Cost Allocation

This quantitative case study aimed to learn and analyze the personnel cost in nursing direct care in the intensive care unit. We opted to use a therapeutic intervention score index, TISS-28, for the analysis of the indirect gravity of patients and the dimension of the nursing staff working time. Evaluating the cost by a gravity score presented to be a logical and relatively simple method to allocate costs per patient in the intensive care unit. In this exploratory and descriptive study, the average TISS-28 per patient was 31 points, requiring a daily expenditure of care hours of R$ 298.69. It was evidenced in this study that personnel costs are variable since there are patients with different complexities. Therefore is possible to estimate the nursing staff cost by assessing its work load.

Transportation planning is an important part of the wood flow chain in forestry. There are often several forest companies operating in the same region and co-ordination between two or more companies is rare. However, there is an increasing interest in collaborative planning as the potential savings are large, often in the range 5-15%. A key question is how savings should be distributed among the participants. In this paper we investigate a number of possibilities based on economic models including Shapley value, the nucleolus, separable and non-separable costs, shadow prices and volume weights. We also propose a new allocation method based on finding as equal relative profits as possible among the participants. A case study including eight forest companies is described and analyzed.

An important problem in modern electrical power systems is the inherent variability and uncertainty of renewable energy resources. Allocating the costs generated by the variable resources in a just and reasonable manner is crucial for economic efficiency. In this paper, we develop an axiomatic framework for allocating the deviation costs generated by variable resources using the cost causation based principle. The cost causation principle has a long historical tradition in electrical energy systems and has been proved to provide economic efficiency. We apply the new cost causation based framework to allocate the cost in the production deviation of a group of renewable energy producers and thereby help promote the market integration of renewable energy. The resulting cost allocation framework is then applied to five wind power producers bidding in the Iberian electricity market in Europe, using real data on wind speeds and market prices.

The theory on multi-echelon inventory systems is a core theory within supply chain management. Utilizing emergency lateral transshipments between retailers to meet customer demand can be an effective means for companies to improve service levels in a supply chain. This paper presents a Multi Echelon Inventory Model for Repairable Items Continuous Reviews using Emergency Lateral Transshipment. Based on case examples, obtained by the proportion of retail demand fulfillment immediately from stock on hand an average of more than 75%. Then the proportion of retail demand is met by emergency lateral transshipments average no more than 20%. Thus proved that the emergency lateral transshipments to increase the level of retail demand fulfillment. This can be seen on the results of calculations which was initially 75%, after using emergency lateral transshipments retail demand fulfillment rate rose by 20%.

Transportation carriers can achieve significant profit or cost savings if they collaborate rather than engage in wasteful competition among themselves. However, the challenge in cooperative game theory is finding the optimal cost allocation methods to support pecuniary expectations of coalition members. In this paper, we determine cost allocation model that supports horizontal collaboration among transportation carriers involved in downstream distribution of packaged cement from shipper's processing plant to customer locations in selected states in Nigeria. The study focuses on the relationship between the shipper and haulage carriers that service the transport needs of its geographically distributed customers. A cost allocation mechanism based on game theory is proposed to implement win-win collaboration among the carriers. We applied a Shapley value cost allocation model to fairly distribute the cost savings from operation of five grand coalitions (S) formed by the carriers. The Shapely values were then optimized with mixed integer programming model to realize optimal cost savings from the coalition. The result revealed that the coalitions: S3 (N165,173,700.00) and S4 (N27,200,960.00) contributed significantly to the optimal savings apart from their initial contributions. The path that corresponds to S3 (X3) is the Article history:

In conventional power systems, upstream and downstream of power were distinct. However, due to the competition, power injection and sink can appear at unexpected locations, and cost sharing for such a new power system configuration must be considered. This paper proposes a scheme for transmission expansion cost allocation among electric market participants by using Core and Nucleolus concepts of game theory, which are developed particularly for the transmission users. A solution of the n-person cooperative game is adopted to distribute the line transmission expansion cost among the players. Congestion is assumed to be the transmission constraint, and expansion of transmission line is expected to relieve transmission congestion. A case study is illustrated to demonstrate the proposed method.

