革命後のイランにおける特権企業の生成と変貌 -- モスタズアファーン財団を事例に

It is a well-known and well-studied fact that after the 1979 revolution, Iran's economy went through a process of fundamental change and as a result a totally different economic system was established. Among the most remarkable changes was the emergence of so-called para-statal organizations, which were supervised by some institution within the state, while not being controlled by the government. Because of their politically strong position, they enjoy many privileges such as tax exemption or easy access to credit. Although deeply regarded as one of the most striking features of the postrevolution economic system, published studies about para-statal entities have been very limited so far. In this paper, I will focus on one of the biggest para-statal organizations, Mostaz`afan (Oppressed) Foundation. I will attempt to examine the historical and political background behind the formation and transformation of this conglomerate, its system of corporate governance, and its economic scale and scope over the past 35 years. Para-statal conglomerates together with state owned companies are going to be the two most important pillars of Iran's economy in the foreseeable future. Understanding their history will not only help us learn about the current economic system of Iran, but also give us some insight into the future of the economy, too.

Tax differentials and inflow of foreign direct investments : evidence from foreign operations of U.S. multinational companies

This paper concerns the measurement of the impact of tax differentials across countries on inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by using comprehensive data on the foreign operations of U.S. multinational corporations that has been collected by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the U.S. Department of Commerce. In particular, this research focuses on examining: (1) how responsive FDI locations are to tax differentials across countries, (2) how different the tax effect on FDI inflow is between developed and developing countries, and (3) whether investment location decisions have become more or less sensitive to tax differences between countries over time ranging from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. Estimation results suggest that high rates of corporate income taxation are associated with reduced foreign assets of U.S. multinational firms in all industries by decreasing the return to foreign asset investment. Further, foreign assets of U.S. multinationals in all industries have become more responsive to non-income tax differentials across countries than to income tax differences from 1999 to 2004. Empirical estimates also indicate that foreign investment by American firms is associated with higher tax sensitivity more in developed countries than in those that are developing.

The emission reduction effect and economic impact of an energy tax vs. a carbon tax in China : a dynamic CGE model analysis

Chinese government commits to reach its peak carbon emissions before 2030, which requires China to implement new policies. Using a CGE model, this study conducts simulation studies on the functions of an energy tax and a carbon tax and analyzes their effects on macro-economic indices. The Chinese economy is affected at an acceptable level by the two taxes. GDP will lose less than 0.8% with a carbon tax of 100, 50, or 10 RMB/ton CO2 or 5% of the delivery price of an energy tax. Thus, the loss of real disposable personal income is smaller. Compared with implementing a single tax, a combined carbon and energy tax induces more emission reductions with relatively smaller economic costs. With these taxes, the domestic competitiveness of energy intensive industries is improved. Additionally, we found that the sooner such taxes are launched, the smaller the economic costs and the more significant the achieved emission reductions.