Monday, August 24, 2020

INTERNATIONAL TRADE Essay

1. Who profits by the administration arrangements to (an) advance creation of ethanol and (b) place levy obstructions on imports of sugar stick? Who endures because of these strategies? ANS: Benefiters in advancing creation of ethanol: - Corn makers. They get appropriations from the administration and get a free method of showcasing from the legislature. The administration advances utilization of ethanol, ethanol is created out of corn, so circuitous showcasing for corn ranchers that will get more interest out of arrangements that advance ethanol. - Ethanol dealers. - People all around the globe. As to be found toward an unnatural weather change, you can say that utilizing ethanol is better. In any case, utilizing ethanol prompts expanding food costs. So there is a negative and a positive side. - Businesses. On the off chance that ranchers get sponsorships from the administration they can bring down their cost. On the off chance that ranchers bring down their value, the creation to deliver ethanol becomes less expensive therefore making ethanol less expensive. Organizations that utilization ethanol will have a less expensive cost, decreasing expenses and expanding benefits. - The Government. In a law based society we are seeing right since many individuals practice environmental awareness. When practicing environmental safety the legislature is attempting to tell you that he thinks about the world and he needs to improve it. It is a success win circumstance in light of the fact that there are no individuals as we would see it that are restricted in becoming environmentally viable, yet they are a ton of adherents and potential devotees that help a natural amicable world. Benefiters in putting duty obstructions on imports of sugar stick: - The Government. They get all the cash out of these levies. Victims because of these strategies: - Countries that produce sugar professionally. Benefit goes drastically down when discussing a 25 to half import tax. - Countries that set import levies for sugar. Nations that produce sugar can have put import taxes themselves as assurance against the nation that has an import tax on them. Also, nations that produce sugar can think about different prospects when sending out their item to another nation. They can recognize that it isn't to their greatest advantage to create items to a land where import levies are so absurdly high. They can see other potential arrangements. 2. One gauge recommends that if food costs ascend by 33%, they will decrease expectations for everyday comforts in rich nations by around 3 percent, however in extremely poor ones by around 20 percent. As indicated by the International Food Policy Research Institute, except if strategies change, grain costs will ascend by 10 to 20 percent by 2015, and the development of bio-fuel creation could decrease calorie ad mission by 2 to 8 percent by 2020 in a significant number of the world’s most unfortunate countries. Should rich nations take care of this expected issue? On the off chance that so,what? ANS: Rich nations ought not give any appropriations to the bio-fuel corn ranchers. They should diminish import taxes with the goal that it tends to be less expensive for nations that produce sugar (thus they can make bio-fuel out of sugar) in this manner expanding the measure of sugar that nations can send out. They ought to grow new thoughts by they way they can assault natural changes through practical ways. 3. The contention for offering appropriations to ethanol makers settles upon the supposition that ethanol brings about lower CO2 outflows than fuel and in this way benefits the earth. On the off chance that we acknowledge that a worldwide temperature alteration is a significant issue in itself, would it be advisable for us to not be urging government to increment such sponsorships? What are the contentions for and against doing as such? On balance, what do you believe is the best arrangement? ANS: When the administration began to sponsorships ranchers who develop crops. So they could transform them into bio †energizes ( essentially corn and soy beans ). More ranchers where currently planting crops, since then they got endowments from the administration. It’s additionally excellent for the earth. In any case, it likewise has a negative side. At the point when more ranchers where planting crops. There was an emotional impact on the interest for corn and soy beans. It expanded quick that in 2007 the U.S was liable for a large portion of the worldwide increment for the interest on crops. However, when this happened the high taxes where closing out makers of the item sugar stick. So they could rival different items on the grounds that the costs were so high. Furthermore, that’s sadly in light of the fact that sugar stick is a more neighborly condition material than yields and soy beans. I think the best approach is to decrease the high taxes on different items. Since the sugar stick is significantly greater condition well disposed. Furthermore, isn’t that what it’s about, decreasing the a dangerous atmospheric devation impact. So I figure they should drop the high taxes and present the sugar stick.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Pidgin: Dialect Of English Spoken On The Hawaiian Islands :: essays research papers

Pidgin: Dialect of English Spoken on the Hawaiian Islands      Pidgin is a tongue of English spoken in the Hawaiian Islands. It comprises of the shortening of numerous words ordinarily utilized in regular English discourse. A few models incorporate, da (the), odda (other), Tre (which means tree and three), bra (anybody you know), da kine (anything you don't have a clue), cus (any companion), and numerous others. Pidgin has it's social boundaries too. It is essentially spoken in the lower class neighborhoods comprising of the Hawaiians furthermore, the Filipinos. The vernacular has been related with the individuals from these neighborhoods and their issues, for example, liquor addiction, absence of education, and a poor way of life. I originate from a various family foundation, my mom is Scottish, English, Italian, French, and significantly more. My dad is part Hawaiian what's more, part Scottish. Being such I need to pick which way of life is directly for me. There is a pull a-war between the Hawaiian piece of me and the Haole part of me. The two societies that I view myself as, Scottish and Hawaiian, are both pleased, fascinating, and contain their own solutions toward conduct. The pidgin lingo is a significant piece of life in the lower class Hawaiian neighborhoods. For most kids in these areas it is the language verbally expressed at home. The others of the islands take a gander at this vernacular as an indication of poor training what's more, up-bringing. My mom didn't need her child related with such a gathering of people.      When I began school at Maunawili School and started to get Pidgin what's more, begin to talk it at home she willingly volunteered to transform me. At this time she was showing 6th grade at Keolu Elementary. She perceived how her children couldn't talk legitimate English, just Pidgin. A large number of them additionally wrote in Pidgin, something I had started to do. My mom saw this conduct and constrained me to change. My folks put me in Punahou School, outstanding amongst other tuition based schools in the country, to encourage this change. It might appear that she didn't need me to grow up pleased with my Hawaiian legacy, however that is a long way from reality. She instructed me to regard the way of life for its excellent viewpoints, the hula, and the

Saturday, July 25, 2020

A Thrifty Persons Guide to Downsizing

A Thrifty Persons Guide to Downsizing A Thrifty Persons Guide to Downsizing A Thrifty Persons Guide to DownsizingMoving to a smaller home could be a great way to save money, but there are lots of factors to consider beside pure square footage!When you read the word “downsizing,” you probably think of the 2017 Alexander Payne film. It’s certainly the first thing that comes up when you Google the term.But “downsizing” doesn’t just refer to a mid-budget film in which Matt Damon and his wife, Kristen Wiig, decide to go through a shrinking procedure in order to simplify their lives. It’s also a way you could cut down on some clutter and costs in your own life as well. And you don’t even need to shrink down to do it!So what exactly is downsizing, why might you do it, and how might you do it? Let’s find out!What is downsizing?When people other than director Alexander Payne talk about downsizing, they’re likely referring to real estate, though they could also be talking about selling off some of their possessions.“Downsizing can be an effective way to reduce expenses, thus allowing you to potentially build your savings,” explained Associate Financial Planner Anna Keisler. “Downsizing generally means moving to a smaller and less expensive home in order to have a lower monthly mortgage payment. There are other expenses that should decrease when you move to a smaller home as well, such as electricity, gas, housekeeping, maintenance, etc.”Reasons to downsize.You don’t really need an excuse for wanting more money in your pocket. But there are quite a few scenarios that could make downsizing particularly appealing.Sacha Ferrandi, founder of Source Capital Funding (@sourcecapital)  and  Texas Hard Money First, outlined some of those scenarios:“If all your kids have moved out and you no longer need the extra space, it may be time to consider downsizing. Think about your future and if that extra space will still be utilized. A larger home requires more upkeep and if you aren’t actively using the space, you can save mon ey by downsizing to a smaller space that fits your current needs.“You may want to downsize for the simple fact that a lower mortgage payment will take a little bit of burden off your shoulders. With a larger home comes more financial responsibilities. If you do decide to sell, you can use that money to completely fund a new, smaller home. No longer will you have to worry about the responsibility of paying a mortgage.“If you’re nearing retirement age, consider the perks of downsizing. Whether that money is for traveling or daily expenses, having a smaller mortgage payment will allow you to allocate more money towards your retirement fund so you can live comfortably, when the time comes.“Whether it’s racked up credit card debt or student loan debt, it may seem impossible to take control of. Downsizing and having a more affordable mortgage can help you put more money towards your debt in order to pay it off sooner than you thought, and take some of the weight off your shoulde rs.”How to downsize.So you’ve decided to downsize. While there may be some general tips that will apply to anyone, only you know the specifics of your unique situation.“There is no one-size-fits-all approach to downsizing any living situation,” advised Deborah Sweeney (@deborahsweeney), CEO of MyCorporation.com (@mycorporation). “It would be impossible for me to advise that one household downsizes in a manner that is the exact same for another household.My advice is to examine your existing budget and determine which items you can spend less on for a monthly basis. Often, purchases you dont think are all that expensiveâ€"like dining outâ€"are the ones that quickly add up. These can be cut back on, as needed, for more cost-effective options like meal prep and what you save from not dining out can go into savings.”You could even find that downsizing to a smaller place might not save as much money as you’d think it would.“Before you decide to opt for the lower mortgage, consider all the underlying costs you may run into,” suggested Ferrandi. “In order for your current home to sell on the market, you may need to do some repairs or make some updates, which could cost you a good chunk of change. Or maybe the furniture at your current home won’t fit into the smaller home and you’ll have to purchase new stuff. These are just a couple of the cost factors you may want to consider prior to making the commitment.”You’ll also need to figure out what you’re getting rid of, and whether you need to replace it.“Downsizing is a perfect opportunity for you to get rid of any unnecessary clutter or belongings,” advised Ferrandi. “Be realistic about what you need and what you don’t. With a smaller space, you may not be able to bring everything from your current property. This is a great opportunity for you to organize all of your belongings accordingly. Get creative and be efficient in the way you store things so you can best utilize your new s pace.“Plan out your new living space accordingly. With a smaller space, you will need to make sure all of the belongings you are planning to migrate over will fit without making it too crowded. If you’re looking to buy furniture, try going for more functional pieces that will better fit a small space.”And there are a few things you should definitely not do if you’re looking to downsize in a way that saves money.“Just because the house is smaller doesn’t mean it’s going to be less expensive,” warned Keisler. “Say you have a home in the suburbs and want to move to the most in-demand neighborhood of the city: your home may be smaller but it will likely also be more expensive.  The increase in property taxes can also make the trade-off to a smaller home in a pricier area less economically beneficial.”Downsizing can be a big decision. We aren’t downplaying that fact. But it might also be a good choice for you! To learn more about managing big financial decisions, c heck out these other posts and articles from OppLoans:Is Rent-to-Own a Good Way to Purchase a Home?Emergencies and Divorce: How to Plan For Worst-Case ScenariosHow Much Money Do You Actually Need to Buy a House?Should You Get Life Insurance?Do you have a   personal finance question youd like us to answer? Let us know! You can find us  on  Facebook  and  Twitter.  |  InstagramContributorsSacha  Ferrandi  is the Founder of  Source Capital Funding (@sourcecapital)  and is an expert in finance, entrepreneurship, and real estate. Source Capital Funding, Inc., is based in San Diego and operates across the United States.Anna Keisler is a Financial Planning Associate with SG Financial Advisors in the Atlanta, GA area.  When not assisting with financial planning, you can find her at the gym or trying new restaurants. She currently resides in the metro Atlanta area with her husband and two cats.Deborah Sweeney (@deborahsweeney) is the CEO of MyCorporation.com (@mycorporation). MyCorporation is a leader in online legal filing services for entrepreneurs and businesses, providing start-up bundles that include corporation and LLC formation, registered agent, DBA, and trademark copyright filing services. MyCorporation does all the work, making the business formation and maintenance quick and painless, so business owners can focus on what they do best.

