Tackling the undeclared economy in the European Union: an evaluation of the tax morale approach

To evaluate a new approach towards tackling the undeclared economy, which views participants as social actors rather than rational economic actors, this article reports evidence from 27,563 face‐to‐face interviews conducted across the European Union during 2013. Multilevel logistic regression analysis reveals a strong association between participation in undeclared work and the level of tax morale. Finding that higher tax morale (and thus a lower propensity to engage in undeclared work) is strongly correlated with greater levels of state intervention but also with individual‐level characteristics such as gender, age, education and employment status, the article concludes not only by confirming a political economy approach and refuting modernization and neo‐liberal explanations and remedies, but also by revealing for the first time the importance of solutions not so far considered, including improving educational attainment, older citizens mentoring for younger people and improving women's participation in the labour force.     

创业投资企业优惠政策的思考

本公司位于高新技术产业开发区,是一家具有一般纳税人资格的生产销售企业,由公司出资设立一家创业投资企业,公司100%控股;收购公司持有的GN公司30%和JX公司31.82%的股份,而GN公司为高新技术企业且未上市;有效的运用我国执行的创业投资企业税收优惠政策:创业投资公司投资于未上市中小高新技术企业2年以上(含2年),可按其对中小高新技术企业投资额的70%抵扣该创业投资企业的应纳税所得额;符合条件的居民企业之间的股息、红利等权益性投资收益为免税收入;可以增加公司的税后收益。取得降低公司整体税负的效果。     

British industrial relations and the European Community

The purpose of this paper is to review the influence that Britain's membership of the European Community has had on industrial relations in Britain. More specifically the so-called ‘Social Dimension’ of the 1992 internal market is assessed. The conclusion is that British industrial relations will continue to be influenced by developments in the European Community for the rest of the 1990s and beyond. However, it is more likely that there will be a weaving of a European dimension into national industrial relations systems rather than the imposition of a new EC-wide model.     

Northern Ireland's environmental industry: an examination of the eco‐capital equipment producing sector

In common with much of the rest of the European Union, Northern Ireland has a small but important and expanding environmental industry. The region's ‘green economy’ employs almost 13 000 people and is projected to grow by a further 4000–6000 jobs by the end of the millennium. This article focuses upon one small‐scale sub‐sector–the eco‐capital equipment producers–and analyses their recent industrial performance in the context of current regional development/industrial strategy theory. Drawing on empirical survey, comment is made on the sector's employment characteristics, production sequences, market structures and business operating experiences. Based on this discussion, a series of suggestions is offered that could help central and regional government improve the performance of the industry, and, in turn, the economy of the region, still further. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

The impact of EU accession on Turkish industrial relations and social dialogue

This article examines whether the European Union membership process is transforming the ‘deep structure’ of Turkish industrial relations. We make an attempt to illustrate this through the prism of Turkish experience in social dialogue regarded as an indispensable tool of the European social model. Turkish industrial relations is characterised by restrictive labour laws, employer hostility to unionisation, a large informal economy and labour market, and strong state intervention, which have historically constituted the main elements of ‘the deep structure’ of Turkish industrial relations. In procedural terms, the institutions for social dialogue have been established but the influence of the social partners is limited because of the dominance of the state and the weakness of labour. The existing attempts at developing social dialogue rest on shaky foundations emanating mostly from the state's and employers' disrespect of basic labour rights.     

Auditor Independence,Current and Future NAS Fees and Audit Quality: Were European Regulators Right?

Abstract

European Union adopted the Regulation (EU) No 537/2014, which in practice prohibits the joint provision of audit and most types of non-audit services (NAS). Regulators presume that NAS fees weaken auditor independence and, as a result, impair audit quality. As the evidence at the European level does not support this view, the question of whether the new regulation will enhance auditor independence remains open. We examine the association between future NAS fees and audit quality by distinguishing among tax, audit-related and other services. We base the analysis on a sample of Spanish listed companies for the period between 2005 and 2016, finding a consistent negative association between future other NAS fees and audit quality. This suggests that the expectation of future purchases of this type of NAS may impair auditor independence. Conversely, for tax and audit-related services results are not significant. Taken together, results suggest that European regulators should seek for further evidence before banning NAS, as some of them may in fact enhance audit quality.     

