You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
This book argues that fiscal federalism will consistently deliver on its governance promises only when democratic decentralization is combined with the integration of political parties. It formalizes this argument and, using new data on subnational political institutions, tests it with models of education, health, and infrastructure service delivery in 135 countries across 30 years. It also presents comparative case studies of Senegal and Nigeria. The book emphasizes that a “fine balance” in local governance can be achieved when integrated party structures compensate for the potential downsides of a decentralized state.
This sweet celebration of the magic and wonder of books will delight readers of all ages through André Letria's whimsical illustrations of a book as a kite, a tent, a ship, and more are paired with José Jorge Letria's thoughtful musings on the joys of reading. In the hands of this internationally acclaimed father-and-son duo, a book becomes a mountaintop with a spectacular vista ("If I were a book, I'd be full of new horizons"), and an endless staircase of imagination ("If I were a book, I would not want to know at the beginning how my story ends"). Seamlessly weaving together art and prose, this petite tribute to a reader's best friend makes a timeless addition to every bookshelf.
On Making Sense juxtaposes texts produced by black, Latino, and Asian queer writers and artists to understand how knowledge is acquired and produced in contexts of racial and gender oppression. From James Baldwin's 1960s novel Another Country to Margaret Cho's turn-of-the-century stand-up comedy, these works all exhibit a preoccupation with intelligibility, or the labor of making sense of oneself and of making sense to others. In their efforts to "make sense," these writers and artists argue against merely being accepted by society on society's terms, but articulate a desire to confront epistemic injustice—an injustice that affects people in their capacity as knowers and as communities worthy of being known. The book speaks directly to critical developments in feminist and queer studies, including the growing ambivalence to antirealist theories of identity and knowledge. In so doing, it draws on decolonial and realist theory to offer a new framework to understand queer writers and artists of color as dynamic social theorists.
Over the last several decades, there has been a growing interest in theoretical, empirical, and experimental work on all aspects of tax compliance and tax evasion. The essays in this volume summarize the existing state of knowledge of tax compliance and tax evasion, present new thinking about this issue, and analyze the empirical relevance of these new perspectives. The original essays in this volume represent an attempt to provide a framework on compliance that moves beyond the economics-of-crime perspective, one that provides a more complete understanding of individual (and group) decisions, and one that is more consistent with empirical evidence. It is the insights of behavioural economics that provide much of the bases for these essays and the main theme running through this book is that the basic model of individual choice must be expanded, by introducing some aspects of behaviour or motivation considered explicitly by other social sciences.
This book details the context within which policy decisions and objectives for the property tax system are made in the transitional economies of Central and Eastern Europe. It shows how these policy decisions evolve as a part of the transitional reforms still in process. This book offers the chance to review the experiences of transitional countries in initiating and implementing fiscal instruments during a decade of enormous transformations. The research for the case studies, included in this book, was sponsored by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
What does the Qur'an mean, then, when it so often calls itself Kitab, a term usually taken both by Muslims and by Western scholars to mean "book"?".
In this book, experts from across the globe highlight the state of knowledge in intergovernmental transfer design. The essays collected in the volume represent creative new thinking about challenging policy issues and offer useful options for policy makers. The book offers academics and practitioners a thorough, thematic assessment of unresolved issues in the design of equalization grants.
This paper discusses key issues of Turkey’s economy including private savings in Turkey, increase in the minimum wage for 2016, and nonfinancial corporate sector debt in Turkey. Over the last decade and half, Turkey successfully stabilized its macro economy. In the aftermath of the 1999–2001 economic crises, Turkey pursued a highly successful policy of macroeconomic stabilization. At the same time, however, private sector saving rate decreased significantly, leading to a current account deficit. The minimum wage increased by 30 percent in January 2016, affecting about 8 million workers directly. Nonfinancial corporate sector debt has increased substantially in recent years, on the back of increased foreign currency leverage.
A distinguished international group of central bankers, commercial bankers, entrepreneurs, academic advisors, policymakers, and representatives of development finance organizations and donor agencies, brought together by KfW, examines in this book the future of financial sector development in Southeast Europe. They explore ways to strengthen the banking sector in Southeast Europe, further promote SMEs, and improve access to financial services in the region. Experts and decision-makers assess the opportunities and challenges presented by the EU accession process and Basel II, and offer candid insight into the expanding role of the private sector in developing the financial landscape. The perspectives presented in this book will prompt discussion and intellectual exchange that will serve as a new starting point for further successful cooperative initiatives.
This graduate-level textbook is ideally suited for lecturing the most relevant topics of Edge Computing and its ties to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) approaches. It starts from basics and gradually advances, step-by-step, to ways AI/ML concepts can help or benefit from Edge Computing platforms. The book is structured into seven chapters; each comes with its own dedicated set of teaching materials (practical skills, demonstration videos, questions, lab assignments, etc.). Chapter 1 opens the book and comprehensively introduces the concept of distributed computing continuum systems that led to the creation of Edge Computing. Chapter 2 motivates the use of container tec...