Rate Cutting Tax Reforms and Corporate Tax Competition in Europe

While there is a large and growing number of studies on the determinants of corporate tax rates, the literature has so far ignored the fact that the behavior of governments in setting tax rates is often best described as a discrete choice decision problem. We set up an empirical model that relates a government's decision whether to cut its corporate tax rate to the country's own inherited tax and taxes in neighboring countries. Using comprehensive data on corporate tax reforms in Europe since 1980, we find evidence suggesting that the position in terms of the tax burden imposed on corporate income relative to geographical neighbors strongly affects the probability of rate cutting tax reforms. Countries are particularly likely to cut their statutory tax rate if the inherited tax is high and if they are exposed to low-tax neighbors. --Tax reform,tax competition,corporate taxes

Rate cutting tax reforms and corporate tax competition in Europe

While there is a large and growing number of studies on the determinants of corporate tax rates, the literature has so far ignored the fact that the behavior of governments in setting tax rates is often best described as a discrete choice decision problem. We set up an empirical model that relates a government's decision whether to cut its corporate tax rate to the country's own inherited tax and taxes in neighboring countries. Using comprehensive data on corporate tax reforms in Europe since 1980, we find evidence suggesting that the position in terms of the tax burden imposed on corporate income relative to geographical neighbors strongly affects the probability of rate cutting tax reforms. Countries are particularly likely to cut their statutory tax rate if the inherited tax is high and if they are exposed to low-tax neighbors

GPD-linked Bonds as a Financing Tool for Developing Countries and Emerging Markets

The paper examines the applicability of GDP-linked bonds for the financing of developing countries and emerging markets. GDP-linked bonds are bonds of which the coupon and/or redemption payments are tied to the GDP of the issuing country. The study encompasses a detailed empirical analysis of their pricing behaviour, the pricing sensitivities to changes in GDP, and of their behaviour in a portfolio context is conducted. A survey amongst potential investors as well as issuing-side capital market participants assesses the prospects of success of this new type of bond. Finally, the usefulness of a partial public guarantee of payments is examined. The paper provides evidence under which circumstances, for which investors and for which countries GDP-linked bonds might be an appropriate investment vehicle

Die Bibliothek als Labor des Musikhistoriker: Eröffnungsvortrag

Manchmal habe ich Zweifel, ob ich als Wissenschaftler öffentliche Bibliotheken noch benötige. Denn die Bücher, die ich für meine Arbeiten brauche, habe ich daheim. Online-Lexika bieten Informationen kostenlos, bequem und schnell. Die Digitalisierung besorgt den Rest. Zeitschriften, von denen Bibliotheken häufig ohnehin nur einzelne Jahrgänge besitzen, sind im Internet komplett verfügbar, und selbst von gerade erst erschienenen Bücher liefern Google und Amazon inzwischen mehr als nur Inhaltsangaben. Kurz: Internet und Digitalisierung machen den „realen“ Besuch von Bibliotheken mehr und mehr überflüssig

Oral capecitabine in gemcitabine-pretreated patients with advanced pancreatic cancer

Objective: To date, no standard regimen for salvage chemotherapy after gemcitabine (Gem) failure has been defined for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer (PC). Oral capecitabine (Cap) has shown promising activity in first-line chemotherapy trials in PC patients. Methods: Within a prospective single-center study, Cap was offered to patients who had already received at least 1 previous treatment regimen containing full-dose Gem (as a single agent, as part of a combination chemotherapy regimen or sequentially within a chemoradiotherapy protocol). Cap was administered orally at a dose of 1,250 mg/m(2) twice daily for 14 days followed by 7 days of rest. Study endpoints were objective tumor response rate by imaging criteria (according to RECIST), carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) tumor marker response, time to progression, overall survival and toxicity. Results: A median of 3 treatment cycles (range 1-36) was given to 39 patients. After a median follow-up of 6.6 months, 27 patients were evaluable for response: no complete or partial responses were observed, but 15 patients (39%) had stable disease. A CA19-9 reduction of >20% after 2 cycles of Cap was documented in 6 patients (15%). Median time to progression was 2.3 months (range 0.5-45.1) and median overall survival (since start of Cap treatment) was 7.6 months (range 0.7-45.1). Predominant grade 2 and 3 toxicities (per patient analysis) were hand-foot syndrome 28% (13% grade 3); anemia 23%; leg edema 15%; diarrhea 13%; nausea/vomiting 10%, and leukocytopenia 10%. Conclusion: Single-agent Cap is a safe treatment option for Gem-pretreated patients with advanced PC. Further evaluation of Cap in controlled clinical trials of Gem-pretreated patients with advanced PC is recommended. Copyright (C) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel

Mutation screening of the medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) and the ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) genes by multiplex PCR amplification and sequencing

Background: Sequencing based mutation screening assays of genes encompassing large numbers of exons could be substantially optimized by multiplex PCR, which enables simultaneous amplification of many targets in one reaction. In the present study, a multiplex PCR protocol originally developed for fragment analysis was evaluated for sequencing based mutation screening of the ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) and the medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) genes. Methods: Single exon and multiplex PCR protocols were applied to generate PCR templates for subsequent DNA sequencing of all exons of the OTC and the MCAD genes. For each PCR protocol and using the same DNA samples, 66 OTC and 98 MCAD sequence reads were generated. The sequences derived from the two different PCR methods were compared at the level of individual signal-to-noise ratios of the four bases and the proportion of high-quality base-signals. Results: The single exon and the multiplex PCR protocol gave qualitatively comparable results for the two genes. Conclusions: Many existing sequencing based mutation analysis protocols may be easily optimized with the proposed method, since the multiplex PCR protocol was successfully applied without any re-design of the PCR primers and other optimization steps for generating sequencing templates for the OTC and MCAD genes, respectively. Clin Chem Lab Med 2009;47:56-

Making the most of the European Fiscal Board

Nach den zahlreichen fiskalpolitischen Reformen in der Eurozone seit 2011 wurde im Jahr 2016 eine weitere wichtige Neuerung eingeführt: die Gründung des Europäischen Finanzausschusses (EFB) sowie die Auswahl und Ernennung seiner fünf Mitglieder. Der Fiskalausschuss war einer der Vorschläge, die im Bericht der fünf Präsidenten im Juni 2015 (Juncker et al., 2015) mit dem Ziel der Schaffung einer "Fiskalunion" vorgebracht wurden. Es ist außerdem das einzige Element des Berichts, das innerhalb von kürzester Zeit umgesetzt wurde. Der Vorschlag über die Einrichtung einer solchen Institution wurde im Oktober 2015 von der Europäischen Kommission eingereicht. Bereits im Oktober 2016 nahm der Fiskalausschuss kurze Zeit nach Ernennung seiner Mitglieder seine Arbeit auf