This book is a compilation of contributions exploring the impact of the European Treaty provisions regarding state aid on Member States' legislation and administrative practice in the area of business taxation. Starting from a detailed analysis of the European Courts' jurisprudence on Art.107 TFEU the authors lay out fundamental issues - e.g. on legal concepts like "advantage", "selectivity" and "discrimination" - and explore current problems - in particular policy and practice regarding "harmful" tax competition within the European Union. This includes the Member States' Code of Conduct on business taxation, the limits to anti-avoidance legislation and the options for legislation on patent boxes. The European Commission's recent findings on preferential "rulings" are discussed as well as the general relationship between international tax law, transfer pricing standards and the European prohibition on selective fiscal aids.

This book offers a comprehensive guide to modern day taxation issues. It presents a thorough overview of many of the crucial aspects of applied taxation and current tax systems, and presents evidence that supports taxation as an important policy issue requiring immediate address globally. Contributions seek to address the core question of how to design a tax policy mix that can serve primarily efficiency, growth and possibly equity goals at a time where fiscal spending, for many economies, is not a viable option. Chapters provide a historical perspective on taxation, then go on to cover aspects of the modern theory of optimal taxation and tax design and provide valuable international perspectives on current tax practices and much required tax reforms. Empirical analysis on taxation and related economic data help the readers to understand how data-based observations and results are linked to the theory of taxation, and more importantly economic growth, before offering appropriate policy prescriptions. This book will be of interest to scholars and practitioners interested in learning more about taxation and why it matters today in the global economy.

Modern-day tax treaties have their foundations in one of the three Model Tax Treaties developed by the League of Nations in 1928. Using previously unexplored archival material, Sunita Jogarajan provides the first in-depth examination of the development of the League's Models. This new research provides insights into questions such as the importance of double taxation versus tax evasion; the preference for source-taxation versus residence-taxation; the influence of theory and practice on the League's work; the development of bilateral rather than multilateral treaties; the influence of developing countries on the League's work; the role of Commentary in interpreting model tax treaties; and the influential factors and key individuals involved. A better understanding of the development of the original models will inform and help guide interpretation and reform of modern-day tax treaties. Additionally, this book will be of interest to scholars of international relations and the development of law at international organisations.

Stamp Taxes 2021/22 is a comprehensive and practical guide to all current UK stamp and land taxes: Stamp Duty Land Tax (England and Northern Ireland), Stamp Duty (UK) and Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (UK), together with commentary on Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scotland) and Land Transaction Tax (Wales). It explains the reasons behind many of the current rules by exploring the history and development of stamp taxes, whilst setting out the scope of each tax and explaining how they interact. Including numerous examples, with references to legislation, case law and HMRC guidance throughout, this is a practical handbook for those working in tax advisory firms and tax departments of corporate groups and other major investors in UK property and companies. It is also a useful study aid for students and trainees studying for membership of professional bodies.

In this book, a number of long-term energy scenarios are developed for Nigeria considering the impact of vital factors that may influence energy policies in the country's future energy system. The energy scenarios were developed through the Long-Range Energy Alternatives Planning System (LEAP) model. The model identified the future energy demand and supply pattern using a least-cost combination of technology options while limiting the emission of greenhouse gases. The book presents four scenarios, and key parameters considered include GDP, households, population, urbanization and the growth rates of energy-intensive sectors. Further, it highlights the findings of the cost-benefit analysis, which reveal the costs of implementing selected policies and strategies in Nigeria, including those focusing on energy efficiency and fuel/technology switching. The book also discusses the application of the LEAP-OSeMOSYS Model in order to identify lowest-cost power plants for electricity generation. Some sustainable strategies that can ensure a low carbon development in Nigeria are also explored on the basis of successful country cases in relation to the Nigerian LEAP model. As such, the book will help policy makers devise energy and sustainable strategies to achieve low carbon development in Nigeria.

