Are labour inspections effective when labour regulations vary according to the size of the firm? Evidence from Peru

This article analyses the impact of enforcement of four labour standards (pension system enrolment, minimum wage, maximum weekly working hours and written employment contract) on compliance in Peru, where labour regulations and penalties vary according to firm size. The author uses household survey data to analyse a factor not previously studied – adjustment by firms through downsizing to benefit from lower fines and less stringent regulations. The empirical findings indicate that enforcement efforts have little effect on either the degree of compliance or the size of firms.     

Effective tax rates and firm size in Ethiopia

The literature on Effective Tax Rates (ETRs) focuses on high‐ and middle‐income countries, but there is very little evidence on low‐income countries. This article addresses this gap with new evidence from Ethiopia. We investigate corporate ETRs in Ethiopia and whether the distributional effects they have in practice are in line with the corporate tax policy design. We calculate ETRs in line with the literature in this field, using profit tax at the numerator and gross profit at the denominator. We then analyse ETRs not only using panel data, focusing particularly on their relation to firm size, but also including other explanatory variables. Our main result is that, despite a proportional tax rate, small firms face a higher effective tax burden than larger firms, while middle‐sized firms face the lowest burden of all. We highlight that tax systems can have practical implications that differ largely from their policy design, due to compliance costs and imperfect enforcement. Measures to reduce compliance costs for small firms are particularly recommended.     

Fiscal transparency and tax ethics: does better information lead to greater compliance?

By relying on WVS data and using multilevel mixed modeling, the paper tests the hypothesis that access to larger flows of information about government fiscal accounts and financial transactions increases citizens’ willingness to pay taxes. By supporting such an hypothesis, our analysis suggests that in the presence of more information, the implicit contract between the government and taxpayers displays less stringent incentives and participation constraints and causes part of the contract, namely tax morale, to be enhanced. This finding supports the implementation of fiscal transparency policies, whose possible design is discussed.     

江苏省农村高血压防治知识知晓及治疗依从性分析

目的：分析江苏省农村地区高血压患者防治知识知晓和依从性情况及其影响因素,为探索农村高血压县乡村协作管理策略提供依据。方法：采用率等描述性分析防治知识知晓和治疗依从性,通过χ2检验和Logistic回归等推断性分析影响因素。结果：高血压防治知识知晓率为75.6%（苏南64.8%,苏中74.6%和苏北84.0%）,婚姻状况、文化程度和地区是影响因素;88.2%患者的服药依从性较好（苏南92.9%,苏中92.6%和苏北79.0%）,地区和防治知识知晓情况是影响因素。结论：不同地区需结合自身特点,组建县乡村高血压纵向协作团队,提高患者防治知识知晓和治疗依从性。     

论“国际环境条约程序制度”发展对南海环境合作的价值

“国际环境条约程序制度”在历经多年发展后,呈现出调整范围拓宽、权利义务细化、法律价值并存等巨大变化,而这些变化在消除国家疑虑、满足预防性精神、维护和平稳定、适用南海现状等方面对南海环境合作具有重大意义。建议南海环境合作着重从执法程序、监督程序、争端解决程序和应急性程序四项制度人手,研究其相关发展并加以利用。     

Expressed trust and compliance in police‐civilian encounters: the role of communication accommodation in Chinese and American settings

Research has demonstrated that police officers' communicative practices are potent predictors of individuals' expressed reactions to law enforcement. The present study continues this line of work in Taiwan, the People's Republic of China, and the United States by testing a theoretical model pertaining to the influence of perceived police officer accommodation and reported trust on attitudes about compliance with police requests. In addition to differences in reported levels of these variables across locations, findings indicated that perceived police officer communication accommodation predicted trust in police which, in turn, predicted attitudes about compliance with police requests. The empirical and practical significance of these findings are discussed.     

关系原则下的税收制度困境及应对

对税收遵从行为解释中,传统的威慑型遵从理论过多地强调人理性自私的一面,而忽视了人在社会情境中非理性的一面,以致无法解释一部分税收遵从行为的实践。源于西方社会实践的这些理论在中国本土实践中,其解释力有所减弱。对于社会取向的中国人,习惯于以其在情境中的利害关系与认识,去界定是遵从还是反抗：从关系原则的视角,结合税收遵从的理论与“嵌人性”理论,论述华人社会关系原则下税收制度困境及其应对。     

Perceived Fairness and Compliance With Child Support Obligations

This paper examines whether perceptions of fairness motivate fathers to pay child support and whether perceptions of fairness interact with routine income withholding in collecting payments. Using a study of 392 nonresident fathers who filed for divorce between 1986 and 1988 in the state of Wisconsin, I found that both perceived fairness and income withholding increase fathers' compliance with child support obligations. The effects of these two strategies on compliance are not additive, however. If fathers think their child support orders are fair, the use of routine income withholding does not add to compliance.     

The influence of tax authorities on the employment of tax practitioners: Empirical evidence from a survey and interview study

Tax practitioners play a crucial role in the degree of taxpayers’ compliance – a role that has increased as tax systems worldwide have become more complex. However, little is known about tax authorities’ impact on taxpayers’ decisions to employ tax practitioners. Based on earlier research on motivations to employ a tax practitioner and the extended slippery slope framework of tax compliance, we conducted two studies which provide some answers. A survey study – comprising a representative sample of 500 Austrian self-employed taxpayers – revealed that financial gain is not the most important reason to employ a tax practitioner but instead the motivation to avoid problems with the tax authorities. Related to that, we also find that taxpayers’ perception of tax authorities wielding coercive power motivates them to employ tax practitioners. In the interview study with 33 self-employed taxpayers and 30 tax auditors, taxpayers indicated that they sought to avoid contact with tax officers by employing tax practitioners. This finding was supported by tax officers who reported preferring interaction with tax practitioners over direct contact with taxpayers. The two studies point to the complex relationship between taxpayers, tax authorities and tax practitioners, and allow the drawing of theoretical and practical implications.     

Legalism and creativity: tax non-compliance in the eyes of the economic elite

This paper analyzes elite tax compliance from a sociological perspective in order to examine how different tax behaviors are justified or how they embody different taxpayers’ subjectivities. Drawing from the case of Chile and using a qualitative approach based on 32 interviews conducted with members of the economic elite, it is argued that forms of non-compliance -such as evasion and avoidance- are grounded in different ‘repertoires of evaluation’ while denoting a plurality of distinctions and criteria of evaluation which relate to the legal culture in which the tax system operates. Findings show that legalism -a literal conception of the rules- does not always favor tax compliance and that it may even go against the purpose of tax collection when a creative use of the law prevails. Furthermore, legalism and creativity allow for the main justifications for challenging tax payment as well as the perceptions and beliefs that underlie the everyday relationship between taxpayers and the state to be understood.