THE COMPETITIVENESS IMPACT OF A MULTILATERAL ELECTRICITY GENERATION TAX

The South African Government announced, in the 2008 Budget Review, the intention to tax the generation of electricity from non-renewable sources with 2c/kWh. This tax is to be collected by the producers/generators of electricity at the source. The intention of the tax is to serve a dual purpose of managing the potential electricity shortages in South Africa and to protect the environment. The primary objective of this paper is to evaluate the impact of an electricity generation tax on the international competitiveness of South Africa. Specifically, different scenarios are assessed to establish whether the loss of competitiveness can be negated through an international, multilateral electricity generation tax. The paper firstly considers the beneficial impact of environmental taxation on the competitiveness of a country. We subsequently apply the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model to evaluate the impact of an electricity generation tax on the competitiveness of South Africa, given multilateral taxes on SACU, SADC and European Union economies. We simulate the proposed tax as a 10 percent increase in the output price of electricity. We assume a closure rule that allows unskilled labour to migrate between sectors and a limited skilled workforce. As expected, a unilateral electricity generation tax in South Africa will adversely affect the competitiveness of the South African economy and slightly improve the competitiveness of the other SACU and SADC economies. However, if a multilateral tax is imposed throughout the SACU and SADC countries, South Africa will experience a marginally greater loss of competitiveness compared to a unilateral tax. At the same time the rest of the SACU and SADC countries will experience a loss of competitiveness. The benefit of emission reduction in South Africa will also be lower under these multilateral tax scenarios. The competitiveness effect on the South African economy as well as emission reduction will be more moderate under a multilateral South Africa/EU electricity generation tax than under a unilateral South African tax.

El crac de las bolsas de valores y la situación de América Latina

El crac de las principales bolsas de valores a nivel mundial implica importantes cambios en el panorama de las economías de América Latina. Los impactos sobre la economía mundial y las relaciones económicas internacionales son y serán sumamente graves, más aún si el crac marca el inicio de una nueva crisis cíclica del capitalismo. En este artículo se analizan las consecuencias posibles del crac sobre la región, a la luz del comportamiento reciente de las economías latinoamericana

Border Tax Adjustments to Negate the Economic Impact of an Electricity Generation Tax

In the 2008 Budget Review, the South African government announced its intention to levy a 2c/kWh tax on the sale of electricity generated from non-renewable sources. This measure is intended to serve a dual purpose of helping to manage the current electricity supply shortages and to protect the environment (National Treasury 2008). An electricity generation tax is set to have an impact on the South African economy. However, several instruments have been proposed in the literature to protect the competitiveness and economy of a country when it imposes a green tax, one of these remedies being border tax adjustments.This paper evaluates the effectiveness for the South African case, of border tax adjustments (BTAs) in counteracting the negative impact of an electricity generation tax on competitiveness. The remedial effects of the BTAs are assessed in the light of their ability to maintain the environmental benefits of the electricity generation tax. Additionally, the the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model is used to evaluate the impact of an electricity generation tax on the South African, SACU and SADC economies and to explore the possibility of reducing the economic impact of the electricity generation tax through BTAs. The results show that an electricity generation tax will lead to a contraction in South African gross domestic product (GDP). Traditional BTAs are unable to address these negative impacts. We propose a reversedBTA approach where gains from trade are utilised to counteract the negative effects of an electricity generation tax, while retaining the environmental benefits associated with the electricity generation tax. This is achieved through a lowering of import tariffs, as this will reduce production costs and thereby restore the competitiveness of the South African economy. The reduction in import tariffs not only negates the negative GDP impact of the electricity generation tax, but the bulk of CO2 abatement from the electricity generation tax is retained.

Multicolour lineage tracing reveals clonal dynamics of squamous carcinoma evolution from initiation to metastasis.

Tumour cells are subjected to evolutionary selection pressures during progression from initiation to metastasis. We analysed the clonal evolution of squamous skin carcinomas induced by DMBA/TPA treatment using the K5CreER-Confetti mouse and stage-specific lineage tracing. We show that benign tumours are polyclonal, but only one population contains the Hras driver mutation. Thus, benign papillomas are monoclonal in origin but recruit neighbouring epithelial cells during growth. Papillomas that never progress to malignancy retain several distinct clones, whereas progression to carcinoma is associated with a clonal sweep. Newly generated clones within carcinomas demonstrate intratumoural invasion and clonal intermixing, often giving rise to metastases containing two or more distinct clones derived from the matched primary tumour. These data demonstrate that late-stage tumour progression and dissemination are governed by evolutionary selection pressures that operate at a multicellular level and, therefore, differ from the clonal events that drive initiation and the benign-malignant transition

FAKTOR-FAKTOR YANG MEMENGARUHI PENGHINDARAN PAJAK PADA PERUSAHAAN MANUFAKTUR YANG TERDAFTAR DI BURSA EFEK INDONESIA

The purpose of this study is to obtain empirical evidence and analyze the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable. The independent variables used in this study are firm size, firm age, independent board of commissioners, audit committee, sales growth, and leverage. While the dependent variable in this study is tax avoidance. The object of research used in this study is a manufacturing company listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2018-2020. The number of samples in this study were 60 companies with a total of 180 data. The method used in this research is purposive sampling method and this study uses multiple regression analysis to test the hypothesis. The result of this research is that sales growth has an effect on tax avoidance. Meanwhile, firm size, firm age, independent board of commissioners, audit committee, and leverage have no effect on tax avoidance.Keywords: Audit Committee; Company Age; Company Size; Independent Board of Commissioners; Leverage; Sales Growth; Tax Avoidanc