This volume aims to discuss the current research, theory, methodology and applications of macropreudential regulation and policy for the Islamic financial industry. Published in cooperation with the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI), this book features contributions from a workshop presented in collaboration with the University College of Bahrain (UCB) in Manama, Bahrain, aimed to bring together experts in Islamic banking and regulation and financial economics. This resulting book sheds light on how macroprudential policy may be implemented in the Islamic financial system, and indicates current challenges and their effects on economic growth, financial stability and monetary regulation. Macroprudential policy is increasingly seen as a way of dealing with the different dimensions of systemic risk. But many central banks, bank supervisors and regulators have limited experience with macroprudential tools, particularly in the Islamic financial industry. Given the complementarities between monetary policy and financial stability, it appears that central banks would always play an important role in macroprudential policy. But how should macroprudential policy best interact with monetary policy? It is becoming more pressing for the central banks to conduct monetary policy in which its conventional banking system operates side by side with Islamic banking system. This question has received increasing attention in the research literature but there is much we still need to learn. This is why new insights from research on macroprudential policy - which has gained important impetus in recent years - are so valuable. Featuring contributions on topics such as macroprudential regulation, policy, tools and instruments; governance, systematic risk, monetary policy, and bank leverage, the editors provide a collection of comprehensive research covering the most important issues on macroprudential policy and regulation for the Islamic financial industry. This volume is expected to be a significant contribution to the literature in the field of Islamic finance and evaluation of public policies to promote the development for Islamic financial industry. It is also served as a key text for students, academics, researchers, policy-makers in the field of Islamic finance.

Whatever happened to the money supply? This book explains how the analysis of monetary and credit aggregates is undertaken at the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and (as an example of a developing country) the Bank of Tanzania. The book also explores how this analysis relates to these central banks' monetary policy strategies and how it feeds into policymaking. An editorial introduction provides the intellectual and historical background - from the contributions of key economists such as Milton Friedman and Jacques Polak, to monetary targeting and inflation targeting - and argues that central banks and policy analysts would be foolish to neglect the insights monetary analysis can offer. The papers compiled in Monetary Analysis at Central Banks demonstrate just how useful and varied those insights are.

This book develops new, original methods of welfare comparison and comparative dynamics between distinct and discretely positioned (rather than continuously related) socioeconomic situations. These methods are not only realistic but also extremely relevant to serious economic problems. Using them, the book sheds illuminating new light on the theoretical analysis of Keynesian economics and other important issues of political economy. For instance, it shows that the principle of effective demand applies exactly as Keynes put it to the unemployment equilibrium in the short run. It also shows that the equilibrium may change along the expansion path as the government chooses to vary its expenditure to maximize national welfare. The same methods are effectively employed theoretically to investigate modern trade policy issues such as gains from trade, the theory of tariffs, free trade agreements, and the role of the WTO. Those methods are also used to study the welfare and efficiency of various socioeconomic situations.

Seventy-five percent of Americans claim religious affiliation, which can impact their taxpaying responsibilities. In this illuminating book, Samuel D. Brunson describes the many problems and breakdowns that can occur when tax meets religion in the United States, and shows how the US government has too often responded to these issues in an unprincipled, ad hoc manner. God and the IRS offers a better framework to understand tax and religion. It should be read by scholars of religion and the law, policymakers, and individuals interested in understanding the implications of taxation on their religious practices.

This work explores how reshaping budget rules and how they are applied presents a preferred means of public sector budgeting, rather than simply implementing fewer rules. Through enhanced approaches to resource flexibility, government entities can ensure that public money is used appropriately while achieving the desired results. The authors identify public budgeting practices that inhibit responses to complex problems and examine how rule modification can lead to expanded budget flexibility. Through a nuanced understanding of the factors underlying conventional budget control, the authors use budget reforms in Australia to show the limits of rule modification and propose "rule variability" as a better means of recalibrating central control and situational flexibility. Here, policy makers and public management academics will find a source that surveys emerging ways of reconciling control and flexibility in the public sector.iv>

This book explores the debate on the policies required to overcome the crises of 2008 and 2011, in which the focus on short-term measures has overshadowed the need to analyze the low growth rate in the European Union, and especially the Eurozone, as the basis for interventions that will counteract the tendency toward stagnation. Factors that lie at the root of the low growth are examined in depth, covering, for example, the impact of the demographic trend toward an aging population in Europe, consequences of inequality for growth, challenges posed by technological change, competition from emerging countries, and difficulties in improving European governance. In addition, potential actions to foster innovation and avoid long-term stagnation, such as new measures to open up markets, stimulate competition in services, and promote green growth, are discussed. The book comprises a selection of contributions presented at the XXVII Villa Mondragone International Economic Seminar, which brought together renowned economists and representatives of a broad range of countries and leading international institutions. It will appeal to all who are interested in the latest thinking on stagnation/growth, inequality, governance, competitiveness, and innovation in Europe.

