Unfair Competitive Advantage Research Articles

DIGITAL SUPPORT OF THE ORGANISATION AND METHODOLOGY OF THE TAX AUDITS AS A FACTOR OF THE FINANCIAL SECURITY

In modern economic conditions, taxes are one of the main sources of filling state funds, which are necessary to ensure the social and economic well-being of the state and society. Unfortunately, tax evasion, aggressive tax planning and non-compliance with tax laws are widespread. This, in turn, affects the quality and accessibility of government programmes. Non-compliance undermines the fairness of the tax system, as those who do not pay their fair share shift the burden to other taxpayers. Non-compliance undermines the fairness of the tax system because those who do not pay their proper portion shift the burden to other taxpayers. In the same way, businesses that do not pay their proper portion have an unfair competitive advantage over businesses that comply with the law. From a review of the development of information technology, its impact on markets and the economy, and taking into account the challenges that have emerged for tax authorities and taxpayers in the context of the spread of pandemic, war state, the issue of transforming the tax administration system in order to implement it effectively has become even more acute. As a consequence, there is a trend towards global digitalisation of tax information, introduction of new technologies for tax administration. Strengthening compliance with tax legislation and collection of sufficient revenues is a prerequisite for filling the state budget and ensuring public needs. This is why tax authorities are digitally transforming and automating their systems. The implementation of technology can ensure successful and sustainable tax reforms, ensure proper taxation of the digital economy and reduce compliance obstacles for taxpayers. Today's challenges have led to a boom in the use of digital technologies in public administration and made it particularly relevant to implement them in tax procedures.

The IMF’s journey on capital controls: what is the destination?

AbstractThe International Monetary Fund’s Articles of Agreement give countries wide latitude to regulate cross-border capital movements, subject mainly to the proviso that such regulations not be used to manipulate the exchange rate for the purpose of gaining an unfair competitive advantage. Beginning from the 1990s, however, the IMF has seemed far more supportive of fully open capital accounts than its legal framework. This can be seen not only in the institutional push to amend the Articles to enshrine fully open capital accounts in the mid-1990s, but also in subsequent speeches by IMF managing directors impugning capital controls and recent attempts to codify a set of highly restrictive circumstances under which countries may avail themselves of external financial regulations. This history suggests that, institutionally, the IMF would be far more comfortable with an architecture in which countries (strive to) eliminate restrictions on cross-border capital movements than with the vision of capital controls enshrined in its constitution by the IMF’s founding fathers, Keynes and White.

Sports Medicine Physicians Comfort and Competence in Caring for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Patients and Athletes.

The purpose of this study was to explore primary care sports medicine physicians' comfort, competence, education, and scope of training in caring for transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) patients/athletes. Mixed-methods, cross-sectional survey. Online. In total, 4300 e-mails were successfully sent with 252 eligible responses received from the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine members. Previous relationships with TGNC persons; previous relationships with TGNC patients/athletes; frequency of care for TGNC patients/athletes. The participants completed a 38-item tool used to assess perceived comfort and competence treating TGNC patients/athletes. Physicians defined "transgender" and described their thoughts on unfair competitive advantage of transgender athletes. Most participants had worked with a TGNC patient (70.2%, n = 177), but far fewer worked with a TGNC athlete (n = 26.6%, n = 67). Among the participants who provided a definition of transgender (n = 183), only 28.4% (n = 52) of participants were able to correctly define the term, whereas most were able to partially (57.9%, n = 106) characterize the term. The most common mechanisms identified for learning about TGNC patients were reading peer-reviewed journal articles (44.8%, n = 113) and CME (41.3%, n = 104). Those with previous TGNC friend/family, patient, and athlete relationships had a significantly different level of comfort and competence treating TGNC patients/athletes. Previous care relationships with TGNC strongly influences comfort and perceived competence of primary care sports medicine physicians. Training, from unbiased peer-reviewed sources of data, is critical to improve care for TGNC patients/athletes.

