Estimating the revenue losses of international corporate tax avoidance: the case of the Czech Republic

International corporate tax avoidance by multinational enterprises likely lowers the Czech Republic’s corporate income tax revenue, but it is not clear by how much. To clarify this I first review existing estimates of the revenue losses of international corporate tax avoidance to government revenue worldwide. I then discuss revenue estimates relevant for the Czech Republic and develop a few new, albeit only illustrative, ones. None of the existing research focused on the Czech Republic nor did the six recent international studies I examine provide reliable estimates for the Czech Republic. The extrapolations from these studies result in a revenue loss of a quite wide range with a median of 10% of current corporate income tax revenues. The other newly prepared estimates, based on firm-level and aggregate data, are of similar magnitude. I conclude with a discussion of these rough estimates as well as questions for further research and policy recommendations.     

Growth Miracle or Endangered Development? Vested Interests,Policy-Making,and Economic Development in the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is often considered among the most successful developing countries, based primarily on its high and relatively sustained growth rates over the last two decades. On the other hand, indicators of human and social development, healthcare, and education have been particularly poor. I argue that the polarization of economic power plays an important role for this development. Furthermore, I analyze the structure of the Dominican economy in order to show that the country has relied on tourism, services, and special economic zones to obtain relatively high growth rates. These activities do not require high-skilled labor and will not allow the economy to generate high incomes for the population, but benefit a few families who control most conglomerates. In turn, this explains low investment in education and social spending, as well as low taxation rates.     

Are IFRS and U.S. GAAP converging? : Some evidence from People's Republic of China companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange

This research investigates the comparability and convergence of two sets of accounting standards from 1996 to 2002: United States’ Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The investigation involves a sample of companies from the People's Republic of China (PRC) that are listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). PRC companies traded on the NYSE generally prepare IFRS financial statements and provide a limited reconciliation to U.S. GAAP, creating a unique quasi-experimental opportunity to examine differences between two sets of accounting numbers produced by two different sets of accounting standards while holding the company constant. Comparability is measured by using Gray's index of comparability, and a set of measures are introduced to capture several dimensions of convergence over time in reported net income, net assets, return on net assets, and earnings per share. The evidence shows lack of comparability, caused largely by the revaluations of property, plant and equipment permitted under IFRS, but not permitted under U.S. GAAP. There is, however, substantial evidence of convergence over time.     

Moral Choice and the Declining Influence of Traditional Value Orientations Within the Financial Sector of a Rapidly Developing Region of the People’s Republic of China

This paper describes the results of a field experiment involving 400 employees from ten financial institutions operating within the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone of the Peoples Republic of China. It was found that, when faced with an agency-based problem, employees indicated they would be less inclined to advise management of the existence of unethical work practices. Younger employees without supervisory experience displayed significant risk aversion. Traditional Chinese values associated with Confucian work dynamism, were shown to be poor predictors of moral choice response. A parsimonious regression model was developed that provides evidence that the universal trait Masculinity/Femininity (Human-heartedness) acted to offset the negative influence of the agency problem. On the other hand, an operatives level of education attainment exerted a negative influence on moral response scores.     

How (not) to talk about the uncertain: siting geological disposal for highly radioactive waste in the Czech Republic

There is an ongoing controversy in the Czech Republic over where to site a deep geological repository for the country’s radioactive waste. Recently, the negotiations between municipalities and state authorities responsible for radioactive waste management experienced a sharp turn: after several years of dialogue guaranteed by the promise of the state authorities not to start site investigations at preselected sites without the consent of affected municipalities, the state authorities suddenly decided not to keep this promise, and to start site investigations without the municipalities’ consent, saying that time for dialogue will come after the site investigations will have been completed. This article explores the period of the failed dialogue with respect to how risks and uncertainties were treated in the negotiations. Drawing on two strands of scholarship on risk and uncertainty, the risk governance school and the STS perspectives on sociotechnical controversies, two paradigms for dealing with risk and uncertainty are outlined. These are used as a framework to analyse how implementers and local stakeholders articulated possible risk or uncertainty issues in negotiations about the Czech geological disposal between 2009 and 2013. The analysis shows that whereas the implementers adopt (sometimes even an extreme version of) the risk-based paradigm, the positions of the local stakeholders seem to be mixed. These observations lead to two conclusions: first, at the theoretical level, perhaps some of the STS literature was too quick to assume that people ‘want’ uncertainty. Second, at the practical level, it is suggested that in the light of the failed dialogue, it might be worth for the implementers to take a lesson from the uncertainty-based paradigm, and consider the possibility that perhaps still more work needs to be done in order to turn uncertainty into risk.     

