497 research outputs found

    Diffusion of OECD Transfer Pricing Regulations in Eastern Africa: Agency and Compliance in Governing Profit-Shifting Behaviour

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    Eastern African countries have codified transfer pricing regulations in their efforts to ring fence corporate tax revenue against profit shifting by multinational companies. Kenya (in 2006), Uganda (2011) and Rwanda (2020) used the dominant OECD transfer pricing guidelines as a template for reform. The wisdom of this approach for developing countries is contested in academic and civil society literature. According to this view, Western states largely dominate rule-setting procedures, and the costly enforcement of transfer pricing drains the scarce resources of revenue authorities. How can we reconcile the critical perspective in global debates with the roll-out of OECD type transfer pricing regimes on the ground? Case study evidence collected in these countries reveals that policymakers prefer anti-avoidance measures that are widespread and considered global practice. The widespread adoption of OECD transfer pricing norms worldwide gives them a unique compatibility advantage – this allows governments to adopt them as a way to raise public revenue, without compromising their attractiveness to investors. These network externalities are among the powerful lock-in effects that have cemented the position of the OECD guidelines in global tax governance. This study complements this narrative with a more bottom-up perspective. This highlights how domestic coalitions drive support for the OECD framework by mobilising both ideational and economic network effects. From this perspective the OECD rules are still an authoritative focal point for policymakers because interested social groups leverage concern about investor attractiveness. Ideational incentives shape bureaucratic policy advice to OECD standards. Civil society organisations, despite their critical stance towards the OECD guidelines at a global level, did not coalesce around a specific alternative – and instead raised the urgency of increasing public revenue

    Evaluating the impact of public open spaces on the prevalence of lifestyle diseases among the youth living in the Central Business District of eThekwini.

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    Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The advent of industrial revolution created economic opportunities in urban centres. People flocked to the cities in search of economic opportunities to improve their lives. Urbanisation escalated social problems such as overcrowding, poor sanitation, diseases, and pollution in urban centres. With the chaos that followed industrial revolution, city authorities developed comprehensive master plans as instruments to manage social problems and mitigate against the adverse effects of urbanization (Batty & Marshal, 2009). Comprehensive master plans became a planning instrument with which to physically structure city development and to influence how people lived in and interacted with the environment in industrial cities. By adopting master plans, lawmakers assumed that they would solve the many social and physical problems that plagued industrial cities following the industrial revolution (Batchelor, 1969). Elements of comprehensive planning included zoning controls, which proposed the separation of incompatible land uses for the public good. For example, allocating space for residential, recreational, commercial and industrial land uses. It was hoped that, by spatially ordering land uses the negative impacts of overcrowding, pollution and noise levels on city dwellers would be minimised. That, interventions such as zoning controls, would improve the quality of life for urban dwellers (Kostof, 1991; California Law Review, 1921). Zoning enabled affluent urban residents who could commute by car between their homes and the city centre, to live in suburbs. The suburbs were designed with better planned public amenities such as community parks and playgrounds, which played a significant role in promoting a healthy lifestyle in the neighbourhood. Low-income earners and other minority communities resided in the bustling central business district (CBD), which in many instances was afflicted by crime, grime, noise and overcrowding (Thompson,2007). Like the suburbs that enjoyed better amenities, the CBD required similar amenities to make it appealing to city dwellers. The provision and maintenance of social amenities such as squares, parks, gardens, and playgrounds would enable city residents to enjoy a better quality of life. Public open spaces play a positive role in nurturing a healthy lifestyle of a community; they create spaces for social and physical interaction. Places where people live have an impact on human health and well-being. Health-related lifestyles of individuals were likely to be affected by their environment. The living conditions in the urban environment are important to the health and well-being of its people (Lestan, Erzan & Golobic, 2014; World Health Organization, 2013). A passive lifestyle and sedentary behaviour were associated with the prevalence of risk factors such as smoking, excessive alcohol drinking, physical inactivity and unhealthy diets that cause lifestyle diseases among young people living in urban areas (Oosthuizen, Jinabhai, Terblanche & Beck, 2008). The study sought to indicate that public open spaces , as a town planning intervention, can be a catalyst to address the incidence and prevalence of lifestyle diseases among the youth living in eThekwini. The study drew on linkages between the prevalence of lifestyle diseases and the built environment to highlight the spatial dimension as a critical intervention to address health concerns. Also, to highlight the fact that the configuration of space can yield positive or negative outcomes on the incidence and prevalence of lifestyle diseases among the youth. It further sought to highlight that policy interventions on the provision, accessibility and management of public open spaces would encourage their use to reduce the prevalence of lifestyle diseases. The study found that social barriers such crime from homeless people “amaparah”, inaccessibility and distance of public open spaces from places of residence negatively affected the use of the public open spaces by the youth. It further found that behavioural factors such as access to technological devices (television and smartphones) encouraged young people living in the urban core to engage in sedentary lifestyles and deprived themselves of the health benefits associated with being physically active outdoors. The main research question was to evaluate whether policy makers made adequate provision for public open spaces when developing urban regeneration plans. This study hypothesised that configuring the built environment would have positive health outcomes on the health and wellbeing of the youth demographics (age and gender) in the central business district (CBD) of eThekwini

