Unit Income Research Articles

A Comparative Analysis of Fixed Income Unit Trust Funds versus Equity Unit Trust Funds in Malaysia

This study examines the relationship between fixed income unit trust funds and equity unit trust funds for the period of January 2006 to October 2012. The performance of both types of funds are then compared to the market benchmark to determine whether they outperformed the market benchmark. The performance comparisons are made over several categories of equity sample namely overall equity, growth equity and value equity. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) is used as the market benchmark for equity funds and fixed income funds with additional market benchmark of Maybank 12-month fixed deposit. A total of 31 fixed income funds and 57 overall equity funds which are made up of 37 growth equity and 20 value equity are evaluated by using three performance measures namely Treynor index, Sharpe index and Jensen index. The results indicate that the mean returns of equity funds are higher than the fixed income funds and market benchmark of KLCI. Nevertheless, when equity funds are compared against fixed income funds using Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, Sharpe and Treynor ratios produce significant results. This means that the performance of fixed income funds varies from the performance of equity funds. However the Jensen index produces insignificant result. When the sample categorised into different equity types of funds, the finding shows a conflicting result. The Sharpe and Jensen ratios indicate insignificant results for growth equity funds sample. This means that the performance of fixed income funds is not different from that of equity funds in comparison to Treynor that shows a significant result. As for the value equity, Sharpe, Treynor and Jensen produce results that are significant. This means that the performance of fixed income funds varies from that of equity funds.

Personal Income Tax Structure in Nepal: An evaluation

Purpose – This paper aims to evaluate the structure of the PIT in Nepal.
 Methodology/design/approach –This study adopts descriptive and quantitative research approach, sourcing the data and information from both primary and secondary, which include books, reports (economic survey, report/statement of Central Bureau of Statistics, etc.), journals, bulletins, newspapers, websites, etc. For the objective result, we use statistical tools to confirm the value of the PIT structure.
 Findings and conclusion – The PIT is a major ingredient of income tax, which contains a complex and critical structure in income components, exemption limit, tax base, units, and tax rates. The study found increment in the exemption limit based on equity, equality and with the rate of inflation. However, the method of determination of exemption limit was unscientific. The tax slabs and rates observed three categories progressive, digressive and mild progressive under the three governments regimes inconsistent with national tax policy. Different era of government imposed the tax burden on different slabs and observed decline in tax progressivity in the later year. In the studied period, the PIT payers sacrificed27.81% amount as tax and saved only 72.19% of their total taxable net earnings. It showed a high rate of tax. The tax burden on PIT reached as high as 45.49%in 1989-90 and as low as 24.13% in 1998-99. The gap between maximum and minimum ranged 22.89%, with a great disparity in the tax policy and an average tax, the burden remained 32.56% during the studied period. A high rate of tax encourages the evasion; taxpayers alter their decisions on the financial activities, which reduce the benefit of both the public authorities and taxpayers or citizens. Good tax policy should strive to provide benefit to both the concerned parties.
 Originality/value – This is descriptive research to find out the structure of Piton Nepal, which is derived and written by the author using the primary as well as secondary sources of data and information. Thus, this is original writing in the context of Nepal and in PIT literature.

THE MONEY DEMAND FUNCTIONS IN ISLAMIC ECONOMY: NEW EVIDENCE FROM IRAN-ARDL APPROACH

The demand for money is one of the most fundamental issues of the monetary economy for policy decision. On the other hand, according to the principle of prohibition of Riba, attitudes about the money market conditions in Islamic economics, is quite different from conventional economics. Hence achieving the money demand function in an Islamic country would be necessary. Most studies about the money demand in Islamic economy used the Keynesian approach, while in modern macroeconomics, money demand function derived by using the microeconomics-based approach. Hence in this article investigate some models of the microeconomics-based approach, then, in accordance with Islamic principles, it choose the best among them that is shopping-time model. After that we derive the Islamic money demand function. The results indicate that the demand for money is the function of income and rental rates of sukuk. The marginal product of capital due to an additional unit of income spend for Infaq (spending in Allah's way), depend on the expected inflation rate, depreciation rate and rental rates of Sukuk. In this paper, apply ARDL approach to estimate the money demand function in Islamic republic of Iran in period of 1978-2008 i.e. after Islamic revolution. The results suggested that M1 and M2 money demand are co-integrated with income and rental rate of Sukuk. Incorporating CUSUM and CUSUMSQ tests into co-integration analysis, we conclude that M2 money demand is more stable than M1.

