Dissimilarity-based Ensembles for Multiple Instance Learning

In multiple instance learning, objects are sets (bags) of feature vectors (instances) rather than individual feature vectors. In this paper we address the problem of how these bags can best be represented. Two standard approaches are to use (dis)similarities between bags and prototype bags, or between bags and prototype instances. The first approach results in a relatively low-dimensional representation determined by the number of training bags, while the second approach results in a relatively high-dimensional representation, determined by the total number of instances in the training set. In this paper a third, intermediate approach is proposed, which links the two approaches and combines their strengths. Our classifier is inspired by a random subspace ensemble, and considers subspaces of the dissimilarity space, defined by subsets of instances, as prototypes. We provide guidelines for using such an ensemble, and show state-of-the-art performances on a range of multiple instance learning problems.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems, Special Issue on Learning in Non-(geo)metric Space

Designing a Work-Friendly Tax System

[Excerpt] Taxes tend to influence individual choices between labor and leisure, and high effective marginal tax rates on earned income tend to discourage work. In particular, the empirical evidence shows that high effective marginal tax rates tend to discourage work by low- and moderate-income individuals, especially those that are trying to work their way out of the welfare system. Unfortunately, the current federal tax system often imposes its highest effective marginal tax rates on just those individuals. The purpose of this paper is to suggest some simple ways to reduce those high effective marginal tax rates. One approach would be to replace the current earned income tax credit with a $2,000 per worker credit and a refundable$1,000 per child tax credit. A more comprehensive approach would be to integrate the individual income tax and Social Security tax systems into a single, comprehensive income tax system with refundable $2,000 per worker earned income tax credits and with$1,000 or $2,000 per person refundable personal tax credits or demogrants. In short, this paper considers how to make the federal tax system more work-friendly for low- and moderate-income workers

Maybe Just a Little Bit Special, After All?

The attitude—common among tax professionals—that tax is special (mostly because of its supposedly unique complexity), and that special legal rules should apply in the tax context, has been described and excoriated by scholars as tax exceptionalism or tax myopia. The Supreme Court dealt tax exceptionalism a grievous blow in its 2011 opinion in Mayo Foundation for Medical Education & Research v. United States, in which it held that the Chevron standard for determining the validity of regulations applied in tax just as it applied in other fields. One commentator gleefully celebrated Mayo as the death knell of tax exceptionalism, declaring, The tax world finally recognized a stark fact of life in 2011: Tax law is not special. This Article offers, with numerous hedges and qualifications, a defense of the exceptionalists and of exceptionalism. It makes three points for the defense. First, it is not so much tax professionals who think tax is special; rather, the view of tax as a thing apart is held most strongly by everyone else. Second, to the extent tax professionals do believe that tax is special, they resemble antitrust lawyers who think that antitrust is special, bankruptcy lawyers who think that bankruptcy is special, and so on. In other words, there is nothing exceptional about tax exceptionalism. And, finally, to the extent tax professionals not only think tax is special but also think it is more special than, say, antitrust lawyers think that antitrust is special, they may not be altogether wrong. Maybe tax really is just a little bit special, after all

The Bush Tax Cuts and the Economy

[Excerpt] A series of tax cuts were enacted early in the George W. Bush Administration by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA; P.L. 107-16) and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (JGTRRA; P.L. 108-27). These tax cuts, which are collectively known as the Bush tax cuts, are scheduled to expire at the end of 2010. Beginning in 2011, many of the individual income tax parameters (such as tax rates) will revert back to 2000 levels. The major tax provisions in EGTRRA and JGTRRA that are part of the current debate over the Bush tax cuts are the reduced tax rates, the reduction of the marriage penalty (and increase in the marriage bonus), the repeal of the personal exemption phaseout and the limitation on itemized deductions, the reduced tax rates on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends, and expanded tax credits. This report examines the Bush tax cuts within the context of the current and long-term economic environment

Tax competition as a cause of falling corporate income taxes. A literature survey.

Tax rates on capital income, corporate income tax rates in particular, have been declining in most industrialized countries since the mid 1980ies. Among the explanations for this development tax competition between countries for mobile capital has been mentioned frequently. A vast empirical literature dealing with tax competition for mobile capital has emerged. This paper gives a comprehensive overview of these empirical studies. A particular focus is put on studies modelling strategic interaction in tax policies of competing jurisdictions - which is at the heart of the competition concept. The paper also addresses the issue whether existing studies convincingly isolate tax competition as a driver of falling capital / corporate income tax rates. Given the empirical evidence surveyed it appears that tax rates indeed fall due to tax competition, in particular due to competition for new firms and for paper profits. However, closer look at the empirical approaches applied in the papers surveyed suggests that fully convincing evidence establishing tax competition as driver of falling tax rates is still lacking.Series: Discussion Papers SFB International Tax Coordinatio