Konservasi Elang Bido di Taman Kehati Pupuk Kujang

Ekosistem di kawasan Taman Keanekaragaman Hayati Pupuk Kujang sangat beragam, namun belum banyak informasi keberadaan satwa yang dilindungi khususnya burung elang ular bido yang ada di kawasan ini. Dalam operasi pabriknya PT Pupuk Kujang menghasilkan debu urea yang mengandung ammonia tidak disukai oleh binatang tikus dan ular karena aromanya yang tajam serta dapat dimanfaatkan sebagai bio indikator untuk dapat merangsang mangsa elang ular bido (Spilornis cheela Latham,1790) yaitu tikus dan ular keluar dari sarangnya. Manajemen PT Pupuk Kujang mencanangkan program konservasi hewan langka dan dilindungi salah satunya adalah elang ular bido  yang kerap melintas di area penyangga/koridor satwa dekat lapangan golf dan hutan inti. Penelitian ini bertujuan mengidentifikasi faktor-faktor penentu yang mempengaruhi keberhasilan konservasi elang ular bido di kawasan TKHPK. Pengambilan data dilakukan secara observasi dan penelurusan dokumen. Hasil penelusuran dijumpai beberapa satwa yang dilindungi berada di kawasan ini antara lain Burung Elang Bido (Spilornis cheela Latham,1790), Burung Madu Sriganti (Nectarinea jugularis) dan Burung Cekakak Sungai (Halcyhon chloris). Kriteria yang digunakan untuk menilai tingkat keberhasilan konservasi elang ular bido, yaitu kesesuaian kondisi habitat TKHPK sebagai refugia elang ular bido, perjumpaan di alam & kemampuan untuk berkembang biak. Program rehabilitasi koridor satwa dengan penanaman pohon yang berstruktur tinggi di tepi kawasan TKHPK selain untuk konservasi elang ular bido, menjaga keseimbangan rantai makanan juga meminimasi pencemaran emisi debu urea yang dihasilkan. Kata kunci : konservasi; elang ular bid

Germplasm Evaluation and Frost Tolerance Improvement of \u3cem\u3eSetaria sphacelata\u3c/em\u3e in Uruguay

Setaria sphacelata (Schumach.) Stapf & C.E. Hubb is a highly productive warm-season grass that has been eva-luated in Uruguay since the 1970s (Mas 2007). It is one of the most productive and promising subtropical grasses for the Uruguayan climatic conditions. Some of the most re-markable attributes of interest are its palatability, ease to establish from seed, highly persistent, adapted to a wide range of soils, and some frost tolerance. Cultivars ‘Narok’ and ‘Kazungula’ were the only materials evaluated and no genetic improvement was conducted in Uruguay. These cultivars present some limitations, such as low seed yields and quality, and susceptibility to low temperatures. Look-ing to overcome these limitations, a germplasm collection from the USDA was introduced to Uruguay to explore the genetic variability and start a breeding program

HUBUNGAN DURASI PENGGUNAAN KOMPUTER DAN JARAK MATA DENGAN MONITOR KOMPUTER TERHADAP KEJADIAN COMPUTER VISION SYNDROME (CVS) PADA KARYAWAN DI LINGKUNGAN UNIVERSITAS BENGKULU TAHUN 2020

Latar Belakang: Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) didefinisikan sebagai kumpulan gejala okuler yang beragam seperti kelelahan pada mata, nyeri kepala, penglihatan kabur, mata kering serta gejala lainnya seperti nyeri pada leher dan punggung yang berhubungan dengan penggunaan komputer dalam waktu yang cukup lama. Penggunaan komputer secara terus-menerus dan jarak mata dengan monitor komputer yang tidak ideal dapat menyebabkan CVS. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui hubungan durasi penggunaan komputer dan jarak mata dengan monitor komputer terhadap kejadian CVS. Metode: Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian observasional analitik dengan desain cross sectional. Subjek terdiri dari 69 karyawan pada delapan fakultas di Universitas Bengkulu yang diambil dengan teknik consecutive sampling. Data gejala CVS dan durasi penggunaan komputer diperoleh dari Computer Vision Questionnaire serta pengukuran jarak mata dengan monitor komputer secara langsung terhadap subjek. Selanjutnya data penelitian dianalisis menggunakan uji chi square, fisher's exact test  dan uji regresi logistik. Hasil: Prevalensi kejadian CVS pada subjek sebanyak 49 karyawan (71%). Uji statistik antara variabel terhadap kejadian CVS didapatkan hasil, yaitu durasi penggunaan komputer > 2 jam (p=0,048; OR=3,977) dan jarak mata dengan monitor komputer  < 50 cm (p=0,013; OR=7,787) Kesimpulan: Terdapat hubungan yang signifikan antara durasi penggunaan komputer terhadap kejadian CVS dan terdapat hubungan yang signifikan antara jarak mata dengan monitor komputer terhadap kejadian CVS. Dengan durasi penggunaan komputer > 2 jam berisiko 3,977 kali lipat daripada pengguna komputer ≤ 2 jam. Jarak mata dengan monitor komputer < 50 cm berisiko 7,787 daripada jarak mata dengan monitor komputer ≥ 50 cm. Kata Kunci: CVS, durasi penggunaan komputer, jarak mata dengan monitor komputer