Stefan Hohls
email: stefan.hohls@wiwi.uni-goettingen.de

Andreas Oestreicher

Reinald Koch

Dorothea Vorndamme

How to Support (Political) Decisions? Presentation of a Micro-simulation Model to Assess the Implications of EU-wide Tax Reforms

Keywords: Taxation Revenue Model, ASSERT, DSR, Simulation

des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

Introduction

In the recent past, a number of EU member states reformed their provisions governing company taxation. The German government, for example, changed the Corporate Tax Act in 2008 by drastically reducing the tax rate and adjusting other regulations in order to ensure Germany's tax revenue in the long term by preventing extensive profit shifting to other European or foreign countries [START_REF] Homburg | Germany's Company Tax Reform Act of 2008[END_REF]. The European Commission proposed the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB), an alternative EU-wide tax regime, in 2011 [START_REF]Proposal for a COUNCIL DIRECTIVE on a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) COM[END_REF].

Against the background of the currently constraint governments' budgetary situation, which can be observed in many member states as a consequence of the recent financial and global economy crisis, each reform scenario has to be discussed, evaluated and reviewed in detail. Whereas the effects for small or stand-alone corporations can be assessed reviewed relatively easily, the evaluation for larger corporations and corporate groups, especially in an international context, has proven to be difficult. Those cases are characterized by complex cause-effect relationships and cannot be determined manually, particularly if a reform proposal is to be evaluated from a political point of view. Complexity is further increased if changes in the macro-economic changes are taken into account.

To this end, we developed the micro-simulation model ASSERT, acronym for Assessing the Effects of Reforms in Taxation, which enables an assessment of the impact of alternative tax regimes for stand-alone companies and corporate groups (considering national as well as international relations) in the EU on tax revenue. In doing so, national tax reforms can be evaluate taking account of effects resulting from (inter-) national company relations as well as the CCCTB reform proposal. Factors determining future company development are applied by using a forecasting method, which is, to our knowledge, a novelty in this context.

We identified four main modeling challenges. Since micro-simulation models are based on firm-level data and the data source provides firm-level data for European companies in a standardized format allowing for a relatively low degree of detail, there is a need to generate more detailed data to apply tax provisions [START_REF] Bach | Aufkommensund Verteilungseffekte der Unternehmensteuerreform 2008: eine Analyse mit dem Unternehmensteuer-Mikrosimulationsmodell BizTax[END_REF]. In order to reflect changes in the general economic environment, a forecast routine of the companies' future development is essential [START_REF] Bach | Dokumentation des Mikrosimulationsmodells BizTax zur Unternehmensbesteuerung in Deutschland[END_REF]. We need to include companies' behavior and interactions between companies in the model. This is done by anticipating, in the present version, ex ante companies' decision making with regard to making use of an available group taxation system or companies' financing [START_REF] Blouin | Have the tax benefits of debt been overestimated?[END_REF]. Strategic company decisions (e.g. location decisions) are explicitly not addressed. Finally, the tax provisions need to be modeled for all European countries as detailed as necessary and as standardized as possible [START_REF] Chen | The entity-relationship model---toward a unified view of data[END_REF].

The remainder of the paper is structured as follows: In Section 2 the related work concerning tax revenue models and Design Science Research is presented. The artifact development, with a special focus on necessary data and routines for forecasting companies' development, is the subject of Section 3. Subsequently, according to Design Science Research, the developed artifact are evaluated. Finally, Section 5 gives a conclusion and an outlook for further research.

Related Work

Based on the necessary input data as well as the accuracy, existing artifacts can be classified into macro-economic models and models, which process individual (micro-)data [START_REF] Peichl | Die Evaluation von Steuerreformen durch Simulationsmodelle (FiFo-CPE Discussion Papers -Finanzwissenschaftliche Diskussionsbeiträge[END_REF]. Although macro-economic models allow for the consideration of taxes, micro-simulation models are more suitable for assessing implications induced by tax reforms, because of the opportunity to explicitly process individuals' characteristics as well as more detailed tax-provisions [START_REF] Creedy | Tax Modelling[END_REF][START_REF] Koch | Die Bedeutung der steuerlichen Verlustverrechnung für das Steueraufkommen und das Investitionsverhalten[END_REF][START_REF] Reister | ZEW Corporate Taxation Microsimulation Model[END_REF]. Within micro-simulation models, two types of models can be distinguished [START_REF] Koch | Die Bedeutung der steuerlichen Verlustverrechnung für das Steueraufkommen und das Investitionsverhalten[END_REF]. Static micro-simulation models determine the tax liability by applying relevant tax provisions as detailed as possible to accounting data realized in the past. The simulation is processed both for the current tax regime and the respective reform proposal. By comparison of the simulated tax revenues, the different tax regimes can be evaluated. Existing micro-simulation models designed for the purpose of tax policy evaluation usually follow this approach.

The DIECOFIS model [START_REF] Oropallo | Will Italy' s Tax Reform Reduce The Corporate Tax Burden?A Microsimulation Analysis[END_REF] is a one-period model and was applied for an analysis of an Italian tax reform. The German model BizTax [START_REF] Bach | Dokumentation des Mikrosimulationsmodells BizTax zur Unternehmensbesteuerung in Deutschland[END_REF] and the German TaxCoMM model [START_REF] Reister | ZEW Corporate Taxation Microsimulation Model[END_REF] apply a static micro-simulation approach and quantified the impacts resulting from the German tax reform 2008 [START_REF] Bach | Aufkommensund Verteilungseffekte der Unternehmensteuerreform 2008: eine Analyse mit dem Unternehmensteuer-Mikrosimulationsmodell BizTax[END_REF][START_REF] Finke | Impact of Tax Rate Cut Cum Base Broadening Reforms on Heterogeneous Firms -Learning from the German Tax Reform[END_REF]. The above mentioned models are limited to a single country. Koch [START_REF] Koch | Die Aufkommens-und Belastungswirkungen alternativer Vorschläge zur Reform der Konzernbesteuerung in Europa[END_REF] quantifies the effects of alternative tax regimes (CCCTB) by applying an EU-wide static simulation model.

The static simulation approach avoids any estimation error involved with a forecasting algorithm. However, the results are only valid, if the determining factors are still applicable [START_REF] Koch | Die Bedeutung der steuerlichen Verlustverrechnung für das Steueraufkommen und das Investitionsverhalten[END_REF]. Contrastingly, dynamic micro-simulation models (as ASSERT) rely on forecast algorithms and are, thus, able to take account of changes in the macro-economic conditions, examples are the recent economic and financial crises. Dynamic micro-simulation models are not suitable to predict macro-economic effects but rather are based on macro-economic models in order to regard changes in macroeconomic conditions, for example GDP growth. Although three approaches have been developed in the literature for forecasting (taxable) income [START_REF] Blouin | Have the tax benefits of debt been overestimated?[END_REF][START_REF] Chen | The entity-relationship model---toward a unified view of data[END_REF][START_REF] Creedy | Tax Modelling[END_REF][START_REF] Devereux | The taxation of discrete investment choices[END_REF][START_REF]Proposal for a COUNCIL DIRECTIVE on a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) COM[END_REF][START_REF] Fama | Forecasting Profitability and Earnings[END_REF][START_REF] Finke | Impact of Tax Rate Cut Cum Base Broadening Reforms on Heterogeneous Firms -Learning from the German Tax Reform[END_REF][START_REF] Graham | Proxies for the corporate marginal tax rate[END_REF][START_REF] Graham | Simulating Corporate Marginal Income Tax Rates and Implications for Corporate Debt Policy[END_REF] in a different context, dynamic simulation models are still absent.

The evaluation of tax reforms cannot be handled manually, thus, "Information Systems are implemented [...] for the purpose of improving the effectiveness and efficiency" [START_REF] Hevner | Design science in information systems research[END_REF]. In order to support the (political) decisions in an effective and efficient manner, artifacts are developed using design science [17]. For design science research, guidelines as well as process schemes are provided for developing and evaluating artifacts [START_REF] Hevner | Design science in information systems research[END_REF][START_REF] Peffers | The Design Science Research Process: A Model for Producing and Presenting Information Systems Research[END_REF]. Besides, providing an artifact for a solution of an unsolved problem in a certain "problem domain" (usefulness), the design science research focuses on the development processes as well as the presentation of the insights [START_REF] Hevner | Design science in information systems research[END_REF].

The relation between the problem and the solution as well as development and evaluation process can be clarified by a paradigm. The "Problem Entity" represents corporations, corporations' behavior and governments' regulations which are elements of the reality. By modeling the reality a "Conceptual Model" is set up which is transferred by implementation and computer programming to a "Computerized Model", the instantiation. To obtain valid results, the processed data needs to be valid. Furthermore the "Conceptual Model" and the "Computerized Model" have to be reviewed, validated and updated if required [START_REF] Sargent | Verification and validation of simulation models[END_REF].

3

Artifact Development

Tax Revenue Model

The governments' tax revenue (dependent variable) is determined in accordance with equation (1) as the extrapolated total of all companies' tax liabilities per country [START_REF] Oestreicher | ASSERT -Assessing the Effects of Reforms in Taxation. A Micro-simulation Approach[END_REF].