Partnerships promote innovation in food supply chains

Partnerships promote innovation in food supply chains

Influence of advanced footwear technology on sub-2 hour marathon and other top running performances

Abstract In 2019, Eliud Kipchoge ran a sub-two hour marathon wearing Nike’s Alphafly shoes. Despite being the fastest marathon time ever recorded, it wasn’t officially recognized as race conditions were tightly controlled to maximize his success. Besides, Kipchoge’s use of Alphafly shoes was controversial, with some experts claiming that they might have provided an unfair competitive advantage. In this work, we assess the potential influence of advanced footwear technology and the likelihood of a sub-two hour marathon in official races, by studying the evolution of running top performances from 2001 to 2019 for long distances ranging from 10 km to marathon. The analysis is performed using extreme value theory, a field of statistics dealing with analysis of rare events. We find a significant evidence of performance-enhancement effect with a 10% increase of the probability that a new world record for marathon-men discipline is set in 2021. However, results suggest that achieving a sub-two hour marathon in an official race in 2021 is still very unlikely, and exceeds 10% probability only by 2025.

Female Testosterone: Contested Terrain

World Athletics policy narrowly defines female athletes, creating contested bodies in elite sport. Framed by feminist cultural studies and transfeminism, we discuss the eligibility rules and their real-life impact. Women with naturally elevated endogenous testosterone (hyperandrogenism) are being treated as if they are cheating. That high testosterone in female bodies has been deemed an unfair competitive advantage is consistent with dominant cultural narratives rather than the research about testosterone and sport performance. Applying an intersectional lens, it becomes clear that race, region, class, and nation intersect so that women athletes from the Global South are disproportionately affected by the eligibility regulations. This creation of contested bodies has led to critical mental and physical health outcomes. Cherry-picking one biological component of a body as the cause of exceptional performance in elite sport is irresponsible. Instead, we need education, compassion, and to follow sound science grounded in moral and ethical research.

Do credit unions have distinct objectives? Evidence from executive compensation structures

AbstractCredit unions compete directly with commercial banks in markets for consumer financial services yet receive an exemption from federal corporate income tax. Commercial banks claim that credit unions are no different than banks and that the credit union tax exemption represents an unfair competitive advantage. Credit unions counter that while they offer similar products and services, they differ from commercial banks in terms of structure and mission, given their not‐for‐profit, cooperative status. In this paper, we test for substantive differences in the objective functions of commercial banks and nonprofit credit unions by comparing CEO compensation structures. Drawing on the relevant principal–agent literature, we provide several arguments to support the hypotheses that credit union boards of directors establish lower‐powered incentive contracts with their CEOs relative to similarly sized commercial banks, and offer lower total compensation. We find that credit union CEOs receive approximately 250% less performance‐based compensation relative to CEOs of similarly sized community banks. Bank CEOs also earn approximately 15% to 20% more total compensation on average. The results are generally robust to controlling for CEO‐ and board‐level characteristics, local economic conditions, and institution‐level indicators of size, growth, complexity, liquidity and risk. The findings suggest important differences in incentive structures and objectives between banks and credit unions.

The Uberisation of Aircrew Through the Use of Bogus Self-Employment Contracts

Although not a new phenomenon, the rise of the ‘gig’ economy has shed light on a bogus selfemployment status flourishing all over Europe and the world. The predominant image associated with ‘bogus self-employment’ features riders and drivers engaged in platform work. Unfortunately, the heavy reliance on such status in the aviation industry is rarely discussed and debated, despite in-depth studies, reports, and campaigns by pilots and crew members. The first reports on this topic were actually made more than ten years ago. In addition to lowering social and working conditions, bogus self-employment is also preventing the proper functioning of the aviation market by creating unfair competitive pressure. Indeed, airlines relying on this type of contract have an unfair competitive advantage over other companies by lowering their prices or so-called ‘social dumping’. It is interesting to analyse situation of pilots and crew members in light of an array of case law which have ruled on bogus self-employed status. Indeed, a clear uberisation of aircrews exists, and the COVID-19 pandemic might have worsen this already complex situation. Uberisation, bogus self-employment, aircrew, pay-to-fly, labour law

Closing the Accountability Gap in Corporate Supply Chains for Violations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act

