Monday, September 30, 2019
Eating Disorders and Sexual Abuse: Is there actually a relationship between them? Essay
Eating Disorders and the Individual Sexual abuse and eating disorders are often associated in the sense that the former is claimed to be the precursor of the latter. This is so because, according to various studies made, sexual abuse can actually have negative effects to its victims. Its effects are usually in the form of disturbing behavioral disorders which if not given ample attention and care may actually cause damage to the sexually abused victims.            For the purpose of this paper, it is the aim of the author to establish the relationship of sexual abuse and eating disorders. Likewise, provide evidences to the said claim that sexual abuse and eating disorders are interconnected. Moreover, the author would also like to cite what are the usual treatments and or approaches that are commonly used by professionals (i.e. therapists, psychologists) in addressing the eating disorders acquired through sexually abusive acts.            Eating disorders are commonly described as a type of behavioral disorder. It is said that it would refer to any condition wherein an individual unconsciously engages oneself in activities that are by nature said to be compulsive obsession to food intake or weight. It also said that people with eating disorders lack the ability to accurately perceive one’s physical appearance that in effect may either cause that individual to compulsively overeat, eat in binges, which may or may not be followed by purging, or total avoidance or refuse to eat. These practices at first may actually be taken in a normal sense, however, if not given ample attention and immediate solution, may actually become detrimental or self-destructive for that individual. This is so because it deviates from the normal process of food intake and food intake procedures.            At a deeper perspective and taking into consideration the nature of eating disorders, it can be said that this type of abnormality actually serves as an indicator that an individual may actually have serious problems in her personal life. Thus, eating disorders can actually be taken as mere manifestations and or reactions of that individual to whatever type of serious problem she may have.            For us to fully understand the above-mentioned concept of eating disorders, let us take into account some of the most commonly known eating disorders, their nature, and their physical and or medical complications as well as its relation to sexual abusive acts. Types of Eating Disorders and Sexual Abuse:  Relationship Explored            For us to better understand and associate as well as establish the relationship between eating disorders and sexual abuse let us first examine the types of eating disorders and then try to relate it to various sexual abusive acts.            Some of the most commonly known eating disorders would include Anorexia Nervosa, Binge eating or compulsive overeating, and Bulimia Nervosa while sexual abuse would include actions which involves rape, sexual assault, or sexual molestation. Anorexia Nervosa is said to be characterized by significant weight loss due to excessive dieting. Most people who are prone to have this type of eating disorder are those who have a strong desire to be thin and or those who have a great fear to become obese. A person who is anorexic would always consider herself fat no matter what her actual weight is. Likewise, even if she is already underweight she may actually still entertain the thought that she is fat. Based on various studies made, anorexic people are observed to have the ultimate goal to achieve perfection. These people are usually those who feel compelled be always competent in everything that they do as well as set very high standards for themselves. Moreover, according to Thompson (1996), anorexic people are said to have very low self-esteem and that the area of food and weight are the only aspects in their lives that they can actually control. Anorexia becomes very dangerous to an individual especially if not given immediate attention and ample care. This is so because this may actually cause the death of a person due to the person’s continuous practice of excessive dieting. Records would show that around 10 to 20 percent actually die due to complications related to it (Thompson, 1996). Women are not the only people who can acquire the anorexia nervosa. It also includes the men and children. How is anorexia nervosa related to sexual abuse? Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder and falls under the classification, type of behavioral disorder. As a behavioral disorder, the occurrence of such eating disorder may be actually coined from a traumatic experience that was encountered by the individual like that of sexual abuse. Sexual abusive acts cause the deterioration of a person’s self-esteem. Moreover, it creates obsession in the individual, the obsession to make herself unattractive to her abuser. Thinking that by making herself look thin and sickly would actually make her abuser stop from doing such action. Likewise, continuous experience of sexual abusive actions would actually lead to more serious problems which makes the individual perceive that the only solution to curtail to all the unfair treatments she is experiencing would be ending her life by committing suicide via self-starvation or death. The above-mentioned situation is actually different from the anorexia nervosa caused by other factors in terms of the purpose of engaging oneself in excessive dieting activities. The anorexia nervosa that is caused by other factors would always be for the purpose of improving one’s physical appearance, which is exactly the opposite of the purpose of those who are sexual abuse victims. Some would be actually obsessed with the need to starve oneself to make herself achieve the goal of becoming perfect in terms of body image or figure. This is actually true for those people who have developed within them the attitude of putting forth others opinions and or wants before oneself. Those who are often subjected to criticisms to wit: â€Å"you are so big or you are so fat!†or â€Å"you are gaining more weight now compared before†. This develops within the person the need to be thin or slim in order to hear compliments instead of criticisms from other people. Moreover, they think that by self-starving they would easily become thin or slim. This thinking could actually lead to a very serious health problem if not corrected immediately. However, compared to that of the experience of the sexual abuse victims, their cases are far graver and dangerous because of the very intense emotions that developed in them as a reaction to the very bad experience. Furthermore, due to the unacceptability of the said traumatic experience, the results that they want must abrupt thus enabling them to develop and instill within them the attitude of being impulsive in their decision-making and their actions. The sexually abused victim’s ability to discern the consequences of wrong actions is not given attention and or worst not given consideration at all, thus making death their ultimate goal and end. Also, it cannot also be gainsaid that development of physical and or medical complication occurs at a faster rate for the sexually abused victims compared to the other anorexic people. For those people who have compulsive overeating disorder (also known as Binge eating), it would be a different case compared to that of anorexia. People who are diagnosed to have binge eating disorders are that who often takes in large amounts of food and feels that they could not control themselves from doing so. This type of eating disorder is actually common to those people who are suffering from anxiety, loneliness, and or depression. These people embraced the attitude and the thinking that by eating large amounts of food the numbing of oneself is made possible. This actually enables them to block and or repress bad or depressing memories. For the case of sexually abused victims, some of them develop binge eating disorder as a result of their reaction to consistently stuff oneself to make themselves feel numb, numb from all the sexual acts done to them. Likewise, by eating large amounts they find a sense of comfort because for them this aids in the blocking or repression of bad memories. Also, this not only blocks bad memories but also enables them to make themselves unattractive to their abuser. Just like the anorexics, they actually think that by making themselves unattractive, the abuser would stop all the unjustifiable acts he is doing. Like anorexia, binge eating can also be detrimental to an individual’s health in the sense that the person or individual loses the capacity to think clearly and or decide on what type and amount of food that they take in, thus resulting to the possible occurrence of high blood, shortness of breath, hypertension etc. Bulimia Nervosa, which is actually similar to binge eating except for the involvement of purging, is observed to occur more often on people who have been sexually abused. What is bulimia nervosa and how is it different from the other two eating disorders mentioned earlier? Bulimia nervosa is actually binge eating but involve the getting rid of food that was take in, in the form of vomiting, laxative abuse, and or excessive exercising as per Dr. Rowan Peter. People who are usually diagnosed to have bulimia are actually those who do not feel secure or confident with their self worth. They usually need the approval of others. They actually have the tendency of giving preferential option to others even to the extent of depriving oneself from what she actually wants. They find a great deal of comfort in eating large amounts of food. Like binge eating, this actually enables them to block and or let out what they actually feel inside. How is it possible that sexual abuse and bulimia nervosa related? According to various case studies made, bulimia nervosa are developed on individuals who have been sexually abused as a result of the individual’s goal to repress oneself from bad memories obtained from the very traumatic experience encountered, which is actually similar to that of binge eating and sexual abuse in terms of relationship. Victims are compelled to make themselves appear unattractive to the eyes of their abuser. However, for bulimics purging actually aids in providing a sense of comfort in such a way that such activity allows them to let their feelings out. When they purge they feel relieved of the heavy burden they have and or it can be taken as a form of showing protest or disgust on the said unjust act. This is for those who employ the use of laxatives and other forms of purging tools. Eating Disorders and Sexual Abuse At Present            Not much information can be obtained regarding the actual relationship of eating disorders and sexual abuse. Based on the observations made by the other, most of the information published is actually just presenting the various possible links and angles of the relation between eating disorders and sexual abuse. Due to the fact that eating disorder is regarded as a type of behavioral disorder, it can be said that sexual abuse does cause eating disorders. Such claim has been proven by studies made on the relationship of both. However, only estimates on the percentage of cases can be taken into accounts since most of the victims of such abuse opt not to discuss their painful experiences as a form of protection of oneself from embarrassment and other feelings of even nature. In short, such bad experience develops within them a sense of powerlessness. Sexual abuse victims are often found to use the various types of eating disorders discussed earlier as a tool for them to protect themselves, to enable them to have comfort and or feel numb. They try to forget their experience by way of stuffing oneself with food. Eating disorders actually become an avenue for them to express themselves. Some of the victims of sexual abuse tend to become bulimics or compulsive eaters and based on observations made, the victims regards food as their only source of comfort. This is so because the food that they take in does not hurt them, yell at them, etc. Food becomes their ultimate provider of security and comfort. Others, on the other hand, would stuff themselves with food thinking that this would actually put a stop to the sexual abuse they are experiencing, by making themselves unattractive to the abuser. For the case of those victims who have become anorexic, by fasting and or excessive dieting they also make themselves unattractive to their abusers while some would think that this would be the easiest way to end all the bad things that they are experiencing. By not eating, they believe that they could easily die, thus putting an end to all the abuses being experienced by the victims. However, between the bulimia and anorexia, records would show that the people who have developed bulimia nervosa are usually the ones reported to have suffered from sexual abuse (www.sheenasplace.org).            