Friday, May 22, 2020

The Impact of Technology in the Last 20 Years - 1059 Words

The first vestige of a technological advance is dated from the dawn of the primordial human organizations, which due to intelligent adaptations to survive, were able to stand a variety of environments and difficulties, being then able to populate the entire world with our species. Consequently, with the passing of time, the humanity was able to evolve even more its abilities, aiming to create new methods to simplify and extend the quality of human-based work. Such process was contextualized as the advent of technology, which has driven the development of societies as well as the disparity among them. In the last 20 years, the growth of such context marked the greatest changes in society since the Industrial Revolution on the XIX century, constructing a globalized world united by undeniably quick and reliable exchanges of information. In addition, every year the technological advances prove not only to be more efficient than before, but also that its speed is now propelled as never before. Now, technology and global acquaintance are immensely bonded, and in order to understand its effects on all societies, there must be a comprehension on the roots of modern devices and their respective transformations throughout time. Regarding the ascension of the most popular tools today, such as computers and the internet, they occupy an important and essential position on the current model of sociability. Their impact was held in such a way, that the Internet use among the entire globeShow MoreRelatedEssay about Pillars of Society837 Words   |  4 Pages SOC 100 SOC 100 Pillars of Society Matrix Instructions: Complete the matrix by comparing what you have read with what you have observed in your own experience regarding the how the economy impacts society’s pillars today. 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Thus, this can be theRead MoreOutline the Developments in Mobile Phone Technology over the Last 20 Years and Discuss Whether the Effects Are Positive or Negative.816 Words   |  4 Pagesphone technology over the last 20 years and discuss whether th e effects are positive or negative. In this world of science and technology, society has made much progress in the last 20 years. The mobile phone is a good example of this change. Mobile phones are now the most widespread communication device replacing fixed line phones, and their number is increasing dramatically every year. This essay will outline the major changes in mobile phone design and network availability during the last twoRead MoreTempe City Council Meeting Analysis1134 Words   |  5 Pagesplanning in the city and promote public health, safety and welfare. Usually, this plan has the range of around 20 years (Levy, 2011), but the City of Tempe General Plan has the more audacious range time of 30 years. 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Here we just use the average number (from year 1977-1978) of debt and equity of eac h company to calculate it. Since the beta for debt is 0, by plugging these into the unlevering beta calculation of E/(D+E) * ÃŽ ²E giving the asset beta column in Table 1. Taking simple average of asset betas givingRead MoreAbb Pest Swot,...980 Words   |  4 Pages1 Economical factors GDP The first macro economic data which we examine is the evolution of GDP because it has impact on the dynamics of business environment. Growth of GDP has the positive effect on sales growth. You can see from table. 1 [2]that GDP of Czech Republic was steadily rising from 2005 – 2008, but in 2008 broke out the world economic crisis, which impacted the year 2009. | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | GDP (mld. KÄ ) | 2630 | 2809 | 2982 | 3055 | 2928 | Growth in % |Read MoreTechnology On Our Generation s Future1239 Words   |  5 Pages Technology on our Generation’s Future Technology is machinery created by scientific knowledge that serves an active role in our industries (Computerhope). Around the world technology has become one of the most popular forms of communication (Computerhope). Starting with regular rotary phones and advancing into Instagram, twitter and facetime. Technology dating back to 1943 when the first computer was created by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, and still has a major impact on our livesRead MoreProject Earnings Essay1681 Words   |  7 PagesProject Earnings Manipulation: An Ethics Case Based on Agency Theory ABSTRACT: The impact of accounting information on ethical behavior has been extensively documented. Additionally, agency theory is a widely accepted behavioral perspective. Despite this, there is an absence of instructional material in the accounting education literature that ties ethical issues to an agency-theory context. The primary objective of this case is to highlight control system ethical issues using an agency-theory context

Friday, May 8, 2020

Graduation Speech High School - 1800 Words

â€Å"Congratulations! You have been accepted to Bentley University for fall of 2015!† Words could not express how ecstatic this message made me. As soon as the acceptance email popped up on my phone, I screamed, dropped my backpack, and sprinted over to my track and field teammates to celebrate this triumphant occasion. After years of challenging AP courses, eleven seasons of tiring school sports, and countless extracurricular clubs, I finally felt like all of my hard work had paid off. At that moment, the only thought in my head was â€Å"I’m going to Bentley!† My dream — an aspiration I’ve had since my freshman year of high school — was becoming a reality. Soon enough, I was forced to put things into perspective. The annual cost to attend†¦show more content†¦Altogether, they possess a total of $1.2 trillion in federal student loans (Ratcliffe, 2015). According to the Congressional Budget Office, â€Å"If the United States Federa l Government was a private company, it would be the most profitable company in the world† with annual profits of at least $50 billion (McCarthy, 2014). As millions of students and graduates struggle to pay the their loans, the government quietly sits back and rakes in billions of dollars each year. As college tuitions across the nation increase at an average rate of 3.4% each year (College Board), fewer and fewer Americans can afford higher-education. High school graduates are encouraged to attend college to further their education and obtain a high-paying job to provide a comfortable lifestyle for themselves and their future families. But how can these students lead successful lives if they’re crippled financially and mentally in student debt? Student debt leads the way for extreme financial problems for college students and graduates. 70% of fresh college graduates leave college with student loans averaging $33,000 per student (Barr, 2015). That giant lump of debt lin gers around college graduates like a pesky mosquito and does not fade away very fast; considering the average college graduate earns a starting salary of $45,478 per year (Poppick, 2015). The act of having to allocate generous amounts of someone’s paycheck to student loans makes noticeable impacts inShow MoreRelatedGraduation Speech : High School934 Words   |  4 Pageslife would be graduation. For many people, graduating from high school is an objective. It takes a lot of time, effort, and determination to accomplish that goal. For others graduation is the end of high school, and the beginning of a new chapter in life. When graduated people feel as if adulthood has begun. In the long run, graduating opens a lot of opportunities for people to thrive. I can almost reminisce the day as if it was yesterday. I was sitting in bed like any other school day. It seemedRead MoreGraduation Speech : High School852 Words   |  4 PagesAccording to a report from Thomas Nelson Community College website, 15.7 percent is the graduation rate in 2010. 84 percent of students failed to receive their degree. That’s beyond sad. College can be difficulty especially with everyday life is getting harder to main family life work and financials. Because college is challenging, I know that I have issues that I must overcome. I told myself the more patient s I have the better success I will have. Although college will be difficult my goal isRead MoreGraduation Speech : High School Essay2254 Words   |  10 Pages The day I graduated from high school The High school graduation day is a life full of journeys for everyone, high school life is a memorable time for most people, for me as well. High school can be filled with lots of good memories for some people and it could be filled with bad memories, for me it was both I had good times and I had bad times. The High school Graduation day should definitely be the best day of your life because that means no more high school, no more having to wake up at 6Read MoreGraduation Speech : High School Graduation854 Words   |  4 Pagesfail High School graduation can be an exciting time in a student’s life. It is a time in their lives where they begin to experience the kind of freedom that comes along with growing up. This freedom allows students to choose the type of college or University they would like to attend. It is necessary that they understand how responsible they need to be with the freedom that is being offered to them. When choosing what college or university to attend it may be tempting to want to go to a school thatRead MoreGraduation Speech : High School Graduation1507 Words   |  7 PagesForest English 1010 9/9/2014 Graduation During our lives, most of us have hated getting up early. Whether we as humans enjoy mornings or not, we’re always looking forward to that unforgettable day. That special is high school graduation for me. Graduation is a ceremony that recognizes students that have excelled through school. Graduation was one of the best days of my life, perhaps even better than the day that I started college. There is no other day like graduation where there comes this feelingRead MoreGraduation Speech : High School Graduation933 Words   |  4 PagesHigh School Graduation With regards to high school graduation, Balfanz, Herzog, and Iver (2007) followed 12,972 Philadelphia students enrolled in traditional middle schools from six grade (1996-1997) until 1 year beyond their expected graduation from high school (2003-2004) in order to understand what indicators would affect their projected graduation date. Unlike many of the early K-8 schools, the population Balfanz et al followed consisted of 64% African American, 19% White, 12% Hispanic,Read MoreGraduation Speech On High School Graduation851 Words   |  4 PagesThere Is No Success Without The Opportunity to Fail High School graduation can be an exciting time in a student’s life. It is a time when they begin to experience the kind of freedom that comes along with growing up. This freedom allows students to choose the type of college or University they would like to attend. It is necessary that they understand how responsible they need to be with the freedom that is being offered to them. When choosing what college or university they would like toRead MoreGraduation Speech : High School997 Words   |  4 Pagesup, I loved going to school and dreamed of one day attending college. Attending school every day and receiving good grades had become my top priority from K-12. I excelled from K-8th grade, but entering into high school was completely different than primary school. The atmosphere and environment was new to me, I was free to roam the halls or walk back out the door without any repercussions. This began my downward spiral in high school. My freshman year was by far the best school year for me becauseRead MoreGraduation Speech : High School897 Words   |  4 PagesHigh school was one of the most challenging moments in my life. Not only did I have to deal with the academic pressures and social issues from my peers I had external factors that were heavily impacting me as well. During my junior year my mom separated from her husband and me and my three little brothe rs ended up staying house to house with close relatives. Shortly after that time at the beginning of my senior year, my mom was sent to prison. In the midst of dealing with all of the demands thatRead MoreGraduation Speech : High School Essay1434 Words   |  6 PagesWhen I was in high school I had one goal, I would graduate top of my class and go to the University of Florida for pre-medicine, then onto their medical school. I never considered that I would want anything else, so I went to a specialty high school that would allow me to specialize in Biomedical sciences(STEM) and never even thought about the possibility of a life other than the one I had so precisely planned out for myself. When my nephews were born my sophomore year all of my priorities changed

