The Impact of Tax Treaties on Foreign Direct Investment: The Evidence Reconsidered

This paper reconsiders the empirical evidence of the relationship between tax treaties and FDI using U.S. outbound FDI to 78 countries over the period of 2007–2018. Unlike previous studies, we explicitly consider differences in the tax environments of recipient economies, including their tax-haven status, transfer pricing rules, CFC rules and anti-avoidance regulations, in our estimations. Our results confirm the importance of controlling for country-specific tax environments, especially the tax-haven status and transfer pricing rules. We find that tax treaties positively contribute to FDI inflows in developing countries, while they have no statistically significant impacts on OECD countries. Recently signed tax treaties still foster FDI but less than older ones do. Finally, our results indicate, all other things being equal, that the weaker the transfer pricing regulations, the greater the amount of U.S. direct investment into a non-OECD economy

What Determines In-house Service Activities within Manufacturing Firms?: Micro Evidence from Korea

This paper explores the pattern and determinants of the servicification of Korean manufacturing over the period 2006-2018. We first compute the net contribution of in-house provision of services to manufacturing value added, using data from an employee-level labour survey. We compare this result with domestic and foreign outsourcing to examine the relationship between these different modes of servicification. More importantly, based on an extensive establishment-level panel dataset, this paper empirically investigates the key determinants of in-house service activities within manufacturing firms. Our analysis suggests that the net contribution of in-house service activities to manufacturing value added was around 18.6~22.5% between 2009 and 2018. At the industry-level, in-house service activities are positively correlated with domestic outsourcing, but negatively correlated with foreign outsourcing. Our regression results indicate that companies with higher export intensities, wider networks of overseas subsidiaries or those located in the Seoul metropolitan area engage in more in-house service activities, while having domestic subsidiaries have no statistically significant effect on in-house service activities. Finally, in contrast to the industrylevel results, using firm-level data we find no clear relationship between domestic outsourcing and in-house service activities

The Impact of Tax Treaties on Foreign Direct Investment: the Evidence Reconsidered

The existing empirical literature often reports a non-significant or even negative impact of tax treaties on foreign direct investment. Such mixed evidence stokes controversy over the validity of tax treaties. This paper reconsiders the empirical evidence for the relationship between tax treaties and FDI, using U.S. outbound FDI to 78 countries over the period 2007–2018. Unlike previous studies, this one explicitly controls for differences in the tax environments of recipient economies, including tax haven status, transfer pricing rules, CFC rules, anti-avoidance regulations and corporate income tax rates, in the estimation. Our results confirm the importance of controlling for country-specific tax environments, especially tax haven status and transfer pricing rules, to avoid omitted variable bias. We find that tax treaties positively contribute to FDI inflow in developing countries, while they have no statistically significant impacts to OECD countries. Recently-signed tax treaties still foster FDI but less than older ones do. Finally, our results indicate that, other things being equal, the weaker the transfer pricing regulations, the greater the amount of U.S direct investment into a recipient country

How Large Is the impact of Exports on Economic Growth? New Evidence from the Korean Case

The positive relationship between trade and economic growth is one of the most fundamental propositions in economics field. However, the existing empirical studies tend to have emphasized statistical significance of the trade-growth nexus, but they have paid less attention to the actual size of trade’s impact on economic growth. Is exports’ impact sufficiently large to justify the widespread pro-trade prescriptions to attain the long-term growth? In this respect, this paper empirically examines the impact of exports on economic growth, for the case of Korea since its economic take-off period in 1960s. We adopt two inter-related GDP decomposition methods to quantify the contributions of export to GDP growth from a historical perspective. We find that export’s contribution to GDP growth has been substantial. Specifically, the average contribution of net exports to growth for the period of 1960-2014 is 30.3 percent, which means that net exports accounts for 2.3 percent point per annum of Korea’s GDP growth. This figure is truly a remarkable one, taken into consideration that the average growth rates of developed and developing countries were 3.17 percent and 3.37 percent over the last five decades, respectively

Coupling the effects of extreme temperature and air pollution on non-accidental mortality in Rencheng, China

