A dynamic micro-econometric simulation model for firms

The firm-based simulation model presented in this paper aims to help practical policy making, by providing a tool for analyzing the behavioural effects induced by changes in the tax code and for forecasting corporate tax revenues. To achieve this end, one of the key innovations adopted in the paper is the use of robust estimation techniques designed to ameliorate the undue impact of influential observations. The simulation results indicate that a statutory corporate tax rate reduction does not reduce the effective corporate tax rate to an equal extent because firms adjust their behaviour to new tax rules. The simulation also reveals that even though the macroeconomic environment is important for the taxes paid by the firm, it is not obvious that the effective tax rate for these firms may change because of the changed macro conditions.

Post-Velvet Transformations in Armenia: Fighting an Oligarchic Regime

Nikol Pashinyan's rise to power was fuelled by resentment over cronyism, corruption, and poor governance by the ruling elite. The April 2018 revolution that happened in Armenia has garnered many names - the velvet revolution, the white revolution, the revolution of smiles . all of which serve to highlight its non-violent nature. In June 2018, Pashinyan's new team initiated a thorough audit of corrupt former officials and some of the country's oligarchs. This study examines informal economic practices and anti-corruption measures in Armenia through a methodology based on interviews and media analysis

Fiscal stabilisation rule

This paper decomposes the fiscal balance into a cyclical and a structural component using an optimal fiscal stabilisation rule derived from a loss function where the government is assumed to keep structural balance close to the targeted surplus for fiscal balance while at the same time stabilising the GDP- and the inflation gap. A first-order Taylor expansion of fiscal balance is then used to further disaggregate the different components of fiscal balance. These practical policy rules can be used to calculate the magnitude of automatic stabilisers and the appropriate discretionary fiscal policies conditional on the state of the economy

Emotions, loss and change:Armenian women and post-socialist transformations in Nagorny Karabakh.

Based on empirical data obtained from ethnographic fieldwork in Nagorny Karabakh (NK),the article analyses gender as one fundamental but neglected dimension of post-conflict society. In particular, this article examines changing gender relations as a result of the political transformations occurring during and after the Karabakh conflict (1990-2000). The focus is on two groups of women residing in Martuni, a small town in NK. The first\ud group includes local Armenian women, the second Armenian women from Azerbaijan,forced to resettle in Martuni. In this way, the article not only explores how the status of\ud these women and their dependency has changed as a result of the political transformations,but also how gender roles and identities are negotiated when the region of resettlement is\ud not completely unfamiliar to new arrivals. The article concludes by highlighting these Armenian women’s contradictory, yet similar experiences in terms of prevalent gender constructions. In doing so, the article expands research on gender and political\ud transformations in post-socialist regions and beyond

Women Confronting Death:War Widows’ Experiences in the South Caucasus

Widowhood is an under-recognized, albeit significant, aspect of life all over the world. The scant literature on contemporary narratives of widowhood among women as a consequence of conflicts indicates that this aspect of lived experience is relatively underexplored. Although loss is integral to life in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in the South Caucasus, it has been overlooked because of the unsettled politics in the region. Since the end of the full-scale war in 1994, the self-declared, internationally unrecognized republic has been locked in a protracted conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. This longstanding conflict has had severe consequences for society in this region. Sporadic clashes along the border of Nagorno-Karabakh are not a rare occurrence. Thus, for women married to soldiers, confronting death is not something rare in the everyday life of the region. The purpose of this article is to examine the everyday experiences, understanding and reworking of widowhood there. The article is intended to open up the hitherto neglected subject of widowhood as affected by violent fighting in this part of the world and to create awareness of the importance of the topic

The effect of debt tax benefits on firm investment decisions

In this paper we question the idea that the deduction of debt interest is always an effective policy instrument to spur firm investment. We analyze the investment decision in presence of a borrowing constraint on the amount of the debt that the firm can raise. We show that if the debt interest rate is decreasing in the firm capital accumulation and it is available another financial resource more expensive than debt (at least for levels of debt lower than the upper bound), then the deduction of the debt interest from taxes on capital income may reduce firm investment. This theoretical result should be considered when financial intermediaries are not willing to finance beyond a certain threshold but firms have access to other sources of finance