Rusal warns on Russian tax and adapts to EU rules

Keyword(s):  

Headline RUSSIA: Rusal warns on export tax, adapts to EU rules

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yue Liang ◽  
Jingqi Dang ◽  
Shuai Chen

PurposeThis study aims to establish the linkage among export tax rebate (ETR), firm innovation and product quality of Chinese agricultural product processing industry (APPI), so that more targeted policy implications can be discussed.Design/methodology/approachUsing highly disaggregated firm-product-destination-level data through 2001 to 2013 of Chinese APPI, this study employs a two-way fixed effects specification to establish the linkage between ETR and product quality, while the mediational model is adopted to examine potential mechanisms.FindingsBaseline estimates show that a 1% increase in ETR rate leads to a significant increase in the product quality of APPI by 0.12% on the whole. However, there is a nonlinear, inverse-U shaped relationship between ETR and product quality, and the optimal inflection point occurs when ERT rate equals 0.15. Mechanism analyses show that firm innovation is an important impact channel, which explains 9.8% of quality improvement induced by raising ETR. Further heterogeneous analyses reveal both the total effects of ETR on product quality and the mediation effects of innovation are dominated by young SMEs (small and medium-size enterprises).Practical implicationsAuthorities can promote the innovation and then product quality improvement of young SMEs by moderately increasing ETR rate. To ensure ETR more effective in improving quality, it is necessary for the government to encourage innovation. Authorities can reduce the risk of innovation failure for low-tech firms by increasing R&D subsidies, while ensuring innovation returns for high-tech firms in combination with stronger intellectual property protection.Originality/valueFirst, this is one of the earlier studies to explore the relationship between ETR and product quality specifically for Chinese APPI. Second, we show firm innovation as an important mediator so that policies aim at raising ETR rates are eventually beneficial to product quality. Third, using the highly disaggregated data, we allow ETR rate to vary across different products, which is an improvement in the accuracy of previous literature. Finally, our research provides additional empirical evidence for revealing the micro-mechanism of ETR affecting firm behaviors.


Subject Outlook for the trade balance. Significance Exports declined in the first half of 2016. The January devaluation and export tax reductions proved insufficient to offset lower export prices and the Brazilian recession. By contrast, import volumes climbed. Gradual real currency appreciation and trade liberalisation boosted purchases, especially of consumer goods and vehicles. The government is encouraging trade liberalisation as a tool to control inflation and improve local competitiveness. Impacts Growing foreign trade deficits will leave the country more exposed to sudden shifts in foreign capital inflows. Though trade liberalisation may boost long-term competitiveness, the government may lack the political support needed to sustain the policy. Growing foreign debt will raise fears of a new external crisis, given Argentina's poor record.


Significance High export taxes on the soya complex have encouraged farmers to shift to corn. Rising export earnings will help to strengthen international reserves and tax revenues. Argentina’s good harvest and rising global prices for agricultural commodities will give the government some relief from the economic crisis. Impacts Higher agriculture production and prices will boost some regional economies, helping to fuel the post-pandemic economic rebound. Export earnings will ease devaluation fears, while higher export tax revenues will help to offset a lockdown-related fall in tax collection. The threat of new government controls aiming to guarantee domestic food supplies may discourage new investments, curtailing future output.


Subject Russia's 'tax manoeuvre' in the oil sector. Significance Legislation in force since January 1 will see a reduction in export duties on oil from 30% to 25% this year and down to zero by 2024. The Mineral Extraction Tax (MET) levied on hydrocarbons upstream will increase at the same pace over the period to replace budget revenues. Impacts International oil price volatility remains a key risk; MET and export tax rates are directly linked to the Urals price. Retail fuel prices are under additional upward pressure with January's rise from 18% to 20% in value-added tax. Belarus's oil imports for its refineries have been exempt from Russian excise duties, but higher MET will raise prices. Russia is already using the higher price to pressure Belarus.


