Information sharing, bank penetration and tax evasion in emerging markets

Tax evasion, which is typically considered an illegal activity, is a critical problem and is considered a barrier to economic growth. A review of the literature shows that tax and social security contributions, regulations, public sector services, the quality of institutions and tax compliance, play important roles in determining the degree to which firms attempt to evade taxes. Measuring tax evasion is problematic due to data requirements and inadequacies. Few tax evasion indices have been estimated but it appears that they cannot be used for international comparisons across countries. This important issue has largely been ignored in the literature, in particular for emerging markets. Consequently, this paper is conducted to develop a new tax evasion index (TEI) using the most substantial and recent data from the standardized World Bank Enterprises Survey 2006–2017. In addition, using the newly developed TEI, the paper examines the importance and contribution of information sharing and bank penetration to the degree of tax evasion in emerging markets. The paper uses a sample of 112 emerging markets from 2006–2017 and the Tobit model in estimation. The empirical findings from the paper indicate that the average TEI during the 2006– 2017 period for emerging markets is 0.62, with a range of (0.25, 0.75). In addition, we find that information sharing and bank penetration negatively affect the degree of tax evasion, as proxied by the TEI, in emerging markets. The empirical results also confirm the view that large firms are considered to have adopted good tax compliance practices, while firms located in remote areas are more likely to evade taxes. Policy implications have emerged on the basis of the empirical findings from the paper

Modelling the relationship between crude oil and agricultural commodity prices

The food-energy nexus has attracted great attention from policymakers, practitioners and academia since the food price crisis during the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC), and new policies that aim to increase ethanol production. This paper incorporates aggregate demand and alternative oil shocks to investigate the causal relationship between agricultural products and oil markets, which is a novel contribution. For the period January 2000 - July 2018, monthly spot prices of 15 commodities are examined, including Brent crude oil, biofuel-related agricultural commodities, and other agricultural commodities. The sample is divided into three sub-periods, namely: (i) January 2000 - July 2006; (ii) August 2006 - April 2013; and (iii) May 2013 - July 2018. The Structural Vector Autoregressive (SVAR) model, impulse response functions, and variance decomposition technique are used to examine how the shocks to agricultural markets contribute to the variance of crude oil prices. The empirical findings from the paper indicate that not every oil shock contributes the same to agricultural price fluctuations, and similarly for the effects of aggregate demand shocks on the agricultural market. These results show that the crude oil market plays a major role in explaining fluctuations in the prices and associated volatility of agricultural commodities

Modelling the relationship between crude oil and agricultural commodity prices

The food-energy nexus has attracted great attention from policymakers, practitioners and academia since the food price crisis during the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC), and new policies that aim to increase ethanol production. This paper incorporates aggregate demand and alternative oil shocks to investigate the causal relationship between agricultural products and oil markets, which is a novel contribution. For the period January 2000 - July 2018, monthly spot prices of 15 commodities are examined, including Brent crude oil, biofuel-related agricultural commodities, and other agricultural commodities. The sample is divided into three sub-periods, namely: (i) January 2000 - July 2006; (ii) August 2006 - April 2013; and (iii) May 2013 - July 2018. The Structural Vector Autoregressive (SVAR) model, impulse response functions, and variance decomposition technique are used to examine how the shocks to agricultural markets contribute to the variance of crude oil prices. The empirical findings from the paper indicate that not every oil shock contributes the same to agricultural price fluctuations, and similarly for the effects of aggregate demand shocks on the agricultural market. These results show that the crude oil market plays a major role in explaining fluctuations in the prices and associated volatility of agricultural commodities

Systematic risk at the industry level: A case study of Australia

The cornerstone of the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) lies with its beta. The question of whether or not beta is dead has attracted great attention from academics and practitioners in the last 50 years or so, and the debate is still ongoing. Many empirical studies have been conducted to test the validity of beta within the framework of CAPM. However, it is a claim of this paper that beta at the industry level has been largely ignored in the current literature. This study is conducted to examine if beta, proxied for a systematic risk, should be considered valid in the application of the CAPM at the industry level for Australia using daily data on 2200 stocks listed on the Australian Securities Exchange from January 2007 to 31 December 2016. Various portfolio formations are utilized in this paper. General economic conditions such as interest rate, inflation, and GDP are examples of systematic risk. Findings from this study indicate that the selection of portfolio construction, estimation technique, and news about economic conditions significantly affects the view whether or not beta should be considered as a valid measure of systematic risk

Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging of anal fistulas with scrotal extension: a retrospective study

