Profit Shifting by Debt Financing in Europe

This article aims at analyzing the link between subsidiaries’ capital structure and taxation in Europe. First we introduce a trade-off model, which studies a MNCs’ financial strategy and shows how debt policy allows multinational groups to shift profits from low-tax to high-tax jurisdictions. By letting the MNC choose both leverage and the percentage of profit shifting, we depart from the relevant literature which has mainly focused on the latter. Using the AMADEUS dataset we show that: i) subsidiaries’ leverage increases with the statutory tax rate, levied in the country where it operates; ii) this positive effect is lower, the higher the parent company tax rate is. Furthermore, an increase in the parent company’s tax rate is estimated to raise its subsidiaries’ leverage.capital structure, default, multinationals, profit shifting, taxation

The Global Warming Potential of Building Materials: An Application of Life Cycle Analysis in Nepal

open6siThis paper analyzes the global-warming potential of materials used to construct the walls of 3 building types—traditional, semimodern, and modern—in Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone in Nepal, using the life-cycle assessment approach. Traditional buildings use local materials, mainly wood and stone, while semimodern and modern buildings use different amounts of commercial materials, such as cement and glass wool. A comparison of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the 3 building types, using as the functional unit 1 m2 of wall, found that traditional buildings release about one-fourth of the greenhouse gas emissions released by semimodern buildings and less than one-fifth of the emissions of modern buildings. However, the use of thermal insulation in the modern building walls helps to reduce the energy consumption for space heating and consequently to reduce the global warming potential. In 25 years, the total global warming potential of a traditional building will be 20% higher than that of a modern building. If local materials, such as wood, are used in building construction, the emissions from production and transportation could be dramatically reduced.openBhochhibhoya, Silu; Zanetti, Michela; Pierobon, Francesca; Gatto, Paola; Maskey, R. K.; Cavalli, RaffaeleBhochhibhoya, Silu; Zanetti, Michela; Pierobon, Francesca; Gatto, Paola; Maskey, R. K.; Cavalli, Raffael

Validation Procedure for Predictive Functions of Driver Behaviour on Two-Lane Rural Roads

The study presented here aims to validate some operating speed prediction models calibrated on two-lane rural roads by using speed data collected in Northern and Southern Italy. Operating speed is defined as the speed at which drivers of passenger cars travel on a dry road in free flow conditions during daylight hours and it is calculated using a specific percentile of speed distribution, typically the 85th. Speed measurements were carried out by using laser detectors in connection with previous environmental and traffic conditions. The study is addressed to emphasize the reliability and easy application of one predictive speed model working both on tangent segments and on circular curves. The calibration phase involved roads in the Northern Italy, while the validation phase involved roads in the Southern Italy. Three models were validated applying them on eight two-lane rural roads falling within the road network of the Province of Salerno with features that reflect those adopted in the calibration phase; the selected models to be validated present the simplest analytical structure for type and number of explanatory variables and for the performance diagram shape of the operating speed values. The validation procedure was to estimate some synthetic statistical parameters as mean absolute deviation, mean squared error and coefficient of variation. The results allow in a simple way to trace continuous operating speed profiles on two-lane rural roads and to carry out safety analyses on the horizontal alignment

Threatening levels of cumulative stress due to hydroclimatic extremes in the 21st century

Summary Wet and dry hydroclimatic extremes can pose severe stress to human societies under global warming. A new metric of cumulative stress due to hydroclimatic extremes is introduced, expressed in "equivalent reference stress years (ERSY)" i.e. the mean annual stress (e.g. potential for damage) in present climate conditions. 21st century climate projections show that, under the high-end RCP8.5 greenhouse gas scenario, by 2100, increases in wet and dry extremes add ~155 ERSY over global land areas (~125 for wet and ~30 for dry extremes), with wet hotspots over Asia, Eastern Africa and the Americas, and dry hotspots throughout Central and South America, Europe, West Africa and coastal Australia. Consideration of population exposure yields potential stress hotspots exceeding 400 added ERSY over Africa, North America, and Australia. The hydroclimatic stress is considerably reduced under the RCP2.6 scenario

THE ADVENT OF INDUSTRY 4.0 IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY: LITERATURE REVIEW AND GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES

Nowadays, the value creation process is based on management of a large amount of data, the Big Data, which are able to connect businesses and customers from all over the world (Xie et al., 2016). Considering the managerial and industrial points of view, Industry 4.0 is a new economic model for the industrial world (Peressotti, 2016), based on the evolution of production paradigm, technological change and process logic adoption: companies should change their business models, invest in staff training, adopting new managerial tools. As a result, the change of the market (from standardized to diversified) with the production of customized products. Machines and robots are able to communicate each other, to take decisions and to self-update. The production lines are automated: control and maintenance tasks can be performed remotely. As a consequence, the creation of the agile value chain: it allows you to monitor large amounts of data in real time, to track status and location of goods, to control the production process distantly. To study the level of adoption of 4.0 industrialization plans, two global indicators have been analyzed: they identify the placement of the largest industrial powers as a result of their industrialization policies adoption. Since the literature review shows few academic contributions and the subject is studied from engineering, computer and industrial design points of view, the objective of the work is to provide a theoretical contribution to managerial and industrial studies: the adoption of innovation in economic policy represents an opportunity to improve the country identity and the competitiveness level. So it is essential to encourage companies to adopt innovative tools, making the production automated. The methodology used is the content analysis technique: literature analysis, reports, conference proceedings, publications and websites are consulted. The originality of the work is to investigate a topic developed recently in Italy

Early Arrival of New World Species Enriching the Biological Assemblage of the Santi Quattro Coronati Complex (Rome, Italy)

This paper reports the archaeobotanical and archaeozoological data from a disposal pit, whose use started after the partial closure of a staircase, and from a mortar surface within a former porch in the Santi Quattro Coronati complex in Rome, Italy. The two contexts were in use in the Early Modern Age, when the complex served as a cardinal seat. The element that distinguishes the Santi Quattro Coronati from other contemporaneous contexts is the presence of New World species, until now only hypothesized based on a letter sent by the first resident bishop in Santo Domingo to Lorenzo Pucci, then cardinal with the titulus of the Santi Quattro Coronati. Pumpkin seeds (Cucurbita pepo and C. maxima/moschata) were found in the pit, while a pelvis of guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) was found in a former porch. Numerous archaeobotanical remains preserved by mummification, identified mostly as food, and many archaeozoological specimens were found in the pit. Based on the data, it is hypothesized that the pit was used mainly as a deposit for table waste. The results as a whole help towards the investigation of the eating customs and daily habits of a Renaissance high-status clerical community