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Uncertainty, Real Options, and Cost Behavior: Evidence from Washington State Hospitals
Author(s) -
KALLAPUR SANJAY,
ELDENBURG LESLIE
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of accounting research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.767
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1475-679X
pISSN - 0021-8456
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-679x.2005.00188.x
Subject(s) - reimbursement , revenue , variable (mathematics) , variable cost , confidence interval , investment (military) , actuarial science , sample (material) , economics , business , finance , medicine , accounting , health care , mathematics , economic growth , mathematical analysis , chemistry , chromatography , politics , political science , law
This study tests an implication of the real‐options theory of investment, that uncertainty leads firms to prefer technologies with low fixed and high variable costs. In 1983, a change in Medicare reimbursement increased the uncertainty of revenues for hospitals. Using a sample of 831 departments in 59 Washington State hospitals over the 1977–1994 period, we find that the ratio of variable to total costs increased after 1983. This increase is not attributable to a gradual increase in the ratio over time: We estimate a significant increase after 1983 even after controlling for a time trend. Further, we find a greater increase in the variable‐to‐total cost ratio for hospitals that had higher percentages of Medicare patients, increasing our confidence in the conclusion that the change in cost behavior is attributable to Medicare's change in reimbursement.