Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Voluntary Amalgamation Of Local Governments: The Swiss Debate In The European Context, Bernard Dafflon

ICEPP Working Papers

The debate about the amalgamation of local government units (thereafter LGUs for simplicity – in Switzerland: “communes” or “Gemeinden”) usually stems from the fact that LGUs’ political borders (the institutional territory) do no longer coincide with the economic boundaries required for an efficient provision of most local public services (the functional territory). And both do not correspond with the relational territory which arises out of the private and professional activities of LGUs’ residents as they commute daily or periodically for work, shopping and leisure (Dafflon and Ruegg, 2003: 890). Additional problems are the openness of economic activities and the emergence …

Are There Trends In Local Finance? A Comparative Look At Data And Normative Models Of Local Government Finance, Richard M. Bird

ICEPP Working Papers

There is little evidence of regional, let alone worldwide, trends in local finances, although trends within particular countries certainly exist. Given the path-dependent and context-specific nature of country experiences, one must be very careful both in categorizing the local finance systems found in different countries and in making cross-country empirical studies of local finances. In analyzing and comparing country experiences, it is important to be clear about the different (implicit or explicit) normative models to be found in the literature and exemplified in practice in different countries.

Options For Rationalizing Local Government Structure: A Policy Agenda, Brian Dollery, Michael Kortt, Bligh Grant

ICEPP Working Papers

Controversy surrounds structural reform in local government, especially on the question of whether efforts aimed at reducing the number of local authorities enhance the effective operation of the newly created consolidated local government entities. However, the weight of extant conceptual and empirical evidence suggests that while amalgamation typically improves the capacity of local government, it is not only costly, but also has other deleterious consequences. Local council collaboration through resource sharing and joint service provision aimed at capturing the advantages attendant upon scale, but without the adverse democratic and economic effects of consolidation, represents the main alternative form of structural …

Financing Social Expenditures In Developing Countries: Payroll Or Value Added Taxes?, Richard M. Bird, Michael Smart

ICEPP Working Papers

At present most social protection programs in Latin American countries are financed by payroll taxes levied on the formal sector. Increasingly, some countries are both extending some benefits similar to those received from these programs to non-contributors and financing such extensions as well as some benefits for contributors from general revenues, which at the margin in most countries means from the value added tax. In this paper we consider the efficiency of payroll taxes compared to value-added taxes as a way of financing expanded social programs in countries with large informal sectors. To do so, we construct a simple formal …

Reexamining The Determinants Of Fiscal Decentralization: What Is The Role Of Geography?, Gustavo J. Canavire-Bacarreza, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez

ICEPP Working Papers

This paper contributes to the existing literature on the determinants of fiscal decentralization by motivating theoretically and exploring in depth the empirical relevance that geography has as determinant of fiscal decentralization. The relationship between decentralization and geography is based on the logic that more geographically diverse countries show greater heterogeneity among their citizens, including their preferences and needs for public goods and services provision. Communications and physical distance are also a very important issue and play a key role on the effect of geography over time. The theoretical model builds on the work by Arzaghi and Henderson (2002) and Panizza …

Propensity To Invest And The Additionality Of Capital Transfers: A Country Panel Perspective, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Andrey Timofeev

ICEPP Working Papers

This paper takes stock of the last 80 years of theoretical and policy literature on the issue of capital grants. In addition, we provide empirical evidence on changes in the relative importance of capital grants, and their impact on fiscal outcomes for a large number of countries. In particular, our empirical analysis explores two claims often used to justify capital grants in practice: 1) Due to political economy reasons, local governments tend to underinvest relative to the level desired by the national government. We test this claim by comparing the propensity to invest of subnational vis-à-vis national governments. 2) The …

Performance Evaluation Of Urban Local Governments: A Case For Indian Cities, Simanti Bandyopadhyay

ICEPP Working Papers

The paper assesses the performances of the urban local bodies in the state of Karnataka in India.We use non parametric Data Envelopment Analysis as a tool to measure technical efficiencies of the ULBs. If we compare the services in a particular size class of city with the norms we find that in the smallest size class it is water supply which has the minimum shortfall from norms, in the medium size cities it is road density which is closest to the norms and in the largest city size class it is the solid waste management which performs the best with …

Toward A More General Theory Of Revenue Assignments, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Cristian F. Sepulveda

