Utilization of Income Tax Credits by Low-Income Individuals

The Internal Revenue Service-a sub-agency that exists to collect revenue-has the task of administering and enforcing a wide array of social policy: from subsidies for college and child care expenses, to creating jobs in depressed areas, and assisting welfare recipients with employment. While these new or expanded credits represent a new paradigm in the delivery of social policy, little is known about who uses these programs and, equally important, who does not use these programs. Understanding utilization is a key to understanding how effective this means of transferring income is and whether we are reaching the targeted populations. This paper provides a framework for thinking about utilization of tax credits among low-income individuals, supported by existing research on credit utilization. With the existing data, it appears that utilization is by far the largest for the EITC, possibly because it is the oldest of these programs, the only refundable program, and the best targeted at low-income individuals. Utilization is low among low-income individuals in some tax credits because low-income individuals are not eligible. A redesign, including reducing complexity and administrative burdens or making these programs refundable, would result in the programs reaching those that they are ostensibly targeted towards. Conditional on being eligible, one common factor associated with increasing participation in many of these programs is a high benefit to cost ratio and sophistication with the tax system, whether that be through the use of a paid preparer, higher education levels, or experience with the tax system. Policymakers should think creatively about reducing filing burdens to increase participation, such as through wider use of electronic filing

Assessing Large E-Book Collections: Is the Past a Roadmap for Developing Collections of the Future?

Many academic libraries rely heavily on massive prepackaged e-book collections from vendors such as EBSCO and ProQuest to support their research communities. This shift away from traditional collection development is seen as a budget-friendly strategy to provide current monographs across many disciplines. Librarians at Shenandoah University questioned whether their largest e-book subscriptions, ProQuest’s Ebook Central and EBSCO’s eBook Academic Collection, measured up to standard collection development tools. This study uses the Outstanding Academic Titles lists published by Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries as a benchmark to measure the quality of large e-book collections. By analyzing five years’ worth of Outstanding Academic Titles in each e-book collection, librarians began to evaluate the relevance of large, prepackaged e-book subscriptions

Global Progress Toward Implementing the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement

This brief examines the progress made in implementing the Fish Stocks Agreement, based on a review of the status of certain highly migratory stocks and the effectiveness of regional fishery management organization (RFMO) measures in meeting specific mandates. It also looks at whether recommendations made in prior reviews have been implemented

Information/Control – Control in the Age of Post-Truth: An Introduction

Guest editors Stacy E. Wood, James Lowry, and Andrew J Lau introduce the issue on Information/Control – Control in the Age of Post-Truth

The Grain Size and Microstructure of Jet-Electroplated Damascene Copper Films

Electroplated damascene copper is rapidly replacing aluminum-copper alloys for on-chip interconnect metallization in advanced ultralarge scale integrated (ULSI) semiconductor devices. In addition to a high degree of (111) crystallographic texture, large defect-free grains are desired to enhance the performance and reliability of copper interconnects in such devices. The brightening additive level and dc current density of electroplating baths are two parameters that affect the process gap-filling capability and the degree of additive incorporation in these copper films. Additive incorporation can inhibit grain growth during the room-temperature recrystallization process and therefore affect the final grain size in electroplated copper films. This investigation explores the grain size and microstructure of dc jet-electroplated damascene copper films deposited as a function of current density and brightening additive level after first receiving a high-temperature annealing treatment. In 1.3 μm thick blanket films it was found that large, lognormally distributed, low-resistivity, highly twinned grains with an average diameter of 1.7-1.9 μm could consistently be produced over a wide variety of electroplating conditions. These results suggest that any grain growth inhibition factors, such as remnant electroplating impurities incorporated in the blanket film microstructure after the self-annealing process, can be effectively removed from these films with a sufficient thermal budget to create a stable grain size and microstructure

The Microstructure and Grain Size of Jet Electroplated Copper Films in Damascene Trench Features