A Test for a Functioning Market Economy: Seton'S Eigenprices of Turkey

We use Seton's eigenprices to see if some evidence can be found in support of the European Commission's official statement that the Turkish economy can be considered as a functioning market economy. Given an input–output flows matrix, there is a unique set of prices for outputs and production factors compatible with final demand, generating demand for factors. The findings based on Turkey's most recent I–O table and comparable I–O matrices for Romania and Poland (two EU members) in 2005 show that price distortions were on average five times larger in Turkey. Hence, based on price distortions alone, there was no solid evidence in support of the statement that Turkey had a functioning market economy.     

Does Italy's plight threaten European Monetary Union?

The Italian economy is in a mess. GDP is expected to contract by 0.6% this year and the budget deficit is heading towards 4% of GDP – it is hard to see a way out of the mire. And after the rejection of the European constitution in France and the Netherlands, questions are being asked about the very future of the European project. With Italy fundamentally uncompetitive across a whole range of both price and non‐prices measures, and with an industrial structure ill‐equipped to deal with the challenges of globalisation, Italy's long‐term membership of the Euro is being debated. This article by Keith Church sets out Italy's problems and argues that, if the economy stagnates for a prolonged period, pressure to leave EMU will become irresistible. This can be avoided if the government finally implements structural reforms instead of continually ‘muddling through’. At the same time, the ECB needs to realise the urgency of the current situation and start to show greater flexibility.     

Dynamically evaluating the comprehensive efficiency of technological innovation and low-carbon economy in China's industrial sectors

Technological innovation and low-carbon economy are significant for the high-quality development of China's industrial sectors. However, few scholars combine the two stages closely and discuss their coordinated development. This paper establishes an evaluation index system of technological innovation and low-carbon economy in China's industrial sectors. The technological innovation efficiency, low-carbon economy efficiency, and comprehensive efficiency of technological innovation and low-carbon economy are dynamically investigated by the two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model and the DEA window analysis with 35 subsectors panel data during 1996–2018. The inter-industrial differences in the technological innovation efficiency and low-carbon economy efficiency are considered, and the influencing factors of the comprehensive efficiency of technological innovation and low-carbon economy are studied by the bootstrap truncation regression. The results show that: (1) The development of the technological innovation and low-carbon economy is uncoordinated, and the low-carbon economy efficiency needs improvement; (2) There is heterogeneous of the technological innovation efficiency and low-carbon economy efficiency in the 35 subsectors; (3) The density of science and technology institutions, and the average enterprises scale are positive to the comprehensive efficiency of technological innovation and low-carbon economy, while excessive reliance on technology introduction has a negative impaction. The corresponding suggestions are provided for promoting technological innovation efficiency and low-carbon economy efficiency of industrial sectors.     

ON THE ACCURACY OF CGE FORECASTS IN EXPANSION AND RECESSION: SPAIN 1990–1997

A recursive dynamic disaggregated computable general equilibrium model of the Spanish economy is used to compare the model predictions of endogenous variables with their observed values over the period 1991–1997. It includes 12 producers, 12 households, government and 2 external sectors. There are four types of labour and real wages that depend on unemployment rates. Private investment is determined by private savings and public and external surpluses. Domestic products and imports are imperfect substitutes. All exogenous variables and tax parameters are updated every year with the best available information. The model provides rather accurate predictions in 1991, a normal year, but it underestimates the intensity of the 1992–1993 recession. It also predicts dramatic reversals of trade balances in response to devaluations. These results suggest both that investment savings-driven models provide useful insights in the medium term but underestimate the consequences of downturns, and that Armington's elascitities typically assumed may be too large.     