ICEPP Working Papers

Despite the extensive international experience with the assignments of revenue sources to different levels of government, the public finance literature still lacks a general theory of revenue assignments. Two sets of arguments have been separately developed in the literature to explain and guide the practice of revenue assignments. The first is based on Musgrave and Oates’ tradition, and emphasizes the benefit principle and other means for increasing accountability and efficiency in the allocation of public expenditures. The second is based on optimal taxation principles, which emphasizes the marginal cost of public funds and the correct mix of revenue instruments. The …

On The Political Determinants Of Intergovernmental Grants In Decentralized Countries: The Case Of Spain, Pablo Simon-Cosno, Santiago Lago-Penas, Alberto Vaquero

ICEPP Working Papers

This paper studies the effect of political variables on the gains obtained by Spanish regions in periodical bargaining of the intergovernmental financing agreements and on the regional distribution of discretional earmarked grants over the period 1987-2008. First, we find that the relationship between gains in transferred revenues and on regional public debt stocks depends on the period and the specific issues discussed in the corresponding negotiation, aside from political affinity. Second, we show that the most discretional program of earmarked grants is strongly driven by electoral strategy. National incumbents tend to allocate intergovernmental transfers where there are competitive regional elections. …

The Topsy-Turvy Sharing Of The Gaming Tax Field In Canada, 1970-2010: Provincial Payments, Federal Withdrawal, Etienne Desjardins, Melina Longpre, Francois Vaillancourt

ICEPP Working Papers

This paper presents an unusual inter-governmental financial arrangement: a payment by constituent units of a federation to the federal government to keep it out of a fiscal field and thus gain sole occupancy for themselves. This paper thus presents the history of the federal/provincial relationship in the gaming field in Canada focusing on the key period of 1976-1980 when both levels of governments operated lotteries. It chronicles the attempts of both levels of governments to reach an agreement on their sharing of this revenue field. Revenue sharing was rejected, market slicing was agreed to but since 1980, the provinces have …

Rethinking The Political Economy Of Decentralization: How Elections And Parties Shape The Provision Of Local Public Goods, Raul A. Ronce-Rodriguez, Charles R. Hankla, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Eunice Heredia-Ortiz

ICEPP Working Papers

Decentralization is among the most important global trends of the new century, yet there is still no consensus on how to design political institutions to realize its benefits. In this paper, we investigate the political conditions under which decentralization will improve the delivery of public goods. We begin by incorporating insights from political science and economics into a rigorous and formal extension of the “decentralization theorem”. Our extension assumes inter-jurisdictional spillovers and suggests that the interaction of democratic decentralization (popularly elected sub-national governments) and party centralization (the power of national party leaders over subnational office-seekers) will produce the best outcomes …

A Computational General Equilibrium Approach To Sectoral Analysis For Tax Potential: An Application To Pakistan, Andrew Feltenstein, Musharraf Cyan

ICEPP Working Papers

This study develops a dynamic general equilibrium model, applied to Pakistani data, in which optimizing agents evade taxes by operating in the underground economy. The cost to firms of evading taxes is that they find themselves subject to credit rationing from banks. Our model simulations show that in the absence of budgetary flexibility to adjust expenditures, raising tax rates too high drives firms into the underground economy, thereby reducing the tax base. Aggregate investment in the economy is lowered because of credit rationing. Taxes that are too low eliminate the underground economy, but result in unsustainable budget and trade deficits. …

The Impact Of Tax And Expenditure Policies On Income Distribution: Evidence From A Large Panel Of Countries, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Blanca Moreno-Dodson, Violeta Vulovic

ICEPP Working Papers

The main focus of this paper is on the potential role that taxation and public expenditure policies play in general in affecting income distribution. We find that progressive personal income taxes and corporate income taxes reduce income inequality. The effect of corporate income taxes seems to be eroded away in open or globalized economies. We also generally find that general consumption taxes, excise taxes and customs duties have a negative impact on income distribution. On the expenditure side, we find that higher shares of GDP on social welfare, education, health and housing public expenditures have a positive impact on income …

Designing Tax Policy: Constraints And Objectives In An Open Economy, Richard M. Bird, J. Scott Wilkie