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Byzantine Empire Free Essays

DBQ 5: Byzantine Empire under Justinian When Justinian became emperor in 527, he wanted to build a new Rome by incorporating the ancient Roman Empire. He made Constantinople the capital of the Byzantine Empire and kept the Roman culture along with the Greek culture for more than a thousand years. Justinian helped rebuild the Roman Empire by the many contributions he gave to the empire; he was able to rule a well-structured empire. We will write a custom essay sample on Byzantine Empire or any similar topic only for you Order Now Justinian was known partly for rebuilding the Roman Empire; he restored what was left after the defeat between the Romans and the barbaric tribes. But according to document 2 Justinian was hypocritical, secretive by temperament, and two faced. But he was very clever and had a great ability to hide his real opinion. Justinian had such a great power over his empire that he was able to make the people of Constantinople convert to the Christian religion, making them believe in only one God. According to document 3 the emperor was equal to all men in nature of his body, but in authority of his rank he is similar to God, who rules all. What this really means that in eyes of others, Justinian was seen as a godly figure himself, in that he would tell people how to live. Justinian more than anything wanted to restore the Roman Empire, and while restoring it he wanted to include much of the Roman fortifications used in the old Roman Empire. As shown in document 5, Justinian built the Hippodrome which was modeled after The Circus Maximus. Justinian started restoring the Roman Empire by trying to conquer the land that first belonged to the eastern Roman Empire. He gained back southern Spain, all of Italy, and northern Africa. Once he started gaining all this land he had to start to find a way the gain back all the money he spent on conquering land. As shown in document 6, The Byzantine Empire reached its greatest size under Justinian. Because of the location the Constantinople, Justinian had a great advantage because it was right in the center of two cross roads between Asia and Europe, so the empire gained a lot of money in trade because if its location. Because of all these advantages of Constantinople, it was known as the center of power. Without all the contributions Justinian made, the Roman Empire probably wouldn’t have been rebuilt. Out of the many contributions that Justinian gave to the Roman Empire a few stand out. One of the many contributions Justinian made was the building of the Hagia Sophia which was a huge dome like building that when entered gave people the influence of god. In document 3 the Hagia Sophia is described as a spherical-shaped dome that is exceedingly beautiful. The entire ceiling is covered with pure gild, which adds glory to the beauty. The Hagia Sophia was known as a place of god, a place where people worshiped god. This was important because it taught people how important religion was in their lives and the beauty it can bring. Another contribution Justinian gave to the Byzantine Empire was his code of law; his laws kept the empire in order and told people the way to live. According to document 1, people were finding the laws obscure because they had become for more numerous than they should be and in obvious confusion because they disagreed with each other. Justinian preserved them in the Legal Code of Emperor Justinian by controlling their discrepancies with the greatest firmness. That means that he controlled their conflicting ideas by creating this code of law. Justinian created the laws so that everybody had fair rights. Justinian’s main goal in rebuilding the empire was to preserve the Greco-Roman culture. Justinian kept some of the old Roman traditions but fixed them to fit the requirements for the new empire, for example, laws were rearranged to become fair to everybody because many citizens didn’t agree with them and new buildings and structures were constructed which lead to a lot trade and cultural diffusion. Justinian made a large impact to the new empire. How to cite Byzantine Empire, Papers

Monday, April 27, 2020

Moral Thinking and Injustice in the Society

Table of Contents Introduction A case study of moral way of thinking Factors influencing moral thinking Conclusion Reference List Introduction The way human beings perceive and think of anything is said to be the main determining factor of the outcome. This means that any situation depends on how it is handled. When one has a positive thinking about a given situation then the end result is in most cases doomed to be positive too (Snare, 2001, p.67). On the other hand when one has a negative feeling about something, the outcome ends to be most likely negative. Therefore, what we feel and think today determines the future.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Moral Thinking and Injustice in the Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This has led to the campaign of moral thinking among individuals. A great philosopher once said that, moral thinking is the way to achieving the happiness we desire. This fact is true as most of the times people in anger will have usually failed to deal with the problem the positive way. In every situation there is always the correct way which despite the route and time usually results into happiness or rather avoids anger. When one is faced with an issue that requires solutions to be made, the end result is highly correlated to the way of thinking of the individual (Hare, 1991, p.63) l. Also, in the society where there is a larger population than our homes people are bound to say anything at any time. The arising phrases and comments from this are usually the indicator of the morality of the people of that society. Research shows that moral thinking is a composite of acting and ruling or making the final decision (Schwartz, 2010, p.1). Moral thinking involves two levels that is the intuitive level also referred to as the lower level of thinking. During this level of thinking the individual bases their argument on what they have learnt and one’s own i ntuition. The higher level now involves justification of the decision made (Drai, 2008, p.12). A renowned philosopher once said the highest stage of moral thinking is the post conventional stage. He further explained that it is at this stage that people are able to make concrete decisions that are not based on their own personal gain but are rather concerned about ethics and rights. The incorporation of ethics in our way of thinking is what leads to moral way of thinking. There are many situations that require moral thinking so as to achieve the desired final decision. This paper is an analysis of a contemporary problem that involves moral thinking so as to arrive at the final decision. A case study of moral way of thinking The current global situation has led to many developments among the people of the world (Schwartz, 2010, p.1). It is through globalization that people from different countries have been forced by circumstances to travel all over the world. Some of these reasons i nclude; business, education, family trips, professions like journalism just to mention but a few. This has therefore led to forced interactions among the people.Advertising Looking for term paper on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More That is, people from different cultures are meant to accept those from non-related cultures. It is because of these interrelationships that moral thinking is incorporated so as to avoid cases of discrimination or even racism (Snare, 2001, p.45). The people are thus advised to think morally when dealing with the other people and especially those from the other nations and cultures. A case in study may occur when a student from a country especially the non-developed ones is enrolled in a foreign country for studies (Drai, 2008, p.5). This may be caused by the migration of their parents or even their own desire to study in those foreign countries. The first thing that runs into their mind af ter making such a decision is the belief that they will get a warm welcome in their new environment. The student will always fantasize of having new friends, meeting new people, seeing new places and many exciting things (Levine, 2010, p.2). So the moment such a student is disappointed and fails to attain all these and instead is faced with hostility the people of such a nation will be to blame. The blame lies on the first people who receive the student in their new school. It especially lies on the other students as well as the tutors and any other non-teaching staff. This is because an environment that is composed with moral thinkers will be able to offer a good welcome to any one regardless of their culture. Both the students and tutors are bound to be understanding and compassionate to anyone. It will be very wrong when a student from a foreign country is made to fail in their studies because of discomfort from the surrounding people. The case is gets even worse when one is bull ied. This raise the question, if there is morality within the school. This is because the students who bully their fellow students do not think morally and so can be able to commit such a crime. As discussed above, moral thinking mainly entails first having your own intuition on a subject and thereafter justifying whatever you want to do. Students who bully their fellows do not think of the outcome and are not even to justify whatever they do. If this could have been the case they would not even think of committing such a crime at the first instance the idea comes into their mind (Levine, 2010, p.1).Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Moral Thinking and Injustice in the Society specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More On the other hand the teachers are as well to blame since they have been deployed to monitor the students. If at all the teachers think morally they are obliged to ensure that each and every student is c omfortable in the place they are. Lack of moral thinking is what leads to negligence and failure of the teachers to closely monitor the students and know those who may be undergoing various problems. Let us say that a foreign student is bullied within the school compound and the teachers claim that they are not aware of any possibility of being bully students among their students. This claim is not justifiable as an individual who really cares for other will be concerned about them since their own intuition which a level of moral thinking forces them to do so. If such a student undergoes much stressful moments that they decide to commit suicide the case now becomes a national disaster (Rest, 2000, p.32). The causes of such an act may be ninety percent attributed to the difficult times they undergo during their course of study. Excess bullying, discrimination and other unethical situations may be the cause of depression which when one is not in a position to overcome makes the decisi on to commit suicide. When that is the case it becomes a shame to the nationals of the country. This is good indicator that there is lack of moral thinking among the nationals of the country as they failed in their way of thinking. The country therefore sends a bad report to the other foreigners that the country lacks moral thinking. This is because the people are supposed to welcome and associate with the other foreigners regardless of their cultural differences (Hare, 1991, p.56). This case example thus campaigns for moral thinking among each and every person if at all good international relationships are to be maintained. If moral thinking is practiced, then there will be less chances of bad treatment among the people. This is due to the fact that each individual will be thinking before engaging in any matters or even making decisions hence minimizing the chances of mistreatments and misunderstanding (Cowell, 1995, p.1). Factors influencing moral thinking For one to think orally they have to make a decision, an assessment and justification of the subject at hand. This therefore revolves around many factors that influence the way of thinking of an individual. Some of these include; One’s personal life experience, gender, level of developmental stage and many others. Life experience greatly affects the way of thinking of an individual as people tend to handle current situations from past experience. If at all one has undergone difficult periods in life, they usually have the fear of tackling situations when faced with them (Hare, 1991, p.78).Advertising Looking for term paper on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Despite gender being a minor issue, research indicates that it has some impact on the moral thinking of people. This is because males think differently from females in terms of moral thinking. It can be said that the females tend to think more morally as opposed to men who are less sensitive to handling of issues especially those involving other people. Males tend to be more concerned of matters that affect them directly. For example in the case study discussed above, cases of bullying and student depression will be less in environments where the tutors are females as compared to an only male tutor environment. This is because the females will be forced by their own intuition to find out the condition of their students unlike the ale tutors who in most cases will leave everything in the hands of the students (Cowell, 1995, p.1). The developmental stage of an individual is also a critical factor that has an effect on moral thinking of individual. The way the adolescents and teenagers handle their issues is different from the way adults and children solve theirs. The society has for a long period of time complained of immorality among the youths. This gives a clear indication that even their way of thinking is not moral. Children on the other hand are juvenile and have no information on anything hence lack the ability to think morally in their own way (Jones, 1995, p.102). They instead follow the actions of the people that they are close to, so depending on the way these people think, the children will do the same. Therefore it is the obligation of the adults around these children to think morally so that the young children may follow suit. Another factor that may affect moral thinking is the consideration of the consequences of action to be taken. Most people are always in a point of dilemma when faced with circumstances to make choices. At times people may deviate from moral thinking because of the fear of the resulting outcome. For example when dealing with r eal life situations that may affect the future of an individual, it becomes difficult as life does not have a reverse button. The situation is usually more vivid and practical involving less of the hypothetical way making decisions. Conclusion From the aforementioned cases, it can be clearly seen and understood that moral thinking is not about the law or education system (Csongradi, 2010, p.2). Research has shown that it is not possible to measure moral thinking empirically. Instead, it involves an individual’s own intuition and way of thinking. It is thus not possible to force people to think morally is at all they do not want to or are not in a position to do so .Moral thinking involves ones decision to do so and those who do not think morally are not to be blamed. Such people should instead be counseled and educated on the philosophy of moral thinking. Apart from the aforementioned case example, the society is encompassed with an endless list of cases that show presence or absence of moral thinking in decision making. Some of these cases include the cases of mistreated adopted or inherited children, working environments, leader’s treatments, cases of slavery and many others. All these problems can be solved if every person is in a position to think morally (Jones, 1995, p.45). The lesson to be learnt from the above case is that moral thinking is way of eliminating injustice in the society. For justice to be observed, the people have to be moral thinkers such that every person becomes their brother’s keepers. Through this, cases like those mentioned above will be a thing of the past or reduce to minimal sizes. Reference List Csongradi, C. (2010). Factors influencing the way in which decisions are made. Web. Cowell, B. (1995). Developing a basis for moral thinking. Web. Drai, D. (2008). Moral Supervenience and Moral Thinking. Web. Hare, R. (1991). Moral Thinking: its levels, methods and point. Oxford University press. Jones, S. (1995). Or ganizational influence in moral thinking. Journal of Business Ethics. Levine, P. (2010). Moral Thinking. Web. Rest, J. (2000). Post conventional Moral Thinking. Routledge. Schwartz, A. (2010). Where are Concern, Empathy and Moral Thinking? Web. Snare, F. (2001). The Nature of Moral Thinking. Routledge. This term paper on Moral Thinking and Injustice in the Society was written and submitted by user Justin Sanchez to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Monitoring and Evaluations in Development

