The choice of commodity tax base in the presence of horizontal foreign direct investment

We analyse the choice of commodity tax base, when countries set their taxes non-cooperatively in a reciprocal dumping model of homogeneous goods trade with horizontal foreign direct investment (FDI). We show that the consumption base (destination principle) weakly welfare-dominates the production base (origin principle) for a large range of plant fixed costs. When integration is complete, the destination principle dominates the origin principle for all levels of plant fixed costs below which FDI occurs under the origin principle. This contrasts with much of the existing literature which has tended to support the origin principle under imperfect competition with a fixed market structure

The Legend of the Wehrmacht’s “Clean Hands”: The Attempt to Remove Nazism from the German Military

The legend of the Wehrmacht’s “clean hands” was created with the Himmerdoer Memorandum of 1950 and sought to disassociate the German military with its Nazi past. The legend gained popularity in the minds of the German people and successfully led to Germany’s rearmament after World War Two. Beginning in 1990, the legend was destroyed as the actions of the Wehrmacht during World War Two created a different picture than that of the legend. The Wehrmacht’s hands were far from “clean” and instead were very dirty

Predictors of painkiller dependence among people with pain in the general population

Aims: Self-medication with painkillers is widespread and increasing, and evidence about influences on painkiller dependence is needed to inform efforts to prevent and treat problem painkiller use. Design: Online questionnaire survey. Participants: People in the general population who had pain and used painkillers in the last month (n=112). Measurements: Pain frequency and intensity, use of over-the-counter and prescription painkillers, risk of substance abuse (SOAPP scale), depression, anxiety, stress, alexithymia, pain catastrophizing, pain anxiety, pain self-efficacy, pain acceptance, mindfulness, self-compassion, and painkiller dependence (Leeds Dependence Questionnaire). Findings: In multiple regression, the independent predictors of painkiller dependence were prescription painkiller use (ß 0.21), SOAPP score (ß 0.31), and pain acceptance (ß -0.29). Prescription painkiller use mediated the influence of pain intensity. Alexithymia, anxiety and pain acceptance all moderated the influence of pain. Conclusions: The people most at risk of developing painkiller dependence are those who use prescription painkillers more frequently, who have a prior history of substance-related problems more generally, and who are less accepting of pain. Based on these findings, a preliminary model is presented with three types of influence on the development of painkiller dependence: a) pain leading to painkiller use, b) risk factors for substance-related problems irrespective of pain, and c) psychological factors related to pain. The model could guide further research among the general population and high risk groups, and acceptance-based interventions could be adapted and evaluated as methods to prevent and treat painkiller dependence.The Leonardo Da Vinci Lifelong Learning Programme funded Joana Duarte’s graduate research placement at the University of Derb

Evaluation of the Caring Dads Cymru Programme. Final report

The aim of the evaluation, which spanned two years of the Programme, was to establish the effectiveness of the programme in changing men’s abusive attitudes and behaviours thus preventing them from doing harm to children and children’s mothers

Housing's role in a recovery

Housing tends to contribute significantly to an economic recovery.Housing - Finance ; Economic conditions

Should food be excluded from core CPI?

The greater a component’s SNR, the more useful the component should be in forecasting headline CPI.Consumer price indexes ; Food prices

How accurate are forecasts in a recession?

Recessions ; Economic forecasting