GST Compliance in the New Zealand Property Sector

Different schemes used in property transactions raised concern in New Zealand that insufficient goods and services tax (GST) was being paid on the sale of property. To improve tax compliance in the property sector, various measures have been undertaken. Tax auditing of property transactions has been strengthened since 2007 and in 2009 the government issued a discussion document that proposed a legislative solution to some specific GST problems. Moreover, several court cases have ruled against abusive GST schemes. This paper estimates the impact on GST collection and compliance in the property sector following these actions. The findings suggest that GST compliance in the property sector has increased.     

From joint to single audits – audit quality differences and auditor pairings

This study analyses audit quality differences between audits by a single big audit firm and joint audits with either one or two big audit firms. We exploit the unique situation in Denmark beginning on 1 January 2005, at which time a long-standing mandatory joint audit system for listed companies was replaced by a voluntary joint audit system. First, we report the results of a survey of Danish CFOs’ views on and their experiences with the choice of single or joint audits and their perceptions of audit quality. Second, based on data from the mandatory joint audit abolition year and the following two years, we test the audit quality differences using abnormal accruals. Most CFOs perceive that audit quality by a single big four audit firm is the same as it is in joint audits with either one or two big four audit firms. The results of our empirical analysis are in line with the perceptions. We find no evidence of audit quality differences between audits made by a single big four firm and those conducted by either of the two combinations of joint audits.     

Equity market integration in the Asia Pacific region: Evidence from discount factors

The paper investigates stock market integration among 10 economies in the Asia Pacific region over the period April to May 2006 based on a recently developed technique that relies on estimating expected discount rates; see [Flood and Rose, 2005a] and [Flood and Rose, 2005b]. The results show a limited but varying degree of stock market integration among the 10 economies. Membership in a formal economic organization does not seem to affect the degree of integration.     

Aufschwung verliert an Fahrt – Weltwirtschaftliches Klima wird rauer

The economic upturn in Germany is entering its sixth year but is losing momentum due to both demand and supply side factors. On the one hand, Germany’s key sales markets have weakened in line with the slowdown in world trade. On the other hand, a growing number of firms face production side bottlenecks, especially in terms of labour and sourcing intermediate goods. This coincides with problems in the automotive industry related to the introduction of the new World Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP), which has affected gross domestic product (GDP) growth due to the branch’s economic weight. These adjustment problems, however, should be overcome over the course of the winter. Fiscal stimuli will also take effect as of the beginning of 2019. After 1.7 % growth this year, GDP will increase at rates of 1.9 % in 2019 and 1.8 % in 2020.     

Dual labour markets and nominal rigidity

The conventional menu cost framework performs poorly with realisticlabour supply elasticities: the menu costs required for pricerigidity are very high and the welfare consequences of monetarydisturbances are negligible. We show that the presence of duallabour markets greatly improves the performance of the frameworkboth by reducing the minimum effective menu costs and by boostingthe welfare consequences. In addition, the introduction of duallabour markets provides an explanation of procyclical productivityand the shrinking of wage differentials during booms, in linewith stylized facts on business cycles.     

Do exporters really pay higher wages? First evidence from German linked employer-employee data

Many plant-level studies find that average wages in exporting firms are higher than in non-exporting firms from the same industry and region. This paper uses a large set of linked employer-employee data from Germany to analyze this exporter wage premium. We show that the wage differential becomes smaller but does not completely vanish when observable and unobservable characteristics of the employees and of the workplace are controlled for. For example, blue-collar (white-collar) employees working in a plant with an export-sales ratio of 60% earn about 1.8 (0.9) % more than similar employees in otherwise identical non-exporting plants.     

Great deeds or great risks? Scientists’ social representations of nanotechnology

Nanotechnologies are becoming a larger presence in everyday life and are viewed by governments and economic actors as a key area for development. The theory of social representations suggests that specialist views eventually disseminate to shape representations among the public. Yet nanotechnologies remain relatively little known to the general public. The media emphasize potential benefits, while potential risks get less attention. The literature has not yet addressed whether representations by a well-informed population (scientists) are indeed structured in terms of the risk–benefit polarity that dominates research framing to date. We attempted a systematic assessment of how background knowledge about nanotechnology may influence experts’ perception. Study 1 delivered the first demonstration derived from a qualitative analysis confirming the existence of a polarized representation of nanotechnologies, contrasting opportunity (medical, economic, and technological) and risk. Interestingly, risk was distinguished at two levels: that associated with nanomaterial characteristics (toxicity, reactivity) and at the larger scale of impact (health, environment, legislation). Does this polarity indicate a ‘yes, but’ logic (nanotechnology carries opportunity but also risk), or two clusters of specialists (sensitive, respectively, to opportunity or to risk)? Study 2 surveyed a larger sample of experts who self-described their scientific background and role viz. nanotechnology. Role had no influence. Specialists consensually viewed that nanotechnology represents opportunity, but depending on scientific background they did not agree to the same extent that nanotechnology also constitutes a risk. Participants with a physics and chemistry background tended to represent nanotechnologies predominantly in terms of opportunities and not in terms of inherent risks or impacts. In contrast, toxicologists, life and social scientists appeared to explicitly incorporate both benefits and risks in their representation of this new technology. Environmental scientists were a more diverse group, divided between the two patterns of representation.     

„Full Range Leadership“-Modell: Kritische Würdigung und Anregungen zur Weiterentwicklung

Zusammenfassung  Transformationale Führung als inspirierendes und emotional aktivierendes Führungsverhalten erf?hrt aufgrund ihrer Wandlungsfunktion in gesellschaftlichen Umbruchsphasen eine sehr hohe Wertsch?tzung, auch wenn ihr Gegenüber, die transaktionale Führung, in der Praxis derzeit wohl noch eine st?rkere Verbreitung besitzt. Ein Abgleich transformationaler und zugleich transaktionaler Führung in ihrer fortentwickelten Form als Full Range Leadership Modell mit den Charakteristika des Ph?nomens Führung offenbart zentrale Schwachstellen. An diesen Punkten setzen überlegungen zu einer Aufwertung transaktionaler Führung mittels einer Integration effektiven aufgaben-, beziehungs- und wandlungsorientierten Verhaltens in das Full Range Leadership Modell an. Zudem bietet ein „führungspraktischer“ Ausblick einen Denk- und Handlungsansatz, der von einem wechselseitigen Einflussverh?ltnis ausgeht und Situationsfaktoren modellimmanent berücksichtigt.