    What are the experiences of supportive care in people affected by brain cancer and their informal caregivers: a qualitative systematic review.

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    To critically synthesise qualitative research to understand experiences of supportive care in people affected by brain cancer and their informal caregivers. A qualitative systematic review was conducted according to the Joanna Briggs methodology and has been reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) Guidelines. Electronic databases were searched by an expert systematic review librarian for all qualitative studies irrespective of research design. All publications were double screened by two reviewers using a pre-determined exclusion and inclusion criteria. The review was managed using Covidence systematic review software. Methodological quality assessment and data extraction were performed. Qualitative findings accompanied by illustrative quotes from included studies were extracted and grouped into categories, which created the overall synthesised findings. A total of 33 studies were included which represented a total sample of 671 participants inclusive of 303 patients and 368 informal caregivers. There was a total of 220 individual findings included in this review, which were synthesised into two findings (1) caregivers and patients perceived supports which would have been helpful and (2) caregiver and patient experiences of unmet supportive care needs. This review highlighted the suffering and distress caused by brain cancer and associated treatments. Both patients and their informal caregivers experienced disconnect from themselves in renegotiating roles, and a profound sense of loneliness as the physical deterioration of the disease progressed. Both patients and informal caregivers reported similar unmet needs within the current service provision for brain cancer. However, what is apparent is that current cancer services are provided solely for patients, with little or no consideration to the support needs of both the patient and their informal caregiver. Service re-design is needed to improve care coordination with individualised informational support, implementation of holistic needs assessments for both the patients and their caregivers, better community support provision, improved opportunities for emotional care with early referral for palliative care services. It is recommended that members of the multidisciplinary brain cancer team reflect on these findings to target holistic needs assessments and develop shared self-management care plans for both the patient and the informal caregiver

    When Congress Passes the Buck: How Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Exposed Flaws in Granting the President Sanctioning Powers

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    The United States (U.S.) Constitution provides few limitations on endowing the Executive Branch with powers to govern foreign trade, which was initially granted to the Legislature. In a world where global trade dominates, the power over foreign trade can be more important than the power over domestic matters. Leaving unrestrained trade authority to the Executive Branch may cause hazards for Americans and foreigners alike. Russia’s war in Ukraine demonstrates the flaws in permitting the Executive Branch to unilaterally sanction foreign states. This Article demonstrates how reactive Executive Branch policies infringed on the welfare and safety of American citizens and foreigners alike

    The Administrative Authority of Belgian Law in the Europe Modern Political’s Perspective

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    This research aims to know that since 1831, the Belgian Constitution allows courts to not apply unlawful administrative acts. This power, established as an obligation by the Supreme Court of Appeal, is called “plea of illegality”, and is guaranteed by Article 159 of the Constitution, which states that “the courts and tribunals shall not apply the provincial and local decrees and general regulations, until they comply with the laws. This research used library/literature research technic. The administrative high court also has the jurisdiction to issue non-binding opinions on the preliminary drafts of regulatory orders of the various federal State governments (federal, regional and community governments). This ex ante review, also carried out with regard to the preliminary drafts of legislative texts, is carried out by the legislative section of the Council of State. In 1991, the Council of State was vested with additional powers as litigants could apply, in summary and interim proceedings, for suspension of the execution of administrative acts, firstly in case of risk of serious irreparable harm, and since 2014, in case of emergency. The result show that last constitutional revision of 2014 tempered the monopoly of the judicial courts in litigation involving civil rights, with the Constitution stipulating that the Council of State has the jurisdiction to rule on the civil effects of its annulment judgments (Const. Art. 144 (2)). It can henceforth award a “restorative allowance” to any litigant who has suffered the effects of the annulled administrative act (consolidated acts on the Council of State, Article 11 bis). It may also indicate the measures to be taken to remedy the illegality sanctioned by its annulment judgments and, if the annulment implies that the authority takes a new decision, it may prescribe a time limit for doing so (consolidated acts, Art 35/1 and 36, 1st)