𝑇𝑎𝑥𝑅𝑒𝑣 𝑡 = ∑ 𝑇𝑎𝑥 𝑖 𝑐 ;𝑡 c∈country (1)
The

The tax revenue model can be subdivided into five main steps. The companies' development is forecasted on a year-to-year basis. For the purposes of forecasting future companies' development, two sub-sets of data are created. Firstly, for each simulation company additional information, such as company specific interest rates, net investment, return on assets in year 2007 and probabilities of having an extraordinary income, are calculated. Secondly, we define the historical reference by calculating company specific forecast parameters and creating one referring dataset for each set of three consecutive complete financial statements within the period 2001 to 2006. In order to be able to determine depreciation expenses we need a detailed asset history sheet including the acquisition costs and the respective acquisition dates for different types of assets (machinery, buildings, land, goodwill and patents) [START_REF] Devereux | The taxation of discrete investment choices[END_REF][START_REF] Oestreicher | ASSERT -Assessing the Effects of Reforms in Taxation. A Micro-simulation Approach[END_REF]. In a second step, which is optional and has not been implemented so far, possible behavioral responses could be considered. The derivation of taxable income from forecasted accounting earnings (step three) consists of four sub-processes: dividend exemption, group taxation, inter-period loss offset, determination of final tax liability.

The fiscal treatment of financial income can be characterized as follows: While interest expenses and income are (fully) deductable and taxable, there are no tax consequences with regard to distributed dividends. Underlying profits are fully taxed at the level of the distributing company and, if both companies are incorporated, dividends are tax exempt (except for a lump-sum proportion) at the level of the receiving company (dividend exemption) in accordance with the parent countries' tax law. If companies belong to a tax group, the group's income (sum of EBT after dividend exemption) instead of individual's income is taxed. This may lead to a summing up of positive and negative results, i.e. an intra-group loss offset. If negative income persists also after group taxation, losses are offset across periods according to local tax law before companies' tax liabilities are calculated.

In step four, the liabilities and equity as well as distributed dividends are determined. Based on the companies' tax payments, governments' tax revenue is ascertained by applying an extrapolation routine at the end of the simulation.

Dataset Generation

The main data source is the AMADEUS 1 database provided by Bureau van Dijk. For each company, general characteristics (e.g., industry, date of incorporation) as well as financial information is provided in a standardized format. For ASSERT, the financial/key data of about four million 2 1 Reasons for using AMADEUS database see [START_REF] Poppe | Auswirkungen der Einführung einer konsolidierten Körperschaftsteuer-Bemessungsgrundlage in der Europäischen Union. Eine empirische Analyse der Konzernstrukturen und des Steueraufkommens[END_REF].

private EU companies referring to the period 1994 to 2007 was extracted from AMADEUS and transferred to a three-tier database, which enables access via SQL, ODBC and JDBC. 3 Similarly, the ownership information and ratios from other sources was extracted, transformed and loaded as well. The final dataset schema is illustrated by an ER model [START_REF] Chen | The entity-relationship model---toward a unified view of data[END_REF] in Fig. 1. For the purpose of divide and conquer and tax compliance a determination of three different group structures is required. To this end, we derive a legal group structure, a tax group structure and a process group structure by referring (also indirectly) to the root node of the structure similarly to the transitive closure (Fig. 2) [START_REF] Poppe | Auswirkungen der Einführung einer konsolidierten Körperschaftsteuer-Bemessungsgrundlage in der Europäischen Union. Eine empirische Analyse der Konzernstrukturen und des Steueraufkommens[END_REF].

Regardless of the country setting, (direct and indirect) shareholding of more than 50% is required for belonging to a legal group. To establish a tax group, the parent company and the subsidiary have to be located in the same country and a specific minimum percentage of (direct and indirect) shareholding, depending on local tax law (greater than 50%, 75%, 95%, 100%), is required [START_REF] Oestreicher | Aufkommenswirkungen einer Abschaffung des Ergebnisabführungsvertrags bei der ertragsteuerlichen Organschaft[END_REF][START_REF] Oestreicher | ASSERT -Assessing the Effects of Reforms in Taxation. A Micro-simulation Approach[END_REF]. Finally, all companies that are connected via shareholdings are combined to form one simulation group (Fig. 2), missing simulation companies (company "I") are bypassed and a level-information beginning from the leafs is added. Simulation companies are omitted and, thus, classified as missing companies if they do not provide complete financial statements at least in the years 2006 and 2007 or if they are located in a country for which less than 180 datasets (base-data) having three consecutive entire financial statements can be identified. For each country, these datasets (base-data) were clustered in accordance in a first tier with the balance sheet total and in a second tier in accordance with return on assets in a way that each cluster contains approximately the same number of datasets. This procedure results in a number of distinct company bins. Datasets with extreme values in return on assets are excluded. Finally, the mean and median of the bucket attributes are calculated. These values form the basis for simulating future company development (see Section 3.3 for further details).

AMADEUS, however, provides information with regard to the aggregated book values of intangible tangible fixed assets as well as total depreciation. In order to derive an asset history sheet, we indentified the OSIRIS database (also provided by Bureau van Dijk) as the best possible source of additional information on the type of assets. To create an initial asset type structure, we determined country and industry specific ratio from OSIRIS, whereas the initial age structure of assets is derived based on a simple aging algorithm. To this end, the company is accompanied by the purchase of a set of assets, which is replaced in accordance with the amount of economic depreciation (independent from country settings) whereas capital-widening investments are assumed to be realized equivalent to a company-specific average growth factor. After combining these initial asset type and age structures, a simulated amount of depreciation is derived and compared with the actual depreciation as reported in AMADEUS, which represents a benchmark for the simulation routine. To approximate the actual depreciations, an iterative numerical algorithm (maximum 10,000 iterations) was developed. Since we have two dimensions, we adjust both the asset type structure by shifting the proportions as well as the age structure by shifting to newer or older acquisition dates in each iteration [START_REF] Oestreicher | ASSERT -Assessing the Effects of Reforms in Taxation. A Micro-simulation Approach[END_REF]. The determination of the asset history sheet is illustrated by Fig. 3.

IT-Artifact Instantiation

The dataset generation and the tax revenue model described in the previous sections are realized by a number of IT-Artifact Instantiations.

The routines creating the detailed asset and financial information is carried out in JAVA. All needed country settings and company information are loaded from the database via JDBC and are organized in country and company objects. For accessing the data getter-methods are used. In order to reuse code-fragments and to alleviate verification of the results for each main calculation step, a sub-procedure is created. Information that is taken out of our database is processed by SQL functions. External analysis is done in STATA. The required data as well as the results are transmitted via ODBC. For clustering the data, Oracle's NTILE function is used.

Whereas the first stage of development of the tax revenue model for the simulation years (implementation) was driven by a process view, we set up an integrated system which is implemented in JAVA. To this end, we define a company object, which represents all company attributes (historical as well as simulated characteristics) as the centre of the artifact (Fig. 4). Depending on the number of companies to be simulated, which is determined by the respective research question, the simulation process might be partitioned according to the simulation group structure. After having imported the country settings and companies' initial attributes, the forecasting is carried out in the Simulation class. To this end, the following items are forecasted: return on assets and thus EBITDA, extraordinary income, sales, operating revenue turnover, employees and costs of employees, depreciation and amortization, investments, current assets, other fixed assets (financial assets), financial revenue and at the end EBT (earnings before taxes). The forecast of these items follows, if not otherwise stated, the bin-approach. This simulation procedure refers to the development of similar companies (see Section 3.2 for the determination of the bins of similar companies) and generally follows equations ( 3) and [START_REF] Chen | The entity-relationship model---toward a unified view of data[END_REF].

𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑟𝚤𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑡 � = 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑡-1 * (1 + 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑛 ) (3)
𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑏𝑖𝑛 = 𝑀𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 � 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑡 𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑡 +𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑡-1 2 � (4)
More specifically, the forecast of the return on assets is realized by a Monte-Carlo simulation and follows the bin-approach exclusively only if the companies' development is not sensitive to the GDP growth. In all other cases, the bin-approach is combined with an AR1 approach which relies on company individual coefficients. The forecast of extraordinary income applies two distinct steps. Firstly, a uniformly distributed random variable, corresponding to the companies' past, points to whether an extraordinary income is to be simulated or whether extraordinary income is zero. The second step determines, if necessary, the amount of extraordinary income by way of a Monte-Carlo simulation based on the bin-approach. Other company attributes (sales, operating revenue turnover, employees, costs of employees and investments) are forecasted by the bin-approach. Where applicable, investments are simulated in consideration of a GDP growth modification. After depreciation and amortization expenses have been calculated by applying national depreciation rules to the derived asset history sheet, we assign the simulated investments (positive and negative) to each asset to get an updated asset history sheet as well as a forecast for the value of non-financial assets. Other fixed assets and current assets are assumed to grow in accordance with a general company-specific growth factor. Financial revenue is derived from other fixed assets by applying the company specific interest rate which is modified in some cases by a necessary add-on. At the end of the forecasting process we calculate the EBT by summing up the simulated earnings (simulated return on assets multiplied by mean-year's assets), interest and (to avoid a circular reference) previous year's dividends. This module is, with the exception of depreciation and amortization, independent from national tax law.

