The three Is of public schools: irrelevant inputs,insufficient resources and inefficiency

We examine the educational production function and efficiency of public school districts in Illinois. Using non-parametric kernel methods, we find that most traditional schooling inputs are irrelevant in determining test scores (even in a very general setting). Property tax caps are the only relevant factor that is related to districts’ financial constraints and have predominantly negative associations with test scores. Therefore, insufficient resources may be partially responsible for the lack of growth in test scores. For most other relevant inputs, we find substantial heterogeneity in the returns, which helps reconcile some of the puzzling results in the literature. We further find that there exist inefficiencies in school districts. Moreover, the level of test scores, commonly used as a measure of school effectiveness, (while related) differs substantially from our efficiency scores, and standard parametric approaches drastically underestimate school efficiency. We discuss the policy implications of our results.     

In love with the debit card but still married to cash

Using shopping diary survey data, we show that changing payment patterns is a challenging task; even when consumers have fallen in love with a new payment instrument, they find it hard to divorce from their old payment instrument. We find a discrepancy between how consumers prefer to pay and how they actually pay. Half of the consumers who prefer the debit card to cash don’t use the debit card to pay a majority of their point-of-sale transactions. Our regression results show that the habit of paying cash plays a significant role explaining the presence of a gap.     

The effect of sporting success and management failure on attendance demand in the Bundesliga: a revealed and stated preference travel cost approach

This study examines the private consumption benefits of sports attendance using revealed and stated preference data from 28 Football Bundesliga teams across three divisions. Survey respondents were presented with positive (sporting success) and negative (management failure) scenarios and asked for the number of game trips if each scenario occurred. The results of a pooled random effects Poisson model show that travel costs and ticket price have a significant negative effect on the number of home game trips. The weighted consumer surplus per game trip including travel costs and ticket prices is €345. Consumer surplus per game trip was found to change by €41 (first division) and €98 (second and third division) if the positive scenario occurred and by €39 if the negative scenario occurred.     

Forestry,Forest Fires,and Climate Change in Indonesia

In recent months, strong global growth, rebounding commodity prices, and relatively accommodative financial conditions have benefited the Indonesian economy. The first quarter of 2017 in Indonesia saw resilient GDP growth, moderate inflation, stable exchange rates, an increase in the growth of non-oil exports, and an investment upgrade from ratings agency Standard & Poor's. Investment growth, however, did not pick up enough to drive overall growth to a higher rate. The poor quality of banking-sector assets and the gaps in tax revenue—despite the fulfilment of the government's tax-amnesty program—are two of the most immediate economic concerns. President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), who is well into the second half of his term, is under pressure to deliver on his development platform, which includes making progress in sustainable development and climate change mitigation. The effective management of forests is key to this platform. There has been longstanding tension over Indonesia's forests between the protection of environmental values, including carbon storage, and the production of valuable commodities, including timber, palm oil, and pulpwood, which generate revenue and employment. We survey recent developments in four storylines related to forestry and climate change: first, Indonesia's commitment to reducing emissions to 29%–41% below projected business-as-usual levels by 2030, as well as the international climate agreements and finance that can help achieve this commitment; second, land-use rights and regulations, including a moratorium on clearing, draining, or setting fires on peatland; third, measures to prevent catastrophic forest fires like those during the 2015 El Niño, including the establishment of the Peatland Restoration Agency; and, fourth, the actions of non-state actors, especially large agribusinesses, in managing forests and peatland. We conclude by discussing differences in the approaches of Jokowi's administration and those of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration and by questioning whether Indonesia's budgeted resources, actions, and results to date are commensurate with its climate commitments.     

Excise Tax Harmonisation in Australia at Federation

Constitutional changes at the time of Federation in Australia required the harmonisation of the excise tax rates of the former Colonies. This paper outlines the excise tax systems of the Colonies before Federation and that of the Commonwealth after Federation. Estimates are made of the consumer tax equivalent rates and of the implicit rates of protection in each Colony and in the Commonwealth after Federation. The Commonwealth Government harmonised the excise tax rates of the Colonies at about the mid‐points of the rates of the Colonies but the implicit rates of protection increased after Federation.     