Monitoring and Evaluations in Development When management of certain programs establishes them, they need to make a follow up that ensures that there is compliance with the set standards and expectations of the project (Vaagaasar, 2009). Project management involves the process through which a project is established, implemented, monitored, evaluated, and any adjustments made to the system to attain its set goals and objectives (Livingston, 2008).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Monitoring and Evaluations in Development specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Oxfam being an international federation of fifteen organizations working in 98 countries need to have a strong monitoring and evaluation team to handle its large volume of work and projects. Currently Oxfam has entered into a contact with Dak Nong Doet that seeks to improve the province’s education quality delivery, the project focuses on teachers, pupils, ministry of education and training, and teacher s. To ensure that the goals of the project have been attained, Oxfam needs to have an effective monitoring and evaluation program. This paper discusses the role that monitoring and evaluation plays in an organization and gives recommendations on the best approach that the organization can adopted for effective monitoring of Dak Nong Doet education project. The nature of Oxfam projects Oxfam is an international recognized NGO that establishes various programs targeting different needs within the society especially in rural development areas, poverty reduction programs, hungers and other such programs that needs fast and effective attention. There are different projects that the international organization manages and their nature and approach always vary with the intended outcome. Projects may take the form of civil society developments, ethnic minority issues address, and focus on girl and boy child, addiction programs, and women empowerments. One of the most renown program that Oxfa m has undertaken successfully is the education system where it aims at improving education for the less fortunate in communities; the main focus of these programs are the disadvantaged areas like third world countries, disaster stricken areas among other areas that need arises (Long and Plosser, 1983). In the past few years, the main focus that the company has had is to improve education in Tra, Vinh, Lao Cai and Dak Nong provinces where the main focus has been girl child programs; when dealing with the projects, the company has its main focus on the school, the child and the ministry as they are players in the segment for an effective implementation.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In the same years, the organization has been advocating for the expansion of its programs or models through Ministry of Education and Training (Posond, 2008). The next coming years, th e organization is focusing on building effective governance in education in Vietnam where it will have the main focus on the teachers, school managers, pupils, and education representatives in all level of education (Marcus, 2010). Oxfam has signed a performance contract with Dak Nong Doet where it aims at promoting social accountability in the provinces education sector; with the project that has its own objectives, the organization need to have an effective Monitoring and Evaluation in Development programs. The Monitoring and Evaluation in Development needs to address all areas of the program failure to which it will mean that the projects will not take shape and objectives will not be attained (Walkenbach, 1997). Monitoring and Evaluation in Development Project management evaluation stage has the following roles to play in the entire project management: A project can be defined as a designated ally of tasks that aims at accomplishing a certain task within an organization; it has a period, expected expenditure, expected outcome, and a work framework or schedule; in every stage of the project, there are certain measures that needs to be considered to ensure that the project is running smoothly. Oxfam project evaluation should address all risky areas and ensure that correct measures have been taken to adhere to the set objectives and goals (Newbold,1998). In a nutshell Monitoring and Evaluation in Development has the following main objectives to attain alongside the projects main objectives:Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Monitoring and Evaluations in Development specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More to plan, organize and control activities: this is to ensure that the set level of operation is maintained in time, costs, and the expected delivery time Manage activities and organize resources (both human and physical) for the project. This ensures that the human capital that is involved in the pro jects fits their roles and they do not get higher or lower gains from the projects. The nature of Oxfam projects is that a person can get direct benefit from the project at the expense of the larger population; such moves should be controlled by Monitoring and Evaluation programs (Pons, 2008) putting all the logistics of a project into place so that there will be full attainment of project goals and objectives: the engagement that Oxfam has entered with Dak Nong Doet should be looked into to ensure that both parties to the program adhere to what they had promised each other; when such moves have been taken then the goals of the project will be attained effectively Ensuring that the project is accomplished in time with the available resources and if possible have some new strategies of completion of tasks that is better than the original plan. Dak Nong Doet and Oxfam project has some probable risks that the organization’s monitoring and evaluation programs should address befo re they limit the attainment of the entire project. The adoption and deployment of the Oxfam-Dak Nong Doet education system involves great risks, primarily due to the vast initial costs, high over-budget ratio, chances low success rate, failure to meet the project goals, and partial attainment of the initially set implementation. Furthermore, initiation costs are typically greater than a tailored integration plan but maintenance and modification costs of post-implementation are lower; Dak Nong Doet and Oxfam decided to have an approach that not only sees Dak Nong Doet students attain good education but one that ensures continuity and maintenance of the project. McComb, Kennedy, Green and Compton (2008) creates an evaluation framework regarding the main issues encountered in the rural development programs and the related costs and benefits; the study has emphasized the requirements of a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of; the writer also suggest that evaluation and monitoring should try to assess attempts of incorporating intangibles into conventional cost-benefit analysis. It is proposed that decision making should be based on scoring methods, cost/benefit analysis, risk analysis and ranking. However, some scholars argue that scoring and ranking techniques are straightforward but insufficient due to the project interdependence. Cost/benefit and risk analysis methods are insufficient either for the interrelated criteria (McComb, Kennedy, Green and Compton, 2008). The concept of Monitoring and Evaluation as should be adopted by Oxfam and Dak Nong Doet project The main aim that the monitoring and evaluation of the program focus on is the development of leaders and managers who can be relied upon to see the entire project come to pass effectively; the leaders should assume the role of planning and making responsive decisions that will see the program come to pass effectively, at any one point the programs should ensure that the programs reach majority of p opulation living in poverty and to sustain the change over a period of time. The Oxfam and Dak Nong Doet project monitoring and evaluation programs should consider the authenticity of policies, strategies and programs for both quantitative and qualitative change; this will facilitate the existence of equal resources distribution and ensuring that the target group get the benefits as had been anticipated.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The programs should embrace high levels of transparency, accountability and high performance as it can only be through such policies that it can succeed and the people targeted by various projects benefit. With an effective monitoring and evaluation standards, the organization will be assured that its funds address issues in the society and they remain sustainable as the company would have wanted them to be. Data collection methods for the evaluation When a project is running, there are checks and balances that should be implemented to offer red flags in the case the set objectives and pathways as has been laid are not adhered to. Project managers have the mandate of ensuring that there are effective internal controls that address any chances of risk; to collect data on the progress and the steps to make the following are effective method of monitoring and evaluation data collection; Use efficient test-run reports Before implementation and after implementation of a project, a Oxfam should be taking an appropriate research on what the world is going through and make relevant reports that can aid in the management of the project; it should be in touch with the occurrences in the project area and other areas of the economy. It is important to consider the following key report types: Single-page project report: this is a short report that offers a single but direct grasp of the project. It should be summarized to offer an overview of what the project if like and how it is expected to be; when there is an observable disparity between what is on paper and what can be observed on the ground Budgetary information: it provides room for an aggregate roll-up on budgetary status; the main issue is to ensure there are resources for every project Project dashboard: they have one-lie simplified reports on execution level and the progress of the project. Resource allocation view: a comparison of the current available resources and their chances of availability in the next 12 months Strategic alignment: reports that align the entire project with the role and goals of an organization. Flexible pivot table capabilities: it uses drag-and-drop pivot table-style analysis to offer management platform of answering certain questions pertaining the project as they arise. Conduct postmortems To manage effectively projects, managers need to have an ongoing budgetary and analyzing method; they should never assume that since the project has been well planned; then that is the end of the story, they should understand that there are changes that might affect the project negatively thus they need to be checked effectively. A constant review of the budget, periods and the final periodical results will assist project managers keep the project on its toes. There are some changes that are expected to be observed in a project as it develop, they include an improvement on the lives of the children and the general school environment. To have the data, the monitoring and eval uation team should undertake regular surveys on the area of implementation the surveys should look into the expected result after certain duration and compare the same with the on paper or the project blue print expectation, in the case there is some disparity they should be addressed effectively (Kumar, 2005). Recommendation for an effective Monitoring and Evaluation program for Oxfam and Dak Nong Doet project Oxfam and Dak Nong Doet project should adopt computer aiding monitoring and evaluation systems supported by qualitative and quantitative data from the field; the systems can be in-house developed or they can be sourced from commercial markets, in whichever the way that they have been attained, and then the system should be responsive to the needs of the projects. They need to have the capacity of interpolating of different issues and information then give the desired response to the managers for effective decision-making. The operators of computer aided project developments s hould have a good understanding of how the system works as well as understand the various logistics that are involved in the project at hand, it is by doing so that appropriate mechanism can be adopted (Shane, 2003). An effective computer aiding monitoring and evaluation is likely to address the following areas: Project evaluation process or methodology: give a framework of the pathway that the project should follow Cost and benefits measurement: evaluate the benefits and gains that every stage in the project is leading to a dif there is a stage that is not fully operation, the system should be strong enough to alert the managers (Wenzhe, Maoshan, Duffield, Young and Youmei, 2007). Progress reporting: the system should be able to check and report the progress of the system periodically and offer reports that can be used to improve the project, to be in a position to do this, the system should incorporate some checks and balances and have optimal performances levels. Communication o f key project data: in management of a project, data and information is of essence, there is need to have timely and relevant data at all times. This will offer the much-needed resource to manage the project effectively: an effective system should have the ability to offer the required data when needed and portray the data in an acceptable manner. Resource and capacity planning: resources are limited, they need to be effectively managed and put in optimal use, an effective system should have the capability of offering a resource allocation tracking system Cost and benefits tracking: as the project unfolds, there is an urgent need to have all the areas on track, the system should ensure that it looks into the development of a project and make improvements changes where needed (Gary, 2010) Computer aiding monitoring and evaluation assess the project as a whole and assist managers to have a better track of the project progress, they are of great benefit to management and they need to be of the right operation, failure to which a project will suffer. The main objective of an effective computer aiding monitoring and evaluation program is to put available resources into optimal use; resources are scarce so their management and utility is paramount in modern societies (Cleland and Ireland, 2006). Managers should understand that their main role id linking the laid down strategy with actual performance, they should understand that they should be the pioneers of development and operation in the firm (Wheelen and Hunger, 1998). When they fail to undertake effectively their duty, they should be assured they are leading their organization to failure. The first thing that program managers should embark on is internal analyzing of its potential, and ways that the potential can be put in proper use. With limited resources and having a variety of mutually exclusive projects to undertake, the managers should ensure they select that project that offers maximum returns to the ta rget population and cost the organizations involved relatively manageable costs (Andersen and Vaagaasar, 2009) To create synergy and keep a project running, program managers needs to develop management elements and factors that can be used to motivate the team players to work hand; they should be encouraged through being shown the success they have made so as they can feel motivated to develop the project further. A project is bound to be faced with a number of risks; there is need for management to establish the risks that are to be associated with the project and develop adequate mitigation measures. When managing a project, there is needed to have an honest management and team, this will facilitate the development of appropriate decisions making systems to the benefit of the company (Wynant, 1980). Communication is important monitoring and evaluation as well as in initialization, concluding and making final reports of project; computer aiding monitoring and evaluation keeps proje ct managers on track and reminds them on their role to communicate the progress of the project for evaluation purposes. There is need to develop and maintain effective communication method. Managers should be able to offer directions and receive feedbacks from the ground using an appropriate communication method (Anderson, 2010). Depending with the technology adopted and the nature of a project, communication can take different forms: they include online reports, word of mouth, and periodical letters. Project success can be measured in terms of the practicability of business relationships that is directly proportional to the quality of communication (Anbari, 2010). Conclusion Oxfam-Dak Nong Doet project aims to improving the provinces education system; the focus of the project is to school administrators, pupils, parents, ministry of education and training, and teachers. The project has its main risk such as chances of not attaining its set goals and objective if risks associated ar e not effectively managed. Monitoring and evaluation program address risks within a project and ensures that every stage adheres to the pathway as planned and outcomes are attained as required. For an effective monitoring and evaluation, Oxfam should adopt a computer aiding monitoring and evaluation program that assist to keep track the progress of the project; when such a program has been adopted then the project will be successful. References Anbari, F., 2010. The Chunnel Project. Washington: The George Washington University Anderson, B. , 2010. Project Leadership and The Art Of Managing Relationship. Project management, 64(3), p. 58. Andersen, E. S., and Vaagaasar, A., 2009. Project management improvement efforts-creating project management value by uniqueness or mainstream thinking? Project Management Journal, 40(1), pp. 19-27. Cleland, D., and Ireland, R., 2006. Project management: strategic design and implementation. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional. Gary, L., 2010. Project management theory and practice .Baca Raton: Auerbach publishers. Kumar, P., 2005. Effective Use of Gantt chart for Managing Large Scale Projects Cost Engineering, 47(7), pp. 14-21. Livingston, J., 2008. Founders at work: stories of startups early days. Berkeley: Apress Long, J., Plosser, C. I.,1983. Real Business Cycles. