International capital tax evasion and the foreign tax credit puzzle

In this paper we examine how the presence of international tax evasion affects the choice of a foreign tax credit by a capital exporting region. Since the credit raises the opportunity cost of concealing foreign source income, it can be employed to discourage evasion activity. International tax evasion can thus help to rationalize the adoption of a tax credit in excess of a deduction-equivalent rate. JEL Classification: H21, H26
Evasion fiscale pour le capital international et le problème du crédit d'impôt pour le fardeau fiscal à l'étranger. Ce mémoire examine comment la présence d'évasion fiscale pour le capital international affecte le choix du crédit d'impôt pour le fardeau fiscal à l'étranger par une région qui exporte du capital. Puisque le crédit d'impôt accroît le coût d'opportunité du camouflage de la source étrangère de revenus, c'est une technique qui peut être employée pour décourager l'évasion fiscale. Voilà qui peut expliquer qu'on adopte un crédit d'impôt qui est plus généreux que ce qui constituerait la déduction dans un système où le fardeau fiscal à l'étranger est simplement déduit du revenu imposable.     

Agricultural support in selected Eastern European and Eurasian countries

The goal of this article is to assess the agricultural policies of eight countries from the former Soviet Union. They hold great potential for agricultural production, and some are relatively unanalysed from the point of view of agricultural policy. The analysis was conducted using qualitative and quantitative evidence. The key challenges facing the region are food security and competitiveness. Policy approaches range from strong interventionism to almost complete liberalisation. Budgetary support is relatively low compared to EU and OECD averages. Transfers to producers dominate (especially input subsidies and on-farm investment support) in all countries, and support to rural development and general services is weak. While prices for crops are near world prices, prices for animal products are fairly high in some countries, indicating high developmental needs. It is possible to discern four broad clusters of countries.     

„Infotainment“ in der Presse

This paper answers, by means of a content analysis of three regional daily papers, the question of whether political journalism in regional newspapers is more entertaining today than it was in 1980. On the level of articles, increased entertainment can consist of using specific design elements. On the thematic level, topics that are entertaining per se (e. g. human interest topics) can take the place of or occur in addition to political information. In all the papers that were examined, political articles possess a larger potential for entertainment today than they did in 1980. Additionally, the percentage of political information has decreased, while the number of articles on human interest topics has increased. Finally, this paper discusses how that result is to be evaluated from the point of view of the theory of democracy: “Infotainment” can be beneficial in some circumstances. Therefore, entertainment should not be disparaged in general; one needs to be careful when assessing it normatively.     

Physically freeing: breaking taboos through online displays of the sexual self

ABSTRACT

This research specifically looks at the societal taboo of presenting an overtly sexualised self in a public forum. Specifically, we investigate the way in which technology is being used to mediate sexual experiences between individuals and larger online communities. The research takes an exploratory look at why some users engage in Technology-Mediated Sexual Encounters (TMSEs) and the impact that these online sexual encounters can have on one’s sense of self, perceptions of freedom and expression. Beyond fantasy seeking, novel experiences, and instancy of TMSEs, the importance of perceptions of power and dominance during a TMSE are discussed, as well as the emancipatory feelings associated with being free to break taboo. The impact of engaging in TMSEs and their use in understanding sexuality and expectations of physical sexual experiences is also discussed. The implications from this research include a better understanding of how technology is being used to express one’s self online in taboo contexts.     

The Role of Retail Equity,Value and Relational Benefits in Building B2B Relationships in Retailing

Abstract

The present paper aims to examine if variables widely studied in B2C contribute to building strong relationships in B2B markets. Moreover, it analyzes the existence of differences across retailers related to percentage of purchases from the main supplier. Through a personal survey to retail store managers regarding their relationships with their main suppliers, a structural equation model is estimated through PLS to test the hypothesized relations between retail equity, value, relational benefits, trust, and commitment. A multi-group analysis is performed to test the moderating role of the percentage of purchases from the main supplier. Three types of relational benefits identified have unequal influence on relationship value. In particular, special treatment benefits and social benefits, together with retail equity, emerge as the main drivers of value in the relationship between retailers and their main suppliers. The percentage of purchases from the main supplier plays a moderating role in some of these relations. This research provides evidence in the sense that, in the relations held by retailers with their main suppliers, retail equity contributes to relationship value creation. Relational benefits are relevant in building B2B relations since special treatment and social benefits have a positive influence on value that is positively related to trust and commitment. To build strong relations with their customers, suppliers of retailers should mainly concentrate their efforts on building brand equity and providing evidence of the existence of special treatment benefits beyond the service delivered, in view of its ultimate influence on customer trust and commitment.     

