This diploma thesis deals with a political program of Strana svobodných občanů. Firstly, the methodology used in this thesis is explored in the first chapter. Then, in the second chapter are defined and described relevant theoretical concepts. These are the concepts of Euroscepticism, anarchocapitalism and libertarianism. In the case of Euroscepticism, a typology by a French political scientist Cécile Leconte is used as well because Euroscepticism is a very complex term. In the next chapter there are described relevant aspects of political philosophy of Strana svobodných občanů. The fourth chapter, with help of content analysis of the Strana svobodných občanů program, answers to all of the research questions: To what extent is Euroscepticism present in the political philosophy of Strana svobodných občanů? How the presence of Euroscepticism in the political philosophy of Strana svobodných občanů evolved since the founding of the party to the present? To what extent is anarchocapitalism present in the political philosophy of Strana svobodných občanů? How the presence of anarchocapitalism in the political philosophy of Strana svobodných občanů evolved since the founding of the party to the present? To what extent is libertarianism present in the political philosophy of Strana svobodných občanů? How...

This diploma thesis deals with a political program of Strana svobodných občanů. Firstly, the methodology used in this thesis is explored in the first chapter. Then, in the second chapter are defined and described relevant theoretical concepts. These are the concepts of Euroscepticism, anarchocapitalism and libertarianism. In the case of Euroscepticism, a typology by a French political scientist Cécile Leconte is used as well because Euroscepticism is a very complex term. In the next chapter there are described relevant aspects of political philosophy of Strana svobodných občanů. The fourth chapter, with help of content analysis of the Strana svobodných občanů program, answers to all of the research questions: To what extent is Euroscepticism present in the political philosophy of Strana svobodných občanů? How the presence of Euroscepticism in the political philosophy of Strana svobodných občanů evolved since the founding of the party to the present? To what extent is anarchocapitalism present in the political philosophy of Strana svobodných občanů? How the presence of anarchocapitalism in the political philosophy of Strana svobodných občanů evolved since the founding of the party to the present? To what extent is libertarianism present in the political philosophy of Strana svobodných občanů? How...

This study aims to investigate possible consequences for rural residents and the political legitimacy for the state. In Sweden, environmental policy is widespread, and the state aims to be the first climate-neutral welfare state. Previous research and the results from our study indicate that Swedish citizens do not like carbon dioxide taxes. Many rural residents have expressed dissatisfaction in the media with the rise in fuel prices. Therefore, we were interested in what the target group has had for consequences and what they think of the measure. The results show that the consequences have not been devastating, while the rural residents do not believe that they have the right conditions to be a part of the green transition. Surprisingly many of our interviewees have considered switching to an electric gar given the rising fuel prices. For more people to be able to switch to an electric car, targeted investments from the state are required. Our results indicate that the current green transition is not possible and fair for the people in rural areas.

No description available.

The role of taxation in gender inequality is something that is perhaps not considered earnestly enough. Both in South Africa and within the context of global initiatives such as the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) which are aimed at eradicating all forms of gender-based discrimination, the importance of understanding the gender consequences of tax policy, whether intended or not, should not be underestimated. This study seeks to identify whether or not there are any instances where South Africa’s personal income tax laws have an effect which is potentially inconsistent with both the Constitutional right to equality between genders and international gender equality agreements to which South Africa is bound, namely the CEDAW and the SDG. In doing so, determine whether South Africa’s personal income tax legislation should become a focal point in this regard and be one of the pillars that could further be used as a means to uphold and further the cause of substantive gender equity. / Mini Dissertation (MCom (Taxation))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / pt2021 / Taxation / MCom (Taxation) / Unrestricted

No description available.

