Lower Revenues Research Articles

Socio-economic analysis of Kilka Fisheries in Southern waters of the Caspian Sea (Iranian waters))

Socio-economic data of Kilka fisheries in the south part of the Caspian Sea were collected using questionnaire form which consists of different variables related to the fishing activity to evaluate its socio-economic performance. The data collected were employed and assessed, social and economic indicators, cost structure, livelihoods, employment and profitability, level of investments, debts, subsidies, activity levels, demographics and ownership structures. The result of the analysis shows that in Mazandaran province 80% of the vessels owners were active in vessels fishing operation. This figure was 90% for the segment 12-18 LOA and 40% for the segment 18-24 LOA of Gilan province. The survey also showed lower revenue and higher costs for the vessels that owner present on the board of vessel during fishing operation. According to the analysis a total of 377.4 crew were engaged on the board of all the vessel segments in both provinces. Mean number of crew engaged on the board of each fishing vessel was 5.1. The numbers of different individuals engaged on Kilka fisheries in both provinces were calculated to be 480. The average working hours per crew for the Kilka fleets in the southern Caspian Sea calculated to be 1212.1 hours per year. This index for different vessel segments, 12-18 LOA Mazandaran, 12-18 Gilan and 18-24 LOA, were 1230.8, 1182.7 and 1221.0 per individual respectively. Comparing this index for the same vessel segments in Mazandaran and Gilan, showed 48 hours higher for Mazandarn fleet segment. The activity level (days at sea) for Mazandaran fleet was estimated to be 5485.8 days, which higher than Gilan fleets. In general, 63% of the effort (days at sea) was belonged to Mazandaran fleet. Daily duration of fishing trip for whole Kilka fisheries was calculated as 16.5 hours per day. Total yearly duration of fishing trip for whole fleets for the year under study (2017) was 144108 hours, from which 90351 hours were belonged to Mazandaran fleet (12-18 LOA) with higher fishing trip (63%). According to results more than 50% of the operational costs of Kilka fisheries were belonged to crew share (salary) and the lowest portion of the operational costs were belonged to energy costs. The results show that total of 2.6 Million liters of fuel and oil were consumed by whole Kilka fleet in the Caspian Sea in 2017, which 75% of this amount was belong to Mazandaran fleet segments. Each $US in 2017= 3885 Tomans (Iranian Currency).

Privatisation, prepaid metering and electricity billing scam of Enugu electricity distribution company (EEDC) in Enugu metropolis of Nigeria

This study underscores the contexts and crisis of privatisation in Nigeria's power sector to apprehend the level of prepaid meters distribution to consumers, the conflicting billing methods adopted and its impact on both the electricity consumers and revenue generation stream of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC). The descriptive survey method and correlation design were used, with sample drawn from Enugu metropolis, Nigeria. The results reveal that the introduction of prepaid metering and billing system did not improve electricity power distribution to consumers. There are still huge metering gaps in prepaid meter distribution to consumers resulting in distorted/partial implementation of both prepaid and estimated billing systems at the same time. This leads to imposition of non‐cost reflective tariffs on electricity consumers. It undermines efficiency, encourage corruption, meter scam by EEDC workers and low revenue generation for EEDC. The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) should use taskforce to strictly monitor the distribution of prepared meter in Enugu metropolis by the Discos and promptly sanction the EEDC for infractions, to guarantee adequate electricity consumers protection in Nigeria.

Wood biomass recovery cost under different harvesting methods and market conditions

