Tax compliance: An investigation using individual taxpayer compliance measurement program (TCMP) data

In this paper, we analyze the tax compliance behavior of U.S. taxpayers by using a 1979 data set that combines information from a random sample of individual tax returns, each of which has been thoroughly audited, IRS administrative records, and sociodemographic data from the Census. We find evidence that both audits and tax code provisions affect compliance. However, the effects are significant for only low-and high-income groups. Interestingly, work on the underground economy also suggests that it is these two groups that are least compliant. Our results for audits suggest that the ripple or general deterrent effect of audits may be substantially larger than the direct revenue yield of audits for high-income taxpayers. Our results for allowable subtractions from income imply that the 1986 Tax Reform Act changes that lowered allowable subtractions may have procompliance effects.     

论建立健康和谐的"官际"关系

“政治路线确定之后,干部就是决定的因素”。但部分领导干部之间的不健康人际关系则腐蚀干部队伍,成为产生腐败的重要原因之一。采取措施督促领导干部之间建立健康和谐的人际关系,对于减少腐败现象具有重要意义。加强行政伦理建设、加大对“一把手”的监督力度、完善干部选拔机制、强化党内民主和民主集中制是建立和谐“官际”关系、遏制腐败的必然选择。     

国家间网络安全竞争的特点

网络空间的内涵和外延不断扩大,网络安全问题逐渐从技术层面向政治、经济、社会、军事等各个层面扩展。在数字时代,国家间网络安全竞争的焦点是科技竞争、数字经济规则的制定,以及网络安全能力的建设。从华为事件到委内瑞拉电网遭受网络攻击,再到脸书公司推出举世瞩目的Libra加密货币,既可以看到网络空间已经成为大国博弈的重要领域和工具,也可以感受到非国家行为体权力不断扩大对国家带来的冲击和挑战。展望未来,网络空间国际治理进程会与现实空间的权力博弈产生复杂的双向互动,其进程的走向将取决于技术与权力两种逻辑的互动结果。     

Human Rights in Kosovo

The emotions surrounding the question of Kosovo’s future owe their intensity to the long history of human rights abuses in the province. The years 1945–1966 and 1987–1999, in particular, saw harsh repression of local Albanians and a systematic favoring of local Serbs. Since June 1999, the province has been under international supervision, and, in this period, Serbs complain that they have been the victims of repeated acts of violence at the hands of Albanians. This article provides an overview of human rights abuses since 1945 and closes with a brief assessment of the international plan presented by UN mediator Martti Ahtisaari in February 2007.

Advancing E-Government: Financing Challenges and Opportunities

As e-government evolves into the transactions stage, governments must grapple with how to finance the development of e-transactions. The authors argue that the externalities effects of electronic transactions suggest they are appropriately financed by some combination of public investment and user charges. We propose a self-financing model adhering to two basic requirements. A flexible pricing framework is the core of the self-financing model, as it embodies both the firm's and the government's perspectives. We assess basic assumptions of the pricing framework using contingent valuation methodology and a statewide survey of more than 400 firms. The empirical estimates we develop of the willingness to pay for e-transactions with state government and the theoretical discussion about the self-financing model form the basis for prescribing policy recommendations.     

The curious case of Ali Cenani Bey: the story of a génocidaire during and after the 1915 Armenian genocide

While there exists an extensive body of literature addressing the Armenian genocide, certain gaps persist. The processes and events of the genocide have been unearthed and examined, but genocide is not a phenomenon set in motion by a force of nature. On the contrary, the systematic destruction of Ottoman Armenians was designed and executed by a cadre of individuals, most of whom are little known today. Kurt’s aim here is to recover the story of one such actor from a particular town, Aintab, modern-day Gaziantep—situated on the boundaries of Cilicia (today the southern part of Anatolia) and Syria, near both the Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Alexandretta—thereby revealing the perpetrators and their active involvement in the destruction of Armenians at the local/provincial level. Kurt’s article seeks to shed light on such a perpetrator by analysing the objective features of his background and career. Highlighting the human dimension of the genocide allows for an examination of the actors—their motives and their acts—that ultimately bore responsibility for the catastrophic loss of life. Kurt focuses on the life story of Ali Cenani (1872–1934): his background and involvement in the 1915 Armenian deportation and genocide as well as his career in post-genocide Turkey.