An Economic Model of Tax Compliance with Individual Morality and Group Conformity

Scholars in public finance traditionally have analyzed tax compliance using the Allighman-Sandmo model. I include in this model both moral and social payoffs for compliance. This approach can explain four pieces of evidence that have not been explained by the traditional model, namely i) high level of tax compliance; ii) honest responses when individuals pay their taxes, even in the presence of high incentives for tax evasion; iii) the level of evasion increases with the tax rate; and iv) individuals are more likely to evade when they realize that there is a large number of evaders in society.tax compliance, evasion, social norms, honesty, moral values, social interaction.

Understanding political Islam in Algeria: experiences, past and present

This paper addresses the issue of the political Islam which has a long history in Algeria, since the link between Islam and politics is not a new phenomenon in contemporary Algeria. The various resistance movements against the French Colonization gained justification not only in the name of Algeria but also of Islam. Thus, Algeria's specific historical experience largely determined the timing and particular nature of its own Islamist movement. This article attempts to trace the modern origins of the Islamist movement from the role Islam played in resistance to French colonial rule, to contemporary Algeria which is a key test case for the role of Islam in politics and its influence on both internal and external policies. Aside from analyzing the politico-religious landscape in Algeria and the relationship between the state and religion, the paper also examines how Algerian Islamism has evolved into transnational terrorism under the light of the analytical background

Group Decision-Making and Voting in Ultimatum Bargaining: An Experimental Study

Many rent-sharing decisions in a society result from a bargaining process between groups of individuals (such as between the executive and the legislative branches of government, between legislative factions, between corporate management and shareholders, etc.). We conduct a laboratory study of the effect of different voting procedures on group decision-making in the context of ultimatum bargaining. Earlier studies have suggested that when the bargaining game is played by unstructured groups of agents, rather than by individuals, the division of the payoff is substantially affected in favor of the ultimatum-proposers. Our theoretical arguments suggest that one explanation for this could be implicit voting rules within groups. We explicitly structure the group decision-making as voting and study the impact of different voting rules on the bargaining outcome. The observed responder behavior is consistent with preferences depending solely on payoff distribution. Furthermore, we observe that proposers react in an expected manner to changes in voting rule in the responder group.Bargaining games, group decision making and experimental design.

Group Decision-Making in Ultimatum Bargaining: An Experimental Study

Many rent-sharing decisions in a society are result from a bargaining process between groups of individuals (such as between the executive and the legislative branches of government, between legislative factions, between corporate management and shareholders, etc.). The purpose of this work is to conduct a laboratory study of the effect of different voting procedures on group decision-making in the context of ultimatum bargaining. An earlier study (Bornstein and Yaniv, [2]) has suggested that when the bargaining game is played by unstructured groups of agents, rather than by individuals, the division of the payoff is substantially affected in favor of the ultimatum-proposers. Our theoretical arguments suggest that one explanation for this could be implicit voting rules within groups. We propose to explicitly structure the group decision-making as voting and study the impact of different voting rules on the bargaining outcome.Bargaining games, group decision making and experimental design

Group Decision-Making and Voting in Ultimatum Bargaining: An Experimental Study

Many rent-sharing decisions in a society result from a bargaining process between groups of individuals (such as between the executive and the legislative branches of government, between legislative factions, between corporate management and shareholders, etc.). We conduct a laboratory study of the effect of different voting procedures on group decision-making in the context of ultimatum bargaining. Earlier studies have suggested that when the bargaining game is played by unstructured groups of agents, rather than by individuals, the division of the payoff is substantially affected in favor of the ultimatum-proposers. Our theoretical arguments suggest that one explanation for this could be implicit voting rules within groups. We explicitly structure the group decision-making as voting and study the impact of different voting rules on the bargaining outcome. The observed responder behavior is consistent with preferences depending solely on payoff distribution. Furthermore, we observe that proposers react in an expected manner to changes in voting rule in the responder group.Bargaining games, group decision making and experimental design.

