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The purpose of this paper is to test the effects of government policies on entrepreneurial activity within the 50 US states.

Using panel data and a fixed-effects model, the authors examine the determinants of the nominal establishment entry rate, the nominal establishment exit rate, and the net establishment entry rate. To measure government policy, the authors use the Economic Freedom of North America (EFNA) index published by the Fraser Institute. The authors use both the overall index and its components. The authors also use the state and local tax burden published by the Tax Foundation.

The authors find that a smaller government is associated with a net increase in business establishments. A freer labor market is also associated with a net increase in business establishments. However, the relationship between the tax burden and entrepreneurship is more complex. Using a measurement of the tax burden from the Fraser Institute, the authors find that an increase in taxes is associated with a net decrease in businesses, but the measurement from the Tax Foundation suggests that an increase in taxes is associated with a net increase in businesses.

The results can help policy makers recognize the effects of expenditure and regulation on business formation.

However, the results do not send a clear message on the effects of taxes on entrepreneurship.

The contribution to the literature is the examination of the effect of the components economic freedom on net business entry in the USA, along with comparing the effects of two measurements of tax burden on net business entry.

This paper aims to assess the fiscal sustainability in Egypt during the period 1990–2018 using deficit accounts (DA) approach. It also tries to investigate the possibility of applying generational accounts (GA) in Egypt as a new approach to assess fiscal sustainability.

This paper tries to assess fiscal sustainability in Egypt during 1990–2018 using DA and GA approaches. DA approach includes primary deficit indicator, tax gap indicator, augmented Dickey-Fuller stationarity test for debt/GDP ratio and Johansen co-integration test between government revenues and expenditures. However, concerning the possibility of applying GA in Egypt, field study form was designed including specific questions to academic and executive economic experts to investigate if it is possible to apply GA in Egypt.

The empirical findings of the field study indicate that Egypt witnessed fiscal sustainability during the period 1990–2018 using DA. On the other hand, there are various obstacles, including administrative, technical, legal and political obstacles which hinder Egypt from applying GA to assess fiscal sustainability.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper assesses fiscal sustainability in Egypt using DA for a longer and updated time series within 1990–2018. In addition, it is the first paper to examine the possibility of assessing fiscal sustainability using GA approach in Egypt.

The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which the tax system constitutes a first-order element influencing the location of holding companies in Switzerland.

To achieve this goal, the authors have estimated an econometric model using ordinary least squares. The authors also provide a unique statistical database of holding companies established in Switzerland. The independent tax variables revolve around concepts of tax burden and effort, whereas the non-tax variables are generally those referred to in the literature on location of investments.

The study concludes that, in addition to the tax burden, there are other qualitative variables that show the same influence on the geographic location of holding companies in Switzerland.

The study of holding companies as instruments of international tax planning is usually linked to law offices or consulting firms that specialize in the international tax system – not university academic research per se. The interaction of academic theory and international fiscal praxis provides an interesting perspective from which to approach this topic.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the commonly used policy approach to subsidize the private provision of public goods by granting agents deductions with respect to their income or corporate tax burden.

In the framework of a microeconomic representative agent model the commonly used policy approach to subsidize donations by granting agents deductions with respect to their income tax burden is examined. The paper especially considers that most income tax schemes are progressive and deductibility is limited. After pointing to the problems arising from these specific properties of tax‐refund schemes the paper turns towards the effects that such a tax‐refund scheme has with respect to donations on the one hand and welfare on the other hand.

Findings shows that the effects of the commonly practiced methods of supporting donations depend crucially on the specific properties of the tax scheme and preferences of agents. While Pareto‐improvements and even Pareto‐efficiency can result from the implementation of such a scheme, it is also conceivable that some agents perceive a utility reduction.

The analysis builds on a static approach although taxation also exerts important dynamic effects. These effects have been neglected in the current paper as the interaction of taxation and preferences is already quite complex. However, they should be considered in future research.

Owing to the dependency of welfare effects on the tariff structure, income tax reforms as they are planned in many countries might not only induce a reduction in donations, but might as a result also alter the induced welfare effects.

The paper shows that the generally applied tax‐refund schemes constitute no effective means to induce optimal donation levels. Implications depend crucially on, e.g. deductibility ceilings and progressiveness of tax rates.

The paper examined how local authorities have attempted to rate undeveloped land as a means of mobilising revenues and the challenges associated with implementing this policy guideline. It focused on current practices in terms of policy and administration, the availability of undeveloped urban land, its revenue potential, and ways to improve policy for local land taxation.

Drawing from the mixed-method approach both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Officials of the Wa Municipal Assembly, Lands Commission, Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority were purposely selected based on their knowledge and the roles they play in property rating practice. They were interviewed to understand their perceptions and views on rating undeveloped lands. Stratified proportionate and simple random sampling methods were used to select respondents. The respondents included land and landed property owners in three selected neighbourhoods.