Tax provisions (step three) are incorporated in the following modules: Firstly, we reduce EBT with the amount of tax exempt (received) dividends, which are treated in accordance with the parent countries' tax law, under consideration of the direct percentage of shareholding and the location of the distributing company (home versus foreign country). The current version of ASSERT implements the exemption rules and the subtraction routine in country specific sub-classes. The procedures for alternative group taxation systems are located in the Group Taxation class and are executed after the dividend exemption. If negative income persists also after group taxation, losses are offset across periods according to local tax law before companies' tax liabilities are calculated. While local loss-offset rules are completely held available in subclasses, the logic is implemented for most of the countries in the upper-class. Only for Austria and Poland the logic is implemented in country sub-classes since in theses countries differing provisions are applicable.

In the last step of the annual simulation, we determine beginning from leafs of the simulation structure iteratively the appropriation of net income (taking account of received dividends from previous iterations) by calculating the distributed dividends as well as the liabilities and shareholders' equity.

In order to make a point to tax reform proposals, we estimate governments' tax revenue by extrapolating the companies' tax by comparing the simulation sample to the overall population. Companies having negative income are underrepresented in the AMADEUS database compared to the corporate tax statistic. The extrapolation is therefore processed separately for profitable and loss-making companies.

4

Artifact Evaluation

For the purpose of usefully support decisions, correctness, completeness and reliability are essential preconditions for the basis of assessment. These required characteristics are for ASSERT proven by way of an evaluation guided by Sargent's paradigm both with respect to the overall model and each sub model. For all elements of data a consistency check was performed. Detailed information on the conditions and number of adaptations are reported in [START_REF] Oestreicher | ASSERT -Assessing the Effects of Reforms in Taxation. A Micro-simulation Approach[END_REF]. The validity of the constructed group structures was ascertained by test structures and by way of a caseby-case review.

For the implementation of the asset history sheet, the business needs were transferred to hierarchically structured, event-driven Process Chains (ECP) (overall layer see Fig. 2), which were also used in combination with code-reviewing for verification. During the implementation, all interim stages were observed and the procedure was audited by output statements. Finally, the results were audited in terms of mathematical and logical correctness in accordance with equations ( 5) and [START_REF] Devereux | The taxation of discrete investment choices[END_REF].

𝐵𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝐷𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑡 = ∑ ∑ 𝐻𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑐𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑡 * 𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 𝑡 𝑡 𝐴𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑡 𝑇𝑦𝑝𝑒 (5) 𝐷𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐷𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑡 = ∑ 𝐷𝑒𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝐴𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑇𝑦𝑝𝑒 (6)
Secondly, we evaluated the accurateness by comparing the simulated book value structure to a survey provided by the German Central Bank (GCB). It becomes apparent that the simulated structure for tangible fixed assets provides a good approxima-tion of the structures reported by the GCB, whereas the applied routine tends to overweigh goodwill with regard to the structure of intangibles. 4 Also each part of the Tax Revenue Model has been evaluated in separated steps. Essential for the performance of the forecast is that the mapping to relevant bucket is processed as fast as possible. For this purpose the Binary Search Algorithm is implemented. As the requested key is continuous, the company's attribute is allocated to the bin for which the difference between the requested key (company's attribute) and the bin's key is minimal. We added output statements for verifying which path is chosen in order to test for the performance and the correctness of the applied mechanism. Based on the mapping, the companies' forecasted attributes were checked for plausibility. In the first implementation we mapped the requested key by reference to a responding range from minimum to maximum value in the buckets and it was conspicuous that the mapping tend to extreme buckets with the result that the mapping refers now to the median of the bucket values. The correctness has been demonstrated in connection with realized attributes for the period 2008 to 2010. In this respect, we noticed that the effect of forecasted return on assets was overestimated if the bins' return on assets is close to zero. To avoid this error, we adjusted the models and applied an additive forecast of companies' return on assets in that case. By performing white-box tests for extraordinary income forecasted in accordance with a preliminary approach, we noticed that in some cases a value different from zero was predicted although companies' extraordinary income in the past was constantly zero. To avoid this inconsistency, we updated the Conceptual and Computerized models and set up the two-tiered process described in Section 3.3.

Finally, we compare depreciation expenses simulated for future years (2008 to 2010) with those actually realized and find a high correlation (more than 90 %).

For all tax provisions the implementation has been checked for correctness and results-oriented tests have been accomplished. To give an example, in countries where a group taxation system is applied, taxation is based on totaled profits and losses within the tax group. Application of the group tax regime has to ensure that the sum of taxable income remains unchanged while the amounts of both positive and negative taxable income decreases. The fulfillment of these two conditions has been audited as a result-oriented test. In addition, the correctness of the applied procedure has also been checked manually for a random sample of companies.

With regard to the offset of profits and losses over time, the offset procedure (offset limitation and provision changes in time) was tested by way of a case-by-case review. In addition, the sum of the taxable income needs to decrease if losses are offset, whereas the loss carry-forward needs to increase by the same amount. Negative taxable income is permitted only in the case of a carry-back option. Also these conditions were audited by way of a result-oriented test.

Finally, for Germany a black-box validation of the overall model was processed within the scope of a research project. It was shown that the simulated tax revenue are close by the real German tax revenue [START_REF] Oestreicher | Aufkommenswirkungen einer Abschaffung des Ergebnisabführungsvertrags bei der ertragsteuerlichen Organschaft[END_REF]. 4 Since 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝐹𝑖𝑥𝑒𝑑 𝐴𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑡 = 2% in average, we proceed on the assumption that the effect is minimal.

Conclusion and Outlook

The aim of this paper was to present the innovative micro-simulation model ASSERT. According to the Design Science Research Guidelines, we created an artifact in form of a model and an instantiation. The goal of ASSERT, to evaluate the implications of various tax reforms within the EU, was achieved by assessing the effects of an alternative group taxation system in Germany [START_REF] Oestreicher | Aufkommenswirkungen einer Abschaffung des Ergebnisabführungsvertrags bei der ertragsteuerlichen Organschaft[END_REF]. The strength of this approach is the consideration of changes in the environmental conditions by using a forecasting algorithm. Also cross-border relationships between corporations are considered. The development of ASSERT is based on an iterative solution search process by creating the Conceptual Model and Computerized Model which was permanently evaluated. Since we use individual company data in an aggregated form, we generated more detailed data for the specific purposes of ASSERT by means of assumptions derived from business principles. Starting from a functional implementation by applying the forecast mechanism and the current tax provisions process wise, nowadays the focus is on the company. Therefore we set up an object oriented construct whereby all companies' attributes are available for access at any time.

For the future, an extension of ASSERT is intended. The analysis at the moment is limited to assessing effects of direct consequences resulting from changes in the tax regime (first round effects). Companies' behavioral adoptions (second round effects) are planned as well as a more detailed consideration of special country taxation rules as for instance the German Thin Capitalization Rule.

Fig. 1 .

 1 Fig. 1. Illustration of the Dataset Schema.

Fig. 2 .

 2 Fig. 2. Legal-/Taxation-/Process-Group Structure.

Fig. 3 .

 3 Fig. 3. Visualization of determine asset history sheet.

Fig. 4 .

 4 Fig. 4. Illustration of the ASSERT model in UML

  𝑇𝑎𝑥 𝑖 𝑐 ;𝑡 = �𝑒𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑑𝑎 𝑖;𝑡 + 𝑒𝑝𝑙 𝑖;𝑡 -𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑟 𝑖;𝑡 + 𝑓𝑝𝑙 𝑖,𝑡 -𝑑𝑖𝑣 𝑖;𝑡 rec ± 𝑔𝑡 𝑖;𝑡 -𝑙𝑐𝑓 𝑖;𝑡 � * 𝜏 𝑐;𝑡

	application of group taxation (gt) and loss offset (lcf)) and the statutory tax rate (𝜏) as
	in equation (2) presented.
	companies' tax liability is defined by companies' taxable income (taxable income
	consists of earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation (EBITDA); extraordinary
	income (epl); depreciation (depr); financial income (fpl); received dividends (div rec );

Due to restrictions in the availability of data not all companies included in AMADEUS allowed for further analysis.

Acknowledgements.

The micro-simulation model has been developed by Andreas Oestreicher, Reinald Koch, Dorothea Vorndamme and Stefan Hohls, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. I would like to say 'thank you' to the project team for the productive work and the crazy time as well as to Jan Muntermann who gave valuable words of advice.


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Terahertz frequency standard based on three-photon coherent population trapping

Keywords: numbers: 06.30.Ft, 32.80.Qk, 32.80.Pj

Thanks to the progress made in the generation of continuous THz radiation, Terahertz spectroscopy is strongly gaining in interest in different domains, in particular for imaging in astronomy and biology and for material analysis [1]. In this paper we propose a frequency standard in the Terahertz domain, based on a three-photon dark resonance where the three wavelengths belong to the visible domain. Atomic frequency standards in the optical domain can now reach performances in the 10 -16 range, thanks to laser-cooling of the atoms or single ions and to progress made in the stabilization of the clock lasers [2,3]. The proposed THz frequency standard aims at a lower relative precision of about 10 -11 , which can be realized in a robust and easily achievable experimental configuration and with a large atomic sample, allowing frequency stabilities of a few parts in 10 14 at one second.