AbstractOver 40 million people around the world are victims of modern forms of slavery: forced labour and human trafficking. People are tricked into working under onerous conditions, and unable to leave or return home due to physical, psychological or financial coercion, and many of these trafficking victims produce goods for United States (US) and other multinational corporations that profit by relying on the lower wages earned by workers in their global supply chains. Well-developed legal standards prohibit these practices, and governments, intergovernmental organizations, business associations and non-governmental organizations have developed mechanisms to prevent, detect and provide redress to victims. Some businesses lead or comply with the standards and enforcement mechanisms, but too many do not. US law offers a powerful but under-utilized tool to address trafficking: the 2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), which imposes civil liability on those who ‘knew or should have known’ about forced labour or human trafficking in their corporate ventures. Unfortunately, courts have ignored or misinterpreted this standard, at times confusing civil and criminal provisions of the statute. Correct and vigorous legal enforcement is key to addressing the accountability gap between the well-developed standards and the continuing use of forced labour and human trafficking. This article is the first to demonstrate that, with regard to the TVPRA standard, corporations have long been on notice of both the obligation to effectively monitor labour conditions and the mechanisms that would accomplish that task. US courts must enforce the ‘knew or should have known’ standard to protect workers – the most vulnerable people in the supply chain – and to prevent an unfair competitive advantage over companies that have established compliance programmes that actually prevent and punish human trafficking and forced labour.

ESPORTS INTEGRITY POLICIES

ESPORTS INTEGRITY POLICIES

Posting of workers: Enforcement, compliance, and reform

This article analyses the enforcement deficit plaguing the posting of workers. The rule subjecting posted workers to the social security system of their State of origin is enforced almost exclusively, but rather poorly, by that State. Because of its limited incentive and capacity to enforce the requirements for being posted, it often issues posting certificates without adequate verification. These rubber-stamped certificates bind the social security institutions and courts of the State of destination, thus hindering its enforcement machinery. The resulting gap in administrative enforcement enables employers to unilaterally choose the applicable social security legislation, quite possibly depriving their workers of the more generous social security protection of the State of destination while gaining an unfair competitive advantage over undertakings based there. Helpful though they may be, pending reforms of Regulation 883/2004 and Regulation 987/2009 are held back by an incomplete problem definition. Building on rationalist and managerial theories, I argue that the effectiveness of administrative enforcement depends on whether each posting requirement can be monitored by a State that is both willing and capable of doing so. The existing and envisaged allocation of administrative enforcement powers suffers from a misalignment between incentives, capacities and competences to monitor, which can be addressed by heightening incentives, by enhancing capacities, and by transferring competences to the State of destination.

