Patterns of geohelminth infection, impact of albendazole treatment and re-infection after treatment in schoolchildren from rural KwaZulu-Natal/South-Africa

BACKGROUND: Geohelminth infection is a major health problem of children from rural areas of developing countries. In an attempt to reduce this burden, the Department of Health of the province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) established in 1998 a programme for helminth control that aimed at regularly treating primary school children for schistosomiasis and intestinal helminths. This article describes the baseline situation and the effect of treatment on geohelminth infection in a rural part of the province. METHODS: Grade 3 schoolchildren from Maputaland in northern KZN were examined for infections with hookworm, Ascaris lumbricoides, and Trichuris trichiura, treated twice with 400 mg albendazole and re-examined several times over one year after the first treatment in order to assess the impact of treatment and patterns of infection and re-infection. RESULTS: The hookworm prevalence in the study population (83.2%) was considerably higher than in other parts of the province whereas T. trichiura and especially A. lumbricoides prevalences (57.2 and 19.4%, respectively) were much lower than elsewhere on the KZN coastal plain. Single dose treatment with albendazole was very effective against hookworm and A. lumbricoides with cure rates (CR) of 78.8 and 96.4% and egg reduction rates (ERR) of 93.2 and 97.7%, respectively. It was exceptionally ineffective against T. trichiura (CR = 12.7%, ERR = 24.8%). Re-infection with hookworm and A. lumbricoides over 29 weeks after treatment was considerable but still well below pre-treatment levels. CONCLUSION: High geohelminth prevalences and re-infection rates in the study population confirm the need for regular treatment of primary school children in the area. The low effectiveness of single course albendazole treatment against T. trichiura infection however demands consideration of alternative treatment approaches

Effective Profit Taxation and the Elasticity of the Corporate Income Tax Base: Evidence from German Corporate Tax Return Data

We estimate the elasticity of corporate taxable income with respect to the effective corporate tax rate on the basis of a pseudo-panel constructed from corporate tax return micro data for the period 1998-2001, a period which saw the introduction of a major corporate tax reform in Germany. Endogeneity of the effective tax rate is controlled for by an instrumental variable approach. Our instrument for the observed effective corporate tax rate is the counterfactual effective tax rate a corporation would face in a particular period had there be no endogenous change of corporate profits. This counterfactual is obtained from a detailed microsimulation model of the corporate sector based on tax return micro data. We find a statistically significant and relatively large point estimate of the average tax base elasticity, which implies that a reduction of the statutory corporate tax rate would reduce corporate tax receipts less tha n proportionally due to income shifting activities. We also find some statistically weak evidence for the hypothesis that the tax base elasticity is higher for corporations that may benefit from various forms of tax shields

Shifting the Burden of Corporate Taxes Heterogeneity in Direct Wage Incidence

We contribute to the empirical literature on the effective incidence of corporate income taxation. We focus on the so-called direct incidence via the wage bargaining process. Building on the innovative framework of Arulampalam, Devereux and Maffini (2012), we analyze the importance of various dimensions of heterogeneity at the firm-level. In particular, we investigate the distinct effects of (i) firm size, (ii) level of profitability, and (iii) competition intensity across (iv) different economic sectors. Furthermore, we investigate the relative importance of the surrounding institutional setting. To this end, a firm-level within-country approach is pursued separately for two different economies, namely France and the United Kingdom, which can be regarded as polar cases with respect to the relevant features of the wage-setting process. However, in many respects, we find surprisingly similar results for both countries. Thereby, this paper also adds to the literature by providing new insights on the degree to which results from previous single-country studies can possibly be generalized.Die effektive Inzidenz der Körperschaftsteuer ist ein theoretisch wie empirisch kontroverses Thema. Das Paper leistet einen Beitrag zur empirischen Literatur und fokussiert dabei auf die sogenannte direkte Inzidenz über den Lohnverhandlungskanal. Aufbauend auf dem innovativen Ansatz von Arulampalam, Devereux und Maffini (2012) wird die Bedeutung von verschiedenen Dimensionen der Heterogenität auf der Firmenebene analysiert. Konkret wird erforscht, welchen Einfluss (i) Firmengröße, (ii) Profitabilität und (iii) Wettbewerbsintensität in (iv) verschiedenen Branchen auf das Ausmaß ausüben, in dem die Last der Körperschaftsteuer auf die Löhne der Beschäftigten überwälzt wird. Darüber hinaus wird untersucht, welche Relevanz dabei den institutionellen Gegebenheiten der Lohnverhandlungen zukommt. Dazu werden alle Analysen separat für Frankreich und das Vereinigte Königreich vollzogen, deren Volkswirtschaften mit Blick auf Arbeitsmarktinstitutionen als polare Fälle gelten können. Die jeweiligen Ergebnisse für die beiden Länder sind sich jedoch qualitativ wie quantitativ überraschend ähnlich. Insofern gibt die Studie auch einen Hinweis darauf, inwiefern die Ergebnisse aus auf einzelne Länder bezogene Studien zur effektiven Lohninzidenz der Körperschaftsteuer generalisiert werden können

The tensile fracture of mild steel

The fibrous and cleavage tensile fracture of an annealed mild steel was investigated. Round tensile specimens of two geometries, one straight and one with a circumferential notch, were pulled at temperatures between room temperature and liquid nitrogen temperature. Tensile fractures occurred at average strains from 0.02 to 0.87. The mechanism of fibrous fracture at room temperature was investigated metallographically. The stress-strain values at which fibrous and cleavage fractures are initiated were determined. Many fine microcracks, which are associated with pearlite colonies and inclusion stringers, develop prior to fibrous fracture. The macrofracture, which leads to final separation of the tensile specimen, is initiated by the propagation of a microcrack beyond the microstructural feature with which it is associated. Thus, the fibrous fracture of mild steel does not develop by the gradual growth and coalescence of voids that are large enough to be visible in the optical microscope. When the microcracks begin to open and propagate, final fracture quickly follows. Axial cracks are a prominent feature of the macrofracture that forms in the interior of the specimen immediately before final fracture. The Bridgman distribution of stresses is not valid in a notched tensile specimen. Fibrous and cleavage fractures occur at approximately the same value of maximum tensile stress. When the maximum tensile stress that is necessary for cleavage fracture is plotted against the corresponding maximum tensile strain, the result is an unique locus.</p