In the scheme described here, the THz reference signal is produced by coherent population trapping (CPT) in a three-photon process [4] involving visible lasers in a Doppler-free configuration [5]. For instance, this process can occur in several ions commonly used for optical metrology or quantum computation. For these atoms (Ca + , Sr + , Ba + , Hg + ), the narrow dark line resulting from CPT corresponds to the magnetic dipole transition between the nD 3/2 and nD 5/2 metastable states, whose frequency lies in the THz range. This electricdipole forbidden line has been studied and probed directly in former experiments [START_REF] Werth | Possible precision far-infrared spectroscopy on trapped ions (Summer school "Applied Laser Spectroscopy[END_REF][START_REF] Madej | [END_REF]8], but in a configuration sensitive to the Doppler effect. The proposed experiment can be seen as analogous to two-photon CPT microwave cesium clock [9] where a trade-off is made between robustness and clock precision. Two-photon CPT is also considered for an optical clock based on neutral 88 Sr [10] and a three-photon coherent process has been proposed as an optical frequency standard in alkaline earth atoms in [11].

In this paper, we first introduce the three-photon coherent process resulting in the sharp line that can serve as a frequency standard. This process is largely discussed in [4] and we mention only the points useful for metrological application. Then, the expected performances of such a standard are studied to show a possible stability better than 8 × 10 -14 at one second.

The scheme we propose can apply to any atomic system composed of four electronic levels which are coupled by laser fields, according to the N-shaped scheme depicted in Fig. 1 1), which is an electric quadrupole transition with a linewidth of the order of one Hertz.

The magnetic-dipole transition |D 3/2 ↔ |D 5/2 (|D ↔ |Q ) considered as the frequency standard has a spontaneous emission rate of the order of 10 -6 s -1 which can be neglected. For our purpose, the evolution of the internal degrees of freedom of a motionless atom can be understood in the dressed state picture, where the non-coupled eigenstates are defined by

H 0 = h∆ R |D D| + h∆ B |S S| + h(∆ B -∆ W )|Q Q| (1)
with detunings defined as

∆ B = ω B -ω P S , ∆ R = ω R -ω P D , and ∆ W = ω W -ω QS (B,
|S Q = N (|S + α W |Q ) (2)
|Q S = N (|Q -α W |S )
(where N is the normalization factor) with eigenfrequencies light-shifted by ±α W Ω W /2.

|Q S being coupled to |P by the Rabi frequency -α W Ω B , the dressed states configuration ends up in a Λ-scheme (formed by |Q S ,|P and |D , see Fig. 2), well known to give rise to coherent population trapping into a dark state when the metastable states |Q S and |D are degenerated when dressed by the laser photons [START_REF] Arimondo | Progress in Optics[END_REF]. This condition is fulfilled on the light-shifted three-photon resonance condition

∆ eff = ∆ R + ∆ W -∆ B + α W Ω W /2 = 0. (3)
Detuned from the two-photon resonance condition (i. e. ∆ R -∆ B = 0, see [4] for justification), the atomic system is then pumped into the dark state

|Ψ Dark = N ′ (E|D + |Q S ) (4)
with E = α W Ω B /Ω R and normalization factor N ′ .

The sharp line produced in the fluorescence spectra by pumping into the dark state can be used to assure ∆ R + ∆ W -∆ B + α W Ω W /2 = 0. Experimentally, this is realised by locking one of the three lasers on the dark line. For the following laser frequencies, it translates into

ω R + ω W -ω B = ω QD -α W Ω W /2. ( 5
)
Provided the light-shift α W Ω W /2 is made negligible or controlled, the frequency combination ω R + ω Wω B can be referenced to the magnetic-dipole transition frequency ω QD which lies between 1.8 THz for Ca + and 451 THz for Hg + (see table I).

The stability of the dark state requires the reduction of the relative phase diffusion of the three lasers to a diffusion rate smaller than the dark line width. This can be achieved by reducing the spectral width of each laser or, as a less stringent condition, by phase-locking the three lasers on the same reference like a frequency comb [START_REF] Udem | [END_REF]. The fundamental limit for the linewidth of the coherent dark line, defined by the lifetime of the metastable states, may not be reached, mainly because of power broadening, which is known to be one of the main limiting factor in two-photon CPT clock [14]. For evaluating the dark line width, the system can be approximated by the Λ-scheme depicted in Fig. 2 where the decay from |P to |Q S is α 2 W γ P β P S . Because of spontaneous emission from |P to |S Q , the decoherence rate between |P and |Q S or |D is equal to γ P /2. An analytical expression of the linewidth of coherent dark line can be found in [15] for very general cases. Such an expression is simplified when,

1 Ω R γ P β P S |Q S |D γ P β P D -α W Ω B |P 0 ∆ R -α W Ω W /2 ∆ B -∆ W α 2 W γ P β P S
for α 2 W ≪ 1 and α 2 W Ω 2 B ≪ Ω 2 R one has β P D Ω 2 B ≫ β P S Ω 2 R
, which is obeyed for realistic working parameters. Then, if the decoherence sources like the laser relative phase diffusion are neglected, the dark linewidth (FWHM) can be approximated by

Γ eff = Ω 2 R γ P 1 + 3 -γ Λ γ P Ω 2 R γ 2 P β P D + 4∆ 2 R γ 2 P (6)
with γ Λ = γ P (β P D + α 2 W β P S ). When collected on the |P → |S transition, the fluorescence rate emitted around the dark resonance ∆ eff = 0 (Eq. 3) scales with

S = γ P Γ 2 eff Ω 2 R β P S β P D . (7)
According to these last equations, the linewidth can be tuned continuously by Ω R and in practice, results from a tradeoff between the desired signal over noise ratio S/N = ηS/2

(with η the detection efficiency, 1/2 indicating we work at half maximum and if we assume no background) and signal linewidth ∆ ≥ Γ eff . Both parameters control the stability of the frequency standard, as can be clearly seen in the Allan deviation

σ y (τ ) = ∆ ω QD (S/N) T c τ (8)
which quantifies the stability versus the integration time τ , T c being the cycle time. Increasing the S/N ratio can be realised without power broadening the transition by increasing the number of ions emitting the fluorescence signal. For ions in radiofrequency trap, this option is rarely used because of the Doppler effect due to the micromotion (the radiofrequency driven motion), which increases with the number of ions [16,[START_REF] Wineland | Proc. 4th symp on Freq. Standard and Metrology[END_REF]. In the case of a three-photon resonance, there is a (first order)Doppler-free configuration [5] which is defined by the phase matching condition

∆k = k R -k B + k W = 0. (9)
The driven micromotion can not be laser cooled and its contribution to the second-order Doppler effect can not be nulled. Assuming the thermal macromotion (motion in the pseudopotential created by the RF-field) is laser cooled, the relative shift induced by second order Doppler effect can be estimated [START_REF] Wineland | Proc. 4th symp on Freq. Standard and Metrology[END_REF] from the number N i of trapped ions, their mass M in atomic units and the secular frequency of oscillation ν S (MHz):

∆f D2 /f 0 = -3.0 × 10 -14 (ν S N i /M) 2/3 . ( 10
)
In a centimeter-size trap, where N i = 10 5 and ν S = 0.1 MHz are typical values, this relative shift is -1.2 × 10 -12 for calcium ions, the lightest of the species considered here. For this ion, the resulting frequency shift on the magnetic dipole transition is then 2.2 Hz and a broadening of the same order is expected. Tolerating such a shift, the S/N ratio behaves like ηN i S/2, if one assumes that the signal increases linearly with the number of ions, which is a good approximation for laser cooled ions.

As a starting point and considering this broadening, let's assume a reachable precision of 10 Hz, then the dark line can be power broadened to that value for maximum signal. The expected stability can then be estimated by assuming a cycling time of 1 s (long enough for coherence to build) and a detection efficiency of 10 -4 . We obtain σ y ≃ 8 × 10 -14 τ -1/2 for Ca + , 2 × 10 -14 τ -1/2 for Sr + , 1 × 10 -14 τ -1/2 for Ba + and 4 × 10 -17 τ -1/2 for Hg + (where the transition stands in the optical domain). The THz radiation can be produced by photomixing the B-radiation with the one resulting from the frequency sum of the R-and W -radiations.

The generation of the THz signal from three visible laser beams allows propagation and dissemination of the frequency standard over long distances, despite the high absorption coefficient known for THz radiation in air or in fibers.