Treatments/ Approaches Used for Sexually Abused Victims with Eating Disorders There are various treatments and or approaches that are being used to treat or cure eating disorders caused by sexual abuses. Due to the sensitivity of their case, the victims are taken to a place wherein the victims are far away from their abusers. They are taken to a safe environment with a therapist whom they like, feel comfortable with, somebody whom they can actually trust. Victims are not forced to spill out the details of their experience. They let the victims themselves be the one to voluntarily tell them everything that happened. Since this type of traumatic experience entails very intense emotions, it brings about eating disorders that could actually lead to an out of hand case. But this would be the best time to give them the ample time and attention that is needed. Likewise, due to the severity of some cases victims may be required to be confined in the hospital for treatment. Moreover, there are also cases wherein their families are also becomes involved in the treatment process especially in those cases wherein a family member have been involved in the said abuse. Therapists usually use counseling and medications to cure the eating disorders acquired by the victims. The most common and effective type of approach being used in addressing the eating disorder problems that are related to sexual abuse cases is counseling. This is so because counseling as an approach has a personal touch by nature. It enables the sexually abused victim to comfortably relay to her counselor the details of the frightful event that she experienced. Likewise, with the continuous counseling sessions trust can easily established because through constant meetings enabling the person to become more comfortable in discussing as well as facing and accepting the reality of what actually happened to her. It involves the boosting of the individual’s self-esteem and confidence that actually leads the individual to realizing that there is still hope and room for change, that it is not the end of the world. This brings the person to a relatively higher plane and enables her to move on. Medications and hospitalization, on the other hand, are usually given to those people whose cases have extremely gone out of hand such as those people who have suicidal tendencies. Furthermore, the families of the victims play a very vital role in their full recovery. This is so because the family’s support facilitates encouragement and heightens the individual’s faith and hope for a new life. Conclusion            In totality, it can be said that sexual abuse and eating disorders have an indirect type of relationship. This is so because an eating disorder may be caused by other behavioral disturbances and or other factors such as culture and the like other than sexual abuse. Likewise, most of the people who have eating disorders caused by sexual abuse are primarily comprised of women. This is so because women are the usual the victims of sexual abuse.            In terms of availability of information to establish the actual relationship of the two, it cannot be left unnoticed that there are only a few sources or information available. This is so primarily due to the confidentiality and sensitivity of the situation. People who have been actually abused restrict themselves from being subjected to interrogation by others regarding their traumatic experience. This is so because they feel ashamed of their unacceptable and unexpected fate.            Sexual abuse among the other forms of abuses is said to be the most detrimental type of abuse because of the bad memories entailed by it. It distorts the soundness of the individual’s spiritual, psychological, emotional, and social being. It permits the development of eating disorders in an individual as an initial form of reaction to the said unjust and immoral act. Works Cited Becker, E.L. (ed) (1986) ‘Wiley’s International Dictionary of Medicine and Biology’ NewYork, Chichester; Wiley. Binge eating disorders. Eating Disorders: Anorexia and Bulimia. http://adam.about.com/reports/000049_7.htm Eating Disorders: Anorexia and Bulimia. http://www.reutershealth.com Eating Disorder: Definition.Â
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Has the Time Come to Legalize Drugs? Essay
Legalization of drugs  long an issue championed mainly by fringe groups  is rapidly moving to the mainstream in Latin America. Last week’s surprise statement by former Mexican President Vicente Fox in support of â€Å"legalizing production, sales and distribution†of drugs made big headlines around the world. Fox, a former close U.S. ally who belongs to the same center-right political party as President Felipe Calderà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½n, rocked the boat at home by indirectly criticizing the very premise of Calderon’s all-out military offensive against Mexico’s drug cartels, which has cost 28,000 lives since 2006. Calderon immediately responded that he opposes legalization of drugs, although he has opened a dialogue with political parties about the future of his country’s anti-drug policies. The left-of-center Party of the Democratic Revolution announced that it supports â€Å"de facto legalization†of drugs. Fox’s statement, first published Saturday in his blog, went far beyond a 2009 joint declaration by former Presidents Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil, Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico and Cesar Gaviria of Colombia. In that statement, the three former leaders questioned the effectiveness of the U.S. war on drugs and proposed de-criminalizing possession of marijuana for personal use. While the three centrist former presidents’ proposal amounted to not prosecuting people for consuming marijuana, Fox’s proposal calls for legalization of all major drugs  the whole enchilada. In an extended interview, Fox told me that he is making his proposal because drug-related violence in Mexico has reached intolerable levels, and because the experience of other countries such as the Netherlands has shown that allowing drug sales has not significantly driven up drug consumption. â€Å"Prohibitionist policies have hardly worked anywhere,†Fox told me. â€Å"Prohibition of alcohol in the United States [in the 1920’s] never worked, and it only helped trigger violence and crime.†Since possession of small amounts of marijuana has already been decriminalized in Mexico, what’s needed now are bolder steps, such as legalizing drug production and using the taxes it generates to fund anti-drug education programs, he said. â€Å"What I’m proposing is that, instead of allowing this business to continue being run by criminals, by cartels, that it be run by law-abiding business people who are registered with the Finance Ministry, pay taxes and create jobs,†Fox said. Fox called for a reversal of Calderà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½n’s decision to send the army into the streets to fight the drug cartels because â€Å"the army is not prepared to do police work, and we are seeing day to day how the army’s image is losing ground in Mexico†as a result of this war. Why didn’t you come out with this proposal when you were president? I asked. Fox responded that legalization was often discussed in Cabinet meetings during his presidency, but that the urgency of such a measure has increased since â€Å"because of the extraordinary cost we are paying in a drop in tourism, a drop in investments and a lack of attention to education and health.†In a separate interview, White House drug czar R. Gil Kerlikowske told me that drug legalization is a â€Å"non-starter†in the Obama administration. Kerlikowske disputed the idea that alcohol prohibition drove up crime in the United States in the 1920s, arguing that there were no reliable crime statistics at the time. And he rejected the notion that there has been no major increase in drug consumption in the Netherlands. â€Å"In the Netherlands, consumption did go up. In fact, the Netherlands has been in the process of closing down hundreds of the marijuana cafes that had been in existence because of the problems that are occurring,†he said. My opinion: I’m not convinced that a blanket legalization of drugs would work because government regulation of the cocaine and heroin businesses in countries that already have high corruption rates would result in greater official corruption. On the other hand, it’s clear that after four years of Calderà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½n’s U.S.-backed war on drugs, the cartels are smuggling more drugs, killing more people and becoming richer. Perhaps the time has come to take a step-by-step approach and start a serious debate about passing laws that would regulate legal production of marijuana, alongside massive education campaigns to discourage people from using it. Then, we could see who is right and consider what to do next. (c) Miami Herald. Miami Herald content is the intellectual property of Miami Herald. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Miami Herald content is expressly prohibited by federal law. Miami Herald shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/12/1772336/has-the-time-come-to-legalize.html Commentary Number 1 The question raised in this article is a complex one. Mexican President Felipe Calderà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½n’s hesitancy at enforcing drug-legalization policies is understandable, as the legalization of drugs in a drug-war-torn country such as Mexico can be beneficial or adverse from an economic point of view. One might argue that such measures would bring about a series of negative externalities on the public such as harmful health effects. A majority believes that the legalization of drugs will increase crime rates; most people under the influence of narcotics are prone to violent crimes. However, the reasons ex-President Vicente Fox has for de-criminalizing drugs appear to outweigh the adverse effects. The law of demand states that as price falls, the quantity demanded rises, and as prices rise, quantity demanded falls. This illustrates that legalization of drugs will reduce the profit criminals make. Every time the government takes hold of a drug dealer and the products he is selling, supply of the drug to the illegal drug market is reduced. If there is a reduced supply, there is an increase in price of the good. Drug-addicts are helpless, and thus they will buy the drug for the higher price, giving the criminal dealer more profit. Every time the government thinks it is winning its drug war, it is actually losing; the illegal state of these drugs aids the dealers, harming the government. Figure 2 Price elasticity of demand of a good is a measure of the extent to which the quantity demanded of a good changes when its price changes. As is illustrated on Figures 1 and 2, due to the fact that drugs are a necessity to drug-addicts, they are willing to buy pretty much the same quantity of the drug at any price, thus making the price elasticity of demand of drugs inelastic (when the quantity demanded remains similar as the price changes). If drugs are legalized, the government can benefit from its demand price inelasticity by taxing on drugs, and thus making more profit that can be allocated accordingly. Drug consumers will not care whether they are paying more than they should be and will buy the legal drug at the price it is sold legally. Other people will notice why the drug is inelastic, and will avoid them due to its addictive dangers. Thus, the absence of undercover drug dealing will show people the dangers of drugs and lead to consumers and producers providing less of the drug once the government starts taxing, thus leading to a smaller population using them. The most beneficial aspect of drug legalization in Mexico would be taxing on the drug. As demand for drugs is inelastic, the tax revenue raised will be large. Additionally, the deadweight loss (fall in total surplus consumers and producers make) will be smaller as the consumers will not consume less at first even though producers will produce at a less quantity. These are shown on Figure 3. The consumers will pay more taxes as they desperately need to buy the drug, and eventually will try and consume less when they become financially diminished. They will seek rehabilitation, and thus shrink the market for drugs. If the government correctly uses the revenues raised by taxing on drugs to promote healthcare and drug rehabilitation, the Mexican economy can cause a decline in overall drug sale and use. Figure 3 In conclusion, Mexico’s ex-President Vicente Fox should proceed with convincing the government to legalize drugs, as this measure will not only reduce consumption and production of these harmful products, but also promote society and the economy by raising revenue to enhance health and other aspects of the economy that need betterment.
