Change-over within little scope: On the decision neutrality of recent tax reform proposals

Political economy aspects make progressive income taxation and taxation of capital income imperative in practise. International tax competition and profit shifting, in turn, put pressure on corporate and capital taxes. Hence, the scope for a politically feasible change-over to a status of improved taxation is little. We provide an extended dynamic general equilibrium model and analyze politically feasible recent reform proposals referring neutrality. We then propose an alternative tax reform that, in contrast to these proposals, guarantees even growth neutrality, without necessarily jeopardizing political feasibility.Dynamic general equilibrium models; taxation; tax reform; decision neutrality; ACE; dual income tax

Smoking and Social Interaction

We study the social interaction of non-smokers and smokers as a sequential game, incorporating insights from social psychology and experimental economics into an economic model. Social norms affect human behavior such that non-smokers do not ask smokers to stop smoking and stay with them, even though disutility from smoking exceeds utility from social interaction. Overall, smoking is unduly often accepted when accommodating smoking is the social norm. The introduction of smoking and non-smoking areas does not overcome this specific inefficiency. We conclude that smoking bans may represent a required (second-best) policy.smoking policy, social norms, guilt aversion, deviant behavior, social interaction

Globalization, Economic Freedom and Human Rights

Using the KOF Index of Globalization and two indices of economic freedom, we empirically analyze whether globalization and economic liberalization affect governments’ respect for human rights using a panel of 106 countries over the 1981-2004 period. According to our results, physical integrity rights significantly and robustly increase with globalization and economic freedom, while empowerment rights are not robustly affected. Due to the lack of consensus about the appropriate level of empowerment rights as compared to the outright rejection of any violation of physical integrity rights, the global community is presumably less effective in promoting empowerment rights.human rights, globalization, economic freedom, liberalization

A General Microsimulation Model for the EU VAT with a specific Application to Germany

The sales taxes in the EU|and in several other countries|are practiced as value-added tax of the consumption type with invoice method. Literature on microsimula- tion models (MSM) for this type of VAT is rare, though the importance of VAT has continuously increased. We discuss the issues of VAT-MSM in detail and develop a basic general VAT-MSM, applicable to the EU member states (and beyond). To illustrate the functioning of the general model, we apply it in detail to the specific case of Germany. We provide comprehensive estimation results for the distributional and fiscal effects of the German VAT. Finally, we simulate the effects of a small VAT reform in 2010, comparing static and behavioral response simulations

Wind-tunnel investigation of a flush airdata system at Mach numbers from 0.7 to 1.4

Flush pressure orifices installed on the nose section of a 1/7-scale model of the F-14 airplane were evaluated for use as a flush airdata system (FADS). Wing-tunnel tests were conducted in the 11- by 11-ft Unitary Wind Tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center. A full-scale FADS of the same configuration was previously tested using an F-14 aircraft at the Dryden Flight Research Facility of NASA Ames Research Center (Ames-Dryden). These tests, which were published, are part of a NASA program to assess accuracies of FADS for use on aircraft. The test program also provides data to validate algorithms for the shuttle entry airdata system developed at the NASA Langley Research Center. The wind-tunnel test Mach numbers were 0.73, 0.90, 1.05, 1.20, and 1.39. Angles of attack were varied in 2 deg increments from -4 deg to 20 deg. Sideslip angles were varied in 4 deg increments from -8 deg to 8 deg. Airdata parameters were evaluated for determination of free-stream values of stagnation pressure, static pressure, angle of attack, angle of sideslip, and Mach number. These parameters are, in most cases, the same as the parameters investigated in the flight test program. The basic FADS wind-tunnel data are presented in tabular form. A discussion of the more accurate parameters is included

LAND REFORMS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

We examine the nexus between land transfers and human capital formation. A sequence of land redistributions enables the beneficiaries to educate their children and thus to escape from poverty. A successful land reform allows the transition of a society from an agriculture-based state of poverty to a human capital-based developed economy. We find that a temporary state of inequality among the poor is unavoidable. Finally, we discuss the political economy of land reform, whether access to land markets should be allowed for beneficiaries of land reforms, and property rights issue

