Fighting Multiple Tax Havens

This paper develops a competition theory framework that evaluates an important aspect of the OECD’s Harmful Tax Practices Initiative against tax havens. We show that the sequential nature of the process is harmful and more costly than a “big bang” multilateral agreement. The sequentiality may even prevent the process from being completed successfully. Closing down a subset of tax havens reduces competition among the havens that remain active. This makes their “tax haven business” more profitable and shifts a larger share of rents to these remaining tax havens, making them more reluctant to give up their “tax haven business”. Moreover, the outcome of this process, reducing the number of tax havens, but not eliminating them altogether, may reduce welfare in the OECD

Fighting Multiple Tax Havens

This paper develops a competition theory framework that evaluates an important aspect of the OECD’s Harmful Tax Practices Initiative against tax havens. We show that the sequential nature of the process is harmful and more costly than a “big bang” multilateral agreement. The sequentiality may even prevent the process from being completed successfully. Closing down a subset of tax havens reduces competition among the havens that remain active. This makes their “tax haven business” more profitable and shifts a larger share of rents to these remaining tax havens, making them more reluctant to give up their “tax haven business”. Moreover, the outcome of this process, reducing the number of tax havens, but not eliminating them altogether, may reduce welfare in the OECD.tax haven, harmful tax practices, bidding for haven inactivation

Voting Islamist or Voting secular? An empirical analysis of Voting Outcomes in “Arab Spring” Egypt

This paper empirically studies the voting outcomes of Egypt’s first parliamentary elections after the Arab Spring. In light of the strong Islamist success in the polls, we explore the main determinants of Islamist vs. secular voting. We identify three dimensions that affect voting outcomes at the constituency level: the socio-economic profile, the economic structure and the electoral institutional framework. Our results show that education is negatively associated with Islamist voting. Interestingly, we find significant evidence which suggests that higher poverty levels are associated with a lower vote share for Islamist parties. Later voting stages in the sequential voting setup do not exhibit a bandwagon effect

Fighting Multiple Tax Havens

This paper develops a competition theory framework that evaluates an important aspect of the OECD’s Harmful Tax Practices Initiative against tax havens. We show that the sequential nature of the process is harmful and more costly than a “big bang” multilateral agreement. The sequentiality may even prevent the process from being completed successfully. Closing down a subset of tax havens reduces competition among the havens that remain active. This makes their “tax haven business” more profitable and shifts a larger share of rents to these remaining tax havens, making them more reluctant to give up their “tax haven business”. Moreover, the outcome of this process, reducing the number of tax havens, but not eliminating them altogether, may reduce welfare in the OECD

The theme of alienation in the major novels of Thomas Hardy

The predicament of human isolation and alienation is a pervasive theme that has not been sufficiently studied in Thomas Hardy's fiction. This study investigates the theme of alienation focussing on Hardy's major novels. Although the term 'alienation' is one of the most outstanding features of this age, it is not very clear what it precisely means. The writer has to draw extensively on Hegel, Marx, Fromm and other thinkers to understand the complex ramifications of the term. The numerous connections in which the term has been used are restricted to include only a few meanings and applications among which the most important refers to a disparity between one's society and one's spiritual interests or welfare. The theme of alienation, then, is investigated in representative texts from the wide trajectory of Victorian literature. It is clear that the central intellectual characteristic of the Victorian age is, as Arnold diagnosed it, "the sense of want of correspondence between the forms of modern Europe and its spirit". The increasing difficulty of reconciling historical and spiritual perspectives has become a major theme for Hardy and other late Victorians. Next, each of Hardy's major novels is given a chapter in which the theme of alienation is traced. In Far from the Madding Crowd, Boldwood's neurotic and self-destructive nature makes him obsessed with Bathsheba, and as a result, murders Troy and suffers the isolation of life imprisonment; Fanny Robin's tragic and lonely death, only assisted by a dog, is a flagrant indictment of society. In The Return of the Native, Clym is the earliest prototype in Hardy's fiction of alienated modern man. He returns to Egdon Heath only to live in isolation unable to communicate with the very people whom he thought of as a cure for his alienation. Eustacia has consistently been leading a life of alienation in Egdon Heath which leads to her suicide. In The Mayor of Casterbridge, Henchard's alienation may be more ascribed to his own character, recalling Boldwood, than to incongruity with society. Yet Hardy emphasises the tendency of society towards modernity which Henchard cannot cope with. In The Woodlanders, not only does wild nature fail to be a regenerative and productive force bet also human nature fails to be communicative and assuring. The people of Little Hintock fail to communicate with iry other. The relationship between Marty and Giles is an "obstructed relationship"; Giles dies a sacrificial death, and Marty ends as a wreck in a rare scene hardly credible in a newly emerging world. Fitzpiers and Mrs Charmond, on the other hand, are isolated in the sterile enclosure of their own fantasies. Grace, anticipating Tess and Sue, is torn in a conflict between two worlds, neither of which can happily accommodate her. In Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Tess, after her childhood experiences at Marlott and later at Trantridge, soon discovers how oppressive society is,particularly when she is rejected by Angel, whom she loves and through whom she aspires to fulfil herself. Angel suffers from self-division in his character, and the conflict between received attitudes and advanced ideas leaves him an embodiment of an alienated man hardly able to reconcile the values of two worlds. Jude the Obscure is Hardy's most complete expression of alienation. Jude's alienation is explicitly social and implicitly cosmic, and his failure to identify himself in society constitutes a major theme of the novel. The novel foreshadows the modern themes of failure, frustration, futility, disharmony, isolation, rootlessness, and absurdity as inescapable conditions of life. In conclusion, the theme of alienation in the major novels of Thomas Hardy is a pervasive one. Nevertheless, not all his characters are alienated; however their happy condition, like that of the rustics in Gray's Elegy, is seen to stem from their intellectual limitations

