The Challenges of Globalization: An Interview with Ernesto Zedillo

Latin American Studie

Keeping It Off The Books: An Empirical Investigation Into the Characteristics of Firms That Engage In Tax Non-Compliance

We investigate firm tax noncompliance using a survey of firms from around the world. Overall, we find that small firms are less and large firms are more compliant. Foreign owned firms, exporters and firms that have audited finance statements are also more compliant, as found by others, but, quite surprisingly, government ownership is insignificant. Not surprisingly, organized crime, high taxes, and government corruption all result in lower compliance. Finally, we find that firms around the world engage in tax noncompliance but, holding all else constant, compliance in highest in OECD countries and the lowest in Latin American, African & Middle Eastern countries.Underground Economy, Tax Noncompliance, Firm Characteristics, Interval Regression

Nonparametric expenditure-based estimation of income under-reporting and the underground economy

There is considerable interest in measuring the underground economy using microeconomic data. One such method estimates income under-reporting by households by assuming a known, parametric form of the Engel curve and making the further parametric assumption that households under-report their income by a constant fraction, independent of income. This paper proposes a nonparametric approach which avoids functional form restrictions and enables the reporting function to vary across income levels and household characteristics. I illustrate by estimating the effect of the Canadian Goods and Services Tax on income under-reporting.

Why Deporting Immigrants for “Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude” is Now Unconstitutional

In the best of times, immigrants should only be deported according to the rule of law and not by the whim of executive branch officials. Now, it is imperative. Yet the statute authorizing removal of immigrants for “crimes involving moral turpitude” invites officials to base their prosecutorial choices on political or personal views. As a result, defense attorneys advising their clients on the immigration consequences of pleas have no basis for prediction. Although the Supreme Court long ago rejected the argument that the “moral turpitude” clause was void for vagueness, one of the Court’s most recent decisions now makes that conclusion unsupportable. The notion that due process permits officials to banish legal permanent residents based on “moral turpitude,” which never comported with common sense, is now legally incorrect

Why Deporting Immigrants for “Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude” is Now Unconstitutional

In the best of times, immigrants should only be deported according to the rule of law and not by the whim of executive branch officials. Now, it is imperative. Yet the statute authorizing removal of immigrants for “crimes involving moral turpitude” invites officials to base their prosecutorial choices on political or personal views. As a result, defense attorneys advising their clients on the immigration consequences of pleas have no basis for prediction. Although the Supreme Court long ago rejected the argument that the “moral turpitude” clause was void for vagueness, one of the Court’s most recent decisions now makes that conclusion unsupportable. The notion that due process permits officials to banish legal permanent residents based on “moral turpitude,” which never comported with common sense, is now legally incorrect

On-line high-precision carbon position-specific stable isotope analysis: a review

Since the first commercial availability of gas chromatographs coupled with a combustion furnace and an isotope ratio mass spectrometry in 1990, compound-specific stable isotope analysis of organic molecules has been at the origin of scientific breakthroughs in a wide range of research fields. The presence of non-reacting atoms, however, can mask changes in molecular stable isotopic signatures; position-specific isotope analysis (PSIA) is the study of intramolecular isotopic variations. After a brief consideration of the potential and prospect of this new level in isotopic studies, in this study, we review few existing custom-built systems for on-line PSIA using continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry instrumentation and how researchers have addressed issues related to this technique. Molecular fragmentation processes observed and optimised for various molecules are also discussed for on-line PSIA, as it would provide information on their application to new compounds

Flexural properties of the equine hoof wall

The equine hoof wall is a hard keratinous structure which transmits forces generated when the hoof contacts the ground to the skeleton of the horse. During locomotion, the hoof capsule is known to yield under impact resulting in an inward curvature of the dorsal wall and expansion of the heels. However, whilst researchers have studied the tensile and compressive properties of the hoof wall, there is a lack of data on the flexural properties in different locations around the hoof capsule. In this study the flexural properties and hydration status of the hoof wall was investigated, in two orthogonal directions, in different locations around the hoof capsule. The hoof was divided into three regions: the dorsal-most aspect (toe); the medial and lateral regions (quarters) and the heels caudally. Beams were cut both perpendicular and parallel to the axis of the tubules, termed transverse and longitudinal beams respectively. Differences in the mechanical properties were then investigated using three-point bending tests. There were considerable differences in the mechanical properties around the hoof capsule; transverse beams from the toe were 81% stiffer and 28% stronger than those from the heels. This corresponded with differences in the hydration of the hoof wall; beams from the toe had a lower water content (24.1±0.25%) than those from the heels (28.3±0.37%). Differences in the flexural properties are thought to be largely a result of variation in the water content. Mechanical data are further discussed in relation to variation in the structure and loading of the hoof wall

A Comment on Tectonics and the Future of Life on Terrestrial Planets

It is argued that the tight interconnection between biological, climatological, and geophysical factors in the history of the terrestrial biosphere can teach us something of wider importance regarding the general astrobiological evolution of planets in the Galactic habitable zone of the Milky Way. Motivated by a recent debate on the future of Earth's biosphere, we suggest an additional reason why the impact of plate tectonics on the biological evolution is significant on the global Galactic level.Comment: 5 pages, no figures; Precambrian Research, submitte

Community learning and development training for professionals engaged in community regeneration and community planning

The study was commissioned by the Scottish Executive Development Department to identify training needs and current provision of community learning and development (CLD) training for a range of professionals (other than those formally qualified in CLD) who are engaged in community regeneration and community planning (Local Government in Scotland Act 2003). It was one of a series of studies emanating from the Scottish Executive response to the review: „Empowered to Practice – the future of community learning and development training in Scotland‟. One of the themes of the report taken up by the Scottish Executive was the need for; „wider opportunities for joint training with other disciplines such as teachers, librarians, college lecturers, health workers and social workers‟

Mechanisms of memory retrieval in slow-wave sleep : memory retrieval in slow-wave sleep

Study Objectives: Memories are strengthened during sleep. The benefits of sleep for memory can be enhanced by re-exposing the sleeping brain to auditory cues; a technique known as targeted memory reactivation (TMR). Prior studies have not assessed the nature of the retrieval mechanisms underpinning TMR: the matching process between auditory stimuli encountered during sleep and previously encoded memories. We carried out two experiments to address this issue. Methods: In Experiment 1, participants associated words with verbal and non-verbal auditory stimuli before an overnight interval in which subsets of these stimuli were replayed in slow-wave sleep. We repeated this paradigm in Experiment 2 with the single difference that the gender of the verbal auditory stimuli was switched between learning and sleep. Results: In Experiment 1, forgetting of cued (vs. non-cued) associations was reduced by TMR with verbal and non-verbal cues to similar extents. In Experiment 2, TMR with identical non-verbal cues reduced forgetting of cued (vs. non-cued) associations, replicating Experiment 1. However, TMR with non-identical verbal cues reduced forgetting of both cued and non-cued associations. Conclusions: These experiments suggest that the memory effects of TMR are influenced by the acoustic overlap between stimuli delivered at training and sleep. Our findings hint at the existence of two processing routes for memory retrieval during sleep. Whereas TMR with acoustically identical cues may reactivate individual associations via simple episodic matching, TMR with non-identical verbal cues may utilise linguistic decoding mechanisms, resulting in widespread reactivation across a broad category of memories