The reform of fiscal systems in developing and emerging market economies : a federalism perspective

The authors review experiences with fiscal federalism in industrial countries and present a framework for a reform of fiscal systems in developing and transition economies. They indicate how the benefits of decentralized decisionmaking in a federal system can be achieved in a manner consistent with the objectives of national efficiency and equity. The following are their suggestions. Decentralization can be made compatible with national objectives through conditional grants, regulation, or coordinated decisionmaking. The federal government should assume primary responsibility for providing national public goods and services, for efficiency of the internal common market, for redistributive equity, for external relations, and for macroeconomic policy. State governments should be responsible for subnational public goods and services, for the delivery of quasi-private goods and services, (such as education, health, and social insurance), for fiscal equity among municipalities, and for overseeing local government decisionmaking. Local governments should be responsible for purely local services. Where jurisdiction for a public service is shared, the roles of the various levels of government should be clarified. Accountability should be hierarchical, with the federal government responsible for overall policy and standards, and lower levels of government with the actual delivery of services and infrastructure. In some cases, asymmetric decentralization may be the preferred option, especially where jurisdictions differ greatly in size and population. Efficiency and equity must be considered in assigning taxes. Efficiency considerations suggest centralizing taxes applied on more mobile bases (such as taxes on capital income and on trade). Equity considerations suggest centralizing progressive income taxes and transfers to persons as well as taxes on wealth and wealth transfer and on resource rents. States could use excise taxes or general sales taxes if levied on a single-stage basis; if a multistage sales tax is used, it is best administered centrally. States could also obtain revenues from piggy-backing on the federal income tax provided a harmonized system is maintained. Municipalities should use property taxes, user fees, and licenses. Tax and expenditures assignment must be supplemented by a system of fiscal transfers, both because the desirability of greater decentralization of expenditures than of taxes will give rise to fiscal imbalances and because transfers are a necessary instrument for achieving efficiency and equity in a decentralized federation. In a decentralized federation, fiscal inefficiencies and fiscal inequities will occur because states will not deliver comparable sets of services at comparable tax rates. Eliminating these differential net fiscal benefits requires a set of equalizing unconditional transfers, possibly combined with a more general revenue-sharing scheme. Matching conditional grants are useful for internalizing the spillover of benefits from state public spending to residents of neighboring states. More important is the use of federal-state conditional grants as a means for the federal government to achieve national efficiency and equity objectives while allowing public service delivery to be decentralized. In transition economies, framework laws on property rights, corporate legal ownership and control bankruptcy, and financial accounting and control are not fully developed. This should be a high priority. The lack of local administrative experience, institutions, and competence should not be used as an excuse for not decentralizing responsibilities. If necessary, transitional funding and training should be provided.National Governance,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform

Fiscal federalism : dimensions of tax reform in developing countries

The authors propose four economic principles for use in deciding taxing responsibilities for various levels of government. These are: 1) efficiency of the internal common market - for efficiency in internal common market, taxes on mobile factors and tradable goods should either be assigned to the national government or coordinated among subnational governments; 2) national equity - progressive redistributive taxes ought to be assigned to the level of government having responsibility for redistribution, usually the national government. Subnational governments could levy supplementary flat rates on the federal tax base; 3) administrative costs - to minimize collection, administration, and compliance costs, a tax should be assigned to the level likely to be best informed about its base. This suggests assigning real property taxation to local governments and corporate income taxation to the national government; and 4) fiscal need - to ensure accountability, revenue means should be matched as closely as possible to revenue needs. Thus tax instruments intended to further specific policy objectives should be assigned to the level of government having the responsibility for such a service. Thus progressive redistributive taxes, stabilization instruments, and resource rent taxes would be suitable for assignment to national government; while tolls on intermunicipal roads are suitably assigned to state governments. Some resource taxes, such as royalties and fees and severance taxes on production and/or output, are designed to cover costs of local service provision and could be assigned to subnational governments. In addition, subnational governments could also impose taxes to discourage local environmental degradation. In countries with a federal level VAT, it may be too cumbersome to have subnational sales taxes. In such circumstances, the fiscal need criterion would suggest allowing subnational governments access to taxes which are traditionally regarded as suitable for national administration, such as personal income taxes. The authors also stress the importance of tax harmonization and coordination in preserving internal common market, reducing collection and compliance costs and helping to achieve national equity objectives and suggest methods of achieving such coordination vertically (between the federal and subnational governments) and horizontally (among subnational governments).Municipal Financial Management,Public Sector Economics&Finance,National Governance,Banks&Banking Reform,Environmental Economics&Policies

Designing an Academic Project Management Program: A Collaboration between a University and a PMI Chapter

The demand for project management skills in industry is increasing resulting in a higher demand for project management educational programs. Universities are addressing industry demand by developing project management courses, degree offerings and certificate programs that focus on both technical and general project management skills. While teaching project management skills has been widely covered in the literature, little focus has been given to close collaboration with industry in developing university project management programs that reflect industry demands and provide opportunities to work with project management professionals and with “real world” projects. As a case study, we report a collaborative effort between one university and a local chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI) that results in the development and implementation of an undergraduate project management minor program. We describe the evolution and process of developing a program in which project management professionals from the PMI are actively engaged in student learning by serving a variety of roles in the classroom. We describe the lessons learned over the evolution of the program, as well as refinements to the courses, conducted in order to enhance the grounding of formal education with practical industry experience resulting in an academically rigorous and practical education