The paper found that there was the prevalence of undeveloped lands mainly held by speculators and individuals constrained by financial challenges to develop their parcels. The Wa Municipal Assembly is unable to implement the policy guideline on charging rent on undeveloped lands due to lack of adequate information and generally unwillingness to implement this provision. Besides, the current guideline is too prohibitive and cannot be implemented in its current form. However, there is a window of opportunity for the Assembly to build data on undeveloped lands and moderately begin the implementation of the policy guideline.

Urban growth in Ghana is characterised by leapfrog development with many patches of undeveloped land in and around cities. The property taxation policies largely do not focus on undeveloped land or unimproved site value. In Ghana, property rate policy on the tax base excludes undeveloped land. However, government policy guidelines prescribe the charging of rent on these lands by local authorities. This paper provides a comprehensive discussion on the revenue potential of undeveloped urban land and why local government authorities have not been able to harness this potential. The paper has therefore recommended ways local authorities can use to mobilise revenue from undeveloped urban land.

There is limited research in rating undeveloped urban land especially looking at it from the perspective of policy and implementation as well as current practices. The paper shed light on the prevalence of undeveloped urban land and the guidelines that exist help local governments mobilise revenue from these lands. It contributes to the understanding that local government can harness the revenue potential of undeveloped land if policy design and implemented regarding these lands is enhanced. The paper also provides a good background and framework for further studies.

Points out that it would be naïve to believe that democracy in itself will solve all South Africa’s problems. Also that the legacy of apartheid lives on and will continue to do so for many generations to come. Examines the socio‐economic restructuring of South Africa, looking at whether it will be possible to make amends for past injustices while not harming future economic development. Emphasizes the role of the welfare system in improving the quality of life of black South Africans and examines whether the welfare state is a feasible option.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the financial aspects of high vs low-ranked firms in the Corporate Responsibility Index in Egypt, and to construct a Z-score model to discriminate between high- and low-ranked firms in the Corporate Responsibility Index.

This study empirically examines a comprehensive list of financial ratios for 24 firms listed in EGX30 for four fiscal years, 2007-2010. The authors calculate 90 financial ratios to provide better insights and evaluation of the firms’ financial performance. The ordinary least square regression method and discriminant analysis are utilized to explain differences between the low- and high-ranked firms regarding their corporate social governance index.

The results show that corporate governance and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are positively related to the firms’ financial performance in terms of sales turnover and customer loyalty. This suggests that in the long run, the market mechanism should be able to provide additional resources to those companies that are better at maximizing a widely defined bottom line of their social governance. The results also show that highly ranked firms are characterized financially by: strong bargaining power with suppliers; financing growth in fixed assets using debt mainly.

The study contributes to the literature in terms of providing practical insights on the financial strategies that help support effective CG and CSR in Egypt. In addition, this study offers a unique quantitative attempt to measure and examine the benefits of incorporation of socioeconomics into business practices.

Research has shown that the tax treatment of replacement incomes differs considerably among countries. Consequently, the ranking of countries by expenditure level is different for gross and net social expenditures. On a micro level this is translated into a gap between gross and net benefits; this gap varies among countries. In this chapter, we use EUROMOD for an international comparison of the difference between gross and net benefits at the micro level. We investigate the distribution effects of the income tax treatment of replacement benefits, focusing on old-age pensions and unemployment benefits. We present a summary overview of the different ways of levying taxes on benefits in the pre-2004 EU-15 countries. We then try to answer the question how the tax treatment of social security benefits affects the distribution of these benefits and how progressive taxes on benefits are compared to taxes on earnings.

A tax based on land value is in many ways ideal, but many economists dismiss it by assuming it could not raise enough revenue. Standard sources of data omit much of the potential tax base, and undervalue what they do measure. The purpose of this paper is to present more comprehensive and accurate measures of land rents and values, and several modes of raising revenues from them besides the conventional property tax.

The paper identifies 16 elements of land's taxable capacity that received authorities either trivialize or omit. These 16 elements come in four groups.

In Group A, Elements 1‐4 correct for the downward bias in standard sources. In Group B, Elements 5‐10 broaden the concepts of land and rent beyond the conventional narrow perception, while Elements 11‐12 estimate rents to be gained by abating other kinds of taxes. In Group C, Elements 13‐14 explain how using the land tax, since it has no excess burden, uncaps feasible tax rates. In Group D, Elements 15‐16 define some moot possibilities that may warrant further exploration.

This paper shows how previous estimates of rent and land values have been narrowly limited to a fraction of the whole, thus giving a false impression that the tax capacity is low. The paper adds 14 elements to the traditional narrow “single tax” base, plus two moot elements advanced for future consideration. Any one of these 16 elements indicates a much higher land tax base than economists commonly recognize today. Taken together they are overwhelming, and cast an entirely new light on this subject.