The accuracy of the proposed standard depends on all the effects that can induce a frequency shift of the dark line from the ideal equation ω R + ω Wω B = ω QD . Beside the Doppler effect, the first effect to deal with is the one due to the method itself. The laser coupling between |S and |Q , needed to create the Λ-scheme generating the dark state, gives rise to a light-shift α W Ω W /2 (Eq. 5). Nevertheless, values as small as α W < 10 -4 and Ω W < 10 kHz are sufficient to efficiently create this coupling, and to keep the induced light shift smaller than 1 Hz, without any effect on the collected signal (see Eq. 7). By definition, the dark state is not light-shifted by the direct coupling mentioned on Fig. 2 but it is shifted by far off resonance coupling between one of the three lasers with the other two transitions [START_REF] Zanon-Willette | [END_REF]. According to the level configuration of the considered ions, the largest shift comes from the coupling between |D 5/2 and the |P 3/2 state lying close to |P 1/2 , induced by the laser labelled R coupling |D 3/2 to |P 1/2 . Among the considered ions, Ca + has the smallest fine structure splitting and will therefore show the biggest shift which is estimated to be lower than 0.1 Hz for Ω R below 1 MHz. This effect is clearly not a limitation here.

The other effects limiting the accuracy and precision of a possible THz-standard are the DC-Stark shift, the quadrupole shift caused by the coupling between the electric field gradient and the electronic quadrupole of the |D 3/2 and |D 5/2 states and the Zeeman shift. The DC-Stark effect depends on the polarizability of the |D 3/2 and |D 5/2 states. As mentioned in [19] for Ca + and in [20] for Sr + , there is an uncertainty on these polarisabilities for some species. Nevertheless, from available atomic transition data, one can deduce a compensation between the polarisabilities of these two states which bring the absolute value of the order of few 10 -40 J/(V/m) 2 to a differential value of the order of few 10 -42 J/(V/m) 2 , which translates into |δf S | ≃ 10 -5 E 2 Hz with E in V/cm. At room temperature, the biggest contribution comes from the isotropic blackbody field radiated by the vessel. This field can be taken into account by its mean-squared value averaged over the whole spectrum:

E 2 BB = 831.9 2 (T /300) 4 (V/m) 2 [21] which results in a DC-Stark shift below 0.01 Hz.

The quadrupole shift can be written like [22] ∆f

Q (n, J, m J ) = J(J + 1) -3m 2 J J(2J -1) Θ(n, J)AΠ/h (11)
with Θ(n, J) the electric quadrupole of state |n, J , A = (∂ 2 V /2∂x 2 ) defining the local electric field gradient and Π a geometrical factor depending on the shape and orientation of the electric field (Π = 2 if the field is quadrupolar with its symetry axis along the quantization axis). If one assume that the |n, D J states are pure d orbitals, the quadrupole varies like (2J -1)/(2J + 2) and Θ(n, 3/2) = (7/10)Θ(n, 5/2). Calculations for all the ions mentioned and for J = 3/2, 5/2 [23] show that the quadrupole Θ(n, J) rank from 0.5 to 4 ea 2 0 . For the states with the smallest Zeeman shift (m J = ±1/2), the frequency shift for one ion is δf Q = (11/40)Θ(n, 5/2)AΠ/h. If the highest value for Θ(n, 5/2) is used, δf Q reaches 1 Hz for AΠ = 150 V/cm 2 . This value is the order of magnitude of the gradient of the trapping field and of the Coulomb field in the considered regime and the quadrupole shift can not be neglected here.

As for the Zeeman effect, a small magnetic field B is needed to split the Zeeman sublevels chosen for the transition |D A 2 mG field is then necessary to split these two transitions by 1 kHz. The Zeeman shift can be nulled by adding the frequency of these two transitions, assuming that the magnetic field is constant. The second order Zeeman effect is negligible here. In the regime chosen for our estimation (N i = 10 5 , and ν S = 0.1 MHz) and for perfect compensation of first order Zeeman shift at the Hz level, the magnetic field must be stable and homogenous on a mmsize to better than 3.6 µG. Such a stability requires magnetic shielding but is experimentally feasible.

From this overview of the systematic shifts expected for an ion cloud, it appears that the important effects for the magnetic-dipole transition come from the second order Doppler shift, the quadrupole shift and the Zeeman shift, which limit the precision of the proposed THz standard to the Hz level, depending on the size of this cloud.

In conclusion, we show that a THz frequency standard can be realised from three-photon CPT in trapped ion clouds. A stability in the 10 -14 τ -1/2 range can be expected, depending on the chosen species. Such level of stability is reached to the detriment of precision which is mainly reduced by power broadening, and to a smaller extent by second order Doppler effect, quadrupole shift and first order Zeeman shift.

FIG. 1 :

 1 FIG. 1: N Level scheme: The states |D , |P , |S coupled by laser couplings Ω R and Ω B form a Λ-configuration, state |S couples weakly to the metastable state |Q by Ω W . The wavy lines indicate the radiative decay. Parameters and possible atomic species are discussed in the text.

  R, W stands respectively for the |S ↔ |P , |D ↔ |P and |S ↔ |Q transitions. ω X is the laser frequency on the transition labelled X and ω IJ is the frequency of the atomic transition |I ↔ |J ). Ω R,B,W are the corresponding Rabi frequencies characterizing the laser couplings. The radiative processes taken into account couple |P to states |S and |D by the decay rate γ P and branching ratio β P S /β P D (β P S + β P D = 1). The radiative decay of states |Q and |D , whose lifetime is of the order of 1 s is neglected in the analytical model we present below. It should be noted that the dipole and the quadrupole couplings differ by a few orders of magnitude. Nevertheless, as the process described in this manuscript is of interest when state |Q is weakly coupled to the Λ-scheme (|S , |P , |D , coupled by the two strong lasers) it is thus experimentally feasible with standard laser sources. Considering that |Q is weakly coupled to |S , the subsystem (|S , |Q ) can be diagonalised and solved analytically to first order in α W = Ω W /2∆ W ≪ 1. The new eigenstates are then

FIG. 2 :

 2 FIG. 2: Part of the dressed state picture relevant for the three-photon resonance condition, giving rise to the coherent dark state. The straight lines stands for laser couplings and the wavy lines radiative decay (see text for details).

=

  ±1/2 transition, and is then equal to ±0.28 MHz/Gauss.

  and where states |S , |D and |Q are (meta)stable while state |P is short-lived and decays radiatively into |S and |D . This level configuration is realized, for instance, in alkalineearth atoms with hyperfine structure and in alkali-like ions with a metastable d-orbital, such as Hg + , Ba + , Sr + , or Ca + . In this manuscript we focus on this last case where the levels can be identified with the states |S = |S 1/2 , |P = |P 1/2 , |D = |D 3/2 , and |Q = |D 5/2 . The dark line can be observed by collecting the photon signal on the |S → |P transition. Here, all the transitions are electric-dipole allowed except |S 1/2 ↔ |D 5/2 (named |S ↔ |Q in Fig.

TABLE I :

 I Wavelength involved in the three-photon process and frequency of the reference transition

	Ions	B	R	W	D 3/2 -D 5/2
	Ca +	397 nm	866 nm	729 nm	1.82 THz
	Sr +	422 nm	1092 nm	674 nm	8.40 THz
	Ba +	493 nm	650 nm	1761 nm	24.0 THz
	Hg +	194 nm	10.67 µm	282 nm	451 THz

The authors would like to thank P. Dubé for his comments on the manuscript. * caroline.champenois@univ-provence.fr


Marcelo Fornazin
email: fornazin@gmail.com

Luiz Antonio

Joia Getulio

Participation in Discussion Spaces of Health Informatics in Brazil

Keywords: Health Information Systems, Public Policy, Informatics in Brazil's Health System

This work analyses instances of discussion related to the Brazilian public policy on health information and communication technologies (ICT). Departing from a theoretical model, which relates health ICT outcomes to instances of discussion, this work aims to identify how multiple actors participate on decision-making processes regarding health ICT. Laws and norms related to discussion forums about Brazilian health system were researched. The work shows that the discourse of participation has been present since SUS (Brazilian Unified Health System) beginnings, and, in recent years, new forums have been created. Thus, this paper concludes with the importance of a coordinated work between the forums, as well as the very need of participation of multiple actors in the instances of discussions about health ICT.

Introduction

Over the last twenty years, countries have bet on national strategies to incorporate information and communication technologies (ICT) into health practices [START_REF] Alvarez | The promise of e-Health -a Canadian perspective[END_REF][START_REF] Gunter | The Emergence of National Electronic Health Record Architectures in the United States and Australia: Models, Costs, and Questions[END_REF][START_REF] Bowns | Factors associated with success in the implementation of information management and technology in the NHS[END_REF][START_REF] Brasil | Ministry of Health: A construção da política nacional de informação e informática em saúde: proposta versão 2[END_REF][START_REF] Blumental | Stimulating the Adoption of Health Information Technology[END_REF] and scientific literature about Health Information Systems (HIS) reports that the informatization of health is a long-term process influenced by diverse actors [START_REF] Alvarez | The promise of e-Health -a Canadian perspective[END_REF][START_REF] Braa | Networks of Action Sustainable Health Information Systems Across Developing Countries[END_REF][START_REF] Kimaro | The challenges of sustainability of health information systems in developing countries: comparative case studies of Mozambique and Tanzania[END_REF][START_REF] Moraes | Informação e informática em saúde: caleidoscópio contemporâneo da saúde[END_REF]. This is also the case in Brazil, where the first HIS emerged in the 1970s [START_REF] Moraes | Informações em Saúde: da Prática Fragmentada ao Exercício da Cidadania. Abrasco[END_REF] and, after three decades, diverse advances have taken place in an effort to develop ICT for the benefit of health. In Brazil, the HIS were developed by actors in both public and private sectors to meet the demands of health planning and management, as was the elaboration of a national strategic vision of heath informatics [START_REF] Brasil | Ministry of Health: A construção da política nacional de informação e informática em saúde: proposta versão 2[END_REF]. However, recent attempts by the Ministry of Health (MoH) aiming to construct an Electronic Health Record (EHR) on a national level failed and the HIS produced in Brazil are fragmented, limiting the use of the information for the benefit of the Brazilian population [START_REF] Moraes | Informação e informática em saúde: caleidoscópio contemporâneo da saúde[END_REF].

