Income taxes and the probability to become self-employed: The case of Sweden

It is widely recognized that entrepreneurial activity plays an important role in promoting new product innovation, discovering new markets, and replacing inefficient incumbents in a process called “creative destruction”, all of which enhance economic growth. Given the importance of entrepreneurship and small business enterprises it is not surprising that policy makers worldwide (and especially in Europe) try to stimulate entrepreneurial activity. One public policy, frequently discussed, is how to design tax policies that stimulate start-ups and entrepreneurship. Existing knowledge about taxes’ effect on entrepreneurial activity and start-ups is relatively limited, however. Existing empirical studies are primarily based on US data and have until recently used aggregated tax measures (e.g., average national tax rates) or hypothetical marginal tax rates and time-series or cross-section data. This study, however, uses a particular rich longitudinal micro-level dataset based on Swedish tax-return information, which makes it possible to track a cohort of individuals over time periods during which tax rate changes took place, and thereby isolate whether real-life individual decisions about self-employment are affected by changes in the tax rates they actually face. In addition, as the tax structure in Sweden is neutral as opposed to the US that encourages risk taking and tax-driven self-employment, studying the effect of income taxes on the probability to become self-employed based on Swedish data provides information about how taxes on self-employment affect self-employment. Contrary to earlier studies based on US data, I find both average and marginal tax rates to negatively impact the probability to become self-employed.Self-employment; entrepreneurship; small business; taxation; wealth

Förmögenhetsskatten som symbol

Sverige är ett av ett fåtal länder inom OECD som fortfarande beskattar förmögenhet, dessutom betydligt hårdare än de flesta övriga länder med förmögenhetsskatt. Att avvika från andra länders beskattning av rörliga skattebaser – där kapital är den mest rörliga - kan få negativa konsekvenser på bl a sparande och tillgång på inhemskt kapital vilket i sin tur inte bara påverkar mängden genererade skatteintäkter utan även företagsklimat och ekonomisk tillväxttakt. Även om det kan finnas goda skäl att beskatta förmögenhet, bl a för att uppnå en jämnare förmögenhetsfördelning vilket i sin tur kan ha positiva effekter på investeringsnivån och tillväxttakten, får skatten ofta inte avsedda effekter i en global värld där de totala skatterna på kapital varierar mellan länderna. Mycket tyder på att den svenska förmögenhetsskatten istället har kommit att utgöra en viktig symbol för ett solidariskt skattesystem.förmögenhetsskatt; förmögenhetsfördelning; investering; företagsklimat; tillväxt

Sinnlig stimulans i vaken vila

Den här studien berör några av de miljöpsykologiska grunderna i Alnarps Rehabiliteringsträdgårds uppbyggnad. Den ger förslag på hur karaktären rofylld kan förstärkas och hur säsongen kan förlängas i den restorativa delen av välkomstträdgården med växter som tilltalar flera av våra sinnen. Deltagarna som kommer till trädgården har i regel stressrelaterade åkommor såsom utmattningssyndrom och har varit sjukskrivna en längre tid. De är ofta mycket känsliga på grund av fysisk och psykisk utmattning. Studier visar att deltagarna har behov av en kravlös miljö där de kan få vara ostörda. Därför behövs höga och lummiga växter som kan ge det skydd och den trygghet de söker. Växterna ska ha utpräglat sinnesstimulerande kvalitéer vilka kan få besökaren att bli mer närvarande i stunden. Genom att tillföra till exempel lila toner i den i övrigt silver/blå/grå kompositionen kan en mer harmonisk plats skapas. Om besökaren dessutom erbjuds en sittplats och ett fågelbad ställs dit ökar chanserna att personen stannar upp och blir mottaglig för intrycken. ***************** This essay describes some theories in enviromental psychology of which led to the design of the Alnarp rehabilitation Garden. It gives suggestions on how the character serene can be enchanced and how the season can be extended in the restorative parts of the welcoming garden with plants that attract several of our senses. The participants visiting the garden all have some kind of stress-related illnesses and a large number of them are diagnosed with exhaustion syndrome and have been on a sick leave for an extended period. They are often very sensitive because of physical and psychic fatigue. Several studies show that the participants need a non-demanding environment where they can be undisturbed. Therefore a grown up and lush vegetation is needed to give them that protection and shelter they wish for. The plants should have distinguishing qualities for sensory stimulationS and offer the visitor an opportunity to live in the present at least for a while. By adding for example purple tones to the otherwise silver/blue/gray creation, a more harmonious place can be created. If a visitor then is offered a seat and a birdbath is set there the likelihood of a visitor stopping and becoming more receptive for impressions increases