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Tourism: England and Local Facilities
In today’s globalized world, people go on holidays every year. They often choose exotic places abroad to fulfill their excitement of traveling and visiting other countries. But should those countries encourage tourism? There are a few advantages and disadvantages on this issue. Firstly, the desire to attract tourists to a certain area often encourages governments to improve local facilities. This leads to the development of the country and, of course, is beneficial for both, citizens and tourists.On the other hand, over-development can lead to ugly, crowded tourist spots and environmental damage. Consequently, the development of the country must be controlled and planned in such a way it does not destroy the natural beauty. Therefore, the development is necessary, but has to be thoroughly planned. Secondly, tourism is claimed to be an important source of income. People from wealthy countries often travel to smaller and more exotic ones, so the economic situation of the weaker country can be boosted.However, a country’s economy may become so dependent on tourism that it is weakened. If, for example, a natural disaster happens, then the tourists may not arrive for a long time. In this case, the country can be helpless without their main income source. Thirdly, tourism allows people to experience new cultures. When tourists visit other countries, local people can see the way they behave, talk, what clothes they wear, what are their customs, and in that way learn more differences. In contrast, the impact of tourism may destroy the local way of life.The new customs brought with tourists may replace the old and unique ones, therefore making local customs mix or even disappear. All in all, there are arguments both, for and against the encouragement of tourism. It is very important for the economy, it allows the locals to experience other cultures, but there’s also a treat of giving up some traditions. Governments may improve local facilities, yet crowded tourist spots can damage the environment. Tourism is a very important field, but needs a lot of careful attention. Tourism: England and Local Facilities In today’s globalized world, people go on holidays every year. They often choose exotic places abroad to fulfill their excitement of traveling and visiting other countries. But should those countries encourage tourism? There are a few advantages and disadvantages on this issue. Firstly, the desire to attract tourists to a certain area often encourages governments to improve local facilities. This leads to the development of the country and, of course, is beneficial for both, citizens and tourists.On the other hand, over-development can lead to ugly, crowded tourist spots and environmental damage. Consequently, the development of the country must be controlled and planned in such a way it does not destroy the natural beauty. Therefore, the development is necessary, but has to be thoroughly planned. Secondly, tourism is claimed to be an important source of income. People from wealthy countries often travel to smaller and more exotic ones, so the economic situation of the weaker country can be boosted.However, a country’s economy may become so dependent on tourism that it is weakened. If, for example, a natural disaster happens, then the tourists may not arrive for a long time. In this case, the country can be helpless without their main income source. Thirdly, tourism allows people to experience new cultures. When tourists visit other countries, local people can see the way they behave, talk, what clothes they wear, what are their customs, and in that way learn more differences. In contrast, the impact of tourism may destroy the local way of life.The new customs brought with tourists may replace the old and unique ones, therefore making local customs mix or even disappear. All in all, there are arguments both, for and against the encouragement of tourism. It is very important for the economy, it allows the locals to experience other cultures, but there’s also a treat of giving up some traditions. Governments may improve local facilities, yet crowded tourist spots can damage the environment. Tourism is a very important field, but needs a lot of careful attention.
Friday, September 27, 2019
Security Case Study Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words
Security Case Study - Research Paper Example The business community is now ready to share material information with each other for common objectives that is to eradicate theft, burglary and vandalism. They are aware that leakage of information relating to security plan may cause irreparable damages to the assets of the organization (Allen, 2009). The existing employees and the former employees who have or had an access to the internal policies, procedures and management information system of the organization can easily disclose, manipulate or distort the data / information for the benefits of others (Allen, 2009). Remedial measures are to be considered by Walter Widget while taking into account the potential threats to property damage, thefts and vandalism. Prevention of Plant Burglary However, the ideal way for the employees of Walter Widget to thwart the attempts of thieves is to apply common sense to handle the situation with the assistance of effective alarming system. Some effective tools are mentioned hereunder: a) Digita l Video Surveillance System: b) RFID Tags c) Advance Motion and Sound Detector The security system of Walter Widget manufacturing plant should be designed in a way which deter out laws to barge into manufacturing plant with ulterior motives to damage the plant and machinery. The installed security system of Walter Widget manufacturing plant should have detection, monitoring and effective communication gadgets in and around the manufacturing plant to meet the challenges. The mentioned security system, if installed, would be an effective system for the safety and security of the assets (Allen, 2005). Digital Video Surveillance The manufacturing plant of Walter Widget in view the assets installed should have multiple video cameras on the needed locations to keep an eye on the intruders. The installed cameras should monitor the activities of criminals inside and outside the factory premises round the clock. These cameras are to be connected with Close Circuit Television so as to ensure monitoring of activities of employees/non-employees in and around the factory without interruptions. Mentioned system would be fruitful for Walter Widget manufacturing plant to keep their business continue. The installed cameras and other accessories around the manufacturing plant will identify the person or persons, involved in stealing the company’s assets. The security system may have the benefit of clear footage to identify and nab the real culprits (Allen, 2005). RFID Tags RFID tags can be used as part and parcel of security plan devised for Walter Widget manufacturing plant. The mentioned tags are used in tracking the stealers. The cited tags set alarm if someone takes away the assets outside the premises of the factory. This is the best way to minimize/eliminate the chances of theft and damages to property (Allen, 2005). Sound Detectors The system so installed for the Walter Widget manufacturing plant has the capacity to detect unauthorized activities in and around the factory. The detectors are useful instrument to detect burglars who are attempting to steal plant and its associated accessories. The mentioned security system will deter the thieves and burglars and keep them away. The higher management should discuss security plan with the consultants, who will suggest the best security system that suits the requirement of the company’
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Review of a Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Review of a Paper - Essay Example By the end of a 30 minutes presentation people already have lasting judgments about your character. The error in judgment made by the people listening to ideas often does not allow them to properly gauge a project. The author of the article did an extensive research of this topic in the television industry. He later applied what he witness in Hollywood to other industries and the results were the same. Potential investors are very interested in ensuring that the person pitching an idea has creativity. â€Å"People on the receiving end of pitches have no formal, verifiable, or objectives measures for assessing that elusive trait, creativity†(Elsback, 2003). According to the author of the article successful pitchers fall into three prototypes: showrunners, artists, and neophyte. Showrunners combine creative inspiration with production know how. Artist prefer the world of creative ideas to reality, while neophyte tend to be or act as if they are inexperience and naive in order to exploit that to their advantage. In general people believe that creative people have certain traits such as intuitiveness, sensitivity, passion, and youth. In general the article provided an interesting insight into what occurs in the decision making process to approve ideas or products in the marketplace. I generally believe that the author made some good arguments about what occurs when people pitch ideas to decision makers. Despite the fact that the author made good arguments he did not completely convince me of his theory. I believe that when a person is listening to an idea the idea itself supersedes whatever opinion that the listener had about the personality of the pitcher. My opinion goes against everything that the author wrote in his article. The author did not show any clear proof that his theory is
Knowledge Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words - 1
Knowledge Management - Essay Example For example, as a recorded tradition in different Abrahamic religions, it is said that when one of the sons of Adam killed the other, he learnt from the nature that what to do with the dead body. Moving further, when mankind decided to search for the ways to feed themselves, other than hunting, it was actually their never satiating desire for knowledge that helped them in learning new ways. Thus we can say that one of the important factor of the advancement and continuous evolution of the human civilization is the continuous enhancement of knowledge. However, it must be noted that the purpose to acquire knowledge has been drastically changed. Now, besides the purpose stated earlier, the knowledge acquisition is also aimed for the self-growth and intellectual development. However, by the passage of time, as the ways to store information or knowledge improved, the volume of knowledge started to grow exponentially. With this change in the arena of the knowledge, the focus shifted from merely its acquisition to its management as well as implementation. This shift in focus was not restricted to any one discipline, rather this wave of change was across the board, thus affecting al the discipline. However, the intensity varied from field to field. Among these, the business arena experienced the remarkable influence of this concept. To move on to knowledge management, we must be primarily have an idea of diver... WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE There is no single agreed definition of the term 'knowledge'. This is probably not out of ignorance to the subject, rather an exhibition of the diversity in the ways people approach knowledge, create, store and disseminate it. Dome people have defined it philosophically, some have defined it religiously, while some define it in the context of their own readings and work experience. According to John Locke (1689), knowledge has been defined in his book BOOK IV. Of Knowledge and Probability. "An Essay: Concerning Human Understanding" in following words: Knowledge is the perception of the agreement or disagreement of two ideas Another tendency of defining knowledge is to correlate it with the experience: "a) the condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association b) the condition of being aware of something c) the condition of apprehending truth or fact d) the condition of having information or of being learned" (tangents.home.att.net/data/rlgdef.htm) The religious orientation brings another understanding towards 'knowledge'. According to them, knowledge is: "is an ability to remember Scripture or have it supernatural quickened, or to know a fact or truth about a person or situation revealed directly by the Holy Spirit--sometimes termed a word of knowledge. [Bible Study on Knowledge.]" (www.acts17-11.com/dictionary_gifts.html) Some other authors have defined it in their own way: knowledge is what I know information is what we know (Foskett) A dictionary definition is a as follow: Acquaintance with facts, truths, or principles, as from study or investigation. Source: The Random House Dictionary of the English Language It was important to cite as much as possible different perspectives on knowledge, so
