Personal service companies and the public sector

Off-payroll workers in the UK, including personal service companies (PSCs), engaged by the public sector have been giving ‘assurance’ of their tax position to departments in the sector since 2012. Departments must be satisfied with the assurance. For PSCs this requires awareness of complex tax legislation (IR35), which is aimed at preventing tax avoidance. Costs may be incurred in attaining the necessary knowledge. This may bring into question costs incurred in protecting tax revenue. No similar obligation exists in the private sector.     

论民法中诉讼时效制度适用范围

在日常生活中,任何人都无法离开法律而生活,因为法律是与生活息息相关的。正如西方法律谚语所说:立法者不是创设法律,而是发现法律。生活离不开法律,法律来自于生活。生活里人们无时不刻地在为自己和他人创设权利与设置义务,从而生成各种民事法律关系。但是,权利与义务不会无休无止地存在,当一方信守承诺积极履行自己的义务时,另一方亦不能"躺在权利的床上酣眠"。不论是权利还是义务,都会有消亡的时刻,即一个时间限制,法律中叫做时效。为此,对中国公民哪些权利会受到时效的限制及该受多长时间的限制进行了论述。     

知识产权壁垒研究综述

在国际贸易往来中,知识产权作为贸易保护主义的一种工具被发达国家越来越频繁地使用,形成了一种新型的贸易壁垒即知识产权壁垒,随着贸易摩擦的频率与次数逐渐增多,其对贸易国家尤其是发展中国家构成了较大的威胁与障碍。立足于我国实际,通过结合国内外学者最新研究成果对知识产权壁垒研究进行梳理与总结并得出启示,提出我国相关产业与企业应客观看待并积极应对知识产权壁垒,不断提高自主创新能力与国际竞争力。     

A basic tool to assess tax administration strength in emerging Europe

Large tax compliance gaps, together with the need to generate additional tax revenue have put a premium on tax administration reform in emerging Europe. The key features of an efficient tax administration are well established, but an objective assessment of the relative strengths and weaknesses of tax administrations have been lacking. This paper proposes a simple index of tax administration strength, based on objective indicators reflecting key organizational and operational aspects of revenue administrations relative to international best practice. A diagnostic test is then conducted to assess the performance of the proposed index in its ability to predict variations in tax collection efficiency in emerging Europe.     

FIPIA with information entropy: A new hybrid method to assess airline service quality

This study proposes “FIPIA with information entropy” as a new, hybrid method to assess airline service quality by identifying the most important priorities for airline passengers and producing recommendations to airline management for optimal resource allocation to improve service quality and customer satisfaction. The proposed method is an improvement over IPA, IPIA and FIPA methods, through the introduction of information entropy and fuzzy logic to the analysis of importance, performance and impact dimensions of airline service quality to improve interpretability and actionability of analysis results. This study also offers airline managers a list of what they should improve in resource allocation in order to increase service quality considering customer satisfaction and create value by managing the relational capital more effectively. The new hybrid method was field-tested by administering a 26-item questionnaire to passengers of a major airline operator, analyzing the responses using the Importance-Performance-Impact Analysis (IPIA) method, fuzzy logic and information entropy. The analysis revealed four main dimensions of airline service quality, namely reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness with 17 constituent attributes. The case study revealed that (1) resource allocation was adequate only on four attributes; (2) seven service quality attributes were identified as needing further management focus on resource allocation; (3) six service quality attributes received more resources than necessary which should be shifted to other attributes; (4) dimensions of reliability and tangibles needed more focus than others. The proposed hybrid method of FIPIA with information entropy can be employed for any industry where service quality depends on multiple attributes.     

论海湾河口水环境治理制度建设的理论基石

通过对经济学与管理学的相关文献与理论的梳理分析,提出海湾河口水环境治理制度建设的四块理论基石:海岸带综合管理理论、湖泊流域水环境管理理论、环境产权理论、合作型环境治理理论,以期为建立海湾河口水环境治理制度体系提供理论依据和指导。     

建国初期中共粮食战略与1949年云南公粮征收研究

1950年3月6日以宋任穷为书记的中共云南省委正式成立，3月12日即颁布命令征收1949年公粮。当时各地基层政权立足未稳，难以承担如此巨任，阶级矛盾、民族矛盾错综复杂，征粮刚一展开即受挫。其原因主要一是云南财政恶化超出预想，粮食存量少；二是粮食新政权的保障，所以中共云南省委不遗余力地大力推进征粮工作。此次征粮不仅与云南地方军民生活用度有关，更与建国初期中共新政权在经济战场上与敌人斗争紧密相连。     

Australia's Carbon Tax: An Economic Evaluation

Australia's carbon tax has been in place since July 2012. Following the 2013 federal election and change of government, it is likely that the tax will be abolished. This paper evaluates Australia's carbon tax experience and draws lessons for policymakers in other jurisdictions who may be considering following the Australian example and implementing their own carbon taxes or cap and trade schemes. Overall, the policy was poorly thought through, badly implemented, and lacked majority public support before it began. Australia's carbon tax experience is an interesting case study in how not to go about implementing climate change policy.     

Community-based rural residential land consolidation and allocation can help to revitalize hollowed villages in traditional agricultural areas of China: Evidence from Dancheng County,Henan Province

The accelerated rural hollowing driven by vast and increasing out-migration of rural labors under urban–rural dual-track system has imposed huge obstacles on improving land use efficiency and coordinating urban–rural development in China. Taking Dancheng County in Henan Province as an example, this paper analyzes the status quo of rural hollowing and discusses two typical rural residential land consolidation and allocation (RRLCA) practices in traditional agricultural areas (TAAs) of China. The results show that, Dancheng experienced rapid rural hollowing characterized as the hollowing of rural industries, infrastructure, and residential population and settlements. However, Dancheng has considerable potential and the necessity of RRLCA, for the model-based estimation shows that the potential of increasing farmland by carrying out RRLCA was about 5649 ha. The two community-based RRLCA practices show positive effects on the improvement of local living conditions, increment of farmland area and development of rural industries. Their experiences, including self-organized rural planning, democratic decision-making, and endogenous institutional innovation may benefit future RRLCA. Overall, it indicates that promoting community-based RRLCA scientifically according to local conditions could provide an integrated platform for increasing farmland area, developing modern agriculture, promoting new countryside construction, and thus revitalize hollowed villages. On considering the limitations and obstacles of current initiatives, suggestions for future RRLCA in rural China have been put forward.