The London Business School with Gower Publishing

Collapsing oil prices and a falling dollar set the background to a Budget in which the Chancellor, hamstrung by lower oil revenues, was seen as having little room for manoeuvre. In fact the sharp fall in the sterling price of oil has provided him with the perfect excuse for not making significant cuts in personal income tax that were largely irrelevant to the needs of the economy. Instead of a boost to household demand we have had, thanks to OPEC, a transfer to companies in the form of a reduction in costs. This should enable them to expand output against a background of falling inflation. Our post-Budget assessment of macroeconomic prospects (Section I), made on the Treasury's assumption of a $15 oil price, shows output growing by 2 1/2 per cent this year and inflation falling below 3 per cent in 1987. We are thus less optimistic than the Treasury about output but more optimistic about inflation. How was the Chancellor able, within the confines of the Medium-Term Financial Strategy, to give anything away having lost so much oil revenue? A detailed analysis of the PSBR forecast (Section II) reveals good reasons why non-oil tax revenues should be some £3 1/2n higher than forecast this time last year. But, because we still expect public spending to be above the official figures, our PSBR forecast is £1bn higher than the Treasury's. Although the macroeconomic impact of the Budget was small (especially in relation to that of the fall in oil prices which preceded it), it continued the process of tax reform. We focus, in Section III, on the new proposals to deal with the problem of the pension fund surpluses to which we drew attention in the November issue of Financial Outlook. We conclude that the proposed measures could have a larger effect on tax revenues in the longer term than is indicated by the Treasury's Budget estimates.     

Japan

Data from Q2 point to a steep fall in GDP after April's consumption tax rise. The composite PMI was in contraction territory in April and May, and only just recovered to the 50 mark in June. Official data for retail sales and industrial output similarly show that spending and production were cut back in Q2. We estimate that GDP fell by 1.5% in Q2, driven by a reversal of Q1's strength in consumption and investment…     

Business and the genesis of the European Community carbon tax proposal

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of business in the regulatory process associated with the carbon tax proposal. The first part of the paper describes the Community's climate change policy, noting first the essential features of Community environment policy-making, the role of consultation with industry and the significance of the ‘subsidiarity’ principle. This part of the paper moves on to examine the carbon tax proposal and its evolution since 1990. The second part of the paper addresses the specific role which business played in influencing the development of the carbon tax proposal. The general strategy of business was to block the proposal entirely. The paper identifies the potential impacts of the tax on business, implications for corporate strategies and the specific channels through which business influenced the tax proposal, by participating in public debates, through representations to different directorates of the European Commission or by making a case to national authorities. The final part of the paper attempts to draw some lessons about: the business position in relation to large scale environmental problems such as climate change; business responses to economic instruments such as the carbon/energy tax; and the wider relationship between public authorities and business in regulatory processes. The question of whether this relationship has entered a new phase or whether there is still ‘business as usual’ is addressed.     

Changing economies of scale – synergies between implementation of an ecological tax reform and development of industrial ecosystems

In this paper an investigation is presented into the long‐term effects of an ecological tax reform. Exploring time frames of different length, the paper considers the reform's effects on manufacturing systems, especially on economies of scale. Industrial ecology, a framework for restructuring into industrial ecosystems, is one attempt at transforming the socio‐economic system for sustainability. The paper points out the synergetic effects an ecological tax reform has with those restructuring efforts for sustainable industry and society. For that purpose, the economies of scale in the current linear production system and those found in the closed‐loop circular structures of industrial ecosystems are compared, and the paper is concluded by a discussion of opportunity costs of implementation of an ecological tax reform and industrial ecological restructuring. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Targeting fertility and female participation through the income tax

We evaluate the effect of a 2003 reform in the Spanish income tax on fertility and the employment of mothers with small children. The reform introduced a tax credit for working mothers with children under the age of three, while also increasing child deductions for all households with children. Theoretically, given the interplay of these two components, the expected effect of the reform is ambiguous on both outcomes. We find that the combined reforms significantly increased both fertility (by almost 5%) and the employment rate of mothers with children under three (by 2%). These effects were more pronounced among less-educated women. In addition, to disentangle the impact of the two reform components, we use an earlier reform that increased child deductions in 1999. We find that the child deductions affect mothers' employment negatively, which implies that the 2003 tax credit would have increased employment even more (up to 5%) in the absence of the change in child deductions.     