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Marcus, G., 2010. Fundamental of agile project management: an overview. New York: Asme press. McComb, S., Kennedy, D., Green, S., and Compton, W., 2008. Project team effectiveness: the case for sufficient setup and top management involvement. Production Planning Control, 19(4), pp. 301-311. Newbold, R. C., 1998. Project Management in the Fast Lane; Applying the Theory of Constraints. New York: St. Lucie Publishers. Pons, D., 2008. Project management for new product development. Project Management Journal, 39(2), 82-97. Posond, D., 2008. Project management for new product development. Project Management Journal, 39(2), 82-97. S hane, S., 2003. A General Theory of Entrepreneurship: the Individual-Opportunity. Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing. Vaagaasar, A., 2009. Project management improvement efforts-creating project management value by uniqueness or mainstream thinking? Project Management Journal, 40(1), PP. 19-27. Walkenbach, J., 1997. Gantt charts in Excel. PC World, 15(12), p. 386. Wenzhe, T., Maoshan, Q., Duffield, C., Young, D., and Youmei, L., 2007. Risk Management in the Chinese Construction Industry. Journal of Construction Engineering Management, 133(12), pp.944-956. Wheelen, L., and Hunger, J.,1998. Strategic Management and Business Policy: Entering 21st Century Global Society. Massachusetts: Addison Wesley. Wynant, L., 1980. Essential elements of project financing. Harvard Business Review, 58(3), pp.165-173. Monitoring and Evaluations in Development For projects to be successful they need to be monitored and evaluated efficiently and effectively. Several techniques are applied during the whole process of project monitoring and evaluations development. The most common is the most significant change technique (MSC). The MSC technique â€Å"is a form of participatory monitoring and evaluation† (Davies Dart 2005, p.8).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Monitoring and Evaluations in Development specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is preferred as participatory because it involves different stakeholders who are involved in making decisive changes being recorded as well as analyzing the collected data (Ramalingam 2006, p.17; Dart Davies 2003, 157). It qualifies as a monitoring technique because it is applied along the program cycle through the provision of valuable management information. On the other hand, it is considered as an evaluating technique because it ab le to provide required â€Å"data on impact and the outcomes† (Davies Dart 2005, p.8; Serrat 2009, p.1) that is important in assessing a program performance. The MSC technique revolves around the gathering of vital changes that occur from the field and the significant stories (Mcdonald, Bammer Deane 2009, p.57) are selected by the field staff. Upon the capture of the stories, the stakeholders sit down, loudly read the stories and engage in in-depth discussions. The MSC was developed by Rick Davies in 1996 (Coy n.d, p.3; Lunch, 2007, p.28) as way of monitoring and evaluating participatory â€Å"rural development programme in Bangladesh† (Willetts Crawford 2007, p.367; Le Cornu, Peters, Foster 2003, p.3). It was seen as the alternative for the complex monitoring and evaluation techniques. Lastly, when the techniques have been successfully implemented the teams focus on the impact the program would have. The essay explores the challenges that face successful applicatio n of the most significant change technique. Like any other technique, the most significant change technique is faced by numerous challenges. One of the challenges that face successful application of the MSC is the ability to make the staff in a project to adequately and fully understand the MSC (Davies Dart 2005, p.55).Advertising Looking for essay on project management? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Although it seems like a simple technique, most of the people find it challenging as it uses a different approach of monitoring and evaluating a project. This is because it is carried across multi-lingual and cross-cultural contexts with the aim of collecting the most successful stories. In these contexts, it may be difficult to implement the MSC because of the communication barrier created. Because of its inclusivity procedure, the Most Significant Change technique does not discriminate people across ethic or language divide. The communication barrier created by this inclusivity and context makes it hard to decide on the basic indicators and domains to use. Other than communication, training the project staffs to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge could be very difficult (Davies Dart 2005, p.55). Training the participants to fully understand the participatory monitoring and evaluation, the trainers are faced with the challenge of deciding what skills to prescribe (Estrella 2000, p.218). This is because the different people used in capacity building are of different levels. For instance, there are those who already have the required skills and need to improve while others are new in the capacity building program and need to acquire the basic skills (Coninck 2008, 144). The choice becomes very difficult because the stakeholders should be at the same level skill wise for the MSC to be successful. The different levels of capacity mean that differing perspectives and capacities are brought on to the table. The implication of this is that at the community level, the stakeholders could be hindered by the powerbase. The stakeholders with much strength could use their influence to control the resources meant for all people. Participatory monitoring and evaluation would be compromised because only few people’s stories would be recorded. Another challenge faced during MSC application is capacity building. Capacity building entails the identification of the participants to be involved in a participatory project monitoring and evaluation. Capacity building consists of different participants who have different level of understanding, skills, and education. Therefore, it becomes challenging to fully accommodate all the people and train them on the same domain without conflict of interest. The need to build the capacities of the participants collectively (Estrella et al. 2000, p.218) could be very challenging making it difficult to successfully apply the participatory monito ring and application. Like development research, MSC requires the proper outlining of the motives (Akker n.d, p.1).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Monitoring and Evaluations in Development specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Dominant shareholders may have negative influence on the implementation of a successful MSC. This is because their willingness to share their resources and power may be compromised. They may not be willing to share their resources and capacities with the other participants or shareholders which compromises the whole project monitoring and evaluation process. For examples, donors may only require the local people to participate at the initiation phases which make the locals participation somehow superficial (Estrella 2008, p.221). This may jeopardize the success of the MSC as more time would be required to negotiate the participants and reach a common operative ground. The fact that capacity buildi ng entails different participants as it is based on the wider range of people inclusion principle means that the participants and stakeholders involved share different expectations (Estrella 2008, p.219; Mikkelsen 2007, p.281). This translates that their access needs are totally different which makes it difficult to decide on which stakeholders to start up with. It also brings the challenge of choosing what concepts and skills to use and deciding the initiation point for the MSC implementation. However, it is argued that capacity building should be started with stakeholders who have been occasionally excluded from participatory monitoring and evaluation. This ensures that the needed skills and confidence are build. This may be difficult in choosing the people because as noted the people are from different cultural and lingual backgrounds making communication a barrier. The wider range of the people included in a capacity building means that the people have different visions. This ca n make it difficult in negotiating the shareholders to accommodate the prescribed vision. It may take a lot of time in deciding the most appropriate and accommodative ground. This would jeopardize the allocated timeframe making the whole process delayed thus increasing the possibilities of coming with a successful MSC.Advertising Looking for essay on project management? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More PME involve a lot of stakeholders participating (Mikkelsen 2007, p.283), however the challenge that faces the facilitator is to choose which shareholder to participate at what level because they all cannot participate at the same level. This may cause delay in choosing and allocating the different levels thus compromising the PME success. The inadequate availability and access to resources has been reported as major constraints in abilities building among the stakeholders involved in a PME (Estrella 2000, p.227). Based on this context, the resources do not necessarily mean funds but the material resources, information, and human capital. The inability to have trained and skilled project facilitators, sufficient materials, and adequate information on the locals and the Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation makes individual capacity and institution building in the MSE compromised. The costs incurred in the training and purchase of the required materials may significantly affect the budget allocated in the monitoring and the evaluation processes. Project facilitators are often faced with the challenge of ensuring that they are not faced with bias which may compromise the success of MSC. For instance, the inclusivity principle requires that all people be actively involved and their change stories collected with bias (Moore Offer n.d, p.117). However, the facilitators may be faced with the problem of choosing between the views of the most articulate participants and those of the others. The ability to make a choice from different collections challenges the facilitators as they try not to be biased and be accommodative to all participants regardless of the abilities. The selection process may also be biased if the facilitators do not facilitate the process across a wider range of spectrum. The challenge that is faced is coming with the most consistent and appropriate team to work with without bias in terms of gender or abilities. Given that MSC operates under the participatory context for validity reasons, it is often faced with the challenge of measuring the impact brought about by the participatory projects (Davies Dart 2005, p.68). The stakeholders are often faced with the challenge of choosing the most appropriate participatory ME to adopt instead of empowering the participants. It is utterly difficult to depend on the purposive sampling involved in MSC sampling. This is because the process involves the collection of the success stories rather than being inclusive. This makes it difficult to record the negative aspects of a particular project. In other instances, it is hard to decide on the appropriate stories from the different cultures â€Å"therefore there would be little value to the use of MSC in such an environment† (IOD PARC 2010). MSC is faced with entry of inaccurate data which is not time bound which may make it insignificant (Kotvojs n.d, p.6). In the most remote areas, it would be hard to successfully apply the MSC te chnique as the validity of the recorded information may be compromised. Since, the MSC technique depends heavily on the collected data, its success may be jeopardized if the collected and recorded information is lost. This would make it impossible to analyze the outcome and the impact of a particular program or project. The collected data requires a lot of time to make reviews (Scott Proescholdbell 2005, 29) and this may be hard for MSC. The concept of the applying the Most Significant Change technique is often not well conceptualized. For example, its application in 3 Australian funded project programs was faced with overcoming misunderstanding (Kotvojs n.d, p.3). It was perceived as an alternative of replacing the monitoring and evaluation process rather than playing a greater part in the broader monitoring and evaluation plan. Therefore, MCS is faced with misconceptions on the role it effectively and essentially plays in participatory ME. Field officers may be challenged in expl aining the importance of the technique and its application. This has the capacity of making its MSC unsuccessful because of the mixed opinions and reactions in regard to the questions asked (Outreach Evaluation Resource Center, 2009, p.1). The evaluation of the development projects involves a lot of heterogeneous activities that may be a challenge (Kumar Seth n.d, p.1). The people involved in project have diverse motives and views. Therefore, the use of the MSC may be compromised because the stakeholders’ motives are all different. For example, the MSC is based on storytelling technique (Groot, Toornstra Tarla 2001, p.1) in which the success stories are recorded. In conclusion, MSC technique which is participatory tool applied in the evaluation and monitoring of projects, is often faced with challenges that jeopardize its success. For instance, it is prone to bias as the tool depends on the selection of the most success stories from a list of many. Because of its wide range o f participants with different languages and cultural contexts, communication barrier is created. This hinders the relay of information to the participants. It also prohibits proper understanding between the stakeholders and the project facilitators. It is also faced with the challenge of disseminating the required skills and knowledge across to the participants. This is because of the different abilities and capabilities that shareholders have. For example, the different participants have different level of education, understanding and capacity. The officer is faced with the challenge of deciding on which group to start up with. Depending on the locality of the targeted group MSC may be hard to successfully apply because of inadequate resources and time. Some of the projects require more resources than others making its application jeopardized. The participants involved in a MCS technique all have different expectations and it may be hard to decide on what changes need to be recorde d. Other than different expectations, the stakeholders bring perspectives and capabilities which may be differing. For instance, one of the groups may be constraint while the other may be willing to benefit from the MSC technique application. These differences make it hard to fully apply the MSC. Time constraints the facilitation of a proper MSC technique. Reference List Akker, J. V. n.d, Principles and methods of development research [Online] Available at http://projects.edte.utwente.nl/smarternet/version2/cabinet/ico_design_principles.pdf Coninck, J.D. et al. 2008, Planning, monitoring and evaluation in development organizations: Sharing training and facilitation experiences, Thousand Oaks, California, Sage publications. Choy, S. n.d, Most significant change technique: a supplementary evaluation tool [Online] Available at http://avetra.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/30.00.pdf Dart, J. J. Davies R.J. 2003, A dialogical story-based evaluation tool: the most significant change t echnique, American Journal of Evaluation, Vol. 24 no.2 pp.137-55 De Groot,.W. T, Toornstra, F. H. Tarla, F. N. 2001, Storytelling for Participatory Rural Appraisal [Online] Available at planotes.org/documents/plan_02309.PDF Davies, R. Dart, J. 2005, The ‘Most Significant Change (MSC) technique: A guide to its use [Online] Available at: http://mande.co.uk/docs/MSCGuide.pdf. Estrella, M. et al.2008, Learning from change: Issues and experiences in participatory and evaluation, Southampton, Intermediate Technology Publication Ltd. IOD PARC. 2010, Most Significant Change in practice [Online] Available at iodparc.com/resource/msc.html Kotvojs, F. n.d. MSC: Misconceptions, strengths and challenges [Online] Available at aes.asn.au/conferences/2009/Papers/Kotvojs,%20Fiona%20-%20MSC.pdf . Kumar, A Seth, M, n.d, â€Å"Stories of change for assessing programme impact: Most Significant Change (MSC) technique as a tool for monitoring and evaluation of development programmes† [Onli ne] Available at http://istr.conference-services.net/resources/588/1799/pdf/ISTR2010_0485.pdf Le Cornu, R., Peters, J. Foster, M. 2003, Exploring Perceptions of ‘Significant  Change’ in Reforming Schools [Online] Available at aare.edu.au/03pap/lec03358.pdf Lunch, C, 2007, The Most Significant Change: Using participatory video for monitoring  and evaluation[Online] Available at: http://insightshare.org/sites/default/files/The%20Most%20Significant%20Change%20using%20PV%20for%20ME.pdf . Mcdonald, D., Bammer, G., Deane, P. (2009).Research integration using dialogue methods, Acton, ANU E Press. Mikkelsen, B. 2007, Methods for Development Work and Research. New Delhi: Sage. Moore, A. Offer, L. n.d, Assessing changes in social capacity: experience with the ‘Most Significant Change’ technique, Extension Farming Systems Journal, vol. 5 No.1, pp.113-118. Outreach Evaluation Resource Center. 2009, Handout Five Qualitative Interviewing â€Å"Story† Metho ds  http://nnlm.gov/pnr/training/data_collection/DC_Handout5_story_tech.pdf Ramalingam, B. 2006. Tools for knowledge and learning: A Guide for development and  humanitarian organisations [Online] Available at odi.org.uk/resources/download/153.pdf Serrat, O. 2009, The Most significant change technique [Online] Available at adb.org/Documents/Information/Knowledge-Solutions/Most-Significant-Change.pdf . Scott, S. Proescholdbell, S. 2005. Structured Storytelling Method communityresearchworks.com/Toolbox/ParticipatoryEvaluation/NC_Storytelling_Method.pdf. Willetts, J. Crawford, P. 2007. The most significant lessons about the Most Significant Change technique, Development in Practice, Vol. 17, no. 3, pp.367-379