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Organizational Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words
Organizational Communication - Essay Example This paper therefore analyzes the findings from the paper on the tools of communication adopted by TWA to dominate the Ozark employees. The findings of the study revealed that communication processes can be effectively employed in understanding how power is created, enacted as well as maintained. It is the assertion of the study that power does not just exist but it is deliberately created, enacted and maintained through communicative efforts and behaviors by members of an organization. Though power is to a higher side determined by resource endowment by a firm, the process of communication only makes the actualization of real power from the resources. Communication in the form of domination of power comes in as the parties involved interact. Therefore, communication as a tool can be exploited for the betterment of an organization through creation of favorable working/relational environment or adversely through creating unfavorable environment. The TWA company employed dividing pract ices towards the Ozark employees in order to establish power-as-domination especially by communication as a tool for the power imbalance. The domination of power was felt from the TWA towards the Ozark and the various modes of communications were employed as the means of realizing the vice. Communication was employed in creation of power-as-domination in its complex status. The complexity of power-as-domination as created through communication meant that understanding the mergers would entail multiple perspectives of concepts. In the case under analysis, communication was employed to create power structures besides enactment as well as maintenance of power-as-domination. Power structures imply that there was disparity in the levels of association and interaction by the members of the organization. Some people enjoyed power benefits while others participated at a relatively low level. Those in higher power structures exercised authority to those operating at lower structures of power as illustrated by communication. However, concerning the TWA, power-as-domination was not invented in the process of acquiring the Ozark but rather had been previously designed by the members. The power structures created by the use of communication as a tool by the TWA enabled it to level coercion and threats towards the Ozark employees. In order to enforce compliance from the pilots of the Ozark, size disparities as well as threats were employed by the TWA. In the process, fences, branding, resistance as well as symbolic divisions were employed for the maintenance of the power structures created through communication. Surprisingly, the Ozark employees had a unique identity feature, which equally served as communication to identify them easily distinctively from the TWA employees. They used tattoos, green stitching, labels on clothing as well as Ozark pins, which in essence made the work of TWA in establishing, enacting and maintaining power towards them quite easy. In general, th e study affirmed that power-as-domination as a tool employed through communication served to create divisions among the employees. The employees from the Ozark organization received an unfair treatment from the TWA managers as they exercised the power created through communication. TWA managed to convince the Ozark into the merger deal through communication where such coercion and brutality was involved. In the like manner,
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Wabash Watershed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
Wabash Watershed - Essay Example There is also a relevant trend for the cycle of increase of temperature if we based it on the average annual maximum temperature in the Wabash valley watershed based on the 5-year and 10-year data from 1961 to 1990. It started higher somewhere in 1961 then went to a downward spiral somewhere in 1981 and 1982, but again it surged higher back to the temperature equivalent to almost one unit experienced in 1961 based on a 10-year covered data. The above trends are consistent with the overall trend of the average annual temperature in the Wabash valley watershed. There is a remarkable cycle of temperature increase, starting with the lower one in 1961, then a relative increase along the way, and decrease in 1981 and again a remarkable increase of the graph slope until 1990. This trend significantly shows a cycle of temperature increase, but reveals us the point that in totality there is an observed temperature increase within the range of time between the years 1961 to 1990. To look at it a specific level, we can also observe the average daily temperature range in the Wabash valley watershed. The graphical representation shows a downward trend from 1961 to 1990 based on the average 5 and 10-year data. This is in fulfilment to the envisioned scenario of some theorists that there is a more pronounced warming of minimum temperatures than maximum temperatures, which we can relatively observe as realistic if we based in on the graphical trend representations. Furthermore, this could be observed from a reduced range of temperatures, which we significantly see from the decreasing trend of the average daily temperature from 1961 to 1990, as the 5-year and 10-year average data show. The evidence of drought and water surplus To investigate the evidence of drought and water surplus conditions for inland or continental locations, we can look at the trends in precipitation amounts and the frequency of certain amounts of precipitation taking place at Wabash valley watershed. Glob al warming theorists believe that global warming phenomenon foresees drought and less surplus water conditions for inland or continental locations. The average annual precipitation in the Wabash valley watershed generally has an increasing trend starting from 1961 to 1990 and if we also based it on the 5-year and 10-year data. On the average annual days of light precipitation in the Wabash valley watershed, the trend remarkably goes high and even higher starting from 1982 to 1990, 5-year and 10-year data. This trend is also remarkably observed if we based it on the average annual days of precipitation in the Wabash valley watershed, as there is a depiction of increasing trend from 1961 to 1990. On the other hand, the average annual surplus in the Wabash valley watershed relatively increases to fewer inches, higher in fewer inches from 1961 compared to the level in 1990. Between these corresponding years, there is also evidence to suggest that the surplus level tends to maintain a hi gher trend compared from 1961. Expectation from a warming climate As there is evidence to support the overall warming of the environment based on the data generated from Wabash valley watershed, the average annual actual evapotranspiration has an increasing trend starting from 1961 to 1990.
Monday, September 23, 2019
The Crucible Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
The Crucible - Essay Example Elizabeth loves him since he stood her husband, they had together shared their lives, and they bore children together. Abigail loves him for lust. She only desires him because she recognizes she cannot have him. The both characters might be in deep love with John, but for extremely different reasons (Arthur Miller 45). They both also remain the same for the fact that they are both liars. Yet again, this time they possess different motives for their lies. Elizabeth lies to safeguard John. She could save herself by just saying he cheated, but she took not to do so. Abigail lies for the purpose of getting what she desires. She lies about Elizabeth of participating in witchcraft so she can obtain John Proctor. Additionally, lying is among the greatest sins in Puritan religion (Arthur Miller 78). In conclusion, Abigail and Elizabeth had extremely different character roles. They had some alike qualities, but with different purposes. They both truly loved John Proctor and also both lairs. On the contrary, Abigail was selfish, not honest to her religion, and vengeful, where else Elizabeth was religious, selfless, and
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Diplomatic History Essay Example for Free
Diplomatic History Essay Operation Rolling Thunder refers to an intense onslaught carried out by the United States against the North Vietnamese in the period between 1965-1968. The rationale behind this attack was not clear, as even its chief architects believe it was not clear-cut. No one had put into consideration the political costs and loss of lives. President Johnson hoped that with this onslaught, he would boost the dying morale of the southern Vietnamese by impressing upon them the Americans might. This however achieved the opposite by diminishing his political standing at home and did not help to bring the North Vietnamese to the negotiating table as was hoped. The Six-Day War is a war that pitted Israel on one side against Jordan, Egypt and Syria. These countries had vowed not to recognize the legitimacy of Israel and wanted it destroyed, however Israel victory dealt these countries a huge blow and they retreated after it became apparent that Israel would reach their capital. This war brought a near clash between two superpowers then, the United States and the Soviet Union, with the U. S behind Israel and USSR behind the Arab states. This war had put the U. S in a tight spot as it did not want to sour its relations with the Arabs or its diplomatic ties with Israel. This is seen as the reason why the U. S exercised restrain and only aided Israel with weapons but no direct intervention. The Iran Contra Scandal occurred in 1987 and refers to a deal entered into by president Reagan’s administration and Iran. The United States was to supply Iran with weapons so that it would facilitate and press for the release of American hostages held by the Hezbollah. This scandal tarnished the U. S stand abroad of not negotiating with terrorists and also led to the plummeting of Reagan’s popularity. It would also see the conviction of some high-ranking officials. Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev of Russia was the last president of the United Soviet Socialist Republic before it collapsed in 1991. He is hailed for having initiated the move that led to the end of cold war. He introduced reforms in Russia and tightened the relations with President Ronald Regan, ending the cold war and consequently the breaking up the USSR. It is during this tenure that the relations between the USSR and the U. S were improved. Core to his reforms was re-introduction of ties with the west. Kosovo, Yugoslavia, had been rocked by fighting between Albania guerillas and Serb forces. The United States and NATO forces stepped in to help quell the fighting resulting to what came to be known as Operation Allied Forces that initiated an onslaught against Serbia till Slobodan Milosevic withdrew from Kosovo. The United States over the years was actively involved in the process meant to restore peace although the congress did not expressly authorize the air strikes nor block them. To date The UN Resolution 1244 has failed to establish the status of Kosovo. The United States has been supporting what is referred to as the Ahtisaari plan that seeks to have Kosovo supervised. Russia is opposing the plan and vows to use the Veto power should the situation demand. The Dayton Accords refer to the peace agreements that saw the end of the Bosnia war in 1995. This agreement was the culmination of a series of negotiations that had before been unfruitful. The United States and Russia had been mounting pressure for the warring sides to accept negotiations. These negotiations held in Ohio brought together a cross section of leaders from the region. This was done under the tutelage of the U. S secretary of state Warren Christopher together with the representatives of European Union. The Official peace pact was to be signed in France by Clinton, John Major, and Jacques Chirac amongst others. This pact was to see the international community lead the implementation of the treaty backed by the NATO forces. Ngo Dinh Diem was born in 1901. He went to the United States due to political turmoil at home. In the US he would meet the then influential leaders where he reiterated his opposition to colonialism and communism in his bid to gain their approval. He succeeded and the United States installed him as the president hoping he would become a U. S puppet. This however did not happen and he was oppressive of the Southern Vietnamese. He rigged the elections that were to follow and imprisoned opposition leaders and critics. The United States was torn between a rock and a hard place, it risked being stuck with an unpopular leader who was unable to unite Vietnam and in turn lose the country to the communists. This is what led CIA