Dynamic transformations for base-of-the-pyramid market clusters

Extending scholarship on industry clusters, this article reconsiders the relationship between development and marketing opportunities in base-of-the-pyramid market (BOPM) nations. Recent literature on industry clusters suggests a set of theoretical themes regarding cluster efficiencies, governance, adaptability, and performance. These themes are scrutinized using an extended case employing longitudinal, ethnographic data collected from an indigenous leather-working cluster in West Africa. The authors’ findings provide guidance in identifying local clusters with global market potential in BOPMs. They lead us to a dynamic market-driven transformational model of BOPM clusters. Consequently, the authors recommend several keys for leveraging investments in boundary-spanning firms in BOPM clusters. Finally, the article demonstrates the value of microlevel, longitudinal analyses in assessing cluster performance in BOPMs. Eric J. Arnould (eamould2@ unl.edu; Ph.D. 1982, University of Arizona) is E. J. Faulkner College Professor of Agribusiness and Marketing and interim director of the CB A Agribusiness Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He spent more than 10 years trying to do less harm than good working on economic development problems in more than a dozen West African nations for a variety of stakeholders. Since 1990, he has been full-time academic teaching about consumer behavior, marketing and globalization, and research employing qualitative data. His research appears in major U.S. marketing journals and many other social science periodicals and books. He was a two-term associate editor of theJournal of Consumer Research and is a coauthor of Consumers (2nd ed., 2004), a textbook. Jakki J. Mohr (Jakki.Mohr@business.umt.edu; Ph.D. 1989, University of Wisconsin-Madison), the Jeff and Martha Hamilton Faculty Fellow is a professor of marketing in the School of Business Administration at the University of Montana. Herinterests are primarily in the area of marketing of high-technology products and services, with a focus on distribution channels and governance. Her early research focuses on organizational communication and learning between partners in strategic alliances/ partnerships and between distribution channel members. Her research has received several awards and has been published in theJournal of Marketing, the Strategic Management Journal, theJournal of Public Policy and Marketing, and other specialized journals at the intersection of technology and business marketing. In addition, she is the lead author of the book,Marketing of High-Technology Products and Innovations (2005). Before beginning her academic career, she worked in Silicon Valley in the advertising area for both Hewlett Packard’s Personal Computer Group and Tele Video Systems.     

承担社会责任实现互利共赢——对新公司法第五条的探析

我国2005年修订的公司法是世界上第一部对公司制的现代企业要承担的社会责任进行强制性规定的基本商事法律。通过探讨公司制的现代企业为何承担、承担什么、对谁承担及如何承担社会责任四个带有根本性的问题,可为以公司法为代表的相关法律部门落实现代企业的社会责任提供了法律依据。     

韩国的土地利用规划体系和农村综合开发规划

韩国的土地国情和农业经营特点与我国十分相似。文章分析了韩国土地利用规划体系的构成及其主要特点,以及在农村综合开发和农村城市化过程中的作用。最后简要论述了乡村土地利用规划在中国国土规划中的重要性和迫切性,希望能为我国的农村综合开发和城镇化发展提供一些借鉴。     

Profile of the 103rd Canton Fair

Approved by the Ministry of Commerce of the People＇s Republic of China, the 103rd Canton Fair will be held simultaneously in Pazhou Complex and Liuhua Complex during 15-20 and 25-30 April 2008 in Guangzhou, China. We estimate that nearly 200,000 buyers from over 200 countries and regions will gather in Guangzhou to exchange information and procure products. Over 150 of worlds top 250 retailers are expected to attend the Canton Fair to make procurement.     

Belarus,A Rising Economy

The Republic of Belarus is situated in the heart of Europe,in the East the Republic borders the Russian Federation,in the South the Ukraine,in the West Poland,and in the North Lithuania and Latvia.Belarus is the gateway between Asia and Europe,