This thesis seeks to contribute to the Chinese taxation literature by researching effective tax rate (ETR), marginal tax rate (MTR) and implicit tax in particular. These areas have been addressed for a number of years within the developed market context, whereas the same research for companies in developing countries is largely non-existent in Western literature. The first topic is the ETR and MTR analysis. The ETR analysis offers an overview of the actual tax burden for listed companies in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), together with the Statutory Tax Rate (STR) analysis, which incorporates the tax structure aspect of tax preferences from 1994 to 2006. In 2002, the State Council stopped unauthorised corporate tax rebate from local government and 2002 became a breaking point of the corporate tax analysis. The ETR and STR analyses reveal that companies benefitted widely from tax preferences before 2002 regardless of their industry or region. However, after 2002, the ETRs increased significantly overall and the industrial and regional ETR differences are much more significant. The tax preferential industries and regions’ companies are still in the lower ETR and STR range, but the non-tax preferential companies’ ETRs and STR increased significantly after 2002. This evidences the effectiveness of Chinese tax preference policies. The MTR estimations are the first Chinese company specific MTR estimations. The MTRs were estimated from 1995 to 2002 and the MTRs results are generally consistent with ETR results, except that the MTR estimations jointly depend on the company Net Operating Loss (NOL) occurrences, income and STR. The second topic is the determinants of ETR. An alternative view of ETR determinants is proposed. It incorporates the accounting-tax conformity theory and identifies a tax rate preference as the new ETR determinant variable to fit the Chinese taxation context. Five explanatory variables are hypothesized in associating company characteristics after controlling the company location, industry and sample period dummy variables. These explanatory variables are tax rate preference, non-operating expenses, investment gain, provision for impairment and government ownership. The ETR determinants model is also examined by OLS regression (cross-sectional), and fixed-effects and random effects regression (panel data analysis). The results show that all of the explanatory variables are statistically significant coefficients with expected signs. The results also demonstrate that the proposed ETR determinant model is superior to previous determinant models. The third topic is implicit tax research. The results are evidence of the existence of implicit tax at the corporate level. The relationships between the company Pre-tax Return of Equity (PTROE) and tax preference variables and other control variables are also examined. The results demonstrate that there is a negative relationship between PTROE and tax rate preference when considering the companies aggregately in a large scale; and there is a positive relationship between PTROE and income related tax preference when considering the companies individually. The contradictory results indicate that in reality, the imperfect market conditions impede the realisation of implicit tax at the individual company level.

This thesis focuses on the problem of "autonomous agents". It is assumed that such agents want to be in a desired state which can be assessed by the agent itself when it observes the consequences of its own actions. Therefore the feedback from the motor output via the environment to the sensor input is an essential component of such a system. As a consequence an agent is defined in this thesis as a self-referential system which operates within a closed sensor- mot or-sensor feedback loop. The generic situation is that the agent is always prone to unpredictable disturbances which arrive from the outside, i.e. from its environment. These disturbances cause a deviation from the desired state (for example the organism is attacked unexpectedly or the temperature in the environment changes, ...). The simplest mechanism for managing such disturbances in an organism is to employ a reflex loop which essentially establishes reactive behaviour. Reflex loops are directly related to closed loop feedback controllers. Thus, they are robust and they do not need a built-in model of the control situation. However, reflexes have one main disadvantage, namely that they always occur 'too late'; i.e., only after a (for example, unpleasant) reflex eliciting sensor event has occurred. This defines an objective problem for the organism. This thesis provides a solution to this problem which is called Isotropic Sequence Order (ISO-) learning. The problem is solved by correlating the primary reflex and a predictive sensor input: the result is that the system learns the temporal relation between the primary reflex and the earlier sensor input and creates a new predictive reflex. This (new) predictive reflex does not have the disadvantage of the primary reflex, namely of always being too late. As a consequence the agent is able to maintain its desired input-state all the time. In terms of engineering this means that ISO learning solves the inverse controller problem for the reflex, which is mathematically proven in this thesis. Summarising, this means that the organism starts as a reactive system and learning turns the system into a pro-active system. It will be demonstrated by a real robot experiment that ISO learning can successfully learn to solve the classical obstacle avoidance task without external intervention (like rewards). In this experiment the robot has to correlate a reflex (retraction after collision) with signals of range finders (turn before the collision). After successful learning the robot generates a turning reaction before it bumps into an obstacle. Additionally it will be shown that the learning goal of 'reflex avoidance' can also, paradoxically, be used to solve an attraction task.

