... Role in International Tax Policy A Research and Policy Brief for the Use of the NGO Committee on Financing for Development Hamrawit Abebe, Ryan Dugan, Michael McShane, Julie Mellin, Tara Patel, and Linda Patentas Graduate Program in International Affairs, Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy, The New School March 7, 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BACKGROUND AND PERSPECTIVES BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS THE OECD, G77, G20, AND EU ON UPGRADING THE UN TAX COMMITTEE KEY INSTITUTIONAL PLAYERS ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAINST A UN TAX BODY 3 4 8 12 17 REFLECTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OECD AND UN TAX COMMITTEE GLOBAL TAX POLICIES POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS 20 28 38 APPENDIX GLOSSARY AND ACRONYMS REFERENCES 44 48 52 2 Executive Summary The report provides an analytical view on the role of the United Nations in tax policy, highlighting the interventions made by and challenges to key players in attempts to streamline global tax cooperation. The first section of the paper provides a background on the importance of tax related issues, emphasizing its importance within the Monterrey Consensus. Debates are introduced between two key institutional players regarding global tax cooperation, the OECD’s Committee on Fiscal Affairs and the UN Tax Committee. Views from key players the OECD, Group of 77, Group of 20, and European Union are addressed in the areas of international tax cooperation, the inclusion...
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...Budgetary Research Review Vol. 4 (1) www.buget-finante.ro Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India: prospect for states by Mohd. Azam Khan1 and Nagma Shadab2 Department of Economics, Aligarh Muslim University, India Abstract: Goods and services tax (GST) is a broad based and a single comprehensive tax levied at every stage of the production and distribution chain with applicable set-off in respect of the tax remitted at previous stages. It is basically a tax on final consumption integrates the union excise duties, custom duties, services tax and state VAT. Presently around 140 countries have adopted the GST pattern, including India. The GST would be beneficial for the consumers as it reduces the final burden of taxation. For Government it leads the reduction of tax compliance efforts and administrative costs and for business units it leads transparency, complete set-off and removal of cascading effect of taxation. It is in this background that the present paper tries to explain the significance of GST in India and its prospects for states to generate revenue and ensure transparency in tax structure. This paper is organized into seven sections. Section two presents justification for dual structure of GST in India. The third part presents the rate structure under GST work in India. The fourth segment is concerned with the working of GST in India. The fifth part shows the international experiences of GST at state level in India. The seventh and final part is related to conclusion...
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...Bernard Yeung Stern School of Business New York University Tel: (212) 998-0425 byeung@stern.nyu.edu Minyuan Zhao Ross School of Business University of Michigan Tel: (734) 647-6978 myzhao@umich.edu June 2007 * The authors are grateful for the helpful comments from William Allen, Tom Pugel, Myles Shaver, Jordan Siegel, and Changqi Wu. Perspectives on China's Outward Foreign Direct Investment Randall Morck Bernard Yeung Minyuan Zhao Abstract Recent economic data reveal that, at the infant stage, China’s outward foreign direct investment (FDI) is biased towards tax haven countries and South East Asian countries and are mostly conducted by State controlled enterprises with government sanctioned monopoly status. Further examination of China’s savings rate, corporate ownership structures, and bank dominated capital allocation suggests that, although a surge in China’s outward FDI might be economically sensible, the most active players have incentives to conduct excessive outward FDI while capital constraints limit players that most likely have value-creating FDI opportunities. We then discuss plausible firm-level justifications for China’s outward FDI flow, its importance, and promising avenues for further research. I. Introduction Barely thirty years ago, most would consider China a poor agricultural economy. In 2008 China is hosting the Olympics to signal its emergence as a major economic power. This phenomenal development appropriately draws international business scholars’...