Socioeconomic disparities in life outcomes is a widely observed occurrence. In particular, low socioeconomic status (SES) has been related to a variety of behaviours that tend to perpetuate or even exacerbate the conditions that individuals of such social standing are already facing. The last two decades have been marked by a growing number of studies seeking to disentangle behavioural differences associated with one’s socioeconomic status that fuel the persistence of these differences. This Doctoral thesis joins the discussion by investigating a subset of behaviours associated with low SES. Three empirical chapters and one literature review seeks to answer the following questions: first, what are the consumer behaviour patterns exhibited by low SES individuals? Second, how do poverty-related thoughts influence consumption of (un)taxed temptation goods? Third, what is the effect of perceived individual control on intertemporal preferences? And fourth, how does salient socioeconomic status affect intertemporal choices regarding effort? Chapter 1 overviews literature on socioeconomic status and consumer happiness. We discuss channels through which low SES can impact consumption decisions and present main behavioural patterns of low SES consumers. Low SES has been found to have a significant impact on dietary patterns that include consumption of fruits and vegetables, foods with high calorie content, as well as consumption of temptation goods like alcohol, tobacco, and sugar-sweetened beverages. Moreover, low SES individuals also tend to engage in status-signalling behaviours, despite the scarcity of financial resources. We discuss how SES can delineate consumer happiness, in particular, regarding experiential and material goods. Finally, we review evidence on socioeconomic disparities in satisfaction with product-specific characteristics and health care as well as consumer loyalty. Chapter 2 presents an empirical investigation of the intersection between socioeconomic status and consumer behavior. In particular, we study demand for temptation goods such as alcohol, tobacco or high-calorie foods. One of the most conventional ways that governments control the consumption of these products is through taxes; however, a growing body of research shows the presence of numerous behavioral biases that might prove such fiscal policies less effective. One of these biases is related to financial worries - a concept familiar to deprived individuals. Previous studies have shown that increasing worries shift attention towards pressing needs, potentially at the cost of forward-looking decisions. We run an online experiment in which we manipulate financial worries and ask participants to choose between necessities and temptation goods in the experimental market. We also randomly impose taxes on temptation goods for a subset of participants. Results suggest that under financial worries and no taxes participants demand less temptation goods and this effect is stronger for lower income individuals. However, when taxes are introduced and financial concerns are salient, lower income participants do not react to taxes. This suggests that, on the one hand, financial worries can protect against over-consumption of temptation goods when there are no tax changes; however, low income consumers can be hurt the most when additional taxes are implemented. Chapter 3 investigates another psychological occurrence - a feeling of control - and its impact on intertemporal preferences. Generally, low SES individuals have less chances to exert control in their lives compared with high SES people. If perceived control has a substantial impact on the intertemporal choice, these disparities may have a long lasting impact that might make it harder to move up in terms of social status. In an online experiment we manipulate the feeling of control by asking participants to remember a certain situation. We vary control in terms of level - not having control vs being in full control – and type – being in a situation involving other people or a non-social situation. Afterwards, we ask participants to make intertemporal allocation decisions - either regarding a monetary experimental budget or a number of real effort tasks. We find no evidence of present bias in monetary discounting for either of the control treatments. Results are different for effort discounting: on aggregate level, participants in this condition reverse their preferences more often as they choose to perform more tasks sooner when the decision involves only future points in time, but less when the decision involves also present. Moreover, we find evidence of significant present bias in the low control condition. Allocation decisions are mediated by emotional states activated in the feeling of control manipulation: for money condition, the strongest mediator is the feeling of fear, while for effort discounting it is sadness. Overall, the results suggest that although recalling a situation of (no) control does not influence intertemporal allocation decisions regarding windfall money, it can impact decisions about the allocation of effort. Chapter 4 continues the discussion on intertemporal preferences and socioeconomic status. It is a well established that low SES is related to impatient behaviours. While many works have analyzed psychological channels which mediate this effect, such as cognitive load, stress, emotional affects, and self-control issues, this work seeks to test whether the mere salience of one’s subjective SES has an impact on intertemporal preferences regarding effort. In an online experiment, I prime participants on their SES and ask to make effort allocation decisions. I find that priming affects only low status participants: this group made more present-biased choices by postponing effort to the future even if it mean higher workload. No effect was found for nonprimed low SES participants or higher status individuals in both treatment and control groups. I conclude that even a mere act of making SES salient in your mind can have an adverse effect to low SES individuals by pushing them to postpone work to the future.