Lärare behöver ha goda kunskaper om språkets uppbyggnad för att kunna undervisa om stavning där kunskaper om ords innebörd och struktur, stavningsregler, morfologi och fonologi är viktiga byggstenar. Utbildning i språket och dess struktur blir därmed viktigt för verksamma eller framtida F-3 lärare. Denna litteraturstudie har genomförts för att belysa forskningsresultat gällande lärares viktiga kunskaper för att kunna undervisa om stavning och språkets struktur i de tidiga skolåren samt hur lärare tillämpar en god stavningsundervisning som främjar elevers utveckling mot en automatiserad stavning. Genom elektroniska sökningar i databaserna ERIC, Unisearch och Swepub har 11 vetenskapliga artiklar och en doktorsavhandling inkluderats i studien utifrån olika kriterier. Därefter har en innehållsanalys genomförts för att leta reda på gemensamma teman i de empiriska studierna, som sedan kunnat strukturera litteraturstudiens resultat. Studiens resultat visar bland annat att fonologi, morfologi, stavningsregler, strategier och ords innebörd behöver explicit undervisning för att eleverna ska kunna tillämpa kunskaperna i mötet med nya ord. Att uppmärksamma elevers stavfel är även viktigt för att lärare utifrån dessa kan planera stavningsundervisningen på ett sätt som tillgodoser varje elevs individuella behov. Individanpassning är oerhört viktigt för att möjliggöra varje elevs förutsättning till att utveckla en morfologisk-ortografisk stavning. Dessutom är en tidig stavningsundervisning grundläggande för elevers fortsatta stavningsutveckling, och därmed skrivutveckling.

Background: Exercise behaviour has largely been studied via reflective social cognitive approaches over the last thirty years. Emerging findings have shown habit to demonstrate predictive validity with physical activity. Habit represents an automatic behaviour that becomes developed from repeated stimulus-response bonds (cued and repetitive action) overtime. Despite the correlation with PA, the literature lacks research in understanding habit formation in new exercisers and experimental evidence of this construct. Hence, the purpose of this dissertation was to: i) understand the behavioural and psychological requirements of habit formation in new gym members, ii) investigate how regular gym members maintain their exercise habit, and iii) incorporate these findings to design a randomized-controlled trial (RCT) to test the effectiveness of an exercise habit building workshop in new gym members. In particular, the RCT sought to test if the habit group would develop greater exercise improvement over a control condition and another intervention group that employed a variety-based approach. Methods: Participants for all three studies were healthy adults (18-65) who were recruited from local gym and recreation centres in Victoria, BC. Studies I and III included only new gym members who were not meeting the Canadian Physical Activity guidelines upon recruitment while study II were a sample of gym members who have been exercising for at least one year. The first two studies were prospective, observational designs (twelve and six weeks respectively) while the third was a CONSORT based experimental study. Results: The first study found that exercising for at least four bouts per week for six weeks was the minimum requirement to establish an exercise habit. Trajectory change analysis revealed habit and intention to be parallel predictors of exercise in the trajectory analysis while consistency of practice revealed to be the best predictor. The second study highlighted the distinction between the preparatory and performance phases of exercise and further found intention and preparatory habit to be responsible for behaviour change across time. This study also found consistency to be the strongest predictor for habit formation. The intervention found the habit group to increase in exercise time compared to the control (p<.05, d=.40) and variety (p<.05, d=.36) groups. Mediation analysis found habit to partially mediate between group and behaviour. Contextual predictors revealed cues and consistency to mediate habit formation and group type. Conclusions: This dissertation provided significant novel contributions to the literature which included: i) calculating the behavioural and psychological requirements for establishing an exercise habit, ii) distinguishing two behavioural phases of exercise and iii) conducting the first exercise habit-based RCT. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed habit-based worksheet which could be helpful for trainers and new gym members in facilitating an exercise habit. / Graduate / kaushal@uvic.ca

The aim of this experiment was to study whether completing a questionnaire either related or unrelated to various aspects of the workplace could induce different implicit and explicit stereotypic associations with Down syndrome. Subjects read one of three questionnaires before completing a task designed to measure implicit associations. The task consisted of photo primes of faces belonging to individuals with Down syndrome and typically developing individuals, followed by an evaluative decision task with adjectives related to the stereotype dimensions of warmth and competence. Following the implicit task, participants were asked directly about their associations between Down syndrome and each of the target traits. It was hypothesized that Down syndrome would be systematically associated with low competence, regardless of the context primed, but that it would be associated with greater warmth when morale-related aspects of the workplace were primed than when efficiency-related aspects of the workplace were primed. These hypotheses were not supported, and questionnaire type did not seem to prime specific associations in the implicit task. However, consistent with past research, Down syndrome was associated with high ratings of warmth on the explicit measure, and implicit results suggest Down syndrome may be implicitly associated with greater warmth as well. Methodological limitations of the study are discussed, as well as possible directions for future research.

Decisions by the EEOC in favor of claimants perceived to have disabilities disproportionately exceeded those in favor of claimants with documented disabilities. This finding lends support to the assertion that unconscious/implicit bias is persistent in the workplace.