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

pseudonym - definition and examples in English

pseudonym - definition and examples in English Definition A pseudonym  (also called a pen name) is a fictitious name assumed by an individual to conceal his or her identity. Adjective: pseudonymous. Writers who use pseudonyms do so for a variety of reasons. For instance, J.K. Rowling, renowned author of the Harry Potter novels, published her first crime novel (The Cuckoos Calling, 2013) under the  pseudonym Robert Galbraith. It has been wonderful to  publish without hype or  expectation, Rowling said when her identify was revealed. American author Joyce Carol Oates (who has also published novels under the pseudonyms Rosamond Smith and Lauren Kelly) notes that theres something wonderfully liberating, even childlike, about a pen-name: a fictitious name given to the instrument with which you write, and not attached to you (The Faith of a Writer, 2003). See Examples and Observations below. Also see: AllonymName That -nymNicknameProper Name EtymologyFrom the Greek, false name   Examples and Observations Imprisoned for political offenses under Louis XV, Francois Marie Arouet changed his name to Voltaire in order to make a fresh start as a writer. The Rev. C. L. Dodgson used the pseudonym Lewis Carroll because he thought it beneath the dignity of a clergyman and a mathematician to write a book like Alice in Wonderland. Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot) and Lucile-Aurore Dupin (George Sand) used mens names because they felt women authors were discriminated against in the 19th century.(Fool-the-Squares. Time, December 15, 1967)Gender and PseudonymsPublishing under male and a-gendered  pseudonyms  was one way in which women writers made their work public, defied social convention, yet also became honorary men in their own day. The Brontà «Ã‚  sisters, George Eliot and even Louisa May Alcott published under pseudonyms. . . . [S]ubmitting work for publication under male or ambiguously gendered pseudonyms afforded  the anonymity necessary to have work judged by its literary merit, rather than on grounds of  gender  difference.(Lizbeth Goodman, with Kasia Boddy and Elaine Showalter, Prose Fiction, Form and Gender.  Literature and Gender, ed. by  Lizbeth Goodman. Routledge, 1996) Alan SmitheeAlan Smithee is probably the most famous pseudonym, invented by the Directors Guild for directors who are so unsatisfied with a studio or producers meddling with their film that they dont think it reflects their creative vision anymore. The first movie to use it was Death of a Gunfighter in 1969, and it has since been used dozens of times.(Gabriel Snyder, Whats in a Name? Slate, January 2, 2007)Pseudonyms of Stephen King and Ian RankinThe hyper-fecund Stephen King wrote as Richard Bachman . . . (until he killed Bachman off, citing cancer of the pseudo-nym as the cause of death). Ian Rankin found himself in a similar spot in the early 1990s, when he was bursting with ideas, but with a publisher wary of putting out more than one book a year. Along came Jack Harveynamed for Jack, Rankins first son, and Harvey, his wifes maiden name.(Jonathan Freedland, Whats in a Pseudonym? The Guardian, March 29, 2006)Pseudonyms and PersonaeA writer may sometimes assume a persona, not simpl y a different name, and publish a work under the guise of that persona. Washington Irving thus took on the character of a Dutch author named Diedrich Knickerbocker for his famous History of New York, while Jonathan Swift published Gullivers Travels as if he actually was Lemuel Gulliver, and described himself in the novels full title as first a Surgeon, and then a Captain of several Ships. The original edition even had a portrait of the fictional author, aged 58.(Adrian Room, Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins. McFarland, 2010) bell hooks, Pseudonym of American Author Gloria Jean WatkinsOne of the many reasons I chose to write using the pseudonym bell hooks, a family name (mother to Sarah Oldham, great-grandmother to me), was to construct a writer-identity that would challenge and subdue all impulses leading me away from speech into silence. I was a young girl buying bubble gum at the corner store when I first really heard the full name bell hooks. I had just talked back to a grown person. Even now I can recall the surprised look, the mocking tones that informed me I must be kin to bell hooksa sharp-tongued woman, a woman who spoke her mind, a woman who was not afraid to talk back. I claimed this legacy of defiance, of will, of courage, affirming my link to female ancestors who were bold and daring in their speech. Unlike my bold and daring mother and grandmother, who were not supportive of talking back, even though they were assertive and powerful in their speech, bell hooks as I discovered, claimed, and i nvented her was my ally, my support.(bell hooks, Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black. South End Press, 1989) Pronunciation: SOOD-eh-nim

