Tax System and Redistribution: the Spanish Fiscal Transition (1960-1990)

La tesis analiza el sistema fiscal español entre los años 1960 y 1990, con especial atención a los aspectos de progresividad y redistribución, y a la evolución de la desigualdad en el periodo. Se estudian las reformas impositivas que tuvieron lugar durante la transición a la democracia, realizando una evaluación cuantitativa de sus efectos. Debido a la larga dictadura sufrida por el país entre 1936/39 y 1976, España mantuvo durante casi todo el siglo XX las formas fiscales tradicionales del sistema liberal decimonónico: los impuestos eran bajos, regresivos e ineficientes, y las raíces del estado del bienestar se mantuvieron subdesarrolladas. Con el retorno de la democracia, pronto se impulsó una reforma con los objetivos de hacer el sistema progresivo, eficiente y capaz de generar mayor recaudación, cuyas novedades principales fueron la introducción del impuesto sobre la renta (1979) y del IVA (1986). Pero durante las siguientes décadas, las cotizaciones sociales siguieron siendo la fuente principal de ingresos públicos, y la alta evasión fiscal se mantuvo como uno de los grandes problemas no resueltos. ¿Cuál fue el efecto neto de todo ello? La mayoría de la tesis es de carácter empírico, basándose en datos de Encuestas de Presupuestos Familiares y estadísticas de recaudación fiscal, que reciben un tratamiento crítico. Se realizan diversas propuestas metodológicas, para el ajuste por infra-declaración de los datos de encuesta y la estimación del fraude en base a declaraciones fiscales. Los resultados principales son una considerable persistencia en los niveles de desigualdad, el mantenimiento de la regresividad del sistema impositivo, y el fuerte impacto negativo del fraude en el impuesto sobre la renta. Los niveles de redistribución total del sistema de impuestos y transferencias alcanzados en España durante el periodo no alcanzaron la convergencia con los de otros países occidentales. Se concluye que las demandas de imposición progresiva se vieron constreñidas tanto por las instituciones políticas nacionales como por un nuevo contexto internacional, donde la combinación de bajo crecimiento, apertura económica y teoría neo-liberal hizo los impuestos progresivos más difíciles de defender e implementar. Ello, a su vez, limitó la capacidad redistributiva del presupuesto.This thesis analyses the Spanish tax system between 1960 and 1990, with special attention to the developments in progressivity, redistribution and inequality. It addresses the reforms that took place during the transition to democracy, providing a quantitative joint assessment which was missing in the literature. Because of the long dictatorship suffered by the country between 1936/39 and 1976, Spain was a laggard in abandoning the traditional liberal forms of taxation in favour of 20th century tax ideas. Taxes were low, regressive and inefficient during these decades, and the welfare state seeds were kept underdeveloped. During the sixties, public finance scholars envisaged the introduction of the 'European' model, but such a reform could not make it through under Francoism. As democracy returned, the new government soon passed several tax measures which meant to make the system progressive, efficient and able to raise higher revenue. This would bring the country into convergence with its European neighbours, allowing integration in the European Economic Community and the development of a modern welfare state. The main milestones were the introduction of a personal income tax (1979) and a value added tax (1986). But, during the following decades, social contributions kept being the single most important public revenue source, and high tax evasion persisted as one of the main unresolved problems signalled by experts. These elements sustain the initial hypothesis of a proportional or still regressive tax system after the reforms — which would contradict simple political economy models in the literature, were democratization redistributes political and economic power. Our guiding research questions thus are: Did the tax system become (more) progressive? Did it reduce income inequality in the country? And what was the evolution of tax evasion and its incidence on different income levels? The empirical work is mainly based on Household Budget Surveys, tax revenue data and statistics of tax burden distribution, which are critically treated and adjusted. Methodological innovations include a proposal for correction of biases in household survey data and an addition to Feldman and Slemrod (2007)'s method for estimating fraud in different income sources, by introducing a correction for sample selection. The calculations of the distribution of the tax burden underline the joint consideration of total taxation, including consumption taxes, which are often neglected in related work. The main results of the thesis are a considerable persistence in inequality levels (contrary to theoretical expectations and the conclusions of previous literature), the negative impact of taxation on the income distribution still after the reforms (while funding progressive social expenditure), and the severe and regressive incidence of tax evasion and base voidening in the personal income tax. The levels of tax-and-transfer redistribution attained in Spain throughout this period did not converge to those of other western countries. The author's interpretation concludes that demands for progressive taxation were constrained by both domestic political institutions –with a bias for representation of center-right interests–, and a new international political economy. The combination of sluggish growth, economic openness and neo-liberal theory made progressive taxes harder to defend and implement. This, in turn, limited the state’s redistributive capacity. To some extent, this story might also fit other countries in the European periphery, adding a new category to the international discussion on regressive taxation and welfare state development. Welfare state laggards initially resorted to similar strategies to those used earlier by the leaders. But lower revenue from personal taxes, higher levels of inequality, and slow growth impeded the establishment of highly redistributive tax-and-transfer systems