TECHNOLOGICAL RISK ANALYSIS ON CRYPTO CURRENCY ENGINEERING AND DOLLAR HEGEMONY

Amaç: Bu çalışmadaki amacımız, ABD Dolar senyorajının ne boyutta oluğunu tespit etmek ve bunun kripto paraların yükselişiyle etkilenip etkilenmeyeceğini anlamaya çalışmaktır.Yöntem: Bu çoklu disipliner çalışmamızda, henüz yaygınlaşmamış olmakla birlikte özellikle dijital/kripto para mekanizmasının ABD Dolarının küresel ölçekte hegemonyasını sarsabilecek bir potansiyelde olup olmaması noktasında hegemonya, paradigma, senyoraj ve parasal miktar kuramları çerçevesinde çoklu analiz yapılmaktadır.Bulgular: ABD Doları, diğer uluslar tarafından rezerv para, değişim aracı ve değer ölçümü olarak kullanıldığından günümüzde sadece ulusal senyoraj değil, aynı zamanda küresel senyoraj aracı olarak da rakipsiz bir avantaj sağlamaktadır. Bu sayede diğer ulusların rekabet edemeyeceği bir üstünlük elde etmiştir. Türk Lirası (TL) örneğinde görüldüğü gibi pek çok gelişmekte olan ülke paralarının değer kaybından dolayı sıkıntılar yaşamaktadır. Elle tutulur ortamdan e-devlet/MIS dijital alanına kayan devletin parası da aynı eğilim ve metotla sanal ve kripto ortama taşınmak zorundadır. Özellikle Korona Virüs salgını sonrasında kağıt paraların da enfeksiyon bulaştırma riski ön plana çıktığından Dijital Dolar için ABD Senatosunda yasa önerilerinin tartışılıyor olması bu hususta gerekli alt yapının hızlı bir şekilde hazırlanacağı anlaşılmaktadır. Hatta saygın bilim otoriteleri ve politikacılar tarafından Korona Virüsün Endüstri 4.0 için ortam oluşturmak maksadıyla yapay olarak geliştirilmiş olduğu iddialarının/suçlamalarının yanı sıra, pek çok gelişmiş ülkede insanlara mikro chip takılması ve kripto paralara geçilmesi ciddi bir gündem haline gelmiştir.Sonuç: Kripto para mühendisliğinde kullanılan blokzinciri teknolojisi, ulus paralara rakip olabilecek Bitcoin denilen çeşitli elektronik para uygulamaları ile birlikte aynı zamanda bir belgenin veya varlığın ispatlanmasında da kullanılmaya başlanmıştır. Kripto paraların ülkelerin rezerv para uygulamalarını ve ABD’nin Dolar Senyorajını bozacak potansiyelde olabileceği sunucuna varılmıştır. Ancak, Fereral Reserv Merkez Bankasının Dijital Dolar için gerekli alt yapıyı hazırlamış olduğuyla ilgili haberler dikkate alındığında Dolar kullanımının ve bundan kaynaklanan senyorajın devam ettirilme ihtimalinin de güçlü olduğu söylenebilir.

Responsible entrepreneurship: is there scope for its adoption by immigrant-owned businesses in South African townships?

Concerns about their business practices have precipitated the recent wave of attacks on immigrants in South African Townships. Besides claims that they take away jobs, business opportunities, the locals accuse the immigrants of unfair and irresponsible business practices. All this speaks powerfully to the issue of social legitimacy. Against this backdrop, this paper gauged the business practices of immigrant-owned spaza shops in the hope that the adoption of responsible business practices could act as an intervention strategy for easing the tension between natives and foreign immigrants. The paper followed a quantitative research approach that made use of questionnaires to solicit data from subjects that were purposively selected. The study suggests that immigrant entrepreneurs are treating CSR programmes selectively as issues like training and education, donating to the local communities and employment of natives failed to gain a significant acknowledgement. This, further proves that the CSR ideology has been partially received by the immigrant entrepreneur in the local Townships and thus making it challenging to manage multi-dimensional stakeholder relationships, as issues around credence remain pending. Leaning on the stakeholders and legitimacy theories, this paper advances the case for adoption of CSR by informal businesses and particularly as a possible antidote to the xenophobia that is driven by unfair competitive advantage and unfair business practices by South African township entrepreneurs.

Organizational Business Model of State Franchising

The development of entrepreneurship in any country is inextricably linked with the participation of the state, without the intervention and support of which it is impossible to create a friendly institutional environment conducive to the development of entrepreneurial initiatives and entrepreneurial activity of the population. Small and medium entrepreneurship is the main driving force of the country's economic development throughout the world. The development strategy of the Russian Federation for 2018-2024 includes seven strategic priorities, some of which relate to the development of entrepreneurship and support for civic entrepreneurial initiative, the creation of a competitive economy in which government policy will be aimed at partnership with private business and reducing the direct participation of the state in the economy, and support of such socially important areas as health, education, social sphere, etc. In this connection, there is a need for s forms of the partnership of state and business structures in socially important sectors in order to attract small and medium-sized businesses. At the same time, a mechanism is needed to implement such a partnership, which should be based on a business model that will allow you to clearly understand the logical links and relationships. This paper describes the author's version of the configuration (template) of the business model of state franchising as a form of partnership between business and government. The basis is the canvas of the classic business models of Osterwalder-Pigneur and Ash Maurya. Special attention is paid to unfair (non-market) competitive advantage, which business receives. The described business model makes it possible to cover the partnership in general, concentrate on the main things, discover bottlenecks and interdependencies, contradictions and alternatives. Work within the framework of this business model gives a chance to significantly increase the efficiency of partners and to support socially significant areas of business.

