Material flow cost accounting (MFCA) for the circular economy: An empirical study of the triadic relationship between MFCA, environmental performance, and the economic performance of Japanese companies.

The purpose of this study is to address the question of whether material flow cost accounting (MFCA) can contribute to the circular economy. Because MFCA is an environmental management accounting tool that simultaneously assesses company material and financial flows, it is expected to contribute to the circular economy by assisting companies to achieve both environmental and economic goals through resource efficiency. In short, the expected linkages between MFCA, company environmental and economic goals, and the circular economy are inputs, outputs, and outcomes. However, there is a lack of consensus regarding its potential, perhaps because of the scarcity of studies, with most being models and case studies without readily generalizable results. To address this gap, we analyze the triadic relationship between MFCA, environmental performance, and economic performance using a two-stage regression of data from Japanese listed companies. The main findings are as follows. Companies that implement MFCA more proactively are more likely to improve their environmental performance in terms of energy consumption, CO2 emissions, and waste produced. In turn, those that improve their environmental performance are also more likely to improve their productivity, while those that specifically improve environmental performance in terms of waste produced are also more likely to increase in profitability. Consequently, because MFCA can improve several aspects of environmental performance by saving resources, it can improve productivity by improving a range of environmental performance indicators. In particular, MFCA can improve company productivity and thereby profit, at least by reducing the amount of waste produced. This supports the view that MFCA is an effective tool to contribute to the circular economy.

Labor resource use for endoscopic gastric cancer screening in Japanese primary care settings: a work sampling study.

OBJECTIVE: Endoscopic gastric cancer is screened in primary care settings, but how much resources are required to deliver this service remains unknown. This study determines how much time and human resources are used for endoscopic gastric cancer and for each component of the procedure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Upper endoscopic procedures were prospectively observed using a work sampling technique. This study analyzed data from patients who underwent upper endoscopic gastric cancer screening at primary care clinics that provide this service. The main outcome measurements were time intervals and total time intervals that considered the numbers of simultaneously engaged workers and were calculated as the product of time intervals and the number of workers, and the labor cost of individual components of each procedure. RESULTS: We observed 44 upper endoscopic procedures at four outpatient clinics. Pre-procedure (preparation and pre-medication), procedure (from intubation to extubation) and post-procedure (recovery and cleaning) accounted for 34.1%, 10.6% and 54.4% of the total time, respectively. Of the overall total time intervals (mean: 4453 person-seconds), 29.3%, 14.4% and 55.7% of the total time was devoted to pre-procedure, procedure and post-procedure, respectively. The post-procedure was the most time- and labor-consuming component from the viewpoints of both total time and labor cost. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the time taken to complete endoscopic gastric cancer screening is consumed by preparation, pre-medication and post-procedures in which nurses play key roles.