Col·leccions singulars a les biblioteques de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Les biblioteques de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona són, com la mateixa institució, entitats amb una història curta; però, malgrat que van començar la seva activitat fa menys de cinquanta anys, els seus fons han assolit una importància considerable i superen en quantitat els de moltes universitats centenàries del nostre context. Les col·leccions de fons antics de les biblioteques de la UAB són, per aquesta mateixa raó, limitades, si bé se n'han anat creant algunes d'especialitzades d'importància i valor singulars. Aquest llibre pretén donar-les a conèixer al món universitari, però també al públic en general. Moltes són col·leccions úniques, fruit del treball persistent del personal bibliotecari, del professorat i de la generositat de moltes persones particulars, que han donat o llegat a la nostra universitat els seus arxius, les seves biblioteques personals o les seves col·leccions especialitzades. Aquestes col·leccions comprenen molts àmbits de les ciències i de les humanitats i, molt sovint, es tracta de col·leccions úniques al nostre país. Hi trobareu també un ampli ventall de tipologies documentals en llengües diverses, des dels mapes fins als audiovisuals, des de les revistes i diaris fins als cartells, des dels fons antics fins als més actuals, arxius personals i fons institucionals. Les biblioteques de la Universitat, a més d'inventariar i catalogar aquests fons documentals, també porten a terme una tasca constant de preservació i difusió, que sovint inclou la digitalització dels documents, que després es posen a l'abast del públic general mitjançant el dipòsit digital institucional (ddd.uab.cat)

The Domination of the English Language in the Global Village: Efforts to Further Develop the Internet By Populating It With Non-Latin-Based Languages

At the top of the homepage of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a choice of nine different languages in which to read information about the organization; four of them are languages written in non-Latin script (Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Russian). Clicking upon any of the language options brings the reader to a new website in that language and, presuming the reader has a computer and screen that can handle non-Latin script, the webpage reads legibly and clearly. The Uniform Resource Locator (URL), however, still reads in Latin script despite the webpage’s content being in a foreign script. This article will examine the current state of affairs in policy-oriented Internet realms and suggest that the cohesive development of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), which are domain names in character sets other than American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII), is a critical step to take in order to more fully utilize the potential the Internet offers for international communication

Using Architectural Constraints and Game Theory to Regulate International Cyberspace Behavior

The debate over whether cyberspace can or should be regulated is essentially dead. This is the conclusion being taught in law schools today. The battle between Judge Frank Easterbrook and Professor Lawrence Lessig over laws and horses , infamous among cyberspace legal scholars, became irrelevant when geographically-based governments began regulating Internet related activities. However, debate over how the Internet should be regulated continues. One way of framing this debate is in terms of deciding how to regulate behavior in cyberspace. Professor Lessig postulated four kinds of constraints regulate behavior: (1) social norms, (2) markets, (3) law, and (4) architecture. This comment first argues that lawmakers must focus on using the fourth constraint-architecture-if an interconnected global, democratic society is truly an international goal. Second, this comment argues that, in focusing on architectural constraint, game theory is a uniquely appropriate tool for analyzing Internet issues and developing Internet laws

Space Cops and Cyber Cowboys: An Institutional Comparison of the Governance of Space Exploration and the Internet