“营改增”对电信业财务影响分析——以中国联通为例

以“营改增”在电信业的实施结果为研究背景,从理论角度分析“营改增”对电信业的财务影响,主要从收入、成本费用、资本支出、利润、企业税负等方面分析,以中国联通为案例进行分析企业的财务状况,得出营改增使得企业的收入下降、成本费用抵扣不足、利润下降以及税负的增加等劣势。提出改善发票管理,增加进项税额抵扣,改变管理模式,降低管理成本,应对“营改增”对电信企业的挑战,缩短电信企业对“营改增”的磨合期等相关的措施。     

You should know better! Do health students have different risk attitudes to unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases?

Because healthcare professionals are in the best position to assess, assist and educate those participating in risky sexual behaviour, understanding if (and how) their risk attitudes differ from the wider population is of vital importance. In this study, we explore university health students’ risk attitudes towards unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). We examine whether university students pursuing health-related degrees, who hypothetically should have more exposure to and understanding of the risks associated with unplanned pregnancy and STD, have more risk averse attitudes to sexual behaviour. We find that health students’ sexual attitudes are significantly more risk averse than those of their nonhealth peers in relation to STDs but not unplanned pregnancy. In line with previous research, age and no previous sexual history (virginity) appear to increase risk-averse attitudes to both unplanned pregnancy and STDs. Moreover, males and singles are more risk seeking in their sexual attitudes. These findings suggest that, because unplanned pregnancy and STDs are ongoing global issues, further research is warranted into the risk attitudes of those healthcare professionals most able to provide education and support for individuals participating in risky sexual behaviour.     

Considering the efficacy of value-added tax zero-rating as pro-poor policy: The case of South Africa

The use of value-added tax (VAT) zero-rating has become widely accepted internationally to mitigate the regressivity of the tax. From an economic perspective, it remains contestable whether VAT zero-rating is the most cost-effective way of targeting the poor. This article addresses some topical issues on VAT zero-rating in South Africa. We first ask whether (conceptually) zero-rating should be a consideration within the context of tax theory literature, and then quantify the impact on the poor if zero-rating was to be removed, as well as the tax revenue implications thereof. We compare the cost of VAT zero-rating with the benefit, using data sourced from the Income and Expenditure Survey 2010/11 and the Estimates of National Expenditure. Our findings show that VAT zero-rating (compared with existing social transfer programmes) is not cost-effective when targeting the poor.     

我国企业税负“痛感”凸显之谜探析

近两年来我国企业税负"痛感"的凸显再次引发了社会各界对我国企业税负水平轻重的热议。基于各种数据、方法以及视角得出的多种结论纷至沓来、莫衷一是。文章从辨析企业税负的概念入手,说明由于受多种可比因素的限制,对企业税负水平进行国际间的横向比较得到的结论仅仅是一个事实判断而非价值判断。我国企业税负在近两年"痛感"凸显,是企业税负增加以及伴随着经济形势下行而来的产能过剩、职工工资总额上升以及税负转嫁困难等多种因素共同交织的结果。     

当前我国税制的“税负刚性”特征、效应及政策建议——基于2013-2016年制造业上市公司数据的实证分析

2012年以来,我国经济增速明显放缓,经济结构面临重大调整,制造业普遍盈收水平下滑,而企业的利润税负水平却明显上升,"税负重感"增加。究其原因,是我国以流转税为主的税制存在"税负刚性"的特征和效应,实则反映了我国税制改革的迫切性。文章利用2013—2016年我国制造业上市公司的全样本数据,证实了"税负刚性"的存在性和显著性,并进一步结合其结构性效应的分析,对当前的税制改革提出了相应的政策建议。