Search results

Tax certainty aims at the stabilization of expectations of both, taxpayers and governments. Improving tax payer service, easing cooperation channels and clarifying legal framework are strategies already in place to increase tax certainty, even though to different extent depending on the countries level of development. For the short run, concrete measures can be recommended through which international cooperation can contribute to strengthening tax certainty. These measures concern the establishment of enhanced engagement programs, the development of model legislation as a tool for the implementation of international rules and standards, the alignment of bilateral treaties and domestic legislation to international good practices, using the country-by-country-report as an indicator for the adequacy of tax payments and setting up investment incentives. In the long run, a radical change in the international tax scheme is suggested since, amongst others, the current rules do not match with the emerging digital economy. A unitary taxation system might be therefore the appropriate response even if the implementation on an international level is complex.

Besonders in kleineren Städten und Gemeinden sind Bürgermeisterwahlen häufig kaum noch als Wahlen zu bezeichnen. Nicht selten treten dort gerade Amtsinhaber konkurrenzlos an, weshalb die Bürger nur noch über die Fortsetzung der Tätigkeit des amtierenden Bürgermeisters entscheiden können. Eine geringere Wahlbeteiligung sei - so die gängige These - oftmals die Folge, was demokratietheoretisch sicherlich bedenklich ist. Auch in NRW zeigen sich, wenn auch nicht flächendeckend, Tendenzen zu Wahlen ohne Auswahl - vor allem in kleineren Kommunen. Hier setzt die Forderung nach einer Einführung von Amtszeitbeschränkungen für Bürgermeister an. Term limits könnten nicht nur den politischen Wettbewerb revitalisieren und ggf. die Wahlbeteiligung erhöhen, sondern ferner auch einen Beitrag gegen Korruption sowie zur stärkeren Repräsentation unterschiedlicher Gesellschaftsgruppen leisten. Es ist daher höchste Zeit, ernsthaft über entsprechende Reformen zu diskutieren.

1. Introduction -- 2. Key Terms in Comics Studies -- 3. Abstract Comics – Avant-Garde -- 4. Bande Dessinée – Breakdown -- 5. Canon – Culture Industry -- 6. Dénouement – Drawing -- 7. Ecocriticism – Experimental Comics -- 8. Fable – Funny Animal -- 9. Gag – Gutter -- 10. Head Shop – Hybrid -- 11. Icon – Irony -- 12. Kitsch – Ludology -- 13. Mail Order – Myth -- 14. Narration – Novelisation -- 15. Onomatopoeia – Puzzle Comics -- 16. Queer Comics – Royalty Payment -- 17. Satire – Syuzhet -- 18. Taste Adjudication – Typography -- 19. Underground – Voice -- 20. War – Zine.

In the aftermath of terror attacks, international leaders have come to respond using war rhetoric and actions. Public addresses are broadcast on a loop around the world, spreading fear and outrage. This article examines whether a war approach to countering terrorism is successful in the long-term or should governments treat terrorists as criminals. Success is defined as the decrease in terrorist violence. Four case studies are used, the Irish Republican Army (IRA), Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Each state's counterterrorism policies are identified as either Criminal Justice or War Paradigm. Decreases and Increases of terror violence are then analyzed in the context of the counterterrorism policies to assess how each paradigm contributes to short-term and long-term counterterrorism success.

Today, we are pleased to present a guest contribution written by Kevin Pallara, Luca Rossi, and Fabrizio Venditti of the Bank of Italy. The views presented in this note represent those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Bank of Italy or the ESCB. Between July and October long-term yields in […]

This paper analyzes the determinants of employability differences between short-term and long-term unemployed persons. Knowing these differences could help to address active labor market policy programs more adequately to the needs of the job-seekers in order to increase employment integration. Based on merged survey and register data differences in job finding chances of these groups are decomposed into a part due to differences in attributes and a part due to differences in valuing the attributes. The estimates clarify that current active labor market programs do not address important factors of employment. Particularly, health of the job seekers, limitations in the working ability and obstacles to employment comprising substance abuse, financial debts or care obligations for children or frail elderly play a significant role for successful placement. The conclusion is that policy makers should integrate these aspects in the placement process.

