Tourism and employment in the Gambia

In addition to providing formal wage labor in hotels, airports, and the service infrastructure, tourism is said to provide possibilities for independent indigenous enterprise in handicrafts, entertainment, transport, through which the Gambians may, in effect, economically “lift themselves up by their bootstraps.” Such is the theory. This paper analyzes the actual employment possibilities in The Gambia provided by its recent tourism investment. From the findings of an economic survey the author concludes that hopes of economic development being catalyzed by tourism are unfounded and misleading. This conclusion is supported by a structural analysis and a characterization of the tourist industry in The Gambia by an investigation into the economic forces at work in the country, and by direct observations made by informants and the author concerning the impact tourism has made in spheres non-economic: the moral, the social, and the family.     

Analyzing leases with the after-tax cost of debt

A generalized expression of the net advantage of leasing (NAL) is used to assess the implications of discounting incremental cash flows at the firm's before-tax cost of debt and the firm's after-tax cost of debt, respectively. If no personal tax biases are assumed, then the before-tax cost of debt should be used to compute NAL. If the before-tax cost of debt is the correct discount rate, then any change in the firm's borrowing level brought about by the decision to lease rather than purchase will alter the computed NAL by the amount of the present value of the tax savings on interest payments. Thus using the before-tax cost of debt is consistent with basic MM valuation theory. Using the after-tax cost of debt, in contrast, implies that any associated change in the firm's borrowing level is irrelevant for purposes of computing NAL. Sufficient conditions are specified for the after-tax cost of the debt to be the correct discount rate for lease versus purchase analysis. Finally, lease analysis in a MM world is compared to lease analysis in a Miller tax world. For the special case of a 100% leverage ratio, the specification of NAL is the same in both worlds. Use of the after-tax cost of debt is correct in a Miller world and is a good approximation in an MM world provided the cash flows are predominantly debt financed.     

提高产品质量是扩大内需的基础性工作

产品质量低劣使消费者缺乏对国货的认同力,妨碍企业特别是个体户的正常经营,加大消费者的购物成本,降低农民购买力,增强人们的不确定性和消费支出预期,抬升企业生产经营成本,抑制财政政策发挥效益,是制约我国扩大内需的重大因素。应通过充分利用科学技术,实行严格的质量检测标准和产品检验制度,强调职工的敬业精神,认真执行《消费者权益保护法》,提高人们的质量意识等措施,进一步提高产品质量。     

科研成果管理系统的设计与实现

本介绍了基于FoxPro平台，开发院校学术科研成果管理信息系统的结构、功能及解决方案。     

武汉工业竞争力分析及发展建议

本文运用优势对比、结构效益、技术构成、国际竞争力系数、就业吸纳系数等指标,分析了武汉工业总体竞争力状况,又运用总产值规模系数、产业扩张程度的指标以及产业关联分析方法对工业内各行业实力进行比较分析,得出了武汉的工业竞争实力的总体评价,并指出了提高武汉工业竞争力所要达到的目标,提出了具体建议。     

个人所得税改革遗留问题探讨

新个人所得税法主要在两个方面进行了重大改动:费用减除标准上,将工资、薪金所得的费用减除额从800元上调至1600元;纳税申报上,对高收入者鼓励其自行申报。这是我国个税改革的一个良好开端,但与理想的个税模式相比,我国个税制度还存在着税制不合理、税基过窄、税率相对复杂、税收征管制度不完善等遗留问题。本文对此进行了探讨,并提出了一些完善建议。     

台湾服务产业发展特点与前景

目前台湾经济正步入新一轮转型期,服务产业的发展成为台湾经济发展及解决就业的主要动力;但近年随着台湾主导产业的加速外移以及人均收入增幅趋缓,台湾服务产业发展也面临诸多瓶颈。本文拟对台湾服务产业发展的特点、问题及前景作些分析。     

聚焦库区:低收入群体医疗保障的缺失问题

三峡库区因其特殊的地缘位置和举世瞩目的三峡工程而备受关注。本文通过对重庆三峡库区低收入群体医疗保障问题进行调查,结果显示重庆库区低收入群体的医疗保障严重缺失,由此陷入了“因病致贫、因贫生病”的恶性循环。对此,笔者有针对性地提出了对策建议。