This paper investigates the effect of horizontal corporate group (keiretsu) affiliation on effective tax rates in Japan. After controlling for variables that affect corporate income taxes, keiretsu firms have lower effective tax rates than independent firms. These findings are attributed to political power and the unique corporate governance mechanism of keiretsu groups. Furthermore, horizontal...

Efforts to reduce energy use and environmental damage in China require an understanding of the rapidly rising demand for energy. Household use of fuels, electricity and gasoline has changed dramatically in response to rising incomes, changing prices and changing demographics. We estimate income and price elasticities for these energy types using a two-stage budgeting method, applying the AIDS m...

Health and education are both components of human capital and contributors to human welfare. One index of human welfare, which incorporates income, education and health, shows that Africa’s level of ‘human development’ is the lowest of any region in the world. In this paper we will frequently compare Africa with South Asia. While Africa’s level of human development is lower than that of South A...

this study empirically examines whether managers manipulate reported income through the timing of sales of long-lived assets and investments. several empirical implications of the income-smoothing and debt-equity hypothesis in the context of asset sales were tested. the findings are consistent with the timing of asset sales by managers so that the recognized accounting income from these sales s...

Micro financing is providing financial services and resources for low-income people to improve their financial situation. In many less developed countries, providing these services for low-income classes was next to impossible due to high interest rates and heavy collaterals and guarantees that banks and other credit institutions demand. Micro financing was used since 1960s as a fundamenta...

Achieving a practical and productive balance in collaborative research between partners from high and lower income countries (North-South Collaborations) requires seeking win-win solutions. This issue requires time to engage each other and to understand each participant’s research priorities and to identify areas of mutual interest. In SACTRC’s experience, key elements include; building researc...

A basic problem facing most labor markets is that workers can neither commit to long-term wage contracts nor can they self …nance the costs of production. I study the e¤ects of these imperfections when talent is industry-speci…c, it can only be revealed on the job, and once learned becomes public information. I show that …rms bid excessively for the pool of incumbent workers at the expense of t...

there is a consensus among housing experts and policy makers that there are not enough resources for government alone to address growing urban housing challenges in many developing countries. consequently, a paradigm shift from government provision to partnerships between the public and private sectors is advocated. this study examined the prospects and challenges of public-private partnerships...