ABSTRACT Harvesting woody biomass, often considered a by-product, poses a major challenge in terms of low operational productivity and revenue. However, woody biomass (branches, treetops, and small-diameter trees or SDT) is gaining global attention for its multifaceted uses in soil reclamation, renewable energy production, and carbon offsetting. The operational cost of harvesting woody biomass is a crucial factor influencing the economic feasibility of harvesting and can fluctuate substantially depending on the cost apportioning method used. The objectives of this study were 1) to estimate the cost of producing pulpwood chips from SDT; 2) to examine the factors influencing cost and productivity of whole-tree (WT) and hybrid cut-to-length (Hyb-CTL) treatments; and 3) to compare and estimate the cost of producing sawlog and chips from hardwood pulp with two cost apportioning methods. The total harvesting cost was 53% higher in Hyb-CTL (US$ 17.30 m−3) than that of WT (US$ 11.30 m−3). The cost of producing wood chips from hardwood pulp as a by-product (US$ 3.07 m−3) was half of the cost calculated using the joint-products allocation method (US$ 7.65 m−3). The cost of producing wood chips utilizing exclusive product allocation (US$ 47.53 m−3) was four times the cost of producing sawlogs (US$ 11.23 m−3). This study provides working values that can enable timberland managers and operational foresters to evaluate the cost of harvesting woody biomass under different market conditions (i.e., demand for woody biomass). This study can also aid managerial decisions regarding silvicultural prescriptions and to help efficiently manage stands that have large proportions of SDT.

Wi-Fi for Affordable Broadband & 5G in Rural Areas

The importance of Internet in our lives today cannot be overemphasized. So much so that access to Internet has been declared a fundamental right of citizens in several countries such as Finland, Spain, and Greece [1]. In most of the developed countries, high-speed Internet connectivity is enabled through wired communication infrastructure such as Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) and Very high bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL). Unfortunately, the situation is not particularly encouraging in developing countries due to non-availability of such a pervasive communication infrastructure. The difference in the fiber-deployed-to-population ratio across developed and developing countries further underscores this disparity; while this ratio is 1.2 in USA, it is barely 0.1 in India [2]. Owing to this inadequacy of fiber/DSL availability, cellular access technology has emerged as the primary broadband access mechanism in developing countries.
 However, the penetration of cellular network is limited in rural areas as its deployment becomes unviable due to challenges such as low average revenue per user, sparse population density, and intermittent availability of electricity. This situation leaves majority of the rural people unconnected thereby creating a massive rural urban digital divide. The next generation cellular system along with the use of unlicensed Wi-Fi Technology can bridge this divide if we overcome the above-mentioned challenges. However, since the Fifth Generation (5G) cellular technology has focus on requirements such as 10 Gbps data rate, 1 ms latency, and very high speed mobility, the problems of coverage and affordability are likely to persist, further widening the digital divide [3]. This article explains how Wi-Fi is being used for affordable high speed broadband in rural areas. A successfully implemented case study of Jharkhand state is also presented, and it can be adopted as reliable business model for 5G or 5G type services in rural areas [4].

PENGARUH PENGETAHUAN PERPAJAKAN TERHADAP KEPATUHAN PAJAK PADA SELF ASSESSMENT SYSTEM DI INDONESIA

In the last few decade, the government still faces the problem of low tax revenue. The low level of tax compliance is an issue that is often discussed. In the self-assessment system, the responsibility for fulfilling tax obligations lies in the taxpayer side then the knowledge and comprehension of taxation matter is very substantial. This study aims to identify the relationship between tax knowledge and tax compliance behavior. Furthermore, it also attempts to map the situation of tax knowledge and tax compliance behavior in Indonesian. Through statistical tests with the multiple linear regression method based on a survey involving 260 respondents at a national scale, it is found that knowledge related to tax regulations significantly has influenced tax compliance behavior. Moreover, stepwise regression has identified the two most influential factors, there are knowledge of tax objects and knowledge of tax penalties. In addition, the t-test and MANOVA test prove that the ownership of NPWP, education level, occupation, and income significantly influence the tax knowledge.