The Changes of Financial Stability and Quality of Life of Cambodian Immigrants and Refugees as a Result of their Participation in a First-Time Homebuyer Program in Lowell

This study explores the changes of financial stability and quality of life of Cambodian immigrants and refugees in Lowell, Massachusetts as a result of their participation in a first-time homebuyer program. It also provides recommendations from the program participants about ways to improve the program for future program participants and tips for future program participants to get ready to purchase their first home. There were seventeen research participants. Fifteen of them were the program participants who completed the program. One of them was a program coordinator and the other one was a program implementer. Data were collected by two methods, a survey and interviews. Twelve of the program participants were requested to complete the survey and three were interviewed. The program coordinator and program implementer were also interviewed. The results of the study showed that the knowledge, skills, and assistances that the program offered to the participants resulted in noticeable changes in financial stability and quality of life. The study recommends the program to include the pros and cons of buying new and old home, to entail the costs of fixing different things in the house, to have a Khmer instructor to teach the program. It also recommends the future program participants to ask questions when they take the program, check conditions of the house that they are going to buy, be clear on how to buy a house, find the bank that offers low interest rate for mortgages, have a right team of professionals, have full commitment when they decide to buy a house, and take the first-time homebuyer program. Keywords: Financial Stability and Quality of Lif

Self-Reported Emotional States and Air Traffic Controller Operational Error Rates in Advanced Air Traffic Control Students

Maintaining high safety standards is essential for the aviation industry. Reducing the rate of human error throughout the various fields of aviation is essential in order to continue to promote and mitigate aviation incidents. Air traffic controllers work in high stress environments, requiring them to make hundreds or even thousands of individual decisions in regard to aircraft positioning on a daily basis. All it takes is for one small operational error in order for an accident to occur and hundreds of lives to be lost. Understanding potential influences upon air traffic controllers’ decision making processes is crucial in order to improve upon the decisions controllers make and to further enhance aviation safety. Emotional states of mind and stress level may be an aspect to further understand decision making processes. It is well known that an individual’s emotional state and current stress level can impact the quality of a decision. This study investigates the emotional states and current perceived stress levels of advanced air traffic control students and their operational error rates. Twenty-four participants were included from a Midwestern University. Perceived stress appeared to have a relationship with operational error rates. Self-reported emotional states failed to prove significance, but increasingly positive emotional states appeared to correlate with fewer operational error rates. Future implications for research include integrating risk-taking tendencies, personality traits, and the expansion of emotional states to working group environments. The overall relationship between emotional states and air traffic operational error rate remains unclear, but trends appear to be present such as increasingly positive moods potentially relating to fewer operational errors. To further understand emotional states and perceived stress levels in regard to air traffic control operational error rates, more study is needed

Le tourisme culturel occitan dans le Tarn

Sous la direction de S. Rayssac et P. SourLivre - 1 vol. : ill. en coul., couv. ill. en coul. ; 12 x 21 cm Lieu d'édition : Albi Éditeur : Conseil Général du TarnLe "tourisme culturel occitan" est un concept émergent qui structure une politique territoriale impulsée par le Conseil général du Tarn. Depuis 2010, ce département est pilote en Midi-Pyrénées en matière de développement territorial basé sur la valorisation de la langue et de la culture occitanes. Édité en avril 2013, cet ouvrage a pour objectif d'aider les professionnels du tourisme à s'appuyer sur cette ressource culturelle pour initier des projets et renforcer la valorisation du territoire. Outil pédagogique, cette édition présente les fondements de cette politique et les multiples facettes du patrimoine occitan (histoire, culture, toponymie, gastronomie et légende liées à 17 sites touristiques tarnais)

Potential of Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIRS) to Predict Nutrient Composition of \u3cem\u3eBromus tomentellus\u3c/em\u3e

Near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) was used to analyse the nitrogen (N), acid detergent fiber (ADF), dry matter digestibility (DMD) and metabolizable energy (ME) content of three phenological stages (vegetative, flowering and seeding) of Bromus tomentellus samples in grazing pastures of Iran. The sample set consisted of 40 samples for calibration and 23 samples for validation was used to predict N, ADF, DMD and ME, separately. The samples were measured by reflectance NIR in a 950-1650 nm range. Calibration models between chemical data and NIR spectra were produced using the method of partial least squares (PLS). The coefficients of determination (R2) and standard error of cross validation (SECV) were 0.94 (SECV: 0.208%), 0.98 (SECV: 1.76%), 0.98 (SECV: 1.97%), and 0.97 (SECV: 0.34) for N, ADF, DMD and ME, respectively. The results obtained from this study indicate that NIRS have a potential to be used to predict the N, ADF, and the estimated DMD and ME content of forage samples