Tax policies in a globalized world: Is it politics after all?

In a panel dataset of 17 OECD countries over 1970–1997, we provide empirical support for the joint existence of the efficiency and the compensation effects of globalization. Our regression analysis shows that higher economic integration—and the associated external risk—lead to a need for social security policies that require higher taxes. The latter take the form of larger social security contributions that are part of taxes on the immobile factors (labor). The tax burden on the relatively mobile factor (capital) is affected negatively by increased economic integration.     

A Statistical Model of Bilateral Cooperation

In most situations of bilateral cooperation we can observe onlywhether or not potential partners actually cooperate. Yet weoften want to know what factors lead the actors to enter intoand continue cooperation. The model we develop—a dynamicversion of bivariate probit with partial observability—permitsone to estimate the probabilities that either of two partieswould want to cooperate and to identify the factors that affectthese probabilities. As an illustration, we focus on agreementsbetween national governments and the International MonetaryFund. The model should have a wide applicability.     

The behavioral and cognitive effects of two benzodiazepines associated with drug-facilitated sexual assault

Recently, sexual assaults have included the use of benzodiazepines to impair the victim. Our aim was to examine the physiological, cognitive, and behavioral effects of flunitrazepam (FN) and clonazepam (CLO). In the first study, ten healthy volunteers received a single oral dose of 2 mg of FN. Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), behavioral reports and staff observations were then collected. In the second study, ten healthy volunteers received a single oral dose of 3 mg of CLO. Vital signs, performance on the MMSE and Digit Symbol Substitution Test, and behavioral changes were examined. FN significantly decreased systolic and diastolic blood pressure 4 h post drug ingestion with diastolic remaining low at 6 h. CLO was associated with changes in temperature and decreased systolic pressure. FN affected memory and attention 4 h following ingestion. CLO affected memory and attention throughout the study (6 h), and psychomotor performance was decreased 2 h post ingestion. In both studies, subjects were disinhibited and did not perceive their own impairment.     

Timing and Appearance of Postmortem Root Banding in Nonhuman Mammals,

A study was undertaken using nonhuman mammal specimens to better understand environmental influences on postmortem hair root band (PMRB) formation and to see whether PMRBs would occur in nonhuman mammal hairs in a similar fashion to human hairs. Carcasses from surrounding roadways were the primary source of specimens for this study, augmented by donated deceased domestic pets. Sections of pelt from each specimen were placed in controlled environmental conditions while the remainder of the carcass was left in a secure outdoor setting. Hair samples were collected daily from outdoor and control specimens and examined for evidence of PMRBs. Several environmental factors were also recorded on a daily basis. Results demonstrate PMRBs can occur in nonhuman mammal hairs, and they have microscopic characteristics similar to human PMRBs. Factors found to correlate with PMRB formation include postmortem interval, temperature, pH, and the formation and subsequent volatilization of ammonia from the surrounding tissue.     

Killing Norms Softly: US Targeted Killing,Quasi-secrecy and the Assassination Ban

Abstract

This article argues that when actors engage in controversial new security practices, it is misconceived to view secrecy as an opposed, counterproductive alternative to the pursuit of legitimation. Rather, we propose, deployment of “quasi-secrecy”—a combination of official secrecy with leaks, selective disclosure, and de facto public awareness—can be an effective strategy for achieving normalization and legitimation while containing the risks entailed by disclosure. We support this claim via a detailed case study of US targeted killing. First, we establish the existence of an American norm against targeted killing during the period 1976–2001. We then detail the process by which an innovation in practice was secretly approved, implemented, became known, and was gradually, partially officially acknowledged. We argue that even if quasi-secrecy was not in this instance a coherently-conceived and deliberately pursued strategy from start to finish, the case provides proof of concept for its potential to be deployed as such.     

The World Bank’s publication record

The World Bank claims to be a ??knowledge bank,?? but do its knowledge products influence development thinking, or is the Bank merely a proselytizer? The World Bank is a prolific publisher; for example, it has published more journal articles in economics than any university except Harvard. But what about their impact on development thinking? Using citation data from Google Scholar it is hard to discern more than a negligible impact for a great many Bank publications. However, a sizeable minority of its journal articles and books have been highly cited. Compared to leading research universities and other international institutions, the Bank??s ranking in terms of widely-used citation-based indices is no lower than for its journal article counts. This suggests that the Bank??s research does much more than proselytize.     

The Influence of Established Ideas in Emerging Development Organisations: Gender Equality and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

This article explores how ideas and practices may find their way into and entail significant changes in organisations as these enter into new fields and are increasingly confronted with dominant normative frameworks. Drawing on sociological institutional perspectives, I conceptualise three analytical processes occurring as ideas find their way into development organisations: i) emergence; ii) international negotiation and consensus production; and iii) external negotiation and appropriation. I then empirically explore these processes through a case study of how ideas and practices on gender equality and women’s empowerment have entered into and been made workable in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.