Modelling energy demand from higher education institutions: A case study of the UK

Among the various sustainability goals of higher education institutions (HEIs), reducing energy use and carbon emissions are particularly important. However, not much is known about energy demand from the higher education sector – especially since there is a lack of robust models of energy demand in this sector. This paper, the first to utilize a panel dataset and advanced panel econometric techniques in order to model energy use in higher education, investigates variations in energy use between HEIs (cross-sectional analysis), and also changes in energy use over time (temporal analysis), using the UK as a case study. We argue that panel dataset and methods are more useful for understanding growth (and reduction) in energy use within the HE sector than the methods used within previous cross-sectional studies. Results show that, over time and also across the sector, energy consumption in the HEIs increases with increases in income and floor space, but at a slower rate. As HEIs grow overall (in terms of income, floor space, student and staff number) over time, they become more 'energy efficient' (using less energy per unit of area, population or income), indicating economies of scale in the temporal dimension. Results also show that after controlling for income and size, research intensive HEIs consume more energy. We also find a small but statistically significant effect of energy prices on energy consumption, as might be expected. Simulation using the model parameters for an example scenario suggests that energy consumption will continue to increase unless there is a significant change in the policies driving income growth and spatial expansion in the HE sector in the UK.

A Note on α‐Gini Measures

This note provides a characterization of α‐Gini inequality measures. These measures generalize the standard Gini index by including one sensitivity parameter α, which captures different value judgments. The α‐Gini measures are shown to be weakly decomposable and unit consistent. Weak decomposition provides within‐group and between‐group inequalities. Unit consistency keeps unchanged the ranking of two income distributions when the income units vary. It is shown that the α‐Gini measures are relevant with either “leftist” or“rightist” views.

Matter Matters: Reconsidering the (De)materialization of a Hundred Years of Growth

The present study attempts an empirical evaluation of the dependency of economic growth on mass resources. The distinct role of mass (non-energy) resources in the production process is investigated. We attempt a methodological contribution by delineating an improved approximation of the economy’s ultimate outcome in the evaluation of the resource intensity. Remaining within the monetary realm, the income index is adopted as the appropriate indicator for the ultimate outcome of the economic system and, hence, the material requirements for producing one unit of income determine the actual dependency of the economy on resources. Our empirical analysis focuses on the historical trajectories of the link between mass resources and the economy over approximately the last 100 years, a period of tremendous growth rates and efficiency gains induced by technological progress. Data availability restricts our analysis to the global economy, the USA and Japan. These are two national economies which have experienced technological miracles in the production process, and the re-orientation of their economies toward knowledge-based sectors. Our findings indicate an increasing dependency of the global economy on mass resources throughout the period of available data (1900–2009). The 4.8-fold increase in global income led to a disproportionate 8.5-fold rise in mass flow. The USA and Japan initiated a decoupling trend in the mid 70’s, after the strong coupling period that followed World War II. These estimates question the prevailing vision of “dematerialization” and cast doubts over the efficiency of current resource policies.

Alternative Distributions for Inequality Comparisons

AbstractThis article provides an introductory review of the alternative possible income distributions that can be used when making cross‐sectional evaluations of inequality changes and the effects of taxes and transfers using a household economic survey. It attempts to clarify the various alternatives for users of data and those interpreting results. It focuses on the choice of income unit and the need to avoid spurious comparisons. The use of adult equivalence scales and the application of an explicit sharing rule are considered, as are comparisons over time where the tax structure and populations differ. Numerical examples highlight the alternative approaches and distributions.

Identifying the Main Emitters of Carbon Dioxide in Mexico: A Multi-Sectoral Study

In this paper, input-output and SAM-based multiplier models are formulated to identify the main emitters of direct, indirect, and induced carbon dioxide (CO2) for the Mexican economy. The models are based on a social accounting matrix for Mexico, with disaggregated household income and consumption patterns according to the official poverty line. The results show that the final users of the inputs that embody high levels of CO2 emissions are the next five sectors: (1) construction; (2) electricity, gas, and water supply; (3) inland transport; (4) food, beverages, and tobacco; and (5) coke, refined petroleum, and nuclear fuel. The findings suggest that the implementation of a carbon tax could damage poor families, since these families generate high direct, indirect, and induced CO2 emissions per unit of income, as a consequence of their consumption patterns of fuels and the products that embody high CO2 emissions levels (for example, agriculture, hunting, forestry, and fishing).
 JEL Classifications: C58, I3, Q21, Q56