to sanction a plot to have Diem assassinated by failing to offer the protection they were giving him before. Consequently he was assassinated in 1963 and his place taken by Nguyen Van Thieu. The relationship between the United States and PLO can only be described as that of perpetual hostility towards each other. To the United States, PLO represented a major threat to its interests and ally in Middle East. PLO also saw the U. S as a threat and that is why it aligned itself with the USSR and took a strong anti-American stance. In spite of this standoff, the United States initiated a dialogue between the two in 1988. PLO accepted the status of Israel and agreed to denounce terrorism hence triggering the dialogue. All along there had been a long stand-off between the two as PLO had refused to acknowledge the existence of Israel while in turn the U. S had not recognized PLO as the voice of the Palestine people. By accepting to negotiate with the PLO, PLO saw this as a form of recognition and it felt that it had won against the U. S’ hard stance. The U. S stand against PLO and the initiation of the talks has always been a defining moment in Middle East because it gave an international recognition, in line with the UN resolutions, a nation it considered a terrorist movement. The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) fronted by President Reagan, aimed at developing a system that would use ground and space systems to defend the United States in case of a nuclear ballistic missiles attack. This system did not succeed as it was intended to, but it is hailed as being the basis under which the current anti-ballistic missiles were made. All these efforts and research was put under the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization that was brought together in 1984 to oversee all matters relating to missile defense. The Taliban are a Sunni Islamic movement that was at the helm of leadership in Afghanistan for a period of five years up to 2001 when they were removed from power by a coalition of forces led by the united states. It has a rather interesting history as in its early days it was supported by the United States to fight off the communists who wanted to take over Afghanistan. After taking over power in 1998, the Taliban hard stance, Sharia law, suppression and persecutions did not endear it to many countries including the United States which saw it as harboring terrorists such as the Al Qaeda. It was ousted from power by a coalition of forces and the Northern alliance in what came to be known as war on terror. Part 2 President Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger remain the two of the most important figures in the United States as far as foreign policy is concerned. No doubt that Nixon’s administration was riddled with a scandal that would lead to his resignation. Critics agree however that his tenure was not without some important accomplishments. Appropriately President Nixon came into power when the cold war had intensified and the world was at the brink of war with the United States and the Soviet Union rocked into a perpetual duel that was threatening a peaceful co-existence between the West and East. President Nixon was elected on a platform of ending American forces engagement in Vietnam. This, he achieved although his withdrawal was rather slow much to the consternation of many Americans. It had seemed that Nixon rather believed that he could correct the mess he had inherited in Vietnam, snatch victory and withdraw the troops honorably. This however did not happen and the events that followed remain his lowest moments in leadership. Nixon and Kissinger were advocating a foreign policy that would see the United States pursue an effort to limit the expansion of the Soviet bloc influence, support militarily and economically any governments that would aid their course whether or not such governments were repressive or had poor ratings as far as civil rights are concerned. This would explain why this tenure was characterized by overthrowal from power popularly elected regimes and supplanting them with dictatorial leaderships. Iran and Chile serves as good attestation to this. The key objective of Nixon administration was to keep communism in check at whatever cost even if it meant trampling on the civil rights of the citizens and dropping hundreds of bombs. The Vietnam War still remains the biggest to both Kissinger and Nixon’s profiles. Faced with growing opposition and plummeting opinion ratings, Nixon remained aloof and initiated attacks in Vietnam while hoodwinking the American public by withdrawing the forces bits by bits. To his administration ‘place with honor’ remained the key strategy. It is Detente that remains the hallmark of his achievements, on top of his ability to limit and finally withdraw American forces from Vietnam. In Detente he promised to ease relations with the former archrivals of America. It was a new type of diplomacy that would see a permanent relaxation of relations between the superpowers, even the nations that were perceived as enemies before. This, he accomplished by improving the relations between the United States and China. Kissinger was Nixon’s key operative. He was highly secretive to the extent that his meeting with Chinese officials was unknown to the ambassador of the U. S to China, George Bush snr. However he was able to improve the sour relation that existed. This was in the Nixon’s bid to woo China after it had fallen out with the Soviet bloc and consequently tilt the balance to his advantage. Aided by the Kissinger, Nixon introduced what was referred to as the Nixon Doctrine; this is what formed the basis of his foreign policy. The United States, to maintain its influence would provide military support to its allies but not in any way provide troops. In wooing China, Nixon and Kissinger who were realists, had reconciled that China was far much important to be ignored in the international scene being the most populous. This also gave impetus to his re-election bid especially as the Ping Pong diplomacy had drawn a perception that he identified with the common voter. Through the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty of 1972 (SALT), the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to curtail further production of high range ballistic missiles as well as their defense systems. This ‘strategic parity’, as many scholars refer to it, was to be a substitute to the arms race. The Soviet bloc agreed to this immediately probably fearing the improved relations between China and the United States. To wrap up Nixon achievements in foreign policy was his visit to China, where he became the first president to do so; this had privately been arranged by Kissinger. He also went to Moscow where he and Brezhner signed the SALT and trade agreements. The shuttle diplomacy also said off relatively where Henry Kissinger was able to broker a peace deal with Israel an Arab in the Yom Kippur war. In this war the U. S had been torn between a rock and a hard place. It sought to protect Israel and did not want to scuttle its friendship with the Arab states. Although Nixon had the above achievements, his mistakes or miscalculations further outweighed the accomplishments. Many people in U. S and internationally remember him for his misdeeds more that these achievements. His administration single handedly put the image of the United States as a champion of civil rights and peace into disrepute. To start with was his handling of the Vietnam War. He was unable to come to terms with the fact that the United States could lose the war and was willing to put the lives of American soldiers on the line to drive this point home, but to no avail. Despite cutting his stature in the international limelight as a statesman by establishing ties with china, the question of Vietnam is still very troublesome to both Nixon and Kissinger. Nixon had vowed to win peace. Vietnamization or the concerted attack in Laos and Cambodia put a permanent dent on his reputation. He hoped that these would paint an image of a ‘madman’ and compel Hanoi to reach a favorable agreement. These attacks prompted Americans to take to the streets in protest especially as it became apparent that he had dropped all pretext of diplomacy. Although Kissinger was able to bring the warring parties into negotiations, the terms were not any different from the ones that north Vietnam had brought to the table in 1969, an indication that all those years of attack and loss of lives had not borne fruits especially to the United States. It is the Watergate scandal however that broke the camels back and forced Nixon out of office. The Watergate scandal remains the greatest evidence of the atrocities committed by the United States where both Kissinger and Nixon undermined democracy in the third world and brought bloodshed. It is these atrocities that led to calls by civil and human rights activists to have Kissinger investigated for crimes against humanity. After the scandal, the United States was not credible in its self-proclaimed international role. Oil crises would loom in the U. S as the Middle East placed embargoes. There was also a political re-alignment with disillusionment characterizing the Republican Party. Kissinger however was left unscathed and went on to serve as the secretary of state in Ford and Carters administration. Nixon’s presidency is a tenure that many Americans would wish to put behind.
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Overview of Japanese Festivals and Matsuri
Overview of Japanese Festivals and Matsuri Japanese Festivals are the traditional occasions. They gather people to celebrate shrines deity, four seasons or historical events. People sing and dance to express their hopes and appreciation. Matsuri is the name of Japanese Festivals. The festival can be held for several days. There are lots of Japanese Festivals, but they usually have the traditional ways to celebrate. Procession is one of the most important things during those matsuri that celebrates shrines kami(deity). People carry deity and go around the town. It is the only period that deity leaves the temple in the year. There are entertainments during the festival. People wear specific traditional costume. They play music with Taiko(Japanese drum). Fireworks light up the matsuri too; there are always fireworks during the festival. The Japanese festivals are energetic and powerful. The Japanese Festivals are held also for the four seasons. In Spring, people celebrate for the rebirth and awakening of the new life. In summer, people thought its a bad season that brings humid weather with epidemic, so they hold festival to scare the evil spirit away. In autumn, people celebrate for the mellow foods from the farmer. The festivals of thanksgiving are held. In winter, people celebrate for the new year. Major Japanese Festivals In Japan, there are hundreds of matsuri. Some of them are local and unknown, and some of them are famous, which even foreigners come to Japan to feel these matsuri. In the following, the report will introduce several major Japanese Festivals. Gion Matsuri A living symbol of Kyotos 1,200 years of rich, colorful history the description of Kyoto Visitors guide. The Gion Matsuri is a festival in Kyoto. Its one of the best festival of Kyoto. Its in the top three matsuri in Japan. Japanese also put this matsuri into the top three prettiest matsuri in Japan. It is the most famous and biggest Japanese Festival, which is held for one month. The Gion Matsuri is from July 1st to 29th every year in Tasaka-jinja Shrine, Gion-cho, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto City. The Gion Matsuri Festival is above 1100 years old. In the year 869 A.D., Kyoto was suffering from epidemics, floods, fires and earthquakes. To pray for the end of plaque and placate the gods, procession of the Yasaka shrine began. That was the first festival, the men carried numbers of wooden floats to please the gods. The plague soon ended, so the festival became popular. People did the procession every year. Soon, it became the festival with music, dance, comic plays, and artistic treasures. People started to make giant floats with beautiful decoration. The elaborate floats are the highlight of the Gion Matsuri. There are 32 floats, which are divided into two types, yama and hoko. Yama floats are about 6 meter and weight about 1400kg. It shows the scenes from Japanese history and mythology with bear pine trees, shrines, and mannequins. The hoko are massive 2-storied, nearly 10-ton combinations of music hall and museum that are hauled by teams of up to 50 men. Hoko are giant floats, which are about 25 meter and 12,000kg on large wooden wheels and pulled by 50 men. People describe them as a mobile art museums. During the parade, there are people wearing tradition costume and playing drums and bells. The are seated on the floats. Some dolls are put on the floats. The floats are displayed form the 14th to the 16th , the main event of