The Property Tax in a New Environment: Lessons from International Tax Reform Efforts

Contemporary property tax reforms face the challenge of identifying the appropriate role for a tax on immobile physical assets in an economy ever more reliant on mobile and intangible factors. The property tax can offer a stable revenue source particularly well suited for local government and a valuable adjunct to land reform initiatives. At the same time, it requires administrative capability, legislative support and political acceptance that are often lacking in highly developed and long established systems as well as in transition economies. Technological advances offer potential efficiency gains in assessment, administration and collection, but they can also consume vast sums for glamorous but inappropriate projects that yield little additional revenue.Working Paper Number 04-49

The Effects of Social Screening on Portfolio Performance

Socially responsible investing (SRI) is the fastest growing investment trend in the world and it has been extensively studied in the past decades. Most scholars have studied the phenomenon in the context of the modern portfolio theory, some have sought different approaches. However a vast majority of the studies have concentrated on professionally managed funds and indices. For this study the socially responsible portfolios are created on purely ethical grounds by disregarding all financial indicators. The practice of social screening is also inspected thoroughly in order to find out at which point the screening stringency starts to limit the performance of the investment. The effect of social screening is studied though a set of socially responsible portfolios. The portfolios are based on a company specific ethical score which is provided by Covalence, an independent Swiss research company. The portfolios are constructed so that they reflect different levels of screening stringency. The portfolios are then subjected to performance analysis, more specifically risk and return indicators, regression analysis and risk-adjusted performance metrics. The effect of industries is also investigated. The observation period is divided into distinctive periods in terms of market cycles in order to find out whether the results differ in bull and bear markets. The results are very much consistent with previous studies in the bull market. Although some SRI portfolios performed better than the market based on risk-adjusted metrics, none of the results were significant. However the unethical companies were able to beat the market with significance. Overall the results from period 1 support prior evidence. However there are some anomalies which occur in the midst of the financial crisis in period 2. All portfolios seem to behave differently in terms of SMB and HML –factors of the Fama-French model. None of the regression coefficient proved significant but the worst performers of period 1 seemed to be the best in period 2. The industries do not seem to have important effect, though the ones which have low ethical scores have also the lowest correlation with SRI portfolios. The results also conclusively indicate that after a certain point the level of risk rises at an accelerating rate when more screening is imposed. Nonetheless the empirical evidence indicates that SRI should not lead to a direct performance penalty, and should therefore be regarded as a viable option for any investor.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Acoustical evaluation of the NASA Langley full-scale wind tunnel

Determining types of acoustical measurements suitable for test section of NASA Langley wind tunne

Kompetanseutvikling i kommunale helse- og omsorgstjenester - Hvilke faktorer kan påvirke helsepersonells deltagelse i kompetansehevende tiltak?

Formålet med studien er å avdekke forhold som kan påvirke ansattes motivasjon til å delta i kompetansehevende tiltak. I hovedsak tar vi for oss faktorer som lederstøtte og i hvilken grad leder som pådriver gir effekt på medarbeidernes motivasjon til fagutvikling. Vi ser på utdanningsnivå og hva som påvirker motivasjonen til ansatte med høy utdanning i forhold til de som har lavere eller ingen utdanning. Som en følge av at det er en utstrakt bruk av vikarer i helse- og omsorgstjenesten har vi også tatt med ansettelsesforhold som en variabel. Vi har samlet inn data i en survey hos ansatte i kommunal helse- og omsorgstjenester i flere kommuner av ulik størrelse. Data ble bearbeidet og analysert ved hjelp av syv hypoteser. Oppgaven er et kvantitativt studie der vi har sett på faktorer som utdanningsbakgrunn og ansettelsesforhold og sammenlignet med faktorer som motivasjon, egeninnsats og opplevd støtte fra leder i forbindelse med kompetansehevende tiltak. Resultatet viser at behovet for lederstøtte har mindre betydning enn antatt, det vil si at leder som pådriver ikke har den effekten vi hadde forutsett. Det er imidlertid flere faktorer som spiller inn på dette resultatet. Blant annet kan man tenke seg at behovet for leders innblanding varierer avhengig av ansattes egenmotivasjon. For noen er det tilstrekkelig med at forhold legges til rette slik at den ansatte får tid og rom til fagutvikling, mens andre trenger mye støtte fra leder i tillegg til praktisk tilrettelegging. Nøkkelord: Kompetanseutvikling, lederstøtte, motivasjon

Building Integrity in The Montenegrin Defence and Security Sector

The Norwegian project on enhancing integrity in the security sector in Montenegro is asked by the Ministry of Interior to support the work in increasing the unit’s integrity and trust. The project work predominantly aims to contribute to drafting the anticipated government bylaw. In doing so, it is directed towards transforming the operational anti-terrorism unit to meet future challenges in accordance with international accepted standards, trends and human rights

Speech Communication

Contains reports on two research projects.National Science FoundationUnited States Air Force, Cambridge Research Center, Air Research and Development Command (Contract AF19(604)-6102)United States Navy, Office of Naval Research (Contract Nonr-1841(42)

Speech Communication

Contains reports on seven research projects.Contract AF19(604)-2061 with Air Force Cambridge Research CenterContract N5ori-07861 with the Navy (Office of Naval Research)National Science Foundatio

Hepatitis C treatment uptake among people who inject drugs in Oslo, Norway: A registry-based study

Background Improving HCV treatment uptake among people who inject drugs (PWID) is crucial to achieving the WHO elimination targets. The aims were to evaluate HCV treatment uptake and HCV RNA prevalence in a large cohort of PWID in Norway. Methods Registry-based observational study where all users of the City of Oslo's low-threshold social and health services for PWID between 2010–2016 ( n = 5330) were linked to HCV notifications (1990–2019) and dispensions of HCV treatment, opioid agonist treatment (OAT) and benzodiazepines (2004–2019). Cases were weighted to account for spontaneous HCV clearance. Treatment rates were calculated using person-time of observation, and factors associated with treatment uptake were analysed using logistic regression. HCV RNA prevalence was estimated among individuals alive by the end of 2019. Results Among 2436 participants with chronic HCV infection (mean age 46.8 years, 30.7% female, 73.3% OAT), 1118 (45.9%) had received HCV treatment between 2010–2019 (88.7% DAA-based). Treatment rates increased from 1.4/100 PY (95% CI 1.1–1.8) in the pre-DAA period (2010–2013) to 3.5/100 PY (95% CI 3.0–4.0) in the early DAA period (2014–2016; fibrosis restrictions) and 18.4/100 PY (95% CI 17.2–19.7) in the late DAA period (2017–2019; no restrictions). Treatment rates for 2018 and 2019 exceeded a previously modelled elimination threshold of 50/1000 PWID. Treatment uptake was less likely among women (aOR 0.74; 95% CI 0.62–0.89) and those aged 40–49 years (aOR 0.74; 95% CI 0.56–0.97), and more likely among participants with current OAT (aOR 1.21; 95% CI 1.01–1.45). The estimated HCV RNA prevalence by the end of 2019 was 23.6% (95% CI 22.3–24.9). Conclusion Although HCV treatment uptake among PWID increased, strategies to improve treatment among women and individuals not engaged in OAT should be addressed.This research received funding from the following sources. KM receives research grants from the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority , grant number: 2020011 . The funding sponsor has not been involved in study design, collection of data, analysis/interpretation of data, in the writing of the article, or in the decision to submit the article for publication.publishedVersio