IntroductionThis study aimed to elucidate the magnetic resonance (MR) characteristics of anal fistulas extending to the scrotum, and the applicable rules, and to correlate MR features with surgical findings.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective study in 150 consecutive patients with anal fistulas extending into the scrotum, who were diagnosed and underwent surgery at University Medical Center Ho Chi Minh City between January 2017 and April 2022. MR findings were evaluated and compared with surgical findings using Cohens kappa coefficient (k) with a 95% confidence interval.Results150 patients (mean age 37.6 ± 10.9 years) with 166 fistulas, including 150 anal fistulas with scrotal extension. Most fistulas were low transsphincteric (80.0%, 120/150 patients). There was a strong agreement for primary tract classification and detecting the location of internal openings between MRI and surgical findings with k = 0.83 (0.780.87) and k = 0.89 (0.85 0.93) (p<0.001), respectively. There is a significant correlation between the location of internal openings and the type of fistula (p<0.05). Low transsphincteric fistulas were predominant in the anterior group (103/122 patients vs. 10/19 patients), while in the posterior group, it was more common in the high transsphincteric fistulas (7/19 patients vs. 14/122 patients), and the intersphincteric fistulas (1/19 patients vs. 5/122 patients); and the suprasphincteric fistulas were only seen in the posterior group (1 patient).ConclusionAnal fistulas with scrotal extension are exceptions to Goodsalls rule. Albeit long-tract fistulas, most are low transsphincteric and have anterior internal openings

Modelling the Relationship between Crude Oil and Agricultural Commodity Prices

The food-energy nexus has attracted great attention from policymakers, practitioners and academia since the food price crisis during the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC), and new policies that aim to increase ethanol production. This paper incorporates aggregate demand and alternative oil shocks to investigate the causal relationship between agricultural products and oil markets, which is a novel contribution. For the period January 2000 - July 2018, monthly spot prices of 15 commodities are examined, including Brent crude oil, biofuel-related agricultural commodities, and other agricultural commodities. The sample is divided into three sub-periods, namely: (i) January 2000 - July 2006; (ii) August 2006 - April 2013; and (iii) May 2013 - July 2018. The Structural Vector Autoregressive (SVAR) model, impulse response functions, and variance decomposition technique are used to examine how the shocks to agricultural markets contribute to the variance of crude oil prices. The empirical findings from the paper indicate that not every oil shock contributes the same to agricultural price fluctuations, and similarly for the effects of aggregate demand shocks on the agricultural market. These results show that the crude oil market plays a major role in explaining fluctuations in the prices and associated volatility of agricultural commoditie

Rent Seeking for Export Licenses: Application to the Vietnam Rice Market

The paper develops a model to examine rent seeking in innovation and export licenses, with an application to Vietnam rice exports. Firms can lobby for export restrictions or for free trade. Innovation is introduced as a cost-reducing technology. The analysis focuses on the innovation incentives of the firm lobbying for export restrictions, and the determinants of lobbying incentives. The analysis shows that firms lobbying for export restrictions may have lower incentives to adopt technological innovations under export restrictions than under free trade. The findings can help to identify economic inefficiency when the political elites use export restrictions to seek rents

ĐA DẠNG DI TRUYỀN QUẦN THỂ CÁ CHÌNH HOA (Anguilla marmorata) TẠI QUẢNG TRỊ

This study was conducted to evaluate the population genetic diversity of the wild Anguilla marmorata in Quang Tri province by comparing the DNA sequences of the mitochondrial control region (CR) gene with those of other giant mottled eel populations in the world. The results indicate that the genetic distance between individuals in the Quang Tri population ranged from 0 to 0.261, with an average of 0.024. Among 31 individuals, there were 203 distinct polymorphism sites (S), which led to 209 mutation sites (Eta) and 31 different haplotypes. The average number of distinct nucleotides (k) was 29,299. The nucleotide diversity factor (Pi) accounted for 26.09 × 10–3, and the minimum number of recombination processes (Rm) in the population was 51 events. The majority of eel samples collected at the site had close genetic relationships with those of the North Pacific population (27/31 individuals), and four eel samples had close genetic relationships with those of the South Pacific population. The finding of the four giant mottled eels in Quang Tri belonging to the South Pacific population is considered a significant result of this study.Nghiên cứu này được thực hiện nhằm đánh giá đa dạng di truyền của quần thể cá Chình hoa (Anguilla marmorata) tự nhiên tại tỉnh Quảng Trị dựa trên việc so sánh trình tự DNA của vùng gene điều khiển CR (control region) ty thể với các quần thể cá Chình hoa trên thế giới. Kết quả cho thấy khoảng cách di truyền giữa các cá thể trong quần thể dao động từ 0 đến 0,261, đạt trung bình 0,024. Trong 31 cá thể, 203 vị trí đa hình tách biệt (S) đã tạo ra 209 vị trí đột biến (Eta) với 31 kiểu haplotype khác nhau. Số lượng các nucleotide khác biệt trung bình là 29.299 (k); hệ số đa dạng nucleotide chiếm 26,09 × 10–3 (Pi); số lượng tối thiểu để xẩy ra quá trình tái tổ hợp (Rm) trong quần thể tương ứng với 51 sự kiện. Phần lớn cá thể thu được tại Quảng Trị có quan hệ di truyền gần gũi với quần thể cá Chình hoa Bắc Thái Bình Dương (27/31 cá thể) và 4 cá thể có mối quan hệ di truyền gần gũi với quần thể Nam Thái Bình Dương. Việc phát hiện các cá thể Chình hoa tại Quảng Trị có di truyền gần gũi với các cá thể thuộc Nam Thái Bình Dương được xem như một điểm đáng chú ý trong nghiên cứu này