НЕОБХІДНІ КРОКИ ДЛЯ РОЗВИТКУ ЕКОНОМІКИ ТА БАНКІВСЬКОГО СЕКТОРУ УКРАЇНИ В ПЕРІОД КОРОНАКРИЗИ ТА ПІСЛЯ ЇЇ ЗАВЕРШЕННЯ

Епідемія COVID-19 в Україні та світі зумовила вжиття державами безпрецедентних обмежувальних заходів з метою протидії поширенню вірусних захворювань і підтримки національних систем охорони здоров’я. Водночас запроваджені в Україні карантинні заходи, швидше, оголили та поглибили негативні тенденції в економіці, які спостерігаються з ІІ півріччя 2019 р. За дев’ять місяців 2020 р. падіння реального ВВП України становило 5,4%, а рівень споживчої інфляції протягом минулого року був нижче цільового діапазону НБУ, що свідчить про ознаки повноцінної стагнації у реальному секторі економіки.Ефективність функціонування інституту фінансового посередництва та механізму монетарної трансмісії в Україні залишається невисокою. Стагнація банківського кредитування триває третій рік поспіль, а застосовані НБУ заходи стимулювання економіки виявилися недостатньо продуктивними. Співвідношення між обсягом залучених банками депозитів та виданими кредитами з 2015 р. характеризується низхідним трендом.Ризик скорочення доходів державного бюджету України та підвищення вартості державних запозичень істотно ускладнює виконання державних програм з підтримки економіки. Відсутність достатнього простору для фінансування державних витрат за прийнятною вартістю ставить Україну в нерівні з країнами Центральної та Східної Європи умови в контексті подолання кризових явищ.З метою протидії кризі COVID-19 країни використовують поєднання державних фіскальних механізмів з монетарними і макропруденційними інструментами центральних банків. З огляду на ризик виникнення в Україні негативного циклу погіршення фінансового стану банківського та корпоративного секторів, обґрунтовано застосування комплексного підходу до вдосконалення державної економічної та фінансової політики, що дозволить отримати синергетичний ефект від здійснюваних заходів та забезпечити довгострокове стале зростання економіки України на базі ефективної кредитної підтримки банківської системи.

The search for novel treatment strategies for Streptococcus pneumoniae infections.

ABSTRACTThis review provides an overview of the most important novel treatment strategies against Streptococcus pneumoniae infections published over the past 10 years. The pneumococcus causes the majority of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia cases, and it is one of the prime pathogens in bacterial meningitis. Over the last 10 years, extensive research has been conducted to prevent severe pneumococcal infections, with a major focus on (i) boosting the host immune system and (ii) discovering novel antibacterials. Boosting the immune system can be done in two ways, either by actively modulating host immunity, mostly through administration of selective antibodies, or by interfering with pneumococcal virulence factors, thereby supporting the host immune system to effectively overcome an infection. While several of such experimental therapies are promising, few have evolved to clinical trials. The discovery of novel antibacterials is hampered by the high research and development costs versus the relatively low revenues for the pharmaceutical industry. Nevertheless, novel enzymatic assays and target-based drug design, allow the identification of targets and the development of novel molecules to effectively treat this life-threatening pathogen.

All-pay auctions with private signals about opponents’ values

We study all-pay auctions where each player observes her private value as well as a noisy private signal about the opponent’s value, following Fang and Morris’s (J Econ Theory 126(1):1–30, 2006) analysis of winner-pay auctions with multidimensional private signals. A unique symmetric monotonic equilibrium exists if the signal is not informative enough. When the signal is sufficiently informative, there exists a symmetric non-monotonic equilibrium in which all types of players randomize in overlapping supports. The revenue is lower than that in the standard independent private value setting. Fixing the signal’s informativeness, the all-pay auction raises lower revenue than the second-price auction, whereas the revenue ranking between the all-pay and the first-price auction is ambiguous.

Transfer pricing in the conditions of the Slovak Republic

Research background:All of the world’s economic relations in today’s world are subject to the process of globalization. Increasingly, the economic activity of many entrepreneurs transcends national borders, often operating in the form of multinational companies. Through the Transfer Pricing Institute, multinational companies can transfer their pre-tax profits from one country to another, and this phenomenon often harms the affected countries, which can result in lower tax revenues and a deterioration in the balance of payments. Transfer pricing generally seeks to prevent similar shifting of profits and thus prevent possible tax evasion.Purpose of the article:The aim of this article is primarily to summarize the knowledge and procedures of transfer pricing and its importance in the conditions of the Slovak Republic. The article also aims to explain to the general public why transfer pricing is important and necessary for a healthy economy.Methods:In this work, the methods of induction, deduction, and comparison were used to obtain a true picture of the issue of transfer pricing. Methods of synthesis and analysis of the researched issues were also used.Findings & Value added:In addition to a general overview of this issue, we consider the result of this work to summarize the legislative framework of transfer pricing and also provide a brief and clear example of the transfer of profits in transfer pricing between two and within one country and their impact on the country’s economy.

