Capital structure choice and company taxation: A meta-study

This paper provides a quantitative review of the empirical literature on the tax impact on corporate debt financing. Synthesizing the evidence from 46 previous studies, we find that this impact is substantial. In particular, the tax rate proxy determines the outcome of primary analyses. Measures like the simulated marginal tax rate (Graham (1996a)) avoid a downward bias in estimates for the debt response to tax. Moreover, debt characteristics, econometric specifications, and the set of control-variables affect tax effects. Accounting for misspecification biases by means of meta-regressions, we predict a marginal tax effect on the debt ratio of 0.3. --capital structure,corporate income tax,meta-analysis

Unreasonable Accumulation of Income by Foundations

Unreasonable accumulation of income was and still is one of the the common abuses found in some foundations. Prior to 1950 the Internal Revenue Service challenged foundation exemption by stating that unreasonable accumulations of income were evidence that the foundation was not organized for, or carrying out, a charitable purpose. The courts were reluctant to follow this theory, and gave the law a liberal interpretation in favor of the foundations. It was not until 1950 that Congress enacted Section 3814 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939. The law is the same today in the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, under Section 504 Denial of Exemption

Unreasonable Accumulation of Income by Foundations

Unreasonable accumulation of income was and still is one of the the common abuses found in some foundations. Prior to 1950 the Internal Revenue Service challenged foundation exemption by stating that unreasonable accumulations of income were evidence that the foundation was not organized for, or carrying out, a charitable purpose. The courts were reluctant to follow this theory, and gave the law a liberal interpretation in favor of the foundations. It was not until 1950 that Congress enacted Section 3814 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939. The law is the same today in the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, under Section 504 Denial of Exemption

FDI and taxation : a meta-study

Despite the continuing political interest in the usefulness of tax competition and tax coordination as well as the wealth of theoretical analyses, it still remains open whether or when tax competition is harmful. Moreover, the influence of tax differentials on multinationals' decisions is still insufficiently analyzed. Thus, economists have increasingly resorted to empirical analysis in order to gain insights on the elasticity of FDI with respect to company taxation. As a result, the empirical literature on taxation and international capital flows has grown to a similar abundance during the last 25 years as the respective theoretical literature. Its heterogeneity leads to a rising need for concise reviews on the existing empirical evidence. In this paper we extend former meta-analyses on FDI and taxation in three ways. First, we add the most recent publications unconsidered in meta-analyses up-to-date. Second, we apply a different methodology by using a broad set of meta-regression estimators and explicitly discuss which one is most suitable for application to our meta-data. Third, we address some important issues in research on FDI and taxation to the clarification of which meta-analysis can make valuable contributions. These issues are mainly: The influence of variables which might moderate effects of tax differentials (e.g. public spending), the implications of using aggregate FDI data as opposed to firm-level information on measured tax effects, the implications of bilateral effective tax rates, and the possible presence of publication bias in primary research

Efficient Immunization Strategies for Computer Networks and Populations

We present an effective immunization strategy for computer networks and populations with broad and, in particular, scale-free degree distributions. The proposed strategy, acquaintance immunization, calls for the immunization of random acquaintances of random nodes (individuals). The strategy requires no knowledge of the node degrees or any other global knowledge, as do targeted immunization strategies. We study analytically the critical threshold for complete immunization. We also study the strategy with respect to the susceptible-infected-removed epidemiological model. We show that the immunization threshold is dramatically reduced with the suggested strategy, for all studied cases.Comment: Revtex, 5 pages, 4 ps fig

A study into the predictors for stuttering: Investigating the explan model and language-based theories

Spontaneous speech samples from children at different ages who have either persisted in stuttering or recovered were analysed. The first part of the study considered the validity of the EXPLAN model proposed by Howell (2004) by replicating previous work. The findings were mainly in agreement with previous studies. However, the findings suggest a possible development change in stuttering behaviour around age 10-12 years which is not accounted for in the current stalling/advancing part of EXPLAN. The relationship between grammatical type and fluency is uncertain in children. To further elucidate this relationship parts two, three and four examined a variety of approaches as to what linguistic factors might predict fluency. The conclusion emphasizes the need to consider an integrated approach to the study of developmental stuttering, including EXPLAN and language-based theories. Further research into dysfluency should include specific grammatical word types such as numerals as well as an investigation into whether dysfluency on a function word affects the following content word

Nuclear quantum optics with x-ray laser pulses

The direct interaction of nuclei with super-intense laser fields is studied. We show that present and upcoming high-frequency laser facilities, especially together with a moderate acceleration of the target nuclei, do allow for resonant laser-nucleus interaction. These direct interactions may be utilized for the optical measurement of nuclear properties such as the transition frequency and the dipole moment, thus opening the field of nuclear quantum optics. As ultimate goal, one may hope that direct laser-nucleus interactions could become a versatile tool to enhance preparation, control and detection in nuclear physics.Comment: 5 pages, 3 eps figures, revised versio

Electron generation of leptons and hadrons with reciprocal alpha-quantized lifetimes and masses

Hadron elementary particle measurements have long revealed an alpha-dependence in the long-lived threshold-state lifetimes, together with an alpha-related mass structure, where alpha ~ 1/137 is the fine structure constant. A detailed lifetime analysis shows that of the 156 particles with well-determined lifetimes, the 120 shortest lifetimes have a continuum of values, but the 36 longer lifetimes occur in alpha-spaced groups which are sorted into s, c, b quark flavors. Guided by these lifetime results, we deduce an alpha-generated set of universal mass quanta, based on the electron ground state, which apply to both leptons and hadrons. A low-mass "threshold-state octet" of particles - muon, proton, tau, pion, eta, eta prime, kaon, phi meson - is reproduced to an average mass accuracy of 0.4%, with no adjustable parameters except a small hadronic binding energy. Without the lepton states, the hadron mass pattern is difficult to ascertain.Comment: 106 pages, 33 figures, invited review articl