What Factors Influence the Intentions of Individuals to Engage in Tax Evasion? Evidence from Ghana

ABSTRACT

This study examines the views of students on the ethics of tax evasion, their intentions to evade tax, and investigates the factors that predict such intentions. Relying on the extended version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the study investigated whether attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and moral obligation may be good predictors of the intention to evade tax. Data were gathered from 662 students of University of Ghana Business School using questionnaires. The hypotheses were tested using the structural equation modelling technique. Results indicate that the intention to evade tax among the students is low and most respondents generally perceive tax evasion as an unethical practice. The results also demonstrate that attitude, subjective norms and moral obligations have important implications on the intention to evade tax. The evidence we provide should be useful to governments and tax agencies interested in promoting responsible tax compliance behaviour among individual taxpayers.     

Lecture Versus Simulation: Testing the Long-Term Effects

Abstract

Active learning techniques are being use with increasing frequency in the classroom and more time is being dedicated to designing and implementing them. However, the literature still suffers from a lack of rigorous empirical methods to test the effects of simulations. Most of the claimed benefits of utilizing simulations, and other active learning techniques, are improved soft skills and higher order thinking like empathy, confidence, public-speaking abilities, and interpersonal skills—all of which don’t lend themselves well to scientific measurement. This gap in the literature is especially troubling considering that time spent using simulations is time not spent using other methods. This article seeks to test the differing impacts of simulations versus traditional lectures over the long-term using a simple 30-minute simulation and rigorous experimental methods. The most important results show that students learn more initially from a lecture, but that students who were exposed to the simulation were better able to retain that information over the long-term.     

性别歧视的人口后果——基于公共政策视角的模拟分析

性别歧视导致的“失踪女孩”现象对中国人口发展产生了影响。从制度、文化、经济和政策4个方面分析了中国性别歧视的成因,并结合中国政府采取的有助于降低性别歧视的公共政策,提出了相应的政策体系。根据人口模拟模型,对建议的公共政策效果进行了模拟,定量分析了不同性别歧视程度对中国人口发展的影响。结果表明,性别歧视减少了人口总量和劳动适龄人口总数,加快了人口老化程度,加剧了婚姻市场的挤压。通过性别歧视下人口发展模拟的结果,为降低男孩偏好、消除性别歧视提供经验支持,为政府制定和执行相应的公共政策提供依据。     

Fair treatment,fair play? The relationship between fair treatment perceptions,political trust and compliant and cooperative attitudes cross-nationally

Obtaining citizens’ voluntary compliance with political decisions is a fundamental democratic challenge. Fair treatment by public officials plays a key role in theoretical and empirical studies on citizens’ compliance and cooperation. Yet it is unclear whether citizens within different societies react to (un)fair treatment in the same way. Using multilevel structural equation modelling and multilevel regression analysis on the European Social Survey 2010–2 (N = 52,458), this article shows that perceptions of fair treatment by police officers are associated with higher levels of trust in political institutions and in turn stronger compliant and cooperative attitudes of citizens in 27 countries. Yet the link between perceptions of unfair treatment and institutional trust is stronger in countries in which fair behaviour is more prevalent. While fair treatment is often considered to be a universal norm affecting citizens in a uniform way, this article sheds light on important cross-national variations.     

Simulation-based reconstruction of traffic incidents from moving vehicle mono-camera

Video recordings from digital cameras implemented in road vehicles present a valuable source of data concerning various dangerous traffic situations, i.e., road accidents or near-miss incidents. This data is readily available and numerous methods for forensic reconstruction of traffic situations from vehicle video were presented in the past. New alternative method for reconstruction of traffic situations from vehicle video is presented in this article. The method is based on the fusion of kinetic vehicle trajectory simulation within 3D laser scanner point cloud, projective geometry, and processing of video footage from moving vehicle camera. The method offers accurate reconstruction of general vehicle motion within relevant time domain whereby in-depth technical information about traffic incident can be quantitatively extracted from video footage. The result is physics-based 3D projection of simulated vehicle motion on the motion of real vehicle recorded by moving monocular camera. The method was validated within performed experimental test runs with respect to vehicle speed, distance travelled, acceleration/deceleration and directional quantities (yaw rate, yaw angle). The method was further applied in the reconstruction of real-world traffic events.     

