Empirical Evidence on the Effects of Marginal Tax Rates on Income – The German Case

In 1990 the German personal income tax schedule underwent a major change. We interpret this reform as a ‘natural experiment´ and use a panel of individual income tax returns to analyze the response of income to changes in the individual tax rates. Our results suggest an average elasticity of taxable income with respect to the net-of-tax rate of around 0.4. Due to the detailed information the panel provides, we are not only able to distinguish between different levels of income but also between different types of income. We found very low elasticity estimates in the case of regular employment income, but values of up to 1.0 for business income and for high-income households.

The Responses of Taxable Income Induced by Tax Cuts – Empirical Evidence from the German Taxpayer Panel

The elasticity of taxable income has gained increasing attention as a fiscal policy parameter. This paper provides empirical evidence for Germany and adds to the relatively small body of literature for European countries. We use a large new panel data set to analyze the taxable income response to tax rate changes in 2004 which were part of an extensive reform programme in Germany at the beginning of this century. We find an average elasticity of approximately 0.6. Separately estimated income effects however are mostly small or insignificant. The results vary when dividing taxpayers by income type and group.elasticity of taxable income; tax reform; net-of-tax rate

The Population Dynamics and Distribution of Corbicula Manilensis (Philippi) in a Spring-fed Central Florida Stream

Asiatic clams (Corbicula manilensis Philippi) were sampled at twelve stations randomly located along a 16-km stretch of the Wekiva River, Florida, every three months fro August 1976 to June 1977. Clams were found at most stations. Their abundance ranged from 4 to 1210 per m2. Mean numbers of Corbicula were highest at stations where the bottom sediments were primarily sand and lowest at stations where the bottom sediments were silt and decomposing organic matter. A linear relationship between water temperature, water depth, current velocity, total alkalinity, and pH, and the abundance and distribution of Corbicula was not evident. Seasonally, the abundance of Corbicula was highest in August 1976 and lowest in December 1976. The small size of the specimens suggest a recent invasion of Corbicula into the Wekiva River. The mean shell length of Corbicula in the river was 13.5 mm. The shell lengths of the largest clams ranged from 25.3 mm to 27.2 mm. Large clams were collected in December 1976 (mean shell length = 13.7 mm), whereas small clams were collected in March 1977 (mean shell length = 13.1 mm). Shell width and shell length were linearly correlated (r - 9.98 to 0.99), as were shell breadth and shell length (r = 0.96 to 0.99). The correlation between shell length and the number of rings on the shell was lower (r = 0.68 to 0.88). Clams with smaller rings (more rings per unit length) were found at downstream stations, where abundance was hing, whereas clams with larger rings (fewer rings per unit length) were found at upstream stations, where abundance was low. The data suggest that relationships between age and size depend on the habitat in which the organisms live

Role of the Rag GTPases in Amino Acid sensing and mTORC1 signaling

To sustain metabolism and homeostatic functions, cells need to acquire energy-rich nutrients from their environment. These are broken down in catabolic pathways to provide energy for ATP generation. Nutrients are also the building blocks of complex biomolecules and effectively define the composition of biomass. To balance energy metabolism and biomass production cells need to be able to switch from catabolic to anabolic metabolism. This switch is regulated by the kinase mTOR, which was identified as the target of the immunosuppressant Rapamycin. mTOR was shown to react cell-autonomously to amino acid availability by upregulating translation and downregulating autophagy. Beyond this, mTOR was demonstrated to upregulate various other anabolic pathways, with major implications for human disease and the ageing process. The proteins that facilitate mTOR activation in response to amino acids are the dimeric Rag GTPases, which are localized at the lysosomal surface. An active dimer is composed of a smaller and larger Rag monomer, however there are two paralog genes for the smaller (Rag A and RagB) and the larger (RagC and RagD) monomer. Although many regulators of the Rag GTPases have been identified, the role of paralog Rag GTPase genes has not been thoroughly investigated. Our hypothesis was that the paralog Rag GTPase proteins are non-redundant and facilitate different signaling events in the mTORC1 pathway. We tested this hypothesis by using gene editing tools to knock-out endogenous Rag GTPase genes, obtaining a quadruple knock-out cell line. We used this cell line for a reconstitution approach, in which we re-expressed all four possible Rag dimer combinations. We performed functional mTOR assays and were able to report novel, non-redundant functions of the paralogs. All dimer combinations rescued phosphorylation of the substrate S6K, which controls translation. However, only the Rag GTPase dimers containing the RagD paralog are able to rescue the phosphorylation of lysosomal transcription factors TFEB and TFE3. We investigated TFE3-dependent transcription and were able to confirm a downregulation by RagD-, but not RagC-containing dimers. We studied the regulatory mechanism of substrate specificity and found stronger localization of RagD-containing dimers at the lysosomal surface. We identified the regions of the RagD protein that enable it to regulate the subset of lysosomal mTOR substrates. Moreover, we discovered that cancer-associated gain-of-function mutations enabled the paralog RagC protein to also facilitate lysosomal substrate phosphorylation. Finally, we demonstrated, that the RagB, but not the RagA paralog rendered mTOR activity resistant to amino acid starvation. We identified a novel mode of regulating mTOR substrate selectivity and amino acid response. Thus, we were able to uncover a whole new level of mTOR regulation by the paralogs of Rag GTPases with major implication for the pathways’ function

