Alternative forms of sales taxation for a developing country

In an increasing n umber of developing countries, as in virtually all of the major industrial countries, one or other form of sales taxation has taken root as an important provider of revenue, though in spite of much recent debate—much of it concerning the value added tax—no single form of sales taxation has emerged as being the most efficacious. This article does not discuss the merits of sales taxation, nor its effects or, development, but rather focuses on the question of which form of sales tax should be adopted assuming that one is to be.     

Social Learning,Self-Control,and Offending Specialization and Versatility among Friends

American Journal of Criminal Justice - While it is generally understood that people tend not to specialize in specific types of deviance, less is understood about offending specialization and...     

Theory Meets Practice: Some Current Human Rights Challenges in Canada

The article examines three recent situations in which human rights issues have been in the forefront of public policy debates in Canada. In the first, freedom of expression may have been compromised as a result of foreign policy considerations. The second case involves the sometimes contentious issue of equal pay for work of equal value. Thirdly, a current initiative aimed at resolving a longstanding claim by Aboriginal Canadians is examined in the context of principles of equality.     

Capital punishment politics and policies in the States, 1977–1997

Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the death penalty constitutionalin 1976, thirty-eight states have readopted new capital punishmentstatutes consistent with Supreme Court decisions on procedural guidelines. While much of the literature about capital punishmentaddresses the legal aspects of the issue, this essay examines thepolitics of the major institutions of state government in the formulation of capital punishment policies. In some states, thereis agreement between key officials in the institutions on the desirability of, or opposition to, capital punishment. However, inmost other states, the debate over the appropriateness of deathpenalty policies is vigorously waged between the executive, legislative and judicial branches. Overall, 432 felons were executedin 30 states between 1977 and 1997. However, no executions haveoccurred in nine of these states. Twelve states have no provisionsfor the death penalty. The majority of executions since 1977 havetaken place in just six states. In addition to the abolitioniststates, the others can be categorized as (1) aggressive executioners,(2) occasional executioners, (3) reluctant executioners, and (4)nonusers where the death penalty has been restored for politicalpurposes but no executions have been carried out in over two decadesand none are likely to be in the immediate future given the minisculenumber of inmates on death row.     

More tax evasion research required in new millennium

Scholarly communication across disciplines is much harder than within disciplines. This article highlights the pervasive phenomenon of tax evasion and discusses the different theoretical models and research approaches that have been used to study the problem in the last two decades. Much of this research has been conducted in the U.S. Policy approaches suggested by this research may therefore have limited applicability in other countries. With theoretical models from a variety of disciplines available to use, and many unanswered questions remaining, international comparisons and multi-method approaches should be useful to the many policymakers and academic researchers interested in understanding the puzzle of tax compliance. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.