Tax Incentives and Household Portfolios: A Panel Data Analysis

This paper investigates the responsiveness of household portfolios to tax incentives by exploiting a substantial tax reform that altered after-tax returns and cost of debt for a large number of households. An extraordinary panel data set that covers two years before and after the reform is used for the analysis. Our empirical findings suggest that households reshuffle their balance sheets in the case of a partial deductibility phase-out. In particular, heavily taxed,interest-bearing assets are used to pay off mortgage debt. Furthermore, we find that taxes have a significant impact on the structure of household portfolios even after controlling for unobserved heterogeneity.household portfolios; taxation; panel data; natural experiment

Tax Incentives and Household Portfolios: A Panel Data Analysis

This paper investigates the responsiveness of household portfolios to tax incentives by exploiting a substantial tax reform that altered after-tax returns and cost of debt for a large number of households. An extraordinary panel data set that covers two years before and after the reform is used for the analysis. Our empirical findings suggest that households reshuffle their balance sheets in the case of a partial deductibility phase-out. In particular, heavily taxed, interest-bearing assets are used to pay off mortgage debt. Furthermore, we find that taxes have a significant impact on the structure of household portfolios even after controlling for unobserved heterogeneity.Household portfolios, taxation, panel data, natural experiment

The genetic conception of health: is it as radical as claimed?

The so-called new genetics is widely predicted to radically transform medicine and public health and deliver considerable benefits in the future. This article argues that, although it is doubtful that many of the promised benefits of genetic research will be delivered, an increasingly pervasive genetic worldview and expectations about future genetic innovations are profoundly shaping conceptions of health and illness and priorities in healthcare. Further, it suggests that debates about the normative and justice implications of new genetic technologies thus far have been constrained by bioethics discourse, which has tended to frame questions narrowly in terms of how best to ensure the protection and promotion of the rights and freedoms of the individual. Sociologists and other social scientists can help broaden debate in this field by exposing the assumptions underlying the genetic conception of health and exploring the implications of associated developments

The proposed WHO Pandemic Agreement: Ambitious progress or business as usual?

The World Health Organization (WHO)’s  proposal for a Pandemic Agreement, released in April 2024, at first blush, seems laudable (WHO 2024a). The failure of governments to coordinate a response to COVID-19, as implored by the WHO and the United Nations (UN) at the beginning of the pandemic, underlines the urgent need for reform in the global governance of pandemics. This editorial considers: how has the Agreement progressed to date? And will it adequately prepare societies to tackle future pandemics

Tutte polynomial in knot theory

This thesis reviews the history of knot theory with an emphasis on the diagrammatic approach to studying knots. Also covered are the basic concepts and notions of graph theory and how these two fields are related with an example of a knot diagram and how to associate it to a graph

Influence of Soil Compaction on Nitrogen Volatilization in a Management Intensive Grazing System: Estimation of Gaseous N Losses Using Mass Balance in Intact Soil Cores

Increasing concern about the environmental impacts of greenhouse gases and PM 2.5 particulates has prompted many researchers to examine the processes of gaseous loss of nitrogen (N) from agricultural land. As agricultural production becomes more competitive and producers strive to become more efficient by reducing input costs, they will increasingly employ practices such as the rotational stocking, also called Management Intensive Grazing (MIG). MIG utilizes high animal stocking rates for short periods of time to efficiently harvest pasture crops. Unfortunately, MIG also produces relatively high concentrations of livestock excreta. This has caused intensive grazing practices to become a focal point of research concerning gaseous losses of N

Estimation of panel data regression models with two-sided censoring or truncation

This paper constructs estimators for panel data regression models with individual specific heterogeneity and two-sided censoring and truncation. Following Powell (1986) the estimation strategy is based on moment conditions constructed from re-censored or re-truncated residuals. While these moment conditions do not identify the parameter of interest, they can be used to motivate objective functions that do. We apply one of the estimators to study the effect of a Danish tax reform on household portfolio choice. The idea behind the estimators can also be used in a cross sectional setting.Regression analysis

The Importance of Reliable Information Sources for Prospective Medical Travellers

Expectations of completing PhDs for job readiness, are increasing. Information Systems (IS) PhDs face the challenge of appreciating the multidisciplinary and multi-paradigmatic diversity of the discipline, demanding a breadth of knowledge beyond that expected in many other disciplines. In addition, PhD students in Australian universities are constrained to a 3+ year enrolment, as compared for example, to the more common 4 and 5 year enrolments in North American universities. These demands require that IS PhD students in Australia be synergistic in their choice of activities during enrolment. With the aim of maximizing the value of the PhD experience, the study reported herein explores synergy between research and teaching. More specifically, this research-in-progress (RIP) paper reports a programme design for training PhD students, from involvement as supervisors of coursework Masters students’ research projects