Identifying the Main Emitters of Carbon Dioxide in Mexico: A Multi-Sectoral Study

In this paper, input-output and SAM-based multiplier models are formulated to identify the main emitters of direct, indirect, and induced carbon dioxide (CO2) for the Mexican economy. The models are based on a social accounting matrix for Mexico, with disaggre-gated household income and consumption patterns according to the official poverty line. The results show that the final users of the inputs that embody high levels of CO2 emissions are the next five sectors: (1) construction; (2) electricity, gas, and water supply; (3) inland transport; (4) food, beverages, and tobacco; and (5) coke, refined petroleum, and nuclear fuel. The findings suggest that the implementation of a carbon tax could damage poor families, since these families generate high direct, indirect, and induced CO2 emissions per unit of income, as a consequence of their consumption patterns of fuels and the products that embody high CO2 emissions levels (for example, agriculture, hunting, forestry, and fishing).

Neighbourhood Determinants of Caries Experience in Preschool Children: A Multilevel Study

Objectives: To investigate the association between neighbourhood factors and decayed, missing, and filled teeth (dmft) index among preschool children. Methods: The sample of this cross-sectional study comprised 1,110 children (0-5 years old) clustered in 16 official neighbourhoods of Canoas city, southern Brazil. Multilevel binomial models were used to estimate the association of contextual variables at neighbourhood level (Human Development Index, average income, and public primary health care units) with two oral health outcomes: decayed teeth (dt) and missing or filled teeth (mft), after adjusting for individual variables (gender, age, maternal education, equivalent household income logarithm, household, and point of care). Results: Overall, 24.9% of the sample had dental caries experience (dmft >0), and 92.3% of the dmft was untreated caries. There was no statistical significant association (p > 0.05) of contextual characteristics with the decay component. The teeth of children living in richer areas had 2.87 (95% CI: 1.05-7.86) times more chances of being treated (mft component). Variance attributed to neighbourhood level was estimated as 5.9% (p < 0.01) and 4.1% (p = 0.17) for dt and mft, respectively, in adjusted models. Conclusions: Intra-urban areas seem homogeneous, with small variability between neighbourhoods, having no contextual effect on untreated dental caries (dt). Contextual variables may influence treatment access (mft) through the use of dental services in preschool children.

How land allocation and technology innovation affect the sustainability of agriculture in Argentina Pampas: An expanded life cycle analysis

Pampas region grows more than 80% of Argentina's main crops, with maize (Zea maiz L.), soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) producing crop and landscape homogeneity that reduces biodiversity, agricultural system resilience and current and future regional welfare. With growing population and markets, there is a call for new agricultural patterns to meet increased food demand, together with concern for reducing environmental impact and improving social welfare. These challenges need rigorous approaches to measuring technological change costs and benefits as well as evaluating environmental impact of farmers' management practices. The objectives of this study are: [1] to evaluate resource use and environmental impact of current agricultural patterns in the northern part of Pampas region, [2] to contrast this with agricultural systems of previous decades, and [3] to analyze the incidence on space and time scales of the different proportions of land allocated to these three crops. Life cycle evaluations of cropping systems enlarge the scope of the analysis and help identify how problems might be solved. We utilize the SUMMA (SUstainability Multimethod Multiscale Assessment) framework for assessing the performance of integrated crop production in the northern Pampas in the years 1986–87, 1995–96, and 2009–10 based on actual land use data, compared to current systems with similar proportions of land distribution for the three crops, and to a wheat/soybean annual system. We also simulate other potential alternative land distribution scenarios. Results indicate a worsening of 9 to 12 out of 15 environmental indicators per unit of area (density of impacts), while there is an improvement per unit of product or income. The grain yield accounted in energy per hectare increased three times in relation to the year of reference (1986), while the energy demand decreased by 32%, blue water demand increased 50%. Acidification increased more than twice (7.99kgSO2eq./ha), while carbon emissions (982kgCO2eq./ha in 2009) decreased. These results provide a benchmark for further studies where new alternatives of crop distribution may prove environmentally and economically desirable choices for farmers in the Pampas.

