Perceptions of Corruption in Ukraine: Are They Correct?

This paper discusses the issue of perceptions and their influence on economic processes focusing on corruption perception. The higher the perceived corruption in an organization is, the more probable it is that a person dealing with that organization would offer a bribe, thus supporting corruption. Since corruption perceptions are rarely based on actual experience, they might describe reality inadequately. In this case the sources of corruption perceptions might facilitate or diminish the actual corruption level. This paper provides an empirical analysis of the association between corruption perception and the willingness to give bribes as well as the influence of different sources of corruption on corruption perception in Ukraine.corruption perceptions; corruption; simultaneous system estimation

Entry Restrictions, Corruption and Extortion in the Context of Transition

This paper argues that even temporary barriers to entry present at the very beginning of transition may lead to permanent extortion development. Entry restrictions, if binding, lead to excess profits, which create an incentive to extort. The emergence of extortionists reduces the expected profit from production, making producers expect extortion in the future. If, after this adaptation of expectations, the government removes the barriers to entry, only a few new firms will enter the market. Hence, the total number of firms on the market is lower than it would have been with no barriers to entry. The low number of firms on the market allows each producer to earn relatively high pre- extortion profits, which reinforces the desire of racketeers to take part of their wealth. Consequently, part of the population is permanently diverted from production to rent-seeking activities, which may slow down economic growth, even in the long run.Corruption, extortion, transition

Entry Restrictions, Corruption and Extortion in the Context of Transition

This paper argues that even temporary barriers to entry present at the very beginning of transition may lead to permanent extortion development. Entry restrictions, if binding, lead to excess profits, which create an incentive to extort. The emergence of extortionists reduces the expected profit from production, making producers expect extortion in the future. If, after this adaptation of expectations, the government removes the barriers to entry, only a few new firms will enter the market. Hence, the total number of firms on the market is lower than it would have been with no barriers to entry. The low number of firms on the market allows each producer to earn relatively high pre-extortion profits, which reinforces the desire of racketeers to take part of their wealth. Consequently, part of the population is permanently diverted from production to rent-seeking activities, which may slow down economic growth, even in the long run.corruption; extortion; transition

Creativity, emergence of novelty, and spontaneous symmetry breaking

The philosophy of mind concerns much about how novelty occurs in the world. The very recent progress in this field inspired by quantum mechanics indicates that symmetry restoration occurs in the mind at the moment when new creative thought arises. Symmetry restoration denotes the moment when one’s cognition leaves ordinary internalized mental schemes such as conceptual categories, heuristics, subjective theories, conventional thinking, or expectations. At this moment, fundamentally new, original thought may arise. We also predict that in older age, symmetry restoration is less likely to occur as internalized mental schemes become more rigid in the elderly. Furthermore, the present study demonstrates that symmetry restoration may occur not only individually, in one’s mind, but also collectively, during collaborative creative activities, e.g. during small-group brainstorming sessions or creative improvisational performances. The possibility of collective symmetry restoration interacts well with the ideas in the field of relational ontology. Relational ontology highlights an important ontological role of relations. The ontological primacy is not given to individual entities, as in traditional metaphysics, but to relational structures and transformative relational processes (interactions). When accepting this assumption, we cannot imagine the situation when the actor’s mind could act absolutely independently and leave all of its relations as assumed in the compatibilist theory of free will. We argue that creative free action can be performed even in the case when the actor is entangled within their material, environmental, and social relational structures

The predictive power of environmental concern, perceived behavioral control and social norms in shaping pro-environmental intentions: a multicountry study

Pro-environmental intentions encourage individuals to make conscious decisions that help protect the environment, reduce waste, conserve resources, and preserve natural habitats. This study aims to assess the predictive power of environmental concern, perceived behavioral control and social norms in determining the pro-environmental intentions in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) framework. Methodologically we rely on Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), applied to the survey study among 2,702 university students majoring in economics, finance, management, or marketing from Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Spain. The results show that the model explained 51% of the total variance of pro-environmental intentions, with the predictive power of environmental concern and perceived behavioral control at 42% and 45%, respectively, and social norms at only 6% (out of total 51% of explanatory power). The implications of our results suggest a major focus on increasing environmental concern and perceived behavioral control in behavioral interventions to support pro-environmental behavior. The effectiveness of social pressure produced by injunctive social norms proved limited. The cross-country differences were not statistically significant. More research must be done to study the relative effect of injunctive and descriptive social norms on pro-environmental behavior