This study is based on the research of TIPP - Transport Institutions in the Policy Process - project in the EC’s 5th Framework Programme. It is generally acknowledged that the implementation of regulations faces many problems of the existing institutional system. Beside all its affection may thicken on with passing of social, economics and structural changes in the same time.

The economic principles and tools that are commonly applied to recover costs for urban water and sanitation arise from the dominant perspective of neoclassical economics. In this paper we argue that this perspective, with its emphasis on 'full cost pricing' based on the 'user pays' principle, is too limited for sustainability. We examine two other qualitatively different economic perspectives to demonstrate how they lead to different approaches: ecological economics takes a more holistic approach explicitly committed to sustainability, while Buddhist economics brings ethics to the fore and opens the possibility for cooperation between the various actors in creating solutions to benefit individuals, society and the environment. We propose a set of interconnected guiding principles based on an expanded economic perspective that integrates all three perspectives, to enable water and sanitation services for developing countries to align with sustainability.

This article extends several recent contributions that have compared the physician-induced demand hypothesis to the theory of a monopoly where advertising is inclu&d as a decision variable. By introducing a s*mdard profit-maxim&g model with inducement, it derives the conditions for the optimum level of inducement to show that the controversy over inducement is directly related to the elasticity of demand for the physician's services. In particular, inducement is likely to be prevalent only where the individual physician has a high degree of monopoly power as measured by its elasticity of demand. It will disappear entirely as competitive conditions are approached. Furthermore, the article argues that a physician's level of induced output is likely to diminish, and not increase as others have suggested, following increases in physician supply.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine length of stay (LOS) outliers by analyzing hospital administrative database. Material and Methods: The Turkish Ministry of Health DRG grouper database was utilized to obtain hospital administrative data on discharges for 15 training and research hospitals in 2012. For each diagnosis-related group (DRG), the geometric mean plus two standard deviations were calculated to identify outliers. Analyses were conducted using descriptive statistics and logistic regression using generalized estimating equations (GEE). Results: High LOS outliers found to be 4.4 % of the cases, they were responsible for 24.50 percent of all discharge days. Alcohol, drug use disorders, burns, and diseases of the ear, nose, mouth, and throat were the factors that had the greatest impact on high LOS outliers, according to the multivariate model. Conclusion: A quarter of all inpatient days are made up of LOS outliers. Burns, neonate cases, and alcohol/drug use issues sho...

This paper is an introduction and synthesis of the papers that appear in this special issue devoted to the sustainable governance of the oceans. The special issue contains papers on various aspects of the problem, including: the www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon

Internal prices are used in practice to allocate central resources to a firms' profit centers. The fixed costs of capacity acquisitions are often included in these prices. We examine the interaction between capacity acquisition and competition when capacity is available in fixed increments. We find predictably that if the increments are small, unit capacity cost is a good approximation for the internal price, and if the increments are large, the internal price is zero. However, the relationship between the internal price and the capacity increment for intermediate cases is quite irregular, to the extent that it is not possible to approximate the internal price with accounting data. The analysis also suggests that full cost allocation overcharges for the opportunity cost of capacity. Furthermore, the right internal price does not act either as a way of recovering fixed costs or as a proxy for externalities such as congestion costs. The conclusions are not materially altered in th...

The cooperative game theory is proposed to the transmission fixed cost allocation incurred to accommodate all the players. This method dominates the difficulties of conventionally used methods, such as postage stamp method and MW miles method, and encouraging the economically optimal usage of the transmission facilities. Under the deregulated environment, the cost needs to be allocated to the loads as well as generators fairly and unbiased so as to provide a locational signal to both types of players for optimal setting. This paper proposes game theoretic models based on the Shapley value approaches for transmission cost allocation problems under the deregulated environment. The obtained results are compared with the conventionally adopted methodologies to defend easy implementation and effectiveness of the proposed methodologies. (Javad Nikoukar, Abdorreza Panahi. Transmission Fixed Cost Allocation in Deregulated Environment based on Cooperative Game Theory. Journal of American Sci...

In the deregulated power system, it is necessary to develop an appropriate pricing scheme that can provide the useful economic information to market users, such as generation companies, transmission companies and customers. However, accurately assessment and allocating the transmission cost in the transmission pricing scheme is a challenge, although many methods have been proposed. The objective of this paper is to propose a simple transmission pricing scheme using tracing method based on the proportional tree, in which transmission fixed cost, congestion cost and loss cost are considered. A case study based on IEEE 24-bus test system is applied to assess the effectiveness of the cost allocation procedure.