Blockchains, Front-Running, and Candle Auctions

Blockchain implementations of auctions have to deal with the problem of front-running: block production happens at discrete intervals, and anyone can inspect and react to the incoming bids before they are written on chain. The presence of smart contracts among bidders, a hallmark of automated blockchain environments, renders current cryptographic solutions infeasible and essentially precludes static auctions. Moreover, their transparent nature makes smart contracts susceptible to shill bidding in strategy-proof auctions more generally. As a remedy, this paper considers an ascending auction with a random ending time --- a so-called candle auction. Time is discrete and in every round, the bidders bid sequentially and in a fixed order. The bidder with the highest bid at the end of the decisive round wins the auction and pays her bid. We show that an appropriately chosen ending time distribution mitigates the main problems of front-running: low revenue, reduced utility when being front-run, and limited efficiency.

The Sri Lankan Economy in the Face of COVID-19 Epidemic

The COVID-19 epidemic, which began in December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, has now engulfed the health and economic sectors of the entire world. The epidemic has been affecting the economy and lives of the people of Sri Lanka since April 9, 2019 and the epidemic had a major impact on GDP, unemployment, foreign investment, tourism and the stock market also. The Sri Lankan economy has shrunk due to the COVID-19 impact, which is seen as a record economic contraction. Increased spending and low revenues in the face of the epidemic led to a deterioration in the fiscal position. Poverty also increased significantly due to the loss of jobs and earnings. The stock market in March 2020 recorded a historic decline, reflecting the country's financial situation. It is the worst moment in the Sri Lankan economy. Accordingly, steps need to be taken to control this epidemic at this moment and to revive the economy.

Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Performance of Small and Medium Business Enterprises in Abuja-FCT, Nigeria

It is obvious that corona virus pandemic has seriously disrupted the world economy and continuing to ravage the existence of businesses. The small and medium businesses are worst hit. This study specifically identifies the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the performance of SMEs business in Abuja and providing recommendations on how their businesses can improve and perform effectively during this falling economy and the numerous challenges caused by the pandemic. The study adopted a quantitative research technique using data collection method through the administration of structured questionnaire and on 10 selected SMEs with 100 respondents in Municipal Area Council in Abuja which were selected purposively to elicit insights into the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on their businesses. Findings from the analysis indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect includes: loss of competent staff resulting from reduction in staff salary, low revenue or income generation, lack of patronage, and lack of sincerity on the part of government to reduce the prevalence of the pandemic. The SMEs are often faced with problems such as: inability to pay salaries, repay loans and rent. Most respondent suggested that government should introduce a well monitored and structured palliative schemes, poverty alleviation programs, reduced interest rates, relax loans and defer tax payments. There are related variables that were not mentioned in this study. It is therefore necessary to consider them in future research work.

Avoiding Medicaid: Characteristics Of Primary Care Practices With No Medicaid Revenue.

Primary care access for Medicaid patients is an ongoing area of concern. Most studies of providers' participation in Medicaid have focused on factors associated with the Medicaid program, such as reimbursement rates. Few studies have examined the characteristics of primary care practices associated with Medicaid participation. We used a nationally representative survey of primary care practices to compare practices with no, low, and high Medicaid revenue. Seventeen percent of practices received no Medicaid revenue; 38percent and 45percent were categorized as receiving low and high Medicaid revenue, respectively. Practices with no Medicaid revenue were more often small, independent, and located in urban areas with higher household income. These practices also have lower population health capabilities.