SELECTIVE INCAPACITATION,THREE STRIKES,AND THE PROBLEM OF AGING PRISON POPULATIONS: USING SIMULATION MODELING TO SEE THE FUTURE*

Research Summary: The growth of prison populations over the last three decades is a great source of concern for policy makers and observers. One mechanism by which this growth occurs is via sentencing reforms that extend length of stay for certain categories of offenders. This has the effect of aging prison populations, which is problematic for many reasons. Apart from the increased financial burdens entailed in caring for older prisoners, it is also important to consider the intent of reforms in evaluating them. Of late, sentencing reform has become increasingly focused on the selective incapacitation of dangerous offenders. Policies that have the effect of aging the prison population are problematic from this perspective due to the diminishing returns realized with respect to incapacitation as offenders age. Dynamic systems simulation analysis is employed to investigate the likely consequences of recent sentencing reforms that increase length of stay for some offenders. These analyses indicate that the effects of recent reforms may not be as dramatic as some observers have predicted, but they suggest that the consideration of alternatives to incarceration for elderly offenders is warranted from the standpoint of cost considerations as well as that of selective incapacitation. Policy Implications: The results indicate that California's Three Strikes law will not accelerate the rate of growth of the elderly prison population. However, even without increasing the proportional representation of elderly prisoners, the number of elderly prisoners is expected to grow substantially over the next three decades. These prisoners will strain criminal justice system resources while presenting little public safety threat. State criminal justice policy makers and their constituents should closely examine laws that impose very long stays without discretionary release, as these statutes may contribute to the production of elderly prisoners. This problem is particularly pronounced in Three Strikes and other habitual offender laws that use retrospective methods to identify habitual offenders. Additionally, the effects of reforms lengthening stay for some offenders must be considered in light of cumulative effects of sentencing reform resulting in changes to the demographic structure of the prison population overall. Dynamic systems simulation modeling is presented as a valuable policy‐making tool, as it allows the policy analyst to examine the potential impacts of laws in the absence of data suitable for conventional statistical analyses.     

开展实战模拟教学的思考

实战模拟教学,是指学生在实战模拟中完成相关教学任务,以提高自身分析及解决问题的综合能力的重要教学方式。在公安教育大改革背景下,此教学模式的实际问题亟待认真思考和解决,教学模块式的教管法亟待研究推广和拓展。     

Occupational stress,supervisor support,job satisfaction,and work-related burnout: perceptions of Turkish National Police (TNP) members

The present study examines whether, and to what degree, occupational stress in law enforcement is associated with job satisfaction, work-related burnout, and supervisor support. A total of 538 Turkish National Police (TNP) members form seven cities in Turkey completed the study survey. The results of the study indicate that the more TNP members experience their organization as stress inducing, the lower their job satisfaction levels, and the higher their burnout levels. Perceived operational stress was found to be significantly associated with their work-related burnout, but not with their job satisfaction. This study also suggests that there is an indirect causal effect of both organizational and operational stress on job satisfaction via supervisor support as mediator. Overall, the findings of this study illustrate a need for internal policy reform and managerial change in how the executives of TNP organize their agency and policies since organizational stressors are the most prevalent factors determining the work-related wellbeing of TNP members.     

侦查讯问训练教学中存在的几个问题

侦查讯问训练教学作为侦查讯问教学的重要组成部分,是目前公安院校专业教学的重要内容之一。然而,其在教学实践中却存在着与理论教学不协调、选取的案例不典型、模拟讯问不能贴近公安实战、忽视对讯问笔录制作的指导等问题。这不仅影响了教学的效果,还背离了课程设置的初衷。因此,有必要引起我们足够的重视。