In this paper, the transmission cost allocation problem is discussed in a deregulated electricity market. The proposed method is based on power flow equation. In this approach, first, the relation between the generator or load currents and the bus injection currents is defined using a power invariant matrix, then the active power flow through each line is expressed in terms of generator or load currents. A fourbus test system is used to explain how the proposed method allocates the cost of real power flow to generators or loads separately. The obtained results are compared with the conventionally adopted methodologies to defend easy implementation and effectiveness of the proposed method. The obtained results explicitly show that the proposed method is fitting and behaves in a physically fair manner. This method dominates the difficulties of conventionally used approaches, encouraging the economically optimal usage of the transmission facilities. A case study based on IEEE 24-bus test system is applied to assess the effectiveness of the cost allocation procedure.

In this paper we investigate the relationship between health care provider objectives, cost-shifting, and prices by exploring the relationship between state Medicaid pharmacy reimbursements and average prices paid by pharmacy retail customers for four distinct pharmaceutical products across the US in 1994. We develop a more general theory than past researchers to enable provider objectives to vary with Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement levels. We find that provider objectives and the direction of relationship between Medicaid pharmacy reimbursements and retail prices vary with Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement levels. At high Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement levels we find a consistent negative relationship across products. At low Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement levels, the direction of the relationship is product-specific. As a result, policy-makers should be aware that policies affecting reimbursements from government-sponsored health insurance will also affect retail customers that include the uninsured. Paradoxically, for certain products if a state cuts a generous Medicaid reimbursement level this could hurt uninsured patients, whereas cuts in a stingy Medicaid reimbursement rate may help uninsured patients.

The downstream petroleum products distribution is beset with significant challenges due to ageing pipeline infrastructure, pipeline vandalism and other logistical constraints. These challenges have given rise to soaring pump prices of premium motor spirit (PMS), product shortages and unavailability across some locations in Nigeria. Thus, deploying alternative transport modes for PMS distribution is explored to improve product distribution efficiency. The decision to combine inland waterway transport (instead of pipeline network) and road transport modes would activate the intrinsic advantages inherent in the multimodal transport system. However, the efficiency outcome of using multimodes may be eroded if the multimodal transport operators compete (instead of collaborating) in service provisions. This research investigated cost efficiency in cooperative collaboration among multimodal transport carriers. We proposed collaboration among six multimodal transport operators. The aim of encouraging such a large-scale coalition (S) is the expectation that costs emanating from their joint operation would be reduced. We applied the Shapley value cost allocation method to distribute the costs of operation and profit to the collaborators. After the analysis, we observed that the unit cost for coalition S1 was reduced by N17.16 (5.10 %) million naira. Similarly, we observed respective reductions in unit costs for coalitions S2, …, S10. We observed a reduction in cost by N107.84 million naira, which represents a 6.15 % reduction in total unit cost for the multimodal transportation carriers. Thus, the observed cost efficiency represents savings due to distribution chain efficiency if the multimodal transport carriers collaborate to improve product availability. Working as a coalition would offset PMS pump price variation attributable to distribution chain inefficiency.

The paper presents the process of design of a frame for a semi low loader for the transportation of oversize loads, especially wheeled and tracked machines. After considering different solutions of a frame, a central beam was chosen and an initial design was developed. The initial model of the frame was analyzed with the use of FEM and was then modified. Two final versions of the frame were prepared. One of them was used in a 4 axle trailer with a load deck that can be extended in length and width to carry oversize and heavy loads. An important advantage of the trailer is its versatility and the fact that in a non-extended state it meets the regulations for standard trailers and can carry loads without a special permission. The paper focuses on the application of FEM analysis in the design of the part of the beam where highest stresses were located. A design solution for a ladder frame, a schematic image of a box-type central beam, a design solution for rear ramps, geometrical model...