Assessing Laws and Legal Authorities for Obesity Prevention and Control

This is the first paper in a two part series on the laws and legal authorities for obesity prevention and control, which resulted from the National Summit on Legal Preparedness for Obesity Prevention and Control in 2008. In this paper, the authors apply the “laws and legal authorities” component of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) legal framework on public health legal preparedness to demonstrate the essential role that law can play in the fight against obesity. Their analysis identified numerous laws and policies in the three vital domains of healthy lifestyles, healthy places, and healthy societies. For example, in terms of healthy lifestyles, governments can impact nutrition through: food subsidies, taxation, and bans; food marketing strategies; and nutritional labeling and education. With regard to healthy places, state and local governments can apply zoning laws and policy decisions to change the environment to encourage healthy eating and physical activity. Governments can promote healthy societies through laws and legal authorities that affect the ability to address obesity from a social perspective (such as antidiscrimination law, health care insurance and benefit design, school and day care for children, and surveillance). This paper describes instances of how current laws and legal authorities affect the public health goal of preventing obesity in both positive and negative ways. It also highlights the progressive use of laws at every level of government (i.e., federal, state, and local) and the interaction of these laws as they relate to obesity prevention and control. In addition, general gaps in the use of law for obesity prevention and control are identified for attention and action. (These gaps serve as the basis for the companion paper, which delineates options for policymakers, practitioners, and other key stakeholders in the improvement of laws and legal authorities for obesity prevention and control.

Reformoption Duale Einkommensteuer - Aufkommens- und Verteilungseffekte

In der vorliegenden Studie werden die Aufkommens- und Verteilungswirkungen einer Einführung der Dualen Einkommensteuer mit Hilfe des IAW-Mikrosimulationsmodells abgeschätzt. Dabei werden Verhaltensanpassungen seitens der Steuerpflichtigen berücksichtigt, die sich an den Erkenntnissen der New-Tax-Responsivenes Literatur orientieren. Ohne Berücksichtigung von Verhaltensreaktionen beziffert sich der mit der Reform zu erwartende Steuerausfall bei der Einkommensteuer auf rund 11,6 Mrd. Euro. Mit Berücksichtigung von Verhaltensanpassungen sinken die Mindereinnahmen auf rund 7,8 Mrd.Euro. Hinsichtlich der Verteilungswirkungen würde der Übergang zur Dualen Einkommensteuer eine Umverteilung von unten nach oben bewirken.

Die verdeckten Effizienzwirkungen der Umsatzsteuer

Über das Vorsteuerabzugsverfahren wird erreicht, daß im Endeffekt nur die privaten Konsumausgaben von der Umsatzsteuer betroffen sind. In der Regel erlischt jedoch das Vorsteuerabzugsrecht für steuerbefreite Unternehmen. Damit wird die Kette des Vorsteuerabzugs unterbrochen, wenn immer ein Gut im Zuge seiner Herstellung eine befreite Produktionsstufe durchläuft. Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht die allokativen Konsequenzen dieser speziellen Form der Steuersatzdifferenzierung im Rahmen eines Empirischen Allgemeinen Gleichgewichtsmodells für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Zur besseren ökonomischen Interpretation der Ergebnisse wird das ebenfalls in der Arbeit entwickelte Konzept der effektiven Steuersätze herangezogen