A growing concern for human society is the question of technology, how they are to be used and how can they best be governed. The very question of whether technology is governable remains for the most part unexplored. This work will seek to examine these important questions. By utilizing a historical institutional perspective, two case studies of the governance of technologies that have emerged in the last century will be explored. Space Exploration technologies and the advanced networking of computers known as the Internet will serve as the case to illuminate the question of governing technology. Deep qualitative functional analysis of both the primary and peripheral institutions will provide insight into how technology is governed in theory and in practice, as well as how institutions are created and change over time. By moving beyond questions of governance for states and societies, this work will attempt to contribute to the literature of political science as the study of governance broadly speaking. This work will contribute to and speak to newer works on the governance of non-explicitly political realms, as opposed to more traditional approaches to the study of governance, perhaps allowing new insight and avenues of research into both the question of technology and governance more broadly. Distinct policy prescriptions will be created to both better govern these particular technologies as well as lay the foundation for effective institutional governance of technologies in the future

An analysis of the role of civil society in building peace in ethno-religious conflict: A case study of the three southernmost provinces of Thailand

The ‘Southern Fire’ is an ethno-religious conflict in the southernmost region of Thailand that has claimed thousands of innocent lives since an upsurge in violence in 2004. Although it does not catch the world’s attention as much as other conflict cases in the same region, daily violent incidents are ongoing for more than a decade. The violence in the south has multiple causes including historical concerns, economic marginalisation, political and social issues, religious and cultural differences, educational opportunity inequities, and judicial discrimination. According to a framework for conflict resolution, for Thailand’s case, the state’s policy alone could not resolve the conflict as it focused mainly on implementing a ‘peacekeeping’ strategy by increasing the number of security forces and pursuing a ‘peacemaking’ strategy via peace talks. However, to create lasting peace in this region, civil society actors need to be involved in a ‘peacebuilding’ strategy in order to keep the balance of socio-economic structures and prevent violence from happening again. More than a hundred civil society groups are involved in attempting to build peace in the southernmost provinces. Since the resurgence of violence, some civil society groups have accumulated their experiences and played significant roles in the area. These groups have become a strong network which could reduce the tensions in this region. The research aims to promote the civil society sector as a tool of a non-violent approach; to study the role of the civil society sector in building peace in the southernmost provinces; and to strengthen civil society groups attempting to find a solution to the insurgent problem. This research used the qualitative method employing in-depth interviews and documentary research. The data was collected through person-to-person interviews with representatives of twenty-nine civil society groups. This research examines the role of the civil society sector in building peace in southern region; the efficacy of civil society groups; the problems of civil society groups active in the south; and puts forward recommendations on how to improve the work of the civil society groups. One of the main findings was that bridge-builder, academic and relief worker are the most significant roles civil society groups play. The efficacy of the civil society sector in peacebuilding in the deep south shows that it has the potential to grow. It has a number of strong internal factors and many external opportunities that can increase capabilities and help the groups to perform better. There are, however, four important problems including human resources, time management, influence from funding sources, and political and safety issues, which can have a serious impact on the civil society sector. The three key recommendations that can help to enhance the performance of civil society groups are building trust in the communities, understanding the needs of the locals, and working with a clear strategy. This research concludes that the civil society sector plays various roles in attempting to create peace in this region. Together with other actors, the civil society sector can be an important part of the effort to reduce the violence and can play a major role in building sustainable peace in southern Thailand when the violence eventually stops

A report on the global effects of internet fragmentation

The Internet since its conception has been revolutionizing the way people think, do business and communicate (FCC, 2013). Hostility to the current multistakeholder Internet governance model in the geopolitical environment has been a significant contributor to the reconfiguration of the Internet’s openness. A potential result of these tensions is Internet fragmentation (Chadwick, 2009; BBC, 2005; Arthur, 2012). Internet fragmentation is a rising concern globally mainly due to issues regarding the control of the Internet. This topic is being discussed at international summits and conferences, and a possible fragmentation of the Internet is becoming a reality. Governments, global businesses and other stakeholders have diverse and conflicting viewpoints on how the Internet should be governed. The main governing body of the Internet, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), has raised awareness of this issue in order to protect this open source of free flowing information. They have commissioned a team of students from the University of Greenwich in the MA/MBA International Business programme to conduct exploratory research to understand the potential impact of Internet fragmentation on the current structure of stakeholder authority. This project consists of four parts: An analysis of the social and political effects of fragmentation; an analysis of the effects of fragmentation on international trade through blockmodeling; Internet Fragmentation and its influence on global trade through interpretive analysis; and an assessment of the impact of Internet fragmentation on international business operations

