Economic Freedom and Taxation: Is There a Trade-off in the Locational Competition Between Countries?

This paper investigates the relationshipbetween economic freedomand taxation. We argue that an economicallyfree environment improvesthe attractiveness of a location, which, inturn, enables governmentsto levy higher business taxes. To test thishypothesis empirically, weestimate the impact of economic freedom onthe national tax policy,where the latter is measured by thecorporate tax revenue related toGNP (corporate tax ratio). We utilize adata set of 46 developed and lessdeveloped countries between 1980 and 1997and find a clear confirmationof our hypothesis. Further, a simulationanalysis reveals that the observedchange in economic freedom has equalizedthe international distributionof corporate tax ratios.     

A failure of governmentality: why Transparency International underestimated corruption in Ben Ali’s Tunisia

This article critiques the Foucauldian approach to governance indicators. Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) underestimated Tunisian corruption levels under President Ben Ali: his regime was highly corrupt but foreign investors were less affected. CPI methodology meant it reflected primarily the needs of foreign investors. The Foucauldian approach specifically excludes analysis of governance indicators’ methodologies. It thus fails to demonstrate the effectiveness of governance indicators as a technology of government, and it fails to show how the production of the CPI is embedded in a wider global political economy.     

Book reviews

E. Glyn Lewis, Multilingualistn in the Soviet Union: aspects of language policy and its implementation. The Hague and Paris: Mouton, 1971. xx+332pp. Dfl 62.

L. G. Churchward, The Soviet Intelligentsia. An essay on the social structure and roles of Soviet intellectuals during the 196os. London and Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1973. xiii + 204 pp. £3.25.

Galia Golan, Reform Rule in Czechoslovakia. The Dubcek Era 1968–1969. Cambridge: at the University Press, 1973. Vii + 327 pp. £5.80. $18.50.

Otto Ul?, The Judge in a Communist State. A View from Within. Athens, Ohio: Ohio UP, 1972. xiv + 307 pp. $8.75.

Robert M. Slusser, The Berlin Crisis of 1961: Soviet‐American relations and the struggle for power in the Kremlin, June‐November 1961. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins UP, 1973. xvi + 509 pp. $17.50. £7.90.

Edward Taborsky, Communist Penetration of the Third World. New York: Robert Speller & Sons, 1973. iii + 500 pp. $12.50.

Philip R. Pryde, Conservation in the Soviet Union. London: Cambridge UP, 1972. xv + 301 pp. £5.00.

Marshall I. Goldman, The Spoils of Progress: Environmental Pollution in the Soviet Union. Cambridge, Mass, and London: The M.I.T. Press, 1972. xi + 372 pp. $7.95. £3.60.

Robert H. McNeal, Bride of the Revolution. Krupskaya and Lenin. London: Victor Gollancz, 1973. 326 pp. £3.60.

George Katkov et al. (eds.), Russia Enters the Twentieth Century 1894–1917. London: Methuen, 1973. 352 pp. £1.50 (paperback).

Paul Craig Roberts and M. Stephenson, Marx's Theory of Exchange, Alienation and Crisis. Stanford, Calif.: Hoover Institution Press, 1973. 127 pp. $5.50.

W. H. Parker, The Russians: How They Live and Work. Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1973. 179 pp. £2.50.

Wright Miller, Who are the Russians? A History of the Russian People. London: Faber & Faber, 1973. 240 pp. £3.95.     

In or out? International community membership: beliefs,behaviour, contextuality and principles

Recently, increasing references are made to the international community that is conceptually and analytically useful when distinguished from the international society. Supposedly, the relations of some international agents can be described as a community due to their shared we-feeling, identity or ethos. This article discusses ‘thick’ and ‘thin’ international communities and suggests additional criteria that ought to be considered when determining whether a particular actor or agent is or is not a member of the international community. Moreover, the article suggests a dynamic conception of the international community as a context-dependent configuration rather than as some relatively stable subgroup of the international society. In this sense, this article offers an innovative perspective to collectivities through a focus on the international community. On a different level, this opportunity is used to draw attention to the roles beliefs play in and in the study of international politics.     

The Causes,Nature, and Effect of the Current Crisis of Lebanese Capitalism

Abstract

Forty years ago, Salim Nasr identified a “crisis of Lebanese capitalism” as a “backdrop” to the country’s civil war. Thirty years after Taif, Lebanese capitalism is facing another crisis: public debt, a looming currency crisis, failing public services. Explanations that focus solely on the sectarian “weak state” or on Syrian refugees neglect the crucial importance of Lebanon’s dependence on Gulf rentierism. Using recent studies of income and poverty, this article shows how postwar capitalism benefited rentier capitalists at the top, created a precarious middle class, and perpetuated poverty. Economic protests mobilize the precarious middle and they revolve around failing public services.     

Aufgabe der Rechtsfigur des fortgesetzten Delikts

Die Zusammenfassung mehrerer den gleichen Tatbestand (ob versucht oder vollendet) erfüllender Akte zu einer strafbaren Handlung ist blo? nach Ma?gabe tatbestandlicher Handlungseinheiten anzuerkennen; die Kriterien dafür sind deliktsspezifisch zu bestimmen. Die Rechtsfigur des aus dem allgemeinen Teil des Strafrechts abgeleiteten, nach einheitlichen Kriterien zu bildenden fortgesetzten Delikts wird damit aufgegeben.