This book, dedicated to Prof. Jacques Richard, is about the economic, political, social and even environmental consequences of setting accounting standards, with emphasis on those that are alleged to be precipitated by the adoption and implementation of IFRS. The authors offer their reasoned critiques of the effectiveness of IFRS in promoting genuine global comparability of financial reporting. The editors of this collection have invited authors from 17 countries, so that a great variety of accounting, auditing and regulatory cultures, and educational perspectives, is amply on display in their essays.

This book widens the current debate on security privatization by examining how and why an increasing number of private actors beyond private military and security companies (PMSCs) have come to perform various security related functions. While PMSCs provide security for profit, most other private sector stakeholders make a profit by selling goods and services that were not originally connected with security in the traditional sense. However, due to the continuous introduction of new legal and technical regulations by public authorities, many non-security-related private businesses now have to perform at least some security functions. This volume offers new insights into security practices of non-security-related private businesses and their impact on security governance. The contributions extend beyond the conceptual and theoretical arguments in the existing body of literature to offer a range of original case studies on the specific roles of non-security-related private companies of all sizes, from all areas of business and from different geographic regions.

The overall objective of the book is to holistically assess the property tax systems in BRICS megacities. As megacities play a vital role within their respective countries - economically, administratively, and from a human development perspective - they experience the costs and benefits of urbanization simultaneously with major investment needs, rising poverty, and increasing congestion and pollution levels in the context of limited financial resources, raising the question for a suitable decentralized funding source. This book highlights the property tax as a means to help further improve the financial sustainability of megacities, the reliability and quality of their services, and megacities' contribution to supporting economic growth.

In this book, experts discuss how German real estate values have remained stable throughout the financial crisis, even though transaction volumes have been very volatile since 2005. Consequently, risk-averse national and international investors have started to invest in virtually all German real estate asset classes. This book tries to answer what has made the German real estate markets more resilient to shocks than many European real estate markets by analyzing the economic, regulatory and demographic environment. In 30 well-structured chapters, experts from both the academic and professional world analyze structural and current issues of German real estate markets. Readers will get a deep understanding of what makes the German real estate market special and where potential opportunities and threats in Europe's largest real estate market exist.

The 41st annual edition of the leading guide to taxation in Britain. This practical and user-friendly guide is a bestseller with students, professionals, accountants and private individuals, explaining in simple terms how the UK tax system works and how best to minimise tax liabilities.

This book examines the many ways in which economic concepts, theories and models can be used to examine issues in higher education. The topics explored in the book include how students make college-going decisions, the payoffs to students and society from going to college, markets for higher education services, demand and supply in markets for higher education, why and how state and federal governments intervene in higher education markets, college and university revenues and expenditures, how institutions use net-pricing strategies and non-price product-differentiation strategies to pursue their goals and to compete in higher education markets, as well as issues related to faculty labor markets. The book is written for both economists and non-economists who study higher education issues and provides readers with background information and thorough explanations and illustrations of key economic concepts. In addition to reviewing the contributions economists have made to the study of higher education, it also examines recent research in each of the major topical areas. The book is policy-focused and each chapter analyses how contemporary higher education policies affect the behaviour of students, faculty and/or institutions of higher education. "Toutkoushian and Paulsen attempted a daunting task: to write a book on the economics of higher education for non-economists that is also useful to economists. A book that could be used for reference and as a textbook for higher education classes in economics, finance, and policy. They accomplish this tough balancing act with stunning success in a large volume that will serve as the go-to place for anyone interested in the history and current thinking on the economics of higher education." William E. Becker, Jr., Professor Emeritus of Economics, Indiana University

This book discusses the latest developments in the China Pilot Free- Trade Zone strategy. It puts forward and explains the idea that building the Shanghai Pilot Free-Trade Zone (SFTZ) is a national test, as it is a major strategic decision to help China cope with the new situation resulting from opening-up and the further implementation of the reform. Based on China's strategic demand in the era of globalization, this book takes into account the global structure of trade, investment and changes in standards, and studies the system of SFTZ. Moreover, based on the national strategy of building international-caliber free-trade zone, it compares the SFTZ with other established free-trade zones and free-port cities. It reveals the overall SFTZ framework and explains in detail aspects of the financial system, investment management, trade supervision, taxation, offshore trade and finance, government system reform, plus the linkage mechanism of building Shanghai as an international economy, finance, trade and shipping center.

