ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE TAXATION OF DECONTROLLED NATURAL GAS
Bills to decontrol completely natural gas prices have been introduced. As a corollary, a "windfall profits tax" on the rise in price for those categories of gas not at market levels has been proposed. This paper uses a simulation of the natural gas market to estimate the effects of two types of natural gas windfall profits taxes under alternative assumptions concerning supply elasticities and the course of future prices. We estimate the induced changes in production, the division of incremental revenues and the welfare cost. We conclude that the defects of such taxes are likely to outweigh any advantages.
The Irreversible Output Effects of Severance Taxes on Oil
This article explains why the output effect of a severance tax on oil is not generally reversed when the tax is removed. It is shown that this severance-tax-induced irreversibility in supply has important implications for both the interpretation and estimation of the supply of oil. Specifically, severance taxes cause a path dependence in supply that makes the concept of a supply curve for oil ambiguous. The authors provide estimates for the case of Kansas that indicate that the magnitude of the irreversible effects of severance taxes is large.
Using Activity Theory in Developing Instructial Tools for Project Management Studies
Competence and skills of the project manager are significant to project success. The skills needed in project managersâ work cannot be learned only by reading the books or a lecture hall; one learns them by practice. Therefore, an important challenge for educational institutions is to develop pedagogical practices that allow students to participate in working life projects and to confront real-life problems. Project-based learning (PBL) offers a model that enables students to practice the skills and competences needed in working life projects by utilizing real-world work assignments in time-limited projects. Using PBL method alone does not necessarily guarantee learning result. In order to be successful, PBL method requires effective and competent supervision and guidance of students as well as appropriate tools for instruction. In this study the concepts from activity theory (AT) are applied to development tools for supervising project-based learning.