Subject Outlook for the agricultural sector. Significance Once again, the agricultural sector will be a key element of fiscal adjustment through higher export taxes and higher property taxes in Buenos Aires province, in the heart of the Pampas region. However, adverse weather conditions that imply that the 2020 harvest may be smaller than expected, and weak international prices, will undermine export tax revenues. Among farmers, the smallest and those from marginal areas will be most affected by the new measures. Impacts Lower-than-expected output and weak international prices suggest that export tax revenues will fall below expectations. The adverse investment climate may see a new drop in the 2020-21 harvest, further affecting growth and tax estimates. Weaker agricultural output will also reduce hopes that the sector will boost the trade balance.


Author(s):  
Jeeyun Oh ◽  
Mun-Young Chung ◽  
Sangyong Han

Despite of the popularity of interactive movie trailers, rigorous research on one of the most apparent features of these interfaces – the level of user control – has been scarce. This study explored the effects of user control on users’ immersion and enjoyment of the movie trailers, moderated by the content type. We conducted a 2 (high user control versus low user control) × 2 (drama film trailer versus documentary film trailer) mixed-design factorial experiment. The results showed that the level of user control over movie trailer interfaces decreased users’ immersion when the trailer had an element of traditional story structure, such as a drama film trailer. Participants in the high user control condition answered that they were less fascinated with, absorbed in, focused on, mentally involved with, and emotionally affected by the movie trailer than participants in the low user control condition only with the drama movie trailer. The negative effects of user control on the level of immersion for the drama trailer translated into users’ enjoyment. The impact of user control over interfaces on immersion and enjoyment varies depending on the nature of the media content, which suggests a possible trade-off between the level of user control and entertainment outcomes.


Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 25-54
Author(s):  
Wanyenda Leonard Chilimo

 There is scant research-based evidence on the development and adoption of open access (OA) and institutional repositories (IRs) in Africa, and in Kenya in particular. This article reports on a study that attempted to fill that gap and provide feedback on the various OA projects and advocacy work currently underway in universities and research institutions in Kenya and in other developing countries. The article presents the findings of a descriptive study that set out to evaluate the current state of IRs in Kenya. Webometric approaches and interviews with IR managers were used to collect the data for the study. The findings showed that Kenya has made some progress in adopting OA with a total of 12 IRs currently listed in the Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR) and five mandatory self-archiving policies listed in the Registry of Open Access Repositories Mandatory Archiving Policies (ROARMAP). Most of the IRs are owned by universities where theses and dissertations constitute the majority of the content type followed by journal articles. The results on the usage and impact of materials deposited in Kenyan IRs indicated that the most viewed publications in the repositories also received citations in Google Scholar, thereby signifying their impact and importance. The results also showed that there was a considerable interest in Swahili language publications among users of the repositories in Kenya.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlyn Johnston ◽  
William E. Davis

In the present study, we examined how the influence of exercise-related social media content on exercise motivation might differ across content type (with images vs. without images) and account type (individual vs. corporate). Using a 2 × 2 within-subjects experimental design, 229 participants viewed a series of 40 actual social media posts across the four conditions (individual posts with images, corporate posts with images, individual posts without images, and corporate posts without images) in a randomized order. Participants rated the extent to which they felt each social media post motivated them to exercise, would motivate others to exercise, and was posted for extrinsic reasons. Participants also completed other measures of individual differences including their own exercise motivation. Posts with images from individuals were more motivating than posts with images from corporations; however, corporate posts without images were more motivating than posts without images from individuals. Participants expected others to be similarly motivated by the stimuli, and perceived corporate posts as having been posted for more extrinsic reasons than individuals’ posts. These findings enhance our understanding of how social media may be used to promote positive health behaviors.