<p>1st essay abstract:   </p> <p>This study investigates the economic rents of the wind energy industry in the U.S. and their economic impacts on local economies, using Benton and White counties in Indiana as study regions. By calibrating a partial equilibrium model using 2007-2010 data of the industry, we find a resource rent of $9.72/MWh. We then use a general equilibrium model with Dutch Disease features to study the optimal tax levied on this rent, and the economic impacts of redistributing the tax revenues back to the county residents. An exhaustive rent tax increases real county personal income by as high as 9.1% and as low as 2%, depending on the county’s features. Applying an incentive compatible resource rent tax rate and redistributing the revenues to the county’s laborers leads to an increase of 3.5% and 16% in their income in White and Benton counties, respectively. We also perform robustness checks by allowing labor mobility between counties to examine the impacts of resource rents on the county economy under endogenous labor growth. </p> <p>1st essay data: All data acquired comes from the U.S. Census Bureau, county Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory reports, the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Indeed.com, news articles, and wind developers websites.</p> <p><br></p> <p>2nd essay abstract:   </p> <p>Using the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) model, we estimate the deadweight loss imposed by county-level wind power development restrictions in the form of increased electricity costs due to suboptimal siting. This is accomplished by optimizing the power system of the United States' Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) from 2020 to 2050. We perform the optimization with and without land-use constraints arising from simulated potential local ordinances restricting wind power development, and under multiple scenarios reflecting different renewable portfolio standards (RPS). We find that local restrictions on wind power increase the total system cost by 0.15%-0.3% and the wholesale electricity price by 1.8%-2.7%, depending on the RPS scenario. Changes in the generation and installed capacity mixes are more substantial and depend on both the level of county restrictions on wind power, and RPS requirements, thus indicating an interaction between RPS requirements and local wind power restrictions. We also find that plausible restrictions on wind development do not pose major barriers to meeting renewable energy targets in a cost-effective manner.</p> <p>2nd essay data: All data is embedded inside the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) model of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.</p> <p><br></p> <p>3rd essay abstract:   </p> <p>The USDA promotes adoption of conservation practices beneficial for soil health and environment through agricultural cost-share payment programs such as EQIP or CSP. Although the efficiency of these programs has been evaluated through additionality estimates, which represent the percentage of farmers who would adopt a practice only with payments, the potential complementarities between certain combinations of practices have often been overlooked. Unaccounted for, these complementarities may impact additionality estimates. This paper provides a thorough investigation of additionality estimates of common practices, including no-till, nutrient management and cover crops, accounting for potential complementarities between them. We find no significant differences between traditional additionality estimates and estimates accounted for potential complementarities between the three practices. The results thus indicate that despite agronomic evidence of synergies in co-adopting these three practices, we find no solid indication of adoption complementarity between them in reality. </p> <p>3rd essay data: Data is acquired from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Esri maps.</p>