The Performance of Unit Trust Industry in Malaysia

This study measured the efficiency of fixed income unit trust funds and equity unit trust funds for the period of January 2004 to December 2014. A total of 36 fixed income funds and 109 equity funds were evaluated using stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) technique with three inputs (expense ratio, portfolio turnover ratio, and fund management stated fee) and one output variable (return). The econometric technique was used to measure the portfolio efficiency score as well as to compare the efficiency of fixed income funds and equity funds. The results indicated that the average efficiency score for equity unit trust funds was higher than fixed income unit trust funds. Nevertheless, when the samples were categorized into panel data, the average efficiency score for fixed income funds increased throughout ten years. Meanwhile the average score for equity funds was consistent over the years. It shows that time is invariant for equity funds. However, this means that the performance efficiency for both types of funds was considered excellent and efficient. The results indicate that the mean efficiency achieved in unit trust industry is almost 100% of its potential output.

Income redistribution and changes in inequality in New Zealand from 2007 to 2011: Alternative distributions and value judgements

This paper illustrates the effects of using different distributions and summary measures, using New Zealand data for the period 2007–2011. Using an annual accounting period, alternative welfare metrics and units of analysis are investigated. In addition, the sensitivity to assumptions about economies of scale within households is examined, and changes in inequality are decomposed into those arising from population and tax structure changes. When considering the period 2007–2010, all measures agree that inequality fell, although the extent of the reduction varies. For the period 2007–2011 (after the tax reforms of 2010) the answer to the question of whether inequality in New Zealand has risen or fallen depends crucially on the combination of welfare metric, income unit, adult equivalent scale and inequality measure used. In empirical studies, it is therefore important to explore a wide range of alternative approaches, providing information for readers to make their own judgements.

TELEVİZYON PROGRAMLARI YAPIMCILIĞI SEKTÖRÜNDE TÜKENMİŞLİK

Purpose of this study is to understand whether burnout levels of employees in program production at television change or not according to some of their socio-demographic characteristics. In this aim, three Unions; Actors Union, Cinema Employee Union and Script Writers Association that were chosen according to mass sampling accepted to participate in the study In this way, 510 employees working in the television industry the sample of this study. In data collection process, personal information form was used in addition to Maslach Burnout Inventory. In this study, sector employees reported high levels of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment. Further, results shows that the emotional exhaustion level of employees differentiate according to variables of education, duty definition, working hours, income, social security and project task and as for depersonalization sub-dimension, it differentiate in terms of marital status, working years, working hours, income, social security and working unit. And for personal accomplishment, it differentiate in terms of working years, working hours and, social security.

Factors Influencing the Practice of Self-Medication among Bankers in Selected New Generation Banks in Ilorin Nigeria

The irrational use of drugs often referred to as Self-medication, is fast becoming a global issue affecting all works life, including the Nigerian Banking Industry. This study aims at investigating the factors responsible for the practice of self medication among bankers in Ilorin, north central region of Nigeria. The study was conducted in five new generation banks in Ilorin, namely: Fidelity Bank, Diamond Bank, Zenith Bank, Access Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank. Information was gathered through questionnaire administration and a total of 240 bankers were included in the study. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 17.0. The study made use of tables, simple percentage and chats to present the data retrieved from the field. Major factors influencing the practice of self-medication as revealed in the study include: busy nature of job (64%), knowledge of drug to take (91%), nature of sickness (85%), seriousness of the sickness (82%) and faster relief from sickness (46%). The practice of self medication is also affected by respondents’ age, work duration, annual income and business unit as test of associations were statistically significant (p<0.05). Stiffer government regulation remains the way out of this practice in the banking industry in Nigeria and the Nigerian society at large.

Impact of Taxes and Benefits on Inequality among Groups of Income Units

This paper analyzes the redistributive impact of the fiscal system and simultaneously explains how each tax and benefit instrument satisfies the principles of vertical and horizontal equity within and across different groups of income units. The decompositions of the redistributive effect are based on new axioms concerning the vertical and horizontal equity of the overall fiscal system, including taxes and benefits. The method is based on pairwise comparisons of income units and the “micro” concepts of income supremacy change, deprivation from reranking, and income distance change. The decomposition results provide more detailed insights into the income redistribution process than is typical in the literature. This is illustrated by an empirical application of the method to the Croatian scheme of personal income taxes and non‐pension social benefits, in which households are divided into two groups, those with and those without children.

