On the Causal Relationship between Government Expenditure and Tax Revenue in Pakistan

This paper applies the technique of Granger Causality to determine the relationship between total government expenditures and total tax revenue using annual revised estimates. The analysis discovers a firm unidirectional effect from expenditure to revenue suggesting the preference of controlling the spending decisions to reduce the tax revenue-expenditure deficit.Expenditure, Tax Revenue, Causality

Management Control Systems and Contextual Variables in the Hospitality Industry

Purpose – The paper examined management control systems (MCS) in Indonesian hospitality sector. This study examines the impact of six contextual factors at one time to determine the importance of each factor on the design of MCS. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based upon data collected through a survey sent to “star” hotels in Central Java, Indonesia. Using Chenhall (2003) design, a regression equation is run to examine the relationship between MCS and the contextual variables of environment, technology, structure, size, strategy and culture. Findings – The paper finds that higher levels of the contextual variables of technology, structure, and culture are related to more sophisticated MCS while size is related to more traditional MCS. Research limitations/implications –These findings are related to the hospitality industry in Indonesia. Future research could examine different settings (i.e. country, industry, etc) and investigate the effect of each contextual variable on the relationships between MCS and firm performance. Originality/value – The present study extends the scope of MCS system in accounting literature by testing Chenhall (2003) works on the relationship between contextual variables and MCS. It attempts to fill the gap in contingency-based studies that have previously focused on one aspect of contingency by considering six contextual factors. Furthermore, this paper also contributes to a fuller understanding of MCS practices in Indonesia and the hospitality industry and helps management in determining its most effective design. Keywords Hospitality management, Management Control Systems, Indonesia, Contextual Variable

Cell wall microstructure, pore size distribution and absolute density of hemp shiv

This paper, for the first time, fully characterizes the intrinsic physical parameters of hemp shiv including cell wall microstructure, pore size distribution and absolute density. Scanning electron microscopy revealed microstructural features similar to hardwoods. Confocal microscopy revealed three major layers in the cell wall: middle lamella, primary cell wall and secondary cell wall. Computed tomography improved the visualization of pore shape and pore connectivity in three dimensions. Mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) showed that the average accessible porosity was 76.67 ± 2.03% and pore size classes could be distinguished into micropores (3–10 nm) and macropores (0.1–1 µm and 20–80 µm). The absolute density was evaluated by helium pycnometry, MIP and Archimedes’ methods. The results show that these methods can lead to misinterpretation of absolute density. The MIP method showed a realistic absolute density (1.45 g cm−3) consistent with the density of the known constituents, including lignin, cellulose and hemi-cellulose. However, helium pycnometry and Archimedes’ methods gave falsely low values owing to 10% of the volume being inaccessible pores, which require sample pretreatment in order to be filled by liquid or gas. This indicates that the determination of the cell wall density is strongly dependent on sample geometry and preparation

Approximate Noether Symmetries of the Geodesic Equations for the Charged-Kerr Spacetime and Rescaling of Energy

Using approximate symmetry methods for differential equations we have investigated the exact and approximate symmetries of a Lagrangian for the geodesic equations in the Kerr spacetime. Taking Minkowski spacetime as the exact case, it is shown that the symmetry algebra of the Lagrangian is 17 dimensional. This algebra is related to the 15 dimensional Lie algebra of conformal isometries of Minkowski spacetime. First introducing spin angular momentum per unit mass as a small parameter we consider first-order approximate symmetries of the Kerr metric as a first perturbation of the Schwarzschild metric. We then consider the second-order approximate symmetries of the Kerr metric as a second perturbation of the Minkowski metric. The approximate symmetries are recovered for these spacetimes and there are no non-trivial approximate symmetries. A rescaling of the arc length parameter for consistency of the trivial second-order approximate symmetries of the geodesic equations indicates that the energy in the charged-Kerr metric has to be rescaled and the rescaling factor is $r$-dependent. This rescaling factor is compared with that for the Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m metric.Comment: 17 Page

Estimating the Black Economy through Monetary Approach: A Case Study of Pakistan

In the recent years, the ‘black economy’ has held enormous appeal for policy makers. Presence of black economy creates critical misrepresentation of macroeconomic variables in official estimates that lead to the false determination and delusional impact of economic policies. Similarly, black economy represents the unrecorded potential of the economy vis-à-vis resource generation and mobilization. The Economy of Pakistan underwent several minor tax reforms since 1960’s. However, the tax and tariff reform of 1990’s, committed under international pressure, was the first comprehensive exercise and therefore it becomes highly desirable to gauge its impact on the black economy and tax evasion practices. This paper, with some modifications, uses the standard monetary approach to obtain the latest estimates of the size of black economy and its macroeconomic implications thereof.