Considering the complex scenario related to the informatization of health in the Brazilian setting, it becomes necessary to study the factors associated with this process. Therefore, based upon the premise that participative actions can bring about better results for health ICTs, this work seeks to analyze the participation of diverse actors involved in the instances of discussions of health informatics in Brazil.

To do so, this work articulates three theoretical perspectives -Health Information Systems Project [START_REF] Braa | Networks of Action Sustainable Health Information Systems Across Developing Countries[END_REF][START_REF] Kimaro | The challenges of sustainability of health information systems in developing countries: comparative case studies of Mozambique and Tanzania[END_REF][START_REF] Sheikh | Mobilising Local Networks of Implementers to Address Health Information Systems Sustainability[END_REF], Information and Information Technology in Health [START_REF] Moraes | Informação e informática em saúde: caleidoscópio contemporâneo da saúde[END_REF][START_REF] Moraes | Informações em Saúde: da Prática Fragmentada ao Exercício da Cidadania. Abrasco[END_REF][START_REF] Moraes | Política Nacional de Informação, Informática e Comunicação em Saúde: um pacto a ser construído[END_REF], and Development Studies [START_REF] Evans | Além da "Monocultura Institucional": instituições, capacidades e o desenvolvimento deliberativo[END_REF] -in order to formulate an analytical model that relates instances and actors involved in the discussion of health informatics in Brazil. Therefore, national instances of discussion about health ICTs are identified, as are the actors who have participated in such instances.

This work is organized in the following manner: After the introduction, section 2 reviews literature associated with the three theoretical perspectives cited and presents the analytical model for the analysis of participation in instances of discussion on health informatics. Section 3 discusses the methodological procedures adopted in the study. Section 4 presents the results accrued from the analysis of the chronological trajectory of health informatics in Brazil, from the 1990s onwards, and section 5 discusses the results found. Finally, in section 6, the work's conclusions are presented.

Literature Review

Since the 1990s, diverse countries have sought to explore the possibilities associated with health ICTs through national projects and strategies. Among such one can quote Canada [START_REF] Alvarez | The promise of e-Health -a Canadian perspective[END_REF], Australia [START_REF] Gunter | The Emergence of National Electronic Health Record Architectures in the United States and Australia: Models, Costs, and Questions[END_REF] and England [START_REF] Bowns | Factors associated with success in the implementation of information management and technology in the NHS[END_REF] and more recently the United States [START_REF] Blumental | Stimulating the Adoption of Health Information Technology[END_REF]. Such initiatives have generally been conducted by independent entities that support local actions aiming to develop HIS, while, on a national level, they seek to link governmental actors and civil society, in order to construct agreements and define patterns to integrating local systems.

Research shows that the social participation in discussion processes and implementation of health ICT can be a critical factor for the success of these projects. As such, in the following paragraphs three theoretical perspectives that study participatory processes will be presented: Health Information Systems Project [START_REF] Braa | Networks of Action Sustainable Health Information Systems Across Developing Countries[END_REF][START_REF] Kimaro | The challenges of sustainability of health information systems in developing countries: comparative case studies of Mozambique and Tanzania[END_REF][START_REF] Sheikh | Mobilising Local Networks of Implementers to Address Health Information Systems Sustainability[END_REF], Information and Information Technology in Health [START_REF] Moraes | Informação e informática em saúde: caleidoscópio contemporâneo da saúde[END_REF][START_REF] Moraes | Informações em Saúde: da Prática Fragmentada ao Exercício da Cidadania. Abrasco[END_REF][START_REF] Moraes | Política Nacional de Informação, Informática e Comunicação em Saúde: um pacto a ser construído[END_REF] and Development Studies [START_REF] Evans | Além da "Monocultura Institucional": instituições, capacidades e o desenvolvimento deliberativo[END_REF].

In the context of studies about ICT in developing countries, the Health Information Systems Project (HISP) [START_REF] Braa | Networks of Action Sustainable Health Information Systems Across Developing Countries[END_REF][START_REF] Kimaro | The challenges of sustainability of health information systems in developing countries: comparative case studies of Mozambique and Tanzania[END_REF][START_REF] Sheikh | Mobilising Local Networks of Implementers to Address Health Information Systems Sustainability[END_REF], observing the necessity to develop HIS in a sustainable and scalable manner [START_REF] Braa | Networks of Action Sustainable Health Information Systems Across Developing Countries[END_REF][START_REF] Kimaro | The challenges of sustainability of health information systems in developing countries: comparative case studies of Mozambique and Tanzania[END_REF], argues about the importance of establishing networks of action that make feasible the implementation of HIS [START_REF] Braa | Networks of Action Sustainable Health Information Systems Across Developing Countries[END_REF][START_REF] Sheikh | Mobilising Local Networks of Implementers to Address Health Information Systems Sustainability[END_REF].

The networks of action [6 p. 342] are defined as "intended to capture the dynamics of translating, aligning heterogeneous networks of routines, technology, and learning within politically contested terrains of opposing projects and ideologies, in an effort to promote sustainable, replicable changes". This network of heterogeneous actors is mobilized to support the system, as well as promote the sustainability of HIS [START_REF] Braa | Networks of Action Sustainable Health Information Systems Across Developing Countries[END_REF][START_REF] Kimaro | The challenges of sustainability of health information systems in developing countries: comparative case studies of Mozambique and Tanzania[END_REF], scalability [START_REF] Braa | Networks of Action Sustainable Health Information Systems Across Developing Countries[END_REF], technical capabilities, and learning [START_REF] Sheikh | Mobilising Local Networks of Implementers to Address Health Information Systems Sustainability[END_REF]. The actors of networks of action include politicians, bureaucrats, representatives of international organizations, researchers, and technical artifacts, i.e. infrastructure, HIS and other technological resources. Therefore, strategies are needed to design flexible and participatory activities that bring together the different interests, with a view toward mobilizing support for HIS [START_REF] Braa | Networks of Action Sustainable Health Information Systems Across Developing Countries[END_REF].

In Brazil, within the context of the Brazilian Sanitary Movement [START_REF] Moraes | Informação e informática em saúde: caleidoscópio contemporâneo da saúde[END_REF][START_REF] Moraes | Informações em Saúde: da Prática Fragmentada ao Exercício da Cidadania. Abrasco[END_REF][START_REF] Moraes | Política Nacional de Informação, Informática e Comunicação em Saúde: um pacto a ser construído[END_REF], studies have argued how participative actions can enable the development of ICT, aiming at attending the interests of Brazilian society. For instance, Moraes and Vasconcellos [11 p. 97] put the challenge to "expand the use of information in the daily decision making of health, either in policy, management, surveillance, clinic or social control, facing unequal access to the benefits of technological advancement". Thus, they proposed a way to build a national pact around the theme of health informatics, suggesting the convening of a National Conference on Information and Information Technology in Health.

Moreover, Moraes and Gomez [START_REF] Moraes | Informação e informática em saúde: caleidoscópio contemporâneo da saúde[END_REF] proposed the construction of a politicalepistemological interfield encapsulating the production of information in health practices, from assistance to planning and management. In the words of the authors "an 'information and information technology 'interfield', in order to put forth a manifesto that considers actors, practices, procedures and knowledge that crosses over as well as penetrates other 'fields', have already constituted differentiated criteria of identity and value within common health references" [8 p. 560].

The information and information technology interfield accrued from the Brazilian Sanitary Movement integrates HIS, from assistance to planning and management. This interfield is composed of the entirety of information related to health, namely administrative, financial, and assistance, in both the domain of public and private health. Or in other words, information that is widely used, from clinical practice -in professional/patient relations -to planning and management actions [START_REF] Moraes | Informação e informática em saúde: caleidoscópio contemporâneo da saúde[END_REF].

Based on the concept of the information and information technology interfield, Moraes and Gomez [START_REF] Moraes | Informação e informática em saúde: caleidoscópio contemporâneo da saúde[END_REF] illustrate some spaces for discussion of the production of health information. These areas involve public and private actors, comprising: (a) the ways of life in health, regarding civil society; (b) the government, covering instances of integrative health information; (c) economic undertakings, encompassing the producers of goods and services of ICT; and (d) science and technology, including education and research in informatics in health. The spaces would be related and, through them, informational praxis in health would be discussed [START_REF] Moraes | Informação e informática em saúde: caleidoscópio contemporâneo da saúde[END_REF].

