Re-assessing the merits of measuring tax evasions through surveys: evidence from Serbian firms

This paper addresses the major weakness of measuring tax evasion through business and household surveys, namely the reluctance of respondents to answer truthfully due to the threat of disclosure. First, we assess the merits of a novel questioning method to gather information about tax evasion by means of business surveys. This approach allows estimating the prevalence of tax evasion, but it does not allow identifying whether the individual firm engages in tax evasion or not, therefore providing incentives for survey participants to answer truthfully. Second and contrary to most other business surveys, we differentiate between two common modes of tax evasion, namely underreporting of sales and informal supplements to official wages (‘envelope wages’). Using evidence from Serbia, we show that the estimated share of firms which underreport sales and wages, respectively, by at least 10% is higher under the crosswise model compared to the case when conventional questioning methods applied in business surveys such as the World Bank Enterprise Surveys are used. However, the difference is only significant with respect to sales. These results appear to be robust to a number of modifications, and we explore various potential causes that lead to these results

The Beta Problem: A Study of Abell 262

We present an investigation of the dynamical state of the cluster A262. Existing optical line of sight velocities for select cluster galaxies have been augmented by new data obtained with the Automated Multi-Object Spectrograph at Lick Observatory. We find evidence for a virialized early-type population distinct from a late-type population infalling from the Pisces-Perseus supercluster ridge. We also report on a tertiary population of low luminosity galaxies whose velocity dispersion distinguishes them from both the early and late-type galaxies. We supplement our investigation with an analysis of archival X-ray data. A temperature is determined using ASCA GIS data and a gas profile is derived from ROSAT HRI data. The increased statistics of our sample results in a picture of A262 with significant differences from earlier work. A previously proposed solution to the "beta-problem" in A262 in which the gas temperature is significantly higher than the galaxy temperature is shown to result from using too low a velocity dispersion for the early-type galaxies. Our data present a consistent picture of A262 in which there is no "beta-problem", and the gas and galaxy temperature are roughly comparable. There is no longer any requirement for extensive galaxy-gas feedback to drastically overheat the gas with respect to the galaxies. We also demonstrate that entropy-floor models can explain the recent discovery that the beta values determined by cluster gas and the cluster core radii are correlated.Comment: 31 pages, 14 figures, AAS LaTeX v5.0, Encapsulated Postscript figures, to be published in The Astrophysical Journa

The origins of belonging : Social motivation in infants and young children

Our reliance on our group members has exerted a profound influence over our motivation: successful group functioning requires that we are motivated to interact, and engage, with those around us. In other words, we need to belong. In this article, I explore the developmental origins of our need to belong. I discuss existing evidence that, from early in development, children seek to affiliate with others and to form long-lasting bonds with their group members. Furthermore, when children are deprived of a sense of belonging, it has negative consequences for their well-being. This focus on social motivation enables us to examine why and in what circumstances children engage in particular behaviours. It thus provides an important complement to research on social cognition. In doing so, it opens up important questions for future research and provides a much-needed bridge between developmental and social psychology

Mechanics of the right whale mandible : full scale testing and finite element analysis

Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V., 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 374 (2009): 93-103, doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2009.03.012.In an effort to better understand the mechanics of ship-whale collision and to reduce the associated mortality of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, a comprehensive biomechanical study has been conducted by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of New Hampshire. The goal of the study is to develop a numerical modeling tool to predict the forces and stresses during impact and thereby the resulting mortality risk to whales from ship strikes. Based on post-mortem examinations, jaw fracture was chosen as a fatal endpoint for the whales hit by a vessel. In this paper we investigate the overall mechanical behavior of a right whale mandible under transverse loading and develop a finite element analysis model of the bone. The equivalent elastic modulus of the cortical component of right whale mandible is found by comparing full-scale bending tests with the results of numerical modeling. The finite element model of the mandible can be used in conjunction with a vessel-whale collision event model to predict bone fracture for various ship strike scenarios.Funding for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation (Graduate Research Fellowship Program, Campbell-Malone), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Right Whale Grants Program, award number NA04NMF4720402), and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Ocean Life Institute

Exploring medical student learning in the large group teaching environment: examining current practice to inform curricular development

Background Lectures continue to be an efficient and standardised way to deliver information to large groups of students. It has been well documented that students prefer interactive lectures, based on active learning principles, to didactic teaching in the large group setting. Despite this, it is often the case than many students do not engage with active learning tasks and attempts at interaction. By exploring student experiences, expectations and how they use lectures in their learning we will provide recommendations for faculty to support student learning both in the lecture theatre and during personal study time. Methods This research employed a hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Three focus groups, consisting of 19 students in total, were used to explore the experiences of second year medical students in large group teaching sessions. Using generic thematic data analysis, these accounts have been developed into a meaningful account of experience. Results This study found there to be a well-established learning culture amongst students and with it, expectations as to the format of teaching sessions. Furthermore, there were set perceptions about the student role within the learning environment which had many implications, including the way that innovative teaching methods were received. Student learning was perceived to take place outside the lecture theatre, with a large emphasis placed on creating resources that can be taken away to use in personal study time. Conclusions Presented here is a constructive review of reasons for student participation, interaction and engagement in large group teaching sessions. Based on this are recommendations constructed with the view to aid educators in engaging students within this setting. Short term, educators can implement strategies that monopolise on the established learning culture of students to encourage engagement with active learning strategies. Long term, it would be beneficial for educators to consider ways to shift the current student learning culture to one that embraces an active learning curriculum

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes

The development of a brief and objective method for evaluating moral sensitivity and reasoning in medical students

BACKGROUND: Most medical schools in Japan have incorporated mandatory courses on medical ethics. To this date, however, there is no established means of evaluating medical ethics education in Japan. This study looks 1) To develop a brief, objective method of evaluation for moral sensitivity and reasoning; 2) To conduct a test battery for the PIT and the DIT on medical students who are either currently in school or who have recently graduated (residents); 3) To investigate changes in moral sensitivity and reasoning between school years among medical students and residents. METHODS: Questionnaire survey: Two questionnaires were employed, the Problem Identification Test (PIT) for evaluation of moral sensitivity and a portion of the Defining Issues Test (DIT) for moral reasoning. Subjects consisted of 559 medical school students and 272 residents who recently graduated from the same medical school located in an urban area of Japan. RESULTS: PIT results showed an increase in moral sensitivity in 4(th )and 5(th )year students followed by a decrease in 6(th )year students and in residents. No change in moral development stage was observed. However, DIT results described a gradual rising shift in moral decision-making concerning euthanasia between school years. No valid correlation was observed between PIT and DIT questionnaires. CONCLUSION: This study's questionnaire survey, which incorporates both PIT and DIT, could be used as a brief and objective means of evaluating medical students' moral sensitivity and reasoning in Japan