the influence of this history and related factors on Black Americans' current rates of illness and subsequently vulnerable upward mobility.

Research implications – The history of Blacks in America is tumultuous and has contributed to their vulnerable state. Blacks, on average, are poorer and sicker than Whites, and Blacks’ higher rates of illness are due to a number of factors. As a result, Blacks’ social mobility is precarious. Future research should continue to explore mental health care programs that are specifically designed to address Blacks’ unique culture and worldview.

Social implications – In addition to culturally competent and culturally responsive health care, future initiatives should focus on improving the accessibility and quality of health care, and alleviating socioeconomic disparities, racism, and racism-related stress. These initiatives, in conjunction, are the best approach to improving Blacks’ rates of mental illness.