2000 ◽  
Vol 93 (supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 120-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chihiro Ohye ◽  
Tohru Shibazaki ◽  
Junji Ishihara ◽  
Jie Zhang

Object. The effects of gamma thalamotomy for parkinsonian and other kinds of tremor were evaluated. Methods. Thirty-six thalamotomies were performed in 31 patients by using a 4-mm collimator. The maximum dose was 150 Gy in the initial six cases, which was reduced to 130 Gy thereafter. The longest follow-up period was 6 years. The target was determined on T2-weighted and proton magnetic resonance (MR) images. The point chosen was in the lateral-most part of the thalamic ventralis intermedius nucleus. This is in keeping with open thalamotomy as practiced at the authors' institution. In 15 cases, gamma thalamotomy was the first surgical procedure. In other cases, previous therapeutic or vascular lesions were visible to facilitate targeting. Two types of tissue reaction were onserved on MR imaging: a simple oval shape and a complex irregular shape. Neither of these changes affected the clinical course. In the majority of cases, the tremor subsided after a latent interval of approximately 1 year after irradiation. The earliest response was demonstrated at 3 months. In five cases the tremor remained. In four of these cases, a second radiation session was administered. One of these four patients as well as another patient with an unsatisfactory result underwent open thalamotomy with microrecording. In both cases, depth recording adjacent to the necrotic area revealed normal neuronal activity, including the rhythmic discharge of tremor. Minor coagulation was performed and resulted in immediate and complete arrest of the remaining tremor. Conclusions. Gamma thalamotomy for Parkinson's disease seems to be an alternative useful method in selected cases.


2000 ◽  
Vol 93 (supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 113-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Hung-Chi Pan ◽  
Wan-Yuo Guo ◽  
Wen-Yuh Chung ◽  
Cheng-Ying Shiau ◽  
Yue-Cune Chang ◽  
...  

Object. A consecutive series of 240 patients with arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) treated by gamma knife radiosurgery (GKS) between March 1993 and March 1999 was evaluated to assess the efficacy and safety of radiosurgery for cerebral AVMs larger than 10 cm3 in volume. Methods. Seventy-six patients (32%) had AVM nidus volumes of more than 10 cm3. During radiosurgery, targeting and delineation of AVM nidi were based on integrated stereotactic magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and x-ray angiography. The radiation treatment was performed using multiple small isocenters to improve conformity of the treatment volume. The mean dose inside the nidus was kept between 20 Gy and 24 Gy. The margin dose ranged between 15 to 18 Gy placed at the 55 to 60% isodose centers. Follow up ranged from 12 to 73 months. There was complete obliteration in 24 patients with an AVM volume of more than 10 cm3 and in 91 patients with an AVM volume of less than 10 cm3. The latency for complete obliteration in larger-volume AVMs was significantly longer. In Kaplan—Meier analysis, the complete obliteration rate in 40 months was 77% in AVMs with volumes between 10 to 15 cm3, as compared with 25% for AVMs with a volume of more than 15 cm3. In the latter, the obliteration rate had increased to 58% at 50 months. The follow-up MR images revealed that large-volume AVMs had higher incidences of postradiosurgical edema, petechiae, and hemorrhage. The bleeding rate before cure was 9.2% (seven of 76) for AVMs with a volume exceeding 10 cm3, and 1.8% (three of 164) for AVMs with a volume less than 10 cm3. Although focal edema was more frequently found in large AVMs, most of the cases were reversible. Permanent neurological complications were found in 3.9% (three of 76) of the patients with an AVM volume of more than 10 cm3, 3.8% (three of 80) of those with AVM volume of 3 to 10 cm3, and 2.4% (two of 84) of those with an AVM volume less than 3 cm3. These differences in complications rate were not significant. Conclusions. Recent improvement of radiosurgery in conjunction with stereotactic MR targeting and multiplanar dose planning has permitted the treatment of larger AVMs. It is suggested that gamma knife radiosurgery is effective for treating AVMs as large as 30 cm3 in volume with an acceptable risk.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document