246,393 research outputs found
Audit Information Dissemination, Taxpayer Communication, and Compliance Behavior
Taxpayer audits are a central feature of the voluntary compliance system in the United States federal individual income tax. Audits are thought to have a direct deterrent effect on the individuals actually audited. Audits are also believed to have an indirect deterrent effect on individuals not audited, and in fact there is some empirical evidence that audit rates affect compliance beyond the audited individuals themselves. However, empirical studies cannot measure or control for taxpayer awareness of audit risk, and they also cannot uncover the behavioral channels through which the direct and indirect effects operate; that is, the ways in which taxpayers learn about - and communicate among themselves - audit rates, and the subsequent effects on compliance, are not known and cannot be discovered by empirical studies. In this study, we use laboratory experiments to examine several types of information dissemination and taxpayer communication about audit frequency and audit results. These experiments allow us to test hypotheses about the effects of two types of communication of audit policies and results, in order to explore the direct and the indirect effects of audits: "official" information disseminated by the "government" (e.g., the experimenter) and "unofficial", or informal, communications among "taxpayers" (e.g., the subjects). Our results indicate that "unofficial" communications have a strong indirect effect on compliance: messages that indicate that a subject was not audited or was able to cheat actually reduce compliance, while messages that a subject was audited or paid his or her taxes increase compliance. Also, "official" announcements of information may not always encourage voluntary compliance. Working Paper 06-4
Stronger Partnerships for Safer Food: An Agenda for Strengthening State and Local Roles in the Nation's Food Safety System
Examines federal, state, and local agencies' responsibilities, strengths, and weaknesses in ensuring food safety. Recommends systemwide reforms to enhance state and local roles and improve surveillance, outbreak response, and regulation and inspection
Intersectoral collaboration in a One Health approach: Lessons learned from a country-level simulation exercise
SimEx Portuguese Team (alphabetical order):
Ângela Pista (National Reference Laboratory for Gastrointestinal Infections, Department of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Lisbon, Portugal); João Vieira Martins (Directorate of Information and Analysis, Directorate-General of Health, Lisbon, Portugal); Lurdes Clemente (National Reference Laboratory for Animal Health, Laboratory of Bacteriology and Mycology, National Institute of Agrarian and Veterinary Research, Oeiras, Portugal); Nuno Santos Rodrigues (Public Health Unit of ACES South West, Regional Health Administration of Lisbon and Tagus Valley, Portugal); Paula Vasconcelos (Support Unit of National Health Authority and the Emergency Management in Public Health, Public Health Emergencies Operations Centre, Directorate-General of Health, Lisbon, Portugal); Pedro Nabais (Food Risks Unit, Economic and Food Safety Authority, Lisbon, Portugal); Renata Carvalho (Animal Health and Epidemiology Division, Directorate-General for Food and Veterinary).Intersectoral collaboration is an essential component of the One Health (OH) approach, which recognises the interconnectedness of the health of humans, animals, and the environment. The OH European Joint Programme (OHEJP) developed a national foodborne outbreak table-top simulation exercise (SimEx) to practice OH capacity and interoperability across the public health, animal health, and food safety sectors, improving OH preparedness for future disease outbreaks. The Portuguese OHEJP SimEx highlighted strengths and weaknesses regarding the roles and functions of available systems, the constraints of existing legislation, the importance of harmonisation and data sharing, and the creation of common main messages adapted to each target sector. However, there is still a long way to go to ensure cooperation among the Public Health, Animal Health, and Food Safety sectors, as a OH approach relies not only on the awareness of "field experts" but also on political and organisational willingness and commitment.Highlights: - Intersectoral collaboration is an essential component of the One Health approach. - Skilled entities engaged in the system, but lack intersectoral communication. - Need of One Health join national multisectoral guidelines and common databases. - One Health approach needs political and organisational willingness and commitment.This work was supported by funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under grant agreement No 773830: One Health European Joint Programme.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Building the Science Foundation of a Modern Food Safety System: Lessons From Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom on Creating a More Coordinated and Integrated Approach to Food Safety Information
Examines how food safety reforms in three countries and the European Union affected data collection and analysis, coordination and integrated approaches, and use of data for prevention. Makes recommendations for U.S. programs, policies, and activities
"Even if the test result is negative, they should be able to tell us what is wrong with us": a qualitative study of patient expectations of rapid diagnostic tests for malaria.
BACKGROUND: The debate on rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for malaria has begun to shift from whether RDTs should be used, to how and under what circumstances their use can be optimized. This has increased the need for a better understanding of the complexities surrounding the role of RDTs in appropriate treatment of fever. Studies have focused on clinician practices, but few have sought to understand patient perspectives, beyond notions of acceptability. METHODS: This qualitative study aimed to explore patient and caregiver perceptions and experiences of RDTs following a trial to assess the introduction of the tests into routine clinical care at four health facilities in one district in Ghana. Six focus group discussions and one in-depth interview were carried out with those who had received an RDT with a negative test result. RESULTS: Patients had high expectations of RDTs. They welcomed the tests as aiding clinical diagnoses and as tools that could communicate their problem better than they could, verbally. However, respondents also believed the tests could identify any cause of illness, beyond malaria. Experiences of patients suggested that RDTs were adopted into an existing system where patients are both physically and intellectually removed from diagnostic processes and where clinicians retain authority that supersedes tests and their results. In this situation, patients did not feel able to articulate a demand for test-driven diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Improvements in communication between the health worker and patient, particularly to explain the capabilities of the test and management of RDT negative cases, may both manage patient expectations and promote patient demand for test-driven diagnoses
Social Interaction and R & D Project Performance
[Excerpt] The purpose of this working paper is to present some initial findings from research currently being conducted on the effect of informal structures of communication and interaction on the product development process. The general hypothesis of the study is that higher levels of communication are associated with more effective working relationships among the different functional groups working on product innovation. The first part of this paper will review previous work in the area. Part II develops the questions of the current study. Part III outlines the methods used to address the research questions. Part IV presents the results from an initial pilot study performed within one organization. The final section discusses these results in terms of their implications for the management of innovation
Setting an integrated soil monitoring system for Malta : strategy, feasibility and recommendations
Chapter 6Since 2010, MEPA has embarked on a project (which attracted co-funded ERDF
assistance) (1) to develop a multi-thematic environment strategy that would lead to
updating of its data/ information monitoring capabilities for a number of environmental
sectors. The monitoring and continuous evaluation of soil properties is one important
sector within this project. Essentially, a multi-criterion assessment of existing available
information has been carried out with a view to objectively chart the most appropriate
process to carry out a pilot field sampling by testing a pre-agreed set of indicators. The
latter were established after taking into consideration all degradation pressures threatening
the continued sustainability of this resource.
Multi-criterion analysis was carried out by means of a limited set of soil-related
datasets published in past editions of Malta’s State of the Environment Report in order
to support a number of objectives stipulated within the Project’s ambitious Terms of
Reference. Information was derived from earlier attempts to establish a soil information
system for Malta.
All soil degradation threats, officially determined by the European Commission’s
Technical Working Groups, have been taken into consideration within the aforementioned
project and its research methodology with a view of establishing a shared GIS environment
in accordance with state-of-the-art information dissemination standards.peer-reviewe
- …