PENETAPAN PUSAT PERTANGGUNGJAWABAN UNIT-UNIT PENDAPATAN PADA BISNIS RUMAH SAKIT

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Title: [The Determination of Responsibility Center of Revenue Units on Hospital Business]&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The purpose of starting a business is the goal of economic and social objectives. In the economic profit goals into measurement tools are easy to do. To measure the success of the hospital business is supported by profit income units, so the determination of income units will be important in determining the responsibility center of management. By that way the hospital business and the number of units of income are so complexity, the hospital management to collect revenue from sources Outpatient, Inpatient, Support Unit and also others. Income units that occur in outpatient covering the ER, Poly and specialists, delivery room, operating room and physiotherapy. While there are general in inpatient wards, maternal ward, pediatric ward, ICU, NICU and ICCU. In the supporting unit no pharmacy, laboratory, radiology, laundry, sterileyzation and hem dialysis. Other units there are cafeterias, parking lots and incinerators.&lt;/p&gt;

Diversification strategies and their impact on farm performance

The objective of this study is to identify factors determining the economic performance of agricultural holdings in Italy, with specific attention to the impact of the adoption of on-farm diversification strategies, namely income diversification and product differentiation. The adoption of these kinds of strategies has been increasingly recognised as a viable business option in agriculture as they allow better allocation of farm resources and an increase in the quota of value added retained on farms and therefore not passed on to other agents operating at the end of the food supply chain. By using a panel of professional Italian farms over the time period of 2003-2009, we estimate random effect, ordinary least square and quantile regression models to estimate the impact of income diversification and product differentiation strategies on the levels of farm income per unit of labour income. Our findings show that scale economies are important positive determinants of farm economic performance. On the contrary, when the family play an important role in the farm business, economic performance is worse. Finally, we do not find evidence of a statistically significant impact of the adoption of income diversification and product differentiation strategies. This latter result may be interpreted as a signal that farms use these strategies as risk management tools rather than as income increasing ones.

Acute care surgery practice model: Targeted growth for fiscal success

Acute care surgery (ACS) remains in its infancy as a defined surgical specialty within hospital systems. Little has been published regarding the financial impact of this method of care delivery to hospital systems and departments when combining trauma, surgical critical care, emergent, and elective general surgery into a single practice model. We sought to compare hospital net income and divisional clinical productivity measures of a newly formed, university division of ACS based on patient type-trauma, emergency general surgery, and elective surgery-to determine the best avenues by which to focus on programmatic growth. Single calendar year, retrospective review of hospital system income and divisional fiscal productivity of specific patient visits by patient type (trauma, emergent, or elective) admitted to or discharged by the acute care surgeons. Demographic data, payor mix, patient volumes, and operative rates were determined for each patient type. Fiscal contribution by patient type to both hospital and clinical productivity were measured by hospital net income and divisional work relative value units (wRVU) production respectively. The Chi-square test for independence compared payor mix and analysis of variance was used for comparison of fiscal performance between patient types. We included 1,492 patients in the analysis of calendar year 2010; 1,056 trauma (67% male; mean age, 41.9; range, 0-102), 346 emergent (53% male; mean age, 44.6; range, 15-91), and 90 elective (51% male; mean age, 46; range, 16-87) patient encounters met criteria for analysis. There were no differences in payor mix between patient types. Significant differences were seen in average per patient encounter hospital net income, divisional wRVU production and duration of stay. The ACS team (n = 3) operated on 12% of trauma patients compared with 52% of emergent and 100% of elective surgery encounters. Hospital net income per patient was greatest for trauma encounters, whereas divisional clinical productivity per patient encounter was greatest for emergent patients. Elective encounters contributed negatively to hospital margins. Per-patient hospital system income and a majority of clinical wRVU productivity remains greatest for the care of injured patients in our ACS practice model; emergent general surgical encounters demonstrate the greatest per-patient rates of divisional clinical productivity.

Relative deprivation and labour conflict during Spain’s industrialization: the Bilbao estuary, 1914–1936

What drove social conflict in Spain’s industrial areas in the period before the Spanish Civil War? This paper is concerned with contrasting the determinants of working-class conflict in northern Spain at the beginning of the twentieth century. Our hypothesis is that the key determinant of conflicts in emerging industrial areas during the interwar period was the struggle to obtain satisfactory family income in a context of combined high price fluctuation, unemployment and economic boom and bust. We suggest two new ways to decipher how economic factors interact with labour conflict. We introduce the family as the relevant income unit when considering wage struggles and relative deprivation. And secondly, we study the reactions to short-term variations of income on families by using monthly rather than quarterly or annual data.