Do Credit Unions have Distinct Objectives? Evidence from Executive Compensation Structures

Credit unions compete directly with commercial banks in markets for consumer financial services yet receive an exemption from federal corporate income tax. Commercial banks claim that credit unions are no different than banks and that the credit union tax exemption represents an unfair competitive advantage. Credit unions counter that while they offer similar products and services, they differ from commercial banks in terms of structure and mission, given their not-for-profit, cooperative status. In this paper, we test for substantive differences in the objective functions of commercial banks and nonprofit credit unions by comparing CEO compensation structures. Drawing on the relevant principal-agent literature, we provide several arguments to support the hypotheses that credit union boards of directors establish lower-powered incentive contracts with their CEOs relative to similarly sized commercial banks, and offer lower total compensation. We find that credit union CEOs receive approximately two-and-a-half times less performance-based compensation relative to CEOs of similarly sized community banks. Bank CEOs also earn approximately 15% to 20% more total compensation on average. The results are generally robust to controlling for CEO- and board-level characteristics, local economic conditions, and institution-level indicators of size, growth, complexity, liquidity and risk. The findings suggest important differences in incentive structures and objectives between banks and credit unions.

The Role of the International Monetary Fund After the 2008 Crisis

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the changes in the functions of the International Monetary Fund after the 2008 financial crisis. Following an extensive introduction concerning the subject of the study and which covers part of the economic literature, the focus was on governance reform and surveillance in the foreign exchange market. Finally, the empirical analysis was carried out concerning the manipulation of exchange rates in a period ranging from 2008-2016 and 15 countries (Taiwan, South Korea, Israel, China, Thailand, Macao, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Norway, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Trinidad and Tobago and Saudi Arabia) that in the period considered massively intervened in the foreign exchange market, keeping their respective currencies undervalued and acquiring an unfair competitive advantage to the detriment of partner economies. The results would tend to confirm that the manipulation of the exchange rate is a persistent and lasting element of the currency policies of the new millennium, highlighting an active insufficiency of the IMF’s action in the exercise of the oversight function on the currency policies of the Members.

Identified priorities for smart urban regeneration: Focus group findings from the city of Port Louis, Mauritius

Although the Government of Mauritius has launched a ‘smart city’ initiative in Mauritius, there has been no effort to improve existing cities. The emergence of new cities supported by strong governmental fiscal incentives are leading to an environment of increasing urban competition with existing cities. The capital city of Port Louis is being challenged to attract and retain business. The fiscal incentives pose an unfair competitive business advantage for commercial operations in new smart cities. Coupled with governmental policies to relocate administrative functions away from the capital, this economic environment supports the slow urban decay of Port Louis. This study showcases the findings from a focus group discussion, aimed at finding recommendations for ‘smarting’ the existing city of Port Louis, while identifying and supporting avenues for urban regeneration. Thirty-one participants from public, private and foreign institutions in the fields of urban planning, urban governance and policy were invited to participate in this study and the findings reveal six emergent priorities that need to be coupled with fiscal incentives for regenerating the urban fabric of Port Louis.

Treating Apples Like Oranges

In response to the Financial Crisis of 2008 and the Great Recession that followed, Congress passed the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Con- sumer Protection Act in 2010. The Volcker Rule is a controversial section of the Dodd–Frank Act that prohibits all banks, no matter their size, from pro- prietary trading and entering into certain relationships with private equity funds. But the Volcker Rule forces banks to incur significant costs to ensure compliance. While Big Banks have the capital and infrastructure to comply with the Volcker Rule, small Community Banks often do not. This gives Big Banks an unfair competitive advantage over Community Banks. However, re- cently there has been renewed interest in the Volcker Rule, particularly regard- ing its effects on Community Banks. Both the legislative and executive branches are calling for changes to the Volcker Rule. But there is no consen- sus on how the Volcker Rule should be changed and what types of financial institutions those changes should affect. This Article will explore this issue. First, this Article will discuss the background of the Financial Crisis, Great Recession of 2008, Dodd–Frank, and the Volcker Rule. Second, this Article differentiates between the business models of Big Banks and Community Banks. Third, this Article examines the Volcker Rule’s effect on Community Banks. Fourth, this Article will consider recent proposals for changes to the Volcker Rule by the House of Representatives, Senate, and the Department of Justice. Finally, this Article will argue that Community Banks should be ex- empted from the Volcker Rule, preferably by a bill recently proposed by the Senate Banking Committee.

