Economic Effects of Regional Tax Havens

How does the opportunity to use tax havens influence economic activity in nearby non-haven countries? Analysis of affiliate-level data indicates that American multinational firms use tax haven affiliates to reallocate taxable income away from high-tax jurisdictions and to defer home country taxes on foreign income. Ownership of tax haven affiliates is associated with reduced tax payments by nearby non-haven affiliates, the size of the effect being equivalent to a 20.8 percent tax rate reduction. The evidence also indicates that use of tax havens indirectly stimulates the growth of operations in non-haven countries in the same region. A one percent greater likelihood of establishing a tax haven affiliate is associated with 0.5 to 0.7 percent greater sales and investment growth by non-haven affiliates, implying a complementary relationship between haven and non-haven activity. The ability to avoid taxes by using tax haven affiliates therefore appears to facilitate economic activity in non-haven countries within regions.

Introduction of d-Glutamate at a Critical Residue of Aβ42 Stabilizes a Prefibrillary Aggregate with Enhanced Toxicity.

The amyloid beta peptide 42 (Aβ42) is an aggregation-prone peptide that plays a pivotal role in Alzheimer's disease. We report that a subtle perturbation to the peptide through a single chirality change at glutamate 22 leads to a pronounced delay in the β-sheet adoption of the peptide. This was accompanied by an attenuated propensity of the peptide to form fibrils, which was correlated with changes at the level of the fibrillary architecture. Strikingly, the incorporation of d-glutamate was found to stabilize a soluble, ordered macromolecular assembly with enhanced cytotoxicity to PC12 cells, highlighting the importance of advanced prefibrillary Aβ aggregates in neurotoxicity

Chains of Ownership, Regional Tax Competition, and Foreign Direct Investment

This paper considers the effect of taxation on the location of foreign direct investment (FDI) and taxable income reported by multinational firms with particular attention to the regional dynamics of tax competition and the role of chains of ownership. Confidential affiliate-level data are used to compare the investment and income-reporting behavior of American-owned foreign affiliates across ownership forms and regions. Ten percent higher tax rates are associated with 5.0 percent lower FDI, controlling for parent company and observable aspects of local economies, and 0.9 percent lower returns on assets, controlling for parent company and level of FDI. Tax effects are particularly strong within Europe, where ten percent higher tax rates are associated with 7.7 percent lower FDI and 1.7 percent lower returns on assets. Indirectly owned foreign affiliates also exhibit strong tax effects, ten percent higher tax rates being associated with 12.0 percent lower FDI and 1.4 percent lower returns on assets. American firms finance a growing fraction of their foreign operations indirectly through chains of ownership, which now account for more than 30 percent of aggregate foreign assets and sales. Ownership chains are particularly concentrated among European affiliates. Since multinational firms from countries other than the United States face tax environments similar to those faced by indirectly owned affiliates of American companies, these results suggest a greater sensitivity of FDI to taxes for non-American firms. The results also suggest that European economic integration may have the effect of intensifying tax competition between European jurisdictions.

Foreign Direct Investment and Domestic Economic Activity

How does rising foreign investment influence domestic economic activity? Firms whose foreign operations grow rapidly exhibit coincident rapid growth of domestic operations, but this pattern alone is inconclusive, as foreign and domestic business activities are jointly determined. This study uses foreign GDP growth rates, interacted with lagged firm-specific geographic distributions of foreign investment, to predict changes in foreign investment by a large panel of American firms. Estimates produced using this instrument for changes in foreign activity indicate that 10% greater foreign capital investment is associated with 2.2% greater domestic investment, and that 10% greater foreign employee compensation is associated with 4.0% greater domestic employee compensation. Changes in foreign and domestic sales, assets, and numbers of employees are likewise positively associated; the evidence also indicates that greater foreign investment is associated with additional domestic exports and R&D spending. The data do not support the popular notion that greater foreign activity crowds out domestic activity by the same firms, instead suggesting the reverse.

Capital Structure with Risky Foreign Investment

American multinational firms respond to politically risky environments by adjusting their capital structures abroad and at home. Foreign subsidiaries located in politically risky countries have significantly more debt than do other foreign affiliates of the same parent companies. American firms further limit their equity exposures in politically risky countries by sharing ownership with local partners and by serving foreign markets with exports rather than local production. The residual political risk borne by parent companies leads them to use less domestic leverage, resulting in lower firm-wide leverage. Multinational firms with above-average exposures to politically risky countries have 8.4 percent less domestic leverage than do other firms. These findings illustrate the impact of risk exposures on capital structure.

Teaching intercultural communication skills

Aims The aim of this tool is to develop your understanding of culture, and the need for awareness in intercultural communication. You will be engaged in learning through reflection, knowledge acquisition and practical activities. Learning outcomes When you have worked through this tool, you will be able to: • Articulate the need for the focus on intercultural communication in current nursing practice; • Discuss the theoretical underpinnings of intercultural communication, and the meaning of intercultural communication from different viewpoints; • Reflect on your own practice in relation to the ability to display intercultural communication; • Reflect on when it might be desirable to communicate competently at an intercultural level; • Identify strategies to nurture confidence in you

Locus of Control, Organizational Climate, and Participation in Staff Development: A Study of College Instructors

This study identifies some factors affecting community college instructors' participation in staff development activities. Social learning theory suggests that both situational and personal factors explain the behaviour of individuals. Consequently, a theoretical model explaining staff development participation rates was developed, and tested on community college instructors. Sex, academic attainment, college teaching experience, locus of control, and perception of organizational climate, were included as independent variables. In addition, locus of control, and perception of organizational climate, were considered as intervening between these variables and staff development participation rates. The results illustrated that college teaching experience, and perception of administration climate, which is one aspect of organizational climate, were the most important determinants of staff development participation rates. This suggests that administrators play a key role in determining staff development participation rates, first by making the funds available that enable staff to access staff development opportunities, and second by establishing an administrative and reward structure that encourages and facilitates continuous enhancement of instructors' skill levels.Cette étude met en lumière quelques-uns des facteurs qui influent sur le désir de participation des enseignants aux activités de perfectionnement professionnel. La sociologie de l'apprentissage montre que le comportement des individus s'ex-plique à la fois par la situation donnée et par des facteurs purement personnels. En conséquence, nous avons établi un modèle théorique visant à définir les niveaux de participation du personnel à son perfectionnement professionnel, puis nous l'avons appliqué à des enseignants de collèges communautaires. On trouve dans ce modèle diverses variables telles que le sexe, le niveau d'études, l'expérience en enseignement postsecondaire, la source de détermination et la façon dont les enseignants perçoivent l'organisation de leur établissement. Par ailleurs la source de détermination et la façon dont les enseignants perçoivent l'organisation de leur établissement ont été considérés comme des facteurs capables de jouer sur le taux de participation aux activités de perfectionnement professionnel. Les résultats ont permis d'établir que l'expérience en enseignement au niveau postsecondaire et la façon dont l'enseignant perçoit l'administration de son collège ( ce qui est l'un des aspects de l'organisation ) sont les deuxfacteurs les plus importants de leur participation. Ceci montre que les administrateurs de l' institution jouent un rôle clé pour encourager les enseignants à participer à ces activités, d'une part en attribuant les fonds nécessaires à la mise en place de telles activités et d'autre part en créant un système de récompenses susceptibles d'encourager les enseignants à se perfectionner toujours davantage et de leur rendre ce perfectionnement plus facile