The Potential of Massive‐MIMO on TV Towers for Cellular Coverage Extension

Because of low potential revenue, network operators have mainly focused on providing connectivity in urban areas rather than in rural areas resulting in technology improvement in favour of urban areas; and consequently, most of remote areas suffer from poor or lack of connectivity. In this paper, we present the potential of massive‐MIMO to provide connectivity to sparse areas. We show that we can cover large rural areas with radius of tens of km using massive‐MIMO mounted on existing infrastructure of TV towers. We also show that, in contrast with common belief, higher frequencies, e.g., 3500 MHz rather than 700 MHz, can reach farther utilizing massive‐MIMO, provided that the antenna area is the same.

5G for Remote Areas: Challenges, Opportunities and Business Modeling for Brazil

Globalization, digitalization, and urbanization are progressing at a fast pace in cities and regions across the world. New technologies and innovations typically reach urban regions first, where Return on Investment (ROI) tends to be higher than in remote or rural areas, which are characterized by low population densities, low potential revenues, and large distances to urban clusters and societal service. This process has consistently increased the digital urban-rural gap. As an example, the Fifth Generation of Mobile Network (5G) has recently started to be rolled out, starting in the cities. Many challenges remain to bring broadband connectivity to the rural and remote regions. Particularly in Brazil, there is still a big digital gap between urban and rural areas. Urban areas have an internet penetration of around 65% while the rural figure is at just 34%. There are also important differences concerning the geographical location in the country. The North and Northeast regions of Brazil have lower internet penetration than the South, Southeast, and Center. In this paper, we present opportunities for connecting the unconnected in Brazil by defining a new alternative and scalable business model to deploy networks in ultra-low density areas. We present an analysis of show stoppers, rural opportunity sizing, business case, including deployment model for a 5G network, costs incurred, and generated revenues. A central element to bring scalability and sustainability into the business model for rural connectivity is the association between a Mobile Network Operator (MNO) and Rural Mobile Infrastructure Operator (RMIO), in which RMIOs run their network on a slice of a network that is connected to incumbent operators. Profit and Loss (P&L) analysis shows that a fair split of the value generated between the MNO and RMIO can be achieved.

Can Monetary Policy Create Fiscal Capacity?

Governments around the world have gone on a massive fiscal expansion in response to the Covid crisis, increasing government debt to levels not seen in 75 years. How will this debt be repaid? What role do conventional and unconventional monetary policy play? We investigate debt sustainability in a New Keynesian model with an intermediary sector, realistic fiscal and monetary policy, endogenous convenience yields, and substantial risk premia. During an economic crisis of the same magnitude as the 2020 Covid recession, increased government spending and lower tax revenue lead to a large rise in government debt and raise the risk of future tax increases. We find that quantitative easing (QE) and a higher inflation target contribute to lowering the debt/GDP ratio and reducing the risk of future tax increases. QE is state- and duration-dependent: while a temporary QE policy deployed in a crisis stimulates aggregate demand, permanent QE crowds out investment and lowers long-run output.

Municipal asset operations and maintenance performance in metropolitan and rural municipalities in Gauteng Province and Vhembe District Local Municipalities, South Africa

Municipal infrastructure asset operations and maintenance are critical for municipalities to provide basic services to communities in South Africa. The paper discusses the performance of municipal assets using Key Informants and literature review based on three metropolitan areas in Gauteng province and four rural municipalities in Limpopo province of South Africa focusing on asset operations and maintenance. Municipal assets in South Africa are saddled with poor performance because the infrastructure is aging in a context of rapid urbanisation and population growth and this impacts on the level of service delivery to the communities. The method used to analyse and unpack the findings were obtained from the review of literature and information obtained from Key Informants. The major official documents used includes the Sector Plans, Spatial Developments Frameworks, Integrated Development Plans as well as the review of books and journals on the general performance of the metros and rural municipalities with respect to municipal asset operations and maintenance. The information obtained from the Key Informants was used to refute or confirm the notion from the literature reviewed that inadequate operations and maintenance of municipal assets contribute to under performance in the provision of basic service delivery to the communities. The study shows that insufficient funding and low revenue base of the municipalities impacts on the renewal of municipal assets and provision of basic services to the communities in both metros and rural municipalities. The study recommends appropriate systems and asset management practices that can be put in place to improve on the under-performance of operations and maintenance.