Finally, within the context of Development Studies, Evans [START_REF] Evans | Além da "Monocultura Institucional": instituições, capacidades e o desenvolvimento deliberativo[END_REF] observes the frustrating results of the institutional monoculture, which as he explains, "try(ing) to impose uniform institutional blueprints on the countries of the South -what I call "institutional monocropping" -has produced disappointing results" [12 p. 20]. Therefore, the author proposes for the amplification of the notion of development to go beyond economic growth and, based in the thinking of Amartya Sen, defends the organizational move in which "'deliberative democracy' offers a more substantial institutionalization of 'public discussion and exchange'" [12 p. 22].

Thus, Evans [12 p. 22] argues that, "institutions indeed appear to be effective in engaging the energies of ordinary citizens in the process of social choice', in that they "appear to increase citizenry's willingness to invest in public goods and to enhance the delivery of these goods".

Therefore, based on the contributions of the three perspectives cited above, this work defines an analytical model for analysis of participation in the instances of dis-cussion on health informatics (Figure 1), composed by instances of discussion and actors.

The instances of discussion are defined as spaces in which actors discuss and deliberate questions related to health ICT. Therefore, they influence the development of material elements of health informatics, which are: HIS, patterns of interoperability and norms, such as the allocation of resources, finances, technologies and people. This definition is based on the concept of networks of action [START_REF] Braa | Networks of Action Sustainable Health Information Systems Across Developing Countries[END_REF], interfield spaces of information and information technology in health [START_REF] Moraes | Informação e informática em saúde: caleidoscópio contemporâneo da saúde[END_REF], and deliberative institutions [START_REF] Evans | Além da "Monocultura Institucional": instituições, capacidades e o desenvolvimento deliberativo[END_REF].

The actors are defined as representatives of diverse segments involved in health ICT. According to the three perspectives [START_REF] Braa | Networks of Action Sustainable Health Information Systems Across Developing Countries[END_REF][START_REF] Moraes | Informação e informática em saúde: caleidoscópio contemporâneo da saúde[END_REF][START_REF] Evans | Além da "Monocultura Institucional": instituições, capacidades e o desenvolvimento deliberativo[END_REF], such actors are comprised of politicians, bureaucrats, businesses, social movements, international organisms, science and technology organizations, and class associations, among others. Based on Moraes and Gomez [START_REF] Moraes | Informação e informática em saúde: caleidoscópio contemporâneo da saúde[END_REF], the actors are classified in accordance with four categories: government, businesses, science and technology and civil society. Stemming from the theoretical concepts proposed and based upon the premise that participative institutions can generate better results for public policies on health ICT in Brazil, this work seeks to identify how instances of discussion were instituted throughout the last twenty years, how they came about, which objectives they hold and which actors have participated in these instances.

Thus, the objective of this paper is to understand how instances of discussion on health informatics are promoting social participation in the formation and implementation of public policies in health informatics in Brazil.

Method

This study, aiming to analyze the instances of discussion related to health informatics, is based upon a qualitative approach supported by documental analysis. For such, as shown in Table 1, information about legislations and norms related to the Brazilian health system have been collected, more specifically regarding health informatics, from the 1980s onwards. It was also surveyed news and reports about actions related to the informatization of health in Brazil. The analysis of the data is based upon the analytical model proposed in section 2. Thus, actors and instances of discussion related to health information policies were analyzed via this aforementioned model.

Law/Norm Description

Federal Constitution of 1988 [START_REF]Brasil: Federal Constitution of 1988[END_REF] Assures health as a social right and government obligation. Law 8080/1990 [START_REF]Brasil: Law n. 8080[END_REF] Organic Law of Health. Law 8142/1990 [START_REF]Brasil: Law n. 8142[END_REF] Institutes participation at SUS. Decree 100/1991 [START_REF]Brasil: Decree n. 100[END_REF] Creates Datasus. Ordinance MoH 01/1996 [17] Creates CIB and CIT. Resolution CNS 227/1998 [START_REF] Brasil | National Concil of Health: Resolution n. 277[END_REF] Creates CICIS at CNS. Law 9782/1999 [19] Creates Anvisa. Law 9961/2000 [START_REF]Federal Official Gazette of Brazil[END_REF] Creates ANS. Ordinance MoH 1919MoH /2002 [21] [21] Creates RIPSA. Resolution CNS 349/2005 [START_REF] Brasil | National Concil of Health: Resolution n. 349[END_REF] Reformulates CICIS. Ordinance ANS 19/2006 [START_REF]Directory of Sectorial Development: Normative Instruction n. 19[END_REF] Creates COPISS at ANS. Ordinance MoH 349/2009 [START_REF]Ministry of Health: Ordinance n. 327[END_REF] Creates CIINFO/MoH. The instances of discussion were identified as the spaces established in the legislation. During their analysis, one attempted to identify the goal set for each instance, and the period in which the instances were created (and, in some cases, altered). The actors include institutional participants in the instances of discussion, namely government, business, science and technology institutions, and civil society.

The following section presents a historical trajectory of health informatics in Brazil, showing its main events. Then, discussion section sought to identify how the objectives of instances of discussion complement each other or overlap. Furthermore, one attempted to analyze how the different categories of actors were present in each instance of discussion.

Health ICT in Brazil

In Brazil, the first HIS appeared in the 1970s in the welfare health system in effect at the time, and in the 1980s HIS were developed to control the billing submitted by health providers accredited by the National Institute of Social Security (INAMPS) [START_REF] Moraes | Informações em Saúde: da Prática Fragmentada ao Exercício da Cidadania. Abrasco[END_REF].

In the 1980s, the Sanitary Movement, in order to challenge the prevailing model at the time, championed a political campaign for the universal right to health. This campaign was called the Brazilian Sanitary Reform, which culminated with the institution of the Unified Health System (SUS), the current base of the Brazilian health system [START_REF]Participativa: A construção do SUS: histórias da Reforma Sanitária e do Processo Participativo[END_REF]. The Brazilian health system, SUS, encompasses the universal right to health, public financing, administrative decentralization, and community participation. These fundaments have been achieved at Federal Constitution of 1988 [START_REF]Brasil: Federal Constitution of 1988[END_REF], Law 8080 of 1990 [START_REF]Brasil: Law n. 8080[END_REF], and Law 8142, also of 1990 [START_REF]Brasil: Law n. 8142[END_REF]. Due to that, national, state and municipal councils on health were created, representing the instances of social participation in the discussions on the Brazilian health system [START_REF]Brasil: Law n. 8142[END_REF], such as the Intergovernmental Commissions Tripartite (CIT) and the Intergovernmental Commissions Bipartite (CIB), which comprise the instances of interfederative pacts with the SUS [17].

Along with the SUS, the National Health Information System (NHIS) was established, whose organization fell to the Ministry of Health (MoH), in partnership with states and municipalities. To account for this attribute, in 1990 the IT Department of SUS (Datasus) was created [START_REF]Brasil: Decree n. 100[END_REF]. The decentralized management, a basic tenet of the SUS, oriented actions aiming to provide HIS at regional and local levels. As such, Datasus began to produce HIS to support the actions of state and municipal health secretariats.

Considering the range of existing HIS in Brazil and the necessity to homogenize information, the MoH, at the end of the 1990s, launched the National Health Card project [START_REF] Moraes | Política Nacional de Informação, Informática e Comunicação em Saúde: um pacto a ser construído[END_REF][START_REF] Brasil | [END_REF][START_REF] Cunha | Cartão Nacional de Saúde: os desafios da concepção e implantação de um sistema nacional de captura de informações de atendimento em saúde[END_REF]. This project aimed to create a national registry of citizens, and as such, aggregate the information present in various HIS used in Brazil, providing a platform to channel informatics around the EHR. However, few results have been effectively reached to date [START_REF] Brasil | [END_REF].

In the 2000s, regulatory agencies in the health arena were established: the National Regulatory Agency for Private Health Insurance and Plans (ANS) [START_REF]Federal Official Gazette of Brazil[END_REF] and the Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) [19]. The ANS introduced new governance in the management of supplementary health, regulating operating activities and private health service providers. Anvisa had already come to act within the National Health Surveillance System, regulating the commercialization of products and services subject to sanitary vigilance. Thus, agencies came to command informatics activities within their areas of expertise.

Still in the 2000s, the first mobilizations pursuing a more holistic view of health information began. These mobilizations culminated in 2004 with the publication of the National Policy on Information and Information Technology in Health (PNIIS) in the 12th National Health Conference [START_REF] Brasil | Ministry of Health: A construção da política nacional de informação e informática em saúde: proposta versão 2[END_REF]. The PNIIS, while being a trademark, became an important referential in the development of health informatics in Brazil, as it defined the national strategic vision. Thus, guidelines and actions designed and established responsibilities to government actors and civil society. However, since the publication of PNIIS, very little of its propositions have actually been implemented.

In 2002, the Inter-Agency Health Information Network (RIPSA) was created with the objective of consolidating the generation of health information, as agreed with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) [21]. During this period, the National Council of Health (CNS) also reformed the Intersectoral Commission of Health Communication and Information (CICIS), established in 1998 [START_REF] Brasil | National Concil of Health: Resolution n. 277[END_REF], which aims to assist the CNS in subjects seeking the democratization of communication and information [START_REF] Brasil | National Concil of Health: Resolution n. 349[END_REF].