This paper characterizes the term structure of Treasury bond yields for Brazil, and estimates a Nelson-Siegel Model to reproduce its stylized facts for the period 2004-2010. For this purpose, this paper uses a software developed by Fund staff. In addition, the paper estimates two versions of the Nelson-Siegel Model that incorporates macroeconomic variables with the aim of assessing the dynamic interactions between the yield curve and the macroeconomy

AbstractThis article argues that the recent implementation of monetary policy in Australia has been dominated by the response to a large range of unanticipated shocks. In the process of trying to minimise the adverse effects of such shocks, considerable uncertainty has been created about likely outcomes in the medium term. This makes medium‐term objectives harder to achieve. Taking the reduction of inflation as an example of an appropriate medium‐term objective, simulations are presented using the Murphy model of the Australian economy. The simulations demonstrate that a tightening of monetary policy will reduce inflation more slowly if private agents believe that the tightening is unlikely to be sustained for long. Under uncertainty, monetary policy will have to be tighter and real GDP significantly lower to achieve a given reduction in inflation. A confingency rule of medium complexity is suggested as one way in which appropriate medium‐term objectives might be achieved while allowing some flexibility to react to unexpected outcomes in the short run.

Unlike some European jurisdictions, Taiwan does not have a supplementary protection certificate that grants a patentee an independent, sui generis IP right. Rather, under Taiwan Patent Act, a patent term extension is available only on two occasions. Firstly, when a patentee of an invention of pharmaceuticals (excluding veterinary drugs), agrochemicals, or the manufacturing processes thereof, obtains the market authorization by another authority from the central government required by law for the exploitation of the patented invention after the patent was granted by the Taiwan IP Office (TIPO).442 Secondly, Article 66 of Taiwan Patent Act allows a patentee of an invention unable to practice his/her patent due to war between Republic of China (ROC more commonly known as Taiwan) and other foreign countries to extend his/her patent term once for a period of between 5 to 10 years. However, patentees from the foreign county that is in war with Taiwan are not eligible for patent term extension. In patent practice the patent term extension regime is rarely used in Taiwan. Unless otherwise specified, patent term extension mentioned hereinafter refers only to extension for pharmaceutical and agrochemicals patents and the manufacturing processes thereof.

Abstract
We study the effects of the change in contract length on the agents' incentives to invest and exert effort. We present an agent's dynamic decision model that explicitly deals with two types of investments and directly allows for contract regime switching by varying the probability of contract renewal. The fact that the unobservable investment in human capital is complementary with the agent's effort produces a result that increasing the probability of contract renewal increases investment and effort, with the consequent increase in production. We also show that there exists a specific level of investment in human capital, for which the investment in physical capital is profitable. We test these theoretical predictions using contract settlement data for the production of hatching eggs which covers the period when the contract changed from short-term to long-term. The obtained empirical results are largely supportive of the developed theory.

1. Introduction -- 2. Afro-Pessimism (Joseph Winters) -- 3. Alternate History (Dirk Niefanger) -- 4. Anthropocene (Sarah Marak) -- 5. Archive (Martha Schoolman) -- 6. Artificial Intelligence (Scott Sundvall) -- 7. Astrofuturism (Alexandra Ganser) -- 8. Calendar (Marc Andre Matten) -- 9. Contingency (Wolfgang Knöbl) -- 10. Data (Lev Manovich) -- 11. Death (Nader El-Bizri) -- 12. Decision (Barbara Stollberg-Rilinger) -- 13. Democracy (Mareike Gebhardt) -- 14. Development (Aram Ziai) -- 15. Digitization (Scott Selisker) -- 16. Divination (Ulrike Ludwig) -- 17. Dreaming (Barbara Weber) -- 18. Fate (Georges Tamer) -- 19. Fictionality (John Carlos Rowe) -- 20. Forecasting (Arunabh Ghosh) -- 21. Futurism (Peter Maurits) -- 22. Futurology (Sohail Inayatullah) -- 23. Gesture (Rebecca Schneider) -- 24. Hope (Florian Tatschner) -- 25. Ignorance (Katharina Gerund) -- 26. Imagination (Birgit Spengler) -- 27. Knowledge (Heike Paul) -- 28. Magic (Erik Mortenson) -- 29. Messianism (Anna Akasoy) -- 30. Millennialism (Catherine Wessinger) -- 31. Mission (Marina Ngursangzeli Behera) -- 32. Neoliberalism (Renee Heberle) -- 33. Optimism (Wendy Larson) -- 34. Planning (Julia Obertreis) -- 35. Play (Fabian Schäfer) -- 36. Prefiguration (Mathijs van de Sande) -- 37. Prevention (Stefan Willer) -- 38. Queer Futurity (Cedric Essi) -- 39. Revolution (Lanie Millar) -- 40. Science Fiction (Marc Bould) -- 41. Security (Timothy Melley) -- 42. Seriality (Elisabeth Bronfen) -- 43. Singularity (Luke Goode) -- 44. Speculative realism (Graham Harman) -- 45. Sustainability (Frank Adloff) -- 46. Temporality (Raji Steineck) -- 47. Time (Frank Darwiche) -- 48. Time Travel (Kay Kirchmann) -- 49. Transhumansim (Jennifer Gidley) -- 50. Utopia (Barnita Bagchi) -- 51. Virtuality (Marie-Laure Ryan).