We conduct an empirical study on the determinants of the psychological costs of tax evasion, also known as tax morale. As a preliminary step, we build a model of tax evasion including non-monetary considerations, show the relationship between tax compliance and tax morale. In the empirical analysis of tax morale we find, using a binomial logit model, that the justification of tax evasion can be explained by the presence of grievance in absolute terms (those who feel that taxes are too (...) high, those who feel that public funds are wasted, and those who accept underground economic activities); and grievances in relative terms (the suspected level of others’ tax evasion). The sense of duty and the level of solidarity are also relevant factors, but to a lesser extent. (shrink)
Francesc Pujols és un del personatges més destacats de la cultura catalana del segle XX. Pensador heterodox, crític d’art, periodista, poeta... és l’altra cara del Noucentisme imperant. Si Eugeni d’Ors és el seny, Pujols és la rauxa que reivindica el pensament salvatge i la internacionalització de la cultura i de la filosofia catalanes.
What are financial institutions' social responsibilities in developing countries? On the one hand, these institutions share the generic responsibilities of all human organizations and business enterprises. However, their specific social responsibility is the performance of the social function of financial intermediaries, which, in the case of emerging countries, consists mainly of contributing to economic growth and solving the problem of poverty. This paper describes a number of technical-economic and moral problems that take us to a consideration of the performance of (...) banking operations in microfinancing, with special reference to Latin America. The paper also provides a series of recommendations that, in addition to contributing to solving the development and poverty problems in emerging countries, help define financial institutions' social responsibility in such countries. (shrink)
The purpose of this article is to present and discuss some of the best practices of financial industry, in three emerging economies: Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The main thesis is that, notwithstanding the importance of certain specific deficiencies, such as an inadequate regulatory context or the lack of financial education among the population, the main factor that explains the low banking levels in emerging and developing economies, affecting mostly lower-income segments, is the use of inefficient financial service distribution models. In (...) connection with this thesis, we will try to show that traditional financial institutions, both in developing countries and in the advanced economies have a special social responsibility to help create an efficient financial system that makes saving and borrowing instruments available to the greatest possible number of citizens. (shrink)
When Caja de Pensiones para la Vejez y de Ahorros , “ la Caixa ,” was created in 1905, it was not only the transient response to a serious social, political, and economical problem, but also provided a permanent solution by creating a long-lasting social welfare institution. In addition, its founder understood the responsibility of social welfare institutions not as an isolated responsibility for each institution, but as part of a harmonious whole that is a real moral entity with a (...) socio-economic character, with autonomy and unity of nature, purpose, and form. The purpose of this article is to show how the corporate social responsibility conception of Francesc Moragas, the founder of “ la Caixa ,” informed the activities of the new institution in a variety of dimensions, including its service to the customers, its economic strengths, the social work, and its participation in the creation of the public system of social security in Spain. (shrink)
We empirically tested Hemelrijk's agent-based model (Hemelrijk 1998), in which dyadic agonistic interaction between primate-group subjects determines their spatial distribution and whether or not the dominant subject has a central position with respect to the other subjects. We studied a group of captive red-capped mangabeys ( Cercocebus torquatus torquatus ) that met the optimal conditions for testing this model (e.g. a linear dominance hierarchy). We analyzed the spatial distribution of the subjects in relation to their rank in the dominance hierarchy (...) and the results confirmed the validity of this model. In accordance with Hemelrijk's model (Hemelrijk 1998), the group studied showed an ambiguity-reducing strategy that led to non-central spatial positioning on the part of the dominant subject, thus confirming the model indirectly. Nevertheless, for the model to be confirmed directly, the group has to adopt a risk-sensitive strategy so that observers can study whether dominant subjects develop spatial centrality. Our study also demonstrated that agent-based models are a good tool for the study of certain complex behaviors observed in primates because these explanatory models can help formulate suggestive hypotheses for exploring new lines of research in primatology. Keywords: Dominance-hierarchy rank; spatial distribution; Cercocebus torquatus ; agent-based models. (shrink)
Taking a detour to reach a goal is intelligent behavior based on making inferences. The main purpose of the present research is to show how such apparently complex behavior can emerge from basic mechanisms such as contextual categorisation and goal attribution when perceiving people. We presentacacia (Action by Contextually Automated Categorising Interactive Agents), a computer model implemented using StarLogo software, grounded in the principles of Artificial Life (Al), capable of simulating the behavior of a group of agents with a goal (...) (for instance, to find a treasure in a treasure hunt ) in an environment where obstacles mask the goal site. The results of the simulations show that agents reach the goal the fastest when they follow each other and take detours. We argue that these results indicate that intelligent adaptive behavior is based on the contextual categorisation of environmental constrainst (that is, obstacles and other agents). (shrink)
The monoidal t-norm based logic MTL is obtained from Hájek''s Basic Fuzzy logic BL by dropping the divisibility condition for the strong (or monoidal) conjunction. Recently, Jenei and Montgana have shown MTL to be standard complete, i.e. complete with respect to the class of residuated lattices in the real unit interval [0,1] defined by left-continuous t-norms and their residua. Its corresponding algebraic semantics is given by pre-linear residuated lattices. In this paper we address the issue of standard and rational completeness (...) (rational completeness meaning completeness with respect to a class of algebras in the rational unit interval [0,1]) of some important axiomatic extensions of MTL corresponding to well-known parallel extensions of BL. Moreover, we investigate varieties of MTL algebras whose linearly ordered countable algebras embed into algebras whose lattice reduct is the real and/or the rational interval [0,1]. These embedding properties are used to investigate finite strong standard and/or rational completeness of the corresponding logics. (shrink)
The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not new. Many entrepreneurs created and developed companies along the time, with a strong sense of ethical and social responsibility. This article presents an example of how CSR was conceived and put into practice when Caja de Pensiones para la Vejez y de Ahorros was created in Barcelona in 1905, following the life and ideas of its founder, Francesc Moragas, a lawyer with a (...) deep commitment for social action and a successful conception of the technical and economic dimensions of a financial and social institution. (shrink)
Human beings inhabit a symbolic reality that articulates meaning. This is culture understood as a web of meanings that actually builds our identity by providing guidance in the complexity of our environment. It is the complex interplay between identity and alterity, between interiority and exteriority, between familiarity and strangeness. Worldviews set up borders that delimit one's own world and others' ground by establishing stereotypes and prejudices. This article presents the results of a research project on prejudices towards the other in (...) students majoring in Education and Psychology with the aim of offering some reflections on what is at stake in social exclusion policies. (shrink)
