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 Effect of Sequence of Operations on Fatigue Life of LSP Treated Open-hole Aluminium Specimens

Fastener holes in aeronautical structures are typical sources of fatigue cracks due to their induced local stress concentration. A very efficient solution to this problem is to establish compressive residual stresses around the fastener holes that retard the fatigue crack nucleation and its subsequent local propagation. Previous work done on the subject of the application of LSP treatment on thin, open-hole specimens [1] has proven that the LSP effect on fatigue life of treated specimens can be detrimental, if the process is not properly optimized. In fact, it was shown that the capability of the LSP to introduce compressive residual stresses around fastener holes in thin-walled structures representative of typical aircraft constructions was not superior to the performance of conventional techniques, such as cold-working.

Cryptographic properties of Boolean functions defining elementary cellular automata

In this work, the algebraic properties of the local transition functions of elementary cellular automata (ECA) were analysed. Specifically, a classification of such cellular automata was done according to their algebraic degree, the balancedness, the resiliency, nonlinearity, the propagation criterion and the existence of non-zero linear structures. It is shown that there is not any ECA satisfying all properties at the same time.

Control of integrated unit operations

As a thermal separation method, distillation is one of the most important technologies in the chemical industry. Given its importance, it is no surprise that increasing efforts have been made in reducing its energy inefficiencies. A great deal of research is focused in the design and optimization of the Divided-Wall Column. Its applications are still reduced due to distrust of its controllability. Previous references studied the decentralized control of DWC but still few papers deal about Model Predictive Control. In this work we present a decentralized control of both a DWC column along with its equivalent MPC schema.

Risk analysis for UAV safe operations: a rationalization for an agricultural environment

The road to the automation of the agricultural processes passes through the safe operation of the autonomous vehicles. This requirement is a fact in ground mobile units, but it still has not well defined for the aerial robots (UAVs) mainly because the normative and legislation are quite diffuse or even inexistent. Therefore, to define a common and global policy is the challenge to tackle. This characterization has to be addressed from the field experience. Accordingly, this paper presents the work done in this direction, based on the analysis of the most common sources of hazards when using UAV's for agricultural tasks. The work, based on the ISO 31000 normative, has been carried out by applying a three-step structure that integrates the identification, assessment and reduction procedures. The present paper exposes how this method has been applied to analyze previous accidents and malfunctions during UAV operations in order to obtain real failure causes. It has allowed highlighting common risks and hazardous sources and proposing specific guards and safety measures for the agricultural context.

Efficient management of available technologies. Aplication to mining operations for industry supplies

Nowadays, processing Industry Sector is going through a series of changes, including right management and reduction of environmental affections. Any productive process which looks for sustainable management is incomplete if Cycle of Life of mineral resources sustainability is not taken into account. Raw materials for manufacturing are provided by mineral resources extraction processes, such as copper, aluminum, iron, gold, silver, silicon, titanium? Those elements are necessary for Mankind development and are obtained from the Earth through mineral extractive processes. Mineral extraction processes are operations which must take care about the environmental consequences. Extraction of huge volumes of rock for their transformation into raw materials for industry must be optimized to reduce ecological cost of the final product as l was possible. Reducing the ecological balance on a global scale has no sense to design an efficient manufacturing in secondary industry (transformation), if in first steps of the supply chain (extraction) impact exceeds the savings of resources in successive phases. Mining operations size suggests that it is an environmental aggressive activity, but precisely because of its great impact must be the first element to be considered. That idea implies that a new concept born: Reduce economical and environmental cost This work aims to make a reflection on the parameters that can be modified to reduce the energy cost of the process without an increasing in operational costs and always ensuring the same production capacity. That means minimize economic and environmental cost at same time. An efficient design of mining operation which has taken into account that idea does not implies an increasing of the operating cost. To get this objective is necessary to think in global operation view to make that all departments involved have common guidelines which make you think in the optimization of global energy costs. Sometimes a single operational cost must be increased to reduce global cost. This work makes a review through different design parameters of surface mining setting some key performance indicators (KPIs) which are estimated from an efficient point of view. Those KPIs can be included by HQE Policies as global indicators. The new concept developed is that a new criteria has to be applied in company policies: improve management, improving OPERATIONAL efficiency. That means, that is better to use current resources properly (machinery, equipment,?) than to replace them with new things but not used correctly. As a conclusion, through an efficient management of current technologies in each extractive operation an important reduction of the energy can be achieved looking at downstream in the process. That implies a lower energetic cost in the whole cycle of life in manufactured product.

Environmental risk assessment in open pit blasting operations: compliance with ISO 31010:2010

All activities of an organization involve risks that should be managed. The risk management process aids decision making by taking account of uncertainty and the possibility of future events or circumstances (intended or unintended) and their effects on agreed objectives. With that idea, new ISO Standard has been drawn up. ISO 31010 has been recently issued which provides a structured process that identifies how objectives may be affected, and analyses the risk in term of consequences and their probabilities before deciding on whether further treatment is required. In this lecture, that ISO Standard has been adapted to Open Pit Blasting Operations, focusing in Environmental effects which can be managed properly. Technique used is Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), which is applied in all possible scenarios, providing to Blasting Professionals the tools to identify, analyze and manage environmental effects in blasting operations. Also this lecture can help to minimize each effect, studying each case. This paper also can be useful to Project Managers and Occupational Health and Safety Departments (OH&S) because blasting operations can be evaluated and compared one to each other to determine the risks that should be managed in different case studies. The environmental effects studied are: ground vibrations, flyrock and air overpressure (airblast). Sometimes, blasting operations are carried out near populated areas where environmental effects may impose several limitations on the use of explosives. In those cases, where these factors approach certain limits, National Standards and Regulations have to be applied.