The brightening additive level and dc current density of electroplating baths are two parameters that affect the gap-filling capability and the degree of impurity incorporation in electroplated copper films. Additive incorporation can inhibit grain growth during the room temperature recrystallization process and therefore affect the final grain size. This investigation explores the grain size and microstructure of dc jet-electroplated copper films in 0.35 and 0.50μm Damascene trenches as a function of current density and brightening additive level after first receiving a high-temperature anneal. Unlike a previous study that explored these variables in blanket Cu films [ J. Electrochem. Soc. , 152 , C101 (2005) ], the results of this study suggest that current density, and to a lesser extent additive level, play a role in determining the final grain size in Damascene trenches. In 0.5μm trench structures it was found that only higher dc current density levels produce larger cross-sectional grain sizes. In 0.35μm trenches, however, both the current density and brightening additive level affected the final grain size. It thus appears that the level of geometrical constraint, the number of available nucleation sites, the amount of stored energy in the microstructure, and the degree of remnant additive incorporation are factors that could influence the final grain size

Our journal, our intellectual home

The Journal of Consumer Research (JCR) is not only the premier outlet for the best scholarship in consumer research. It is also the intellectual home of the global consumer research community. In sustaining that home, the ideals of the journal include publishing insights gained from a variety of perspectives on critical consumer-relevant issues, from diverse theories and methodologies to substantive domains. As a team of editors, we see our role as nurturing, building, protecting, and further strengthening our intellectual home. And we want to build up JCR as a platform of insights to the world by better translating our research and showing how it is important to others; we want to invite the broader world into our home, to share the insights created within our walls. To become the stewards of JCR during a pandemic unlike any we’ve known in our lifetime demands that we think about how community is fostered, even in a socially distanced world. Does JCR—as our intellectual home—connect us? Is our digital space compelling enough? Do community members find it easy and exciting to stay connected to the new ideas we work hard to develop? Does our intellectual home feel equally welcoming and transparent to all members of our community? COVID-19 has shown us the power and importance of home. In 2020, home renovation has been popular, and we, too, have been thinking it might be the ideal time for a little updating. So what efforts, in addition to the traditional work of editors, will we be tackling? Four things. Four guiding principles. (1) Transparency, fairness, and trust; (2) timeliness and speed; (3) diversity, equity, and inclusion; and (4) community building

The Effect of BMI on Oxygen Saturation at Rest and During Mild Walking

Eighty one subjects were examined for the relationship between BMI, body fat, arterial oxygen saturation and arterial PO2 with the subjects at rest and after 5 minutes of walking on a treadmill ergometer at 3 mph at a 3% grade. They had BMIs between 19 and 50. All subjects were free of cardiovascular disease and had normal blood pressure making it safe for them to participate in mild exercise. They were all able to walk for at least 10 minutes without cardiovascular complications and were not taking any medications that altered the autonomic nervous system. The age was between 22 and 68. The results showed that above a BMI of about 30, there was an inverse relationship between BMI and oxygen saturation in fingertip blood (correlation -0.81.

Suzaku Observations of Local Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies

We report the results from our analysis of {\it Suzaku} XIS (0.5-10 keV) and HXD/PIN (15-40 keV) observations of five well-known local ULIRGs: {\em IRAS} F05189-2524, {\em IRAS} F08572+3915, Mrk 273, PKS 1345+12, and Arp 220. The XIS observations of F05189-2524 and Mrk 273 reveal strong iron lines consistent with Fe K$\alpha$ and changes in spectral shapes with respect to previous {\it Chandra} and {\it XMM-Newton} observations. Mrk 273 is also detected by the HXD/PIN at $\sim$1.8-$\sigma$. For F05189-2524, modeling of the data from the different epochs suggests that the change in spectral shape is likely due to the central source switching off, leaving behind a residual reflection spectrum, or an increase in the absorbing column. An increase in the covering fraction of the absorber can describe the spectral variations seen in Mrk 273, although a reduction in the intrinsic AGN luminosity cannot be formally ruled out. The {\it Suzaku} spectra of Mrk 273 are well fit by a ~94% covering fraction model with a column density of $\sim10^{24}$ cm$^{-2}$. The absorption-corrected log[$L_{\rm 2-10 keV}$ / $L_{\rm IR}$] ratio is consistent with those found in PG Quasars. The 0.5-10 keV spectrum of PKS 1345+12 and Arp 220 seem unchanged from previous observations and their hard X-ray emission is not convincingly detected by the HXD/PIN. The large column density derived from CO observations and the large equivalent width of an ionized Fe line in Arp 220 can be reconciled by an ionized reflection model. F08572+3915 is undetected in both the XIS and HXD/PIN, but the analysis of unpublished {\em Chandra} data provides a new measurement at low energies.Comment: 37 pages including 4 tables and 10 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ. It is tentatively scheduled to appear in the January 20, 2009 issue of Ap