Scale Economies in Cross-Border Shopping and Commodity Taxation

A simple inventory theoretic model of cross-border shopping with transaction and storage costs is developed. Consumers incur fixed transaction and transportation costs to access the foreign market in which a perfect substitute of the domestic good is available. We show that the size of the optimal tax is inversely related to the size of domestic transactions. This result provides a simple example of a more general principle, that is, when there are increasing returns to scale in tax avoidance with respect to the quantities involved, then smaller transactions should be taxed more heavily than larger transactions. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A snapshot of public finance research from immediately prior to the pandemic: IIPF 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic has shaped public policies and government finances, it has also influenced the topics that public finance economists are researching. Because the 2020 International Institute of Public Finance Congress featured papers that were submitted prior to the start of the pandemic, the Congress allows us to reflect on the state of research prior to the pandemic’s shock to both fiscal policies and our worldview. In this article, the Editors of International Tax and Public Finance reflect on interesting papers that were presented at this internationally representative conference in public economics. The exercise provides insight on where the field of public economics was heading prior to the pandemic and will provide a yardstick to see how the field evolves in the coming years afterward.

     

Die Prognose von Serviceintervallen mit?der?Hazard-Raten-Analyse – Ergebnisse einer empirischen Studie im Automobilmarkt

Mit dem After Sales-Gesch?ft generieren die deutschen Automobilbauer etwa die H?lfte ihrer Gewinne. Gerade vor dem Hintergrund der aktuellen gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklungen, wovon insbesondere das Neuwagengesch?ft betroffen ist, erscheinen Anstrengungen zur Optimierung der kundenindividuellen Ansprache im Service-, Teile- und Wartungsgesch?ft aussichtsreich zu sein. Als Voraussetzung dafür kann das Wissen über die kundenindividuellen Serviceintervalle als entscheidender Wettbewerbsvorteil gesehen werden, denn nur hiermit lassen sich Kunden auch zielgerichtet ansprechen und potenzielle Abwanderungen vermeiden. Genau an diesem Punkt knüpft dieser Beitrag an, indem mit der Hazard-Raten-Analyse ein wissenschaftlich fundiertes und praktikables Verfahren zur Prognose kundenindividueller Serviceintervalle illustriert wird. Da dieses im betriebswirtschaftlichen Kontext ohnehin sehr junge Analyseverfahren bislang überwiegend im FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods)-Bereich auf Scannerdaten zum Einsatz kam, kann dieser Beitrag als Leitfaden für eine Erweiterung im Bereich langlebiger Konsum- und Investitionsgüter gesehen werden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass der Anteil korrekt gesch?tzter Serviceintervalle die einfache lineare Fortschreibung, die bis dato das Standardverfahren zur Prognose von Serviceintervallen darstellt, um über 20% übertrifft bzw. die Prognosegenauigkeit von ±73 Tagen auf ±38 Tage gesteigert werden kann. Das Erfolgspotenzial einer kundenindividuellen Direktansprache l?sst sich mit dieser substanziellen Verbesserung der zugrunde liegenden Informationsbasis erheblich steigern. Aus der Verbesserung der Prognosegenauigkeit auf kundenindividueller Ebene (Mikroebene) resultiert schlie?lich auch auf der Makroebene (Unternehmensplanung- und steuerung) eine erh?hte Planungssicherheit.     

Livelihood diversification strategies in the Himalayas*

This article examines livelihood diversification strategies of rural households using survey data from the Himalayas. We present and explore an analytical framework that yields different activity choices as optimal solutions to a simple utility maximization problem. By classifying the range of activities of rural households into a few distinct categories based on their profitability and by considering portfolios of farm and non‐farm activities, we provide novel insights into diversification behaviour of rural households. The evidence shows that while the poor are mainly agricultural labourers and work in the low‐return non‐farm sector, the better‐off diversify in high‐return non‐farm activities. As expected, we find strong evidence that education plays a major role in accessing more remunerative non‐farm employment. A somewhat less intuitive finding is that larger household size is associated with higher probability of diversification into the high‐return non‐farm sector. The finding that the farm size is not a constraint to diversification in lucrative non‐farm employment is also surprising. Geographical location plays a role in diversification behaviour of rural households indicating the importance of local context.