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...DIVISION – M ROLL NUMBER – 28 Objective This paper provides an overview of trade, environmental, and related public issues and policies. It discusses the pollution problem, the recent global warming trend, the attempts of world’s various levels of institutions such as the UN, the WTO, regional, national, and other organizations to solve the global trade and environmental issues. It also discusses a number of basic theoretical issues and empirical findings such as the free-rider problem, tragedy of the commons, theory of second best, relative efficacy of price and quantity control, carbon leakage, border carbon adjustments, cap-and-trade system, pollution haven hypothesis, optimal social discount rate and the environmental Kuznets curve. Some computable general equilibrium models are reviewed and several notable WTO environmental and health-related trade dispute cases are analyzed, including the tuna-dolphin, shrimp-turtle, eco-labeling, beef- hormone, and GMOs cases. Introduction Trade liberalization can have substantial ramifications for the global environmental policy regime. Lowering trade barriers and opening new markets can boost economic growth and development, which may help or harm the environment. On the one hand, growth and development tend to increase resource and energy demands, degrade natural resources, and bring forth greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that contribute to global warning. Trade can also lead to the pollution haven phenomenon since countries may relax their...
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...Indian Black Money Abroad In Secret Banks and Tax Havens Second Report Of The Task Force on the steps to be taken by India Members Shri Gurumurthy, Chartered Accountant, Chennai Shri Ajit Doval, former Director Intelligence Bureau, Delhi Prof R.Vaidyanathan, Professor of Finance Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore Shri Mahesh Jethmalani, Senior Advocate, Mumbai Submitted to BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY 1 I. The First Interim Report The first Interim Report of the Task Force appointed by the Bharatiya Janata Party was released to the public on 17-04-2009. Afterward different world governments, particularly those in the West, have increasingly begun targeting tax havens and intensely began pursuing black money. The US, and France particularly began a huge campaign against the evil of black money. The estimates black money lodged in tax havens by global financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund reached as high as $18 trillion. The instability in the global financial order itself was traced to the evil money. So the issue has now acquired a totally different dimension. In the first Interim Report, the Task Force had suggested broad national and global strategy for dealing with the menace of black money out of the country. The substance of the recommendations of the Task Force in the First Interim Report is summarized here: Global Strategy: • Creating a powerful public opinion and broad national consensus on the issue. Those who do not...
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...Sample Research Paper on Citizenship Introduction Citizenship is being defined as the relationship between the state and individuals. Historically citizenship is being inevitably linked with the state formation. Originally citizenship was denoting residence of people within protected walls of a city. Thus, whoever belonged to a community residing inside the boundaries was considered a citizen. Later this term has acquired a different meaning and the standards and definitions of citizenship have changed. There were many reasons that have caused such changes: history proceeded with its migrations, wars and annexation and along on its way brought new meanings to citizenship. Such change in definition, for example, can be found in suffrage granted to women and the nonpropertied classes. Paupers, convicts and soldiers are another example of how political and civil rights were once a privilege of certain classes only (Dahrendorf, 1974, p. 11). With the introduction of mass democracy and social protection as well as introduction of welfare state a need in the new conception that would look on the relationship on an individual and the state appeared consequently. The norms of citizenship, therefore, have improved with the development of state and citizenship became a multination concept, which implies different things to different nations (Dahrendorf, 1974, p. 12). According to Michael Ignatieff (1995), the introduction of the welfare state can be explained as an attempt to make citizenship...
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...Globalization is the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas, and other aspects of culture. Advances in transportation and telecommunications infrastructure, including the rise of the telegraph and its posterity the Internet, are major factors in globalization, generating further interdependence of economic and cultural activities. Though several scholars place the origins of globalization in modern times, others trace its history long before the European age of discovery and voyages to the New World. Some even trace the origins to the third millennium BCE. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, the connectedness of the world's economies and cultures grew very quickly. The term globalization has been in increasing use since the mid-1980s and especially since the mid-1990s. In 2000, the International Monetary Fund identified four basic aspects of globalization: trade and transactions, capital and investment movements, migration and movement of people and the dissemination of knowledge. Further, environmental challenges such as climate change, cross-boundary water, air pollution, and over-fishing of the ocean are linked with globalization. Globalizing processes affect and are affected by business and work organization, economics, socio-cultural resources, and the natural environment. Overview Humans have interacted over long distances for thousands of years. The overland Silk Road that connected Asia, Africa...
