Research Methods in Taxation Ethics: Developing the Defining Issues Test (DIT) for a Tax-Specific Scenario

This paper reports on the development of a research instrument designed to explore ethical reasoning in a tax context. This research instrument is a version of the Defining Issues Test (DIT) originally developed by Rest [1979a, Development in Judging Moral Issues (University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN); 1979b, Defining Issues Test (University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN)], but adapted to focus specifically on the environment encountered by tax practitioners. The paper explores reasons for developing a context- (and profession-) specific test, and details the manner in which this was undertaken. The study on which it is based aims to compare the reasoning of tax practitioners in the tax-specific context and in the general social context covered by the original DIT, and to compare this with the reasoning of non-specialists in these two contexts. The paper therefore also considers the issues that arise when using such tests to compare reasoning in different domains or to compare groups. The focus on instrument development to measure ethical reasoning in a specific domain will contribute to the literature on research methods in the area of the DIT and will facilitate cross-study comparisons.     

城市社会问题的经济学研究:文献纵览和本土需求

与国外对城市社会问题的经济学研究已步入较为成熟阶段的状况相比,我国学者在城市社会问题的研究领域里,还刚起步。这种状况,与有效解决我国快速城市化带来的严重城市社会问题的迫切要求差距甚大。本文的一个有限的目标,是把我国目前值得关注的城市社会问题当作问题导向,有针对性地选择国际上有关城市社会问题的理论研究成果、主要研究期刊和研究机构,较为系统地把它们介绍给关心中国城市社会问题的读者,以方便进一步深入研究。     

Impacts of Insurance on the Demand and Utilization of Drug Abuse Treatment: Implications for Insurance Mandates

This article addresses costs and utilization for mental health/substance abuse treatment, with particular emphasis on the emerging importance of self-insured coverage in the 1990s. We estimate drug abuse treatment demand and utilization with an insurance claims database from self-insured employers. The study population was selected from a large database consisting of health insurance claims for all treatment events starting 1 January 1989 and ending 31 December 1991. Approximately three-quarters of the increase in in-patient usage attributable to fractional co-insurance is due to increased usage per person (the other one-quarter refers to increased numbers of users). About half of the increase in outpatient usage is due to increased usage per person. In summary, our estimates provide useful measurements of the potential impacts of improved drug abuse treatment coverage. Although the potential induced in-patient expenditures and dead-weight losses are substantial compared to co-insurance rates of 0.5, losses can be trimmed by adjusting co-insurance, even at rates of approximately 0.1.     

经济发达地区社区服务现状调研及其对策选择——以浙江嘉兴南湖区为例

本文以长三角经济发达地区中心城市——嘉兴南湖区社区服务作为研究对象,就现阶段嘉兴南湖区社区服务现状进行调研分析,揭示了现阶段政府管理部门在城市社区服务工作中需要关注的问题,并就如何加快城市社区服务发展提出相关对策建议。     

经济全球化与中国崛起的国际环境

在经济全球化的今天,中国崛起的国际环境面临着传染病、恐怖主义、水资源、能源、规则的制定等许多问题的严重挑战。当今的世界对规则高度依赖,国家之间的博弈,最重要的是规则。中美关系是中国最重要的外交关系。大国因素、能很好容纳分工、巨大的发展潜力等有利因素将很好地支持中国的经济崛起。     

中小企业财务管理存在的问题与对策

中小企业已成为我国国民经济的重要组成部分,对经济发展和社会稳定起着举足轻重的促进作用。本文首先通过分析中小企业财务管理的现状,揭示了中小企业普遍存在资金严重不足,企业发展缺乏源动力;投资缺乏科学性,投资能力较弱;财务管理缺乏人才,管理模式僵化等问题,说明存在问题的财务管理已不能帮助企业面对激烈的市场竞争。其次就其产生的原因逐一加以剖析。最后本文有针对性地提出了解决中小企业财务管理中存在问题的对策。     

整合财政支农资金的模式构建

由于历史和体制原因,我国财政支持"三农"投入存在高运行成本、多重代理、信息不对称及效率低下等问题,严重影响支农资金的使用效应和政策效应。本文在分析我国财政支农资金使用现状的基础上,提出了整合财政支农资金的基本构想。     

农村建设小康社会的实现途径——学习党的十六大报告的体会

十六大报告是指引中国人民实现社会主义现代化第三步战略目标的行动纲领 ,提出了全面建设小康社会的主题。 2 0 2 0年能否顺利进入小康社会的关键在于如何尽快优化二元结构 ,推动农村经济的发展 ,解决“三农”问题。对农村生产方式进行革命性的变革是解决“三农”问题的根本途径 ,要加快农村城镇化 ,促进农村剩余劳动力的转移。     

Entrepreneurship in the tourism industry: Issues in developing countries

The tourism industry in Malaysia is one of the most important sectors in terms of its contribution to the growth of the nation. The extensive demand on the tourism industry has stimulated the emergence of many small and medium hotels, resorts, and chalets in Malaysia. According to the literature, small and medium hotels are an extension of the entrepreneurial characteristics of the owners/managers of the hotels. In Malaysia, small and medium hotel entrepreneurs (SMHEs) have not been given much attention. Looking at this gap, this study aims to provide a significant result on entrepreneurship issues in Malaysia. The main objective of this study is to examine the characteristics of small and medium hotel owners/managers and the issues and problems they confront in relation to their survivability in the industry. The result revealed that the majority of owners/managers of small and medium hotels were male, middle-aged and older, with secondary and upper level of education, and whose prior specialisations or knowledge were not related to tourism. With strong self-confidence and independent personality characteristics, the majority started to establish their businesses after the financial crisis in 1997–1998. The result also defined small scale to mean hotels with less than 50 rooms, which had been constructed with limited personal funding and bank loans. Information technology was found to be an important tool to promote their hotels, but conventional techniques such as word of mouth and signboards were still significant. The owners/managers of small and medium hotels were in agreement over their weaknesses in terms of lack of knowledge and skills in running the business. At the same time, they also felt that the government should play a more proactive role in promoting the tourism industry.     

公务卡结算方式相关问题研究

公务卡作为一种现代化支付结算工具,具有使用便捷,透明度高等特点。公务卡结算在国内起步相对较晚,从2007年开始试点,经过几年来的积极推进,公务卡制度已基本实现对各级政府的全覆盖,成为我国公务支出管理领域的一项基础性制度。本文介绍了公务卡在国内和本省的实施情况,深入分析了公务卡制度执行中存在的问题,并提出完善预算单位公务卡结算的建议和措施。