Meanwhile, in 2004, ANS established the pattern of Private Health Insurance Plans and Information Exchange Standard (TISS), which allowed electronic information exchanges between providers and operators in private health. Aiming to continue to TISS and other actions in the private health, in 2006, ANS established the Private Health Insurance Plans and Information Standardization Committee (COPISS), in order to promote the development of electronic information exchange in private health [START_REF]Directory of Sectorial Development: Normative Instruction n. 19[END_REF].

Alongside the activities of the MoH, the Brazilian Society of Health ICT (SBIS), in conjunction with the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM), has developed a certification process for EHR. This process, also known as electronic signature, became a significant milestone in health ICT, as it established the legal foundation for the full adoption of computerized clinical record as a substitute to paper.

More recently, in 2009, the MoH established the Health Information and Information Technology Committee (CIINFO/MoH) with regulatory functions, policies and oversight of the activities of health informatics within the SUS [25]. In 2011, the MoH, based on the determination of the CIINFO, regulated standards for interoperability of health information [26]. This discussion did not count on the participation of other actors of civil society, who strongly criticized the actions of the MoH [30].

In parallel, fragmented HIS continued to be developed. The MoH, itself, currently owns around 60 information systems, which support various administrative functions, assistance and statistics [31] , while states and municipalities use more than 700 HIS [START_REF] Brasil | [END_REF]. Furthermore, in the supplementary health sector, HIS have been developed aiming at an efficient management of inventories and costs.

From the scenario presented, the next section unveils the actors and instances of discussion of health informatics in Brazil, arguing some implications accrued from these instances in the outcomes of health informatics in Brazil.

Discussion

Participation is present in the discourse of health information in Brazil since the rise of the SUS, as the Brazilian constitution assures society's participation in actions related to health [START_REF]Brasil: Federal Constitution of 1988[END_REF]. Likewise, social participation is assured in instances of health planning and management, as is the case of national, state and municipal councils on health [START_REF]Brasil: Law n. 8142[END_REF].

In the case of health informatics, some instances of participation have their thematic spaces, such as the CICIS within the CNS [START_REF] Brasil | National Concil of Health: Resolution n. 277[END_REF][START_REF] Brasil | National Concil of Health: Resolution n. 349[END_REF], the COPISS within the ANS [START_REF]Directory of Sectorial Development: Normative Instruction n. 19[END_REF], and CIINFO within MoH . The text of PNIIS also reinforces the importance of participatory activities for the determination of actions on health informatics [START_REF] Brasil | Ministry of Health: A construção da política nacional de informação e informática em saúde: proposta versão 2[END_REF].

Although the participatory instances have existed since the beginning of the SUS, in recent years there is increasing discussion of instances of health informatics, as was the case with RIPSA [21], COPISS [START_REF]Directory of Sectorial Development: Normative Instruction n. 19[END_REF] and CIINFO [START_REF]Ministry of Health: Ordinance n. 327[END_REF]30]. These instances reflect the complexity of the Brazilian health system, which receives public and private financing, as well as the participation of both public and private health service providers.

The complexity of the health informatics scenario is evidenced by the wide range of state actors and civil society organizations present in the discussion of public policy related to the area. In public health, there are SUS managers -MoH, state health departments and local health departments -public providers of health services and social control agencies, such as the CNS, state boards and municipal councils health. In supplementary health, ANS, health insurance companies and private providers are present. There are also actors who are part of both the public and supplementary health system, namely: the citizenry, philanthropic providers, associations, institutions of science and technology, and service providers of healthcare information technology.

These actors have debated health informatics in various stages of discussion, as presented in Table 2. As it can be seen, it was found via consultation with the current legislation four instances of discussion about health informatics without a single coordination or assignment of tasks, which can create conflicts that might affect the advancement of health informatics public policy in Brazil. As for the actors present in this discussion, CICIS is represented by members of government and civil society; RIPSA includes actors within the MoH and technicalscientific institutions, the COPISS comprises a wide range of government and civil society, and finally the CIINFO considers organs of the MoH, Ministry of Planning, RIPSA and ABNT. As shown in Table 3, the actors from government, civil society, business and science & technology are present to a greater or lesser degree, in various instances of discussion.

The COPISS consists of various actors in society. Although it has an over representation of civil society and an under-representation of businesses, COPISS is constituted in a plural forum involving various actors of supplementary health in its principal context of discussion.

However, some instances contain mostly government officials, as the CIINFO, which consists mainly of actors from government itself. Moreover, it can still be observed in some instances, as CICIS and COPISS, that important government actors, although having a seat, have not indicated representatives yet. Finally, the low level of participation of businesses in instances of discussion is also noted. The asymmetries of participation can influence the participatory debate on the formulation and implementation of health informatics public policy in Brazil. According to Evans [START_REF] Evans | Além da "Monocultura Institucional": instituições, capacidades e o desenvolvimento deliberativo[END_REF], institutions with social participation increase the likelihood of generating public goods and societal engagement in public policy. Likewise, Moraes and Gomez [START_REF] Moraes | Informação e informática em saúde: caleidoscópio contemporâneo da saúde[END_REF] proposes the reconstruction of an interfield of information and informatics in health, involving various segments of society. Thus, Braa et al. [START_REF] Braa | Networks of Action Sustainable Health Information Systems Across Developing Countries[END_REF] advocate the construction of networks of action involving diverse community actors in the implementation of HIS. It is necessary that the government and civil society actors are represented in the various spheres of discussion, in order to build intertemporal agreements that lead to the development of information technology in this field.

Actions without the broad participation of society can lead to conflicts, as is the case of the ordinance that regulates the exchange of information between information systems used in the public and private spheres [26]. Such regulation has suffered various criticisms for not considering the interests of civil society [30].

On the other hand, the case of ANS represents a breakthrough in discussions with government and civil society. The agency has developed TISS and TUSS standards allowing the automation of transactions between health providers and health operators, increasing the adoption of ICT for private health.

Finally, other actors, even without much government involvement, have developed actions. An example is the digital certification standard for EHR, prepared by SBIS in conjunction with CFM, without the participation of MoH. Thus, one observes that actions, even without the direct participation of government representatives, set standards in health ICT that ended up being used all over the country.

Concluding Remarks

Health ICTs have been part of the Brazilian scenario since the 1970s, but today they still have not been able to transform health practices in the country. While there have been advances in the area, limitations in the effective use of informatics within health practices in Brazil still exist.

Recent failures in the construction of EHR reveal instances in which the process of health informatization will not take place by itself. Rather, a discussion that includes the government, businesses and civil society becomes necessary, aiming to develop health informatics toward the benefit of Brazilian society.

Participation is present in the discourse of health information since the surge of the SUS but in recent years an increase in instances of discussion has been observed. These new instances reflect the intention of actors to create spaces to influence health informatization. It is important that these instances possess particular coordination and attributions, in order to avoid conflicts in the standardization and definitions produced in each space.

It is also important that the instances of discussion have representation from diverse actors from both the government and civil society, thus producing agreements that engage all participants in the construction of public goods that convey to the development of health informatics.

This study focused on the Brazilian scenario, not analyzing local or regional experiences. Future research may be based on the proposed theoretical framework to analyze other instances of discussion.

Furthermore, the categories employed in this study can also limit the understanding of the complexity of actors involved in the discussion of health informatics in Brazil. For example, Brazilian civil society is not homogeneous, representing diverse and quite often divergent interests. Thus, more studies become necessary in order to better understand the interests present within Brazilian health informatics.

The enlargement of theoretical backgrounds is a highly argued topic within studies about ICT in developing countries. Avgerou [START_REF] Avgerou | Discourses on ICT and development[END_REF] observes that, "we need studies of the political actors and institutions through which economic models and technological potential are translated into industries, information infrastructures and 'empowered' societies". This work points in that direction, toward the proposal of an integration of three theoretical perspectives for better understanding the HIS in Brazil.

Finally, it is expected that the perspective proposed in this work enable the development of further studies that seek to assess the quality of public policies, norms and definitions produced in instances of discussion, as well as the social participation that these instances provide.

Glossary

Fig. 1 .

 1 Fig. 1. Analytical model of participation in instances of discussion on health informatics.

Table 1 .

 1 Laws and norms associated with the institutionalization of health informatics in Brazil.

  Ordinance MoH 2072/2011 [25] Reformulates CIINFO/MoH. Ordinance MoH 2073/2011 [26] Regulates standards for information sharing at SUS.

Table 2 .

 2 Instances of discussion of health informatics

	Instance of Discussion	Year	Description
	CICIS	1998	Support CNS in questions regarding information and infor-mation technology in health.
	RIPSA	2002 Improve usage of information in health.
	COPISS	2006	Promote development and improvement of information ex-change in private health.
	CIINFO	2009	Normative, regulatory and supervisory functions of health ICT in the SUS.

Table 3 .

 3 Number of actors present in instances of discussion.

	Instance of Discussion	Government	Civil Society	Science and Technology	Business
	RIPSA	7	-	1	-
	CIINFO	12	1	2	-
	CICIS	3	12	1	-
	COPISS	3	16	1	2