Tourism companies' risk exposures on text disclosure.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Li J
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7324118 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Tourism companies' risk exposures on text disclosure.
Li Jianping J Feng Yuyao Y Li Guowen G Sun Xiaolei X
Annals of tourism research 20200629
Tourism is a risk-prone industry. But most studies focus on tourist risk perception while ignoring company risk exposure. As service providers, the companies play an important role in tourism activities, and systematically identifying the risks they face is vital to the development of the tourism industry. This paper attempts to identify tourism companies' risk exposures based on textual risk disclosure of financial statements. Using 51,008 risk headings of 255 public companies, we adopt Sentenc ...[more]
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Project description:BackgroundDespite having access to medically necessary care available through publicly funded provincial health care systems, some Canadians travel for treatment provided at international medical facilities as well as for-profit clinics found in several Canadian provinces. Canadians travel abroad for orthopaedic surgery, bariatric surgery, ophthalmologic surgery, stem cell injections, "Liberation therapy" for multiple sclerosis, and additional interventions. Both responding to public interest in medical travel and playing an important part in promoting the notion of a global marketplace for health services, many Canadian companies market medical travel.MethodsResearch began with the goal of locating all medical tourism companies based in Canada. Various strategies were used to find such businesses. During the search process it became apparent that many Canadian business promoting medical travel are not medical tourism companies. To the contrary, numerous types of businesses promote medical travel. Once businesses promoting medical travel were identified, content analysis was used to extract information from company websites. Company websites were analyzed to establish: 1) where in Canada these businesses are located; 2) the destination countries and health care facilities that they market; 3) the medical procedures they promote; 4) core marketing messages; and 5) whether businesses market air travel, hotel accommodations, and holiday tours in addition to medical procedures.ResultsSearches conducted from 2006 to 2011 resulted in identification of thirty-five Canadian businesses currently marketing various kinds of medical travel. The research project began with what seemed to be the straightforward goal of establishing how many medical tourism companies are based in Canada. Refinement of categories resulted in the identification of eighteen businesses fitting the category of what most researchers would identify as medical tourism companies. Seven other businesses market regional, cross-border health services available in the United States and intranational travel to clinics in Canada. In contrast to medical tourism companies, they do not market holiday tours in addition to medical care. Two companies occupy a narrow market niche and promote testing for CCSVI and "Liberation therapy" for multiple sclerosis. Three additional companies offer bariatric surgery and cosmetic surgery at facilities in Mexico. Four businesses offer health insurance products intended to cover the cost of obtaining privately financed health care in the U.S. These businesses also help their clients arrange treatment beyond Canada's borders. Finally, one medical travel company based in Canada markets health services primarily to U.S. citizens.ConclusionsThis article uses content analysis of websites of Canadian companies marketing medical travel to provide insight into Canada's medical travel industry. The article reveals a complex marketplace with different types of companies taking distinct approaches to marketing medical travel.
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Project description:During the pandemic era, COVID-related disclosure has become quite critical for shareholders and other market participants to understand the uncertainties and challenges associated with a firm's operation. However, there is no well-grounded and systematic measure to gauge the intensity of COVID-related disclosure and its plausible impact. Therefore, this study develops and validates various COVID-related disclosure measures. More specifically, using a sample of publicly listed U.S. firms and applying natural language processing (NLP) on 10-K reports, we have developed two types of COVID dictionaries (or COVID-related disclosure measurement tools): (a) overall COVID dictionary (count of all COVID-related words/phrases) and (b) contextual COVID-dictionary (count of COVID related words/phrases preceded or followed by positive, negative tones, or financial constraints words). Subsequently, we have validated both types of COVID dictionaries by investigating their association with corporate liquidity events (e.g., dividend payment, dividend change). We confirm that the overall COVID dictionary effectively predicts a firm's liquidity event. We find similar results for contextual COVID dictionaries with a negative spin (i.e., COVID disclosures with a negative tone or an indication of financial constraints). Our results further show that better-governed firms (e.g., greater board independence, and more female directors) tend to have more COVID-related disclosures, despite the fact that more COVID-related disclosures suppress a firm's market-based stock performance (e.g. Tobin's Q). Our results suggest that better-governed firms prefer greater transparency, even if it may hurt their market performance in the short run.
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Project description:Given the increasing role of patient groups in pharmaceutical policy-making in Canada, this observational study was undertaken to determine whether companies that are members of Innovative Medicines Canada (IMC) list, on their publicly available websites, the names of patient groups that they make donations to and reciprocally, whether patient groups publicly list the names of the companies that they receive donations from. Websites of IMC members were searched for the names of the patient groups receiving donations, value of the donations and year the donations were made. The website of each patient group that was listed as receiving a donation was then searched for information about the name of companies making donations along with the value of the donations, year the donations were made and percent of the patient groups' income represented by the donation. For donations over $50 000, an attempt was made to match donations that companies made to donations that patient groups received. Eleven of 44 IMC members reported making 165 donations to 114 different patient groups. Seventy-nine of these 114 groups reported receiving 373 donations from IMC members. Information about the value of donations, the year that they were given and received and the percent of patient groups' income that they represented was limited. Donations made and received could not be matched because of the absence of information about the donations. Reporting on websites about donations by both companies and patient groups in Canada is haphazard, inconsistent and incomplete. Reforms are need to both the way that companies and patient groups report donations.