Saturday, February 15, 2020

GLOBAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

GLOBAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT - Assignment Example During financialization, capitalism is often affected by the dominance of the financial sector over the productive sector(Krippner, 2011, p. 9). The essay critically analyzes some of the themes covered by Erturk et al. (2008) and their relevance to contemporary business and economy. According to (Ismail, et al., 2008, p. 239) there is no outline for a single market culture thesis. Instead, the issues discussed revolve around a variety of themes that touch on the market culture of society and politics. One of the market culture themes that have been identified covers a shift in interest among economical agents, from the inequality to difference; from the market economy of resource distribution in the economy of cultural recognition and identity. Economic actors are less concerned with issues related to the economic equality and are constantly shifting their attention to cultural differences. The dimensions of inequality in the economy have been focused on less, relative to the cultural considerations and differences that have turned to be a major problem. On a standard sociological account, the relation between economics and economies has been interpreted to be quite weak. The reason behind this prerogative ideology is that the economics provide highly abstract market models that are based on behavior and governing assumptions that have no world equivalences in reality. Along similar lines, the academic economics do not have a great deal of importance for businesses, even though it has a recognizable significance for states(Budd & Harris, 2004, p. 74). On the other hand, (Callon, 2004, p. 242)views the economy as a set of reliable technical practices rather than a bad science. He also visualizes the economy as a technology that creates phenomena and allows participation in shaping whatever it describes. The interest in the economy should be based less on the set of accurate representations of the

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Business strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 3

Business strategy - Essay Example has conceded to the popular consensus that there is room for the larger iPhone in the world. This case study features iPhone 6/6+ product of the Apple Inc. and takes deeper analysis its business unit about the company’s external environment, its competitive position, and the value-addition proponents. Porter (1985) asserts that there are three major categories of the generic strategies; cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. As for Apple Inc., the focused differentiation and cost leadership strategy are the best for the company in adapting to the competitive environment while implementing the value adding activities. The cost leadership strategy has been strongly pursued by the Apple Inc. in its continued efforts to ensuring successful competitiveness. The cost leadership strategy has enabled the company to be cost efficiency while ensuring sustainable development of the company. By pursuing cost the leadership strategy, the company has been able to determine the prices of its products and services at competitive prices. Nilsson and Rapp (2005) on the other hand states that when a company can sustain the profits above its expected income then the company can be termed as having gained the competitive advantage over its rivals. Apple Inc. Introduced the iPads to act as the more portable version of their range of the personal computers; an intermediate between the Smartphones and laptops. The introduction of the iPhone 6/6+ by Apple Inc. creates the impression of the company’s continued adoption of the differentiation strategy. Capon (2008) asserts that differentiation strategy is the clever way for the business in the establishment of the large market share owing to the fact that buyers perceive the quality of the services or products in regard to the price. Apple Inc. has made sure that its iPhone possess its line of the applications that can be bought directly installed on the phone. The company has ensured that the iPhone

