The Effective Tax Rates in the EU Commission Study on Corporate Taxation: Methodological Aspects, Main Results and Policy Implications

The paper has three aims. First, it presents the specific forward-looking methodology applied in the quantitative analysis undertaken in the Commission study, and discusses how it is able to overcome some of the most important limitations of the traditional King Fullerton approach. Second, it compares the results obtained by two different indicators, the traditional effective marginal tax rate and the effective average tax rate, the latter being particularly important to explain location decisions of multinational companies. Third, it discusses the usefulness of these indicators for policy makers, by summarising the overall results of the Commission study and their policy implications. All in all, these results show that the EU tax systems are very far from representing a level playing field for both domestic and international firms and that the size of the observed disparities in effective tax rates between Member States are mainly due to the differences in statutory tax rates. The picture arising from the quantitative analysis seems to point out the urgent need for a greater co-ordination in the EU, with a view to reducing the existing distortions and contributing to other important EU objectives.

Corporate taxation and its reform: the effects on corporate financing decisions in Italy

The aim of this paper is twofold. First, we measure the relationship between fiscal variables and companies debt choices in Italy using a dynamic representation of the modified pecking order model, where both trade-off and pecking order theories are nested. Second, our estimation results are used, jointly with some tax simulations undertaken with a company microsimulation tax-model (MATÍS), to assess the effects on leverage of two recent tax reforms in Italy since 1996. Main results suggest that: (a) fiscal effects are significant and robust explanations of firms’ financial behaviour; (b) the reforms analysed are able to induce similar reductions in firms’ leverage, when compared with the situation prevailing in 1996. However, the routes through which this occurs are different (relative price in the first case, cash flow in the second), tracing some important differences in the overall evaluation of the two reforms

The Incentive Effects of the Taxation if Income from Capital in the Italian Corporate Sector

This research is part of a broader study on fiscal an financial investment incentives. This paper investigates the potential distotions of investment and saving decisions induced by the taxation of income from capital and by investment incentives in the Italian economy

Legge finanziaria 1986: le "Disposizioni in materia socio sanitaria"

La legge finanziaria per il 1986 interviene estesamente in materia di finanziamento del Servizio sanitario nazionale (gli articoli sono 5, suddivisi in 32 commi, nel testo approvato dal parlamento ed erano 8, suddivisi in 43 commi, nel testo presentato al Governo)

On the cyclic behaviour of new pier-to-deck connections for short-medium span composite I-girder bridges

Short-medium span steel–concrete composite I-girder bridges are becoming more and more popular, because of the reduced construction time and costs. The light weight renders them particularly suitable also is seismic areas, even though this advantage has not been yet adequately investigated. In fact, in case of seismic loading, significant tensile forces might be exhibited at the bottom flange of the steel girder, especially when monolithic connection between deck and pier is adopted, and the connection, conceived for sustaining prevailing hogging bending moments, could experience an excessive damage. With this aim, the cyclic behaviour of new pier-to-deck joints involving the use of concrete cross-beams (CCB) has been recently analysed within the European project (SEQBRI). This paper deals with the results of a wide experimental investigation of these new joints, performed with the aim of characterizing their hysteretic behaviour. Three different typologies were tested: one designed according to the German standard DIN-FB-104, generally utilized for gravity loads only, and other two types proposed for bridges located in low (VAR-1) and medium (VAR-2) seismicity. A series of displacement-imposed cyclic tests highlighted a good seismic behaviour of all the tested solutions. In particular, the DIN-FB-104 VAR C and VAR-2 displayed a similar global behaviour in terms of maximum force and displacement, but with a more pronounced crack development and buckling of steel girders of the first solution. The VAR-2 also avoids possible pull-out phenomena in the CCB thanks to the beneficial action of pre-stressing bars.A damage analysis of the proposed connections was finally performed in view of the application of the performance-based earthquake engineering methodology and the quantification the seismic performance of this bridge typology, which was among the aims of SEQBRI project. Keywords: Steel–concrete bridges, Concrete cross-beam, Cyclic behaviour, Experimental test, Damage analysi

Laboratory diagnosis and monitoring of desmopressin treatment of von Willebrand's disease by flow cytometry.