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...International Finance: A Course Overview Mihir A. Desai* Harvard University and NBER ABSTRACT This paper describes the International Finance course at Harvard Business School for instructors considering adopting the associated material. The paper begins by arguing that the forces of globalization have fundamentally changed the scope and activities of firms thereby altering the practice of finance within these firms. As a consequence of an increasing reliance on tightly-integrated foreign operations, a parallel world of finance has been opened within every multinational firm and this world has, heretofore, been overlooked. The course materials are designed to address the many aspects of financial decision making within global firms prompted by these changes that are not addressed in traditional materials. The paper provides an overview of the structure of the course and its seven modules with particular emphasis on the three modules that constitute the core of the course. The paper also describes an analytical framework that has been developed through the creation of the course materials to guide critical financial decisions on financing, investment, risk management and incentive management within a multinational firm. This framework emphasizes the need to reconcile conflicting forces in order for multinational firms to gain competitive advantage from their internal capital markets. The paper concludes with a discussion of the course's pedagogical approach and detailed descriptions of...
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...slowdown in the pace of growth in 2012. This is partially due to the attractive product range offered by German exporters, although the euro’s lower external value also played a role during the period under review. Germany’s strong export performance vis-à-vis non-euro-area countries greatly outweighed the weak demand that its enterprises faced in the euro area. The import side, too, contributed considerably to widening the current account surplus. In particular, the uncertainties emanating from the crisis in the euro area prompted German firms to hold back on their domestic investment, which adversely affected imports. While noticeable progress has been made in terms of correcting the current account imbalances within Europe, the 2012 surplus underlines the fact that, owing to the greater uncertainty it has engendered, the crisis has also hampered efforts to reduce the overall German current account surplus. The increased desire for safe investments has played a role in this. Safe haven effects helped to boost the net inflow of investment income over and above the structural surplus which is generally generated thanks to Germany’s high level of net external assets. According to the recent data release, Germany’s current account surplus has exceeded the threshold of 6% of GDP – which is a benchmark score under the...
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...Economics for Everyone: Going Global–FDI Fables–FDI in Multibrand Retail......................................................... 2 Special report - Business in India: Inbound and outbound deals: Their oyste ....................................................... 12 Growing confidence dented by politicians .............................................................................................................. 16 BEST CROSS - BORDER M&A DEAL .................................................................................................................. 18 The Literature on Chinese Outward FDI ................................................................................................................ 19 Page 1 of 36 © 2012 Factiva, Inc. All rights reserved. Economics for Everyone: Going Global–FDI Fables–FDI in Multibrand Retail Economics for Everyone: Going Global–FDI Fables–FDI in Multibrand Retail India Infoline News Service 5,801 words 2 May 2012 Indiainfoline News Service INFOIN English Copyright © 2012. Indiainfoline Ltd. FDI- Foreign Direct Investment Context: NEWS FDI in multi-brand retail to go ahead,TNN (TIMES OF INDIA) Govt says committed to multi-brand retail FDI FE BUREAU Aviation FDI: Cautious, Centre set to take allies on board, BUSINESS STANDARD India has been ranked at the third place in global foreign direct investments in 2009 and will continue to remain among the top five attractive destinations for international investors during 2010-11...
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...Parting at the Crossroads: The Development of Health Insurance in Canada and the United States, 1940-1965 Author(s): Antonia Maioni Source: Comparative Politics, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Jul., 1997), pp. 411-431 Published by: Ph.D. Program in Political Science of the City University of New York Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/422012 . Accessed: 12/10/2013 14:05 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. . Ph.D. Program in Political Science of the City University of New York is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Comparative Politics. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 130.63.180.147 on Sat, 12 Oct 2013 14:05:01 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Parting at the Crossroads The Development of Health Insurance in Canada and the United States, 1940-1965 AntoniaMaioni Frequentlyraised in recent discussions abouthealth care reformin the United States has been the model of the Canadianhealth insurancesystem.' While debates about health insurance often...