ICEPP Working Papers

This paper is a non-technical discussion by an economist and lawyer, each with long international experience in taxation, of the constraints and objectives that in principle and practice shape tax policy design. After discussing the main factors traditionally taken into account by those charged with designing tax policy in any country – such as revenue, the costs of taxation, equity and fairness, administrability, and the effects of taxation on growth and other non-fiscal objectives – several additional important considerations associated with ‘globalization’ are then discussed with special attention to income taxes. The paper concludes with a brief reflection on how …

Fiscal Decentralization In Colombia: A Work (Still) In Progress, Richard M. Bird

ICEPP Working Papers

The degree of fiscal decentralization in Colombia is impressive. In some respects, however, Colombian decentralization has hardly changed since the process first began over 40 years ago. This review of the experience of the last few decades and the challenges now facing the country shows that there have been some clear successes as a result of decentralization. However, many problems have also arisen as a result of both perverse incentives built into the system and the failure to build up central and especially local capacity to manage a more decentralized system. Unless these critical problems are resolved, fiscal decentralization in …

The Gst/Hst: Creating An Integrated Sales Tax In A Federal Country, Richard M. Bird

ICEPP Working Papers

Canada is not a country with a reputation for bold experimentation. However, Canadian experience demonstrates conclusively that an invoice-credit, destination-based value-added tax (VAT) is workable at the subnational level, with both federal and provincial governments retaining full control over the rates of their sales taxes as well as retaining a surprising degree of policy freedom with respect to the base of the tax. As this paper shows against the background of a concise history of sales taxation in Canada, it has taken decades of federal-provincial negotiations to produce the present substantially integrated national and provincial sales tax system. Moreover, the …

Challenging Rust: Race And Rightsizing In Detroit, An American Post-Industrial Context, Andrienne Palchick

Geography Honors Projects

Cities in the American Rustbelt face the considerable challenges of depopulation and economic decline, but they are also increasingly viewed as places ripe with opportunities for innovation and an exciting re-imagination of urban space. This paper examines the Detroit Works Project, a re-envisioning and revitalization initiative in Detroit, to explore larger questions of accessibility and inclusion in U.S. post-industrial cities. It is an investigation of how to structure these revitalization efforts within cities where networks of actors, who invested in urban industrial growth, created policies which built the geographies of unequal access, racial segregation, and systemic marginalization that persist today.

Top 50 Downloads From The Keep (March 1, 2012), Todd Bruns

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

This spreadsheet lists the top 50 downloaded items from The Keep as of March 1, 2012.

Addressing Corporate Ties To Slavery: Corporate Apologia In A Discourse Of Reconciliation, Claudia Janssen

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Pressured by activists to take responsibility, American corporations recently found themselves in the spotlight for their past ties to slavery. Responding to the issue, they stepped into a complex discourse of reconciliation. Taking a rhetorical approach, this article analyzes the response of Aetna Inc. It explores how corporate rhetoric functions within present discourses about historical injustices and illustrates that Aetna's response informed by common strategies of corporate apologia inhibited meaningful reconciliation. The article thus furthers criticisms of (corporate) apologia in the context of historical injustice and raises questions about the potentialities and limitations of corporate rhetoric for reconciliation.

Double Jeopardy: Low-Wage And Low-Income Workers In Massachusetts, 1980–2009, Randy Albelda, Michael Carr

Economics Faculty Publication Series

Data reveal a growing number of Massachusetts workers who both earn low wages and live in low-income families. They face “double jeopardy”: As low-wage earners, they are least likely to receive employer-sponsored benefits, yet they are often ineligible for means-tested government anti-poverty programs.

Invisible Chronic Illness: Invisible Is Not Imaginary, Rebecca Tadlock-Marlo

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

The need for counselors to be versed in various areas of multicultural counseling is a requirement to the profession (ACA Code of Ethics, 2005). Providing a basis of counselor knowledge in dealing with the various areas of multiculturalism is necessary to revolutionize how we are able to help clients with various life stories. One of the goals within the ACA standards is to help navigate a sense of empowerment for such clients. Counselors must promote holistic wellness in the often challenging social, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual path of comeback. With the rise in invisible chronic physical conditions, the importance of …

Trust In Relationships: A Study To Determine The Importance Of Trust, Cara Cosentino

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research study was conducted to determine the importance of trust in relationships. To determine the difference in trust levels, opinions on being hurt by an intimate partner are studied next to the participants' opinions of being hurt by a close friend. Surveys were completed by 65 participants ages 18-24 on Eastern Illinois University's campus. The survey was nine questions long and had mainly multiple choice answer options. Results were surprising on participants' levels of trust. Every participant believed that trust was the key factor in making an intimate relationship work, yet an almost exact 50% of the participants had …