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Project description:ObjectivesThis study investigates the information and policies that Canadian patient groups post on their publicly available websites about their relationships with pharmaceutical companies.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingCanadian national patient groups.ParticipantsNinety-seven patient groups with publicly available websites.InterventionsEach patient group was contacted by email. Information from patient groups' websites was collected about: total annual revenue for the latest fiscal year, year revenue was reported, revenue from pharmaceutical company donors, purpose of the donation, presence of donors' logos on the website and hyperlinks to donors' websites, previous and current employment information about board members and staff, external audits about the group's finances and whether the group endorses products made by donors. Analysis of publicly available policies looking at: board and/or advisory board, acceptance of donations and revenue generation, independence of decision-making, endorsements, assistance to and/or interactions between patient members from a donor or another company/person acting on behalf of a donor and audits/monitoring/compliance.Primary and secondary outcome measuresNumber of patient groups posting information on their websites about their relationships with pharmaceutical companies; the presence and contents of patient group policies covering different topics about relationships with pharmaceutical companies.ResultsFifty-three (54.6%) of 97 groups reported donations from pharmaceutical companies. Forty-one (42.3%) groups showed the logos of pharmaceutical companies on their websites and 22 (53.7%) had hyperlinks to pharmaceutical company websites. Twenty-five (25.8%) of these groups endorsed pharmaceutical products produced by brand-name companies that had donated to the groups. Twenty-six (26.8%) groups had policies that dealt with relationships with pharmaceutical companies.ConclusionsPharmaceutical industry funding of the included patient groups was common. Despite this, relatively little information was provided on patient group websites about their relationships with pharmaceutical companies. Only 26 out of 97 groups had publicly available policies that directly dealt with their relationships with pharmaceutical companies.
| S-EPMC8915328 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundMany patients' and consumers' organizations accept drug industry funding to support their activities. As drug companies and patient groups move closer, disclosure become essential for transparency, and the internet could be a useful means of making sponsorship information accessible to the public. This survey aims to assess the transparency of a large group of Italian patient and consumer groups and a group of pharmaceutical companies, focusing on their websites.Methodology/principal findingsPatient and consumer groups were selected from those stated to be sponsored by a group of pharmaceutical companies on their websites. The websites were examined using two forms with principal (name of drug companies providing funds, amount of funding) and secondary indicators of transparency (section where sponsors are disclosed, update of sponsorship). Principal indicators were applied independently by two reviewers to the patient and consumer groups' websites. Discordances were solved by discussion. One hundred fifty-seven Italian patient and consumer groups and 17 drug companies were considered. Thirteen drug companies (76%) named at least one group funded, on their Italian websites. Of these, four (31%) indicated the activities sponsored and two (15%) the amount of funding. Of the 157 patient and consumer groups, 46 (29%) named at least one pharmaceutical company as providing funds. Three (6%) reported the amount of funding, 25 (54%) the activities funded, none the proportion of income derived from drug companies. Among the groups naming pharmaceutical company sponsors, 15 (33%) declared them in a dedicated section, five (11%) on the home page, the others in the financial report or other sections.Conclusions/significanceDisclosure of funds is scarce on Italian patient and consumer groups' websites. The levels of transparency need to be improved. Disclosure of patient and consumer groups provided with funds is frequent on Italian pharmaceutical companies' websites, but information are often not complete.
