published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / abstract / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Urban Studies / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

本文擬對實際所得稅制度對儲蓄之影響作一番探討，並擬與亞洲新興工業化國家一香 港、新加坡、韓國等三國之所得稅制作一比較研究。 第一章 緒論。說明本文研究動機研究方法，資料來源及全文架構。 第二章 闡明所得稅對經濟成長，家計儲蓄，企業儲蓄之影響。 第三章 我國儲蓄短稅減免之涗革及其他有關儲蓄之所得稅制之說明。 第四章 第一部分－韓、星、港三國有關儲蓄之所得稅制之說明。 第二部分－我國與其他三國之所得稅制之比較。 第五章 我國所得稅制對儲蓄影響之實證分析。 第六章 綜合前述章節之討論作成結論與建議。

This thesis has two main objectives. First, it outlines a taxonomy of reflexive development practice, which aims at transcending the divide between modernism and postmodernism in the methodology of development economics. Second, the thesis examines the taxonomy in two countries at opposite ends of the development spectrum, Vanuatu and Singapore, attempting to show that the taxonomy provides insights for policymaking. The taxonomy is the principal contribution. It suggests an examination of external values and norms; an assessment of the importance of local context; a recognition that policies can worsen the problems that they try to solve; and the idea that theory and policy should be revised as circumstances change. The taxonomy is developed as a way of addressing the difficulties encountered by the modernist Washington Consensus on the one hand and postmodernism on the other. Some postmodernists have criticised modernists for trying to make universal statements based on findings specific to a particular time and context. A further criticism is that the modernist-type theorising exemplified by the Washington Consensus assumes too much certainty, putting excessive faith in the ‘expert’ outsider. Postmodernists, on the other hand, have often been criticised for being relativist or even being against theory itself. In extreme versions of postmodernism, the entire rejection of epistemological foundations allows no analysis or significant discussion. The taxonomy aims to steer away from the pitfalls of either tradition, emphasising in particular the unity of theory and practice and the need for analysis and policy advice to take account of both the objectivism of the outsider and the subjectivism of the insider. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first part discusses how the open systems approach of critical realism, John Maynard Keynes and the neo-Austrians aims to overcome the difficulties of modernism and postmodernism. It then examines some of the principal uses of the term reflexivity in the past century or so, suggesting that some of these uses are compatible with each other and with the idea of open systems. This section draws on the work of several economic methodologists and sociologists, including Karl Marx, Karl Mannheim, Pierre Bourdieu, Anthony Giddens and thinkers within the sociology of scientific knowledge. Next is a critical discussion of the Washington Consensus and its amended version, followed by the development of the taxonomy. Part two begins with a brief discussion of the nature of comparison within developing economies, before looking at the taxonomy in the context of Vanuatu and Singapore. Following the case-studies is an attempt to draw lessons from the experience of the two countries. Finally, the discussion is summarised and some conclusions established.

Maritime security is especially critical for countries like Singapore, an island nation situated on the world's busiest shipping routes, whose economic prosperity is highly dependent on international trade from her busy port, petrochemical complexes and other high value units located along her coastline. This thesis borrows the ideas and techniques suggested for identifying air threats in the Air Defense Laboratory (ADL) and employ them to identify asymmetric maritime threats in port and waterways. Each surface track is monitored by a compound multi-agent system that comprise of the several intent models, each containing a nested multi-agent system. The attributes that define intent models of friendly, neutral, unknown and potentially hostile surface contacts are obtained from movement and communication protocols defined by the Vessel Traffic Information System (VTIS), maritime navigation rules and cues for surface warfare threat assessment. The underlying cognitive mechanism of the models is conceptual blending. The study includes a simulation of a mock VTS for the port of Singapore and surrounding waterways to test the ability of the models to compress data and information regarding multiple simulated surface contacts' into integration networks and then determine the surface contacts intent through the expansion of the integration networks.