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...The Tobin Tax And Its Effects On The Foreign Exchange Market International Business Thesis By Mark Hansen 290587-1563 & Nina Johansen 140988-1838 Advisor Niels Blomgren-Hansen 17.05.2010 Executive summary In this thesis a financial transaction tax in the form of the Tobin Tax is examined as a means to reduce volatility on the foreign exchange market. James Tobin original proposal is presented followed by his 1995 paper and Frankel’s contribution to the discussion. Frankel gives merit to Tobin’s line of reasoning on reducing stability by dividing investors into short-term speculators and long-term fundamentalists and defines the former’s activities as destabilizing and the latter as stabilizing. However, we find this segmentation problematic since it is not possible to divide the market participants into these categories in the foreign exchange market. Many of the short-term investors do not necessarily speculate or disregard fundamentals, but rather try to avoid risk. Accordingly, many of the short term market movements are instead stabilizing. Therefore, the Tobin Tax would not only deter the destabilizing transactions, but also the stabilizing ones. If the foreign exchange market is in fact excessively volatile as Tobin argues then the tax could possibly have a positive effect by throwing sand in the wheels and thereby slowing short-term reactions. Our findings suggest that the foreign exchange market is in fact highly volatile, but we find no convincing...
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...CONSUMER SWITCHING BEHAVIOUR ABSTRACT Due to the increased competition and high costs of acquisition in the cellular industry, it has become increasingly important for companies to focus on retaining clients. This paper outlines the current industry conditions and studies the causes of consumer switching behaviour, as outlined by Susan Keaveney (1995) in her study of the service industry, and identifies additional factors specific to the cellular industry. The focus of the study is to identify the most important factors that cause consumers to switch. Using primary research, the author evaluates how TELUS Mobility is rated on each of the factors against the competition, by its own clients and the competitor's clients. Finally, the author provides recommendations to TELUS Mobility to effectively enhance its customer retention and build long-term client relationships. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Increase in demand for cellular phone service in the Canadian market has led to new entrants into the cellular industry. However, with the major players looking at expanding nationally, there have been a number of acquisitions. Until 2000, there were five service providers in the industry. With the acquisition of Clearnet by TELUS Mobility in 2000 and Microcell by Rogers AT&T earlier this year, there are only three large players left in the industry- Rogers Cantel, Bell Mobility and TELUS Mobility. The biggest...
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...Approaches to Equity in Policy for Lifelong Learning Ben Levin1 A paper commissioned by the Education and Training Policy Division, OECD, for the Equity in Education Thematic Review August 2003 EQUITY IN EDUCATION The opinions expressed in this paper are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the OECD or of the governments of its Member countries. 1 . Ben Levin, Ph D, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................................................................ 2 APPROACHES TO EQUITY IN POLICY FOR LIFELONG LEARNING ................................................. 3 Origins of this report ................................................................................................................................... 3 Summary of the report................................................................................................................................. 3 PART 1 – THINKING ABOUT EQUITY IN LIFELONG LEARNING ...................................................... 5 A definition of equity? ................................................................................................................................ 5 The importance of equity ............................................................................................................................ 5 Current status of equity...
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...Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA) requested that EEPSEA offers a 3-week training course for teachers of Environmental Economics in the country. The request in turn was precipitated by the new mandate from the Ministry of Education in Vietnam that makes Environmental Economics a required course in all Bachelors’ Degree in Economics and Management for all colleges and universities. Aware that the capacity of teachers to teach Environmental Economics varies across the country as training of teachers varies also from selfstudy, short-term training, to a formal course in an undergraduate/graduate degree from local universities or abroad, EEPSEA acceded to the request and offered the course in August 2005. The course though can be used also in other colleges and universities in Southeast Asia. The training course was designed to teach both the subject matter contained in an internationally-comparable undergraduate environmental course and to enhance teachers’ skills in teaching this subject. A teachers’ manual was developed to support the teaching of the training course, but the intended use was to support the Environmental Economics teachers in their job. The manual was refined during the training course based on feedbacks from the teachers' trainees and teachers’ experiences on the use of the manual. The manual follows the course outline for Environmental Economics given as part of this manual. For each lecture topic, the teaching objective for...
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