Pathways for Irregular Forces in Southeast Asia

An exploration of the roles that pro- and anti-government militias, private armed groups, vigilantes, and gangs play in local communities in the new democracies of Southeast Asia. Scholars have typically characterized irregular forces as spoilers and infiltrators in post-conflict peacebuilding processes. The contributors to this book challenge this conventional understanding of irregular forces in Southeast Asia, demonstrating that they often attract solid support from civilians and can be major contributors to the building of local security — a process by which local residents, in the absence of an effective police force, develop, partner or are at least included in the management of community crimes and other violence. They analyze irregular forces’ dealings with political actors at the community level, explaining why and how forces are incorporated in and collaborate with legitimate institutions without using violence against them. Offering a new approach to dealing with irregular forces in Southeast Asia, contributors explore new theoretical frameworks that are better suited for evaluating irregular forces’ relationship to different security providers and the political environments in the region. Specifically, they examine case studies from Indonesia, Timor-Leste, the Philippines, and Thailand. A valuable resource for researchers, students and practitioners in the areas of conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and security governance, especially those with a focus on Southeast Asia. This book will also be of great interest to scholars of the sociology and anthropology of the region

Information Management in Communication

The history of books, libraries, catalogues and the first archives. Typology of information resources and retrieval methods associated to them. A recollection of resources especially meant for students and professionals in the area of Advertising and Public Relations

ADDRESSING THE ULTIMATE FORM OF CYBERSECURITY CONTROL, A MULTIPLE CASE STUDY FOR THE ‘INTERNET KILL SWITCH’

The Internet has proved its capacity to defy the nation-states’ traditional borders. Facing this circumstance, governments became eager to control its infrastructure, as they did in the past with other forms of communication and they have attempted to shut down the Internet in several occasions. Academics and non-governmental organizations have focused their attention on authoritarian regimes because of the impact of Internet shutdowns on human rights. However, this extreme action of government control has also been part of the debate in non-authoritarian regimes. Thus, this dissertation contributes to the academic debate by analyzing democratic and hybrid regimes, their political discourse and concrete actions to shut down the Internet or to consider doing it. This process starts by questioning the traditional belief that democratic governments, self-defenders of the freedom as a human right, would not consider shutting down the Internet. This dissertation is an exploratory study of the rhetoric and actual factors that enable democratic and hybrid regimes to shut down the Internet or consider doing it as part of their national security strategy. This project started by adopting a definition of what an Internet shutdown is, the government attempt to stop all Internet activity within the borders of its nation-state, also known as Internet Kill Switch . The research design for this project carries an online data collection and a comparative case study to answer the research questions that drive this dissertation. Data collection included reputable sources and a triangulation process for validity purposes. The process of online data collection started by developing an inclusion and exclusion criteria to select the case studies. Using the theoretical framework of the Securitization theory of the Copenhagen School, this study identified the arguments democratic, and hybrid regimes use to justify shutting down the Internet. At the same time, this project determined the audiences they try to address and what they understand as a national security situation. Case studies include three well-consolidated democracies, U.S., U.K. and Australia, and two hybrid regimes, Russia and Venezuela. These nation-states were involved in an Internet shutdown, or their governments considered doing it under different circumstances. To identify the political, legal and technical factors that enable a democratic and hybrid regime to shut down the Internet, this project determined specific variables to analyze. For comparative purposes, this project also incorporated two-young-democracies, Brazil and Mexico, and one hybrid regime, Turkey. These last three governments never shut down the Internet and did not consider doing it. From the comparison between regimes politically similar, this research identified similarities and differences in the factors that enable a government to shut down the Internet. The second contribution comes from a conceptual point of view, by clarifying the differences between terms. In this regard, this study challenges the assimilation of shutting down the entire Internet with censorship episodes as if they were equal practices. Finally, from an academic point of view, this dissertation determined that there are no substantial differences between the rhetoric and political, legal and technical factors that enable democratic and hybrid regimes to shut down the Internet