The Response of Firms to Eligibility Thresholds : Evidence from the Japanese Value-Added Tax

It is common to defi ne benefi t eligibility for small business policies by restrictions on the fi rm size. This paper investigates the incentives for a large fi rm to masquerade as many small fi rms by separately incorporating business segments, focusing on the case of the Japanese value-added tax. The paper fi nds that the masquerading was pervasive and took place quickly after the introduction of tax incentives. Tax avoidance caused 3.4 per cent of the overall revenue drain in 1990, thus reducing horizontal equity, but the effi ciency consequence would not have been severe. This study suggests that the masquerading by fi rms may be commonplace in other settings.Tax avoidance, Business group, Value-added tax, Firm size distribution

A tale of pork prices : evasion and attenuation of a Japanese tariff

This paper empirically examines the effectiveness of a safeguard tariff in the Japanese market for imported pork parts. The goals are, first, to consider a refinement to the traditional market-based method for evasion detection, and, second, to apply the method in a setting where evasion is suspected to be widespread. Utilising a within-pig variation in tariff burdens and the timing of safeguard invocations, I examine a panel of monthly wholesale prices on narrowly-defined pork products from 2001 through 2008. The results are consistent with a hypothesis that a widespread evasion nullified the safeguard tariff on pork, and are robust to a range of alternative explanations including the adjustment of profit margins by traders. Safeguard tariffs appear to be a simple mechanism, but behavioural responses can undo the policy intent.safeguard tariff, price disparity, tax incidence

Tax Law Asymmetries and Income Shifting : Evidence From Japanese Capital Keiretsu

When positive and negative income are treated asymmetrically under a corporate income tax (CIT) without allowance for group taxation, a group of affi liated corporations may engage in tax avoidance by shifting income from profi table to unprofi table subsidiaries for the sole purpose of minimising the sum of tax liabilities of the group members. The aim of this paper is to offer systematic evidence on the behavioural response to a tax penalty that arises from doing business in multiple entities, in order to provide justifi cation for group tax systems such as consolidated fi ling and loss transfer. The setting for our investigation is the Japanese CIT before the introduction of a group tax system. We develop a theoretical model of a corporate group that predicts a difference in profi t reporting behaviour between subsidiaries above and below 100 million yen in paid-in capital due to the progressive feature of the Japanese CIT. We test the implications of the model with a company-level data on subsidiaries based on survey that covers over 1,700 corporate groups headed by large corporations. The sample consists of 33,340 subsidiary-time pairs from 1988, 1990, and 1992. We fi nd evidence consistent with a hypothesis that corporate groups shift income among group members. The fi nding underscores the importance of accounting for the group behaviour in the design of CIT.

Unc93B1 Restricts Systemic Lethal Inflammation by Orchestrating Toll-like Receptor 7 and 9 Trafficking

SummaryToll-like receptor-7 (TLR7) and 9, innate immune sensors for microbial RNA or DNA, have been implicated in autoimmunity. Upon activation, TLR7 and 9 are transported from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to endolysosomes for nucleic acid sensing by an ER-resident protein, Unc93B1. Little is known, however, about a role for sensor transportation in controlling autoimmunity. TLR9 competes with TLR7 for Unc93B1-dependent trafficking and predominates over TLR7. TLR9 skewing is actively maintained by Unc93B1 and reversed to TLR7 if Unc93B1 loses preferential binding via a D34A mutation. We here demonstrate that mice harboring a D34A mutation showed TLR7-dependent, systemic lethal inflammation. CD4+ T cells showed marked differentiation toward T helper 1 (Th1) or Th17 cell subsets. B cell depletion abolished T cell differentiation and systemic inflammation. Thus, Unc93B1 controls homeostatic TLR7 activation by balancing TLR9 to TLR7 trafficking

Disappearance and alteration process of charcoal fragments in cumulative soils studied using Raman spectroscopy

AbstractRaman spectra of charcoal fragments in cumulative soils in central Japan, where grasslands have been sustained using intentional burning for ~1000years, were obtained and compared to those of fresh charcoal fragments after modern grass burning to clarify their disappearance and alteration process in the soils. Although the values of each Raman-spectrum parameter of the soil charcoal and fresh charcoal fragments are partially similar, certain differences indicating their alteration or disappearance were observed. Charcoal fragments with lower graphitization in soils altered chemically with age at decadal to century scale, suggested by changes in distance between defects or defect type of their chemical structures. Charcoal fragments with higher graphitization were found in fresh charcoal samples, whereas very few charcoal fragments were found in both young and old soils, indicating that these charcoal fragments disappeared instantly after they were formed. This fact implies that charcoal fragments with higher graphitization tend to not remain in soils, possibly owing to their physical properties such as fragility, density, and hydrodynamic behavior. Our findings suggest that charcoal's physical properties have a vital influence on charcoal residues in soils, as do charcoal's chemical properties

Uric acid is an independent risk factor for carotid atherosclerosis in a Japanese elderly population without metabolic syndrome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) is an useful surrogate marker of cardiovascular disease. Associations between uric acid (UA), metabolic syndrome (MetS) and carotid IMT have been reported, but findings regarding the relationship have been inconsistent.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 1,579 Japanese elderly subjects aged ≥65 years {663 men aged, 78 ± 8 (mean ± standard deviation) years and 916 women aged 79 ± 8 years} were divided into 4 groups according to UA quartiles. We first investigated the association between UA concentrations and confounding factors including MetS; then, we assessed whether there is an independent association of UA with carotid IMT and atherosclerosis in participants subdivided according to gender and MetS status.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Carotid IMT was significantly increased according to the quartiles of UA in both genders without MetS and women with MetS. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that odds ratio (OR) {95% confidence interval (CI)} in men for carotid atherosclerosis was significantly increased in the third (OR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.02-3.02), and fourth quartiles (OR, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.12-3.60) of UA compared with that in the first quartile of UA, and the OR in women was significantly increased in the fourth quartile (OR, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.30-3.39). Similarly, the ORs were significantly associated with increasing quartiles of UA in both genders without MetS, but not necessarily increased in those with MetS.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>UA was found to be an independent risk factor for incidence of carotid atherosclerosis in both genders without MetS.</p