The Determinants of Personal Income Tax Progressivity Around the Globe

This paper utilizes a novel database collected by the authors to document features of the progressivity of personal income tax systems across 209 countries for the years 1980-2009. We measure progressivity in several ways. First, we associate it with the increase in effective average (marginal) tax rates between a wage of zero and ten times the average wage in a country. Second, we consider the curvature of the tax schedule expressed as the difference between the effective average (marginal) tax schedule from a wage of zero to ten times the average wage and a linear average tax schedule and, alternatively, the diference between the effective average (marginal) tax schedule from the minimum positive taxable income, to ten times the average wage as opposed to a linear average tax schedule. Moreover, the paper assesses patterns regarding the conditional correlation of country-specifc tax progressivity measures with a host of economic and political country-specific characteristics and find the labor supply elasticity and the income replacement rates for the unemployed to be key determinants of progressivity around the globe, in line with economic theory.

Objective assessment of patient compliance with removable orthodontic appliances: a cross-sectional cohort study.

OBJECTIVE To assess objectively patient compliance with removable orthodontic appliances and the effect of possible influential factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS Wearing times of 45 White patients were recorded with the aid of the TheraMon microsensor. Patient compliance was assessed relative to wear prescription and other parameters, such as age and sex. RESULTS There was high individual variation in most measured variables and in all groups/subgroups. During a median observation period of 186 days (range, 55-318 days) the actual wear time was 9.0 h/d (range, 0.0-16.0 h/d) and did not differ between distinct prescriptions (P = .49). Eight patients wore their appliances less than 2 h/d, and six of them did not wear their appliances at all. Overall, the median wear per day relative to prescription was 62.5% (range, 0.0-89.3%) for the 14 h/d and 112.5% (range, 0.0-200.0%) for the 8 h/d prescription wear (P = .01) groups. There was a strong negative correlation of age (median: 12.5 years) with the daily percentage of actual wear time per day relative to wear prescription (14 h/d prescription: n = 21, rho = -0.61, P = .00; 8 h/d prescription: n = 24, rho = -0.73, P = .00), while sex did not exert a significant influence on compliance (P = .58). CONCLUSIONS Despite the fact that patients and parents were informed about wear time recording, compliance was insufficient with regard to functional treatment (14 h/d prescription), while it was sufficient for retention purposes (8 h/d prescription). Objective measures are necessary to assess compliance with removable orthodontic appliances since patient compliance is a highly variable issue.

Compliance of cigarette smokers with scheduled visits for supportive periodontal therapy.

AIM To evaluate the compliance of cigarette smokers with scheduled visits for supportive periodontal therapy (SPT). MATERIALS AND METHODS Qualitative and quantitative analyses of compliance with scheduled SPT visits were performed using retrospective data from patients undergoing dental hygiene treatment at the Medi School of Dental Hygiene (MSDH), Bern, Switzerland 1985-2011. RESULTS A total of 1336 patients were identified with 32.1% (n = 429) being smokers, 23.1% (n = 308) former smokers and 44.8% (n = 599) non-smokers. Qualitatively, significantly less smokers returned for SPT than non-smokers or former smokers (p = 0.0026), whereas 25.9% (n = 346) never returned for SPT. Further quantitative analysis of patients returning twice or more (n = 883) revealed that the overall mean %-compliance was 69.8% (SD ±22.04),whereas smokers complied with 67.0% (SD ±22.00), former smokers with 69.7% (SD ±22.03), and non-smokers with 71.7% (SD ±21.92) reaching statistical significance (p = 0.0111). Confounder adjusted analysis, however, revealed that older age (p = 0.0001), female gender (p = 0.0058), longer SPT intervals (p < 0.0001) and higher severity of periodontal disease (p < 0.0001) had a much greater impact on %-compliance than smoking (p = 0.7636). CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that qualitatively, smokers return less likely for SPT than non-smokers or former smokers while quantitatively, a lower mean %-compliance of smokers attending scheduled SPT visits may be attributed to confounders.

Patients' information-seeking activity is associated with treatment compliance in inflammatory bowel disease patients