External Debt and Economic Growth Nexus in the Ecowas: A Threshold Analysis

Literature on the debt-growth nexus postulates that external debt is viewed as capital that closes the financing gap, boost investment and promote growth. Against this background, and given the low revenue mobilization drive, the ECOWAS Member States resort to external borrowing with a view to complement domestic revenue and enhance their ability to finance large infrastructural projects and boost economic growth. However, external debt accumulation has not translated into high growth in the ECOWAS Member States. Thus, the paper investigates the impact of external debt on economic growth in the ECOWAS countries, and determines the optimal threshold level of external debt that promotes growth. The study utilizes panel data for 15 countries spanning from 2000 to 2019, and employs four estimation techniques including the Pooled Ordinary Least Squares (POLS), Fixed Effect Model (FEM), Random Effect Model (REM) and Panel Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE) techniques. The empirical results suggest that external debt (ED), Openness to trade (Opn) and Control of Corruption (CoC) are the main determinants of economic growth in the ECOWAS countries. Specifically, openness has a positive effect on growth, while both external debt and control of corruption have negative impact on growth. Furthermore, the study reveals evidence of a nonlinear relationship between external debt and real GDP, and confirms that the optimal threshold level of external debt in the ECOWAS countries is 111%. Intuitively, the result indicates that any increase in external debt above 111% will reduce growth in the ECOWAS countries by 0.0001% while below the threshold level, economic growth will improve by 0.0222%. The policy implication is that, governments of the ECOWAS countries should ensure that, external debt are utilized in growth enhancing sectors, with a view to boost growth. Also, governments should develop debt management strategic policies, with a view to keep debt levels within sustainable limits.

Is informality a barrier to economic growth in Uganda? Empirical analysis

ABSTRACT We apply autoregressive distributed lag modeling approach to investigate the short- and long-run relationship between economic growth and informality in Uganda. We use annual time series data, covering the period from 1991 to 2017. We find evidence of short- and long-run relationship between economic growth and informality. The results indicate that an increase in informality significantly reduces the rate of economic growth in both the long- and short-run. This evidence seems to indicate that in low income countries where informality is high, a large size of the shadow economy is correlated with low rates of economic growth. This arises from the fact that informal businesses rarely pay taxes for their operations leading to low revenue collection by governments, which affects the provision of essential social services. We argue that the results of a negative relationship between economic growth and informality in both the long- and short-run are possible given the income level of the country under investigation. The practical policy implication from these results is that tackling low rates of economic growth requires also addressing the key drivers of informality in the country.

Финансовые факторы повышения конкурентоспособности корпоративного сектора Республики Коми

The paper demonstrates the importance of a stable financial state of the corporate sector for the competitiveness of the region, limited tools of regional budget policy and the possibility of increasing the financial support of small and me-dium-sized businesses in the Komi Republic. The analysis is based on the indicators of investment in fixed assets and the size of bank lending to small and medium-sized businesses, which are both indicators of the finances of the corpo-rate sector of the economy and the macro-financial block in the concept of regional competitiveness. In the Komi Re-public, as in other northern regions of Russia, the volume of bank lending to small businesses is extremely limited – but the specific investment per capita, and with it the growth rate of the economy, significantly lags behind the average northern and average Russian values. Similarly, in the Komi Republic, as in the rest of the resource economies of Rus-sia, the effects of the "resource curse" (low revenue of small and medium-sized businesses and the volume of innovative products) are manifested – while the poverty of the population is high, the size of average monetary incomes is small and, in comparison with regions with similar income levels, informal employment is very limited. The paper suggests a way to overcome the identified negative trends and restore competitiveness – stimulating demand from the corporate sector of the Komi Republic, primarily small and medium-sized businesses, for financial resources offered by federal development institutions. The problems of intersectoral unevenness and the impact of the system of “northern benefits” on the finances of enterprises are considered.