Accounting - Costello

Financially troubled U.S. hospitals are petitioning for more support from the federal government, but handouts won’t fix the underlying problem.

Research by Mason Accounting Professor Bret Johnson, a former SEC staff accountant and academic fellow, shows how seemingly mundane intra-agency policies can have unintended effects that benefit Wall Street over Main Street.

As Jenelle Conaway, assistant professor of accounting at George Mason University School of Business, says, “Being able to compare companies more easily makes for more efficient investment choices. And that scales from the individual level up to banks choosing who they lend to, and companies choosing who they want to merge with and acquire.” Her recent research finds that comparability trends have grown complicated.