Portugal created a NHS to achieve greater equity of access to health care. Successive governments continued to assert the importance of equity in the face of evidence of inequities in supply of hospital resources, but lacked methods to provide sound information on the degree of inequities in Portugal and hence how to achieve greater equity. Capitation formulae have been increasingly used in other countries with a NHS to measure geographical inequities and allocate resources to reduce them. The main objective of this paper was to develop a capitation formula to measure need for hospital care for the Portuguese system by transferring this technology from methods used in other countries, and, in particular, in England. We find, however, problems with the common use of standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) as a measure of need and found age-specific mortality ratios to offer more soundly-based estimates. We also raise questions on the use of empirical estimates of utilisation of health care by age and sex as they appear to reflect inadequacies of health care in Portugal. We also believe it is important to improve knowledge of health insurance and care outside the NHS. Our results show that there are considerable inequities on the distribution of hospital resources in Portugal.

Objective. To determine the economic impact on the hospital of a hospitalist program and to develop insights into the relative economic importance of variables such as reductions in mean length of stay and cost, improvements in throughput (patients discharged per unit time), payer methods of reimbursement, and the cost of the hospitalist program. Data Sources. The primary data source was Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston. Patient demographics, utilization, cost, and revenue data were obtained from the hospital's cost accounting system and medical records. Study Design. The hospitalist admitted and managed all patients during a sixweek period on the general medical unit of Tufts-New England Medical Center. Reimbursement, cost, length of stay, and throughput outcomes during this period were contrasted with patients admitted to the unit in the same period in the prior year, in the preceding period, and in the following period. Principal Findings. The hospitalist group compared with the control group demonstrated: length of stay reduced to 2.19 days from 3.45 days ( po.

In any decision-making process, biases can significantly influence the choices we make. A bias refers to a systematic pattern of deviation from rational judgment, often causing individuals to favor certain information or ideas over others, resulting in flawed decisions (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). This paper examines a personal bias impacting my decision-making, discusses its trigger, and outlines steps to address it. Additionally, it explores how this bias affected my decision and assesses my overall confidence in decision-making, including the potential presence of overconfidence syndrome.

In the deregulated power system, transmission pricing has become a very important task because it is necessary to develop an efficient, feasible and reliable pricing scheme that can generate the useful economic signals to network users such as generating companies, transmission companies, distribution companies and customers. The objective of this paper is to compare transmission usage and cost allocation scheme to loads (and/or generators) based on Shapley value method and power flow tracing method. Modified Kirchhoff matrix is used for power flow tracing. A comparison is done between the both methods. A case study based on sample 6 bus power system is applied to check the feasibility and reliability of the proposed usage and cost allocation methodology.

We consider a number of servers that may improve the efficiency of the system by pooling their service capacities to serve the union of the individual streams of customers. This economies-of-scope phenomenon is due to the reduction in the steady-state mean total number of customers in the system. The question we pose is how the servers should split among themselves the cost of the pooled system. When the individual incoming streams of customers form Poisson processes and individual service times are exponential, we define a transferable utility cooperative game in which the cost of a coalition is the mean number of customers (or jobs) in the pooled system. We show that, despite the characteristic function is neither monotone nor concave, the game and its subgames possess nonempty cores. In other words, for any subset of servers there exist cost-sharing allocations under which no partial subset can take advantage by breaking away and forming a separate coalition. We give an explicit ...

The profound change in the electric industry worldwide in the last twenty years assigns an increasing importance to electric market agents' interaction, even if these are competitive markets like generation and commercialization, or non competitive transmission and distribution markets. The agent's cooperation and coordination through coalition formation in cost allocation of investment, electric network operation and maintenance, arises as an attractive solution, if one has an appropriate technical and economic modeling. The obtained solutions in such cases are efficient, fair and equitable to participant agents. A transmission cost allocation method is presented, based on cooperative game theory and transmission network capacity use by consumer agents. It is applied to the main Chilean interconnected system and the obtained results are compared with traditional methodologies.

The profound change in the electric industry worldwide in the last twenty years assigns an increasing importance to electric market agents' interaction, even if these are competitive markets like generation and commercialization, or non competitive transmission and distribution markets. The agent's cooperation and coordination through coalition formation in cost allocation of investment, electric network operation and maintenance, arises as an attractive solution, if one has an appropriate technical and economic modeling. The obtained solutions in such cases are efficient, fair and equitable to participant agents. A transmission cost allocation method is presented, based on cooperative game theory and transmission network capacity use by consumer agents. It is applied to the main Chilean interconnected system and the obtained results are compared with traditional methodologies.