Critical role of the major histocompatibility complex and IL-10 in matrilin-1-induced relapsing polychondritis in mice

Relapsing polychondritis (RP) is an autoimmune disease that affects extra-articular cartilage. Matrilin-1-induced relapsing polychondritis (MIRP) is a model for RP and is useful for studies of the pathogenic mechanisms in this disease. There are indications that the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II plays a major role in RP, since DR4(+ )patients are more commonly affected than controls. We have now addressed the role of the MHC region, as well as the non-MHC contribution, using congenic mouse strains. Of the MHC congenic strains, B10.Q (H2(q)) was the most susceptible, the B10.P (H2(p)) and B10.R (H2(r)) strains developed mild disease, while B10 strains carrying the v, b, f, or u H2 haplotypes were resistant. A slight variation of susceptibility of H2(q )strains (B10.Q> C3H.Q> DBA/1) was observed and the (B10.Q × DBA/1)F(1 )was the most susceptible of all strains. Furthermore, macrophages and CD4(+ )T cells were the most prominent cell types in inflammatory infiltrates of the tracheal cartilage. Macrophages are the major source of many cytokines, such as interleukin-10 (IL-10), which is currently being tested as a therapeutic agent in several autoimmune diseases. We therefore investigated B10.Q mice devoid of IL-10 through gene deletion and found that they developed a significantly more severe disease, with an earlier onset, than their heterozygous littermates. In conclusion, MHC genes, as well as non-MHC genes, are important for MIRP induction, and IL-10 plays a major suppressive role in cartilage inflammation of the respiratory tract

The C-terminus of the transmembrane MUC17 mucin binds to the scaffold protein PDZK1 that stably localizes it to the enterocyte apical membrane in the small intestine

The membrane bound mucins have a heavily O-glycosylated extracellular domain, a single pass membrane domain and a short cytoplasmic tail. Three of the membrane bound mucins, MUC3, MUC12 and MUC17, are clustered on chromosome 7 and found in the gastrointestinal tract. These mucins have C-terminal sequences typical for PDZ domain binding proteins. To identify PDZ proteins able to interact with the mucins, we screened PDZ domain arrays using YFP-tagged proteins. MUC17 exhibited a strong binding to PDZK1 whereas the binding to NHERF1 was weak. Furthermore, we showed weak binding of MUC12 to PDZK1, NHERF1 and NHERF2. GST pull-down experiments confirmed that the C-terminal tail of MUC17 co-precipitates with the scaffold protein PDZK1 as identified by mass spectrometry. This was mediated through the C-terminal PDZ-interaction site in MUC17 which was capable of binding to three of the four PDZ domains in PDZK1. Immunostaining of wild-type or Pdzk1-/- mouse jejunum with an antiserum against Muc3(17), the mouse orthologue of human MUC17, revealed strong brush border membrane staining in the wild-type mice compared to an intracellular Muc3(17) staining in the Pdzk1-/- mice. This suggests that Pdzk1 plays a specific role in stabilizing Muc3(17) in the apical membrane of small intestinal enterocytes

Fenomenologins möjligheter i etnologin: Rapport från en nationell workshop.

Fredag den 17 december 2010 genomfördes en nationell workshop kring fenomenologins vara i etnologin vid Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper, Lunds universitet. Denna rapport är ett resultat från workshopen och skall ses som ett försök att intensifiera den diskussion som var på workshopen. Etnologin har tagit inspiration från fenomenologin och i denna filosofi har ämnet funnit teorier och metodologier för att utveckla kulturanalysen. Ibland har inspirationen kommit från de fenomenologiska klassikerna - Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Simone de Beauvoir – andra gånger har inspirationen varit antropologer och sociologer som har varit starkt färgade av fenomenologin. Idag vågar vi påstå att det finns en så stor etnologisk diskussion och användning av denna filosofi att vi kan prata om en etnologisk tolkning av fenomenologi