Analyzing a Flat Income Tax in the Netherlands

A flat tax rate on income has gained popularity in European countries. This paper assesses the attractiveness of such a flat tax in achieving redistributive objectives with the least cost to labour market performance. We do so by using a detailed applied general equilibrium model for the Netherlands. The model is empirically grounded in the data and encompasses decisions on hours worked, labour force participation, skill formation, wage bargaining between unions and firms, matching frictions, and a wide variety of institutional details. The simulations suggest that the replacement of the current tax system in the Netherlands by a flat rate will harm labour market performance if aggregate income inequality is contained. This finding bolsters the notion that a linear tax is less efficient than a non-linear tax to obtain redistributive goals.flat tax, labour market, general equilibrium, equity, optimal taxation

Hoe? Zo! : Open standaarden en open source software in het mbo

Mbo-instellingen zijn constant op zoek naar mogelijkheden om het\ud onderwijsproces te optimaliseren. De rol van ict wordt daarbij\ud steeds belangrijker. Deze optimalisatie geldt voor zowel de interne\ud onderwijsprocessen als de communicatie met de buitenwereld.\ud De vraag om uitwisseling van gegevens tussen scholen en\ud andere partijen neemt toe. Bovendien zorgen technologische\ud ontwikkelingen ervoor dat er keuzes moeten worden gemaakt:\ud met welke keuzes kun je ict optimaal inzetten voor ondersteuning\ud van deelnemers, zodat het aansluit op hun wereld thuis en op\ud de beroepspraktijk en leidt tot een optimalisering van het\ud onderwijsproces?\ud In deze Hoe? Zo! worden vragen gesteld en beantwoord over de\ud rol van open standaarden en open source software in het mbo.\ud Open standaarden en open source software zijn de laatste jaren\ud regelmatig in het nieuws geweest en steeds vaker wordt er actief\ud beleid op gevoerd. Het is veranderd van een technisch onderwerp\ud tot een onderwerp dat een beleidsmatige aanpak verdient. Ook de\ud rijksoverheid benadrukt, door middel van programma's, het belang\ud van open standaarden en de toepassing van open source software

Coping with noise in social dilemmas: Group representatives fare worse than individuals because they lack trust in others’ benign intentions

Research on interindividual–intergroup discontinuity has illuminated distinct patterns of cognition, motivation, and behavior in interindividual versus intergroup contexts. However, it has examined these processes in laboratory environments with perfect transparency, whereas real-life interactions are often characterized by noise (i.e., misperceptions and unintended errors). This research compared interindividual and intergroup interactions in the presence or absence of noise. In a laboratory experiment, participants played 35 rounds of a dyadic give-some dilemma, in which they acted as individuals or group representatives. Noise was manipulated, such that players’ intentions either were perfectly translated into behavior or could deviate from their intentions in certain rounds (resulting in less cooperative behavior). Noise was more detrimental to cooperation in intergroup contexts than in interindividual contexts, because (a) participants who formed benign impressions of the other player coped better with noise, and (b) participants were less likely to form such benign impressions in intergroup than interindividual interactions

Biological activity of bacteria isolated from wetland sediments collected from a conservation unit in the southern region of Brazil

Wetlands are ecosystems rich in biodiversity and their ecological importance is recognized worldwide. Sediment samples were subjected to physical-chemical analysis and organic carbon content varied from 3.0% to 4.8%, the clay between 32 and 40%, silt with 41% and 43%, sand coarse varied between 6 and 11% and fi ne sand between 7 and 16%. The nitrogen values varied from 0.25% to 0.48%, the pH from 5.4 to 7.5 and the humidity varied from 44 to 56%. The selected isolates were evaluated for enzymatic properties and 64% showed positive results for amylase, 16% for gelatinase, 37% for lipase, 91% for protease and 2.7% for inulinase. Six bacterial isolates were selected for the overlapping assay and Bacillus sp. sed 2.2 showed inhibitory activity against Corynebacterium fi mi NCTC 7547, and the antimicrobial substance was partially purifi ed. The characterization of the substance was carried and the substance was stable at 100° C for up to 10 minutes and sensitive to the enzymes papain and trypsin. This substance was active against some species of Listeria, including Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 7644. The microorganims obtained from sediment samples were important sources of bioactive compounds, including enzymes and peptides, being a source of bioactive compounds to be studied