This paper presents an overview of usage-based methods of transmission cost allocation under open access. Allocation of transmission costs involves both technical and regulatory issues, and as a result, the methods available in the literature differ in their definition and measure of the "extent of use" of transmission resources. The primary objective of this paper is to provide a summary of recent techniques used for designing fair and equitable access fees for the recovery of fixed transmission costs. The discussion is thus organized under two major subtopics: algorithms for transmission usage evaluation and alternative pricing strategies. Numerical examples are provided to show the results using different methods.

The allocation of costs of a transmission system to its users is still a pending problem in many electric sector market regulations. This paper contributes with a new allocation method among the electric market participants. Both cooperation and competition are defined as the leading principles to fair solutions and efficient cost allocation. The method is based mainly on the responsibility of the agents in the physical and economic use of the network, their rational behavior, the formation of coalitions and cooperative game theory resolution mechanisms. The designed method is applicable to existing networks or to their expansion. Simulations are made with sample networks. Results conclude that adequate solutions are possible in a decentralized environment with open access to networks. Comparisons with traditional allocation systems are shown, cooperative game solutions compare better in economic and physical terms.

A cost assignment model is proposed for the expansion of electrical transmission systems, based on the cooperation and interaction principles that are the foundation of the cooperative game theory. A solution algorithm is proposed that considers the development of independent cooperative games for each expansion segment and whose final assignment can be obtained by any game theory solution method (Kernel, Nucleolus, Shapley Value, etc.). The Kernel method was chosen because it has both equilibrium and transparency characteristics in the computation of final assignments. The model accepts both the technical (load nature, generation levels, etc.) and economic (power station marginal costs, etc.) variables that characterize the network to be analyzed. Cost assignment will depend both on the capacity economic use and the non-coincident maximum use of the expansion lines, made by individual and group agents.

O custo conjunto e um ramo da contabilidade de custos, aplicado a producao conjunta, em que a partir de uma determinada materia prima sao elaborados diversos produtos que podem ser classificados como coprodutos, subprodutos ou sucatas. Assim, o objetivo deste estudo e identificar a influencia dos diferentes metodos de alocacao dos custos conjuntos no resultado de uma empresa extratora de minerio, localizada na cidade de Rio Branco do Sul/PR. A entidade produz a partir do calcario dolomitico branco dez coprodutos com caracteristicas homogeneas que ocasiona uma pequena diferenca de preco entre eles, e um unico subproduto. A analise consiste em aplicar os quatro metodos principais para a alocacao dos custos conjuntos a partir das informacoes coletadas junto a empresa. A pesquisa e de natureza aplicada, qualitativa quanto a forma de abordagem do problema, descritiva quanto ao seu objetivo, de corte transversal com relacao ao horizonte de analise, de construcao de caso quanto a estrategi...

Application of a technique for mathematical simulation of the interaction of heavy highway vehicles with a defined road surface profile is described. The simulation technique is used to develop a practical methodology for summarizing the dynamic vehicular loading experience of a highway pavement under mixed traffic. The design of a traffic survey instrumentation system which automatically records all vehicular characteristics needed for the simulation and summarization processes is presented. The traffic data recording system and the summary processes were utilized in a field experiment conducted near Georgetown, Texas, over a 20-month period. The summary technique was used to estimate the magnitude and location of dynamic tire forces that were exerted on designated test sections of a pavement by vehicles crossing small bumps (3/4 inch high) on the surface of an otherwise smooth roadway. Dynaflect measurements and optical level surveys were used to monitor the condition of the pavement in the test sections. The dynamic wheel loading resulted in slightly larger pavement deflections after some 25,000 truck passes than comparable wheel loads on an adjacent smooth surface.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initiated an economic analysis of the National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) in 2005 to estimate the true economic costs of operating a cancer registry, identify costs associated with registry activities, and evaluate the factors that may affect the efficiency of registry operations. We developed a Web-based NPCR cost assessment tool (NPCR-CAT) to collect activity-based cost data from all 48 NPCR registries. We collected data on registry funding, actual expenditures, and factors that may affect the efficiency of operating a central cancer registry. Key lessons learned during data collection and analysis include the importance of working closely with registry staff and balancing the need for standardized data elements with an understanding of individual registry characteristics. Our findings and lessons can be adapted to develop costing tools for other surveillance systems and cancer control programs, both domestically and internationally.

