Who Pays? Measuring Differences in the Process of Repayment of Legal Financial Obligations

This study identifies the correlates of legal financial obligation (LFO) debt repayment among persons sentenced to probation and transferred to a specialized collections unit. Using bivariate tests and logistic regression, results indicate that starting balance amounts, monthly payment amounts, and enforcement actions (capias warrant) are the strongest influences on the likelihood of full debt repayment. These results indicate that some persons will struggle to repay their LFO balances if amounts assessed are in excess of their means, even in an institutional context adopting an individualized, flexible, and non-punitive approach to collections. Policy implications suggest a need for reform at the point of LFO assessment to avoid imposing obligations that are unreasonable to individuals’ ability to repay.

Default Risk and Stock Returns: Evidence from Indian Corporate Sector

Default risk is associated with the probability that a leveraged firm is not able to pay its financial obligation on time. Relationship between default risk and stock returns is very important from investor’s point of view because it has important implication for risk and return trade off. Relationship between default risk and returns is debatable issue and contradictory results are found in the literature regarding the relationship between default risk and stock returns. Default risk assessment helps the investors and lenders to accurately assess the risks to which investors or lenders are exposed. There are several models which can be used to assess the probability of default. In the present study, the widely used Altman’s Z-score model is used as a measure of default risk to find out the relationship between default risk and stock returns using simple linear regression analysis. It is found that Altman’s Z-score can be used as a measure of default risk and results indicate the existence of positive relationship between Z-score and stock return and hence a negative relationship between default risk and stock return.

Determinants of Level of household income utilization and decision making among the educated working married employees in Mbarara Municipality, Mbarara, Uganda

The study determines the level of household income utilization and decision-making among educated working married employees in the Mbarara Municipality, Mbarara, Uganda. The study was guided by Sen’s Cooperative Conflict Theory. The study employed a mixed design of quantitative and qualitative approach. It targeted working educated married employees from MMC with a study sample of 113 respondents consisting of 92 married, educated working employees. Purposive sampling was used to select key informants (21) like the LCs 1,(6) 2(6) and 3(6) mayor,(1) probation officer(1) and legal officers (1) that is in the 6 division in the municipality was interviewed. Qualitative data were analyzed using themes and quantitative data using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The study findings established that age, marital status, religion, educational qualification, years of marriage, monthly income influence the level of income utilization and decision-making among working educated married employees. In addition, patriarchal ideologies, community perceptions of decision making, gender roles, and religion also impacted their income utilization. The findings of this study also show that the level of household income utilization among the educated working married employees in Mbarara Municipality also varies based on the amounts earned by married employees and the difference between the husband and wife’s salaries. The study concluded that household income utilization in general significantly influences the decision making process and affect the level of income utilization among educated working married employees. This is because the household is a huge contributor to the decision making process in the majority of employees’ homes in Mbarara Municipality. Based on the findings, the study recommends that the government should intensify effort by providing jobs for men and women to meet the financial obligation in their household. Keywords: Gender Relations, Educated, Working Married Employees, Mbarara, Uganda

Ethical issues on tax evasion from the students’ perception

Paying taxes is not a favorable choice; even it is a compulsory financial obligation to each taxpayer towards its government. However, the evasion of tax is immoral since it is illegal and unethical. This paper examines university students’ perception in Malaysia on the ethics of tax evasion. A survey method consisting of 18 statements was distributed to 120 students from Diploma to Postgraduate students in three higher learning institutions. This study used descriptive analysis to examine the overall mean responses and followed by additional analysis to compare the mean responses according to the respondent’s age and level of educations. The results of this study indicated that respondents agreed that tax evasion was unethical. However, tax evasion becomes ethical under some circumstances when the tax system is unfair and the government or political party is involved in corruption. In terms of age, the youngest group (18 – 25 years old) tends to believe that tax evasion was ethical compared to medium age and older age groups. Besides, the diploma students felt that tax evasion was ethical when they had the highest score than students with degree and masters level. The findings show an early indicator of future taxpayers who believe that tax evasion is ethical depending on the government’s governance, taxpayer’s experience, and the level of tax knowledge. Therefore, this study recommends universities to educate their students on tax evasion areas through the formal syllabus or informal programs in ensuring their students to become good taxpayers.