the Gion Matsuri. The displays are full of food stands and drink vendors. Traditional Japanese Festival Music is played. The climax of the Gion Matsuri is that the boy, standing on the top of the floats, uses sword to cut the rope that represents bad luck. This event is the most important, so the boy cant mess up. He needs to practice for 3 months before this event. With the Gion Matsuri, the city is flourish. Today, Japanese is still using their traditional way to pray for a auspicious year. Sapporo Snow Festival The Sapporo Snow Festival is one of Japans largest winter events. It holds for 7 days, starting in the second week of February. It takes place in Odori Site, Susukino Site,and Satorando Site in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. About 2 millions of visitors come to this festival every winter. Hundreds of beautiful snow statues and ice sculptures that made by artists from around the world line up on the Odori Park, the community Dome Tsudome, and the main street in Suskino. The Snow Festival started in 1950 with six local high school students. They built six snow statues in Odori Park. In 1955, the Japan Self-Defense Forces built the first massive snow sculpture. This made the Snow Festival become famous. In 1974, there began to have the International Snow Statue Competition. Year by year, it became the Sapporo Snow Festival. Till today, It is the 62nd Sapporo Snow Festival. The main site of this festival is in Odori Park. It is 1.5 kilometer long. The snow statues and ice sculptures make this place a snow museum. There are about 400 statues in total every year. You can see many creative and realistic works. There are not just statues. Skating Rink, Snowboard Straight Jumping Platform,The Slide, and Bush-walking on Skis are also the events in Snow Festival. The snow festival light up Sapporo. The whole world can see Japaneses creativity. The art of snow and ice shows how Japanese appreciates this season. Tanabata Tanabata is known as the star festival. It is a nationwide festival in Japan. It takes place in the seventh day of the seventh month each year in Japan. It is originated from a Chinese legend in 2,000 years ago. There were two stars, Altair and Vega, the lovers. They were separated by the Milky Way and allowed to see each other in only the 7th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar, so every region will have different date of this festival. This story spread to Japan in the 8th centery. Tanabata is celebrated on July 7th or August 7th in Japan,which is around the seventh day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar. The most famous event in Japan for celebrating Tanabata is to write your wishes on a piece of paper, and hang that piece of paper on a bamboo tree. The reason Japanese does this is that they think the meeting of Altair and Vega will bring luck. In some place, people put lantern on the bamboo and let it float on the river. The Tanabata festival in Sendai is most famous in Japan, which is held from August 6th to 8th. People wear yukata(the Japanese garment) and watch the fireworks. They fireworks is about two hours non-stop. 12,000 of fireworks will be shot and light up Sendai. Aomori Nebuta Matsuri Aomori Nebuta Matsuri is known as one of the most famous matsuri in Japan. This is a summer festival held in Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture from August 2 to 7. The Aomori Nebuta Matsuri is one of the greatest three matsuri in the Tohoku region, which are the Sendai Tanabata Matsuri, the Akita Kanto Matsuri and the Aomori Nebuta matsuri. Every year, more than 3,000,000 people come to see this matsuti . Aomori Nebuta matsui is a parade of colorful float lanterns called Nebuta with Japanese drum and dancers called haneto from all over the world. Usually Nebutas are shape of samurai warriors, but is can be shape of any historical people and legend characters. Reasons that this msaturi is very popular are that rhyme of drums and sounds of bamboo flute make people to feel happy and this parade is free to join so anyone can go up there and join the parade and dance along with those music. No one knows the theory of the origin of this matsuri, but there are two possible theories about the origin of this festival. One of the theories is that in the 8th Century in Aomori, there was one Shogun called Sakanoue no Tamuramaro. He wanted to expand his territory so he ordered his army to create something large and that looks like human to scare his enemy. Those large creatures called Nebuta. Place where he used Nebuta to scare people is now called Aomori city and thats why some people believe this can be one of the theories. Next theory is that development from Tanabata festival of China. During the Tanabata festival people light up a candle inside of toro that made by wooden frame and paper and float it on the water. As time passed, this toro became bigger and bigger and it became the unique shape like today. Today, the Nebuta can be 9 meter wide, 5 meters high and more than four tons of weight. It is not easy to make because it needs more than three months to create it and some of the Nebuta cost even more than $200,000. Hakata Dontaku Festival Hakata Dontaku Festival is one of the most famous and well known festivals and also one of the largest festivals in Japan. Every year, more than 2,000,000 people came to see this festival from all over the world. This festival takes place only for two day on May 3 and 4 in Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture. Hakata Dontaku Festival used to call as Matsubayashi Festival that started in Kyoto in the time of Muromachi period (1333-1568). During that time this festival is for only farmers and people in towns to greet their landowner and leader as a New Years greeting. Name of the festival changed to Dontaku from Matsubayashi during the Edo period (1603-1868). During Edo period Japan let people trade with all other countries because of this many people from other countries came to Japan and gave Japanese people to culture of other countries. Many culture from different counties mixed with former Japanese culture. Word Dontaku came from Dutch word zondag, which means holiday. Main event of this festival is Dontaku parade which is 1230 meter long. Any one can join to this parade and dance freely. This festival is very closely related with Japaneses three good fortune gods called Fukurokujyu, Ebisu and Daikokuten. During parade of time festival people need to wear custom as those gods. Conclusion Festivals and matsuri are very important things for Japanese and those are part of their culture that has been passed so many years. Japanese festivals affect Japanese life a lot because many people will back to their home to see their regions festivals even they are busy and thats time to see their parents. So festivals for Japanese are not only time to enjoy, but also backing to their home place and good time to spend time with their parents. For the worldwide, Japanese Festival is unique to every other countries festival. The Japanese Festivals usually have long history. And they are held every year. Form this part, we can see how Japanese organizes well in these things. Japanese concentrate on every little part on the festival, from music, clothes, decorations, to foods. Thats why they can attract that much foreigners to visit their country. Words: 2,369
Friday, September 20, 2019
Africas FDI Inflow 1980-2003 Analysis
Africas FDI Inflow 1980-2003 Analysis CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 INTRODUCTION Foreign Direct Investment (henceforth FDI) is one of the most important integral parts of todays highly talked about global economy. The enormous growth of FDI towards developing countries over the past few decades has ignited a huge interest from researchers in both economics and finance fields. A number of studies have been undertaken with the aim to empirically examine what motivates firms to be involved in cross-border investments and what motivates countries to undertake different policy reforms and other measures in pursuit of attracting FDI. There is a consensus among FDI researchers that FDI can improve the recipient countrys development in various ways even when foreign firms do not provide externalities. The benefits of FDI to recipient countries are not ambiguous. FDI is seen as a solution to a countrys economic woes by providing the most needed foreign capital that boosts the economic activities of a host country. According to Goldberg (2000), FDI leads to transfer of tec hnology and other skills from foreign firms to local firms. It is through FDI that supplementary resources such as capital, management, technology and personnel become available to host countries. These resources may stimulate existing economic activities in a host country, encourage internal competition, and raise the level of national output. The presence of foreign producers is primarily believed to benefit the host countrys citizens by introducing a variety of new products into the domestic market, which are of superior quality and lower prices. Most importantly, FDI is a channel through which recipient countries gain access to international financial markets and earn foreign exchange. FDI creates a number of employment opportunities as foreign entities establish business units in various locations throughout the host country and relatively higher wage rates are offered. Backward linkages and spillovers are secondary benefits of FDI enjoyed by the recipient countries. Spillovers spur strong growth in industries into which FDI flows, especially when the competition between domestic and foreign firms is efficient. Foreign firms also go into joint ventures with domestic firms and a large percentage of profits generated through such collaborations are ploughed back into the domestic market, thereby contributing to the host countrys macroeconomic growth and development without necessarily providing externalities. Externalities provide another form of benefits that FDI recipient countries enjoy. The existence of foreign direct investors spawns the seepage of managerial, personnel, and technological expertise from the foreign to domestic companies. For instance, Old Mutual plc training programme in South Africa may benefit the South African insurance and financial sectors as a whole. It is because of the above-mentioned benefits that developing countries are actively embarking on measures involving macroeconomic as well as socio-political reforms with clear intentions of advancing their investment climate to attract FDI on a large scale and achieving sustained economic growth. Developing countries have formerly depended on loans and official development assistance as a source of foreign capital, principally provided by international agencies such as the World Bank and OECD countries. However, the flow of such funds from these institutions has been declining. For instance, Asiedu (2002) reports that financial assistance to Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) fell from 6% in 1990 to just 3.8% in 1998 and foreign aid per capita fell from an average of $35 for the period 1989-92 to $2 for the period 1993-97. It is in situations like this, that FDI plays a pivotal role as an alternative source of foreign capital for the developing world. For developing and the least developed countries that are making efforts to attract FDI as a way to enhance their economic growth and hence their sustained development, it is particularly essential to identify and comprehend the prime factors that shape FDI inflows as they apply to each country in particular. Since FDI plays a pivotal role in the growth dynamics of a country, a number of factors that are believed to influence FDI inflows towards developing countries have been intensely investigated. Among these factors the following have been most frequently considered: exchange rate volatility, market size, GDP growth, trade openness, infrastructure development, country size (also size of economy), per capita GDP, quality of the labour force, labour cost, inflation, return on capital, export orientation, political stability. Such analysis has immediate policy relevance as it identifies areas of comparative advantage that these countries should favour in terms of resource allocation . 