Application of PERS to Evaluate Walkability in State of Qatar

Well-designed pedestrian facilities are essential to promote walking among residents. These facilities also act as safe space for use of cycling and other personal mobility vehicles. In 2018, Ministry of Transport developed a system to assess the pedestrian environment, called Pedestrian Environment Review System (PERS). The PERS system is intended to assess, in a consistent systematic way, the quality of the pedestrian environment. This paper applies the guidelines of this manual to assess the walkability in Doha City. A total of ten links and ten crossings were included in this study. On-street evaluation was completed for each selected element and relevant scores for each parameter was assigned. The links assessment demonstrated that, overall, there were some issues highlighted by the PERS Audit in the studied areas such as poor curb ramp design, placement of obstruction on the pavement, lack of tactile information, conflict between pedestrian and vehicles at side-entry intersections, unavailability of wayfinding materials, etc. The overall pedestrian environment in the wider area assessed was generally positive, adequately maintained and of an appropriate quality. The provision of poor-quality crossings was identified as a negative feature of the studied areas. The issues were related to the infrastructure itself. Recommendations are made based on findings to improve the walkability of pedestrian network in State of Qatar

QUALITY BY DESIGN (QBD) AS A TOOL FOR THE OPTIMIZATION OF INDOMETHACIN FREEZE-DRIED SUBLINGUAL TABLETS: IN VITRO AND IN VIVO EVALUATION

Objective: This study aims to prepare and optimize indomethacin freeze-dried sublingual tablets (IND-FDST) by utilizing a quality by design (QbD) approach to achieve rapid drug dissolution and simultaneously bypassing the GIT for better patient tolerability. Methods: A screening study was utilized to determine the most significant factors which the quality attributes, namely disintegration time and % friability. Then an optimization study was conducted using a full response surface design to determine the optimized formula by varying the amount of the matrix-forming polymer (gelatin) and super disintegrant (croscarmellose sodium (CCS)). The variables' effect on the % friability, disintegration time, wetting time, and amount of drug release after 10 min (%Q10) was studied. The optimized formula was tested for compatibility, morphology as well as stability studies under accelerated conditions in addition to the in vivo pharmacodynamics in rats. QbD was adopted by utilizing a screening study to identify the significant formulation factors followed by a response surface optimization study to determine the optimized IND-FDST formulation. Results: Optimized IND-FDST comprised of gelatin/CCS combination in a ratio of 1:1 possessed adequate %friability (0.73±0.03%), disintegration time (25.40±1.21 seconds), wetting time (3.49±0.68 seconds), and % Q10 (100.99±5.29%) as well as good stability under accelerated conditions. IND-FDST also showed significant inhibition of edema, tumour necrosis factor-alpha, and interleukin-6 release in vivo compared to the oral market product by 70%, 42%, and 65%, respectively. Conclusion: QbD presents a successful approach in the optimization of a successful IND-FDST formula that showed superior in vivo and in vitro characteristics

Effect of Experimental Phenylketonuria on the Bone of Pregnant Mothers and Their Young During Perinatal Life and After Delivered Newborn of Albino Rats

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a genetic disorder that is characterized by an inability of the body to utilize the essential amino acid, phenylalanine. The disease results from a deficiency in phenylalanine hydroxylase, the enzyme catalyzing the conversion of phenylalanine to tyrosine. Although, this inborn error of metabolism was among the first in humans to be understood biochemically and genetically, little is known about the mechanisms involved in the pathology of PKU during neonatal development. Elevated concentrations of plasma phenylalanine were induced in pregnant rats by oral administration of 50mg/100g body weight alpha-methylphenylalanine plus phenylalanine supplementation at a dosage of 60mg/100g body weight two times daily after the 6th day of onset of gestation till 14 & 16 days of gestation as well as at parturition. Treatment with alpha-methylphenylalanine/ phenylalanine resulted in a significant decrease of accumulated body weight gain during pregnancy as well as exhibited marked growth retardation of prenatal fetuses and delivered newborn. The growth retarded fetuses was manifested by decreased body weight, malformed both fore- & hindlimb, oedematous skin & superficial hematomas widely spread in different parts of the body. Ossification of bones was greatly altered. Skeletal abnormalities restricted mainly in skull, sternebrae, lumbar, caudal vertebrae and distal phalanx of both fore- & hindlimb. Histological examination of femoral bone revealed varieties of histopathological abnormalities which illustrated and discussed. These results suggested that exposure of the fetus to high plasma concentrations of phenylalanine cause deformities of bone

Histopathological Effects on the Eye Development During Perinatal Growth of Albino Rats Maternally Treated with Experimental Phenylketonuria During Pregnancy

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a genetic disorder that is characterized by an inability of the body to utilize the essential amino acid, phenylalanine. The disease results from a deficiency in phenylalanine hydroxylase, the enzyme catalyzing the conversion of phenylalanine to tyrosine. Although, this inborn error of metabolism was among the first in humans to be understood biochemically and genetically, little is known about the mechanisms involved in the pathology of PKU during neonatal brain development. Elevated concentrations of plasma phenylalanine were induced in pregnant rats by oral administration of 50mg/100g body weight alpha-methylphenylalanine plus phenylalanine supplementation at a dosage of 60mg/100g body weight two times daily after 6th day of onset of gestation till 14 & 16 days prenatal as well as at parturition. Treatment with alpha-methylphenylalanine resulted in significant reduction of retinal cell layers of prenatal fetuses and delivered newborns.   Histological abnormalities were detected manifested by either hyaline degeneration of lens structure or inducing lens cataract as well as comparative atrophy of retina associated with the development of Malignant polypoid mass in the ganglionic cell layers in contact with the lens