Theft and Taxes

This paper analyzes the interaction between corporate taxes and corporate governance. We show that the characteristics of a taxation system affect the extraction of private benefits by company insiders. A higher tax rate increases the amount of income insiders divert and thus worsens governance outcomes. In contrast, stronger tax enforcement reduces diversion and, in so doing, can raise the stock market value of a company in spite of the increase in the tax burden. We also show that the corporate governance system affects the level of tax revenues and the sensitivity of tax revenues to tax changes. When the corporate governance system is ineffective (i.e., when it is easy to divert income), an increase in the tax rate can reduce tax revenues. We test this prediction in a panel of countries. Consistent with the model, we find that corporate tax rate increases have smaller (in fact, negative) effects on revenues when corporate governance is weaker. Finally, this approach provides a novel justification for the existence of a separate corporate tax based on profits.

The Housing Crisis and Bankruptcy Reform: The Prepackaged Chapter 13 Approach

The housing crisis threatens to destroy hundreds of billions of dollars of value by causing homeowners with negative equity to walk away from their houses. A house in foreclosure is worth 30 to 50 percent less than a house that a homeowner either retains or sells on the market, and a foreclosed house damages neighboring property values as well. We advocate a reform of Chapter 13 that would allow homeowners to strip down the value of their mortgages in a prepackaged bankruptcy. Such a plan would give homeowners an incentive to keep or resell their homes, thus reducing the market value loss of homes while protecting the effective value of creditors\u27 interests. Two further key elements of the plan are that it uses prices based on the average house price in a particular ZIP code, which reduces moral hazard; and it is automated, requiring only a rubber stamp by a bankruptcy judge or other official, thus preserving judicial resources. Other plans, including that of the Obama administration, are compared

Solution strategies for 1D elastic continuum with long-range interactions: Smooth and fractional decay

An elastic continuum model with long-range forces is addressed in this study within the context of approximate analytical methods Such a model stems from a mechanically-based approach to non-local theory where long-range central forces are introduced between non-adjacent volume elements Specifically, long-range forces depend on the relative displacement on the volume product between interacting elements and they are proportional to a proper, material-dependent, distance-decaying function Smooth-decay functions lead to integro-differential governing equations whereas hypersingular, fractional-decay functions lead to a fractional differential governing equation of Marchaud type In this paper the Galerkin and the Rayleigh-Ritz method are used to build approximate solutions to the integro-differential and the fractional differential governing equations Numerical applications show the accuracy of the proposed approximate solutions as compared to the finite difference approximation and to the fractional finite difference approximatio

One-dimensional heterogeneous solids with uncertain elastic modulus in presence of long-range interactions: Interval versus stochastic analysis

The analysis of one-dimensional non-local elastic solids with uncertain Young's modulus is addressed. Non-local effects are represented as long-range central body forces between non-adjacent volume elements. For comparison purpose, the fluctuating elastic modulus of the material is modeled following both a probabilistic and a non-probabilistic approach. To this aim, a novel definition of the interval field concept, able to limit the overestimation affecting ordinary interval analysis, is introduced. Approximate closed-form expressions are derived for the bounds of the interval displacement field as well as for the mean-value and variance of the stochastic respons

A new displacement-based framework for non-local Timoshenko beams

In this paper, a new theoretical framework is presented for modeling non-locality in shear deformable beams. The driving idea is to represent non-local effects as long-range volume forces and moments, exchanged by non-adjacent beam segments as a result of their relative motion described in terms of pure deformation modes of the beam. The use of these generalized measures of relative motion allows constructing an equivalent mechanical model of non-local effects. Specifically, long-range volume forces and moments are associated with three spring-like connections acting in parallel between couples of non-adjacent beam segments, and separately accounting for pure axial, pure bending and pure shear deformation modes. The variational consistency of the proposed non-local beam model is demonstrated by minimization of an appropriate total potential energy functional. Numerical results concerning the static behavior for different boundary and loading conditions are presented. It is shown that the proposed non-local beam model is able to capture experimental data on the static deflection of micro-beams, available in the literature

Long-range interactions in 1D heterogeneous solids with uncertainty

In this paper, the authors aim to analyze the response of a one-dimensional non-local elastic solid with uncertain Young's modulus. The non-local effects are represented as long-range central body forces between non-adjacent volume elements. Following a non-probabilistic approach, the fluctuating elastic modulus of the material is modeled as an interval field. The analysis is conducted resorting to a novel formulation that confines the overestimation effect involved in interval models. Approximate closed-form expressions are derived for the bounds of the interval displacement fiel

A numerical assessment of the free energy function for fractional-order relaxation

In this paper the authors discuss the free energy function of fractional hereditary materials. The evaluation of the free energy has been obtained from a mechanical model that represents, exactly, the power-law relaxation of the material. The mechanical model separates, exactly, the elastic and the viscous phases, yielding the stored energy of the material that corresponds to the Staverman-Schwarz stress based free energy. Some numerical approximations of the free energy function in terms of the discretized rheological model have been reported in the paper

Multidisciplinary learning at the University scientific museums: the Bunsen burner

Nell'articolo riportiamo un'attività di laboratorio svolta insieme a studenti di scuole superiori, al fine di aumentare l’interesse dei giovani studenti verso gli strumenti scientifici di interesse storico e stimolare il loro approccio agli studi scientifici. Viene proposta un'attività "hands on" che può essere facilmente condotta presso i musei scientifici universitari. Un gruppo di studenti selezionati ha frequentato, sotto la guida di ricercatori universitari, uno Stage estivo di una settimana organizzato presso la Collezione Storica degli Strumenti di Fisica e il Museo di Chimica dell'Università di Palermo. È stato proposto lo studio del becco Bunsen, di come funziona e come viene usato nei laboratori di chimica. In particolare, sono stati presi in considerazione alcuni esemplari appartenenti alle collezioni, che saranno illustrati nell'articolo. Alla fine dello Stage, gli studenti hanno descritto ai visitatori gli strumenti e illustrato le attività svolte.We report on a laboratory activity carried out together with secondary school (high-school) students, with the aim of increasing their interest toward historical scientific instruments and stimulate their approach to scientific knowledge. To this purpose, we propose a hands-on activity that can be fruitfully performed at the University scientific museums. We organized a one-week summer stage at the Historical Collection of Physics Instruments and at the Museum of Chemistry of the University of Palermo. A group of selected students attended it, under the tutoring of university researchers. They were showed some Bunsen burners belonging to the collections, how they are restored, how they work and how they were used in the chemical laboratories. At the end of the stage, students introduced museum visitors to these instruments, describing them and referring about the activities they had carried out