Predictors of no-reflow in patients with ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction after primary percutaneous coronary intervention

This article presents the first bottom-up analysis of the proportion of global marine fisheries subsidies to small-scale fisheries (SSF). Using existing data, the reported national subsidy amounts are split into the fraction that goes to small- and large-scale fishing sectors. Results reveal a major imbalance in subsidy distribution, with SSF receiving only about 16% of the total global fisheries subsidy amount of $35 billion in 2009. To bring this into perspective, a person engaged in large-scale fishing received around 4 times the amount of subsidies received by their SSF counterparts. Furthermore, almost 90% of capacity-enhancing subsidies, which are known to exacerbate overfishing go to large-scale fisheries, thus increasing the unfair competitive advantage that large-scale fisheries already have. The developmental, economic and social consequences of this inequity are huge and impair the economic viability of the already vulnerable small-scale fishing sector. Conclusions indicate that taxpayers' money should be used to support sustainable fishing practices and in turn ocean conservation, and not to foster the degradation of marine ecosystems, often a result of capacity-enhancing subsidies. Reducing capacity-enhancing subsidies will have minimal negative effects on SSF communities since they receive very little of these subsidies to begin with. Instead, it will help correct the existing inequality, enhance SSF economic viability, and promote global fisheries sustainability.

We Need to Talk About Aereo: Copyright-Avoiding Business Models, Cloud Storage and a Principled Reading of the 'Transmit' Clause

Businesses are exploiting perceived gaps in the structure of copyright rights by ingeniously designing their technologies to fulfill demand for individual access through a structure of personalized copies and playback engineered in ways intended to implicate neither the public performance nor the reproduction rights. The archetypal example is Aereo Inc.’s system for providing online access to broadcast television. Aereo allows users to tune into individual antennae to stream TV to themselves, near-live, online. Aereo’s activities look a lot like the retransmission of broadcast signals, an activity which Congress has made very clear must result in remuneration for rightholders. However, Aereo’s careful design, which assigns each user her own antenna to generate an individual transmission copy from which she can access only the signals she could freely pick up from her own rooftop, means that it can also be argued that Aereo is simply enabling consumers to engage in legitimate non-remunerable uses. If the legality of this design is upheld by the Supreme Court this term, Aereo and subsequent comers will be able to offer consumers on-demand access to content, in a way that competes with licensed services, without any obligation to remunerate the rightholder. The implications of these business models are significant: in the case of audio and audiovisual works, for example, the on-demand access market may soon exceed the value of the retention copy-based market. When some participants are licensed but their competitors are not, the imbalance may provoke licensees to revise or forego their agreements. More generally, opportunistic engineering choices that obscure some courts’ perceptions of the impact on the on-demand access market risk removing evolving markets from the scope of copyright owners’ exclusive rights. Businesses that free-ride on copyrighted works also obtain an unfair competitive advantage over copyright licensees. The authors of this paper approach copyright from very different perspectives, but are united in the view that it is undesirable for legal outcomes to depend so heavily on technical design. This article addresses the U.S. caselaw that encouraged businesses such as Aereo to design technologies that could rival or even displace copyright-remunerative modes of making works of authorship available to the public. We consider the implications for copyright owners were Aereo and its supporters to succeed in their reading of the Copyright Act, as well as the implications for other technologies, particularly those involving “cloud” storage, were the broadcasters to prevail. Finally, each author offers her own analysis to demonstrate how it is possible to read the U.S. Copyright Act’s transmit clause in a way that does not make technological design determine the outcome. Either one of our readings, we argue, enables copyright’s exclusive rights to remain effective without discouraging technological innovation.