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Project description:BackgroundMedical tourism companies play an important role in promoting transnational medical travel for elective, out-of-pocket medical procedures. Though researchers are paying increasing attention to the global phenomenon of medical tourism, to date websites of medical tourism companies have received limited scrutiny. This article analyzes websites of Canadian medical tourism companies that advertised international healthcare but ultimately exited the marketplace. Using content analysis of company websites as an investigative tool, the article provides a detailed account of medical tourism companies that were based in Canada but no longer send clients to international health care facilities.MethodsInternet searches, Google Alerts, searches on Google News Canada and ProQuest Newsstand, and searches of an Industry Canada database were used to locate medical tourism companies located in Canada. Once medical tourism companies were identified, the social science research method of content analysis was used to extract relevant information from company websites. Company websites were analyzed to determine: 1) where these businesses were based; 2) the destination countries and medical facilities that they promoted; 3) the health services they advertised; 4) core marketing messages; and 5) whether businesses marketed air travel, hotel accommodations, and holiday excursions in addition to medical procedures.ResultsIn total, 25 medical tourism companies that were based in Canada are now defunct. Given that an estimated 18 medical tourism companies and 7 regional, cross-border medical travel facilitators now operate in Canada, it appears that approximately half of all identifiable medical tourism companies in Canada are no longer in business. 13 of the previously operational companies were based in Ontario, 7 were located in British Columbia, 4 were situated in Quebec, and 1 was based in Alberta. 14 companies marketed medical procedures within a single country, 9 businesses marketed health care at 2 or more destination nations, and 2 companies did not specify particular health care destinations. 22 companies operated as "generalist" businesses marketing many different types of medical procedures. 3 medical tourism companies marketed "specialist" services restricted to dental procedures or organ transplants. In general, medical tourism companies marketed health services on the basis of access to affordable, timely, and high-quality care. 16 businesses offered to make travel arrangements, 20 companies offered to book hotel reservations, and 17 medical tourism companies advertised holiday excursions.ConclusionsThis article provides a detailed empirical analysis of websites of medical tourism companies that were based in Canada but exited the marketplace and are now inoperative. The article identifies where these companies were located in Canada, what countries and health care facilities they selected as destination sites, the health services they advertised, how they marketed themselves in a competitive environment, and what travel-related services they promoted in addition to marketing health care. The paper reveals a fluid marketplace, with many medical tourism companies exiting this industry. In addition, by disclosing identities of companies, providing their websites, archiving these websites or print copies of websites for future studies, and analyzing content of medical tourism company websites, the article can serve as a useful resource for future studies. Citizens, health policy-makers, clinicians, and researchers can all benefit from increased insight into Canada's medical tourism industry.
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Project description:ObjectivesTo investigate German physicians' attitudes towards and experiences with voluntary disclosure of payments by pharmaceutical companies in a public database and their impact on future decisions for or against disclosure.DesignA national cross-sectional survey conducted in 2018 among physicians who voluntarily disclosed at least one payment in the German transparency regulation.SettingRetrospective paper-pencil questionnaire about attitudes towards and experiences with voluntary payment disclosures in the first (2015) and second (2016) years of the German transparency regulation.ParticipantsGerman physicians who disclosed either in the first year only, the second year only, or in both years of the transparency regulation.Primary outcomes(1) The probability to disclose in 2016, predicted by physicians' experience of reactions from others in 2015, descriptive norms and attitudes towards transparency; (2) Frequency and (3) Content of reactions from others in 2015 compared with 2016.ResultsData of 234 respondents were analysed (n=42, 45 and 147 physicians who disclosed in 2015, 2016 or both years, respectively). The probability to disclose in 2016 was not predicted by perceived reactions, norms or attitudes towards transparency (p>0.01). Most participants reported not to have received any reactions by patients (190/234, 81%), colleagues (128/234, 55%) or the private environment (153/234, 65%). Neither frequency nor content of reactions differed between the first and second years (scale 1-5; frequency: Mdn 2015,2016 = 1.33 vs 1.00, r b=-0.17, p>0.01; content: Mdn 2015,2016 = 3.00 vs 3.00, r b=0.19, p>0.01). However, media reporting, fear of reputational damage and a feeling of being defamed were mentioned as reasons for non-disclosure.ConclusionsWhile confirmatory analyses did not provide significant results, descriptive analyses showed that participants who voluntarily disclose payments mainly do not experience any reactions towards their disclosures but report fears about losing their reputation due to disclosures.
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Project description:OBJECTIVES:To analyse the section of Disclosure UK that pertains to healthcare professionals (HCPs) in order to provide insight into the database's structure and content and suggest ways to improve its transparency. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS:Cohort study of drug companies and HCPs in the 2015 and 2016 versions of Disclosure UK. RESULTS:Companies report transfers of value (ToVs) to named HCPs or, where an HCP declines to consent, in aggregate. Only a limited number of variables describe the recipient HCP and the ToV, precluding refined analyses. In 2015, 107 companies reported 54 910 ToVs worth ?50 967 728. In 2016, 109 companies reported ToVs but spending decreased by 7.3%. The spending was concentrated: the top 10 spenders reported about 50% of the total value, with consultancy-related payments comprising over 70%, and the rest being costs for events. In 2015, 55.5% (30 478) of ToVs worth ?24 428 619 (47.9%) were disclosed at the individual HCP level, increasing to 64.5% (32 407) and ?28 145 091 (59.2%) in 2016. Despite increased individual-level disclosure in 2016, the median number of ToVs reported by each company at the individual level was only 57.7%, with 25% of companies reporting less than 38.6%. We found little agreement (62%-48% in 2015 and 46%-30% in 2016) between HCP consent rates that we calculated based on information in the database and those provided by companies. CONCLUSIONS:Key deficiencies in Disclosure UK include: insufficient information on payments and recipients, a relatively low HCP consent rate for individual-level disclosure, differences in consent rates across companies and payment types, and reporting ambiguities or inconsistencies. We employ these findings to develop recommendations for improving transparency, including an easily interpretable consent rate statistic that allows for comparison across years, firms and countries. If deficiencies remain unresolved, the UK should consider introducing legislation requiring mandatory disclosure to allow for adequate tracking of industry payments.
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