Social Differences Of Adolescents With High-Functioning Autism And Asperger's Syndrome, Miranda J. Clark

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study evaluated the social skills of adolescents with high-functioning autism (HFA), Asperger's syndrome (AS), and neurotypical development (NT). Currently, it is unknown whether there are significant differences in the social skills of individuals in these three groups, especially in the adolescent population. This study employed a group comparative design with 5-10 subjects in each respective group. The Social Language Development Test-Adolescent (SLDT-A) yielded standard scores for quantitative analysis that were analyzed using appropriate inferential statistics.

This study found that adolescents with AS performed somewhat better on a standardized measure of social skills than those with HFA. As predicted, neither …

Indiana State University Financial Report 2012, Indiana State University

Financial Reports

No abstract provided.

An Ecological Investigation Into The Effects Of Interface On Asynchronous Group Conversations, Peter Venero

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Asynchronous group communication refers to the activity of multiple people communicating when they are separated by both time and space. Online groups (OG) and email are two settings that facilitate these interactions. While both of these settings accomplish this task, they do so in slightly different ways. Email organizes all of the posts by putting the new posts on the top of the display and the older posts towards the bottom. The OG interface uses a tree structure; putting the new posts in a subordinate post relationship to a previous post. How these two technologies present the posts to the …

An Examination Of Ceo Emotion's Relationship With Organization-Level Performance, Elizabeth J. Peyton

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My study examined the relationship between CEO emotions and organization-level performance. I also tested the feasibility of using FACS in a business setting. Lastly, I explored the nature of CEOs' expressive styles. I found support for a relationship between CEOs' positive emotion displays and organization-level performance, but not a relationship between CEOs' negative emotion displays and organization-level performance. My results also supported the idea that CEOs have a unique and consistent expressive style that remains independent of displayed emotion and that researchers can use FACS to measure this expressive style.

The Effects Of Chinese Petroleum Diplomacy On Us Energy Policy Objectives In Nigeria (1993-2010), Jennifer Lynn Leapley

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The United States and China have turned to Africa as an additional source of oil to ensure reliable, secure access to oil supplies in the future. While China stresses noninterventionist foreign policies, the US, at least rhetorically, if not in practice, links its energy policy in Africa to its foreign policy goals. China's petroleum diplomacy in Africa has raised concern among some scholars and policymakers about the effect an increased Chinese economic presence will have on American foreign policy objectives.

The question arises: What impact has Chinese petroleum diplomacy had on US foreign policy objectives? More specifically, how strongly, if …

The Effects Of A Mindfulness-Based Program On Quality Of Life In African-American Older Adults: A Feasibility Study, Kurt A. Brickner

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The present study examined the effect of a modified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program on overall quality of life and self-reported medical and psychological symptoms among a sample of ten religious community-dwelling adults over age 65. This study served as a feasibility study to determine the efficacy of conducting similar groups over a longer time period. This 10-session group program was for individuals dealing with stress-related problems, illness, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain, and incorporated aspects of religiosity germane to the sample of participants, such as recitation and reflection of scripture passages and the bidirectional relationship between one's religious practices and …

Dating And Relationship Experiences Of Gay And Lesbian College Students, Aubrey D. Morrison

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In response to an identified need in the psychological literature for current research on topics related to same-sex dating and relationships, this Professional Dissertation was developed to gain a better understanding of contemporary gay and lesbian dating and intimate relationships within the college/university student population. A total of 159 self-identified gay and lesbian college/university students in the United States and Canada completed an online survey about their dating and relationship experiences. The survey was developed by the researcher based on a review of the literature and was designed to collect broad-based quantitative and qualitative data on the topic of study. …

The Role Of Relationships In Completed Suicide: A Gendered Analysis Of Suicide Notes, Kolina J. Delgado

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Suicide is the eleventh leading cause of death in the United States. As such, it has been described as a major health problem. In the United States the male to female suicide ratio is approximately 4:1. Comparative analyses of suicide between men and women are needed to provide a more complete understanding of the suicide phenomenon. The current study built upon the literature related to gender and the role of relationships in suicidality. Through the analysis of suicide notes written by individuals who completed suicide, this study provides new insight into the role of gender and interpersonal dynamics in suicide …