The London Business School with Gower Publishing

In the last month there have been three major items of economic news. First there was Mr Healey's package of 26 October; then there was the announcement on 31 October that the Government's exchange rate policy would change; finally on 1 November there was the news that the miners had rejected the National Coal Board's pay offer. In terms of our view of the outlook for the longer-term development of the economy, the most significant change is the move to free the pound. The effects of Mr Healey's package upon total output are to leave 1977–78 much where it would have been had the Treasury's original public expenditure plans been realised; the shortfall in spending has been made up by tax reductions and, in turn, consumer spending increases.     

财税政策影响产业升级的理论机制分析——基于地方政府竞争视角

财税政策通过促进关键生产要素流入可促进产业升级。通过构建动态模型分析地方政府财税竞争对要素流动、社会福利及产业升级的影响。研究发现,提高生产要素的税率不仅会导致该生产要素外流,还会导致其他生产要素外流;在税率变化冲击下,要素存量调整至新的均衡状态与生产函数凹性和调整成本函数凸性有关;对发达地区落后产业实行高综合税率以及新兴产业实行低综合税率会促进地区产业升级,对落后地区实行低综合税率会促进地区经济发展和产业升级;政府的财税协调有利于地区间实现产业升级和提高社会福利水平;地区居民对企业的持股份额会影响地区福利水平。     

Integrated Thinking and the Transparency of Tax Disclosures in the Corporate Reports of Firms

The purpose of our study was to link two global corporate developments, namely integrated thinking and the transparency of tax disclosures. The International Integrated Reporting Council's long‐term vision is for integrated thinking to be embedded in mainstream business practice, facilitated by integrated reporting. The development of the transparency of tax disclosures was driven by tax avoidance practices of multinational companies. The vision of embedding integrated thinking into mainstream business and the increased focus on the transparency of tax disclosures have developed independently, but thus far there has been no serious consideration of how they may be related. We argue that there is a natural relationship between these two developments. We use PwC's (2014) framework for measuring the transparency of tax disclosures and apply the framework to the corporate reports of a sample of 45 large firms. We use regression analysis to test the association between the transparency of tax disclosures in corporate reports and integrated thinking and find them to be positively associated.     

A Revision of the Tolerable Limits Approach: Searching for the Important Coefficients

A wide range of approaches are available for classifying coefficients according to their importance to an economy. The ‘tolerable limits’ approach is one that has been extensively written about. Nevertheless, it seems unsuitable for assessing the overall importance of a coefficient to an economy, but instead appears to be rather well suited for determining how much a selling sector depends upon its customers. We therefore suggest two alternative approaches for measuring a sector's importance to an economy. The first is an application of the concept of elasticity based on Sherman and Morrison's (1950) formula. The second approach applies linear programming. We compare these various alternatives using the domestic IO tables of eight European countries.     

Reliable entertainment: Spanish consumers' preferences regarding a film's country of origin

• This article contributes to the study of cinema audiences in Europe by analyzing the actual behavior of Spanish moviegoers and their level of satisfaction. We modeled moviegoers' choice of film by country of origin (U.S.A., Spain, and other countries) according to a set of determinants: (1) consumers' interpretation of several sources of information, (2) motivations and (3) choice rules. We found three clear consumer stereotypes related to each type of film: (1) U.S.A. films were preferred by almost everyone (especially families and younger audiences); (2) Spanish films had audiences composed of middle-age and middle-class moviegoers; and (3) European productions were preferred by a social or intellectual elite. U.S.A. films dominate the Spanish market for the reason that they provide most of what moviegoers prefer, namely, familiar, reliable entertainment in Spanish; three characteristics that are not satisfied by Spanish and European films. Additionally, we discuss the implications for the European cultural policy.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.