Rapid discharges in a model Veterans Hospital

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

An Ontario Libraries' Network, or Cooperative Entanglement

While I accepted the invitation to discuss the College Bibliocentre at this Clinic, I cannot say that I did so with equanimity. Quite apart from many organizational difficulties, the systems both in operation and in varying stages of development at the College Bibliocentre, have evolved from practical emersion without the benefit of the finite planning or initial test and research proce- dures from grant aids that many others have experienced. This is why I adopted the latter part of my title for this paper. I was asked particularly to discuss the techniques we are using to acquire the necessary input to the various systems. However, if I was asked to underline what I considered to be the major problems facing the development of a central technical service unit, the technicalities of how to input would be the least concern. The major problems are those beyond the technological requirements how to achieve the degree of coordination required and, in particular, how to overcome the financial hazards which face such an organiza- tion.published or submitted for publicatio

Social Security and Labor Supply Incentives

Many provisions of the Social Security Program distort an individual's labor supply incentives. In particular, the payroll tax, the earnings test, the offsetting actuarial adjustment, and the dependence of the size of future benefits on the level of current earnings all affect the net return to extra work. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the size of the net tax rate on labor income in a variety of circumstances, taking into account all these provisions, as well as the personal income tax. We find that the Social Security Program on net in the past has provided a large subsidy to labor supply, which for many people effectively offset the personal income tax. This subsidy rate, however, has been declining steadily over time.

Globalization, Labor Income, and Poverty in Mexico

In this paper, I examine changes in the distribution of labor income across regions of Mexico during the country's decade of globalization in the 1990's. I focus the analysis on men born in states with either high-exposure or low-exposure to globalization, as measured by the share of foreign direct investment, imports, or export assembly in state GDP. Controlling for regional differences in the distribution of observable characteristics and for initial differences in regional incomes, the distribution of labor income in high-exposure states shifted to the right relative to the distribution of income in low-exposure states. This change was primarily the result of a shift in mass in the income distribution for low-exposure states from upper-middle income earners to lower income earners. Labor income in low-exposure states fell relative to high-exposure states by 10% and the incidence of wage poverty (the fraction of wage earners whose labor income would not sustain a family of four at above-poverty consumption levels) in low-exposure states increased relative to high-exposure states by 7%.

Do Publicly Traded Corporations Act in the Public Interest?

Models of corporate behavior normally assume that a firm acts in the interest of shareholders, and that shareholders care only about the returns they receive on the shares they own in that firm. But shareholders should also care about the effects of a manager's decisions on the value of shares they own in other firms, on the price they pay as consumers of the firm's output, on the value of the firm's bonds they own, on government tax revenue which finances public expenditures benefiting shareholders, etc. These effects are normally presumed to be of second order. This paper reexamines this presumption, argues that many of these effects are likely to be important, and examines how a variety of conventional conclusions about corporate behavior change as a result.

Notes on cash - flow taxation

Under cash-flow taxation, a country can tax the cash flow of domestic producers, domestic residents, or domestic citizens. The implications are different in each case. The paper examines the positive and normative effects of various versions of a cash-flow tax, focusing on the effects of such a tax in a small open economy. A country must decide, for example, whether investment in each type of asset will be taxed based on its cash flow or will instead be entirely tax exempt. The economic implications differ, depending on whether the government decides or the choice may be left to each tax payer. In addition tax flow rates may vary: as a result of a progressive rate schedule; according to the type of tax payer; or over time, depending on economic conditions. Substantial problems can result from each type of variation. Finally, inequities can arise during the transition to a cash-flow tax. Different inequities arise depending on what tax precedes the cash-flow tax. And a partial introduction of cash-flow taxation may open important arbitrage opportunities.Banks&Banking Reform,International Terrorism&Counterterrorism,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research

The 6670-Newton attitude-control thruster using hydrogen-oxygen propellant

The development of a reusable, attitude-control propulsion system for the space transportation system is discussed. A flight weight, gaseous oxygen attitude control thruster assembly was tested to obtain data on cyclic life, thermal and hydraulic characteristics, pulse response, and performance. The basic thruster components were tested in excess of 51,000 pulses and 660 seconds, steady state, with no degradation of the 93 percent characteristic exhaust velocity efficiency level. Nominal operating conditions were a chamber pressure of 207 N sq cm (300 psia), a mixture ratio of 4.0, a pulse width of 100 ms, and a pulse frequency of 2 Hz

Taxation of Investment and Savings in a World Economy: The Certainty Case

This paper explores the characteristics of individual portfolio holdings in a world economy with a unified securities market where there are many countries, each with its own tax rates and inflation rate. When nominal interest is taxable but income to equity owners is tax exempt in all countries, I show that the highest tax bracket investors specialize in equity and, among the remaining investors, those with lower tax rates buy bonds of countries with higher inflation rates. Because of the tax system, countries with a higher inflation rate must pay a higher real interest rate on their debt. This is necessary in equilibrium to compensate those who purchase the debt for their higher taxable income. This diversity of real rates of return in the world securities market has a variety of effects on the optimal tax policy of a small open economy. I also explore a model where there is a unified world market in bonds, but no international trade in equity. Here, I find a strong tax incentive for firms owned by investors in countries with high personal tax rates to become multinationals and invest abroad. If domestic investors do end up purchasing both bonds and domestic equity, then the optimal corporate tax rate on real corporate income in a small open economy would be quite high relative to the personal tax rate on nominal interest income, in order not to distort the portfolio composition of domestic investors.