The relative tax burden of medium-sized corporations in Germany

Statistical offices do not provide sufficiently disaggregated tax statistics for calculating the relative tax burden of SMEs. We estimate the respective average and median tax burden of small, medium-sized and big corporations in Germany for the period 1998 to 2007 using enterprises micro panel data by applying OLS and quantile regression techniques. We find that the average tax burden levied on profit over the ten years was about 24%, and thus lower than forward-looking techniques suggest. The majority of small corporations did bear a significantly lower burden than the residual bigger corporations. We also provide evidence that medium-sized corporations faced a significantly higher median tax burden than big corporation. This implies an inverse U-shaped trajectory of median tax burden with respect to size of enterprise. Presumably big corporations are internationally operating and hence have more opportunities to manipulate the tax base. Hence, medium-sized corporations seem to have been disadvantaged to big corporations within the German corporation tax. Finally, the size of tax relief provided by the “Tax Reform 2000” was correlated positively with size of enterprise. This size-dependent tax burden identifies a so far neglected type of tax distortion. Future tax reforms hence also have to address size neutrality.Steuerlastmessung; KMU; Steuerreform; Umsatzneutralität

Monitoring wildlife-vehicle collisions: analysis and cost-benefit of escape ramps for deer and elk on U.S. Highway 550

Prepared for: Colorado Department of Transportation, Division of Transportation Development, Applied Research and Innovation Branch. Prepared in cooperation with the US Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration.Report No. CDOT-2015-5.May 2015.Includes bibliographical references (pages 35-37).Wildlife fencing along highways can lower wildlife-vehicle collision rates by excluding animals from the road right-of-way. Still, animals can breach fencing and end up trapped within the fencing along the highway right-of-way, exposing wildlife and motorists to the risk of collision. Wildlife escape ramps are designed to allow trapped animals safe passage out of the right-of-way. Few recommendations exist on effective design of escape ramps and monitoring data are limited. We investigated the usage levels, escape success, wildlife-vehicle collisions, and design of 11 escape ramps and two escape jumps along an eight-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 550 near Ridgway, Colorado. Our goals were to 1) relate usage levels and escape success to ER structure design and its surrounding environmental characteristics, 2) describe the animal use of ER in the study area, 3) conduct a cost-benefit analysis for escape ramp construction and 4) provide recommendations regarding ER design and WVC based on data collected.Study No: 032.47

Interspecific acoustic recognition in two European bat communities

Echolocating bats emit echolocation calls for spatial orientation and foraging. These calls are often species-specific and are emitted at high intensity and repetition rate. Therefore, these calls could potentially function in intra- and/or inter-specific bat communication. For example, bats in the field approach playbacks of conspecific feeding buzzes, probably because feeding buzzes indicate an available foraging patch. In captivity, some species of bats recognize and distinguish the echolocation calls of different sympatric species. However, it is still unknown if and how acoustic species-recognition mediates interspecific interactions in the field. Here we aim to understand eavesdropping on bat echolocation calls within and across species boundaries in wild bats. We presented playbacks of conspecific and heterospecific search calls and feeding buzzes to four bat species with different foraging ecologies. The bats were generally more attracted by feeding buzzes than search calls and more by the calls of conspecifics than their heterospecifics. Furthermore, bats showed differential reaction to the calls of the heterospecifics. In particular, Myotis capaccinii reacted equally to the feeding buzzes of conspecifics and to ecologically more similar heterospecifics. Our results confirm eavesdropping on feeding buzzes at the intraspecific level in wild bats and provide the first experimental quantification of potential eavesdropping in European bats at the interspecific level. Our data support the hypothesis that bat echolocation calls have a communicative potential that allows interspecific, and potentially intraspecific, eavesdropping in the wild

Survey of critical biological resources in Boulder County, Colorado 2007-2008

Prepared for: Boulder County Parks and Open Space.February 16, 2009.Includes bibliographical references