BackgroundExtreme temperatures and air pollution have raised widespread concerns about their impact on population health.AimTo explore the quantitative exposure risks of high/low temperatures and types of air pollutants on the health of various populations in urban areas in China, this study assessed the effects of temperature and air pollutants on daily non-accidental deaths in Rencheng District, Jining City, China from 2019 to 2021.MethodsA combination of Poisson regression models and distributed lag non-linear models was used to examine the relationships between temperature, air pollutants, and daily non-accidental deaths. We found that temperature and air pollutants had a significant non-linear effect on non-accidental mortality. Both high and low temperatures had a noticeable impact on non-accidental deaths, with heat effects occurring immediately and lasting 2–3 days, while cold effects lasted for 6–12 days. The relative risks of non-accidental deaths from PM2.5, NO2, and SO2 were highest in winter and lowest in autumn. The relative risk of non-accidental deaths from O3 was highest in spring, with no significant variations in other seasons. Older adults (≥75) and outdoor workers were at the greatest risk from temperature and air pollutant exposure.Conclusions/interpretationExposure to extreme temperatures and air pollutants in the Rencheng District was associated with an increased mortality rate. Under the influence of climate change, it is necessary for policymakers to take measures to reduce the risk of non-accidental deaths among residents

Necrotizing fasciitis involving the chest and abdominal wall caused by Raoultella planticola

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Raoultella planticola </it>was originally considered to be a member of environmental <it>Klebsiella</it>. The clinical significance of <it>R. planticola </it>is still not well known.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We describe the first case of necrotizing fasciitis involving the chest and abdominal wall caused by <it>R. planticola</it>. The identity of the organism was confirmed using 16S rRNA sequencing. The patient was successfully treated with the appropriate antibiotics combined with operative drainage and debridement.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p><it>R. planticola </it>had been described as environmental species, but should be suspected in extensive necrotizing fasciitis after minor trauma in mild to moderate immunocompromised patients.</p

Improved Light Output Power of Chemically Transferred InGaN/GaN Light-Emitting Diodes for Flexible Optoelectronic Applications

Recent needs of semiconductor lighting sources have pursued diverse functionalities such as flexibility and transparency under high quantum efficiency. Inorganic/organic hybrid light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are one way to meet these requirements. Here, we report on flexible III-nitride-based LEDs and the improvement of their electrical and optical properties. To realize high light emission power and stable current operation, high-quality epitaxy and elaborate chip processing were performed. The fabricated flexible LEDs showed over threefold optical output power compared to normal LEDs on Si and had comparable forward voltage and series resistances

Total Ankylosis by Heterotopic Ossification in an Adolescent Anterior Trans-olecranon Fracture Dislocation: A Case Report

The incidence of heterotopic ossification in adolescents appears to be lower than in adults. There exist very few reports of heterotopic ossification with total bony ankylosis in child or adolescent populations. We describe a case of total bony ankylosis of the elbow secondary to heterotopic ossification, in a 14-year-old female. Total ankylosis of the elbow at 45 degrees of flexion was noted 6 months post-surgery, and complete surgical excision of the heterotopic mass was performed. After an additional one-time dose of radiation therapy and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug medication, full range of motion was obtained without any recurrence or other complications, up to the last follow-up of 30 months

E-Health Interventions for Older Adults With Frailty: A Systematic Review

Objective To systematically review the efficacy of e-Health interventions on physical performance, activity and quality of life in older adults with sarcopenia or frailty. Methods A systematic review was conducted by searching the MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINHAL, Web of Science, and the Physiotherapy Evidence Database for experimental studies published in English from 1990 to 2021. E-Health studies investigating physical activity, physical performance, quality of life, and activity of daily living assessment in adults aged ≥65 years with sarcopenia or frailty were selected. Results Among the 3,164 identified articles screened, a total of 4 studies complied with the inclusion criteria. The studies were heterogeneous by participant characteristics, type of e-Health intervention, and outcome measurement. Age criteria for participant selection and sex distribution were different between studies. Each study used different criteria for frailty, and no study used sarcopenia as a selection criteria. E-Health interventions were various across studies. Two studies used frailty status as an outcome measure and showed conflicting results. Muscle strength was assessed in 2 studies, and meta-analysis showed statistically significant improvement after intervention (standardized mean difference, 0.51; 95% confidence interval, 0.07–0.94; p=0.80, I2=0%). Conclusion This systematic review found insufficient evidence to support the efficacy of e-Health interventions. Nevertheless, the studies included in this review showed positive effects of e-Health interventions on improving muscle strength, physical activity, and quality of life in older adults with frailty