A reliability-based method for allocating the cost of transmission networks is presented. The cost of a transmission line is divided into two components. The first component corresponds to a part of the line capacity, which is used under normal conditions. The second component corresponds to a portion of the line capacity, which is only used under contingency conditions. The latter is the part that market agents use to calculate the reliability benefit charges of the line. In the proposed method, a probabilistic index is defined based on single-contingency analysis, which measures the reliability margin of each line for each transaction. Furthermore, the cost components associated with capacity use and reliability benefit charges are determined based on the actual reliability margin of lines. This method can be used to provide an equitable means for allocating the cost of transmission network among users of a bilateral market model. The proposed method is illustrated in a small power system as well as the 24-bus IEEE-RTS, and its conceptual and computational feasibility are demonstrated.

The California Independent System Operator Corporation ("CAISO") respectfully submits this monthly progress report ("Report") here attached in compliance with Paragraph 1415 of the Commission's September 21, 2006 "Order Conditionally Accepting The California Independent System Operator's Electric Tariff Filing To Reflect Market Redesign and Technology Upgrade," 116 FERC ¶ 61,274 (2006) ("September 21 Order"), issued in the above-referenced docket. The September 21 Order requires the CAISO to file monthly reports concerning the progress in designing and implementing the CAISO's Market Redesign and Technology Upgrade ("MRTU") and, as required by P 1415 of the September 21 Order, on the status of the CAISO's MRTU readiness program. The CAISO will continue to file this monthly report on the first Monday of the month through the implementation of MRTU, which date is currently being reevaluated.

ing Abstracting is the process of collecting and compiling information about each reportable patient in preparation for sending the report to the state registry. Abstracts are often comprehensive reports that include all the cancer-related information required by the receiving registry. The abstract may include data related to demographics, tumor information, staging, diagnostic studies, and treatment. Once the abstract is completed, it is saved in preparation for reporting.ing is the process of collecting and compiling information about each reportable patient in preparation for sending the report to the state registry. Abstracts are often comprehensive reports that include all the cancer-related information required by the receiving registry. The abstract may include data related to demographics, tumor information, staging, diagnostic studies, and treatment. Once the abstract is completed, it is saved in preparation for reporting. Reporting facilities, in general, save completed a...

The practice expense component of the Medicare fee schedule (MFS), which is currently based on historical charges and rewards physician procedures at the expense of cognitive services, is due to be changed by January 1, 1998. The Physician Payment Review Commission (PPRC) and others have proposed microcosting direct costs and allocating all indirect costs on a common basis, such as physician time or work plus direct costs. Without altering the treatment of direct costs, the service-class approach disaggregates indirect costs into six practice function costs. The practice function costs are then allocated to classes of services using cost-accounting and statistical methods. This approach would make the practice expense component more resource-based than other proposed alternatives.

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) in the technical report N°5 - May 2023, the number of light and heavy vehicles through toll booths grew by 2.4%, resulting in traffic congestion and pavement damage due to the lack of adequate vehicle counting control. This work developed a vehicle classification system to assess damage to the flexible pavement of the Universidad del Centro del Perú (UNCP) roads. For the vehicle classification system programming, the registration area was identified using Google Earth Pro. Subsequently, the vehicle categories to be classified were established: car, pickup truck, bus, and trailer. These vehicles were trained using a neural network over 50 iterations, with Python utilized to develop the vehicle counting and classification algorithm. While to assess the pavement damage, the data obtained from the field of manual counting and simulation was required to obtain the equivalent factor that is a function of the type of axle and weight of each vehicle. Finally, there was a 19% deficiency in the vehicle classification of cars and the damage to the flexible pavement was determined by considering the manual count and the programmed system count, for which in both cases it was found that the vehicle that damages the flexible pavement is the cars, with 23.22% of damage in the one-way lane in the manual count and 49.49% in the system count.