Saturday, January 25, 2020

The Labour Force And Unemployment Economics Essay

The Labour Force And Unemployment Economics Essay Every market has buyers and sellers, and the labour market is no exception: the buyers are employers, and the sellers are workers. Some of this participant may not be active at any given moment in the sense of seeking new employees or new jobs, but on any given day, thousands of firms and workers will be in the market trying to transact. The Labour Force and Unemployment The term labour force refers to all those over 16 years of age who are either employed, actively seeking work, or expecting recall from a layoff. Those in the labour force who are not employed for pay are the unemployed.  [1]   People who are not employed and are neither looking for work nor waiting to be recalled from layoff by their employers are not counted as part of the labour force. The total labour force thus consists of the employed and the unemployed. The number and identities of people in each labour market category are always changing; the flows of people from one category to another are considerable. There are four major flows between labour market states: employed workers become unemployed by quitting voluntarily or being laid off (being involuntarily separated from the firm, either temporarily or permanently), unemployed workers obtain employment by being newly hired or being recalled to a job from which they were temporarily laid off, those in the labour force, whether employed or unemployed, can leave the labour force by retiring or otherwise deciding against taking or seeking work for pay (dropping out), those who have never worked or looked for a job expand the labour force by entering it, while those who have dropped out do so by re-entering the labour force. The ratio of those unemployed to those in the labour force is the unemployment rate. While this rate is crude and has several imperfections, it is the most widely cited measure of labour market conditions. The relation among unemployment, employment, and labour force Analytically, to access the unemployment rate we can use the following equality: where , , and designate respectively the working-age population, the level of employment, the number of unemployed, and the participation rate at period t. Defining the unemployment as , we have Using this equation in logarithm terms at time t and t-1, we get: Assuming that u is a small number, this relation allows us to express the variation of unemployment rate as a function of the growth rates of working-age population, employment, and participation: This decomposition shows that the variation in the rate of unemployment come from variations in the employment rate, the size of the working-age population, and participation rate. Chapter 2 Some facts The different unemployment experience During the last 20 years, the industrialized countries have evolved in very different direction with respect to unemployment. In contradiction to Japan, or the United States, most of European countries showed a high proportion of unemployment. Table 1.1 Rates of unemployment, participation, and employment in 20 OECD countries in 2011 Country Unemployment Rate Participation Rate Employment Rate Australia 5,10 78,8 72,70 Austria 4,14 75,79 72,13 Belgium 7,14 68,88 61,93 Canada 7,45 80,25 71,98 Denmark 7,57 83,19 73,15 Finland 7,77 75,43 69,03 France 9,26 69,34 63,80 Germany 5,92 81,04 72,53 Greece 17,66 68,57 55,55 Ireland 14,39 70,96 59,20 Italy 8,40 63,01 56,98 Japan 4,57 80,61 71,20 Luxembourg 4,90 70,57 64,63 Netherlands 4,44 80,13 74,88 Norway 3,21 80,22 75,30 Portugal 12,74 77,42 64,20 Spain 21,64 75,28 57,68 Sweden 7,54 31,00 74,10 Switzerland 4,04 86,60 79,35 United Kingdom 8,01 76,75 69,48 United States 8,95 64,21 66,65 Euro area (17 countries) 10,07 26,20 64,25 EU (27 countries) 9,59 64,30 OECD Total 7,92 27,80 64,85 Source: OECD Data Table 1.1 summarises the unemployment, participation and employment rates in 20 OECD countries for 2011. We see that unemployment is a phenomenon that touches all the countries, but in different proportions. There are some countries such as Austria, Japan, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland, have an unemployment rate below 5 per cent. But other countries, such as Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain, have an unemployment rate higher than 10 per cent. For the European Union as a whole (27 countries), the average unemployment rate is the neighbourhood of 10 per cent, 2 points greater than the overall OECD unemployment rate. The third column reports the employment rate, i.e. the ratio of the number of persons employed to the number of person in the population (working-age from 15 to 64 years old). This indicator is very important for the analysis since it can be used as a complement to the data of unemployment, given that the definition of unemployment is necessarily objective. As we can see from table 1.1 countries with high employment rate are also the ones who have low rates of unemployment. So there is a negative relationship among them. The second column also shows that participation rates are highly dispersed, since they vary from 63.01 per cent in Italy to 86.60 per cent in Switzerland. Moreover, countries that face high unemployment rate generally have relatively a weak participation rate. This rapid overview of the rates of unemployment, participation, and employment in different OECD countries suggest that certain countries face a relatively high unemployment rate because of insufficient job creation. Examination of changes over time since the beginning of 1950s in unemployment and employment rate in the United States and selected OECD countries will throw further lights on the origins of unemployment. The US unemployment experience in comparative perspective Table 1.2 summarises the unemployment experience of the United States, selected other countries, and the OECD as a whole from 1950 to 2011. The OECD unemployment rate averaged about 3 per cent during the 1950s and 1960s unemployment throughout the OECD increased sharply in the aftermath of the oil shocks of the 1970s and continued rising the worldwide recession of the early 1980s. The overall OECD unemployment rate more than doubled from 2.8 per cent in the 1960s to 7.0 per cent in the 1980s, and has remained at an even higher rate in the 1990s. Last year the overall OECD unemployment rate was 8.2 per cent. Table 1.2 Unemployment rates in selected OECD countries Country 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2011 Australia 1,50 2,00 3,90 7,50 9,10 6,28 5,20 Canada 3,80 4,70 6,60 9,30 9,90 6,82 7,50 France 1,50 1,70 3,80 9,00 11,10 9,4 9,30 Germany 4,90 0,60 1,90 5,70 6,50 7,76 6,00 Italy 7,20 3,80 4,70 7,50 10,20 10,59 8,50 Japan 2,10 1,30 1,70 2,50 2.7 4,72 4,80 Netherlands 1,50 0,90 4,00 9,60 6,90 2,95 4,40 Norway 1,70 1,70 1,60 2,80 5,30 3,33 3,30 New Zeland 0,90 0,90 1,50 4,10 8,10 9,00 6,70 Portugal 2,20 2,40 1,60 7,30 5,80 4,04 13,40 Spain 2,10 2,30 4,20 17,50 20,30 13,92 21,80 Sweden 1,70 1,50 1,80 2,20 7,00 5,4 7,60 United Kingdom 1,70 2,00 4,40 10,10 8,70 5,58 8,00 United States 4,40 4,70 6,10 7,20 6,00 4,00 9,10 OECD 3,50 2,80 4,30 7,00 7,30 6,1   8,2 Source: OECD Data Table 1.2 indicates that major OECD nations shared a pattern of rising unemployment from the 1960s to the 1970s to the 1980s, but the magnitude of the increases vary widely across countries, with the largest increase in Spain. In the 1990s the unemployment experience diverge somewhat, with continued increases from the 1980s in most European countries and Australia, but decline in the United States, United Kingdom, and Portugal. In the 2000s there is a general decrease of unemployment rate among all the countries, except in Italy and Japan. From 2000 to 2011 unemployment is a phenomenon that touches all the countries but in different proportion, with the largest increase in Spain and Portugal. The table highlights the distinctive aspects of the evolution of US unemployment. The United States has moved from having a consistently higher unemployment rate than the OECD as a whole in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s to having a much lower rate in the 1990s and 2000s, but again a higher unemployment in 2011. The United States is the only major OECD economy with a lower average unemployment rate in 2000s than in 1980s: 4.0 per cent in the 2000s versus 7.2 per cent in 1980s. But the current US unemployment rate of 9.1 per cent is the highest experienced since 1980. The composition of US unemployment also differs substantially from many other OECD nations. The United States has much larger month-to-month flows into and out of employment than most of OECD economies and a much lower incidence of long-term unemployment than any advanced OECD economy. Long-term unemployment (six months and less than one year) as a percentage of total unemployment in 2011 stood at 12.43 per cent in the United States as compared with 9.8 per cent in Canada, 13.48 per cent in Australia, 18.65 per cent in France, 14.71 in Germany, 15.03 in Italy, 17.68 in Greece and 18.66 in Spain. US unemployment rates for the working-age population are particularly low (and employment/population ratios are particularly high) for young workers (those aged to 15 to 24), women and older workers (those aged 55 to 64). Overall, the US labour market does a relatively good job of moving new entrants and women into employment. European labour market institutions (especially employment protect ion laws) seem geared to keeping married males in work, but appear to make it tougher for new entrants to gain steady employment. Cyclical versus Structural unemployment The analytical discussion of unemployment since Friedman (1968) and Phelps (1968) start with the hypothesis that at any given time, a national economy is characterized by a natural rate of unemployment. Aggregate demand expansions can (at least temporarily) push the economy below this rate of unemployment, but at the cost of accelerating inflation. Similarly, shocks that raise unemployment above the natural rate lead to deceleration inflation. As long as the policy-maker avoids explosive inflation or deflation, the economy cannot remain persistently above or below the natural rate of unemployment, but it may fluctuate around it. This hypothesis suggests separating changes in unemployment into cyclical fluctuation around the natural rate and structural movement in the natural rate itself. Figure 1 Unemployment in the US, Australia, Europe and OECD Figure 1 illustrates the time patterns of the unemployment rates for the United States, Australia, Europe, and OECD countries from 1970 to 2011. The figure suggests cyclical unemployment fluctuation around a relatively stable natural rate in the United States until 2008, and a possible upward drift in the natural rate in Europe and Australia. The acceleration in inflation in most European economies in late 1980s, despite much higher unemployment rate than in the 1960s and 1970s, indicates a large rise in natural rate of unemployment. The deceleration of inflation in the 1990s and early 2000s suggests that some cyclical component has played a role in recent high European unemployment. 2 Data and Descriptive statistics I next explore in a more depth, the extent to which a relatively stable natural rate of unemployment since 1970 or so is consistent with the experience of the flexible US labour market. The data for this analysis are taken from Bureau of Labour Statistics from 1970 to 2012 (monthly data). 3 Empirical Methodology and Results For estimating the natural rate of unemployment (un) I am going to use the expectations-augmented (or accelerationist) Phillips Curve (EAPC) in which the rate of growth of price inflation (or more generally the difference between current inflation and expected inflation) depends on the deviation of the unemployment rate from the natural rate: where p is the log of the price level, u is the unemployment rate, is a positive coefficient, equals, and is an error term. Expected inflation is assumed to equal the lagged inflation rate (). A regression of the change in the inflation rate on the unemployment rate yields estimates of the natural rate of unemployment ( = -. The basic idea behind this equation is that price inflation increases when unemployment is below the natural rate and decreases when it is above. Table 2.1 Price inflation and unemployment in the United States, Europe and OECD countries United States Europe OECD (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Constant 0.397562 0.519119 0.142052 11.87027 12.00131 [6.163198] [8.568430] [1.910330] [7.503319] [5.137325] D80 -0.348037 [0.929960] D90 -0.355382 [0.950040] D00 -0.369512 [0.986341] Unemployment rate (u) -0.006995 -0.026207 0.032498 -0.596646 -0.906432 [0.669781] [2.835975] [2.918381] [3.129660] [2.544017] Observations (n) 511 511 511 41 41 Durbin-Watson Statistic 0.798394 0.828986 0.833514 0.233627 0.304103 R2 0.006191 0.015555 0.016457 0.200734 0.142330 Notes: The US regressions cover 1970 to 2012. The dependent variable in all regressions is the inflation rate (Dp).The numbers in parenthesis are standard errors. p=100*log(CPI), using the Consumer Price Index for the United States and Europe; u is the unemployment rate measured in percentage, D80=1 for the 1980- and 0 otherwise; D90=1 for the 1990- and 0 otherwise; D00=1 for the 2000- and 0 otherwise. Estimation for US unemployment Dependent Variable: P Method: Least Squares Date: 10/04/12 Time: 17:04 Sample (adjusted): 1970M02 2012M08 Included observations: 511 after adjustments Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.  Ã‚   C 0.397562 0.064506 6.163198 0.0000 UNEMP -0.006995 0.010444 -0.669781 0.5033 D80 -0.348037 0.374250 -0.929960 0.3528 D90 -0.355382 0.374071 -0.950040 0.3425 D00 -0.369512 0.374629 -0.986341 0.3244 R-squared 0.006191   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mean dependent var 0.353720 Adjusted R-squared -0.001665   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  S.D. dependent var 0.373392 S.E. of regression 0.373702   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Akaike info criterion 0.879023 Sum squared resid 70.66469   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Schwarz criterion 0.920475 Log likelihood -219.5904   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  F-statistic 0.788056 Durbin-Watson stat 0.798394   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob(F-statistic) 0.533265 Estimation for US male unemployment Dependent Variable: P Method: Least Squares Date: 10/04/12 Time: 17:05 Sample (adjusted): 1970M02 2012M08 Included observations: 511 after adjustments Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.  Ã‚   C 0.519119 0.060585 8.568430 0.0000 UNEMPMALE -0.026207 0.009241 -2.835975 0.0048 R-squared 0.015555   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mean dependent var 0.353720 Adjusted R-squared 0.013621   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  S.D. dependent var 0.373392 S.E. of regression 0.370840   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Akaike info criterion 0.857814 Sum squared resid 69.99885   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Schwarz criterion 0.874395 Log likelihood -217.1715   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  F-statistic 8.042753 Durbin-Watson stat 0.828986   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob(F-statistic) 0.004751 Estimation for US female unemployment Dependent Variable: P Method: Least Squares Date: 10/04/12 Time: 17:07 Sample (adjusted): 1970M02 2012M08 Included observations: 511 after adjustments Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.  Ã‚   C 0.142052 0.074360 1.910330 0.0567 UNEMPFEMALE 0.032498 0.011136 2.918381 0.0037 R-squared 0.016457   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mean dependent var 0.353720 Adjusted R-squared 0.014525   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  S.D. dependent var 0.373392 S.E. of regression 0.370670   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Akaike info criterion 0.856897 Sum squared resid 69.93471   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Schwarz criterion 0.873478 Log likelihood -216.9373   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  F-statistic 8.516946 Durbin-Watson stat 0.833514   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob(F-statistic) 0.003674 Estimation for Europe unemployment Dependent Variable: P2 Method: Least Squares Date: 10/04/12 Time: 17:08 Sample (adjusted): 1970M02 1973M06 Included observations: 41 after adjustments Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.  Ã‚   C 11.87027 1.582002 7.503319 0.0000 UNEMPEURO -0.596646 0.190642 -3.129660 0.0033 R-squared 0.200734   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mean dependent var 7.164938 Adjusted R-squared 0.180240   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  S.D. dependent var 3.481375 S.E. of regression 3.152057   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Akaike info criterion 5.181538 Sum squared resid 387.4831   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Schwarz criterion 5.265127 Log likelihood -104.2215   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  F-statistic 9.794774 Durbin-Watson stat 0.233627   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob(F-statistic) 0.003308 Estimation for Europe unemployment Dependent Variable: P3 Method: Least Squares Date: 10/04/12 Time: 17:09 Sample (adjusted): 1970M02 1973M06 Included observations: 41 after adjustments Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.  Ã‚   C 12.00131 2.336102 5.137325 0.0000 UNEMPOECD -0.906432 0.356299 -2.544017 0.0150 R-squared 0.142330   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mean dependent var 6.186970 Adjusted R-squared 0.120338   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  S.D. dependent var 3.301618 S.E. of regression 3.096597   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Akaike info criterion 5.146035 Sum squared resid 373.9676   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Schwarz criterion 5.229624 Log likelihood -103.4937   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  F-statistic 6.472025 Durbin-Watson stat 0.304103   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob(F-statistic) 0.015033 Conclusion References Literature Ronald G. Ehrenberg, Robert S. Smith Modern Labour Economics. Theory and Public Policy Pearson International Edition, 2009, Tenth Edition Internet Sources http://www.tradingeconomics.com http://www.indexmundi.com/ http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/120907/dq120907a-eng.htm Eurostat Website: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat I have a problem with the regression of this model: I have monthly data. But when I estimate it on Eviews, the results I get are not that expected: R-squared is very small (near to zero), the standard errors are all smaller than 1. In order to estimate the model first I have done this: P=100*log(CPI), but Im not sure if is right or not. I can send the data after if this description is not enough.