Information sharing, bank penetration and tax evasion in emerging markets

Tax evasion, which is typically considered an illegal activity, is a critical problem and is considered a barrier to economic growth. A review of the literature shows that tax and social security contributions, regulations, public sector services, the quality of institutions and tax compliance, play important roles in determining the degree to which firms attempt to evade taxes. Measuring tax evasion is problematic due to data requirements and inadequacies. Few tax evasion indices have been estimated but it appears that they cannot be used for international comparisons across countries. This important issue has largely been ignored in the literature, in particular for emerging markets. Consequently, this paper is conducted to develop a new tax evasion index (TEI) using the most substantial and recent data from the standardized World Bank Enterprises Survey 2006–2017. In addition, using the newly developed TEI, the paper examines the importance and contribution of information sharing and bank penetration to the degree of tax evasion in emerging markets. The paper uses a sample of 112 emerging markets from 2006–2017 and the Tobit model in estimation. The empirical findings from the paper indicate that the average TEI during the 2006– 2017 period for emerging markets is 0.62, with a range of (0.25, 0.75). In addition, we find that information sharing and bank penetration negatively affect the degree of tax evasion, as proxied by the TEI, in emerging markets. The empirical results also confirm the view that large firms are considered to have adopted good tax compliance practices, while firms located in remote areas are more likely to evade taxes. Policy implications have emerged on the basis of the empirical findings from the paper

One-pot microwave-assisted green synthesis of amine-functionalized graphene quantum dots for high visible light photocatalytic application

Nowadays, graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have gained a huge interest in the field of visible-range photocatalysts because of their tunable band gap and stable photochemical properties. In this work, amine-functionalized GQDs (AGQDs) were successfully prepared by one-step microwave-assisted conversion of glucose, H2O2, and NH3 solution. The obtained quantum dots possess the high quality of graphene structure with the average size of 3.78 nm as well as exhibit a strong green fluorescence with a high quantum yield. Interestingly, the amine-functionalized dots perform outstanding visible-light absorption. To further investigate photocatalytic properties, a composite of AGQDs and TiO2 was then prepared by a simple mixing route. The hybrid material showed high catalytic activity of dye degradation under visible light irradiation, which indicates the key role of AGQDs in enhancing light absorption and induced electron–hole separation. The current study may open a new way for construction of effective visible light photocatalytic systems with a cost-effective, simple approach.Scopu

Defect-engineered metal-organic frameworks (MOF-808) towards the improved adsorptive removal of organic dyes and chromium (vi) species from water

In this work, two defective zirconium-based metal-organic frameworks (Zr-MOFs), MOF-808-OH and MOF-808-NH2, were synthesized by partially replacing the 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate building block with 5-hydroxyisophthalate and 5-aminoisophthalate, respectively. The structural features of the defective materials were analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nitrogen physisorption at 77 K, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Importantly, the number of defect sites determined via proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) analysis of the digested materials was approximately 7 mol% for MOF-808-OH and 3 mol% for MOF-808-NH2. The presence of the defect sites increased the number of acidic centers on Zr-clusters originating from missing-linker nodes which accounted for a remarkable adsorption capacity towards various anionic organic dyes and chromium (vi) species. Compared to standard MOF-808, the defect-engineered ones showed significant increments by 30-60% in trapping capacity for anionic contaminants including sunset yellow, quinoline yellow, methyl orange, and potassium dichromate, while they exhibited modest improvements by 5-15% in the removal of cationic dyes, namely malachite green and methylene blue

Counterion Condensation and Fluctuation-Induced Attraction

We consider an overall neutral system consisting of two similarly charged plates and their oppositely charged counterions and analyze the electrostatic interaction between the two surfaces beyond the mean-field Poisson-Boltzmann approximation. Our physical picture is based on the fluctuation-driven counterion condensation model, in which a fraction of the counterions is allowed to ``condense'' onto the charged plates. In addition, an expression for the pressure is derived, which includes fluctuation contributions of the whole system. We find that for sufficiently high surface charges, the distance at which the attraction, arising from charge fluctuations, starts to dominate can be large compared to the Gouy-Chapmann length. We also demonstrate that depending on the valency, the system may exhibit a novel first-order binding transition at short distances.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, to appear in PR

A discrete host-parasitoid model with development of pesticide resistance and IPM strategies

The development of pesticide resistance significantly affects the outcomes of pest control. A quantitative depiction of the effects of pesticide resistance development on integrated pest management (IPM) strategies and pest control outcomes is challenging. To address this problem, a discrete host-parasitoid model with pesticide resistance development and IPM strategies is proposed and analyzed. The threshold condition of pest eradication which reveals the relationship between the development of pest resistance and the rate of natural enemy releases is provided and analyzed, and the optimal rate for releasing natural enemies was obtained based on this threshold condition. Furthermore, in order to reduce adverse effects of the pesticide on natural enemies, the model has been extended to consider the spraying of pesticide and releases of natural enemies at different times. The effects of the dynamic complexity and different resistance development equations on the main results are also discussed

Thermodynamics and classification of cosmological models in the Horava-Lifshitz theory of gravity

We study thermodynamics of cosmological models in the Horava-Lifshitz theory of gravity, and systematically investigate the evolution of the universe filled with a perfect fluid that has the equation of state $p=w\rho$, where $p$ and $\rho$ denote, respectively, the pressure and energy density of the fluid, and $w$ is an arbitrary real constant. Depending on specific values of the free parameters involved in the models, we classify all of them into various cases. In each case the main properties of the evolution are studied in detail, including the periods of deceleration and/or acceleration, and the existence of big bang, big crunch, and big rip singularities. We pay particular attention on models that may give rise to a bouncing universe.Comment: revtex4, 21 figures. New references added & some changes made in Introduction. Version to appear in JCA

Social Media, Gender and the Mediatisation of War: Exploring the German Armed Forces’ Visual Representation of the Afghanistan Operation on Facebook

Studies on the mediatisation of war point to attempts of governments to regulate the visual perspective of their involvements in armed conflict – the most notable example being the practice of ‘embedded reporting’ in Iraq and Afghanistan. This paper focuses on a different strategy of visual meaning-making, namely, the publication of images on social media by armed forces themselves. Specifically, we argue that the mediatisation of war literature could profit from an increased engagement with feminist research, both within Critical Security/Critical Military Studies and within Science and Technology Studies that highlight the close connection between masculinity, technology and control. The article examines the German military mission in Afghanistan as represented on the German armed forces’ official Facebook page. Germany constitutes an interesting, and largely neglected, case for the growing literature on the mediatisation of war: its strong antimilitarist political culture makes the representation of war particularly delicate. The paper examines specific representational patterns of Germany’s involvement in Afghanistan and discusses the implications which arise from what is placed inside the frame of visibility and what remains out of its view

The Physics of the B Factories

This work is on the Physics of the B Factories. Part A of this book contains a brief description of the SLAC and KEK B Factories as well as their detectors, BaBar and Belle, and data taking related issues. Part B discusses tools and methods used by the experiments in order to obtain results. The results themselves can be found in Part C