1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The main aim of this study is to carry out an empirical investigation of the factors explaining FDI inflows to South Africa over the period 1980-2003. The review of previous theoretical research and the review of previous empirical evidence are means to this end. 1.3 THE STRUCTURE OF A PAPER The structure of this paper is as follows: Chapter 2 provides a review of both the theoretical and empirical literature on factors believed to be the major driving force behind inward FDI activities for host countries. In Chapter 3, the paper provides an overview of the South Africas macroeconomic performance, FDI regulatory framework currently in place and incentives provided by the government to foreign investors. Chapter 4 discusses the data set and econometric methods used to carry out time series analysis for the study. The data and variable specifications are also described and clarified in this chapter. Chapter 5 reports and discusses the econometric results. A summary of findings, conclusions and policy implications are presented in Chapter 6. CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF FDI LITERATURE 2.1 INTRODUCTION The main aim of this chapter is to present theories of FDI as developed by previous research and review the empirical evidence on the determinants of FDI. Before these are considered in more details, a brief overview of the definition of FDI and related concepts is provided. Given that FDI has direct effects on the economic growth of the host country, a specific section provides a brief exploration of the relationship between FDI and growth. 2.2 FDI: DEFINITION AND CONCEPTS In its archetypal form, FDI is conventionally defined as the physical investment made by acquiring foreign assets such as land and factory buildings with operational control residing with the parent company (Buckley, 2004). The definition can be extended to include such investments that seek to exercise considerable influence on the management of the foreign entity. A parent company is required to hold at least 10% of the ordinary shares or voting rights in order to exercise control over an incorporated foreign company. An ownership stake of less than the stated 10% is regarded as foreign portfolio investment and does not qualify as FDI. FDI made by transnational companies (TNCs) is an indication of internal growth and it can be made in the form of greenfield investment or mergers and acquisitions. Greenfield FDI refers to an investment where a new entity is established in a foreign location. It entails formation of completely new production facilities in the recipient country (Eun and Resnick, 2007). Cross-border mergers and acquisitions are twofold. On one hand, they involve merging both domestic and foreign companies into one bigger company. On the other hand, they involve an acquisition of a domestic company by a foreign company. FDI is beneficial for the host country as it is a channel through which foreign capital and new technology are provided. FDI is regarded as a stimulus for economic activities and accelerated growth. The OECD (2002) describes FDI as a catalyst for speeding up the development process. Nevertheless, a recipient country must display a certain standard of development before it attracts FDI. Dunning (1977, 1979) identifies fundamental factors including firm specific and host country specific advantages that must be met before FDI occurs. These advantages are discussed in detail below. 2.3 FDI AND ECONOMIC GROWTH A number of empirical studies have analysed the relationship between FDI and the economic growth of a host country. Lipsey (2000) finds that FDI and economic growth are positively correlated. Abwona (2001) urges that the effects of FDI on growth may vary between countries, as not all countries are at the same level of development. Lim (2001) points out that FDI positively affects economic growth of a host country by transferring advanced technology from the industrialized to developing economies (Lim, 2001, p.3). Conceptually, FDI increases GDP growth because it increases the amount of goods and services produced in a host country. Benefits of FDI are only evident in increased level of output because of the host countrys ability to absorb technological spillovers from foreign firms. This, therefore, suggests that the positive contribution of FDI on growth is conditional upon the recipient countrys absorptive capacity of all the benefits that FDI brings. Much as there is general awareness that FDI influences economic growth, there is no general agreement on the causal relation between FDI and economic growth. De Mello (1997) argues that the relationship could run either way, as the prospects of economic growth make the host country more attractive to FDI. Once operational in a host country, FDI enhances growth by allowing the host country to integrate new inputs and technology to expand production. 2.4 THEORIES OF FDI In a study of TNCs, Hymer (1976) explains that because foreign TNCs have offsetting monopolistic advantages over domestic companies, they are able to compete with domestic companies that are in a better position with regard to knowledge and understanding of the domestic market. Kindleberger (1969) who suggests that these advantages should be adequate to tower over limitations and must be company specific reiterates this. According to Hymer (1976) and Kindleberger (1969), these advantages can be in the form of access to ownership patents, technological expertise, managerial expertise, marketing skills, etc. These skills should be scarce or completely unavailable to domestic companies. The basis of the argument here is on the theory of market imperfections in factor markets and product differentiation. In circumstances where market imperfections exist, firms find it rewarding to engage in cross-border direct investment instead of exporting to foreign markets or licensing. In this way, they can fully utilize their monopolistic market supremacy (Assefa and Haile, 2006). In the same year as Hymer (1976), Buckley and Casson (1976) developed the internalization theory. This theory stipulates that in some instances it is desirable for TNCs to refrain from licensing and to choose cross-border direct engagement over exporting. FDI occurs when TNCs undertake an internal operation rather than a market operation. TNCs internalize their activities to circumvent impediments presented to them by the external market. These impediments arise because of market flaws such as lack of managerial expertise, human capital, etc. The benefits of internalization include both time and cost savings. According to Moosa (2002), the rationale behind internalization is the persistence of externalities in both goods and factor markets. However, Rugman (1980) disapprove of the internalization theory by contesting that it cannot be empirically analysed. Twelve years after introducing internalization theory, Buckley (1988) came back to warn that the theory cannot be directly analy sed, claiming that the theory needs to be modified in order to allow rigorous analysis. He urges that there is still a room to develop advanced theories that can be empirically tested. Another line of study dealing with factors influencing FDI is based on Vernons (1979) product life cycle hypothesis. Assefa and Haile (2006) and Udo and Obiora (2006) relate their studies to Vernons product life cycle to explain that FDI is a stage in the life cycle of a new product from innovation to maturity. Home production is unique and strategic for some time, after which the new product reaches maturity and looses uniqueness. New similar products also enter the market and intensify competition. At this stage, the firms would then replicate the home production in lower cost foreign locations that offer cost benefits to the firm. The lower cost that can be achieved by producing in foreign locations can be due to cheaper factors of production and complementary government policies. Dunning (1993) develops an eclectic theory which is referred to as OLI framework. OLI is the short name for ownership, location and internalization advantages. In his theory, Dunning identifies three sets of advantages that must be met for a firm to get involved in foreign direct investment. The first set is ownership advantages, which entail technological expertise, patents, marketing skills, managerial capabilities and the brand name. A TNC must have these firm specific advantages over its rivals in a foreign location. In the absence of these advantages, the firm will be exposed to fierce competition from its rivals in the market it serves. The second set of advantages that must be met is the location advantages, which Dunning (1993) explains as the degree to which the foreign location is more favourable to invest in. Examples of these advantages are an abundance of natural resources, exceptional infrastructure development, political and macroeconomic stability. These advantages s hould be adequate to validate investment in a preferred foreign location. The third set of advantages is internalization benefits. The ability of a TNC to internalize its operations is the manner in which it enters foreign location. According to Dunning (1993), this could be by a greenfield project, product licensing or acquisition of foreign assets as long as it fits the management strategy, the nature of the firms business and the firms long-term strategic plan. Another rationale for FDI to occur is embodied in the in the industrial organization hypothesis (IOH) (Tirole, 1988). This hypothesis presupposes that there are various potential uncertainties that a TNC faces in foreign markets. The uncertainties may be political, religious, social, cultural and so on. If the firm decides to establish a subsidiary in a foreign location despite these uncertainties then the benefits accrued should be adequate to outweigh these obvious risks and restrictions. Lall and Streeten (1977) emphasize the importance of marketing and managerial skills, availability and ownership of capital, production technologies, scale economies and access to raw materials. They also put forward that FDI occurs because of the complexity of trading intangible assets abroad. Examples of these untradeable intangible assets include a TNCs organizational ability, executive skills, position in foreign financial markets and a well-established network with different government burea ucrats. 2.5 MOTIVES FOR FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT Assefa and Haile (2006) assert that the ownership and internalization advantages as developed in Dunning (1993) eclectic theory are firm specific advantages, while location advantages are regarded as host country qualities. Firms choose locations where all these advantages can be combined together to advance the firms long-term profitability. Asiedu (2002) and Dunning (1993) distinguish the motives of FDI as either market seeking or non-market seeking (efficiency and resource seeking). According to Dunning (1993), a market seeking FDI is that which aims at serving the domestic and regional markets. This means that goods and services are produced in the host country, sold and distributed in the domestic or regional market (Asiedu, 2002). This kind of FDI is therefore, driven by host country characteristics such as market size, income levels and growth potential of the host market and so on. A non-market seeking FDI can either be classified as resource/asset seeking and/or efficiency s eeking. Resource seeking FDI aims at acquiring resources that may not be available in the country of origin. Such resources may comprise natural resources, availability and productivity of both skilled and unskilled labour forces as well as availability of raw materials. Efficiency seeking FDI aims at reducing the overall cost of factors of production especially when the firms activities are geographically scattered (Dunning, 1993). This allows the firm to exploit scale and scope economies as well as diversify risks. Apart from the economic factors that are believed to be the major motivation for FDI, the host countrys FDI policy also plays a major role in attracting or deterring FDI. This therefore, suggests a need for the host country to develop policies that provide a conducive environment for business if the authorities believe in the benefits of FDI. This necessitates a regular monitoring of the activities of TNCs and an acceptance by the host government that, if FDI is to make its best contribution, policies that were appropriate in the absence of FDI may require amendments in its pr esence. For example, macroeconomic policies may need to be altered in order to provide a favourable climate for FDI. Stronger competition as a result of FDI may also induce a host government to operate an effective and efficient competition policy. 