Domů

The issue of base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) caused by multinational companies is a potential important impediment to tax collections. Because tax planning schemes utilized gaps and mismatches in tax rules to artificially shift profits to low or no-tax jurisdiction where there is insufficient of no economic activity (Hines, 2014; OECD, 2017). The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has estimated the general annual revenue loss of USD 100 to 240 billion due to the BEPS OECD (2017). Dharmapala and Riedel (2013) focused on tax motivated income shifting between parent companies and their affiliates. The parent companies have almost 60% affiliates established in low-tax jurisdictions. It resulted in profit shifting from the high-tax parent companies’ jurisdictions to the low-tax affiliates’ jurisdictions where the profit is taxed with the lower tax rate.

The traditional interpretation of corporate finance is characterized by ownership. Although, their rights are widely distributed among individual stockholders, but can be managed by few managers. Hence, conflict of interest is arisen among managers and shareholders and this results in an agency problem (Fama, 1980; Fama & Jensen, 1983). A number of empirical studies also confirmed the ownership concentration of firms, especially those dominated by few large owners or block-holders (La Porta et al., 1999). The concentrated structure of ownership also contributes towards agency conflict between block-holders and minority shareholders. From another perspective, the block-holders can benefit minority shareholders by their role in monitoring managers and also can be hazardous if they strive to achieve their own private goals (Shleifer & Vishny, 1997).

When implementing sustainable development principles, business should play the core role, and the corporate social responsibility is one of the examples of the active role of enterprises in implementing sustainable development goals. The corporate social responsibility (CSR) describes the companies that are aware of their mission and take responsibility for their impact on society in general. The CSR is vital for sustainability, competitiveness, advance of companies and development of the world economy. The CSR provides benefits for risk controlling, allows cost savings and stipulates affordability of the capital, facilitates stakeholders’ relationships and improvement of human resource management. In practice, human rights and corporate social responsibility have become an important aspect of business strategies for many companies.

An important health financing issue facing Canada and other OECD countries (OECD, 2017) are the health consequences of obesity. Statistics Canada (2014) reports that 51.6% of adult Canadians were overweight or obese in 2009 compared to 53.6% in 2013. The proportion of Canadians who are overweight differs by sex, with 59.2% of Canadian males overweight in 2009 compared to 62% in 2013 and 43.9% of females overweight in 2009 compared to 45.1% in 2013. These increases have led to calls for policies to control obesity (see Clark et al., 2014). These rates of obesity are based on the body mass index (BMI) which is the ratio of weight (in kilograms) to the square of height (in meters). Cranfield (2007) uses the Canadian Community Heath Survey (CCHS) to examine the determinants of the body mass index (BMI) of Canadians.

The discourse – conversation – surrounding ethics has its roots in the Socratic and Platonic tradition, which displaced that of the pre-Socratic philosophers such as Thales and Anaximander. Taking a rationalist approach, i.e. the inseparability of ethics from knowledge, Socrates and Plato entirely changed the landscape in terms of the epistemological discourse. Plato (2006) develops the idea of Socratic rationalistic ethics and considers good (alongside beauty) and justice as fundamental to reality. Aristotle (2011) holds that wise decisions are an indication of a virtuous way of life and a social order that is just. Unsurprisingly, in his view ethics is the common, indissoluble link between individual activity and social relations. Similarly, for Thomas Aquinas (1948-1949), ethics encompasses rules that govern our actions and virtues, both of which are milestones for the individual. Immanuel Kant (1997) stresses the rationalistic principle of ethics by appealing to practical reason, i.e. reason as a guide to practical activity.