BACKGROUND Despite the chronic and relapsing nature of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), at least 30% to 45% of the patients are noncompliant to treatment. IBD patients often seek information about their disease. AIM To examine the association between information-seeking activity and treatment compliance among IBD patients. To compare information sources and concerns between compliant and noncompliant patients. METHODS We used data from the Swiss IBD cohort study, and from a qualitative survey conducted to assess information sources and concerns. Crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR) for noncompliance were calculated. Differences in the proportions of information sources and concerns were compared between compliant and noncompliant patients. RESULTS A total of 512 patients were included. About 18% (n = 99) of patients were reported to be noncompliant to drug treatment and two-thirds (n = 353) were information seekers. The OR for noncompliance among information seekers was 2.44 (95%CI: 1.34-4.41) after adjustment for confounders and major risk factors. General practitioners were 15.2% more often consulted (p = 0.019) among compliant patients, as were books and television (+13.1%; p = 0.048), whereas no difference in proportions was observed for sources such as internet or gastroenterologists. Information on tips for disease management were 14.2% more often sought among noncompliant patients (p = 0.028). No difference was observed for concerns on research and development on IBD or therapies. CONCLUSION In Switzerland, IBD patients noncompliant to treatment were more often seeking disease-related information than compliant patients. Daily management of symptoms and disease seemed to be an important concern of those patients.

Improved hand hygiene compliance after eliminating mandatory glove use from contact precautions-Is less more?

BACKGROUND Guidelines recommend that health care personnel (HCP) wear gloves for all interactions with patients on contact precautions. We aimed to assess hand hygiene (HH) compliance during contact precautions before and after eliminating mandatory glove use. METHODS We assessed HH compliance of HCP in the care of patients on contact precautions in 50 series before (2009) and 6 months after (2012) eliminating mandatory glove use and compared these results with the hospital-wide HH compliance. RESULTS We assessed 426 HH indications before and 492 indications after the policy change. Compared with 2009, we observed a significantly higher HH compliance in patients on contact precautions in 2012 (52%; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 47-57) vs 85%; 95% CI, 82-88; P < .001). During the same period, hospital-wide HH compliance also increased from 63% (95% CI, 61-65) to 81% (95% CI 80-83) (P < .001). However, the relative improvement (RI) of HH compliance during contact precautions was significantly higher than the hospital-wide relative improvement (RI, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.49-1.81 vs 1.29; 95% CI, 1.25-1.34), with a relative improvement ratio of 1.27 (95% CI, 1.15-1.41). CONCLUSION Eliminating mandatory glove use in the care of patients on contact precautions increased HH compliance in our institution, particularly before invasive procedures and before patient contacts. Further studies on the effect on pathogen transmission are needed before revisiting the current official guidelines on the topic.

Handrub Consumption Mirrors Hand Hygiene Compliance

We assessed handrub consumption as a surrogate marker for hand hygiene compliance from 2007 to 2014. Handrub consumption varied substantially between departments but correlated in a mixed effects regression model with the number of patient-days and the observed hand hygiene compliance. Handrub consumption may supplement traditional hand hygiene observations. Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 2016;1-4.

Special Tax Treatment as Trade Policy: A Database on Export Processing and Special Economic Zones

Many countries treat income generated via exports favourably, especially when production takes places in special zones known as export processing zones (EPZs). EPZs can be defined as specific, geographically defined zones or areas that are subject to special administration and that generally offer tax incentives, such as duty‐free imports when producing for export, exemption from other regulatory constraints linked to import for the domestic market, sometimes favourable treatment in terms of industrial regulation, and the streamlining of border clearing procedures. We describe a database of WTO Members that employ special economic zones as part of their industrial policy mix. This is based on WTO notification and monitoring through the WTO’s trade policy review mechanism (TPRM), supplemented with information from the ILO, World Bank, and primary sources. We also provide some rough analysis of the relationship between use of EPZs and the carbon intensity of exports, and relative levels of investment across countries with and without special zones.

Fiscal Federalism and Tax Equalization: The potential for progressive local taxes

We construct an empirically informed computational model of fiscal federalism, testing whether horizontal or vertical equalization can solve the fiscal externality problem in an environment in which heterogeneous agents can move and vote. The model expands on the literature by considering the case of progressive local taxation. Although the consequences of progressive taxation under fiscal federalism are well understood, they have not been studied in a context with tax equalization, despite widespread implementation. The model also expands on the literature by comparing the standard median voter model with a realistic alternative voting mechanism. We find that fiscal federalism with progressive taxation naturally leads to segregation as well as inefficient and inequitable public goods provision while the alternative voting mechanism generates more efficient, though less equitable, public goods provision. Equalization policy, under both types of voting, is largely undermined by micro-actors' choices. For this reason, the model also does not find the anticipated effects of vertical equalization discouraging public goods spending among wealthy jurisdictions and horizontal encouraging it among poor jurisdictions. Finally, we identify two optimal scenarios, superior to both complete centralization and complete devolution. These scenarios are not only Pareto optimal, but also conform to a Rawlsian view of justice, offering the best possible outcome for the worst-off. Despite offering the best possible outcomes, both scenarios still entail significant economic segregation and inequitable public goods provision. Under the optimal scenarios agents shift the bulk of revenue collection to the federal government, with few jurisdictions maintaining a small local tax.