Background and Objectives von Willebrand's disease (VWD) is a heterogeneous bleeding disorder caused by quantitative or qualitative defects in von Willebrand factor (VWF). The diagnosis of VWD requires several laboratory tests. The aim of our study was to validate a flow cytometric test for the diagnosis of VWD and for monitoring the effects of desmopressin therapy.Design and Methods Flow cytometric analysis of ristocetin-induced VWF binding to platelets was performed in platelet-rich plasma (PRP) samples from patients with VWD and from control subjects and in samples of formalin-fixed platelets in the presence of plasma from patients or controls. In 12 VWD patients the test was conducted before and 1 hour after desmopressin infusion. Results were compared with VWF:Ag, VWF:RCo, VWF:CB, RIPA, PFA-100® and the skin bleeding time.Results Ristocetin-induced VWF binding to platelets, evaluated by both flow cytometry-based assays, was significantly reduced in patients with type1, 2A and 2M VWD as compared with that in healthy subjects. Patients with type 2B VWD showed reduced binding of VWF to formalin-fixed platelets, but increased binding to autologous platelets in PRP, similar to RIPA. VWF binding to platelets assessed by both flow cytometric assays correlated significantly with VWF:Ag, VWF:RCo, VWF:CB, RIPA, PFA100® and bleeding time. VWF binding to platelets increased after desmopressin infusion.Interpretation and Conclusions The measurement of ristocetin-induced binding of VWF to platelets by flow cytometry is a sensitive, simple and rapid test for the diagnosis of VWD and for the monitoring of the effects of desmopressin therapy. The flow cytometric assay performed with autologous platelets is useful in the identification of type 2B VWD patients

I sistemi informativi della Biblioteca dell\u27Area della Ricerca di Pisa

Description of the CNR Library, (Pisa, Italy) and its services.Presentazione della Biblioteca e Centro di Documentazione Scientifica dell\u27Area della Ricerca CNR di Pisa e dei suoi servizi

Grey Literature in European Commission Projects

The latest recommendations issued by the European Commission go towards the revision of their policy on dissemination and preservation of scientific information: the aim is to promote access to the results of the community-funded research by especially implementing the open access policy within \u27Horizon 2020\u27, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-2020). The growth of "fast" documentation - which is not long-term preserved or not available in stable URLs and repositories - pushed the European Commission to produce a set of guidelines for the management of documentation at-large and of specialized documentation produced within funded projects in particular. Those guidelines try to conciliate the visibility of the project activities in two directions: "a) better quality and user-friendliness of project websites, triggering higher popolarity b) better visibility for the projects and the European Commission due to a more standardized format". The EC guidelines proved to be a very useful tool for optimizing and handling information on the dedicated portals of the community-funded projects: the general recommendations, for example, focus the attention on the importance of using social media as well as webmaster tools and virtual meeting facilities (as web streaming) and of adopting an "eu" domain. Moreover, specific directives are given not only for the structure of the project homepage but often for the web site framework as well: homepage, project overview, consortium, management structure, scientific methodology and expected documentation. Given this scenario, the web sites of these projects represent an essential vehicle for both the acquisition and the diffusion of grey literature and could also become an important resource within an European infrastructure able to overcome the disconnected and scattered nature of their content in order to optimise their riutilization. Although the term "grey literature" (GL) has never been explicitly mentioned in the Commission guidelines, it is widely known that a good amount of documentation produced within the EC projects is made up of deliverables, e-newsletters, brochures, posters, flyers, videos, project factsheets, photographs. Starting from this condition, this paper analyses the GL production available on European Projects dedicated web sites, using a sample of projects selected from EU-CORDIS. The aim of the survey is then to identify, measure, evaluate the usability and availability of grey literature provided by the European Commission projects web sites in order to verify whether this type of literature is compliant with EU recommendations. It is also important to assess to which extent grey literature is reusable for "nourishing" the European platform infrastructures devoted to the storage, dissemination and conservation of such research product