The Interplay between Educational Achievement, Occupational Success, and Well-Being

Many studies have examined the effect of life events, education, and income on well-being. Conversely, research concerning well-being as a predictor of life course outcomes is sparse. Diener's suggestion "to inquire about the effects of well-being on future behavior and success” has, with some exceptions, not yet come to fruition. This article contributes to this body of research. We conceptualize and analyze the interplay between educational achievement, occupational success, and well-being as a complex process. The relationship between these domains is examined drawing on a structure-agency framework derived from Bourdieu and Social Comparison Theory. Social comparison between adolescents and their parents is suggested to be the mechanism explaining the effects of successful and unsuccessful intergenerational transmission of educational achievement and occupational success on well-being. It is further argued that well-being may serve as an individual resource by fostering educational and occupational outcomes. Panel data from the Transition from Education to Employment (TREE) project, a Swiss PISA 2000 follow-up study, was used. The interplay between well-being and successful and unsuccessful intergenerational transfer of educational attainment was analyzed in an autoregressive cross-lagged mixture model framework. Social comparison was found to be related to well-being, while well-being proved to significantly increase the probability of successful intergenerational transfer of educational attainmen

The Application of Clinical Lithotripter Shock Waves to RNA Nucleotide Delivery to Cells

AbstractThe delivery of genes into cells through the transfer of ribonucleic acids (RNAs) has been found to cause a change in the level of target protein expression. RNA-based transfection is conceptually more efficient than commonly delivered plasmid DNA because it does not require division or damage of the nuclear envelope, thereby increasing the chances of the cell remaining viable. Shock waves (SWs) have been found to induce cellular uptake by transiently altering the permeability of the plasma membrane, thereby overcoming a critical step in gene therapy. However, accompanying SW bio-effects include dose-dependent irreversible cell injury and cytotoxicity. Here, the effect of SWs generated by a clinical lithotripter on the viability and permeabilisation of three different cell lines in vitro was investigated. Comparison of RNA stability before and after SW exposure revealed no statistically significant difference. Optimal SW exposure parameters were identified to minimise cell death and maximise permeabilisation, and applied to enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) messenger RNA (mRNA) or anti-eGFP small interfering RNA delivery. As a result, eGFP mRNA expression levels increased up to 52-fold in CT26 cells, whereas a 2-fold decrease in GFP expression was achieved after anti-eGFP small interfering RNA delivery to MCF-7/GFP cells. These results indicate that SW parameters can be employed to achieve effective nucleotide delivery, laying the foundation for non-invasive and high-tolerability RNA-based gene therapy

Substance Abuse in Pregnancy: Opioid substitution in a Northern Ireland Maternity Unit

An increase in illicit drug use in Northern Ireland may well have links to the resolution of political conflict, which started in the mid 1990s. Social issues, heretofore hidden, have emerged into the limelight and may be worsened by paramilitary involvement.1 Registered addicts in the four Health Board areas have shown an increase from 1997 with the greatest number resident within the Northern Board Area.2 As the prevalence of heroin use in Northern Ireland increased, the Department of Health and Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) commissioned a report, to recommend the development of substitute prescribing services.3 A case series of pregnancies was reviewed, within the Northern Board Area, where the mother was taking opioid substitution therapy. This resulted in baseline data of outcome for both mother and baby specific to a Northern Ireland population. The different medications for opioid substitution are also assessed. This information will guide a co-ordinated approach that involves obstetrician, anaesthetist, psychiatrist, midwife and social worker to the care of these high-risk pregnancies. Eighteen pregnancies were identified in the study period. Sixteen of these had viable outcomes. One was a twin pregnancy. Outcome data was therefore available for 17 infants

Cybersafety: Educating individuals with aphasia or cognitive-communication disorders

The Internet poses risks, also known as cyberthreats. Everyone is vulnerable to cyberthreats, including individuals with aphasia (IwA) or cognitive-communication disorders (IwCCD). When speech-language pathologists introduce Internet into treatment plans for IwA or IwCCD the ASHA Code of Ethics dictates they “shall fully inform the persons they serve of the nature and possible effects of services rendered and products dispensed”. Yet safe-use products and protocols designed to inform or educate IwA and IwCCD about cybersafety are not reported in the literature. In this project we examine cyberthreats and cybersafety as they affect IwA and IwCCD by1) reviewing literature on cyberthreats; 2) reporting anecdotes from IwA and IwCCD who are Internet users; and 3) proposing strategies to support safer Internet use. We examine information and knowledge needed to create adaptations and scaffolds supporting safer Internet-use for people with language/cognitive-communication disabilities, and propose strategies for teaching cybersafety concepts. Issues drawn from the human-computer interaction (HCI) literature will facilitate discussion of privacy, accessibility, and universal design (Hochheister & Lazar, 2007)

The Making of ADHD: A Comparative Content Analysis of Teachers’ and Doctors’ Worldviews

Little is known about how teachers and doctors make sense of ADHD. Drawing on a corpus of online accounts, we reconstructed their worldviews with a qualitative analysis. While both professional groups referred to a male troublemaker and to the German literary figure of the Fidgety Phil, they also expressed rival expert claims. Doctors represented the scientific authority in labeling and diagnosing ADHD, whereas teachers attached objective meaning to the medical judgement by pathologizing deviant behavior and justifying measures of control