Sustainability of State Budgetary Expenses: Tax Compliance of Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Groups—The Evidence from the Czech Republic

In the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, the long-term sustainability of state budgetary expenses is intimately connected to tax compliance. The new solidarity tax is one of the policies designed to help. In the Czech Republic, solidarity tax, introduced in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008–2009, is still levied. This paper studies the tax compliance of different income groups in the presence of solidarity tax. Most existing studies suggest declining tax compliance with income, though others found the opposite. This paper argues that the association of tax compliance with income is more complex. This paper assesses tax compliance as related to income in a continuous setting and by comparing income groups employing a large sample from the Czech Republic (N = 1811, 60.6% female, aged 18–82, M ± SD: 51.3 ± 17.2; 19.3% with higher education). Methodologically we rely on ANOVA analyses with post-hoc tests, correlations, and ordinal regressions. We find that the associations of income and tax compliance of linear, quadratic, shift position, and slope were not statistically significant if controlling for age, gender, and education. The ethical acceptability of cheating on tax is the lowest in the middle-income group, presenting 33% of the sample. The lowest and the highest income group show more ethical flexibility in claiming state benefits if not entitled. The paper presents interesting ideas for policymakers on the tax behavior of different income groups

The Effects of Solidarity, Income, and Reliance on the State on Personal Income Tax Preferences. The Case of the Czech Republic

The current increase in government spending, caused by COVID epidemics and the increasing visibility of leftist political groups in public media, emphasizes the short-term need for sustainable income taxation. In the long run, rising inequality worldwide makes taxation of high-incomes indispensable for sustainable economic development. This paper empirically studies public attitudes on taxation related to income, preferences for solidarity vs. individual performance, and reliance on the state in the Czech Republic. In this Eastern European country, the dichotomies above bear even more importance due to the communist past. We apply the hierarchical regression analysis with smoothing spline transformations to a representative sample of public opinion data (N = 1104, aged 15–95 years, M ± SD: 47.74 ± 17.39; 51.2% women, 18.50% with higher education). The results suggest that income was associated with the perception that taxes for the rich are inadequately high but was unrelated to perceptions of tax adequacy for average and poor groups of respondents. Higher solidarity and reliance on the state were associated with the desire to increase taxation of high-incomes and decrease taxation of poor income groups. Surprisingly, the reliance on the state was associated with a desire to decrease taxation of average-incomes and total taxation while increasing tax progressivity. Preferences for solidarity were associated with higher preferred overall taxation and more tax progressivity. The explanatory powers of preferences for solidarity and reliance on the state in explaining the variation in tax preferences are at least equivalent and, in some cases, twice as large as the explanatory power of the age, gender, education, and income altogether. The results above present new mechanisms that can contribute to sustainable endogenous economic development

The impact of regional tax legislation on strengthening the economic security of enterprises and sustainable development of territories (on the example of the Sverdlovsk region)

The gist of this article boils down to the analysis of legislative norms in the field of taxation, allowing the regions to ensure tax maneuver in relation to tax collection and, accordingly, to ensure economic growth. At the same time, both the norms of the Federal legislation, which allow regional authorities to establish tax rates and benefits, and the assessment of these opportunities, are disclosed on the example of the Sverdlovsk region. The possibilities of applying reduced tax rates and the use of investment tax deduction for corporate income tax, establishing differentiated rates and tax benefits for corporate property tax, criteria for the right to preferential taxation with a single tax levied in connection with the application of a simplified taxation system and other features of the regional tax legislation in relation to taxes credited to the budgets of the Subjects of the Federation. The problems of tax legislation that hinder the strengthening of the economic security of economic entities and, accordingly, the development of territories, as well as recommendations that allow increasing the efficiency of regional taxation and ensuring sustainable development of the Ural region are identified

The power of negative thinking: corruption, perception and willingness to bribe in Ukraine

This study provides an empirical analysis of the association between corruption perception and the willingness to offer bribes, as well as of the influence of different sources of information on corruption perception in the Ukraine. The higher the perceived corruption in an organization, the more probable it is that a person dealing with that organization will offer a bribe, therefore supporting corruption. Since corruption scandals in Ukraine seldom result in legal action, information about corruption in the mass media might actually encourage people to give bribes. This study found that corruption perception is one of the key factors in giving a bribe and that its positive/negative effects strongly depend on institutions and government policies.