This book explores the role of national fiscal policies in a selected group of Euro-area countries under the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). In particular, the authors characterize the response of output to fiscal consolidations and expansions in the small Euro-area open economies affected by high public and private debt. It is shown that the macroeconomic outcome of fiscal shocks is strongly related to debt levels. The Euro-area countries included in the investigation are Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal, over the sample period 1999-2016, i.e., the EMU period. The main econometric tools used in this research are structural vector autoregressive (VAR) models, including panel VAR models. The available literature relating to the subject is also fully reviewed. A further closely investigated topic is the potential spillover effects of German fiscal policies on the selected small Euro-area economies. Moreover, in the perspective of the evolution of the Euro Area towards a full Monetary and Fiscal Union, the authors study the effects of area-wide government spending shocks on aggregate output and other macroeconomic variables during the EMU period. The closing chapter of the book considers evidence on the consequences of austerity policies for European labour markets during recent years.

This book analyzes the consequences that would arise if Germany's means-tested unemployment benefits were replaced with an unconditional basic income. The basic income scheme introduced is based on a negative income tax and calibrated to be both financially feasible and compatible with current constitutional legislation. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) the author examines the impact of the reform on the household labor supply as well as on both poverty and inequality measures. It is shown that by applying reasonable values for both the basic income and the implied marginal tax rate imposed on earned incomes, efficiency gains can be reconciled with generally accepted value statements. Furthermore, as the proposal includes a universal basic income for families, child poverty could be reduced considerably. The estimates are based on the discrete choice approach to labor supply.

This book investigates the impact of International Monetary Fund (IMF) programmes on macroeconomic instability and economic growth in recipient countries. Employing the New Institutional Economics approach as an analytical framework, it identifies the determinants of economic and political institutional quality by taking into account a broad variety of indicators such as parliamentary forms of government, the aggregate governance level, civil and economic liberties, property rights etc. The book subsequently estimates the impact of these institutional determinants on real economic growth, both directly and also indirectly, through the channel of macroeconomic instability, in recipient countries. Moreover, it illustrates the effectiveness of IMF programmes in the case of Pakistan, a frequent user of IMF resources.

This book discusses voting procedures in collective decision-making. Drawing on well-established election processes from all over the world, the author presents a voting procedure that allows for the speedy but fair election of a proportional, all-party coalition. The methodology - a matrix vote - is accurate, robust and ethno-color blind. In the vote, the counting procedure encourages all concerned to cross the gender as well as any party and/or sectarian divides. While in the resulting executive each party will be represented fairly and, at best, with the consensus of parliament, every minister will be the one most suited to his/her new portfolio. By using preferential voting and thus achieving consensus, the matrix vote will be fundamental to the resolution of conflicts. The matrix vote can also be used when: * two or more parliamentary parties elect a coalition government * one parliamentary party elects a government or shadow cabinet, or organizations in civil society elect their governing boards or executive committees * any group chooses a fixed number of individuals to form a team in which each member carries out a different function

This volume sheds new light on economic developments in several countries of Southeast Europe. The European Union and especially the eurozone continue to experience rhythms of fiscal crisis, as can most clearly be seen in the debt crisis in the South Periphery. Despite the fact that several measures and decisions have been taken to deal with the crisis (banking union, liquidity support from the European Central Bank), proposals to reform Europe's strategic policy in order to find a way out of the crisis have been put forward. This book explores the respective roles that specific sectors, e.g. the agricultural sector, social capital, tax policies and labour immigration, can play in this regard. The importance of international economic relations (exports, imports, FDI, exchange rates) is analysed, in order to illustrate the nature of the economic developments and the major economic difficulties these countries face.