Angesichts zunehmender Einkommens- und Vermögensungleichheit rückt Besteuerung als Instrument von Umverteilung und sozialer Schichtung in den Blick. Um die vielfältigen Auswirkungen von Steuern auf Ungleichheit, Armut und Umverteilung zu beleuchten, weichen die vorliegenden Studien bis zu einem gewissen Grad von der allgemeinen vertikalen Perspektive—d. h. der sozialen Schichtung von reich nach arm—ab und untersuchen Steuerpolitik als Sozialpolitik für verschiedene Familientypen. Die horizontale Perspektive—also die soziale Schichtung verschiedener Familientypen unabhängig von ihrer Einkommensposition—erlaubt es, die zentrale Rolle der Besteuerung für die Strukturierung individueller Lebenschancen unabhängig von einer scheinbar offensichtlichen, vertikalen Umverteilung von Reich zu Arm zu betonen: Werden verschiedene Familientypen durch Steuern unterschiedlich behandelt? Wenn ja, wer profitiert und wer verliert? Der erste Artikel zielt auf eine allgemeine Bewertung der steuerbedingten Verarmung von Haushalten ab. Er zeigt, wie Steuern und Transfers nicht nur dazu dienen, Menschen aus Armut zu befreien, sondern gleichzeitig ebenso Menschen (weiter) in Armut drücken. Diese Perspektive zeigt den stratifizierenden Charakter des Steuersystems. Der zweite Artikel erweitert das Verständnis der familienbezogenen steuerlichen Behandlung, indem er zeigt, wie eine auf bestimmte Familientypen ausgerichtete Steuerpolitik Umverteilung behindert und Ungleichheit zwischen Familien verstärkt. Der dritte Artikel dient schließlich der Veranschaulichung der Bedeutung des Steuersystems für die soziale Schichtung über das Einkommens- und Lohnsteuersystem hinaus und zeigt auf, wie Familientypen unterschiedlich von Konsumsteuerzahlungen betroffen sind. / In the light of rising income and wealth inequality, taxation once more emerges as a tool of redistribution and stratification. To shed light on the myriad effects of taxes on inequality, poverty and redistribution, the studies at hand deviate to some degree from the general vertical perspective—that is, the social ordering from rich to poor—and investigate tax policy as social policy for different types of families. The horizontal perspective—that is, the social ordering of different family types regardless of their income position—allows for emphasizing the pivotal role of taxation in structuring individual life chances independently of any seemingly obvious redistribution from rich to poor: do taxes treat different types of families differently? If so, who gains and who loses? The first article aims at a general assessment of the fiscal impoverishment of households. It shows how taxes and transfers do not only serve to lift people out of poverty, but simultaneously push others (further) into poverty. This perspective clearly indicates the stratifying nature of the tax system. The second article expands the understanding of family-related tax treatment by showing how tax policies targeted towards specific types of families hinder redistribution and strengthen inequality between families. Finally, the third article serves to illustrate the relevance of the tax system for stratification beyond the income and payroll tax system and indicates how family types are hit differently by consumption tax payments.

La tesis pretende conciliar dos realidades tradicionalmente alejadas entre sí como son la retribución mediante arancel de ciertos funcionarios públicos y el Derecho Tributario. Un alejamiento aparente ya que el arancel no pasa inadvertido para esta disciplina, como lo atestigua su encaje sistemático en la parafiscalidad, concepto que designa a aquellos ingresos que, a pesar de revestir naturaleza tributaria, no se someten al ordenamiento tributario. Siguiendo un criterio metodológico clásico, se sustenta la naturaleza tributaria parafiscal del arancel partiendo de los rasgos de su régimen jurídico. Como idea final se deduce la existencia de una prestación que requiere un profundo cambio en su estructura jurídica, sin perjuicio de las dificultades que ello entrañaría, dado que ello nos podría conducir a otro debate de honda repercusión política, social y económica como es el de la organización jurídica de los fedatarios públicos en España. / The thesis tries to provide a common study between two concepts traditionally opposed in its scientific treatment as the payment of certain civil servants -public notaries and Register Office- with 'arancel' -Spanish formal denomination- and the Spanish Tax Law. Despite it´s not ruled by tax laws, the 'arancel' shares the nature of taxes, according to Spanish Tax General Act. Initially we introduce its present structure and then afterwards we propose it as a tax This figure requires a deep change in its legal structure. However, we are aware of finding serious difficulties in our proposal, because we are treating a matter which could imply discussing about another important question not only in legal points of view but also political, economic and social about the opportunity of modifying the regulation of civil servants who are entitled to give services of public faith in Spanish Law.