Safety and health in forest harvesting operations. Diagnosis and preventive actions. A review

Aim of study: to review the present state of the art in relation to the main labour risks and the most relevant results of recent studies evaluating the safety and health conditions of the forest harvesting work and better ways to reduce accidents. Area of study: It focuses mainly on developed Countries, where the general concern about work risks prevention, together with the complex idiosyncrasy of forest work in forest harvesting operations, has led to a growing interest from the forest scientific and technical community. Material and Methods: The main bibliographic and Internet references have been identified using common reference analysis tools. Their conclusions and recommendations have been comprehensively summarized. Main results: Collection of the principal references and their most important conclusions relating to the main accident risk factors, their causes and consequences, the means used towards their prevention, both instrumental as well as in the aspects of training and business management, besides the influence of the growing mechanization of logging operations on those risks. Research highlights: Accident risk is higher in forest harvesting than in most other work sectors, and the main risk factors such as experience, age, seasonality, training, protective equipment, mechanization degree, etc. have been identified and studied. The paper summarizes some relevant results, one of the principal being that the proper entrepreneurial risk management is a key factor leading to the success in minimizing labour risks..

Boolean logic device done with DFB laser diode

We present simulation results on how power output-input characteristic Instability in Distributed FeedBack -DFB semiconductor laser diode SLA can be employed to implemented Boolean logic device. Two configurations of DFB Laser diode under external optical injection, either in the transmission or in the reflective mode of operation, is used to implement different Optical Logic Cells (OLCs), called the Q- and the P-Device OLCs. The external optical injection correspond to two inputs data plus a cw control signal that allows to choose the Boolean logic function to be implement. DFB laser diode parameters are choosing to obtain an output-input characteristic with the values desired. The desired values are mainly the on-off contrast and switching power, conforming shape of hysteretic cycle. Two DFB lasers in cascade, one working in transmission operation and the other one in reflective operation, allows designing an inputoutput characteristic based on the same respond of a self-electrooptic effect device is obtained. Input power for a bit'T' is 35 uW(70uW) and a bit "0" is zero for all the Boolean function to be execute. Device control signal range to choose the logic function is 0-140 uW (280 uW). Q-device (P-device)

Concept of operations for ATM by managing uncertainty through multiple metering points

This paper presents an operational concept for Air Traffic Management, and in particular arrival management, in which aircraft are permitted to operate in a manner consistent with current optimal aircraft operating techniques. The proposed concept allows aircraft to descend in the fuel efficient path managed mode and with arrival time not actively controlled. It will be demonstrated how the associated uncertainty in the time dimension of the trajectory can be managed through the application of multiple metering points strategically chosen along the trajectory. The proposed concept does not make assumptions on aircraft equipage (e.g. time of arrival control), but aims at handling mixed-equipage scenarios that most likely will remain far into the next decade and arguably beyond.

Watching subgraphs to improve efficiency in maximum clique search

This paper describes a new technique referred to as watched subgraphs which improves the performance of BBMC, a leading state of the art exact maximum clique solver (MCP). It is based on watched literals employed by modern SAT solvers for boolean constraint propagation. In efficient SAT algorithms, a list of clauses is kept for each literal (it is said that the clauses watch the literal) so that only those in the list are checked for constraint propagation when a (watched) literal is assigned during search. BBMC encodes vertex sets as bit strings, a bit block representing a subset of vertices (and the corresponding induced subgraph) the size of the CPU register word. The paper proposes to watch two subgraphs of critical sets during MCP search to efficiently compute a number of basic operations. Reported results validate the approach as the size and density of problem instances rise, while achieving comparable performance in the general case.

Reduced carbon and energy footprint in highway operations: the Highway Energy Assessment (HERA) methodology

Global demand for mobility is increasing and the environmental impact of transport has become an important issue in transportation network planning and decision-making, as well as in the operational management phase. Suitable methods are required to assess emissions and fuel consumption reduction strategies that seek to improve energy efficiency and furthering decarbonization. This study describes the development and application of an improved modeling framework – the HERA (Highway EneRgy Assessment) methodology – that enables to assess the energy and carbon footprint of different highways and traffic flow scenarios and their comparison. HERA incorporates an average speed consumption model adjusted with a correction factor which takes into account the road gradient. It provides a more comprehensive method for estimating the footprint of particular highway segments under specific traffic conditions. It includes the application of the methodology to the Spanish highway network to validate it. Finally, a case study shows the benefits from using this methodology and how to integrate the objective of carbon footprint reductions into highway design, operation and scenario comparison.

Quality cost in bus operations based on activity-based costing

The study of service quality and its implication for transport contracts has several approaches in research and practical applications, where the main emphasis is the consideration of quality from the user's point of view, thus obtaining a customer satisfaction index as a measurement of the overall quality with no further implications for service providers. The main aim of this paper is to estimate the real economic impact of improving quality attributes for a bus operator. An application of the activity-based costing methodology is developed for a bus contract in Madrid, using quality data from surveys together with economic and performance information, and focusing on headway as a quality variable. Results show the consistency and practicality of this methodology, overcoming simplifications from traditional procedures. This method is a powerful tool in quality-based contracting as well as for effective investment in transport quality under poverty funding constraints