    Vacated Municipal Buildings – in Search of Strategies for Reactivation

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    As of May 2023 there are 197 vacated municipally owned buildings spread over 96 properties in Oslo. Buildings where the vacancy extends beyond natural phases of transition represent a waste of financial resources and they might also have negative social implications for their local neighbourhoods and surroundings. Further, a neglect of maintenance repeatedly leads vacated buildings to a state of disrepair, and to be replaced by new (and often bigger) construction. Failing to reuse existing buildings and instead rebuilding is not appropriate if the Paris Agreement´s 2030 objectives are to be met. Hence, this study asks how cities can develop strategies to reactivate vacated municipal buildings. To answer this question, the potential impacts of reuse are investigated, significant barriers to reactivate vacated buildings are identified, and tools and approaches for reactivation are explored. The former Munch Museum (Old Munch) has been selected as the case for this study, shedding light on the process of finding new use for a municipally owned purpose-built museum building. The study is designed as an instrumental case study, meaning that Old Munch is used to explore the greater phenomenon of vacancy in Oslo and processes of reactivation. A broad theoretical review has created the basis for one-to-one interviews with different stakeholders involved in the process of reactivating the closed down museum. Further, GIS-, and document analysis have been conducted to elaborate the issue. Three main barriers for building reactivation are identified, namely a substantial maintenance backlog, inflexible legislation and the sector division of municipal real estate management. Both informants and previous research highlight that reactivating vacated buildings is considered to positively impact all three dimensions of sustainable development – social, economic and environmental. Several promising tools and approaches to reactivating vacated buildings are mapped out, but they are considered to have little impact if they are not seen in connection to each other. Further, the complex system framing processes of reactivation calls for better cooperation between various sectors and disciplines – public as well as private. Such a cooperation could be formalized as a dedicated reception centre working operationally and strategically with reactivation, both long-term and temporary. The particular focus on strategical approaches has previously been discussed to a little extent. However, a recently published report (the Audit Office, 2023) highlights the inadequately functioning system that exists today to clarify the future use of empty municipal buildings. This study goes further in suggesting possible and alternative approaches for reactivation. Drawing on this, strategic approaches for reactivation must be put on the agenda – both in the academic and professional field – to be further revised and refined

    The Remote Audit and Information Technology: The impact of Covid-19 Pandemics

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    This study aimed to examine the effect of remote auditing and information technology on audit quality and professional ethics as moderating variables. It used a quantitative method with primary data obtained using a questionnaire. This research uses quantitative methods with primary data obtained through a questionnaire. This research population is auditors working in Public Accounting Firms around DKI Jakarta Province, Indonesia. A sample of 122 respondents was selected from the people using the convenience sampling technique. The results showed that remote auditing and information technology affected audit quality. Auditors work professionally by complying with audit standards to improve the quality of the results. Using information technology with computer-assisted audit techniques appropriately facilitates the auditors' process. The technology also makes data storage more effective and efficient, promoting quality audit work. Auditors should comply with professional ethics appropriate to the code of ethics of the public accounting profession

    On the evaluation of intergroup deviance on individual and group level: “When it is (n)one of us, but all of them.”