Debt sustainability and the fiscal reaction function: evidence from MIST countries

The use of public debt is not new in financing developmental objectives. A significant challenge arose when it became obvious that the indebted countries could not fulfill its existing financial obligation to the rest of the world where debt is sourced. For a panel of 4 heterogeneous countries from 1990 to 2017, we study governments’ reactions to debt accumulation and the corrective measures taken when its borrowings result in a rise in debt–GDP ratio. The study evidence is based on the fixed effect and the feasible generalized least squares estimators. We find evidence that primary balance improves by about 0.005–0.013 for every 1 percentage point increase in central government debt after controlling for other relevant factors. The results further suggest that the accrued interest payments on debt reflect the effective debt management policies across the countries, whereas the activities on the current account balance impose a possible threat to the primary balance. The study calls for policies that increase fiscal bases through the reduction in fiscal expenditure and the reinforcement of tax base revenue across the MIST countries.

An Analysis of Court Imposed Monetary Sanctions in Seattle Municipal Courts, 2000-2017.

In what follows we provide a detailed analysis of the scope of fines and fees sentenced and collected by Seattle Municipal Court through 2000-2017. In sum, we present the following key findings from our data analysis:1. There has been a remarkable decline in cases filed in Seattle Municipal Courts between 2000 – 2017, even as the population size of Seattle increased during this time period.2. People sentenced to criminal traffic cases tended to have their LFO accounts open (not fully paid) for longer periods of time relative to other types of traffic cases.3. For each class of case, Black men and women are significantly more likely than their peers to be sentenced to incarceration through a Washington superior court following a paid Seattle Municipal Court legal financial obligation sentence (SMC LFO).4. Black men and women are more likely to be incarcerated following an unpaid SMC LFO than are any other racial or ethnic group.5. People of color have a higher likelihood than White people to be charged with a DWLS3 following a Seattle Municipal Court legal financial obligation sentence. This is especially pronounced for Black Seattle drivers.

Does Better Management of Financial Obligation Promote Productivity?

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of key financial obligation factors on total factor productivity (TFP) for 34 Indian industries for the period 2008 2018 using qualitative and quantitative techniques. Financial obligations are measured by short- and long-term loans, operating expenses and liabilities. The outcome of qualitative techniques does not appear to support the hypothesis that short term and long-term loans, liabilities and operating expenses influence TFP. On the contrary, the evidences arise from quantitative technique appear to suggest that short term loan and operating expenses promote TFP. The study also suggests that complimentaries exist between operating expenses and short-term loan and they together appear to boost productivity.

The Impact of Zakat on Poverty and Welfare in West Sumatera

Poverty is still a problem faced by all developing countries such as Indonesia. Indonesia's population is predominantly Muslim. One way to reduce poverty is by empowering the zakat system. zakat is an annual financial obligation of Muslim wealth which has reached a wealth surplus (Nishab). Regulations that apply in Indonesia, zakat as a deduction from taxable income has a potential value of zakat 1.57 percent of GDP. West Sumatera is one of the province of Indonesia that has obliged zakat for the State Civil Apparatus. West Sumatera has a zakat potential of IDR 1.7 trillion. This study aims to see how zakat can be an instrument of poverty reduction and a bridge between the poor and the rich. Not only in terms of wealth, but also in terms of spiritual. This study uses the BAZNAS Welfare Index method. The analysis found that the value of the BAZNAS Welfare Index was in the good category.

Scale Validation: School Based Management Inventory First Edition (SBMI-1)

School Based Management Inventories first edition (SBMI-1) was self-developed in 2014 to be a measure of the extent of involvement of stake holders in the educational administrations. The inventories examined factors such as power decentralization (for instance, decision that concerns the school administration do involves the community), provision of facilities (for instance., community assistance in the provision of basic facilities such as classroom buildings, renovations, among others.), monitoring and evaluation of the teaching, learning activities of the school system, recruitment and retrenchment (for instance., On account of necessity, how community recruit new staff to the school as ad hoc staff), and financial obligation in form of periodic expenses and income analysis by the community committee, efficient and effective practice of school based management in determining students’ academic performance in secondary schools. The measure also helps in monitoring school progress and effectiveness.

Scale Validation: School Based Management Inventory First Edition (SBMI-1)

School Based Management Inventories first edition (SBMI-1) was self-developed in 2014 to be a measure of the extent of involvement of stake holders in the educational administrations. The inventories examined factors such as power decentralization (for instance, decision that concerns the school administration do involves the community), provision of facilities (for instance., community assistance in the provision of basic facilities such as classroom buildings, renovations, among others.), monitoring and evaluation of the teaching, learning activities of the school system, recruitment and retrenchment (for instance., On account of necessity, how community recruit new staff to the school as ad hoc staff), and financial obligation in form of periodic expenses and income analysis by the community committee, efficient and effective practice of school based management in determining students’ academic performance in secondary schools. The measure also helps in monitoring school progress and effectiveness.