2.6 EMPIRICAL LITERATURE There is an extensive empirical literature on the determinants of FDI. A large share of this literature focuses on the pull factors or, equivalently, on the host countrys location advantages. Given the increasing flows of FDI towards developing countries, especially in Asia, most academic researchers have been poised to investigate what factors influence flows of FDI into those countries. The African continent instead remains under researched, especially a country such as South Africa, which is regarded by many as one of the economic giants of the continent. The following studies have attempted to examine the link between FDI and predictor variables such as market size, GDP growth, inflation, exchange rate, political stability and many more. Goldar and Ishigami (1999) use panel data techniques to empirically analyse the determinants of FDI for 11 developing countries of East, Southeast and South Asia for the years 1985-1994. The authors estimate two separate models, one for Japanese FDI and the other for total FDI flowing towards these countries. They report a strong positive relationship between the size of the economy and FDI inflows for the two models. They also find a positive relationship between FDI inflows and the exchange rate. Intuitively, this suggests that lower exchange rates should make the host countrys exports more competitive in foreign markets and therefore act as an important factor for attracting FDI. Interestingly, Goldar and Ishigami (1999) report contrasting results for the relationship between FDI inflows, domestic investment and trade openness for the two models. They find both domestic investment and trade openness to be significant determinants for the Japanese FDI model but the authors fail to find support for the two variables for the total FDI model. Market size has generally been accepted as an important factor influencing FDI by many empirical studies. In a cross-country empirical study, Chakrabarti (2001) finds strong support for market size as an important determinant of FDI. He further reports that the relationship between FDI and other explanatory variables, such as trade openness, tax, wages, the exchange rate, the GDP growth rate and the trade balance is highly sensitive to small changes in these variables. That is, a small change in these variables is likely to deter or increase FDI inflows with a large magnitude. Campos and Kinoshita (2003) use two trade related variables to examine the extent to which trade openness influences FDI inflows for 25 countries in transition between 1990 and1998. The authors employ an external liberalization index and trade dependence as proxies for trade openness. They argue that, the greater degree of trade openness does not only increase international trade, but also increases FDI inflows. Chang et al. (2009) also study the importance of trade openness in the economic growth of a country. They use a sample of 82 countries from all over the world for the period 1960-2000. They conclude that trade openness, used in conjunction with complementary trade policies, enhances economic growth through increased FDI inflows into a country. Their finding further bolsters the position of trade openness as an important determinant of FDI. Root and Ahmed (1979) seek to analyse the determinants of manufacturing FDI in 58 developing countries for the period 1966-1970. They classify these determinants under three categories: economic, social and political. Among the four important economic variables they study, infrastructure, per capita GDP and GDP growth rate appear to be important predictor variables while the absolute of size of GDP does not help to predict FDI. They also put forward that foreign investors view long-term political stability and the extent of urbanization as important factors when choosing the location for their investments. Nunnenkamp (2002) adopts Spearman correlations to study the relationship between FDI and its determinants for 28 developing countries between 1987 and 2000. His findings show that variables such as GDP growth rate, entry restrictions, post-entry restrictions, market size, infrastructure and quality of the labour force, as measured by the years of schooling, have no effect on FDI inflows. However, he also reports positive effects on FDI of non-traditional factors such as factor costs. That is, the cheaper costs of factors of production, like lower costs of raw materials and lower costs of labour, are essential for attracting efficiency-seeking FDI. Tsai (1991) presents an opposing view by arguing that in Taiwan FDI inflows have increased with increasing labour costs. His findings suggest that in Taiwan, there are far more important determinants of FDI than cheaper costs of factors. Indeed Tsai (1991) observes that for the years 1965-1985, Taiwans economic performance was spectacular, with an expanding domestic market and purchasing power of the economy as measured by rising GDP per capita. Singh and Jun (1995) look into three determinants of FDI in developing countries. They pay particular attention to socio-political stability, favourable business operating conditions and export orientation. They employ other macroeconomic variables as control factors. The authors use a political risk index (PRI) developed by Business Environment Risk Intelligence, S.A (BERI, 2009), as a measure of socio-political instability. When used in conjunction with traditional determinants of FDI such as GDP growth rate and per capita GDP, PRI appears to be highly associated with FDI for 31 developing countries for the period 1970-1993. Schneider and Frey (1995) also find political instability to be a significant deterrent of FDI for 54 less developed countries, considered over three different years 1976, 1979 and 1980. Furthermore, Singh and Jun (1995) employ an operation risk index (ORI) also developed by BERI, S.A, and taxes on international trade and transactions (ITAX). They further find that ORI is highly associated with FDI flows and has a positive sign. ITAX is also reported as an important determinant of FDI. They also find export orientation to be highly related to FDI flows, especially manufacturing exports. Asiedus (2002) investigation on the determinants of FDI in 71 developing countries provides further evidence of the importance of these extensively studied FDI determinants. Asiedu goes a little further to assess whether the same determinants of FDI have a similar impact on FDI flowing towards Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) between 1980 and 1998. After a detailed analysis, she concludes that factors influencing FDI in other developing countries do not necessarily have a similar impact on FDI flows to SSA. She notes that infrastructure development and a high return on capital influence FDI flows towards developing countries in other continents, but the same factors have no influence on FDI flows towards SSA. Bende-Nabende (2002) also undertakes a study probing into the determinants of FDI flows towards 19 SSA countries for the period 1970-2000. In this study, market growth, trade liberalization and export orientation turn out to be important factors explaining why countries are able to attract foreign investors. Obwona (2001) argues that the Ugandan market size has been one of the driving forces behind FDI flows into the Ugandan economy between 1975 and 1991. Yasin (2005) uses panel data from a sample of 11 SSA countries for the period 1990-2003. His findings lead to the conclusion that official development assistance (ODA), trade openness, growth of the labour force and the exchange rate are important determinants of FDI, while his findings do not suggest that the growth rate of per capita GDP, a political repression index and a composite risk index have explanatory power. Ahmed et al. (2005) examine the composition of capital flows between 1975 and 2002, to assess if South Africa is different from 81 other emerging markets. They classify relevant factors into macroeconomic performance, investment environment, infrastructure and resources, quality of institutions, financial development and global factors. The authors argue that some factors influencing capital flows are limited to particular forms of capital, while other factors have comparable effects on FDI, bond and equity flows. They further assert that the more open the economy is to international trade, the richer it is in natural resources, and the fewer barriers to profit repatriation it has, the more likely it is to attract FDI on a large scale. The implication of this study is that South Africa should ease its capital controls in order to avoid deterring FDI. South Africa is currently allowing repatriation of profits only within six months (Ahmed et al., 2005). The agglomeration effect is another important factor that can be used to explain why countries that have attracted FDI in the past still receive a large share of it. Notable magnitudes of existing FDI stocks in recipient countries tend to attract more FDI inflows (Lim, 2001). Foreign investors incorporate the size of the existing FDI stocks in their decisions as they seek locations where to expand their operations. Campos and Kinoshita (2003) also confirm that for 25 countries in transition between 1990 and1998, foreign investors tend to locate where others are investing, as the decision by other firms implies a favourable atmosphere for investment offered by counties in which they locate. Asiedu (2003), Loree and Guisinger (1995) and Lee (2005) consider effective government policies, especially the monetary and fiscal policies, as important factors that can be used to effectively attract or deter FDI inflows. Loree and Guisinger (1995) use effective tax rates for 48 countries (classified into developed and developing countries) in 1977 and 1982. After finding the effective tax policy variable to be significant, they conclude that government policies are important and that policy reforms are likely to attract more FDI. Lee (2005) investigates some evidence on the effectiveness of policy barriers to FDI for 153 developing and developed countries between 1995 and 2001. He finds strong support for the proposition that restrictive public policies deter FDI inflows. Asiedu (2003) studies the effects of investment policy on FDI for 22 SSA countries over the period 1984-2000. Her findings show that governments can increase FDI flows by developing and implementing policies th at provide investor friendly environment.s CHAPTER 3: SOUTH AFRICAS MACROECONOMIC OVERVIEW, FDI REGULATORY FRAMEWORK AND INCENTIVES. INTRODUCTION The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the South African macroeconomic performance over the period of study (1980-2003). This has been based on two regimes – the apartheid regime and the democratic regime. Other sections of the chapter are dedicated to the regulatory framework for FDI and the incentives offered to foreign investors by the South African government. 3.2 THE APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA According to Lester et al.(2000), the pre-1994 period was one during which South Africa was politically unstable as a result of the racial discrimination philosophy (apartheid) that was adopted by the Nationalist government then in power. This created internal resistance by black South Africans, who protested against the racial discrimination practices. In 1960, the Nationalist government banned organizations such as the African National Congress (ANC) that represented black South Africans and this intensified demonstrations against the government. In response to the protests, the Nationalist government using armed forces, killed and arrested many black South Africans activists. These incidents drew attention from the international community, who condemned the repression against black South Africans by a Nationalist government that predominantly looked after the interests of white South Africans. These events also caused distress among foreign investors, who became sceptical of the p rospects of South Africas economic stability and the protection of their investments. This led to capital outflow, a mounting pressure on the South African rand in foreign exchange markets, effective economic sanctions and the isolation of South Africa from the rest of the world. Despite being blessed with an abundance of natural resources, especially gold, diamonds, platinum and other minerals, South Africa was not a favoured location for investment during this period. Political instability, investment insecurity and violation of human rights severely inhibited FDI. Realizing the challenges that came with economic isolation, the Nationalist government, in an attempt to uphold domestic capital growth, introduced incentives for import substitution industries such as car manufacturers and military equipment (Lester et al., 2000, p.187). Despite these attempts, this period saw South Africa undergoing falling investment, diminishing international reserves, sinking economic growth, soaring rates of inflation and lofty interest rates (Nowak, 2005). During this period, the economic performance was notably disappointing as investors left South Africa in search of other locations that offered better conditions for their investments. As shown in Table 3.1, the GDP growth rate was declining in some years with an average annual growth estimated at 1.44% per annum for the years 1980-1990. In addition, inflation and interest rates were continuously increasing with no signs of stabilising. All these were signals of loss of effective control of macroeconomic policies. Table 3.1: GDP growth, inflation and interest rates in South Africa for the period 1980-1990 Year 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 GDP annual % change 5.4 -0.4 -1.9 5
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