Vietnam's New Environmental Tax Law: What Will It Cost? Who Will Pay?

We examine the effects of a proposed environmental tax in a small open developing economy, using an applied general equilibrium model linked to a household survey database. The burden of the tax, applied primarily to fossil fuels, is passed forward by non-traded industries and backward by industries selling into the world market. It causes efficiency and competitiveness losses equivalent to those of a real exchange rate appreciation, and since export industries are in general highly labor-intensive, is regressive and thus poverty-increasing. The budget-neutral use of increased tax revenues to raise spending on anti-poverty programs can offset most of the losses of poor households, but does not create new jobs. The extent of overall losses and their distribution is sensitive to some parameters, such as labor supply response, about which little is currently known in a developing-country context.

The Impact of Trade Liberalization on Household Welfare in Vietnam

This paper evaluates the efficiency and distributional effects of trade liberalization in the context of fiscal reform in Vietnam. The analysis is performed using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the Vietnamese economy calibrated to late- 1990s production and household data. It is a standard small open price taking economy model with CES nested demand and CES production functions. Results show that the efficiency gains (in term of aggregate welfare measure) from the combined tax and tariff reform are modest, but significant redistribution occurs among rich and poor household groups and between urban and rural populations. Careful analyses show that the sharpness of the redistribution falls as the country moves from only trade liberalization the combined tax and tariff reforms. Finally, additional simulations have been performed to make clearer the transmission mechanisms linking tariff policy to income distribution and household welfare. A key finding is that trade liberalization is pro-rich due essentially to the higher share of imported goods consumed by the rich.CGE model, counterfactual simulations, distributional effects, efficiency, household welfare, tariff, tax reform, trade liberalization, VAT, Vietnam

Influence of boundary conditions and geometric imperfections on lateral–torsional buckling resistance of a pultruded FRP I-beam by FEA

Presented are results from geometric non-linear finite element analyses to examine the lateral torsional buckling (LTB) resistance of a Pultruded fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) I-beam when initial geometric imperfections associated with the LTB mode shape are introduced. A data reduction method is proposed to define the limiting buckling load and the method is used to present strength results for a range of beam slendernesses and geometric imperfections. Prior to reporting on these non-linear analyses, Eigenvalue FE analyses are used to establish the influence on resistance of changing load height or displacement boundary conditions. By comparing predictions for the beam with either FRP or steel elastic constants it is found that the former has a relatively larger effect on buckling strength with changes in load height and end warping fixity. The developed finite element modelling methodology will enable parametric studies to be performed for the development of closed form formulae that will be reliable for the design of FRP beams against LTB failure

HEROISM IN ERNEST HEMINGWAY’S SHORT STORIES

Ernest Hemingway, a distinguished writer, is well-known for his writing theory called the “Iceberg Principle.” This theory is used to introduce the concept of Heroism, which depicts the images of heroes differently from the traditional stereotype. His novels and collections of short stories were written permeating the Iceberg Principle. Among them, In Another Country, Old Man at the Bridge, and The Old Man and the Sea characterized the heroes with their unique characteristics which readers needed to dig out to get a deeper insight into man’s fate with emotional overtones. The current study, with a qualitative and descriptive approach, illuminates Heroism in these short stories. The results show that there are five aspects that Hemingway applied to reflect his Heroism including age, life tragedies, isolation, persistence, and stoicism. Besides, throughout the three stories, one can see the development of Hemingway's heroes as they strive to reach perfection during his literary career.  Article visualizations

Adaptive Image Denoising by Targeted Databases

We propose a data-dependent denoising procedure to restore noisy images. Different from existing denoising algorithms which search for patches from either the noisy image or a generic database, the new algorithm finds patches from a database that contains only relevant patches. We formulate the denoising problem as an optimal filter design problem and make two contributions. First, we determine the basis function of the denoising filter by solving a group sparsity minimization problem. The optimization formulation generalizes existing denoising algorithms and offers systematic analysis of the performance. Improvement methods are proposed to enhance the patch search process. Second, we determine the spectral coefficients of the denoising filter by considering a localized Bayesian prior. The localized prior leverages the similarity of the targeted database, alleviates the intensive Bayesian computation, and links the new method to the classical linear minimum mean squared error estimation. We demonstrate applications of the proposed method in a variety of scenarios, including text images, multiview images and face images. Experimental results show the superiority of the new algorithm over existing methods.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables, journa

Relationship between the molecular composition, visible light absorption, and health-related properties of smoldering woodsmoke aerosols

Organic aerosols generated from the smoldering combustion of wood critically impact air quality and health for billions of people worldwide; yet, the links between the chemical components and the optical or biological effects of woodsmoke aerosol (WSA) are still poorly understood. In this work, an untargeted analysis of the molecular composition of smoldering WSA, generated in a controlled environment from nine types of heartwood fuels (African mahogany, birch, cherry, maple, pine, poplar, red oak, redwood, and walnut), identified several hundred compounds using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS) and nano-electrospray high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) with tandem multistage mass spectrometry (MSn). The effects of WSA on cell toxicity as well as gene expression dependent on the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) and estrogen receptor (ER) were characterized with cellular assays, and the visible mass absorption coefficients (MACvis) of WSA were measured with ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The WSAs studied in this work have significant levels of biological and toxicological activity, with exposure levels in both an outdoor and indoor environment similar to or greater than those of other toxicants. A correlation between the HRMS molecular composition and aerosol properties found that phenolic compounds from the oxidative decomposition of lignin are the main drivers of aerosol effects, while the cellulose decomposition products play a secondary role; e.g., levoglucosan is anticorrelated with multiple effects. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are not expected to form at the combustion temperature in this work, nor were they observed above the detection limit; thus, biological and optical properties of the smoldering WSA are not attributed to PAHs. Syringyl compounds tend to correlate with cell toxicity, while the more conjugated molecules (including several compounds assigned to dimers) have higher AhR activity and MACvis. The negative correlation between cell toxicity and AhR activity suggests that the toxicity of smoldering WSA to cells is not mediated by the AhR. Both mass-normalized biological outcomes have a statistically significant dependence on the degree of combustion of the wood. In addition, our observations support the fact that the visible light absorption of WSA is at least partially due to charge transfer effects in aerosols, as previously suggested. Finally, MACvis has no correlation with toxicity or receptor signaling, suggesting that key chromophores in this work are not biologically active on the endpoints tested

A Model for the Evaluation of Society’s Progress Towards Cashlessness: A Comprehensive Analysis of the World and Norway

Master's thesis in Business administration (BE501)The purpose of this thesis is to determine Norway as well as other countries in terms of the progress in cashless societies. When it comes to payment services, there are constantly new and better innovations that suppliers are attempting to find solutions for and that are easily available to consumers. The main aim of this thesis is to determine which phases a society is in by using a model for cashless society phases. As there are no fitting models for analyzing such cashless societies, we introduce a new model of cashnessless, and use it as the base of the analysis. Some countries with advanced technology and rising markets are discussed to see what kind of payment methods the country provides to its citizens. The benefits and drawbacks of establishing a cashless society are also presented to determine which groups will be most affected, as well as determining the importance of physical money to the public