Moral suasion: An alternative tax policy strategy? Evidence from a controlled field experiment in Switzerland

With data gained from a controlled field experiment in Switzerland this paper analyses the effects of moral suasion on the timely paying and the timely filling out of the tax form 2001. Comparisons of different tax filing years and multiple regression estimations have been done using these two factors as dependent variables to check if there is a significant difference between the control group and the treatment group. In February 2002 the treatment group received a letter signed by the communes fiscal commissioner containing normative appeals. Results indicate that moral suasion has hardly any effect on taxpayers compliance behaviour. The strongest effect can be observed for the variable tax payments.Received: February 2003, Accepted: June 2004 JEL Classification: H260, H710BennoTorgler: Special thanks are due to the tax administration of Trimbach, especially to Adolf Müller and Gary Bitterli, who offered me the opportunity to collect the data and assisted the project. Furthermore I acknowledge the financial support of the WWZ-Forum and Swiss National Science Foundation and comments and suggestions from Doris Aebi, René L. Frey, the editor Kai A. Konrad and two anonymous referees.     

Memory recall errors in retrospective surveys: A reverse record check study

This paper reports on a study to compare self-reports during an interview with staff who attended a University health centre in Turkey, with the records of visits to the same health centre over the previous 12 months. Design of the study reflects the effects of importance of the event, duration since the event, frequency of the occurrence of the event, measurement scale of the event, and bounded and unbounded recalling. In order to assess the extent of recall error, responses to retrospective questions on health centre visits are compared with administrative records. Statistical models are proposed for short and long term human memory recall error effects on responses.     

The causal relation between government revenue and spending: Evidence from Egypt and Jordan

In investigating the causal relation between government revenue and spending, our empirical results support the tax-and-spend hypothesis for Egypt and the fiscal synchronization hypothesis for Jordan. Breaking away from these historical trends is essential for both countries to eliminate the budget deficit and therefore ensure the availability of domestic saving for private investment. To cope with unemployment and poverty, continuing privatization is recommended for both countries to improve productivity and efficiency in the domestic economy. Privatization should lead to higher domestic saving and investment and at the same time eliminate the budget deficit by enhancing revenue and curbing spending. (JEL H62, H63)     

The Self-concept of Black and White Women: The Influences Upon Its Formation of Welfare Dependency, Work Effort, Family Networks, and Illnesses

Abstract . The concept of “self-efficacy” is used to test the hypothesis that the negative self-concept of welfare recipients coniributes to long term psychological and material dependency on such assistance. Self-efficacy focuses on the extent to which people are able to produce and regulate events in their lives and is associated with self-imposed performance expectations. The extent to which the minority status which Blacks occupy in this society decreases self efficacy relative to Whites is examined, using information generated from structured interviews with 290 low income Black and White women. Operationalizing the concept of self-efficacy with appropriate controls for socioeconomic status, family composition and other factors results in finding no racial differences in sense of self-efficacy between Black and White women. Observed differences in patterns of receipt of public assistance are found to be more directly related to the persistence of structural barriers to upward mobility that have differential impacts on Blacks and Whites. Long term receipt of public assistance is found to adversely affect both self-worth and work orientation/perceived efficacy for all women.     

Nash-equilibria in a heterogeneous oligopoly with fuzzy information

We consider a model of an oligopolistic market with heterogeneous firms and products where neither the cost nor the demand functions are common knowledge. Instead, each firm only has some vague ideas about the price strategies adopted by its competitors which is modelled by a fuzzy set. In analogy to the notion of an "equilibrium of actions and beliefs" we define and characterize a generalized Nash-equilibrium and show its existence under general conditions. Furthermore, the impact of the fuzzy information on the equilibrium outcome is analyzed by means of a comparative static analysis within a particular model framework.Received: 28 May 2002, Accepted: 25 December 2002, JEL Classification: D43, D80, L13We wish to thank Bernhard F. Arnold, the editor Murat Sertel , and two anonymous referees for helpful comments. Of course, we are responsible for all remaining errors.     

A note on the determination of A-optimal type block designs under fixed and mixed effects models

In this paper, we consider the problem of estimating a selected set of contrasts between v treatments using a block design consisting of b blocks of size k. Traditionally, the construction of A-optimal block designs for such situations has been carried out assuming a fixed effects model. In this paper, we show that A-optimal designs constructed under a fixed effects model are robust in the sense that these designs have maximal minimal efficiency when considered among all available designs and under all possible mixed effects models. AMS 1991 subject classifications: Primary 62K05; Secondary 62K10     

Duration dependence testing for speculative bubbles

Prior research has employed a number of methods to test for speculative bubbles in asset prices, including a method based on the concept of duration dependence. This study explores whether duration dependence tests for speculative bubbles are sensitive to specification decisions. Our results question the efficacy of using measures of duration dependence to test for speculative bubbles. In particular, we find that evidence of duration dependence is sensitive to the method of correcting for discrete observation of continuous duration, the use of value-weighted versus equally weighted portfolios, and the use of monthly versus weekly runs of abnormal returns. (JEL C41, G12)     

辽宁省上市公司环境会计信息披露实证研究

随着经济的不断发展,人类对资源的索取不断加剧,环境持续恶劣,环境污染和生态失衡等问题日益凸显.而上市公司对环境会计信息披露不完善,值得引起人们的关注.文章选取了辽宁省10个上市公司作为样本,根据这些上市公司所披露的会计信息,进行了多元回归分析.研究结果表明,资产总额、负债程度和公司治理结构的完整性对上市公司环境信息披露有显著影响.此外,文章对上市公司治理提出了建议,以期能够帮助完善我国上市公司环境会计信息披露体系.     

高校财政资金项目管理的有效对策研究

结合当前高校发展的实际情况可以发现,高校项目资金管理中出现了各种各样的问题,这对高校的长远发展产生了明显的阻碍,直接影响了高校项目资金的使用,也使得教育事业的整体发展进程明显滞后.文章重点结合相关情况,明确高校相关部门的职能和基本的组成模块,分析当前高校财政资金项目管理存在的主要问题,并制定科学的应对策略,以推动高校教育事业的稳步发展.     

加强企业财务核算质量的思考

随着社会的快速发展,我国市场经济呈现出勃勃生机,各种类型的企业在新的时代环境下如雨后春笋般发展壮大,这对提高我国社会经济发展发挥出极其重要的助推作用,尤其在我国加入世贸组织之后,经济全球化更是对企业的发展带来了诸多前所未有的机遇,这就要求企业不断加强自我管理,全面提高发展质量,进而才可以在激烈的市场竞争环境下占据一席之地.维持企业的可持续发展,提高企业的财务核算质量,是目前我国各类企业改革的主要方向,也是各企业重要的任务之一.企业财务核算质量将直接关系到企业的发展质量,而维护企业财务核算质量会受到诸多因素的影响.文章将结合多个企业的财务核算工作经验,对日常维护管理、税务申报管理、财务核算成本分析、预算编制、预算执行分析以及下属子公司进行财务管理,探讨目前企业在保障财务核算质量时所遇到的一些问题,并以此为出发点,提出企业加强财务核算质量的对策,以期为广大业界人士提供一些有价值的参考.