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    Crimes perpetrated by migrants and asylum seekers in different European cities sparked debates about the integration of citizens and refugees from predominantly Muslim countries. Media analyses demonstrate that perpetrators’ religion or cultural background are often connected with the deviant acts. However, people punish a deviant ingroup member more harshly compared to an outgroup counterpart for maintaining the positivity of the ingroup, thus expressing the so-called black sheep effect. Considering both the literature on the black sheep effect and the stereotypes towards Muslims as stigmatized outgroup, we tested several characteristics affecting the evaluation of ingroup deviance relying on the coping with ingroup deviance model and beyond. More importantly, we provide empirical tests and results beyond the coping with deviance model, while taking into account victim’s ethnicity as well as group characteristics, and shed light on differential patterns on not only individual deviance level but on cultural level. We provided participants with alleged newspaper articles and asked them to evaluate perpetrators, victims and their cultures depending on the specific Experiment. Across eight experiments (three pre-registered experiments) with a total of N = 4642 participants (analyses sample), we operationalized designs which were complementing each other while examining the robustness of the observed patterns. The first empirical contribution of the present dissertation examined whether German participants rely on (non)stereotypic information categories as interesting information sources to know further about. In line with the biased media representation of foreign perpetrators, participants indicated higher interest towards stereotypic information categories (e.g., religious affiliation, ethnic background) in face of an outgroup than an ingroup (German) perpetrator. As part of the second contribution, we examined the impact of guilt certainty, crime type, and infrahumanization on perpetrator and victim blaming. We observed an interesting shift of blame: the victim was judged more harshly when the perpetrator stemmed from the outgroup. We partly observed the black sheep effect which was independent of guilt certainty. Perpetrators of sexual violence received harsher judgments than perpetrators of property crime. We further expected increased perceptions of humanness (less infrahumanization of the outgroup) coming along with equal judgments of in- and outgroup perpetrators or even outgroup discrimination. This prediction was not confirmed, however, we observed valence differences which were not predicted based on the infrahumanization theory. We further replicated the pattern of manuscript one: participants indicated higher interest towards stereotypic information categories in face of an outgroup than ingroup perpetrator. The third contribution of the present dissertation examined more in depth the shift of blame from the outgroup perpetrator to the ingroup perpetrator and ingroup victim in the context of sexual violence. We further used the dimensions of the stereotype content model for describing the perpetrator further beyond manipulating his ethnicity. We observed the expected black sheep effect. In addition, we observed that warm and competent perpetrators were exonerated compared to their cold and incompetent counterparts. Again, participants judged the victim more harshly when the perpetrator stemmed from the outgroup. Manipulating the victim’s ethnicity indicated the same pattern: ingroup victim blaming when the perpetrator stemmed from the outgroup. Further, the ingroup victim was judged more harshly compared to the outgroup victim. More importantly, besides the judgments of individual level, here we examined attributions of blame towards the culture of the perpetrators and victims. Participants perceived the outgroup culture as more responsible for the deviant act than the ingroup culture. As part of the fourth contribution of the present dissertation, we examined the protection of the ingroup on individual level (black sheep effect) and on cultural terms (exoneration of the ingroup culture). In addition, we tested whether these would be affected by the mere presence of the outgroup (priming), the intergroup context and the degree of the ingroup’s entitativity (high vs. low). We observed robust effects on culture blaming: the ingroup culture was treated more leniently than the outgroup culture. In two out of three experiments, we observed the black sheep effect on individual level which was specifically prevalent when the intergroup context was salient. Priming and ingroup entitativity did not affect the judgments. The present dissertation hints to a shift of blame on individual level from the outgroup perpetrator to the ingroup victim and ingroup perpetrator. However, while one outgroup individual is not judged more harshly the outgroup culture is at stake. This is to the best of our knowledge the first empirical work hinting to ingroup favoritism on both individual and cultural level which may translate to the derogation of the outgroup as a whole. In sum, we recommend differentiating on attributional levels (individual and culture) as the discrepancies observed (individual: ingroup perpetrator ] outgroup perpetrator, cultural: outgroup ] ingroup) have remained hidden in case of examining the judgments only on individual level. Future work may benefit from investigating further the loss of individuality of outgroup deviant members who represent a homogenous culture

    Public libraries as settings for the development of critical health literacy in children.

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    Health literacy enables people to access, understand, appraise, remember and use information about health. Critical health literacy is a domain of health literacy and enables individuals and communities to engage in social and political processes for action on the determinants of health. Promoting critical health literacy early in the life course may contribute to improved health outcomes in the long term. Yet children’s opportunities to develop critical health literacy are limited and tend to be school based. There are recognised barriers to implementing critical health literacy interventions in schools. The aim of this study is to broaden the range of settings based approaches available by exploring the potential role of public libraries as community-based supportive environments for children’s critical health literacy. The study was designed in consultation with a Children’s Advisory Group of eight children. The setting is a public library system in England. The theoretical and methodological framework is institutional ethnography. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 children, and semi-structured text-elicitation interviews were conducted with 19 public library staff and community stakeholders. The data were analysed through the lens of a conceptual model based on the literature. The model provided an organising framework for the data and informed a keywords approach to analysis. The findings show that texts produced by the public library sector refer to health literacy support for local communities as part of the public library service offer, but the library was not perceived as a setting for health, and schools influence the health literacy development opportunities available for children there. Critical health literacy was seen as beyond the remit of the library, although one activity promoting critical health literacy was identified. This activity acknowledged the wider determinants of health, was accessible to children, involved children in how it was run, and facilitated children’s informed action for health. A revised conceptual model is proposed that identifies the necessary conditions, or antecedents, for public libraries to be a supportive environment for children’s critical health literacy development. The revised model situates the public library in a coordinated, multisetting (supersetting) approach with other settings where children spend time, including but not limited to schools. The study advances the theory and application of a supersetting approach to the development of critical health literacy in children and highlights the possibilities of non-traditional settings for health. It also contributes to the ongoing development of institutional ethnography and health literacy research with children
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