Previous research suggests that childfree and childless women are perceived more negatively than mothers. This study investigated attitudes based on parental status, race, and descriptive label. Undergraduate students (N = 386) were randomized to consider targets described as childless, childfree, or mothers/parents. Participants completed a personality characteristic rating scale, the competence and warmth scales of the Stereotype Content Model, an evaluation thermometer, a measure of pronatalism, and a Single Category Implicit Association Test. Childless and childfree women of all races were perceived more negatively than mothers, and women in all parental status groups were ambivalently stereotyped. Implicit attitudes favored parents and childfree targets; however, neither positive nor negative attitudes were demonstrated toward childless targets. Implicit and explicit attitudes were related yet distinct constructs for childless and childfree targets, but were unrelated for parents. With these findings, this study makes a unique contribution to the literature on childlessness and childfreedom.

This research outlines a conceptual framework and data analysis process to examine multisource feedback (MSF) rater group differences from a leadership assessment survey, after testing the measures for equivalence. MSF gathers and compares ratings from supervisors, peer, followers and self and is the predominant leadership assessment tool in the United States. The results of MSF determine significant professional outcomes such as leadership development opportunities, promotions and compensation. An underlying belief behind the extensive use of MSF is that each rater group has a different set of implicit leadership theories (ILTs) they use when assessing the leader, and therefore each group is able to contribute unique insight. If this is true, research findings would find rater group consistency in leadership assessment outcomes, but they do not. A review of group comparison research reveals that most empirical MSF studies fail to perform preliminary data exploration, employ consistent models or adequately test for measurement equivalence (ME); yet industry standards strongly suggest exploratory methods whenever data sets undergo changes, and misspecified models cause biased results. Finally, ME testing is critical to ascertain if rater groups have similar conceptualizations of the factors and items in an MSF survey. If conceptual ME is not established, substantive group comparisons cannot be made. This study draws on the extant MSF, ILT and ME literature and analyzes rater group data from a large, application-based MSF leadership database. After exploring the data and running the requisite MI tests, I found that the measures upheld measurement invariance and were suitable for group comparison. Additional MI tests for substantive hypotheses support found that significant mean differences did exist among certain rater groups and dimensions, but only direct report and peer groups were consistently significantly different in all four dimensions (analytical, interpersonal, courageous and leadership effectiveness). Additionally, the interpersonal dimension was the most highly correlated with leadership effectiveness in all five rater groups. The overall findings of this study address the importance of MSF data exploration, offer alternative explanations to the disparate leadership MSF research findings to date and question the application use of MSF tools in their current form.

This diploma thesis is focused on measuring the corporate tax burden with the implicit and statutory corporate tax rates within the European Union. The aim of this study is to compare tax burdens across the European Union. Furthermore, to determine whether the implicit tax rate on corporate income depends on the following factors; statutory tax rate, depreciation period of certain assets, tax preferences of research and development, investment incentives or the possibility of transfer of tax losses. In the period 1995 to 2010 the average statutory corporate tax rate decreased significantly. The development of average implicit tax rate on corporate income was not so clear. The differences exist mainly between the Old and New Member States. The performed analysis did not prove dependence of implicit tax rates on corporate income on the above mentioned factors.

Thesis advisor: George M. Barnett / There is currently a shortage of students graduating with STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) degrees, particularly women and students of color. Approximately half of students who begin a STEM major eventually switch out. Many switchers cite the competitiveness, grading curves, and weed-out culture of introductory STEM classes as reasons for the switch. Variables known to influence resilience include a student's implicit theory of intelligence and achievement goal orientation. Incremental theory (belief that intelligence is malleable) and mastery goals (pursuit of increased competence) are more adaptive in challenging classroom contexts. This dissertation investigates the role that college science grading policies and messages about the importance of effort play in shaping both implicit theories and achievement goal orientation. College students (N = 425) were randomly assigned to read one of three grading scenarios: (1) a "mastery" scenario, which used criterion-referenced grading, permitted tests to be retaken, and included a strong effort message; (2) a "norm" scenario, which used norm-referenced grading (grading on the curve); or (3) an "effort" scenario, which combined a strong effort message with the norm-referenced policies. The dependent variables included implicit theories of intelligence, perceived classroom goal structure, and self-efficacy. A different sample of students (N = 15) were randomly assigned a scenario to read, asked to verbalize their thoughts, and responded to questions in a semi-structured interview. Results showed that students reading the mastery scenario were more likely to endorse an incremental theory of intelligence, perceived greater mastery goal structure, and had higher self-efficacy. The effort message had no effect on self-efficacy, implicit theory, and most of the goal structure measures. The interviews revealed that it was the retake policy in the mastery scenario and the competitive atmosphere in the norm-referenced scenarios that were likely driving the results. Competitive grading policies appear to be incompatible with mastery goals, cooperative learning, and a belief in the efficacy of effort. Implications for college STEM instruction are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.